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diff --git a/old/4208-h.htm b/old/4208-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3406e00 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/4208-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,26274 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Journal to Stella, by Jonathan Swift + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Journal to Stella, by Jonathan Swift + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Journal to Stella + +Author: Jonathan Swift + +Release Date: January 28, 2010 [EBook #4208] +Last Updated: February 6, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JOURNAL TO STELLA *** + + + + +Produced by Les Bowler, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE JOURNAL TO STELLA + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Jonathan Swift + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + With preface, introduction and notes by George A. Aitken. + </h3> + <div class="mynote"> + <p> + (Numbers thus (5) refer to the Notes at the end, which are arranged by + "Introduction" or by "Letter 'number'".) + </p> + <br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_INTR"> INTRODUCTION. </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0003"> <b>JOURNAL TO STELLA</b> </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_NOTE"> <b>NOTES.</b> </a><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> LETTER 1. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> LETTER 2. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> LETTER 3. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> LETTER 4. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> LETTER 5. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> LETTER 6. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> LETTER 7. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> LETTER 8. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> LETTER 9. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> LETTER 10. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> LETTER 11. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> LETTER 12. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> LETTER 13. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> LETTER 14. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> LETTER 15. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> LETTER 16. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> LETTER 17. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> LETTER 18. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> LETTER 19. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> LETTER 20. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> LETTER 21. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> LETTER 22. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> LETTER 23. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> LETTER 24. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> LETTER 25. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> LETTER 26. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> LETTER 27. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> LETTER 28. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> LETTER 29. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> LETTER 30. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> LETTER 31. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> LETTER 32. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> LETTER 33. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> LETTER 34. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> LETTER 35. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> LETTER 36. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> LETTER 37. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> LETTER 38. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> LETTER 39. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> LETTER 40. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> LETTER 41. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0045"> LETTER 42. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> LETTER 43. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0047"> LETTER 44. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0048"> LETTER 45. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0049"> LETTER 46. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0050"> LETTER 47. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0051"> LETTER 48. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0052"> LETTER 49. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0053"> LETTER 50. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0054"> LETTER 51. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0055"> LETTER 52. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0056"> LETTER 53. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0057"> LETTER 54. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0058"> LETTER 55. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0059"> LETTER 56. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0060"> LETTER 57. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0061"> LETTER 58. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0062"> LETTER 59. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0063"> LETTER 60. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0064"> LETTER 61. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0065"> LETTER 62. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0066"> LETTER 63. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0067"> LETTER 64. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0068"> LETTER 65. </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_NOTE"> <b>NOTES.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_NOTE1"> Notes to the Introduction. </a><br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0071"> LETTER 1. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0072"> LETTER 9. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0073"> LETTER 10. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0074"> LETTER 11. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0075"> LETTER 12. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0076"> LETTER 13. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0077"> LETTER 14. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0078"> LETTER 15. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0079"> LETTER 16. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0080"> LETTER 17. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0081"> LETTER 18. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0082"> LETTER 20. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0083"> LETTER 21. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0084"> LETTER 22. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0085"> LETTER 23. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0086"> LETTER 24. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0087"> LETTER 26. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0088"> LETTER 27. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0089"> LETTER 28. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0090"> LETTER 29. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0091"> LETTER 30. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0092"> LETTER 31. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0093"> LETTER 32. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0094"> LETTER 33. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0095"> LETTER 34. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0096"> LETTER 35. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0097"> LETTER 36. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0098"> LETTER 37. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0099"> LETTER 38. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0100"> LETTER 39. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0101"> LETTER 41. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0102"> LETTER 42. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0103"> LETTER 43. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0104"> LETTER 44. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0105"> LETTER 46. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0106"> LETTER 47. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0107"> LETTER 48. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0108"> LETTER 49. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0109"> LETTER 50. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0110"> LETTER 51. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0111"> LETTER 52. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0112"> LETTER 53. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0113"> LETTER 54. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0114"> LETTER 55. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0115"> LETTER 56. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0116"> LETTER 57. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0117"> LETTER 58. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0118"> LETTER 59. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0119"> LETTER 61. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0120"> LETTER 62. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0121"> LETTER 63. </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + The history of the publication of the Journal to Stella is somewhat + curious. On Swift's death twenty-five of the letters, forming the closing + portion of the series, fell into the hands of Dr. Lyon, a clergyman who + had been in charge of Swift for some years. The letters passed to a man + named Wilkes, who sold them for publication. They accordingly appeared in + 1766 in the tenth volume of Dr. Hawkesworth's quarto edition of Swift's + works; but the editor made many changes in the text, including a + suppression of most of the "little language." The publishers, however, + fortunately for us, were public-spirited enough to give the manuscripts + (with one exception) to the British Museum, where, after many years, they + were examined by John Forster, who printed in his unfinished "Life of + Swift" numerous passages from the originals, showing the manner in which + the text had been tampered with by Hawkesworth. Swift himself, too, in his + later years, obliterated many words and sentences in the letters, and + Forster was able to restore not a few of these omissions. His zeal, + however, sometimes led him to make guesses at words which are quite + undecipherable. Besides Forster's work, I have had the benefit of the + careful collation made by Mr. Ryland for his edition of 1897. Where these + authorities differ I have usually found myself in agreement with Mr. + Ryland, but I have felt justified in accepting some of Forster's readings + which were rejected by him as uncertain; and the examination of the + manuscripts has enabled me to make some additions and corrections of my + own. Swift's writing is extremely small, and abounds in abbreviations. The + difficulty of arriving at the true reading is therefore considerable, + apart from the erasures. + </p> + <p> + The remainder of the Journal, consisting of the first forty letters, was + published in 1768 by Deane Swift, Dr. Swift's second cousin. These letters + had been given to Mrs. Whiteway in 1788, and by her to her son-in-law, + Deane Swift. The originals have been lost, with the exception of the + first, which, by some accident, is in the British Museum; but it is + evident that Deane Swift took even greater liberties with the text than + Hawkesworth. He substituted for "Ppt" the word "Stella," a name which + Swift seems not to have used until some years later; he adopted the name + "Presto" for Swift, and in other ways tried to give a greater literary + finish to the letters. The whole of the correspondence was first brought + together, under the title of the "Journal to Stella", in Sheridan's + edition of 1784. + </p> + <p> + Previous editions of the Journal have been but slightly annotated. Swift's + letters abound with allusions to people of all classes with whom he came + in contact in London, and to others known to Esther Johnson in Ireland; + and a large proportion of these persons have been passed over in discreet + silence by Sir Walter Scott and others. The task of the annotator has, of + course, been made easier of late years by the publication of contemporary + journals and letters, and of useful works of reference dealing with + Parliament, the Army, the Church, the Civil Service, and the like, besides + the invaluable Dictionary of National Biography. I have also been assisted + by a collection of MS. notes kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. Thomas + Seccombe. I have aimed at brevity and relevance, but it is hoped that the + reader will find all the information that is necessary. Here and there a + name has baffled research, but I have been able to give definite + particulars of a very large number of people—noblemen and ladies in + society in London or Dublin, Members of Parliament, doctors, clergymen, + Government officials, and others who have hitherto been but names to the + reader of the Journal. I have corrected a good many errors in the older + notes, but in dealing with so large a number of persons, some of whom it + is difficult to identify, I cannot hope that I myself have escaped + pitfalls. + </p> + <p> + G. A. A. <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTION. + </h2> + <p> + When Swift began to write the letters known as the Journal to Stella, he + was forty-two years of age, and Esther Johnson twenty-nine. Perhaps the + most useful introduction to the correspondence will be a brief setting + forth of what is known of their friendship from Stella's childhood, the + more specially as the question has been obscured by many assertions and + theories resting on a very slender basis of fact. + </p> + <p> + Jonathan Swift, born in 1667 after his father's death, was educated by his + uncle Godwin, and after a not very successful career at Trinity College, + Dublin, went to stay with his mother, Abigail Erick, at Leicester. Mrs. + Swift feared that her son would fall in love with a girl named Betty + Jones, but, as Swift told a friend, he had had experience enough "not to + think of marriage till I settle my fortune in the world, which I am sure + will not be in some years; and even then, I am so hard to please that I + suppose I shall put it off to the other world." Soon afterwards an opening + for Swift presented itself. Sir William Temple, now living in retirement + at Moor Park, near Farnham, had been, like his father, Master of the Irish + Rolls, and had thus become acquainted with Swift's uncle Godwin. Moreover, + Lady Temple was related to Mrs. Swift, as Lord Orrery tells us. Thanks to + these facts, the application to Sir William Temple was successful, and + Swift went to live at Moor Park before the end of 1689. There he read to + Temple, wrote for him, and kept his accounts, and growing into confidence + with his employer, "was often trusted with matters of great importance." + The story—afterwards improved upon by Lord Macaulay—that Swift + received only 20 pounds and his board, and was not allowed to sit at table + with his master, is wholly untrustworthy. Within three years of their + first intercourse, Temple had introduced his secretary to William the + Third, and sent him to London to urge the King to consent to a bill for + triennial Parliaments. + </p> + <p> + When Swift took up his residence at Moor Park he found there a little girl + of eight, daughter of a merchant named Edward Johnson, who had died young. + Swift says that Esther Johnson was born on March 18, 1681; in the parish + register of Richmond,(1) which shows that she was baptized on March 20, + 1680-81, her name is given as Hester; but she signed her will "Esther," + the name by which she was always known. Swift says, "Her father was a + younger brother of a good family in Nottinghamshire, her mother of a lower + degree; and indeed she had little to boast in her birth." Mrs. Johnson had + two children, Esther and Ann, and lived at Moor Park as companion to Lady + Giffard, Temple's widowed sister. Another member of the household, + afterwards to be Esther's constant companion, was Rebecca Dingley, a + relative of the Temple family.(2) She was a year or two older than Swift. + </p> + <p> + The lonely young man of twenty-two was both playfellow and teacher of the + delicate child of eight. How he taught her to write has been charmingly + brought before us in the painting exhibited by Miss Dicksee at the Royal + Academy a few years ago; he advised her what books to read, and instructed + her, as he says, "in the principles of honour and virtue, from which she + never swerved in any one action or moment of her life." + </p> + <p> + By 1694 Swift had grown tired of his position, and finding that Temple, + who valued his services, was slow in finding him preferment, he left Moor + Park in order to carry out his resolve to go into the Church. He was + ordained, and obtained the prebend of Kilroot, near Belfast, where he + carried on a flirtation with a Miss Waring, whom he called Varina. But in + May 1696 Temple made proposals which induced Swift to return to Moor Park, + where he was employed in preparing Temple's memoirs and correspondence for + publication, and in supporting the side taken by Temple in the Letters of + Phalaris controversy by writing The Battle of the Books, which was, + however, not published until 1704. On his return to Temple's house, Swift + found his old playmate grown from a sickly child into a girl of fifteen, + in perfect health. She came, he says, to be "looked upon as one of the + most beautiful, graceful, and agreeable young women in London, only a + little too fat. Her hair was blacker than a raven, and every feature of + her face in perfection." + </p> + <p> + On his death in January 1699, Temple left a will,(3) dated 1694, directing + the payment of 20 pounds each, with half a year's wages, to Bridget + Johnson "and all my other servants"; and leaving a lease of some land in + Monistown, County Wicklow, to Esther Johnson, "servant to my sister + Giffard." By a codicil of February 1698, Temple left 100 pounds to "Mr. + Jonathan Swift, now living with me." It may be added that by her will of + 1722, proved in the following year, Lady Giffard gave 20 pounds to Mrs. + Moss—Mrs. Bridget Johnson, who had married Richard Mose or Moss, + Lady Giffard's steward. The will proceeds: "To Mrs. Hester (sic) Johnson I + give 10 pounds, with the 100 pounds I put into the Exchequer for her life + and my own, and declare the 100 pounds to be hers which I am told is there + in my name upon the survivorship, and for which she has constantly sent + over her certificate and received the interest. I give her besides my two + little silver candlesticks." + </p> + <p> + Temple left in Swift's hands the task of publishing his posthumous works, + a duty which afterwards led to a quarrel with Lady Giffard and other + members of the family. Many years later Swift told Lord Palmerston that he + stopped at Moor Park solely for the benefit of Temple's conversation and + advice, and the opportunity of pursuing his studies. At Temple's death he + was "as far to seek as ever." In the summer of 1699, however, he was + offered and accepted the post of secretary and chaplain to the Earl of + Berkeley, one of the Lords Justices, but when he reached Ireland he found + that the secretaryship had been given to another. He soon, however, + obtained the living of Laracor, Agher, and Rathbeggan, and the prebend of + Dunlavin in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. The total value of these + preferments was about 230 pounds a year, an income which Miss Waring seems + to have thought enough to justify him in marrying. Swift's reply to the + lady whom he had "singled out at first from the rest of women" could only + have been written with the intention of breaking off the connection, and + accordingly we hear no more of poor Varina. + </p> + <p> + At Laracor, a mile or two from Trim, and twenty miles from Dublin, Swift + ministered to a congregation of about fifteen persons, and had abundant + leisure for cultivating his garden, making a canal (after the Dutch + fashion of Moor Park), planting willows, and rebuilding the vicarage. As + chaplain to Lord Berkeley, he spent much of his time in Dublin. He was on + intimate terms with Lady Berkeley and her daughters, one of whom is best + known by her married name of Lady Betty Germaine; and through them he had + access to the fashionable society of Dublin. When Lord Berkeley returned + to England in April 1701, Swift, after taking his Doctor's degree at + Dublin, went with him, and soon afterwards published, anonymously, a + political pamphlet, A Discourse on the Contests and Dissentions in Athens + and Rome. When he returned to Ireland in September he was accompanied by + Stella—to give Esther Johnson the name by which she is best known—and + her friend Mrs. Dingley. Stella's fortune was about 1500 pounds, and the + property Temple had left her was in County Wicklow. Swift, very much for + his "own satisfaction, who had few friends or acquaintance in Ireland," + persuaded Stella—now twenty years old—that living was cheaper + there than in England, and that a better return was obtainable on money. + The ladies took his advice, and made Ireland their home. At first they + felt themselves strangers in Dublin; "the adventure looked so like a + frolic," Swift says, "the censure held for some time as if there were a + secret history in such a removal: which however soon blew off by her + excellent conduct." Swift took every step that was possible to avoid + scandal. When he was away, the ladies occupied his rooms; when he + returned, they went into their own lodgings. When he was absent, they + often stopped at the vicarage at Laracor, but if he were there, they moved + to Trim, where they visited the vicar, Dr. Raymond, or lived in lodgings + in the town or neighbourhood. Swift was never with Stella except in the + presence of a third person, and in 1726 he said that he had not seen her + in a morning "these dozen years, except once or twice in a journey." + </p> + <p> + During a visit to England in the winter of 1703-4 we find Swift in + correspondence with the Rev. William Tisdall, a Dublin incumbent whom he + had formerly known at Belfast. Tisdall was on friendly terms with Stella + and Mrs. Dingley, and Swift sent messages to them through him. "Pray put + them upon reading," he wrote, "and be always teaching something to Mrs. + Johnson, because she is good at comprehending, remembering and retaining." + But the correspondence soon took a different turn. Tisdall paid his + addresses to Stella, and charged Swift with opposing his suit. Tisdall's + letters are missing, but Swift's reply of April 20, 1704, puts things + sufficiently clearly. "My conjecture is," he says, "that you think I + obstructed your inclinations to please my own, and that my intentions were + the same with yours. In answer to all which I will, upon my conscience and + honour, tell you the naked truth. First, I think I have said to you before + that, if my fortunes and humour served me to think of that state, I should + certainly, among all persons upon earth, make your choice; because I never + saw that person whose conversation I entirely valued but hers; this was + the utmost I ever gave way to. And secondly, I must assure you sincerely + that this regard of mine never once entered into my head to be an + impediment to you." He had thought Tisdall not rich enough to marry; "but + the objection of your fortune being removed, I declare I have no other; + nor shall any consideration of my own misfortune, in losing so good a + friend and companion as her, prevail on me, against her interest and + settlement in the world, since it is held so necessary and convenient a + thing for ladies to marry, and that time takes off from the lustre of + virgins in all other eyes but mine. I appeal to my letters to herself + whether I was your friend or not in the whole concern, though the part I + designed to act in it was purely passive." He had even thought "it could + not be decently broken," without disadvantage to the lady's credit, since + he supposed it was known to the town; and he had always spoken of her in a + manner far from discouraging. Though he knew many ladies of rank, he had + "nowhere met with an humour, a wit, or conversation so agreeable, a better + portion of good sense, or a truer judgment of men or things." He envied + Tisdall his prudence and temper, and love of peace and settlement, "the + reverse of which has been the great uneasiness of my life, and is likely + to continue so." + </p> + <p> + This letter has been quoted at some length because of its great + importance. It is obviously capable of various interpretations, and some, + like Dr. Johnson, have concluded that Swift was resolved to keep Stella in + his power, and therefore prevented an advantageous match by making + unreasonable demands. I cannot see any ground for this interpretation, + though it is probable that Tisdall's appearance as a suitor was + sufficiently annoying. There is no evidence that Stella viewed Tisdall's + proposal with any favour, unless it can be held to be furnished by Swift's + belief that the town thought—rightly or wrongly—that there was + an engagement. In any case, there could be no mistake in future with + regard to Swift's attitude towards Stella. She was dearer to him than + anyone else, and his feeling for her would not change, but for marriage he + had neither fortune nor humour. Tisdall consoled himself by marrying + another lady two years afterwards; and though for a long time Swift + entertained for him feelings of dislike, in later life their relations + improved, and Tisdall was one of the witnesses to Swift's will. + </p> + <p> + The Tale of a Tub was published in 1704, and Swift was soon in constant + intercourse with Addison and the other wits. While he was in England in + 1705, Stella and Mrs. Dingley made a short visit to London. This and a + similar visit in 1708 are the only occasions on which Stella is known to + have left Ireland after taking up her residence in that country. Swift's + influence over women was always very striking. Most of the toasts of the + day were his friends, and he insisted that any lady of wit and quality who + desired his acquaintance should make the first advances. This, he says—writing + in 1730—had been an established rule for over twenty years. In 1708 + a dispute on this question with one toast, Mrs. Long, was referred for + settlement to Ginckel Vanhomrigh, the son of the house where it was + proposed that the meeting should take place; and by the decision—which + was in Swift's favour—"Mrs. Vanhomrigh and her fair daughter Hessy" + were forbidden to aid Mrs. Long in her disobedience for the future. This + is the first that we hear of Hester or Esther Vanhomrigh, who was + afterwards to play so marked a part in the story of Swift's life. Born on + February 14, 1690, she was now eighteen. Her father, Bartholomew + Vanhomrigh, a Dublin merchant of Dutch origin, had died in 1703, leaving + his wife a fortune of some sixteen thousand pounds. On the income from + this money Mrs. Vanhomrigh, with her two daughters, Hester and Mary, were + able to mix in fashionable society in London. Swift was introduced to them + by Sir Andrew Fountaine early in 1708, but evidently Stella did not make + their acquaintance, nor indeed hear much, if anything, of them until the + time of the Journal. + </p> + <p> + Swift's visit to London in 1707-9 had for its object the obtaining for the + Irish Church of the surrender by the Crown of the First-Fruits and + Twentieths, which brought in about 2500 pounds a year. Nothing came of + Swift's interviews with the Whig statesmen, and after many disappointments + he returned to Laracor (June 1709), and conversed with none but Stella and + her card-playing friends, and Addison, now secretary to Lord Wharton.(4) + Next year came the fall of the Whigs, and a request to Swift from the + Irish bishops that he would renew the application for the First-Fruits, in + the hope that there would be greater success with the Tories. Swift + reached London in September 1710, and began the series of letters, giving + details of the events of each day, which now form the Journal to Stella. + "I will write something every day to MD," he says, "and make it a sort of + journal; and when it is full I will send it, whether MD writes or no; and + so that will be pretty; and I shall always be in conversation with MD, and + MD with Presto." It is interesting to note that by way of caution these + letters were usually addressed to Mrs. Dingley, and not to Stella. + </p> + <p> + The story of Swift's growing intimacy with the Tory leaders, of the + success of his mission, of the increasing coolness towards older + acquaintances, and of his services to the Government, can best be read in + the Journal itself. In the meantime the intimacy with the Vanhomrighs grew + rapidly. They were near neighbours of Swift's, and in a few weeks after + his arrival in town we find frequent allusions to the dinners at their + house (where he kept his best gown and periwig), sometimes with the + explanation that he went there "out of mere listlessness," or because it + was wet, or because another engagement had broken down. Only thrice does + he mention the "eldest daughter": once on her birthday; once on the + occasion of a trick played him, when he received a message that she was + suddenly very ill ("I rattled off the daughter"); and once to state that + she was come of age, and was going to Ireland to look after her fortune. + There is evidence that "Miss Essy," or Vanessa, to give her the name by + which she will always be known, was in correspondence with Swift in July + 1710—while he was still in Ireland—and in the spring of + 1711;(5) and early in 1711 Stella seems to have expressed surprise at + Swift's intimacy with the family, for in February he replied, "You say + they are of no consequence; why, they keep as good female company as I do + male; I see all the drabs of quality at this end of the town with them." + In the autumn Swift seems to have thought that Vanessa was keeping company + with a certain Hatton, but Mrs. Long—possibly meaning to give him a + warning hint—remarked that if this were so "she is not the girl I + took her for; but to me she seems melancholy." + </p> + <p> + In 1712 occasional letters took the place of the daily journal to "MD," + but there is no change in the affectionate style in which Swift wrote. In + the spring he had a long illness, which affected him, indeed, throughout + the year. Other reasons which he gives for the falling off in his + correspondence are his numerous business engagements, and the hope of + being able to send some good news of an appointment for himself. There is + only one letter to Stella between July 19 and September 15, and Dr. + Birkbeck Hill argues that the poem "Cadenus and Vanessa" was composed at + that time.(6) If this be so, it must have been altered next year, because + it was not until 1713 that Swift was made a Dean. Writing on April 19, + 1726, Swift said that the poem "was written at Windsor near fourteen years + ago, and dated: it was a task performed on a frolic among some ladies, and + she it was addressed to died some time ago in Dublin, and on her death the + copy shewn by her executor." Several copies were in circulation, and he + was indifferent what was done with it; it was "only a cavalier business," + and if those who would not give allowances were malicious, it was only + what he had long expected. + </p> + <p> + From this letter it would appear that this remarkable poem was written in + the summer of 1712; whereas the title-page of the pamphlet says it was + "written at Windsor, 1713." Swift visited Windsor in both years, but he + had more leisure in 1712, and we know that Vanessa was also at Windsor in + that year. In that year, too, he was forty-four, the age mentioned in the + poem. Neither Swift nor Vanessa forgot this intercourse: years afterwards + Swift wrote to her, "Go over the scenes of Windsor.... Cad thinks often of + these"; and again, "Remember the indisposition at Windsor." We know that + this poem was revised in 1719, when in all probability Swift added the + lines to which most exception can be taken. Cadenus was to be Vanessa's + instructor:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "His conduct might have made him styled + A father, and the nymph his child." +</pre> + <p> + He had "grown old in politics and wit," and "in every scene had kept his + heart," so that he now "understood not what was love." But he had written + much, and Vanessa admired his wit. Cadenus found that her thoughts + wandered— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Though she seemed to listen more + To all he spoke than e'er before." +</pre> + <p> + When she confessed her love, he was filled with "shame, disappointment, + guilt, surprise." He had aimed only at cultivating the mind, and had + hardly known whether she was young or old. But he was flattered, and + though he could not give her love, he offered her friendship, "with + gratitude, respect, esteem." Vanessa took him at his word, and said she + would now be tutor, though he was not apt to learn:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "But what success Vanessa met + Is to the world a secret yet. + Whether the nymph to please her swain + Talks in a high romantic strain; + Or whether he at last descends + To act with less seraphic ends; + Or, to compound the business, whether + They temper love and books together, + Must never to mankind be told, + Nor shall the conscious Muse unfold." +</pre> + <p> + Such is the poem as we now have it, written, it must be remembered, for + Vanessa's private perusal. It is to be regretted, for her own sake, that + she did not destroy it. + </p> + <p> + Swift received the reward of his services to the Government—the + Deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin—in April 1713. Disappointed at what + he regarded as exile, he left London in June. Vanessa immediately began to + send him letters which brought home to him the extent of her passion; and + she hinted at jealousy in the words, "If you are very happy, it is + ill-natured of you not to tell me so, except 'tis what is inconsistent + with my own." In his reply Swift dwelt upon the dreariness of his + surroundings at Laracor, and reminded her that he had said he would + endeavour to forget everything in England, and would write as seldom as he + could. + </p> + <p> + Swift was back again in the political strife in London in September, + taking Oxford's part in the quarrel between that statesman and + Bolingbroke. On the fall of the Tories at the death of Queen Anne, he saw + that all was over, and retired to Ireland, not to return again for twelve + years. In the meantime the intimacy with Vanessa had been renewed. Her + mother had died, leaving debts, and she pressed Swift for advice in the + management of her affairs. When she suggested coming to Ireland, where she + had property, he told her that if she took this step he would "see her + very seldom." However, she took up her abode at Celbridge, only a few + miles from Dublin. Swift gave her many cautions, out of "the perfect + esteem and friendship" he felt for her, but he often visited her. She was + dissatisfied, however, begging him to speak kindly, and at least to + counterfeit his former indulgent friendship. "What can be wrong," she + wrote, "in seeing and advising an unhappy young woman? You cannot but know + that your frowns make my life unsupportable." Sometimes he treated the + matter lightly; sometimes he showed annoyance; sometimes he assured her of + his esteem and love, but urged her not to make herself or him "unhappy by + imaginations." He was uniformly unsuccessful in stopping Vanessa's + importunity. He endeavoured, she said, by severities to force her from + him; she knew she was the cause of uneasy reflections to him; but nothing + would lessen her "inexpressible passion." + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately he failed—partly no doubt from mistaken considerations + of kindness, partly because he shrank from losing her affection—to + take effective steps to put an end to Vanessa's hopes. It would have been + better if he had unhesitatingly made it clear to her that he could not + return her passion, and that if she could not be satisfied with friendship + the intimacy must cease. To quote Sir Henry Craik, "The friendship had + begun in literary guidance: it was strengthened by flattery: it lived on a + cold and almost stern repression, fed by confidences as to literary + schemes, and by occasional literary compliments: but it never came to have + a real hold over Swift's heart." + </p> + <p> + With 1716 we come to the alleged marriage with Stella. In 1752, seven + years after Swift's death, Lord Orrery, in his Remarks on Swift, said that + Stella was "the concealed, but undoubted, wife of Dr. Swift.... If my + informations are right, she was married to Dr. Swift in the year 1716, by + Dr. Ashe, then Bishop of Clogher." Ten years earlier, in 1742, in a letter + to Deane Swift which I have not seen quoted before, Orrery spoke of the + advantage of a wife to a man in his declining years; "nor had the Dean + felt a blow, or wanted a companion, had he been married, or, in other + words, had Stella lived." What this means is not at all clear. In 1754, + Dr. Delany, an old friend of Swift's, wrote, in comment upon Orrery's + Remarks, "Your account of his marriage is, I am satisfied, true." In 1789, + George Monck Berkeley, in his Literary Relics, said that Swift and Stella + were married by Dr. Ashe, "who himself related the circumstances to Bishop + Berkeley, by whose relict the story was communicated to me." Dr. Ashe + cannot have told Bishop Berkeley by word of mouth, because Ashe died in + 1717, the year after the supposed marriage, and Berkeley was then still + abroad. But Berkeley was at the time tutor to Ashe's son, and may + therefore have been informed by letter, though it is difficult to believe + that Ashe would write about such a secret so soon after the event. Thomas + Sheridan, on information received from his father, Dr. Sheridan, Swift's + friend, accepted the story of the marriage in his book (1784), adding + particulars which are of very doubtful authenticity; and Johnson, in his + Lives of the Poets, says that Dr. Madden told him that Stella had related + her "melancholy story" to Dr. Sheridan before her death. On the other + hand, Dr. Lyon, Swift's attendant in his later years, disbelieved the + story of the marriage, which was, he said, "founded only on hearsay"; and + Mrs. Dingley "laughed at it as an idle tale," founded on suspicion. + </p> + <p> + Sir Henry Craik is satisfied with the evidence for the marriage. Mr. + Leslie Stephen is of opinion that it is inconclusive, and Forster could + find no evidence that is at all reasonably sufficient; while Mr. Stanley + Lane-Poole, Mr. Churton Collins, and others are strongly of opinion that + no such marriage ever took place. A full discussion of the evidence would + involve the consideration of the reliability of the witnesses, and the + probability of their having authentic information, and would be out of + place here. My own opinion is that the evidence for the marriage is very + far from convincing, and this view seems to be confirmed by all that we + know from his own letters of Swift's relations with Stella. It has been + suggested that she was pained by reports of Swift's intercourse with + Vanessa, and felt that his feelings towards herself were growing colder; + but this is surmise, and no satisfactory explanation has been given to + account for a form of marriage being gone through after so many years of + the closest friendship. There is no reason to suppose that there was at + the time any gossip in circulation about Stella, and if her reputation was + in question, a marriage of which the secret was carefully kept would + obviously be of no benefit to her. Moreover, we are told that there was no + change in their mode of life; if they were married, what reason could + there be for keeping it a secret, or for denying themselves the closer + relationship of marriage? The only possible benefit to Stella was that + Swift would be prevented marrying anyone else. It is impossible, of + course, to disprove a marriage which we are told was secretly performed, + without banns or licence or witnesses; but we may reasonably require + strong evidence for so startling a step. If we reject the tale, the story + of Swift's connection with Stella is at least intelligible; while the + acceptance of this marriage introduces many puzzling circumstances, and + makes it necessary to believe that during the remainder of Stella's life + Swift repeatedly spoke of his wife as a friend, and of himself as one who + had never married.(7) What right have we to put aside Swift's plain and + repeated statements? Moreover, his attitude towards Vanessa for the + remaining years of her life becomes much more culpable if we are to + believe that he had given Stella the claim of a wife upon him.(8) + </p> + <p> + From 1719 onwards we have a series of poems to Stella, written chiefly in + celebration of her birthday. She was now thirty-eight (Swift says, + "Thirty-four—we shan't dispute a year or more"), and the verses + abound in laughing allusions to her advancing years and wasting form. Hers + was "an angel's face a little cracked," but all men would crowd to her + door when she was fourscore. His verses to her had always been + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Without one word of Cupid's darts, + Of killing eyes, or bleeding hearts; + With friendship and esteem possessed, + I ne'er admitted Love a guest." +</pre> + <p> + Her only fault was that she could not bear the lightest touch of blame. + Her wit and sense, her loving care in illness—to which he owed that + fact that he was alive to say it—made her the "best pattern of true + friends." She replied, in lines written on Swift's birthday in 1721, that + she was his pupil and humble friend. He had trained her judgment and + refined her fancy and taste:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "You taught how I might youth prolong + By knowing what was right and wrong; + How from my heart to bring supplies + Of lustre to my fading eyes; + How soon a beauteous mind repairs + The loss of changed or falling hairs; + How wit and virtue from within + Send out a smoothness o'er the skin + Your lectures could my fancy fix, + And I can please at thirty-six." +</pre> + <p> + In 1723 Vanessa is said to have written to Stella or to Swift—there + are discrepancies in the versions given by Sheridan and Lord Orrery, both + of whom are unreliable—asking whether the report that they were + married was true. Swift, we are told, rode to Celbridge, threw down + Vanessa's letter in a great rage, and left without speaking a word.(9) + Vanessa, whose health had been failing for some time, died shortly + afterwards, having cancelled a will in Swift's favour. She left "Cadenus + and Vanessa" for publication, and when someone said that she must have + been a remarkable woman to inspire such a poem, Stella replied that it was + well known that the Dean could write finely upon a broomstick. + </p> + <p> + Soon after this tragedy Swift became engrossed in the Irish agitation + which led to the publication of the Drapier's Letters, and in 1726 he paid + a long-deferred visit to London, taking with him the manuscript of + Gulliver's Travels. While in England he was harassed by bad news of + Stella, who had been in continued ill-health for some years. His letters + to friends in Dublin show how greatly he suffered. To the Rev. John + Worrall he wrote, in a letter which he begged him to burn, "What you tell + me of Mrs. Johnson I have long expected with great oppression and + heaviness of heart. We have been perfect friends these thirty-five years. + Upon my advice they both came to Ireland, and have been ever since my + constant companions; and the remainder of my life will be a very + melancholy scene, when one of them is gone, whom I most esteemed, upon the + score of every good quality that can possibly recommend a human creature." + He would not for the world be present at her death: "I should be a trouble + to her, and a torment to myself." If Stella came to Dublin, he begged that + she might be lodged in some airy, healthy part, and not in the Deanery, + where too it would be improper for her to die. "There is not a greater + folly," he thinks, "than to contract too great and intimate a friendship, + which must always leave the survivor miserable." To Dr. Stopford he wrote + in similar terms of the "younger of the two" "oldest and dearest friends I + have in the world." "This was a person of my own rearing and instructing + from childhood, who excelled in every good quality that can possibly + accomplish a human creature.... I know not what I am saying; but believe + me that violent friendship is much more lasting and as much engaging as + violent love." To Dr. Sheridan he said, "I look upon this to be the + greatest event that can ever happen to me; but all my preparation will not + suffice to make me bear it like a philosopher nor altogether like a + Christian. There hath been the most intimate friendship between us from + our childhood, and the greatest merit on her side that ever was in one + human creature towards another."(10) Pope alludes in a letter to Sheridan + to the illness of Swift's "particular friend," but with the exception of + another reference by Pope, and of a curiously flippant remark by + Bolingbroke, the subject is nowhere mentioned in Swift's correspondence + with his literary and fashionable friends in London. + </p> + <p> + Swift crossed to Ireland in August, fearing the worst; but Stella rallied, + and in the spring of 1727 he returned to London. In August, however, there + came alarming news, when Swift was himself suffering from giddiness and + deafness. To Dr. Sheridan he wrote that the last act of life was always a + tragedy at best: "it is a bitter aggravation to have one's best friend go + before one." Life was indifferent to him; if he recovered from his + disorder it would only be to feel the loss of "that person for whose sake + only life was worth preserving. I brought both those friends over that we + might be happy together as long as God should please; the knot is broken, + and the remaining person you know has ill answered the end; and the other, + who is now to be lost, is all that was valuable." To Worrall he again + wrote (in Latin) that Stella ought not to be lodged at the Deanery; he had + enemies who would place a bad interpretation upon it if she died there. + </p> + <p> + Swift left London for Dublin in September; he was detained some days at + Holyhead by stress of weather, and in the private journal which he kept + during that time he speaks of the suspense he was in about his "dearest + friend."(11) In December Stella made a will—signed "Esther Johnson, + spinster"—disposing of her property in the manner Swift had + suggested. Her allusions to Swift are incompatible with any such feeling + of resentment as is suggested by Sheridan. She died on January 28, 1728. + Swift could not bear to be present, but on the night of her death he began + to write his very interesting Character of Mrs. Johnson, from which + passages have already been quoted. He there calls her "the truest, most + virtuous and valuable friend that I, or perhaps any other person, was ever + blessed with." Combined with excellent gifts of the mind, "she had a + gracefulness, somewhat more than human, in every motion, word, and action. + Never was so happy a conjunction of civility, freedom, easiness, and + sincerity." Everyone treated her with marked respect, yet everyone was at + ease in her society. She preserved her wit, judgment, and vivacity to the + last, but often complained of her memory. She chose men rather than women + for her companions, "the usual topic of ladies' discourse being such as + she had little knowledge of and less relish." "Honour, truth, liberality, + good nature, and modesty were the virtues she chiefly possessed, and most + valued in her acquaintance." In some Prayers used by Swift during her last + sickness, he begged for pity for "the mournful friends of Thy distressed + servant, who sink under the weight of her present condition, and the fear + of losing the most valuable of our friends." He was too ill to be present + at the funeral at St. Patrick's. Afterwards, we are told, a lock of her + hair was found in his desk, wrapped in a paper bearing the words, "Only a + woman's hair." + </p> + <p> + Swift continued to produce pamphlets manifesting growing misanthropy, + though he showed many kindnesses to people who stood in need of help. He + seems to have given Mrs. Dingley fifty guineas a year, pretending that it + came from a fund for which he was trustee. The mental decay which he had + always feared—"I shall be like that tree," he once said, "I shall + die at the top"—became marked about 1738. Paralysis was followed by + aphasia, and after acute pain, followed by a long period of apathy, death + relieved him in October 1745. He was buried by Stella's side, in + accordance with his wishes. The bulk of his fortune was left to found a + hospital for idiots and lunatics. + </p> + <p> + There has been much rather fruitless discussion respecting the reason or + reasons why Swift did not marry Stella; for if there was any marriage, it + was nothing more than a form. Some have supposed that Swift resolved to + remain unmarried because the insanity of an uncle and the fits and + giddiness to which he was always subject led him to fear insanity in his + own case. Others, looking rather to physical causes, have dwelt upon his + coldness of temperament and indisposition to love; upon the repugnance he + often showed towards marriage, and the tone of some of the verses on the + subject written in his later years. Others, again, have found a cause in + his parsimonious habits, in his dread of poverty, the effects of which he + had himself felt, and in the smallness of his income, at least until he + was middle-aged.(12) It may well be that one or all of these things + influenced Swift's action. We cannot say more. He himself, as we have + seen, said, as early as 1704, that if his humour and means had permitted + him to think of marriage, his choice would have been Stella. Perhaps, + however, there is not much mystery in the matter. Swift seems to have been + wanting in passion; probably he was satisfied with the affection which + Stella gave him, and did not wish for more. Such an attachment as his + usually results in marriage, but not necessarily. It is not sufficiently + remembered that the affection began in Stella's childhood. They were + "perfect friends" for nearly forty years, and her advancing years in no + way lessened his love, which was independent of beauty. Whether Stella was + satisfied, who shall say? Mrs. Oliphant thought that few women would be + disposed to pity Stella, or think her life one of blight or injury. Mr. + Leslie Stephen says, "She might and probably did regard his friendship as + a full equivalent for the sacrifice.... Is it better to be the most + intimate friend of a man of genius or the wife of a commonplace Tisdall?" + Whatever we may surmise, there is nothing to prove that she was + disappointed. She was the one star which brightened Swift's storm-tossed + course; it is well that she was spared seeing the wreck at the end. + </p> + <p> + The Journal to Stella is interesting from many points of view: for its + bearing upon Swift's relations with Stella and upon his own character; for + the light which it throws upon the history of the time and upon prominent + men of the day; and for the illustrations it contains of the social life + of people of various classes in London and elsewhere. The fact that it was + written without any thought of publication is one of its greatest + attractions. Swift jotted down his opinions, his hopes, his + disappointments, without thought of their being seen by anybody but his + correspondents. The letters are transparently natural. It has been said + more than once that the Journal, by the nature of the case, contains no + full-length portraits, and hardly any sketches. Swift mentions the people + he met, but rarely stops to draw a picture of them. But though this is + true, the casual remarks which he makes often give a vivid impression of + what he thought of the person of whom he is speaking, and in many cases + those few words form a chief part of our general estimate of the man. + There are but few people of note at the time who are not mentioned in + these pages. We see Queen Anne holding a Drawing-room in her bedroom: "she + looked at us round with her fan in her mouth, and once a minute said about + three words to some that were nearest her." We see Harley, afterwards the + Earl of Oxford, "a pure trifler," who was always putting off important + business; Bolingbroke, "a thorough rake"; the prudent Lord Dartmouth, the + other Secretary of State, from whom Swift could never "work out a dinner." + There is Marlborough, "covetous as Hell, and ambitious as the prince of + it," yet a great general and unduly pressed by the Tories; and the + volatile Earl of Peterborough, "above fifty, and as active as one of + five-and-twenty"—"the ramblingest lying rogue on earth." We meet + poor Congreve, nearly blind, and in fear of losing his commissionership; + the kindly Arbuthnot, the Queen's physician; Addison, whom Swift met more + and more rarely, busy with the preparation and production of Cato; Steele, + careless as ever, neglecting important appointments, and "governed by his + wife most abominably"; Prior, poet and diplomatist, with a "lean carcass"; + and young Berkeley of Trinity College, Dublin, "a very ingenious man and + great philosopher," whom Swift determined to favour as much as he could. + Mrs. Masham, the Duchess of Somerset, the Duchess of Shrewsbury, the + Duchess of Hamilton, Lady Betty Germaine, and many other ladies appear + with more or less distinctness; besides a host of people of less note, of + whom we often know little but what Swift tells us. + </p> + <p> + Swift throws much light, too, on the daily life of his time. The bellman + on his nightly rounds, calling "Paaast twelvvve o'clock"; the dinner at + three, or at the latest, four; the meetings at coffee-houses; the + book-sales; the visit to the London sights—the lions at the Tower, + Bedlam, the tombs in Westminster Abbey, and the puppet-show; the terrible + Mohocks, of whom Swift stood in so much fear; the polite "howdees" sent to + friends by footmen; these and more are all described in the Journal. We + read of curious habits and practices of fashionable ladies; of the snuff + used by Mrs. Dingley and others; of the jokes—"bites," puns, and the + like—indulged in by polite persons. When Swift lodged at Chelsea, he + reached London either by boat, or by coach,—which was sometimes full + when he wanted it,—or by walking across the "Five Fields," not + without fear of robbers at night. The going to or from Ireland was a + serious matter; after the long journey by road came the voyage (weather + permitting) of some fifteen hours, with the risk of being seized or + pursued by French privateers; and when Ireland was reached the roads were + of the worst. We have glimpses of fashionable society in Dublin, of the + quiet life at Laracor and Trim, and of the drinking of the waters at + Wexford, where visitors had to put up with primitive arrangements: "Mrs. + Dingley never saw such a place in her life." + </p> + <p> + Swift's own characteristics come out in the clearest manner in the + Journal, which gives all his hopes and fears during three busy years. He + was pleased to find on his arrival in London how great a value was set on + his friendship by both political parties: "The Whigs were ravished to see + me, and would lay hold on me as a twig while they are drowning;" but + Godolphin's coldness enraged him, so that he was "almost vowing + vengeance." Next day he talked treason heartily against the Whigs, their + baseness and ingratitude, and went home full of schemes of revenge. "The + Tories drily tell me I may make my fortune, if I please; but I do not + understand them, or rather, I DO understand them." He realised that the + Tories might not be more grateful than others, but he thought they were + pursuing the true interests of the public, and was glad to contribute what + was in his power. His vanity was gratified by Harley inviting him to the + private dinners with St. John and Harcourt which were given on Saturdays, + and by their calling him Jonathan; but he did not hope too much from their + friendship: "I said I believed they would leave me Jonathan, as they found + me... but I care not." + </p> + <p> + Of Swift's frugal habits there is abundant evidence in the Journal. When + he came to town he took rooms on a first floor, "a dining-room and + bed-chamber, at eight shillings a week; plaguy dear, but I spend nothing + for eating, never go to a tavern, and very seldom in a coach; yet after + all it will be expensive." In November he mentions that he had a fire: "I + am spending my second half-bushel of coals." In another place he says, + "People have so left the town, that I am at a loss for a dinner.... It + cost me eighteenpence in coach-hire before I could find a place to dine + in." Elsewhere we find: "This paper does not cost me a farthing: I have it + from the Secretary's office." He often complains of having to take a coach + owing to the dirty condition of the streets: "This rain ruins me in + coach-hire; I walked away sixpennyworth, and came within a shilling + length, and then took a coach, and got a lift back for nothing."(13) + </p> + <p> + Swift's arrogance—the arrogance, sometimes, of a man who is morbidly + suspicious that he may be patronised—is shown in the manner in which + he speaks of the grand ladies with whom he came in contact. He calls the + Duke of Ormond's daughters "insolent drabs," and talks of his "mistress, + Ophy Butler's wife, who is grown a little charmless." When the Duchess of + Shrewsbury reproached him for not dining with her, Swift said that was not + so soon done; he expected more advances from ladies, especially duchesses. + On another occasion he was to have supped at Lady Ashburnham's, "but the + drab did not call for us in her coach, as she promised, but sent for us, + and so I sent my excuses." The arrogance was, however, often only on the + surface. It is evident that Swift was very kind in many cases. He felt + deeply for Mrs. Long in her misfortunes, living and dying in an obscure + country town. On the last illness of the poet Harrison he says, "I am very + much afflicted for him, as he is my own creature.... I was afraid to knock + at the door; my mind misgave me." He was "heartily sorry for poor Mrs. + Parnell's death; she seemed to be an excellent good-natured young woman, + and I believe the poor lad is much afflicted; they appeared to live + perfectly well together." Afterwards he helped Parnell by introducing him + to Bolingbroke and Oxford. He found kind words for Mrs. Manley in her + illness, and Lady Ashburnham's death was "extremely moving.... She was my + greatest favourite, and I am in excessive concern for her loss." Lastly, + he was extraordinarily patient towards his servant Patrick, who drank, + stopped out at night, and in many ways tried Swift's temper. There were + good points about Patrick, but no doubt the great consideration which + Swift showed him was due in part to the fact that he was a favourite of + the ladies in Dublin, and had Mrs. Vanhomrigh to intercede for him. + </p> + <p> + But for the best example of the kindly side of Swift's nature, we must + turn to what he tells us in the Journal about Stella herself. The "little + language" which Swift used when writing to her was the language he + employed when playing with Stella as a little child at Moor Park. + Thackeray, who was not much in sympathy with Swift, said that he knew of + "nothing more manly, more tender, more exquisitely touching, than some of + these notes." Swift says that when he wrote plainly, he felt as if they + were no longer alone, but "a bad scrawl is so snug it looks like a PMD." + In writing his fond and playful prattle, he made up his mouth "just as if + he were speaking it."(14) + </p> + <p> + Though Mrs. Dingley is constantly associated with Stella in the + affectionate greetings in the Journal, she seems to have been included + merely as a cloak to enable him to express the more freely his affection + for her companion. Such phrases as "saucy girls," "sirrahs," "sauceboxes," + and the like, are often applied to both; and sometimes Swift certainly + writes as if the one were as dear to him as the other; thus we find, + "Farewell, my dearest lives and delights, I love you better than ever, if + possible, as hope saved, I do, and ever will.... I can count upon nothing, + nor will, but upon MD's love and kindness.... And so farewell, dearest MD, + Stella, Dingley, Presto, all together, now and for ever, all together." + But as a rule, notwithstanding Swift's caution, the greetings intended for + Stella alone are easily distinguishable in tone. He often refers to her + weak eyes and delicate health. Thus he writes, "The chocolate is a + present, madam, for Stella. Don't read this, you little rogue, with your + little eyes; but give it to Dingley, pray now; and I will write as plain + as the skies." And again, "God Almighty bless poor Stella, and her eyes + and head: what shall we do to cure them, poor dear life?" Or, "Now to + Stella's little postscript; and I am almost crazed that you vex yourself + for not writing. Can't you dictate to Dingley, and not strain your dear + little eyes? I am sure 'tis the grief of my soul to think you are out of + order." They had been keeping his birthday; Swift wished he had been with + them, rather than in London, where he had no manner of pleasure: "I say + Amen with all my heart and vitals, that we may never be asunder again ten + days together while poor Presto lives." A few days later he says, "I wish + I were at Laracor, with dear charming MD," and again, "Farewell, dearest + beloved MD, and love poor poor Presto, who has not had one happy day since + he left you." "I will say no more, but beg you to be easy till Fortune + takes his course, and to believe MD's felicity is the great goal I aim at + in all my pursuits." "How does Stella look, Madam Dingley?" he asks; + "pretty well, a handsome young woman still? Will she pass in a crowd? Will + she make a figure in a country church?" Elsewhere he writes, on receipt of + a letter, "God Almighty bless poor dear Stella, and send her a great many + birthdays, all happy and healthy and wealthy, and with me ever together, + and never asunder again, unless by chance.... I can hardly imagine you + absent when I am reading your letter or writing to you. No, faith, you are + just here upon this little paper, and therefore I see and talk with you + every evening constantly, and sometimes in the morning." The letters lay + under Swift's pillow, and he fondled them as if he were caressing Stella's + hand. + </p> + <p> + Of Stella herself we naturally have no direct account in the Journal, but + we hear a good deal of her life in Ireland, and can picture what she was. + Among her friends in and about Trim and Laracor were Dr. Raymond, the + vicar of Trim, and his wife, the Garret Wesleys, the Percevals, and Mr. + Warburton, Swift's curate. At Dublin there were Archdeacon Walls and his + family; Alderman Stoyte, his wife and sister-in-law; Dean Sterne and the + Irish Postmaster-General, Isaac Manley. For years these friends formed a + club which met in Dublin at each other's houses, to sup and play cards + ("ombre and claret, and toasted oranges"), and we have frequent allusions + to Stella's indifferent play, and the money which she lost, much to Mrs. + Dingley's chagrin: "Poor Dingley fretted to see Stella lose that four and + elevenpence t'other night." Mrs. Dingley herself could hardly play well + enough to hold the cards while Stella went into the next room. If at + dinner the mutton was underdone, and "poor Stella cannot eat, poor dear + rogue," then "Dingley is so vexed." Swift was for ever urging Stella to + walk and ride; she was "naturally a stout walker," and "Dingley would do + well enough if her petticoats were pinned up." And we see Stella setting + out on and returning from her ride, with her riband and mask: "Ah, that + riding to Laracor gives me short sighs as well as you," he says; "all the + days I have passed here have been dirt to those." + </p> + <p> + If the Journal shows us some of Swift's less attractive qualities, it + shows still more how great a store of humour, tenderness, and affection + there was in him. In these letters we see his very soul; in his literary + work we are seldom moved to anything but admiration of his wit and genius. + Such daily outpourings could never have been written for publication, they + were meant only for one who understood him perfectly; and everything that + we know of Stella—her kindliness, her wit, her vivacity, her loyalty—shows + that she was worthy of the confidence. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + JOURNAL TO STELLA + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 1.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + CHESTER, Sept. 2, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + Joe(2) will give you an account of me till I got into the boat; after + which the rogues made a new bargain, and forced me to give them two + crowns, and talked as if we should not be able to overtake any ship: but + in half an hour we got to the yacht; for the ships lay by (to) wait for my + Lord Lieutenant's steward. We made our voyage in fifteen hours just. Last + night I came to this town, and shall leave it, I believe, on Monday. The + first man I met in Chester was Dr. Raymond.(3) He and Mrs. Raymond were + here about levying a fine, in order to have power to sell their estate. + They have found everything answer very well. They both desire to present + their humble services to you: they do not think of Ireland till next year. + I got a fall off my horse, riding here from Parkgate,(4) but no hurt; the + horse understanding falls very well, and lying quietly till I get up. My + duty to the Bishop of Clogher.(5) I saw him returning from Dunleary; but + he saw not me. I take it ill he was not at Convocation, and that I have + not his name to my powers.(6) I beg you will hold your resolution of going + to Trim, and riding there as much as you can. Let the Bishop of Clogher + remind the Bishop of Killala(7) to send me a letter, with one enclosed to + the Bishop of Lichfield.(8) Let all who write to me, enclose to Richard + Steele, Esq., at his office at the Cockpit, near Whitehall.(9) But not MD; + I will pay for their letters at St. James's Coffee-house,(10) that I may + have them the sooner. My Lord Mountjoy(11) is now in the humour that we + should begin our journey this afternoon; so that I have stole here again + to finish this letter, which must be short or long accordingly. I write + this post to Mrs. Wesley,(12) and will tell her, that I have taken care + she may have her bill of one hundred and fifteen pounds whenever she + pleases to send for it; and in that case I desire you will send it her + enclosed and sealed, and have it ready so, in case she should send for it: + otherwise keep it. I will say no more till I hear whether I go to-day or + no: if I do, the letter is almost at an end. My cozen Abigail is grown + prodigiously old. God Almighty bless poo dee richar MD; and, for God's + sake, be merry, and get oo health. I am perfectly resolved to return as + soon as I have done my commission, whether it succeeds or no. I never went + to England with so little desire in my life. If Mrs. Curry(13) makes any + difficulty about the lodgings, I will quit them and pay her from July 9 + last, and Mrs. Brent(14) must write to Parvisol(15) with orders + accordingly. The post is come from London, and just going out; so I have + only time to pray God to bless poor richr MD FW FW MD MD ME ME ME. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 2. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Sept. 9, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + Got here last Thursday,(1) after five days' travelling, weary the first, + almost dead the second, tolerable the third, and well enough the rest; and + am now glad of the fatigue, which has served for exercise; and I am at + present well enough. The Whigs were ravished to see me, and would lay hold + on me as a twig while they are drowning,(2) and the great men making me + their clumsy apologies, etc. But my Lord Treasurer(3) received me with a + great deal of coldness, which has enraged me so, I am almost vowing + revenge. I have not yet gone half my circle; but I find all my + acquaintance just as I left them. I hear my Lady Giffard(4) is much at + Court, and Lady Wharton(5) was ridiculing it t'other day; so I have lost a + friend there. I have not yet seen her, nor intend it; but I will contrive + to see Stella's mother(6) some other way. I writ to the Bishop of Clogher + from Chester; and I now write to the Archbishop of Dublin.(7) Everything + is turning upside down; every Whig in great office will, to a man, be + infallibly put out; and we shall have such a winter as hath not been seen + in England. Everybody asks me, how I came to be so long in Ireland, as + naturally as if here were my being; but no soul offers to make it so: and + I protest I shall return to Dublin, and the Canal at Laracor,(8) with more + satisfaction than ever I did in my life. The Tatler(9) expects every day + to be turned out of his employment; and the Duke of Ormond,(10) they say, + will be Lieutenant of Ireland. I hope you are now peaceably in + Presto's(11) lodgings; but I resolve to turn you out by Christmas; in + which time I shall either do my business, or find it not to be done. Pray + be at Trim by the time this letter comes to you; and ride little Johnson, + who must needs be now in good case. I have begun this letter unusually, on + the post-night, and have already written to the Archbishop; and cannot + lengthen this. Henceforth I will write something every day to MD, and make + it a sort of journal; and when it is full, I will send it, whether MD + writes or no; and so that will be pretty: and I shall always be in + conversation with MD, and MD with Presto. Pray make Parvisol pay you the + ten pounds immediately; so I ordered him. They tell me I am grown fatter, + and look better; and, on Monday, Jervas(12) is to retouch my picture. I + thought I saw Jack Temple(13) and his wife pass by me to-day in their + coach; but I took no notice of them. I am glad I have wholly shaken off + that family. Tell the Provost,(14) I have obeyed his commands to the Duke + of Ormond; or let it alone, if you please. I saw Jemmy Leigh(15) just now + at the Coffee-house, who asked after you with great kindness: he talks of + going in a fortnight to Ireland. My service to the Dean,(16) and Mrs. + Walls, and her Archdeacon.(17) Will Frankland's(18) wife is near bringing + to-bed, and I have promised to christen the child. I fancy you had my + Chester letter the Tuesday after I writ. I presented Dr. Raymond to Lord + Wharton(19) at Chester. Pray let me know when Joe gets his money.(20) It + is near ten, and I hate to send by the bellman.(21) MD shall have a longer + letter in a week, but I send this only to tell I am safe in London; and so + farewell, etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 3. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Sept. 9, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + After seeing the Duke of Ormond, dining with Dr. Cockburn,(1) passing some + part of the afternoon with Sir Matthew Dudley(2) and Will Frankland, the + rest at St. James's Coffee-house, I came home, and writ to the Archbishop + of Dublin and MD, and am going to bed. I forgot to tell you, that I begged + Will Frankland to stand Manley's(3) friend with his father in this shaking + season for places. He told me, his father was in danger to be out; that + several were now soliciting for Manley's place; that he was accused of + opening letters; that Sir Thomas Frankland(4) would sacrifice everything + to save himself; and in that, I fear, Manley is undone, etc. + </p> + <p> + 10. To-day I dined with Lord Mountjoy at Kensington; saw my mistress, Ophy + Butler's(5) wife, who is grown a little charmless. I sat till ten in the + evening with Addison and Steele: Steele will certainly lose his + Gazetteer's place, all the world detesting his engaging in parties.(6) At + ten I went to the Coffee-house, hoping to find Lord Radnor,(7) whom I had + not seen. He was there; and for an hour and a half we talked treason + heartily against the Whigs, their baseness and ingratitude. And I am come + home, rolling resentments in my mind, and framing schemes of revenge: full + of which (having written down some hints) I go to bed. I am afraid MD + dined at home, because it is Sunday; and there was the little half-pint of + wine: for God's sake, be good girls, and all will be well. Ben Tooke(8) + was with me this morning. + </p> + <p> + 11. Seven, morning. I am rising to go to Jervas to finish my picture, and + 'tis shaving-day, so good-morrow MD; but don't keep me now, for I can't + stay; and pray dine with the Dean, but don't lose your money. I long to + hear from you, etc.—Ten at night. I sat four hours this morning to + Jervas, who has given my picture quite another turn, and now approves it + entirely; but we must have the approbation of the town. If I were rich + enough, I would get a copy of it, and bring it over. Mr. Addison and I + dined together at his lodgings, and I sat with him part of this evening; + and I am now come home to write an hour. Patrick(9) observes, that the + rabble here are much more inquisitive in politics than in Ireland. Every + day we expect changes, and the Parliament to be dissolved. Lord Wharton + expects every day to be out: he is working like a horse for elections; + and, in short, I never saw so great a ferment among all sorts of people. I + had a miserable letter from Joe last Saturday, telling me Mr. Pratt(10) + refuses payment of his money. I have told it Mr. Addison, and will to Lord + Wharton; but I fear with no success. However, I will do all I can. + </p> + <p> + 12. To-day I presented Mr. Ford(11) to the Duke of Ormond; and paid my + first visit to Lord President,(12) with whom I had much discourse; but put + him always off when he began to talk of Lord Wharton in relation to me, + till he urged it: then I said, he knew I never expected anything from Lord + Wharton, and that Lord Wharton knew that I understood it so. He said that + he had written twice to Lord Wharton about me, who both times said nothing + at all to that part of his letter. I am advised not to meddle in the + affair of the First-Fruits, till this hurry is a little over, which still + depends, and we are all in the dark. Lord President told me he expects + every day to be out, and has done so these two months. I protest, upon my + life, I am heartily weary of this town, and wish I had never stirred. + </p> + <p> + 13. I went this morning to the city, to see Mr. Stratford the Hamburg + merchant, my old schoolfellow;(13) but calling at Bull's(14) on Ludgate + Hill, he forced me to his house at Hampstead to dinner among a great deal + of ill company; among the rest Mr. Hoadley,(15) the Whig clergyman, so + famous for acting the contrary part to Sacheverell:(16) but tomorrow I + design again to see Stratford. I was glad, however, to be at Hampstead, + where I saw Lady Lucy(17) and Moll Stanhope. I hear very unfortunate news + of Mrs. Long;(18) she and her comrade(19) have broke up house, and she is + broke for good and all, and is gone to the country: I should be extremely + sorry if this be true. + </p> + <p> + 14. To-day, I saw Patty Rolt,(20) who heard I was in town; and I dined + with Stratford at a merchant's in the city, where I drank the first Tokay + wine I ever saw; and it is admirable, yet not to the degree I expected. + Stratford is worth a plum,(21) and is now lending the Government forty + thousand pounds; yet we were educated together at the same school and + university.(22) We hear the Chancellor(23) is to be suddenly out, and Sir + Simon Harcourt(24) to succeed him: I am come early home, not caring for + the Coffee-house. + </p> + <p> + 15. To-day Mr. Addison, Colonel Freind,(25) and I, went to see the million + lottery(26) drawn at Guildhall. The jackanapes of bluecoat boys gave + themselves such airs in pulling out the tickets, and showed white hands + open to the company, to let us see there was no cheat. We dined at a + country-house near Chelsea, where Mr. Addison often retires; and to-night, + at the Coffee-house, we hear Sir Simon Harcourt is made Lord Keeper; so + that now we expect every moment the Parliament will be dissolved; but I + forgot that this letter will not go in three or four days, and that my + news will be stale, which I should therefore put in the last paragraph. + Shall I send this letter before I hear from MD, or shall I keep it to + lengthen? I have not yet seen Stella's mother, because I will not see Lady + Giffard; but I will contrive to go there when Lady Giffard is abroad. I + forgot to mark my two former letters; but I remember this is Number 3, and + I have not yet had Number 1 from MD; but I shall by Monday, which I reckon + will be just a fortnight after you had my first. I am resolved to bring + over a great deal of china. I loved it mightily to-day.(27) What shall I + bring? + </p> + <p> + 16. Morning. Sir John Holland,(28) Comptroller of the Household, has sent + to desire my acquaintance: I have a mind to refuse him, because he is a + Whig, and will, I suppose, be out among the rest; but he is a man of worth + and learning. Tell me, do you like this journal way of writing? Is it not + tedious and dull? + </p> + <p> + Night. I dined to-day with a cousin, a printer,(29) where Patty Rolt + lodges, and then came home, after a visit or two; and it has been a very + insipid day. Mrs. Long's misfortune is confirmed to me; bailiffs were in + her house; she retired to private lodgings; thence to the country, nobody + knows where: her friends leave letters at some inn, and they are carried + to her; and she writes answers without dating them from any place. I + swear, it grieves me to the soul. + </p> + <p> + 17. To-day I dined six miles out of town, with Will Pate,(30) the learned + woollen-draper; Mr. Stratford went with me; six miles here is nothing: we + left Pate after sunset, and were here before it was dark. This letter + shall go on Tuesday, whether I hear from MD or no. My health continues + pretty well; pray God Stella may give me a good account of hers! and I + hope you are now at Trim, or soon designing it. I was disappointed + to-night: the fellow gave me a letter, and I hoped to see little MD's + hand; and it was only to invite me to a venison pasty to-day: so I lost my + pasty into the bargain. Pox on these declining courtiers! Here is Mr. + Brydges,(31) the Paymaster-General, desiring my acquaintance; but I hear + the Queen sent Lord Shrewsbury(32) to assure him he may keep his place; + and he promises me great assistance in the affair of the First-Fruits. + Well, I must turn over this leaf to-night, though the side would hold + another line; but pray consider this is a whole sheet; it holds a plaguy + deal, and you must be content to be weary; but I'll do so no more. Sir + Simon Harcourt is made Attorney-General, and not Lord Keeper. + </p> + <p> + 18. To-day I dined with Mr. Stratford at Mr. Addison's retirement near + Chelsea; then came to town; got home early, and began a letter to the + Tatler,(33) about the corruptions of style and writing, etc., and, having + not heard from you, am resolved this letter shall go to-night. Lord + Wharton was sent for to town in mighty haste, by the Duke of + Devonshire:(34) they have some project in hand; but it will not do, for + every hour we expect a thorough revolution, and that the Parliament will + be dissolved. When you see Joe, tell him Lord Wharton is too busy to mind + any of his affairs; but I will get what good offices I can from Mr. + Addison, and will write to-day to Mr. Pratt; and bid Joe not to be + discouraged, for I am confident he will get the money under any + Government; but he must have patience. + </p> + <p> + 19. I have been scribbling this morning, and I believe shall hardly fill + this side to-day, but send it as it is; and it is good enough for naughty + girls that won't write to a body, and to a good boy like Presto. I thought + to have sent this to-night, but was kept by company, and could not; and, + to say the truth, I had a little mind to expect one post more for a letter + from MD. Yesterday at noon died the Earl of Anglesea,(35) the great + support of the Tories; so that employment of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland is + again vacant. We were to have been great friends, and I could hardly have + a loss that could grieve me more. The Bishop of Durham(36) died the same + day. The Duke of Ormond's daughter(37) was to visit me to-day at a third + place by way of advance,(38) and I am to return it to-morrow. I have had a + letter from Lady Berkeley, begging me for charity to come to Berkeley + Castle, for company to my lord,(39) who has been ill of a dropsy; but I + cannot go, and must send my excuse to-morrow. I am told that in a few + hours there will be more removals. + </p> + <p> + 20. To-day I returned my visits to the Duke's daughters;(40) the insolent + drabs came up to my very mouth to salute me. Then I heard the report + confirmed of removals; my Lord President Somers; the Duke of Devonshire, + Lord Steward; and Mr. Boyle,(41) Secretary of State, are all turned out + to-day. I never remember such bold steps taken by a Court: I am almost + shocked at it, though I did not care if they were all hanged. We are + astonished why the Parliament is not yet dissolved, and why they keep a + matter of that importance to the last. We shall have a strange winter + here, between the struggles of a cunning provoked discarded party, and the + triumphs of one in power; of both which I shall be an indifferent + spectator, and return very peaceably to Ireland, when I have done my part + in the affair I am entrusted with, whether it succeeds or no. To-morrow I + change my lodgings in Pall Mall for one in Bury Street,(42) where I + suppose I shall continue while I stay in London. If anything happens + tomorrow, I will add it.—Robin's Coffee-house.(43) We have great + news just now from Spain; Madrid taken, and Pampeluna. I am here ever + interrupted. + </p> + <p> + 21. I have just received your letter, which I will not answer now; God be + thanked all things are so well. I find you have not yet had my second: I + had a letter from Parvisol, who tells me he gave Mrs. Walls a bill of + twenty pounds for me, to be given to you; but you have not sent it. This + night the Parliament is dissolved: great news from Spain; King Charles and + Stanhope are at Madrid, and Count Staremberg has taken Pampeluna. + Farewell. This is from St. James's Coffee-house. I will begin my answer to + your letter to-night, but not send it this week. Pray tell me whether you + like this journal way of writing.—I don't like your reasons for not + going to Trim. Parvisol tells me he can sell your horse. Sell it, with a + pox? Pray let him know that he shall sell his soul as soon. What? sell + anything that Stella loves, and may sometimes ride? It is hers, and let + her do as she pleases: pray let him know this by the first that you know + goes to Trim. Let him sell my grey, and be hanged. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 4. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Sept. 21, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + Here must I begin another letter, on a whole sheet, for fear saucy little + MD should be angry, and think MUCH that the paper is too LITTLE. I had + your letter this night, as told you just and no more in my last; for this + must be taken up in answering yours, saucebox. I believe I told you where + I dined to-day; and to-morrow I go out of town for two days to dine with + the same company on Sunday; Molesworth(1) the Florence Envoy, Stratford, + and some others. I heard to-day that a gentlewoman from Lady Giffard's + house had been at the Coffee-house to inquire for me. It was Stella's + mother, I suppose. I shall send her a penny-post letter(2) to-morrow, and + contrive to see her without hazarding seeing Lady Giffard, which I will + not do until she begs my pardon. + </p> + <p> + 22. I dined to-day at Hampstead with Lady Lucy, etc., and when I got home + found a letter from Joe, with one enclosed to Lord Wharton, which I will + send to his Excellency, and second it as well as I can; but to talk of + getting the Queen's order is a jest. Things are in such a combustion here, + that I am advised not to meddle yet in the affair I am upon, which + concerns the clergy of a whole kingdom; and does he think anybody will + trouble the Queen about Joe? We shall, I hope, get a recommendation from + the Lord Lieutenant to the trustees for the linen business, and I hope + that will do; and so I will write to him in a few days, and he must have + patience. This is an answer to part of your letter as well as his. I lied; + it is to-morrow I go to the country, and I won't answer a bit more of your + letter yet. + </p> + <p> + 23. Here is such a stir and bustle with this little MD of ours; I must be + writing every night; I can't go to bed without a word to them; I can't put + out my candle till I have bid them good-night: O Lord, O Lord! Well, I + dined the first time to-day, with Will Frankland and his fortune: she is + not very handsome. Did I not say I would go out of town to-day? I hate + lying abroad and clutter; I go tomorrow in Frankland's chariot, and come + back at night. Lady Berkeley has invited me to Berkeley Castle, and Lady + Betty Germaine(3) to Drayton in Northamptonshire; and I'll go to neither. + Let me alone, I must finish my pamphlet. I have sent a long letter to + Bickerstaff:(4) let the Bishop of Clogher smoke(5) it if he can. Well, + I'll write to the Bishop of Killala; but you might have told him how + sudden and unexpected my journey was though. Deuce take Lady S—-; + and if I know D—-y, he is a rawboned-faced fellow, not handsome, nor + visibly so young as you say: she sacrifices two thousand pounds a year, + and keeps only six hundred. Well, you have had all my land journey in my + second letter, and so much for that. So, you have got into Presto's + lodgings; very fine, truly! We have had a fortnight of the most glorious + weather on earth, and still continues: I hope you have made the best of + it. Ballygall(6) will be a pure(7) good place for air, if Mrs. Ashe makes + good her promise. Stella writes like an emperor: I am afraid it hurts your + eyes; take care of that pray, pray, Mrs. Stella. Can't you do what you + will with your own horse? Pray don't let that puppy Parvisol sell him. + Patrick is drunk about three times a week, and I bear it, and he has got + the better of me; but one of these days I will positively turn him off to + the wide world, when none of you are by to intercede for him.—Stuff—how + can I get her husband into the Charter-house? get a —— into + the Charter-house.—Write constantly! Why, sirrah, don't I write + every day, and sometimes twice a day to MD? Now I have answered all your + letter, and the rest must be as it can be: send me my bill. Tell Mrs. + Brent what I say of the Charter-house. I think this enough for one night; + and so farewell till this time to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + 24. To-day I dined six miles out of town at Will Pate's, with Stratford, + Frankland, and the Molesworths,(8) and came home at night, and was weary + and lazy. I can say no more now, but good-night. + </p> + <p> + 25. I was so lazy to-day that I dined at next door,(9) and have sat at + home since six, writing to the Bishop of Clogher, Dean Sterne, and Mr. + Manley: the last, because I am in fear for him about his place, and have + sent him my opinion, what I and his other friends here think he ought to + do. I hope he will take it well. My advice was, to keep as much in favour + as possible with Sir Thomas Frankland, his master here. + </p> + <p> + 26. Smoke how I widen the margin by lying in bed when I write. My bed lies + on the wrong side for me, so that I am forced often to write when I am up. + Manley, you must know, has had people putting in for his place already; + and has been complained of for opening letters. Remember that last Sunday, + September 24, 1710, was as hot as midsummer. This was written in the + morning; it is now night, and Presto in bed. Here's a clutter, I have + gotten MD's second letter, and I must answer it here. I gave the bill to + Tooke, and so—Well, I dined to-day with Sir John Holland the + Comptroller, and sat with him till eight; then came home, and sent my + letters, and writ part of a lampoon,(10) which goes on very slow: and now + I am writing to saucy MD; no wonder, indeed, good boys must write to + naughty girls. I have not seen your mother yet; my penny-post letter, I + suppose, miscarried: I will write another. Mr. S—— came to see + me; and said M—— was going to the country next morning with + her husband (who I find is a surly brute); so I could only desire my + service to her. + </p> + <p> + 27. To-day all our company dined at Will Frankland's, with Steele and + Addison too. This is the first rainy day since I came to town; I cannot + afford to answer your letter yet. Morgan,(11) the puppy, writ me a long + letter, to desire I would recommend him for purse-bearer or secretary to + the next Lord Chancellor that would come with the next Governor. I will + not answer him; but beg you will say these words to his father + Raymond,(12) or anybody that will tell him: That Dr. Swift has received + his letter; and would be very ready to serve him, but cannot do it in what + he desires, because he has no sort of interest in the persons to be + applied to. These words you may write, and let Joe, or Mr. Warburton,(13) + give them to him: a pox on him! However, it is by these sort of ways that + fools get preferment. I must not end yet, because I cannot say good-night + without losing a line, and then MD would scold; but now, good-night. + </p> + <p> + 28. I have the finest piece of Brazil tobacco for Dingley that ever was + born.(14) You talk of Leigh; why, he won't be in Dublin these two months: + he goes to the country, then returns to London, to see how the world goes + here in Parliament. Good-night, sirrahs; no, no, not night; I writ this in + the morning, and looking carelessly I thought it had been of last night. I + dined to-day with Mrs. Barton(15) alone at her lodgings; where she told me + for certain, that Lady S—— was with child when she was last in + England, and pretended a tympany, and saw everybody; then disappeared for + three weeks, her tympany was gone, and she looked like a ghost, etc. No + wonder she married when she was so ill at containing. Connolly(16) is out; + and Mr. Roberts in his place, who loses a better here, but was formerly a + Commissioner in Ireland. That employment cost Connolly three thousand + pounds to Lord Wharton; so he has made one ill bargain in his life. + </p> + <p> + 29. I wish MD a merry Michaelmas. I dined with Mr. Addison, and Jervas the + painter, at Addison's country place; and then came home, and writ more to + my lampoon. I made a Tatler since I came: guess which it is, and whether + the Bishop of Clogher smokes it. I saw Mr. Sterne(17) to-day: he will do + as you order, and I will give him chocolate for Stella's health. He goes + not these three weeks. I wish I could send it some other way. So now to + your letter, brave boys. I don't like your way of saving shillings: + nothing vexes me but that it does not make Stella a coward in a coach.(18) + I don't think any lady's advice about my ear signifies twopence: however I + will, in compliance to you, ask Dr. Cockburn. Radcliffe(19) I know not, + and Barnard(20) I never see. Walls will certainly be stingier for seven + years, upon pretence of his robbery. So Stella puns again; why, 'tis well + enough; but I'll not second it, though I could make a dozen: I never + thought of a pun since I left Ireland.—Bishop of Clogher's bill? + Why, he paid it to me; do you think I was such a fool to go without it? As + for the four shillings, I will give you a bill on Parvisol for it on + t'other side of this paper; and pray tear off the two letters I shall + write to him and Joe, or let Dingley transcribe and send them; though that + to Parvisol, I believe, he must have my hand for. No, no, I'll eat no + grapes; I ate about six the other day at Sir John Holland's; but would not + give sixpence for a thousand, they are so bad this year. Yes, faith, I + hope in God Presto and MD will be together this time twelvemonth. What + then? Last year I suppose I was at Laracor; but next I hope to eat my + Michaelmas goose at my two little gooses' lodgings. I drink no aile (I + suppose you mean ale); but yet good wine every day, of five and six + shillings a bottle. O Lord, how much Stella writes! pray don't carry that + too far, young women, but be temperate, to hold out. To-morrow I go to Mr. + Harley.(21) Why, small hopes from the Duke of Ormond: he loves me very + well, I believe, and would, in my turn, give me something to make me easy; + and I have good interest among his best friends. But I don't think of + anything further than the business I am upon. You see I writ to Manley + before I had your letter, and I fear he will be out. Yes, Mrs. Owl, + Bligh's corpse(22) came to Chester when I was there; and I told you so in + my letter, or forgot it. I lodge in Bury Street, where I removed a week + ago. I have the first floor, a dining-room, and bed-chamber, at eight + shillings a week; plaguy deep, but I spend nothing for eating, never go to + a tavern, and very seldom in a coach; yet after all it will be expensive. + Why do you trouble yourself, Mistress Stella, about my instrument? I have + the same the Archbishop gave me; and it is as good now the bishops are + away. The Dean friendly! the Dean be poxed: a great piece of friendship + indeed, what you heard him tell the Bishop of Clogher; I wonder he had the + face to talk so: but he lent me money, and that's enough. Faith, I would + not send this these four days, only for writing to Joe and Parvisol. Tell + the Dean that when the bishops send me any packets, they must not write to + me at Mr. Steele's; but direct for Mr. Steele, at his office at the + Cockpit, and let the enclosed be directed for me: that mistake cost me + eighteenpence the other day. + </p> + <p> + 30. I dined with Stratford to-day, but am not to see Mr. Harley till + Wednesday: it is late, and I send this before there is occasion for the + bell; because I would have Joe have his letter, and Parvisol too; which + you must so contrive as not to cost them double postage. I can say no + more, but that I am, etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 5. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Sept. 30, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + Han't I brought myself into a fine praemunire,(1) to begin writing letters + in whole sheets? and now I dare not leave it off. I cannot tell whether + you like these journal letters: I believe they would be dull to me to read + them over; but, perhaps, little MD is pleased to know how Presto passes + his time in her absence. I always begin my last the same day I ended my + former. I told you where I dined to-day at a tavern with Stratford: + Lewis,(2) who is a great favourite of Harley's, was to have been with us; + but he was hurried to Hampton Court, and sent his excuse; and that next + Wednesday he would introduce me to Harley. 'Tis good to see what a + lamentable confession the Whigs all make me of my ill usage: but I mind + them not. I am already represented to Harley as a discontented person, + that was used ill for not being Whig enough; and I hope for good usage + from him. The Tories drily tell me, I may make my fortune, if I please; + but I do not understand them—or rather, I do understand them. + </p> + <p> + Oct. 1. To-day I dined at Molesworth's, the Florence Envoy; and sat this + evening with my friend Darteneuf,(3) whom you have heard me talk of; the + greatest punner of this town next myself. Have you smoked the Tatler that + I writ?(4) It is much liked here, and I think it a pure(5) one. To-morrow + I go with Delaval,(6) the Portugal Envoy, to dine with Lord Halifax near + Hampton Court.(7) Your Manley's brother, a Parliament-man here, has gotten + an employment;(8) and I am informed uses much interest to preserve his + brother: and, to-day, I spoke to the elder Frankland to engage his father + (Postmaster here); and I hope he will be safe, although he is cruelly + hated by all the Tories of Ireland. I have almost finished my lampoon, and + will print it for revenge on a certain great person.(9) It has cost me but + three shillings in meat and drink since I came here, as thin as the town + is. I laugh to see myself so disengaged in these revolutions. Well, I must + leave off, and go write to Sir John Stanley,(10) to desire him to engage + Lady Hyde as my mistress to engage Lord Hyde(11) in favour of Mr. + Pratt.(12) + </p> + <p> + 2. Lord Halifax was at Hampton Court at his lodgings, and I dined with him + there with Methuen,(13) and Delaval, and the late Attorney-General.(14) I + went to the Drawing-room before dinner (for the Queen was at Hampton + Court), and expected to see nobody; but I met acquaintance enough. I + walked in the gardens, saw the cartoons of Raphael, and other things; and + with great difficulty got from Lord Halifax, who would have kept me + to-morrow to show me his house and park, and improvements. We left Hampton + Court at sunset, and got here in a chariot and two horses time enough by + starlight. That's something charms me mightily about London; that you go + dine a dozen miles off in October, stay all day, and return so quickly: + you cannot do anything like this in Dublin.(15) I writ a second penny post + letter to your mother, and hear nothing of her. Did I tell you that Earl + Berkeley died last Sunday was se'nnight, at Berkeley Castle, of a dropsy? + Lord Halifax began a health to me to-day; it was the Resurrection of the + Whigs, which I refused unless he would add their Reformation too and I + told him he was the only Whig in England I loved, or had any good opinion + of. + </p> + <p> + 3. This morning Stella's sister(16) came to me with a letter from her + mother, who is at Sheen; but will soon be in town, and will call to see + me: she gave me a bottle of palsy water,(17) a small one, and desired I + would send it you by the first convenience, as I will; and she promises a + quart bottle of the same: your sister looked very well, and seems a good + modest sort of girl. I went then to Mr. Lewis, first secretary to Lord + Dartmouth,(18) and favourite to Mr. Harley, who is to introduce me + to-morrow morning. Lewis had with him one Mr. Dyot,(19) a Justice of + Peace, worth twenty thousand pounds, a Commissioner of the Stamp Office, + and married to a sister of Sir Philip Meadows,(20) Envoy to the Emperor. I + tell you this, because it is odds but this Mr. Dyot will be hanged; for he + is discovered to have counterfeited stamped paper, in which he was a + Commissioner; and, with his accomplices, has cheated the Queen of a + hundred thousand pounds. You will hear of it before this come to you, but + may be not so particularly; and it is a very odd accident in such a man. + Smoke Presto writing news to MD. I dined to-day with Lord Mountjoy at + Kensington, and walked from thence this evening to town like an emperor. + Remember that yesterday, October 2, was a cruel hard frost, with ice; and + six days ago I was dying with heat. As thin as the town is, I have more + dinners than ever; and am asked this month by some people, without being + able to come for pre-engagements. Well, but I should write plainer, when I + consider Stella cannot read,(21) and Dingley is not so skilful at my ugly + hand. I had tonight a letter from Mr. Pratt, who tells me Joe will have + his money when there are trustees appointed by the Lord Lieutenant for + receiving and disposing the linen fund; and whenever those trustees are + appointed, I will solicit whoever is Lord Lieutenant, and am in no fear of + succeeding. So pray tell or write him word, and bid him not be cast down; + for Ned Southwell(22) and Mr. Addison both think Pratt in the right. Don't + lose your money at Manley's to-night, sirrahs. + </p> + <p> + 4. After I had put out my candle last night, my landlady came into my + room, with a servant of Lord Halifax, to desire I would go dine with him + at his house near Hampton Court; but I sent him word, I had business of + great importance that hindered me, etc. And to-day I was brought privately + to Mr. Harley, who received me with the greatest respect and kindness + imaginable: he has appointed me an hour on Saturday at four, afternoon, + when I will open my business to him; which expression I would not use if I + were a woman. I know you smoked it; but I did not till I writ it. I dined + to-day at Mr. Delaval's, the Envoy for Portugal, with Nic Rowe(23) the + poet, and other friends; and I gave my lampoon to be printed. I have more + mischief in my heart; and I think it shall go round with them all, as this + hits, and I can find hints. I am certain I answered your 2d letter, and + yet I do not find it here. I suppose it was in my 4th: and why N. 2d, 3d; + is it not enough to say, as I do, 1, 2, 3? etc. I am going to work at + another Tatler:(24) I'll be far enough but I say the same thing over two + or three times, just as I do when I am talking to little MD; but what care + I? they can read it as easily as I can write it: I think I have brought + these lines pretty straight again. I fear it will be long before I finish + two sides at this rate. Pray, dear MD, when I occasionally give you any + little commission mixed with my letters, don't forget it, as that to + Morgan and Joe, etc., for I write just as I can remember, otherwise I + would put them all together. I was to visit Mr. Sterne to-day, and give + him your commission about handkerchiefs: that of chocolate I will do + myself, and send it him when he goes, and you'll pay me when the GIVER'S + BREAD,(25) etc. To-night I will read a pamphlet, to amuse myself. God + preserve your dear healths! + </p> + <p> + 5. This morning Delaval came to see me, and we went together to + Kneller's,(26) who was not in town. In the way we met the electors for + Parliament-men:(27) and the rabble came about our coach, crying, "A Colt, + a Stanhope," etc. We were afraid of a dead cat, or our glasses broken, and + so were always of their side. I dined again at Delaval's; and in the + evening, at the Coffee-house, heard Sir Andrew Fountaine(28) was come to + town. This has been but an insipid sort of day, and I have nothing to + remark upon it worth threepence: I hope MD had a better, with the Dean, + the Bishop, or Mrs. Walls.(29) Why, the reason you lost four and + eightpence last night but one at Manley's was, because you played bad + games: I took notice of six that you had ten to one against you: Would any + but a mad lady go out twice upon Manilio; Basto, and two small + diamonds?(30) Then in that game of spades, you blundered when you had + ten-ace; I never saw the like of you: and now you are in a huff because I + tell you this. Well, here's two and eightpence halfpenny towards your + loss. + </p> + <p> + 6. Sir Andrew Fountaine came this morning, and caught me writing in bed. I + went into the city with him; and we dined at the Chop-house with Will + Pate,(31) the learned woollen-draper: then we sauntered at China-shops(32) + and booksellers; went to the tavern, drank two pints of white wine, and + never parted till ten: and now I am come home, and must copy out some + papers I intend for Mr. Harley, whom I am to see, as I told you, to-morrow + afternoon; so that this night I shall say little to MD, but that I + heartily wish myself with them, and will come as soon as I either fail, or + compass my business. We now hear daily of elections; and, in a list I saw + yesterday of about twenty, there are seven or eight more Tories than in + the last Parliament; so that I believe they need not fear a majority, with + the help of those who will vote as the Court pleases. But I have been told + that Mr. Harley himself would not let the Tories be too numerous, for fear + they should be insolent, and kick against him; and for that reason they + have kept several Whigs in employments, who expected to be turned out + every day; as Sir John Holland the Comptroller, and many others. And so + get you gone to your cards, and your claret and orange, at the Dean's; and + I'll go write. + </p> + <p> + 7. I wonder when this letter will be finished: it must go by Tuesday, + that's certain; and if I have one from MD before, I will not answer it, + that's as certain too. 'Tis now morning, and I did not finish my papers + for Mr. Harley last night; for you must understand Presto was sleepy, and + made blunders and blots. Very pretty that I must be writing to young women + in a morning fresh and fasting, faith. Well, good-morrow to you; and so I + go to business, and lay aside this paper till night, sirrahs.—At + night. Jack How(33) told Harley that if there were a lower place in hell + than another, it was reserved for his porter, who tells lies so gravely, + and with so civil a manner. This porter I have had to deal with, going + this evening at four to visit Mr. Harley, by his own appointment. But the + fellow told me no lie, though I suspected every word he said. He told me + his master was just gone to dinner, with much company, and desired I would + come an hour hence: which I did, expecting to hear Mr. Harley was gone + out; but they had just done dinner. Mr. Harley came out to me, brought me + in, and presented to me his son-in-law Lord Doblane(34) (or some such + name) and his own son,(35) and, among others, Will Penn(36) the Quaker: we + sat two hours drinking as good wine as you do; and two hours more he and I + alone; where he heard me tell my business; entered into it with all + kindness; asked for my powers, and read them; and read likewise a + memorial(37) I had drawn up, and put it in his pocket to show the Queen; + told me the measures he would take; and, in short, said everything I could + wish: told me, he must bring Mr. St. John(38) (Secretary of State) and me + acquainted; and spoke so many things of personal kindness and esteem for + me, that I am inclined half to believe what some friends have told me, + that he would do everything to bring me over. He has desired to dine with + me (what a comical mistake was that!). I mean he has desired me to dine + with him on Tuesday; and after four hours being with him, set me down at + St. James's Coffee-house in a hackney-coach. All this is odd and comical, + if you consider him and me. He knew my Christian name very well. I could + not forbear saying thus much upon this matter, although you will think it + tedious. But I'll tell you; you must know, 'tis fatal(39) to me to be a + scoundrel and a prince the same day: for, being to see him at four, I + could not engage myself to dine at any friend's; so I went to Tooke,(40) + to give him a ballad, and dine with him; but he was not at home: so I was + forced to go to a blind(41) chop-house, and dine for tenpence upon + gill-ale,(42) bad broth, and three chops of mutton; and then go reeking + from thence to the First Minister of State. And now I am going in charity + to send Steele a Tatler, who is very low of late. I think I am civiller + than I used to be; and have not used the expression of "you in Ireland" + and "we in England" as I did when I was here before, to your great + indignation.—They may talk of the you know what;(43) but, gad, if it + had not been for that, I should never have been able to get the access I + have had; and if that helps me to succeed, then that same thing will be + serviceable to the Church. But how far we must depend upon new friends, I + have learnt by long practice, though I think among great Ministers, they + are just as good as old ones. And so I think this important day has made a + great hole in this side of the paper; and the fiddle-faddles of tomorrow + and Monday will make up the rest; and, besides, I shall see Harley on + Tuesday before this letter goes. + </p> + <p> + 8. I must tell you a great piece of refinement(44) of Harley. He charged + me to come to him often: I told him I was loth to trouble him in so much + business as he had, and desired I might have leave to come at his levee; + which he immediately refused, and said, that was not a place for friends + to come to. 'Tis now but morning; and I have got a foolish trick, I must + say something to MD when I wake, and wish them a good-morrow; for this is + not a shaving-day, Sunday, so I have time enough: but get you gone, you + rogues, I must go write: Yes, 'twill vex me to the blood if any of these + long letters should miscarry: if they do, I will shrink to half-sheets + again; but then what will you do to make up the journal? there will be ten + days of Presto's life lost; and that will be a sad thing, faith and troth.—At + night. I was at a loss today for a dinner, unless I would have gone a + great way, so I dined with some friends that board hereabout,(45) as a + spunger;(46) and this evening Sir Andrew Fountaine would needs have me go + to the tavern; where, for two bottles of wine, Portugal and Florence, + among three of us, we had sixteen shillings to pay; but if ever he catches + me so again, I'll spend as many pounds: and therefore I have it among my + extraordinaries but we had a neck of mutton dressed a la Maintenon, that + the dog could not eat: and it is now twelve o'clock, and I must go sleep. + I hope this letter will go before I have MD's third. Do you believe me? + and yet, faith, I long for MD's third too and yet I would have it to say, + that I writ five for two. I am not fond at all of St. James's + Coffee-house,(47) as I used to be. I hope it will mend in winter; but now + they are all out of town at elections, or not come from their country + houses. Yesterday I was going with Dr. Garth(48) to dine with Charles + Main,(49) near the Tower, who has an employment there: he is of Ireland; + the Bishop of Clogher knows him well: an honest, good-natured fellow, a + thorough hearty laugher, mightily beloved by the men of wit: his mistress + is never above a cook-maid. And so, good-night, etc. + </p> + <p> + 9. I dined to-day at Sir John Stanley's; my Lady Stanley(50) is one of my + favourites: I have as many here as the Bishop of Killala has in Ireland. I + am thinking what scurvy company I shall be to MD when I come back: they + know everything of me already: I will tell you no more, or I shall have + nothing to say, no story to tell, nor any kind of thing. I was very uneasy + last night with ugly, nasty, filthy wine, that turned sour on my stomach. + I must go to the tavern: oh, but I told you that before. To-morrow I dine + at Harley's, and will finish this letter at my return; but I can write no + more now, because of the Archbishop: faith, 'tis true; for I am going now + to write to him an account of what I have done in the business with + Harley:(51) and, faith, young women, I'll tell you what you must count + upon, that I never will write one word on the third side in these long + letters. + </p> + <p> + 10. Poor MD's letter was lying so huddled up among papers, I could not + find it: I mean poor Presto's letter. Well, I dined with Mr. Harley + to-day, and hope some things will be done; but I must say no more: and + this letter must be sent to the post-house, and not by the bellman.(52) I + am to dine again there on Sunday next; I hope to some good issue. And so + now, soon as ever I can in bed, I must begin my 6th to MD as gravely as if + I had not written a word this month: fine doings, faith! Methinks I don't + write as I should, because I am not in bed: see the ugly wide lines. God + Almighty ever bless you, etc. + </p> + <p> + Faith, this is a whole treatise; I'll go reckon the lines on the other + sides. I've reckoned them.(53) + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 6. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Oct. 10, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + So, as I told you just now in the letter I sent half an hour ago, I dined + with Mr. Harley to-day, who presented me to the Attorney-General, Sir + Simon Harcourt, with much compliment on all sides, etc. Harley told me he + had shown my memorial to the Queen, and seconded it very heartily; and he + desires me to dine with him again on Sunday, when he promises to settle it + with Her Majesty, before she names a Governor:(1) and I protest I am in + hopes it will be done, all but the forms, by that time; for he loves the + Church. This is a popular thing, and he would not have a Governor share in + it; and, besides, I am told by all hands, he has a mind to gain me over. + But in the letter I writ last post (yesterday) to the Archbishop, I did + not tell him a syllable of what Mr. Harley said to me last night, because + he charged me to keep it secret; so I would not tell it to you, but that, + before this goes, I hope the secret will be over. I am now writing my + poetical "Description of a Shower in London," and will send it to the + Tatler.(2) This is the last sheet of a whole quire I have written since I + came to town. Pray, now it comes into my head, will you, when you go to + Mrs. Walls, contrive to know whether Mrs. Wesley(3) be in town, and still + at her brother's, and how she is in health, and whether she stays in town. + I writ to her from Chester, to know what I should do with her note; and I + believe the poor woman is afraid to write to me: so I must go to my + business, etc. + </p> + <p> + 11. To-day at last I dined with Lord Mountrath,(4) and carried Lord + Mountjoy, and Sir Andrew Fountaine with me; and was looking over them at + ombre till eleven this evening like a fool: they played running ombre + half-crowns; and Sir Andrew Fountaine won eight guineas of Mr. Coote;(5) + so I am come home late, and will say but little to MD this night. I have + gotten half a bushel of coals, and Patrick, the extravagant whelp, had a + fire ready for me; but I picked off the coals before I went to bed. It is + a sign London is now an empty place, when it will not furnish me with + matter for above five or six lines in a day. Did you smoke in my last how + I told you the very day and the place you were playing at ombre? But I + interlined and altered a little, after I had received a letter from Mr. + Manley, that said you were at it in his house, while he was writing to me; + but without his help I guessed within one day. Your town is certainly much + more sociable than ours. I have not seen your mother yet, etc. + </p> + <p> + 12. I dined to-day with Dr. Garth and Mr. Addison, at the Devil Tavern(6) + by Temple Bar, and Garth treated; and 'tis well I dine every day, else I + should be longer making out my letters: for we are yet in a very dull + state, only inquiring every day after new elections, where the Tories + carry it among the new members six to one. Mr. Addison's election(7) has + passed easy and undisputed; and I believe if he had a mind to be chosen + king, he would hardly be refused. An odd accident has happened at + Colchester: one Captain Lavallin,(8) coming from Flanders or Spain, found + his wife with child by a clerk of Doctors' Commons, whose trade, you know, + it is to prevent fornications: and this clerk was the very same fellow + that made the discovery of Dyot's(9) counterfeiting the stamp-paper. + Lavallin has been this fortnight hunting after the clerk, to kill him; but + the fellow was constantly employed at the Treasury, about the discovery he + made: the wife had made a shift to patch up the business, alleging that + the clerk had told her her husband was dead and other excuses; but t'other + day somebody told Lavallin his wife had intrigues before he married her: + upon which he goes down in a rage, shoots his wife through the head, then + falls on his sword; and, to make the matter sure, at the same time + discharges a pistol through his own head, and died on the spot, his wife + surviving him about two hours, but in what circumstances of mind and body + is terrible to imagine. I have finished my poem on the "Shower," all but + the beginning; and am going on with my Tatler. They have fixed about fifty + things on me since I came: I have printed but three.(10) One advantage I + get by writing to you daily, or rather you get, is, that I shall remember + not to write the same things twice; and yet, I fear, I have done it often + already: but I will mind and confine myself to the accidents of the day; + and so get you gone to ombre, and be good girls, and save your money, and + be rich against Presto comes, and write to me now and then: I am thinking + it would be a pretty thing to hear sometimes from saucy MD; but do not + hurt your eyes, Stella, I charge you. + </p> + <p> + 13. O Lord, here is but a trifle of my letter written yet; what shall + Presto do for prattle-prattle, to entertain MD? The talk now grows fresher + of the Duke of Ormond for Ireland; though Mr. Addison says he hears it + will be in commission, and Lord Galway(11) one. These letters of mine are + a sort of journal, where matters open by degrees; and, as I tell true or + false, you will find by the event whether my intelligence be good; but I + do not care twopence whether it be or no.—At night. To-day I was all + about St. Paul's, and up at the top like a fool, with Sir Andrew Fountaine + and two more; and spent seven shillings for my dinner like a puppy: this + is the second time he has served me so; but I will never do it again, + though all mankind should persuade me, unconsidering puppies! There is a + young fellow here in town we are all fond of, and about a year or two come + from the University, one Harrison,(12) a little pretty fellow, with a + great deal of wit, good sense, and good nature; has written some mighty + pretty things; that in your 6th Miscellanea,(13) about the Sprig of an + Orange, is his: he has nothing to live on but being governor to one of the + Duke of Queensberry's(14) sons for forty pounds a year. The fine fellows + are always inviting him to the tavern, and make him pay his club. + Henley(15) is a great crony of his: they are often at the tavern at six or + seven shillings reckoning, and he always makes the poor lad pay his full + share. A colonel and a lord were at him and me the same way to-night: I + absolutely refused, and made Harrison lag behind, and persuaded him not to + go to them. I tell you this, because I find all rich fellows have that + humour of using all people without any consideration of their fortunes; + but I will see them rot before they shall serve me so. Lord Halifax is + always teasing me to go down to his country house, which will cost me a + guinea to his servants, and twelve shillings coach-hire; and he shall be + hanged first. Is not this a plaguy silly story? But I am vexed at the + heart; for I love the young fellow, and am resolved to stir up people to + do something for him: he is a Whig, and I will put him upon some of my + cast Whigs; for I have done with them; and they have, I hope, done with + this kingdom for our time. They were sure of the four members for London + above all places, and they have lost three in the four.(16) Sir Richard + Onslow,(17) we hear, has lost for Surrey; and they are overthrown in most + places. Lookee, gentlewomen, if I write long letters, I must write you + news and stuff, unless I send you my verses; and some I dare not; and + those on the "Shower in London" I have sent to the Tatler, and you may see + them in Ireland. I fancy you will smoke me in the Tatler I am going to + write; for I believe I have told you the hint. I had a letter sent me + tonight from Sir Matthew Dudley, and found it on my table when I came in. + Because it is extraordinary, I will transcribe it from beginning to end. + It is as follows: "Is the Devil in you? Oct. 13, 1710." I would have + answered every particular passage in it, only I wanted time. Here is + enough for to-night, such as it is, etc. + </p> + <p> + 14. Is that tobacco at the top of the paper,(18) or what? I do not + remember I slobbered. Lord, I dreamt of Stella, etc., so confusedly last + night, and that we saw Dean Bolton(19) and Sterne(20) go into a shop: and + she bid me call them to her, and they proved to be two parsons I know not; + and I walked without till she was shifting, and such stuff, mixed with + much melancholy and uneasiness, and things not as they should be, and I + know not how: and it is now an ugly gloomy morning.—At night. Mr. + Addison and I dined with Ned Southwell, and walked in the Park; and at the + Coffee-house I found a letter from the Bishop of Clogher, and a packet + from MD. I opened the Bishop's letter; but put up MD's, and visited a lady + just come to town; and am now got into bed, and going to open your little + letter: and God send I may find MD well, and happy, and merry, and that + they love Presto as they do fires. Oh, I will not open it yet! yes I will! + no I will not! I am going; I cannot stay till I turn over.(21) What shall + I do? My fingers itch; and now I have it in my left hand; and now I will + open it this very moment.—I have just got it, and am cracking the + seal, and cannot imagine what is in it; I fear only some letter from a + bishop, and it comes too late; I shall employ nobody's credit but my own. + Well, I see though— Pshaw, 'tis from Sir Andrew Fountaine. What, + another! I fancy that's from Mrs. Barton;(22) she told me she would write + to me; but she writes a better hand than this: I wish you would inquire; + it must be at Dawson's(23) office at the Castle. I fear this is from Patty + Rolt, by the scrawl. Well, I will read MD's letter. Ah, no; it is from + poor Lady Berkeley, to invite me to Berkeley Castle this winter; and now + it grieves my heart: she says, she hopes my lord is in a fair way of + recovery;(24) poor lady! Well, now I go to MD's letter: faith, it is all + right; I hoped it was wrong. Your letter, N.3, that I have now received, + is dated Sept. 26; and Manley's letter, that I had five days ago, was + dated Oct. 3, that's a fortnight difference: I doubt it has lain in + Steele's office, and he forgot. Well, there's an end of that: he is turned + out of his place;(25) and you must desire those who send me packets, to + enclose them in a paper directed to Mr. Addison, at St. James's + Coffee-house: not common letters, but packets: the Bishop of Clogher may + mention it to the Archbishop when he sees him. As for your letter, it + makes me mad: slidikins, I have been the best boy in Christendom, and you + come with your two eggs a penny.—Well; but stay, I will look over my + book: adad, I think there was a chasm between my N.2 and N.3. Faith, I + will not promise to write to you every week; but I will write every night, + and when it is full I will send it; that will be once in ten days, and + that will be often enough: and if you begin to take up the way of writing + to Presto, only because it is Tuesday, a Monday bedad it will grow a task; + but write when you have a mind.—No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no—Agad, + agad, agad, agad, agad, agad; no, poor Stellakins.(26) Slids, I would the + horse were in your—chamber! Have not I ordered Parvisol to obey your + directions about him? And han't I said in my former letters that you may + pickle him, and boil him, if you will? What do you trouble me about your + horses for? Have I anything to do with them?—Revolutions a hindrance + to me in my business? Revolutions to me in my business? If it were not for + the revolutions, I could do nothing at all; and now I have all hopes + possible, though one is certain of nothing; but to-morrow I am to have an + answer, and am promised an effectual one. I suppose I have said enough in + this and a former letter how I stand with new people; ten times better + than ever I did with the old; forty times more caressed. I am to dine + to-morrow at Mr. Harley's; and if he continues as he has begun, no man has + been ever better treated by another. What you say about Stella's mother, I + have spoken enough to it already. I believe she is not in town; for I have + not yet seen her. My lampoon is cried up to the skies; but nobody suspects + me for it, except Sir Andrew Fountaine: at least they say nothing of it to + me. Did not I tell you of a great man who received me very coldly?(27) + That's he; but say nothing; 'twas only a little revenge. I will remember + to bring it over. The Bishop of Clogher has smoked my Tatler,(28) about + shortening of words, etc. But, God So!(29) etc. + </p> + <p> + 15. I will write plainer if I can remember it; for Stella must not spoil + her eyes, and Dingley can't read my hand very well; and I am afraid my + letters are too long: then you must suppose one to be two, and read them + at twice. I dined to-day with Mr. Harley: Mr. Prior(30) dined with us. He + has left my memorial with the Queen, who has consented to give the + First-Fruits and Twentieth Parts,(31) and will, we hope, declare it + to-morrow in the Cabinet. But I beg you to tell it to no person alive; for + so I am ordered, till in public: and I hope to get something of greater + value. After dinner came in Lord Peterborow:(32) we renewed our + acquaintance, and he grew mightily fond of me. They began to talk of a + paper of verses called "Sid Hamet." Mr. Harley repeated part, and then + pulled them out, and gave them to a gentleman at the table to read, though + they had all read them often. Lord Peterborow would let nobody read them + but himself: so he did; and Mr. Harley bobbed(33) me at every line, to + take notice of the beauties. Prior rallied Lord Peterborow for author of + them; and Lord Peterborow said he knew them to be his; and Prior then + turned it upon me, and I on him. I am not guessed at all in town to be the + author; yet so it is: but that is a secret only to you.(34) Ten to one + whether you see them in Ireland; yet here they run prodigiously. Harley + presented me to Lord President of Scotland,(35) and Mr. Benson,(36) Lord + of the Treasury. Prior and I came away at nine, and sat at the Smyrna(37) + till eleven, receiving acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + 16. This morning early I went in a chair, and Patrick before it, to Mr. + Harley, to give him another copy of my memorial, as he desired; but he was + full of business, going to the Queen, and I could not see him; but he + desired I would send up the paper, and excused himself upon his hurry. I + was a little baulked; but they tell me it is nothing. I shall judge by + next visit. I tipped his porter with half a crown; and so I am well there + for a time at least. I dined at Stratford's in the City, and had Burgundy + and Tokay: came back afoot like a scoundrel: then went with Mr. Addison + and supped with Lord Mountjoy, which made me sick all night. I forgot that + I bought six pounds of chocolate for Stella, and a little wooden box; and + I have a great piece of Brazil tobacco for Dingley,(38) and a bottle of + palsy-water(39) for Stella: all which, with the two handkerchiefs that Mr. + Sterne has bought, and you must pay him for, will be put in the box, + directed to Mrs. Curry's, and sent by Dr. Hawkshaw,(40) whom I have not + seen; but Sterne has undertaken it. The chocolate is a present, madam, for + Stella. Don't read this, you little rogue, with your little eyes; but give + it to Dingley, pray now; and I will write as plain as the skies: and let + Dingley write Stella's part, and Stella dictate to her, when she + apprehends her eyes, etc. + </p> + <p> + 17. This letter should have gone this post, if I had not been taken up + with business, and two nights being late out; so it must stay till + Thursday. I dined to-day with your Mr. Sterne,(41) by invitation, and + drank Irish wine;(42) but, before we parted, there came in the prince of + puppies, Colonel Edgworth;(43) so I went away. This day came out the + Tatler, made up wholly of my "Shower," and a preface to it. They say it is + the best thing I ever writ, and I think so too. I suppose the Bishop of + Clogher will show it you. Pray tell me how you like it. Tooke is going on + with my Miscellany.(44) I'd give a penny the letter to the Bishop of + Killaloe(45) was in it: 'twould do him honour. Could not you contrive to + say, you hear they are printing my things together; and that you with the + bookseller had that letter among the rest: but don't say anything of it as + from me. I forget whether it was good or no; but only having heard it much + commended, perhaps it may deserve it. Well, I have to-morrow to finish + this letter in, and then I will send it next day. I am so vexed that you + should write your third to me, when you had but my second, and I had + written five, which now I hope you have all: and so I tell you, you are + saucy, little, pretty, dear rogues, etc. + </p> + <p> + 18. To-day I dined, by invitation, with Stratford and others, at a young + merchant's in the City, with Hermitage and Tokay, and stayed till nine, + and am now come home. And that dog Patrick is abroad, and drinking, and I + cannot I get my night-gown. I have a mind to turn that puppy away: he has + been drunk ten times in three weeks. But I han't time to say more; so + good-night, etc. + </p> + <p> + 19. I am come home from dining in the city with Mr. Addison, at a + merchant's; and just now, at the Coffee-house, we have notice that the + Duke of Ormond was this day declared Lord Lieutenant at Hampton Court, in + Council. I have not seen Mr. Harley since; but hope the affair is done + about First-Fruits. I will see him, if possible, to-morrow morning; but + this goes to-night. I have sent a box to Mr. Sterne, to send to you by + some friend: I have directed it for Mr. Curry, at his house; so you have + warning when it comes, as I hope it will soon. The handkerchiefs will be + put in some friend's pocket, not to pay custom. And so here ends my sixth, + sent when I had but three of MD's: now I am beforehand, and will keep so; + and God Almighty bless dearest MD, etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 7. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Oct. 19, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + Faith, I am undone! this paper is larger than the other, and yet I am + condemned to a sheet; but, since it is MD, I did not value though I were + condemned to a pair. I told you in my letter to-day where I had been, and + how the day passed; and so, etc. + </p> + <p> + 20. To-day I went to Mr. Lewis, at the Secretary's office, to know when I + might see Mr. Harley; and by and by comes up Mr. Harley himself, and + appoints me to dine with him to-morrow. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh,(1) + and went to wait on the two Lady Butlers;(2) but the porter answered they + were not at home: the meaning was, the youngest, Lady Mary, is to be + married to-morrow to Lord Ashburnham,(3) the best match now in England, + twelve thousand pounds a year, and abundance of money. Tell me how my + "Shower" is liked in Ireland: I never knew anything pass better here. I + spent the evening with Wortley Montagu(4) and Mr. Addison, over a bottle + of Irish wine. Do they know anything in Ireland of my greatness among the + Tories? Everybody reproaches me of it here; but I value them not. Have you + heard of the verses about the "Rod of Sid Hamet"? Say nothing of them for + your life. Hardly anybody suspects me for them; only they think nobody but + Prior or I could write them. But I doubt they have not reached you. There + is likewise a ballad full of puns on the Westminster Election,(5) that + cost me half an hour: it runs, though it be good for nothing. But this is + likewise a secret to all but MD. If you have them not, I will bring them + over. + </p> + <p> + 21. I got MD's fourth to-day at the Coffee-house. God Almighty bless poor, + dear Stella, and her eyes and head! What shall we do to cure them? poor, + dear life! Your disorders are a pull-back for your good qualities. Would + to Heaven I were this minute shaving your poor, dear head, either here or + there! Pray do not write, nor read this letter, nor anything else; and I + will write plainer for Dingley to read from henceforward, though my pen is + apt to ramble when I think whom I am writing to. I will not answer your + letter until I tell you that I dined this day with Mr. Harley, who + presented me to the Earl of Stirling,(6) a Scotch lord; and in the evening + came in Lord Peterborow. I stayed till nine before Mr. Harley would let me + go, or tell me anything of my affair. He says the Queen has now granted + the First-Fruits and Twentieth Parts; but he will not give me leave to + write to the Archbishop, because the Queen designs to signify it to the + Bishops in Ireland in form; and to take notice, that it was done upon a + memorial from me; which, Mr. Harley tells me he does to make it look more + respectful to me, etc.; and I am to see him on Tuesday. I know not whether + I told you that, in my memorial which was given to the Queen, I begged for + two thousand pounds a year more, though it was not in my commission; but + that, Mr. Harley says, cannot yet be done, and that he and I must talk of + it further: however, I have started it, and it may follow in time. Pray + say nothing of the First-Fruits being granted, unless I give leave at the + bottom of this. I believe never anything was compassed so soon, and purely + done by my personal credit with Mr. Harley, who is so excessively + obliging, that I know not what to make of it, unless to show the rascals + of the other party that they used a man unworthily who had deserved + better. The memorial given to the Queen from me speaks with great + plainness of Lord Wharton. I believe this business is as important to you + as the Convocation disputes from Tisdall.(7) I hope in a month or two all + the forms of settling this matter will be over; and then I shall have + nothing to do here. I will only add one foolish thing more, because it is + just come into my head. When this thing is made known, tell me impartially + whether they give any of the merit to me, or no; for I am sure I have so + much, that I will never take it upon me.—Insolent sluts! because I + say Dublin, Ireland, therefore you must say London, England: that is + Stella's malice.—Well, for that I will not answer your letter till + to-morrow-day, and so and so: I will go write something else, and it will + not be much; for 'tis late. + </p> + <p> + 22. I was this morning with Mr. Lewis, the under-secretary to Lord + Dartmouth, two hours, talking politics, and contriving to keep Steele in + his office of stamped paper: he has lost his place of Gazetteer, three + hundred pounds a year, for writing a Tatler,(8) some months ago, against + Mr. Harley, who gave it him at first, and raised the salary from sixty to + three hundred pounds. This was devilish ungrateful; and Lewis was telling + me the particulars: but I had a hint given me, that I might save him in + the other employment: and leave was given me to clear matters with Steele. + Well, I dined with Sir Matthew Dudley, and in the evening went to sit with + Mr. Addison, and offer the matter at distance to him, as the discreeter + person; but found party had so possessed him, that he talked as if he + suspected me, and would not fall in with anything I said. So I stopped + short in my overture, and we parted very drily; and I shall say nothing to + Steele, and let them do as they will; but, if things stand as they are, he + will certainly lose it, unless I save him; and therefore I will not speak + to him, that I may not report to his disadvantage. Is not this vexatious? + and is there so much in the proverb of proffered service? When shall I + grow wise? I endeavour to act in the most exact points of honour and + conscience; and my nearest friends will not understand it so. What must a + man expect from his enemies? This would vex me, but it shall not; and so I + bid you good-night, etc. + </p> + <p> + 23. I know 'tis neither wit nor diversion to tell you every day where I + dine; neither do I write it to fill my letter; but I fancy I shall, some + time or other, have the curiosity of seeing some particulars how I passed + my life when I was absent from MD this time; and so I tell you now that I + dined to-day at Molesworth's, the Florence Envoy, then went to the + Coffee-house, where I behaved myself coldly enough to Mr. Addison, and so + came home to scribble. We dine together to-morrow and next day by + invitation; but I shall alter my behaviour to him, till he begs my pardon, + or else we shall grow bare acquaintance. I am weary of friends; and + friendships are all monsters, but MD's. + </p> + <p> + 24. I forgot to tell you, that last night I went to Mr. Harley's, hoping—faith, + I am blundering, for it was this very night at six; and I hoped he would + have told me all things were done and granted: but he was abroad, and came + home ill, and was gone to bed, much out of order, unless the porter lied. + I dined to-day at Sir Matthew Dudley's, with Mr. Addison, etc. + </p> + <p> + 25. I was to-day to see the Duke of Ormond; and, coming out, met Lord + Berkeley of Stratton,(9) who told me that Mrs. Temple,(10) the widow, died + last Saturday, which, I suppose, is much to the outward grief and inward + joy of the family. I dined to-day with Addison and Steele, and a sister of + Mr. Addison, who is married to one Mons. Sartre,(11) a Frenchman, + prebendary of Westminster, who has a delicious house and garden; yet I + thought it was a sort of monastic life in those cloisters, and I liked + Laracor better. Addison's sister is a sort of a wit, very like him. I am + not fond of her, etc. + </p> + <p> + 26. I was to-day to see Mr. Congreve,(12) who is almost blind with + cataracts growing on his eyes; and his case is, that he must wait two or + three years, until the cataracts are riper, and till he is quite blind, + and then he must have them couched; and, besides, he is never rid of the + gout, yet he looks young and fresh, and is as cheerful as ever. He is + younger by three years or more than I; and I am twenty years younger than + he. He gave me a pain in the great toe, by mentioning the gout. I find + such suspicions frequently, but they go off again. I had a second letter + from Mr. Morgan,(13) for which I thank you: I wish you were whipped, for + forgetting to send him that answer I desired you in one of my former, that + I could do nothing for him of what he desired, having no credit at all, + etc. Go, be far enough, you negligent baggages. I have had also a letter + from Parvisol, with an account how my livings are set; and that they are + fallen, since last year, sixty pounds. A comfortable piece of news! He + tells me plainly that he finds you have no mind to part with the horse, + because you sent for him at the same time you sent him my letter; so that + I know not what must be done. It is a sad thing that Stella must have her + own horse, whether Parvisol will or no. So now to answer your letter that + I had three or four days ago. I am not now in bed, but am come home by + eight; and, it being warm, I write up. I never writ to the Bishop of + Killala, which, I suppose, was the reason he had not my letter. I have not + time, there is the short of it.—As fond as the Dean(14) is of my + letter, he has not written to me. I would only know whether Dean + Bolton(15) paid him the twenty pounds; and for the rest, he may kiss—And + that you may ask him, because I am in pain about it, that Dean Bolton is + such a whipster. 'Tis the most obliging thing in the world in Dean Sterne + to be so kind to you. I believe he knows it will please me, and makes up, + that way, his other usage.(16) No, we have had none of your snow, but a + little one morning; yet I think it was great snow for an hour or so, but + no longer. I had heard of Will Crowe's(17) death before, but not the + foolish circumstance that hastened his end. No, I have taken care that + Captain Pratt(18) shall not suffer by Lord Anglesea's death.(19) I will + try some contrivance to get a copy of my picture from Jervas. I will make + Sir Andrew Fountaine buy one as for himself, and I will pay him again, and + take it, that is, provided I have money to spare when I leave this.—Poor + John! is he gone? and Madam Parvisol(20) has been in town! Humm. Why, + Tighe(21) and I, when he comes, shall not take any notice of each other; I + would not do it much in this town, though we had not fallen out.—I + was to-day at Mr. Sterne's lodging: he was not within; and Mr. Leigh is + not come to town; but I will do Dingley's errand when I see him. What do I + know whether china be dear or no? I once took a fancy of resolving to grow + mad for it, but now it is off; I suppose I told you in some former letter. + And so you only want some salad-dishes, and plates, and etc. Yes, yes, you + shall. I suppose you have named as much as will cost five pounds.—Now + to Stella's little postscript; and I am almost crazed that you vex + yourself for not writing. Cannot you dictate to Dingley, and not strain + your little, dear eyes? I am sure it is the grief of my soul to think you + are out of order. Pray be quiet; and, if you will write, shut your eyes, + and write just a line, and no more, thus, "How do you do, Mrs. Stella?" + That was written with my eyes shut. Faith, I think it is better than when + they are open: and then Dingley may stand by, and tell you when you go too + high or too low.—My letters of business, with packets, if there be + any more occasion for such, must be enclosed to Mr. Addison, at St. + James's Coffee-house: but I hope to hear, as soon as I see Mr. Harley, + that the main difficulties are over, and that the rest will be but form.—Take + two or three nutgalls, take two or three——galls, stop your + receipt in your—I have no need on't. Here is a clutter! Well, so + much for your letter, which I will now put up in my letter-partition in my + cabinet, as I always do every letter as soon as I answer it. Method is + good in all things. Order governs the world. The Devil is the author of + confusion. A general of an army, a minister of state; to descend lower, a + gardener, a weaver, etc. That may make a fine observation, if you think it + worth finishing; but I have not time. Is not this a terrible long piece + for one evening? I dined to-day with Patty Rolt at my cousin Leach's,(22) + with a pox, in the City: he is a printer, and prints the Postman, oh hoo, + and is my cousin, God knows how, and he married Mrs. Baby Aires of + Leicester; and my cousin Thomson was with us: and my cousin Leach offers + to bring me acquainted with the author of the Postman;(23) and says he + does not doubt but the gentleman will be glad of my acquaintance; and that + he is a very ingenious man, and a great scholar, and has been beyond sea. + But I was modest and said, may be the gentleman was shy, and not fond of + new acquaintance; and so put it off: and I wish you could hear me + repeating all I have said of this in its proper tone, just as I am writing + it. It is all with the same cadence with "Oh hoo," or as when little girls + say, "I have got an apple, miss, and I won't give you some." It is plaguy + twelvepenny weather this last week, and has cost me ten shillings in coach + and chair hire. If the fellow that has your money will pay it, let me beg + you to buy Bank Stock with it, which is fallen near thirty per cent. and + pays eight pounds per cent. and you have the principal when you please: it + will certainly soon rise. I would to God Lady Giffard would put in the + four hundred pounds she owes you,(24) and take the five per cent. common + interest, and give you the remainder. I will speak to your mother about it + when I see her. I am resolved to buy three hundred pounds of it for + myself, and take up what I have in Ireland; and I have a contrivance for + it, that I hope will do, by making a friend of mine buy it as for himself, + and I will pay him when I can get in my money. I hope Stratford will do me + that kindness. I'll ask him tomorrow or next day. + </p> + <p> + 27. Mr. Rowe(25) the poet desired me to dine with him to-day. I went to + his office (he is under-secretary in Mr. Addison's place that he had in + England), and there was Mr. Prior; and they both fell commending my + "Shower" beyond anything that has been written of the kind: there never + was such a "Shower" since Danae's, etc. You must tell me how it is liked + among you. I dined with Rowe; Prior could not come: and after dinner we + went to a blind tavern,(26) where Congreve, Sir Richard Temple,(27) + Estcourt,(28) and Charles Main,(29) were over a bowl of bad punch. The + knight sent for six flasks of his own wine for me, and we stayed till + twelve. But now my head continues pretty well; I have left off my + drinking, and only take a spoonful mixed with water, for fear of the gout, + or some ugly distemper; and now, because it is late, I will, etc. + </p> + <p> + 28. Garth and Addison and I dined to-day at a hedge(30) tavern; then I + went to Mr. Harley, but he was denied, or not at home: so I fear I shall + not hear my business is done before this goes. Then I visited Lord + Pembroke,(31) who is just come to town; and we were very merry talking of + old things; and I hit him with one pun. Then I went to see the Ladies + Butler, and the son of a whore of a porter denied them: so I sent them a + threatening message by another lady, for not excepting me always to the + porter. I was weary of the Coffee-house, and Ford(32) desired me to sit + with him at next door; which I did, like a fool, chatting till twelve, and + now am got into bed. I am afraid the new Ministry is at a terrible loss + about money: the Whigs talk so, it would give one the spleen; and I am + afraid of meeting Mr. Harley out of humour. They think he will never carry + through this undertaking. God knows what will come of it. I should be + terribly vexed to see things come round again: it will ruin the Church and + clergy for ever; but I hope for better. I will send this on Tuesday, + whether I hear any further news of my affair or not. + </p> + <p> + 29. Mr. Addison and I dined to-day with Lord Mountjoy; which is all the + adventures of this day.—I chatted a while to-night in the + Coffee-house, this being a full night; and now am come home, to write some + business. + </p> + <p> + 30. I dined to-day at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and sent a letter to poor Mrs. + Long,(33) who writes to us, but is God knows where, and will not tell + anybody the place of her residence. I came home early, and must go write. + </p> + <p> + 31. The month ends with a fine day; and I have been walking, and visiting + Lewis, and concerting where to see Mr. Harley. I have no news to send you. + Aire,(34) they say, is taken, though the Whitehall letters this morning + say quite the contrary: 'tis good, if it be true. I dined with Mr. Addison + and Dick Stewart, Lord Mountjoy's brother;(35) a treat of Addison's. They + were half-fuddled, but not I; for I mixed water with my wine, and left + them together between nine and ten; and I must send this by the bellman, + which vexes me, but I will put it off no longer. Pray God it does not + miscarry. I seldom do so; but I can put off little MD no longer. Pray give + the under note to Mrs. Brent. + </p> + <p> + I am a pretty gentleman; and you lose all your money at cards, sirrah + Stella. I found you out; I did so. + </p> + <p> + I am staying before I can fold up this letter, till that ugly D is dry in + the last line but one. Do not you see it? O Lord, I am loth to leave you, + faith—but it must be so, till the next time. Pox take that D; I will + blot it, to dry it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 8. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Oct. 31, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + So, now I have sent my seventh to your fourth, young women; and now I will + tell you what I would not in my last, that this morning, sitting in my + bed, I had a fit of giddiness: the room turned round for about a minute, + and then it went off, leaving me sickish, but not very: and so I passed + the day as I told you; but I would not end a letter with telling you this, + because it might vex you: and I hope in God I shall have no more of it. I + saw Dr. Cockburn(1) to-day, and he promises to send me the pills that did + me good last year; and likewise has promised me an oil for my ear, that he + has been making for that ailment for somebody else. + </p> + <p> + Nov. 1. I wish MD a merry new year. You know this is the first day of it + with us.(2) I had no giddiness to-day; but I drank brandy, and have bought + a pint for two shillings. I sat up the night before my giddiness pretty + late, and writ very much; so I will impute it to that. But I never eat + fruit, nor drink ale; but drink better wine than you do, as I did to-day + with Mr. Addison at Lord Mountjoy's: then went at five to see Mr. Harley, + who could not see me for much company; but sent me his excuse, and desired + I would dine with him on Friday; and then I expect some answer to this + business, which must either be soon done, or begun again; and then the + Duke of Ormond and his people will interfere for their honour, and do + nothing. I came home at six, and spent my time in my chamber, without + going to the Coffee-house, which I grow weary of; and I studied at + leisure, writ not above forty lines, some inventions of my own, and some + hints, and read not at all, and this because I would take care of Presto, + for fear little MD should be angry. + </p> + <p> + 2. I took my four pills last night, and they lay an hour in my throat, and + so they will do to-night. I suppose I could swallow four affronts as + easily. I dined with Dr. Cockburn to-day, and came home at seven; but Mr. + Ford has been with me till just now, and it is near eleven. I have had no + giddiness to-day. Mr. Dopping(3) I have seen; and he tells me coldly, my + "Shower" is liked well enough; there's your Irish judgment! I writ this + post to the Bishop of Clogher. It is now just a fortnight since I heard + from you. I must have you write once a fortnight, and then I will allow + for wind and weather. How goes ombre? Does Mrs. Walls(4) win constantly, + as she used to do? And Mrs. Stoyte;(5) I have not thought of her this long + time: how does she? I find we have a cargo of Irish coming for London: I + am sorry for it; but I never go near them. And Tighe is landed; but Mrs. + Wesley,(6) they say, is going home to her husband, like a fool. Well, + little monkeys mine, I must go write; and so goodnight. + </p> + <p> + 3. I ought to read these letters I write, after I have done; for, looking + over thus much, I found two or three literal mistakes, which should not be + when the hand is so bad. But I hope it does not puzzle little Dingley to + read, for I think I mend: but methinks, when I write plain, I do not know + how, but we are not alone, all the world can see us. A bad scrawl is so + snug, it looks like a PMD.(7) We have scurvy Tatlers of late: so pray do + not suspect me. I have one or two hints I design to send him, and never + any more: he does not deserve it. He is governed by his wife most + abominably,(8) as bad as ——. I never saw her since I came; nor + has he ever made me an invitation: either he dares not, or is such a + thoughtless Tisdall(9) fellow, that he never minds(10) it. So what care I + for his wit? for he is the worst company in the world, till he has a + bottle of wine in his head. I cannot write straighter in bed, so you must + be content.—At night in bed. Stay, let me see where's this letter to + MD among these papers? Oh! here. Well, I will go on now; but I am very + busy (smoke the new pen.) I dined with Mr. Harley to-day, and am invited + there again on Sunday. I have now leave to write to the Primate and + Archbishop of Dublin, that the Queen has granted the First-Fruits; but + they are to take no notice of it, till a letter is sent them by the + Queen's orders from Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State, to signify it. The + bishops are to be made a corporation, to dispose of the revenue, etc.; and + I shall write to the Archbishop of Dublin to-morrow (I have had no + giddiness to-day). I know not whether they will have any occasion for me + longer to be here; nor can I judge till I see what letter the Queen sends + to the bishops, and what they will do upon it. If despatch be used, it may + be done in six weeks; but I cannot judge. They sent me to-day a new + Commission, signed by the Primate and Archbishop of Dublin,(11) and + promise me letters to the two archbishops here; but mine a —— + for it all. The thing is done, and has been so these ten days; though I + had only leave to tell it to-day. I had this day likewise a letter from + the Bishop of Clogher, who complains of my not writing; and, what vexes + me, says he knows you have long letters from me every week. Why do you + tell him so? 'Tis not right, faith: but I won't be angry with MD at + distance. I writ to him last post, before I had his; and will write again + soon, since I see he expects it, and that Lord and Lady Mountjoy(12) put + him off upon me, to give themselves ease. Lastly, I had this day a letter + from a certain naughty rogue called MD, and it was N. 5; which I shall not + answer to-night, I thank you. No, faith, I have other fish to fry; but + to-morrow or next day will be time enough. I have put MD's commissions in + a memorandum paper. I think I have done all before, and remember nothing + but this to-day about glasses and spectacles and spectacle cases. I have + no commission from Stella, but the chocolate and handkerchiefs; and those + are bought, and I expect they will be soon sent. I have been with, and + sent to, Mr. Sterne, two or three times to know; but he was not within. + Odds my life, what am I doing? I must go write and do business. + </p> + <p> + 4. I dined to-day at Kensington, with Addison, Steele, etc., came home, + and writ a short letter to the Archbishop of Dublin, to let him know the + Queen has granted the thing, etc. I writ in the Coffee-house, for I stayed + at Kensington till nine, and am plaguy weary; for Colonel Proud(13) was + very ill company, and I will never be of a party with him again; and I + drank punch, and that and ill company has made me hot. + </p> + <p> + 5. I was with Mr. Harley from dinner to seven this night, and went to the + Coffee-house, where Dr. Davenant(14) would fain have had me gone and drink + a bottle of wine at his house hard by, with Dr. Chamberlen,(15) but the + puppy used so many words, that I was afraid of his company; and though we + promised to come at eight, I sent a messenger to him, that Chamberlen was + going to a patient, and therefore we would put it off till another time: + so he, and the Comptroller,(16) and I, were prevailed on by Sir Matthew + Dudley to go to his house, where I stayed till twelve, and left them. + Davenant has been teasing me to look over some of his writings that he is + going to publish; but the rogue is so fond of his own productions, that I + hear he will not part with a syllable; and he has lately put out a foolish + pamphlet, called The Third Part of Tom Double; to make his court to the + Tories, whom he had left. + </p> + <p> + 6. I was to-day gambling(17) in the City to see Patty Rolt, who is going + to Kingston, where she lodges; but, to say the truth, I had a mind for a + walk to exercise myself, and happened to be disengaged: for dinners are + ten times more plentiful with me here than ever, or than in Dublin. I + won't answer your letter yet, because I am busy. I hope to send this + before I have another from MD: it would be a sad thing to answer two + letters together, as MD does from Presto. But when the two sides are full, + away the letter shall go, that is certain, like it or not like it; and + that will be about three days hence, for the answering-night will be a + long one. + </p> + <p> + 7. I dined to-day at Sir Richard Temple's, with Congreve, Vanbrugh, + Lieutenant-General Farrington,(18) etc. Vanbrugh, I believe I told you, + had a long quarrel with me about those verses on his house;(19) but we + were very civil and cold. Lady Marlborough used to tease him with them, + which had made him angry, though he be a good-natured fellow. It was a + Thanksgiving-day,(20) and I was at Court, where the Queen passed us by + with all Tories about her; not one Whig: Buckingham,(21) Rochester,(22) + Leeds,(23) Shrewsbury, Berkeley of Stratton, Lord Keeper Harcourt, Mr. + Harley, Lord Pembroke, etc.; and I have seen her without one Tory. The + Queen made me a curtsey, and said, in a sort of familiar way to Presto, + "How does MD?" I considered she was a Queen, and so excused her.(24) I do + not miss the Whigs at Court; but have as many acquaintance there as + formerly. + </p> + <p> + 8. Here's ado and a clutter! I must now answer MD's fifth; but first you + must know I dined at the Portugal Envoy's(25) to-day, with Addison, + Vanbrugh, Admiral Wager,(26) Sir Richard Temple,(27) Methuen,(28) etc. I + was weary of their company, and stole away at five, and came home like a + good boy, and studied till ten, and had a fire, O ho! and now am in bed. I + have no fireplace in my bed-chamber; but 'tis very warm weather when one's + in bed. Your fine cap,(29) Madam Dingley, is too little, and too hot: I + will have that fur taken off; I wish it were far enough; and my old velvet + cap is good for nothing. Is it velvet under the fur? I was feeling, but + cannot find: if it be, 'twill do without it else I will face it; but then + I must buy new velvet: but may be I may beg a piece. What shall I do? + Well, now to rogue MD's letter. God be thanked for Stella's eyes mending; + and God send it holds; but faith you writ too much at a time: better write + less, or write it at ten times. Yes, faith, a long letter in a morning + from a dear friend is a dear thing. I smoke a compliment, little + mischievous girls, I do so. But who are those WIGGS that think I am turned + Tory? Do you mean Whigs? Which WIGGS and WAT do you mean? I know nothing + of Raymond, and only had one letter from him a little after I came + here.(Pray remember Morgan.) Raymond is indeed like to have much influence + over me in London, and to share much of my conversation. I shall, no + doubt, introduce him to Harley, and Lord Keeper, and the Secretary of + State. The Tatler upon Ithuriel's spear(30) is not mine, madam. What a + puzzle there is betwixt you and your judgment! In general you may be + sometimes sure of things, as that about STYLE,(31) because it is what I + have frequently spoken of; but guessing is mine a——, and I + defy mankind, if I please. Why, I writ a pamphlet when I was last in + London, that you and a thousand have seen, and never guessed it to be + mine. Could you have guessed the "Shower in Town" to be mine? How chance + you did not see that before your last letter went? but I suppose you in + Ireland did not think it worth mentioning. Nor am I suspected for the + lampoon; only Harley said he smoked me; (have I told you so before?) and + some others knew it. 'Tis called "The Rod of Sid Hamet." And I have + written several other things that I hear commended, and nobody suspects me + for them; nor you shall not know till I see you again. What do you mean, + "That boards near me, that I dine with now and then?" I know no such + person: I do not dine with boarders. What the pox! You know whom I have + dined with every day since I left you, better than I do. What do you mean, + sirrah? Slids, my ailment has been over these two months almost. + Impudence, if you vex me, I will give ten shillings a week for my lodging; + for I am almost st—k out of this with the sink, and it helps me to + verses in my "Shower."(32) Well, Madam Dingley, what say you to the world + to come? What ballad? Why go look, it was not good for much: have patience + till I come back: patience is a gay thing as, etc. I hear nothing of Lord + Mountjoy's coming for Ireland. When is Stella's birthday? in March? Lord + bless me, my turn at Christ Church;(33) it is so natural to hear you write + about that, I believe you have done it a hundred times; it is as fresh in + my mind, the verger coming to you; and why to you? Would he have you + preach for me? O, pox on your spelling of Latin, Johnsonibus atque, that + is the way. How did the Dean get that name by the end? 'Twas you betrayed + me: not I, faith; I'll not break his head. Your mother is still in the + country, I suppose; for she promised to see me when she came to town. I + writ to her four days ago, to desire her to break it to Lady Giffard, to + put some money for you in the Bank, which was then fallen thirty per cent. + Would to God mine had been here, I should have gained one hundred pounds, + and got as good interest as in Ireland, and much securer. I would fain + have borrowed three hundred pounds; but money is so scarce here, there is + no borrowing, by this fall of stocks. 'Tis rising now, and I knew it + would: it fell from one hundred and twenty-nine to ninety-six. I have not + heard since from your mother. Do you think I would be so unkind not to see + her, that you desire me in a style so melancholy? Mrs. Raymond,(34) you + say, is with child: I am sorry for it; and so is, I believe, her husband. + Mr. Harley speaks all the kind things to me in the world; and, I believe, + would serve me, if I were to stay here; but I reckon in time the Duke of + Ormond may give me some addition to Laracor. Why should the Whigs think I + came to England to leave them? Sure my journey was no secret. I protest + sincerely, I did all I could to hinder it, as the Dean can tell you, + although now I do not repent it. But who the Devil cares what they think? + Am I under obligations in the least to any of them all? Rot 'em, for + ungrateful dogs; I will make them repent their usage before I leave this + place. They say here the same thing of my leaving the Whigs; but they own + they cannot blame me, considering the treatment I have had. I will take + care of your spectacles, as I told you before, and of the Bishop of + Killala's; but I will not write to him, I have not time. What do you mean + by my fourth, Madam Dinglibus? Does not Stella say you have had my fifth, + Goody Blunder? You frighted me till I looked back. Well, this is enough + for one night. Pray give my humble service to Mrs. Stoyte and her sister, + Kate is it, or Sarah?(35) I have forgot her name, faith. I think I will + even (and to Mrs. Walls and the Archdeacon) send this to-morrow: no, + faith, that will be in ten days from the last. I will keep it till + Saturday, though I write no more. But what if a letter from MD should come + in the meantime? Why then I would only say, "Madam, I have received your + sixth letter; your most humble servant to command, Presto"; and so + conclude. Well, now I will write and think a little, and so to bed, and + dream of MD. + </p> + <p> + 9. I have my mouth full of water, and was going to spit it out, because I + reasoned with myself, how could I write when my mouth was full? Han't you + done things like that, reasoned wrong at first thinking? Well, I was to + see Mr. Lewis this morning, and am to dine a few days hence, as he tells + me, with Mr. Secretary St. John; and I must contrive to see Harley soon + again, to hasten this business from the Queen. I dined to-day at Lord + Mountrath's,(36) with Lord Mountjoy,(37) etc.; but the wine was not good, + so I came away, stayed at the Coffee-house till seven, then came home to + my fire, the maidenhead of my second half-bushel, and am now in bed at + eleven, as usual. 'Tis mighty warm; yet I fear I should catch cold this + wet weather, if I sat an evening in my room after coming from warm places: + and I must make much of myself, because MD is not here to take care of + Presto; and I am full of business, writing, etc., and do not care for the + Coffee-house; and so this serves for all together, not to tell it you over + and over, as silly people do; but Presto is a wiser man, faith, than so, + let me tell you, gentlewomen. See, I am got to the third side; but, faith, + I will not do that often; but I must say something early to-day, till the + letter is done, and on Saturday it shall go; so I must leave something + till to-morrow, till to-morrow and next day. + </p> + <p> + 10. O Lord, I would this letter was with you with all my heart! If it + should miscarry, what a deal would be lost! I forgot to leave a gap in the + last line but one for the seal, like a puppy; but I should have allowed + for night, goodnight; but when I am taking leave, I cannot leave a bit, + faith; but I fancy the seal will not come there. I dined to-day at Lady + Lucy's, where they ran down my "Shower"; and said, "Sid Hamet" was the + silliest poem they ever read; and told Prior so, whom they thought to be + author of it. Don't you wonder I never dined there before? But I am too + busy, and they live too far off; and, besides, I do not like women so much + as I did. (MD, you must know, are not women.) I supped to-night at + Addison's, with Garth, Steele, and Mr. Dopping; and am come home late. + Lewis has sent to me to desire I will dine with some company I shall like. + I suppose it is Mr. Secretary St. John's appointment. I had a letter just + now from Raymond, who is at Bristol, and says he will be at London in a + fortnight, and leave his wife behind him; and desires any lodging in the + house where I am: but that must not be. I shall not know what to do with + him in town: to be sure, I will not present him to any acquaintance of + mine; and he will live a delicate life, a parson and a perfect stranger! + Paaast twelvvve o'clock,(38) and so good-night, etc. Oh! but I forgot, + Jemmy Leigh is come to town; says he has brought Dingley's things, and + will send them with the first convenience. My parcel, I hear, is not sent + yet. He thinks of going for Ireland in a month, etc. I cannot write + tomorrow, because—what, because of the Archbishop; because I will + seal my letter early; because I am engaged from noon till night; because + of many kind of things; and yet I will write one or two words to-morrow + morning, to keep up my journal constant, and at night I will begin my + ninth. + </p> + <p> + 11. Morning by candlelight. You must know that I am in my nightgown every + morning between six and seven, and Patrick is forced to ply me fifty times + before I can get on my nightgown; and so now I will take my leave of my + own dear MD for this letter, and begin my next when I come home at night. + God Almighty bless and protect dearest MD. Farewell, etc. + </p> + <p> + This letter's as long as a sermon, faith. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 9. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Nov. 11, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + I dined to-day, by invitation, with the Secretary of State, Mr. St. John. + Mr. Harley came in to us before dinner, and made me his excuses for not + dining with us, because he was to receive people who came to propose + advancing money to the Government: there dined with us only Mr. Lewis, and + Dr. Freind(1) (that writ "Lord Peterborow's Actions in Spain"). I stayed + with them till just now between ten and eleven, and was forced again to + give my eighth to the bellman, which I did with my own hands, rather than + keep it till next post. The Secretary used me with all the kindness in the + world. Prior came in after dinner; and, upon an occasion, he (the + Secretary) said, "The best thing I ever read is not yours, but Dr. Swift's + on Vanbrugh"; which I do not reckon so very good neither.(2) But Prior was + damped, until I stuffed him with two or three compliments. I am thinking + what a veneration we used to have for Sir William Temple, because he might + have been Secretary of State at fifty; and here is a young fellow, hardly + thirty, in that employment.(3) His father is a man of pleasure,(4) that + walks the Mall, and frequents St. James's Coffee-house, and the + chocolate-houses; and the young son is principal Secretary of State. Is + there not something very odd in that? He told me, among other things, that + Mr. Harley complained he could keep nothing from me, I had the way so much + of getting into him. I knew that was a refinement; and so I told him, and + it was so: indeed, it is hard to see these great men use me like one who + was their betters, and the puppies with you in Ireland hardly regarding + me: but there are some reasons for all this, which I will tell you when we + meet. At coming home, I saw a letter from your mother, in answer to one I + sent her two days ago. It seems she is in town; but cannot come out in a + morning, just as you said; and God knows when I shall be at leisure in an + afternoon: for if I should send her a penny-post letter, and afterwards + not be able to meet her, it would vex me; and, besides, the days are + short, and why she cannot come early in a morning, before she is wanted, I + cannot imagine. I will desire her to let Lady Giffard know that she hears + I am in town; and that she would go to see me, to inquire after you. I + wonder she will confine herself so much to that old beast's humour. You + know I cannot in honour see Lady Giffard, and consequently not go into her + house. This I think is enough for the first time. + </p> + <p> + 12. And how could you write with such thin paper? (I forgot to say this in + my former.) Cannot you get thicker? Why, that's a common caution that + writing-masters give their scholars; you must have heard it a hundred + times. 'Tis this: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "If paper be thin, + Ink will slip in; + But, if it be thick, + You may write with a stick."(5) +</pre> + <p> + I had a letter to-day from poor Mrs. Long,(6) giving me an account of her + present life, obscure in a remote country town, and how easy she is under + it. Poor creature! 'tis just such an alteration in life, as if Presto + should be banished from MD, and condemned to converse with Mrs. Raymond. I + dined to-day with Ford, Sir Richard Levinge,(7) etc., at a place where + they board, hard by. I was lazy, and not very well, sitting so long with + company yesterday. I have been very busy writing this evening at home, and + had a fire: I am spending my second half-bushel of coals; and now am in + bed, and 'tis late. + </p> + <p> + 13. I dined to-day in the City, and then went to christen Will + Frankland's(8) child; and Lady Falconbridge(9) was one of the godmothers: + this is a daughter of Oliver Cromwell, and extremely like him by his + pictures that I have seen. I stayed till almost eleven, and am now come + home and gone to bed. My business in the City was, to thank Stratford for + a kindness he has done me, which now I will tell you. I found Bank Stock + was fallen thirty-four in the hundred, and was mighty desirous to buy it; + but I was a little too late for the cheapest time, being hindered by + business here; for I was so wise to guess to a day when it would fall. My + project was this: I had three hundred pounds in Ireland; and so I writ to + Mr. Stratford in the City, to desire he would buy me three hundred pounds + in Bank Stock, and that he should keep the papers, and that I would be + bound to pay him for them; and, if it should rise or fall, I would take my + chance, and pay him interest in the meantime. I showed my letter to one or + two people who understand those things; and they said money was so hard to + be got here, that no man would do it for me. However, Stratford, who is + the most generous man alive, has done it: but it costs one hundred pounds + and a half, that is, ten shillings; so that three hundred pounds cost me + three hundred pounds and thirty shillings. This was done about a week ago, + and I can have five pounds for my bargain already. Before it fell, it was + one hundred and thirty pounds; and we are sure it will be the same again. + I told you I writ to your mother, to desire that Lady Giffard would do the + same with what she owes you; but she tells your mother she has no money. I + would to God all you had in the world was there. Whenever you lend money, + take this rule, to have two people bound, who have both visible fortunes; + for they will hardly die together; and, when one dies, you fall upon the + other, and make him add another security: and if Rathburn (now I have his + name) pays you in your money, let me know, and I will direct Parvisol + accordingly: however, he shall wait on you and know. So, ladies, enough of + business for one night. Paaaaast twelvvve o'clock. I must only add, that, + after a long fit of rainy weather, it has been fair two or three days, and + is this day grown cold and frosty; so that you must give poor little + Presto leave to have a fire in his chamber morning and evening too; and he + will do as much for you. + </p> + <p> + 14. What, has your Chancellor(10) lost his senses, like Will Crowe?(11) I + forgot to tell Dingley that I was yesterday at Ludgate, bespeaking the + spectacles at the great shop there, and shall have them in a day or two. + This has been an insipid day. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and came + gravely home, after just visiting the Coffee-house. Sir Richard Cox,(12) + they say, is sure of going over Lord Chancellor, who is as arrant a puppy + as ever ate bread: but the Duke of Ormond has a natural affection to + puppies; which is a thousand pities, being none himself. I have been + amusing myself at home till now, and in bed bid you good-night. + </p> + <p> + 15. I have been visiting this morning, but nobody was at home, Secretary + St. John, Sir Thomas Hanmer,(13) Sir Chancellor Cox-comb, etc. I attended + the Duke of Ormond with about fifty other Irish gentlemen at Skinners' + Hall, where the Londonderry Society laid out three hundred pounds to treat + us and his Grace with a dinner. Three great tables with the dessert laid + in mighty figure. Sir Richard Levinge and I got discreetly to the head of + the second table, to avoid the crowd at the first: but it was so cold, and + so confounded a noise with the trumpets and hautboys, that I grew weary, + and stole away before the second course came on; so I can give you no + account of it, which is a thousand pities. I called at Ludgate for + Dingley's glasses, and shall have them in a day or two; and I doubt it + will cost me thirty shillings for a microscope, but not without Stella's + permission; for I remember she is a virtuoso. Shall I buy it or no? 'Tis + not the great bulky ones, nor the common little ones, to impale a louse + (saving your presence) upon a needle's point; but of a more exact sort, + and clearer to the sight, with all its equipage in a little trunk that you + may carry in your pocket. Tell me, sirrah, shall I buy it or not for you? + I came home straight, etc. + </p> + <p> + 16. I dined to-day in the city with Mr. Manley,(14) who invited Mr. + Addison and me, and some other friends, to his lodging, and entertained us + very handsomely. I returned with Mr. Addison, and loitered till nine in + the Coffee-house, where I am hardly known, by going so seldom. I am here + soliciting for Trounce; you know him: he was gunner in the former yacht, + and would fain be so in the present one if you remember him, a good, + lusty, fresh-coloured fellow. Shall I stay till I get another letter from + MD before I close up this? Mr. Addison and I meet a little seldomer than + formerly, although we are still at bottom as good friends as ever, but + differ a little about party. + </p> + <p> + 17. To-day I went to Lewis at the Secretary's office; where I saw and + spoke to Mr. Harley, who promised, in a few days, to finish the rest of my + business. I reproached him for putting me on the necessity of minding him + of it, and rallied him, etc., which he took very well. I dined to-day with + one Mr. Gore, elder brother to a young merchant of my acquaintance; and + Stratford and my other friend merchants dined with us, where I stayed + late, drinking claret and burgundy; and am just got to bed, and will say + no more, but that it now begins to be time to have a letter from my own + little MD; for the last I had above a fortnight ago, and the date was old + too. + </p> + <p> + 18. To-day I dined with Lewis and Prior at an eating-house, but with + Lewis's wine. Lewis went away, and Prior and I sat on, where we + complimented one another for an hour or two upon our mutual wit and + poetry. Coming home at seven, a gentleman unknown stopped me in the Pall + Mall, and asked my advice; said he had been to see the Queen (who was just + come to town), and the people in waiting would not let him see her; that + he had two hundred thousand men ready to serve her in the war; that he + knew the Queen perfectly well, and had an apartment at Court, and if she + heard he was there, she would send for him immediately; that she owed him + two hundred thousand pounds, etc., and he desired my opinion, whether he + should go try again whether he could see her; or because, perhaps, she was + weary after her journey, whether he had not better stay till to-morrow. I + had a mind to get rid of my companion, and begged him of all love to go + and wait on her immediately; for that, to my knowledge, the Queen would + admit him; that this was an affair of great importance, and required + despatch: and I instructed him to let me know the success of his business, + and come to the Smyrna Coffee-house, where I would wait for him till + midnight; and so ended this adventure. I would have fain given the man + half a crown; but was afraid to offer it him, lest he should be offended; + for, beside his money, he said he had a thousand pounds a year. I came + home not early; and so, madams both, goodnight, etc. + </p> + <p> + 19. I dined to-day with poor Lord Mountjoy, who is ill of the gout; and + this evening I christened our coffee-man Elliot's(15) child, where the + rogue had a most noble supper, and Steele and I sat among some scurvy + company over a bowl of punch; so that I am come home late, young women, + and can't stay to write to little rogues. + </p> + <p> + 20. I loitered at home, and dined with Sir Andrew Fountaine at his + lodging, and then came home: a silly day. + </p> + <p> + 21. I was visiting all this morning, and then went to the Secretary's + office, and found Mr. Harley, with whom I dined; and Secretary St. John, + etc., and Harley promised in a very few days to finish what remains of my + business. Prior was of the company, and we all dine at the Secretary's + to-morrow. I saw Stella's mother this morning: she came early, and we + talked an hour. I wish you would propose to Lady Giffard to take the three + hundred pounds out of her hands, and give her common interest for life, + and security that you will pay her: the Bishop of Clogher, or any friend, + would be security for you, if you gave them counter-security; and it may + be argued that it will pass better to be in your hands than hers, in case + of mortality, etc. Your mother says, if you write, she will second it; and + you may write to your mother, and then it will come from her. She tells me + Lady Giffard has a mind to see me, by her discourse; but I told her what + to say, with a vengeance. She told Lady Giffard she was going to see me: + she looks extremely well. I am writing(16) in my bed like a tiger; and so + good-night, etc. + </p> + <p> + 22. I dined with Secretary St. John; and Lord Dartmouth, who is t'other + Secretary, dined with us, and Lord Orrery(17) and Prior, etc. Harley + called, but could not dine with us, and would have had me away while I was + at dinner; but I did not like the company he was to have. We stayed till + eight, and I called at the Coffee-house, and looked where the letters lie; + but no letter directed for Mr. Presto: at last I saw a letter to Mr. + Addison, and it looked like a rogue's hand; so I made the fellow give it + me, and opened it before him, and saw three letters all for myself: so, + truly, I put them in my pocket, and came home to my lodging. Well, and so + you shall hear: well, and so I found one of them in Dingley's hand, and + t'other in Stella's, and the third in Domville's.(18) Well, so you shall + hear; so, said I to myself, What now, two letters from MD together? But I + thought there was something in the wind; so I opened one, and I opened + t'other; and so you shall hear, one was from Walls. Well, but t'other was + from our own dear MD; yes it was. O faith, have you received my seventh, + young women, already? Then I must send this to-morrow, else there will be + old(19) doings at our house, faith.—Well, I won't answer your letter + in this: no, faith, catch me at that, and I never saw the like. Well; but + as to Walls, tell him (with service to him and wife, etc.) that I have no + imagination of Mr. Pratt's(20) losing his place: and while Pratt + continues, Clements is in no danger; and I have already engaged Lord + Hyde(21) he speaks of, for Pratt and twenty others; but, if such a thing + should happen, I will do what I can. I have above ten businesses of other + people's now on my hands, and, I believe, shall miscarry in half. It is + your sixth I now have received. I writ last post to the Bishop of Clogher + again. Shall I send this to-morrow? Well, I will, to oblige MD. Which + would you rather, a short letter every week, or a long one every + fortnight? A long one; well, it shall be done, and so good-night. Well, + but is this a long one? No, I warrant you: too long for naughty girls. + </p> + <p> + 23. I only ask, have you got both the ten pounds, or only the first; I + hope you mean both. Pray be good housewives; and I beg you to walk when + you can, for health. Have you the horse in town? and do you ever ride him? + how often? Confess. Ahhh, sirrah, have I caught you? Can you contrive to + let Mrs. Fenton(22) know, that the request she has made me in her letter I + will use what credit I have to bring about, although I hear it is very + difficult, and I doubt I shall not succeed? Cox is not to be your + Chancellor: all joined against him. I have been supping with Lord + Peterborow at his house, with Prior, Lewis, and Dr. Freind. 'Tis the + ramblingest lying rogue on earth. Dr. Raymond is come to town: 'tis late, + and so I bid you good-night. + </p> + <p> + 24. I tell you, pretty management! Ned Southwell told me the other day he + had a letter from the bishops of Ireland, with an address to the Duke of + Ormond, to intercede with the Queen to take off the First-Fruits. I dined + with him to-day, and saw it, with another letter to him from the Bishop of + Kildare,(23) to call upon me for the papers, etc.; and I had last post one + from the Archbishop of Dublin, telling me the reason of this proceeding; + that, upon hearing the Duke of Ormond was declared Lord Lieutenant, they + met; and the bishops were for this project, and talked coldly of my being + solicitor, as one that was favoured by t'other party, etc., but desired + that I would still solicit.(24) Now the wisdom of this is admirable; for I + had given the Archbishop an account of my reception from Mr. Harley, and + how he had spoken to the Queen, and promised it should be done; but Mr. + Harley ordered me to tell no person alive. Some time after, he gave me + leave to let the Primate and Archbishop know that the Queen had remitted + the First-Fruits; and that in a short time they should have an account of + it in form from Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State. So while their letter + was on the road to the Duke of Ormond and Southwell, mine was going to + them with an account of the thing being done. I writ a very warm + answer(25) to the Archbishop immediately; and showed my resentments, as I + ought, against the bishops; only, in good manners, excepting himself. I + wonder what they will say when they hear the thing is done. I was + yesterday forced to tell Southwell so, that the Queen had done it, etc.; + for he said, my Lord Duke would think of it some months hence, when he was + going for Ireland; and he had it three years in doing formerly, without + any success. I give you free leave to say, on occasion, that it is done; + and that Mr. Harley prevailed on the Queen to do it, etc., as you please. + As I hope to live, I despise the credit of it, out of an excess of pride; + and desire you will not give me the least merit when you talk of it; but I + would vex the bishops, and have it spread that Mr. Harley had done it: + pray do so. Your mother sent me last night a parcel of wax candles, and a + bandbox full of small plumcakes. I thought it had been something for you; + and, without opening them, sent answer by the maid that brought them, that + I would take care to send the things, etc.; but I will write her thanks. + Is this a long letter, sirrahs? Now, are you satisfied? I have had no fit + since the first: I drink brandy every morning, and take pills every night. + Never fear, I an't vexed at this puppy business of the bishops, although I + was a little at first. I will tell you my reward: Mr. Harley will think he + has done me a favour; the Duke of Ormond, perhaps, that I have put a + neglect on him; and the bishops in Ireland, that I have done nothing at + all. So goes the world. But I have got above all this, and, perhaps, I + have better reason for it than they know: and so you shall hear no more of + First-Fruits, dukes, Harleys, archbishops, and Southwells. + </p> + <p> + I have slipped off Raymond upon some of his countrymen, to show him the + town, etc., and I lend him Patrick. He desires to sit with me in the + evenings; upon which I have given Patrick positive orders that I am not + within at evenings. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 10. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Nov. 25, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + I will tell you something that's plaguy silly: I had forgot to say on the + 23d in my last, where I dined; and because I had done it constantly, I + thought it was a great omission, and was going to interline it; but at + last the silliness of it made me cry, Pshah, and I let it alone. I was + to-day to see the Parliament meet; but only saw a great crowd; and Ford + and I went to see the tombs at Westminster, and sauntered so long I was + forced to go to an eating-house for my dinner. Bromley(1) is chosen + Speaker, nemine contradicente: Do you understand those two words? And + Pompey, Colonel Hill's(2) black, designs to stand Speaker for the + footmen.(3) I am engaged to use my interest for him, and have spoken to + Patrick to get him some votes. We are now all impatient for the Queen's + speech, what she will say about removing the Ministry, etc. I have got a + cold, and I don't know how; but got it I have, and am hoarse: I don't know + whether it will grow better or worse. What's that to you? I won't answer + your letter to-night. I'll keep you a little longer in suspense: I can't + send it. Your mother's cakes are very good, and one of them serves me for + a breakfast, and so I'll go sleep like a good boy. + </p> + <p> + 26. I have got a cruel cold, and stayed within all this day in my + nightgown, and dined on sixpennyworth of victuals, and read and writ, and + was denied to everybody. Dr. Raymond(4) called often, and I was denied; + and at last, when I was weary, I let him come up, and asked him, without + consequence, how Patrick denied me, and whether he had the art of it? So + by this means he shall be used to have me denied to him; otherwise he + would be a plaguy trouble and hindrance to me: he has sat with me two + hours, and drank a pint of ale cost me fivepence, and smoked his pipe, and + it is now past eleven that he is just gone. Well, my eighth is with you + now, young women; and your seventh to me is somewhere in a post-boy's bag; + and so go to your gang of deans, and Stoytes, and Walls, and lose your + money; go, sauceboxes: and so good-night, and be happy, dear rogues. Oh, + but your box was sent to Dr. Hawkshaw by Sterne, and you will have it with + Hawkshaw, and spectacles, etc., etc. + </p> + <p> + 27. To-day Mr. Harley met me in the Court of Requests,(5) and whispered me + to dine with him. At dinner I told him what those bishops had done, and + the difficulty I was under. He bid me never trouble myself; he would tell + the Duke of Ormond the business was done, and that he need not concern + himself about it. So now I am easy, and they may hang themselves for a + parcel of insolent, ungrateful rascals. I suppose I told you in my last, + how they sent an address to the Duke of Ormond, and a letter to Southwell, + to call on me for the papers, after the thing was over; but they had not + received my letter, though the Archbishop might, by what I writ to him, + have expected it would be done. Well, there is an end of that; and in a + little time the Queen will send them notice, etc. And so the methods will + be settled; and then I shall think of returning, although the baseness of + those bishops makes me love Ireland less than I did. + </p> + <p> + 28. Lord Halifax sent to invite me to dinner; where I stayed till six, and + crossed him in all his Whig talk, and made him often come over to me. I + know he makes court to the new men, although he affects to talk like a + Whig. I had a letter to-day from the Bishop of Clogher; but I writ to him + lately, that I would obey his commands to the Duke of Ormond. He says I + bid him read the London "Shaver," and that you both swore it was "Shaver," + and not "Shower."(6) You all lie, and you are puppies, and can't read + Presto's hand. The Bishop is out entirely in his conjectures of my share + in the Tatlers.—I have other things to mind, and of much greater + importance;(7) else I have little to do to be acquainted with a new + Ministry, who consider me a little more than Irish bishops do. + </p> + <p> + 29. Now for your saucy, good dear letter: let me see, what does it say? + come then. I dined to-day with Ford, and went home early; he debauched(8) + me to his chamber again with a bottle of wine till twelve: so good-night. + I cannot write an answer now, you rogues. + </p> + <p> + 30. To-day I have been visiting, which I had long neglected; and I dined + with Mrs. Barton alone; and sauntered at the Coffee-house till past eight, + and have been busy till eleven, and now I'll answer your letter, saucebox. + Well, let me see now again. My wax candle's almost out, but however I'll + begin. Well then, do not be so tedious, Mr. Presto; what can you say to + MD's letter? Make haste, have done with your preambles—Why, I say I + am glad you are so often abroad; your mother thinks it is want of exercise + hurts you, and so do I. (She called here to-night, but I was not within, + that's by the bye.) Sure you do not deceive me, Stella, when you say you + are in better health than you were these three weeks; for Dr. Raymond told + me yesterday, that Smyth of the Blind Quay had been telling Mr. Leigh that + he left you extremely ill; and in short, spoke so, that he almost put poor + Leigh into tears, and would have made me run distracted; though your + letter is dated the 11th instant, and I saw Smyth in the city above a + fortnight ago, as I passed by in a coach. Pray, pray, don't write, Stella, + until you are mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty well in your eyes, and are + sure it won't do you the least hurt. Or come, I'll tell you what; you, + Mistress Stella, shall write your share at five or six sittings, one + sitting a day; and then comes Dingley all together, and then Stella a + little crumb towards the end, to let us see she remembers Presto; and then + conclude with something handsome and genteel, as your most + humblecumdumble, or, etc. O Lord! does Patrick write word of my not coming + till spring? Insolent man! he know my secrets? No; as my Lord Mayor said, + No; if I thought my shirt knew, etc. Faith, I will come as soon as it is + any way proper for me to come; but, to say the truth, I am at present a + little involved with the present Ministry in some certain things (which I + tell you as a secret); and soon as ever I can clear my hands, I will stay + no longer; for I hope the First-Fruit business will be soon over in all + its forms. But, to say the truth, the present Ministry have a difficult + task, and want me, etc. Perhaps they may be just as grateful as others: + but, according to the best judgment I have, they are pursuing the true + interest of the public; and therefore I am glad to contribute what is in + my power. For God's sake, not a word of this to any alive.—Your + Chancellor?(9) Why, madam, I can tell you he has been dead this fortnight. + Faith, I could hardly forbear our little language about a nasty dead + Chancellor, as you may see by the blot.(10) Ploughing? A pox plough them; + they'll plough me to nothing. But have you got your money, both the ten + pounds? How durst he pay you the second so soon? Pray be good huswifes. + Ay, well, and Joe, why, I had a letter lately from Joe, desiring I would + take some care of their poor town,(11) who, he says, will lose their + liberties. To which I desired Dr. Raymond would return answer, that the + town had behaved themselves so ill to me, so little regarded the advice I + gave them, and disagreed so much among themselves, that I was resolved + never to have more to do with them; but that whatever personal kindness I + could do to Joe, should be done. Pray, when you happen to see Joe, tell + him this, lest Raymond should have blundered or forgotten—Poor Mrs. + Wesley!—Why these poligyes(12) for being abroad? Why should you be + at home at all, until Stella is quite well?—So, here is Mistress + Stella again, with her two eggs, etc. My "Shower" admired with you; why, + the Bishop of Clogher says, he has seen something of mine of the same + sort, better than the "Shower." I suppose he means "The Morning";(13) but + it is not half so good. I want your judgment of things, and not your + country's. How does MD like it? and do they taste it ALL? etc. I am glad + Dean Bolton(14) has paid the twenty pounds. Why should not I chide the + Bishop of Clogher for writing to the Archbishop of Cashel,(15) without + sending the letter first to me? It does not signify a ——; for + he has no credit at Court. Stuff—they are all puppies. I will break + your head in good earnest, young woman, for your nasty jest about Mrs. + Barton.(16) Unlucky sluttikin, what a word is there! Faith, I was thinking + yesterday, when I was with her, whether she could break them or no, and it + quite spoilt my imagination. "Mrs. Walls, does Stella win as she + pretends?" "No indeed, Doctor; she loses always, and will play so + VENTERSOMELY, how can she win?" See here now; an't you an impudent lying + slut? Do, open Domville's letter; what does it signify, if you have a + mind? Yes, faith, you write smartly with your eyes shut; all was well but + the <i>n</i>. See how I can do it; MADAM STELLA, YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT.(17) + O, but one may look whether one goes crooked or no, and so write on. I + will tell you what you may do; you may write with your eyes half shut, + just as when one is going to sleep: I have done so for two or three lines + now; it is but just seeing enough to go straight.—Now, Madam + Dingley, I think I bid you tell Mr. Walls that, in case there be occasion, + I will serve his friend as far as I can; but I hope there will be none. + Yet I believe you will have a new Parliament; but I care not whether you + have or no a better. You are mistaken in all your conjectures about the + Tatlers. I have given him one or two hints, and you have heard me talk + about the Shilling.(18) Faith, these answering letters are very long ones: + you have taken up almost the room of a week in journals; and I will tell + you what, I saw fellows wearing crosses to-day,(19) and I wondered what + was the matter; but just this minute I recollect it is little Presto's + birthday; and I was resolved these three days to remember it when it came, + but could not. Pray, drink my health to-day at dinner; do, you rogues. Do + you like "Sid Hamet's Rod"? Do you understand it all? Well, now at last I + have done with your letter, and so I will lay me down to sleep, and about, + fair maids; and I hope merry maids all. + </p> + <p> + Dec. 1. Morning. I wish Smyth were hanged. I was dreaming the most + melancholy things in the world of poor Stella, and was grieving and crying + all night.—Pshah, it is foolish: I will rise and divert myself; so + good-morrow; and God of His infinite mercy keep and protect you! The + Bishop of Clogher's letter is dated Nov. 21. He says you thought of going + with him to Clogher. I am heartily glad of it, and wish you would ride + there, and Dingley go in a coach. I have had no fit since my first, + although sometimes my head is not quite in good order.—At night. I + was this morning to visit Mr. Pratt, who is come over with poor, sick Lord + Shelburne: they made me dine with them; and there I stayed, like a booby, + till eight, looking over them at ombre, and then came home. Lord + Shelburne's giddiness is turned into a colic, and he looks miserably. + </p> + <p> + 2. Steele, the rogue, has done the imprudentest thing in the world: he + said something in a Tatler,(20) that we ought to use the word Great + Britain, and not England, in common conversation, as, "The finest lady in + Great Britain," etc. Upon this, Rowe, Prior, and I sent him a letter, + turning this into ridicule. He has to-day printed the letter,(21) and + signed it J.S., M.P., and N.R., the first letters of all our names. + Congreve told me to-day, he smoked it immediately. Congreve and I, and Sir + Charles Wager, dined to-day at Delaval's, the Portugal Envoy; and I stayed + there till eight, and came home, and am now writing to you before I do + business, because that dog Patrick is not at home, and the fire is not + made, and I am not in my gear. Pox take him!—I was looking by chance + at the top of this side, and find I make plaguy mistakes in words; so that + you must fence against that as well as bad writing. Faith, I can't nor + won't read what I have written. (Pox of this puppy!) Well, I'll leave you + till I am got to bed, and then I will say a word or two.—Well, 'tis + now almost twelve, and I have been busy ever since, by a fire too (I have + my coals by half a bushel at a time, I'll assure you), and now I am got to + bed. Well, and what have you to say to Presto now he is abed? Come now, + let us hear your speeches. No, 'tis a lie; I an't sleepy yet. Let us sit + up a little longer, and talk. Well, where have you been to-day, that you + are but just this minute come home in a coach? What have you lost? Pay the + coachman, Stella. No, faith, not I, he'll grumble.—What new + acquaintance have you got? come, let us hear. I have made Delaval promise + to send me some Brazil tobacco from Portugal for you, Madam Dingley. I + hope you will have your chocolate and spectacles before this comes to you. + </p> + <p> + 3. Pshaw, I must be writing to these dear saucy brats every night, whether + I will or no, let me have what business I will, or come home ever so late, + or be ever so sleepy; but an old saying, and a true one, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Be you lords, or be you earls, + You must write to naughty girls." +</pre> + <p> + I was to-day at Court, and saw Raymond among the Beefeaters, staying to + see the Queen: so I put him in a better station, made two or three dozen + of bows, and went to church, and then to Court again, to pick up a dinner, + as I did with Sir John Stanley; and then we went to visit Lord Mountjoy, + and just now left him; and 'tis near eleven at night, young women; and + methinks this letter comes pretty near to the bottom, and 'tis but eight + days since the date, and don't think I'll write on the other side, I thank + you for nothing. Faith, if I would use you to letters on sheets as broad + as this room, you would always expect them from me. O, faith, I know you + well enough; but an old saying, etc., + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Two sides in a sheet, + And one in a street." +</pre> + <p> + I think that's but a silly old saying; and so I'll go to sleep, and do you + so too. + </p> + <p> + 4. I dined to-day with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and then came home, and studied + till eleven. No adventure at all to-day. + </p> + <p> + 5. So I went to the Court of Requests (we have had the Devil and all of + rain by the bye) to pick up a dinner; and Henley made me go dine with him + and one Colonel Bragg(22) at a tavern; cost me money, faith. Congreve was + to be there, but came not. I came with Henley to the Coffee-house, where + Lord Salisbury(23) seemed mighty desirous to talk with me; and, while he + was wriggling himself into my favour, that dog Henley asked me aloud, + whether I would go to see Lord Somers as I had promised (which was a lie); + and all to vex poor Lord Salisbury, who is a high Tory. He played two or + three other such tricks; and I was forced to leave my lord, and I came + home at seven, and have been writing ever since, and will now go to bed. + The other day I saw Jack Temple(24) in the Court of Requests: it was the + first time of seeing him; so we talked two or three careless words, and + parted. Is it true that your Recorder and Mayor, and fanatic aldermen, a + month or two ago, at a solemn feast, drank Mr. Harley's, Lord + Rochester's,(25) and other Tory healths? Let me know; it was confidently + said here.—The scoundrels! It shan't do, Tom. + </p> + <p> + 6. When is this letter to go, I wonder? harkee, young women, tell me that. + Saturday next for certain, and not before: then it will be just a + fortnight; time enough for naughty girls, and long enough for two letters, + faith. Congreve and Delaval have at last prevailed on Sir Godfrey Kneller + to entreat me to let him draw my picture for nothing; but I know not yet + when I shall sit.(26)—It is such monstrous rainy weather, that there + is no doing with it. Secretary St. John sent to me this morning, that my + dining with him to-day was put off till to-morrow; so I peaceably sat with + my neighbour Ford, dined with him, and came home at six, and am now in bed + as usual; and now it is time to have another letter from MD, yet I would + not have it till this goes; for that would look like two letters for one. + Is it not whimsical that the Dean has never once written to me? And I find + the Archbishop very silent to that letter I sent him with an account that + the business was done. I believe he knows not what to write or say; and I + have since written twice to him, both times with a vengeance.(27) Well, go + to bed, sirrahs, and so will I. But have you lost to-day? Three shillings! + O fie, O fie! + </p> + <p> + 7. No, I won't send this letter to-day, nor till Saturday, faith; and I am + so afraid of one from MD between this and that; if it comes, I will just + say I received a letter, and that is all. I dined to-day with Mr. + Secretary St. John, where were Lord Anglesea,(28) Sir Thomas Hanmer, + Prior, Freind, etc., and then made a debauch after nine at Prior's house, + and have eaten cold pie, and I hate the thoughts of it, and I am full, and + I don't like it, and I will go to bed, and it is late, and so good-night. + </p> + <p> + 8. To-day I dined with Mr. Harley and Prior; but Mr. St. John did not + come, though he promised: he chid me for not seeing him oftener. Here is a + damned, libellous pamphlet come out against Lord Wharton, giving the + character first, and then telling some of his actions: the character is + very well, but the facts indifferent.(29) It has been sent by dozens to + several gentlemen's lodgings, and I had one or two of them; but nobody + knows the author or printer. We are terribly afraid of the plague; they + say it is at Newcastle.(30) I begged Mr. Harley for the love of God to + take some care about it, or we are all ruined. There have been orders for + all ships from the Baltic to pass their quarantine before they land; but + they neglect it. You remember I have been afraid these two years. + </p> + <p> + 9. O, faith, you are a saucy rogue. I have had your sixth letter just now, + before this is gone; but I will not answer a word of it, only that I never + was giddy since my first fit; but I have had a cold just a fortnight, and + cough with it still morning and evening; but it will go off. It is, + however, such abominable weather that no creature can walk. They say here + three of your Commissioners will be turned out, Ogle, South, and St. + Quintin;(31) and that Dick Stewart(32) and Ludlow will be two of the new + ones. I am a little soliciting for another: it is poor Lord Abercorn,(33) + but that is a secret; I mean, that I befriend him is a secret; but I + believe it is too late, by his own fault and ill fortune. I dined with him + to-day. I am heartily sorry you do not go to Clogher, faith, I am; and so + God Almighty protect poor, dear, dear, dear, dearest MD. Farewell till + to-night. I'll begin my eleventh to-night; so I am always writing to + little MD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 11. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Dec. 9, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + So, young women, I have just sent my tenth to the post-office, and, as I + told you, have received your seventh (faith, I am afraid I mistook, and + said your sixth, and then we shall be all in confusion this month.) Well, + I told you I dined with Lord Abercorn to-day; and that is enough till by + and bye; for I must go write idle things, and twittle twattle.(1) What's + here to do with your little MD's? and so I put this by for a while. 'Tis + now late, and I can only say MD is a dear, saucy rogue, and what then? + Presto loves them the better. + </p> + <p> + 10. This son of a b—— Patrick is out of the way, and I can do + nothing; am forced to borrow coals: 'tis now six o'clock, and I am come + home after a pure walk in the park; delicate weather, begun only to-day. A + terrible storm last night: we hear one of your packet-boats is cast away, + and young Beau Swift(2) in it, and General Sankey:(3) I know not the + truth; you will before me. Raymond talks of leaving the town in a few + days, and going in a month to Ireland, for fear his wife should be too far + gone, and forced to be brought to bed here. I think he is in the right; + but perhaps this packet-boat will fright him. He has no relish for London; + and I do not wonder at it. He has got some Templars from Ireland that show + him the town. I do not let him see me above twice a week, and that only + while I am dressing in the morning.—So, now the puppy's come in, and + I have got my own ink, but a new pen; and so now you are rogues and + sauceboxes till I go to bed; for I must go study, sirrahs. Now I think of + it, tell the Bishop of Clogher, he shall not cheat me of one inch of my + bell metal. You know it is nothing but to save the town money; and + Enniskillen can afford it better than Laracor: he shall have but one + thousand five hundred weight. I have been reading, etc., as usual, and am + now going to bed; and I find this day's article is long enough: so get you + gone till to-morrow, and then. I dined with Sir Matthew Dudley. + </p> + <p> + 11. I am come home again as yesterday, and the puppy had again locked up + my ink, notwithstanding all I said to him yesterday; but he came home a + little after me, so all is well: they are lighting my fire, and I'll go + study. The fair weather is gone again, and it has rained all day. I do not + like this open weather, though some say it is healthy. They say it is a + false report about the plague at Newcastle.(4) I have no news to-day: I + dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, to desire them to buy me a scarf; and Lady + Abercorn(5) is to buy me another, to see who does best: mine is all in + rags. I saw the Duke of Richmond(6) yesterday at Court again, but would + not speak to him: I believe we are fallen out. I am now in bed; and it has + rained all this evening, like wildfire: have you so much rain in your + town? Raymond was in a fright, as I expected, upon the news of this + shipwreck; but I persuaded him, and he leaves this town in a week. I got + him acquainted with Sir Robert Raymond,(7) the Solicitor-General, who owns + him to be of his family; and I believe it may do him a kindness, by being + recommended to your new Lord Chancellor.—I had a letter from Mrs. + Long, that has quite turned my stomach against her: no less than two nasty + jests in it, with dashes to suppose them. She is corrupted in that country + town(8) with vile conversation.—I will not answer your letter till I + have leisure: so let this go on as it will, what care I? what cares saucy + Presto? + </p> + <p> + 12. I was to-day at the Secretary's office with Lewis, and in came Lord + Rivers;(9) who took Lewis out and whispered him; and then came up to me to + desire my acquaintance, etc., so we bowed and complimented a while, and + parted and I dined with Phil. Savage(10) and his Irish Club, at their + boarding-place; and, passing an evening scurvily enough, did not come home + till eight. Mr. Addison and I hardly meet once a fortnight; his Parliament + and my different friendships keep us asunder. Sir Matthew Dudley turned + away his butler yesterday morning; and at night the poor fellow died + suddenly in the streets: was not it an odd event? But what care you? But + then I knew the butler.—Why, it seems your packet-boat is not lost: + psha, how silly that is, when I had already gone through the forms, and + said it was a sad thing, and that I was sorry for it! But when must I + answer this letter of our MD's? Here it is, it lies between this paper on + t'other side of the leaf: one of these odd-come-shortly's I'll consider, + and so good-night. + </p> + <p> + 13. Morning. I am to go trapesing with Lady Kerry(11) and Mrs. Pratt(12) + to see sights all this day: they engaged me yesterday morning at tea. You + hear the havoc making in the army: Meredith, Maccartney, and Colonel + Honeywood(13) are obliged to sell their commands at half-value, and leave + the army, for drinking destruction to the present Ministry, and dressing + up a hat on a stick, and calling it Harley; then drinking a glass with one + hand, and discharging a pistol with the other at the maukin,(14) wishing + it were Harley himself; and a hundred other such pretty tricks, as + inflaming their soldiers, and foreign Ministers, against the late changes + at Court. Cadogan(15) has had a little paring: his mother(16) told me + yesterday he had lost the place of Envoy; but I hope they will go no + further with him, for he was not at those mutinous meetings.—Well, + these saucy jades take up so much of my time with writing to them in a + morning; but, faith, I am glad to see you whenever I can: a little snap + and away; and so hold your tongue, for I must rise: not a word, for your + life. How nowww? So, very well; stay till I come home, and then, perhaps, + you may hear further from me. And where will you go to-day, for I can't be + with you for these ladies? It is a rainy, ugly day. I'd have you send for + Walls, and go to the Dean's; but don't play small games when you lose. + You'll be ruined by Manilio, Basto, the queen, and two small trumps, in + red.(17) I confess 'tis a good hand against the player: but then there are + Spadilio, Punto, the king, strong trumps, against you, which, with one + trump more, are three tricks ten ace: for, suppose you play your Manilio—Oh, + silly, how I prate, and can't get away from this MD in a morning! Go, get + you gone, dear naughty girls, and let me rise. There, Patrick locked up my + ink again the third time last night: the rogue gets the better of me; but + I will rise in spite of you, sirrahs.—At night. Lady Kerry, Mrs. + Pratt, Mrs. Cadogan,(18) and I, in one coach; Lady Kerry's son(19) and his + governor, and two gentlemen, in another; maids, and misses and little + master (Lord Shelburne's(20) children, in a third, all hackneys, set out + at ten o'clock this morning from Lord Shelburne's house in Piccadilly to + the Tower, and saw all the sights, lions,(21) etc.; then to Bedlam;(22) + then dined at the chop-house behind the Exchange; then to Gresham + College(23) (but the keeper was not at home); and concluded the night at + the Puppet-show,(24) whence we came home safe at eight, and I left them. + The ladies were all in mobs(25) (how do you call it?), undrest; and it was + the rainiest day that ever dripped; and I am weary; and it is now past + eleven. + </p> + <p> + 14. Stay, I'll answer some of your letter this morning in bed: let me see; + come and appear, little letter. Here I am, says he: and what say you to + Mrs. MD this morning fresh and fasting? Who dares think MD negligent? I + allow them a fortnight; and they give it me. I could fill a letter in a + week; but it is longer every day; and so I keep it a fortnight, and then + 'tis cheaper by one half. I have never been giddy, dear Stella, since that + morning: I have taken a whole box of pills, and kecked(26) at them every + night, and drank a pint of brandy at mornings.—Oh then, you kept + Presto's little birthday:(27) would to God I had been with you! I forgot + it, as I told you before. REdiculous, madam? I suppose you mean + rIdiculous: let me have no more of that; 'tis the author of the + Atalantis's(28) spelling. I have mended it in your letter. And can Stella + read this writing without hurting her dear eyes? O, faith, I am afraid + not. Have a care of those eyes, pray, pray, pretty Stella.—'Tis well + enough what you observe, that, if I writ better, perhaps you would not + read so well, being used to this manner; 'tis an alphabet you are used to: + you know such a pot-hook makes a letter; and you know what letter, and so + and so.—I'll swear he told me so, and that they were long letters + too; but I told him it was a gasconnade of yours, etc. I am talking of the + Bishop of Clogher, how he forgot. Turn over.(29) I had not room on t'other + side to say that, so I did it on this: I fancy that's a good Irish + blunder. Ah, why do not you go down to Clogher, nautinautinautideargirls; + I dare not say nauti without dear: O, faith, you govern me. But, + seriously, I'm sorry you don't go, as far as I can judge at this distance. + No, we would get you another horse; I will make Parvisol get you one. I + always doubted that horse of yours: prythee sell him, and let it be a + present to me. My heart aches when I think you ride him. Order Parvisol to + sell him, and that you are to return me the money: I shall never be easy + until he is out of your hands. Faith, I have dreamt five or six times of + horses stumbling since I had your letter. If he can't sell him, let him + run this winter. Faith, if I was near you, I would whip your —— + to some tune, for your grave, saucy answer about the Dean and Johnsonibus; + I would, young women. And did the Dean preach for me?(30) Very well. Why, + would they have me stand here and preach to them? No, the Tatler of the + Shilling(31) was not mine, more than the hint, and two or three general + heads for it. I have much more important business on my hands; and, + besides, the Ministry hate to think that I should help him, and have made + reproaches on it; and I frankly told them I would do it no more. This is a + secret though, Madam Stella. You win eight shillings? you win eight + fiddlesticks. Faith, you say nothing of what you lose, young women.—I + hope Manley is in no great danger; for Ned Southwell is his friend, and so + is Sir Thomas Frankland; and his brother John Manley stands up heartily + for him. On t'other side, all the gentlemen of Ireland here are furiously + against him. Now, Mistress Dingley, an't you an impudent slut, to expect a + letter next packet from Presto, when you confess yourself that you had so + lately two letters in four days? Unreasonable baggage! No, little Dingley, + I am always in bed by twelve; I mean my candle is out by twelve, and I + take great care of myself. Pray let everybody know, upon occasion, that + Mr. Harley got the First-Fruits from the Queen for the clergy of Ireland, + and that nothing remains but the forms, etc. So you say the Dean and you + dined at Stoyte's, and Mrs. Stoyte was in raptures that I remembered her. + I must do it but seldom, or it will take off her rapture. But what now, + you saucy sluts? all this written in a morning, and I must rise and go + abroad. Pray stay till night: do not think I will squander mornings upon + you, pray, good madam. Faith, if I go on longer in this trick of writing + in the morning, I shall be afraid of leaving it off, and think you expect + it, and be in awe. Good-morrow, sirrahs, I will rise.—At night. I + went to-day to the Court of Requests (I will not answer the rest of your + letter yet, that by the way, in hopes to dine with Mr. Harley: but Lord + Dupplin,(32) his son-in-law, told me he did not dine at home; so I was at + a loss, until I met with Mr. Secretary St. John, and went home and dined + with him, where he told me of a good bite.(33) Lord Rivers told me two + days ago, that he was resolved to come Sunday fortnight next to hear me + preach before the Queen. I assured him the day was not yet fixed, and I + knew nothing of it. To-day the Secretary told me that his father, Sir + Harry St. John,(34) and Lord Rivers were to be at St. James's Church, to + hear me preach there; and were assured I was to preach: so there will be + another bite; for I know nothing of the matter, but that Mr. Harley and + St. John are resolved I must preach before the Queen; and the Secretary of + State has told me he will give me three weeks' warning; but I desired to + be excused, which he will not. St. John, "You shall not be excused": + however, I hope they will forget it; for if it should happen, all the + puppies hereabouts will throng to hear me, and expect something wonderful, + and be plaguily baulked; for I shall preach plain honest stuff. I stayed + with St. John till eight, and then came home; and Patrick desired leave to + go abroad, and by and by comes up the girl to tell me, a gentleman was + below in a coach, who had a bill to pay me; so I let him come up, and who + should it be but Mr. Addison and Sam Dopping, to haul me out to supper, + where I stayed till twelve. If Patrick had been at home, I should have + 'scaped this; for I have taught him to deny me almost as well as Mr. + Harley's porter.—Where did I leave off in MD's letter? let me see. + So, now I have it. You are pleased to say, Madam Dingley, that those who + go for England can never tell when to come back. Do you mean this as a + reflection upon Presto, madam? Sauceboxes, I will come back as soon as I + can, as hope saved,(35) and I hope with some advantage, unless all + Ministries be alike, as perhaps they may. I hope Hawkshaw is in Dublin + before now, and that you have your things, and like your spectacles: if + you do not, you shall have better. I hope Dingley's tobacco did not spoil + Stella's chocolate, and that all is safe: pray let me know. Mr. Addison + and I are different as black and white, and I believe our friendship will + go off, by this damned business of party: he cannot bear seeing me fall in + so with this Ministry: but I love him still as well as ever, though we + seldom meet.—Hussy, Stella, you jest about poor Congreve's eyes;(36) + you do so, hussy; but I'll bang your bones, faith.—Yes, Steele was a + little while in prison, or at least in a spunging-house, some time before + I came, but not since.(37)—Pox on your convocations, and your + Lamberts;(38) they write with a vengeance! I suppose you think it a piece + of affectation in me to wish your Irish folks would not like my "Shower,"; + but you are mistaken. I should be glad to have the general applause there + as I have here (though I say it); but I have only that of one or two, and + therefore I would have none at all, but let you all be in the wrong. I + don't know, this is not what I would say; but I am so tosticated with + supper and stuff, that I can't express myself.—What you say of "Sid + Hamet" is well enough; that an enemy should like it, and a friend not; and + that telling the author would make both change their opinions. Why did you + not tell Griffyth(39) that you fancied there was something in it of my + manner; but first spur up his commendation to the height, as we served my + poor uncle about the sconce that I mended? Well, I desired you to give + what I intended for an answer to Mrs. Fenton,(40) to save her postage, and + myself trouble; and I hope I have done it, if you han't. + </p> + <p> + 15. Lord, what a long day's writing was yesterday's answer to your letter, + sirrahs! I dined to-day with Lewis and Ford, whom I have brought + acquainted. Lewis told me a pure thing. I had been hankering with Mr. + Harley to save Steele his other employment, and have a little mercy on + him; and I had been saying the same thing to Lewis, who is Mr. Harley's + chief favourite. Lewis tells Mr. Harley how kindly I should take it, if he + would be reconciled to Steele, etc. Mr. Harley, on my account, falls in + with it, and appoints Steele a time to let him attend him, which Steele + accepts with great submission, but never comes, nor sends any excuse. + Whether it was blundering, sullenness, insolence, or rancour of party, I + cannot tell; but I shall trouble myself no more about him. I believe + Addison hindered him out of mere spite, being grated(41) to the soul to + think he should ever want my help to save his friend; yet now he is + soliciting me to make another of his friends Queen's Secretary at Geneva; + and I'll do it if I can; it is poor Pastoral Philips.(42) + </p> + <p> + 16. O, why did you leave my picture behind you at t'other lodgings? Forgot + it? Well; but pray remember it now, and don't roll it up, d'ye hear; but + hang it carefully in some part of your room, where chairs and candles and + mop-sticks won't spoil it, sirrahs. No, truly, I will not be godfather to + Goody Walls this bout, and I hope she will have no more. There will be no + quiet nor cards for this child. I hope it will die the day after the + christening. Mr. Harley gave me a paper, with an account of the sentence + you speak of against the lads that defaced the statue,(43) and that + Ingoldsby(44) reprieved that part of it of standing before the statue. I + hope it was never executed. We have got your Broderick out;(45) Doyne(46) + is to succeed him, and Cox(47) Doyne. And so there's an end of your + letter; 'tis all answered; and now I must go on upon my own stock. Go on, + did I say? Why, I have written enough; but this is too soon to send it + yet, young women; faith, I dare not use you to it, you'll always expect + it; what remains shall be only short journals of a day, and so I'll rise + for this morning.—At night. I dined with my opposite neighbour, + Darteneuf; and I was soliciting this day to present the Bishop of Clogher + Vice-Chancellor;(48) but it won't do; they are all set against him, and + the Duke of Ormond, they say, has resolved to dispose of it somewhere + else. Well; little saucy rogues, do not stay out too late to-night, + because it is Saturday night, and young women should come home soon then. + </p> + <p> + 17. I went to Court to seek a dinner: but the Queen was not at church, she + has got a touch of the gout; so the Court was thin, and I went to the + Coffee-house; and Sir Thomas Frankland and his eldest son and I went and + dined with his son William.(49) I talked a great deal to Sir Thomas about + Manley; and find he is his good friend, and so has Ned Southwell been, and + I hope he will be safe, though all the Irish folks here are his mortal + enemies. There was a devilish bite to-day. They had it, I know not how, + that I was to preach this morning at St. James's Church; an abundance + went, among the rest Lord Radnor, who never is abroad till three in the + afternoon. I walked all the way home from Hatton Garden at six, by + moonlight, a delicate night. Raymond called at nine, but I was denied; and + now I am in bed between eleven and twelve, just going to sleep, and dream + of my own dear roguish impudent pretty MD. + </p> + <p> + 18. You will now have short days' works, just a few lines to tell you + where I am, and what I am doing; only I will keep room for the last day to + tell you news, if there be any worth sending. I have been sometimes like + to do it at the top of my letter, until I remark it would be old before it + reached you. I was hunting to dine with Mr. Harley to-day, but could not + find him; and so I dined with honest Dr. Cockburn, and came home at six, + and was taken out to next door by Dopping and Ford, to drink bad claret + and oranges; and we let Raymond come to us, who talks of leaving the town + to-morrow, but I believe will stay a day or two longer. It is now late, + and I will say no more, but end this line with bidding my own dear saucy + MD goodnight, etc. + </p> + <p> + 19. I am come down proud stomach in one instance, for I went to-day to see + the Duke of Buckingham,(50) but came too late: then I visited Mrs. + Barton,(51) and thought to have dined with some of the Ministry; but it + rained, and Mrs. Vanhomrigh was nigh, and I took the opportunity of paying + her for a scarf she bought me, and dined there; at four I went to + congratulate with Lord Shelburne, for the death of poor Lady Shelburne + dowager;(52) he was at his country house, and returned while I was there, + and had not heard of it, and he took it very well. I am now come home + before six, and find a packet from the Bishop of Clogher, with one + enclosed to the Duke of Ormond, which is ten days earlier dated than + another I had from Parvisol; however, 'tis no matter, for the Duke has + already disposed of the Vice-Chancellorship to the Archbishop of Tuam,(53) + and I could not help it, for it is a thing wholly you know in the Duke's + power; and I find the Bishop has enemies about the Duke. I write this + while Patrick is folding up my scarf, and doing up the fire (for I keep a + fire, it costs me twelvepence a week); and so be quiet till I am gone to + bed, and then sit down by me a little, and we will talk a few words more. + Well; now MD is at my bedside; and now what shall we say? How does Mrs. + Stoyte? What had the Dean for supper? How much did Mrs. Walls win? Poor + Lady Shelburne: well, go get you to bed, sirrahs. + </p> + <p> + 20. Morning. I was up this morning early, and shaved by candlelight, and + write this by the fireside. Poor Raymond just came in and took his leave + of me; he is summoned by high order from his wife, but pretends he has had + enough of London. I was a little melancholy to part with him; he goes to + Bristol, where they are to be with his merchant brother, and now thinks of + staying till May; so she must be brought to bed in England. He was so easy + and manageable, that I almost repent I suffered him to see me so seldom. + But he is gone, and will save Patrick some lies in a week: Patrick is + grown admirable at it, and will make his fortune. How now, sirrah, must I + write in a morning to your impudence? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Stay till night, + And then I'll write, + In black and white, + By candlelight, + Of wax so bright, + It helps the sight— + A bite, a bite! +</pre> + <p> + Marry come up, Mistress Boldface.—At night. Dr. Raymond came back, + and goes to-morrow. I did not come home till eleven, and found him here to + take leave of me. I went to the Court of Requests, thinking to find Mr. + Harley and dine with him, and refused Henley, and everybody, and at last + knew not where to go, and met Jemmy Leigh by chance, and he was just in + the same way, so I dined at his lodgings on a beef-steak, and drank your + health; then left him and went to the tavern with Ben Tooke and Portlack, + the Duke of Ormond's secretary, drinking nasty white wine till eleven. I + am sick, and ashamed of it, etc. + </p> + <p> + 21. I met that beast Ferris, Lord Berkeley's(54) steward formerly; I + walked with him a turn in the Park, and that scoundrel dog is as happy as + an emperor, has married a wife with a considerable estate in land and + houses about this town, and lives at his ease at Hammersmith. See your + confounded sect!(55) Well; I had the same luck to-day with Mr. Harley; + 'twas a lovely day, and went by water into the City, and dined with + Stratford at a merchant's house, and walked home with as great a dunce as + Ferris, I mean honest Colonel Caulfeild,(56) and came home by eight, and + now am in bed, and going to sleep for a wager, and will send this letter + on Saturday, and so; but first I will wish you a merry Christmas and a + happy New Year, and pray God we may never keep them asunder again. + </p> + <p> + 22. Morning. I am going now to Mr. Harley's levee on purpose to vex him; I + will say I had no other way of seeing him, etc. Patrick says it is a dark + morning, and that the Duke of Argyle(57) is to be knighted to-day; the + booby means installed at Windsor. But I must rise, for this is a + shaving-day, and Patrick says there is a good fire; I wish MD were by it, + or I by MD's.—At night. I forgot to tell you, Madam Dingley, that I + paid nine shillings for your glass and spectacles, of which three were for + the Bishop's case: I am sorry I did not buy you such another case; but if + you like it, I will bring one over with me; pray tell me: the glass to + read was four shillings, the spectacles two. And have you had your + chocolate? Leigh says he sent the petticoat by one Mr. Spencer. Pray have + you no further commissions for me? I paid the glass-man but last night, + and he would have made me a present of the microscope worth thirty + shillings, and would have sent it home along with me; I thought the deuce + was in the man: he said I could do him more service than that was worth, + etc. I refused his present, but promised him all service I could do him; + and so now I am obliged in honour to recommend him to everybody.—At + night. I went to Mr. Harley's levee; he came and asked me what I had to do + there, and bid me come and dine with him on a family dinner; which I did, + and it was the first time I ever saw his lady(58) and daughter;(59) at + five my Lord Keeper(60) came in: I told Mr. Harley, he had formerly + presented me to Sir Simon Harcourt, but now must to my Lord Keeper; so he + laughed, etc. + </p> + <p> + 23. Morning. This letter goes to-night without fail; I hope there is none + from you yet at the Coffee-house; I will send and see by and by, and let + you know, and so and so. Patrick goes to see for a letter: what will you + lay, is there one from MD or no? No, I say; done for sixpence. Why has the + Dean never once written to me? I won sixpence; I won sixpence; there is + not one letter to Presto. Good-morrow, dear sirrahs: Stratford and I dine + to-day with Lord Mountjoy. God Almighty preserve and bless you; farewell, + etc. + </p> + <p> + I have been dining at Lord Mountjoy's; and am come to study; our news from + Spain this post takes off some of our fears. The Parliament is prorogued + to-day, or adjourned rather till after the holidays. Bank Stock is 105, so + I may get 12 shillings for my bargain already. Patrick, the puppy, is + abroad, and how shall I send this letter? Good-night, little dears both, + and be happy; and remember your poor Presto, that wants you sadly, as hope + saved. Let me go study, naughty girls, and don't keep me at the bottom of + the paper. O, faith, if you knew what lies on my hands constantly, you + would wonder to see how I could write such long letters; but we'll talk of + that some other time. Good-night again, and God bless dear MD with His + best blessings, yes, yes, and Dingley and Stella and me too, etc. + </p> + <p> + Ask the Bishop of Clogher about the pun I sent him of Lord Stawel's + brother;(61) it will be a pure bite. This letter has 199 lines in it, + beside all postscripts; I had a curiosity to reckon. + </p> + <p> + There is a long letter for you. + </p> + <p> + It is longer than a sermon, faith. + </p> + <p> + I had another letter from Mrs. Fenton, who says you were with her; I hope + you did not go on purpose. I will answer her letter soon; it is about some + money in Lady Giffard's hands. + </p> + <p> + They say you have had eight packets due to you; so pray, madams, do not + blame Presto, but the wind. + </p> + <p> + My humble service to Mrs. Walls and Mrs. Stoyte; I missed the former a + good while. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 12. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Dec. 23, 1710. + </h3> + <p> + I have sent my 11th to-night as usual, and begin the dozenth, and I told + you I dined with Stratford at Lord Mountjoy's, and I will tell you no more + at present, guess for why; because I am going to mind things, and mighty + affairs, not your nasty First-Fruits—I let them alone till Mr. + Harley gets the Queen's letter—but other things of greater moment, + that you shall know one day, when the ducks have eaten up all the dirt. So + sit still a while just by me, while I am studying, and don't say a word, I + charge you, and when I am going to bed, I will take you along, and talk + with you a little while, so there, sit there.—Come then, let us see + what we have to say to these saucy brats, that will not let us go sleep at + past eleven. Why, I am a little impatient to know how you do; but that I + take it for a standing maxim, that when you are silent, all is pretty + well, because that is the way I will deal with you; and if there was + anything you ought to know now, I would write by the first post, although + I had written but the day before. Remember this, young women; and God + Almighty preserve you both, and make us happy together; and tell me how + accompts stand between us, that you may be paid long before it is due, not + to want. I will return no more money while I stay, so that you need not be + in pain to be paid; but let me know at least a month before you can want. + Observe this, d'ye hear, little dear sirrahs, and love Presto, as Presto + loves MD, etc. + </p> + <p> + 24. You will have a merrier Christmas Eve than we here. I went up to Court + before church; and in one of the rooms, there being but little company, a + fellow in a red coat without a sword came up to me, and, after words of + course, asked me how the ladies did? I asked, "What ladies?" He said, + "Mrs. Dingley and Mrs. Johnson." "Very well," said I, "when I heard from + them last: and pray when came you from thence, sir?" He said, "I never was + in Ireland"; and just at that word Lord Winchelsea(1) comes up to me, and + the man went off: as I went out I saw him again, and recollected him, it + was Vedeau(2) with a pox: I then went and made my apologies, that my head + was full of something I had to say to Lord Winchelsea, etc., and I asked + after his wife, and so all was well; and he inquired after my lodging, + because he had some favour to desire of me in Ireland, to recommend + somebody to somebody, I know not what it is. When I came from church, I + went up to Court again, where Sir Edmond Bacon(3) told me the bad news + from Spain,(4) which you will hear before this reaches you; as we have it + now, we are undone there, and it was odd to see the whole countenances of + the Court changed so in two hours. Lady Mountjoy(5) carried me home to + dinner, where I stayed not long after, and came home early, and now am got + into bed, for you must always write to your MD's in bed, that is a maxim. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mr. White and Mr. Red, + Write to MD when abed; + Mr. Black and Mr. Brown, + Write to MD when you're down; + Mr. Oak and Mr. Willow, + Write to MD on your pillow.— +</pre> + <p> + What is this? faith, I smell fire; what can it be? this house has a + thousand stinks in it. I think to leave it on Thursday, and lodge over the + way. Faith, I must rise, and look at my chimney, for the smell grows + stronger, stay—I have been up, and in my room, and found all safe, + only a mouse within the fender to warm himself, which I could not catch. I + smelt nothing there, but now in my bed-chamber I smell it again; I believe + I have singed the woollen curtain, and that is all, though I cannot smoke + it. Presto is plaguy silly to-night, an't he? Yes, and so he be. Ay, but + if I should wake and see fire. Well; I will venture; so good-night, etc. + </p> + <p> + 25. Pray, young women, if I write so much as this every day, how will this + paper hold a fortnight's work, and answer one of yours into the bargain? + You never think of this, but let me go on like a simpleton. I wish you a + merry Christmas, and many, many a one with poor Presto at some pretty + place. I was at church to-day by eight, and received the Sacrament, and + came home by ten; then went to Court at two: it was a Collar-day, that is, + when the Knights of the Garter wear their collars; but the Queen stayed so + late at Sacrament, that I came back, and dined with my neighbour Ford, + because all people dine at home on this day. This is likewise a Collar-day + all over England in every house, at least where there is BRAWN: that's + very well.—I tell you a good pun; a fellow hard by pretends to cure + agues, and has set out a sign, and spells it EGOES; a gentleman and I + observing it, he said, "How does that fellow pretend to cure AGUES?" I + said I did not know; but I was sure it was not by a SPELL. That is + admirable. And so you asked the Bishop about that pun of Lord Stawel's + brother. Bite! Have I caught you, young women? Must you pretend to ask + after roguish puns, and Latin ones too? Oh but you smoked me, and did not + ask the Bishop. Oh but you are a fool, and you did. I met Vedeau again at + Court to-day, and I observed he had a sword on; I fancy he was broke, and + has got a commission, but I never asked him. Vedeau I think his name is, + yet Parvisol's man is Vedel, that is true. Bank Stock will fall like + stock-fish by this bad news, and two days ago I could have got twelve + pounds by my bargain; but I do not intend to sell, and in time it will + rise. It is odd that my Lord Peterborow foretold this loss two months ago, + one night at Mr. Harley's, when I was there; he bid us count upon it, that + Stanhope would lose Spain before Christmas; that he would venture his head + upon it, and gave us reasons; and though Mr. Harley argued the contrary, + he still held to his opinion. I was telling my Lord Angelsea this at Court + this morning; and a gentleman by said he had heard my Lord Peterborow + affirm the same thing. I have heard wise folks say, "An ill tongue may do + much." And 'tis an odd saying, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Once I guessed right, + And I got credit by't; + Thrice I guessed wrong, + And I kept my credit on." +</pre> + <p> + No, it is you are sorry, not I. + </p> + <p> + 26. By the Lord Harry, I shall be undone here with Christmas boxes. The + rogues of the Coffee-house have raised their tax, everyone giving a crown; + and I gave mine for shame, besides a great many half-crowns to great men's + porters, etc. I went to-day by water into the city, and dined with no less + a man than the City Printer.(6) There is an intimacy between us, built + upon reasons that you shall know when I see you; but the rain caught me + within twelvepenny length of home. I called at Mr. Harley's, who was not + within, dropped my half-crown with his porter, drove to the Coffee-house, + where the rain kept me till nine. I had letters to-day from the Archbishop + of Dublin and Mr. Bernage;(7) the latter sends me a melancholy account of + Lady Shelburne's(8) death, and his own disappointments, and would gladly + be a captain; if I can help him, I will. + </p> + <p> + 27. Morning. I bespoke a lodging over the way for tomorrow, and the dog + let it yesterday to another; I gave him no earnest, so it seems he could + do it; Patrick would have had me give him earnest to bind him; but I would + not. So I must go saunter to-day for a lodging somewhere else. Did you + ever see so open a winter in England? We have not had two frosty days; but + it pays it off in rain: we have not had three fair days these six weeks. + O, faith, I dreamt mightily of MD last night; but so confused, I cannot + tell a word. I have made Ford acquainted with Lewis; and to-day we dined + together: in the evening I called at one or two neighbours, hoping to + spend a Christmas evening; but none were at home, they were all gone to be + merry with others. I have often observed this, that in merry times + everybody is abroad; where the deuce are they? So I went to the + Coffee-house, and talked with Mr. Addison an hour, who at last remembered + to give me two letters, which I cannot answer to-night, nor to-morrow + neither, I can assure you, young women, count upon that. I have other + things to do than to answer naughty girls, an old saying and true, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Letters from MD's + Must not be answered in ten days: +</pre> + <p> + it is but bad rhyme, etc. + </p> + <p> + 28. To-day I had a message from Sir Thomas Hanmer, to dine with him; the + famous Dr. Smalridge(9) was of the company, and we sat till six; and I + came home to my new lodgings in St. Albans Street,(10) where I pay the + same rent (eight shillings a week) for an apartment two pair of stairs; + but I have the use of the parlour to receive persons of quality, and I am + got into my new bed, etc. + </p> + <p> + 29. Sir Andrew Fountaine has been very ill this week; and sent to me early + this morning to have prayers, which you know is the last thing. I found + the doctors and all in despair about him. I read prayers to him, found he + had settled all things; and, when I came out, the nurse asked me whether I + thought it possible he could live; for the doctors thought not. I said, I + believed he would live; for I found the seeds of life in him, which I + observe seldom fail (and I found them in poor, dearest Stella, when she + was ill many years ago); and to-night I was with him again, and he was + mightily recovered, and I hope he will do well, and the doctor approved my + reasons; but, if he should die, I should come off scurvily. The Secretary + of State (Mr. St. John) sent to me to dine with him; Mr. Harley and Lord + Peterborow dined there too; and at night came Lord Rivers. Lord Peterborow + goes to Vienna in a day or two: he has promised to make me write to him. + Mr. Harley went away at six; but we stayed till seven. I took the + Secretary aside, and complained to him of Mr. Harley, that he had got the + Queen to grant the First-Fruits, promised to bring me to her, and get her + letter to the bishops of Ireland; but the last part he had not done in six + weeks, and I was in danger to lose reputation, etc. He took the matter + right, desired me to be with him on Sunday morning, and promises me to + finish the affair in four days; so I shall know in a little time what I + have to trust to.—It is nine o'clock, and I must go study, you + little rogues; and so good-night, etc. + </p> + <p> + 30. Morning. The weather grows cold, you sauceboxes. Sir Andrew Fountaine, + they bring me word, is better. I will go rise, for my hands are starving + while I write in bed. Night. Now Sir Andrew Fountaine is recovering, he + desires to be at ease; for I called in the morning to read prayers, but he + had given orders not to be disturbed. I have lost a legacy by his living; + for he told me he had left me a picture and some books, etc. I called to + see my quondam neighbour Ford (do you know what quondam is, though?), and + he engaged me to dine with him; for he always dines at home on Opera-days. + I came home at six, writ to the Archbishop, then studied till past eleven, + and stole to bed, to write to MD these few lines, to let you know I am in + good health at the present writing hereof, and hope in God MD is so too. I + wonder I never write politics to you: I could make you the profoundest + politician in all the lane.—Well, but when shall we answer this + letter, No. 8 of MD's? Not till next year, faith. O Lord—bo—but + that will be a Monday next. Cod's-so, is it? and so it is: never saw the + like.—I made a pun t'other day to Ben Portlack(11) about a pair of + drawers. Poh, said he, that's mine a—- all over. Pray, pray, + Dingley, let me go sleep; pray, pray, Stella, let me go slumber; and put + out my wax-candle. + </p> + <p> + 31. Morning. It is now seven, and I have got a fire, but am writing abed + in my bed-chamber. 'Tis not shaving-day, so I shall be ready early to go + before church to Mr. St. John; and to-morrow I will answer our MD's + letter. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Would you answer MD's letter, + On New Year's Day you'll do it better; + For, when the year with MD 'gins, + It without MD never lins. +</pre> + <p> + (These proverbs have always old words in them; lins is leave off.) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + But, if on New Year you write nones, + MD then will bang your bones. +</pre> + <p> + But Patrick says I must rise.—Night. I was early this morning with + Secretary St. John, and gave him a memorial to get the Queen's letter for + the First-Fruits, who has promised to do it in a very few days. He told me + he had been with the Duke of Marlborough, who was lamenting his former + wrong steps in joining with the Whigs, and said he was worn out with age, + fatigues, and misfortunes. I swear it pitied me; and I really think they + will not do well in too much mortifying that man, although indeed it is + his own fault. He is covetous as hell, and ambitious as the Prince of it: + he would fain have been General for life, and has broken all endeavours + for peace, to keep his greatness and get money. He told the Queen he was + neither covetous nor ambitious. She said if she could have conveniently + turned about, she would have laughed, and could hardly forbear it in his + face. He fell in with all the abominable measures of the late Ministry, + because they gratified him for their own designs. Yet he has been a + successful General, and I hope he will continue his command. O Lord, smoke + the politics to MD! Well; but, if you like them, I will scatter a little + now and then, and mine are all fresh from the chief hands. Well, I dined + with Mr. Harley, and came away at six: there was much company, and I was + not merry at all. Mr. Harley made me read a paper of verses of Prior's. I + read them plain, without any fine manner; and Prior swore, I should never + read any of his again; but he would be revenged, and read some of mine as + bad. I excused myself, and said I was famous for reading verses the worst + in the world; and that everybody snatched them from me when I offered to + begin. So we laughed.—Sir Andrew Fountaine still continues ill. He + is plagued with some sort of bile. + </p> + <p> + Jan. 1. Morning. I wish my dearest, pretty Dingley and Stella a happy New + Year, and health, and mirth, and good stomachs, and Fr's company. Faith, I + did not know how to write Fr. I wondered what was the matter; but now I + remember I always write Pdfr. Patrick wishes me a happy New Year, and + desires I would rise, for it is a good fire, and faith 'tis cold. I was so + politic last night with MD, never saw the like. Get the Examiners, and + read them; the last nine or ten are full of the reasons for the late + change, and of the abuses of the last Ministry; and the great men assure + me they are all true. They are written by their encouragement and + direction. I must rise and go see Sir Andrew Fountaine; but perhaps + to-night I may answer MD's letter: so good-morrow, my mistresses all, + good-morrow. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I wish you both a merry New Year, + Roast beef, minced pies, and good strong beer, + And me a share of your good cheer, + That I was there, or you were here; + And you're a little saucy dear. +</pre> + <p> + Good-morrow again, dear sirrahs; one cannot rise for your play.—At + night. I went this morning to visit Lady Kerry and Lord Shelburne; and + they made me dine with them. Sir Andrew Fountaine is better. And now let + us come and see what this saucy, dear letter of MD says. Come out, letter, + come out from between the sheets; here it is underneath, and it will not + come out. Come out again, I say: so there. Here it is. What says Presto to + me, pray? says it. Come, and let me answer for you to your ladies. Hold up + your head then, like a good letter. There. Pray, how have you got up with + Presto, Madam Stella? You write your eighth when you receive mine: now I + write my twelfth when I receive your eighth. Do not you allow for what are + upon the road, simpleton? What say you to that? And so you kept Presto's + little birthday, I warrant: would to God I had been at the health rather + than here, where I have no manner of pleasure, nothing but eternal + business upon my hands. I shall grow wise in time; but no more of that: + only I say Amen with my heart and vitals, that we may never be asunder + again ten days together while poor Presto lives. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I can't be merry so near any splenetic talk; so I made that long line, and + now all's well again. Yes, you are a pretending slut, indeed, with your + fourth and fifth in the margin, and your journal, and everything. Wind—we + saw no wind here, nothing at all extraordinary at any time. We had it once + when you had it not. But an old saying and a true: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I hate all wind, + Before and behind, + From cheeks with eyes, + Or from blind.——" +</pre> + <p> + Your chimney fall down! God preserve you. I suppose you only mean a brick + or two: but that's a d—ned lie of your chimney being carried to the + next house with the wind. Don't put such things upon us; those matters + will not pass here: keep a little to possibilities. My Lord Hertford(12) + would have been ashamed of such a stretch. You should take care of what + company you converse with: when one gets that faculty, 'tis hard to break + one's self of it. Jemmy Leigh talks of going over; but quando? I do not + know when he will go. Oh, now you have had my ninth, now you are come up + with me; marry come up with you, indeed. I know all that business of Lady + S——.(13) Will nobody cut that D—y's throat? Five hundred + pounds do you call poor pay for living three months the life of a king? + They say she died with grief, partly, being forced to appear as a witness + in court about some squabble among their servants.—The Bishop of + Clogher showed you a pamphlet.(14) Well, but you must not give your mind + to believe those things; people will say anything. The Character is here + reckoned admirable, but most of the facts are trifles. It was first + printed privately here; and then some bold cur ventured to do it publicly, + and sold two thousand in two days: who the author is must remain + uncertain. Do you pretend to know, impudence? How durst you think so? Pox + on your Parliaments: the Archbishop has told me of it; but we do not + vouchsafe to know anything of it here. No, no, no more of your giddiness + yet; thank you, Stella, for asking after it; thank you; God Almighty bless + you for your kindness to poor Presto. You write to Lady Giffard and your + mother upon what I advise when it is too late. But yet I fancy this bad + news will bring down stocks so low, that one might buy to great advantage. + I design to venture going to see your mother some day when Lady Giffard is + abroad. Well, keep your Rathburn(15) and stuff. I thought he was to pay in + your money upon his houses to be flung down about the what do you call it.—Well, + Madam Dingley, I sent your enclosed to Bristol, but have not heard from + Raymond since he went. Come, come, young women, I keep a good fire; it + costs me twelvepence a week, and I fear something more; vex me, and I will + have one in my bed-chamber too. No, did not I tell you but just now, we + have no high winds here? Have you forgot already?—Now you're at it + again, silly Stella; why does your mother say my candles are scandalous? + They are good sixes in the pound, and she said I was extravagant enough to + burn them by daylight. I never burn fewer at a time than one. What would + people have? The D—— burst Hawkshaw. He told me he had not the + box; and the next day Sterne told me he had sent it a fortnight ago. + Patrick could not find him t'other day, but he shall to-morrow. Dear life + and heart, do you tease me? does Stella tease Presto? That palsy-water was + in the box; it was too big for a packet, and I was afraid of its breaking. + Leigh was not in town then; or I would not have trusted it to Sterne, whom + yet I have befriended enough to do me more kindness than that. I'll never + rest till you have it, or till it is in a way for you to have it. Poor + dear rogue, naughty to think it teases me; how could I ever forgive myself + for neglecting anything that related to your health? Sure I were a Devil + if I did. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ——————————————————————————— +</pre> + <p> + See how far I am forced to stand from Stella, because I am afraid she + thinks poor Presto has not been careful about her little things; I am sure + I bought them immediately according to order, and packed them up with my + own hands, and sent them to Sterne, and was six times with him about + sending them away. I am glad you are pleased with your glasses. I have got + another velvet cap; a new one Lord Herbert(16) bought and presented me one + morning I was at breakfast with him, where he was as merry and easy as + ever I saw him, yet had received a challenge half an hour before, and half + an hour after fought a duel. It was about ten days ago. You are mistaken + in your guesses about Tatlers: I did neither write that on Noses nor + Religion,(17) nor do I send him of late any hints at all.—Indeed, + Stella, when I read your letter, I was not uneasy at all; but when I came + to answer the particulars, and found that you had not received your box, + it grated me to the heart, because I thought, through your little words, + that you imagined I had not taken the care I ought. But there has been + some blunder in this matter, which I will know to-morrow, and write to + Sterne, for fear he should not be within.—And pray, pray, Presto, + pray now do.—No, Raymond was not above four times with me while he + stayed, and then only while I was dressing. Mrs. Fenton has written me + another letter about some money of hers in Lady Giffard's hands, that is + entrusted to me by my mother, not to come to her husband. I send my + letters constantly every fortnight, and, if you will have them oftener, + you may, but then they will be the shorter. Pray, let Parvisol sell the + horse. I think I spoke to you of it in a former letter: I am glad you are + rid of him, and was in pain while I thought you rode him; but, if he would + buy you another, or anybody else, and that you could be often able to + ride, why do not you do it? + </p> + <p> + 2. I went this morning early to the Secretary of State, Mr. St. John; and + he told me from Mr. Harley that the warrant was now drawn, in order for a + patent for the First-Fruits: it must pass through several offices, and + take up some time, because in things the Queen gives they are always + considerate; but that, he assures me, 'tis granted and done, and past all + dispute, and desires I will not be in any pain at all. I will write again + to the Archbishop to-morrow, and tell him this, and I desire you will say + it on occasion. From the Secretary I went to Mr. Sterne, who said he would + write to you to-night; and that the box must be at Chester; and that some + friend of his goes very soon, and will carry it over. I dined with Mr. + Secretary St. John, and at six went to Darteneufs house to drink punch + with him, and Mr. Addison, and little Harrison,(18) a young poet, whose + fortune I am making. Steele was to have been there, but came not, nor + never did twice, since I knew him, to any appointment. I stayed till past + eleven, and am now in bed. Steele's last Tatler came out to-day. You will + see it before this comes to you, and how he takes leave of the world. He + never told so much as Mr. Addison of it, who was surprised as much as I; + but, to say the truth, it was time, for he grew cruel dull and dry. To my + knowledge he had several good hints to go upon; but he was so lazy and + weary of the work that he would not improve them. I think I will send this + after(19) to-morrow: shall I before 'tis full, Dingley? + </p> + <p> + 3. Lord Peterborow yesterday called me into a barber's shop, and there we + talked deep politics: he desired me to dine with him to-day at the Globe + in the Strand; he said he would show me so clearly how to get Spain, that + I could not possibly doubt it. I went to-day accordingly, and saw him + among half a dozen lawyers and attorneys and hang-dogs, signing of deeds + and stuff before his journey; for he goes to-morrow to Vienna. I sat among + that scurvy company till after four, but heard nothing of Spain; only I + find, by what he told me before, that he fears he shall do no good in his + present journey.(20) We are to be mighty constant correspondents. So I + took my leave of him, and called at Sir Andrew Fountaine's, who mends + much. I came home, an't please you, at six, and have been studying till + now past eleven. + </p> + <p> + 4. Morning. Morrow, little dears. O, faith, I have been dreaming; I was to + be put in prison. I do not know why, and I was so afraid of a black + dungeon; and then all I had been inquiring yesterday of Sir Andrew + Fountaine's sickness I thought was of poor Stella. The worst of dreams is, + that one wakes just in the humour they leave one. Shall I send this + to-day? With all my heart: it is two days within the fortnight; but may be + MD are in haste to have a round dozen: and then how are you come up to me + with your eighth, young women? But you indeed ought to write twice slower + than I, because there are two of you; I own that. Well then, I will seal + up this letter by my morning candle, and carry it into the city with me, + where I go to dine, and put it into the post-office with my own fair + hands. So, let me see whether I have any news to tell MD. They say they + will very soon make some inquiries into the corruptions of the late + Ministry; and they must do it, to justify their turning them out. + Atterbury,(21) we think, is to be Dean of Christ Church in Oxford; but the + College would rather have Smalridge—What's all this to you? What + care you for Atterburys and Smalridges? No, you care for nothing but + Presto, faith. So I will rise, and bid you farewell; yet I am loth to do + so, because there is a great bit of paper yet to talk upon; but Dingley + will have it so: "Yes," says she, "make your journals shorter, and send + them oftener;" and so I will. And I have cheated you another way too; for + this is clipped paper, and holds at least six lines less than the former + ones. I will tell you a good thing I said to my Lord Carteret.(22) "So," + says he, "my Lord came up to me, and asked me," etc. "No," said I, "my + Lord never did, nor ever can come up to you." We all pun here sometimes. + Lord Carteret set down Prior t'other day in his chariot; and Prior thanked + him for his CHARITY; that was fit for Dilly.(23) I do not remember I heard + one good one from the Ministry; which is really a shame. Henley is gone to + the country for Christmas. The puppy comes here without his wife,(24) and + keeps no house, and would have me dine with him at eating-houses; but I + have only done it once, and will do it no more. He had not seen me for + some time in the Coffee-house, and asking after me, desired Lord Herbert + to tell me I was a beast for ever, after the order of Melchisedec. Did you + ever read the Scripture?(25) It is only changing the word priest to beast.—I + think I am bewitched, to write so much in a morning to you, little MD. Let + me go, will you? and I'll come again to-night in a fine clean sheet of + paper; but I can nor will stay no longer now; no, I won't, for all your + wheedling: no, no, look off, do not smile at me, and say, "Pray, pray, + Presto, write a little more." Ah! you are a wheedling slut, you be so. + Nay, but prithee turn about, and let me go, do; 'tis a good girl, and do. + O, faith, my morning candle is just out, and I must go now in spite of my + teeth; for my bed-chamber is dark with curtains, and I am at the wrong + side. So farewell, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + I am in the dark almost: I must have another candle, when I am up, to seal + this; but I will fold it up in the dark, and make what you can of this, + for I can only see this paper I am writing upon. Service to Mrs. Walls and + Mrs. Stoyte. + </p> + <p> + God Almighty bless you, etc. What I am doing I can't see; but I will fold + it up, and not look on it again. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 13. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Jan. 4, 1710-11. + </h3> + <p> + I was going into the City (where I dined and put my 12th, with my own fair + hands, into the post-office as I came back, which was not till nine this + night). I dined with people that you never heard of, nor is it worth your + while to know; an authoress and a printer.(1) I walked home for exercise, + and at eleven got to bed; and, all the while I was undressing myself, + there was I speaking monkey things in air, just as if MD had been by, and + did not recollect myself till I got into bed. I writ last night to the + Archbishop, and told him the warrant was drawn for the First-Fruits; and I + told him Lord Peterborow was set out for his journey to Vienna; but it + seems the Lords have addressed to have him stay, to be examined about + Spanish affairs, upon this defeat there, and to know where the fault lay, + etc. So I writ to the Archbishop a lie; but I think it was not a sin. + </p> + <p> + 5. Mr. Secretary St. John sent for me this morning so early, that I was + forced to go without shaving, which put me quite out of method. I called + at Mr. Ford's, and desired him to lend me a shaving; and so made a shift + to get into order again. Lord! here is an impertinence: Sir Andrew + Fountaine's mother and sister(2) are come above a hundred miles, from + Worcester, to see him before he died. They got here but yesterday; and he + must have been past hopes, or past fears, before they could reach him. I + fell a scolding when I heard they were coming; and the people about him + wondered at me, and said what a mighty content it would be on both sides + to die when they were with him! I knew the mother; she is the greatest + Overdo(3) upon earth; and the sister, they say, is worse; the poor man + will relapse again among them. Here was the scoundrel brother always + crying in the outer room till Sir Andrew was in danger; and the dog was to + have all his estate if he died; and it is an ignorant, worthless, + scoundrel-rake: and the nurses were comforting him, and desiring he would + not take on so. I dined to-day the first time with Ophy Butler(4) and his + wife; and you supped with the Dean, and lost two-and-twenty pence at + cards. And so Mrs. Walls is brought to bed of a girl, who died two days + after it was christened; and, betwixt you and me, she is not very sorry: + she loves her ease and diversions too well to be troubled with children. I + will go to bed. + </p> + <p> + 6. Morning. I went last night to put some coals on my fire after Patrick + was gone to bed; and there I saw in a closet a poor linnet he has bought + to bring over to Dingley: it cost him sixpence, and is as tame as a + dormouse. I believe he does not know he is a bird: where you put him, + there he stands, and seems to have neither hope nor fear; I suppose in a + week he will die of the spleen. Patrick advised with me before he bought + him. I laid fairly before him the greatness of the sum, and the rashness + of the attempt; showed how impossible it was to carry him safe over the + salt sea: but he would not take my counsel; and he will repent it. 'Tis + very cold this morning in bed; and I hear there is a good fire in the room + without (what do you call it?), the dining-room. I hope it will be good + weather, and so let me rise, sirrahs, do so.—At night. I was this + morning to visit the Dean,(5) or Mr. Prolocutor, I think you call him, + don't you? Why should not I go to the Dean's as well as you? A little, + black man, of pretty near fifty? Ay, the same. A good, pleasant man? Ay, + the same. Cunning enough? Yes. One that understands his own interests? As + well as anybody. How comes it MD and I don't meet there sometimes? A very + good face, and abundance of wit? Do you know his lady? O Lord! whom do you + mean?(6) I mean Dr. Atterbury, Dean of Carlisle and Prolocutor. Pshaw, + Presto, you are a fool: I thought you had meant our Dean of St. Patrick's.—Silly, + silly, silly, you are silly, both are silly, every kind of thing is silly. + As I walked into the city I was stopped with clusters of boys and wenches + buzzing about the cake-shops like flies.(7) There had the fools let out + their shops two yards forward into the streets, all spread with great + cakes frothed with sugar, and stuck with streamers of tinsel. And then I + went to Bateman's the bookseller, and laid out eight-and-forty shillings + for books. I bought three little volumes of Lucian in French for our + Stella, and so and so. Then I went to Garraway's(8) to meet Stratford and + dine with him; but it was an idle day with the merchants, and he was gone + to our end of the town: so I dined with Sir Thomas Frankland at the Post + Office, and we drank your Manley's health. It was in a newspaper that he + was turned out; but Secretary St. John told me it was false: only that + newswriter is a plaguy Tory. I have not seen one bit of Christmas + merriment. + </p> + <p> + 7. Morning. Your new Lord Chancellor(9) sets out to-morrow for Ireland: I + never saw him. He carries over one Trapp(10) a parson as his chaplain, a + sort of pretender to wit, a second-rate pamphleteer for the cause, whom + they pay by sending him to Ireland. I never saw Trapp neither. I met + Tighe(11) and your Smyth of Lovet's yesterday by the Exchange. Tighe and I + took no notice of each other; but I stopped Smyth, and told him of the box + that lies for you at Chester, because he says he goes very soon to + Ireland, I think this week: and I will send this morning to Sterne, to + take measures with Smyth; so good-morrow, sirrahs, and let me rise, pray. + I took up this paper when I came in at evening, I mean this minute, and + then said I, "No, no, indeed, MD, you must stay"; and then was laying it + aside, but could not for my heart, though I am very busy, till I just ask + you how you do since morning; by and by we shall talk more, so let me + leave you: softly down, little paper, till then; so there—now to + business; there, I say, get you gone; no, I will not push you neither, but + hand you on one side—So—Now I am got into bed, I'll talk with + you. Mr. Secretary St. John sent for me this morning in all haste; but I + would not lose my shaving, for fear of missing church. I went to Court, + which is of late always very full; and young Manley and I dined at Sir + Matthew Dudley's.—I must talk politics. I protest I am afraid we + shall all be embroiled with parties. The Whigs, now they are fallen, are + the most malicious toads in the world. We have had now a second + misfortune, the loss of several Virginia ships. I fear people will begin + to think that nothing thrives under this Ministry: and if the Ministry can + once be rendered odious to the people, the Parliament may be chosen Whig + or Tory as the Queen pleases. Then I think our friends press a little too + hard on the Duke of Marlborough. The country members(12) are violent to + have past faults inquired into, and they have reason; but I do not observe + the Ministry to be very fond of it. In my opinion we have nothing to save + us but a Peace; and I am sure we cannot have such a one as we hoped; and + then the Whigs will bawl what they would have done had they continued in + power. I tell the Ministry this as much as I dare; and shall venture to + say a little more to them, especially about the Duke of Marlborough, who, + as the Whigs give out, will lay down his command; and I question whether + ever any wise State laid aside a general who had been successful nine + years together, whom the enemy so much dread, and his own soldiers cannot + but believe must always conquer; and you know that in war opinion is nine + parts in ten. The Ministry hear me always with appearance of regard, and + much kindness; but I doubt they let personal quarrels mingle too much with + their proceedings. Meantime, they seem to value all this as nothing, and + are as easy and merry as if they had nothing in their hearts or upon their + shoulders; like physicians, who endeavour to cure, but feel no grief, + whatever the patient suffers.—Pshaw, what is all this? Do you know + one thing, that I find I can write politics to you much easier than to + anybody alive? But I swear my head is full; and I wish I were at Laracor, + with dear, charming MD, etc. + </p> + <p> + 8. Morning. Methinks, young women, I have made a great progress in four + days, at the bottom of this side already, and no letter yet come from MD + (that word interlined is morning). I find I have been writing State + affairs to MD. How do they relish it? Why, anything that comes from Presto + is welcome; though really, to confess the truth, if they had their choice, + not to disguise the matter, they had rather, etc. Now, Presto, I must tell + you, you grow silly, says Stella. That is but one body's opinion, madam. I + promised to be with Mr. Secretary St. John this morning; but I am lazy, + and will not go, because I had a letter from him yesterday, to desire I + would dine there to-day. I shall be chid; but what care I?—Here has + been Mrs. South with me, just come from Sir Andrew Fountaine, and going to + market. He is still in a fever, and may live or die. His mother and sister + are now come up, and in the house; so there is a lurry.(13) I gave Mrs. + South half a pistole for a New Year's gift. So good-morrow, dears both, + till anon.—At night. Lord! I have been with Mr. Secretary from + dinner till eight; and, though I drank wine and water, I am so hot! Lady + Stanley(14) came to visit Mrs. St. John,(15) and sent up for me to make up + a quarrel with Mrs. St. John, whom I never yet saw; and do you think that + devil of a Secretary would let me go, but kept me by main force, though I + told him I was in love with his lady, and it was a shame to keep back a + lover, etc.? But all would not do; so at last I was forced to break away, + but never went up, it was then too late; and here I am, and have a great + deal to do to-night, though it be nine o'clock; but one must say something + to these naughty MD's, else there will be no quiet. + </p> + <p> + 9. To-day Ford and I set apart to go into the City to buy books; but we + only had a scurvy dinner at an alehouse; and he made me go to the tavern + and drink Florence, four and sixpence a flask; damned wine! so I spent my + money, which I seldom do, and passed an insipid day, and saw nobody, and + it is now ten o'clock, and I have nothing to say, but that 'tis a + fortnight to-morrow since I had a letter from MD; but if I have it time + enough to answer here, 'tis well enough, otherwise woe betide you, faith. + I will go to the toyman's, here just in Pall Mall, and he sells great + hugeous battoons;(16) yes, faith, and so he does. Does not he, Dingley? + Yes, faith. Don't lose your money this Christmas. + </p> + <p> + 10. I must go this morning to Mr. Secretary St. John. I promised + yesterday, but failed, so can't write any more till night to poor, dear + MD.—At night. O, faith, Dingley. I had company in the morning, and + could not go where I designed; and I had a basket from Raymond at Bristol, + with six bottles of wine and a pound of chocolate, and some tobacco to + snuff; and he writ under, the carriage was paid; but he lied, or I am + cheated, or there is a mistake; and he has written to me so confusedly + about some things, that Lucifer could not understand him. This wine is to + be drunk with Harley's brother(17) and Sir Robert Raymond, + Solicitor-General, in order to recommend the Doctor to your new Lord + Chancellor, who left this place on Monday; and Raymond says he is hasting + to Chester, to go with him.—I suppose he leaves his wife behind; for + when he left London he had no thoughts of stirring till summer. So I + suppose he will be with you before this. Ford came and desired I would + dine with him, because it was Opera-day; which I did, and sent excuses to + Lord Shelburne, who had invited me. + </p> + <p> + 11. I am setting up a new Tatler, little Harrison,(18) whom I have + mentioned to you. Others have put him on it, and I encourage him; and he + was with me this morning and evening, showing me his first, which comes + out on Saturday. I doubt he will not succeed, for I do not much approve + his manner; but the scheme is Mr. Secretary St. John's and mine, and would + have done well enough in good hands. I recommended him to a printer,(19) + whom I sent for, and settled the matter between them this evening. + Harrison has just left me, and I am tired with correcting his trash. + </p> + <p> + 12. I was this morning upon some business with Mr. Secretary St. John, and + he made me promise to dine with him; which otherwise I would have done + with Mr. Harley, whom I have not been with these ten days. I cannot but + think they have mighty difficulties upon them; yet I always find them as + easy and disengaged as schoolboys on a holiday. Harley has the procuring + of five or six millions on his shoulders, and the Whigs will not lend a + groat;(20) which is the only reason of the fall of stocks: for they are + like Quakers and fanatics, that will only deal among themselves, while all + others deal indifferently with them. Lady Marlborough offers, if they will + let her keep her employments, never to come into the Queen's presence. The + Whigs say the Duke of Marlborough will serve no more; but I hope and think + otherwise. I would to Heaven I were this minute with MD at Dublin; for I + am weary of politics, that give me such melancholy prospects. + </p> + <p> + 13. O, faith, I had an ugly giddy fit last night in my chamber, and I have + got a new box of pills to take, and hope I shall have no more this good + while. I would not tell you before, because it would vex you, little + rogues; but now it is over. I dined to-day with Lord Shelburne; and to-day + little Harrison's new Tatler came out: there is not much in it, but I hope + he will mend. You must understand that, upon Steele's leaving off, there + were two or three scrub Tatlers(21) came out, and one of them holds on + still, and to-day it advertised against Harrison's; and so there must be + disputes which are genuine, like the strops for razors.(22) I am afraid + the little toad has not the true vein for it. I will tell you a copy of + verses. When Mr. St. John was turned out from being Secretary at War, + three years ago, he retired to the country: there he was talking of + something he would have written over his summer-house, and a gentleman + gave him these verses— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + From business and the noisy world retired, + Nor vexed by love, nor by ambition fired; + Gently I wait the call of Charon's boat, + Still drinking like a fish, and ———- like a stoat. +</pre> + <p> + He swore to me he could hardly bear the jest; for he pretended to retire + like a philosopher, though he was but twenty-eight years old: and I + believe the thing was true: for he had been a thorough rake. I think the + three grave lines do introduce the last well enough. Od so, but I will go + sleep; I sleep early now. + </p> + <p> + 14. O, faith, young women, I want a letter from MD; 'tis now nineteen days + since I had the last: and where have I room to answer it, pray? I hope I + shall send this away without any answer at all; for I'll hasten it, and + away it goes on Tuesday, by which time this side will be full. I will send + it two days sooner on purpose out of spite; and the very next day after, + you must know, your letter will come, and then 'tis too late, and I will + so laugh, never saw the like! 'Tis spring with us already. I ate asparagus + t'other day. Did you ever see such a frostless winter? Sir Andrew + Fountaine lies still extremely ill; it costs him ten guineas a day to + doctors, surgeons, and apothecaries, and has done so these three weeks. I + dined to-day with Mr. Ford; he sometimes chooses to dine at home, and I am + content to dine with him; and at night I called at the Coffee-house, where + I had not been in a week, and talked coldly a while with Mr. Addison. All + our friendship and dearness are off: we are civil acquaintance, talk words + of course, of when we shall meet, and that is all. I have not been at any + house with him these six weeks: t'other day we were to have dined together + at the Comptroller's;(23) but I sent my excuses, being engaged to the + Secretary of State. Is not it odd? But I think he has used me ill; and I + have used him too well, at least his friend Steele. + </p> + <p> + 15. It has cost me three guineas to-day for a periwig.(24) I am undone! It + was made by a Leicester lad, who married Mr. Worrall's daughter, where my + mother lodged;(25) so I thought it would be cheap, and especially since he + lives in the city. Well, London lickpenny:(26) I find it true. I have + given Harrison hints for another Tatler to-morrow. The jackanapes wants a + right taste: I doubt he won't do. I dined with my friend Lewis of the + Secretary's office, and am got home early, because I have much business to + do; but before I begin, I must needs say something to MD, faith—No, + faith, I lie, it is but nineteen days to-day since my last from MD. I have + got Mr. Harley to promise that whatever changes are made in the Council, + the Bishop of Clogher shall not be removed, and he has got a memorial + accordingly. I will let the Bishop know so much in a post or two. This is + a secret; but I know he has enemies, and they shall not be gratified, if + they designed any such thing, which perhaps they might; for some changes + there will be made. So drink up your claret, and be quiet, and do not lose + your money. + </p> + <p> + 16. Morning. Faith, I will send this letter to-day to shame you, if I + han't one from MD before night, that's certain. Won't you grumble for want + of the third side, pray now? Yes, I warrant you; yes, yes, you shall have + the third, you shall so, when you can catch it, some other time; when you + be writing girls.—O, faith, I think I won't stay till night, but + seal up this just now, and carry it in my pocket, and whip it into the + post-office as I come home at evening. I am going out early this morning.—Patrick's + bills for coals and candles, etc., come sometimes to three shillings a + week; I keep very good fires, though the weather be warm. Ireland will + never be happy till you get small coal(27) likewise; nothing so easy, so + convenient, so cheap, so pretty, for lighting a fire. My service to Mrs. + Stoyte and Walls; has she a boy or a girl? A girl, hum; and died in a + week, humm; and was poor Stella forced to stand for godmother?—Let + me know how accompts stand, that you may have your money betimes. There's + four months for my lodging, that must be thought on too: and so go dine + with Manley, and lose your money, do, extravagant sluttikin, but don't + fret.—It will be just three weeks when I have the next letter, + that's to-morrow. Farewell, dearest beloved MD; and love poor, poor + Presto, who has not had one happy day since he left you, as hope saved.—It + is the last sally I will ever make, but I hope it will turn to some + account. I have done more for these,(28) and I think they are more honest + than the last; however, I will not be disappointed. I would make MD and me + easy; and I never desired more.—Farewell, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 14. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Jan. 16, 1710-11. + </h3> + <p> + O faith, young women, I have sent my letter N.13 without one crumb of an + answer to any of MD's, there's for you now; and yet Presto ben't angry, + faith, not a bit, only he will begin to be in pain next Irish post, except + he sees MD's little handwriting in the glass-frame at the bar of St. + James's Coffee-house, where Presto would never go but for that purpose. + Presto is at home, God help him, every night from six till bed-time, and + has as little enjoyment or pleasure in life at present as anybody in the + world, although in full favour with all the Ministry. As hope saved, + nothing gives Presto any sort of dream of happiness but a letter now and + then from his own dearest MD. I love the expectation of it; and when it + does not come, I comfort myself that I have it yet to be happy with. Yes, + faith, and when I write to MD, I am happy too; it is just as if methinks + you were here, and I prating to you, and telling you where I have been: + "Well," says you, "Presto, come, where have you been to-day? come, let's + hear now." And so then I answer: "Ford and I were visiting Mr. Lewis and + Mr. Prior; and Prior has given me a fine Plautus; and then Ford would have + had me dine at his lodgings, and so I would not; and so I dined with him + at an eating-house, which I have not done five times since I came here; + and so I came home, after visiting Sir Andrew Fountaine's mother and + sister, and Sir Andrew Fountaine is mending, though slowly." + </p> + <p> + 17. I was making, this morning, some general visits, and at twelve I + called at the Coffee-house for a letter from MD; so the man said he had + given it to Patrick. Then I went to the Court of Requests and Treasury, to + find Mr. Harley, and, after some time spent in mutual reproaches, I + promised to dine with him. I stayed there till seven, then called at + Sterne's and Leigh's to talk about your box, and to have it sent by Smyth. + Sterne says he has been making inquiries, and will set things right as + soon as possible. I suppose it lies at Chester, at least I hope so, and + only wants a lift over to you. Here has little Harrison been to complain + that the printer I recommended to him for his Tatler is a coxcomb; and yet + to see how things will happen; for this very printer is my cousin, his + name is Dryden Leach;(1) did you never hear of Dryden Leach, he that + prints the Postman? He acted Oroonoko;(2) he's in love with Miss Cross.(3)—Well, + so I came home to read my letter from Stella, but the dog Patrick was + abroad; at last he came, and I got my letter. I found another hand had + superscribed it; when I opened it, I found it written all in French, and + subscribed Bernage:(4) faith, I was ready to fling it at Patrick's head. + Bernage tells me he had been to desire your recommendation to me, to make + him a captain; and your cautious answer, that he had as much power with me + as you, was a notable one; if you were here, I would present you to the + Ministry as a person of ability. Bernage should let me know where to write + to him; this is the second letter I have had without any direction; + however, I beg I may not have a third, but that you will ask him, and send + me how I shall direct to him. In the meantime, tell him that if regiments + are to be raised here, as he says, I will speak to George Granville,(5) + Secretary at War, to make him a captain; and use what other interest I + conveniently can. I think that is enough, and so tell him, and do not + trouble me with his letters, when I expect them from MD; do you hear, + young women? write to Presto. + </p> + <p> + 18. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary St. John, and we were to dine at + Mr. Harley's alone, about some business of importance; but there were two + or three gentlemen there. Mr. Secretary and I went together from his + office to Mr. Harley's, and thought to have been very wise; but the deuce + a bit, the company stayed, and more came, and Harley went away at seven, + and the Secretary and I stayed with the rest of the company till eleven; I + would then have had him come away; but he was in for't; and though he + swore he would come away at that flask, there I left him. I wonder at the + civility of these people; when he saw I would drink no more, he would + always pass the bottle by me, and yet I could not keep the toad from + drinking himself, nor he would not let me go neither, nor Masham,(6) who + was with us. When I got home, I found a parcel directed to me; and opening + it, I found a pamphlet written entirely against myself, not by name, but + against something I writ:(7) it is pretty civil, and affects to be so, and + I think I will take no notice of it; 'tis against something written very + lately; and indeed I know not what to say, nor do I care. And so you are a + saucy rogue for losing your money to-day at Stoyte's; to let that bungler + beat you, fie, Stella, an't you ashamed? Well, I forgive you this once, + never do so again; no, noooo. Kiss and be friends, sirrah.—Come, let + me go sleep, I go earlier to bed than formerly; and have not been out so + late these two months; but the Secretary was in a drinking humour. So + good-night, myownlittledearsaucyinsolentrogues. + </p> + <p> + 19. Then you read that long word in the last line; no,(8) faith, han't + you. Well, when will this letter come from our MD? to-morrow or next day + without fail; yes, faith, and so it is coming. This was an insipid snowy + day, no walking day, and I dined gravely with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and came + home, and am now got to bed a little after ten; I remember old Culpepper's + maxim: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Would you have a settled head, + You must early go to bed: + I tell you, and I tell't again, + You must be in bed at ten." +</pre> + <p> + 20. And so I went to-day with my new wig, o hoao, to visit Lady + Worsley,(9) whom I had not seen before, although she was near a month in + town. Then I walked in the Park to find Mr. Ford, whom I had promised to + meet; and coming down the Mall, who should come towards me but Patrick, + and gives me five letters out of his pocket. I read the superscription of + the first, "Pshoh," said I; of the second, "Pshoh" again; of the third, + "Pshah, pshah, pshah"; of the fourth, "A gad, a gad, a gad, I'm in a + rage"; of the fifth and last, "O hoooa; ay marry this is something, this + is our MD"; so truly we opened it, I think immediately, and it began the + most impudently in the world, thus: "Dear Presto, We are even thus far." + "Now we are even," quoth Stephen, when he gave his wife six blows for one. + I received your ninth four days after I had sent my thirteenth. But I'll + reckon with you anon about that, young women. Why did not you recant at + the end of your letter, when you got my eleventh, tell me that, huzzies + base? were we even then, were we, sirrah? But I won't answer your letter + now, I'll keep it for another time. We had a great deal of snow to-day, + and 'tis terrible cold. I dined with Ford, because it was his Opera-day + and snowed, so I did not care to stir farther. I will send tomorrow to + Smyth. + </p> + <p> + 21. Morning. It has snowed terribly all night, and is vengeance cold. I am + not yet up, but cannot write long; my hands will freeze. "Is there a good + fire, Patrick?" "Yes, sir." "Then I will rise; come, take away the + candle." You must know I write on the dark side of my bed-chamber, and am + forced to have a candle till I rise, for the bed stands between me and the + window, and I keep the curtains shut this cold weather. So pray let me + rise; and Patrick, here, take away the candle.—At night. We are now + here in high frost and snow, the largest fire can hardly keep us warm. It + is very ugly walking; a baker's boy broke his thigh yesterday. I walk + slow, make short steps, and never tread on my heel. 'Tis a good proverb + the Devonshire people have: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Walk fast in snow, + In frost walk slow; + And still as you go, + Tread on your toe. + When frost and snow are both together, + Sit by the fire, and spare shoe-leather." +</pre> + <p> + I dined to-day with Dr. Cockburn,(10) but will not do so again in haste, + he has generally such a parcel of Scots with him. + </p> + <p> + 22. Morning. Starving, starving, uth, uth, uth, uth, uth.—Don't you + remember I used to come into your chamber, and turn Stella out of her + chair, and rake up the fire in a cold morning, and cry Uth, uth, uth? etc. + O, faith, I must rise, my hand is so cold I can write no more. So + good-morrow, sirrahs.—At night. I went this morning to Lady + Giffard's house, and saw your mother, and made her give me a pint bottle + of palsy-water,(11) which I brought home in my pocket; and sealed and tied + up in a paper, and sent it to Mr. Smyth, who goes to-morrow for Ireland, + and sent a letter to him to desire his care of it, and that he would + inquire at Chester about the box. He was not within: so the bottle and + letter were left for him at his lodgings, with strict orders to give them + to him; and I will send Patrick in a day or two, to know whether it was + given, etc. Dr. Stratford(12) and I dined to-day with Mr. Stratford(13) in + the City, by appointment; but I chose to walk there, for exercise in the + frost. But the weather had given a little, as you women call it, so it was + something slobbery. I did not get home till nine. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + And now I'm in bed, + To break your head. +</pre> + <p> + 23. Morning. They tell me it freezes again, but it is not so cold as + yesterday: so now I will answer a bit of your letter.—At night. O, + faith, I was just going to answer some of our MD's letter this morning, + when a printer came in about some business, and stayed an hour; so I rose, + and then came in Ben Tooke, and then I shaved and scribbled; and it was + such a terrible day, I could not stir out till one, and then I called at + Mrs. Barton's, and we went to Lady Worsley's, where we were to dine by + appointment. The Earl of Berkeley(14) is going to be married to Lady + Louisa Lennox, the Duke of Richmond's daughter. I writ this night to Dean + Sterne, and bid him tell you all about the bottle of palsy-water by Smyth; + and to-morrow morning I will say something to your letter. + </p> + <p> + 24. Morning. Come now to your letter. As for your being even with me, I + have spoken to that already. So now, my dearly beloved, let us proceed to + the next. You are always grumbling that you han't letters fast enough; + "surely we shall have your tenth;" and yet, before you end your letter, + you own you have my eleventh.—And why did not MD go into the country + with the Bishop of Clogher? faith, such a journey would have done you + good; Stella should have rode, and Dingley gone in the coach. The Bishop + of Kilmore(15) I know nothing of; he is old, and may die; he lives in some + obscure corner, for I never heard of him. As for my old friends, if you + mean the Whigs, I never see them, as you may find by my journals, except + Lord Halifax, and him very seldom; Lord Somers never since the first + visit, for he has been a false, deceitful rascal.(16) My new friends are + very kind, and I have promises enough, but I do not count upon them, and + besides my pretences are very young to them. However, we will see what may + be done; and if nothing at all, I shall not be disappointed; although + perhaps poor MD may, and then I shall be sorrier for their sakes than my + own.—Talk of a merry Christmas (why do you write it so then, young + women? sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander), I have wished you all + that two or three letters ago. Good lack; and your news, that Mr. St. John + is going to Holland; he has no such thoughts, to quit the great station he + is in; nor, if he had, could I be spared to go with him. So, faith, + politic Madam Stella, you come with your two eggs a penny, etc. Well, + Madam Dingley, and so Mrs. Stoyte invites you, and so you stay at + Donnybrook, and so you could not write. You are plaguy exact in your + journals, from Dec. 25 to Jan. 4. Well, Smyth and the palsy-water I have + handled already, and he does not lodge (or rather did not, for, poor man, + now he is gone) at Mr. Jesse's, and all that stuff; but we found his + lodging, and I went to Stella's mother on my own head, for I never + remembered it was in the letter to desire another bottle; but I was so + fretted, so tosticated, and so impatient that Stella should have her water + (I mean decently, do not be rogues), and so vexed with Sterne's + carelessness.—Pray God, Stella's illness may not return! If they + come seldom, they begin to be weary; I judge by myself; for when I seldom + visit, I grow weary of my acquaintance.—Leave a good deal of my + tenth unanswered! Impudent slut, when did you ever answer my tenth, or + ninth, or any other number? or who desires you to answer, provided you + write? I defy the D—— to answer my letters: sometimes there + may be one or two things I should be glad you would answer; but I forget + them, and you never think of them. I shall never love answering letters + again, if you talk of answering. Answering, quotha! pretty answerers + truly.—As for the pamphlet you speak of, and call it scandalous, and + that one Mr. Presto is said to write it, hear my answer. Fie, child, you + must not mind what every idle body tells you—I believe you lie, and + that the dogs were not crying it when you said so; come, tell truth. I am + sorry you go to St. Mary's(17) so soon, you will be as poor as rats; that + place will drain you with a vengeance: besides, I would have you think of + being in the country in summer. Indeed, Stella, pippins produced + plentifully; Parvisol could not send from Laracor: there were about half a + score, I would be glad to know whether they were good for anything.—Mrs. + Walls at Donnybrook with you; why is not she brought to bed? Well, well, + well, Dingley, pray be satisfied; you talk as if you were angry about the + Bishop's not offering you conveniences for the journey; and so he should.—What + sort of Christmas? Why, I have had no Christmas at all; and has it really + been Christmas of late? I never once thought of it. My service to Mrs. + Stoyte, and Catherine; and let Catherine get the coffee ready against I + come, and not have so much care on her countenance; for all will go well.—Mr. + Bernage, Mr. Bernage, Mr. Fiddlenage, I have had three letters from him + now successively; he sends no directions, and how the D—— + shall I write to him? I would have burnt his last, if I had not seen + Stella's hand at the bottom: his request is all nonsense. How can I assist + him in buying? and if he be ordered to go to Spain, go he must, or else + sell, and I believe one can hardly sell in such a juncture. If he had + stayed, and new regiments raised, I would have used my endeavour to have + had him removed; although I have no credit that way, or very little: but, + if the regiment goes, he ought to go too; he has had great indulgence, and + opportunities of saving; and I have urged him to it a hundred times. What + can I do? whenever it lies in my power to do him a good office, I will do + it. Pray draw up this into a handsome speech, and represent it to him from + me, and that I would write, if I knew where to direct to him; and so I + have told you, and desired you would tell him, fifty times. Yes, Madam + Stella, I think I can read your long concluding word, but you can't read + mine after bidding you good-night. And yet methinks, I mend extremely in + my writing; but when Stella's eyes are well, I hope to write as bad as + ever.—So now I have answered your letter, and mine is an answer; for + I lay yours before me, and I look and write, and write and look, and look + and write again.—So good-morrow, madams both, and I will go rise, + for I must rise; for I take pills at night, and so I must rise early, I + don't know why. + </p> + <p> + 25. Morning. I did not tell you how I passed my time yesterday, nor bid + you good-night, and there was good reason. I went in the morning to + Secretary St. John about some business; he had got a great Whig with him; + a creature of the Duke of Marlborough, who is a go-between to make peace + between the Duke and the Ministry: so he came out of his closet, and, + after a few words, desired I would dine with him at three; but Mr. Lewis + stayed till six before he came; and there we sat talking, and the time + slipped so, that at last, when I was positive to go, it was past two + o'clock; so I came home, and went straight to bed. He would never let me + look at his watch, and I could not imagine it above twelve when we went + away. So I bid you good-night for last night, and now I bid you + good-morrow, and I am still in bed, though it be near ten, but I must + rise. + </p> + <p> + 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. I have been so lazy and negligent these last four days + that I could not write to MD. My head is not in order, and yet is not + absolutely ill, but giddyish, and makes me listless; I walk every day, and + take drops of Dr. Cockburn, and I have just done a box of pills; and + to-day Lady Kerry sent me some of her bitter drink, which I design to take + twice a day, and hope I shall grow better. I wish I were with MD; I long + for spring and good weather, and then I will come over. My riding in + Ireland keeps me well. I am very temperate, and eat of the easiest meats + as I am directed, and hope the malignity will go off; but one fit shakes + me a long time. I dined to-day with Lord Mountjoy, yesterday at Mr. + Stone's, in the City, on Sunday at Vanhomrigh's, Saturday with Ford, and + Friday I think at Vanhomrigh's; and that is all the journal I can send MD, + for I was so lazy while I was well, that I could not write. I thought to + have sent this to-night, but 'tis ten, and I'll go to bed, and write on + t'other side to Parvisol to-morrow, and send it on Thursday; and so + good-night, my dears; and love Presto, and be healthy, and Presto will be + so too, etc. + </p> + <p> + Cut off these notes handsomely, d'ye hear, sirrahs, and give Mrs. Brent + hers, and keep yours till you see Parvisol, and then make up the letter to + him, and send it him by the first opportunity; and so God Almighty bless + you both, here and ever, and poor Presto. + </p> + <p> + What, I warrant you thought at first that these last lines were another + letter. + </p> + <p> + Dingley, Pray pay Stella six fishes, and place them to the account of your + humble servant, Presto. + </p> + <p> + Stella, Pray pay Dingley six fishes, and place them to the account of your + humble servant, Presto. + </p> + <p> + There are bills of exchange for you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 15. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Jan. 31, 1710-11. + </h3> + <p> + I am to send you my fourteenth to-morrow; but my head, having some little + disorders, confounds all my journals. I was early this morning with Mr. + Secretary St. John about some business, so I could not scribble my morning + lines to MD. They are here intending to tax all little printed penny + papers a halfpenny every half-sheet, which will utterly ruin Grub Street, + and I am endeavouring to prevent it.(1) Besides, I was forwarding an + impeachment against a certain great person; that was two of my businesses + with the Secretary, were they not worthy ones? It was Ford's birthday, and + I refused the Secretary, and dined with Ford. We are here in as smart a + frost for the time as I have seen; delicate walking weather, and the Canal + and Rosamond's Pond(2) full of the rabble sliding and with skates, if you + know what those are. Patrick's bird's water freezes in the gallipot, and + my hands in bed. + </p> + <p> + Feb. 1. I was this morning with poor Lady Kerry, who is much worse in her + head than I. She sends me bottles of her bitter; and we are so fond of one + another, because our ailments are the same; don't you know that, Madam + Stella? Han't I seen you conning ailments with Joe's wife,(3) and some + others, sirrah? I walked into the City to dine, because of the walk, for + we must take care of Presto's health, you know, because of poor little MD. + But I walked plaguy carefully, for fear of sliding against my will; but I + am very busy. + </p> + <p> + 2. This morning Mr. Ford came to me to walk into the City, where he had + business, and then to buy books at Bateman's; and I laid out one pound + five shillings for a Strabo and Aristophanes, and I have now got books + enough to make me another shelf, and I will have more, or it shall cost me + a fall; and so as we came back, we drank a flask of right French wine at + Ben Tooke's chamber; and when I got home, Mrs. Vanhomrigh sent me word her + eldest daughter(4) was taken suddenly very ill, and desired I would come + and see her. I went, and found it was a silly trick of Mrs. Armstrong,(5) + Lady Lucy's sister, who, with Moll Stanhope, was visiting there: however, + I rattled off the daughter. + </p> + <p> + 3. To-day I went and dined at Lady Lucy's, where you know I have not been + this long time. They are plaguy Whigs, especially the sister Armstrong, + the most insupportable of all women, pretending to wit, without any taste. + She was running down the last Examiner,(6) the prettiest I had read, with + a character of the present Ministry.—I left them at five, and came + home. But I forgot to tell you, that this morning my cousin Dryden Leach, + the printer, came to me with a heavy complaint, that Harrison the new + Tatler had turned him off, and taken the last Tatler's printers again. He + vowed revenge; I answered gravely, and so he left me, and I have ordered + Patrick to deny me to him from henceforth: and at night comes a letter + from Harrison, telling me the same thing, and excused his doing it without + my notice, because he would bear all the blame; and in his Tatler of this + day(7) he tells you the story, how he has taken his old officers, and + there is a most humble letter from Morphew and Lillie to beg his pardon, + etc.(8) And lastly, this morning Ford sent me two letters from the + Coffee-house (where I hardly ever go), one from the Archbishop of Dublin, + and t'other from—Who do you think t'other was from?—I'll tell + you, because you are friends; why, then it was, faith, it was from my own + dear little MD, N.10. Oh, but will not answer it now, no, noooooh, I'll + keep it between the two sheets; here it is, just under; oh, I lifted up + the sheet and saw it there: lie still, you shan't be answered yet, little + letter; for I must go to bed, and take care of my head. + </p> + <p> + 4. I avoid going to church yet, for fear of my head, though it has been + much better these last five or six days, since I have taken Lady Kerry's + bitter. Our frost holds like a dragon. I went to Mr. Addison's, and dined + with him at his lodgings; I had not seen him these three weeks, we are + grown common acquaintance; yet what have not I done for his friend Steele? + Mr. Harley reproached me the last time I saw him, that to please me he + would be reconciled to Steele, and had promised and appointed to see him, + and that Steele never came. Harrison, whom Mr. Addison recommended to me, + I have introduced to the Secretary of State, who has promised me to take + care of him; and I have represented Addison himself so to the Ministry, + that they think and talk in his favour, though they hated him before.—Well, + he is now in my debt, and there's an end; and I never had the least + obligation to him, and there's another end. This evening I had a message + from Mr. Harley, desiring to know whether I was alive, and that I would + dine with him to-morrow. They dine so late, that since my head has been + wrong I have avoided being with them.—Patrick has been out of favour + these ten days; I talk dry and cross to him, and have called him "friend" + three or four times. But, sirrahs, get you gone. + </p> + <p> + 5. Morning. I am going this morning to see Prior, who dines with me at Mr. + Harley's; so I can't stay fiddling and talking with dear little brats in a + morning, and 'tis still terribly cold.—I wish my cold hand was in + the warmest place about you, young women, I'd give ten guineas upon that + account with all my heart, faith; oh, it starves my thigh; so I'll rise + and bid you good-morrow, my ladies both, good-morrow. Come, stand away, + let me rise: Patrick, take away the candle. Is there a good fire?—So—up-a-dazy.—At + night. Mr. Harley did not sit down till six, and I stayed till eleven; + henceforth I will choose to visit him in the evenings, and dine with him + no more if I can help it. It breaks all my measures, and hurts my health; + my head is disorderly, but not ill, and I hope it will mend. + </p> + <p> + 6. Here has been such a hurry with the Queen's Birthday, so much fine + clothes, and the Court so crowded that I did not go there. All the frost + is gone. It thawed on Sunday, and so continues, yet ice is still on the + Canal (I did not mean that of Laracor, but St. James's Park) and boys + sliding on it. Mr. Ford pressed me to dine with him in his chamber.—Did + not I tell you Patrick has got a bird, a linnet, to carry over to Dingley? + It was very tame at first, and 'tis now the wildest I ever saw. He keeps + it in a closet, where it makes a terrible litter; but I say nothing: I am + as tame as a clout. When must we answer our MD's letter? One of these + odd-come-shortlies. This is a week old, you see, and no farther yet. Mr. + Harley desired I would dine with him again to-day; but I refused him, for + I fell out with him yesterday,(9) and will not see him again till he makes + me amends: and so I go to bed. + </p> + <p> + 7. I was this morning early with Mr. Lewis of the Secretary's office, and + saw a letter Mr. Harley had sent to him, desiring to be reconciled; but I + was deaf to all entreaties, and have desired Lewis to go to him, and let + him know I expect further satisfaction. If we let these great Ministers + pretend too much, there will be no governing them. He promises to make me + easy, if I will but come and see him; but I won't, and he shall do it by + message, or I will cast him off. I'll tell you the cause of our quarrel + when I see you, and refer it to yourselves. In that he did something, + which he intended for a favour; and I have taken it quite otherwise, + disliking both the thing and the manner, and it has heartily vexed me, and + all I have said is truth, though it looks like jest; and I absolutely + refused to submit to his intended favour, and expect further satisfaction. + Mr. Ford and I dined with Mr. Lewis. We have a monstrous deal of snow, and + it has cost me two shillings to-day in chair and coach, and walked till I + was dirty besides. I know not what it is now to read or write after I am + in bed. The last thing I do up is to write something to our MD, and then + get into bed, and put out my candle, and so go sleep as fast as ever I + can. But in the mornings I do write sometimes in bed, as you know. + </p> + <p> + 8. Morning. I HAVE DESIRED APRONIA TO BE ALWAYS CAREFUL, ESPECIALLY ABOUT + THE LEGS. Pray, do you see any such great wit in that sentence? I must + freely own that I do not. But party carries everything nowadays, and what + a splutter have I heard about the wit of that saying, repeated with + admiration above a hundred times in half an hour! Pray read it over again + this moment, and consider it. I think the word is ADVISED, and not + DESIRED. I should not have remembered it if I had not heard it so often. + Why—ay—You must know I dreamed it just now, and waked with it + in my mouth. Are you bit, or are you not, sirrahs? I met Mr. Harley in the + Court of Requests, and he asked me how long I had learnt the trick of + writing to myself? He had seen your letter through the glass case at the + Coffee-house, and would swear it was my hand; and Mr. Ford, who took and + sent it me, was of the same mind. I remember others have formerly said so + too. I think I was little MD's writing-master.(10)—But come, what is + here to do, writing to young women in a morning? I have other fish to fry; + so good-morrow, my ladies all, good-morrow. Perhaps I'll answer your + letter to-night, perhaps I won't; that's as saucy little Presto takes the + humour.—At night. I walked in the Park to-day in spite of the + weather, as I do always when it does not actually rain. Do you know what + it has gone and done? We had a thaw for three days, then a monstrous dirt + and snow, and now it freezes, like a pot-lid, upon our snow. I dined with + Lady Betty Germaine, the first time since I came for England; and there + did I sit, like a booby, till eight, looking over her and another lady at + piquet, when I had other business enough to do. It was the coldest day I + felt this year. + </p> + <p> + 9. Morning. After I had been abed an hour last night, I was forced to rise + and call to the landlady and maid to have the fire removed in a chimney + below stairs, which made my bed-chamber smoke, though I had no fire in it. + I have been twice served so. I never lay so miserable an hour in my life. + Is it not plaguy vexatious?—It has snowed all night, and rains this + morning.—Come, where's MD's letter? Come, Mrs. Letter, make your + appearance. Here am I, says she, answer me to my face.—O, faith, I + am sorry you had my twelfth so soon; I doubt you will stay longer for the + rest. I'm so 'fraid you have got my fourteenth while I am writing this; + and I would always have one letter from Presto reading, one travelling, + and one writing. As for the box, I now believe it lost. It is directed for + Mr. Curry, at his house in Capel Street, etc. I had a letter yesterday + from Dr. Raymond in Chester, who says he sent his man everywhere, and + cannot find it; and God knows whether Mr. Smyth will have better success. + Sterne spoke to him, and I writ to him with the bottle of palsy-water; + that bottle, I hope, will not miscarry: I long to hear you have it. O, + faith, you have too good an opinion of Presto's care. I am negligent + enough of everything but MD, and I should not have trusted Sterne.—But + it shall not go so: I will have one more tug for it.—As to what you + say of Goodman Peasly and Isaac,(11) I answer as I did before. Fie, child, + you must not give yourself the way to believe any such thing: and + afterwards, only for curiosity, you may tell me how these things are + approved, and how you like them; and whether they instruct you in the + present course of affairs, and whether they are printed in your town, or + only sent from hence.—Sir Andrew Fountaine is recovered; so take + your sorrow again, but don't keep it, fling it to the dogs. And does + little MD walk indeed?—I'm glad of it at heart.—Yes, we have + done with the plague here: it was very saucy in you to pretend to have it + before your betters. Your intelligence that the story is false about the + officers forced to sell,(12) is admirable. You may see them all three here + every day, no more in the army than you. Twelve shillings for mending the + strong box; that is, for putting a farthing's worth of iron on a hinge, + and gilding it; give him six shillings, and I'll pay it, and never employ + him or his again.—No indeed, I put off preaching as much as I can. I + am upon another foot: nobody doubts here whether I can preach, and you are + fools.—The account you give of that weekly paper(13) agrees with us + here. Mr. Prior was like to be insulted in the street for being supposed + the author of it; but one of the last papers cleared him. Nobody knows who + it is, but those few in the secret, I suppose the Ministry and the + printer.—Poor Stella's eyes! God bless them, and send them better. + Pray spare them, and write not above two lines a day in broad daylight. + How does Stella look, Madam Dingley? Pretty well, a handsome young woman + still. Will she pass in a crowd? Will she make a figure in a country + church?—Stay a little, fair ladies. I this minute sent Patrick to + Sterne: he brings back word that your box is very safe with one Mr. Earl's + sister in Chester, and that Colonel Edgworth's widow(14) goes for Ireland + on Monday next, and will receive the box at Chester, and deliver it you + safe: so there are some hopes now.—Well, let us go on to your + letter.—The warrant is passed for the First-Fruits. The Queen does + not send a letter; but a patent will be drawn here, and that will take up + time. Mr. Harley of late has said nothing of presenting me to the Queen: I + was overseen(15) when I mentioned it to you. He has such a weight of + affairs on him, that he cannot mind all; but he talked of it three or four + times to me, long before I dropped it to you. What, is not Mrs. Walls' + business over yet? I had hopes she was up and well, and the child dead + before this time.—You did right, at last, to send me your accompts; + but I did not stay for them, I thank you. I hope you have your bill sent + in my last, and there will be eight pounds' interest soon due from + Hawkshaw: pray look at his bond. I hope you are good managers; and that, + when I say so, Stella won't think I intend she should grudge herself wine. + But going to those expensive lodgings requires some fund. I wish you had + stayed till I came over, for some reasons. That Frenchwoman(16) will be + grumbling again in a little time: and if you are invited anywhere to the + country, it will vex you to pay in absence; and the country may be + necessary for poor Stella's health: but do as you like, and do not blame + Presto.—Oh, but you are telling your reasons.—Well, I have + read them; do as you please.—Yes, Raymond says he must stay longer + than he thought, because he cannot settle his affairs. M—— is + in the country at some friend's, comes to town in spring, and then goes to + settle in Herefordshire. Her husband is a surly, ill-natured brute, and + cares not she should see anybody. O Lord, see how I blundered, and left + two lines short; it was that ugly score in the paper(17) that made me + mistake.—I believe you lie about the story of the fire, only to make + it more odd. Bernage must go to Spain; and I will see to recommend him to + the Duke of Argyle, his General, when I see the Duke next: but the + officers tell me it would be dishonourable in the last degree for him to + sell now, and he would never be preferred in the army; so that, unless he + designs to leave it for good and all, he must go. Tell him so, and that I + would write if I knew where to direct to him; which I have said fourscore + times already. I had rather anything almost than that you should strain + yourselves to send a letter when it is inconvenient; we have settled that + matter already. I'll write when I can, and so shall MD; and upon occasions + extraordinary I will write, though it be a line; and when we have not + letters soon, we agree that all things are well; and so that's settled for + ever, and so hold your tongue.—Well, you shall have your pins; but + for candles' ends, I cannot promise, because I burn them to the stumps; + besides, I remember what Stella told Dingley about them many years ago, + and she may think the same thing of me.—And Dingley shall have her + hinged spectacles.—Poor dear Stella, how durst you write those two + lines by candlelight? bang your bones! Faith, this letter shall go + to-morrow, I think, and that will be in ten days from the last, young + women; that's too soon of all conscience: but answering yours has filled + it up so quick, and I do not design to use you to three pages in folio, + no, nooooh. All this is one morning's work in bed;—and so + good-morrow, little sirrahs; that's for the rhyme.(18) You want politics: + faith, I can't think of any; but may be at night I may tell you a passage. + Come, sit off the bed, and let me rise, will you?—At night. I dined + to-day with my neighbour Vanhomrigh; it was such dismal weather I could + not stir further. I have had some threatenings with my head, but no fits. + I still drink Dr. Radcliffe's(19) bitter, and will continue it. + </p> + <p> + 10. I was this morning to see the Secretary of State, and have engaged him + to give a memorial from me to the Duke of Argyle in behalf of Bernage. The + Duke is a man that distinguishes people of merit, and I will speak to him + myself; but the Secretary backing it will be very effectual, and I will + take care to have it done to purpose. Pray tell Bernage so, and that I + think nothing can be luckier for him, and that I would have him go by all + means. I will order it that the Duke shall send for him when they are in + Spain; or, if he fails, that he shall receive him kindly when he goes to + wait on him. Can I do more? Is not this a great deal?—I now send + away this letter, that you may not stay.—I dined with Ford upon his + Opera-day, and am now come home, and am going to study; do not you presume + to guess, sirrahs, impudent saucy dear boxes. Towards the end of a letter + I could not say saucy boxes without putting dear between. An't that right + now? Farewell. THIS should BE longer, BUT that <i>I</i> send IT + to-night.(20) + </p> + <p> + O silly, silly loggerhead! + </p> + <p> + I send a letter this post to one Mr. Staunton, and I direct it to Mr. + Acton's in St. Michael's Lane. He formerly lodged there, but he has not + told me where to direct. Pray send to that Acton, whether(21) the letter + is come there, and whether he has sent it to Staunton. + </p> + <p> + If Bernage designs to sell his commission and stay at home, pray let him + tell me so, that my recommendation to the Duke of Argyle may not be in + vain. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 16. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Feb. 10, 1710-11. + </h3> + <p> + I have just despatched my fifteenth to the post; I tell you how things + will be, after I have got a letter from MD. I am in furious haste to + finish mine, for fear of having two of MD's to answer in one of Presto's, + which would be such a disgrace, never saw the like; but, before you write + to me, I write at my leisure, like a gentleman, a little every day, just + to let you know how matters go, and so and so; and I hope before this + comes to you, you'll have got your box and chocolate, and Presto will take + more care another time. + </p> + <p> + 11. Morning. I must rise and go see my Lord Keeper,(1) which will cost me + two shillings in coach-hire. Don't you call them two thirteens?(2)—At + night. It has rained all day, and there was no walking. I read prayers to + Sir Andrew Fountaine in the forenoon, and I dined with three Irishmen, at + one Mr. Cope's(3) lodgings; the other two were one Morris an + archdeacon,(4) and Mr. Ford. When I came home this evening, I expected + that little jackanapes Harrison would have come to get help about his + Tatler for Tuesday: I have fixed two evenings in the week which I allow + him to come. The toad never came, and I expecting him fell a reading, and + left off other business.—Come, what are you doing? How do you pass + your time this ugly weather? Gaming and drinking, I suppose: fine + diversions for young ladies, truly! I wish you had some of our Seville + oranges, and we some of your wine. We have the finest oranges for twopence + apiece, and the basest wine for six shillings a bottle. They tell me wine + grows cheap with you. I am resolved to have half a hogshead when I get to + Ireland, if it be good and cheap, as it used to be; and I will treat MD at + my table in an evening, oh hoa, and laugh at great Ministers of State. + </p> + <p> + 12. The days are grown fine and long, —— be thanked. O, faith, + you forget all our little sayings, and I am angry. I dined to-day with Mr. + Secretary St. John: I went to the Court of Requests at noon, and sent Mr. + Harley into the House to call the Secretary, to let him know I would not + dine with him if he dined late. By good luck the Duke of Argyle was at the + lobby of the House too, and I kept him in talk till the Secretary came + out; then told them I was glad to meet them together, and that I had a + request to the Duke, which the Secretary must second, and his Grace must + grant. The Duke said he was sure it was something insignificant, and + wished it was ten times greater. At the Secretary's house I writ a + memorial, and gave it to the Secretary to give the Duke, and shall see + that he does it. It is, that his Grace will please to take Mr. Bernage + into his protection; and if he finds Bernage answers my character, to give + him all encouragement. Colonel Masham(5) and Colonel Hill(6) Mrs. + Masham's(7) brother tell me my request is reasonable, and they will second + it heartily to the Duke too: so I reckon Bernage is on a very good foot + when he goes to Spain. Pray tell him this, though perhaps I will write to + him before he goes; yet where shall I direct? for I suppose he has left + Connolly's.(8) + </p> + <p> + 13. I have left off Lady Kerry's bitter, and got another box of pills. I + have no fits of giddiness, but only some little disorders towards it; and + I walk as much as I can. Lady Kerry is just as I am, only a great deal + worse: I dined to-day at Lord Shelburne's, where she is, and we con + ailments, which makes us very fond of each other. I have taken Mr. Harley + into favour again, and called to see him, but he was not within; I will + use to visit him after dinner, for he dines too late for my head: then I + went to visit poor Congreve, who is just getting out of a severe fit of + the gout; and I sat with him till near nine o'clock. He gave me a + Tatler(9) he had written out, as blind as he is, for little Harrison. It + is about a scoundrel that was grown rich, and went and bought a coat of + arms at the Herald's, and a set of ancestors at Fleet Ditch; 'tis well + enough, and shall be printed in two or three days, and if you read those + kind of things, this will divert you. It is now between ten and eleven, + and I am going to bed. + </p> + <p> + 14. This was Mrs. Vanhomrigh's daughter's(10) birthday, and Mr. Ford and I + were invited to dinner to keep it, and we spent the evening there, + drinking punch. That was our way of beginning Lent; and in the morning + Lord Shelburne, Lady Kerry, Mrs. Pratt, and I, went to Hyde Park, instead + of going to church; for, till my head is a little settled, I think it + better not to go; it would be so silly and troublesome to go out sick. Dr. + Duke(11) died suddenly two or three nights ago; he was one of the wits + when we were children, but turned parson, and left it, and never writ + farther than a prologue or recommendatory copy of verses. He had a fine + living given him by the Bishop of Winchester(12) about three months ago; + he got his living suddenly, and he got his dying so too. + </p> + <p> + 15. I walked purely to-day about the Park, the rain being just over, of + which we have had a great deal, mixed with little short frosts. I went to + the Court of Requests, thinking, if Mr. Harley dined early, to go with + him. But meeting Leigh and Sterne, they invited me to dine with them, and + away we went. When we got into his room, one H——, a worthless + Irish fellow, was there, ready to dine with us; so I stepped out, and + whispered them, that I would not dine with that fellow: they made excuses, + and begged me to stay; but away I went to Mr. Harley's, and he did not + dine at home; and at last I dined at Sir John Germaine's,(13) and found + Lady Betty but just recovered of a miscarriage. I am writing an + inscription for Lord Berkeley's(14) tomb; you know the young rake his son, + the new Earl, is married to the Duke of Richmond's daughter,(15) at the + Duke's country house, and are now coming to town. She will be fluxed in + two months, and they'll be parted in a year. You ladies are brave, bold, + venturesome folks; and the chit is but seventeen, and is ill-natured, + covetous, vicious, and proud in extremes. And so get you gone to Stoyte + to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + 16. Faith, this letter goes on but slow; 'tis a week old, and the first + side not written. I went to-day into the City for a walk, but the person I + designed to dine with was not at home; so I came back, and called at + Congreve's, and dined with him and Estcourt,(16) and laughed till six; + then went to Mr. Harley's, who was not gone to dinner; there I stayed till + nine, and we made up our quarrel, and he has invited me to dinner + to-morrow, which is the day of the week (Saturday) that Lord Keeper and + Secretary St. John dine with him privately, and at last they have + consented to let me among them on that day. Atterbury and Prior went to + bury poor Dr. Duke. Congreve's nasty white wine has given me the + heart-burn. + </p> + <p> + 17. I took some good walks in the Park to-day, and then went to Mr. + Harley. Lord Rivers was got there before me, and I chid him for presuming + to come on a day when only Lord Keeper and the Secretary and I were to be + there; but he regarded me not; so we all dined together, and sat down at + four; and the Secretary has invited me to dine with him to-morrow. I told + them I had no hopes they could ever keep in, but that I saw they loved one + another so well, as indeed they seem to do. They call me nothing but + Jonathan; and I said I believed they would leave me Jonathan as they found + me; and that I never knew a Ministry do anything for those whom they make + companions of their pleasures; and I believe you will find it so; but I + care not. I am upon a project of getting five hundred pounds,(17) without + being obliged to anybody; but that is a secret, till I see my dearest MD; + and so hold your tongue, and do not talk, sirrahs, for I am now about it. + </p> + <p> + 18. My head has no fits, but a little disordered before dinner; yet I walk + stoutly, and take pills, and hope to mend. Secretary St. John would needs + have me dine with him to-day; and there I found three persons I never saw, + two I had no acquaintance with, and one I did not care for: so I left them + early and came home, it being no day to walk, but scurvy rain and wind. + The Secretary tells me he has put a cheat on me; for Lord Peterborow sent + him twelve dozen flasks of burgundy, on condition that I should have my + share; but he never was quiet till they were all gone, so I reckon he owes + me thirty-six pounds. Lord Peterborow is now got to Vienna, and I must + write to him to-morrow. I begin now to be towards looking for a letter + from some certain ladies of Presto's acquaintance, that live at St. + Mary's,(18) and are called in a certain language, our little MD. No, stay, + I don't expect one these six days, that will be just three weeks; an't I a + reasonable creature? We are plagued here with an October Club, that is, a + set of above a hundred Parliament men of the country, who drink October + beer at home, and meet every evening at a tavern near the Parliament to + consult affairs, and drive things on to extremes against the Whigs, to + call the old Ministry to account, and get off five or six heads.(19) The + Ministry seem not to regard them; yet one of them in confidence told me + that there must be something thought on, to settle things better. I'll + tell you one great State secret: the Queen, sensible how much she was + governed by the late Ministry, runs a little into t'other extreme, and is + jealous in that point, even of those who got her out of the others' hands. + The Ministry is for gentler measures, and the other Tories for more + violent. Lord Rivers, talking to me the other day, cursed the paper called + the Examiner, for speaking civilly of the Duke of Marlborough; this I + happened to talk of to the Secretary, who blamed the warmth of that lord + and some others, and swore that if their advice were followed they would + be blown up in twenty-four hours. And I have reason to think that they + will endeavour to prevail on the Queen to put her affairs more in the + hands of a Ministry than she does at present; and there are, I believe, + two men thought on, one of them you have often met the name of in my + letters. But so much for politics. + </p> + <p> + 19. This proved a terrible rainy day, which prevented my walk into the + City, and I was only able to run and dine with my neighbour Vanhomrigh, + where Sir Andrew Fountaine dined too, who has just began to sally out, and + has shipped his mother and sister, who were his nurses, back to the + country. This evening was fair, and I walked a little in the Park, till + Prior made me go with him to the Smyrna Coffee-house, where I sat a while, + and saw four or five Irish persons, who are very handsome, genteel + fellows; but I know not their names. I came away at seven, and got home. + Two days ago I writ to Bernage, and told him what I had done, and directed + the letter to Mr. Curry's, to be left with Dingley. Brigadiers Hill and + Masham, brother and husband to Mrs. Masham, the Queen's favourite, Colonel + Disney,(20) and I, have recommended Bernage to the Duke of Argyle; and + Secretary St. John has given the Duke my memorial; and, besides, Hill + tells me, that Bernage's colonel, Fielding,(21) designs to make him his + captain-lieutenant: but I believe I said this to you before, and in this + letter; but I will not look. + </p> + <p> + 20. Morning. It snows terribly again; and 'tis mistaken, for I now want a + little good weather. I bid you good-morrow; and, if it clear up, get you + gone to poor Mrs. Walls, who has had a hard time of it, but is now pretty + well again. I am sorry it is a girl: the poor Archdeacon too, see how + simply he looked when they told him: what did it cost Stella to be gossip? + I'll rise; so, d'ye hear, let me see you at night; and do not stay late + out, and catch cold, sirrahs.—At night. It grew good weather, and I + got a good walk, and dined with Ford upon his Opera-day; but, now all his + wine is gone, I shall dine with him no more. I hope to send this letter + before I hear from MD, methinks there is—something great in doing + so, only I can't express where it lies; and, faith, this shall go by + Saturday, as sure as you're a rogue. Mrs. Edgworth was to set out but last + Monday; so you won't have your box so soon perhaps as this letter; but + Sterne told me since that it is safe at Chester, and that she will take + care of it. I'd give a guinea you had it. + </p> + <p> + 21. Morning. Faith, I hope it will be fair for me to walk into the City; + for I take all occasions of walking.—I should be plaguy busy at + Laracor if I were there now, cutting down willows, planting others, + scouring my canal, and every kind of thing. If Raymond goes over this + summer, you must submit, and make them a visit, that we may have another + eel and trout fishing; and that Stella may ride by, and see Presto in his + morning-gown in the garden, and so go up with Joe to the Hill of Bree, and + round by Scurlock's Town. O Lord, how I remember names! faith, it gives me + short sighs; therefore no more of that, if you love me. Good-morrow, I + will go rise like a gentleman; my pills say I must.—At night. Lady + Kerry sent to desire me to engage some lords about an affair she has in + their house here: I called to see her, but found she had already engaged + every lord I knew, and that there was no great difficulty in the matter; + and it rained like a dog; so I took coach, for want of better exercise, + and dined privately with a hang-dog in the City, and walked back in the + evening. The days are now long enough to walk in the Park after dinner; + and so I do whenever it is fair. This walking is a strange remedy: Mr. + Prior walks, to make himself fat, and I to bring myself down; he has + generally a cough, which he only calls a cold; we often walk round the + Park together. So I'll go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 22. It snowed all this morning prodigiously, and was some inches thick in + three or four hours. I dined with Mr. Lewis of the Secretary's office at + his lodgings: the chairmen that carried me squeezed a great fellow against + a wall, who wisely turned his back, and broke one of the side-glasses in a + thousand pieces. I fell a scolding, pretended I was like to be cut to + pieces, and made them set down the chair in the Park, while they picked + out the bits of glasses; and, when I paid them, I quarrelled still; so + they dared not grumble, and I came off for my fare; but I was plaguily + afraid they would have said, "God bless your honour, won't you give us + something for our glass?" Lewis and I were forming a project how I might + get three or four hundred pounds,(22) which I suppose may come to nothing. + I hope Smyth has brought you your palsy-drops. How does Stella do? I begin + more and more to desire to know. The three weeks since I had your last is + over within two days, and I will allow three for accidents. + </p> + <p> + 23. The snow is gone every bit, except the remainder of some great balls + made by the boys. Mr. Sterne was with me this morning about an affair he + has before the Treasury. That drab Mrs. Edgworth is not yet set out, but + will infallibly next Monday: and this is the third infallible Monday, and + pox take her! So you will have this letter first; and this shall go + to-morrow; and, if I have one from MD in that time, I will not answer it + till my next; only I will say, "Madam, I received your letter, and so, and + so." I dined to-day with my Mistress Butler,(23) who grows very + disagreeable. + </p> + <p> + 24. Morning. This letter certainly goes this evening, sure as you're + alive, young women, and then you will be so shamed that I have had none + from you; and, if I was to reckon like you, I would say, I were six + letters before you, for this is N.16, and I have had your N.10. But I + reckon you have received but fourteen, and have sent eleven. I think to go + to-day a Minister-of-State-hunting in the Court of Requests; for I have + something to say to Mr. Harley. And it is fine, cold, sunshiny weather; I + wish dear MD would walk this morning in your Stephen's Green; 'tis as good + as our Park, but not so large.(24) Faith, this summer we'll take a coach + for sixpence(25) to the Green Well, the two walks, and thence all the way + to Stoyte's.(26) My hearty service to Goody Stoyte and Catherine; and I + hope Mrs. Walls had a good time. How inconstant I am! I can't imagine I + was ever in love with her. Well, I'm going; what have you to say? I DO NOT + CARE HOW I WRITE NOW.(27) I don't design to write on this side; these few + lines are but so much more than your due; so I will write LARGE or small + as I please. O, faith, my hands are starving in bed; I believe it is a + hard frost. I must rise, and bid you good-bye, for I'll seal this letter + immediately, and carry it in my pocket, and put it into the post-office + with my own fair hands. Farewell. + </p> + <p> + This letter is just a fortnight's journal to-day. Yes, and so it is, I'm + sure, says you, with your two eggs a penny. + </p> + <p> + Lele, lele, lele.(28) + </p> + <p> + O Lord, I am saying lele, lele, to myself, in all our little keys: and, + now you talk of keys, that dog Patrick broke the key-general of the chest + of drawers with six locks, and I have been so plagued to get a new one, + besides my good two shillings! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 17. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Feb. 24, 1710-11. + </h3> + <p> + Now, young women, I gave in my sixteenth this evening. I dined with Ford + (it was his Opera-day) as usual; it is very convenient to me to do so, for + coming home early after a walk in the Park, which now the days will allow. + I called on the Secretary at his office, and he had forgot to give the + memorial about Bernage to the Duke of Argyle; but, two days ago, I met the + Duke, who desired I would give it him myself, which should have more power + with him than all the Ministry together, as he protested solemnly, + repeated it two or three times, and bid me count upon it. So that I verily + believe Bernage will be in a very good way to establish himself. I think I + can do no more for him at present, and there's an end of that; and so get + you gone to bed, for it is late. + </p> + <p> + 25. The three weeks are out yesterday since I had your last, and so now I + will be expecting every day a pretty dear letter from my own MD, and hope + to hear that Stella has been much better in her head and eyes: my head + continues as it was, no fits, but a little disorder every day, which I can + easily bear, if it will not grow worse. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary + St. John, on condition I might choose my company, which were Lord Rivers, + Lord Carteret, Sir Thomas Mansel,(1) and Mr. Lewis; I invited Masham, + Hill, Sir John Stanley, and George Granville, but they were engaged; and I + did it in revenge of his having such bad company when I dined with him + before; so we laughed, etc. And I ventured to go to church to-day, which I + have not done this month before. Can you send me such a good account of + Stella's health, pray now? Yes, I hope, and better too. We dined (says + you) at the Dean's, and played at cards till twelve, and there came in Mr. + French, and Dr. Travors, and Dr. Whittingham, and Mr. (I forget his name, + that I always tell Mrs. Walls of) the banker's son, a pox on him. And we + were so merry; I vow they are pure good company. But I lost a crown; for + you must know I had always hands tempting me to go out, but never took in + anything, and often two black aces without a manilio; was not that hard, + Presto? Hold your tongue, etc. + </p> + <p> + 26. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary about some business, and he + tells me that Colonel Fielding is now going to make Bernage his + captain-lieutenant, that is, a captain by commission, and the perquisites + of the company; but not captain's pay, only the first step to it. I + suppose he will like it; and the recommendation to the Duke of Argyle goes + on. And so trouble me no more about your Bernage; the jackanapes + understands what fair solicitors he has got, I warrant you. Sir Andrew + Fountaine and I dined, by invitation, with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. You say they + are of no consequence: why, they keep as good female company as I do male; + I see all the drabs of quality at this end of the town with them: I saw + two Lady Bettys(2) there this afternoon; the beauty of one, the + good-breeding and nature of t'other, and the wit of neither, would have + made a fine woman. Rare walking in the Park now: why don't you walk in the + Green of St. Stephen? The walks there are finer gravelled than the Mall. + What beasts the Irish women are, never to walk! + </p> + <p> + 27. Darteneuf and I, and little Harrison the new Tatler, and Jervas the + painter, dined to-day with James,(3) I know not his other name, but it is + one of Darteneuf's dining-places, who is a true epicure. James is clerk of + the kitchen to the Queen, and has a little snug house at St. James's; and + we had the Queen's wine, and such very fine victuals that I could not eat + it. Three weeks and three days since my last letter from MD; rare doings! + why, truly we were so busy with poor Mrs. Walls, that indeed, Presto, we + could not write, we were afraid the poor woman would have died; and it + pitied us to see the Archdeacon, how concerned he was. The Dean never came + to see her but once; but now she is up again, and we go and sit with her + in the evenings. The child died the next day after it was born; and I + believe, between friends, she is not very sorry for it.—Indeed, + Presto, you are plaguy silly tonight, and han't guessed one word right; + for she and the child are both well, and it is a fine girl, likely to + live; and the Dean was godfather, and Mrs. Catherine and I were + godmothers; I was going to say Stoyte, but I think I have heard they don't + put maids and married women together; though I know not why I think so, + nor I don't care; what care I? but I must prate, etc. + </p> + <p> + 28. I walked to-day into the City for my health, and there dined; which I + always do when the weather is fair, and business permits, that I may be + under a necessity of taking a good walk, which is the best thing I can do + at present for my health. Some bookseller has raked up everything I writ, + and published it t'other day in one volume; but I know nothing of it, + 'twas without my knowledge or consent: it makes a four-shilling book, and + is called Miscellanies in Prose and Verse.(4) Tooke pretends he knows + nothing of it; but I doubt he is at the bottom. One must have patience + with these things; the best of it is, I shall be plagued no more. However, + I will bring a couple of them over with me for MD; perhaps you may desire + to see them. I hear they sell mightily. + </p> + <p> + March 1. Morning. I have been calling to Patrick to look in his almanac + for the day of the month; I did not know but it might be leap-year. The + almanac says 'tis the third after leap-year; and I always thought till + now, that every third year was leap-year. I am glad they come so seldom; + but I'm sure 'twas otherwise when I was a young man; I see times are + mightily changed since then.—Write to me, sirrahs; be sure do by the + time this side is done, and I'll keep t'other side for the answer: so I'll + go write to the Bishop of Clogher; good-morrow, sirrahs.—Night. I + dined to-day at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, being a rainy day; and Lady Betty + Butler, knowing it, sent to let me know she expected my company in the + evening, where the Vans (so we call them) were to be. The Duchess(5) and + they do not go over this summer with the Duke; so I go to bed. + </p> + <p> + 2. This rainy weather undoes me in coaches and chairs. I was traipsing + to-day with your Mr. Sterne, to go along with them to Moore,(6) and + recommend his business to the Treasury. Sterne tells me his dependence is + wholly on me; but I have absolutely refused to recommend it to Mr. Harley, + because I have troubled him lately so much with other folks' affairs; and + besides, to tell the truth, Mr. Harley told me he did not like Sterne's + business: however, I will serve him, because I suppose MD would have me. + But, in saying his dependence lies wholly on me, he lies, and is a fool. I + dined with Lord Abercorn, whose son Peasley(7) will be married at Easter + to ten thousand pounds. + </p> + <p> + 3. I forgot to tell you that yesterday morning I was at Mr. Harley's + levee: he swore I came in spite, to see him among a parcel of fools. My + business was to desire I might let the Duke of Ormond know how the affair + stood of the First-Fruits. He promised to let him know it, and engaged me + to dine with him to-day. Every Saturday, Lord Keeper, Secretary St. John, + and I dine with him, and sometimes Lord Rivers; and they let in none else. + Patrick brought me some letters into the Park; among which one was from + Walls; and t'other, yes, faith, t'other was from our little MD, N.11. I + read the rest in the Park, and MD's in a chair as I went from St. James's + to Mr. Harley; and glad enough I was, faith, to read it, and see all + right. Oh, but I won't answer it these three or four days at least, or may + be sooner. An't I silly? faith, your letters would make a dog silly, if I + had a dog to be silly, but it must be a little dog.—I stayed with + Mr. Harley till past nine, where we had much discourse together after the + rest were gone; and I gave him very truly my opinion where he desired it. + He complained he was not very well, and has engaged me to dine with him + again on Monday. So I came home afoot, like a fine gentleman, to tell you + all this. + </p> + <p> + 4. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. John; and after dinner he had a + note from Mr. Harley, that he was much out of order.(8) Pray God preserve + his health! everything depends upon it. The Parliament at present cannot + go a step without him, nor the Queen neither. I long to be in Ireland; but + the Ministry beg me to stay: however, when this Parliament lurry(9) is + over, I will endeavour to steal away; by which time I hope the First-Fruit + business will be done. This kingdom is certainly ruined as much as was + ever any bankrupt merchant. We must have peace, let it be a bad or a good + one, though nobody dares talk of it. The nearer I look upon things, the + worse I like them. I believe the confederacy will soon break to pieces, + and our factions at home increase. The Ministry is upon a very narrow + bottom, and stand like an isthmus, between the Whigs on one side, and + violent Tories on the other. They are able seamen; but the tempest is too + great, the ship too rotten, and the crew all against them. Lord Somers has + been twice in the Queen's closet, once very lately; and your Duchess of + Somerset,(10) who now has the key, is a most insinuating woman; and I + believe they will endeavour to play the same game that has been played + against them.—I have told them of all this, which they know already, + but they cannot help it. They have cautioned the Queen so much against + being governed, that she observes it too much. I could talk till to-morrow + upon these things, but they make me melancholy. I could not but observe + that lately, after much conversation with Mr. Harley, though he is the + most fearless man alive, and the least apt to despond, he confessed to me + that uttering his mind to me gave him ease. + </p> + <p> + 5. Mr. Harley continues out of order, yet his affairs force him abroad: he + is subject to a sore throat, and was cupped last night: I sent and called + two or three times. I hear he is better this evening. I dined to-day in + the City with Dr. Freind at a third body's house, where I was to pass for + somebody else; and there was a plaguy silly jest carried on, that made me + sick of it. Our weather grows fine, and I will walk like camomile. And + pray walk you to your Dean's, or your Stoyte's, or your Manley's, or your + Walls'. But your new lodgings make you so proud, you will walk less than + ever. Come, let me go to bed, sirrahs. + </p> + <p> + 6. Mr. Harley's going out yesterday has put him a little backwards. I + called twice, and sent, for I am in pain for him. Ford caught me, and made + me dine with him on his Opera-day; so I brought Mr. Lewis with me, and sat + with him till six. I have not seen Mr. Addison these three weeks; all our + friendship is over. I go to no Coffee-house. I presented a parson of the + Bishop of Clogher's, one Richardson,(11) to the Duke of Ormond to-day: he + is translating prayers and sermons into Irish, and has a project about + instructing the Irish in the Protestant religion. + </p> + <p> + 7. Morning. Faith, a little would make me, I could find in my heart, if it + were not for one thing, I have a good mind, if I had not something else to + do, I would answer your dear saucy letter. O, Lord, I am going awry with + writing in bed. O, faith, but I must answer it, or I shan't have room, for + it must go on Saturday; and don't think I will fill the third side, I an't + come to that yet, young women. Well then, as for your Bernage, I have said + enough: I writ to him last week.—Turn over that leaf. Now, what says + MD to the world to come? I tell you, Madam Stella, my head is a great deal + better, and I hope will keep so. How came yours to be fifteen days coming, + and you had my fifteenth in seven? Answer me that, rogues. Your being with + Goody Walls is excuse enough: I find I was mistaken in the sex, 'tis a + boy.(12) Yes, I understand your cypher, and Stella guesses right, as she + always does. He(13) gave me al bsadnuk lboinlpl dfaonr ufainf btoy + dpionufnad,(14) which I sent him again by Mr. Lewis, to whom I writ a very + complaining letter that was showed him; and so the matter ended. He told + me he had a quarrel with me; I said I had another with him, and we + returned to our friendship, and I should think he loves me as well as a + great Minister can love a man in so short a time. Did not I do right? I am + glad at heart you have got your palsy-water;(15) pray God Almighty it may + do my dearest little Stella good! I suppose Mrs. Edgworth set out last + Monday se'ennight. Yes, I do read the Examiners, and they are written very + finely, as you judge. I do not think they are too severe on the Duke;(16) + they only tax him of avarice, and his avarice has ruined us. You may count + upon all things in them to be true. The author has said it is not Prior, + but perhaps it may be Atterbury.—Now, Madam Dingley, says she, 'tis + fine weather, says she; yes, says she, and we have got to our new + lodgings. I compute you ought to save eight pounds by being in the others + five months; and you have no more done it than eight thousand. I am glad + you are rid of that squinting, blinking Frenchman. I will give you a bill + on Parvisol for five pounds for the half-year. And must I go on at four + shillings a week, and neither eat nor drink for it? Who the Devil said + Atterbury and your Dean were alike? I never saw your Chancellor, nor his + chaplain. The latter has a good deal of learning, and is a well-wisher to + be an author: your Chancellor is an excellent man. As for Patrick's bird, + he bought him for his tameness, and is grown the wildest I ever saw. His + wings have been quilled thrice, and are now up again: he will be able to + fly after us to Ireland, if he be willing.—Yes, Mrs. Stella, Dingley + writes more like Presto than you; for all you superscribed the letter, as + who should say, Why should not I write like our Presto as well as Dingley? + You with your awkward SS;(17) cannot you write them thus, SS? No, but + always SSS. Spiteful sluts, to affront Presto's writing; as that when you + shut your eyes you write most like Presto. I know the time when I did not + write to you half so plain as I do now; but I take pity on you both. I am + very much concerned for Mrs. Walls's eyes. Walls says nothing of it to me + in his letter dated after yours. You say, "If she recovers, she may lose + her sight." I hope she is in no danger of her life. Yes, Ford is as sober + as I please: I use him to walk with me as an easy companion, always ready + for what I please, when I am weary of business and Ministers. I don't go + to a Coffee-house twice a month. I am very regular in going to sleep + before eleven.—And so you say that Stella is a pretty girl; and so + she be, and methinks I see her just now as handsome as the day is long. Do + you know what? when I am writing in our language, I make up my mouth just + as if I was speaking it. I caught myself at it just now. And I suppose + Dingley is so fair and so fresh as a lass in May, and has her health, and + no spleen.—In your account you sent do you reckon as usual from the + 1st of November(18) was twelvemonth? Poor Stella, will not Dingley leave + her a little daylight to write to Presto? Well, well, we'll have daylight + shortly, spite of her teeth; and zoo(19) must cly Lele and Hele, and Hele + aden. Must loo mimitate Pdfr, pay? Iss, and so la shall. And so lele's fol + ee rettle. Dood-mollow.—At night. Mrs. Barton sent this morning to + invite me to dinner; and there I dined, just in that genteel manner that + MD used when they would treat some better sort of body than usual. + </p> + <p> + 8. O dear MD, my heart is almost broken. You will hear the thing before + this comes to you. I writ a full account of it this night to the + Archbishop of Dublin; and the Dean may tell you the particulars from the + Archbishop. I was in a sorry way to write, but thought it might be proper + to send a true account of the fact; for you will hear a thousand lying + circumstances. It is of Mr. Harley's being stabbed this afternoon, at + three o'clock, at a Committee of the Council. I was playing Lady Catharine + Morris's(20) cards, where I dined, when young Arundel(21) came in with the + story. I ran away immediately to the Secretary, which was in my way: no + one was at home. I met Mrs. St. John in her chair; she had heard it + imperfectly. I took a chair to Mr. Harley, who was asleep, and they hope + in no danger; but he has been out of order, and was so when he came abroad + to-day, and it may put him in a fever: I am in mortal pain for him. That + desperate French villain, Marquis de Guiscard,(22) stabbed Mr. Harley. + Guiscard was taken up by Mr. Secretary St. John's warrant for high + treason, and brought before the Lords to be examined; there he stabbed Mr. + Harley. I have told all the particulars already to the Archbishop. I have + now, at nine, sent again, and they tell me he is in a fair way. Pray + pardon my distraction; I now think of all his kindness to me.—The + poor creature now lies stabbed in his bed by a desperate French Popish + villain. Good-night, and God preserve you both, and pity me; I want it. + </p> + <p> + 9. Morning; seven, in bed. Patrick is just come from Mr. Harley's. He + slept well till four; the surgeon sat(23) up with him: he is asleep again: + he felt a pain in his wound when he waked: they apprehend him in no + danger. This account the surgeon left with the porter, to tell people that + send. Pray God preserve him. I am rising, and going to Mr. Secretary St. + John. They say Guiscard will die with the wounds Mr. St. John and the rest + gave him. I shall tell you more at night.—Night. Mr. Harley still + continues on the mending hand; but he rested ill last night, and felt + pain. I was early with the Secretary this morning, and I dined with him, + and he told me several particularities of this accident, too long to + relate now. Mr. Harley is still mending this evening, but not at all out + of danger; and till then I can have no peace. Good-night, etc., and pity + Presto. + </p> + <p> + 10. Mr. Harley was restless last night; but he has no fever, and the hopes + of his mending increase. I had a letter from Mr. Walls, and one from Mr. + Bernage. I will answer them here, not having time to write. Mr. Walls + writes about three things. First, about a hundred pounds from Dr. Raymond, + of which I hear nothing, and it is now too late. Secondly, about Mr. + Clements:(24) I can do nothing in it, because I am not to mention Mr. + Pratt; and I cannot recommend without knowing Mr. Pratt's objections, + whose relation Clements is, and who brought him into the place. The third + is about my being godfather to the child:(25) that is in my power, and + (since there is no remedy) will submit. I wish you could hinder it; but if + it can't be helped, pay what you think proper, and get the Provost to + stand for me, and let his Christian name be Harley, in honour of my + friend, now lying stabbed and doubtful of his life. As for Bernage, he + writes me word that his colonel has offered to make him captain-lieutenant + for a hundred pounds. He was such a fool to offer him money without + writing to me till it was done, though I have had a dozen letters from + him; and then he desires I would say nothing of this, for fear his colonel + should be angry. People are mad. What can I do? I engaged Colonel Disney, + who was one of his solicitors to the Secretary, and then told him the + story. He assured me that Fielding (Bernage's colonel) said he might have + got that sum; but, on account of those great recommendations he had, would + give it him for nothing: and I would have Bernage write him a letter of + thanks, as of a thing given him for nothing, upon recommendations, etc. + Disney tells me he will again speak to Fielding, and clear up this matter; + then I will write to Bernage. A pox on him for promising money till I had + it promised to me; and then making it such a ticklish point, that one + cannot expostulate with the colonel upon it: but let him do as I say, and + there is an end. I engaged the Secretary of State in it; and am sure it + was meant a kindness to me, and that no money should be given, and a + hundred pounds is too much in a Smithfield bargain,(26) as a major-general + told me, whose opinion I asked. I am now hurried, and can say no more. + Farewell, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + How shall I superscribe to your new lodgings, pray, madams? Tell me but + that, impudence and saucy-face. + </p> + <p> + Are not you sauceboxes to write "lele"(27) like Presto? O poor Presto! + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harley is better to-night, that makes me so pert, you saucy Gog and + Magog. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 18. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 10, 1710-11. + </h3> + <p> + Pretty little MD must expect little from me till Mr. Harley is out of + danger. We hope he is so now; but I am subject to fear for my friends. He + has a head full of the whole business of the nation, was out of order when + the villain stabbed him, and had a cruel contusion by the second blow. But + all goes on well yet. Mr. Ford and I dined with Mr. Lewis, and we hope the + best. + </p> + <p> + 11. This morning Mr. Secretary and I met at Court, where he went to the + Queen, who is out of order, and aguish: I doubt the worse for this + accident to Mr. Harley. We went together to his house, and his wound looks + well, and he is not feverish at all, and I think it is foolish in me to be + so much in pain as I am. I had the penknife in my hand, which is broken + within a quarter of an inch of the handle. I have a mind to write and + publish an account of all the particularities of this fact:(1) it will be + very curious, and I would do it when Mr. Harley is past danger. + </p> + <p> + 12. We have been in terrible pain to-day about Mr. Harley, who never slept + last night, and has been very feverish. But this evening I called there; + and young Mr. Harley (his only son) tells me he is now much better, and + was then asleep. They let nobody see him, and that is perfectly right. The + Parliament cannot go on till he is well, and are forced to adjourn their + money businesses, which none but he can help them in. Pray God preserve + him. + </p> + <p> + 13. Mr. Harley is better to-day, slept well all night, and we are a little + out of our fears. I send and call three or four times every day. I went + into the City for a walk, and dined there with a private man; and coming + home this evening, broke my shin in the Strand over a tub of sand left + just in the way. I got home dirty enough, and went straight to bed, where + I have been cooking it with gold-beater's skin, and have been peevish + enough with Patrick, who was near an hour bringing a rag from next door. + It is my right shin, where never any humour fell when t'other used to + swell; so I apprehend it less: however, I shall not stir till 'tis well, + which I reckon will be in a week. I am very careful in these sort of + things; but I wish I had Mrs. J——'s water:(2) she is out of + town, and I must make a shift with alum. I will dine with Mrs. Vanhomrigh + till I am well, who lives but five doors off; and that I may venture. + </p> + <p> + 14. My journals are like to be very diverting, now I cannot stir abroad, + between accounts of Mr. Harley's mending, and of my broken shin. I just + walked to my neighbour Vanhomrigh at two, and came away at six, when + little Harrison the Tatler came to me, and begged me to dictate a paper to + him, which I was forced in charity to do. Mr. Harley still mends; and I + hope in a day or two to trouble you no more with him, nor with my shin. Go + to bed and sleep, sirrahs, that you may rise to-morrow and walk to + Donnybrook, and lose your money with Stoyte and the Dean; do so, dear + little rogues, and drink Presto's health. O pray, don't you drink Presto's + health sometimes with your deans, and your Stoytes, and your Walls, and + your Manleys, and your everybodies, pray now? I drink MD's to myself a + hundred thousand times. + </p> + <p> + 15. I was this morning at Mr. Secretary St. John's for all my shin; and he + has given me for young Harrison the Tatler the prettiest employment in + Europe; secretary to my Lord Raby,(3) who is to be Ambassador + Extraordinary at the Hague, where all the great affairs will be concerted; + so we shall lose the Tatlers in a fortnight. I will send Harrison + to-morrow morning to thank the Secretary. Poor Biddy Floyd(4) has got the + smallpox. I called this morning to see Lady Betty Germaine, and when she + told me so, I fairly took my leave. I have the luck of it;(5) for about + ten days ago I was to see Lord Carteret;(6) and my lady was entertaining + me with telling of a young lady, a cousin, who was then ill in the house + of the smallpox, and is since dead: it was near Lady Betty's, and I fancy + Biddy took the fright by it. I dined with Mr. Secretary; and a physician + came in just from Guiscard, who tells us he is dying of his wounds, and + can hardly live till to-morrow. A poor wench that Guiscard kept, sent him + a bottle of sack; but the keeper would not let him touch it, for fear it + was poison. He had two quarts of old clotted blood come out of his side + to-day, and is delirious. I am sorry he is dying; for they had found out a + way to hang him. He certainly had an intention to murder the Queen. + </p> + <p> + 16. I have made but little progress in this letter for so many days, + thanks to Guiscard and Mr. Harley; and it would be endless to tell you all + the particulars of that odious fact. I do not yet hear that Guiscard is + dead, but they say 'tis impossible he should recover. I walked too much + yesterday for a man with a broken shin; to-day I rested, and went no + farther than Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, where I dined; and Lady Betty Butler + coming in about six, I was forced in good manners to sit with her till + nine; then I came home, and Mr. Ford came in to visit my shin, and sat + with me till eleven: so I have been very idle and naughty. It vexes me to + the pluck(7) that I should lose walking this delicious day. Have you seen + the Spectator(8) yet, a paper that comes out every day? 'Tis written by + Mr. Steele, who seems to have gathered new life, and have a new fund of + wit; it is in the same nature as his Tatlers, and they have all of them + had something pretty. I believe Addison and he club. I never see them; and + I plainly told Mr. Harley and Mr. St. John, ten days ago, before my Lord + Keeper and Lord Rivers, that I had been foolish enough to spend my credit + with them in favour of Addison and Steele; but that I would engage and + promise never to say one word in their behalf, having been used so ill for + what I had already done.—So, now I am got into the way of prating + again, there will be no quiet for me. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + When Presto begins to prate, + Give him a rap upon the pate. +</pre> + <p> + O Lord, how I blot! it is time to leave off, etc. + </p> + <p> + 17. Guiscard died this morning at two; and the coroner's inquest have + found that he was killed by bruises received from a messenger, so to clear + the Cabinet Councillors from whom he received his wounds. I had a letter + from Raymond, who cannot hear of your box; but I hope you have it before + this comes to your hands. I dined to-day with Mr. Lewis of the Secretary's + office. Mr. Harley has abundance of extravasated blood comes from his + breast out of his wound, and will not be well so soon as we expected. I + had something to say, but cannot call it to mind. (What was it?) + </p> + <p> + 18. I was to-day at Court to look for the Duke of Argyle, and gave him the + memorial about Bernage. The Duke goes with the first fair wind. I could + not find him, but I have given the memorial to another to give him; and, + however, it shall be sent after him. Bernage has made a blunder in + offering money to his colonel without my advice; however, he is made + captain-lieutenant, only he must recruit the company, which will cost him + forty pounds, and that is cheaper than an hundred. I dined to-day with Mr. + Secretary St. John, and stayed till seven, but would not drink his + champagne and burgundy, for fear of the gout. My shin mends, but is not + well. I hope it will by the time I send this letter, next Saturday. + </p> + <p> + 19. I went to-day into the City, but in a coach, and sossed(9) up my leg + on the seat; and as I came home, I went to see poor Charles Barnard's(10) + books, which are to be sold by auction, and I itch to lay out nine or ten + pounds for some fine editions of fine authors. But 'tis too far, and I + shall let it slip, as I usually do all such opportunities. I dined in a + coffee-house with Stratford upon chops and some of his wine. Where did MD + dine? Why, poor MD dined at home to-day, because of the Archbishop, and + they could not go abroad, and had a breast of mutton and a pint of wine. I + hope Mrs. Walls mends; and pray give me an account what sort of godfather + I made, and whether I behaved myself handsomely. The Duke of Argyle is + gone; and whether he has my memorial, I know not, till I see Dr. + Arbuthnot,(11) to whom I gave it. That hard name belongs to a Scotch + doctor, an acquaintance of the Duke's and me; Stella can't pronounce it. + Oh that we were at Laracor this fine day! the willows begin to peep, and + the quicks to bud. My dream is out: I was a-dreamed last night that I ate + ripe cherries.—And now they begin to catch the pikes, and will + shortly the trouts (pox on these Ministers!)—and I would fain know + whether the floods were ever so high as to get over the holly bank or the + river walk; if so, then all my pikes are gone; but I hope not. Why don't + you ask Parvisol these things, sirrahs? And then my canal, and trouts, and + whether the bottom be fine and clear? But harkee, ought not Parvisol to + pay in my last year's rents and arrears out of his hands? I am thinking, + if either of you have heads to take his accounts, it should be paid in to + you; otherwise to Mr. Walls. I will write an order on t'other side; and do + as you will. Here's a world of business; but I must go sleep, I'm drowsy; + and so goodnight, etc. + </p> + <p> + 20. This sore shin ruins me in coach-hire; no less than two shillings + to-day going and coming from the City, where I dined with one you never + heard of, and passed an insipid day. I writ this post to Bernage, with the + account I told you above. I hope he will like it; 'tis his own fault, or + it would have been better. I reckon your next letter will be full of Mr. + Harley's stabbing. He still mends, but abundance of extravasated blood has + come out of the wound: he keeps his bed, and sees nobody. The Speaker's + eldest son(12) is just dead of the smallpox, and the House is adjourned a + week, to give him time to wipe off his tears. I think it very handsomely + done; but I believe one reason is, that they want Mr. Harley so much. + Biddy Floyd is like to do well: and so go to your Dean's, and roast his + oranges, and lose your money, do so, you saucy sluts. Stella, you lost + three shillings and fourpence t'other night at Stoyte's, yes, you did, and + Presto stood in a corner, and saw you all the while, and then stole away. + I dream very often I am in Ireland, and that I have left my clothes and + things behind me, and have not taken leave of anybody; and that the + Ministry expect me tomorrow, and such nonsense. + </p> + <p> + 21. I would not for a guinea have a letter from you till this goes; and go + it shall on Saturday, faith. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, to save my + shin, and then went on some business to the Secretary, and he was not at + home. + </p> + <p> + 22. Yesterday was a short day's journal: but what care I? what cares saucy + Presto? Darteneuf(13) invited me to dinner to-day. Do not you know + Darteneuf? That's the man that knows everything, and that everybody knows; + and that knows where a knot of rabble are going on a holiday, and when + they were there last: and then I went to the Coffee-house. My shin mends, + but is not quite healed: I ought to keep it up, but I don't; I e'en let it + go as it comes. Pox take Parvisol and his watch! If I do not receive the + ten-pound bill I am to get towards it, I will neither receive watch nor + chain; so let Parvisol know. + </p> + <p> + 23. I this day appointed the Duke of Ormond to meet him at Ned + Southwell's, about an affair of printing Irish Prayer-Books, etc.,(14) but + the Duke never came. There Southwell had letters that two packets are + taken; so if MD writ then, the letters are gone; for they are packets + coming hither. Mr. Harley is not yet well, but his extravasated blood + continues, and I doubt he will not be quite well in a good while: I find + you have heard of the fact by Southwell's letters from Ireland: what do + you think of it? I dined with Sir John Perceval,(15) and saw his lady + sitting in the bed, in the forms of a lying-in woman; and coming home my + sore shin itched, and I forgot what it was, and rubbed off the scab, and + blood came; but I am now got into bed, and have put on alum curd, and it + is almost well. Lord Rivers told me yesterday a piece of bad news, as a + secret, that the Pretender is going to be married to the Duke of Savoy's + daughter.(16) 'Tis very bad if it be true. We were walking in the Mall + with some Scotch lords, and he could not tell it until they were gone, and + he bade me tell it to none but the Secretary of State and MD. This goes + tomorrow, and I have no room but to bid my dearest little MD good-night. + 24. I will now seal up this letter, and send it; for I reckon to have none + from you ('tis morning now) between this and night; and I will put it in + the post with my own hands. I am going out in great haste; so farewell, + etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 19. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 24, 1710-11. + </h3> + <p> + It was a little cross in Presto not to send to-day to the Coffee-house to + see whether there was a letter from MD before I sent away mine; but, + faith, I did it on purpose, because I would scorn to answer two letters of + yours successively. This way of journal is the worst in the world for + writing of news, unless one does it the last day; and so I will observe + henceforward, if there be any politics or stuff worth sending. My shin + mends in spite of the scratching last night. I dined to-day at Ned + Southwell's with the Bishop of Ossory(1) and a parcel of Irish gentlemen. + Have you yet seen any of the Spectators? Just three weeks to-day since I + had your last, N.11. I am afraid I have lost one by the packet that was + taken; that will vex me, considering the pains MD take to write, + especially poor pretty Stella, and her weak eyes. God bless them and the + owner, and send them well, and little me together, I hope ere long. This + illness of Mr. Harley puts everything backwards, and he is still down, and + like to be so, by that extravasated blood which comes from his breast to + the wound: it was by the second blow Guiscard gave him after the penknife + was broken. I am shocked at that villainy whenever I think of it. Biddy + Floyd is past danger, but will lose all her beauty: she had them mighty + thick, especially about her nose. + </p> + <p> + 25. Morning. I wish you a merry New Year; this is the first day of the + year, you know, with us, and 'tis Lady-day. I must rise and go to my Lord + Keeper: it is not shaving-day to-day, so I shall be early. I am to dine + with Mr. Secretary St. John. Good-morrow, my mistresses both, good-morrow. + Stella will be peeping out of her room at Mrs. De Caudres'(2) down upon + the folks as they come from church; and there comes Mrs. Proby,(3) and + that is my Lady Southwell,(4) and there is Lady Betty Rochfort.(5) I long + to hear how you are settled in your new lodgings. I wish I were rid of my + old ones, and that Mrs. Brent could contrive to put up my books in boxes, + and lodge them in some safe place, and you keep my papers of importance. + But I must rise, I tell you.—At night. So I visited and dined as I + told you, and what of that? We have let Guiscard be buried at last, after + showing him pickled in a trough this fortnight for twopence apiece: and + the fellow that showed would point to his body, and, "See, gentlemen, this + is the wound that was given him by his Grace the Duke of Ormond; and this + is the wound," etc., and then the show was over, and another set of rabble + came in. 'Tis hard our laws would not suffer us to hang his body in + chains, because he was not tried; and in the eye of our law every man is + innocent till then.—Mr. Harley is still very weak, and never out of + bed. + </p> + <p> + 26. This was a most delicious day; and my shin being past danger, I walked + like lightning above two hours in the Park. We have generally one fair + day, and then a great deal of rain for three or four days together. All + things are at a stop in Parliament for want of Mr. Harley; they cannot + stir an inch without him in their most material affairs: and we fear, by + the caprice of Radcliffe, who will admit none but his own surgeon,(6) he + has not been well looked after. I dined at an alehouse with Mr. Lewis, but + had his wine. Don't you begin to see the flowers and blossoms of the + field? How busy should I be now at Laracor! No news of your box? I hope + you have it, and are this minute drinking the chocolate, and that the + smell of the Brazil tobacco has not affected it. I would be glad to know + whether you like it, because I would send you more by people that are now + every day thinking of going to Ireland; therefore pray tell me, and tell + me soon: and I will have the strong box. + </p> + <p> + 27. A rainy, wretched, scurvy day from morning till night: and my + neighbour Vanhomrigh invited me to dine with them and this evening I + passed at Mr. Prior's with Dr. Freind; and 'tis now past twelve, so I must + go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 28. Morning. O, faith, you're an impudent saucy couple of sluttikins for + presuming to write so soon, said I to myself this morning; who knows but + there may be a letter from MD at the Coffee-house? Well, you must know, + and so, I just now sent Patrick, and he brought me three letters, but not + one from MD, no indeed, for I read all the superscriptions; and not one + from MD. One I opened, it was from the Archbishop;(7) t'other I opened, it + was from Staunton;(8) the third I took, and looked at the hand. Whose hand + is this? says I; yes, says I, whose hand is this? Then there was wax + between the folds; then I began to suspect; then I peeped; faith, it was + Walls's hand after all: then I opened it in a rage, and then it was little + MD's hand, dear, little, pretty, charming MD's sweet hand again. O Lord, + an't here a clutter and a stir, and a bustle? never saw the like. Faith, I + believe yours lay some days at the post-office, and that it came before my + eighteenth went, but that I did not expect it, and I hardly ever go there. + Well, and so you think I'll answer this letter now; no, faith, and so I + won't. I'll make you wait, young women; but I'll inquire immediately about + poor Dingley's exchequer trangum.(9) What, is that Vedel again a soldier? + was he broke? I'll put it in Ben Tooke's hand. I hope Vedel could not sell + it.—At night. Vedel, Vedel, poh, pox, I think it is Vedeau;(10) ay, + Vedeau, now I have it; let me see, do you name him in yours? Yes, Mr. John + Vedeau is the brother; but where does this brother live? I'll inquire. + This was a fast-day for the public; so I dined late with Sir Matthew + Dudley, whom I have not been with a great while. He is one of those that + must lose his employment whenever the great shake comes; and I can't + contribute to keep him in, though I have dropped words in his favour to + the Ministry; but he is too violent a Whig, and friend to the Lord + Treasurer,(11) to stay in. 'Tis odd to think how long they let those + people keep their places; but the reason is, they have not enough to + satisfy all expecters, and so they keep them all in hopes, that they may + be good boys in the meantime; and thus the old ones hold in still. The + Comptroller(12) told me that there are eight people expect his staff. I + walked after dinner to-day round the Park. What, do I write politics to + little young women? Hold your tongue, and go to your Dean's. + </p> + <p> + 29. Morning. If this be a fine day, I will walk into the City, and see + Charles Barnard's library. What care I for your letter, saucy N.12? I will + say nothing to it yet: faith, I believe this will be full before its time, + and then go it must. I will always write once a fortnight; and if it goes + sooner by filling sooner, why, then there is so much clear gain. Morrow, + morrow, rogues and lasses both, I can't lie scribbling here in bed for + your play; I must rise, and so morrow again.—At night. Your friend + Montgomery and his sister are here, as I am told by Patrick. I have seen + him often, but take no notice of him: he is grown very ugly and pimpled. + They tell me he is a gamester, and wins money.—How could I help it, + pray? Patrick snuffed the candle too short, and the grease ran down upon + the paper.(13) It an't my fault, 'tis Patrick's fault; pray now don't + blame Presto. I walked today in the City, and dined at a private house, + and went to see the auction of poor Charles Barnard's books; they were in + the middle of the physic books, so I bought none; and they are so dear, I + believe I shall buy none, and there is an end; and go to Stoyte's, and + I'll go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 30. Morning. This is Good Friday, you must know; and I must rise and go to + Mr. Secretary about some business, and Mrs. Vanhomrigh desires me to + breakfast with her, because she is to intercede for Patrick, who is so + often drunk and quarrelsome in the house, that I was resolved to send him + over; but he knows all the places where I send, and is so used to my ways, + that it would be inconvenient to me; but when I come to Ireland, I will + discharge him.(14) Sir Thomas Mansel,(15) one of the Lords of the + Treasury, setting me down at my door to-day, saw Patrick, and swore he was + a Teague-lander.(16) I am so used to his face, I never observed it, but + thought him a pretty fellow. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I supped this + fast-day with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. We were afraid Mr. Harley's wound would + turn to a fistula; but we think the danger is now past. He rises every + day, and walks about his room, and we hope he will be out in a fortnight. + Prior showed me a handsome paper of verses he has writ on Mr. Harley's + accident:(17) they are not out; I will send them to you, if he will give + me a copy. + </p> + <p> + 31. Morning. What shall we do to make April fools this year, now it + happens on Sunday? Patrick brings word that Mr. Harley still mends, and is + up every day. I design to see him in a few days: and he brings me word too + that he has found out Vedeau's brother's shop: I shall call there in a day + or two. It seems the wife lodges next door to the brother. I doubt the + scoundrel was broke, and got a commission, or perhaps is a volunteer + gentleman, and expects to get one by his valour. Morrow, sirrahs, let me + rise.—At night. I dined to-day with Sir Thomas Mansel. We were + walking in the Park, and Mr. Lewis came to us. Mansel asked where we + dined. We said, "Together." He said, we should dine with him, only his + wife(18) desired him to bring nobody, because she had only a leg of + mutton. I said I would dine with him to choose; but he would send a + servant to order a plate or two: yet this man has ten thousand pounds a + year in land, and is a Lord of the Treasury, and is not covetous neither, + but runs out merely by slattering(19) and negligence. The worst dinner I + ever saw at the Dean's was better: but so it is with abundance of people + here. I called at night at Mr. Harley's, who begins to walk in his room + with a stick, but is mighty weak.—See how much I have lost with that + ugly grease.(20) 'Tis your fault, pray; and I'll go to bed. + </p> + <p> + April 1. The Duke of Buckingham's house fell down last night with an + earthquake, and is half swallowed up; won't you go and see it?—An + April fool, an April fool, oh ho, young women. Well, don't be angry. I + will make you an April fool no more till the next time; we had no sport + here, because it is Sunday, and Easter Sunday. I dined with the Secretary, + who seemed terribly down and melancholy, which Mr. Prior and Lewis + observed as well as I: perhaps something is gone wrong; perhaps there is + nothing in it. God bless my own dearest MD, and all is well. + </p> + <p> + 2. We have such windy weather, 'tis troublesome walking, yet all the + rabble have got into our Park these Easter holidays. I am plagued with one + Richardson, an Irish parson, and his project of printing Irish Bibles, + etc., to make you Christians in that country: I befriend him what I can, + on account of the Archbishop and Bishop of Clogher.—But what + business have I to meddle, etc. Do not you remember that, sirrah Stella? + what was that about, when you thought I was meddling with something that + was not my business? O, faith, you are an impudent slut, I remember your + doings, I'll never forget you as long as I live. Lewis and I dined + together at his lodgings. But where's the answer to this letter of MD's? + O, faith, Presto, you must think of that. Time enough, says saucy Presto. + </p> + <p> + 3. I was this morning to see Mrs. Barton: I love her better than anybody + here, and see her seldomer. Why, really now, so it often happens in the + world, that where one loves a body best—pshah, pshah, you are so + silly with your moral observations. Well, but she told me a very good + story. An old gentlewoman died here two months ago, and left in her will, + to have eight men and eight maids bearers, who should have two guineas + apiece, ten guineas to the parson for a sermon, and two guineas to the + clerk. But bearers, parson, and clerk must be all true virgins; and not to + be admitted till they took their oaths of virginity: so the poor woman + still lies unburied, and so must do till the general resurrection.—I + called at Mr. Secretary's, to see what the D—— ailed him on + Sunday. I made him a very proper speech; told him I observed he was much + out of temper; that I did not expect he would tell me the cause, but would + be glad to see he was in better; and one thing I warned him of, never to + appear cold to me, for I would not be treated like a schoolboy; that I had + felt too much of that in my life already (meaning from Sir William + Temple); that I expected every great Minister who honoured me with his + acquaintance, if he heard or saw anything to my disadvantage, would let me + know it in plain words, and not put me in pain to guess by the change or + coldness of his countenance or behaviour; for it was what I would hardly + bear from a crowned head, and I thought no subject's favour was worth it; + and that I designed to let my Lord Keeper(21) and Mr. Harley know the same + thing, that they might use me accordingly. He took all right; said I had + reason; vowed nothing ailed him but sitting up whole nights at business, + and one night at drinking; would have had me dine with him and Mrs. + Masham's brother, to make up matters; but I would not. I don't know, but I + would not. But indeed I was engaged with my old friend Rollinson;(22) you + never heard of him before. + </p> + <p> + 4. I sometimes look a line or two back, and see plaguy mistakes of the + pen; how do you get over them? You are puzzled sometimes. Why, I think + what I said to Mr. Secretary was right. Don't you remember how I used to + be in pain when Sir William Temple would look cold and out of humour for + three or four days, and I used to suspect a hundred reasons? I have + plucked up my spirit since then, faith; he spoilt a fine gentleman. I + dined with my neighbour Vanhomrigh, and MD, poor MD, at home on a loin of + mutton and half a pint of wine, and the mutton was raw, poor Stella could + not eat, poor dear rogue, and Dingley was so vexed; but we will dine at + Stoyte's to-morrow. Mr. Harley promised to see me in a day or two, so I + called this evening; but his son and others were abroad, and he asleep, so + I came away, and found out Mrs. Vedeau. She drew out a letter from + Dingley, and said she would get a friend to receive the money. I told her + I would employ Mr. Tooke in it henceforward. Her husband bought a + lieutenancy of foot, and is gone to Portugal. He sold his share of the + shop to his brother, and put out the money to maintain her, all but what + bought the commission. She lodges within two doors of her brother. She + told me it made her very melancholy to change her manner of life thus, but + trade was dead, etc. She says she will write to you soon. I design to + engage Ben Tooke, and then receive the parchment from her.—I gave + Mr. Dopping a copy of Prior's verses on Mr. Harley; he sent them yesterday + to Ireland, so go look for them, for I won't be at the trouble to + transcribe them here. They will be printed in a day or two. Give my hearty + service to Stoyte and Catherine: upon my word I love them dearly, and + desire you will tell them so: pray desire Goody Stoyte not to let Mrs. + Walls and Mrs. Johnson cheat her of her money at ombre, but assure her + from me that she is a bungler. Dine with her to-day, and tell her so, and + drink my health, and good voyage, and speedy return, and so you're a + rogue. + </p> + <p> + 5. Morning. Now let us proceed to examine a saucy letter from one Madam + MD.—God Almighty bless poor dear Stella, and send her a great many + birthdays, all happy, and healthy, and wealthy, and with me ever together, + and never asunder again, unless by chance. When I find you are happy or + merry there, it makes me so here, and I can hardly imagine you absent when + I am reading your letter, or writing to you. No, faith, you are just here + upon this little paper, and therefore I see and talk with you every + evening constantly, and sometimes in the morning, but not always in the + morning, because that is not so modest to young ladies.—What, you + would fain palm a letter on me more than you sent: and I, like a fool, + must look over all yours, to see whether this was really N.12, or more. + (Patrick has this moment brought me letters from the Bishop of Clogher and + Parvisol; my heart was at my mouth for fear of one from MD; what a + disgrace would it be to have two of yours to answer together! But, faith, + this shall go to-night, for fear; and then come when it will, I defy it.) + No, you are not naughty at all, write when you are disposed. And so the + Dean told you the story of Mr. Harley from the Archbishop; I warrant it + never spoiled your supper, or broke off your game. Nor yet, have not you + the box? I wish Mrs. Edgworth had the ——-. But you have it + now, I suppose; and is the chocolate good, or has the tobacco spoilt it? + Leigh stays till Sterne has done his business, no longer; and when that + will be, God knows: I befriend him as much as I can, but Harley's accident + stops that as well as all things else. You guess, Madam Dingley, that I + shall stay a round twelvemonth; as hope saved, I would come over, if I + could, this minute; but we will talk of that by and by. Your affair of + Vedeau I have told you of already; now to the next, turn over the leaf. + Mrs. Dobbins lies, I have no more provision here or in Ireland than I had. + I am pleased that Stella the conjurer approves what I did with Mr. + Harley;(23) but your generosity makes me mad; I know you repine inwardly + at Presto's absence; you think he has broken his word of coming in three + months, and that this is always his trick; and now Stella says she does + not see possibly how I can come away in haste, and that MD is satisfied, + etc. An't you a rogue to overpower me thus? I did not expect to find such + friends as I have done. They may indeed deceive me too. But there are + important reasons (Pox on this grease, this candle tallow!) why they + should not.(24) I have been used barbarously by the late Ministry; I am a + little piqued in honour to let people see I am not to be despised. The + assurances they give me, without any scruple or provocation, are such as + are usually believed in the world; they may come to nothing, but the first + opportunity that offers, and is neglected, I shall depend no more, but + come away. I could say a thousand things on this head, if I were with you. + I am thinking why Stella should not go to the Bath, if she be told it will + do her good. I will make Parvisol get up fifty pounds, and pay it you; and + you may be good housewives, and live cheap there some months, and return + in autumn, or visit London, as you please: pray think of it. I writ to + Bernage, directed to Curry's; I wish he had the letter. I will send the + bohea tea, if I can. The Bishop of Kilmore,(25) I don't keep such company; + an old dying fool whom I never was with in my life. So I am no + godfather;(26) all the better. Pray, Stella, explain those two words of + yours to me, what you mean by VILLIAN and DAINGER;(27) and you, Madam + Dingley, what is CHRISTIANING?—Lay your letter THIS WAY, THIS WAY, + and the devil a bit of difference between this way and the other way. No; + I will show you, lay them THIS WAY, THIS WAY, and not THAT WAY, THAT + WAY.(28)—You shall have your aprons; and I will put all your + commissions as they come, in a paper together, and do not think I will + forget MD's orders, because they are friends; I will be as careful as if + they were strangers. I knew not what to do about this Clements.(29) Walls + will not let me say anything as if Mr. Pratt was against him; and now the + Bishop of Clogher has written to me in his behalf. This thing does not + rightly fall in my way, and that people never consider: I always give my + good offices where they are proper, and that I am judge of; however, I + will do what I can. But, if he has the name of a Whig, it will be hard, + considering my Lord Anglesea and Hyde(30) are very much otherwise, and you + know they have the employment of Deputy Treasurer. If the frolic should + take you of going to the Bath, I here send you a note on Parvisol; if not, + you may tear it, and there's an end. Farewell. + </p> + <p> + If you have an imagination that the Bath will do you good, I say again, I + would have you go; if not, or it be inconvenient, burn this note. Or, if + you would go, and not take so much money, take thirty pounds, and I will + return you twenty from hence. Do as you please, sirrahs. I suppose it will + not be too late for the first season; if it be, I would have you resolve + however to go the second season, if the doctors say it will do you good, + and you fancy so. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 20. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 5, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I put my nineteenth in the post-office just now myself, as I came out of + the City, where I dined. This rain ruins me in coach-hire; I walked away + sixpennyworth, and came within a shilling length, and then took a + coach,(1) and got a lift back for nothing; and am now busy. + </p> + <p> + 6. Mr. Secretary desired I would see him this morning; said he had several + things to say to me, and said not one; and the Duke of Ormond sent to + desire I would meet him at Mr. Southwell's by ten this morning too, which + I did, thinking it was some particular matter. All the Irish in town were + there, to consult upon preventing a Bill for laying a duty on Irish yarn; + so we talked a while, and then all went to the lobby of the House of + Commons, to solicit our friends, and the Duke came among the rest; and + Lord Anglesea solicited admirably, and I did wonders. But, after all, the + matter was put off till Monday, and then we are to be at it again. I dined + with Lord Mountjoy, and looked over him at chess, which put me in mind of + Stella and Griffyth.(2) I came home, and that dog Patrick was not within; + so I fretted, and fretted, and what good did that do me? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + And so get you gone to your deans, + You couple of queans. +</pre> + <p> + I cannot find rhyme to Walls and Stoyte.—Yes, yes, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + You expect Mrs. Walls, + Be dressed when she calls, + To carry you to Stoyte, + Or else HONI SOIT. +</pre> + <p> + Henley told me that the Tories were insup-port-able people, because they + are for bringing in French claret, and will not SUP-PORT. Mr. Harley will + hardly get abroad this week or ten days yet. I reckon, when I send away + this letter, he will be just got into the House of Commons. My last letter + went in twelve days, and so perhaps may this. No it won't, for those + letters that go under a fortnight are answers to one of yours, otherwise + you must take the days as they happen, some dry, some wet, some barren, + some fruitful, some merry, some insipid; some, etc.—I will write you + word exactly the first day I see young gooseberries, and pray observe how + much later you are. We have not had five fine days this five weeks, but + rain or wind. 'Tis a late spring they say here.—Go to bed, you two + dear saucy brats, and don't keep me up all night. + </p> + <p> + 7. Ford has been at Epsom, to avoid Good Friday and Easter Sunday. He + forced me to-day to dine with him; and tells me there are letters from + Ireland, giving an account of a great indiscretion in the Archbishop of + Dublin, who applied a story out of Tacitus very reflectingly on Mr. + Harley, and that twenty people have written of it; I do not believe it + yet.(3) I called this evening to see Mr. Secretary, who has been very ill + with the gravel and pain in his back, by burgundy and champagne, added to + the sitting up all night at business; I found him drinking tea while the + rest were at champagne, and was very glad of it. I have chid him so + severely that I hardly knew whether he would take it well: then I went and + sat an hour with Mrs. St. John, who is growing a great favourite of mine; + she goes to the Bath on Wednesday, for she is much out of health, and has + begged me to take care of the Secretary. + </p> + <p> + 8. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. John; he gave me a letter to + read, which was from the publisher of the newspaper called the Postboy;(4) + in it there was a long copy of a letter from Dublin, giving an account of + what the Whigs said upon Mr. Harley's being stabbed, and how much they + abuse him and Mr. Secretary St. John; and at the end there were half a + dozen lines, telling the story of the Archbishop of Dublin, and abusing + him horribly; this was to be printed on Tuesday. I told the Secretary I + would not suffer that about the Archbishop to be printed, and so I crossed + it out; and afterwards, to prevent all danger, I made him give me the + letter, and, upon further thought, would let none of it be published: and + I sent for the printer, and told him so, and ordered him, in the + Secretary's name, to print nothing reflecting on anybody in Ireland till + he had showed it me. Thus I have prevented a terrible scandal to the + Archbishop, by a piece of perfect good fortune. I will let him know it by + next post; and pray, if you pick it out, let me know, and whether he is + thankful for it; but say nothing. + </p> + <p> + 9. I was to-day at the House of Commons again about their yarn, at Lord + Anglesea's desire; but the business is again put off till Monday. I dined + with Sir John Stanley, by an assignation I had made with Mr. St. John, and + George Granville, the Secretary at War; but they let in other company, + some ladies, and so we were not so easy as I intended. My head is pretty + tolerable, but every day I feel some little disorders; I have left off + snuff since Sunday, finding myself much worse after taking a good deal at + the Secretary's. I would not let him drink one drop of champagne or + burgundy without water, and in compliment I did so myself. He is much + better; but when he is well, he is like Stella, and will not be governed. + So go to your Stoyte's, and I'll go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 10. I have been visiting Lady Worsley and Mrs. Barton today, and dined + soberly with my friend Lewis. The Dauphin is dead of an apoplexy; I wish + he had lived till the finishing of this letter, that it might be news to + you. Duncombe,(5) the rich alderman, died to-day, and I hear has left the + Duke of Argyle, who married his niece, two hundred thousand pounds; I hope + it is true, for I love that Duke mightily. I writ this evening to the + Archbishop of Dublin, about what I told you; and then went to take leave + of poor Mrs. St. John, who gave me strict charge to take care of the + Secretary in her absence; said she had none to trust but me; and the poor + creature's tears came fresh in her eyes. Before we took leave, I was drawn + in by the other ladies and Sir John Stanley to raffle for a fan, with a + pox; it was four guineas, and we put in seven shillings apiece, several + raffling for absent people; but I lost, and so missed an opportunity of + showing my gallantry to Mrs. St. John, whom I designed to have presented + it to if I had won. Is Dilly(6) gone to the Bath? His face will whizz in + the water; I suppose he will write to us from thence, and will take London + in his way back.—The rabble will say, "There goes a drunken parson"; + and, which is worse, they will say true. Oh, but you must know I carried + Ford to dine with Mr. St. John last Sunday, that he may brag, when he goes + back, of dining with a Secretary of State. The Secretary and I went away + early, and left him drinking with the rest, and he told me that two or + three of them were drunk. They talk of great promotions to be made; that + Mr. Harley is to be Lord Treasurer, and Lord Poulett(7) Master of the + Horse, etc., but they are only conjecture. The Speaker is to make Mr. + Harley a compliment the first time he comes into the House, which I hope + will be in a week. He has had an ill surgeon, by the caprice of that puppy + Dr. Radcliffe, which has kept him back so long; and yesterday he got a + cold, but is better to-day.—What! I think I am stark mad, to write + so much in one day to little saucy MD; here is a deal of stuff, indeed! + can't you bid those little dear rogues good-night, and let them go sleep, + Mr. Presto? When your tongue runs there's no ho with you, pray. + </p> + <p> + 11. Again at the lobby (like a lobcock)(8) of the House of Commons, about + your Irish yarn, and again put off till Friday; and I and Patrick went + into the City by water, where I dined, and then I went to the auction of + Charles Barnard's books; but the good ones were so monstrous dear, I could + not reach them, so I laid out one pound seven shillings but very + indifferently, and came away, and will go there no more. Henley would fain + engage me to go with Steele and Rowe, etc., to an invitation at Sir + William Read's.(9) Surely you have heard of him. He has been a mountebank, + and is the Queen's oculist; he makes admirable punch, and treats you in + gold vessels. But I am engaged, and will not go, neither indeed am I fond + of the jaunt. So good-night, and go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 12. I went about noon to the Secretary, who is very ill with a cold, and + sometimes of the gravel, with his champagne, etc. I scolded him like a + dog, and he promises faithfully more care for the future. To-day my Lord + Anglesea, and Sir Thomas Hammer, and Prior, and I dined, by appointment, + with Lieutenant-General Webb.(10) My lord and I stayed till ten o'clock; + but we drank soberly, and I always with water. There was with us one Mr. + Campain,(11) one of the October Club, if you know what that is; a Club of + country members, who think the Ministers are too backward in punishing and + turning out the Whigs. I found my lord and the rest thought I had more + credit with the Ministry than I pretend to have, and would have engaged me + to put them upon something that would satisfy their desires, and indeed I + think they have some reason to complain; however, I will not burn my + fingers. I will remember Stella's chiding, "What had you to do with what + did not belong to you?" etc. However, you will give me leave to tell the + Ministry my thoughts when they ask them, and other people's thoughts + sometimes when they do not ask; so thinks Dingley. + </p> + <p> + 13. I called this morning at Mrs. Vedeau's again, who has employed a + friend to get the money; it will be done in a fortnight, and then she will + deliver me up the parchment. I went then to see Mr. Harley, who I hope + will be out in a few days; he was in excellent good humour, only + complained to me of the neglect of Guiscard's cure, how glad he would have + been to have had him live. Mr. Secretary came in to us, and we were very + merry till Lord Chamberlain (Duke of Shrewsbury)(12) came up; then Colonel + Masham and I went off, after I had been presented to the Duke, and that we + made two or three silly compliments suitable to the occasion. Then I + attended at the House of Commons about your yarn, and it is again put off. + Then Ford drew me to dine at a tavern; it happened to be the day and the + house where the October Club dine. After we had dined, coming down we + called to inquire whether our yarn business had been over that day, and I + sent into the room for Sir George Beaumont.(13) But I had like to be drawn + into a difficulty; for in two minutes out comes Mr. Finch,(14) Lord + Guernsey's son, to let me know that my Lord Compton,(15) the steward of + this feast, desired, in the name of the Club, that I would do them the + honour to dine with them. I sent my excuses, adorned with about thirty + compliments, and got off as fast as I could. It would have been a most + improper thing for me to dine there, considering my friendship with the + Ministry. The Club is about a hundred and fifty, and near eighty of them + were then going to dinner at two long tables in a great ground-room. At + evening I went to the auction of Barnard's books, and laid out three + pounds three shillings, but I'll go there no more; and so I said once + before, but now I'll keep to it. I forgot to tell that when I dined at + Webb's with Lord Anglesea, I spoke to him of Clements, as one recommended + for a very honest gentleman and good officer, and hoped he would keep him. + He said he had not thought otherwise, and that he should certainly hold + his place while he continued to deserve it; and I could not find there had + been any intentions from his lordship against him. But I tell you, hunny, + the impropriety of this. A great man will do a favour for me, or for my + friend; but why should he do it for my friend's friend? Recommendations + should stop before they come to that. Let any friend of mine recommend one + of his to me for a thing in my power, I will do it for his sake; but to + speak to another for my friend's friend is against all reason; and I + desire you will understand this, and discourage any such troubles given + me.—I hope this may do some good to Clements, it can do him no hurt; + and I find by Mrs. Pratt,(16) that her husband is his friend; and the + Bishop of Clogher says Clements's danger is not from Pratt, but from some + other enemies, that think him a Whig. + </p> + <p> + 14. I was so busy this morning that I did not go out till late. I writ + to-day to the Duke of Argyle, but said nothing of Bernage, who, I believe, + will not see him till Spain is conquered, and that is, not at all. I was + to-day at Lord Shelburne's, and spoke to Mrs. Pratt again about Clements; + her husband himself wants some good offices, and I have done him very good + ones lately, and told Mrs. Pratt I expected her husband should stand by + Clements in return. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined with neighbour + Vanhomrigh; he is mighty ill of an asthma, and apprehends himself in much + danger; 'tis his own fault, that will rake and drink, when he is but just + crawled out of his grave. I will send this letter just now, because I + think my half-year is out for my lodging; and, if you please, I would be + glad it were paid off, and some deal boxes made for my books, and kept in + some safe place. I would give something for their keeping: but I doubt + that lodging will not serve me when I come back; I would have a larger + place for books, and a stable, if possible. So pray be so kind to pay the + lodging, and all accounts about it; and get Mrs. Brent to put up my + things. I would have no books put in that trunk where my papers are. If + you do not think of going to the Bath, I here send you a bill on Parvisol + for twenty pounds Irish, out of which you will pay for the lodging, and + score the rest to me. Do as you please, and love poor Presto, that loves + MD better than his life a thousand millions of times. Farewell, MD, etc. + etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 21. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 14, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + Remember, sirrahs, that there are but nine days between the dates of my + two former letters. I sent away my twentieth this moment, and now am + writing on like a fish, as if nothing was done. But there was a cause for + my hasting away the last, for fear it should not come time enough before a + new quarter began. I told you where I dined to-day; but forgot to tell you + what I believe, that Mr. Harley will be Lord Treasurer in a short time, + and other great removes and promotions made. This is my thought, etc. + </p> + <p> + 15. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary, and he is grown pretty well. I + dined with him to-day, and drank some of that wine which the Duke of + Tuscany used to send to Sir William Temple:(1) he always sends some to the + chief Ministers. I liked it mightily, but he does not; and he ordered his + butler to send me a chest of it to-morrow. Would to God MD had it! The + Queen is well again, and was at chapel to-day, etc. + </p> + <p> + 16. I went with Ford into the City to-day, and dined with Stratford, and + drank Tokay, and then we went to the auction; but I did not lay out above + twelve shillings. My head is a little out of order to-night, though no + formal fit. My Lord Keeper has sent to invite me to dinner to-morrow, and + you'll dine better with the Dean; and God bless you. I forgot to tell you + that yesterday was sent me a Narrative printed, with all the circumstances + of Mr. Harley's stabbing. I had not time to do it myself; so I sent my + hints to the author of the Atalantis,(2) and she has cooked it into a + sixpenny pamphlet, in her own style, only the first page is left as I was + beginning it. But I was afraid of disobliging Mr. Harley or Mr. St. John + in one critical point about it, and so would not do it myself. It is worth + your reading, for the circumstances are all true. My chest of Florence was + sent me this morning, and cost me seven and sixpence to two servants. I + would give two guineas you had it, etc. + </p> + <p> + 17. I was so out of order with my head this morning, that I was going to + send my excuses to my Lord Keeper; but however I got up at eleven, and + walked there after two, and stayed till eight. There was Sir Thomas + Mansel, Prior, George Granville, and Mr. Caesar,(3) and we were very + merry. My head is still wrong, but I have had no formal fit, only I totter + a little. I have left off snuff altogether. I have a noble roll of tobacco + for grating, very good. Shall I send it to MD, if she likes that sort? My + Lord Keeper and our this day's company are to dine on Saturday with George + Granville, and to-morrow I dine with Lord Anglesea. + </p> + <p> + 18. Did you ever see such a blundering goosecap as Presto? I saw the + number 21 at top, and so I went on as if it were the day of the month, + whereas this is but Wednesday the 18th. How shall I do to blot and alter + them? I have made a shift to do it behind, but it is a great botch. I + dined with Lord Anglesea to-day, but did not go to the House of Commons + about the yarn; my head was not well enough. I know not what is the + matter; it has never been thus before: two days together giddy from + morning till night, but not with any violence or pain; and I totter a + little, but can make shift to walk. I doubt I must fall to my pills again: + I think of going into the country a little way. I tell you what you must + do henceforward: you must enclose your letter in a fair half-sheet of + paper, and direct the outside "To Erasmus Lewis, Esquire, at my Lord + Dartmouth's office at Whitehall": for I never go to the Coffee-house, and + they will grudge to take in my letters. I forgot to tell you that your + mother was to see me this morning, and brought me a flask of sweet-water + for a present, admirable for my head; but I shall not smell to it. She is + going to Sheen, with Lady Giffard: she would fain send your papers over to + you, or give them to me. Say what you would have done, and it shall be + done; because I love Stella, and she is a good daughter, they say, and so + is Dingley. + </p> + <p> + 19. This morning General Webb was to give me a visit: he goes with a + crutch and stick, yet was forced to come up two pair of stairs. I promised + to dine with him, but afterwards sent my excuses, and dined privately in + my friend Lewis's lodgings at Whitehall, with whom I had much business to + talk of, relating to the public and myself. Little Harrison the Tatler + goes to-morrow to the secretaryship I got him at the Hague, and Mr. St. + John has made him a present of fifty guineas to bear his charges. An't I a + good friend? Why are not you a young fellow, that I might prefer you? I + had a letter from Bernage from Kinsale: he tells me his commission for + captain-lieutenant was ready for him at his arrival: so there are two + jackanapeses I have done with. My head is something better this evening, + though not well. + </p> + <p> + 20. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary, whose packets were just come + in, and among them a letter from Lord Peterborow to me: he writes so well, + I have no mind to answer him, and so kind, that I must answer him. The + Emperor's(4) death must, I think, cause great alterations in Europe, and, + I believe, will hasten a peace. We reckon our King Charles will be chosen + Emperor, and the Duke of Savoy set up for Spain; but I believe he will + make nothing of it. Dr. Freind and I dined in the City at a printer's, and + it has cost me two shillings in coach-hire, and a great deal more this + week and month, which has been almost all rain, with now and then + sunshine, and is the truest April that I have known these many years. The + lime-trees in the Park are all out in leaves, though not large leaves yet. + Wise people are going into the country; but many think the Parliament can + hardly be up these six weeks. Mr. Harley was with the Queen on Tuesday. I + believe certainly he will be Lord Treasurer: I have not seen him this + week. + </p> + <p> + 21. Morning. Lord Keeper, and I, and Prior, and Sir Thomas Mansel, have + appointed to dine this day with George Granville. My head, I thank God, is + better; but to be giddyish three or four days together mortified me. I + take no snuff, and I will be very regular in eating little and the + gentlest meats. How does poor Stella just now, with her deans and her + Stoytes? Do they give you health for the money you lose at ombre, sirrah? + What say you to that? Poor Dingley frets to see Stella lose that four and + elevenpence, the other night. Let us rise. Morrow, sirrahs. I will rise, + spite of your little teeth; good-morrow.—At night. O, faith, you are + little dear saucyboxes. I was just going in the morning to tell you that I + began to want a letter from MD, and in four minutes after Mr. Ford sends + me one that he had picked up at St. James's Coffee-house; for I go to no + coffee-house at all. And, faith, I was glad at heart to see it, and to see + Stella so brisk. O Lord, what pretending? Well, but I will not answer it + yet; I'll keep it for t'other side. Well, we dined to-day according to + appointment: Lord Keeper went away at near eight, I at eight, and I + believe the rest will be fairly fuddled; for young Harcourt,(5) Lord + Keeper's son, began to prattle before I came away. It will not do with + Prior's lean carcass. I drink little, miss my glass often, put water in my + wine, and go away before the rest, which I take to be a good receipt for + sobriety. Let us put it into rhyme, and so make a proverb— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Drink little at a time; + Put water with your wine; + Miss your glass when you can; + And go off the first man. +</pre> + <p> + God be thanked, I am much better than I was, though something of a + totterer. I ate but little to-day, and of the gentlest meat. I refused ham + and pigeons, pease-soup, stewed beef, cold salmon, because they were too + strong. I take no snuff at all, but some herb snuff prescribed by Dr. + Radcliffe. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Go to your deans, + You couple of queans. +</pre> + <p> + I believe I said that already. What care I? what cares Presto? + </p> + <p> + 22. Morning. I must rise and go to the Secretary's. Mr. Harley has been + out of town this week to refresh himself before he comes into Parliament. + Oh, but I must rise, so there is no more to be said; and so morrow, + sirrahs both.—Night. I dined to-day with the Secretary, who has + engaged me for every Sunday; and I was an hour with him this morning deep + in politics, where I told him the objections of the October Club, and he + answered all except one, that no inquiries are made into past + mismanagement. But indeed I believe they are not yet able to make any: the + late Ministry were too cunning in their rogueries, and fenced themselves + with an Act of general pardon. I believe Mr. Harley must be Lord + Treasurer; yet he makes one difficulty which is hard to answer: he must be + made a lord, and his estate is not large enough, and he is too generous to + make it larger; and if the Ministry should change soon by any accident, he + will be left in the suds. Another difficulty is, that if he be made a + peer, they will want him prodigiously in the House of Commons, of which he + is the great mover, and after him the Secretary, and hardly any else of + weight. Two shillings more to-day for coach and chair. I shall be ruined. + </p> + <p> + 23. So you expect an answer to your letter, do you so? Yes, yes, you shall + have an answer, you shall, young women. I made a good pun on Saturday to + my Lord Keeper. After dinner we had coarse Doiley napkins,(6) fringed at + each end, upon the table, to drink with: my Lord Keeper spread one of them + between him and Mr. Prior; I told him I was glad to see there was such a + fringeship (friendship) between Mr. Prior and his lordship. Prior swore it + was the worst he ever heard: I said I thought so too; but at the same time + I thought it was most like one of Stella's that ever I heard. I dined + to-day with Lord Mountjoy, and this evening saw the Venetian Ambassador(7) + coming from his first public audience. His coach was the most monstrous, + huge, fine, rich gilt thing that ever I saw. I loitered this evening, and + came home late. + </p> + <p> + 24. I was this morning to visit the Duchess of Ormond,(8) who has long + desired it, or threatened she would not let me visit her daughters. I sat + an hour with her, and we were good company, when in came the Countess of + Bellamont,(9) with a pox. I went out, and we did not know one another; yet + hearing me named, she asked, "What, is that Dr. Swift?" said she and I + were very well acquainted, and fell a railing at me without mercy, as a + lady told me that was there; yet I never was but once in the company of + that drab of a Countess. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined with my + neighbour Van. I design in two days, if possible, to go lodge at Chelsea + for the air, and put myself under a necessity of walking to and from + London every day. I writ this post to the Bishop of Clogher a long politic + letter, to entertain him. I am to buy statues and harnese(10) for them, + with a vengeance. I have packed and sealed up MD's twelve letters against + I go to Chelsea. I have put the last commissions of MD in my account-book; + but if there be any former ones, I have forgot them. I have Dingley's + pocket-book down, and Stella's green silk apron, and the pound of tea; + pray send me word if you have any other, and down they shall go. I will + not answer your letter yet, saucy boxes. You are with the Dean just now, + Madam Stella, losing your money. Why do not you name what number you have + received? You say you have received my letters, but do not tell the + number. + </p> + <p> + 25. I was this day dining in the City with very insignificant, low, and + scurvy company. I had a letter from the Archbishop of Dublin, with a long + denial of the report raised on him,(11) which yet has been since assured + to me from those who say they have it from the first hand; but I cannot + believe them. I will show it to the Secretary to-morrow. I will not answer + yours till I get to Chelsea. + </p> + <p> + 26. Chelsea. I have sent two boxes of lumber to my friend Darteneuf's + house, and my chest of Florence and other things to Mrs. Vanhomrigh, where + I dined to-day. I was this morning with the Secretary, and showed him the + Archbishop's letter, and convinced him of his Grace's innocence, and I + will do the same to Mr. Harley. I got here in the stage-coach with Patrick + and my portmanteau for sixpence, and pay six shillings a week for one + silly room with confounded coarse sheets.(12) We have had such a horrible + deal of rain, that there is no walking to London, and I must go as I came + until it mends; and besides the whelp has taken my lodging as far from + London as this town could afford, at least half a mile farther than he + need; but I must be content. The best is, I lodge just over against Dr. + Atterbury's house, and yet perhaps I shall not like the place the better + for that. Well, I will stay till to-morrow before I answer your letter; + and you must suppose me always writing at Chelsea from henceforward, till + I alter, and say London. This letter goes on Saturday, which will be just + a fortnight; so go and cheat Goody Stoyte, etc. + </p> + <p> + 27. Do you know that I fear my whole chest of Florence is turned sour, at + least the two first flasks were so, and hardly drinkable. How plaguy + unfortunate am I! and the Secretary's own is the best I ever tasted; and I + must not tell him, but be as thankful as if it were the best in + Christendom. I went to town in the sixpenny stage to-day; and hearing Mr. + Harley was not at home, I went to see him, because I knew by the message + of his lying porter that he was at home. He was very well, and just going + out, but made me promise to dine with him; and betwixt that and indeed + strolling about, I lost four pound seven shillings at play—with a—a—a—bookseller, + and got but about half a dozen books.(13) I will buy no more books now, + that's certain. Well, I dined at Mr. Harley's, came away at six, shifted + my gown, cassock, and periwig, and walked hither to Chelsea, as I always + design to do when it is fair. I am heartily sorry to find my friend the + Secretary stand a little ticklish with the rest of the Ministry; there + have been one or two disobliging things that have happened, too long to + tell: and t'other day in Parliament, upon a debate of about thirty-five + millions that have not been duly accounted for, Mr. Secretary, in his + warmth of speech, and zeal for his friend Mr. Brydges,(14) on whom part of + the blame was falling, said he did not know that either Mr. Brydges or the + late Ministry were at all to blame in this matter; which was very + desperately spoken, and giving up the whole cause: for the chief quarrel + against the late Ministry was the ill management of the treasure, and was + more than all the rest together. I had heard of this matter: but Mr. + Foley(15) beginning to discourse to-day at table, without naming Mr. St. + John, I turned to Mr. Harley, and said if the late Ministry were not to + blame in that article, he (Mr. Harley) ought to lose his head for putting + the Queen upon changing them. He made it a jest; but by some words + dropped, I easily saw that they take things ill of Mr. St. John; and by + some hints given me from another hand that I deal with, I am afraid the + Secretary will not stand long. This is the fate of Courts. I will, if I + meet Mr. St. John alone on Sunday, tell him my opinion, and beg him to set + himself right, else the consequences may be very bad; for I see not how + they can well want him neither, and he would make a troublesome enemy. But + enough of politics. + </p> + <p> + 28. Morning. I forgot to tell you that Mr. Harley asked me yesterday how + he came to disoblige the Archbishop of Dublin. Upon which (having not his + letter about me) I told him what the Bishop had written to me on that + subject,(16) and desired I might read him the letter some other time. But + after all, from what I have heard from other hands, I am afraid the + Archbishop is a little guilty. Here is one Brent Spencer, a brother of Mr. + Proby's,(17) who affirms it, and says he has leave to do so from Charles + Dering,(18) who heard the words; and that Ingoldsby,(19) abused the + Archbishop, etc. Well, but now for your saucy letter: I have no room to + answer it; O yes, enough on t'other side. Are you no sicker? Stella jeers + Presto for not coming over by Christmas; but indeed Stella does not jeer, + but reproach, poor poor Presto. And how can I come away and the + First-Fruits not finished? I am of opinion the Duke of Ormond will do + nothing in them before he goes, which will be in a fortnight, they say; + and then they must fall to me to be done in his absence. No, indeed, I + have nothing to print: you know they have printed the Miscellanies(20) + already. Are they on your side yet? If you have my snuff box, I will have + your strong box. Hi, does Stella take snuff again? or is it only because + it is a fine box? Not the Meddle, but the Medley,(21) you fool. Yes, yes, + a wretched thing, because it is against you Tories: now I think it very + fine, and the Examiner a wretched thing.—Twist your mouth, sirrah. + Guiscard, and what you will read in the Narrative,(22) I ordered to be + written, and nothing else. The Spectator is written by Steele, with + Addison's help: it is often very pretty. Yesterday it was made of a noble + hint I gave him long ago for his Tatlers, about an Indian supposed to + write his Travels into England.(23) I repent he ever had it. I intended to + have written a book on that subject. I believe he has spent it all in one + paper, and all the under-hints there are mine too; but I never see him or + Addison. The Queen is well, but I fear will be no long liver; for I am + told she has sometimes the gout in her bowels (I hate the word bowels). My + ears have been, these three months past, much better than any time these + two years; but now they begin to be a little out of order again. My head + is better, though not right; but I trust to air and walking. You have got + my letter, but what number? I suppose 18. Well, my shin has been well this + month. No, Mrs. Westley(24) came away without her husband's knowledge, + while she was in the country: she has written to me for some tea. They + lie; Mr. Harley's wound was very terrible: he had convulsions, and very + narrowly escaped. The bruise was nine times worse than the wound: he is + weak still. Well, Brooks married; I know all that. I am sorry for Mrs. + Walls's eye: I hope 'tis better. O yes, you are great walkers: but I have + heard them say, "Much talkers, little walkers": and I believe I may apply + the old proverb to you— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + If you talked no more than you walked, + Those that think you wits would be baulked. +</pre> + <p> + Yes, Stella shall have a large printed Bible: I have put it down among my + commissions for MD. I am glad to hear you have taken the fancy of + intending to read the Bible. Pox take the box; is not it come yet? This is + trusting to your young fellows, young women; 'tis your fault: I thought + you had such power with Sterne that he would fly over Mount Atlas to serve + you. You say you are not splenetic; but if you be, faith, you will break + poor Presto's—I will not say the rest; but I vow to God, if I could + decently come over now, I would, and leave all schemes of politics and + ambition for ever. I have not the opportunities here of preserving my + health by riding, etc., that I have in Ireland; and the want of health is + a great cooler of making one's court. You guess right about my being bit + with a direction from Walls, and the letter from MD: I believe I described + it in one of my last. This goes to-night; and I must now rise and walk to + town, and walk back in the evening. God Almighty bless and preserve poor + MD. Farewell. + </p> + <p> + O, faith, don't think, saucy noses, that I'll fill this third side: I + can't stay a letter above a fortnight: it must go then; and you would + rather see a short one like this, than want it a week longer. + </p> + <p> + My humble service to the Dean, and Mrs. Walls, and good, kind, hearty Mrs. + Stoyte, and honest Catherine. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 22. + </h2> + <h3> + CHELSEA, April 28, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + At night. I say at night, because I finished my twenty-first this morning + here, and put it into the post-office my own self, like a good boy. I + think I am a little before you now, young women: I am writing my + twenty-second, and have received your thirteenth. I got to town between + twelve and one, and put on my new gown and periwig, and dined with Lord + Abercorn, where I had not been since the marriage of his son Lord + Peasley,(1) who has got ten thousand pounds with a wife. I am now a + country gentleman. I walked home as I went, and am a little weary, and am + got into bed: I hope in God the air and exercise will do me a little good. + I have been inquiring about statues for Mrs. Ashe: I made Lady Abercorn(2) + go with me; and will send them word next post to Clogher. I hate to buy + for her: I am sure she will maunder. I am going to study. + </p> + <p> + 29. I had a charming walk to and from town to-day: I washed, shaved and + all, and changed gown and periwig, by half an hour after nine, and went to + the Secretary, who told me how he had differed with his friends in + Parliament: I apprehended this division, and told him a great deal of it. + I went to Court, and there several mentioned it to me as what they much + disliked. I dined with the Secretary; and we proposed doing some business + of importance in the afternoon, which he broke to me first, and said how + he and Mr. Harley were convinced of the necessity of it; yet he suffered + one of his under-secretaries to come upon us after dinner, who stayed till + six, and so nothing was done: and what care I? he shall send to me the + next time, and ask twice. To-morrow I go to the election at Westminster + School, where lads are chosen for the University: they say it is a sight, + and a great trial of wits. Our Expedition Fleet is but just sailed: I + believe it will come to nothing. Mr. Secretary frets at their tediousness, + but hopes great things from it, though he owns four or five princes are in + the secret; and, for that reason, I fear it is no secret to France. There + are eight regiments; and the Admiral(3) is your Walker's brother the + midwife. + </p> + <p> + 30. Morn. I am here in a pretty pickle: it rains hard; and the cunning + natives of Chelsea have outwitted me, and taken up all the three stage + coaches. What shall I do? I must go to town: this is your fault. I cannot + walk: I will borrow a coat. This is the blind side of my lodging out of + town; I must expect such inconveniences as these. Faith, I'll walk in the + rain. Morrow.—At night. I got a gentleman's chaise by chance, and so + went to town for a shilling, and lie this night in town. I was at the + election of lads at Westminster to-day, and a very silly thing it is; but + they say there will be fine doings to-morrow. I dined with Dr. Freind,(4) + the second master of the school, with a dozen parsons and others: Prior + would make me stay. Mr. Harley is to hear the election to-morrow; and we + are all to dine with tickets, and hear fine speeches. 'Tis terrible rainy + weather again: I lie at a friend's in the City. + </p> + <p> + May 1. I wish you a merry May Day, and a thousand more. I was baulked at + Westminster; I came too late: I heard no speeches nor verses. They would + not let me in to their dining-place for want of a ticket; and I would not + send in for one, because Mr. Harley excused his coming, and Atterbury was + not there; and I cared not for the rest: and so my friend Lewis and I + dined with Kitt Musgrave,(5) if you know such a man: and, the weather + mending, I walked gravely home this evening; and so I design to walk and + walk till I am well: I fancy myself a little better already. How does poor + Stella? Dingley is well enough. Go, get you gone, naughty girl, you are + well enough. O dear MD, contrive to have some share of the country this + spring: go to Finglas, or Donnybrook, or Clogher, or Killala, or Lowth. + Have you got your box yet? Yes, yes. Do not write to me again till this + letter goes: I must make haste, that I may write two for one. Go to the + Bath: I hope you are now at the Bath, if you had a mind to go; or go to + Wexford: do something for your living. Have you given up my lodging, + according to order? I have had just now a compliment from Dean Atterbury's + lady,(6) to command the garden and library, and whatever the house + affords. I lodge just over against them; but the Dean is in town with his + Convocation: so I have my Dean and Prolocutor as well as you, young women, + though he has not so good wine, nor so much meat. + </p> + <p> + 2. A fine day, but begins to grow a little warm; and that makes your + little fat Presto sweat in the forehead. Pray, are not the fine buns sold + here in our town; was it not Rrrrrrrrrare Chelsea buns?(7) I bought one + to-day in my walk; it cost me a penny; it was stale, and I did not like + it, as the man said, etc. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined at Mrs. + Vanhomrigh's, and had a flask of my Florence, which lies in their cellar; + and so I came home gravely, and saw nobody of consequence to-day. I am + very easy here, nobody plaguing me in a morning; and Patrick saves many a + score lies. I sent over to Mrs Atterbury to know whether I might wait on + her; but she is gone a visiting: we have exchanged some compliments, but I + have not seen her yet. We have no news in our town. + </p> + <p> + 3. I did not go to town to-day, it was so terrible rainy; nor have I + stirred out of my room till eight this evening, when I crossed the way to + see Mrs. Atterbury, and thank her for her civilities. She would needs send + me some veal, and small beer, and ale, to-day at dinner; and I have lived + a scurvy, dull, splenetic day, for want of MD: I often thought how happy I + could have been, had it rained eight thousand times more, if MD had been + with a body. My Lord Rochester(8) is dead this morning; they say at one + o'clock; and I hear he died suddenly. To-morrow I shall know more. He is a + great loss to us: I cannot think who will succeed him as Lord President. I + have been writing a long letter to Lord Peterborow, and am dull. + </p> + <p> + 4. I dined to-day at Lord Shelburne's, where Lady Kerry(9) made me a + present of four India handkerchiefs, which I have a mind to keep for + little MD, only that I had rather, etc. I have been a mighty + handkerchief-monger, and have bought abundance of snuff ones since I have + left off taking snuff. And I am resolved, when I come over, MD shall be + acquainted with Lady Kerry: we have struck up a mighty friendship; and she + has much better sense than any other lady of your country. We are almost + in love with one another: but she is most egregiously ugly; but perfectly + well-bred, and governable as I please. I am resolved, when I come, to keep + no company but MD: you know I kept my resolution last time; and, except + Mr. Addison, conversed with none but you and your club of deans and + Stoytes. 'Tis three weeks, young women, since I had a letter from you; and + yet, methinks, I would not have another for five pounds till this is gone; + and yet I send every day to the Coffee-house, and I would fain have a + letter, and not have a letter: and I do not know what, nor I do not know + how, and this goes on very slow; it is a week to-morrow since I began it. + I am a poor country gentleman, and do not know how the world passes. Do + you know that every syllable I write I hold my lips just for all the world + as if I were talking in our own little language to MD? Faith, I am very + silly; but I cannot help it for my life. I got home early to-night. My + solicitors, that used to ply me every morning, knew not where to find me; + and I am so happy not to hear "Patrick, Patrick," called a hundred times + every morning. But I looked backward, and find I have said this before. + What care I? Go to the Dean, and roast the oranges. + </p> + <p> + 5. I dined to-day with my friend Lewis, and we were deep in politics how + to save the present Ministry; for I am afraid of Mr. Secretary, as I + believe I told you. I went in the evening to see Mr. Harley; and, upon my + word, I was in perfect joy. Mr. Secretary was just going out of the door; + but I made him come back, and there was the old Saturday Club, Lord + Keeper, Lord Rivers, Mr. Secretary, Mr. Harley, and I; the first time + since his stabbing. Mr. Secretary went away; but I stayed till nine, and + made Mr. Harley show me his breast, and tell all the story; and I showed + him the Archbishop of Dublin's letter, and defended him effectually. We + were all in mighty good humour. Lord Keeper and I left them together, and + I walked here after nine two miles, and I found a parson drunk fighting + with a seaman, and Patrick and I were so wise to part them, but the seaman + followed him to Chelsea, cursing at him, and the parson slipped into a + house, and I know no more. It mortified me to see a man in my coat so + overtaken. A pretty scene for one that just came from sitting with the + Prime Ministers! I had no money in my pocket, and so could not be robbed. + However, nothing but Mr. Harley shall make me take such a journey again. + We don't yet know who will be President in Lord Rochester's room. I + measured, and found that the penknife would have killed Mr. Harley if it + had gone but half the breadth of my thumb-nail lower, so near was he to + death. I was so curious as to ask him what were his thoughts while they + were carrying him home in the chair. He said he concluded himself a dead + man. He will not allow that Guiscard gave him the second stab; though my + Lord Keeper, who is blind, and I that was not there, are positive in it. + He wears a plaster still as broad as half a crown. Smoke how wide the + lines are, but, faith, I don't do it on purpose: but I have changed my + side in this new Chelsea bed, and I do not know how, methinks, but it is + so unfit, and so awkward, never saw the like. + </p> + <p> + 6. You must remember to enclose your letters in a fair paper, and direct + the outside thus: "To Erasmus Lewis, Esq.; at my Lord Dartmouth's office + at Whitehall." I said so before, but it may miscarry, you know, yet I + think none of my letters did ever miscarry; faith, I think never one; + among all the privateers and the storms. O, faith, my letters are too good + to be lost. MD's letters may tarry, but never miscarry, as the old woman + used to say. And indeed, how should they miscarry, when they never come + before their time? It was a terrible rainy day; yet I made a shift to + steal fair weather overhead enough to go and come in. I was early with the + Secretary, and dined with him afterwards. In the morning I began to chide + him, and tell him my fears of his proceedings. But Arthur Moore(10) came + up and relieved him. But I forgot, for you never heard of Arthur Moore. + But when I get Mr. Harley alone, I will know the bottom. You will have Dr. + Raymond over before this letter, and what care you? + </p> + <p> + 7. I hope and believe my walks every day do me good. I was busy at home, + and set out late this morning, and dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, at whose + lodgings I always change my gown and periwig. I visited this afternoon, + and among others, poor Biddy Floyd,(11) who is very red, but I believe + won't be much marked. As I was coming home, I met Sir George Beaumont(12) + in the Pall Mall, who would needs walk with me as far as Buckingham House. + I was telling him of my head; he said he had been ill of the same + disorder, and by all means forbid me bohea tea, which, he said, always + gave it him; and that Dr. Radcliffe said it was very bad. Now I had + observed the same thing, and have left it off this month, having found + myself ill after it several times; and I mention it that Stella may + consider it for her own poor little head: a pound lies ready packed up and + directed for Mrs. Walls, to be sent by the first convenience. Mr. + Secretary told me yesterday that Mr. Harley would this week be Lord + Treasurer and a peer; so I expect it every day; yet perhaps it may not be + till Parliament is up, which will be in a fortnight. + </p> + <p> + 8. I was to-day with the Duke of Ormond, and recommended to him the care + of poor Joe Beaumont, who promises me to do him all justice and favour, + and give him encouragement; and desired I would give a memorial to Ned + Southwell about it, which I will, and so tell Joe when you see him, though + he knows it already by a letter I writ to Mr. Warburton.(13) It was bloody + hot walking to-day. I dined in the City, and went and came by water; and + it rained so this evening again, that I thought I should hardly be able to + get a dry hour to walk home in. I will send to-morrow to the Coffee-house + for a letter from MD; but I would not have one methinks till this is gone, + as it shall on Saturday. I visited the Duchess of Ormond this morning; she + does not go over with the Duke. I spoke to her to get a lad touched for + the evil,(14) the son of a grocer in Capel Street, one Bell; the ladies + have bought sugar and plums of him. Mrs. Mary used to go there often. This + is Patrick's account; and the poor fellow has been here some months with + his boy. But the Queen has not been able to touch, and it now grows so + warm, I fear she will not at all. Go, go, go to the Dean's, and let him + carry you to Donnybrook, and cut asparagus. Has Parvisol sent you any this + year? I cannot sleep in the beginnings of the nights, the heat or + something hinders me, and I am drowsy in the mornings. + </p> + <p> + 9. Dr. Freind came this morning to visit Atterbury's lady and children as + physician, and persuaded me to go with him to town in his chariot. He told + me he had been an hour before with Sir Cholmley Dering, Charles Dering's + nephew, and head of that family in Kent, for which he is Knight of the + shire. He said he left him dying of a pistol-shot quite through the body, + by one Mr. Thornhill.(15) They fought at sword and pistol this morning in + Tuttle Fields,(16) their pistols so near that the muzzles touched. + Thornhill discharged first; and Dering, having received the shot, + discharged his pistol as he was falling, so it went into the air. The + story of this quarrel is long. Thornhill had lost seven teeth by a kick in + the mouth from Dering, who had first knocked him down; this was above a + fortnight ago. Dering was next week to be married to a fine young lady. + This makes a noise here, but you will not value it. Well, Mr. Harley, Lord + Keeper, and one or two more, are to be made lords immediately; their + patents are now passing, and I read the preamble to Mr. Harley's, full of + his praises. Lewis and I dined with Ford: I found the wine; two flasks of + my Florence, and two bottles of six that Dr. Raymond sent me of French + wine; he sent it to me to drink with Sir Robert Raymond and Mr. Harley's + brother,(17) whom I had introduced him to; but they never could find time + to come; and now I have left the town, and it is too late. Raymond will + think it a cheat. What care I, sirrah? + </p> + <p> + 10. Pshaw, pshaw. Patrick brought me four letters to-day: from Dilly at + Bath; Joe; Parvisol; and what was the fourth, who can tell? Stand away, + who'll guess? Who can it be? You old man with a stick, can you tell who + the fourth is from? Iss, an please your honour, it is from one Madam MD, + Number Fourteen. Well; but I can't send this away now, because it was + here, and I was in town; but it shall go on Saturday, and this is Thursday + night, and it will be time enough for Wexford. Take my method: I write + here to Parvisol to lend Stella twenty pounds, and to take her note + promissory to pay it in half a year, etc. You shall see, and if you want + more, let me know afterwards; and be sure my money shall be always paid + constantly too. Have you been good or ill housewives, pray? + </p> + <p> + 11. Joe has written me to get him a collector's place, nothing less; he + says all the world knows of my great intimacy with Mr. Harley, and that + the smallest word to him will do. This is the constant cant of puppies who + are at a distance, and strangers to Courts and Ministers. My answer is + this, which pray send: that I am ready to serve Joe as far as I can; that + I have spoken to the Duke of Ormond about his money, as I writ to + Warburton; that for the particular he mentions, it is a work of time, + which I cannot think of at present; but, if accidents and opportunities + should happen hereafter, I would not be wanting; that I know best how far + my credit goes; that he is at a distance, and cannot judge; that I would + be glad to do him good, and if fortune throws an opportunity in my way I + shall not be wanting. This is my answer, which you may send or read to + him. Pray contrive that Parvisol may not run away with my two hundred + pounds; but get Burton's(18) note, and let the money be returned me by + bill. Don't laugh, for I will be suspicious. Teach Parvisol to enclose, + and direct the outside to Mr. Lewis. I will answer your letter in my next, + only what I take notice of here excepted. I forgot to tell you that at the + Court of Requests to-day I could not find a dinner I liked, and it grew + late, and I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, etc. + </p> + <p> + 12. Morning. I will finish this letter before I go to town, because I + shall be busy, and have neither time nor place there. Farewell, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 23. + </h2> + <h3> + CHELSEA, May 12, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I sent you my twenty-second this afternoon in town. I dined with Mr. + Harley and the old Club, Lord Rivers, Lord Keeper, and Mr. Secretary. They + rallied me last week, and said I must have Mr. St. John's leave; so I writ + to him yesterday, that foreseeing I should never dine again with Sir Simon + Harcourt, Knight, and Robert Harley, Esq., I was resolved to do it to-day. + The jest is, that before Saturday(1) next we expect they will be lords; + for Mr. Harley's patent is drawing, to be Earl of Oxford. Mr. Secretary + and I came away at seven, and he brought me to our town's end in his + coach; so I lost my walk. St. John read my letter to the company, which + was all raillery, and passed purely. + </p> + <p> + 13. It rained all last night and this morning as heavy as lead; but I just + got fair weather to walk to town before church. The roads are all over in + deep puddle. The hay of our town is almost fit to be mowed. I went to + Court after church (as I always do on Sundays), and then dined with Mr. + Secretary, who has engaged me for every Sunday; and poor MD dined at home + upon a bit of veal and a pint of wine. Is it not plaguy insipid to tell + you every day where I dine? yet now I have got into the way of it, I + cannot forbear it neither. Indeed, Mr. Presto, you had better go answer + MD's letter, N.14. I will answer it when I please, Mr. Doctor. What is + that you say? The Court was very full this morning, expecting Mr. Harley + would be declared Earl of Oxford and have the Treasurer's staff. Mr. + Harley never comes to Court at all; somebody there asked me the reason. + "Why," said I, "the Lord of Oxford knows." He always goes to the Queen by + the back stairs. I was told for certain, you jackanapes, Lord Santry(2) + was dead, Captain Cammock(3) assured me so; and now he's alive again, they + say; but that shan't do: he shall be dead to me as long as he lives. Dick + Tighe(4) and I meet, and never stir our hats. I am resolved to mistake him + for Witherington, the little nasty lawyer that came up to me so sternly at + the Castle the day I left Ireland. I'll ask the gentleman I saw walking + with him how long Witherington has been in town. + </p> + <p> + 14. I went to town to-day by water. The hail quite discouraged me from + walking, and there is no shade in the greatest part of the way. I took the + first boat, and had a footman my companion; then I went again by water, + and dined in the City with a printer, to whom I carried a pamphlet in + manuscript, that Mr. Secretary gave me. The printer sent it to the + Secretary for his approbation, and he desired me to look it over, which I + did, and found it a very scurvy piece. The reason I tell you so, is + because it was done by your parson Slap, Scrap, Flap (what d'ye call him), + Trapp,(5) your Chancellor's chaplain. 'Tis called A Character of the + Present Set of Whigs, and is going to be printed, and no doubt the author + will take care to produce it in Ireland. Dr. Freind was with me, and + pulled out a twopenny pamphlet just published, called The State of Wit,(6) + giving a character of all the papers that have come out of late. The + author seems to be a Whig, yet he speaks very highly of a paper called the + Examiner, and says the supposed author of it is Dr. Swift. But above all + things he praises the Tatlers and Spectators; and I believe Steele and + Addison were privy to the printing of it. Thus is one treated by these + impudent dogs. And that villain Curll(7) has scraped up some trash, and + calls it Dr. Swift's Miscellanies, with the name at large: and I can get + no satisfaction of him. Nay, Mr. Harley told me he had read it, and only + laughed at me before Lord Keeper and the rest. Since I came home, I have + been sitting with the Prolocutor, Dean Atterbury, who is my neighbour over + the way, but generally keeps in town with his Convocation. 'Tis late, etc. + </p> + <p> + 15. My walk to town to-day was after ten, and prodigiously hot. I dined + with Lord Shelburne, and have desired Mrs. Pratt, who lodges there, to + carry over Mrs. Walls's tea; I hope she will do it, and they talk of going + in a fortnight. My way is this: I leave my best gown and periwig at Mrs. + Vanhomrigh's, then walk up the Pall Mall, through the Park, out at + Buckingham House, and so to Chelsea a little beyond the church: I set out + about sunset, and get here in something less than an hour; it is two good + miles, and just five thousand seven hundred and forty-eight steps; so + there is four miles a day walking, without reckoning what I walk while I + stay in town. When I pass the Mall in the evening, it is prodigious to see + the number of ladies walking there; and I always cry shame at the ladies + of Ireland, who never walk at all, as if their legs were of no use, but to + be laid aside. I have been now almost three weeks here, and I thank God, + am much better in my head, if it does but continue. I tell you what, if I + was with you, when we went to Stoyte at Donnybrook, we would only take a + coach to the hither end of Stephen's Green, and from thence go every step + on foot, yes, faith, every step; it would do DD(8) good as well as + Presto.(9) Everybody tells me I look better already; for, faith, I looked + sadly, that is certain. My breakfast is milk porridge: I do not love it; + faith, I hate it, but it is cheap and wholesome; and I hate to be obliged + to either of those qualities for anything.(10) + </p> + <p> + 16. I wonder why Presto will be so tedious in answering MD's letters; + because he would keep the best to the last, I suppose. Well, Presto must + be humoured, it must be as he will have it, or there will be an old to + do.(11) Dead with heat; are not you very hot? My walks make my forehead + sweat rarely; sometimes my morning journey is by water, as it was to-day + with one Parson Richardson,(12) who came to see me, on his going to + Ireland; and with him I send Mrs. Walls's tea, and three books(13) I got + from the Lords of the Treasury for the College. I dined with Lord + Shelburne to-day; Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt are going likewise for + Ireland.—Lord! I forgot, I dined with Mr. Prior to-day, at his + house, with Dean Atterbury and others; and came home pretty late, and I + think I'm in a fuzz, and don't know what I say, never saw the like. + </p> + <p> + 17. Sterne came here by water to see me this morning, and I went back with + him to his boat. He tells me that Mrs. Edgworth(14) married a fellow in + her journey to Chester; so I believe she little thought of anybody's box + but her own. I desired Sterne to give me directions where to get the box + in Chester, which he says he will to-morrow; and I will write to + Richardson to get it up there as he goes by, and whip it over. It is + directed to Mrs. Curry: you must caution her of it, and desire her to send + it you when it comes. Sterne says Jemmy Leigh loves London mightily; that + makes him stay so long, I believe, and not Sterne's business, which Mr. + Harley's accident has put much backward. We expect now every day that he + will be Earl of Oxford and Lord Treasurer. His patent is passing; but, + they say, Lord Keeper's not yet; at least his son, young Harcourt, told me + so t'other day. I dined to-day privately with my friend Lewis at his + lodgings at Whitehall. T'other day at Whitehall I met a lady of my + acquaintance, whom I had not seen before since I came to England; we were + mighty glad to see each other, and she has engaged me to visit her, as I + design to do. It is one Mrs. Colledge: she has lodgings at Whitehall, + having been seamstress to King William, worth three hundred a year. Her + father was a fanatic joiner,(15) hanged for treason in Shaftesbury's plot. + This noble person and I were brought acquainted, some years ago, by Lady + Berkeley.(16) I love good creditable acquaintance: I love to be the worst + of the company: I am not of those that say, "For want of company, welcome + trumpery." I was this evening with Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt at Vauxhall, + to hear the nightingales; but they are almost past singing. + </p> + <p> + 18. I was hunting the Secretary to-day in vain about some business, and + dined with Colonel Crowe, late Governor of Barbados,(17) and your friend + Sterne was the third: he is very kind to Sterne, and helps him in his + business, which lies asleep till Mr. Harley is Lord Treasurer, because + nothing of moment is now done in the Treasury, the change being expected + every day. I sat with Dean Atterbury till one o'clock after I came home; + so 'tis late, etc. + </p> + <p> + 19. Do you know that about our town we are mowing already and making hay, + and it smells so sweet as we walk through the flowery meads; but the + hay-making nymphs are perfect drabs, nothing so clean and pretty as + farther in the country. There is a mighty increase of dirty wenches in + straw hats since I knew London. I stayed at home till five o'clock, and + dined with Dean Atterbury; then went by water to Mr. Harley's, where the + Saturday Club was met, with the addition of the Duke of Shrewsbury. I + whispered Lord Rivers that I did not like to see a stranger among us; and + the rogue told it aloud: but Mr. Secretary said the Duke writ to have + leave; so I appeared satisfied, and so we laughed. Mr. Secretary told me + the Duke of Buckingham(18) had been talking to him much about me, and + desired my acquaintance. I answered it could not be, for he had not made + sufficient advances. Then the Duke of Shrewsbury said he thought that Duke + was not used to make advances. I said I could not help that; for I always + expected advances in proportion to men's quality, and more from a duke + than any other man. The Duke replied that he did not mean anything of his + quality; which was handsomely said enough; for he meant his pride: and I + have invented a notion to believe that nobody is proud. At ten all the + company went away; and from ten to twelve Mr. Harley and I sat together, + where we talked through a great deal of matters I had a mind to settle + with him; and then walked in a fine moonshine night to Chelsea, where I + got by one. Lord Rivers conjured me not to walk so late; but I would, + because I had no other way; but I had no money to lose. + </p> + <p> + 20. By what the Lord Keeper told me last night, I find he will not be made + a peer so soon; but Mr. Harley's patent for Earl of Oxford is now drawing, + and will be done in three days. We made him own it, which he did scurvily, + and then talked of it like the rest. Mr. Secretary had too much company + with him to-day; so I came away soon after dinner. I give no man liberty + to swear or talk b—-dy, and I found some of them were in constraint, + so I left them to themselves. I wish you a merry Whitsuntide, and pray + tell me how you pass away your time; but, faith, you are going to Wexford, + and I fear this letter is too late; it shall go on Thursday, and sooner it + cannot, I have so much business to hinder me answering yours. Where must I + direct in your absence? Do you quit your lodgings? + </p> + <p> + 21. Going to town this morning, I met in the Pall Mall a clergyman of + Ireland, whom I love very well and was glad to see, and with him a little + jackanapes, of Ireland too, who married Nanny Swift, Uncle Adam's(19) + daughter, one Perry; perhaps you may have heard of him. His wife has sent + him here, to get a place from Lowndes;(20) because my uncle and Lowndes + married two sisters, and Lowndes is a great man here in the Treasury; but + by good luck I have no acquaintance with him: however, he expected I + should be his friend to Lowndes, and one word of mine, etc., the old cant. + But I will not go two yards to help him. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, + where I keep my best gown and periwig, to put on when I come to town and + be a spark. + </p> + <p> + 22. I dined to-day in the City, and coming home this evening, I met Sir + Thomas Mansel and Mr. Lewis in the Park. Lewis whispered me that Mr. + Harley's patent for the Earl of Oxford was passed in Mr. Secretary St. + John's office; so to-morrow or next day, I suppose, he will be declared + Earl of Oxford, and have the staff.(21) This man has grown by + persecutions, turnings out, and stabbing. What waiting, and crowding, and + bowing will be at his levee! yet, if human nature be capable of so much + constancy, I should believe he will be the same man still, bating the + necessary forms of grandeur he must keep up. 'Tis late, sirrahs, and I'll + go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 23. Morning. I sat up late last night, and waked late to-day; but will now + answer your letter in bed before I go to town, and I will send it + to-morrow; for perhaps you mayn't go so soon to Wexford.—No, you are + not out in your number; the last was Number 14, and so I told you twice or + thrice; will you never be satisfied? What shall we do for poor Stella? Go + to Wexford, for God's sake: I wish you were to walk there by three miles a + day, with a good lodging at every mile's end. Walking has done me so much + good, that I cannot but prescribe it often to poor Stella. Parvisol has + sent me a bill for fifty pounds, which I am sorry for, having not written + to him for it, only mentioned it two months ago; but I hope he will be + able to pay you what I have drawn upon him for: he never sent me any sum + before, but one bill of twenty pounds half a year ago. You are welcome as + my blood to every farthing I have in the world; and all that grieves me + is, I am not richer, for MD's sake, as hope saved.(22) I suppose you give + up your lodgings when you go to Wexford; yet that will be inconvenient + too: yet I wish again you were under a necessity of rambling the country + until Michaelmas, faith. No, let them keep the shelves, with a pox; yet + they are exacting people about those four weeks; or Mrs. Brent may have + the shelves, if she please. I am obliged to your Dean for his kind offer + of lending me money. Will that be enough to say? A hundred people would + lend me money, or to any man who has not the reputation of a squanderer. + O, faith, I should be glad to be in the same kingdom with MD, however, + although you are at Wexford. But I am kept here by a most capricious fate, + which I would break through, if I could do it with decency or honour.—To + return without some mark of distinction would look extremely little; and I + would likewise gladly be somewhat richer than I am. I will say no more, + but beg you to be easy till Fortune take her course, and to believe that + MD's felicity is the great end I aim at in all my pursuits. And so let us + talk no more on this subject, which makes me melancholy, and that I would + fain divert. Believe me, no man breathing at present has less share of + happiness in life than I: I do not say I am unhappy at all, but that + everything here is tasteless to me for want of being as I would be. And + so, a short sigh, and no more of this. Well, come and let's see what's + next, young women. Pox take Mrs. Edgworth and Sterne! I will take some + methods about that box. What orders would you have me give about the + picture? Can't you do with it as if it were your own? No, I hope Manley + will keep his place; for I hear nothing of Sir Thomas Frankland's losing + his. Send nothing under cover to Mr. Addison, but "To Erasmus Lewis, Esq.; + at my Lord Dartmouth's office at Whitehall." Direct your outside so.—Poor + dear Stella, don't write in the dark, nor in the light neither, but + dictate to Dingley; she is a naughty, healthy girl, and may drudge for + both. Are you good company together? and don't you quarrel too often? Pray + love one another, and kiss one another just now, as Dingley is reading + this; for you quarrelled this morning just after Mrs. Marget(23) had + poured water on Stella's head: I heard the little bird say so. Well, I + have answered everything in your letter that required it, and yet the + second side is not full. I'll come home at night, and say more; and + to-morrow this goes for certain. Go, get you gone to your own chambers, + and let Presto rise like a modest gentleman, and walk to town. I fancy I + begin to sweat less in the forehead by constant walking than I used to do; + but then I shall be so sunburnt, the ladies will not like me. Come, let me + rise, sirrahs. Morrow.—At night. I dined with Ford to-day at his + lodgings, and I found wine out of my own cellar, some of my own chest of + the great Duke's wine: it begins to turn. They say wine with you in + Ireland is half a crown a bottle. 'Tis as Stella says; nothing that once + grows dear in Ireland ever grows cheap again, except corn, with a pox, to + ruin the parson. I had a letter to-day from the Archbishop of Dublin, + giving me further thanks about vindicating him to Mr. Harley and Mr. St. + John, and telling me a long story about your Mayor's election,(24) wherein + I find he has had a finger, and given way to further talk about him; but + we know nothing of it here yet. This walking to and fro, and dressing + myself, takes up so much of my time that I cannot go among company so much + as formerly; yet what must a body do? I thank God I yet continue much + better since I left the town; I know not how long it may last. I am sure + it has done me some good for the present. I do not totter as I did, but + walk firm as a cock, only once or twice for a minute, I do not know how; + but it went off, and I never followed it. Does Dingley read my hand as + well as ever? do you, sirrah? Poor Stella must not read Presto's ugly + small hand. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Preserve your eyes, + If you be wise. +</pre> + <p> + Your friend Walls's tea will go in a day or two towards Chester by one + Parson Richardson. My humble service to her, and to good Mrs. Stoyte, and + Catherine; and pray walk while you continue in Dublin. I expect your next + but one will be from Wexford. God bless dearest MD. + </p> + <p> + 24. Morning. Mr. Secretary has sent his groom hither, to invite me to + dinner to-day, etc. God Almighty for ever bless and preserve you both, and + give you health, etc. Amen. Farewell, etc. + </p> + <p> + Do not I often say the same thing two or three times in the same letter, + sirrah? + </p> + <p> + Great wits, they say, have but short memories; that's good vile + conversation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 24. + </h2> + <h3> + CHELSEA, May 24, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + Morning. Once in my life the number of my letters and of the day of the + month is the same; that's lucky, boys; that's a sign that things will + meet, and that we shall make a figure together. What, will you still have + the impudence to say London, England, because I say Dublin, Ireland? Is + there no difference between London and Dublin, saucyboxes? I have sealed + up my letter, and am going to town. Morrow, sirrahs.—At night. I + dined with the Secretary to-day; we sat down between five and six. Mr. + Harley's patent passed this morning: he is now Earl of Oxford, Earl + Mortimer, and Lord Harley of Wigmore Castle. My letter was sealed, or I + would have told you this yesterday; but the public news may tell it you. + The Queen, for all her favour, has kept a rod(1) for him in her closet + this week; I suppose he will take it from her, though, in a day or two. At + eight o'clock this evening it rained prodigiously, as it did from five; + however, I set out, and in half-way the rain lessened, and I got home, but + tolerably wet; and this is the first wet walk I have had in a month's time + that I am here but, however, I got to bed, after a short visit to + Atterbury. + </p> + <p> + 25. It rained this morning, and I went to town by water; and Ford and I + dined with Mr. Lewis by appointment. I ordered Patrick to bring my gown + and periwig to Mr. Lewis, because I designed to go to see Lord Oxford, and + so I told the dog; but he never came, though I stayed an hour longer than + I appointed; so I went in my old gown, and sat with him two hours, but + could not talk over some business I had with him; so he has desired me to + dine with him on Sunday, and I must disappoint the Secretary. My lord set + me down at a coffee-house, where I waited for the Dean of Carlisle's + chariot to bring me to Chelsea; for it has rained prodigiously all this + afternoon. The Dean did not come himself, but sent me his chariot, which + has cost me two shillings to the coachman; and so I am got home, and Lord + knows what is become of Patrick. I think I must send him over to you; for + he is an intolerable rascal. If I had come without a gown, he would have + served me so, though my life and preferment should have lain upon it: and + I am making a livery for him will cost me four pounds; but I will order + the tailor to-morrow to stop till further orders. My Lord Oxford can't yet + abide to be called "my lord"; and when I called him "my lord," he called + me "Dr. Thomas Swift,"(2) which he always does when he has a mind to tease + me. By a second hand, he proposed my being his chaplain, which I by a + second hand excused; but we had no talk of it to-day: but I will be no + man's chaplain alive. But I must go and be busy. + </p> + <p> + 26. I never saw Patrick till this morning, and that only once, for I + dressed myself without him; and when I went to town he was out of the way. + I immediately sent for the tailor, and ordered him to stop his hand in + Patrick's clothes till further orders. Oh, if it were in Ireland, I should + have turned him off ten times ago; and it is no regard to him, but myself, + that has made me keep him so long. Now I am afraid to give the rogue his + clothes. What shall I do? I wish MD were here to entreat for him, just + here at the bed's side. Lady Ashburnham(3) has been engaging me this long + time to dine with her, and I set to-day apart for it; and whatever was the + mistake, she sent me word she was at dinner and undressed, but would be + glad to see me in the afternoon: so I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and + would not go to see her at all, in a huff. My fine Florence is turning + sour with a vengeance, and I have not drunk half of it. As I was coming + home to-night, Sir Thomas Mansel and Tom Harley(4) met me in the Park, and + made me walk with them till nine, like unreasonable whelps; so I got not + here till ten: but it was a fine evening, and the foot-path clean enough + already after this hard rain. + </p> + <p> + 27. Going this morning to town, I saw two old lame fellows, walking to a + brandy-shop, and when they got to the door, stood a long time + complimenting who should go in first. Though this be no jest to tell, it + was an admirable one to see. I dined to-day with my Lord Oxford and the + ladies, the new Countess, and Lady Betty,(5) who has been these three days + a lady born. My lord left us at seven, and I had no time to speak to him + about some affairs; but he promises in a day or two we shall dine alone; + which is mighty likely, considering we expect every moment that the Queen + will give him the staff, and then he will be so crowded he will be good + for nothing: for aught I know he may have it to-night at Council. + </p> + <p> + 28. I had a petition sent me t'other day from one Stephen Gernon, setting + forth that he formerly lived with Harry Tenison,(6) who gave him an + employment of gauger, and that he was turned out after Harry's death, and + came for England, and is now starving, or, as he expresses it, THAT THE + STAFF OF LIFE HAS BEEN OF LATE A STRANGER TO HIS APPETITE. Today the poor + fellow called, and I knew him very well, a young slender fellow with + freckles in his face: you must remember him; he waited at table as a + better sort of servant. I gave him a crown, and promised to do what I + could to help him to a service, which I did for Harry Tenison's memory. It + was bloody hot walking to-day, and I was so lazy I dined where my new gown + was, at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and came back like a fool, and the Dean of + Carlisle has sat with me till eleven. Lord Oxford has not the staff yet. + </p> + <p> + 29. I was this morning in town by ten, though it was shaving-day, and went + to the Secretary about some affairs, then visited the Duke and Duchess of + Ormond; but the latter was dressing to go out, and I could not see her. My + Lord Oxford had the staff given him this morning; so now I must call him + Lord Oxford no more, but Lord Treasurer: I hope he will stick there: this + is twice he has changed his name this week; and I heard to-day in the City + (where I dined) that he will very soon have the Garter.—Pr'ythee, do + not you observe how strangely I have changed my company and manner of + living? I never go to a coffee-house; you hear no more of Addison, Steele, + Henley, Lady Lucy, Mrs. Finch,(7) Lord Somers, Lord Halifax, etc. I think + I have altered for the better. Did I tell you the Archbishop of Dublin has + writ me a long letter of a squabble in your town about choosing a Mayor, + and that he apprehended some censure for the share he had in it?(8) I have + not heard anything of it here; but I shall not be always able to defend + him. We hear your Bishop Hickman is dead;(9) but nobody here will do + anything for me in Ireland; so they may die as fast or slow as they + please.—Well, you are constant to your deans, and your Stoyte, and + your Walls. Walls will have her tea soon; Parson Richardson is either + going or gone to Ireland, and has it with him. I hear Mr. Lewis has two + letters for me: I could not call for them to-day, but will to-morrow; and + perhaps one of them may be from our little MD, who knows, man? who can + tell? Many a more unlikely thing has happened.—Pshaw, I write so + plaguy little, I can hardly see it myself. WRITE BIGGER, SIRRAH(10) + Presto. No, but I won't. Oh, you are a saucy rogue, Mr. Presto, you are so + impudent. Come, dear rogues, let Presto go to sleep; I have been with the + Dean, and 'tis near twelve. + </p> + <p> + 30. I am so hot and lazy after my morning's walk, that I loitered at Mrs. + Vanhomrigh's, where my best gown and periwig are, and out of mere + listlessness dine there very often; so I did to-day; but I got little MD's + letter, N.15 (you see, sirrahs, I remember to tell the number), from Mr. + Lewis, and I read it in a closet they lend me at Mrs. Van's; and I find + Stella is a saucy rogue and a great writer, and can write finely still + when her hand is in, and her pen good. When I came here to-night, I had a + mighty mind to go swim after I was cool, for my lodging is just by the + river; and I went down with only my nightgown and slippers on at eleven, + but came up again; however, one of these nights I will venture. + </p> + <p> + 31. I was so hot this morning with my walk, that I resolve to do so no + more during this violent burning weather. It is comical that now we happen + to have such heat to ripen the fruit there has been the greatest blast + that was ever known, and almost all the fruit is despaired of. I dined + with Lord Shelburne: Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt are going to Ireland. I + went this evening to Lord Treasurer, and sat about two hours with him in + mixed company; he left us, and went to Court, and carried two staves with + him, so I suppose we shall have a new Lord Steward or Comptroller + to-morrow; I smoked that State secret out by that accident. I will not + answer your letter yet, sirrahs; no I won't, madam. + </p> + <p> + June 1. I wish you a merry month of June. I dined again with the Vans and + Sir Andrew Fountaine. I always give them a flask of my Florence, which now + begins to spoil, but it is near an end. I went this afternoon to Mrs. + Vedeau's, and brought away Madam Dingley's parchment and letter of + attorney. Mrs. Vedeau tells me she has sent the bill a fortnight ago. I + will give the parchment to Ben Tooke, and you shall send him a letter of + attorney at your leisure, enclosed to Mr. Presto. Yes, I now think your + mackerel is full as good as ours, which I did not think formerly. I was + bit about two staves, for there is no new officer made to-day. This letter + will find you still in Dublin, I suppose, or at Donnybrook, or losing your + money at Walls' (how does she do?). + </p> + <p> + 2. I missed this day by a blunder and dining in the City.(11) + </p> + <p> + 3. No boats on Sunday, never: so I was forced to walk, and so hot by the + time I got to Ford's lodging that I was quite spent; I think the weather + is mad. I could not go to church. I dined with the Secretary as usual, and + old Colonel Graham(12) that lived at Bagshot Heath, and they said it was + Colonel Graham's house. Pshaw, I remember it very well, when I used to go + for a walk to London from Moor Park. What, I warrant you do not remember + the Golden Farmer(13) neither, figgarkick soley?(14) + </p> + <p> + 4. When must we answer this letter, this N.15 of our little MD? Heat and + laziness, and Sir Andrew Fountaine, made me dine to-day again at Mrs. + Van's; and, in short, this weather is unsupportable: how is it with you? + Lady Betty Butler and Lady Ashburnham sat with me two or three hours this + evening in my closet at Mrs. Van's. They are very good girls; and if Lady + Betty went to Ireland, you should let her be acquainted with you. How does + Dingley do this hot weather? Stella, I think, never complains of it; she + loves hot weather. There has not been a drop of rain since Friday + se'ennight. Yes, you do love hot weather, naughty Stella, you do so; and + Presto can't abide it. Be a good girl then, and I will love you; and love + one another, and don't be quarrelling girls. + </p> + <p> + 5. I dined in the City to-day, and went from hence early to town, and + visited the Duke of Ormond and Mr. Secretary. They say my Lord Treasurer + has a dead warrant in his pocket; they mean a list of those who are to be + turned out of employment; and we every day now expect those changes. I + passed by the Treasury to-day, and saw vast crowds waiting to give Lord + Treasurer petitions as he passes by. He is now at the top of power and + favour: he keeps no levees yet. I am cruel thirsty this hot weather.—I + am just this minute going to swim. I take Patrick down with me, to hold my + nightgown, shirt, and slippers, and borrow a napkin of my landlady for a + cap. So farewell till I come up; but there is no danger, don't be + frighted.—I have been swimming this half-hour and more; and when I + was coming out I dived, to make my head and all through wet, like a cold + bath; but, as I dived, the napkin fell off and is lost, and I have that to + pay for. O, faith, the great stones were so sharp, I could hardly set my + feet on them as I came out. It was pure and warm. I got to bed, and will + now go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 6. Morning. This letter shall go to-morrow; so I will answer yours when I + come home to-night. I feel no hurt from last night's swimming. I lie with + nothing but the sheet over me, and my feet quite bare. I must rise and go + to town before the tide is against me. Morrow, sirrahs; dear sirrahs, + morrow.—At night. I never felt so hot a day as this since I was + born. I dined with Lady Betty Germaine, and there was the young Earl of + Berkeley(15) and his fine lady. I never saw her before, nor think her near + so handsome as she passes for.—After dinner, Mr. Bertue(16) would + not let me put ice in my wine, but said my Lord Dorchester(17) got the + bloody flux with it, and that it was the worst thing in the world. Thus + are we plagued, thus are we plagued; yet I have done it five or six times + this summer, and was but the drier and the hotter for it. Nothing makes me + so excessively peevish as hot weather. Lady Berkeley after dinner clapped + my hat on another lady's head, and she in roguery put it upon the rails. I + minded them not; but in two minutes they called me to the window, and Lady + Carteret(18) showed me my hat out of her window five doors off, where I + was forced to walk to it, and pay her and old Lady Weymouth(19) a visit, + with some more beldames. Then I went and drank coffee, and made one or two + puns, with Lord Pembroke,(20) and designed to go to Lord Treasurer; but it + was too late, and beside I was half broiled, and broiled without butter; + for I never sweat after dinner, if I drink any wine. Then I sat an hour + with Lady Betty Butler at tea, and everything made me hotter and drier. + Then I walked home, and was here by ten, so miserably hot, that I was in + as perfect a passion as ever I was in my life at the greatest affront or + provocation. Then I sat an hour, till I was quite dry and cool enough to + go swim; which I did, but with so much vexation that I think I have given + it over: for I was every moment disturbed by boats, rot them; and that + puppy Patrick, standing ashore, would let them come within a yard or two, + and then call sneakingly to them. The only comfort I proposed here in hot + weather is gone; for there is no jesting with those boats after it is + dark: I had none last night. I dived to dip my head, and held my cap on + with both my hands, for fear of losing it. Pox take the boats! Amen. 'Tis + near twelve, and so I'll answer your letter (it strikes twelve now) + to-morrow morning. + </p> + <p> + 7. Morning. Well, now let us answer MD's letter, N.15, 15, 15, 15. Now + have I told you the number? 15, 15; there, impudence, to call names in the + beginning of your letter, before you say, How do you do, Mr. Presto? There + is your breeding! Where is your manners, sirrah, to a gentleman? Get you + gone, you couple of jades.—No, I never sit up late now; but this + abominable hot weather will force me to eat or drink something that will + do me hurt. I do venture to eat a few strawberries.—Why then, do you + know in Ireland that Mr. St. John talked so in Parliament?(21) Your Whigs + are plaguily bit; for he is entirely for their being all out.—And + are you as vicious in snuff as ever? I believe, as you say, it does + neither hurt nor good; but I have left it off, and when anybody offers me + their box, I take about a tenth part of what I used to do, and then just + smell to it, and privately fling the rest away. I keep to my tobacco + still,(22) as you say; but even much less of that than formerly, only + mornings and evenings, and very seldom in the day.—As for Joe,(23) I + have recommended his case heartily to my Lord Lieutenant; and, by his + direction, given a memorial of it to Mr. Southwell, to whom I have + recommended it likewise. I can do no more, if he were my brother. His + business will be to apply himself to Southwell. And you must desire + Raymond, if Price of Galway comes to town, to desire him to wait on Mr. + Southwell, as recommended by me for one of the Duke's chaplains, which was + all I could do for him; and he must be presented to the Duke, and make his + court, and ply about, and find out some vacancy, and solicit early for it. + The bustle about your Mayor I had before, as I told you, from the + Archbishop of Dublin. Was Raymond not come till May 18? So he says fine + things of me? Certainly he lies. I am sure I used him indifferently + enough; and we never once dined together, or walked, or were in any third + place; only he came sometimes to my lodgings, and even there was oftener + denied than admitted.—What an odd bill is that you sent of + Raymond's! A bill upon one Murry in Chester, which depends entirely not + only upon Raymond's honesty, but his discretion; and in money matters he + is the last man I would depend on. Why should Sir Alexander Cairnes(24) in + London pay me a bill, drawn by God knows who, upon Murry in Chester? I was + at Cairnes's, and they can do no such thing. I went among some friends, + who are merchants, and I find the bill must be sent to Murry, accepted by + him, and then returned back, and then Cairnes may accept or refuse it as + he pleases. Accordingly I gave Sir Thomas Frankland the bill, who has sent + it to Chester, and ordered the postmaster there to get it accepted, and + then send it back, and in a day or two I shall have an answer; and + therefore this letter must stay a day or two longer than I intended, and + see what answer I get. Raymond should have written to Murry at the same + time, to desire Sir Alexander Cairnes to have answered such a bill, if it + come. But Cairnes's clerks (himself was not at home) said they had + received no notice of it, and could do nothing; and advised me to send to + Murry.—I have been six weeks to-day at Chelsea, and you know it but + just now. And so Dean ——— thinks I write the Medley. Pox + of his judgment! It is equal to his honesty. Then you han't seen the + Miscellany yet?(25) Why, 'tis a four-shilling book: has nobody carried it + over?—No, I believe Manley(26) will not lose his place; for his + friend(27) in England is so far from being out that he has taken a new + patent since the Post Office Act; and his brother Jack Manley(28) here + takes his part firmly; and I have often spoken to Southwell in his behalf, + and he seems very well inclined to him. But the Irish folks here in + general are horribly violent against him. Besides, he must consider he + could not send Stella wine if he were put out. And so he is very kind, and + sends you a dozen bottles of wine AT A TIME, and you win eight shillings + AT A TIME; and how much do you lose? No, no, never one syllable about + that, I warrant you.—Why, this same Stella is so unmerciful a + writer, she has hardly left any room for Dingley. If you have such summer + there as here, sure the Wexford waters are good by this time. I forgot + what weather we had May 6th; go look in my journal. We had terrible rain + the 24th and 25th, and never a drop since. Yes, yes, I remember Berested's + bridge; the coach sosses up and down as one goes that way, just as at + Hockley-in-the-Hole.(29) I never impute any illness or health I have to + good or ill weather, but to want of exercise, or ill air, or something I + have eaten, or hard study, or sitting up; and so I fence against those as + well as I can: but who a deuce can help the weather? Will Seymour,(30) the + General, was excessively hot with the sun shining full upon him; so he + turns to the sun, and says, "Harkee, friend, you had better go and ripen + cucumbers than plague me at this rate," etc. Another time, fretting at the + heat, a gentleman by said it was such weather as pleased God: Seymour + said, "Perhaps it may; but I am sure it pleases nobody else." Why, Madam + Dingley, the First-Fruits are done. Southwell told me they went to inquire + about them, and Lord Treasurer said they were done, and had been done long + ago. And I'll tell you a secret you must not mention, that the Duke of + Ormond is ordered to take notice of them in his speech in your Parliament: + and I desire you will take care to say on occasion that my Lord Treasurer + Harley did it many months ago, before the Duke was Lord Lieutenant. And + yet I cannot possibly come over yet: so get you gone to Wexford, and make + Stella well. Yes, yes, I take care not to walk late; I never did but once, + and there are five hundred people on the way as I walk. Tisdall is a + puppy, and I will excuse him the half-hour he would talk with me. As for + the Examiner, I have heard a whisper that after that of this day,(31) + which tells us what this Parliament has done, you will hardly find them so + good. I prophesy they will be trash for the future; and methinks in this + day's Examiner the author talks doubtfully, as if he would write no + more.(32) Observe whether the change be discovered in Dublin, only for + your own curiosity, that's all. Make a mouth there. Mrs. Vedeau's business + I have answered, and I hope the bill is not lost. Morrow. 'Tis stewing + hot, but I must rise and go to town between fire and water. Morrow, + sirrahs both, morrow.—At night. I dined to-day with Colonel Crowe, + Governor of Jamaica, and your friend Sterne. I presented Sterne to my Lord + Treasurer's brother,(33) and gave him his case, and engaged him in his + favour. At dinner there fell the swingingest long shower, and the most + grateful to me, that ever I saw: it thundered fifty times at least, and + the air is so cool that a body is able to live; and I walked home to-night + with comfort, and without dirt. I went this evening to Lord Treasurer, and + sat with him two hours, and we were in very good humour, and he abused me, + and called me Dr. Thomas Swift fifty times: I have told you he does that + when he has mind to make me mad.(34) Sir Thomas Frankland gave me to-day a + letter from Murry, accepting my bill; so all is well: only, by a letter + from Parvisol, I find there are some perplexities.—Joe has likewise + written to me, to thank me for what I have done for him; and desires I + would write to the Bishop of Clogher, that Tom Ashe(35) may not hinder his + father(36) from being portreve. I have written and sent to Joe several + times, that I will not trouble myself at all about Trim. I wish them their + liberty, but they do not deserve it: so tell Joe, and send to him. I am + mighty happy with this rain: I was at the end of my patience, but now I + live again. This cannot go till Saturday; and perhaps I may go out of town + with Lord Shelburne and Lady Kerry to-morrow for two or three days. Lady + Kerry has written to desire it; but tomorrow I shall know farther.—O + this dear rain, I cannot forbear praising it: I never felt myself to be + revived so in my life. It lasted from three till five, hard as a horn, and + mixed with hail. + </p> + <p> + 8. Morning. I am going to town, and will just finish this there, if I go + into the country with Lady Kerry and Lord Shelburne: so morrow, till an + hour or two hence.—In town. I met Cairnes, who, I suppose, will pay + me the money; though he says I must send him the bill first, and I will + get it done in absence. Farewell, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 25. + </h2> + <h3> + CHELSEA, June 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. + </h3> + <p> + I have been all this time at Wycombe, between Oxford and London, with Lord + Shelburne, who has the squire's house at the town's end, and an estate + there in a delicious country. Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt were with us, and + we passed our time well enough; and there I wholly disengaged myself from + all public thoughts, and everything but MD, who had the impudence to send + me a letter there; but I'll be revenged: I will answer it. This day, the + 20th, I came from Wycombe with Lady Kerry after dinner, lighted at Hyde + Park Corner, and walked: it was twenty-seven miles, and we came it in + about five hours. + </p> + <p> + 21. I went at noon to see Mr. Secretary at his office, and there was Lord + Treasurer: so I killed two birds, etc., and we were glad to see one + another, and so forth. And the Secretary and I dined at Sir William + Wyndham's,(1) who married Lady Catharine Seymour, your acquaintance, I + suppose. There were ten of us at dinner. It seems, in my absence, they had + erected a Club,(2) and made me one; and we made some laws to-day, which I + am to digest and add to, against next meeting. Our meetings are to be + every Thursday. We are yet but twelve: Lord Keeper and Lord Treasurer were + proposed; but I was against them, and so was Mr. Secretary, though their + sons are of it, and so they are excluded; but we design to admit the Duke + of Shrewsbury. The end of our Club is, to advance conversation and + friendship, and to reward deserving persons with our interest and + recommendation. We take in none but men of wit or men of interest; and if + we go on as we begin, no other Club in this town will be worth talking of. + The Solicitor-General, Sir Robert Raymond, is one of our Club; and I + ordered him immediately to write to your Lord Chancellor in favour of Dr. + Raymond: so tell Raymond, if you see him; but I believe this will find you + at Wexford. This letter will come three weeks after the last, so there is + a week lost; but that is owing to my being out of town; yet I think it is + right, because it goes enclosed to Mr. Reading:(3) and why should he know + how often Presto writes to MD, pray?—I sat this evening with Lady + Betty Butler and Lady Ashburnham, and then came home by eleven, and had a + good cool walk; for we have had no extreme hot weather this fortnight, but + a great deal of rain at times, and a body can live and breathe. I hope it + will hold so. We had peaches to-day. + </p> + <p> + 22. I went late to-day to town, and dined with my friend Lewis. I saw Will + Congreve attending at the Treasury, by order, with his brethren, the + Commissioners of the Wine Licences. I had often mentioned him with + kindness to Lord Treasurer; and Congreve told me that, after they had + answered to what they were sent for, my lord called him privately, and + spoke to him with great kindness, promising his protection, etc. The poor + man said he had been used so ill of late years that he was quite + astonished at my lord's goodness, etc., and desired me to tell my lord so; + which I did this evening, and recommended him heartily. My lord assured me + he esteemed him very much, and would be always kind to him; that what he + said was to make Congreve easy, because he knew people talked as if his + lordship designed to turn everybody out, and particularly Congreve: which + indeed was true, for the poor man told me he apprehended it. As I left my + Lord Treasurer, I called on Congreve (knowing where he dined), and told + him what had passed between my lord and me; so I have made a worthy man + easy, and that is a good day's work.(4) I am proposing to my lord to erect + a society or academy for correcting and settling our language, that we may + not perpetually be changing as we do. He enters mightily into it, so does + the Dean of Carlisle;(5) and I design to write a letter to Lord Treasurer + with the proposals of it, and publish it;(6) and so I told my lord, and he + approves it. Yesterday's(7) was a sad Examiner, and last week was very + indifferent, though some little scraps of the old spirit, as if he had + given some hints; but yesterday's is all trash. It is plain the hand is + changed. + </p> + <p> + 23. I have not been in London to-day: for Dr. Gastrell(8) and I dined, by + invitation, with the Dean of Carlisle, my neighbour; so I know not what + they are doing in the world, a mere country gentleman. And are not you + ashamed both to go into the country just when I did, and stay ten days, + just as I did, saucy monkeys? But I never rode; I had no horses, and our + coach was out of order, and we went and came in a hired one. Do you keep + your lodgings when you go to Wexford? I suppose you do; for you will + hardly stay above two months. I have been walking about our town to-night, + and it is a very scurvy place for walking. I am thinking to leave it, and + return to town, now the Irish folks are gone. Ford goes in three days. How + does Dingley divert herself while Stella is riding? work, or read, or + walk? Does Dingley ever read to you? Had you ever a book with you in the + country? Is all that left off? Confess. Well, I'll go sleep; 'tis past + eleven, and I go early to sleep: I write nothing at night but to MD. + </p> + <p> + 24. Stratford and I, and Pastoral Philips (just come from Denmark) dined + at Ford's to-day, who paid his way, and goes for Ireland on Tuesday. The + Earl of Peterborow is returned from Vienna without one servant: he left + them scattered in several towns of Germany. I had a letter from him, four + days ago, from Hanover, where he desires I would immediately send him an + answer to his house at Parson's Green,(9) about five miles off. I wondered + what he meant, till I heard he was come. He sent expresses, and got here + before them. He is above fifty, and as active as one of five-and-twenty. I + have not seen him yet, nor know when I shall, or where to find him. + </p> + <p> + 25. Poor Duke of Shrewsbury has been very ill of a fever: we were all in a + fright about him: I thank God, he is better. I dined to-day at Lord + Ashburnham's, with his lady, for he was not at home: she is a very good + girl, and always a great favourite of mine. Sterne tells me he has desired + a friend to receive your box in Chester, and carry it over. I fear he will + miscarry in his business, which was sent to the Treasury before he was + recommended; for I was positive only to second his recommendations, and + all his other friends failed him. However, on your account I will do what + I can for him to-morrow with the secretary of the Treasury. + </p> + <p> + 26. We had much company to-day at dinner at Lord Treasurer's. Prior never + fails: he is a much better courtier than I; and we expect every day that + he will be a Commissioner of the Customs, and that in a short time a great + many more will be turned out. They blame Lord Treasurer for his slowness + in turning people out; but I suppose he has his reasons. They still keep + my neighbour Atterbury in suspense about the deanery of Christ Church,(10) + which has been above six months vacant, and he is heartily angry. I reckon + you are now preparing for your Wexford expedition; and poor Dingley is + full of carking and caring, scolding. How long will you stay? Shall I be + in Dublin before you return? Don't fall and hurt yourselves, nor overturn + the coach. Love one another, and be good girls; and drink Presto's health + in water, Madam Stella; and in good ale, Madam Dingley. + </p> + <p> + 27. The Secretary appointed me to dine with him to-day, and we were to do + a world of business: he came at four, and brought Prior with him, and had + forgot the appointment, and no business was done. I left him at eight, and + went to change my gown at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's; and there was Sir Andrew + Fountaine at ombre with Lady Ashburnham and Lady Frederic Schomberg, and + Lady Mary Schomberg,(11) and Lady Betty Butler, and others, talking; and + it put me in mind of the Dean and Stoyte, and Walls, and Stella at play, + and Dingley and I looking on. I stayed with them till ten, like a fool. + Lady Ashburnham is something like Stella; so I helped her, and wished her + good cards. It is late, etc. + </p> + <p> + 28. Well, but I must answer this letter of our MD's. Saturday approaches, + and I han't written down this side. O, faith, Presto has been a sort of a + lazy fellow: but Presto will remove to town this day se'ennight; the + Secretary has commanded me to do so; and I believe he and I shall go for + some days to Windsor, where he will have leisure to mind some business we + have together. To-day, our Society (it must not be called a Club) dined at + Mr. Secretary's: we were but eight; the rest sent excuses, or were out of + town. We sat till eight, and made some laws and settlements; and then I + went to take leave of Lady Ashburnham, who goes out of town to-morrow, as + a great many of my acquaintance are already, and left the town very thin. + I shall make but short journeys this summer, and not be long out of + London. The days are grown sensibly short already, all our fruit blasted. + Your Duke of Ormond is still at Chester; and perhaps this letter will be + with you as soon as he. Sterne's business is quite blown up: they stand to + it to send him back to the Commissioners of the Revenue in Ireland for a + reference, and all my credit could not alter it, though I almost fell out + with the secretary of the Treasury,(12) who is my Lord Treasurer's + cousin-germain, and my very good friend. It seems every step he has + hitherto taken hath been wrong; at least they say so, and that is the same + thing. I am heartily sorry for it; and I really think they are in the + wrong, and use him hardly; but I can do no more. + </p> + <p> + 29. Steele has had the assurance to write to me that I would engage my + Lord Treasurer to keep a friend of his in an employment: I believe I told + you how he and Addison served me for my good offices in Steele's behalf; + and I promised Lord Treasurer never to speak for either of them again. Sir + Andrew Fountaine and I dined to-day at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's. Dilly Ashe has + been in town this fortnight: I saw him twice; he was four days at Lord + Pembroke's in the country, punning with him; his face is very well. I was + this evening two or three hours at Lord Treasurer's, who called me Dr. + Thomas Swift twenty times; that's his way of teasing. I left him at nine, + and got home here by ten, like a gentleman; and to-morrow morning I'll + answer your little letter, sirrahs. + </p> + <p> + 30. Morning. I am terribly sleepy always in a morning; I believe it is my + walk over-night that disposes me to sleep: faith, 'tis now striking eight, + and I am but just awake. Patrick comes early, and wakes me five or six + times; but I have excuses, though I am three parts asleep. I tell him I + sat up late, or slept ill in the night, and often it is a lie. I have now + got little MD's letter before me, N.16, no more, nor no less, no mistake. + Dingley says, "This letter won't be above six lines"; and I was afraid it + was true, though I saw it filled on both sides. The Bishop of Clogher writ + me word you were in the country, and that he heard you were well: I am + glad at heart MD rides, and rides, and rides. Our hot weather ended in + May, and all this month has been moderate: it was then so hot I was not + able to endure it; I was miserable every moment, and found myself disposed + to be peevish and quarrelsome: I believe a very hot country would make me + stark mad.—Yes, my head continues pretty tolerable, and I impute it + all to walking. Does Stella eat fruit? I eat a little; but I always + repent, and resolve against it. No, in very hot weather I always go to + town by water; but I constantly walk back, for then the sun is down. And + so Mrs. Proby(13) goes with you to Wexford: she's admirable company; + you'll grow plaguy wise with those you frequent. Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. + Proby! take care of infection. I believe my two hundred pounds will be + paid, but that Sir Alexander Cairnes is a scrupulous puppy: I left the + bill with Mr. Stratford, who is to have the money. Now, Madam Stella, what + say you? you ride every day; I know that already, sirrah; and, if you rid + every day for a twelvemonth, you would be still better and better. No, I + hope Parvisol will not have the impudence to make you stay an hour for the + money; if he does, I'll UN-PARVISOL him; pray let me know. O Lord, how + hasty we are! Stella can't stay writing and writing; she must write and go + a cock-horse, pray now. Well, but the horses are not come to the door; the + fellow can't find the bridle; your stirrup is broken; where did you put + the whips, Dingley? Marget, where have you laid Mrs. Johnson's ribbon to + tie about her? reach me my mask: sup up this before you go. So, so, a + gallop, a gallop: sit fast, sirrah, and don't ride hard upon the stones.—Well, + now Stella is gone, tell me, Dingley, is she a good girl? and what news is + that you are to tell me?—No, I believe the box is not lost: Sterne + says it is not.—No, faith, you must go to Wexford without seeing + your Duke of Ormond, unless you stay on purpose; perhaps you may be so + wise.—I tell you this is your sixteenth letter; will you never be + satisfied? No, no, I will walk late no more; I ought less to venture it + than other people, and so I was told: but I will return to lodge in town + next Thursday. When you come from Wexford, I would have you send a letter + of attorney to Mr. Benjamin Tooke, bookseller, in London, directed to me; + and he shall manage your affair. I have your parchment safely locked up in + London.—O, Madam Stella, welcome home; was it pleasant riding? did + your horse stumble? how often did the man light to settle your stirrup? + ride nine miles! faith, you have galloped indeed. Well, but where is the + fine thing you promised me? I have been a good boy, ask Dingley else. I + believe you did not meet the fine-thing-man: faith, you are a cheat. So + you will see Raymond and his wife in town. Faith, that riding to Laracor + gives me short sighs, as well as you. All the days I have passed here have + been dirt to those. I have been gaining enemies by the scores, and friends + by the couples; which is against the rules of wisdom, because they say one + enemy can do more hurt than ten friends can do good. But I have had my + revenge at least, if I get nothing else. And so let Fate govern.—Now + I think your letter is answered; and mine will be shorter than ordinary, + because it must go to-day. We have had a great deal of scattering rain for + some days past, yet it hardly keeps down the dust.—We have plays + acted in our town; and Patrick was at one of them, oh oh. He was damnably + mauled one day when he was drunk; he was at cuffs with a brother-footman, + who dragged him along the floor upon his face, which looked for a week + after as if he had the leprosy; and I was glad enough to see it. I have + been ten times sending him over to you; yet now he has new clothes, and a + laced hat, which the hatter brought by his orders, and he offered to pay + for the lace out of his wages.—I am to dine to-day with Dilly at Sir + Andrew Fountaine's, who has bought a new house, and will be weary of it in + half a year. I must rise and shave, and walk to town, unless I go with the + Dean in his chariot at twelve, which is too late: and I have not seen that + Lord Peterborow yet. The Duke of Shrewsbury is almost well again, and will + be abroad in a day or two: what care you? There it is now: you do not care + for my friends. Farewell, my dearest lives and delights; I love you better + than ever, if possible, as hope saved, I do, and ever will. God Almighty + bless you ever, and make us happy together! I pray for this twice every + day; and I hope God will hear my poor hearty prayers.—Remember, if I + am used ill and ungratefully, as I have formerly been, 'tis what I am + prepared for, and shall not wonder at it. Yet I am now envied, and thought + in high favour, and have every day numbers of considerable men teasing me + to solicit for them. And the Ministry all use me perfectly well; and all + that know them say they love me. Yet I can count upon nothing, nor will, + but upon MD's love and kindness.—They think me useful; they + pretended they were afraid of none but me, and that they resolved to have + me; they have often confessed this: yet all makes little impression on me.—Pox + of these speculations! they give me the spleen; and that is a disease I + was not born to. Let me alone, sirrahs, and be satisfied: I am, as long as + MD and Presto are well. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Little wealth, + And much health, + And a life by stealth: +</pre> + <p> + that is all we want; and so farewell, dearest MD; Stella, Dingley, Presto, + all together, now and for ever all together. Farewell again and again. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 26. + </h2> + <h3> + CHELSEA, June 30, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + See what large paper I am forced to take, to write to MD; Patrick has + brought me none clipped; but, faith, the next shall be smaller. I dined + to-day, as I told you, with Dilly at Sir Andrew Fountaine's: there were we + wretchedly punning, and writing together to Lord Pembroke. Dilly is just + such a puppy as ever; and it is so uncouth, after so long an intermission. + My twenty-fifth is gone this evening to the post. I think I will direct my + next (which is this) to Mr. Curry's, and let them send it to Wexford; and + then the next enclosed to Reading. Instruct me how I shall do. I long to + hear from you from Wexford, and what sort of place it is. The town grows + very empty and dull. This evening I have had a letter from Mr. Philips, + the pastoral poet, to get him a certain employment from Lord Treasurer. I + have now had almost all the Whig poets my solicitors; and I have been + useful to Congreve, Steele, and Harrison: but I will do nothing for + Philips; I find he is more a puppy than ever, so don't solicit for him. + Besides, I will not trouble Lord Treasurer, unless upon some very + extraordinary occasion. + </p> + <p> + July 1. Dilly lies conveniently for me when I come to town from Chelsea of + a Sunday, and go to the Secretary's; so I called at his lodgings this + morning, and sent for my gown, and dressed myself there. He had a letter + from the Bishop, with an account that you were set out for Wexford the + morning he writ, which was June 26, and he had the letter the 30th; that + was very quick: the Bishop says you design to stay there two months or + more. Dilly had also a letter from Tom Ashe, full of Irish news; that your + Lady Lyndon(1) is dead, and I know not what besides of Dr. Coghill(2) + losing his drab, etc. The Secretary was gone to Windsor, and I dined with + Mrs. Vanhomrigh. Lord Treasurer is at Windsor too; they will be going and + coming all summer, while the Queen is there, and the town is empty, and I + fear I shall be sometimes forced to stoop beneath my dignity, and send to + the ale-house for a dinner. Well, sirrahs, had you a good journey to + Wexford? did you drink ale by the way? were you never overturned? how many + things did you forget? do you lie on straw in your new town where you are? + Cudshoe,(3) the next letter to Presto will be dated from Wexford. What + fine company have you there? what new acquaintance have you got? You are + to write constantly to Mrs. Walls and Mrs. Stoyte: and the Dean said, + "Shall we never hear from you?" "Yes, Mr. Dean, we'll make bold to trouble + you with a letter." Then at Wexford; when you meet a lady, "Did your + waters pass well this morning, madam?" Will Dingley drink them too? Yes, I + warrant; to get her a stomach. I suppose you are all gamesters at Wexford. + Do not lose your money, sirrah, far from home. I believe I shall go to + Windsor in a few days; at least, the Secretary tells me so. He has a small + house there, with just room enough for him and me; and I would be + satisfied to pass a few days there sometimes. Sirrahs, let me go to sleep, + it is past twelve in our town. + </p> + <p> + 2. Sterne came to me this morning, and tells me he has yet some hopes of + compassing his business: he was with Tom Harley, the secretary of the + Treasury, and made him doubt a little he was in the wrong; the poor man + tells me it will almost undo him if he fails. I called this morning to see + Will Congreve, who lives much by himself, is forced to read for amusement, + and cannot do it without a magnifying-glass. I have set him very well with + the Ministry, and I hope he is in no danger of losing his place. I dined + in the City with Dr. Freind, not among my merchants, but with a scrub + instrument of mischief of mine, whom I never mentioned to you, nor am like + to do. You two little saucy Wexfordians, you are now drinking waters. You + drink waters! you go fiddlestick. Pray God send them to do you good; if + not, faith, next summer you shall come to the Bath. + </p> + <p> + 3. Lord Peterborow desired to see me this morning at nine; I had not seen + him before since he came home. I met Mrs. Manley(4) there, who was + soliciting him to get some pension or reward for her service in the cause, + by writing her Atalantis, and prosecution, etc., upon it. I seconded her, + and hope they will do something for the poor woman. My lord kept me two + hours upon politics: he comes home very sanguine; he has certainly done + great things at Savoy and Vienna, by his negotiations: he is violent + against a peace, and finds true what I writ to him, that the Ministry + seems for it. He reasons well; yet I am for a peace. I took leave of Lady + Kerry, who goes to-morrow for Ireland; she picks up Lord Shelburne and + Mrs. Pratt at Lord Shelburne's house. I was this evening with Lord + Treasurer: Tom Harley was there, and whispered me that he began to doubt + about Sterne's business; I told him he would find he was in the wrong. I + sat two or three hours at Lord Treasurer's; he rallied me sufficiently + upon my refusing to take him into our Club, and told a judge who was with + us that my name was Thomas Swift. I had a mind to prevent Sir H. + Belasyse(5) going to Spain, who is a most covetous cur, and I fell a + railing against avarice, and turned it so that he smoked me, and named + Belasyse. I went on, and said it was a shame to send him; to which he + agreed, but desired I would name some who understood business, and do not + love money, for he could not find them. I said there was something in a + Treasurer different from other men; that we ought not to make a man a + Bishop who does not love divinity, or a General who does not love war; and + I wondered why the Queen would make a man Lord Treasurer who does not love + money. He was mightily pleased with what I said. He was talking of the + First-Fruits of England, and I took occasion to tell him that I would not + for a thousand pounds anybody but he had got them for Ireland, who got + them for England too. He bid me consider what a thousand pounds was; I + said I would have him to know I valued a thousand pounds as little as he + valued a million.—Is it not silly to write all this? but it gives + you an idea what our conversation is with mixed company. I have taken a + lodging in Suffolk Street, and go to it on Thursday; and design to walk + the Park and the town, to supply my walking here: yet I will walk here + sometimes too, in a visit now and then to the Dean.(6) When I was almost + at home, Patrick told me he had two letters for me, and gave them to me in + the dark, yet I could see one of them was from saucy MD. I went to visit + the Dean for half an hour; and then came home, and first read the other + letter, which was from the Bishop of Clogher, who tells me the Archbishop + of Dublin mentioned in a full assembly of the clergy the Queen's granting + the First-Fruits, said it was done by the Lord Treasurer, and talked much + of my merit in it: but reading yours I find nothing of that: perhaps the + Bishop lies, out of a desire to please me. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. + Well, sirrahs, you are gone to Wexford; but I'll follow you. + </p> + <p> + 4. Sterne came to me again this morning, to advise about reasons and + memorials he is drawing up; and we went to town by water together; and + having nothing to do, I stole into the City to an instrument of mine, and + then went to see poor Patty Rolt,(7) who has been in town these two months + with a cousin of hers. Her life passes with boarding in some country town + as cheap as she can, and, when she runs out, shifting to some cheaper + place, or coming to town for a month. If I were rich, I would ease her, + which a little thing would do. Some months ago I sent her a guinea, and it + patched up twenty circumstances. She is now going to Berkhamstead in + Hertfordshire. It has rained and hailed prodigiously to-day, with some + thunder. This is the last night I lie at Chelsea; and I got home early, + and sat two hours with the Dean, and ate victuals, having had a very + scurvy dinner. I'll answer your letter when I come to live in town. You + shall have a fine London answer: but first I will go sleep, and dream of + MD. + </p> + <p> + London, July 5. This day I left Chelsea for good (that's a genteel + phrase), and am got into Suffolk Street. I dined to-day at our Society, + and we are adjourned for a month, because most of us go into the country: + we dined at Lord Keeper's with young Harcourt, and Lord Keeper was forced + to sneak off, and dine with Lord Treasurer, who had invited the Secretary + and me to dine with him; but we scorned to leave our company, as George + Granville did, whom we have threatened to expel: however, in the evening I + went to Lord Treasurer, and, among other company, found a couple of judges + with him; one of them, Judge Powell,(8) an old fellow with grey hairs, was + the merriest old gentleman I ever saw, spoke pleasant things, and laughed + and chuckled till he cried again. I stayed till eleven, because I was not + now to walk to Chelsea. + </p> + <p> + 6. An ugly rainy day. I was to visit Mrs. Barton, then called at Mrs. + Vanhomrigh's, where Sir Andrew Fountaine and the rain kept me to dinner; + and there did I loiter all the afternoon, like a fool, out of perfect + laziness, and the weather not permitting me to walk: but I'll do so no + more. Are your waters at Wexford good in this rain? I long to hear how you + are established there, how and whom you visit, what is your lodging, what + are your entertainments. You are got far southwards; but I think you must + eat no fruit while you drink the waters. I ate some Kentish cherries + t'other day, and I repent it already; I have felt my head a little + disordered. We had not a hot day all June, or since, which I reckon a + mighty happiness. Have you left a direction with Reading for Wexford? I + will, as I said, direct this to Curry's, and the next to Reading; or + suppose I send this at a venture straight to Wexford? It would vex me to + have it miscarry. I had a letter to-night from Parvisol, that White has + paid me most of my remaining money; and another from Joe, that they have + had their election at Trim, but not a word of who is chosen portreeve.(9) + Poor Joe is full of complaints, says he has enemies, and fears he will + never get his two hundred pounds; and I fear so too, although I have done + what I could.—I'll answer your letter when I think fit, when saucy + Presto thinks fit, sirrahs. I am not at leisure yet; when I have nothing + to do, perhaps I may vouchsafe.—O Lord, the two Wexford ladies; I'll + go dream of you both. + </p> + <p> + 7. It was the dismallest rainy day I ever saw: I went to the Secretary in + the morning, and he was gone to Windsor. Then it began raining, and I + struck in to Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and dined, and stayed till night very dull + and insipid. I hate this town in summer; I'll leave it for a while, if I + can have time. + </p> + <p> + 8. I have a fellow of your town, one Tisdall,(10) lodges in the same house + with me. Patrick told me Squire Tisdall and his lady lodged here. I + pretended I never heard of him; but I knew his ugly face, and saw him at + church in the next pew to me, and he often looked for a bow, but it would + not do. I think he lives in Capel Street, and has an ugly fine wife in a + fine coach. Dr. Freind and I dined in the City by invitation, and I drank + punch, very good, but it makes me hot. People here are troubled with agues + by this continuance of wet, cold weather; but I am glad to find the season + so temperate. I was this evening to see Will Congreve, who is a very + agreeable companion. + </p> + <p> + 9. I was to-day in the City, and dined with Mr. Stratford, who tells me + Sir Alexander Cairnes makes difficulties about paying my bill; so that I + cannot give order yet to Parvisol to deliver up the bond to Dr. Raymond. + To-morrow I shall have a positive answer: that Cairnes is a shuffling + scoundrel; and several merchants have told me so: what can one expect from + a Scot and a fanatic? I was at Bateman's the bookseller's, to see a fine + old library he has bought; and my fingers itched, as yours would do at a + china-shop; but I resisted, and found everything too dear, and I have + fooled away too much money that way already. So go and drink your waters, + saucy rogue, and make yourself well; and pray walk while you are there: I + have a notion there is never a good walk in Ireland.(11) Do you find all + places without trees? Pray observe the inhabitants about Wexford; they are + old English; see what they have particular in their manners, names, and + language: magpies have been always there, and nowhere else in Ireland, + till of late years. They say the cocks and dogs go to sleep at noon, and + so do the people. Write your travels, and bring home good eyes and health. + </p> + <p> + 10. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer: we did not sit down till four. I + despatched three businesses with him, and forgot a fourth. I think I have + got a friend an employment; and besides I made him consent to let me bring + Congreve to dine with him. You must understand I have a mind to do a small + thing, only turn out all the Queen's physicians; for in my conscience they + will soon kill her among them. And I must talk over that matter with some + people. My Lord Treasurer told me the Queen and he between them have lost + the paper about the First-Fruits, but desires I will let the bishops know + it shall be done with the first opportunity. + </p> + <p> + 11. I dined to-day with neighbour Van, and walked pretty well in the Park + this evening. Stella, hussy, don't you remember, sirrah, you used to + reproach me about meddling in other folk's affairs? I have enough of it + now: two people came to me to-night in the Park to engage to speak to Lord + Treasurer in their behalf, and I believe they make up fifty who have asked + me the same favour. I am hardened, and resolve to trouble him, or any + other Minister, less than ever. And I observe those who have ten times + more credit than I will not speak a word for anybody. I met yesterday the + poor lad I told you of, who lived with Mr. Tenison,(12) who has been ill + of an ague ever since I saw him. He looked wretchedly, and was exceeding + thankful for half a crown I gave him. He had a crown from me before. + </p> + <p> + 12. I dined to-day with young Manley(13) in the City, who is to get me out + a box of books and a hamper of wine from Hamburg. I inquired of Mr. + Stratford, who tells me that Cairnes has not yet paid my two hundred + pounds, but shams and delays from day to day. Young Manley's wife is a + very indifferent person of a young woman, goggle-eyed, and looks like a + fool: yet he is a handsome fellow, and married her for love after long + courtship, and she refused him until he got his last employment.—I + believe I shall not be so good a boy for writing as I was during your stay + at Wexford, unless I may send my letters every second time to Curry's; + pray let me know. This, I think, shall go there: or why not to Wexford + itself? That is right, and so it shall this next Tuesday, although it + costs you tenpence. What care I? + </p> + <p> + 13. This toad of a Secretary is come from Windsor, and I cannot find him; + and he goes back on Sunday, and I can't see him to-morrow. I dined + scurvily to-day with Mr. Lewis and a parson; and then went to see Lord + Treasurer, and met him coming from his house in his coach: he smiled, and + I shrugged, and we smoked each other; and so my visit is paid. I now + confine myself to see him only twice a week: he has invited me to Windsor, + and betwixt two stools, etc. I will go live at Windsor, if possible, + that's pozzz. I have always the luck to pass my summer in London. I called + this evening to see poor Sir Matthew Dudley, a Commissioner of the + Customs; I know he is to be out for certain: he is in hopes of continuing: + I would not tell him bad news, but advised him to prepare for the worst. + Dilly was with me this morning, to invite me to dine at Kensington on + Sunday with Lord Mountjoy, who goes soon for Ireland. Your late + Chief-Justice Broderick(14) is here, and they say violent as a tiger. How + is party among you at Wexford? Are the majority of ladies for the late or + present Ministry? Write me Wexford news, and love Presto, because he is a + good boy. + </p> + <p> + 14. Although it was shaving-day, I walked to Chelsea, and was there by + nine this morning; and the Dean of Carlisle and I crossed the water to + Battersea, and went in his chariot to Greenwich, where we dined at Dr. + Gastrell's, and passed the afternoon at Lewisham, at the Dean of + Canterbury's;(15) and there I saw Moll Stanhope,(16) who is grown + monstrously tall, but not so handsome as formerly. It is the first little + rambling journey I have had this summer about London, and they are the + agreeablest pastimes one can have, in a friend's coach, and to good + company. Bank Stock is fallen three or four per cent. by the whispers + about the town of the Queen's being ill, who is however very well. + </p> + <p> + 15. How many books have you carried with you to Wexford? What, not one + single book? Oh, but your time will be so taken up; and you can borrow of + the parson. I dined to-day with Sir Andrew Fountaine and Dilly at + Kensington with Lord Mountjoy; and in the afternoon Stratford came there, + and told me my two hundred pounds were paid at last; so that business is + over, and I am at ease about it; and I wish all your money was in the Bank + too. I will have my other hundred pounds there, that is in Hawkshaw's + hands. Have you had the interest of it paid yet? I ordered Parvisol to do + it. What makes Presto write so crooked? I will answer your letter + to-morrow, and send it on Tuesday. Here's hot weather come again, + yesterday and to-day: fine drinking waters now. We had a sad pert dull + parson at Kensington to-day. I almost repent my coming to town; I want the + walks I had. + </p> + <p> + 16. I dined in the City to-day with a hedge(17) acquaintance, and the day + passed without any consequence. I will answer your letter to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + 17. Morning. I have put your letter before me, and am going to answer it. + Hold your tongue: stand by. Your weather and ours were not alike; we had + not a bit of hot weather in June, yet you complain of it on the 19th day. + What, you used to love hot weather then? I could never endure it: I detest + and abominate it. I would not live in a hot country, to be king of it. + What a splutter you keep about my bonds with Raymond, and all to affront + Presto! Presto will be suspicious of everything but MD, in spite of your + little nose. Soft and fair, Madam Stella, how you gallop away, in your + spleen and your rage, about repenting my journey, and preferment here, and + sixpence a dozen, and nasty England, and Laracor all my life. Hey-dazy, + will you never have done? I had no offers of any living. Lord Keeper told + me some months ago he would give me one when I pleased; but I told him I + would not take any from him; and the Secretary told me t'other day he had + refused a very good one for me, but it was in a place he did not like; and + I know nothing of getting anything here, and, if they would give me leave, + I would come over just now. Addison, I hear, has changed his mind about + going over; but I have not seen him these four months.—Oh ay, that's + true, Dingley; that's like herself: millions of businesses to do before + she goes. Yes, my head has been pretty well, but threatening within these + two or three days, which I impute to some fruit I ate; but I will eat no + more: not a bit of any sort. I suppose you had a journey without dust, and + that was happy. I long for a Wexford letter, but must not think of it yet: + your last was finished but three weeks ago. It is d——d news + you tell me of Mrs. F——; it makes me love England less a great + deal. I know nothing of the trunk being left or taken; so 'tis odd enough, + if the things in it were mine; and I think I was told that there are some + things for me that my mother left particularly to me. I am really sorry + for ——-; that scoundrel ——- will have his estate + after his mother's death. Let me know if Mrs. Walls has got her tea: I + hope Richardson(18) stayed in Dublin till it came. Mrs. Walls needed not + have that blemish in her eye; for I am not in love with her at all. No, I + do not like anything in the Examiner after the 45th, except the first part + of the 46th;(19) all the rest is trash; and if you like them, especially + the 47th, your judgment is spoiled by ill company and want of reading, + which I am more sorry for than you think: and I have spent fourteen years + in improving you to little purpose. (Mr. Tooke is come here, and I must + stop.)—At night. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, and he kept me + till nine; so I cannot send this to-night, as I intended, nor write some + other letters. Green,(20) his surgeon, was there, and dressed his breast; + that is, put on a plaster, which is still requisite: and I took an + opportunity to speak to him of the Queen; but he cut me short with this + saying, "Laissez faire a Don Antoine," which is a French proverb, + expressing, "Leave that to me." I find he is against her taking much + physic; and I doubt he cannot persuade her to take Dr. Radcliffe. However, + she is very well now, and all the story of her illness, except the first + day or two, was a lie. We had some business, that company hindered us from + doing, though he is earnest for it, yet would not appoint me a certain + day, but bids me come at all times till we can have leisure. This takes up + a great deal of my time, and I can do nothing I would do for them. I was + with the Secretary this morning, and we both think to go to Windsor for + some days, to despatch an affair, if we can have leisure. Sterne met me + just now in the street by his lodgings, and I went in for an hour to Jemmy + Leigh, who loves London dearly: he asked after you with great respect and + friendship.—To return to your letter. Your Bishop Mills(21) hates me + mortally: I wonder he should speak well of me, having abused me in all + places where he went. So you pay your way. Cudsho: you had a fine supper, + I warrant; two pullets, and a bottle of wine, and some currants.—It + is just three weeks to-day since you set out to Wexford; you were three + days going, and I do not expect a letter these ten days yet, or rather + this fortnight. I got a grant of the Gazette(22) for Ben Tooke this + morning from Mr. Secretary: it will be worth to him a hundred pounds a + year. + </p> + <p> + 18. To-day I took leave of Mrs. Barton, who is going into the country; and + I dined with Sir John Stanley,(23) where I have not been this great while. + There dined with us Lord Rochester, and his fine daughter, Lady Jane,(24) + just growing a top-toast. I have been endeavouring to save Sir Matthew + Dudley,(25) but fear I cannot. I walked the Mall six times to-night for + exercise, and would have done more; but, as empty as the town is, a fool + got hold of me, and so I came home, to tell you this shall go to-morrow, + without fail, and follow you to Wexford, like a dog. + </p> + <p> + 19. Dean Atterbury sent to me to dine with him at Chelsea. I refused his + coach, and walked, and am come back by seven, because I would finish this + letter, and some others I am writing. Patrick tells me the maid says one + Mr. Walls, a clergyman, a tall man, was here to visit me. Is it your Irish + Archdeacon? I shall be sorry for it; but I shall make shift to see him + seldom enough, as I do Dilly. What can he do here? or is it somebody else? + The Duke of Newcastle(26) is dead by the fall he had from his horse. God + send poor Stella her health, and keep MD happy! Farewell, and love Presto, + who loves MD above all things ten million of times. God bless the dear + Wexford girls. Farewell again, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 27. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, July 19, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I have just sent my 26th, and have nothing to say, because I have other + letters to write (pshaw, I began too high); but I must lay the beginning + like a nest-egg: to-morrow I will say more, and fetch up this line to be + straight. This is enough at present for two dear saucy naughty girls. + </p> + <p> + 20. Have I told you that Walls has been with me, and leaves the town in + three days? He has brought no gown with him. Dilly carried him to a play. + He has come upon a foolish errand, and goes back as he comes. I was this + day with Lord Peterborow, who is going another ramble: I believe I told + you so. I dined with Lord Treasurer, but cannot get him to do his own + business with me; he has put me off till to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + 21, 22. I dined yesterday with Lord Treasurer, who would needs take me + along with him to Windsor, although I refused him several times, having no + linen, etc. I had just time to desire Lord Forbes(1) to call at my lodging + and order my man to send my things to-day to Windsor by his servant. I lay + last night at the Secretary's lodgings at Windsor, and borrowed one of his + shirts to go to Court in. The Queen is very well. I dined with Mr. Masham; + and not hearing anything of my things, I got Lord Winchelsea to bring me + to town. Here I found that Patrick had broke open the closet to get my + linen and nightgown, and sent them to Windsor, and there they are; and he, + not thinking I would return so soon, is gone upon his rambles: so here I + am left destitute, and forced to borrow a nightgown of my landlady, and + have not a rag to put on to-morrow: faith, it gives me the spleen. + </p> + <p> + 23. Morning. It is a terrible rainy day, and rained prodigiously on + Saturday night. Patrick lay out last night, and is not yet returned: + faith, poor Presto is a desolate creature; neither servant, nor linen, nor + anything.—Night. Lord Forbes's man has brought back my portmantua, + and Patrick is come; so I am in Christian circumstances: I shall hardly + commit such a frolic again. I just crept out to Mrs. Van's, and dined, and + stayed there the afternoon: it has rained all this day. Windsor is a + delicious place: I never saw it before, except for an hour about seventeen + years ago. Walls has been here in my absence, I suppose, to take his + leave; for he designed not to stay above five days in London. He says he + and his wife will come here for some months next year; and, in short, he + dares not stay now for fear of her. + </p> + <p> + 24. I dined to-day with a hedge(2) friend in the City; and Walls overtook + me in the street, and told me he was just getting on horseback for + Chester. He has as much curiosity as a cow: he lodged with his horse in + Aldersgate Street: he has bought his wife a silk gown, and himself a hat. + And what are you doing? what is poor MD doing now? how do you pass your + time at Wexford? how do the waters agree with you? Let Presto know soon; + for Presto longs to know, and must know. Is not Madam Proby curious + company? I am afraid this rainy weather will spoil your waters. We have + had a great deal of wet these three days. Tell me all the particulars of + Wexford: the place, the company, the diversions, the victuals, the wants, + the vexations. Poor Dingley never saw such a place in her life; sent all + over the town for a little parsley to a boiled chicken, and it was not to + be had; the butter is stark naught, except an old English woman's; and it + is such a favour to get a pound from her now and then! I am glad you + carried down your sheets with you, else you must have lain in sackcloth. O + Lord! + </p> + <p> + 25. I was this forenoon with Mr. Secretary at his office, and helped to + hinder a man of his pardon, who is condemned for a rape. The Under + Secretary was willing to save him, upon an old notion that a woman cannot + be ravished; but I told the Secretary he could not pardon him without a + favourable report from the judge; besides, he was a fiddler, and + consequently a rogue, and deserved hanging for some thing else; and so he + shall swing. What, I must stand up for the honour of the fair sex! 'Tis + true the fellow had lain with her a hundred times before, but what care I + for that! What, must a woman be ravished because she is a whore?—The + Secretary and I go on Saturday to Windsor for a week. I dined with Lord + Treasurer, and stayed with him till past ten. I was to-day at his levee, + where I went against my custom, because I had a mind to do a good office + for a gentleman: so I talked with him before my lord, that he might see + me, and then found occasion to recommend him this afternoon. I was forced + to excuse my coming to the levee, that I did it to see the sight; for he + was going to chide me away: I had never been there but once, and that was + long before he was Treasurer. The rooms were all full, and as many Whigs + as Tories. He whispered me a jest or two, and bid me come to dinner. I + left him but just now; and 'tis late. + </p> + <p> + 26. Mr. Addison and I have at last met again. I dined with him and Steele + to-day at young Jacob Tonson's. The two Jacobs(3) think it is I who have + made the Secretary take from them the printing of the Gazette, which they + are going to lose, and Ben Tooke and another(4) are to have it. Jacob came + to me the other day, to make his court; but I told him it was too late, + and that it was not my doing. I reckon they will lose it in a week or two. + Mr. Addison and I talked as usual, and as if we had seen one another + yesterday; and Steele and I were very easy, though I writ him lately a + biting letter, in answer to one of his, where he desired me to recommend a + friend of his to Lord Treasurer. Go, get you gone to your waters, sirrah. + Do they give you a stomach? Do you eat heartily?—We have had much + rain to-day and yesterday. + </p> + <p> + 27. I dined to-day in the City, and saw poor Patty Rolt, and gave her a + pistole to help her a little forward against she goes to board in the + country. She has but eighteen pounds a year to live on, and is forced to + seek out for cheap places. Sometimes they raise their price, and sometimes + they starve her, and then she is forced to shift. Patrick the puppy put + too much ink in my standish,(5) and, carrying too many things together, I + spilled it on my paper and floor. The town is dull, wet, and empty; + Wexford is worth two of it; I hope so at least, and that poor little MD + finds it so. I reckon upon going to Windsor to-morrow with Mr. Secretary, + unless he changes his mind, or some other business prevents him. I shall + stay there a week, I hope. + </p> + <p> + 28. Morning. Mr. Secretary sent me word he will call at my lodgings by two + this afternoon, to take me to Windsor; so I must dine nowhere; and I + promised Lord Treasurer to dine with him to-day; but I suppose we shall + dine at Windsor at five, for we make but three hours there.(6) I am going + abroad, but have left Patrick to put up my things, and to be sure to be at + home half an hour before two.—Windsor, at night. We did not leave + London till three, and dined here between six and seven; at nine I left + the company, and went to see Lord Treasurer, who is just come. I chid him + for coming so late; he chid me for not dining with him; said he stayed an + hour for me. Then I went and sat with Mr. Lewis till just now, and it is + past eleven. I lie in the same house with the Secretary, one of the + Prebendary's houses. The Secretary is not come from his apartment in the + Castle. Do you think that abominable dog Patrick was out after two to-day, + and I in a fright every moment, for fear the chariot should come; and when + he came in, he had not put up one rag of my things! I never was in a + greater passion, and would certainly have cropped one of his ears, if I + had not looked every moment for the Secretary, who sent his equipage to my + lodging before, and came in a chair from Whitehall to me, and happened to + stay half an hour later than he intended. One of Lord Treasurer's servants + gave me a letter to-night: I found it was from ——, with an + offer of fifty pounds, to be paid me in what manner I pleased; because, he + said, he desired to be well with me. I was in a rage;(7) but my friend + Lewis cooled me, and said it is what the best men sometimes meet with; and + I have been not seldom served in the like manner, although not so grossly. + In these cases I never demur a moment, nor ever found the least + inclination to take anything. Well, I will go try to sleep in my new bed, + and to dream of poor Wexford MD, and Stella that drinks water, and Dingley + that drinks ale. + </p> + <p> + 29. I was at Court and church to-day, as I was this day se'ennight: I + generally am acquainted with about thirty in the drawing-room, and I am so + proud I make all the lords come up to me: one passes half an hour pleasant + enough. We had a dunce to preach before the Queen to-day, which often + happens. Windsor is a delicious situation, but the town is scoundrel. I + have this morning got the Gazette for Ben Tooke and one Barber a printer; + it will be about three hundred pounds a year between them. The other + fellow was printer of the Examiner, which is now laid down.(8) I dined + with the Secretary: we were a dozen in all, three Scotch lords, and Lord + Peterborow. The Duke of Hamilton(9) would needs be witty, and hold up my + train as I walked upstairs. It is an ill circumstance that on Sundays much + company always meet at the great tables. Lord Treasurer told at Court what + I said to Mr. Secretary on this occasion. The Secretary showed me his bill + of fare, to encourage me to dine with him. "Poh," said I, "show me a bill + of company, for I value not your dinner." See how this is all blotted,(10) + I can write no more here, but to tell you I love MD dearly, and God bless + them. + </p> + <p> + 30. In my conscience, I fear I shall have the gout. I sometimes feel pains + about my feet and toes: I never drank till within these two years, and I + did it to cure my head. I often sit evenings with some of these people, + and drink in my turn; but I am now resolved to drink ten times less than + before; but they advise me to let what I drink be all wine, and not to put + water to it. Tooke and the printer stayed to-day to finish their affair, + and treated me and two of the Under Secretaries upon their getting the + Gazette. Then I went to see Lord Treasurer, and chid him for not taking + notice of me at Windsor. He said he kept a place for me yesterday at + dinner, and expected me there; but I was glad I did not go, because the + Duke of Buckingham was there, and that would have made us acquainted; + which I have no mind to. However, we appointed to sup at Mr. Masham's, and + there stayed till past one o'clock; and that is late, sirrahs: and I have + much business. + </p> + <p> + 31. I have sent a noble haunch of venison this afternoon to Mrs. + Vanhomrigh: I wish you had it, sirrahs. I dined gravely with my landlord + the Secretary. The Queen was abroad to-day in order to hunt; but, finding + it disposed to rain, she kept in her coach; she hunts in a chaise with one + horse, which she drives herself, and drives furiously, like Jehu, and is a + mighty hunter, like Nimrod. Dingley has heard of Nimrod, but not Stella, + for it is in the Bible. I was to-day at Eton, which is but just cross the + bridge, to see my Lord Kerry's son,(11) who is at school there. Mr. + Secretary has given me a warrant for a buck; I can't send it to MD. It is + a sad thing, faith, considering how Presto loves MD, and how MD would love + Presto's venison for Presto's sake. God bless the two dear Wexford girls! + </p> + <p> + Aug. 1. We had for dinner the fellow of that haunch of venison I sent to + London; 'twas mighty fat and good, and eight people at dinner; that was + bad. The Queen and I were going to take the air this afternoon, but not + together; and were both hindered by a sudden rain. Her coaches and chaises + all went back, and the guards too; and I scoured into the market-place for + shelter. I intended to have walked up the finest avenue I ever saw, two + miles long, with two rows of elms on each side. I walked in the evening a + little upon the terrace, and came home at eight: Mr. Secretary came soon + after, and we were engaging in deep discourse, and I was endeavouring to + settle some points of the greatest consequence, and had wormed myself + pretty well into him, when his Under Secretary came in (who lodges in the + same house with us) and interrupted all my scheme. I have just left him: + it is late, etc. + </p> + <p> + 2. I have been now five days at Windsor, and Patrick has been drunk three + times that I have seen, and oftener I believe. He has lately had clothes + that have cost me five pounds, and the dog thinks he has the whip-hand of + me: he begins to master me; so now I am resolved to part with him, and + will use him without the least pity. The Secretary and I have been walking + three or four hours to-day. The Duchess of Shrewsbury(12) asked him, was + not that Dr.—Dr.—and she could not say my name in English, but + said Dr. Presto, which is Italian for Swift. Whimsical enough, as Billy + Swift(13) says. I go to-morrow with the Secretary to his house at + Bucklebury, twenty-five miles from hence, and return early on Sunday + morning. I will leave this letter behind me locked up, and give you an + account of my journey when I return. I had a letter yesterday from the + Bishop of Clogher, who is coming up to his Parliament. Have you any + correspondence with him to Wexford? Methinks, I now long for a letter from + you, dated Wexford, July 24, etc. O Lord, that would be so pretending;(14) + and then, says you, Stella can't write much, because it is bad to write + when one drinks the waters; and I think, says you, I find myself better + already, but I cannot tell yet whether it be the journey or the waters. + Presto is so silly to-night; yes he be; but Presto loves MD dearly, as + hope saved. + </p> + <p> + 3. Morning. I am to go this day at noon, as I told you, to Bucklebury: we + dine at twelve, and expect to be there in four hours. I cannot bid you + good-night now, because I shall be twenty-five miles from this paper + to-night, and so my journal must have a break; so good-morrow, etc. + </p> + <p> + 4, 5. I dined yesterday at Bucklebury, where we lay two nights, and set + out this morning at eight, and were here at twelve; in four hours we went + twenty-six miles. Mr. Secretary was a perfect country gentleman at + Bucklebury: he smoked tobacco with one or two neighbours; he inquired + after the wheat in such a field; he went to visit his hounds, and knew all + their names; he and his lady saw me to my chamber just in the country + fashion. His house is in the midst of near three thousand pounds a year he + had by his lady,(15) who is descended from Jack Newbury, of whom books and + ballads are written; and there is an old picture of him in the house. She + is a great favourite of mine. I lost church to-day; but I dressed and + shaved, and went to Court, and would not dine with the Secretary, but + engaged myself to a private dinner with Mr. Lewis, and one friend more. We + go to London to-morrow; for Lord Dartmouth, the other Secretary, is come, + and they are here their weeks by turns. + </p> + <p> + 6. Lord Treasurer comes every Saturday to Windsor, and goes away on Monday + or Tuesday. I was with him this morning at his levee, for one cannot see + him otherwise here, he is so hurried: we had some talk; and I told him I + would stay this week at Windsor by myself, where I can have more leisure + to do some business that concerns them. Lord Treasurer and the Secretary + thought to mortify me; for they told me they had been talking a great deal + of me to-day to the Queen, and she said she had never heard of me. I told + them that was their fault, and not hers, etc., and so we laughed. I dined + with the Secretary, and let him go to London at five without me; and here + am I alone in the Prebendary's house, which Mr. Secretary has taken; only + Mr. Lewis is in my neighbourhood, and we shall be good company. The + Vice-Chamberlain,(16) and Mr. Masham, and the Green Cloth,(17) have + promised me dinners. I shall want but four till Mr. Secretary returns. We + have a music-meeting in our town to-night. I went to the rehearsal of it, + and there was Margarita,(18) and her sister, and another drab, and a + parcel of fiddlers: I was weary, and would not go to the meeting, which I + am sorry for, because I heard it was a great assembly. Mr. Lewis came from + it, and sat with me till just now; and 'tis late. + </p> + <p> + 7. I can do no business, I fear, because Mr. Lewis, who has nothing or + little to do here, sticks close to me. I dined today with the gentlemen + ushers, among scurvy company; but the Queen was hunting the stag till four + this afternoon, and she drove in her chaise above forty miles, and it was + five before we went to dinner. Here are fine walks about this town. I + sometimes walk up the avenue. + </p> + <p> + 8. There was a Drawing-room to-day at Court; but so few company, that the + Queen sent for us into her bed-chamber, where we made our bows, and stood + about twenty of us round the room, while she looked at us round with her + fan in her mouth, and once a minute said about three words to some that + were nearest her, and then she was told dinner was ready, and went out. I + dined at the Green Cloth, by Mr. Scarborow's(19) invitation, who is in + waiting. It is much the best table in England, and costs the Queen a + thousand pounds a month while she is at Windsor or Hampton Court, and is + the only mark of magnificence or hospitality I can see in the Queen's + family: it is designed to entertain foreign Ministers, and people of + quality, who come to see the Queen, and have no place to dine at. + </p> + <p> + 9. Mr. Coke, the Vice-Chamberlain, made me a long visit this morning, and + invited me to dinner; but the toast, his lady,(20) was unfortunately + engaged to Lady Sunderland.(21) Lord Treasurer stole here last night, but + did not lie at his lodgings in the Castle; and, after seeing the Queen, + went back again. I just drank a dish of chocolate with him. I fancy I + shall have reason to be angry with him very soon; but what care I? I + believe I shall die with Ministries in my debt.—This night I + received a certain letter from a place called Wexford, from two dear + naughty girls of my acquaintance; but, faith, I will not answer it here, + no in troth. I will send this to Mr. Reading, supposing it will find you + returned; and I hope better for the waters. + </p> + <p> + 10. Mr. Vice-Chamberlain lent me his horses to ride about and see the + country this morning. Dr. Arbuthnot, the Queen's physician and favourite, + went out with me to show me the places: we went a little after the Queen, + and overtook Miss Forester,(22) a maid of honour, on her palfrey, taking + the air; we made her go along with us. We saw a place they have made for a + famous horse-race to-morrow, where the Queen will come. We met the Queen + coming back, and Miss Forester stood, like us, with her hat off while the + Queen went by. The Doctor and I left the lady where we found her, but + under other conductors; and we dined at a little place he has taken, about + a mile off.—When I came back I found Mr. Scarborow had sent all + about to invite me to the Green Cloth, and lessened his company on purpose + to make me easy. It is very obliging, and will cost me thanks. Much + company is come to town this evening, to see to-morrow's race. I was tired + with riding a trotting mettlesome horse a dozen miles, having not been on + horseback this twelvemonth. And Miss Forester did not make it easier; she + is a silly true maid of honour, and I did not like her, although she be a + toast, and was dressed like a man.(23) + </p> + <p> + 11. I will send this letter to-day. I expect the Secretary by noon. I will + not go to the race unless I can get room in some coach. It is now morning. + I must rise, and fold up and seal my letter. Farewell, and God preserve + dearest MD. + </p> + <p> + I believe I shall leave this town on Monday. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 28. + </h2> + <h3> + WINDSOR, Aug. 11, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I sent away my twenty-seventh this morning in an express to London, and + directed to Mr. Reading: this shall go to your lodgings, where I reckon + you will be returned before it reaches you. I intended to go to the + race(1) to-day, but was hindered by a visit: I believe I told you so in my + last. I dined to-day at the Green Cloth, where everybody had been at the + race but myself, and we were twenty in all, and very noisy company; but I + made the Vice-Chamberlain and two friends more sit at a side table, to be + a little quiet. At six I went to see the Secretary, who is returned; but + Lord Keeper sent to desire I would sup with him, where I stayed till just + now: Lord Treasurer and Secretary were to come to us, but both failed. + 'Tis late, etc. + </p> + <p> + 12. I was this morning to visit Lord Keeper, who made me reproaches that I + had never visited him at Windsor. He had a present sent him of delicious + peaches, and he was champing and champing, but I durst not eat one; I + wished Dingley had some of them, for poor Stella can no more eat fruit + than Presto. Dilly Ashe is come to Windsor; and after church I carried him + up to the drawing-room, and talked to the Keeper and Treasurer, on purpose + to show them to him; and he saw the Queen and several great lords, and the + Duchess of Montagu;(2) he was mighty happy, and resolves to fill a letter + to the Bishop.(3) My friend Lewis and I dined soberly with Dr. Adams,(4) + the only neighbour prebendary. One of the prebendaries here is lately a + peer, by the death of his father. He is now Lord Willoughby of Broke,(5) + and will sit in the House of Lords with his gown. I supped to-night at + Masham's with Lord Treasurer, Mr. Secretary, and Prior. The Treasurer made + us stay till twelve, before he came from the Queen, and 'tis now past two. + </p> + <p> + 13. I reckoned upon going to London to-day; but by an accident the Cabinet + Council did not sit last night, and sat to-day, so we go to-morrow at six + in the morning. I missed the race to-day by coming out too late, when + everybody's coach was gone, and ride I would not: I felt my last riding + three days after. We had a dinner to-day at the Secretary's lodgings + without him: Mr. Hare,(6) his Under Secretary, Mr. Lewis, Brigadier + Sutton,(7) and I, dined together; and I made the Vice-Chamberlain take a + snap with us, rather than stay till five for his lady, who was gone to the + race. The reason why the Cabinet Council was not held last night was + because Mr. Secretary St. John would not sit with your Duke of + Somerset.(8) So to-day the Duke was forced to go to the race while the + Cabinet was held. We have music-meetings in our town, and I was at the + rehearsal t'other day; but I did not value it, nor would go to the + meeting. Did I tell you this before? + </p> + <p> + London, 14. We came to town this day in two hours and forty minutes: + twenty miles are nothing here. I found a letter from the Archbishop of + Dublin, sent me the Lord knows how. He says some of the bishops will + hardly believe that Lord Treasurer got the Queen to remit the First-Fruits + before the Duke of Ormond was declared Lord Lieutenant, and that the + bishops have written a letter to Lord Treasurer to thank him. He has sent + me the address of the Convocation, ascribing, in good part, that affair to + the Duke, who had less share in it than MD; for if it had not been for MD, + I should not have been so good a solicitor. I dined to-day in the City, + about a little bit of mischief, with a printer.—I found Mrs. + Vanhomrigh all in combustion, squabbling with her rogue of a landlord; she + has left her house, and gone out of our neighbourhood a good way. Her + eldest daughter is come of age, and going to Ireland to look after her + fortune, and get it in her own hands.(9) + </p> + <p> + 15. I dined to-day with Mrs. Van, who goes to-night to her new lodgings. I + went at six to see Lord Treasurer; but his company was gone, contrary to + custom, and he was busy, and I was forced to stay some time before I could + see him. We were together hardly an hour, and he went away, being in + haste. He desired me to dine with him on Friday, because there would be a + friend of his that I must see: my Lord Harley told me, when he was gone, + that it was Mrs. Masham his father meant, who is come to town to lie-in, + and whom I never saw, though her husband is one of our Society. God send + her a good time! her death would be a terrible thing.(10)—Do you + know that I have ventured all my credit with these great Ministers, to + clear some misunderstandings betwixt them; and if there be no breach, I + ought to have the merit of it. 'Tis a plaguy ticklish piece of work, and a + man hazards losing both sides. It is a pity the world does not know my + virtue.—I thought the clergy in Convocation in Ireland would have + given me thanks for being their solicitor; but I hear of no such thing. + Pray talk occasionally on that subject, and let me know what you hear. Do + you know the greatness of my spirit, that I value their thanks not a rush, + but at my return shall freely let all people know that it was my Lord + Treasurer's action, wherein the Duke of Ormond had no more share than a + cat? And so they may go whistle, and I'll go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 16. I was this day in the City, and dined at Pontack's(11) with Stratford, + and two other merchants. Pontack told us, although his wine was so good, + he sold it cheaper than others; he took but seven shillings a flask. Are + not these pretty rates? The books he sent for from Hamburg are come, but + not yet got out of the custom-house. My library will be at least double + when I come back. I shall go to Windsor again on Saturday, to meet our + Society, who are to sup at Mr. Secretary's; but I believe I shall return + on Monday, and then I will answer your letter, that lies here safe + underneath;—I see it; lie still: I will answer you when the ducks + have eaten up the dirt. + </p> + <p> + 17. I dined to-day at Lord Treasurer's with Mrs. Masham, and she is + extremely like one Mrs. Malolly, that was once my landlady in Trim. She + was used with mighty kindness and respect, like a favourite. It signifies + nothing going to this Lord Treasurer about business, although it be his + own. He was in haste, and desires I will come again, and dine with him + to-morrow. His famous lying porter is fallen sick, and they think he will + die: I wish I had all my half-crowns again. I believe I have told you he + is an old Scotch fanatic, and the damn'dest liar in his office alive.(12) + I have a mind to recommend Patrick to succeed him: I have trained him up + pretty well. I reckon for certain you are now in town. The weather now + begins to alter to rain. + </p> + <p> + Windsor, 18. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, and he would make me go + with him to Windsor, although I was engaged to the Secretary, to whom I + made my excuses: we had in the coach besides, his son and son-in-law, Lord + Harley and Lord Dupplin, who are two of our Society, and seven of us met + by appointment, and supped this night with the Secretary. It was past nine + before we got here, but a fine moonshiny night. I shall go back, I + believe, on Monday. 'Tis very late. + </p> + <p> + 19. The Queen did not stir out to-day, she is in a little fit of the gout. + I dined at Mr. Masham's; we had none but our Society members, six in all, + and I supped with Lord Treasurer. The Queen has ordered twenty thousand + pounds to go on with the building at Blenheim, which has been starved till + now, since the change of the Ministry.(13) I suppose it is to reward his + last action of getting into the French lines.(14) Lord Treasurer kept me + till past twelve. + </p> + <p> + London, 20. It rained terribly every step of our journey to-day: I + returned with the Secretary after a dinner of cold meat, and went to Mrs. + Van's, where I sat the evening. I grow very idle, because I have a great + deal of business. Tell me how you passed your time at Wexford; and are not + you glad at heart you have got home safe to your lodgings at St. Mary's, + pray? And so your friends come to visit you; and Mrs. Walls is much better + of her eye; and the Dean is just as he used to be: and what does Walls say + of London? 'tis a reasoning coxcomb. And Goody Stoyte, and Hannah what + d'ye call her; no, her name an't Hannah, Catherine I mean; they were so + glad to see the ladies again! and Mrs. Manley wanted a companion at ombre. + </p> + <p> + 21. I writ to-day to the Archbishop of Dublin, and enclosed a long politic + paper by itself. You know the bishops are all angry (smoke the wax-candle + drop at the bottom of this paper) I have let the world know the + First-Fruits were got by Lord Treasurer before the Duke of Ormond was + Governor. I told Lord Treasurer all this, and he is very angry; but I + pacified him again by telling him they were fools, and knew nothing of + what passed here; but thought all was well enough if they complimented the + Duke of Ormond. Lord Treasurer gave me t'other day a letter of thanks he + received from the bishops of Ireland, signed by seventeen; and says he + will write them an answer. The Dean of Carlisle sat with me to-day till + three; and I went to dine with Lord Treasurer, who dined abroad, so did + the Secretary, and I was left in the suds. 'Twas almost four, and I got to + Sir Matthew Dudley, who had half dined. Thornhill, who killed Sir Cholmley + Dering,(15) was murdered by two men, on Turnham Green, last Monday night: + as they stabbed him, they bid him remember Sir Cholmley Dering. They had + quarrelled at Hampton Court, and followed and stabbed him on horseback. We + have only a Grub Street paper of it, but I believe it is true. I went + myself through Turnham Green the same night, which was yesterday. + </p> + <p> + 22. We have had terrible rains these two or three days. I intended to dine + at Lord Treasurer's, but went to see Lady Abercorn, who is come to town, + and my lord; and I dined with them, and visited Lord Treasurer this + evening. His porter is mending. I sat with my lord about three hours, and + am come home early to be busy. Passing by White's Chocolate-house,(16) my + brother Masham called me, and told me his wife was brought to bed of a + boy, and both very well. (Our Society, you must know, are all brothers.) + Dr. Garth told us that Mr. Henley(17) is dead of an apoplexy. His + brother-in-law, Earl Poulett, is gone down to the Grange, to take care of + his funeral. The Earl of Danby,(18) the Duke of Leeds's eldest grandson, a + very hopeful young man of about twenty, is dead at Utrecht of the + smallpox.—I long to know whether you begin to have any good effect + by your waters.—Methinks this letter goes on slowly; 'twill be a + fortnight next Saturday since it was begun, and one side not filled. O fie + for shame, Presto! Faith, I'm so tosticated to and from Windsor, that I + know not what to say; but, faith, I'll go to Windsor again on Saturday, if + they ask me, not else. So lose your money again, now you are come home; + do, sirrah. + </p> + <p> + Take your magnifying-glass, Madam Dingley. + </p> + <p> + You shan't read this, sirrah Stella; don't read it for your life, for fear + of your dearest eyes. + </p> + <p> + There's enough for this side; these Ministers hinder me. Pretty, dear, + little, naughty, saucy MD. + </p> + <p> + Silly, impudent, loggerhead Presto. + </p> + <p> + 23. Dilly and I dined to-day with Lord Abercorn, and had a fine fat haunch + of venison, that smelt rarely on one side: and after dinner Dilly won half + a crown of me at backgammon at his lodgings, to his great content. It is a + scurvy empty town this melancholy season of the year; but I think our + weather begins to mend. The roads are as deep as in winter. The grapes are + sad things; but the peaches are pretty good, and there are some figs. I + sometimes venture to eat one, but always repent it. You say nothing of the + box sent half a year ago. I wish you would pay me for Mrs. Walls's tea. + Your mother is in the country, I suppose. Pray send me the account of MD, + Madam Dingley, as it stands since November,(19) that is to say, for this + year (excluding the twenty pounds lent Stella for Wexford), for I cannot + look in your letters. I think I ordered that Hawkshaw's interest should be + paid to you. When you think proper, I will let Parvisol know you have paid + that twenty pounds, or part of it; and so go play with the Dean, and I + will answer your letter to-morrow. Good-night, sirrahs, and love Presto, + and be good girls. + </p> + <p> + 24. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for not dining with + him yesterday, for it seems I did not understand his invitation; and their + Club of the Ministry dined together, and expected me. Lord Radnor(20) and + I were walking the Mall this evening; and Mr. Secretary met us, and took a + turn or two, and then stole away, and we both believed it was to pick up + some wench; and to-morrow he will be at the Cabinet with the Queen: so + goes the world! Prior has been out of town these two months, nobody knows + where, and is lately returned. People confidently affirm he has been in + France, and I half believe it. It is said he was sent by the Ministry, and + for some overtures towards a peace. The Secretary pretends he knows + nothing of it. I believe your Parliament will be dissolved. I have been + talking about the quarrel between your Lords and Commons with Lord + Treasurer, and did, at the request of some people, desire that the Queen's + answer to the Commons' address might express a dislike of some principles, + etc.; but was answered dubiously.—And so now to your letter, fair + ladies. I know drinking is bad; I mean writing is bad in drinking the + waters; and was angry to see so much in Stella's hand. But why Dingley + drinks them, I cannot imagine; but truly she'll drink waters as well as + Stella: why not? I hope you now find the benefit of them since you are + returned; pray let me know particularly. I am glad you are forced upon + exercise, which, I believe, is as good as the waters for the heart of + them. 'Tis now past the middle of August; so by your reckoning you are in + Dublin. It would vex me to the dogs that letters should miscarry between + Dublin and Wexford, after 'scaping the salt seas. I will write no more to + that nasty town in haste again, I warrant you. I have been four Sundays + together at Windsor, of which a fortnight together; but I believe I shall + not go to-morrow, for I will not, unless the Secretary asks me. I know all + your news about the Mayor: it makes no noise here at all, but the quarrel + of your Parliament does; it is so very extraordinary, and the language of + the Commons so very pretty. The Examiner has been down this month, and was + very silly the five or six last papers; but there is a pamphlet come out, + in answer to a letter to the seven Lords who examined Gregg.(21) The + Answer(22) is by the real author of the Examiner, as I believe; for it is + very well written. We had Trapp's poem on the Duke of Ormond(23) printed + here, and the printer sold just eleven of them. 'Tis a dull piece, not + half so good as Stella's; and she is very modest to compare herself with + such a poetaster. I am heartily sorry for poor Mrs. Parnell's(24) death; + she seemed to be an excellent good-natured young woman, and I believe the + poor lad is much afflicted; they appeared to live perfectly well together. + Dilly is not tired at all with England, but intends to continue here a + good while: he is mighty easy to be at distance from his two + sisters-in-law. He finds some sort of scrub acquaintance; goes now and + then in disguise to a play; smokes his pipe; reads now and then a little + trash, and what else the Lord knows. I see him now and then; for he calls + here, and the town being thin, I am less pestered with company than usual. + I have got rid of many of my solicitors, by doing nothing for them: I have + not above eight or nine left, and I'll be as kind to them. Did I tell you + of a knight who desired me to speak to Lord Treasurer to give him two + thousand pounds, or five hundred pounds a year, until he could get + something better? I honestly delivered my message to the Treasurer, + adding, the knight was a puppy, whom I would not give a groat to save from + the gallows. Cole Reading's father-in-law has been two or three times at + me, to recommend his lights to the Ministry, assuring me that a word of + mine would, etc. Did not that dog use to speak ill of me, and profess to + hate me? He knows not where I lodge, for I told him I lived in the + country; and I have ordered Patrick to deny me constantly to him.—Did + the Bishop of London(25) die in Wexford? poor gentleman! Did he drink the + waters? were you at his burial? was it a great funeral? so far from his + friends! But he was very old: we shall all follow. And yet it was a pity, + if God pleased. He was a good man; not very learned: I believe he died but + poor. Did he leave any charity legacies? who held up his pall? was there a + great sight of clergy? do they design a tomb for him?—Are you sure + it was the Bishop of London? because there is an elderly gentleman here + that we give the same title to: or did you fancy all this in your water, + as others do strange things in their wine? They say these waters trouble + the head, and make people imagine what never came to pass. Do you make no + more of killing a Bishop? are these your Whiggish tricks?—Yes, yes, + I see you are in a fret. O, faith, says you, saucy Presto, I'll break your + head; what, can't one report what one hears, without being made a jest and + a laughing-stock? Are these your English tricks, with a murrain? And + Sacheverell will be the next Bishop? He would be glad of an addition of + two hundred pounds a year to what he has, and that is more than they will + give him, for aught I see. He hates the new Ministry mortally, and they + hate him, and pretend to despise him too. They will not allow him to have + been the occasion of the late change; at least some of them will not: but + my Lord Keeper owned it to me the other day. No, Mr. Addison does not go + to Ireland this year: he pretended he would; but he is gone to Bath with + Pastoral Philips, for his eyes.—So now I have run over your letter; + and I think this shall go to-morrow, which will be just a fortnight from + the last, and bring things to the old form again, after your rambles to + Wexford, and mine to Windsor. Are there not many literal faults in my + letters? I never read them over, and I fancy there are. What do you do + then? do you guess my meaning, or are you acquainted with my manner of + mistaking? I lost my handkerchief in the Mall to-night with Lord Radnor; + but I made him walk with me to find it, and find it I did not. Tisdall(26) + (that lodges with me) and I have had no conversation, nor do we pull off + our hats in the streets. There is a cousin of his (I suppose,) a young + parson, that lodges in the house too; a handsome, genteel fellow. Dick + Tighe(27) and his wife lodged over against us; and he has been seen, out + of our upper windows, beating her two or three times: they are both gone + to Ireland, but not together; and he solemnly vows never to live with her. + Neighbours do not stick to say that she has a tongue: in short, I am told + she is the most urging, provoking devil that ever was born; and he a hot, + whiffling(28) puppy, very apt to resent. I'll keep this bottom till + to-morrow: I'm sleepy. + </p> + <p> + 25. I was with the Secretary this morning, who was in a mighty hurry, and + went to Windsor in a chariot with Lord Keeper; so I was not invited, and + am forced to stay at home, but not at all against my will; for I could + have gone, and would not. I dined in the City with one of my printers, for + whom I got the Gazette, and am come home early; and have nothing to say to + you more, but finish this letter, and not send it by the bellman. Days + grow short, and the weather grows bad, and the town is splenetic, and + things are so oddly contrived that I cannot be absent; otherwise I would + go for a few days to Oxford, as I promised.—They say it is certain + that Prior has been in France,(29) nobody doubts it: I had not time to ask + the Secretary, he was in such haste. Well, I will take my leave of dearest + MD for a while; for I must begin my next letter to-night: consider that, + young women; and pray be merry, and good girls, and love Presto. There is + now but one business the Ministry want me for, and when that is done, I + will take my leave of them. I never got a penny from them, nor expect it. + In my opinion, some things stand very ticklish; I dare say nothing at this + distance. Farewell, dear sirrahs, dearest lives: there is peace and quiet + with MD, and nowhere else. They have not leisure here to think of small + things, which may ruin them; and I have been forward enough. Farewell + again, dearest rogues; I am never happy but when I write or think of MD. I + have enough of Courts and Ministries, and wish I were at Laracor; and if I + could with honour come away this moment, I would. Bernage(30) came to see + me to-day; he is just landed from Portugal, and come to raise recruits; he + looks very well, and seems pleased with his station and manner of life. He + never saw London nor England before; he is ravished with Kent, which was + his first prospect when he landed. Farewell again, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 29. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Aug. 25, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I have got a pretty small gilt sheet of paper, to write to MD. I have this + moment sent my 28th by Patrick, who tells me he has put it in the + post-office; 'tis directed to your lodgings: if it wants more particular + direction, you must set me right. It is now a solar month and two days + since the date of your last, N.18; and I reckon you are now quiet at home, + and thinking to begin your 19th, which will be full of your quarrel + between the two Houses, all which I know already. Where shall I dine + to-morrow? can you tell? Mrs. Vanhomrigh boards now, and cannot invite + one; and there I used to dine when I was at a loss: and all my friends are + gone out of town, and your town is now at the fullest, with your + Parliament and Convocation. But let me alone, sirrahs; for Presto is going + to be very busy; not Presto, but the other I. + </p> + <p> + 26. People have so left the town that I am at a loss for a dinner. It is a + long time since I have been at London upon a Sunday; and the Ministers are + all at Windsor. It cost me eighteenpence in coach-hire before I could find + a place to dine in. I went to Frankland's,(1) and he was abroad, and the + drab his wife looked out at window, and bowed to me without inviting me + up: so I dined with Mr. Coote,(2) my Lord Mountrath's brother; my lord is + with you in Ireland. This morning at five my Lord Jersey(3) died of the + gout in his stomach, or apoplexy, or both: he was abroad yesterday, and + his death was sudden. He was Chamberlain to King William, and a great + favourite, turned out by the Queen as a Tory, and stood now fair to be + Privy Seal; and by his death will, I suppose, make that matter easier, + which has been a very stubborn business at Court, as I have been informed. + I never remember so many people of quality to have died in so short a + time. + </p> + <p> + 27. I went to-day into the City, to thank Stratford for my books, and dine + with him, and settle my affairs of my money in the Bank, and receive a + bill for Mrs. Wesley for some things I am to buy for her; and the d—— + a one of all these could I do. The merchants were all out of town, and I + was forced to go to a little hedge place for my dinner. May my enemies + live here in summer! and yet I am so unlucky that I cannot possibly be out + of the way at this juncture. People leave the town so late in summer, and + return so late in winter, that they have almost inverted the seasons. It + is autumn this good while in St. James's Park; the limes have been losing + their leaves, and those remaining on the trees are all parched: I hate + this season, where everything grows worse and worse. The only good thing + of it is the fruit, and that I dare not eat. Had you any fruit at Wexford? + A few cherries, and durst not eat them. I do not hear we have yet got a + new Privy Seal. The Whigs whisper that our new Ministry differ among + themselves, and they begin to talk out Mr. Secretary: they have some + reasons for their whispers, although I thought it was a greater secret. I + do not much like the posture of things; I always apprehended that any + falling out would ruin them, and so I have told them several times. The + Whigs are mighty full of hopes at present; and whatever is the matter, all + kind of stocks fall. I have not yet talked with the Secretary about + Prior's journey. I should be apt to think it may foretell a peace, and + that is all we have to preserve us. The Secretary is not come from + Windsor, but I expect him to-morrow. Burn all politics! + </p> + <p> + 28. We begin to have fine weather, and I walked to-day to Chelsea, and + dined with the Dean of Carlisle, who is laid up with the gout. It is now + fixed that he is to be Dean of Christ Church in Oxford. I was advising him + to use his interest to prevent any misunderstanding between our Ministers; + but he is too wise to meddle, though he fears the thing and the + consequences as much as I. He will get into his own warm, quiet deanery, + and leave them to themselves; and he is in the right.—When I came + home to-night, I found a letter from Mr. Lewis, who is now at Windsor; and + in it, forsooth, another which looked like Presto's hand; and what should + it be but a 19th from MD? O, faith, I 'scaped narrowly, for I sent my 28th + but on Saturday; and what should I have done if I had two letters to + answer at once? I did not expect another from Wexford, that is certain. + Well, I must be contented; but you are dear saucy girls, for all that, to + write so soon again, faith; an't you? + </p> + <p> + 29. I dined to-day with Lord Abercorn, and took my leave of them: they set + out to-morrow for Chester, and, I believe, will now fix in Ireland. They + have made a pretty good journey of it: his eldest son(4) is married to a + lady with ten thousand pounds; and his second son(5) has, t'other day, got + a prize in the lottery of four thousand pounds, beside two small ones of + two hundred pounds each: nay, the family was so fortunate, that my lord + bestowing one ticket, which is a hundred pounds, to one of his servants, + who had been his page, the young fellow got a prize, which has made it + another hundred. I went in the evening to Lord Treasurer, who desires I + will dine with him to-morrow, when he will show me the answer he designs + to return to the letter of thanks from your bishops in Ireland. The + Archbishop of Dublin desired me to get myself mentioned in the answer + which my lord would send; but I sent him word I would not open my lips to + my lord upon it. He says it would convince the bishops of what I have + affirmed, that the First-Fruits were granted before the Duke of Ormond was + declared Governor; and I writ to him that I would not give a farthing to + convince them. My Lord Treasurer began a health to my Lord Privy Seal: + Prior punned, and said it was so privy, he knew not who it was; but I + fancy they have fixed it all, and we shall know to-morrow. But what care + you who is Privy Seal, saucy sluttikins? + </p> + <p> + 30. When I went out this morning, I was surprised with the news that the + Bishop of Bristol is made Lord Privy Seal. You know his name is + Robinson,(6) and that he was many years Envoy in Sweden. All the friends + of the present Ministry are extremely glad, and the clergy above the rest. + The Whigs will fret to death to see a civil employment given to a + clergyman. It was a very handsome thing in my Lord Treasurer, and will + bind the Church to him for ever. I dined with him to-day, but he had not + written his letter;(see above, 29th Aug.) but told me he would not offer + to send it without showing it to me: he thought that would not be just, + since I was so deeply concerned in the affair. We had much company: Lord + Rivers, Mar,(7) and Kinnoull,(8) Mr. Secretary, George Granville, and + Masham: the last has invited me to the christening of his son to-morrow + se'ennight; and on Saturday I go to Windsor with Mr. Secretary. + </p> + <p> + 31. Dilly and I walked to-day to Kensington to Lady Mountjoy, who invited + us to dinner. He returned soon, to go to a play, it being the last that + will be acted for some time: he dresses himself like a beau, and no doubt + makes a fine figure. I went to visit some people at Kensington: Ophy + Butler's wife(9) there lies very ill of an ague, which is a very common + disease here, and little known in Ireland. I am apt to think we shall soon + have a peace, by the little words I hear thrown out by the Ministry. I + have just thought of a project to bite the town. I have told you that it + is now known that Mr. Prior has been lately in France. I will make a + printer of my own sit by me one day, and I will dictate to him a formal + relation of Prior's journey,(10) with several particulars, all pure + invention; and I doubt not but it will take. + </p> + <p> + Sept. 1. Morning. I go to-day to Windsor with Mr. Secretary; and Lord + Treasurer has promised to bring me back. The weather has been fine for + some time, and I believe we shall have a great deal of dust.—At + night. Windsor. The Secretary and I dined to-day at Parson's Green, at my + Lord Peterborow's house, who has left it and his gardens to the Secretary + during his absence. It is the finest garden I have ever seen about this + town; and abundance of hot walls for grapes, where they are in great + plenty, and ripening fast. I durst not eat any fruit but one fig; but I + brought a basket full to my friend Lewis here at Windsor. Does Stella + never eat any? what, no apricots at Donnybrook! nothing but claret and + ombre! I envy people maunching and maunching peaches and grapes, and I not + daring to eat a bit. My head is pretty well, only a sudden turn any time + makes me giddy for a moment, and sometimes it feels very stuffed; but if + it grows no worse, I can bear it very well. I take all opportunities of + walking; and we have a delicious park here just joining to the Castle, and + an avenue in the great park very wide and two miles long, set with a + double row of elms on each side. Were you ever at Windsor? I was once, a + great while ago; but had quite forgotten it. + </p> + <p> + 2. The Queen has the gout, and did not come to chapel, nor stir out from + her chamber, but received the sacrament there, as she always does the + first Sunday in the month. Yet we had a great Court; and, among others, I + saw your Ingoldsby,(11) who, seeing me talk very familiarly with the + Keeper, Treasurer, etc., came up and saluted me, and began a very + impertinent discourse about the siege of Bouchain. I told him I could not + answer his questions, but I would bring him one that should; so I went and + fetched Sutton (who brought over the express about a month ago), and + delivered him to the General, and bid him answer his questions; and so I + left them together. Sutton after some time comes back in a rage, finds me + with Lord Rivers and Masham, and there complains of the trick I had played + him, and swore he had been plagued to death with Ingoldsby's talk. But he + told me Ingoldsby asked him what I meant by bringing him; so, I suppose, + he smoked me a little. So we laughed, etc. My Lord Willoughby,(12) who is + one of the chaplains, and Prebendary of Windsor, read prayers last night + to the family; and the Bishop of Bristol, who is Dean of Windsor, + officiated last night at the Cathedral. This they do to be popular; and it + pleases mightily. I dined with Mr. Masham, because he lets me have a + select company: for the Court here have got by the end a good thing I said + to the Secretary some weeks ago. He showed me his bill of fare, to tempt + me to dine with him. "Poh," said I, "I value not your bill of fare; give + me your bill of company." Lord Treasurer was mightily pleased, and told it + everybody as a notable thing. I reckon upon returning to-morrow: they say + the Bishop will then have the Privy Seal delivered him at a great Council. + </p> + <p> + 3. Windsor still. The Council was held so late to-day that I do not go + back to town till to-morrow. The Bishop was sworn Privy Councillor, and + had the Privy Seal given him: and now the patents are passed for those who + were this long time to be made lords or earls. Lord Raby,(13) who is Earl + of Strafford, is on Thursday to marry a namesake of Stella's; the daughter + of Sir H. Johnson in the City; he has three-score thousand pounds with + her, ready money; besides the rest at the father's death. I have got my + friend Stratford to be one of the directors of the South Sea Company, who + were named to-day. My Lord Treasurer did it for me a month ago; and one of + those whom I got to be printer of the Gazette I am recommending to be + printer to the same company. He treated Mr. Lewis and me to-day at dinner. + I supped last night and this with Lord Treasurer, Keeper, etc., and took + occasion to mention the printer. I said it was the same printer whom my + Lord Treasurer has appointed to print for the South Sea Company. He + denied, and I insisted on it; and I got the laugh on my side. + </p> + <p> + London, 4. I came as far as Brentford in Lord Rivers's chariot, who had + business with Lord Treasurer; then I went into Lord Treasurer's. We + stopped at Kensington, where Lord Treasurer went to see Mrs. Masham, who + is now what they call in the straw. We got to town by three, and I lighted + at Lord Treasurer's, who commanded me not to stir: but I was not well; and + when he went up, I begged the young lord to excuse me, and so went into + the City by water, where I could be easier, and dined with the printer, + and dictated to him some part of Prior's Journey to France. I walked from + the City, for I take all occasions of exercise. Our journey was horridly + dusty. + </p> + <p> + 5. When I went out to-day, I found it had rained mightily in the night, + and the streets were as dirty as winter: it is very refreshing after ten + days dry.—I went into the City, and dined with Stratford, thanked + him for his books, gave him joy of his being director, of which he had the + first notice by a letter from me. I ate sturgeon, and it lies on my + stomach. I almost finished Prior's Journey at the printer's; and came home + pretty late, with Patrick at my heels. + </p> + <p> + 7. Morning. But what shall we do about this letter of MD's, N.19? Not a + word answered yet, and so much paper spent! I cannot do anything in it, + sweethearts, till night.—At night. O Lord, O Lord! the greatest + disgrace that ever was has happened to Presto. What do you think? but, + when I was going out this forenoon a letter came from MD, N.20, dated + Dublin. O dear, O dear! O sad, O sad!—Now I have two letters + together to answer: here they are, lying together. But I will only answer + the first; for I came in late. I dined with my friend Lewis at his + lodgings, and walked at six to Kensington to Mrs. Masham's son's + christening. It was very private; nobody there but my Lord Treasurer, his + son and son-in-law, that is to say, Lord Harley and Lord Dupplin, and Lord + Rivers and I. The Dean of Rochester(14) christened the child, but soon + went away. Lord Treasurer and Lord Rivers were godfathers; and Mrs. + Hill,(15) Mrs. Masham's sister, godmother. The child roared like a bull, + and I gave Mrs. Masham joy of it; and she charged me to take care of my + nephew, because, Mr. Masham being a brother of our Society, his son, you + know, is consequently a nephew. Mrs. Masham sat up dressed in bed, but + not, as they do in Ireland, with all smooth about her, as if she was cut + off in the middle; for you might see the counterpane (what d'ye call it?) + rise about her hips and body. There is another name of the counterpane; + and you will laugh now, sirrahs. George Granville came in at supper, and + we stayed till eleven; and Lord Treasurer set me down at my lodging in + Suffolk Street. Did I ever tell you that Lord Treasurer hears ill with the + left ear, just as I do? He always turns the right, and his servants + whisper him at that only. I dare not tell him that I am so too, for fear + he should think I counterfeited, to make my court. + </p> + <p> + 6. You must read this before the other; for I mistook, and forgot to write + yesterday's journal, it was so insignificant. I dined with Dr. Cockburn, + and sat the evening with Lord Treasurer till ten o'clock. On Thursdays he + has always a large select company, and expects me. So good-night for last + night, etc. + </p> + <p> + 8. Morning. I go to Windsor with Lord Treasurer to-day, and will leave + this behind me, to be sent to the post. And now let us hear what says the + first letter, N.19. You are still at Wexford, as you say, Madam Dingley. I + think no letter from me ever yet miscarried. And so Inish-Corthy,(16) and + the river Slainy; fine words those in a lady's mouth. Your hand like + Dingley's, you scambling,(17) scattering sluttikin! YES, MIGHTY LIKE + INDEED, IS NOT IT?(18) Pisshh, do not talk of writing or reading till your + eyes are well, and long well; only I would have Dingley read sometimes to + you, that you may not lose the desire of it. God be thanked, that the ugly + numbing is gone! Pray use exercise when you go to town. What game is that + ombra which Dr. Elwood(19) and you play at? is it the Spanish game ombre? + Your card-purse? you a card-purse! you a fiddlestick. You have luck + indeed; and luck in a bag. What a devil! is that eight-shilling tea-kettle + copper, or tin japanned? It is like your Irish politeness, raffling for + tea-kettles. What a splutter you keep, to convince me that Walls has no + taste! My head continues pretty well. Why do you write, dear sirrah + Stella, when you find your eyes so weak that you cannot see? what comfort + is there in reading what you write, when one knows that? So Dingley cannot + write, because of the clutter of new company come to Wexford! I suppose + the noise of their hundred horses disturbs you; or do you lie in one + gallery, as in an hospital? What! you are afraid of losing in Dublin the + acquaintance you have got in Wexford, and chiefly the Bishop of + Raphoe,(20) an old, doting, perverse coxcomb? Twenty at a time at + breakfast. That is like five pounds at a time, when it was never but once. + I doubt, Madam Dingley, you are apt to lie in your travels, though not so + bad as Stella; she tells thumpers, as I shall prove in my next, if I find + this receives encouragement.—So Dr. Elwood says there are a world of + pretty things in my works. A pox on his praises! an enemy here would say + more. The Duke of Buckingham would say as much, though he and I are + terribly fallen out; and the great men are perpetually inflaming me + against him: they bring me all he says of me, and, I believe, make it + worse out of roguery.—No, 'tis not your pen is bewitched, Madam + Stella, but your old SCRAWLING, SPLAY-FOOT POT-HOOKS, S, S,(21) ay that's + it: there the s, s, s, there, there, that's exact. Farewell, etc. + </p> + <p> + Our fine weather is gone; and I doubt we shall have a rainy journey + to-day. Faith, 'tis shaving-day, and I have much to do. When Stella says + her pen was bewitched, it was only because there was a hair in it. You + know, the fellow they call God-help-it had the same thoughts of his wife, + and for the same reason. I think this is very well observed, and I + unfolded the letter to tell you it. + </p> + <p> + Cut off those two notes above; and see the nine pounds indorsed, and + receive the other; and send me word how my accounts stand, that they may + be adjusted by Nov. 1.(22) Pray be very particular; but the twenty pounds + I lend you is not to be included: so make no blunder. I won't wrong you, + nor you shan't wrong me; that is the short. O Lord, how stout Presto is of + late! But he loves MD more than his life a thousand times, for all his + stoutness; tell them that; and that I'll swear it, as hope saved, ten + millions of times, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + I open my letter once more, to tell Stella that if she does not use + exercise after her waters, it will lose all the effects of them: I should + not live if I did not take all opportunities of walking. Pray, pray, do + this, to oblige poor Presto. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 30. + </h2> + <h3> + WINDSOR, Sept. 8, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I made the coachman stop, and put in my twenty-ninth at the post-office at + two o'clock to-day, as I was going to Lord Treasurer, with whom I dined, + and came here by a quarter-past eight; but the moon shone, and so we were + not in much danger of overturning; which, however, he values not a straw, + and only laughs when I chide at him for it. There was nobody but he and I, + and we supped together, with Mr. Masham, and Dr. Arbuthnot, the Queen's + favourite physician, a Scotchman. I could not keep myself awake after + supper, but did all I was able to disguise it, and thought I came off + clear; but, at parting, he told me I had got my nap already. It is now one + o'clock; but he loves sitting up late. + </p> + <p> + 9. The Queen is still in the gout, but recovering: she saw company in her + bed-chamber after church; but the crowd was so great, I could not see her. + I dined with my brother Sir William Wyndham,(1) and some others of our + Society, to avoid the great tables on Sunday at Windsor, which I hate. The + usual company supped to-night at Lord Treasurer's, which was Lord Keeper, + Mr. Secretary, George Granville, Masham, Arbuthnot, and I. But showers + have hindered me from walking to-day, and that I do not love.—Noble + fruit, and I dare not eat a bit. I ate one fig to-day, and sometimes a few + mulberries, because it is said they are wholesome, and you know a good + name does much. I shall return to town to-morrow, though I thought to have + stayed a week, to be at leisure for something I am doing. But I have put + it off till next; for I shall come here again on Saturday, when our + Society are to meet at supper at Mr. Secretary's. My life is very regular + here: on Sunday morning I constantly visit Lord Keeper, and sup at Lord + Treasurer's with the same set of company. I was not sleepy to-night; I + resolved I would not; yet it is past midnight at this present writing. + </p> + <p> + London, 10. Lord Treasurer and Masham and I left Windsor at three this + afternoon: we dropped Masham at Kensington with his lady, and got home by + six. It was seven before we sat down to dinner, and I stayed till past + eleven. Patrick came home with the Secretary: I am more plagued with + Patrick and my portmantua than with myself. I forgot to tell you that when + I went to Windsor on Saturday I overtook Lady Giffard and Mrs. Fenton(2) + in a chariot, going, I suppose, to Sheen. I was then in a chariot too, of + Lord Treasurer's brother, who had business with the Treasurer; and my lord + came after, and overtook me at Turnham Green, four miles from London; and + then the brother went back, and I went in the coach with Lord Treasurer: + so it happened that those people saw me, and not with Lord Treasurer. Mrs. + F. was to see me about a week ago; and desired I would get her son into + the Charter-house. + </p> + <p> + 11. This morning the printer sent me an account of Prior's Journey;(3) it + makes a twopenny pamphlet. I suppose you will see it, for I dare engage it + will run; 'tis a formal, grave lie, from the beginning to the end. I writ + all but about the last page; that I dictated, and the printer writ. Mr. + Secretary sent to me to dine where he did; it was at Prior's: when I came + in, Prior showed me the pamphlet, seemed to be angry, and said, "Here is + our English liberty!" I read some of it, and said I liked it mightily, and + envied the rogue the thought; for, had it come into my head, I should have + certainly done it myself. We stayed at Prior's till past ten; and then the + Secretary received a packet with the news of Bouchain being taken, for + which the guns will go off to-morrow. Prior owned his having been in + France, for it was past denying: it seems he was discovered by a rascal at + Dover, who had positive orders to let him pass. I believe we shall have a + peace. + </p> + <p> + 12. It is terrible rainy weather, and has cost me three shillings in + coaches and chairs to-day, yet I was dirty into the bargain. I was three + hours this morning with the Secretary about some business of moment, and + then went into the City to dine. The printer tells me he sold yesterday a + thousand of Prior's Journey, and had printed five hundred more. It will do + rarely, I believe, and is a pure bite. And what is MD doing all this + while? got again to their cards, their Walls, their deans, their Stoytes, + and their claret? Pray present my service to Mr. Stoyte and Catherine. + Tell Goody Stoyte she owes me a world of dinners, and I will shortly come + over and demand them.—Did I tell you of the Archbishop of Dublin's + last letter? He had been saying, in several of his former, that he would + shortly write to me something about myself; and it looked as if he + intended something for me: at last out it comes, and consists of two + parts. First, he advises me to strike in for some preferment now I have + friends; and secondly, he advises me, since I have parts, and learning, + and a happy pen, to think of some new subject in divinity not handled by + others, which I should manage better than anybody. A rare spark this, with + a pox! but I shall answer him as rarely. Methinks he should have invited + me over, and given me some hopes or promises. But hang him! and so + good-night, etc. + </p> + <p> + 13. It rained most furiously all this morning till about twelve, and + sometimes thundered; I trembled for my shillings, but it cleared up, and I + made a shift to get a walk in the Park, and then went with the Secretary + to dine with Lord Treasurer. Upon Thursdays there is always a select + company: we had the Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Rivers, the two Secretaries, + Mr. Granville, and Mr. Prior. Half of them went to Council at six; but + Rivers, Granville, Prior, and I, stayed till eight. Prior was often + affecting to be angry at the account of his journey to Paris; and indeed + the two last pages, which the printer got somebody to add,(4) are so + romantic, they spoil all the rest. Dilly Ashe pretended to me that he was + only going to Oxford and Cambridge for a fortnight, and then would come + back. I could not see him as I appointed t'other day; but some of his + friends tell me he took leave of them as going to Ireland; and so they say + at his lodging. I believe the rogue was ashamed to tell me so, because I + advised him to stay the winter, and he said he would. I find he had got + into a good set of scrub acquaintance, and I thought passed his time very + merrily; but I suppose he languished after Balderig, and the claret of + Dublin; and, after all, I think he is in the right; for he can eat, drink, + and converse better there than here. Bernage was with me this morning: he + calls now and then; he is in terrible fear of a peace. He said he never + had his health so well as in Portugal. He is a favourite of his Colonel. + </p> + <p> + 14. I was mortified enough to-day, not knowing where in the world to dine, + the town is so empty. I met H. Coote,(5) and thought he would invite me, + but he did not: Sir John Stanley did not come into my head; so I took up + with Mrs. Van, and dined with her and her damned landlady, who, I believe, + by her eyebrows, is a bawd. This evening I met Addison and Pastoral + Philips in the Park, and supped with them at Addison's lodgings: we were + very good company, and I yet know no man half so agreeable to me as he is. + I sat with them till twelve, so you may think it is late, young women; + however, I would have some little conversation with MD before your Presto + goes to bed, because it makes me sleep, and dream, and so forth. Faith, + this letter goes on slowly enough, sirrahs; but I cannot write much at a + time till you are quite settled after your journey, you know, and have + gone all your visits, and lost your money at ombre. You never play at + chess now, Stella. That puts me in mind of Dick Tighe; I fancy I told you + he used to beat his wife here; and she deserved it; and he resolves to + part with her; and they went to Ireland in different coaches. O Lord, I + said all this before, I am sure. Go to bed, sirrahs. + </p> + <p> + Windsor, 15. I made the Secretary stop at Brentford, because we set out at + two this afternoon, and fasting would not agree with me. I only designed + to eat a bit of bread-and-butter; but he would light, and we ate roast + beef like dragons. And he made me treat him and two more gentlemen; faith, + it cost me a guinea. I do not like such jesting, yet I was mightily + pleased with it too. To-night our Society met at the Secretary's: there + were nine of us; and we have chosen a new member, the Earl of Jersey,(6) + whose father died lately. 'Tis past one, and I have stolen away. + </p> + <p> + 16. I design to stay here this week by myself, about some business that + lies on my hands, and will take up a great deal of time. Dr. Adams,(7) one + of the canons, invited me to-day to dinner. The tables are so full here on + Sunday that it is hard to dine with a few, and Dr. Adams knows I love to + do so; which is very obliging. The Queen saw company in her bed-chamber; + she looks very well, but she sat down. I supped with Lord Treasurer as + usual, and stayed till past one as usual, and with our usual company, + except Lord Keeper, who did not come this time to Windsor. I hate these + suppers mortally, but I seldom eat anything. + </p> + <p> + 17. Lord Treasurer and Mr. Secretary stay here till tomorrow; some + business keeps them, and I am sorry for it, for they hinder me a day. Mr. + Lewis and I were going to dine soberly with a little Court friend at one. + But Lord Harley and Lord Dupplin kept me by force, and said we should dine + at Lord Treasurer's, who intended to go at four to London. I stayed like a + fool, and went with the two young lords to Lord Treasurer, who very fairly + turned us all three out of doors. They both were invited to the Duke of + Somerset, but he was gone to a horse-race, and would not come till five; + so we were forced to go to a tavern, and sent for wine from Lord + Treasurer's, who at last, we were told, did not go to town till the + morrow, and at Lord Treasurer's we supped again; and I desired him to let + me add four shillings to the bill I gave him. We sat up till two, yet I + must write to little MD. + </p> + <p> + 18. They are all gone early this morning, and I am alone to seek my + fortune; but Dr. Arbuthnot engages me for my dinners; and he yesterday + gave me my choice of place, person, and victuals for to-day. So I chose to + dine with Mrs. Hill, who is one of the dressers, and Mrs. Masham's sister, + no company but us three, and to have a shoulder of mutton, a small one; + which was exactly, only there was too much victuals besides; and the + Doctor's wife(8) was of the company. And to-morrow Mrs. Hill and I are to + dine with the Doctor. I have seen a fellow often about Court whom I + thought I knew. I asked who he was, and they told me it was the gentleman + porter; then I called him to mind; he was Killy's acquaintance (I won't + say yours); I think his name is Lovet,(9) or Lovel, or something like it. + I believe he does not know me, and in my present posture I shall not be + fond of renewing old acquaintance; I believe I used to see him with the + Bradleys; and, by the way, I have not seen Mrs. Bradley since I came to + England. I left your letter in London, like a fool; and cannot answer it + till I go back, which will not be until Monday next; so this will be above + a fortnight from my last; but I will fetch it up in my next; so go and + walk to the Dean's for your health this fine weather. + </p> + <p> + 19. The Queen designs to have cards and dancing here next week, which + makes us think she will stay here longer than we believed. Mrs. Masham is + not well after her lying-in: I doubt she got some cold; she is lame in one + of her legs with a rheumatic pain. Dr. Arbuthnot and Mrs. Hill go tomorrow + to Kensington to see her, and return the same night. Mrs. Hill and I dined + with the Doctor to-day. I rode out this morning with the Doctor to see + Cranburn, a house of Lord Ranelagh's,(10) and the Duchess of Marlborough's + lodge, and the Park; the finest places they are, for nature and + plantations, that ever I saw; and the finest riding upon artificial roads, + made on purpose for the Queen. Arbuthnot made me draw up a sham + subscription for a book, called A History of the Maids of Honour since + Harry the Eighth, showing they make the best wives, with a list of all the + maids of honour since, etc.; to pay a crown in hand, and the other crown + upon delivery of the book; and all in common forms of those things. We got + a gentleman to write it fair, because my hand is known; and we sent it to + the maids of honour, when they came to supper. If they bite at it, it will + be a very good Court jest; and the Queen will certainly have it: we did + not tell Mrs. Hill. + </p> + <p> + 20. To-day I was invited to the Green Cloth by Colonel Godfrey, who + married the Duke of Marlborough's sister,(11) mother to the Duke of + Berwick by King James: I must tell you those things that happened before + you were born. But I made my excuses, and young Harcourt (Lord Keeper's + son) and I dined with my next neighbour, Dr Adams.(12) Mrs. Masham is + better, and will be here in three or four days. She had need; for the + Duchess of Somerset is thought to gain ground daily.—We have not + sent you over all your bills; and I think we have altered your money-bill. + The Duke of Ormond is censured here, by those in power, for very wrong + management in the affair of the mayoralty.(13) He is governed by fools, + and has usually much more sense than his advisers, but never proceeds by + it. I must know how your health continues after Wexford. Walk and use + exercise, sirrahs both; and get somebody to play at shuttlecock with you, + Madam Stella, and walk to the Dean's and Donnybrook. + </p> + <p> + 21. Colonel Godfrey sent to me again to-day; so I dined at the Green + Cloth, and we had but eleven at dinner, which is a small number there, the + Court being always thin of company till Saturday night.—This new ink + and pen make a strange figure; I MUST WRITE LARGER, YES I MUST, OR STELLA + WILL NOT BE ABLE TO READ THIS.(14) S. S. S., there is your S's for you, + Stella. The maids of honour are bit, and have all contributed their + crowns, and are teasing others to subscribe for the book. I will tell Lord + Keeper and Lord Treasurer to-morrow; and I believe the Queen will have it. + After a little walk this evening, I squandered away the rest of it in + sitting at Lewis's lodging, while he and Dr. Arbuthnot played at picquet. + I have that foolish pleasure, which I believe nobody has beside me, except + old Lady Berkeley.(15) But I fretted when I came away: I will loiter so no + more, for I have a plaguy deal of business upon my hands, and very little + time to do it. The pamphleteers begin to be very busy against the + Ministry: I have begged Mr. Secretary to make examples of one or two of + them, and he assures me he will. They are very bold and abusive. + </p> + <p> + 22. This being the day the Ministry come to Windsor, I ate a bit or two at + Mr. Lewis's lodgings, because I must sup with Lord Treasurer; and at half + an hour after one, I led Mr. Lewis a walk up the avenue, which is two + miles long. We walked in all about five miles; but I was so tired with his + slow walking, that I left him here, and walked two miles towards London, + hoping to meet Lord Treasurer, and return with him; but it grew darkish, + and I was forced to walk back, so I walked nine miles in all; and Lord + Treasurer did not come till after eight; which is very wrong, for there + was no moon, and I often tell him how ill he does to expose himself so; + but he only makes a jest of it. I supped with him, and stayed till now, + when it is half an hour after two. He is as merry and careless and + disengaged as a young heir at one-and-twenty. 'Tis late indeed. + </p> + <p> + 23. The Secretary did not come last night, but at three this afternoon. I + have not seen him yet, but I verily think they are contriving a peace as + fast as they can, without which it will be impossible to subsist. The + Queen was at church to-day, but was carried in a chair. I and Mr. Lewis + dined privately with Mr. Lowman,(16) Clerk of the Kitchen. I was to see + Lord Keeper this morning, and told him the jest of the maids of honour; + and Lord Treasurer had it last night. That rogue Arbuthnot puts it all + upon me. The Court was very full to-day. I expected Lord Treasurer would + have invited me to supper; but he only bowed to me; and we had no + discourse in the drawing-room. It is now seven at night, and I am at home; + and I hope Lord Treasurer will not send for me to supper: if he does not, + I will reproach him; and he will pretend to chide me for not coming.—So + farewell till I go to bed, for I am going to be busy.—It is now past + ten, and I went down to ask the servants about Mr. Secretary: they tell me + the Queen is yet at Council, and that she went to supper, and came out to + the Council afterwards. It is certain they are managing a peace. I will go + to bed, and there is an end.—It is now eleven, and a messenger is + come from Lord Treasurer to sup with them; but I have excused myself, and + am glad I am in bed; for else I should sit up till two, and drink till I + was hot. Now I'll go sleep. + </p> + <p> + London, 24. I came to town by six with Lord Treasurer, and have stayed + till ten. That of the Queen's going out to sup, and coming in again, is a + lie, as the Secretary told me this morning; but I find the Ministry are + very busy with Mr. Prior, and I believe he will go again to France. I am + told so much, that we shall certainly have a peace very soon. I had + charming weather all last week at Windsor; but we have had a little rain + to-day, and yesterday was windy. Prior's Journey sells still; they have + sold two thousand, although the town is empty. I found a letter from Mrs. + Fenton here, desiring me, in Lady Giffard's name, to come and pass a week + at Sheen, while she is at Moor Park. I will answer it with a vengeance: + and now you talk of answering, there is MD's N.20 is yet to be answered: I + had put it up so safe, I could hardly find it; but here it is, faith, and + I am afraid I cannot send this till Thursday; for I must see the Secretary + to-morrow morning, and be in some other place in the evening. + </p> + <p> + 25. Stella writes like an emperor, and gives such an account of her + journey, never saw the like. Let me see; stand away, let us compute; you + stayed four days at Inish-Corthy, two nights at Mrs. Proby's mother's, and + yet was but six days in journey; for your words are, "We left Wexford this + day se'ennight, and came here last night." I have heard them say that + "travellers may lie by authority." Make up this, if you can. How far is it + from Wexford to Dublin? how many miles did you travel in a day?(17) Let me + see—thirty pounds in two months is nine score pounds a year; a + matter of nothing in Stella's purse! I dreamed Billy Swift was alive, and + that I told him you writ me word he was dead, and that you had been at his + funeral; and I admired at your impudence, and was in mighty haste to run + and let you know what lying rogues you were. Poor lad! he is dead of his + mother's former folly and fondness; and yet now I believe, as you say, + that her grief will soon wear off.—O yes, Madam Dingley, mightily + tired of the company, no doubt of it, at Wexford! And your description of + it is excellent; clean sheets, but bare walls; I suppose then you lay upon + the walls.—Mrs. Walls has got her tea; but who pays me the money? + Come, I shall never get it; so I make a present of it, to stop some gaps, + etc. Where's the thanks of the house? So, that's well; why, it cost + four-and-thirty shillings English—you must adjust that with Mrs. + Walls; I think that is so many pence more with you.—No, Leigh and + Sterne, I suppose, were not at the water-side: I fear Sterne's business + will not be done; I have not seen him this good while. I hate him, for the + management of that box; and I was the greatest fool in nature for trusting + to such a young jackanapes; I will speak to him once more about it, when I + see him. Mr. Addison and I met once more since, and I supped with him; I + believe I told you so somewhere in this letter. The Archbishop chose an + admirable messenger in Walls, to send to me; yet I think him fitter for a + messenger than anything.—The D—— she has! I did not + observe her looks. Will she rot out of modesty with Lady Giffard? I pity + poor Jenny(18)—but her husband is a dunce, and with respect to him + she loses little by her deafness. I believe, Madam Stella, in your + accounts you mistook one liquor for another, and it was an hundred and + forty quarts of wine, and thirty-two of water.—This is all written + in the morning before I go to the Secretary, as I am now doing. I have + answered your letter a little shorter than ordinary; but I have a mind it + should go to-day, and I will give you my journal at night in my next; for + I'm so afraid of another letter before this goes: I will never have two + together again unanswered.—What care I for Dr. Tisdall and Dr. + Raymond, or how many children they have! I wish they had a hundred apiece.—Lord + Treasurer promises me to answer the bishops' letter to-morrow, and show it + me; and I believe it will confirm all I said, and mortify those that threw + the merit on the Duke of Ormond; for I have made him jealous of it; and + t'other day, talking of the matter, he said, "I am your witness, you got + it for them before the Duke was Lord Lieutenant." My humble service to + Mrs. Walls, Mrs. Stoyte, and Catherine. Farewell, etc. + </p> + <p> + What do you do when you see any literal mistakes in my letters? how do you + set them right? for I never read them over to correct them. Farewell, + again. + </p> + <p> + Pray send this note to Mrs. Brent, to get the money when Parvisol comes to + town, or she can send to him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 31. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Sept. 25, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I dined in the City to-day, and at my return I put my 30th into the + post-office; and when I got home I found for me one of the noblest letters + I ever read: it was from ——, three sides and a half in folio, + on a large sheet of paper; the two first pages made up of satire upon + London, and crowds and hurry, stolen from some of his own schoolboy's + exercises: the side and a half remaining is spent in desiring me to + recommend Mrs. South, your Commissioner's widow,(1) to my Lord Treasurer + for a pension. He is the prettiest, discreetest fellow that ever my eyes + beheld, or that ever dipped pen into ink. I know not what to say to him. A + pox on him, I have too many such customers on this side already. I think I + will send him word that I never saw my Lord Treasurer in my life: I am + sure I industriously avoided the name of any great person when I saw him, + for fear of his reporting it in Ireland. And this recommendation must be a + secret too, for fear the Duke of Bolton(2) should know it, and think it + was too mean. I never read so d——d a letter in my life: a + little would make me send it over to you.—I must send you a pattern, + the first place I cast my eyes on, I will not pick and choose. IN THIS + PLACE (meaning the Exchange in London), WHICH IS THE COMPENDIUM OF OLD + TROYNOVANT, AS THAT IS OF THE WHOLE BUSY WORLD, I GOT SUCH A SURFEIT, THAT + I GREW SICK OF MANKIND, AND RESOLVED FOR EVER AFTER TO BURY MYSELF IN THE + SHADY RETREAT OF ——-. You must know that London has been + called by some Troynovant, or New Troy. Will you have any more? Yes, one + little bit for Stella, because she'll be fond of it. This wondrous theatre + (meaning London) was no more to me than a desert, and I should less + complain of solitude in a Connaught shipwreck, or even the great bog of + Allen. A little scrap for Mrs. Marget,(3) and then I have done. THEIR + ROYAL FANUM, WHEREIN THE IDOL PECUNIA IS DAILY WORSHIPPED, SEEMED TO ME TO + BE JUST LIKE A HIVE OF BEES WORKING AND LABOURING UNDER HUGE WEIGHTS OF + CARES. Fanum is a temple, but he means the Exchange; and Pecunia is money: + so now Mrs. Marget will understand her part. One more paragraph, and I— + Well, come, don't be in such a rage, you shall have no more. Pray, Stella, + be satisfied; 'tis very pretty: and that I must be acquainted with such a + dog as this!—Our peace goes on fast. Prior was with the Secretary + two hours this morning: I was there a little after he went away, and was + told it. I believe he will soon be despatched again to France; and I will + put somebody to write an account of his second journey: I hope you have + seen the other. This latter has taken up my time with storming at it. + </p> + <p> + 26. Bernage has been with me these two days; yesterday I sent for him to + let him know that Dr. Arbuthnot is putting in strongly to have his brother + made a captain over Bernage's(4) head. Arbuthnot's brother is but an + ensign, but the Doctor has great power with the Queen: yet he told me he + would not do anything hard to a gentleman who is my friend; and I have + engaged the Secretary and his Colonel(5) for him. To-day he told me very + melancholy, that the other had written from Windsor (where he went to + solicit) that he has got the company; and Bernage is full of the spleen. I + made the Secretary write yesterday a letter to the Colonel in Bernage's + behalf. I hope it will do yet; and I have written to Dr. Arbuthnot to + Windsor, not to insist on doing such a hardship. I dined in the City at + Pontack's, with Stratford; it cost me seven shillings: he would have + treated, but I did not let him. I have removed my money from the Bank to + another fund. I desire Parvisol may speak to Hawkshaw to pay in my money + when he can, for I will put it in the funds; and, in the meantime, borrow + so much of Mr. Secretary, who offers to lend it me. Go to the Dean's, + sirrahs. + </p> + <p> + 27. Bernage was with me again to-day, and is in great fear, and so was I; + but this afternoon, at Lord Treasurer's, where I dined, my brother, George + Granville, Secretary at War, after keeping me a while in suspense, told me + that Dr. Arbuthnot had waived the business, because he would not wrong a + friend of mine; that his brother is to be a lieutenant, and Bernage is + made a captain. I called at his lodging, and the soldier's coffee-house, + to put him out of pain, but cannot find him; so I have left word, and + shall see him to-morrow morning, I suppose. Bernage is now easy; he has + ten shillings a day, beside lawful cheating. However, he gives a private + sum to his Colonel, but it is very cheap: his Colonel loves him well, but + is surprised to see him have so many friends. So he is now quite off my + hands. I left the company early to-night, at Lord Treasurer's; but the + Secretary followed me, to desire I would go with him to W—. Mr. + Lewis's man came in before I could finish that word beginning with a W, + which ought to be Windsor, and brought me a very handsome rallying letter + from Dr. Arbuthnot, to tell me he had, in compliance to me, given up his + brother's pretensions in favour of Bernage, this very morning; that the + Queen had spoken to Mr. Granville to make the company easy in the other's + having the captainship. Whether they have done it to oblige me or no, I + must own it so. He says he this very morning begged Her Majesty to give + Mr. Bernage the company. I am mighty well pleased to have succeeded so + well; but you will think me tedious, although you like the man, as I + think. + </p> + <p> + Windsor, 28. I came here a day sooner than ordinary, at Mr. Secretary's + desire, and supped with him and Prior, and two private Ministers from + France, and a French priest.(6) I know not the two Ministers' names; but + they are come about the peace. The names the Secretary called them, I + suppose, were feigned; they were good rational men. We have already + settled all things with France, and very much to the honour and advantage + of England; and the Queen is in mighty good humour. All this news is a + mighty secret; the people in general know that a peace is forwarding. The + Earl of Strafford(7) is to go soon to Holland, and let them know what we + have been doing: and then there will be the devil and all to pay; but + we'll make them swallow it with a pox. The French Ministers stayed with us + till one, and the Secretary and I sat up talking till two; so you will own + 'tis late, sirrahs, and time for your little saucy Presto to go to bed and + sleep adazy; and God bless poor little MD: I hope they are now fast + asleep, and dreaming of Presto. + </p> + <p> + 29. Lord Treasurer came to-night, as usual, at half an hour after eight, + as dark as pitch. I am weary of chiding him; so I commended him for + observing his friend's advice, and coming so early, etc. I was two hours + with Lady Oglethorpe(8) to-night, and then supped with Lord Treasurer, + after dining at the Green Cloth: I stayed till two; this is the effect of + Lord Treasurer's being here; I must sup with him; and he keeps cursed + hours. Lord Keeper and the Secretary were absent; they cannot sit up with + him. This long sitting up makes the periods in my letters so short. I + design to stay here all the next week, to be at leisure by myself, to + finish something of weight I have upon my hands, and which must soon be + done. I shall then think of returning to Ireland, if these people will let + me; and I know nothing else they have for me to do. I gave Dr. Arbuthnot + my thanks for his kindness to Bernage, whose commission is now signed. + Methinks I long to know something of Stella's health, how it continues + after Wexford waters. + </p> + <p> + 30. The Queen was not at chapel to-day, and all for the better, for we had + a dunce to preach: she has a little of the gout. I dined with my brother + Masham, and a moderate company, and would not go to Lord Treasurer's till + after supper at eleven o'clock, and pretended I had mistaken the hour; so + I ate nothing: and a little after twelve the company broke up, the Keeper + and Secretary refusing to stay; so I saved this night's debauch. Prior + went away yesterday with his Frenchmen, and a thousand reports are raised + in this town. Some said they knew one to be the Abbe de Polignac: others + swore it was the Abbe du Bois. The Whigs are in a rage about the peace; + but we'll wherret(9) them, I warrant, boys. Go, go, go to the Dean's and + don't mind politics, young women, they are not good after the waters; they + are stark naught: they strike up into the head. Go, get two black aces, + and fish for a manilio. + </p> + <p> + Oct. 1. Sir John Walter,(10) an honest drunken fellow, is now in waiting, + and invited me to the Green Cloth to-day, that he might not be behindhand + with Colonel Godfrey, who is a Whig. I was engaged to the Mayor's feast + with Mr. Masham; but waiting to take leave of Lord Treasurer, I came too + late, and so returned sneaking to the Green Cloth, and did not see my Lord + Treasurer neither; but was resolved not to lose two dinners for him. I + took leave to-day of my friend and solicitor Lord Rivers, who is commanded + by the Queen to set out for Hanover on Thursday. The Secretary does not go + to town till to-morrow; he and I, and two friends more, drank a sober + bottle of wine here at home, and parted at twelve; he goes by seven + to-morrow morning, so I shall not see him. I have power over his cellar in + his absence, and make little use of it. Lord Dartmouth and my friend Lewis + stay here this week; but I can never work out a dinner from Dartmouth. + Masham has promised to provide for me: I squired his lady out of her + chaise to-day, and must visit her in a day or two. So you have had a long + fit of the finest weather in the world; but I am every day in pain that it + will go off. I have done no business to-day; I am very idle. + </p> + <p> + 2. My friend Lewis and I, to avoid over much eating and great tables, + dined with honest Jemmy Eckershall,(11) Clerk of the Kitchen, now in + waiting, and I bespoke my dinner: but the cur had your acquaintance Lovet, + the gentleman porter, to be our company. Lovet, towards the end of dinner, + after twenty wrigglings, said he had the honour to see me formerly at Moor + Park, and thought he remembered my face. I said I thought I remembered + him, and was glad to see him, etc., and I escaped for that much, for he + was very pert. It has rained all this day, and I doubt our good weather is + gone. I have been very idle this afternoon, playing at twelvepenny picquet + with Lewis: I won seven shillings, which is the only money I won this + year: I have not played above four times, and I think always at Windsor. + Cards are very dear: there is a duty on them of sixpence a pack, which + spoils small gamesters. + </p> + <p> + 3. Mr. Masham sent this morning to desire I would ride out with him, the + weather growing again very fine. I was very busy, and sent my excuses; but + desired he would provide me a dinner. I dined with him, his lady, and her + sister, Mrs. Hill, who invites us to-morrow to dine with her, and we are + to ride out in the morning. I sat with Lady Oglethorpe till eight this + evening, then was going home to write; looked about for the woman that + keeps the key of the house: she told me Patrick had it. I cooled my heels + in the cloisters till nine, then went in to the music-meeting, where I had + been often desired to go; but was weary in half an hour of their fine + stuff, and stole out so privately that everybody saw me; and cooled my + heels in the cloisters again till after ten: then came in Patrick. I went + up, shut the chamber door, and gave him two or three swinging cuffs on the + ear, and I have strained the thumb of my left hand with pulling him, which + I did not feel until he was gone. He was plaguily afraid and humbled. + </p> + <p> + 4. It was the finest day in the world, and we got out before eleven, a + noble caravan of us. The Duchess of Shrewsbury in her own chaise with one + horse, and Miss Touchet(12) with her, Mrs. Masham and Mrs. Scarborow, one + of the dressers, in one of the Queen's chaises; Miss Forester and Miss + Scarborow,(13) two maids of honour, and Mrs. Hill on horseback. The Duke + of Shrewsbury, Mr. Masham, George Fielding,(14) Arbuthnot, and I, on + horseback too. Mrs. Hill's horse was hired for Miss Scarborow, but she + took it in civility; her own horse was galled and could not be rid, but + kicked and winced: the hired horse was not worth eighteenpence. I borrowed + coat, boots, and horse, and in short we had all the difficulties, and more + than we used to have in making a party from Trim to Longfield's.(15) My + coat was light camlet, faced with red velvet, and silver buttons. We rode + in the great park and the forest about a dozen miles, and the Duchess and + I had much conversation: we got home by two, and Mr. Masham, his lady, + Arbuthnot and I, dined with Mrs. Hill. Arbuthnot made us all melancholy, + by some symptoms of bloody u—-e: he expects a cruel fit of the stone + in twelve hours; he says he is never mistaken, and he appears like a man + that was to be racked to-morrow. I cannot but hope it will not be so bad; + he is a perfectly honest man, and one I have much obligation to. It rained + a little this afternoon, and grew fair again. Lady Oglethorpe sent to + speak to me, and it was to let me know that Lady Rochester(16) desires she + and I may be better acquainted. 'Tis a little too late; for I am not now + in love with Lady Rochester: they shame me out of her, because she is old. + Arbuthnot says he hopes my strained thumb is not the gout; for he has + often found people so mistaken. I do not remember the particular thing + that gave it me, only I had it just after beating Patrick, and now it is + better; so I believe he is mistaken. + </p> + <p> + 5. The Duchess of Shrewsbury sent to invite me to dinner; but I was abroad + last night when her servant came, and this morning I sent my excuses, + because I was engaged, which I was sorry for. Mrs. Forester taxed me + yesterday about the History of the Maids of Honour;(17) but I told her + fairly it was no jest of mine; for I found they did not relish it + altogether well; and I have enough already of a quarrel with that brute + Sir John Walter, who has been railing at me in all companies ever since I + dined with him; that I abused the Queen's meat and drink, and said nothing + at the table was good, and all a d——d lie; for after dinner, + commending the wine, I said I thought it was something small. You would + wonder how all my friends laugh at this quarrel. It will be such a jest + for the Keeper, Treasurer, and Secretary.—I dined with honest + Colonel Godfrey, took a good walk of an hour on the terrace, and then came + up to study; but it grows bloody cold, and I have no waistcoat here. + </p> + <p> + 6. I never dined with the chaplains till to-day; but my friend Gastrell + and the Dean of Rochester(18) had often invited me, and I happened to be + disengaged: it is the worst provided table at Court. We ate on pewter: + every chaplain, when he is made a dean, gives a piece of plate, and so + they have got a little, some of it very old. One who was made Dean of + Peterborough (a small deanery) said he would give no plate; he was only + Dean of Pewterborough. The news of Mr. Hill's miscarriage in his + expedition(19) came to-day, and I went to visit Mrs. Masham and Mrs. Hill, + his two sisters, to condole with them. I advised them by all means to go + to the music-meeting to-night, to show they were not cast down, etc., and + they thought my advice was right, and went. I doubt Mr. Hill and his + admiral made wrong steps; however, we lay it all to a storm, etc. I sat + with the Secretary at supper; then we both went to Lord Treasurer's + supper, and sat till twelve. The Secretary is much mortified about Hill, + because this expedition was of his contriving, and he counted much upon + it; but Lord Treasurer was just as merry as usual, and old laughing at Sir + John Walter and me falling out. I said nothing grieved me but that they + would take example, and perhaps presume upon it, and get out of my + government; but that I thought I was not obliged to govern bears, though I + governed men. They promise to be as obedient as ever, and so we laughed; + and so I go to bed; for it is colder still, and you have a fire now, and + are at cards at home. + </p> + <p> + 7. Lord Harley and I dined privately to-day with Mrs. Masham and Mrs. + Hill, and my brother Masham. I saw Lord Halifax at Court, and we joined + and talked; and the Duchess of Shrewsbury came up and reproached me for + not dining with her. I said that was not so soon done, for I expected more + advances from ladies, especially duchesses: she promised to comply with + any demands I pleased; and I agreed to dine with her to-morrow, if I did + not go to London too soon, as I believe I shall before dinner. Lady + Oglethorpe brought me and the Duchess of Hamilton(20) together to-day in + the drawing-room, and I have given her some encouragement, but not much. + Everybody has been teasing Walter. He told Lord Treasurer that he took his + company from him that were to dine with him: my lord said, "I will send + you Dr. Swift:" Lord Keeper bid him take care what he did; "for," said he, + "Dr. Swift is not only all our favourite, but our governor." The old + company supped with Lord Treasurer, and got away by twelve. + </p> + <p> + London, 8. I believe I shall go no more to Windsor, for we expect the + Queen will come in ten days to Hampton Court. It was frost last night, and + cruel cold to-day. I could not dine with the Duchess, for I left Windsor + half an hour after one with Lord Treasurer, and we called at Kensington, + where Mrs. Masham was got to see her children for two days. I dined, or + rather supped, with Lord Treasurer, and stayed till after ten. Tisdall(21) + and his family are gone from hence, upon some wrangle with the family. + Yesterday I had two letters brought me to Mr. Masham's; one from Ford, and + t'other from our little MD, N.21. I would not tell you till to-day, + because I would not. I won't answer it till the next, because I have + slipped two days by being at Windsor, which I must recover here. Well, + sirrahs, I must go to sleep. The roads were as dry as at midsummer to-day. + This letter shall go to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + 9. Morning. It rains hard this morning. I suppose our fair weather is now + at an end. I think I'll put on my waistcoat to-day: shall I? Well, I will + then, to please MD. I think of dining at home to-day upon a chop and a + pot. The town continues yet very thin. Lord Strafford is gone to Holland, + to tell them what we have done here toward a peace. We shall soon hear + what the Dutch say, and how they take it. My humble service to Mrs. Walls, + Mrs. Stoyte, and Catherine.—Morrow, dearest sirrahs, and farewell; + and God Almighty bless MD, poor little dear MD, for so I mean, and Presto + too. I'll write to you again to-night, that is, I'll begin my next letter. + Farewell, etc. + </p> + <p> + This little bit belongs to MD; we must always write on the margin:(22) you + are saucy rogues. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 32. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Oct. 9, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I was forced to lie down at twelve to-day, and mend my night's sleep: I + slept till after two, and then sent for a bit of mutton and pot of ale + from the next cook's shop, and had no stomach. I went out at four, and + called to see Biddy Floyd, which I had not done these three months: she is + something marked, but has recovered her complexion quite, and looks very + well. Then I sat the evening with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and drank coffee, and + ate an egg. I likewise took a new lodging to-day, not liking a + ground-floor, nor the ill smell, and other circumstances. I lodge, or + shall lodge, by Leicester Fields, and pay ten shillings a week; that won't + hold out long, faith. I shall lie here but one night more. It rained + terribly till one o'clock to-day. I lie, for I shall lie here two nights, + till Thursday, and then remove. Did I tell you that my friend Mrs. Barton + has a brother(1) drowned, that went on the expedition with Jack Hill? He + was a lieutenant-colonel, and a coxcomb; and she keeps her chamber in + form, and the servants say she receives no messages.—Answer MD's + letter, Presto, d'ye hear? No, says Presto, I won't yet, I'm busy; you're + a saucy rogue. Who talks? + </p> + <p> + 10. It cost me two shillings in coach-hire to dine in the City with a + printer. I have sent, and caused to be sent, three pamphlets out in a + fortnight. I will ply the rogues warm; and whenever anything of theirs + makes a noise, it shall have an answer. I have instructed an under + spur-leather to write so, that it is taken for mine. A rogue that writes a + newspaper, called The Protestant Postboy, has reflected on me in one of + his papers; but the Secretary has taken him up, and he shall have a + squeeze extraordinary. He says that an ambitious tantivy,(2) missing of + his towering hopes of preferment in Ireland, is come over to vent his + spleen on the late Ministry, etc. I'll tantivy him with a vengeance. I sat + the evening at home, and am very busy, and can hardly find time to write, + unless it were to MD. I am in furious haste. + </p> + <p> + 11. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer. Thursdays are now his days when + his choice company comes, but we are too much multiplied. George Granville + sent his excuses upon being ill; I hear he apprehends the apoplexy, which + would grieve me much. Lord Treasurer calls Prior nothing but Monsieur + Baudrier, which was the feigned name of the Frenchman that writ his + Journey to Paris.(3) They pretend to suspect me, so I talk freely of it, + and put them out of their play. Lord Treasurer calls me now Dr. Martin, + because martin(4) is a sort of a swallow, and so is a swift. When he and I + came last Monday from Windsor, we were reading all the signs on the + road.(5) He is a pure trifler; tell the Bishop of Clogher so. I made him + make two lines in verse for the Bell and Dragon, and they were rare bad + ones. I suppose Dilly is with you by this time: what could his reason be + of leaving London, and not owning it? 'Twas plaguy silly. I believe his + natural inconstancy made him weary. I think he is the king of inconstancy. + I stayed with Lord Treasurer till ten; we had five lords and three + commoners. Go to ombre, sirrahs. + </p> + <p> + 12. Mrs. Vanhomrigh has changed her lodging as well as I. She found she + had got with a bawd, and removed. I dined with her to-day; for though she + boards, her landlady does not dine with her. I am grown a mighty lover of + herrings; but they are much smaller here than with you. In the afternoon I + visited an old major-general, and ate six oysters; then sat an hour with + Mrs. Colledge,(6) the joiner's daughter that was hanged; it was the joiner + was hanged, and not his daughter; with Thompson's wife, a magistrate. + There was the famous Mrs. Floyd of Chester, who, I think, is the + handsomest woman (except MD) that ever I saw. She told me that twenty + people had sent her the verses upon Biddy,(7) as meant to her: and, + indeed, in point of handsomeness, she deserves them much better. I will + not go to Windsor to-morrow, and so I told the Secretary to-day. I hate + the thoughts of Saturday and Sunday suppers with Lord Treasurer. Jack Hill + is come home from his unfortunate expedition, and is, I think, now at + Windsor: I have not yet seen him. He is privately blamed by his own + friends for want of conduct. He called a council of war, and therein it + was determined to come back. But they say a general should not do that, + because the officers will always give their opinion for returning, since + the blame will not lie upon them, but the general. I pity him heartily. + Bernage received his commission to-day. + </p> + <p> + 13. I dined to-day with Colonel Crowe,(8) late Governor of Barbadoes; he + is a great acquaintance of your friend Sterne, to whom I trusted the box. + Lord Treasurer has refused Sterne's business, and I doubt he is a rake; + Jemmy Leigh stays for him, and nobody knows where to find him. I am so + busy now I have hardly time to spare to write to our little MD, but in a + fortnight I hope it will be over. I am going now to be busy, etc. + </p> + <p> + 14. I was going to dine with Dr. Cockburn, but Sir Andrew Fountaine met + me, and carried me to Mrs. Van's, where I drank the last bottle of + Raymond's wine, admirable good, better than any I get among the Ministry. + I must pick up time to answer this letter of MD's; I'll do it in a day or + two for certain.—I am glad I am not at Windsor, for it is very cold, + and I won't have a fire till November. I am contriving how to stop up my + grate with bricks. Patrick was drunk last night; but did not come to me, + else I should have given him t'other cuff. I sat this evening with Mrs. + Barton; it is the first day of her seeing company; but I made her merry + enough, and we were three hours disputing upon Whig and Tory. She grieved + for her brother only for form, and he was a sad dog. Is Stella well enough + to go to church, pray? no numbings left? no darkness in your eyes? do you + walk and exercise? Your exercise is ombre.—People are coming up to + town: the Queen will be at Hampton Court in a week. Lady Betty Germaine, I + hear, is come; and Lord Pembroke is coming: his wife(9) is as big with + child as she can tumble. + </p> + <p> + 15. I sat at home till four this afternoon to-day writing, and ate a roll + and butter; then visited Will Congreve an hour or two, and supped with + Lord Treasurer, who came from Windsor to-day, and brought Prior with him. + The Queen has thanked Prior for his good service in France, and promised + to make him a Commissioner of the Customs. Several of that Commission are + to be out; among the rest, my friend Sir Matthew Dudley. I can do nothing + for him, he is so hated by the Ministry. Lord Treasurer kept me till + twelve, so I need not tell you it is now late. + </p> + <p> + 16. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary at Dr. Coatesworth's,(10) where he + now lodges till his house be got ready in Golden Square. One Boyer,(11) a + French dog, has abused me in a pamphlet, and I have got him up in a + messenger's hands: the Secretary promises me to swinge him. Lord Treasurer + told me last night that he had the honour to be abused with me in a + pamphlet. I must make that rogue an example, for warning to others. I was + to see Jack Hill this morning, who made that unfortunate expedition; and + there is still more misfortune; for that ship, which was admiral of his + fleet,(12) is blown up in the Thames, by an accident and carelessness of + some rogue, who was going, as they think, to steal some gunpowder: five + hundred men are lost. We don't yet know the particulars. I am got home by + seven, and am going to be busy, and you are going to play and supper; you + live ten times happier than I; but I should live ten times happier than + you if I were with MD. I saw Jemmy Leigh to-day in the street, who tells + me that Sterne has not lain above once these three weeks in his lodgings, + and he doubts he takes ill courses; he stays only till he can find Sterne + to go along with him, and he cannot hear of him. I begged him to inquire + about the box when he comes to Chester, which he promises. + </p> + <p> + 17. The Secretary and I dined to-day with Brigadier Britton,(13) a great + friend of his. The lady of the house is very gallant, about thirty-five; + she is said to have a great deal of wit; but I see nothing among any of + them that equals MD by a bar's length, as hope saved. My Lord Treasurer is + much out of order; he has a sore throat, and the gravel, and a pain in his + breast where the wound was: pray God preserve him. The Queen comes to + Hampton Court on Tuesday next; people are coming fast to town, and I must + answer MD's letter, which I can hardly find time to do, though I am at + home the greatest part of the day. Lady Betty Germaine and I were + disputing Whig and Tory to death this morning. She is grown very fat, and + looks mighty well. Biddy Floyd was there, and she is, I think, very much + spoiled with the smallpox. + </p> + <p> + 18. Lord Treasurer is still out of order, and that breaks our method of + dining there to-day. He is often subject to a sore throat, and some time + or other it will kill him, unless he takes more care than he is apt to do. + It was said about the town that poor Lord Peterborow was dead at + Frankfort; but he is something better, and the Queen is sending him to + Italy, where I hope the warm climate will recover him: he has abundance of + excellent qualities, and we love one another mightily. I was this + afternoon in the City, ate a bit of meat, and settled some things with a + printer. I will answer your letter on Saturday, if possible, and then send + away this; so to fetch up the odd days I lost at Windsor, and keep + constant to my fortnight. Ombre time is now coming on, and we shall have + nothing but Manley, and Walls, and Stoytes, and the Dean. Have you got no + new acquaintance? Poor girls; nobody knows MD's good qualities.—'Tis + very cold; but I will not have a fire till November, that's pozz.—Well, + but coming home to-night, I found on my table a letter from MD; faith, I + was angry, that is, with myself; and I was afraid too to see MD's hand so + soon, for fear of something, I don't know what: at last I opened it, and + it was over well, and a bill for the two hundred guineas. However, 'tis a + sad thing that this letter is not gone, nor your twenty-first answered + yet. + </p> + <p> + 19. I was invited to-day to dine with Mrs. Van, with some company who did + not come; but I ate nothing but herrings; you must know I hardly ever eat + of above one thing, and that the plainest ordinary meat at table; I love + it best, and believe it wholesomest. You love rarities; yes you do; I wish + you had all that I ever see where I go. I was coming home early, and met + the Secretary in his chair, who persuaded me to go with him to Britton's; + for he said he had been all day at business, and had eaten nothing. So I + went, and the time passed so, that we stayed till two, so you may believe + 'tis late enough. + </p> + <p> + 20. This day has gone all wrong, by sitting up so late last night. Lord + Treasurer is not yet well, and can't go to Windsor. I dined with Sir + Matthew Dudley, and took occasion to hint to him that he would lose his + employment, for which I am very sorry. Lord Pembroke and his family are + all come to town. I was kept so long at a friend's this evening that I + cannot send this to-night. When I knocked at my lodgings, a fellow asked + me where lodged Dr. Swift? I told him I was the person: he gave me a + letter he brought from the Secretary's office, and I gave him a shilling: + when I came up, I saw Dingley's hand: faith, I was afraid, I do not know + what. At last it was a formal letter, from Dingley about her exchequer + business. Well, I'll do it on Monday, and settle it with Tooke. And now, + boys, for your letter, I mean the first, N.21. Let's see; come out, little + letter. I never had the letter from the Bishop that Raymond mentions; but + I have written to Ned Southwell, to desire the Duke of Ormond to speak to + his reverence, that he may leave off his impertinence. What a pox can they + think I am doing for the Archbishop here? You have a pretty notion of me + in Ireland, to make me an agent for the Archbishop of Dublin.—Why! + do you think I value your people's ingratitude about my part in serving + them? I remit them their first-fruits of ingratitude, as freely as I got + the other remitted to them. The Lord Treasurer defers writing his letter + to them, or else they would be plaguily confounded by this time. For he + designs to give the merit of it wholly to the Queen and me, and to let + them know it was done before the Duke of Ormond was Lord Lieutenant. You + visit, you dine abroad, you see friends; you pilgarlick;(14) you walk from + Finglas, you a cat's foot. O Lord—Lady Gore(15) hung her child by + the WAIST; what is that waist?(16) I don't understand that word; he must + hang on till you explain or spell it.—I don't believe he was pretty, + that's a liiii.—Pish! burn your First-Fruits; again at it. Stella + has made twenty false spellings in her writing; I'll send them to you all + back again on the other side of this letter, to mend them; I won't miss + one. Why, I think there were seventeen bishops' names to the letter Lord + Oxford received.—I will send you some pamphlets by Leigh; put me in + mind of it on Monday, for I shall go then to the printer; yes, and the + Miscellany. I am mightily obliged to Walls, but I don't deserve it by any + usage of him here, having seen him but twice, and once en passant. Mrs. + Manley forsworn ombre! What! and no blazing star appear? no monsters born? + no whale thrown up? have you not found out some evasion for her? She had + no such regard to oaths in her younger days. I got the books for nothing, + Madam Dingley; but the wine I got not; it was but a promise.—Yes, my + head is pretty well in the main, only now and then a little threatening or + so.—You talk of my reconciling some great folks. I tell you what. + The Secretary told me last night that he had found the reason why the + Queen was cold to him for some months past; that a friend had told it him + yesterday; and it was, that they suspected he was at the bottom with the + Duke of Marlborough. Then he said he had reflected upon all I had spoken + to him long ago, but he thought it had only been my suspicion, and my zeal + and kindness for him. I said I had reason to take that very ill, to + imagine I knew so little of the world as to talk at a venture to a great + Minister; that I had gone between him and Lord Treasurer often, and told + each of them what I had said to the other, and that I had informed him so + before. He said all that you may imagine to excuse himself, and approve my + conduct. I told him I knew all along that this proceeding of mine was the + surest way to send me back to my willows in Ireland, but that I regarded + it not, provided I could do the kingdom service in keeping them well + together. I minded him how often I had told Lord Treasurer, Lord Keeper, + and him together, that all things depended on their union, and that my + comfort was to see them love one another; and I had told them all singly + that I had not said this by chance, etc. He was in a rage to be thus + suspected; swears he will be upon a better foot, or none at all; and I do + not see how they can well want him in this juncture. I hope to find a way + of settling this matter. I act an honest part, that will bring me neither + honour nor praise. MD must think the better of me for it: nobody else + shall ever know of it. Here's politics enough for once; but Madam DD gave + me occasion for it. I think I told you I have got into lodgings that don't + smell ill—O Lord! the spectacles: well, I'll do that on Monday too; + although it goes against me to be employed for folks that neither you nor + I care a groat for. Is the eight pounds from Hawkshaw included in the + thirty-nine pounds five shillings and twopence? How do I know by this how + my account stands? Can't you write five or six lines to cast it up? Mine + is forty-four pounds per annum, and eight pounds from Hawkshaw makes + fifty-two pounds. Pray set it right, and let me know; you had best.—And + so now I have answered N.21, and 'tis late, and I will answer N.22 in my + next: this cannot go to-night, but shall on Tuesday: and so go to your + play, and lose your money, with your two eggs a penny; silly jade; you + witty? very pretty. + </p> + <p> + 21. Mrs. Van would have me dine with her again to-day, and so I did, + though Lady Mountjoy has sent two or three times to have me see and dine + with her, and she is a little body I love very well. My head has ached a + little in the evenings these three or four days, but it is not of the + giddy sort, so I do not much value it. I was to see Lord Harley to-day, + but Lord Treasurer took physic; and I could not see him. He has voided + much gravel, and is better, but not well: he talks of going on Tuesday to + see the Queen at Hampton Court; I wish he may be able. I never saw so fine + a summer day as this was: how is it with you, pray? and can't you + remember, naughty packs? I han't seen Lord Pembroke yet. He will be sorry + to miss Dilly: I wonder you say nothing of Dilly's being got to Ireland; + if he be not there soon, I shall have some certain odd thoughts: guess + them if you can. + </p> + <p> + 22. I dined in the City to-day with Dr. Freind, at one of my printers: I + inquired for Leigh, but could not find him: I have forgot what sort of + apron you want. I must rout among your letters, a needle in a bottle of + hay. I gave Sterne directions, but where to find him Lord knows. I have + bespoken the spectacles; got a set of Examiners, and five pamphlets, which + I have either written or contributed to, except the best, which is the + vindication of the Duke of Marlborough, and is entirely of the author of + the Atalantis.(17) I have settled Dingley's affair with Tooke, who has + undertaken it, and understands it. I have bespoken a Miscellany: what + would you have me do more? It cost me a shilling coming home; it rains + terribly, and did so in the morning. Lord Treasurer has had an ill day, in + much pain. He writes and does business in his chamber now he is ill: the + man is bewitched: he desires to see me, and I'll maul him, but he will not + value it a rush. I am half weary of them all. I often burst out into these + thoughts, and will certainly steal away as soon as I decently can. I have + many friends, and many enemies; and the last are more constant in their + nature. I have no shuddering at all to think of retiring to my old + circumstances, if you can be easy; but I will always live in Ireland as I + did the last time; I will not hunt for dinners there, nor converse with + more than a very few. + </p> + <p> + 23. Morning. This goes to-day, and shall be sealed by and by. Lord + Treasurer takes physic again to-day: I believe I shall dine with Lord + Dupplin. Mr. Tooke brought me a letter directed for me at Morphew's the + bookseller. I suppose, by the postage, it came from Ireland. It is a + woman's hand, and seems false spelt on purpose: it is in such sort of + verse as Harris's petition;(18) rallies me for writing merry things, and + not upon divinity; and is like the subject of the Archbishop's last + letter, as I told you. Can you guess whom it came from? It is not ill + written; pray find it out. There is a Latin verse at the end of it all + rightly spelt; yet the English, as I think, affectedly wrong in many + places. My plaguing time is coming. A young fellow brought me a letter + from Judge Coote,(19) with recommendation to be lieutenant of a + man-of-war. He is the son of one Echlin,(20) who was minister of Belfast + before Tisdall, and I have got some other new customers; but I shall + trouble my friends as little as possible. Saucy Stella used to jeer me for + meddling with other folks' affairs; but now I am punished for it.—Patrick + has brought the candle, and I have no more room. Farewell, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + Here is a full and true account of Stella's new spelling:—(21) + </p> + <p> + Plaguely, Plaguily. Dineing, Dining. Straingers, Strangers. Chais, Chase. + Waist, Wast. Houer, Hour. Immagin, Imagine. A bout, About. Intellegence, + Intelligence. Merrit, Merit. Aboundance, Abundance. Secreet, Secret. + Phamphlets, Pamphlets. Bussiness, Business. + </p> + <p> + Tell me truly, sirrah, how many of these are mistakes of the pen, and how + many are you to answer for as real ill spelling? There are but fourteen; I + said twenty by guess. You must not be angry, for I will have you spell + right, let the world go how it will. Though, after all, there is but a + mistake of one letter in any of these words. I allow you henceforth but + six false spellings in every letter you send me. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 33. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Oct. 23, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I dined with Lord Dupplin as I told you I would, and put my thirty-second + into the post-office my own self; and I believe there has not been one + moment since we parted wherein a letter was not upon the road going or + coming to or from PMD. If the Queen knew it, she would give us a pension; + for it is we bring good luck to their post-boys and their packets; else + they would break their necks and sink. But, an old saying and a true one: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Be it snow, or storm, or hail, + PMD's letters never fail; + Cross winds may sometimes make them tarry, + But PMD's letters can't miscarry. +</pre> + <p> + Terrible rain to-day, but it cleared up at night enough to save my + twelvepence coming home. Lord Treasurer is much better this evening. I + hate to have him ill, he is so confoundedly careless. I won't answer your + letter yet, so be satisfied. + </p> + <p> + 24. I called at Lord Treasurer's to-day at noon: he was eating some broth + in his bed-chamber, undressed, with a thousand papers about him. He has a + little fever upon him, and his eye terribly bloodshot; yet he dressed + himself and went out to the Treasury. He told me he had a letter from a + lady with a complaint against me; it was from Mrs. Cutts, a sister of Lord + Cutts, who writ to him that I had abused her brother:(1) you remember the + "Salamander," it is printed in the Miscellany. I told my lord that I would + never regard complaints, and that I expected, whenever he received any + against me, he would immediately put them into the fire, and forget them, + else I should have no quiet. I had a little turn in my head this morning; + which, though it did not last above a moment, yet being of the true sort, + has made me as weak as a dog all this day. 'Tis the first I have had this + half-year. I shall take my pills if I hear of it again. I dined at Lady + Mountjoy's with Harry Coote,(2) and went to see Lord Pembroke upon his + coming to town.—The Whig party are furious against a peace, and + every day some ballad comes out reflecting on the Ministry on that + account. The Secretary St. John has seized on a dozen booksellers and + publishers into his messengers' hands.(3) Some of the foreign Ministers + have published the preliminaries agreed on here between France and + England; and people rail at them as insufficient to treat a peace upon; + but the secret is, that the French have agreed to articles much more + important, which our Ministers have not communicated, and the people, who + think they know all, are discontented that there is no more. This was an + inconvenience I foretold to the Secretary, but we could contrive no way to + fence against it. So there's politics for you. + </p> + <p> + 25. The Queen is at Hampton Court: she went on Tuesday in that terrible + rain. I dined with Lewis at his lodgings, to despatch some business we + had. I sent this morning and evening to Lord Treasurer, and he is much + worse by going out; I am in pain about evening. He has sent for Dr. + Radcliffe; pray God preserve him. The Chancellor of the Exchequer(4) + showed me to-day a ballad(5) in manuscript against Lord Treasurer and his + South Sea project; it is very sharply written: if it be not printed, I + will send it you. If it be, it shall go in your packet of pamphlets.—I + found out your letter about directions for the apron, and have ordered to + be bought a cheap green silk work apron; I have it by heart. I sat this + evening with Mrs. Barton, who is my near neighbour. It was a delicious + day, and I got my walk, and was thinking whether MD was walking too just + at that time that Presto was. This paper does not cost me a farthing, I + have it from the Secretary's office. I long till to-morrow to know how my + Lord Treasurer sleeps this night, and to hear he mends: we are all undone + without him; so pray for him, sirrahs, and don't stay too late at the + Dean's. + </p> + <p> + 26. I dined with Mrs. Van; for the weather is so bad, and I am so busy, + that I can't dine with great folks: and besides I dare eat but little, to + keep my head in order, which is better. Lord Treasurer is very ill, but I + hope in no danger. We have no quiet with the Whigs, they are so violent + against a peace; but I'll cool them, with a vengeance, very soon. I have + not heard from the Bishop of Clogher, whether he has got his statues.(6) I + writ to him six weeks ago; he's so busy with his Parliament. I won't + answer your letter yet, say what you will, saucy girls. + </p> + <p> + 27. I forgot to go about some business this morning, which cost me double + the time; and I was forced to be at the Secretary's office till four, and + lose my dinner; so I went to Mrs. Van's, and made them get me three + herrings, which I am very fond of, and they are a light victuals: besides, + I was to have supped at Lady Ashburnham's; but the drab did not call for + us in her coach, as she promised, but sent for us, and so I sent my + excuses. It has been a terrible rainy day, but so flattering in the + morning, that I would needs go out in my new hat. I met Leigh and Sterne + as I was going into the Park. Leigh says he will go to Ireland in ten + days, if he can get Sterne to go with him; so I will send him the things + for MD, and I have desired him to inquire about the box. I hate that + Sterne for his carelessness about it; but it was my fault. + </p> + <p> + 29. I was all this terrible rainy day with my friend Lewis upon business + of importance; and I dined with him, and came home about seven, and + thought I would amuse myself a little, after the pains I had taken. I saw + a volume of Congreve's plays in my room, that Patrick had taken to read; + and I looked into it, and in mere loitering read in it till twelve, like + an owl and a fool: if ever I do so again; never saw the like. Count + Gallas,(7) the Emperor's Envoy, you will hear, is in disgrace with us: the + Queen has ordered her Ministers to have no more commerce with him; the + reason is, the fool writ a rude letter to Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of + State, complaining of our proceedings about a peace; and he is always in + close confidence with Lord Wharton and Sunderland, and others of the late + Ministry. I believe you begin to think there will be no peace; the Whigs + here are sure it cannot be, and stocks are fallen again. But I am + confident there will, unless France plays us tricks; and you may venture a + wager with any of your Whig acquaintance that we shall not have another + campaign. You will get more by it than by ombre, sirrah.—I let slip + telling you yesterday's journal, which I thought to have done this + morning, but blundered. I dined yesterday at Harry Coote's, with Lord + Hatton,(8) Mr. Finch, a son of Lord Nottingham, and Sir Andrew Fountaine. + I left them soon, but hear they stayed till two in the morning, and were + all drunk: and so good-night for last night, and good-night for to-night. + You blundering goosecap, an't you ashamed to blunder to young ladies? I + shall have a fire in three or four days now, oh ho. + </p> + <p> + 30. I was to-day in the City concerting some things with a printer, and am + to be to-morrow all day busy with Mr. Secretary about the same. I won't + tell you now; but the Ministers reckon it will do abundance of good, and + open the eyes of the nation, who are half bewitched against a peace. Few + of this generation can remember anything but war and taxes, and they think + it is as it should be; whereas 'tis certain we are the most undone people + in Europe, as I am afraid I shall make appear beyond all contradiction. + But I forgot; I won't tell you what I will do, nor what I will not do: so + let me alone, and go to Stoyte, and give Goody Stoyte and Catherine my + humble service; I love Goody Stoyte better than Goody Walls. Who'll pay me + for this green apron? I will have the money; it cost ten shillings and + sixpence. I think it plaguy dear for a cheap thing; but they said that + English silk would cockle,(9) and I know not what. You have the making + into the bargain. 'Tis right Italian: I have sent it and the pamphlets to + Leigh, and will send the Miscellanies and spectacles in a day or two. I + would send more; but, faith, I'm plaguy poor at present. + </p> + <p> + 31. The devil's in this Secretary: when I went this morning he had people + with him; but says he, "we are to dine with Prior to-day, and then will do + all our business in the afternoon": at two, Prior sends word he is + otherwise engaged; then the Secretary and I go and dine with Brigadier + Britton, sit till eight, grow merry, no business done; he is in haste to + see Lady Jersey;(10) we part, and appoint no time to meet again. This is + the fault of all the present Ministers, teasing me to death for my + assistance, laying the whole weight of their affairs upon it, yet slipping + opportunities. Lord Treasurer mends every day, though slowly: I hope he + will take care of himself. Pray, will you send to Parvisol to send me a + bill of twenty pounds as soon as he can, for I want money. I must have + money; I will have money, sirrahs. + </p> + <p> + Nov. 1. I went to-day into the City to settle some business with + Stratford, and to dine with him; but he was engaged, and I was so angry I + would not dine with any other merchant, but went to my printer, and ate a + bit, and did business of mischief with him, and I shall have the + spectacles and Miscellany to-morrow, and leave them with Leigh. A fine day + always makes me go into the City, if I can spare time, because it is + exercise; and that does me more good than anything. I have heard nothing + since of my head, but a little, I don't know how, sometimes: but I am very + temperate, especially now the Treasurer is ill, and the Ministers often at + Hampton Court, and the Secretary not yet fixed in his house, and I hate + dining with many of my old acquaintance. Here has been a fellow discovered + going out of the East India House with sixteen thousand pounds in money + and bills; he would have escaped, if he had not been so uneasy with + thirst, that he stole out before his time, and was caught. But what is + that to MD? I wish we had the money, provided the East India Company was + never the worse; you know we must not covet, etc. Our weather, for this + fortnight past, is chequered, a fair and a rainy day: this was very fine, + and I have walked four miles; wish MD would do so, lazy sluttikins. + </p> + <p> + 2. It has rained all day with a continuendo, and I went in a chair to dine + with Mrs. Van; always there in a very rainy day. But I made a shift to + come back afoot. I live a very retired life, pay very few visits, and keep + but very little company; I read no newspapers. I am sorry I sent you the + Examiner, for the printer is going to print them in a small volume: it + seems the author is too proud to have them printed by subscription, though + his friends offered, they say, to make it worth five hundred pounds to + him. The Spectators are likewise printing in a larger and a smaller + volume, so I believe they are going to leave them off, and indeed people + grow weary of them, though they are often prettily written. We have had no + news for me to send you now towards the end of my letter. The Queen has + the gout a little: I hoped the Lord Treasurer would have had it too, but + Radcliffe told me yesterday it was the rheumatism in his knee and foot; + however, he mends, and I hope will be abroad in a short time. I am told + they design giving away several employments before the Parliament sits, + which will be the thirteenth instant. I either do not like, or not + understand this policy; and if Lord Treasurer does not mend soon, they + must give them just before the session. But he is the greatest + procrastinator in the world. + </p> + <p> + 3. A fine day this, and I walked a pretty deal. I stuffed the Secretary's + pockets with papers, which he must read and settle at Hampton Court, where + he went to-day, and stays some time. They have no lodgings for me there, + so I can't go, for the town is small, chargeable, and inconvenient. Lord + Treasurer had a very ill night last night, with much pain in his knee and + foot, but is easier to-day.—And so I went to visit Prior about some + business, and so he was not within, and so Sir Andrew Fountaine made me + dine to-day again with Mrs. Van, and I came home soon, remembering this + must go to-night, and that I had a letter of MD's to answer. O Lord, where + is it? let me see; so, so, here it is. You grudge writing so soon. Pox on + that bill! the woman would have me manage that money for her. I do not + know what to do with it now I have it: I am like the unprofitable steward + in the Gospel: I laid it up in a napkin; there thou hast what is thine + own, etc. Well, well, I know of your new Mayor. (I'll tell you a pun: a + fishmonger owed a man two crowns; so he sent him a piece of bad ling and a + tench, and then said he was paid: how is that now? find it out; for I + won't tell it you: which of you finds it out?) Well, but as I was saying, + what care I for your Mayor? I fancy Ford may tell Forbes right about my + returning to Ireland before Christmas, or soon after. I'm sorry you did + not go on with your story about Pray God you be John; I never heard it in + my life, and wonder what it can be.—Ah, Stella, faith, you leaned + upon your Bible to think what to say when you writ that. Yes, that story + of the Secretary's making me an example is true; "never heard it before;" + why, how could you hear it? is it possible to tell you the hundredth part + of what passes in our companies here? The Secretary is as easy with me as + Mr. Addison was. I have often thought what a splutter Sir William Temple + makes about being Secretary of State:(11) I think Mr. St. John the + greatest young man I ever knew; wit, capacity, beauty, quickness of + apprehension, good learning, and an excellent taste; the best orator in + the House of Commons, admirable conversation, good nature, and good + manners; generous, and a despiser of money. His only fault is talking to + his friends in way of complaint of too great a load of business, which + looks a little like affectation; and he endeavours too much to mix the + fine gentleman and man of pleasure with the man of business. What truth + and sincerity he may have I know not: he is now but thirty-two, and has + been Secretary above a year. Is not all this extraordinary? how he stands + with the Queen and Lord Treasurer I have told you before. This is his + character; and I believe you will be diverted by knowing it. I writ to the + Archbishop of Dublin, Bishop of Cloyne(12) and of Clogher together, five + weeks ago from Windsor: I hope they had my letters; pray know if Clogher + had his.—Fig for your physician and his advice, Madam Dingley: if I + grow worse, I will; otherwise I will trust to temperance and exercise: + your fall of the leaf; what care I when the leaves fall? I am sorry to see + them fall with all my heart; but why should I take physic because leaves + fall off from trees? that won't hinder them from falling. If a man falls + from a horse, must I take physic for that?—This arguing makes you + mad; but it is true right reason, not to be disproved.—I am glad at + heart to hear poor Stella is better; use exercise and walk, spend pattens + and spare potions, wear out clogs and waste claret. Have you found out my + pun of the fishmonger? don't read a word more till you have got it. And + Stella is handsome again, you say? and is she fat? I have sent to Leigh + the set of Examiners: the first thirteen were written by several hands, + some good, some bad; the next three-and-thirty were all by one hand, that + makes forty-six: then that author,(13) whoever he was, laid it down on + purpose to confound guessers; and the last six were written by a + woman.(14) Then there is an account of Guiscard by the same woman, but the + facts sent by Presto. Then an answer to the letter to the Lords about + Gregg by Presto; Prior's Journey by Presto; Vindication of the Duke of + Marlborough, entirely by the same woman; Comment on Hare's Sermon by the + same woman, only hints sent to the printer from Presto to give her.(15) + Then there's the Miscellany, an apron for Stella, a pound of chocolate, + without sugar, for Stella, a fine snuff-rasp of ivory, given me by Mrs. + St. John for Dingley, and a large roll of tobacco, which she must hide or + cut shorter out of modesty, and four pair of spectacles for the Lord knows + who. There's the cargo, I hope it will come safe. Oh, Mrs. Masham and I + are very well; we write to one another, but it is upon business; I believe + I told you so before: pray pardon my forgetfulness in these cases; poor + Presto can't help it. MD shall have the money as soon as Tooke gets it. + And so I think I have answered all, and the paper is out, and now I have + fetched up my week, and will send you another this day fortnight.—Why, + you rogues, two crowns make TENCH-ILL-LING:(16) you are so dull you could + never have found it out. Farewell, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 34. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Nov. 3, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + My thirty-third lies now before me just finished, and I am going to seal + and send it, so let me know whether you would have me add anything: I gave + you my journal of this day; and it is now nine at night, and I am going to + be busy for an hour or two. + </p> + <p> + 4. I left a friend's house to-day where I was invited, just when dinner + was setting on, and pretended I was engaged, because I saw some fellows I + did not know; and went to Sir Matthew Dudley's, where I had the same + inconvenience, but he would not let me go; otherwise I would have gone + home, and sent for a slice of mutton and a pot of ale, rather than dine + with persons unknown, as bad, for aught I know, as your deans, parsons, + and curates. Bad slabby weather to-day.—Now methinks I write at + ease, when I have no letter of MD's to answer. But I mistook, and have got + the large paper. The Queen is laid up with the gout at Hampton Court: she + is now seldom without it any long time together; I fear it will wear her + out in a very few years. I plainly find I have less twitchings about my + toes since these Ministers are sick and out of town, and that I don't dine + with them. I would compound for a light easy gout to be perfectly well in + my head.—Pray walk when the frost comes, young ladies go a + frost-biting. It comes into my head, that, from the very time you first + went to Ireland, I have been always plying you to walk and read. The young + fellows here have begun a kind of fashion to walk, and many of them have + got swingeing strong shoes on purpose; it has got as far as several young + lords; if it hold, it would be a very good thing. Lady Lucy(1) and I are + fallen out; she rails at me, and I have left visiting her. + </p> + <p> + 5. MD was very troublesome to me last night in my sleep; I was a dreamed, + methought, that Stella was here. I asked her after Dingley, and she said + she had left her in Ireland, because she designed her stay to be short, + and such stuff.—Monsieur Pontchartain, the Secretary of State in + France, and Monsieur Fontenelle, the Secretary of the Royal Academy there + (who writ the Dialogues des Morts, etc.), have sent letters to Lord + Pembroke that the Academy have, with the King's consent, chosen him one of + their members in the room of one who is lately dead. But the cautious + gentleman has given me the letters to show my Lord Dartmouth and Mr. St. + John, our two Secretaries, and let them see there is no treason in them; + which I will do on Wednesday, when they come from Hampton Court. The + letters are very handsome, and it is a very great mark of honour and + distinction to Lord Pembroke. I hear the two French Ministers are come + over again about the peace; but I have seen nobody of consequence to know + the truth. I dined to-day with a lady of my acquaintance, who was sick, in + her bed-chamber, upon three herrings and a chicken: the dinner was my + bespeaking. We begin now to have chestnuts and Seville oranges; have you + the latter yet? 'Twas a terrible windy day, and we had processions in + carts of the Pope and the Devil, and the butchers rang their cleavers. You + know this is the Fifth of November, Popery and gunpowder. + </p> + <p> + 6. Since I am used to this way of writing, I fancy I could hardly make out + a long letter to MD without it. I think I ought to allow for every line + taken up by telling you where I dined; but that will not be above seven + lines in all, half a line to a dinner. Your Ingoldsby(2) is going over, + and they say here he is to be made a lord.—Here was I staying in my + room till two this afternoon for that puppy Sir Andrew Fountaine, who was + to go with me into the City, and never came; and if I had not shot a + dinner flying, with one Mr. Murray, I might have fasted, or gone to an + alehouse.—You never said one word of Goody Stoyte in your letter; + but I suppose these winter nights we shall hear more of her. Does the + Provost(3) laugh as much as he used to do? We reckon him here a + good-for-nothing fellow.—I design to write to your Dean one of these + days, but I can never find time, nor what to say.—I will think of + something: but if DD(4) were not in Ireland I believe seriously I should + not think of the place twice a year. Nothing there ever makes the subject + of talk in any company where I am. + </p> + <p> + 7. I went to-day to the City on business; but stopped at a printer's, and + stayed there: it was a most delicious day. I hear the Parliament is to be + prorogued for a fortnight longer; I suppose, either because the Queen has + the gout, or that Lord Treasurer is not well, or that they would do + something more towards a peace. I called at Lord Treasurer's at noon, and + sat a while with Lord Harley, but his father was asleep. A bookseller has + reprinted or new-titled a sermon of Tom Swift's,(5) printed last year, and + publishes an advertisement calling it Dr. Swift's Sermon. Some friend of + Lord Galway(6) has, by his directions, published a four-shilling book + about his conduct in Spain, to defend him; I have but just seen it. But + what care you for books, except Presto's Miscellanies? Leigh promised to + call and see me, but has not yet; I hope he will take care of his cargo, + and get your Chester box. A murrain take that box! everything is spoiled + that is in it. How does the strong box do? You say nothing of Raymond: is + his wife brought to bed again; or how? has he finished his house; paid his + debts; and put out the rest of the money to use? I am glad to hear poor + Joe is like to get his two hundred pounds. I suppose Trim is now reduced + to slavery again. I am glad of it; the people were as great rascals as the + gentlemen. But I must go to bed, sirrahs: the Secretary is still at + Hampton Court with my papers, or is come only to-night. They plague me + with attending them. + </p> + <p> + 8. I was with the Secretary this morning, and we dined with Prior, and did + business this afternoon till about eight; and I must alter and undo, and a + clutter. I am glad the Parliament is prorogued. I stayed with Prior till + eleven; the Secretary left us at eight. Prior, I believe, will be one of + those employed to make the peace, when a Congress is opened. Lord + Ashburnham told to-day at the Coffee-house that Lord Harley(7) was + yesterday morning married to the Duke of Newcastle's daughter, the great + heiress, and it got about all the town. But I saw Lord Harley yesterday at + noon in his nightgown, and he dined in the City with Prior and others; so + it is not true; but I hope it will be so; for I know it has been privately + managing this long time:(8) the lady will not have half her father's + estate; for the Duke left Lord Pelham's son his heir.(9) The widow Duchess + will not stand to the will, and she is now at law with Pelham. However, at + worst, the girl will have about ten thousand pounds a year to support the + honour; for Lord Treasurer will never save a groat for himself. Lord + Harley is a very valuable young gentleman; and they say the girl is + handsome, and has good sense, but red hair. + </p> + <p> + 9. I designed a jaunt into the City to-day to be merry, but was + disappointed; so one always is in this life; and I could not see Lord + Dartmouth to-day, with whom I had some business. Business and pleasure + both disappointed. You can go to your Dean, and for want of him, Goody + Stoyte, or Walls, or Manley, and meet everywhere with cards and claret. I + dined privately with a friend on a herring and chicken, and half a flask + of bad Florence. I begin to have fires now, when the mornings are cold. I + have got some loose bricks at the back of my grate for good husbandry. + Fine weather. Patrick tells me my caps are wearing out. I know not how to + get others. I want a necessary woman strangely. I am as helpless as an + elephant.—I had three packets from the Archbishop of Dublin, cost me + four shillings, all about Higgins,(10) printed stuff, and two long + letters. His people forgot to enclose them to Lewis; and they were only + directed to Doctor Swift, without naming London or anything else. I wonder + how they reached me, unless the postmaster directed them. I have read all + the trash, and am weary. + </p> + <p> + 10. Why, if you must have it out, something is to be published of great + moment,(11) and three or four great people are to see there are no + mistakes in point of fact: and 'tis so troublesome to send it among them, + and get their corrections, that I am weary as a dog. I dined to-day with + the printer, and was there all the afternoon; and it plagues me, and + there's an end, and what would you have? Lady Dupplin, Lord Treasurer's + daughter,(12) is brought to bed of a son. Lord Treasurer has had an ugly + return of his gravel. 'Tis good for us to live in gravel pits,(13) but not + for gravel pits to live in us; a man in this case should leave no stone + unturned. Lord Treasurer's sickness, the Queen's gout, the forwarding the + peace, occasion putting off the Parliament a fortnight longer. My head has + had no ill returns. I had good walking to-day in the City, and take all + opportunities of it on purpose for my health; but I can't walk in the + Park, because that is only for walking's sake, and loses time, so I mix it + with business. I wish MD walked half as much as Presto. If I was with you, + I'd make you walk; I would walk behind or before you, and you should have + masks on, and be tucked up like anything; and Stella is naturally a stout + walker, and carries herself firm; methinks I see her strut, and step + clever over a kennel; and Dingley would do well enough if her petticoats + were pinned up; but she is so embroiled, and so fearful, and then Stella + scolds, and Dingley stumbles, and is so daggled.(14) Have you got the + whalebone petticoats among you yet? I hate them; a woman here may hide a + moderate gallant under them. Pshaw, what's all this I'm saying? Methinks I + am talking to MD face to face. + </p> + <p> + 11. Did I tell you that old Frowde,(15) the old fool, is selling his + estate at Pepperhara, and is skulking about the town nobody knows where? + and who do you think manages all this for him, but that rogue Child,(16) + the double squire of Farnham? I have put Mrs. Masham, the Queen's + favourite, upon buying it, but that is yet a great secret; and I have + employed Lady Oglethorpe to inquire about it. I was with Lady Oglethorpe + to-day, who is come to town for a week or two, and to-morrow I will see to + hunt out the old fool: he is utterly ruined, and at this present in some + blind alley with some dirty wench. He has two sons that must starve, and + he never gives them a farthing. If Mrs. Masham buys the land, I will + desire her to get the Queen to give some pension to the old fool, to keep + him from absolutely starving. What do you meddle with other people's + affairs for? says Stella. Oh, but Mr. Masham and his wife are very urgent + with me, since I first put them in the head of it. I dined with Sir + Matthew Dudley, who, I doubt, will soon lose his employment. + </p> + <p> + 12. Morning. I am going to hunt out old Frowde, and to do some business in + the City. I have not yet called to Patrick to know whether it be fair.—It + has been past dropping these two days. Rainy weather hurts my pate and my + purse. He tells me 'tis very windy, and begins to look dark; woe be to my + shillings! an old saying and a true, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Few fillings, + Many shillings. +</pre> + <p> + If the day be dark, my purse will be light. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + To my enemies be this curse, + A dark day and a light purse. +</pre> + <p> + And so I'll rise, and go to my fire, for Patrick tells me I have a fire; + yet it is not shaving-day, nor is the weather cold; this is too + extravagant. What is become of Dilly? I suppose you have him with you. + Stella is just now showing a white leg, and putting it into the slipper. + Present my service to her, and tell her I am engaged to the Dean, and + desire she will come too: or, Dingley, can't you write a note? This is + Stella's morning dialogue, no, morning speech I mean.—Morrow, + sirrahs, and let me rise as well as you; but I promise you Walls can't + dine with the Dean to-day, for she is to be at Mrs. Proby's just after + dinner, and to go with Gracy Spencer(17) to the shops to buy a yard of + muslin, and a silver lace for an under petticoat. Morrow again, sirrahs.—At + night. I dined with Stratford in the City, but could not finish my affairs + with him; but now I am resolved to buy five hundred pounds South Sea + Stock, which will cost me three hundred and eighty ready money; and I will + make use of the bill of a hundred pounds you sent me, and transfer Mrs. + Walls over to Hawkshaw; or if she dislikes it, I will borrow a hundred + pounds of the Secretary, and repay her. Three shillings coach-hire to-day. + I have spoken to Frowde's brother to get me the lowest price of the + estate, to tell Mrs. Masham. + </p> + <p> + 13. I dined privately with a friend to-day in the neighbourhood. Last + Saturday night I came home, and the drab had just washed my room, and my + bed-chamber was all wet, and I was forced to go to bed in my own defence, + and no fire: I was sick on Sunday, and now have got a swingeing cold. I + scolded like a dog at Patrick, although he was out with me: I detest + washing of rooms; can't they wash them in a morning, and make a fire, and + leave open the windows? I slept not a wink last night for hawking(18) and + spitting: and now everybody has colds. Here's a clutter: I'll go to bed + and sleep if I can. + </p> + <p> + 14. Lady Mountjoy sent to me two days ago, so I dined with her to-day, and + in the evening went to see Lord Treasurer. I found Patrick had been just + there with a how d'ye,(19) and my lord had returned answer that he desired + to see me. Mrs. Masham was with him when I came, and they are never + disturbed: 'tis well she is not very handsome; they sit alone together + settling the nation. I sat with Lady Oxford, and stopped Mrs. Masham as + she came out, and told her what progress I had made, etc., and then went + to Lord Treasurer: he is very well, only uneasy at rising or sitting, with + some rheumatic pain in his thigh, and a foot weak. He showed me a small + paper, sent by an unknown hand to one Mr. Cook, who sent it to my lord: it + was written in plain large letters thus + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Though G——d's knife did not succeed, + A F——n's yet may do the deed." +</pre> + <p> + And a little below: "BURN THIS, YOU DOG." My lord has frequently such + letters as these: once he showed me one, which was a vision describing a + certain man, his dress, his sword, and his countenance, who was to murder + my lord. And he told me he saw a fellow in the chapel at Windsor with a + dress very like it. They often send him letters signed, "Your humble + servant, The Devil," and such stuff. I sat with him till after ten, and + have business to do. + </p> + <p> + 15. The Secretary came yesterday to town from Hampton Court, so I went to + him early this morning; but he went back last night again: and coming home + to-night I found a letter from him to tell me that he was just come from + Hampton Court, and just returning, and will not be here till Saturday + night. A pox take him! he stops all my business. I'll beg leave to come + back when I have got over this, and hope to see MD in Ireland soon after + Christmas.—I'm weary of Courts, and want my journeys to Laracor; + they did me more good than all the Ministries these twenty years. I dined + to-day in the City, but did no business as I designed. Lady Mountjoy tells + me that Dilly is got to Ireland, and that the Archbishop of Dublin was the + cause of his returning so soon. The Parliament was prorogued two days ago + for a fortnight, which, with the Queen's absence, makes the town very dull + and empty. They tell me the Duke of Ormond brings all the world away with + him from Ireland. London has nothing so bad in it in winter as your knots + of Irish folks; but I go to no coffee-house, and so I seldom see them. + This letter shall go on Saturday; and then I am even with the world again. + I have lent money, and cannot get it, and am forced to borrow for myself. + </p> + <p> + 16. My man made a blunder this morning, and let up a visitor, when I had + ordered to see nobody; so I was forced to hurry a hang-dog instrument of + mine into my bed-chamber, and keep him cooling his heels there above an + hour.—I am going on fairly in the common forms of a great cold; I + believe it will last me about ten days in all.—I should have told + you, that in those two verses sent to Lord Treasurer, G—-d stands + for Guiscard; that is easy; but we differed about F—-n; I thought it + was for Frenchman, because he hates them, and they him: and so it would + be, That although Guiscard's knife missed its design, the knife of a + Frenchman might yet do it. My lord thinks it stands for Felton, the name + of him that stabbed the first Duke of Buckingham. Sir Andrew Fountaine and + I dined with the Vans to-day, and my cold made me loiter all the evening. + Stay, young women, don't you begin to owe me a letter? just a month to-day + since I had your N.22. I'll stay a week longer, and then, I'll expect like + agog; till then you may play at ombre, and so forth, as you please. The + Whigs are still crying down our peace, but we will have it, I hope, in + spite of them: the Emperor comes now with his two eggs a penny, and + promises wonders to continue the war; but it is too late; only I hope the + fear of it will serve to spur on the French to be easy and sincere: Night, + sirrahs; I'll go early to bed. + </p> + <p> + 17. Morning. This goes to-night; I will put it myself in the post-office. + I had just now a long letter from the Archbishop of Dublin, giving me an + account of the ending your session, how it ended in a storm; which storm, + by the time it arrives here, will be only half nature. I can't help it, I + won't hide. I often advised the dissolution of that Parliament, although I + did not think the scoundrels had so much courage; but they have it only in + the wrong, like a bully that will fight for a whore, and run away in an + army. I believe, by several things the Archbishop says, he is not very + well either with the Government or clergy.—See how luckily my paper + ends with a fortnight.—God Almighty bless and preserve dearest + little MD.—I suppose your Lord Lieutenant is now setting out for + England. I wonder the Bishop of Clogher does not write to me, or let me + know of his statues, and how he likes them: I will write to him again, as + soon as I have leisure. Farewell, dearest MD, and love Presto, who loves + MD infinitely above all earthly things, and who will.—My service to + Mrs. Stoyte and Catherine. I'm sitting in my bed, but will rise to seal + this. Morrow, dear rogues: Farewell again, dearest MD, etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 35. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, NOV. 17, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I put my last this evening in the post-office. I dined with Dr. Cockburn. + This being Queen Elizabeth's birthday, we have the D—— and all + to do among us. I just heard of the stir as my letter was sealed this + morning, and was so cross I would not open it to tell you. I have been + visiting Lady Oglethorpe(1) and Lady Worsley;(2) the latter is lately come + to town for the winter, and with child, and what care you? This is Queen + Elizabeth's birthday, usually kept in this town by apprentices, etc.; but + the Whigs designed a mighty procession by midnight, and had laid out a + thousand pounds to dress up the Pope, Devil, cardinals, Sacheverell, etc., + and carry them with torches about, and burn them. They did it by + contribution. Garth gave five guineas; Dr. Garth I mean, if ever you heard + of him. But they were seized last night, by order from the Secretary: you + will have an account of it, for they bawl it about the streets already.(3) + They had some very foolish and mischievous designs; and it was thought + they would have put the rabble upon assaulting my Lord Treasurer's house + and the Secretary's, and other violences. The militia was raised to + prevent it, and now, I suppose, all will be quiet. The figures are now at + the Secretary's office at Whitehall. I design to see them if I can. + </p> + <p> + 18. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary, who just came from Hampton + Court. He was telling me more particulars about this business of burning + the Pope. It cost a great deal of money, and had it gone on, would have + cost three times as much; but the town is full of it, and half a dozen + Grub Street papers already. The Secretary and I dined at Brigadier + Britton's, but I left them at six, upon an appointment with some sober + company of men and ladies, to drink punch at Sir Andrew Fountaine's. We + were not very merry; and I don't love rack punch, I love it better with + brandy; are you of my opinion? Why then, twelvepenny weather; sirrahs, why + don't you play at shuttlecock? I have thought of it a hundred times; + faith, Presto will come over after Christmas, and will play with Stella + before the cold weather is gone. Do you read the Spectators? I never do; + they never come in my way; I go to no coffee-houses. They say abundance of + them are very pretty; they are going to be printed in small volumes; I'll + bring them over with me. I shall be out of my hurry in a week, and if + Leigh be not gone over, I will send you by him what I am now finishing. I + don't know where Leigh is; I have not seen him this good while, though he + promised to call: I shall send to him. The Queen comes to town on Thursday + for good and all. + </p> + <p> + 19. I was this morning at Lord Dartmouth's office, and sent out for him + from the Committee of Council, about some business. I was asking him more + concerning this bustle about the figures in wax-work of the Pope, and + Devil, etc. He was not at leisure, or he would have seen them. I hear the + owners are so impudent, that they design to replevin them by law. I am + assured that the figure of the Devil is made as like Lord Treasurer as + they could. Why, I dined with a friend in St. James's Street. Lord + Treasurer, I am told, was abroad to-day; I will know to-morrow how he does + after it. The Duke of Marlborough is come, and was yesterday at Hampton + Court with the Queen; no, it was t'other day; no, it was yesterday; for + to-day I remember Mr. Secretary was going to see him, when I was there, + not at the Duke of Marlborough's, but at the Secretary's; the Duke is not + so fond of me. What care I? I won seven shillings to-night at picquet: I + play twice a year or so. + </p> + <p> + 20. I have been so teased with Whiggish discourse by Mrs. Barton and Lady + Betty Germaine, never saw the like. They turn all this affair of the + Pope-burning into ridicule; and, indeed, they have made too great a + clutter about it, if they had no real reason to apprehend some tumults. I + dined with Lady Betty. I hear Prior's commission is passed to be + Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for the peace; my Lord Privy + Seal, who you know is Bishop of Bristol, is the other; and Lord Strafford, + already Ambassador at The Hague, the third: I am forced to tell you, + ignorant sluts, who is who. I was punning scurvily with Sir Andrew + Fountaine and Lord Pembroke this evening: do you ever pun now? Sometimes + with the Dean, or Tom Leigh.(4) Prior puns very well. Odso, I must go see + His Excellency, 'tis a noble advancement: but they could do no less, after + sending him to France. Lord Strafford is as proud as Hell, and how he will + bear one of Prior's mean birth on an equal character with him, I know not. + And so I go to my business, and bid you good-night. + </p> + <p> + 21. I was this morning busy with my printer: I gave him the fifth + sheet,(5) and then I went and dined with him in the City, to correct + something, and alter, etc., and I walked home in the dusk, and the rain + overtook me: and I found a letter here from Mr. Lewis; well, and so I + opened it; and he says the peace is past danger, etc. Well, and so there + was another letter enclosed in his: well, and so I looked on the outside + of this t'other letter. Well, and so who do you think this t'other letter + was from? Well, and so I'll tell you; it was from little MD, N.23, 23, 23, + 23. I tell you it is no more, I have told you so before: but I just looked + again to satisfy you. Hie, Stella, you write like an emperor, a great deal + together; a very good hand, and but four false spellings in all. Shall I + send them to you? I am glad you did not take my correction ill. Well, but + I won't answer your letter now, sirrah saucyboxes, no, no; not yet; just a + month and three days from the last, which is just five weeks: you see it + comes just when I begin to grumble. + </p> + <p> + 22. Morning. Tooke has just brought me Dingley's money. I will give you a + note for it at the end of this letter. There was half a crown for entering + the letter of attorney; but I swore to stop that. I'll spend your money + bravely here. Morrow, dear sirrahs.—At night. I dined to-day with + Sir Thomas Hanmer; his wife, the Duchess of Grafton,(6) dined with us: she + wears a great high head-dress, such as was in fashion fifteen years ago, + and looks like a mad woman in it; yet she has great remains of beauty. I + was this evening to see Lord Harley, and thought to have sat with Lord + Treasurer, but he was taken up with the Dutch Envoy and such folks; and I + would not stay. One particular in life here, different from what I have in + Dublin, is, that whenever I come home I expect to find some letter for me, + and seldom miss; and never any worth a farthing, but often to vex me. The + Queen does not come to town till Saturday. Prior is not yet declared; but + these Ministers being at Hampton Court, I know nothing; and if I write + news from common hands, it is always lies. You will think it affectation; + but nothing has vexed me more for some months past, than people I never + saw pretending to be acquainted with me, and yet speak ill of me too; at + least some of them. An old crooked Scotch countess, whom I never heard of + in my life, told the Duchess of Hamilton(7) t'other day that I often + visited her. People of worth never do that; so that a man only gets the + scandal of having scurvy acquaintance. Three ladies were railing against + me some time ago, and said they were very well acquainted with me; two of + which I had never heard of, and the third I had only seen twice where I + happened to visit. A man who has once seen me in a coffee-house will ask + me how I do, when he sees me talking at Court with a Minister of State; + who is sure to ask me how I came acquainted with that scoundrel. But come, + sirrahs, this is all stuff to you, so I'll say no more on this side the + paper, but turn over. + </p> + <p> + 23. My printer invited Mr. Lewis and me to dine at a tavern to-day, which + I have not done five times since I came to England; I never will call it + Britain, pray don't call it Britain. My week is not out, and one side of + this paper is out, and I have a letter to answer of MD's into the bargain: + must I write on the third side? faith, that will give you an ill habit. I + saw Leigh last night: he gives a terrible account of Sterne; he reckons he + is seduced by some wench; he is over head and ears in debt, and has pawned + several things. Leigh says he goes on Monday next for Ireland, but + believes Sterne will not go with him; Sterne has kept him these three + months. Leigh has got the apron and things, and promises to call for the + box at Chester; but I despair of it. Good-night, sirrahs; I have been late + abroad. + </p> + <p> + 24. I have finished my pamphlet(8) to-day, which has cost me so much time + and trouble: it will be published in three or four days, when the + Parliament begins sitting. I suppose the Queen is come to town, but know + nothing, having been in the City finishing and correcting with the + printer. When I came home, I found letters on my table as usual, and one + from your mother, to tell me that you desire your writings and a picture + should be sent to me, to be sent over to you. I have just answered her + letter, and promised to take care of them if they be sent to me. She is at + Farnham: it is too late to send them by Leigh; besides, I will wait your + orders, Madam Stella. I am going to finish a letter to Lord Treasurer + about reforming our language;(9) but first I must put an end to a ballad; + and go you to your cards, sirrahs, this is card season. + </p> + <p> + 25. I was early with the Secretary to-day, but he was gone to his + devotions, and to receive the sacrament: several rakes did the same; it + was not for piety, but employments; according to Act of Parliament. I + dined with Lady Mary Dudley;(10) and passed my time since insipidly, only + I was at Court at noon, and saw fifty acquaintance I had not met this long + time: that is the advantage of a Court, and I fancy I am better known than + any man that goes there. Sir John Walter's(11) quarrel with me has + entertained the town ever since; and yet we never had a word, only he + railed at me behind my back. The Parliament is again to be prorogued for + eight or nine days, for the Whigs are too strong in the House of Lords: + other reasons are pretended, but that is the truth. The prorogation is not + yet known, but will be to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + 26. Mr. Lewis and I dined with a friend of his, and unexpectedly there + dined with us an Irish knight, one Sir John St. Leger,(12) who follows the + law here, but at a great distance: he was so pert, I was forced to take + him down more than once. I saw to-day the Pope, and Devil, and the other + figures of cardinals, etc., fifteen in all, which have made such a noise. + I have put an under-strapper upon writing a twopenny pamphlet(13) to give + an account of the whole design. My large pamphlet(14) will be published + to-morrow; copies are sent to the great men this night. Domville(15) is + come home from his travels; I am vexed at it: I have not seen him yet; I + design to present him to all the great men. + </p> + <p> + 27. Domville came to me this morning, and we dined at Pontack's, and were + all day together, till six this evening: he is perfectly as fine a + gentleman as I know; he set me down at Lord Treasurer's, with whom I + stayed about an hour, till Monsieur Buys, the Dutch Envoy, came to him + about business. My Lord Treasurer is pretty well, but stiff in the hips + with the remains of the rheumatism. I am to bring Domville to my Lord + Harley in a day or two. It was the dirtiest rainy day that ever I saw. The + pamphlet is published; Lord Treasurer had it by him on the table, and was + asking me about the mottoes in the title-page; he gave me one of them + himself.(16) I must send you the pamphlet, if I can. + </p> + <p> + 28. Mrs. Van sent to me to dine with her to-day, because some ladies of my + acquaintance were to be there; and there I dined. I was this morning to + return Domville his visit, and went to visit Mrs. Masham, who was not + within. I am turned out of my lodging by my landlady: it seems her husband + and her son are coming home; but I have taken another lodging hard by, in + Leicester Fields. I presented Mr. Domville to Mr. Lewis and Mr. Prior this + morning. Prior and I are called the two Sosias,(17) in a Whig newspaper. + Sosias, can you read it? The pamphlet begins to make a noise: I was asked + by several whether I had seen it, and they advised me to read it, for it + was something very extraordinary. I shall be suspected; and it will have + several paltry answers. It must take its fate, as Savage(18) said of his + sermon that he preached at Farnham on Sir William Temple's death. Domville + saw Savage in Italy, and says he is a coxcomb, and half mad: he goes in + red, and with yellow waistcoats, and was at ceremony kneeling to the Pope + on a Palm Sunday, which is much more than kissing his toe; and I believe + it will ruin him here when 'tis told. I'll answer your letter in my new + lodgings: I have hardly room; I must borrow from the other side. + </p> + <p> + 29. New lodgings. My printer came this morning to tell me he must + immediately print a second edition,(19) and Lord Treasurer made one or two + small additions: they must work day and night to have it out on Saturday; + they sold a thousand in two days. Our Society met to-day; nine of us were + present: we dined at our brother Bathurst's.(20) We made several + regulations, and have chosen three new members, Lord Orrery,(21) Jack + Hill, who is Mrs. Masham's brother, he that lately miscarried in the + expedition to Quebec, and one Colonel Disney.(22)—We have taken a + room in a house near St. James's to meet in. I left them early about + correcting the pamphlet, etc., and am now got home, etc. + </p> + <p> + 30. This morning I carried Domville to see my Lord Harley, and I did some + business with Lord Treasurer, and have been all this afternoon with the + printer, adding something to the second edition. I dined with the printer: + the pamphlet makes a world of noise, and will do a great deal of good; it + tells abundance of most important facts which were not at all known. I'll + answer your letter to-morrow morning; or suppose I answer it just now, + though it is pretty late. Come then.—You say you are busy with + Parliaments, etc.; that's more than ever I will be when I come back; but + you will have none these two years. Lord Santry, etc., yes, I have had + enough on't.(23) I am glad Dilly is mended; does not he thank me for + showing him the Court and the great people's faces? He had his glass out + at the Queen and the rest. 'Tis right what Dilly says: I depend upon + nothing from my friends, but to go back as I came. Never fear Laracor, + 'twill mend with a peace, or surely they'll give me the Dublin parish. + Stella is in the right: the Bishop of Ossory(24) is the silliest, + best-natured wretch breathing, of as little consequence as an egg-shell. + Well, the spelling I have mentioned before; only the next time say AT + LEAST, and not AT LEST. Pox on your Newbury!(25) what can I do for him? + I'll give his case (I am glad it is not a woman's) to what members I know; + that's all I can do. Lord Treasurer's lameness goes off daily. Pray God + preserve poor good Mrs. Stoyte; she would be a great loss to us all: pray + give her my service, and tell her she has my heartiest prayers. I pity + poor Mrs. Manley; but I think the child is happy to die, considering how + little provision it would have had.—Poh, every pamphlet abuses me, + and for things that I never writ. Joe(26) should have written me thanks + for his two hundred pounds: I reckon he got it by my means; and I must + thank the Duke of Ormond, who I dare swear will say he did it on my + account. Are they golden pippins, those seven apples? We have had much + rain every day as well as you. 7 pounds, 17 shillings, 8 pence, old + blunderer, not 18 shillings: I have reckoned it eighteen times. Hawkshaw's + eight pounds is not reckoned and if it be secure, it may lie where it is, + unless they desire to pay it: so Parvisol may let it drop till further + orders; for I have put Mrs. Wesley's money into the Bank, and will pay her + with Hawkshaw's.—I mean that Hawkshaw's money goes for an addition + to MD, you know; but be good housewives. Bernage never comes now to see + me; he has no more to ask; but I hear he has been ill.—A pox on Mrs. + South's(27) affair; I can do nothing in it, but by way of assisting + anybody else that solicits it, by dropping a favourable word, if it comes + in my way. Tell Walls I do no more for anybody with my Lord Treasurer, + especially a thing of this kind. Tell him I have spent all my discretion, + and have no more to use.—And so I have answered your letter fully + and plainly.—And so I have got to the third side of my paper, which + is more than belongs to you, young women. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + It goes to-morrow, + To nobody's sorrow. +</pre> + <p> + You are silly, not I; I'm a poet, if I had but, etc.—Who's silly + now? rogues and lasses, tinderboxes and buzzards. O Lord, I am in a high + vein of silliness; methought I was speaking to dearest little MD face to + face. There; so, lads, enough for to-night; to cards with the blackguards. + Goodnight, my delight, etc. + </p> + <p> + Dec. 1. Pish, sirrahs, put a date always at the bottom of your letter, as + well as the top, that I may know when you send it; your last is of + November 3, yet I had others at the same time, written a fortnight after. + Whenever you would have any money, send me word three weeks before, and in + that time you will certainly have an answer, with a bill on Parvisol: pray + do this; for my head is full, and it will ease my memory. Why, I think I + quoted to you some of ——'s letter, so you may imagine how + witty the rest was; for it was all of a bunch, as Goodman Peesley(28) + says. Pray let us have no more bussiness, but busyness: the deuce take me + if I know how to spell it; your wrong spelling, Madam Stella, has put me + out: it does not look right; let me see, bussiness, busyness, business, + bisyness, bisness, bysness; faith, I know not which is right, I think the + second; I believe I never writ the word in my life before; yes, sure I + must, though; business, busyness, bisyness.—I have perplexed myself, + and can't do it. Prithee ask Walls. Business, I fancy that's right. Yes it + is; I looked in my own pamphlet, and found it twice in ten lines, to + convince you that I never writ it before. Oh, now I see it as plain as can + be; so yours is only an <i>s</i> too much. The Parliament will certainly + meet on Friday next: the Whigs will have a great majority in the House of + Lords, no care is taken to prevent it; there is too much neglect; they are + warned of it, and that signifies nothing: it was feared there would be + some peevish address from the Lords against a peace. 'Tis said about the + town that several of the Allies begin now to be content that a peace + should be treated. This is all the news I have. The Queen is pretty well: + and so now I bid poor dearest MD farewell till to-night; then I will talk + with them again. + </p> + <p> + The fifteen images that I saw were not worth forty pounds, so I stretched + a little when I said a thousand. The Grub Street account of that tumult is + published. The Devil is not like Lord Treasurer: they were all in your odd + antic masks, bought in common shops.(29) I fear Prior will not be one of + the plenipotentiaries. + </p> + <p> + I was looking over this letter, and find I make many mistakes of leaving + out words; so 'tis impossible to find my meaning, unless you be conjurers. + I will take more care for the future, and read over every day just what I + have written that day, which will take up no time to speak of. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 36. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Dec. 1, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + My last was put in this evening. I intended to dine with Mr. Masham + to-day, and called at White's chocolate house to see if he was there. Lord + Wharton saw me at the door, and I saw him, but took no notice, and was + going away, but he came through the crowd, called after me, and asked me + how I did, etc. This was pretty; and I believe he wished every word he + spoke was a halter to hang me. Masham did not dine at home, so I ate with + a friend in the neighbourhood. The printer has not sent me the second + edition; I know not the reason, for it certainly came out to-day; perhaps + they are glutted with it already. I found a letter from Lord Harley on my + table, to tell me that his father desires I would make two small + alterations. I am going to be busy, etc. + </p> + <p> + 2. Morning. See the blunder; I was making it the 37th day of the month, + from the number above. Well, but I am staying here for old Frowde, who + appointed to call this morning: I am ready dressed to go to church: I + suppose he dare not stir out but on Sundays.(1) The printer called early + this morning, told me the second edition went off yesterday in five hours, + and he must have a third ready to-morrow, for they might have sold half + another: his men are all at work with it, though it be Sunday. This old + fool will not come, and I shall miss church. Morrow, sirrahs.—At + night. I was at Court to-day: the Queen is well, and walked through part + of the rooms. I dined with the Secretary, and despatched some business. He + tells me the Dutch Envoy designs to complain of that pamphlet. The noise + it makes is extraordinary. It is fit it should answer the pains I have + been at about it. I suppose it will be printed in Ireland. Some lay it to + Prior, others to Mr. Secretary St. John, but I am always the first they + lay everything to. I'll go sleep, etc. + </p> + <p> + 3. I have ordered Patrick not to let any odd fellow come up to me; and a + fellow would needs speak with me from Sir George Pretyman.(2) I had never + heard of him, and would not see the messenger: but at last it proved that + this Sir George has sold his estate, and is a beggar. Smithers, the + Farnham carrier, brought me this morning a letter from your mother, with + three papers enclosed of Lady Giffard's writing; one owning some exchequer + business of 100 pounds to be Stella's;(3) another for 100 pounds that she + has of yours, which I made over to you for Mariston; and a third for 300 + pounds; the last is on stamped paper. I think they had better lie in + England in some good hand till Lady Giffard dies; and I will think of some + such hand before I come over. I was asking Smithers about all the people + of Farnham. Mrs. White(4) has left off dressing, is troubled with lameness + and swelled legs, and seldom stirs out; but her old hang-dog husband as + hearty as ever. I was this morning with Lord Treasurer, about something he + would have altered in the pamphlet;(5) but it can't be till the fourth + edition, which I believe will be soon; for I dined with the printer, and + he tells me they have sold off half the third. Mrs. Perceval(6) and her + daughter have been in town these three weeks, which I never heard till + to-day; and Mrs. Wesley(7) is come to town too, to consult Dr. Radcliffe. + The Whigs are resolved to bring that pamphlet into the House of Lords to + have it condemned, so I hear. But the printer will stand to it, and not + own the author; he must say he had it from the penny-post. Some people + talk as if the House of Lords would do some peevish thing, for the Whigs + are now a great majority in it; our Ministers are too negligent of such + things: I have never slipped giving them warning; some of them are + sensible of it; but Lord Treasurer stands too much upon his own legs. I + fancy his good fortune will bear him out in everything; but in reason I + should think this Ministry to stand very unsteady; if they can carry a + peace, they may hold; I believe not else. + </p> + <p> + 4. Mr. Secretary sent to me to-day to dine with him alone; but we had two + more with us, which hindered me doing some business. I was this morning + with young Harcourt, secretary to our Society, to take a room for our + weekly meetings; and the fellow asked us five guineas a week only to have + leave to dine once a week; was not that pretty? so we broke off with him, + and are to dine next Thursday at Harcourt's (he is Lord Keeper's son). + They have sold off above half the third edition, and answers are coming + out: the Dutch Envoy refused dining with Dr. Davenant,(8) because he was + suspected to write it: I have made some alterations in every edition, and + it has cost me more trouble, for the time, since the printing, than + before. 'Tis sent over to Ireland, and I suppose you will have it + reprinted. + </p> + <p> + 5. They are now printing the fourth edition, which is reckoned very + extraordinary, considering 'tis a dear twelvepenny book, and not bought up + in numbers by the party to give away, as the Whigs do, but purely upon its + own strength. I have got an under spur-leather to write an Examiner + again,(9) and the Secretary and I will now and then send hints; but we + would have it a little upon the Grub Street, to be a match for their + writers. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day at five: he dined by himself + after his family, and drinks no claret yet, for fear of his rheumatism, of + which he is almost well. He was very pleasant, as he is always: yet I + fancied he was a little touched with the present posture of affairs. The + Elector of Hanover's Minister here has given in a violent memorial against + the peace, and caused it to be printed. The Whig lords are doing their + utmost for a majority against Friday, and design, if they can, to address + the Queen against the peace. Lord Nottingham,(10) a famous Tory and + speech-maker, is gone over to the Whig side: they toast him daily, and + Lord Wharton says, It is Dismal (so they call him from his looks) will + save England at last. Lord Treasurer was hinting as if he wished a ballad + was made on him, and I will get up one against to-morrow.(11) He gave me a + scurrilous printed paper of bad verses on himself, under the name of the + English Catiline, and made me read them to the company. It was his + birthday, which he would not tell us, but Lord Harley whispered it to me. + </p> + <p> + 6. I was this morning making the ballad, two degrees above Grub Street: at + noon I paid a visit to Mrs. Masham, and then went to dine with our + Society. Poor Lord Keeper dined below stairs, I suppose, on a bit of + mutton. We chose two members: we were eleven met, the greatest meeting we + ever had: I am next week to introduce Lord Orrery. The printer came before + we parted, and brought the ballad, which made them laugh very heartily a + dozen times. He is going to print the pamphlet(12) in small, a fifth + edition, to be taken off by friends, and sent into the country. A sixpenny + answer is come out, good for nothing, but guessing me, among others, for + the author. To-morrow is the fatal day for the Parliament meeting, and we + are full of hopes and fears. We reckon we have a majority of ten on our + side in the House of Lords; yet I observed Mrs. Masham a little uneasy: + she assures me the Queen is stout. The Duke of Marlborough has not seen + the Queen for some days past; Mrs. Masham is glad of it, because she says + he tells a hundred lies to his friends of what she says to him: he is one + day humble, and the next day on the high ropes. The Duke of Ormond, they + say, will be in town to-night by twelve. + </p> + <p> + 7. This being the day the Parliament was to meet, and the great question + to be determined, I went with Dr. Freind to dine in the City, on purpose + to be out of the way, and we sent our printer to see what was our fate; + but he gave us a most melancholy account of things. The Earl of Nottingham + began, and spoke against a peace, and desired that in their address they + might put in a clause to advise the Queen not to make a peace without + Spain; which was debated, and carried by the Whigs by about six voices: + and this has happened entirely by my Lord Treasurer's neglect, who did not + take timely care to make up all his strength, although every one of us + gave him caution enough. Nottingham has certainly been bribed. The + question is yet only carried in the Committee of the whole House, and we + hope when it is reported to the House to-morrow, we shall have a majority, + by some Scotch lords coming to town. However, it is a mighty blow and loss + of reputation to Lord Treasurer, and may end in his ruin. I hear the thing + only as the printer brought it, who was at the debate; but how the + Ministry take it, or what their hopes and fears are, I cannot tell until I + see them. I shall be early with the Secretary to-morrow, and then I will + tell you more, and shall write a full account to the Bishop of Clogher + to-morrow, and to the Archbishop of Dublin, if I have time. I am horribly + down at present. I long to know how Lord Treasurer bears this, and what + remedy he has. The Duke of Ormond came this day to town, and was there. + </p> + <p> + 8. I was early this morning with the Secretary, and talked over this + matter. He hoped that when it was reported this day in the House of Lords, + they would disagree with their Committee, and so the matter would go off, + only with a little loss of reputation to the Lord Treasurer. I dined with + Mr. Cockburn, and after, a Scotch member came in, and told us that the + clause was carried against the Court in the House of Lords almost two to + one. I went immediately to Mrs. Masham, and meeting Dr. Arbuthnot (the + Queen's favourite physician), we went together. She was just come from + waiting at the Queen's dinner, and going to her own. She had heard nothing + of the thing being gone against us. It seems Lord Treasurer had been so + negligent that he was with the Queen while the question was put in the + House: I immediately told Mrs. Masham that either she and Lord Treasurer + had joined with the Queen to betray us, or that they two were betrayed by + the Queen: she protested solemnly it was not the former, and I believed + her; but she gave me some lights to suspect the Queen is changed. For + yesterday, when the Queen was going from the House, where she sat to hear + the debate, the Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Chamberlain, asked her whether he + or the Great Chamberlain Lindsey(13) ought to lead her out; she answered + short, "Neither of you," and gave her hand to the Duke of Somerset, who + was louder than any in the House for the clause against peace. She gave me + one or two more instances of this sort, which convince me that the Queen + is false, or at least very much wavering. Mr. Masham begged us to stay, + because Lord Treasurer would call, and we were resolved to fall on him + about his negligence in securing a majority. He came, and appeared in good + humour as usual, but I thought his countenance was much cast down. I + rallied him, and desired him to give me his staff, which he did: I told + him, if he would secure it me a week, I would set all right: he asked how; + I said I would immediately turn Lord Marlborough, his two daughters,(14) + the Duke and Duchess of Somerset, and Lord Cholmondeley,(15) out of all + their employments; and I believe he had not a friend but was of my + opinion. Arbuthnot asked how he came not to secure a majority. He could + answer nothing but that he could not help it, if people would lie and + forswear. A poor answer for a great Minister. There fell from him a + Scripture expression, that "the hearts of kings are unsearchable."(16) I + told him it was what I feared, and was from him the worst news he could + tell me. I begged him to know what he had to trust to: he stuck a little; + but at last bid me not fear, for all would be well yet. We would fain have + had him eat a bit where he was, but he would go home, it was past six: he + made me go home with him. There we found his brother and Mr. Secretary. He + made his son take a list of all in the House of Commons who had places, + and yet voted against the Court, in such a manner as if they should lose + their places: I doubt he is not able to compass it. Lord Keeper came in an + hour, and they were going upon business. So I left him, and returned to + Mrs. Masham; but she had company with her, and I would not stay.—This + is a long journal, and of a day that may produce great alterations, and + hazard the ruin of England. The Whigs are all in triumph; they foretold + how all this would be, but we thought it boasting. Nay, they said the + Parliament should be dissolved before Christmas, and perhaps it may: this + is all your d——d Duchess of Somerset's doings. I warned them + of it nine months ago, and a hundred times since: the Secretary always + dreaded it. I told Lord Treasurer I should have the advantage of him; for + he would lose his head, and I should only be hanged, and so carry my body + entire to the grave. + </p> + <p> + 9. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary: we are both of opinion that the + Queen is false. I told him what I heard, and he confirmed it by other + circumstances. I then went to my friend Lewis, who had sent to see me. He + talks of nothing but retiring to his estate in Wales. He gave me reasons + to believe the whole matter is settled between the Queen and the Whigs; he + hears that Lord Somers is to be Treasurer, and believes that, sooner than + turn out the Duchess of Somerset, she will dissolve the Parliament, and + get a Whiggish one, which may be done by managing elections. Things are + now in the crisis, and a day or two will determine. I have desired him to + engage Lord Treasurer that as soon as he finds the change is resolved on, + he will send me abroad as Queen's Secretary somewhere or other, where I + may remain till the new Ministers recall me; and then I will be sick for + five or six months, till the storm has spent itself. I hope he will grant + me this; for I should hardly trust myself to the mercy of my enemies while + their anger is fresh. I dined to-day with the Secretary, who affects + mirth, and seems to hope all will yet be well. I took him aside after + dinner, told him how I had served them, and had asked no reward, but + thought I might ask security; and then desired the same thing of him, to + send me abroad before a change. He embraced me, and swore he would take + the same care of me as himself, etc., but bid me have courage, for that in + two days my Lord Treasurer's wisdom would appear greater than ever; that + he suffered all that had happened on purpose, and had taken measures to + turn it to advantage. I said, "God send it"; but I do not believe a + syllable; and, as far as I can judge, the game is lost. I shall know more + soon, and my letters will at least be a good history to show you the steps + of this change. + </p> + <p> + 10. I was this morning with Lewis, who thinks they will let the Parliament + sit till they have given the money, and then dissolve them in spring, and + break the Ministry. He spoke to Lord Treasurer about what I desired him. + My lord desired him with great earnestness to assure me that all would be + well, and that I should fear nothing. I dined in the City with a friend. + This day the Commons went to the Queen with their address, and all the + Lords who were for the peace went with them, to show their zeal. I have + now some further conviction that the Queen is false, and it begins to be + known. + </p> + <p> + 11. I went between two and three to see Mrs. Masham; while I was there she + went to her bed-chamber to try a petticoat. Lord Treasurer came in to see + her, and seeing me in the outer room, fell a rallying me: says he, "You + had better keep company with me, than with such a fellow as Lewis, who has + not the soul of a chicken, nor the heart of a mite." Then he went in to + Mrs. Masham, and as he came back desired her leave to let me go home with + him to dinner. He asked whether I was not afraid to be seen with him. I + said I never valued my Lord Treasurer in my life, and therefore should + have always the same esteem for Mr. Harley and Lord Oxford. He seemed to + talk confidently, as if he reckoned that all this would turn to advantage. + I could not forbear hinting that he was not sure of the Queen, and that + those scoundrel, starving lords would never have dared to vote against the + Court, if Somerset had not assured them that it would please the Queen. He + said that was true, and Somerset did so. I stayed till six; then De Buys, + the Dutch Envoy, came to him, and I left him. Prior was with us a while + after dinner. I see him and all of them cast down, though they make the + best of it. + </p> + <p> + 12. Ford is come to town; I saw him last night: he is in no fear, but + sanguine, although I have told him the state of things. This change so + resembles the last, that I wonder they do not observe it. The Secretary + sent for me yesterday to dine with him, but I was abroad; I hope he had + something to say to me. This is morning, and I write in bed. I am going to + the Duke of Ormond, whom I have not yet seen. Morrow, sirrahs.—At + night. I was to see the Duke of Ormond this morning: he asked me two or + three questions after his civil way, and they related to Ireland: at last + I told him that, from the time I had seen him, I never once thought of + Irish affairs. He whispered me that he hoped I had done some good things + here: I said, if everybody else had done half as much, we should not be as + we are: then we went aside, and talked over affairs. I told him how all + things stood, and advised him what was to be done. I then went and sat an + hour with the Duchess; then as long with Lady Oglethorpe,(17) who is so + cunning a devil that I believe she could yet find a remedy, if they would + take her advice. I dined with a friend at Court. + </p> + <p> + 13. I was this morning with the Secretary: he will needs pretend to talk + as if things would be well: "Will you believe it," said he, "if you see + these people turned out?" I said, yes, if I saw the Duke and Duchess of + Somerset out: he swore if they were not, he would give up his place. Our + Society dined to-day at Sir William Wyndham's; we were thirteen present. + Lord Orrery and two other members were introduced: I left them at seven. I + forgot to tell you that the printer told me yesterday that Morphew, the + publisher, was sent for by that Lord Chief-Justice, who was a manager + against Sacheverell; he showed him two or three papers and pamphlets; + among the rest mine of the Conduct of the Allies, threatened him, asked + who was the author, and has bound him over to appear next term. He would + not have the impudence to do this, if he did not foresee what was coming + at Court. + </p> + <p> + 14. Lord Shelburne was with me this morning, to be informed of the state + of affairs, and desired I would answer all his objections against a peace, + which was soon done, for he would not give me room to put in a word. He is + a man of good sense enough; but argues so violently, that he will some day + or other put himself into a consumption. He desires that he may not be + denied when he comes to see me, which I promised, but will not perform. + Leigh and Sterne set out for Ireland on Monday se'nnight: I suppose they + will be with you long before this.—I was to-night drinking very good + wine in scurvy company, at least some of them; I was drawn in, but will be + more cautious for the future; 'tis late, etc. + </p> + <p> + 15. Morning. They say the Occasional Bill(19) is brought to-day into the + House of Lords; but I know not. I will now put an end to my letter, and + give it into the post-house myself. This will be a memorable letter, and I + shall sigh to see it some years hence. Here are the first steps toward the + ruin of an excellent Ministry; for I look upon them as certainly ruined; + and God knows what may be the consequences.—I now bid my dearest MD + farewell; for company is coming, and I must be at Lord Dartmouth's office + by noon. Farewell, dearest MD; I wish you a merry Christmas; I believe you + will have this about that time. Love Presto, who loves MD above all things + a thousand times. Farewell again, dearest MD, etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 37. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Dec. 15, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I put in my letter this evening myself. I was to-day inquiring at the + Secretary's office of Mr. Lewis how things went: I there met Prior, who + told me he gave all for gone, etc., and was of opinion the whole Ministry + would give up their places next week: Lewis thinks they will not till + spring, when the session is over; both of them entirely despair. I went to + see Mrs. Masham, who invited me to dinner; but I was engaged to Lewis. At + four I went to Masham's. He came and whispered me that he had it from a + very good hand that all would be well, and I found them both very + cheerful. The company was going to the opera, but desired I would come and + sup with them. I did so at ten, and Lord Treasurer was there, and sat with + us till past twelve, and was more cheerful than I have seen him these ten + days. Mrs. Masham told me he was mightily cast down some days ago, and he + could not indeed hide it from me. Arbuthnot is in good hopes that the + Queen has not betrayed us, but only has been frightened, and flattered, + etc. But I cannot yet be of his opinion, whether my reasons are better, or + that my fears are greater. I do resolve, if they give up, or are turned + out soon, to retire for some months, and I have pitched upon the place + already: but I will take methods for hearing from MD, and writing to them. + But I would be out of the way upon the first of the ferment; for they lay + all things on me, even some I have never read. + </p> + <p> + 16. I took courage to-day, and went to Court with a very cheerful + countenance. It was mightily crowded; both parties coming to observe each + other's faces. I have avoided Lord Halifax's bow till he forced it on me; + but we did not talk together. I could not make less than fourscore bows, + of which about twenty might be to Whigs. The Duke of Somerset is gone to + Petworth, and, I hear, the Duchess too, of which I shall be very glad. + Prince Eugene,(1) who was expected here some days ago, we are now told, + will not come at all. The Whigs designed to have met him with forty + thousand horse. Lord Treasurer told me some days ago of his discourse with + the Emperor's Resident, that puppy Hoffman, about Prince Eugene's coming; + by which I found my lord would hinder it, if he could; and we shall be all + glad if he does not come, and think it a good point gained. Sir Andrew + Fountaine, Ford, and I dined to-day with Mrs. Van, by invitation. + </p> + <p> + 17. I have mistaken the day of the month, and been forced to mend it + thrice. I dined to-day with Mr. Masham and his lady, by invitation. Lord + Treasurer was to be there, but came not. It was to entertain Buys, the + Dutch Envoy, who speaks English well enough: he was plaguily politic, + telling a thousand lies, of which none passed upon any of us. We are still + in the condition of suspense, and I think have little hopes. The Duchess + of Somerset is not gone to Petworth; only the Duke, and that is a poor + sacrifice. I believe the Queen certainly designs to change the Ministry, + but perhaps may put it off till the session is over: and I think they had + better give up now, if she will not deal openly; and then they need not + answer for the consequences of a peace, when it is in other hands, and may + yet be broken. They say my Lord Privy Seal sets out for Holland this week: + so the peace goes on. + </p> + <p> + 18. It has rained hard from morning till night, and cost me three + shillings in coach-hire. We have had abundance of wet weather. I dined in + the City, and was with the printer, who has now a fifth edition of the + Conduct, etc.: it is in small, and sold for sixpence; they have printed as + many as three editions, because they are to be sent in numbers into the + country by great men, etc., who subscribe for hundreds. It has been sent a + fortnight ago to Ireland: I suppose you will print it there. The Tory + Lords and Commons in Parliament argue all from it; and all agree that + never anything of that kind was of so great consequence, or made so many + converts. By the time I have sent this letter, I expect to hear from + little MD: it will be a month, two days hence, since I had your last, and + I will allow ten days for accidents. I cannot get rid of the leavings of a + cold I got a month ago, or else it is a new one. I have been writing + letters all this evening till I am weary, and I am sending out another + little thing, which I hope to finish this week, and design to send to the + printer in an unknown hand. There was printed a Grub Street speech of Lord + Nottingham;(2) and he was such an owl to complain of it in the House of + Lords, who have taken up the printer for it. I heard at Court that + Walpole(3) (a great Whig member) said that I and my whimsical Club writ it + at one of our meetings, and that I should pay for it. He will find he + lies: and I shall let him know by a third hand my thoughts of him. He is + to be Secretary of State, if the Ministry changes; but he has lately had a + bribe proved against him in Parliament, while he was Secretary at War. He + is one of the Whigs' chief speakers. + </p> + <p> + 19. Sad dismal weather. I went to the Secretary's office, and Lewis made + me dine with him. I intended to have dined with Lord Treasurer. I have not + seen the Secretary this week. Things do not mend at all. Lord Dartmouth + despairs, and is for giving up; Lewis is of the same mind; but Lord + Treasurer only says, "Poh, poh, all will be well." I am come home early to + finish something I am doing; but I find I want heart and humour, and would + read any idle book that came in my way. I have just sent away a penny + paper to make a little mischief. Patrick is gone to the burial of an Irish + footman, who was Dr. King's(4) servant; he died of a consumption, a fit + death for a poor starving wit's footman. The Irish servants always club to + bury a countryman. + </p> + <p> + 20. I was with the Secretary this morning, and, for aught I can see, we + shall have a languishing death: I can know nothing, nor themselves + neither. I dined, you know, with our Society, and that odious Secretary + would make me President next week; so I must entertain them this day + se'nnight at the Thatched House Tavern,(5) where we dined to-day: it will + cost me five or six pounds; yet the Secretary says he will give me wine. I + found a letter when I came home from the Bishop of Clogher. + </p> + <p> + 21. This is the first time I ever got a new cold before the old one was + going: it came yesterday, and appeared in all due forms, eyes and nose + running, etc., and is now very bad; and I cannot tell how I got it. Sir + Andrew Fountaine and I were invited to dine with Mrs. Van. I was this + morning with the Duke of Ormond; and neither he nor I can think of + anything to comfort us in present affairs. We must certainly fall, if the + Duchess of Somerset be not turned out; and nobody believes the Queen will + ever part with her. The Duke and I were settling when Mr. Secretary and I + should dine with him, and he fixes upon Tuesday; and when I came away I + remembered it was Christmas Day. I was to see Lady ——, who is + just up after lying-in; and the ugliest sight I have seen, pale, dead, old + and yellow, for want of her paint. She has turned my stomach. But she will + soon be painted, and a beauty again. + </p> + <p> + 22. I find myself disordered with a pain all round the small of my back, + which I imputed to champagne I had drunk; but find it to have been only my + new cold. It was a fine frosty day, and I resolved to walk into the City. + I called at Lord Treasurer's at eleven, and stayed some time with him.—He + showed me a letter from a great Presbyterian parson(6) to him, complaining + how their friends had betrayed them by passing this Conformity Bill; and + he showed me the answer he had written, which his friends would not let + him send; but was a very good one. He is very cheerful; but gives one no + hopes, nor has any to give. I went into the City, and there I dined. + </p> + <p> + 23. Morning. As I was dressing to go to church, a friend that was to see + me advised me not to stir out; so I shall keep at home to-day, and only + eat some broth, if I can get it. It is a terrible cold frost, and snow + fell yesterday, which still remains: look there, you may see it from the + penthouses. The Lords made yesterday two or three votes about peace, and + Hanover, of a very angry kind to vex the Ministry, and they will meet + sooner by a fortnight than the Commons; and they say, are preparing some + knocking addresses. Morrow, sirrahs. I'll sit at home, and when I go to + bed I will tell you how I am.—I have sat at home all day, and eaten + only a mess of broth and a roll. I have written a Prophecy,(7) which I + design to print; I did it to-day, and some other verses. + </p> + <p> + 24. I went into the City to-day in a coach, and dined there. My cold is + going. It is now bitter hard frost, and has been so these three or four + days. My Prophecy is printed, and will be published after Christmas Day; I + like it mightily: I don't know how it will pass. You will never understand + it at your distance, without help. I believe everybody will guess it to be + mine, because it is somewhat in the same manner with that of "Merlin"(8) + in the Miscellanies. My Lord Privy Seal set out this day for Holland: + he'll have a cold journey. I gave Patrick half a crown for his Christmas + box, on condition he would be good, and he came home drunk at midnight. I + have taken a memorandum of it, because I never design to give him a groat + more. 'Tis cruel cold. + </p> + <p> + 25. I wish MD a merry Christmas, and many a one; but mine is melancholy: I + durst not go to church to-day, finding myself a little out of order, and + it snowing prodigiously, and freezing. At noon I went to Mrs. Van, who had + this week engaged me to dine there to-day: and there I received the news + that poor Mrs. Long(9) died at Lynn in Norfolk on Saturday last, at four + in the morning: she was sick but four hours. We suppose it was the asthma, + which she was subject to as well as the dropsy, as she sent me word in her + last letter, written about five weeks ago; but then said she was + recovered. I never was more afflicted at any death. The poor creature had + retired to Lynn two years ago, to live cheap, and pay her debts. In her + last letter she told me she hoped to be easy by Christmas; and she kept + her word, although she meant it otherwise. She had all sorts of amiable + qualities, and no ill ones, but the indiscretion of too much neglecting + her own affairs. She had two thousand pounds left her by an old + grandmother,(10) with which she intended to pay her debts, and live on an + annuity she had of one hundred pounds a year, and Newburg House, which + would be about sixty pounds more. That odious grandmother living so long, + forced her to retire; for the two thousand pounds was settled on her after + the old woman's death, yet her brute of a brother, Sir James Long,(11) + would not advance it for her; else she might have paid her debts, and + continued here, and lived still: I believe melancholy helped her on to her + grave. I have ordered a paragraph to be put in the Postboy,(12) giving an + account of her death, and making honourable mention of her; which is all I + can do to serve her memory: but one reason was spite; for her brother + would fain have her death a secret, to save the charge of bringing her up + here to bury her, or going into mourning. Pardon all this, for the sake of + a poor creature I had so much friendship for. + </p> + <p> + 26. I went to Mr. Secretary this morning, and he would have me dine with + him. I called at noon at Mrs. Masham's, who desired me not to let the + Prophecy be published, for fear of angering the Queen about the Duchess of + Somerset; so I writ to the printer to stop them. They have been printed + and given about, but not sold. I saw Lord Treasurer there, who had been + two hours with the Queen; and Mrs. Masham is in hopes things will do well + again. I went at night again, and supped at Mr. Masham's, and Lord + Treasurer sat with us till one o'clock. So 'tis late, etc. + </p> + <p> + 27. I entertained our Society at the Thatched House Tavern to-day at + dinner; but brother Bathurst sent for wine, the house affording none. The + printer had not received my letter, and so he brought up dozens apiece of + the Prophecy; but I ordered him to part with no more. 'Tis an admirable + good one, and people are mad for it. The frost still continues violently + cold. Mrs. Masham invited me to come to-night and play at cards; but our + Society did not part till nine. But I supped with Mrs. Hill, her sister, + and there was Mrs. Masham and Lord Treasurer, and we stayed till twelve. + He is endeavouring to get a majority against next Wednesday, when the + House of Lords is to meet, and the Whigs intend to make some violent + addresses against a peace, if not prevented. God knows what will become of + us.—It is still prodigiously cold; but so I told you already. We + have eggs on the spit, I wish they may not be addled. When I came home + tonight I found, forsooth, a letter from MD, N.24, 24, 24, 24; there, do + you know the numbers now? and at the same time one from Joe,(13) full of + thanks: let him know I have received it, and am glad of his success, but + won't put him to the charge of a letter. I had a letter some time ago from + Mr. Warburton,(14) and I beg one of you will copy out what I shall tell + you, and send it by some opportunity to Warburton. 'Tis as follows: The + Doctor has received Mr. Warburton's letter, and desires he will let the + Doctor know where(15) that accident he mentions is like soon to happen, + and he will do what he can in it.—And pray, madam, let them know + that I do this to save myself the trouble, and them the expense of a + letter. And I think that this is enough for one that comes home at twelve + from a Lord Treasurer and Mrs. Masham. Oh, I could tell you ten thousand + things of our mad politics, upon what small circumstances great affairs + have turned. But I will go rest my busy head. + </p> + <p> + 28. I was this morning with brother Bathurst to see the Duke of Ormond. We + have given his Grace some hopes to be one of our Society. The Secretary + and I and Bathurst are to dine with him on Sunday next. The Duke is not in + much hopes, but has been very busy in endeavouring to bring over some + lords against next Wednesday. The Duchess caught me as I was going out; + she is sadly in fear about things, and blames me for not mending them by + my credit with Lord Treasurer; and I blame her. She met me in the street + at noon, and engaged me to dine with her, which I did; and we talked an + hour after dinner in her closet. If we miscarry on Wednesday, I believe it + will be by some strange sort of neglect. They talk of making eight new + lords by calling up some peers' eldest sons; but they delay strangely. I + saw Judge Coote(16) to-day at the Duke of Ormond's: he desires to come and + see me, to justify his principles. + </p> + <p> + 29. Morning. This goes to-day. I will not answer yours, your 24th, till + next, which shall begin to-night, as usual. Lord Shelburne has sent to + invite me to dinner, but I am engaged with Lewis at Ned Southwell's. Lord + Northampton and Lord Aylesbury's sons(17) are both made peers; but we + shall want more. I write this post to your Dean. I owe the Archbishop a + letter this long time. All people that come from Ireland complain of him, + and scold me for protecting him. Pray, Madam Dingley, let me know what + Presto has received for this year, or whether anything is due to him for + last: I cannot look over your former letters now. As for Dingley's own + account of her exchequer money, I will give it on t'other side. Farewell, + my own dearest MD, and love Presto; and God ever bless dearest MD, etc. + etc. I wish you many happy Christmases and new years. + </p> + <p> + I have owned to the Dean a letter I just had from you, but that I had not + one this great while before. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +DINGLEY'S ACCOUNT + + Received of Mr. Tooke.. 6 17 6 + Deducted for entering the letter of attorney. 0 2 6 + For the three half-crowns it used to cost you, I don't + know why nor wherefore.. 0 7 6 + For exchange to Ireland.. 0 10 0 + Forcoach-hire.. 0 2 6 + ———— + In all, just 8 0 0 +</pre> + <p> + So there's your money, and we are both even: for I'll pay you no more than + that eight pounds Irish, and pray be satisfied. + </p> + <p> + Churchwarden's accounts, boys. + </p> + <p> + Saturday night. I have broke open my letter, and tore it into the bargain, + to let you know that we are all safe: the Queen has made no less than + twelve lords,(18) to have a majority; nine new ones, the other three + peers' sons; and has turned out the Duke of Somerset. She is awaked at + last, and so is Lord Treasurer: I want nothing now but to see the Duchess + out. But we shall do without her. We are all extremely happy. Give me joy, + sirrahs. This is written in a coffee-house. Three of the new lords are of + our Society. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 38. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Dec. 29, 1711. + </h3> + <p> + I put my letter in this evening, after coming from dinner at Ned + Southwell's, where I drank very good Irish wine, and we are in great joy + at this happy turn of affairs. The Queen has been at last persuaded to her + own interest and security, and I freely think she must have made both + herself and kingdom very unhappy, if she had done otherwise. It is still a + mighty secret that Masham is to be one of the new lords; they say he does + not yet know it himself; but the Queen is to surprise him with it. Mr. + Secretary will be a lord at the end of the session; but they want him + still in Parliament. After all, it is a strange unhappy necessity of + making so many peers together; but the Queen has drawn it upon herself, by + her confounded trimming and moderation. Three, as I told you, are of our + Society. + </p> + <p> + 30. I writ the Dean and you a lie yesterday; for the Duke of Somerset is + not yet turned out. I was to-day at Court, and resolved to be very civil + to the Whigs; but saw few there. When I was in the bed-chamber talking to + Lord Rochester, he went up to Lady Burlington,(1) who asked him who I was; + and Lady Sunderland and she whispered about me: I desired Lord Rochester + to tell Lady Sunderland I doubted she was not as much in love with me as I + was with her; but he would not deliver my message. The Duchess of + Shrewsbury came running up to me, and clapped her fan up to hide us from + the company, and we gave one another joy of this change; but sighed when + we reflected on the Somerset family not being out. The Secretary and I, + and brother Bathurst, and Lord Windsor, dined with the Duke of Ormond. + Bathurst and Windsor(2) are to be two of the new lords. I desired my Lord + Radnor's brother,(3) at Court to-day, to let my lord know I would call on + him at six, which I did, and was arguing with him three hours to bring him + over to us, and I spoke so closely that I believe he will be tractable; + but he is a scoundrel, and though I said I only talked for my love to him, + I told a lie; for I did not care if he were hanged: but everyone gained + over is of consequence. The Duke of Marlborough was at Court today, and + nobody hardly took notice of him. Masham's being a lord begins to take + wind: nothing at Court can be kept a secret. Wednesday will be a great + day: you shall know more. + </p> + <p> + 31. Our frost is broken since yesterday, and it is very slabbery;(4) yet I + walked to the City and dined, and ordered some things with the printer. I + have settled Dr. King in the Gazette; it will be worth two hundred pounds + a year to him. Our new lords' patents are passed: I don't like the + expedient, if we could have found any other. I see I have said this + before. I hear the Duke of Marlborough is turned out of all his + employments: I shall know to-morrow when I am to carry Dr. King to dine + with the Secretary.—These are strong remedies; pray God the patient + is able to bear them. The last Ministry people are utterly desperate. + </p> + <p> + Jan. 1. Now I wish my dearest little MD many happy new years; yes, both + Dingley and Stella, ay and Presto too, many happy new years. I dined with + the Secretary, and it is true that the Duke of Marlborough is turned out + of all. The Duke of Ormond has got his regiment of foot-guards, I know not + who has the rest. If the Ministry be not sure of a peace, I shall wonder + at this step, and do not approve it at best. The Queen and Lord Treasurer + mortally hate the Duke of Marlborough, and to that he owes his fall, more + than to his other faults: unless he has been tampering too far with his + party, of which I have not heard any particulars; however it be, the world + abroad will blame us. I confess my belief that he has not one good quality + in the world beside that of a general, and even that I have heard denied + by several great soldiers. But we have had constant success in arms while + he commanded. Opinion is a mighty matter in war, and I doubt the French + think it impossible to conquer an army that he leads, and our soldiers + think the same; and how far even this step may encourage the French to + play tricks with us, no man knows. I do not love to see personal + resentment mix with public affairs. + </p> + <p> + 2. This being the day the Lords meet, and the new peers to be introduced, + I went to Westminster to see the sight; but the crowd was too great in the + house. So I only went into the robing-room, to give my four brothers joy, + and Sir Thomas Mansel,(5) and Lord Windsor; the other six I am not + acquainted with. It was apprehended the Whigs would have raised some + difficulties, but nothing happened. I went to see Lady Masham at noon, and + wish her joy of her new honour, and a happy new year. I found her very + well pleased; for peerage will be some sort of protection to her upon any + turn of affairs. She engaged me to come at night, and sup with her and + Lord Treasurer: I went at nine, and she was not at home, so I would not + stay.—No, no, I won't answer your letter yet, young women. I dined + with a friend in the neighbourhood. I see nothing here like Christmas, + except brawn or mince-pies in places where I dine, and giving away my + half-crowns like farthings to great men's porters and butlers. Yesterday I + paid seven good guineas to the fellow at the tavern where I treated the + Society. I have a great mind to send you the bill. I think I told you some + articles. I have not heard whether anything was done in the House of Lords + after introducing the new ones. Ford has been sitting with me till peeast + tweeleve a clock. + </p> + <p> + 3. This was our Society day: Lord Dupplin was President; we choose every + week; the last President treats and chooses his successor. I believe our + dinner cost fifteen pounds beside wine. The Secretary grew brisk, and + would not let me go, nor Lord Lansdowne,(6) who would fain have gone home + to his lady, being newly married to Lady Mary Thynne. It was near one when + we parted, so you must think I cannot write much to-night. The adjourning + of the House of Lords yesterday, as the Queen desired, was just carried by + the twelve new lords, and one more. Lord Radnor was not there: I hope I + have cured him. Did I tell you that I have brought Dr. King in to be + Gazetteer? It will be worth above two hundred pounds a year to him: I + believe I told you so before, but I am forgetful. Go, get you gone to + ombre, and claret, and toasted oranges. I'll go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 4. I cannot get rid of the leavings of my cold. I was in the City to-day, + and dined with my printer, and gave him a ballad made by several hands, I + know not whom. I believe Lord Treasurer had a finger in it; I added three + stanzas; I suppose Dr. Arbuthnot had the greatest share. I had been + overseeing some other little prints, and a pamphlet made by one of my + under-strappers. Somerset is not out yet. I doubt not but you will have + the Prophecy in Ireland, although it is not published here, only printed + copies given to friends. Tell me, do you understand it? No, faith, not + without help. Tell me what you stick at, and I'll explain. We turned out a + member of our Society yesterday for gross neglect and non-attendance. I + writ to him by order to give him notice of it. It is Tom Harley,(7) + secretary to the Treasurer, and cousin-german to Lord Treasurer. He is + going to Hanover from the Queen. I am to give the Duke of Ormond notice of + his election as soon as I can see him. + </p> + <p> + 5. I went this morning with a parishioner of mine, one Nuttal, who came + over here for a legacy of one hundred pounds, and a roguish lawyer had + refused to pay him, and would not believe he was the man. I writ to the + lawyer a sharp letter, that I had taken Nuttal into my protection, and was + resolved to stand by him, and the next news was, that the lawyer desired I + would meet him, and attest he was the man, which I did, and his money was + paid upon the spot. I then visited Lord Treasurer, who is now right again, + and all well, only that the Somerset family is not out yet. I hate that; I + don't like it, as the man said, by, etc. Then I went and visited poor Will + Congreve, who had a French fellow tampering with one of his eyes; he is + almost blind of both. I dined with some merchants in the City, but could + not see Stratford, with whom I had business. Presto, leave off your + impertinence, and answer our letter, saith MD. Yes, yes, one of these + days, when I have nothing else to do. O, faith, this letter is a week + written, and not one side done yet. These ugly spots are not tobacco, but + this is the last gilt sheet I have of large paper, therefore hold your + tongue. Nuttal was surprised when they gave him bits of paper instead of + money, but I made Ben Tooke put him in his geers:(8) he could not reckon + ten pounds, but was puzzled with the Irish way. Ben Tooke and my printer + have desired me to make them stationers to the Ordnance, of which Lord + Rivers is Master, instead of the Duke of Marlborough. It will be a hundred + pounds a year apiece to them, if I can get it. I will try to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + 6. I went this morning to Earl Rivers, gave him joy of his new employment, + and desired him to prefer my printer and bookseller to be stationers to + his office. He immediately granted it me; but, like an old courtier, told + me it was wholly on my account, but that he heard I had intended to engage + Mr. Secretary to speak to him, and desired I would engage him to do so, + but that, however, he did it only for my sake. This is a Court trick, to + oblige as many as you can at once. I read prayers to poor Mrs. Wesley, who + is very much out of order, instead of going to church; and then I went to + Court, which I found very full, in expectation of seeing Prince Eugene, + who landed last night, and lies at Leicester House; he was not to see the + Queen till six this evening. I hope and believe he comes too late to do + the Whigs any good. I refused dining with the Secretary, and was like to + lose my dinner, which was at a private acquaintance's. I went at six to + see the Prince at Court, but he was gone in to the Queen; and when he came + out, Mr. Secretary, who introduced him, walked so near him that he quite + screened me from him with his great periwig. I'll tell you a good passage: + as Prince Eugene was going with Mr. Secretary to Court, he told the + Secretary that Hoffman, the Emperor's Resident, said to His Highness that + it was not proper to go to Court without a long wig, and his was a tied-up + one: "Now," says the Prince, "I knew not what to do, for I never had a + long periwig in my life; and I have sent to all my valets and footmen, to + see whether any of them have one, that I might borrow it, but none of them + has any."—Was not this spoken very greatly with some sort of + contempt? But the Secretary said it was a thing of no consequence, and + only observed by gentlemen ushers. I supped with Lord Masham, where Lord + Treasurer and Mr. Secretary supped with us: the first left us at twelve, + but the rest did not part till two, yet I have written all this, because + it is fresh: and now I'll go sleep if I can; that is, I believe I shall, + because I have drank a little. + </p> + <p> + 7. I was this morning to give the Duke of Ormond notice of the honour done + him to make him one of our Society, and to invite him on Thursday next to + the Thatched House: he has accepted it with the gratitude and humility + such a preferment deserves, but cannot come till the next meeting, because + Prince Eugene is to dine with him that day, which I allowed for: a good + excuse, and will report accordingly. I dined with Lord Masham, and sat + there till eight this evening, and came home, because I was not very well, + but a little griped; but now I am well again, I will not go, at least but + very seldom, to Lord Masham's suppers. Lord Treasurer is generally there, + and that tempts me, but late sitting up does not agree with me: there's + the short and the long, and I won't do it; so take your answer, dear + little young women; and I have no more to say to you to-night, because of + the Archbishop, for I am going to write a long letter to him, but not so + politely as formerly: I won't trust him. + </p> + <p> + 8. Well, then, come, let us see this letter; if I must answer it, I must. + What's here now? yes, faith, I lamented my birthday(9) two days after, and + that's all: and you rhyme, Madam Stella; were those verses made upon my + birthday? faith, when I read them, I had them running in my head all the + day, and said them over a thousand times; they drank your health in all + their glasses, and wished, etc. I could not get them out of my head. What? + no, I believe it was not; what do I say upon the eighth of December? + Compare, and see whether I say so. I am glad of Mrs. Stoyte's recovery, + heartily glad; your Dolly Manley's and Bishop of Cloyne's(10) child I have + no concern about: I am sorry in a civil way, that's all. Yes, yes, Sir + George St. George dead.(11)—Go, cry, Madam Dingley; I have written + to the Dean. Raymond will be rich, for he has the building itch. I wish + all he has got may put him out of debt. Poh, I have fires like lightning; + they cost me twelvepence a week, beside small coal. I have got four new + caps, madam, very fine and convenient, with striped cambric, instead of + muslin; so Patrick need not mend them, but take the old ones. Stella + snatched Dingley's word out of her pen; Presto a cold? Why, all the world + here is dead with them: I never had anything like it in my life; 'tis not + gone in five weeks. I hope Leigh is with you before this, and has brought + your box. How do you like the ivory rasp? Stella is angry; but I'll have a + finer thing for her. Is not the apron as good? I'm sure I shall never be + paid it; so all's well again.—What? the quarrel with Sir John + Walter?(12) Why, we had not one word of quarrel; only he railed at me when + I was gone: and Lord Keeper and Treasurer teased me for a week. It was + nuts to them; a serious thing with a vengeance.—The Whigs may sell + their estates then, or hang themselves, as they are disposed; for a peace + there will be. Lord Treasurer told me that Connolly(13) was going to + Hanover. Your Provost(14) is a coxcomb. Stella is a good girl for not + being angry when I tell her of spelling; I see none wrong in this. God + Almighty be praised that your disorder lessens; it increases my hopes + mightily that they will go off. And have you been plagued with the fear of + the plague? never mind those reports; I have heard them five hundred + times. Replevi? Replevin, simpleton, 'tis Dingley I mean; but it is a hard + word, and so I'll excuse it. I stated Dingley's accounts in my last. I + forgot Catherine's sevenpenny dinner. I hope it was the beef-steaks; I'll + call and eat them in spring; but Goody Stoyte must give me coffee, or + green tea, for I drink no bohea. Well, ay, the pamphlet; but there are + some additions to the fourth edition; the fifth edition was of four + thousand, in a smaller print, sold for sixpence. Yes, I had the + twenty-pound bill from Parvisol: and what then? Pray now eat the Laracor + apples; I beg you not to keep them, but tell me what they are. You have + had Tooke's bill in my last. And so there now, your whole letter is + answered. I tell you what I do; I lay your letter before me, and take it + in order, and answer what is necessary; and so and so. Well, when I + expected we were all undone, I designed to retire for six months, and then + steal over to Laracor; and I had in my mouth a thousand times two lines of + Shakespeare, where Cardinal Wolsey says, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "A weak old man, battered with storms of state, + Is come to lay his weary bones among you."(15) +</pre> + <p> + I beg your pardon; I have cheated you all this margin, I did not perceive + it; and I went on wider and wider like Stella; awkward sluts; SHE WRITES + SO SO, THERE:(16) that's as like as two eggs a penny.—"A weak old + man," now I am saying it, and shall till to-morrow.—The Duke of + Marlborough says there is nothing he now desires so much as to contrive + some way how to soften Dr. Swift. He is mistaken; for those things that + have been hardest against him were not written by me. Mr. Secretary told + me this from a friend of the Duke's; and I'm sure now he is down, I shall + not trample on him; although I love him not, I dislike his being out.—Bernage + was to see me this morning, and gave some very indifferent excuses for not + calling here so long. I care not twopence. Prince Eugene did not dine with + the Duke of Marlborough on Sunday, but was last night at Lady Betty + Germaine's assemblee, and a vast number of ladies to see him. Mr. Lewis + and I dined with a private friend. I was this morning to see the Duke of + Ormond, who appointed me to meet him at the Cockpit at one, but never + came. I sat too some time with the Duchess. We don't like things very well + yet. I am come home early, and going to be busy. I'll go write. + </p> + <p> + 9. I could not go sleep last night till past two, and was waked before + three by a noise of people endeavouring to break open my window. For a + while I would not stir, thinking it might be my imagination; but hearing + the noise continued, I rose and went to the window, and then it ceased. I + went to bed again, and heard it repeated more violently; then I rose and + called up the house, and got a candle: the rogues had lifted up the sash a + yard; there are great sheds before my windows, although my lodgings be a + storey high; and if they get upon the sheds they are almost even with my + window. We observed their track, and panes of glass fresh broken. The + watchmen told us to-day they saw them, but could not catch them. They + attacked others in the neighbourhood about the same time, and actually + robbed a house in Suffolk Street, which is the next street but one to us. + It is said they are seamen discharged from service. I went up to call my + man, and found his bed empty; it seems he often lies abroad. I challenged + him this morning as one of the robbers. He is a sad dog; and the minute I + come to Ireland I will discard him. I have this day got double iron bars + to every window in my dining-room and bed-chamber; and I hide my purse in + my thread stocking between the bed's head and the wainscot. Lewis and I + dined with an old Scotch friend, who brought the Duke of Douglas(17) and + three or four more Scots upon us. + </p> + <p> + 10. This was our Society day, you know; but the Duke of Ormond could not + be with us, because he dined with Prince Eugene. It cost me a guinea + contribution to a poet, who had made a copy of verses upon monkeys, + applying the story to the Duke of Marlborough; the rest gave two guineas, + except the two physicians,(18) who followed my example. I don't like this + custom: the next time I will give nothing. I sat this evening at Lord + Masham's with Lord Treasurer: I don't like his countenance; nor I don't + like the posture of things well. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + We cannot be stout, + Till Somerset's out: +</pre> + <p> + as the old saying is. + </p> + <p> + 11. Mr. Lewis and I dined with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who eats + the most elegantly of any man I know in town. I walked lustily in the Park + by moonshine till eight, to shake off my dinner and wine; and then went to + sup at Mr. Domville's with Ford, and stayed till twelve. It is told me + to-day as a great secret that the Duke of Somerset will be out soon, that + the thing is fixed; but what shall we do with the Duchess? They say the + Duke will make her leave the Queen out of spite, if he be out. It has + stuck upon that fear a good while already. Well, but Lewis gave me a + letter from MD, N.25. O Lord, I did not expect one this fortnight, faith. + You are mighty good, that's certain: but I won't answer it, because this + goes to-morrow, only what you say of the printer being taken up; I value + it not; all's safe there; nor do I fear anything, unless the Ministry be + changed: I hope that danger is over. However, I shall be in Ireland before + such a change; which could not be, I think, till the end of the session, + if the Whigs' designs had gone on.—Have not you an apron by Leigh, + Madam Stella? have you all I mentioned in a former letter? + </p> + <p> + 12. Morning. This goes to-day as usual. I think of going into the City; + but of that at night. 'Tis fine moderate weather these two or three days + last. Farewell, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 39. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Jan. 12,1711-12. + </h3> + <p> + When I sealed up my letter this morning, I looked upon myself to be not + worth a groat in the world. Last night, after Mr. Ford and I left + Domville, Ford desired me to go with him for a minute upon earnest + business, and then told me that both he and I were ruined; for he had + trusted Stratford with five hundred pounds for tickets for the lottery, + and he had been with Stratford, who confessed he had lost fifteen thousand + pounds by Sir Stephen Evans,(1) who broke last week; that he concluded + Stratford must break too; that he could not get his tickets, but Stratford + made him several excuses, which seemed very blind ones, etc. And Stratford + had near four hundred pounds of mine, to buy me five hundred pounds in the + South Sea Company. I came home reflecting a little; nothing concerned me + but MD. I called all my philosophy and religion up; and, I thank God, it + did not keep me awake beyond my usual time above a quarter of an hour. + This morning I sent for Tooke, whom I had employed to buy the stock of + Stratford, and settle things with him. He told me I was secure; for + Stratford had transferred it to me in form in the South Sea House, and he + had accepted it for me, and all was done on stamped parchment. However, he + would be further informed; and at night sent me a note to confirm me. + However, I am not yet secure; and, besides, am in pain for Ford, whom I + first brought acquainted with Stratford. I dined in the City. + </p> + <p> + 13. Domville and I dined with Ford to-day by appointment: the Lord Mansel + told me at Court to-day that I was engaged to him; but Stratford had + promised Ford to meet him and me to-night at Ford's lodgings. He did so; + said he had hopes to save himself in his affair with Evans. Ford asked him + for his tickets: he said he would send them tomorrow; but looking in his + pocket-book, said he believed he had some of them about him, and gave him + as many as came to two hundred pounds, which rejoiced us much; besides, he + talked so frankly, that we might think there is no danger. I asked him, + Was there any more to be settled between us in my affair? He said, No; and + answered my questions just as Tooke had got them from others; so I hope I + am safe. This has been a scurvy affair. I believe Stella would have half + laughed at me, to see a suspicious fellow like me overreached. I saw + Prince Eugene to-day at Court: I don't think him an ugly-faced fellow, but + well enough, and a good shape. + </p> + <p> + 14. The Parliament was to sit to-day, and met; but were adjourned by the + Queen's directions till Thursday. She designs to make some important + speech then. She pretended illness; but I believe they were not ready, and + they expect some opposition: and the Scotch lords are angry,(2) and must + be pacified. I was this morning to invite the Duke of Ormond to our + Society on Thursday, where he is then to be introduced. He has appointed + me at twelve to-morrow about some business: I would fain have his help to + impeach a certain lord; but I doubt we shall make nothing of it. I + intended to have dined with Lord Treasurer, but I was told he would be + busy: so I dined with Mrs. Van; and at night I sat with Lord Masham till + one. Lord Treasurer was there, and chid me for not dining with him: he was + in very good humour. I brought home two flasks of burgundy in my chair: I + wish MD had them. You see it is very late; so I'll go to bed, and bid MD + good night. + </p> + <p> + 15. This morning I presented my printer and bookseller to Lord Rivers, to + be stationers to the Ordnance; stationers, that's the word; I did not + write it plain at first. I believe it will be worth three hundred pounds a + year between them. This is the third employment I have got for them. + Rivers told them the Doctor commanded him, and he durst not refuse it. I + would have dined with Lord Treasurer to-day again, but Lord Mansel would + not let me, and forced me home with him. I was very deep with the Duke of + Ormond to-day at the Cockpit, where we met to be private; but I doubt I + cannot do the mischief I intended. My friend Penn came there, Will Penn + the Quaker, at the head of his brethren, to thank the Duke for his + kindness to their people in Ireland. To see a dozen scoundrels with their + hats on, and the Duke complimenting with his off, was a good sight enough. + I sat this evening with Sir William Robinson,(3) who has mighty often + invited me to a bottle of wine: and it is past twelve. + </p> + <p> + 16. This being fast-day, Dr. Freind and I went into the City to dine late, + like good fasters. My printer and bookseller want me to hook in another + employment for them in the Tower, because it was enjoyed before by a + stationer, although it be to serve the Ordnance with oil, tallow, etc., + and is worth four hundred pounds per annum more: I will try what I can do. + They are resolved to ask several other employments of the same nature to + other offices; and I will then grease fat sows, and see whether it be + possible to satisfy them. Why am not I a stationer? The Parliament sits + to-morrow, and Walpole, late Secretary at War, is to be swinged for + bribery, and the Queen is to communicate something of great importance to + the two Houses, at least they say so. But I must think of answering your + letter in a day or two. + </p> + <p> + 17. I went this morning to the Duke of Ormond about some business, and he + told me he could not dine with us today, being to dine with Prince Eugene. + Those of our Society of the House of Commons could not be with us, the + House sitting late on Walpole. I left them at nine, and they were not + come. We kept some dinner for them. I hope Walpole will be sent to the + Tower, and expelled the House; but this afternoon the members I spoke with + in the Court of Requests talked dubiously of it. It will be a leading card + to maul the Duke of Marlborough for the same crime, or at least to censure + him. The Queen's message was only to give them notice of the peace she is + treating, and to desire they will make some law to prevent libels against + the Government; so farewell to Grub Street. + </p> + <p> + 18. I heard to-day that the commoners of our Society did not leave the + Parliament till eleven at night, then went to those I left, and stayed + till three in the morning. Walpole is expelled, and sent to the Tower. I + was this morning again with Lord Rivers, and have made him give the other + employment to my printer and bookseller; 'tis worth a great deal. I dined + with my friend Lewis privately, to talk over affairs. We want to have this + Duke of Somerset out, and he apprehends it will not be, but I hope better. + They are going now at last to change the Commissioners of the Customs; my + friend Sir Matthew Dudley will be out, and three more, and Prior will be + in. I have made Ford copy out a small pamphlet, and sent it to the press, + that I might not be known for author; 'tis A Letter to the October + Club,(4) if ever you heard of such a thing.—Methinks this letter + goes on but slowly for almost a week: I want some little conversation with + MD, and to know what they are doing just now. I am sick of politics. I + have not dined with Lord Treasurer these three weeks: he chides me, but I + don't care: I don't. + </p> + <p> + 19. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer: this is his day of choice company, + where they sometimes admit me, but pretend to grumble. And to-day they met + on some extraordinary business; the Keeper, Steward, both Secretaries, + Lord Rivers, and Lord Anglesea: I left them at seven, and came away, and + have been writing to the Bishop of Clogher. I forgot to know where to + direct to him since Sir George St. George's death,(5) but I have directed + to the same house: you must tell me better, for the letter is sent by the + bellman. Don't write to me again till this is gone, I charge you, for I + won't answer two letters together. The Duke of Somerset is out, and was + with his yellow liveries at Parliament to-day. You know he had the same + with the Queen, when he was Master of the Horse: we hope the Duchess will + follow, or that he will take her away in spite. Lord Treasurer, I hope, + has now saved his head. Has the Dean received my letter? ask him at cards + to-night. + </p> + <p> + 20. There was a world of people to-day at Court to see Prince Eugene, but + all bit, for he did not come. I saw the Duchess of Somerset talking with + the Duke of Buckingham; she looked a little down, but was extremely + courteous. The Queen has the gout, but is not in much pain. Must I fill + this line too?(6) well then, so let it be. The Duke of Beaufort(7) has a + mighty mind to come into our Society; shall we let him? I spoke to the + Duke of Ormond about it, and he doubts a little whether to let him in or + no. They say the Duke of Somerset is advised by his friends to let his + wife stay with the Queen; I am sorry for it. I dined with the Secretary + to-day, with mixed company; I don't love it. Our Society does not meet + till Friday, because Thursday will be a busy day in the House of Commons, + for then the Duke of Marlborough's bribery is to be examined into about + the pension paid him by those that furnished bread to the army. + </p> + <p> + 21. I have been five times with the Duke of Ormond about a perfect trifle, + and he forgets it: I used him like a dog this morning for it. I was asked + to-day by several in the Court of Requests whether it was true that the + author of the Examiner was taken up in an action of twenty thousand pounds + by the Duke of Marlborough?(8) I dined in the City, where my printer + showed me a pamphlet, called Advice to the October Club, which he said was + sent him by an unknown hand: I commended it mightily; he never suspected + me; 'tis a twopenny pamphlet. I came home and got timely to bed; but about + eleven one of the Secretary's servants came to me to let me know that Lord + Treasurer would immediately speak to me at Lord Masham's upon earnest + business, and that, if I was abed, I should rise and come. I did so: Lord + Treasurer was above with the Queen; and when he came down he laughed, and + said it was not he that sent for me: the business was of no great + importance, only to give me a paper, which might have been done to-morrow. + I stayed with them till past one, and then got to bed again. Pize(9) take + their frolics. I thought to have answered your letter. + </p> + <p> + 22. Dr. Gastrell was to see me this morning: he is an eminent divine, one + of the canons of Christ Church, and one I love very well: he said he was + glad to find I was not with James Broad. I asked what he meant. "Why," + says he, "have you not seen the Grub Street paper, that says Dr. Swift was + taken up as author of the Examiner, on an action of twenty thousand + pounds, and was now at James Broad's?" who, I suppose, is some bailiff. I + knew of this; but at the Court of Requests twenty people told me they + heard I had been taken up. Lord Lansdowne observed to the Secretary and me + that the Whigs spread three lies yesterday; that about me; and another, + that Maccartney, who was turned out last summer,(10) is again restored to + his places in the army; and the third, that Jack Hill's commission for + Lieutenant of the Tower is stopped, and that Cadogan is to continue. + Lansdowne thinks they have some design by these reports; I cannot guess + it. Did I tell you that Sacheverell has desired mightily to come and see + me? but I have put it off: he has heard that I have spoken to the + Secretary in behalf of a brother whom he maintains, and who desires an + employment.(11) T'other day at the Court of Requests Dr. Yalden(12) + saluted me by name: Sacheverell, who was just by, came up to me, and made + me many acknowledgment and compliments. Last night I desired Lord + Treasurer to do something for that brother of Sacheverell's: he said he + never knew he had a brother, but thanked me for telling him, and + immediately put his name in his table-book.(13) I will let Sacheverell + know this, that he may take his measures accordingly, but he shall be none + of my acquaintance. I dined to-day privately with the Secretary, left him + at six, paid a visit or two, and came home. + </p> + <p> + 23. I dined again to-day with the Secretary, but could not despatch some + business I had with him, he has so much besides upon his hands at this + juncture, and preparing against the great business to-morrow, which we are + top full of. The Minister's design is that the Duke of Marlborough shall + be censured as gently as possible, provided his friends will not make head + to defend him, but if they do, it may end in some severer votes. A + gentleman, who was just now with him, tells me he is much cast down, and + fallen away; but he is positive, if he has but ten friends in the House, + that they shall defend him to the utmost, and endeavour to prevent the + least censure upon him, which I think cannot be, since the bribery is + manifest. Sir Solomon Medina(14) paid him six thousand pounds a year to + have the employment of providing bread for the army, and the Duke owns it + in his letter to the Commissioners of Accounts. I was to-night at Lord + Masham's: Lord Dupplin took out my new little pamphlet, and the Secretary + read a great deal of it to Lord Treasurer: they all commended it to the + skies, and so did I, and they began a health to the author. But I doubt + Lord Treasurer suspected; for he said, "This is Mr. Davenant's style," + which is his cant when he suspects me.(15) But I carried the matter very + well. Lord Treasurer put the pamphlet in his pocket to read at home. I'll + answer your letter to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + 24. The Secretary made me promise to dine with him today, after the + Parliament was up: I said I would come; but I dined at my usual time, + knowing the House would sit late on this great affair. I dined at a tavern + with Mr. Domville and another gentleman; I have not done so before these + many months. At ten this evening I went to the Secretary, but he was not + come home: I sat with his lady till twelve, then came away; and he just + came as I was gone, and he sent to my lodgings, but I would not go back; + and so I know not how things have passed, but hope all is well; and I will + tell you to-morrow day. It is late, etc. + </p> + <p> + 25. The Secretary sent to me this morning to know whether we should dine + together. I went to him, and there I learned that the question went + against the Duke of Marlborough, by a majority of a hundred; so the + Ministry is mighty well satisfied, and the Duke will now be able to do no + hurt. The Secretary and I, and Lord Masham, etc., dined with + Lieutenant-General Withers,(16) who is just going to look after the army + in Flanders: the Secretary and I left them a little after seven, and I am + come home, and will now answer your letter, because this goes to-morrow: + let me see—The box at Chester; oh, burn that box, and hang that + Sterne; I have desired one to inquire for it who went toward Ireland last + Monday, but I am in utter despair of it. No, I was not splenetic; you see + what plunges the Court has been at to set all right again. And that + Duchess is not out yet, and may one day cause more mischief. Somerset + shows all about a letter from the Queen, desiring him to let his wife + continue with her. Is not that rare! I find Dingley smelled a rat; because + the Whigs are UPISH; but if ever I hear that word again, I'll UPPISH you. + I am glad you got your rasp safe and sound; does Stella like her apron? + Your critics about guarantees of succession are puppies; that's an answer + to the objection. The answerers here made the same objection, but it is + wholly wrong. I am of your opinion that Lord Marlborough is used too + hardly: I have often scratched out passages from papers and pamphlets sent + me, before they were printed, because I thought them too severe. But he is + certainly a vile man, and has no sort of merit beside the military. The + Examiners are good for little: I would fain have hindered the severity of + the two or three last, but could not. I will either bring your papers + over, or leave them with Tooke, for whose honesty I will engage. And I + think it is best not to venture them with me at sea. Stella is a prophet, + by foretelling so very positively that all would be well. Duke of Ormond + speak against peace? No, simpleton, he is one of the staunchest we have + for the Ministry. Neither trouble yourself about the printer: he appeared + the first day of the term, and is to appear when summoned again; but + nothing else will come of it. Lord Chief-Justice(17) is cooled since this + new settlement. No; I will not split my journals in half; I will write but + once a fortnight: but you may do as you will; which is, read only half at + once, and t'other half next week. So now your letter is answered. (P—- + on these blots.) What must I say more? I will set out in March, if there + be a fit of fine weather; unless the Ministry desire me to stay till the + end of the session, which may be a month longer; but I believe they will + not: for I suppose the peace will be made, and they will have no further + service for me. I must make my canal fine this summer, as fine as I can. I + am afraid I shall see great neglects among my quicksets. I hope the + cherry-trees on the river walk are fine things now. But no more of this. + </p> + <p> + 26. I forgot to finish this letter this morning, and am come home so late + I must give it to the bellman; but I would have it go to-night, lest you + should think there is anything in the story of my being arrested in an + action of twenty thousand pounds by Lord Marlborough, which I hear is in + Dyer's Letter,(18) and, consequently, I suppose, gone to Ireland. + Farewell, dearest MD, etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 40. + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Jan. 26, 1711-12. + </h3> + <p> + I have no gilt paper left of this size, so you must be content with plain. + Our Society dined together today, for it was put off, as I told you, upon + Lord Marlborough's business on Thursday. The Duke of Ormond dined with us + to-day, the first time: we were thirteen at table; and Lord Lansdowne came + in after dinner, so that we wanted but three. The Secretary proposed the + Duke of Beaufort, who desires to be one of our Society; but I stopped it, + because the Duke of Ormond doubts a little about it; and he was gone + before it was proposed. I left them at seven, and sat this evening with + poor Mrs. Wesley, who has been mightily ill to-day with a fainting fit; + she has often convulsions, too: she takes a mixture with asafoetida, which + I have now in my nose, and everything smells of it. I never smelt it + before; 'tis abominable. We have eight packets, they say, due from + Ireland. + </p> + <p> + 27. I could not see Prince Eugene at Court to-day, the crowd was so great. + The Whigs contrive to have a crowd always about him, and employ the rabble + to give the word, when he sets out from any place. When the Duchess of + Hamilton came from the Queen after church, she whispered me that she was + going to pay me a visit. I went to Lady Oglethorpe's, the place appointed; + for ladies always visit me in third places; and she kept me till near + four: she talks too much, is a plaguy detractor, and I believe I shall not + much like her. I was engaged to dine with Lord Masham: they stayed as long + as they could, yet had almost dined, and were going in anger to pull down + the brass peg for my hat, but Lady Masham saved it. At eight I went again + to Lord Masham's; Lord Treasurer is generally there at night: we sat up + till almost two. Lord Treasurer has engaged me to contrive some way to + keep the Archbishop of York(1) from being seduced by Lord Nottingham. I + will do what I can in it to-morrow. 'Tis very late, so I must go sleep. + </p> + <p> + 28. Poor Mrs. Manley, the author, is very ill of a dropsy and sore leg: + the printer tells me he is afraid she cannot live long. I am heartily + sorry for her: she has very generous principles for one of her sort, and a + great deal of good sense and invention: she is about forty, very homely, + and very fat. Mrs. Van made me dine with her to-day. I was this morning + with the Duke of Ormond and the Prolocutor about what Lord Treasurer spoke + to me yesterday; I know not what will be the issue. There is but a slender + majority in the House of Lords, and we want more. We are sadly mortified + at the news of the French taking the town in Brazil from the Portuguese. + The sixth edition of three thousand of the Conduct of the Allies is sold, + and the printer talks of a seventh: eleven thousand of them have been + sold, which is a most prodigious run. The little twopenny Letter of Advice + to the October Club does not sell: I know not the reason, for it is finely + written, I assure you; and, like a true author, I grow fond of it, because + it does not sell: you know that it is usual to writers to condemn the + judgment of the world: if I had hinted it to be mine, everybody would have + bought it, but it is a great secret. + </p> + <p> + 29. I borrowed one or two idle books of Contes des Fees,(2) and have been + reading them these two days, although I have much business upon my hands. + I loitered till one at home; then went to Mr. Lewis at his office; and the + Vice-Chamberlain told me that Lady Rialton(3) had yesterday resigned her + employment of lady of the bed-chamber, and that Lady Jane Hyde,(4) Lord + Rochester's daughter, a mighty pretty girl, is to succeed. He said, too, + that Lady Sunderland would resign in a day or two. I dined with Lewis, and + then went to see Mrs. Wesley, who is better to-day. But you must know that + Mr. Lewis gave me two letters, one from the Bishop of Cloyne, with an + enclosed from Lord Inchiquin(5) to Lord Treasurer, which he desires I + would deliver and recommend. I am told that lord was much in with Lord + Wharton, and I remember he was to have been one of the Lords Justices by + his recommendation; yet the Bishop recommends him as a great friend to the + Church, etc. I'll do what I think proper. T'other letter was from little + saucy MD, N.26. O Lord, never saw the like, under a cover, too, and by way + of journal; we shall never have done. Sirrahs, how durst you write so + soon, sirrahs? I won't answer it yet. + </p> + <p> + 30. I was this morning with the Secretary, who was sick, and out of + humour: he would needs drink champagne some days ago, on purpose to spite + me, because I advised him against it, and now he pays for it. Stella used + to do such tricks formerly; he put me in mind of her. Lady Sunderland has + resigned her place too. It is Lady Catherine Hyde(6) that succeeds Lady + Rialton, and not Lady Jane. Lady Catherine is the late Earl of Rochester's + daughter. I dined with the Secretary, then visited his lady; and sat this + evening with Lady Masham: the Secretary came to us; but Lord Treasurer did + not; he dined with the Master of the Rolls,(7) and stayed late with him. + Our Society does not meet till to-morrow se'nnight, because we think the + Parliament will be very busy to-morrow upon the state of the war, and the + Secretary, who is to treat as President, must be in the House. I fancy my + talking of persons and things here must be very tedious to you, because + you know nothing of them, and I talk as if you did. You know Kevin's + Street, and Werburgh Street, and (what do you call the street where Mrs. + Walls lives?) and Ingoldsby,(8) and Higgins,(9) and Lord Santry;(10) but + what care you for Lady Catherine Hyde? Why do you say nothing of your + health, sirrah? I hope it is well. + </p> + <p> + 31. Trimnel, Bishop of Norwich,(11) who was with this Lord Sunderland at + Moor Park in their travels, preached yesterday before the House of Lords; + and to-day the question was put to thank him, and print his sermon; but + passed against him; for it was a terrible Whig sermon. The Bill to repeal + the Act for naturalising Protestant foreigners passed the House of Lords + to-day by a majority of twenty, though the Scotch lords went out, and + would vote neither way, in discontent about the Duke of Hamilton's patent, + if you know anything of it. A poem is come out to-day inscribed to me, by + way of a flirt;(12) for it is a Whiggish poem, and good for nothing. They + plagued me with it in the Court of Requests. I dined with Lord Treasurer + at five alone, only with one Dutchman. Prior is now a Commissioner of the + Customs. I told you so before, I suppose. When I came home to-night, I + found a letter from Dr. Sacheverell, thanking me for recommending his + brother to Lord Treasurer and Mr. Secretary for a place. Lord Treasurer + sent to him about it: so good a solicitor was I, although I once hardly + thought I should be a solicitor for Sacheverell. + </p> + <p> + Feb. 1. Has not your Dean of St. Patrick received my letter? you say + nothing of it, although I writ above a month ago. My printer has got the + gout, and I was forced to go to him to-day, and there I dined. It was a + most delicious day: why don't you observe whether the same days be fine + with you? To-night, at six, Dr. Atterbury, and Prior, and I, and Dr. + Freind, met at Dr. Robert Freind's(13) house at Westminster, who is master + of the school: there we sat till one, and were good enough company. I here + take leave to tell politic Dingley that the passage in the Conduct of the + Allies is so far from being blamable that the Secretary designs to insist + upon it in the House of Commons, when the Treaty of Barrier(14) is debated + there, as it now shortly will, for they have ordered it to be laid before + them. The pamphlet of Advice to the October Club begins now to sell; but I + believe its fame will hardly reach Ireland: 'tis finely written, I assure + you. I long to answer your letter, but won't yet; you know, 'tis late, + etc. + </p> + <p> + 2. This ends Christmas,(15) and what care I? I have neither seen, nor + felt, nor heard any Christmas this year. I passed a lazy dull day. I was + this morning with Lord Treasurer, to get some papers from him, which he + will remember as much as a cat, although it be his own business. It + threatened rain, but did not much; and Prior and I walked an hour in the + Park, which quite put me out of my measures. I dined with a friend hard + by; and in the evening sat with Lord Masham till twelve. Lord Treasurer + did not come; this is an idle dining-day usually with him. We want to hear + from Holland how our peace goes on; for we are afraid of those scoundrels + the Dutch, lest they should play us tricks. Lord Mar,(16) a Scotch earl, + was with us at Lord Masham's: I was arguing with him about the + stubbornness and folly of his countrymen; they are so angry about the + affair of the Duke of Hamilton, whom the Queen has made a duke of England, + and the House of Lords will not admit him. He swears he would vote for us, + but dare not, because all Scotland would detest him if he did: he should + never be chosen again, nor be able to live there. + </p> + <p> + 3. I was at Court to-day to look for a dinner, but did not like any that + were offered me; and I dined with Lord Mountjoy. The Queen has the gout in + her knee, and was not at chapel. I hear we have a Dutch mail, but I know + not what news, although I was with the Secretary this morning. He showed + me a letter from the Hanover Envoy, Mr. Bothmar, complaining that the + Barrier Treaty is laid before the House of Commons; and desiring that no + infringement may be made in the guarantee of the succession; but the + Secretary has written him a peppering answer. I fancy you understand all + this, and are able states-girls, since you have read the Conduct of the + Allies. We are all preparing against the Birthday; I think it is Wednesday + next. If the Queen's gout increases, it will spoil sport. Prince Eugene + has two fine suits made against it; and the Queen is to give him a sword + worth four thousand pounds, the diamonds set transparent. + </p> + <p> + 4. I was this morning soliciting at the House of Commons' door for Mr. + Vesey, a son of the Archbishop of Tuam,(17) who has petitioned for a Bill + to relieve him in some difficulty about his estate: I secured him above + fifty members. I dined with Lady Masham. We have no packet from Holland, + as I was told yesterday: and this wind will hinder many people from + appearing at the Birthday, who expected clothes from Holland. I appointed + to meet a gentleman at the Secretary's to-night, and they both failed. The + House of Commons have this day made many severe votes about our being + abused by our Allies. Those who spoke drew all their arguments from my + book, and their votes confirm all I writ; the Court had a majority of a + hundred and fifty: all agree that it was my book that spirited them to + these resolutions; I long to see them in print. My head has not been as + well as I could wish it for some days past, but I have not had any giddy + fit, and I hope it will go over. + </p> + <p> + 5. The Secretary turned me out of his room this morning, and showed me + fifty guineas rolled up, which he was going to give some French spy. I + dined with four Irishmen at a tavern to-day: I thought I had resolved + against it before, but I broke it. I played at cards this evening at Lady + Masham's, but I only played for her while she was waiting; and I won her a + pool, and supped there. Lord Treasurer was with us, but went away before + twelve. The ladies and lords have all their clothes ready against + to-morrow: I saw several mighty fine, and I hope there will be a great + appearance, in spite of that spiteful French fashion of the Whiggish + ladies not to come, which they have all resolved to a woman; and I hope it + will more spirit the Queen against them for ever. + </p> + <p> + 6. I went to dine at Lord Masham's at three, and met all the company just + coming out of Court; a mighty crowd: they stayed long for their coaches: I + had an opportunity of seeing several lords and ladies of my acquaintance + in their fineries. Lady Ashburnham(18) looked the best in my eyes. They + say the Court was never fuller nor finer. Lord Treasurer, his lady, and + two daughters and Mrs. Hill, dined with Lord and Lady Masham; the five + ladies were monstrous fine. The Queen gave Prince Eugene the diamond sword + to-day; but nobody was by when she gave it except my Lord Chamberlain. + There was an entertainment of opera songs at night, and the Queen was at + all the entertainment, and is very well after it. I saw Lady Wharton,(19) + as ugly as the devil, coming out in the crowd all in an undress; she has + been with the Marlborough daughters(20) and Lady Bridgewater(21) in St. + James's, looking out of the window all undressed to see the sight. I do + not hear that one Whig lady was there, except those of the bed-chamber. + Nothing has made so great a noise as one Kelson's chariot, that cost nine + hundred and thirty pounds, the finest was ever seen. The rabble huzzaed + him as much as they did Prince Eugene. This is Birthday chat. + </p> + <p> + 7. Our Society met to-day: the Duke of Ormond was not with us; we have + lessened our dinners, which were grown so extravagant that Lord Treasurer + and everybody else cried shame. I left them at seven, visited for an hour, + and then came home, like a good boy. The Queen is much better after + yesterday's exercise: her friends wish she would use a little more. I + opposed Lord Jersey's(22) election into our Society, and he is refused: I + likewise opposed the Duke of Beaufort; but I believe he will be chosen in + spite of me: I don't much care; I shall not be with them above two months; + for I resolve to set out for Ireland the beginning of April next (before I + treat them again), and see my willows. + </p> + <p> + 8. I dined to-day in the City. This morning a scoundrel dog, one of the + Queen's music, a German, whom I had never seen, got access to me in my + chamber by Patrick's folly, and gravely desired me to get an employment in + the Customs for a friend of his, who would be very grateful; and likewise + to forward a project of his own, for raising ten thousand pounds a year + upon operas: I used him civiller than he deserved; but it vexed me to the + pluck.(23) He was told I had a mighty interest with Lord Treasurer, and + one word of mine, etc. Well; I got home early on purpose to answer MD's + letter, N.26; for this goes to-morrow.—Well; I never saw such a + letter in all my life; so saucy, so journalish, so sanguine, so + pretending, so everything. I satisfied all your fears in my last: all is + gone well, as you say; yet you are an impudent slut to be so positive; you + will swagger so upon your sagacity that we shall never have done. Pray + don't mislay your reply; I would certainly print it, if I had it here: how + long is it? I suppose half a sheet: was the answer written in Ireland? + Yes, yes, you shall have a letter when you come from Ballygall. I need not + tell you again who's out and who's in: we can never get out the Duchess of + Somerset.—So, they say Presto writ the Conduct, etc. Do they like + it? I don't care whether they do or no; but the resolutions printed + t'other day in the Votes are almost quotations from it, and would never + have passed if that book had not been written. I will not meddle with the + Spectator, let him fair-sex it to the world's end. My disorder is over, + but blood was not from the p-les.—Well, Madam Dingley, the frost; + why, we had a great frost, but I forget how long ago; it lasted above a + week or ten days: I believe about six weeks ago; but it did not break so + soon with us, I think, as December 29; yet I think it was about that time, + on second thoughts. MD can have no letter from Presto, says you; and yet + four days before you own you had my thirty-seventh, unreasonable sluts! + The Bishop of Gloucester is not dead,(24) and I am as likely to succeed + the Duke of Marlborough as him if he were; there's enough for that now. It + is not unlikely that the Duke of Shrewsbury will be your Governor; at + least I believe the Duke of Ormond will not return.—Well, Stella + again: why, really three editions of the Conduct, etc., is very much for + Ireland; it is a sign you have some honest among you. Well; I will do Mr. + Manley(25) all the service I can; but he will ruin himself. What business + had he to engage at all about the City? Can't he wish his cause well, and + be quiet, when he finds that stirring will do it no good, and himself a + great deal of hurt? I cannot imagine who should open my letter: it must be + done at your side.—If I hear of any thoughts of turning out Mr. + Manley, I will endeavour to prevent it. I have already had all the + gentlemen of Ireland here upon my back often, for defending him. So now I + have answered your saucy letter. My humble service to Goody Stoyte and + Catherine; I will come soon for my dinner. + </p> + <p> + 9. Morning. My cold goes off at last; but I think I have got a small new + one. I have no news since last. They say we hear by the way of Calais, + that peace is very near concluding. I hope it may be true. I'll go and + seal up my letter, and give it myself to-night into the post-office; and + so I bid my dearest MD farewell till to-night. I heartily wish myself with + them, as hope saved. My willows, and quicksets, and trees, will be finely + improved, I hope, this year. It has been fine hard frosty weather + yesterday and to-day. Farewell, etc. etc. etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 41.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Feb. 9, 1711-12. + </h3> + <p> + When my letter is gone, and I have none of yours to answer, my conscience + is so clear, and my shoulder so light, and I go on with such courage to + prate upon nothing to deerichar MD, oo would wonder. I dined with Sir + Matthew Dudley, who is newly turned out of Commission of the Customs. He + affects a good heart, and talks in the extremity of Whiggery, which was + always his principle, though he was gentle a little, while he kept in + employment. We can yet get no packets from Holland. I have not been with + any of the Ministry these two or three days. I keep out of their way on + purpose, for a certain reason, for some time, though I must dine with the + Secretary to-morrow, the choosing of the company being left to me. I have + engaged Lord Anglesea(2) and Lord Carteret,(3) and have promised to get + three more; but I have a mind that none else should be admitted: however, + if I like anybody at Court to-morrow, I may perhaps invite them. I have + got another cold, but not very bad. Nite. .. MD. + </p> + <p> + 10. I saw Prince Eugene at Court to-day very plain; he's plaguy yellow, + and tolerably ugly besides. The Court was very full, and people had their + Birthday clothes. I dined with the Secretary to-day. I was to invite five, + but I only invited two, Lord Anglesea and Lord Carteret. Pshaw, I told you + this but yesterday. We have no packets from Holland yet. Here are a parcel + of drunken Whiggish lords, like your Lord Santry,(4) who come into + chocolate-houses and rail aloud at the Tories, and have challenges sent + them, and the next morning come and beg pardon. General Ross(5) was like + to swinge the Marquis of Winchester(6) for this trick t'other day; and we + have nothing else now to talk of till the Parliament has had another bout + with the state of the war, as they intended in a few days. They have + ordered the Barrier Treaty to be laid before them; and it was talked some + time ago, as if there was a design to impeach Lord Townshend, who made it. + I have no more politics now. Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 11. I dined with Lord Anglesea to-day, who had seven Irishmen to be my + companions, of which two only were coxcombs; one I did not know, and + t'other was young Blith,(7) who is a puppy of figure here, with a fine + chariot. He asked me one day at Court, when I had been just talking with + some lords who stood near me, "Doctor, when shall we see you in the county + of Meath?" I whispered him to take care what he said, for the people would + think he was some barbarian. He never would speak to me since, till we met + to-day. I went to Lady Masham's to-night, and sat with Lord Treasurer and + the Secretary there till past two o'clock; and when I came home, found + some letters from Ireland, which I read, but can say nothing of them till + to-morrow, 'tis so very late; but I(8) must always be...,(9) late or + early. Nite deelest sollahs.(10) + </p> + <p> + 12. One letter was from the Bishop of Clogher last night, and t'other from + Walls, about Mrs. South's(11) salary, and his own pension of 18 pounds for + his tithe of the park. I will do nothing in either; the first I cannot + serve in, and the other is a trifle; only you may tell him I had his + letter, and will speak to Ned Southwell about what he desires me. You say + nothing of your Dean's receiving my letter. I find Clements,(12) whom I + recommended to Lord Anglesea last year, at Walls's desire, or rather the + Bishop of Clogher's, is mightily in Lord Anglesea's favour. You may tell + the Bishop and Walls so; I said to Lord Anglesea that I was (glad) I had + the good luck to recommend him, etc. I dined in the City with my printer, + to consult with him about some papers Lord Treasurer gave me last night, + as he always does, too late; however, I will do something with them. My + third cold is a little better; I never had anything like it before, three + colds successively; I hope I shall have the fourth.(13) Those messengers + come from Holland to-day, and they brought over the six packets that were + due. I know not the particulars yet, for when I was with the Secretary at + noon they were just opening; but one thing I find, that the Dutch are + playing us tricks, and tampering with the French; they are dogs; I shall + know more tomollow... MD.(14) + </p> + <p> + 13. I dined to-day privately with my friend Lewis, at his lodgings, to + consult about some observations on the Barrier Treaty. Our news from + Holland is not good. The French raise difficulties, and make such offers + to the Allies as cannot be accepted. And the Dutch are uneasy that we are + likely to get anything for ourselves; and the Whigs are glad at all this. + I came home early, and have been very busy three or four hours. I had a + letter from Dr. Pratt(15) to-day by a private hand, recommending the + bearer to me, for something that I shall not trouble myself about. + Wesley(16) writ to recommend the same fellow to me. His expression is + that, hearing I am acquainted with my Lord Treasurer, he desires I would + do so and so: a matter of nothing. What puppies are mankind! I hope I + shall be wiser when I have once done with Courts. I think you han't + troubled me much with your recommendations. I would do you all the + saavis(17) I could. + </p> + <p> + Pray have you got your aplon,(18) maram Ppt? I paid for it but yesterday; + that puts me in mind of it. I writ an inventory of what things I sent by + Leigh in one of my letters; did you compare it with what you got? I hear + nothing of your cards now; do you never play? Yes, at Ballygall. Go to + bed. Nite, deelest MD.(19) + </p> + <p> + 14. Our Society dined to-day at Mr. Secretary's house. I went there at + four; but hearing the House of Commons would sit late upon the Barrier + Treaty, I went for an hour to Kensington, to see Lord Masham's children. + My young nephew,(20) his son of six months old, has got a swelling in his + neck; I fear it is the evil. We did not go to dinner till eight at night, + and I left them at ten. The Commons have been very severe on the Barrier + Treaty, as you will find by their votes. A Whig member took out the + Conduct of the Allies, and read that passage about the succession with + great resentment; but none seconded him. The Church party carried every + vote by a great majority. The A.B.(21) Dublin is so railed at by all who + come from Ireland that I can defend him no longer. Lord Anglesea assured + me that the story of applying Piso out of Tacitus(22) to Lord Treasurer's + being wounded is true. I believe the Duke of Beaufort will be admitted to + our Society next meeting. To-day I published the Fable of Midas,(23) a + poem, printed in a loose half-sheet of paper. I know not how it will sell; + but it passed wonderfully at our Society to-night; and Mr. Secretary read + it before me the other night to Lord Treasurer, at Lord Masham's, where + they equally approved of it. Tell me how it passes with you. I think this + paper is larger than ordinary; for here is six days' journal, and no + nearer the bottom. I fear these journals are very dull. Nite my deelest + lives. + </p> + <p> + 15. Mr. Lewis and I dined by invitation with a Scotch acquaintance, after + I had been very busy in my chamber till two afternoon. My third cold is + now very troublesome on my breast, especially in the morning. This is a + great revolution in my health; colds never used to return so soon with me, + or last so long. 'Tis very surprising this news to-day of the Dauphin and + Dauphiness both dying within six days. They say the old King is almost + heart-broke. He has had prodigious mortifications in his family. The + Dauphin has left two little sons, of four and two years old; the eldest is + sick. There is a foolish story got about the town that Lord Strafford, one + of our Plenipotentiaries, is in the interests of France; and it has been a + good while said that Lord Privy Seal(24) and he do not agree very well. + They are both long practised in business, but neither of them of much + parts. Strafford has some life and spirit, but is infinitely proud, and + wholly illiterate. Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 16. I dined to-day in the City with my printer, to finish something I am + doing about the Barrier Treaty;(25) but it is not quite done. I went this + evening to Lord Masham's, where Lord Treasurer sat with us till past + twelve. The Lords have voted an Address to the Queen, to tell her they are + not satisfied with the King of France's offers. The Whigs brought it in of + a sudden; and the Court could not prevent it, and therefore did not oppose + it. The House of Lords is too strong in Whigs, notwithstanding the new + creations; for they are very diligent, and the Tories as lazy: the side + that is down has always most industry. The Whigs intended to have made a + vote that would reflect on Lord Treasurer; but their project was not ripe. + I hit my face such a rap by calling the coach to stop to-night, that it is + plaguy sore, the bone beneath the eye. Nite dee logues. + </p> + <p> + 17. The Court was mighty full to-day, and has been these many Sundays; but + the Queen was not at chapel. She has got a little fit of the gout in her + foot. The good of going to Court is that one sees all one's acquaintance, + whom otherwise I should hardly meet twice a year. Prince Eugene dines with + the Secretary to-day, with about seven or eight General Officers, or + foreign Ministers. They will be all drunk, I am sure. I never was in + company with this Prince: I have proposed to some lords that we should + have a sober meal with him; but I can't compass it. It is come over in the + Dutch news prints that I was arrested on an action of twenty thousand + pounds by the Duke of Marlborough. I did not like my Court invitation + to-day; so Sir Andrew Fountaine and I went and dined with Mrs. Van. I came + home at six, and have been very busy till this minute, and it is past + twelve. So I got into bed to write to MD... MD.(26) We reckon the + Dauphin's death will put forward the peace a good deal. Pray is Dr. + Griffith(27) reconciled to me yet? Have I done enough to soften him?... + (28) Nite deelest logues. + </p> + <p> + 18. Lewis had Guiscard's picture: he bought it, and offered it to Lord + Treasurer, who promised to send for it, but never did; so I made Lewis + give it me, and I have it in my room; and now Lord Treasurer says he will + take it from me: is that fair? He designs to have it at length in the + clothes he was when he did the action, and a penknife in his hand; and + Kneller is to copy it from this that I have. I intended to dine with Lord + Treasurer to-day, but he has put me off till to-morrow; so I dined with + Lord Dupplin. You know Lord Dupplin very well; he is a brother of the + Society. Well, but I have received a letter from the Bishop of Cloyne, to + solicit an affair for him with Lord Treasurer, and with the Parliament, + which I will do as soon as fly. I am not near so keen about other people's + affairs as... (29) Ppt used to reproach me about; it was a judgment on me. + Harkee, idle dearees both, meetinks I begin to want a rettle flom(30) MD: + faith, and so I do. I doubt you have been in pain about the report of my + being arrested. The pamphleteers have let me alone this month, which is a + great wonder: only the third part of the Answer to the Conduct, which is + lately come out. (Did I tell you of it already?) The House of Commons goes + on in mauling the late Ministry and their proceedings. Nite deelest + MD.(31) + </p> + <p> + 19. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, and sat with him till ten, in + spite of my teeth, though my printer waited for me to correct a sheet. I + told him of four lines I writ extempore with my pencil, on a bit of paper + in his house, while he lay wounded. Some of the servants, I suppose, made + waste-paper of them, and he never had heard of them. Shall I tell them + you? They were inscribed to Mr. Harley's physician. Thus + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + On Britain Europe's safety lies;(32) + Britain is lost, if Harley dies. + Harley depends upon your skill: + Think what you save, or what you kill. +</pre> + <p> + Are not they well enough to be done off-hand; for that is the meaning of + the word extempore, which you did not know, did you? I proposed that some + company should dine with him on the 8th of March, which was the day he was + wounded, but he says he designs that the Lords of the Cabinet, who then + sat with him, should dine that day with him:(33) however, he has invited + me too. I am not got rid of my cold; it plagues me in the morning chiefly. + Nite, MD, + </p> + <p> + 20. After waiting to catch the Secretary coming out from Sir Thomas + Hanmer, for two hours, in vain, about some business, I went into the City + to my printer, to correct some sheets of the Barrier Treaty and Remarks, + which must be finished to-morrow: I have been horrible busy for some days + past, with this and some other things; and I wanted some very necessary + papers, which the Secretary was to give me, and the pamphlet must now be + published without them. But they are all busy too. Sir Thomas Hanmer is + Chairman of the Committee for drawing up a Representation of the state of + the nation(34) to the Queen, where all the wrong steps of the Allies and + late Ministry about the war will be mentioned. The Secretary, I suppose, + was helping him about it to-day; I believe it will be a pepperer. Nite, + deel MD. + </p> + <p> + 21. I have been six hours to-day morning writing nineteen pages of a + letter to Lord Treasurer, about forming a Society or Academy to correct + and fix the English language.(35) (Is English a speech or a language?) It + will not be above five or six more. I will send it to him to-morrow, and + will print it, if he desires me. I dined, you know, with our Society + to-day: Thursday is our day. We had a new member admitted; it was the Duke + of Beaufort. We had thirteen met: brother Ormond was not there, but sent + his excuse that Prince Eugene dined with him. I left them at seven, being + engaged to go to Sir Thomas Hanmer, who desired I would see him at that + hour. His business was that I would hoenlbp ihainm itavoi dsroanws ubpl + tohne sroegporaensiepnotlastoigobn,(36) which I consented to do; but know + not whether I shall succeed, because it is a little out of my way. + However, I have taken my share. Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 22. I finished the rest of my letter to Lord Treasurer today, and sent it + to him about one o'clock; and then dined privately with my friend Mr. + Lewis, to talk over some affairs of moment. I had gotten the thirteenth + volume of Rymer's Collection of the Records of the Tower for the + University of Dublin.(37) I have two volumes now. I will write to the + Provost, to know how I shall send them to him; no, I won't, for I will + bring them myself among my own books. I was with Hanmer this morning, and + there were the Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer(38) very busy + with him, laying their heads together about the representation. I went to + Lord Masham's to-night, and Lady Masham made me read to her a pretty + twopenny pamphlet, called The St. Albans Ghost.(39) I thought I had writ + it myself; so did they; but I did not. Lord Treasurer came down to us from + the Queen, and we stayed till two o'clock. That is the best night-place I + have. The usual(40) company are Lord and Lady Masham, Lord Treasurer, Dr. + Arbuthnot, and I; sometimes the Secretary, and sometimes Mrs. Hill of the + bed-chamber, Lady Masham's sister. I assure oo, it im vely rate now; but + zis goes to-morrow: and I must have time to converse with own richar MD. + Nite, deelest sollahs.(41) + </p> + <p> + 23. I have no news to tell you this last day, nor do I know where I shall + dine. I hear the Secretary is a little out of order; perhaps I may dine + there, perhaps not. I sent Hanmer what he wanted from me, I know not how + he will approve of it. I was to do more of the same sort; I am going out, + and must carry zis in my pottick to give it at some general post-house. I + will talk further with oo at night. I suppose in my next I shall answer a + letter from MD that will be sent me. On Tuesday it will be four weeks + since I had your last, N.26. This day se'nnight I expect one, for that + will be something more than a full month. Farewell, MD... deelest... MD MD + MD... ME ME ME... logues... lele.(42) + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0045" id="link2H_4_0045"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 42.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Feb. 23, 1711-12. + </h3> + <p> + After having disposed my last letter in the post-office, I am now to begin + this with telling MD that I dined with the Secretary to-day, who is much + out of order with a cold, and feverish; yet he went to the Cabinet Council + tonight at six, against my will. The Secretary is much the greatest + commoner in England, and turns the whole Parliament, who can do nothing + without him; and if he lives and has his health, will, I believe, be one + day at the head of affairs. I have told him sometimes that, if I were a + dozen years younger, I would cultivate his favour, and trust my fortune + with his. But what care oo for all this? I am sorry when I came first + acquainted with this Ministry that I did not send you their names and + characters, and then you would have relished what(2) I would have writ, + especially if I had let you into the particulars of affairs: but enough of + this. Nite, deelest logues. + </p> + <p> + 24. I went early this morning to the Secretary, who is not yet well. Sir + Thomas Hanmer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer came while I was there, + and he would not let me stir; so I did not go to church, but was busy with + them till noon, about the affair I told you in my last. The other two went + away; and I dined with the Secretary, and found my head very much out of + order, but no absolute fit; and I have not been well all this day. It has + shook me a little. I sometimes sit up very late at Lord Masham's, and have + writ much for several days past: but I will amend both; for I have now + very little business, and hope I shall have no more, and I am resolved to + be a great rider this summer in Ireland. I was to see Mrs. Wesley this + evening, who has been somewhat better for this month past, and talks of + returning to the Bath in a few weeks. Our peace goes on but slowly; the + Dutch are playing tricks, and we do not push it strongly as we ought. The + fault of our Court is delay, of which the Queen has a great deal; and Lord + Treasurer is not without his share. But pay richar MD ret us know a little + of your life and tonvelsasens.(3) Do you play at ombre, or visit the Dean, + and Goody Walls and Stoytes and Manleys, as usual? I must have a letter + from oo, to fill the other side of this sheet. Let me know what you do. Is + my aunt alive yet? + </p> + <p> + Oh, pray, now I think of it, be so kind to step to my aunt, and take + notice of my great-grandfather's picture; you know he has a ring on his + finger, with a seal of an anchor and dolphin about it; but I think there + is besides, at the bottom of the picture, the same coat of arms quartered + with another, which I suppose was my great-grandmother's. If this be so, + it is a stronger argument than the seal. And pray see whether you think + that coat of arms was drawn at the same time with the picture, or whether + it be of a later hand; and ask my aunt what she knows about it. But + perhaps there is no such coat of arms on the picture, and I only dreamed + it. My reason is, because I would ask some herald here, whether I should + choose that coat, or one in Guillim's large folio of heraldry,(4) where my + uncle Godwin is named with another coat of arms of three stags. This is + sad stuff to rite; so nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 25. I was this morning again with the Secretary, and we were two hours + busy; and then went together to the Park, Hyde Park, I mean; and he walked + to cure his cold, and we were looking at two Arabian horses sent some time + ago to Lord Treasurer.(5) The Duke of Marlborough's coach overtook us, + with his Grace and Lord Godolphin in it; but they did not see us, to our + great satisfaction; for neither of us desired that either of those two + lords should see us together. There was half a dozen ladies riding like + cavaliers to take the air. My head is better to-day. I dined with the + Secretary; but we did no business after dinner, and at six I walked into + the fields; the days are grown pure and long; then I went to visit + Perceval(6) and his family, whom I had seen but twice since they came to + town. They too are going to the Bath next month. Countess Doll of Meath(7) + is such an owl that, wherever I visit, people are asking me whether I know + such an Irish lady, and her figure and her foppery? I came home early, and + have been amusing myself with looking into one of Rymer's volumes of the + Records of the Tower, and am mighty easy to think I have no urgent + business upon my hands. My third cold is not yet off; I sometimes cough, + and am not right with it in the morning. Did I tell you that I believe it + is Lady Masham's hot room that gives it me? I never knew such a stove; and + in my conscience I believe both my lord and she, my Lord Treasurer, Mr. + Secretary, and myself have all suffered by it. We have all had colds + together, but I walk home on foot. Nite dee logues. + </p> + <p> + 26. I was again busy with the Secretary.(8) We read over some papers, and + did a good deal of business; and I dined with him, and we were to do more + business after dinner; but after dinner is after dinner—an old + saying and a true, "much drinking, little thinking." We had company with + us, and nothing could be done, and I am to go there again to-morrow. I + have now nothing to do; and the Parliament, by the Queen's recommendation, + is to take some method for preventing libels, etc., which will include + pamphlets, I suppose. I don't know what method they will take, but it + comes on in a day or two. To-day in the morning I visited upwards: first I + saw the Duke of Ormond below stairs, and gave him joy of his being + declared General in Flanders; then I went up one pair of stairs, and sat + with the Duchess; then I went up another pair of stairs, and paid a visit + to Lady Betty; and desired her woman to go up to the garret, that I might + pass half an hour with her, but she was young and handsome, and would not. + The Duke is our President this week, and I have bespoke a small dinner on + purpose, for good example. Nite mi deelest logues. + </p> + <p> + 27. I was again with the Secretary this morning; but we only read over + some papers with Sir Thomas Hanmer; then I called at Lord Treasurer's; it + was his levee-day, but I went up to his bed-chamber, and said what I had + to say. I came down and peeped in at the chamber, where a hundred fools + were waiting, and two streets were full of coaches. I dined in the City + with my printer,(9) and came back at six to Lord Treasurer, who had + invited me to dinner, but I refused him. I sat there an hour or two, and + then went to Lord Masham's. They were all abroad: so truly I came, and + read whatever stuff was next me. I can sit and be idle now, which I have + not been above a year past. However, I will stay out the session, to see + if they have any further commands for me, and that, I suppose, will end in + April. But I may go somewhat before, for I hope all will be ended by then, + and we shall have either a certain peace, or certain war. The Ministry is + contriving new funds for money by lotteries, and we go on as if the war + were to continue, but I believe it will not. 'Tis pretty late now, ung + oomens; so I bid oo nite, own dee dallars. + </p> + <p> + 28. I have been packing up some books in a great box I have bought, and + must buy another for clothes and luggage. This is a beginning towards a + removal. I have sent to Holland for a dozen shirts, and design to buy + another new gown and hat. I will come over like a zinkerman,(10) and lay + out nothing in clothes in Ireland this good while. I have writ this night + to the Provost. Our Society met to-day as usual, and we were fourteen, + beside the Earl of Arran,(11) whom his brother, the Duke of Ormond, + brought among us against all order. We were mightily shocked; but, after + some whispers, it ended in choosing Lord Arran one of our Society, which I + opposed to his face, but it was carried by all the rest against me. + </p> + <p> + 29. This is leap year, and this is leap day. Prince George was born on + this day. People are mistaken; and some here think it is St. David's Day; + but they do not understand the virtue of leap year. I have nothing to do + now, boys, and have been reading all this day like Gumdragon; and yet I + was dictating some trifles this morning to a printer. I dined with a + friend hard by, and the weather was so discouraging I could not walk. I + came home early, and have read two hundred pages of Arran. Alexander the + Great is just dead: I do not think he was poisoned; betwixt you and me, + all those are but idle stories: it is certain that neither Ptolemy nor + Aristobulus thought so, and they were both with him when he(12) died. It + is a pity we have not their histories. The Bill for limiting Members of + Parliament to have but so many places passed the House of Commons, and + will pass the House of Lords, in spite of the Ministry, which you know is + a great lessening of the Queen's power. Four of the new lords voted + against the Court in this point. It is certainly a good Bill in the reign + of an ill prince, but I think things are not settled enough for it at + present. And the Court may want a majority upon a pinch. Nite deelest + logues. Rove Pdfr. + </p> + <p> + March 1. I went into the City to inquire after poor Stratford,(13) who has + put himself a prisoner into the Queen's Bench, for which his friends blame + him much, because his creditors designed to be very easy with him. He + grasped at too many things together, and that was his ruin. There is one + circumstance relative to Lieutenant-General Meredith(14) that is very + melancholy: Meredith was turned out of all his employments last year, and + had about 10,000 pounds left to live on. Stratford, upon friendship, + desired he might have the management of it for Meredith, to put it into + the stocks and funds for the best advantage, and now he has lost it all. + You have heard me often talk of Stratford; we were class-fellows at school + and university. I dined with some merchants, his friends, to-day, and they + said they expected his breaking this good while. I gave him notice of a + treaty of peace, while it was a secret, of which he might have made good + use, but that helped to ruin him; for he gave money, reckoning there would + be actually a peace by this time, and consequently stocks rise high. Ford + narrowly 'scaped losing 500 pounds by him, and so did I too. Nite, my two + deelest rives MD. + </p> + <p> + 2. Morning. I was wakened at three this morning, my man and the people of + the house telling me of a great fire in the Haymarket. I slept again, and + two hours after my man came in again, and told me it was my poor brother + Sir William Wyndham's(15) house burnt, and that two maids, leaping out of + an upper room to avoid the fire, both fell on their heads, one of them + upon the iron spikes before the door, and both lay dead in the streets. It + is supposed to have been some carelessness of one or both those maids. The + Duke of Ormond was there helping to put out the fire. Brother Wyndham gave + 6,000 pounds but a few months ago for that house, as he told me, and it + was very richly furnished. I shall know more particulars at night. He + married Lady Catherine Seymour, the Duke of Somerset's daughter; you know + her, I believe.—At night. Wyndham's young child escaped very + narrowly; Lady Catherine escaped barefoot; they all went to Northumberland + House. Mr. Brydges's(16) house, at next door, is damaged much, and was + like to be burnt. Wyndham has lost above 10,000 pounds by this accident; + his lady above a thousand pounds worth of clothes. It was a terrible + accident. He was not at Court to-day. I dined with Lord Masham. The Queen + was not at church. Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 3. Pray tell Walls that I spoke to the Duke of Ormond and Mr. Southwell + about his friend's affair, who, I find, needed not me for a solicitor, for + they both told me the thing would be done. I likewise mentioned his own + affair to Mr. Southwell, and I hope that will be done too, for Southwell + seems to think it reasonable, and I will mind him of it again. Tell him + this nakedly. You need not know the particulars. They are secrets: one of + them is about Mrs. South having a pension; the other about his salary from + the Government for the tithes of the park that lie in his parish, to be + put upon the establishment, but oo must not know zees sings, zey are + secrets; and we must keep them flom nauty dallars. I dined in the City + with my printer, with whom I had some small affair; but I have no large + work on my hands now. I was with Lord Treasurer this morning, and hat(17) + care oo for zat? Oo dined with the Dean to-day. Monday is parson's + holiday, and oo lost oo money at cards and dice; ze Givars(18) device. So + I'll go to bed. Nite, my two deelest logues. + </p> + <p> + 4. I sat to-day with poor Mrs. Wesley, who made me dine with her. She is + much better than she was. I heartily pray for her health, out of the + entire love I bear to her worthy husband. This day has passed very + insignificantly. But it is a great comfort to me now that I can come home + and read, and have nothing upon my hands to write. I was at Lord Masham's + to-night, and stayed there till one. Lord Treasurer was there; but I + thought, I thought he looked melancholy, just as he did at the beginning + of the session, and he was not so merry as usual. In short, the majority + in the House of Lords is a very weak one: and he has much ado to keep it + up; and he is not able to make those removes he would, and oblige his + friends; and I doubt too(19) he does not take care enough about it, or + rather cannot do all himself, and will not employ others: which is his + great fault, as I have often told you. 'Tis late. Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 5. I wish you a merry Lent. I hate Lent; I hate different diets, and + furmity and butter, and herb porridge; and sour devout faces of people who + only put on religion for seven weeks. I was at the Secretary's office this + morning; and there a gentleman brought me two letters, dated last October; + one from the Bishop of Clogher, t'other from Walls. The gentleman is + called Colonel Newburgh.(20) I think you mentioned him to me some time + ago; he has business in the House of Lords. I will do him what service I + can. The Representation of the House of Commons is printed:(21) I have not + seen it yet; it is plaguy severe, they say. I dined with Dr. Arbuthnot, + and had a true Lenten dinner, not in point of victuals, but spleen; for + his wife and a child or two were sick in the house, and that was full as + mortifying as fish. We have had fine mighty cold frosty weather for some + days past. I hope you take the advantage of it, and walk now and then. You + never answer that part of my letters where I desire you to walk. I must + keep my breath to cool my Lenten porridge. Tell Jemmy Leigh that his boy + that robbed him now appears about the town: Patrick has seen him once or + twice. I knew nothing of his being robbed till Patrick told me he had seen + the boy. I wish it had been Sterne that had been robbed, to be revenged + for the box that he lost,(22) and be p-xed to him. Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 6. I hear Mr. Prior has suffered by Stratford's breaking. I was yesterday + to see Prior, who is not well, and I thought he looked melancholy. He can + ill afford to lose money. I walked before dinner in the Mall a good while + with Lord Arran and Lord Dupplin, two of my brothers, and then we went to + dinner, where the Duke of Beaufort was our President. We were but eleven + to-day. We are now in all nine lords and ten commoners. The Duke of + Beaufort had the confidence to propose his brother-in-law, the Earl of + Danby,(23) to be a member; but I opposed it so warmly that it was waived. + Danby is not above twenty, and we will have no more boys, and we want but + two to make up our number. I stayed till eight, and then we all went away + soberly. The Duke of Ormond's treat last week cost 20 pounds, though it + was only four dishes and four, without a dessert; and I bespoke it in + order to be cheap. Yet I could not prevail to change the house. Lord + Treasurer is in a rage with us for being so extravagant: and the wine was + not reckoned neither; for that is always brought by him that is President. + Lord Orrery(24) is to be President next week; and I will see whether it + cannot be cheaper; or else we will leave the house...(25) Lord Masham made + me go home with him to-night to eat boiled oysters. Take oysters, wash + them clean; that is, wash their shells clean; then put your oysters into + an earthen pot, with their hollow sides down, then put this pot into a + great kettle with water, and so let them boil. Your oysters are boiled in + their own liquor, and not mixed water. Lord Treasurer was not with us; he + was very ill to-day with a swimming in the head, and is gone home to be + cupped, and sent to desire Lady Masham to excuse him to the Queen. Nite, + dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 7. I was to-day at the House of Lords about a friend's Bill. Then I + crossed the water at Westminster Stairs to Southwark, went through St. + George's Fields to the Mint, which is the dominion of the King's(26) Bench + Prison, where Stratford lodges in a blind alley, and writ to me to come to + him; but he was gone to the 'Change. I thought he had something to say to + me about his own affairs. I found him at his usual coffee-house, and went + to his own lodgings, and dined with him and his wife, and other company. + His business was only to desire I would intercede with the Ministry about + his brother-in-law, Ben Burton,(27) of Dublin, the banker, who is likely + to come into trouble, as we hear, about spreading false Whiggish news. I + hate Burton, and told Stratford so; and I will advise the Duke of Ormond + to make use of it, to keep the rogue in awe. Mrs. Stratford tells me her + husband's creditors have consented to give him liberty to get up his debts + abroad; and she hopes he will pay them all. He was cheerfuller than I have + seen him this great while. I have walked much today.—Night, deelest + logues. + </p> + <p> + 8. This day twelvemonth Mr. Harley was stabbed; but he is ill, and takes + physic to-day, I hear ('tis now morning), and cannot have the Cabinet + Council with him, as he intended, nor me to say grace. I am going to see + him. Pray read the Representation; 'tis the finest that ever was writ. + Some of it is Pdfr's style, but not very much. This is the day of the + Queen's accession to the Crown; so it is a great day. I am going to Court, + and will dine with Lord Masham; but I must go this moment to see the + Secretary about some businesses; so I will seal up this, and put it in the + post my own self. Farewell, deelest hearts and souls, MD. Farewell MD MD + MD FW FW FW ME ME Lele Lele Lele Sollahs lele. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 43.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 8, 1711-12. + </h3> + <p> + I carried my forty-second letter in my pocket till evening, and then put + it in the general post.—I went in the morning to see Lord Treasurer, + who had taken physic, and was drinking his broth. I had been with the + Secretary before, to recommend a friend, one Dr. Freind,(2) to be + Physician-General; and the Secretary promised to mention it to the Queen. + I can serve everybody but myself. Then I went to Court, and carried Lord + Keeper and the Secretary to dine with Lord Masham, when we drank the Queen + and Lord Treasurer with every health, because this was the day of his + stabbing.—Then I went and played pools at picquet with Lady Masham + and Mrs. Hill; won ten shillings, gave a crown to the box, and came home. + I met at my lodgings a letter from Joe, with a bit annexed from Ppt. What + Joe asks is entirely out of my way, and I take it for a foolish whim in + him. Besides, I know not who is to give a patent: if the Duke of Ormond, I + would speak to him; and if it come in my head I will mention it to Ned + Southwell. They have no patents that I know of for such things here, but + good security is all; and to think that I would speak to Lord Treasurer + for any such matter at random is a jest. Did I tell you of a race of + rakes, called the Mohocks,(3) that play the devil about this town every + night, slit people's noses, and beat them, etc.? Nite, sollahs, and rove + Pdfr. Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 9. I was at Court to-day, and nobody invited me to dinner, except one or + two, whom I did not care to dine with; so I dined with Mrs. Van. Young + Davenant(4) was telling us at Court how he was set upon by the Mohocks, + and how they ran his chair through with a sword. It is not safe being in + the streets at night for them. The Bishop of Salisbury's son(5) is said to + be of the gang. They are all Whigs; and a great lady sent to me, to speak + to her father and to Lord Treasurer, to have a care of them, and to be + careful likewise of myself; for she heard they had malicious intentions + against the Ministers and their friends. I know not whether there be + anything in this, though others are of the same opinion. The weather still + continues very fine and frosty. I walked in the Park this evening, and + came home early to avoid the Mohocks. Lord Treasurer is better. Nite, my + own two deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 10. I went this morning again to the Lord Treasurer, who is quite + recovered; and I stayed till he went out. I dined with a friend in the + City, about a little business of printing; but not my own. You must buy a + small twopenny pamphlet, called Law is a Bottomless Pit.(6) 'Tis very + prettily written, and there will be a Second Part. The Commons are very + slow in bringing in their Bill to limit the press, and the pamphleteers + make good use of their time; for there come out three or four every day. + Well, but is not it time, methinks, to have a letter from MD? 'Tis now six + weeks since I had your Number 26. I can assure oo I expect one before this + goes; and I'll make shorter day's journals than usual, 'cause I hope to + fill up a good deal of t'other side with my answer. Our fine weather lasts + yet, but grows a little windy. We shall have rain soon, I dispose. Go to + cards, sollahs, and I to seep. Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 11. Lord Treasurer has lent the long letter I writ him(7) to Prior, and I + can't get Prior to return it. I want to have it printed, and to make up + this Academy for the improvement of our language. Faith, we never shall + improve it so much as FW has done; sall we? No, faith, ourrichar + gangridge.(8) I dined privately with my friend Lewis, and then went to see + Ned Southwell, and talk with him about Walls's business, and Mrs. South's. + The latter will be done; but his own not. Southwell tells me that it must + be laid before Lord Treasurer, and the nature of it explained, and a great + deal of clutter, which is not worth the while; and maybe Lord Treasurer + won't do it (at) last; and it is, as Walls says himself, not above forty + shillings a year difference. You must tell Walls this, unless he would + have the business a secret from you: in that case only say I did all I + could with Ned Southwell, and it can't be done; for it must be laid before + Lord Treasurer, etc., who will not do it; and besides, it is not worth + troubling his lordship. So nite, my two deelest nuntyes nine MD.(9) + </p> + <p> + 12. Here is the D—— and all to do with these Mohocks. Grub + Street papers about them fly like lightning, and a list printed of near + eighty put into several prisons, and all a lie; and I begin almost to + think there is no truth, or very little, in the whole story. He that + abused Davenant was a drunken gentleman; none of that gang. My man tells + me that one of the lodgers heard in a coffee-house, publicly, that one + design of the Mohocks was upon me, if they could catch me; and though I + believe nothing of it, I forbear walking late, and they have put me to the + charge of some shillings already. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer and + two gentlemen of the Highlands of Scotland, yet very polite men. I sat + there till nine, and then went to Lord Masham's, where Lord Treasurer + followed me, and we sat till twelve; and I came home in a chair for fear + of the Mohocks, and I have given him warning of it too. Little + Harrison,(10) whom I sent to Holland, is now actually made Queen's + Secretary at The Hague. It will be in the Gazette to-morrow. 'Tis worth + twelve hundred pounds a year. Here is a young fellow has writ some Sea + Eclogues, poems of Mermen, resembling pastorals of shepherds, and they are + very pretty, and the thought is new. Mermen are he-mermaids; Tritons, + natives of the sea. Do you understand me? I think to recommend him to our + Society to-morrow. His name is Diaper.(11) P— on him, I must do + something for him, and get him out of the way. I hate to have any new wits + rise, but when they do rise I would encourage them; but they tread on our + heels and thrust us off the stage. Nite deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 13. You would laugh to see our printer constantly attending our Society + after dinner, and bringing us whatever new thing he has printed, which he + seldom fails to do. Yet he had nothing to-day. Lord Lansdowne, one of our + Society, was offended at a passage in this day's Examiner, which he thinks + reflects on him, as I believe it does, though in a mighty civil way. 'Tis + only that his underlings cheat; but that he is a very fine gentleman every + way, etc.(12) Lord Orrery was President to-day; but both our dukes were + absent. Brother Wyndham recommended Diaper to the Society. I believe we + shall make a contribution among ourselves, which I don't like. Lord + Treasurer has yet done nothing for us, but we shall try him soon. The + company parted early, but Freind, and Prior, and I, sat a while longer and + reformed the State, and found fault with the Ministry. Prior hates his + Commission of the Customs, because it spoils his wit. He says he dreams of + nothing but cockets,(13) and dockets, and drawbacks, and other jargon + words of the custom-house. Our good weather went away yesterday, and the + nights are now dark, and I came home before ten. Night nown... deelest + sollahs. + </p> + <p> + 14. I have been plagued this morning with solicitors, and with nobody more + than my brother, Dr. Freind, who must needs have to get old Dr. + Lawrence,(14) the Physician-General, turned out and himself in. He has + argued with me so long upon the reasonableness of it, that I am fully + convinced it is very unreasonable; and so I would tell the Secretary, if I + had not already made him speak to the Queen. Besides, I know not but my + friend Dr. Arbuthnot would be content to have it himself, and I love him + ten times better than Freind. What's all this to you? but I must talk of + things as they happen in the day, whether you know anything of them or no. + I dined in the City, and, coming back, one Parson Richardson(15) of + Ireland overtook me. He was here last summer upon a project of converting + the Irish and printing Bibles, etc., in that language, and is now returned + to pursue it on. He tells me Dr. Coghill(16) came last night (to) town. I + will send to see how he does to-morrow. He gave me a letter from Walls + about his old business. Nite, deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 15. I had intended to be early with the Secretary this morning, when my + man admitted upstairs one Mr. Newcomb,(17) an officer, who brought me a + letter from the Bishop of Clogher, with four lines added by Mrs. Ashe, all + about that Newcomb. I think, indeed, his case is hard, but God knows + whether I shall be able to do him any service. People will not understand: + I am a very good second, but I care not to begin a recommendation, unless + it be for an intimate friend. However, I will do what I can. I missed the + Secretary, and then walked to Chelsea to dine with the Dean of Christ + Church,(18) who was engaged to Lord Orrery with some other Christ Church + men. He made me go with him whether I would or not, for they have this + long time admitted me a Christ Church man. Lord Orrery, generally every + winter, gives his old acquaintance of that college a dinner. There were + nine clergymen at table, and four laymen. The Dean and I soon left them, + and after a visit or two, I went to Lord Masham's, and Lord Treasurer, + Arbuthnot and I sat till twelve. And now I am come home and got to bed. I + came afoot, but had my man with me. Lord Treasurer advised me not to go in + a chair, because the Mohocks insult chairs more than they do those on + foot. They think there is some mischievous design in those villains. + Several of them, Lord Treasurer told me, are actually taken up. I heard at + dinner that one of them was killed last night. We shall know more in a + little time. I don't like them, as the men said.(19) Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 16. This morning, at the Secretary's, I met General Ross,(20) and + recommended Newcomb's case to him, who promises to join with me in working + up the Duke of Ormond to do something for him. Lord Winchelsea(21) told me + to-day at Court that two of the Mohocks caught a maid of old Lady + Winchelsea's,(22) at the door of their house in the Park, where she was + with a candle, and had just lighted out somebody. They cut all her face, + and beat her without any provocation. I hear my friend Lewis has got a + Mohock in one of the messenger's hands. The Queen was at church to-day, + but was carried in an open chair. She has got an ugly cough, Arbuthnot, + her physician, says. I dined with Crowe,(23) late Governor of Barbados; an + acquaintance of Sterne's.(24) After dinner I asked him whether he had + heard of Sterne. "Here he is," said he, "at the door in a coach:" and in + came Sterne. He has been here this week. He is buying a captainship in his + cousin Sterne's(25) regiment. He told me he left Jemmy Leigh playing at + cards with you. He is to give 800 guineas for his commission. I suppose + you know all this better than I. How shall I have room to answer oo + rettle(26) hen I get it, I have gone so far already? Nite, deelest logues + MD. + </p> + <p> + 17. Dr. Sacheverell came this morning to give me thanks for getting his + brother an employment. It was but six or seven weeks since I spoke to Lord + Treasurer for him. Sacheverell brought Trapp(27) along with him. We dined + together at my printer's, and I sat with them till seven. I little + thought, and I believe so did he, that ever I should be his solicitor to + the present Ministry, when I left Ireland. This is the seventh I have now + provided for since I came, and can do nothing for myself. I don't care; I + shall have Ministries and other people obliged to me. Trapp is a coxcomb, + and the t'other is not very deep; and their judgment in things of wit or + sense is miraculous. The Second Part of Law is a Bottomless Pit(28) is + just now printed, and better, I think, than the first. Night, my two deel + saucy dallars. + </p> + <p> + 18. There is a proclamation out against the Mohocks. One of those that are + taken is a baronet. I dined with poor Mrs. Wesley, who is returning to the + Bath. Mrs. Perceval's(29) young daughter has got the smallpox, but will do + well. I walked this evening in the Park, and met Prior, who made me go + home with him, where I stayed till past twelve, and could not get a coach, + and was alone, and was afraid enough of the Mohocks. I will do so no more, + though I got home safe. Prior and I were talking discontentedly of some + managements, that no more people are turned out, which get Lord Treasurer + many enemies: but whether the fault be in him, or the Queen, I know not; I + doubt, in both. Ung omens, it is now seven weeks since I received your + last; but I expect one next Irish packet, to fill the rest of this paper; + but if it don't come, I'll do without it: so I wish oo good luck at ombre + with the Dean. Nite, nuntyes nine.(30) + </p> + <p> + 19. Newcomb came to me this morning, and I went to the Duke of Ormond to + speak for him; but the Duke was just going out to take the oaths for + General. The Duke of Shrewsbury is to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. I + walked with Domville and Ford to Kensington, where we dined, and it cost + me above a crown. I don't like it, as the man said.(31) It was very windy + walking. I saw there Lord Masham's children. The youngest, my nephew, I + fear, has got the king's evil; the other two are daughters of three and + four years old. 'Twas very windy walking. The gardens there are mighty + fine. I passed the evening at Lord Masham's with Lord Treasurer and + Arbuthnot, as usual, and we stayed till past one; but I had my man to come + with me, and at home I found three letters; one from one Fetherston, a + parson, with a postscript of Tisdall's to recommend him: and Fetherston, + whom I never saw, has been so kind to give me a letter of attorney to + recover a debt for him. Another from Lord Abercorn, to get him the dukedom + of Chatelherault(32) from the King of France; in which I will do what I + can, for his pretensions are very just. The third, I warrant you, from our + MD. 'Tis a great stir this, of getting a dukedom from the King of France: + but it is only to speak to the Secretary, and get the Duke of Ormond to + engage in it, and mention the case to Lord Treasurer, etc., and this I + shall do. Nite deelest richar MD. + </p> + <p> + 20. I was with the Duke of Ormond this morning, about Lord Abercorn, Dr. + Freind, and Newcomb. Some will do, and some will not do; that's wise, + marams.(33) The Duke of Shrewsbury is certainly to be your Governor. I + will go in a day or two, and give the Duchess joy, and recommend the + Archbishop of Dublin to her. I writ to the Archbishop, some months ago, + that it would be so, and told him I would speak a good word for him to the + Duchess; and he says he has a great respect for her, etc. I made our + Society change their house, and we met to-day at the Star and Garter in + the Pall Mall. Lord Arran was President. The other dog was so extravagant + in his bills, that for four dishes and four, first and second course, + without wine or dessert, he charged twenty-one pounds, six shillings, and + eightpence, to the Duke of Ormond. We design, when all have been + Presidents this turn, to turn it into a reckoning of so much a head; but + we shall break up when the session ends. Nite deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 21. Morning. Now I will answer MD's rettle, N.27; you that are adding to + your number and grumbling, had made it 26, and then altered(34) it to 27. + I believe it is above a month since your last; yes, it is above seven + weeks since I had your last: but I ought to consider that this was twelve + days right,(35) so that makes it pretty even. O, the sirry zade,(36) with + her excuses of a fortnight at Ballygall, seeing their friends, and + landlord running away. O Rold, hot a cruttle(37) and a bustle!—No—if + you will have it—I am not Dean of Wells,(38) nor know anything of + being so; nor is there anything in the story; and that's enough. It was + not Roper(39) sent that news: Roper is my humble slave.—Yes, I heard + of your resolves, and that Burton was embroiled. Stratford spoke to me in + his behalf; but I said I hated the rascal. Poor Catherine gone to Wales? + But she will come back again, I hope. I would see her in my journey, if + she were near the road; and bring her over. Joe(40) is a fool; that sort + of business is not at all in my way, pray put him off it. People laugh + when I mention it. Bed ee paadon, Maram; I'm drad oo rike ee aplon:(41) no + harm, I hope. And so... DD wonders she has not a letter at the day; oo'll + have it soon.... The D—— he is! married to that vengeance! Men + are not to be believed. I don't think her a fool. Who would have her? + Dilly will be governed like an ass; and she will govern like a lion. Is + not that true, Ppt? Why, Sterne told me he left you at ombre with Leigh; + and yet you never saw him. I know nothing of his wife being here: it may + cost her a c—-(42) (I don't care to write that word plain). He is a + little in doubt about buying his commission. Yes, I will bring oo over all + the little papers I can think on. I thought I sent you, by Leigh, all that + were good at that time. The author of the Sea Eclogues sent books to the + Society yesterday, and we gave him guineas apiece; and, maybe, will do + further from him (for him, I mean). So the Bishop of Clogher, and lady, + were your guests for a night or two. Why, Ppt, you are grown a great + gamester and company keeper. I did say to myself, when I read those names, + just what you guess; and you clear up the matter wonderfully. You may + converse with those two nymphs if you please, but the ——- take + me if ever I do. Iss, fais, it is delightful to hear that Ppt is every way + Ppt now, in health, and looks, and all. Pray God keep her so, many, many, + many years. I doubt the session will not be over till the end of April; + however, I shall not wait for it, if the Ministry will let me go sooner. I + wish I were just now in my garden at Laracor. I would set out for Dublin + early on Monday, and bring you an account of my young trees, which you are + better acquainted with than the Ministry, and so am I. Oh, now you have + got Number 41, have you so? Why, perhaps, I forgot, and kept it to next + post in my pocket: I have done such tricks. My cold is better, but not + gone. I want air and riding. Hold ee tongue, oo Ppt, about colds at Moor + Park! the case is quite different. I will do what you desire me for + Tisdall, when I next see Lord Anglesea. Pray give him my service. The + weather is warm these three or four days, and rainy. I am to dine to-day + with Lewis and Darteneuf at Somers's,(43) the Clerk of the Kitchen at + Court. Darteneuf loves good bits and good sups. Good mollows richar + sollohs.—At night. I dined, as I said; and it cost me a shilling for + a chair. It has rained all day, and is very warm. Lady Masham's young son, + my nephew, is very ill; and she is out of mind(44) with grief. I pity her + mightily. I am got home early, and going to write to the Bishop of + Clogher, but have no politics to send him. Nite my own two deelest saucy + d(ear) ones. + </p> + <p> + 22. I am going into the City this morning with a friend about some + business; so I will immediately seal up this, and keep it in my pottick + till evening, and zen put it in the post. The weather continues warm and + gloomy. I have heard no news since I went to bed, so can say no more. Pray + send... that I may have time to write to...(45) about it. I have here + underneath given order for forty shillings to Mrs. Brent, which you will + send to Parvisol. Farewell, deelest deel MD, and rove Pdfr dearly dearly. + Farewell, MD, MD, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, ME, Lele lele lele lele lele lele, + and lele aden. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0047" id="link2H_4_0047"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 44.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 22, 1711-12. + </h3> + <p> + Ugly, nasty weather. I was in the City to-day with Mrs. Wesley and Mrs. + Perceval, to get money from a banker for Mrs. Wesley, who goes to Bath on + Thursday. I left them there, and dined with a friend, and went to see Lord + Treasurer; but he had people with him I did not know: so I went to Lady + Masham's, and lost a crown with her at picquet, and then sat with Lord + Masham and Lord Treasurer, etc., there till past one; but I had my man + with me, to come home. I gave in my forty-third, and one for the Bishop of + Clogher, to the post-office, as I came from the City; and so oo know 'tis + late now, and I have nothing to say for this day. Our Mohocks are all + vanished; however, I shall take care of my person. Nite my own two deelest + nuntyes MD. + </p> + <p> + 23. I was this morning, before church, with the Secretary, about Lord + Abercorn's business, and some others. My soliciting season is come, and + will last as long as the session. I went late to Court, and the company + was almost gone. The Court serves me for a coffee-house; once a week I + meet acquaintance there, that I should not otherwise see in a quarter. + There is a flying report that the French have offered a cessation of arms, + and to give us Dunkirk, and the Dutch Namur, for security, till the peace + is made. The Duke of Ormond, they say, goes in a week. Abundance of his + equipage is already gone. His(2) friends are afraid the expense of this + employment will ruin him, since he must lose the government of Ireland. I + dined privately with a friend, and refused all dinners offered me at + Court; which, however, were but two, and I did not like either. Did I tell + you of a scoundrel about the Court that sells employments to ignorant + people, and cheats them of their money? He lately made a bargain for the + Vice-Chamberlain's place, for seven thousand pounds, and had received some + guineas earnest; but the whole thing was discovered t'other day, and + examination taken of it by Lord Dartmouth, and I hope he will be swinged. + The Vice-Chamberlain told me several particulars of it last night at Lord + Masham's. Can DD play at ombre yet, enough to hold the cards while Ppt + steps into the next room? Nite deelest sollahs.(3) + </p> + <p> + 24. This morning I recommended Newcomb again to the Duke of Ormond, and + left Dick Stewart(4) to do it further. Then I went to visit the Duchess of + Hamilton, who was not awake. So I went to the Duchess of Shrewsbury, and + sat an hour at her toilet. I talked to her about the Duke's being Lord + Lieutenant. She said she knew nothing of it; but I rallied her out of + that, and she resolves not to stay behind the Duke. I intend to recommend + the Bishop of Clogher to her for an acquaintance. He will like her very + well: she is, indeed, a most agreeable woman, and a great favourite of + mine. I know not whether the ladies in Ireland will like her. I was at the + Court of Requests, to get some lords to be at a committee to-morrow, about + a friend's Bill: and then the Duke of Beaufort gave me a poem, finely + bound in folio, printed at Stamford, and writ by a country squire. Lord + Exeter(5) desired the Duke to give it the Queen, because the author is his + friend; but the Duke desired I would let him know whether it was good for + anything. I brought it home, and will return it to-morrow, as the dullest + thing I ever read; and advise the Duke not to present it. I dined with + Domville at his lodgings, by invitation; for he goes in a few days for + Ireland. Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 25. There is a mighty feast at a Tory sheriff's to-day in the City: twelve + hundred dishes of meat.—Above five lords, and several hundred + gentlemen, will be there, and give four or five guineas apiece, according + to custom. Dr. Coghill and I dined, by invitation, at Mrs. Van's. It has + rained or mizzled all day, as my pockets feel. There are two new answers + come out to the Conduct of the Allies. The last year's Examiners, printed + together in a small volume, go off but slowly. The printer over-printed + himself by at least a thousand; so soon out of fashion are party papers, + however so well writ. The Medleys are coming out in the same volume, and + perhaps may sell better. Our news about a cessation of arms begins to + flag, and I have not these three days seen anybody in business to ask them + about it. We had a terrible fire last night in Drury Lane, or thereabouts, + and three or four people destroyed. One of the maids of honour has the + smallpox; but the best is, she can lose no beauty; and we have one new + handsome maid of honour. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 26. I forgot to tell you that on Sunday last, about seven at night, it + lightened above fifty times as I walked the Mall, which I think is + extraordinary at this time of the year, and the weather was very hot. Had + you anything of this in Dublin? I intended to dine with Lord Treasurer + to-day; but Lord Mansel and Mr. Lewis made me dine with them at Kit + Musgrave's.(6) I sat the evening with Mrs. Wesley, who goes to-morrow + morning to the Bath. She is much better than she was. The news of the + French desiring a cessation of arms, etc., was but town talk. We shall + know in a few days, as I am told, whether there will be a peace or not. + The Duke of Ormond will go in a week for Flanders, they say. Our Mohocks + go on still, and cut people's faces every night; fais, they shan't cut + mine, I like it better as it is. The dogs will cost me at least a crown a + week in chairs. I believe the souls of your houghers of cattle have got + into them, and now they don't distinguish between a cow and a Christian. I + forgot to wish you yesterday a happy New Year. You know the twenty-fifth + of March is the first day of the year, and now you must leave off cards, + and put out your fire. I'll put out mine the first of April, cold or not + cold. I believe I shall lose credit with you by not coming over at the + beginning of April; but I hoped the session would be ended, and I must + stay till then; yet I would fain be at the beginning of my willows + growing. Perceval tells me that the quicksets upon the flat in the garden + do not grow so well as those famous ones on the ditch. They want digging + about them. The cherry-trees, by the river-side, my heart is set upon. + Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 27. Society day. You know that, I suppose. Dr. Arthburnett(7) was + President. His dinner was dressed in the Queen's kitchen, and was mighty + fine. We ate it at Ozinda's Chocolate-house,(8) just by St. James's. We + were never merrier, nor better company, and did not part till after + eleven. I did not summon Lord Lansdowne: he and I are fallen out. There + was something in an Examiner a fortnight ago that he thought reflected on + the abuses in his office (he is Secretary at War), and he writ to the + Secretary that he heard I had inserted that paragraph. This I resented + highly, that he should complain of me before he spoke to me. I sent him a + peppering letter, and would not summon him by a note, as I did the rest; + nor ever will have anything to say to him, till he begs my pardon. I met + Lord Treasurer to-day at Lady Masham's. He would fain have carried me home + to dinner, but I begged his pardon. What! upon a Society day! No, no. 'Tis + rate, sollahs. I an't dlunk. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 28. I was with my friend Lewis to-day, getting materials for a little + mischief; and I dined with Lord Treasurer, and three or four fellows I + never saw before. I left them at seven, and came home, and have been + writing to the Archbishop of Dublin, and cousin Deane,(9) in answer to one + of his of four months old, that I spied by chance, routing among my + papers. I have a pain these two days exactly upon the top of my left + shoulder. I fear it is something rheumatic; it winches(10) now and then. + Shall I put flannel to it? Domville is going to Ireland; he came here this + morning to take leave of me, but I shall dine with him to-morrow. Does the + Bishop of Clogher talk of coming for England this summer? I think Lord + Molesworth told me so about two months ago. The weather is bad again; + rainy and very cold this evening. Do you know what the longitude is? A + projector(11) has been applying himself to me, to recommend him to the + Ministry, because he pretends to have found out the longitude. I believe + he has no more found it out than he has found out mine...(12) However, I + will gravely hear what he says, and discover him a knave or fool. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 29. I am plagued with these pains in my shoulder; I believe it is + rheumatic; I will do something for it to-night. Mr. Lewis and I dined with + Mr. Domville, to take our leave of him. I drank three or four glasses of + champagne by perfect teasing, though it is bad for my pain; but if it + continue, I will not drink any wine without water till I am well. The + weather is abominably cold and wet. I am got into bed, and have put some + old flannel, for want of new, to my shoulder, and rubbed it with Hungary + water.(13) It is plaguy hard. I never would drink any wine, if it were not + for my head, and drinking has given me this pain. I will try + abstemiousness for a while. How does MD do now; how does DD and Ppt? You + must know I hate pain, as the old woman said. But I'll try to go seep. My + flesh sucks up Hungary water rarely. My man is an awkward rascal, and + makes me peevish. Do you know that t'other day he was forced to beg my + pardon, that he could not shave my head, his hand shook so? He is drunk + every day, and I design to turn him off soon as ever I get to Ireland. + I'll write no more now, but go to sleep, and see whether sleep and flannel + will cure my shoulder. Nite deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 30. I was not able to go to church or Court to-day for my shoulder. The + pain has left my shoulder, and crept to my neck and collar-bone. It makes + me think of poo Ppt's bladebone. Urge, urge, urge; dogs gnawing. I went in + a chair at two, and dined with Mrs. Van, where I could be easy, and came + back at seven. My Hungary water is gone; and to-night I use spirits of + wine, which my landlady tells me is very good. It has rained terribly all + day long, and is extremely cold. I am very uneasy, and such cruel twinges + every moment! Nite deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 31. April 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. All these days I have been extremely + ill, though I twice crawled out a week ago; but am now recovering, though + very weak. The violence of my pain abated the night before last: I will + just tell you how I was, and then send away this letter, which ought to + have gone Saturday last. The pain increased with mighty violence in my + left shoulder and collar-bone, and that side my neck. On Thursday morning + appeared great red spots in all those places where my pain was, and the + violence of the pain was confined to my neck behind, a little on the left + side; which was so violent that I had not a minute's ease, nor hardly a + minute's sleep in three days and nights. The spots increased every day, + and bred little pimples, which are now grown white, and full of + corruption, though small. The red still continues too, and most prodigious + hot and inflamed. The disease is the shingles. I eat nothing but + water-gruel; am very weak; but out of all violent pain. The doctors say it + would have ended in some violent disease if it had not come out thus. I + shall now recover fast. I have been in no danger of life, but miserable + torture. I must not write too much. So adieu, deelest MD MD MD FW FW, ME + ME ME, Lele. I can say lele yet, oo see. Fais, I don't conceal a bit, as + hope saved.(14) + </p> + <p> + I(15) must purge and clyster after this; and my next letter will not be in + the old order of journal, till I have done with physic. An't oo surprised + to see a letter want half a side? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0048" id="link2H_4_0048"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 45.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 24, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I had your twenty-eighth two or three days ago. I can hardly answer it + now. Since my last I have been extremely ill. 'Tis this day just a month + since I felt a small pain on the tip of my left shoulder, which grew + worse, and spread for six days; then broke all out by my collar and left + side of my neck in monstrous red spots inflamed, and these grew to small + pimples. For four days I had no rest, nor nights, for a pain in my neck; + then I grew a little better; afterward, where my pains were, a cruel + itching seized me, beyond whatever I could imagine, and kept me awake + several nights. I rubbed it vehemently, but did not scratch it: then it + grew into three or four great sores like blisters, and run; at last I + advised the doctor to use it like a blister, so I did with melilot(2) + plasters, which still run: and am now in pain enough, but am daily + mending. I kept my chamber a fortnight, then went out a day or two, but + then confined myself again. Two days ago I went to a neighbour to dine, + but yesterday again kept at home. To-day I will venture abroad a little, + and hope to be well in a week or ten days. I never suffered so much in my + life. I have taken my breeches in above two inches, so I am leaner, which + answers one question in your letter. The weather is mighty fine. I write + in the morning, because I am better then. I will go and try to walk a + little. I will give DD's certificate to Tooke to-morrow. Farewell, MD MD + MD, ME ME, FW FW ME ME. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0049" id="link2H_4_0049"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 46.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 10, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I have not yet ease or humour enough to go on in my journal method, though + I have left my chamber these ten days. My pain continues still in my + shoulder and collar: I keep flannel on it, and rub it with brandy, and + take a nasty diet drink. I still itch terribly, and have some few pimples; + I am weak, and sweat; and then the flannel makes me mad with itching; but + I think my pain lessens. A journal, while I was sick, would have been a + noble thing, made up of pain and physic, visits, and messages; the two + last were almost as troublesome as the two first. One good circumstance is + that I am grown much leaner. I believe I told you that I have taken in my + breeches two inches. I had your N.29 last night. In answer to your good + opinion of my disease, the doctors said they never saw anything so odd of + the kind; they were not properly shingles, but herpes miliaris, and twenty + other hard names. I can never be sick like other people, but always + something out of the common way; and as for your notion of its coming + without pain, it neither came, nor stayed, nor went without pain, and the + most pain I ever bore in my life. Medemeris(2) is retired in the country, + with the beast her husband, long ago. I thank the Bishop of Clogher for + his proxy; I will write to him soon. Here is Dilly's wife in town; but I + have not seen her yet. No, sinkerton:(3) 'tis not a sign of health, but a + sign that, if it had not come out, some terrible fit of sickness would + have followed. I was at our Society last Thursday, to receive a new + member, the Chancellor of the Exchequer;(4) but I drink nothing above wine + and water. We shall have a peace, I hope, soon, or at least entirely + broke; but I believe the first. My Letter to Lord Treasurer, about the + English tongue,(5) is now printing; and I suffer my name to be put at the + end of it, which I never did before in my life. The Appendix to the Third + Part of John Bull(6) was published yesterday; it is equal to the rest. I + hope you read John Bull. It was a Scotch gentleman,(7) a friend of mine, + that writ it; but they put it upon me. The Parliament will hardly be up + till June. We were like to be undone some days ago with a tack; but we + carried it bravely, and the Whigs came in to help us. Poor Lady Masham, I + am afraid, will lose her only son, about a twelvemonth old, with the + king's evil. I never would let Mrs. Fenton see me during my illness, + though she often came; but she has been once here since I recovered. + Bernage has been twice to see me of late. His regiment will be broke, and + he only upon half-pay; so perhaps he thinks he will want me again. I am + told here the Bishop of Clogher and family are coming over, but he says + nothing of it himself. I have been returning the visits of those that sent + howdees(8) in my sickness; particularly the Duchess of Hamilton, who came + and sat with me two hours. I make bargains with all people that I dine + with, to let me scrub my back against a chair; and the Duchess of + Ormond(9) was forced to bear it the other day. Many of my friends are gone + to Kensington, where the Queen has been removed for some time. This is a + long letter for a kick(10) body. I will begin the next in the journal way, + though my journals will be sorry ones. My left hand is very weak, and + trembles; but my right side has not been touched. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + This is a pitiful letter + For want of a better; + But plagued with a tetter, + My fancy does fetter. +</pre> + <p> + Ah! my poor willows and quicksets! Well, but you must read John Bull. Do + you understand it all? Did I tell you that young Parson Gery(11) is going + to be married, and asked my advice when it was too late to break off? He + tells me Elwick has purchased forty pounds a year in land adjoining to his + living. Ppt does not say one word of her own little health. I am angry + almost; but I won't, 'cause see im a dood dallar in odle sings;(12) iss, + and so im DD too. God bless MD, and FW, and ME, ay and Pdfr too. Farewell, + MD, MD, MD, FW, FW, FW. ME, ME Lele. I can say lele it, ung oomens, iss I + tan, well as oo. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0050" id="link2H_4_0050"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 47.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 31, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I cannot yet arrive to my journal letters, my pains continuing still, + though with less violence; but I don't love to write journals while I am + in pain; and above all, not journals to MD. But, however, I am so much + mended, that I intend my next shall be in the old way; and yet I shall, + perhaps, break my resolution when I feel pain. I believe I have lost + credit with you, in relation to my coming over; but I protest it is + impossible for one who has anything to do with this Ministry to be certain + when he fixes any time. There is a business which, till it take some turn + or other, I cannot leave this place in prudence or honour. And I never + wished so much as now that I had stayed in Ireland; but the die is cast, + and is now a spinning, and till it settles, I cannot tell whether it be an + ace or a sise.(2) I am confident by what you know yourselves, that you + will justify me in all this. The moment I am used ill, I will leave them; + but know not how to do it while things are in suspense. The session will + soon be over (I believe in a fortnight), and the peace, we hope, will be + made in a short time; and there will be no further occasion for me; nor + have I anything to trust to but Court gratitude, so that I expect to see + my willows(3) a month after the Parliament is up: but I will take MD in my + way, and not go to Laracor like an unmannerly spraenekich ferrow.(4) Have + you seen my Letter to Lord Treasurer? There are two answers come out to it + already;(5) though it is no politics, but a harmless proposal about the + improvement of the English Tongue. I believe if I writ an essay upon a + straw some fool would answer it. About ten days hence I expect a letter + from MD; N.30.—You are now writing it, near the end, as I guess.—I + have not received DD's money; but I will give you a note for it on + Parvisol, and bed oo paadon(6) I have not done it before. I am just now + thinking to go lodge at Kensington for the air. Lady Masham has teased me + to do it, but business has hindered me; but now Lord Treasurer has removed + thither. Fifteen of our Society dined together under a canopy in an arbour + at Parson's Green(7) last Thursday: I never saw anything so fine and + romantic. We got a great victory last Wednesday in the House of Lords by a + majority, I think, of twenty-eight; and the Whigs had desired their + friends to bespeak places to see Lord Treasurer carried to the Tower.(8) I + met your Higgins(9) here yesterday: he roars at the insolence of the Whigs + in Ireland, talks much of his own sufferings and expenses in asserting the + cause of the Church; and I find he would fain plead merit enough to desire + that his fortune should be mended. I believe he designs to make as much + noise as he can in order to preferment. Pray let the Provost, when he sees + you, give you ten English shillings, and I will give as much here to the + man who delivered me Rymer's books:(10) he knows the meaning. Tell him I + will not trust him, but that you can order it to be paid me here; and I + will trust you till I see you. Have I told you that the rogue Patrick has + left me these two months, to my great satisfaction? I have got another, + who seems to be much better, if he continues it. I am printing a + threepenny pamphlet,(11) and shall print another in a fortnight, and then + I have done, unless some new occasion starts. Is my curate Warburton + married to Mrs. Melthrop in my parish? so I hear. Or is it a lie? Has + Raymond got to his new house? Do you see Joe now and then? What luck have + you at ombre? How stands it with the Dean?...(12) My service to Mrs. + Stoyte, and Catherine, if she be come from Wales. I have not yet seen + Dilly Ashe's wife. I called once, but she was not at home: I think she is + under the doctor's hand....(13) I believe the news of the Duke of Ormond + producing letters in the council of war, with orders not to fight, will + surprise you in Ireland. Lord Treasurer said in the House of Lords that in + a few days the treaty of peace should be laid before them; and our Court + thought it wrong to hazard a battle, and sacrifice many lives in such a + juncture. If the peace holds, all will do well, otherwise I know not how + we shall weather it. And it was reckoned as a wrong step in politics for + Lord Treasurer to open himself so much. The Secretary would not go so far + to satisfy the Whigs in the House of Commons; but there all went + swimmingly. I'll say no more to oo to-nite, sellohs, because I must send + away the letter, not by the bell,(14) but early: and besides, I have not + much more to say at zis plesent liting.(15) Does MD never read at all now, + pee?(16) But oo walk plodigiousry, I suppose; oo make nothing of walking + to, to, to, ay, to Donnybrook. I walk too as much as I can, because + sweating is good; but I'll walk more if I go to Kensington. I suppose I + shall have no apples this year neither, for I dined t'other day with Lord + Rivers, who is sick at his country-house, and he showed me all his + cherries blasted. Nite deelest sollahs; farewell deelest rives; rove poo + poo Pdfr. Farewell deelest richar MD, MD, MD, FW, FW, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, + Lele, ME, Lele, Lele, richar MD. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0051" id="link2H_4_0051"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 48.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + KENSINGTON, June 17, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I have been so tosticated about since my last, that I could not go on in + my journal manner, though my shoulder is a great deal better; however, I + feel constant pain in it, but I think it diminishes, and I have cut off + some slices from my flannel. I have lodged here near a fortnight, partly + for the air and exercise, partly to be near the Court, where dinners are + to be found. I generally get a lift in a coach to town, and in the evening + I walk back. On Saturday I dined with the Duchess of Ormond at her lodge + near Sheen, and thought to get a boat back as usual. I walked by the bank + to Cue (Kew), but no boat, then to Mortlake, but no boat, and it was nine + o'clock. At last a little sculler called, full of nasty people. I made him + set me down at Hammersmith, so walked two miles to this place, and got + here by eleven. Last night I had another such difficulty. I was in the + City till past ten at night; it rained hard, but no coach to be had. It + gave over a little, and I walked all the way here, and got home by twelve. + I love these shabby difficulties when they are over; but I hate them, + because they arise from not having a thousand pound a year. I had your + N.30 about three days ago, which I will now answer. And first, I did not + relapse, but found(2) I came out before I ought; and so, and so, as I have + told you in some of my last. The first coming abroad made people think I + was quite recovered, and I had no more messages afterwards. Well, but John + Bull is not writ by the person you imagine, as hope!(3) It is too good for + another to own. Had it been Grub Street, I would have let people think as + they please; and I think that's right: is not it now? so flap ee hand, and + make wry mouth oo-self, sauci doxi. Now comes DD. Why sollah, I did write + in a fortnight my 47th; and if it did not come in due time, can I help + wind and weather? am I a Laplander? am I a witch? can I work miracles? can + I make easterly winds? Now I am against Dr. Smith. I drink little water + with my wine, yet I believe he is right. Yet Dr. Cockburn told me a little + wine would not hurt me; but it is so hot and dry, and water is so + dangerous. The worst thing here is my evenings at Lord Masham's, where + Lord Treasurer comes, and we sit till after twelve. But it is convenient I + should be among them for a while as much as possible. I need not tell oo + why. But I hope that will be at an end in a month or two, one way or + other, and I am resolved it shall. But I can't go to Tunbridge, or + anywhere else out of the way, in this juncture. So Ppt designs for + Templeoag (what a name is that!). Whereabouts is that place? I hope not + very far from Dublin. Higgins is here, roaring that all is wrong in + Ireland, and would have me get him an audience of Lord Treasurer to tell + him so; but I will have nothing to do in it, no, not I, faith. We have had + no thunder till last night, and till then we were dead for want of rain; + but there fell a great deal: no field looked green. I reckon the Queen + will go to Windsor in three or four weeks: and if the Secretary takes a + house there, I shall be sometimes with him. But how affectedly Ppt talks + of my being here all the summer; which I do not intend: nor to stay one + minute longer in England than becomes the circumstances I am in. I wish + you would go soon into the country, and take a good deal of it; and where + better than Trim? Joe will be your humble servant, Parvisol your slave, + and Raymond at your command, for he piques himself on good manners. I have + seen Dilly's wife—and I have seen once or twice old Bradley(4) here. + He is very well, very old, and very wise: I believe I must go see his + wife, when I have leisure. I should be glad to see Goody Stoyte and her + husband; pray give them my humble service, and to Catherine, and to Mrs. + Walls—I am not the least bit in love with Mrs. Walls—I suppose + the cares of the husband increase with the fruitfulness of the wife. I am + grad at halt(5) to hear of Ppt's good health: pray let her finish it by + drinking waters. I hope DD had her bill, and has her money. Remember to + write a due time before ME money is wanted, and be good galls, dood + dallars, I mean, and no crying dallars. I heard somebody coming upstairs, + and forgot I was in the country; and I was afraid of a visitor: that is + one advantage of being here, that I am not teased with solicitors. Molt, + the chemist, is my acquaintance. My service to Dr. Smith. I sent the + question to him about Sir Walter Raleigh's cordial, and the answer he + returned is in these words: "It is directly after Mr. Boyle's receipt." + That commission is performed; if he wants any of it, Molt shall use him + fairly. I suppose Smith is one of your physicians. So, now your letter is + fully and impartially answered; not as rascals answer me: I believe, if I + writ an essay upon a straw, I should have a shoal of answerers: but no + matter for that; you see I can answer without making any reflections, as + becomes men of learning. Well, but now for the peace: why, we expect it + daily; but the French have the staff in their own hands, and we trust to + their honesty. I wish it were otherwise. Things are now in the way of + being soon in the extremes of well or ill. I hope and believe the first. + Lord Wharton is gone out of town in a rage, and curses himself and friends + for ruining themselves in defending Lord Marlborough and Godolphin, and + taking Nottingham into their favour. He swears he will meddle no more + during this reign; a pretty speech at sixty-six, and the Queen is near + twenty years younger, and now in very good health; for you must know her + health is fixed by a certain reason, that she has done with braces (I must + use the expression), and nothing ill is happened to her since; so she has + a new lease of her life. Read the Letter to a Whig Lord.(6) Do you ever + read? Why don't you say so? I mean does DD read to Ppt? Do you walk? I + think Ppt should walk to(7) DD; as DD reads to Ppt, for Ppt oo must know + is a good walker; but not so good as Pdfr. I intend to dine to-day with + Mr. Lewis, but it threatens rain; and I shall be too late to get a lift; + and I must write to the Bishop of Clogher. 'Tis now ten in the morning; + and this is all writ at a heat. Farewell deelest... deelest MD, MD, MD, + MD, MD, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, ME, Lele, ME, Lele, ME, Lele, ME, Lele, Lele, + Lele, ME. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0052" id="link2H_4_0052"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 49.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + KENSINGTON, July 1, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I never was in a worse station for writing letters than this, especially + for writing to MD, since I left off my journals. For I go to town early; + and when I come home at night, I generally go to Lord Masham, where Lord + Treasurer comes, and we stay till past twelve. But I am now resolved to + write journals again, though my shoulder is not yet well; for I have still + a few itching pimples, and a little pain now and then. It is now high + cherry-time with us; take notice, is it so soon with you? And we have + early apricots, and gooseberries are ripe. On Sunday Archdeacon Parnell + came here to see me. It seems he has been ill for grief of his wife's + death,(2) and has been two months at the Bath. He has a mind to go to + Dunkirk with Jack Hill,(3) and I persuade him to it, and have spoke to + Hill to receive him; but I doubt he won't have spirit to go. I have made + Ford(4) Gazetteer, and got two hundred pounds a year settled on the + employment by the Secretary of State, beside the perquisites. It is the + prettiest employment in England of its bigness; yet the puppy does not + seem satisfied with it. I think people keep some follies to themselves, + till they have occasion to produce them. He thinks it not genteel enough, + and makes twenty difficulties. 'Tis impossible to make any man easy. His + salary is paid him every week, if he pleases, without taxes or abatements. + He has little to do for it. He has a pretty office, with coals, candles, + papers, etc.; can frank what letters he will; and his perquisites, if he + takes care, may be worth one hundred pounds more. I hear the Bishop of + Clogher is landing, or landed, in England; and I hope to see him in a few + days. I was to see Mrs. Bradley(5) on Sunday night. Her youngest son is + married to somebody worth nothing, and her daughter was forced to leave + Lady Giffard, because she was striking up an intrigue with a footman, who + played well upon the flute. This is the mother's account of it. Yesterday + the old Bishop of Worcester,(6) who pretends to be a prophet, went to the + Queen, by appointment, to prove to Her Majesty, out of Daniel and the + Revelations, that four years hence there would be a war of religion; that + the King of France would be a Protestant, and fight on their side; that + the Popedom would be destroyed, etc.; and declared that he would be + content to give up his bishopric if it were not true. Lord Treasurer, who + told it me, was by, and some others; and I am told Lord Treasurer + confounded him sadly in his own learning, which made the old fool very + quarrelsome. He is near ninety years old. Old Bradley is fat and lusty, + and has lost his palsy. Have you seen Toland's Invitation to Dismal?(7) + How do you like it? But it is an imitation of Horace, and perhaps you + don't understand Horace. Here has been a great sweep of employments, and + we expect still more removals. The Court seems resolved to make thorough + work. Mr. Hill intended to set out to-morrow for Dunkirk, of which he is + appointed Governor; but he tells me to-day that he cannot go till Thursday + or Friday. I wish it were over. Mr. Secretary tells me he is (in) no fear + at all that France will play tricks with us. If we have Dunkirk once, all + is safe. We rail now all against the Dutch, who, indeed, have acted like + knaves, fools, and madmen. Mr. Secretary is soon to be made a viscount. He + desired I would draw the preamble of his patent; but I excused myself from + a work that might lose me a great deal of reputation, and get me very + little. We would fain have the Court make him an earl, but it would not + be; and therefore he will not take the title of Bullenbrook,(8) which is + lately extinct in the elder branch of his family. I have advised him to be + called Lord Pomfret; but he thinks that title is already in some other + family;(9) and, besides, he objects that it is in Yorkshire, where he has + no estate; but there is nothing in that, and I love Pomfret. Don't you + love Pomfret? Why? 'Tis in all our histories; they are full of Pomfret + Castle. But what's all this to you? You don't care for this. Is Goody + Stoyte come to London? I have not heard of her yet. The Dean of St. + Patrick's never had the manners to answer my letter. I was t'other day to + see Sterne(10) and his wife. She is not half so handsome as when I saw her + with you at Dublin. They design to pass the summer at a house near Lord + Somers's, about a dozen miles off. You never told me how my "Letter to + Lord Treasurer" passes in Ireland. I suppose you are drinking at this time + Temple-something's(11) waters. Steele was arrested the other day for + making a lottery directly against an Act of Parliament. He is now under + prosecution; but they think it will be dropped out of pity.(12) I believe + he will very soon lose his employment, for he has been mighty impertinent + of late in his Spectators; and I will never offer a word in his behalf. + Raymond writes me word that the Bishop of Meath(13) was going to summon + me, in order to suspension, for absence, if the Provost had not prevented + him. I am prettily rewarded for getting them their First-Fruits, with a p—. + We have had very little hot weather during the whole month of June; and + for a week past we have had a great deal of rain, though not every day. I + am just now told that the Governor of Dunkirk has not orders yet to + deliver up the town to Jack Hill and his forces, but expects them daily. + This must put off Hill's journey a while, and I don't like these stoppings + in such an affair. Go, get oo gone, and drink oo waters, if this rain has + not spoiled them, sauci doxi. I have no more to say to oo at plesent; but + rove Pdfr, and MD, and ME. And Podefr will rove Pdfr, and MD and ME. I + wish you had taken any account when I sent money to Mrs. Brent. I believe + I han't done it a great while. And pray send me notice when ME... to have + it when it is due.(14) Farewell, dearest MD FW FW FW ME ME ME. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0053" id="link2H_4_0053"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 50.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + KENSINGTON, July 17, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I am weary of living in this place, and glad to leave it soon. The Queen + goes on Tuesday to Windsor, and I shall follow in three or four days + after. I can do nothing here, going early to London, and coming late from + it, and supping at Lady Masham's. I dined to-day with the Duke of Argyle + at Cue (Kew), and would not go to the Court to-night, because of writing + to MD. The Bishop of Clogher has been here this fortnight: I see him as + often as I can. Poor Master Ashe has a sad redness in his face; it is St. + Anthony's fire; his face all swelled, and will break in his cheek, but no + danger. Since Dunkirk has been in our hands, Grub Street has been very + fruitful. Pdfr has writ five or six Grub Street papers this last week. + Have you seen Toland's Invitation to Dismal, or Hue and Cry after Dismal, + or Ballad on Dunkirk, or Argument that Dunkirk is not in our Hands? Poh! + you have seen nothing. I am dead here with the hot weather; yet I walk + every night home, and believe it does me good: but my shoulder is not yet + right; itchings, and scratchings, and small achings. Did I tell you I had + made Ford Gazetteer, with two hundred pounds a year salary, beside + perquisites? I had a letter lately from Parvisol, who says my canal looks + very finely; I long to see it; but no apples; all blasted again. He tells + me there will be a triennial visitation in August. I must send Raymond + another proxy. So now I will answer oo rettle N.33,(2) dated June 17. Ppt + writes as well as ever, for all her waters. I wish I had never come here, + as often and as heartily as Ppt. What had I to do here? I have heard of + the Bishop's making me uneasy, but I did not think it was because I never + writ to him. A little would make me write to him, but I don't know what to + say. I find I am obliged to the Provost for keeping the Bishop(3) from + being impertinent. Yes, Maram DD, but oo would not be content with letters + flom Pdfr of six lines, or twelve either, fais. I hope Ppt will have done + with the waters soon, and find benefit by them. I believe, if they were as + far off as Wexford, they would do as much good; for I take the journey to + contribute as much as anything. I can assure you the Bishop of Clogher's + being here does not in the least affect my staying or going. I never + talked to Higgins but once in my life in the street, and I believe he and + I shall hardly meet but by chance. What care I whether my Letter to Lord + Treasurer be commended there or no? Why does not somebody among you answer + it, as three or four have done here? (I am now sitting with nothing but my + nightgown, for heat.) Ppt shall have a great Bible. I have put it down in + my memlandums(4) just now. And DD shall be repaid her t'other book; but + patience, all in good time: you are so hasty, a dog would, etc. So Ppt has + neither won nor lost. Why, mun, I play sometimes too at picket, that is + picquet, I mean; but very seldom.—Out late? why, 'tis only at Lady + Masham's, and that is in our town; but I never come late here from London, + except once in rain, when I could not get a coach. We have had very little + thunder here; none these two months. Why, pray, madam philosopher, how did + the rain hinder the thunder from doing any harm? I suppose it ssquenched + it. So here comes Ppt aden(5) with her little watery postscript. O Rold, + dlunken srut!(6) drink Pdfr's health ten times in a morning! you are a + whetter, fais; I sup MD's fifteen times evly molning in milk porridge. + Lele's fol oo now—and lele's fol oo rettle, and evly kind of sing(7)—and + now I must say something else. You hear Secretary St. John is made + Viscount Bullinbrook.(8) I can hardly persuade him to take that title, + because the eldest branch of his family had it in an earldom, and it was + last year extinct. If he did not take it, I advised him to be Lord + Pomfret, which I think is a noble title. You hear of it often in the + Chronicles, Pomfret Castle: but we believed it was among the titles of + some other lord. Jack Hill sent his sister a pattern of a head-dress from + Dunkirk; it was like our fashion twenty years ago, only not quite so high, + and looked very ugly. I have made Trapp(9) chaplain to Lord Bullinbroke, + and he is mighty happy and thankful for it. Mr. Addison returned me my + visit this morning. He lives in our town. I shall be mighty retired, and + mighty busy for a while at Windsor. Pray why don't MD go to Trim, and see + Laracor, and give me an account of the garden, and the river, and the + holly and the cherry-trees on the river-walk? + </p> + <p> + 19. I could not send this letter last post, being called away before I + could fold or finish it. I dined yesterday with Lord Treasurer; sat with + him till ten at night; yet could not find a minute for some business I had + with him. He brought me to Kensington, and Lord Bulingbrook would not let + me go away till two; and I am now in bed, very lazy and sleepy at nine. I + must shave head and face, and meet Lord Bullinbrook at eleven, and dine + again with Lord Treasurer. To-day there will be another Grub,(10) A Letter + from the Pretender to a Whig Lord. Grub Street has but ten days to live; + then an Act of Parliament takes place that ruins it, by taxing every + half-sheet at a halfpenny. We have news just come, but not the + particulars, that the Earl of Albemarle,(11) at the head of eight thousand + Dutch, is beaten, lost the greatest part of his men, and himself a + prisoner. This perhaps may cool their courage, and make them think of a + peace. The Duke of Ormond has got abundance of credit by his good conduct + of affairs in Flanders. We had a good deal of rain last night, very + refreshing. 'Tis late, and I must rise. Don't play at ombre in your + waters, sollah. Farewell, deelest MD, MD MD MD FW FW ME ME ME Lele Lele + Lele. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0054" id="link2H_4_0054"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 51.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Aug. 7, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I had your N.32 at Windsor: I just read it, and immediately sealed it up + again, and shall read it no more this twelvemonth at least. The reason of + my resentment at it is, because you talk as glibly of a thing as if it + were done, which, for aught I know, is farther from being done than ever, + since I hear not a word of it, though the town is full of it, and the + Court always giving me joy and vexation. You might be sure I would have + let you know as soon as it was done; but I believe you fancied I would + affect not to tell it you, but let you learn it from newspapers and + reports. I remember only there was something in your letter about ME's + money, and that shall be taken care of on the other side. I left Windsor + on Monday last, upon Lord Bolingbroke's being gone to France, and + somebody's being here that I ought often to consult with in an affair I am + upon: but that person talks of returning to Windsor again, and I believe I + shall follow him. I am now in a hedge-lodging very busy, as I am every day + till noon: so that this letter is like to be short, and you are not to + blame me these two months; for I protest, if I study ever so hard, I + cannot in that time compass what I am upon. We have a fever both here and + at Windsor, which hardly anybody misses; but it lasts not above three or + four days, and kills nobody.(2) The Queen has forty servants down of it at + once. I dined yesterday with Treasurer, but could do no business, though + he sent for me, I thought, on purpose; but he desires I will dine with him + again to-day. Windsor is a most delightful place, and at this time abounds + in dinners. My lodgings there look upon Eton and the Thames. I wish I was + owner of them; they belong to a prebend. God knows what was in your + letter; and if it be not answered, whose fault is it, sauci dallars?—Do + you know that Grub Street is dead and gone last week? No more ghosts or + murders now for love or money. I plied it pretty close the last fortnight, + and published at least seven penny papers of my own, besides some of other + people's: but now every single half-sheet pays a halfpenny to the + Queen.(3) The Observator is fallen; the Medleys are jumbled together with + the Flying Post; the Examiner is deadly sick; the Spectator keeps up, and + doubles its price; I know not how long it will hold. Have you seen the red + stamp the papers are marked with? Methinks it is worth a halfpenny, the + stamping it. Lord Bolingbroke and Prior set out for France last Saturday. + My lord's business is to hasten the peace before the Dutch are too much + mauled, and hinder France from carrying the jest of beating them too far. + Have you seen the Fourth Part of John Bull?(4) It is equal to the rest, + and extremely good. The Bishop of Clogher's son has been ill of St. + Anthony's fire, but is now quite well. I was afraid his face would be + spoiled, but it is not. Dilly is just as he used to be, and puns as + plentifully and as bad. The two brothers see one another; but I think not + the two sisters. Raymond writ to me that he intended to invite you to + Trim. Are you, have you, will you be there? Won't oo see pool Laratol?(5) + Parvisol says I shall have no fruit. Blasts have taken away all. Pray + observe the cherry-trees on the river-walk; but oo are too lazy to take + such a journey. If you have not your letters in due time for two months + hence, impute it to my being tosticated between this and Windsor. And pray + send me again the state of ME's money; for I will not look into your + letter for it. Poor Lord Winchelsea(6) is dead, to my great grief. He was + a worthy honest gentleman, and particular friend of mine: and, what is yet + worse, my old acquaintance, Mrs. Finch,(7) is now Countess of Winchelsea, + the title being fallen to her husband, but without much estate. I have + been poring my eyes all this morning, and it is now past two afternoon, so + I shall take a little walk in the Park. Do you play at ombre still? Or is + that off by Mr. Stoyte's absence, and Mrs. Manley's grief? Somebody was + telling me of a strange sister that Mrs. Manley has got in Ireland, who + disappointed you all about her being handsome. My service to Mrs. Walls. + Farewell, deelest MD MD MD, FW FW FW, ME ME ME ME ME. Lele, logues both; + rove poo Pdfr. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0055" id="link2H_4_0055"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 52.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + WINDSOR, Sept. 15, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I never was so long without writing to MD as now, since I left them, nor + ever will again while I am able to write. I have expected from one week to + another that something would be done in my own affairs; but nothing at all + is, nor I don't know when anything will, or whether ever at all, so slow + are people at doing favours. I have been much out of order of late with + the old giddiness in my head. I took a vomit for it two days ago, and will + take another about a day or two hence. I have eat mighty little fruit; yet + I impute my disorder to that little, and shall henceforth wholly forbear + it. I am engaged in a long work, and have done all I can of it, and wait + for some papers from the Ministry for materials for the rest; and they + delay me, as if it were a favour I asked of them; so that I have been idle + here this good while, and it happened in a right time, when I was too much + out of order to study. One is kept constantly out of humour by a thousand + unaccountable things in public proceedings; and when I reason with some + friends, we cannot conceive how affairs can last as they are. God only + knows, but it is a very melancholy subject for those who have any near + concern in it. I am again endeavouring, as I was last year, to keep + people(2) from breaking to pieces upon a hundred misunderstandings. One + cannot withhold them from drawing different ways, while the enemy is + watching to destroy both. See how my style is altered, by living and + thinking and talking among these people, instead of my canal and + river-walk and willows. I lose all my money here among the ladies;(3) so + that I never play when I can help it, being sure to lose. I have lost five + pounds the five weeks I have been here. I hope Ppt is luckier at picquet + with the Dean and Mrs. Walls. The Dean never answered my letter, though. I + have clearly forgot whether I sent a bill for ME in any of my last + letters. I think I did; pray let me know, and always give me timely + notice. I wait here but to see what they will do for me; and whenever + preferments are given from me, as hope saved, I will come over. + </p> + <p> + 18. I have taken a vomit to-day, and hope I shall be better. I have been + very giddy since I writ what is before, yet not as I used to be: more + frequent, but not so violent. Yesterday we were alarmed with the Queen's + being ill: she had an aguish and feverish fit; and you never saw such + countenances as we all had, such dismal melancholy. Her physicians from + town were sent for, but towards night she grew better; to-day she missed + her fit, and was up: we are not now in any fear; it will be at worst but + an ague, and we hope even that will not return. Lord Treasurer would not + come here from London, because it would make a noise if he came before his + usual time, which is Saturday, and he goes away on Mondays. The Whigs have + lost a great support in the Earl of Godolphin.(4) It is a good jest to + hear the Ministers talk of him now with humanity and pity, because he is + dead, and can do them no more hurt. Lady Orkney,(5) the late King's + mistress (who lives at a fine place, five miles from hence, called + Cliffden(6)), and I, are grown mighty acquaintance. She is the wisest + woman I ever saw; and Lord Treasurer made great use of her advice in the + late change of affairs. I heard Lord Marlborough is growing ill of his + diabetes; which, if it be true, may soon carry him off; and then the + Ministry will be something more at ease. MD has been a long time without + writing to Pdfr, though they have not the same cause: it is seven weeks + since your last came to my hands, which was N.32, that you may not be + mistaken. I hope Ppt has not wanted her health. You were then drinking + waters. The doctor tells me I must go into a course of steel, though I + have not the spleen; for that they can never give me, though I have as + much provocation to it as any man alive. Bernage's(7) regiment is broke; + but he is upon half-pay. I have not seen him this long time; but I suppose + he is overrun with melancholy. My Lord Shrewsbury is certainly designed to + be Governor of Ireland; and I believe the Duchess will please the people + there mightily. The Irish Whig leaders promise great things to themselves + from his government; but care shall be taken, if possible, to prevent + them. Mrs. Fenton(8) has writ to me that she has been forced to leave Lady + Giffard, and come to town, for a rheumatism: that lady does not love to be + troubled with sick people. Mrs. Fenton writes to me as one dying, and + desires I would think of her son: I have not answered her letter. She is + retired(9) to Mrs. Povey's. Is my aunt alive yet? and do you ever see her? + I suppose she has forgot the loss of her son. Is Raymond's new house quite + finished? and does he squander as he used to do? Has he yet spent all his + wife's fortune? I hear there are five or six people putting strongly in + for my livings; God help them! But if ever the Court should give me + anything, I would recommend Raymond to the Duke of Ormond; not for any + particular friendship to him, but because it would be proper for the + minister of Trim to have Laracor. You may keep the gold-studded snuff-box + now; for my brother Hill, Governor of Dunkirk, has sent me the finest that + ever you saw.(10) It is allowed at Court that none in England comes near + it, though it did not cost above twenty pounds. And the Duchess of + Hamilton has made me pockets for (it) like a woman's, with a belt and + buckle (for, you know, I wear no waistcoat in summer), and there are + several divisions, and one on purpose for my box, oh ho!—We have had + most delightful weather this whole week; but illness and vomiting have + hindered me from sharing in a great part of it. Lady Masham made the Queen + send to Kensington for some of her preserved ginger for me, which I take + in the morning, and hope it will do me good. Mrs. Brent(11) sent me a + letter by a young fellow, a printer, desiring I would recommend him here, + which you may tell her I have done: but I cannot promise what will come of + it, for it is necessary they should be made free here(12) before they can + be employed. I remember I put the boy prentice to Brent. I hope Parvisol + has set my tithes well this year: he has writ nothing to me about it; pray + talk to him of it when you see him, and let him give me an account how + things are. I suppose the corn is now off the ground. I hope he has sold + that great ugly horse. Why don't you sell to him? He keeps me at charges + for horses that I never ride: yours is lame, and will never be good for + anything. The Queen will stay here about a month longer, I suppose; but + Lady Masham will go in ten days to lie in at Kensington. Poor creature, + she fell down in the court here t'other day. She would needs walk across + it upon some displeasure with her chairmen, and was likely to be spoiled + so near her time; but we hope all is over for a black eye and a sore side: + though I shall not be at ease till she is brought to bed. I find I can + fill up a letter, some way or other, without a journal. If I had not a + spirit naturally cheerful, I should be very much discontented at a + thousand things. Pray God preserve MD's health, and Pdfr's, and that I may + live far from the envy and discontent that attends those who are thought + to have more favour at Courts than they really possess. Love Pdfr, who + loves MD above all things. Farewell, deelest, ten thousand times deelest, + MD MD MD, FW FW, ME ME ME ME. Lele, Lele, Lele, Lele. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0056" id="link2H_4_0056"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 53.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Oct. 9, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I have left Windsor these ten days, and am deep in pills with asafoetida, + and a steel bitter drink; and I find my head much better than it was. I + was very much discouraged; for I used to be ill for three or four days + together, ready to totter as I walked. I take eight pills a day, and have + taken, I believe, a hundred and fifty already. The Queen, Lord Treasurer, + Lady Masham, and I, were all ill together, but are now all better; only + Lady Masham expects every day to lie in at Kensington. There was never + such a lump of lies spread about the town together as now. I doubt not but + you will have them in Dublin before this comes to you, and all without the + least grounds of truth. I have been mightily put backward in something I + am writing by my illness, but hope to fetch it up, so as to be ready when + the Parliament meets. Lord Treasurer has had an ugly fit of the + rheumatism, but is now near quite well. I was playing at one-and-thirty + with him and his family t'other night. He gave us all twelvepence apiece + to begin with: it put me in mind of Sir William Temple.(2) I asked both + him and Lady Masham seriously whether the Queen were at all inclined to a + dropsy, and they positively assured me she was not: so did her physician + Arbuthnot, who always attends her. Yet these devils have spread that she + has holes in her legs, and runs at her navel, and I know not what. + Arbuthnot has sent me from Windsor a pretty Discourse upon Lying, and I + have ordered the printer to come for it. It is a proposal for publishing a + curious piece, called The Art of Political Lying, in two volumes, etc. And + then there is an abstract of the first volume, just like those pamphlets + which they call The Works of the Learned.(3) Pray get it when it comes + out. The Queen has a little of the gout in one of her hands. I believe she + will stay a month still at Windsor. Lord Treasurer showed me the kindest + letter from her in the world, by which I picked out one secret, that there + will be soon made some Knights of the Garter. You know another is fallen + by Lord Godolphin's death: he will be buried in a day or two at + Westminster Abbey. I saw Tom Leigh(4) in town once. The Bishop of Clogher + has taken his lodging for the winter; they are all well. I hear there are + in town abundance of people from Ireland; half a dozen bishops at least. + The poor old Bishop of London,(5) at past fourscore, fell down backward + going upstairs, and I think broke or cracked his skull; yet is now + recovering. The town is as empty as at midsummer; and if I had not + occasion for physic, I would be at Windsor still. Did I tell you of Lord + Rivers's will? He has left legacies to about twenty paltry old whores by + name, and not a farthing to any friend, dependent, or relation: he has + left from his only child, Lady Barrymore,(6) her mother's estate, and + given the whole to his heir-male, a popish priest, a second cousin, who is + now Earl Rivers, and whom he used in his life like a footman. After him it + goes to his chief wench and bastard. Lord Treasurer and Lord Chamberlain + are executors of this hopeful will. I loved the man, and detest his + memory. We hear nothing of peace yet: I believe verily the Dutch are so + wilful, because they are told the Queen cannot live. I had poor MD's + letter, N.3,(7) at Windsor: but I could not answer it then; poor Pdfr was + vely kick(8) then: and, besides, it was a very inconvenient place to send + letters from. Oo thought to come home the same day, and stayed a month: + that was a sign the place was agreeable.(9) I should love such a sort of + jaunt. Is that lad Swanton(10) a little more fixed than he used to be? I + think you like the girl very well. She has left off her grave airs, I + suppose. I am now told Lord Godolphin was buried last night.—O poo + Ppt! lay down oo head aden, fais I...; I always reckon if oo are ill I + shall hear it, and therefore hen oo are silent I reckon all is well.(11) I + believe I 'scaped the new fever(12) for the same reason that Ppt did, + because I am not well; but why should DD 'scape it, pray? She is + melthigal, oo know, and ought to have the fever; but I hope it is now too + late, and she won't have it at all. Some physicians here talk very + melancholy, and think it foreruns the plague, which is actually at + Hamburg. I hoped Ppt would have done with her illness; but I think we both + have that faculty never to part with a disorder for ever; we are very + constant. I have had my giddiness twenty-three years by fits. Will Mrs. + Raymond never have done lying-in? He intends to leave beggars enough; for + I daresay he has squandered away the best part of his fortune already, and + is not out of debt. I had a letter from him lately. + </p> + <p> + Oct. 11. Lord Treasurer sent for me yesterday and the day before to sit + with him, because he is not yet quite well enough to go abroad; and I + could not finish my letter. How the deuce come I to be so exact in ME + money? Just seventeen shillings and eightpence more than due; I believe + you cheat me. If Hawkshaw does not pay the interest I will have the + principal; pray speak to Parvisol and have his advice what I should do + about it. Service to Mrs. Stoyte and Catherine and Mrs. Walls. Ppt makes a + petition with many apologies. John Danvers, you know, is Lady Giffard's + friend. The rest I never heard of. I tell you what, as things are at + present, I cannot possibly speak to Lord Treasurer for anybody. I need + tell you no more. Something or nothing will be done in my own affairs: if + the former, I will be a solicitor for your sister;(13) if the latter, I + have done with Courts for ever. Opportunities will often fall in my way, + if I am used well, and I will then make it my business. It is my delight + to do good offices for people who want and deserve, and a tenfold delight + to do it to a relation of Ppt, whose affairs she has so at heart.(14) I + have taken down his name and his case (not HER case), and whenever a + proper time comes, I will do all I can; zat's enough to say when I can do + no more; and I beg oo pardon a sousand times,(15) that I cannot do better. + I hope the Dean of St. P(atrick's) is well of his fever: he has never writ + to me: I am glad of it; pray don't desire him to write. I have dated your + bill late, because it must not commence, ung oomens, till the first of + November(16) next. O, fais, I must be ise;(17) iss, fais, must I; else ME + will cheat Pdfr. Are you good housewives and readers? Are you walkers? I + know you are gamesters. Are you drinkers? Are you— O Rold, I must go + no further, for fear of abusing fine radies.(18) Parvisol has never sent + me one word how he set this year's tithes. Pray ask whether tithes set + well or ill this year. The Bishop of Killaloe(19) tells me wool bears a + good rate in Ireland: but how is corn? I dined yesterday with Lady Orkney, + and we sat alone from two till eleven at night.—You have heard of + her, I suppose. I have twenty letters upon my hands, and am so lazy and so + busy, I cannot answer them, and they grow upon me for several months. Have + I any apples at Laracor? It is strange every year should blast them, when + I took so much care for shelter. Lord Bolingbroke has been idle at his + country-house this fortnight, which puts me backward in a business I have. + I am got into an ordinary room two pair of stairs, and see nobody, if I + can help it; yet some puppies have found me out, and my man is not such an + artist as Patrick at denying me. Patrick has been soliciting to come to me + again, but in vain. The printer has been here with some of the new whims + printed, and has taken up my time. I am just going out, and can only bid + oo farewell. Farewell, deelest ickle MD, MD MD MD FW FW FW FW ME ME ME ME. + Lele deel ME. Lele lele lele sollahs bose.(20) + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0057" id="link2H_4_0057"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 54.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Oct. 28, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + I have been in physic this month, and have been better these three weeks. + I stop my physic, by the doctor's orders, till he sends me further + directions. DD grows politician, and longs to hear the peace is + proclaimed. I hope we shall have it soon, for the Dutch are fully humbled; + and Prior is just come over from France for a few days; I suppose upon + some important affair. I saw him last night, but had no private talk with + him. Stocks rise upon his coming. As for my stay in England, it cannot be + long now, so tell my friends. The Parliament will not meet till after + Christmas, and by that time the work I am doing will be over, and then + nothing shall keep me. I am very much discontented at Parvisol, about + neglecting to sell my horses, etc. + </p> + <p> + Lady Masham is not yet brought to bed; but we expect it daily. I dined + with her to-day. Lord Bolingbroke returned about two months ago, and Prior + about a week; and goes back (Prior I mean) in a few days. Who told you of + my snuff-box and pocket? Did I? I had a letter to-day from Dr. Coghill,(2) + desiring me to get Raphoe for Dean Sterne, and the deanery for myself. I + shall indeed, I have such obligations to Sterne. But however, if I am + asked who will make a good bishop, I shall name him before anybody. Then + comes another letter, desiring I would recommend a Provost,(3) supposing + that Pratt (who has been here about a week) will certainly be promoted; + but I believe he will not. I presented Pratt to Lord Treasurer, and truly + young Molyneux(4) would have had me present him too; but I directly + answered him I would not, unless he had business with him. He is the son + of one Mr. Molyneux of Ireland. His father wrote a book;(5) I suppose you + know it. Here is the Duke of Marlborough going out of England (Lord knows + why), which causes many speculations. Some say he is conscious of guilt, + and dare not stand it. Others think he has a mind to fling an odium on the + Government, as who should say that one who has done such great services to + his country cannot live quietly in it, by reason of the malice of his + enemies. I have helped to patch up these people(6) together once more. God + knows how long it may last. I was to-day at a trial between Lord Lansdowne + and Lord Carteret, two friends of mine. It was in the Queen's Bench, for + about six thousand a year (or nine, I think). I sat under Lord + Chief-Justice Parker, and his pen falling down I reached it up. He made me + a low bow; and I was going to whisper him that I HAD DONE GOOD FOR EVIL; + FOR HE WOULD HAVE TAKEN MINE FROM ME.(7) I told it Lord Treasurer and + Bolingbroke. Parker would not have known me, if several lords on the + bench, and in the court, bowing, had not turned everybody's eyes, and set + them a whispering. I owe the dog a spite, and will pay him in two months + at furthest, if I can. So much for that. But you must have chat, and I + must say every sorry thing that comes into my head. They say the Queen + will stay a month longer at Windsor. These devils of Grub Street rogues, + that write the Flying Post and Medley in one paper,(8) will not be quiet. + They are always mauling Lord Treasurer, Lord Bolingbroke, and me. We have + the dog under prosecution, but Bolingbroke is not active enough; but I + hope to swinge him. He is a Scotch rogue, one Ridpath.(9) They get out + upon bail, and write on. We take them again, and get fresh bail; so it + goes round. They say some learned Dutchman has wrote a book, proving by + civil law that we do them wrong by this peace; but I shall show by plain + reason that we have suffered the wrong, and not they. I toil like a horse, + and have hundreds of letters still to read and squeeze a line out of each, + or at least the seeds of a line. Strafford goes back to Holland in a day + or two, and I hope our peace is very near. I have about thirty pages more + to write (that is, to be extracted), which will be sixty in print. It is + the most troublesome part of all, and I cannot keep myself private, though + I stole into a room up two pair of stairs, when I came from Windsor; but + my present man has not yet learned his lesson of denying me discreetly. + </p> + <p> + 30. The Duchess of Ormond found me out to-day, and made me dine with her. + Lady Masham is still expecting. She has had a cruel cold. I could not + finish my letter last post for the soul of me. Lord Bolingbroke has had my + papers these six weeks, and done nothing to them. Is Tisdall yet in the + world? I propose writing controversies, to get a name with posterity. The + Duke of Ormond will not be over these three or four days. I desire to make + him join with me in settling all right among our people. I have ordered + the Duchess to let me have an hour with the Duke at his first coming, to + give him a true state of persons and things. I believe the Duke of + Shrewsbury will hardly be declared your Governor yet; at least, I think so + now; but resolutions alter very often. The Duke of Hamilton gave me a + pound of snuff to-day, admirable good. I wish DD had it, and Ppt too, if + she likes it. It cost me a quarter of an hour of his politics, which I was + forced to hear. Lady Orkney(10) is making me a writing-table of her own + contrivance, and a bed nightgown. She is perfectly kind, like a mother. I + think the devil was in it the other day, that I should talk to her of an + ugly squinting cousin of hers, and the poor lady herself, you know, + squints like a dragon. The other day we had a long discourse with her + about love; and she told us a saying of her sister Fitz-Hardinge,(11) + which I thought excellent, that in men, desire begets love, and in women, + love begets desire. We have abundance of our old criers(12) still + hereabouts. I hear every morning your women with the old satin and + taffeta, etc., the fellow with old coats, suits or cloaks. Our weather is + abominable of late. We have not two tolerable days in twenty. I have lost + money again at ombre, with Lord Orkney and others; yet, after all, this + year I have lost but three-and-twenty shillings; so that, considering card + money, I am no loser. + </p> + <p> + Our Society hath not yet renewed their meetings. I hope we shall continue + to do some good this winter; and Lord Treasurer promises the Academy for + reforming our language shall soon go forward. I must now go hunt those dry + letter for materials. You will see something very notable, I hope. So much + for that. God Almighty bless you. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0058" id="link2H_4_0058"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 55.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Nov. 15, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + Before this comes to your hands, you will have heard of the most terrible + accident that hath almost ever happened. This morning, at eight, my man + brought me word that the Duke of Hamilton had fought with Lord Mohun,(2) + and killed him, and was brought home wounded.(3) I immediately sent him to + the Duke's house, in St. James's Square; but the porter could hardly + answer for tears, and a great rabble was about the house. In short, they + fought at seven this morning. The dog Mohun was killed on the spot; and + while(4) the Duke was over him, Mohun, shortening his sword, stabbed him + in at the shoulder to the heart. The Duke was helped toward the cake-house + by the Ring in Hyde Park (where they fought), and died on the grass, + before he could reach the house; and was brought home in his coach by + eight, while the poor Duchess(5) was asleep. Maccartney,(6) and one + Hamilton,(7) were the seconds, who fought likewise, and are both fled. I + am told that a footman of Lord Mohun's stabbed the Duke of Hamilton; and + some say Maccartney did so too. Mohun gave the affront, and yet sent the + challenge. I am infinitely concerned for the poor Duke, who was a frank, + honest, good-natured man. I loved him very well, and I think he loved me + better. He had(8) the greatest mind in the world to have me go with him to + France, but durst not tell it me; and those he did, said I could not be + spared, which was true. They have removed the poor Duchess to a lodging in + the neighbourhood, where I have been with her two hours, and am just come + away. I never saw so melancholy a scene; for indeed all reasons for real + grief belong to her; nor is it possible for anybody to be a greater loser + in all regards. She has moved my very soul. The lodging was inconvenient, + and they would have removed her to another; but I would not suffer it, + because it had no room backward, and she must have been tortured with the + noise of the Grub Street screamers mention(ing) her husband's murder to + her ears. + </p> + <p> + I believe you have heard the story of my escape, in opening the bandbox + sent to Lord Treasurer.(9) The prints have told a thousand lies of it; but + at last we gave them a true account of it at length, printed in the + evening;(10) only I would not suffer them to name me, having been so often + named before, and teased to death with questions. I wonder how I came to + have so much presence of mind, which is usually not my talent; but so it + pleased God, and I saved myself and him; for there was a bullet apiece. A + gentleman told me that if I had been killed, the Whigs would have called + it a judgment, because the barrels were of inkhorns, with which I had done + them so much mischief. There was a pure Grub Street of it, full of lies + and inconsistencies.(11) I do not like these things at all, and I wish + myself more and more among my willows.(12) There is a devilish spirit + among people, and the Ministry must exert themselves, or sink. Nite dee + sollahs, I'll go seep.(13) + </p> + <p> + 16. I thought to have finished this yesterday; but was too much disturbed. + I sent a letter early this morning to Lady Masham, to beg her to write + some comforting words to the poor Duchess. I dined to-(day) with Lady + Masham at Kensington, where she is expecting these two months to lie in. + She has promised me to get the Queen to write to the Duchess kindly on + this occasion; and to-morrow I will beg Lord Treasurer to visit and + comfort her. I have been with her two hours again, and find her worse: her + violences not so frequent, but her melancholy more formal and settled. She + has abundance of wit and spirit; about thirty-three years old; handsome + and airy, and seldom spared anybody that gave her the least provocation; + by which she had many enemies and few friends. Lady Orkney, her + sister-in-law, is come to town on this occasion, and has been to see her, + and behaved herself with great humanity. They have been always very ill + together, and the poor Duchess could not have patience when people told + her I went often to Lady Orkney's. But I am resolved to make them friends; + for the Duchess is now no more the object of envy, and must learn humility + from the severest master, Affliction. I design to make the Ministry put + out a proclamation (if it can be found proper) against that villain + Maccartney. What shall we do with these murderers? I cannot end this + letter to-night, and there is no occasion; for I cannot send it till + Tuesday, and the crowner's inquest on the Duke's body is to be to-morrow, + and I shall know more. But what care oo for all this? Iss, poo MD im sorry + for poo Pdfr's(14) friends; and this is a very surprising event. 'Tis + late, and I'll go to bed. This looks like journals. Nite. + </p> + <p> + 17. I was to-day at noon with the Duchess of Hamilton again, after I had + been with Lady Orkney, and charged her to be kind to her sister in her + affliction. The Duchess told me Lady Orkney had been with her, and that + she did not treat her as gently as she ought. They hate one another, but I + will try to patch it up. I have been drawing up a paragraph for the + Postboy, to be out to-morrow, and as malicious as possible, and very + proper for Abel Roper,(15) the printer of it. I dined at Lord Treasurer's + at six in the evening, which is his usual hour of returning from Windsor: + he promises to visit the Duchess to-morrow, and says he has a message to + her from the Queen. Thank God. I have stayed till past one with him. So + nite deelest MD.(16) + </p> + <p> + 18. The Committee of Council is to sit this afternoon upon the affair of + the Duke of Hamilton's murder, and I hope a proclamation will be out + against Maccartney. I was just now ('tis now noon) with the Duchess, to + let her know Lord Treasurer will see her. She is mightily out of order. + The jury have not yet brought in their verdict upon the crowner's inquest. + We suspect Maccartney stabbed the Duke while he was fighting. The Queen + and Lord Treasurer are in great concern at this event. I dine to-day again + with Lord Treasurer; but must send this to the post-office before, because + else I shall not have time; he usually keeping me so late. Ben Tooke bid + me write to DD to send her certificate, for it is high time it should be + sent, he says. Pray make Parvisol write to me, and send me a general + account of my affairs; and let him know I shall be over in spring, and + that by all means he sells the horses. Prior has kissed the Queen's hand, + and will return to France in a few days, and Lord Strafford to Holland; + and now the King of Spain has renounced his pretensions to France, the + peace must follow very soon unavoidably. You must no more call Philip, + Duke of Anjou, for we now acknowledge him King of Spain. Dr. Pratt tells + me you are all mad in Ireland with your playhouse frolics and prologues, + and I know not what. The Bishop of Clogher and family are well: they have + heard from you, or you from them, lately, I have forgot which: I dined + there t'other day, but the Bishop came not till after dinner; and our meat + and drink was very so so. Mr. Vedeau(17) was with me yesterday, and + inquired after you. He was a lieutenant, and is now broke, and upon + half-pay. He asked me nothing for himself; but wanted an employment for a + friend, who would give a handsome pair of gloves. One Hales sent me up a + letter t'other day, which said you lodged in his house, and therefore + desired I would get him a civil employment. I would not be within, and + have directed my man to give him an answer, that I never open letters + brought me by the writers, etc. I was complaining to a lady that I wanted + to mend an employment from forty to sixty pounds a year, in the Salt + Office, and thought it hard I could not do it. She told me one Mr. + Griffin(18) should do it. And afterward I met Griffin at her lodgings; and + he was, as I found, one I had been acquainted with. I named Filby(19) to + him, and his abode somewhere near Nantwich. He said frankly he had + formerly examined the man, and found he understood very little of his + business; but if he heard he mended, he would do what I desired. I will + let it rest a while, and then resume it; and if Ppt writes to Filby, she + may advise him to diligence, etc. I told Griffin positively I would have + it done, if the man mended. This is an account of poo Ppt's commission to + her most humble servant Pdfr. I have a world of writing to finish, and + little time; these toads of Ministers are so slow in their helps. This + makes me sometimes steal a week from the exactness I used to write to MD. + Farewell, dee logues, deelest MD MD MD,... FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele. + </p> + <p> + Smoke the folding of my letters of late.(20) + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0059" id="link2H_4_0059"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 56.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Dec. 12, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + Here is now a stlange ting; a rettle flom MD unanswered: never was before. + I am slower, and MD is faster: but the last was owing to DD's certificate. + Why could it not be sent before, pay now? Is it so hard for DD to prove + she is alive? I protest solemnly I am not able to write to MD for other + business, but I will resume my journal method next time. I find it is + easier, though it contains nothing but where I dine, and the occurrences + of the day. I will write now but once in three weeks till this business is + off my hands, which must be in six, I think, at farthest. O Ppt, I + remember your reprimanding me for meddling in other people's affairs: I + have enough of it now, with a wanion.(2) Two women have been here six + times apiece; I never saw them yet. The first I have despatched with a + letter; the other I must see, and tell her I can do nothing for her: she + is wife of one Connor,(3) an old college acquaintance, and comes on a + foolish errand, for some old pretensions, that will succeed when I am Lord + Treasurer. I am got (up) two pair of stairs, in a private lodging, and + have ordered all my friends not to discover where I am; yet every morning + two or three sots are plaguing me, and my present servant has not yet his + lesson perfect of denying me. I have written a hundred and thirty pages in + folio, to be printed, and must write thirty more, which will make a large + book of four shillings.(4) I wish I knew an opportunity of sending you + some snuff. I will watch who goes to Ireland, and do it if possible. I had + a letter from Parvisol, and find he has set my livings very low. Colonel + Hamilton, who was second to the Duke of Hamilton, is tried to-day. I + suppose he is come off, but have not heard.(5) I dined with Lord + Treasurer, but left him by nine, and visited some people. Lady Betty,(6) + his(7) daughter, will be married on Monday next (as I suppose) to the + Marquis of Caermarthen. I did not know your country place had been + Portraine, till you told me so in your last. Has Swanton taken it of + Wallis? That Wallis was a grave, wise coxcomb. God be thanked that Ppt im + better of her disoddles.(8) Pray God keep her so. The pamphlet of + Political Lying is written by Dr. Arbuthnot, the author of John Bull; 'tis + very pretty, but not so obvious to be understood. Higgins,(9) first + chaplain to the Duke of Hamilton? Why, the Duke of Hamilton never dreamt + of a chaplain, nor I believe ever heard of Higgins. You are glorious + newsmongers in Ireland—Dean Francis,(10) Sir R. Levinge,(11) stuff + stuff: and Pratt, more stuff. We have lost our fine frost here; and Abel + Roper tells as you have had floods in Dublin; ho, brave(12) you! Oh ho! + Swanton seized Portraine, now I understand oo. Ay, ay, now I see Portraune + at the top of your letter. I never minded it before. Now to your second, + N.36. So, you read one of the Grub Streets about the bandbox.(13) The Whig + papers have abused me about the bandbox. God help me, what could I do? I + fairly ventured my life. There is a particular account of it in the + Postboy, and Evening Post of that day. Lord Treasurer has had the seal + sent him that sealed the box, and directions where to find the other + pistol in a tree in St. James's Park, which Lord Bolingbroke's messenger + found accordingly; but who sent the present is not yet known. The Duke of + Hamilton avoided the quarrel as much as possible, according to the foppish + rules of honour in practice. What signified your writing angry to Filby? I + hope you said nothing of hearing anything from me. Heigh! do oo write by + sandlelight! nauti, nauti, nauti dallar, a hundred times, fol doing so. O, + fais, DD, I'll take care of myself! The Queen is in town, and Lady + Masham's month of lying-in is within two days of being out. I was at the + christening on Monday. I could not get the child named Robin, after Lord + Treasurer; it is Samuel, after the father. My brother Ormond sent me some + chocolate to-day. I wish you had share of it: but they say 'tis good for + me, and I design to drink some in a morning. Our Society meets next + Thursday, now the Queen is in town; and Lord Treasurer assures me that the + Society for reforming the language shall soon be established. I have given + away ten shillings to-day to servants; 'tan't be help if one should cry + one's eyes out.(14) Hot a stir is here about your company and visits! + Charming company, no doubt; now I keep no company at all, nor have I any + desire to keep any. I never go to a coffee-house nor a tavern, nor have + touched a card since I left Windsor. I make few visits, nor go to levees; + my only debauching is sitting late where I dine, if I like the company. I + have almost dropped the Duchesses of Shrewsbury and Hamilton, and several + others. Lord Treasurer, the Duke of Ormond, and Lady Orkney are all that I + see very often. Oh yes, and Lady Masham and Lord Bolingbroke, and one or + two private friends. I make no figure but at Court, where I affect to turn + from a lord to the meanest of my acquaintance, and I love to go there on + Sundays to see the world. But, to say the truth, I am growing weary of it. + I dislike a million of things in the course of public affairs; and if I + were to stay here much longer, I am sure I should ruin myself with + endeavouring to mend them. I am every day invited into schemes of doing + this, but I cannot find any that will probably succeed. It is impossible + to save people against their own will; and I have been too much engaged in + patchwork already. Do you understand all this stuff? No. Well zen, you are + now returned to ombre and the Dean, and Christmas; I wish oo a very merry + one; and pray don't lose oo money, nor play upon Watt Welch's game. Nite, + sollahs, 'tis rate I'll go to seep; I don't seep well, and therefore never + dare to drink coffee or tea after dinner: but I am very seepy in a + molning. This is the effect of time and years. Nite deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 18. Morn. I am so very seepy in the morning that my man wakens me above + ten times; and now I can tell oo no news of this day. (Here is a restless + dog, crying cabbages and savoys, plagues me every morning about this time; + he is now at it. I wish his largest cabbage were sticking in his throat.) + I lodge over against the house in Little Rider Street, where DD lodged. + Don't oo lememble, maram? To-night I must see the Abbe Gaultier,(15) to + get some particulars for my History. It was he who was first employed by + France in the overtures of peace, and I have not had time this month to + see him; he is but a puppy too. Lady Orkney has just sent to invite me to + dinner; she has not given me the bed-nightgown;(16) besides, I am come + very much off from writing in bed, though I am doing it this minute; but I + stay till my fire is burnt up. My grate is very large; two bushels of + coals in a week: but I save it in lodgings. Lord Abercorn is come to + London, and will plague me, and I can do him no service. The Duke of + Shrewsbury goes in a day or two for France, perhaps to-day. We shall have + a peace very soon; the Dutch are almost entirely agreed, and if they stop + we shall make it without them; that has been long resolved. One Squire + Jones,(17) a scoundrel in my parish, has writ to me to desire I would + engage Joe Beaumont to give him his interest for Parliament-man for Trim: + pray tell Joe this; and if he designed to vote for him already, then he + may tell Jones that I received his letter, and that I writ to Joe to do + it. If Joe be engaged for any other, then he may do what he will: and + Parvisol may say he spoke to Joe, but Joe's engaged, etc. I received three + pair of fine thread stockings from Joe lately. Pray thank him when you see + him, and that I say they are very fine and good. (I never looked at them + yet, but that's no matter.) This is a fine day. I am ruined with coaches + and chairs this twelvepenny weather. I must see my brother Ormond at + eleven, and then the Duchess of Hamilton, with whom I doubt I am in + disgrace, not having seen her these ten days. I send this to-day, and must + finish it now; and perhaps some people may come and hinder me; for it im + ten o'clock (but not shaving-day), and I must be abroad at eleven. Abbe + Gaultier sends me word I can't see him to-night; pots cake him! I don't + value anything but one letter he has of Petecum's,(18) showing the roguery + of the Dutch. Did not the Conduct of the Allies make you great + politicians? Fais, I believe you are not quite so ignorant as I thought + you. I am glad to hear oo walked so much in the country. Does DD ever read + to you, ung ooman? O, fais! I shall find strange doings hen I tum ole!(19) + Here is somebody coming that I must see that wants a little place; the son + of cousin Rooke's eldest daughter, that died many years ago. He's here. + Farewell, deelest MD MD MD ME ME ME FW FW FW, Lele. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0060" id="link2H_4_0060"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 57.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Dec. 18, 1712. + </h3> + <p> + Our Society was to meet to-day; but Lord Harley, who was President this + week, could not attend, being gone to Wimbledon with his new + brother-in-law, the young Marquis of Caermarthen, who married Lady Betty + Harley on Monday last; and Lord Treasurer is at Wimbledon too. However, + half a dozen of us met, and I propose our meetings should be once a + fortnight; for, between you and me, we do no good. It cost me nineteen + shillings to-day for my Club at dinner; I don't like it, fais. We have + terrible snowy slobbery weather. Lord Abercorn is come to town, and will + see me, whether I will or no. You know he has a pretence to a dukedom in + France, which the Duke of Hamilton was soliciting for; but Abercorn + resolves to spoil their title, if they will not allow him a fourth part; + and I have advised the Duchess to compound with him, and have made the + Ministry of my opinion. Night, dee sollahs, MD, MD. + </p> + <p> + 19. Ay mally zis is sumsing rike,(2) for Pdfr to write journals again! + 'Tis as natural as mother's milk, now I am got into it. Lord Treasurer is + returned from Wimbledon ('tis not above eight miles off), and sent for me + to dine with him at five; but I had the grace to be abroad, and dined with + some others, with honest Ben Tooke, by invitation. The Duchess of Ormond + promised me her picture, and coming home tonight, I found hers and the + Duke's both in my chamber. Was not that a pretty civil surprise? Yes, and + they are in fine gilded frames, too. I am writing a letter to thank her, + which I will send to-morrow morning. I'll tell her she is such a prude + that she will not let so much as her picture be alone in a room with a + man, unless the Duke's be with it; and so forth.(3) We are full of snow, + and dabbling. Lady Masham has come abroad these three days, and seen the + Queen. I dined with her t'other day at her sister Hill's. I hope she will + remove in a few days to her new lodgings at St. James's from Kensington. + Nite, dee logues MD. + </p> + <p> + 20. I lodge (up) two pair of stairs, have but one room, and deny myself to + everybody almost, yet I cannot be quiet; and all my mornings are lost with + people, who will not take answers below stairs; such as Dilly, and the + Bishop, and Provost, etc. Lady Orkney invited me to dinner to-day, which + hindered me from dining with Lord Treasurer. This is his day that his + chief friends in the Ministry dine with him. However, I went there about + six, and sat with them till past nine, when they all went off; but he kept + me back, and told me the circumstances of Lady Betty's match. The young + fellow has 60,000 pounds ready money, three great houses furnished, 7,000 + pounds a year at present, and about five more after his father and mother + die. I think Lady Betty's portion is not above 8,000 pounds. I remember + either Tisdall writ to me in somebody's letter, or you did it for him, + that I should mention him on occasion to Lord Anglesea, with whom, he + said, he had some little acquaintance. Lord Anglesea was with me to-night + at Lord Treasurer's; and then I asked him about Tisdall, and described + him. He said he never saw him, but that he had sent him his book.(4) See + what it is to be a puppy. Pray tell Mr. Walls that Lord Anglesea thanked + me for recommending Clements(5) to him; that he says he is 20,000 pounds + the better for knowing Clements. But pray don't let Clements go and write + a letter of thanks, and tell my lord that he hears so and so, etc. Why, + 'tis but like an Irish understanding to do so. Sad weather; two shillings + in coaches to-day, and yet I am dirty. I am now going to read over + something and correct it. So, nite. + </p> + <p> + 21. Puppies have got a new way of plaguing me. I find letters directed for + me at Lord Treasurer's, sometimes with enclosed ones to him, and sometimes + with projects, and some times with libels. I usually keep them three or + four days without opening. I was at Court to-day, as I always am on + Sundays, instead of a coffee-house, to see my acquaintance. This day + se'nnight, after I had been talking at Court with Sir William Wyndham, the + Spanish Ambassador(6) came to him and said he heard that was Dr. Swift, + and desired him to tell me that his master, and the King of France, and + the Queen, were more obliged to me than any man in Europe; so we bowed, + and shook hands, etc. I took it very well of him. I dined with Lord + Treasurer, and must again to-morrow, though I had rather not (as DD says); + but now the Queen is in town, he does not keep me so late. I have not had + time to see Fanny Manley since she came, but intend it one of these days. + Her uncle, Jack Manley,(7) I hear, cannot live a month, which will be a + great loss to her father in Ireland, for I believe he is one of his chief + supports. Our peace now will soon be determined; for Lord Bolingbroke + tells me this morning that four provinces of Holland(8) have complied with + the Queen, and we expect the rest will do so immediately. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 22. Lord Keeper promised me yesterday the first convenient living to poor + Mr. Gery,(9) who is married, and wants some addition to what he has. He is + a very worthy creature. I had a letter some weeks ago from Elwick,(10) who + married Betty Gery. It seems the poor woman died some time last summer. + Elwick grows rich, and purchases lands. I dined with Lord Treasurer + to-day, who has engaged me to come again to-morrow. I gave Lord + Bolingbroke a poem of Parnell's.(11) I made Parnell insert some + compliments in it to his lordship. He is extremely pleased with it, and + read some parts of it to-day to Lord Treasurer, who liked it as much. And + indeed he outdoes all our poets here a bar's length. Lord Bolingbroke has + ordered me to bring him to dinner on Christmas Day, and I made Lord + Treasurer promise to see him; and it may one day do Parnell a kindness. + You know Parnell. I believe I have told you of that poem. Nite, deel MD. + </p> + <p> + 23. This morning I presented one Diaper,(12) a poet, to Lord Bolingbroke, + with a new poem, which is a very good one; and I am to give him a sum of + money from my lord; and I have contrived to make a parson of him, for he + is half one already, being in deacon's orders, and serves a small cure in + the country; but has a sword at his a—- here in town. 'Tis a poor + little short wretch, but will do best in a gown, and we will make Lord + Keeper give him a living. Lord Bolingbroke writ to Lord Treasurer to + excuse me to-day; so I dined with the former, and Monteleon, the Spanish + Ambassador, who made me many compliments. I stayed till nine, and now it + is past ten, and my man has locked me up, and I have just called to mind + that I shall be in disgrace with Tom Leigh.(13) That coxcomb had got into + acquaintance with one Eckershall,(14) Clerk of the Kitchen to the Queen, + who was civil to him at Windsor on my account; for I had done some service + to Eckershall. Leigh teases me to pass an evening at his lodgings with + Eckershall. I put it off several times, but was forced at last to promise + I would come to-night; and it never was in my head till I was locked up, + and I have called and called, but my man is gone to bed; so I will write + an excuse to-morrow. I detest that Tom Leigh, and am as formal to him as I + can when I happen to meet him in the Park. The rogue frets me, if he knew + it. He asked me why I did not wait on the Bishop of Dromore.(15) I + answered I had not the honour to be acquainted with him, and would not + presume, etc. He takes me seriously, and says the Bishop is no proud man, + etc. He tells me of a judge in Ireland that has done ill things. I ask why + he is not out? Says he, "I think the bishops, and you, and I, and the rest + of the clergy, should meet and consult about it." I beg his pardon, and + say, "I cannot be serviceable that way." He answers, "Yes, everybody may + help something."—Don't you see how curiously he contrives to vex me; + for the dog knows that with half a word I could do more than all of them + together. But he only does it from the pride and envy of his own heart, + and not out of a humorous design of teasing. He is one of those that would + rather a service should not be done, than done by a private man, and of + his own country. You take all this, don't you? Nite dee sollahs, I'll go + seep a dozey. + </p> + <p> + 24. I dined to-day with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in order to look + over some of my papers; but nothing was done. I have been also mediating + between the Hamilton family and Lord Abercorn, to have them compound with + him; and I believe they will do it. Lord Selkirk,(16) the late Duke's + brother, is to be in town, in order to go to France, to make the demands; + and the Ministry are of opinion they will get some satisfaction, and they + empowered me to advise the Hamilton side to agree with Abercorn, who asks + a fourth part, and will go to France and spoil all if they won't yield it. + Nite sollahs. + </p> + <p> + 25. All melly Titmasses—melly Titmasses—I said it first—I + wish it a souzand (times) zoth with halt(17) and soul.(18) I carried + Parnell to dine at Lord Bolingbroke's, and he behaved himself very well; + and Lord Bolingbroke is mightily pleased with him. I was at St. James's + Chapel by eight this morning; and church and sacrament were done by ten. + The Queen has the gout in her hand, and did not come to church today; and + I stayed so long in my chamber that I missed going to Court. Did I tell + you that the Queen designs to have a Drawing-room and company every day? + Nite dee logues. + </p> + <p> + 26. I was to wish the Duke of Ormond a happy Christmas, and give half a + crown to his porter. It will cost me a dozen half-crowns among such + fellows. I dined with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for being absent three + days. Mighty kind, with a p—; less of civility, and more of his + interest! We hear Maccartney is gone over to Ireland. Was it not comical + for a gentleman to be set upon by highwaymen, and to tell them he was + Maccartney? Upon which they brought him to a justice of peace, in hopes of + the reward,(19) and the rogues were sent to gaol. Was it not great + presence of mind? But maybe you heard this already; for there was a Grub + Street of it. Lord Bolingbroke told me I must walk away to-day when dinner + was done, because Lord Treasurer, and he, and another, were to enter upon + business; but I said it was as fit I should know their business as + anybody, for I was to justify (it).(20) So the rest went, and I stayed, + and it was so important, I was like to sleep over it. I left them at nine, + and it is now twelve. Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 27. I dined to-day with General Hill, Governor of Dunkirk. Lady Masham and + Mrs. Hill, his two sisters, were of the company, and there have I been + sitting this evening till eleven, looking over others at play; for I have + left off loving play myself; and I think Ppt is now a great gamester. I + have a great cold on me, not quite at its height. I have them seldom, and + therefore ought to be patient. I met Mr. Addison and Pastoral Philips on + the Mall to-day, and took a turn with them; but they both looked terrible + dry and cold. A curse of party! And do you know I have taken more pains to + recommend the Whig wits to the favour and mercy of the Ministers than any + other people. Steele I have kept in his place. Congreve I have got to be + used kindly, and secured. Rowe I have recommended, and got a promise of a + place. Philips I could certainly have provided for, if he had not run + party mad, and made me withdraw my recommendation; and I set Addison so + right at first that he might have been employed, and have partly secured + him the place he has; yet I am worse used by that faction than any man. + Well, go to cards, sollah Ppt, and dress the wine and olange, sollah MD, + and I'll go seep. 'Tis rate. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 28. My cold is so bad that I could not go to church today, nor to Court; + but I was engaged to Lord Orkney's with the Duke of Ormond, at dinner; and + ventured, because I could cough and spit there as I pleased. The Duke and + Lord Arran left us, and I have been sitting ever since with Lord and Lady + Orkney till past eleven: and my cold is worse, and makes me giddy. I hope + it is only my cold. Oh, says Ppt, everybody is giddy with a cold; I hope + it is no more; but I'll go to bed, for the fellow has bawled "Past + twelve." Night, deels. + </p> + <p> + 29. I got out early to-day, and escaped all my duns. I went to see Lord + Bolingbroke about some business, and truly he was gone out too. I dined in + the City upon the broiled leg of a goose and a bit of brawn, with my + printer. Did I tell you that I forbear printing what I have in hand, till + the Court decides something about me? I will contract no more enemies, at + least I will not embitter worse those I have already, till I have got + under shelter; and the Ministers know my resolution, so that you may be + disappointed in seeing this thing as soon as you expected. I hear Lord + Treasurer is out of order. My cold is very bad. Every(body) has one. Nite + two dee logues. + </p> + <p> + 30. I suppose this will be full by Saturday; zen(21) it sall go. Duke of + Ormond, Lord Arran, and I, dined privately to-day at an old servant's + house of his. The Council made us part at six. One Mrs. Ramsay dined with + us; an old lady of about fifty-five, that we are all very fond of. I + called this evening at Lord Treasurer's, and sat with him two hours. He + has been cupped for a cold, and has been very ill. He cannot dine with + Parnell and me at Lord Bolingbroke's to-morrow, but says he will see + Parnell some other time. I hoise(22) up Parnell partly to spite the + envious Irish folks here, particularly Tom Leigh. I saw the Bishop of + Clogher's family to-day; Miss is mighty ill of a cold, coughs + incessantly.(23) Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 31. To-day Parnell and I dined with Lord Bolingbroke, to correct Parnell's + poem. I made him show all the places he disliked; and when Parnell has + corrected it fully he shall print it. I went this evening to sit with Lord + Treasurer. He is better, and will be out in a day or two. I sat with him + while the young folks went to supper; and then went down, and there were + the young folks merry together, having turned Lady Oxford up to my lord, + and I stayed with them till twelve. There was the young couple, Lord and + Lady Caermarthen, and Lord and Lady Dupplin, and Lord Harley and I; and + the old folks were together above. It looked like what I have formerly + done so often; stealing together from the old folks, though indeed it was + not from poor Lord Treasurer, who is as young a fellow as any of us: but + Lady Oxford is a silly mere old woman.(24) My cold is still so bad that I + have not the least smelling. I am just got home, and 'tis past twelve; and + I'll go to bed, and settle my head, heavy as lead. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + Jan. 1, 1712-13. A sousand melly new eels(25) to deelest richar MD. Pray + God Almighty bless you, and send you ever happy! I forgot to tell you that + yesterday Lord Abercorn was here, teasing me about his French duchy, and + suspecting my partiality to the Hamilton family in such a whimsical manner + that Dr. Pratt, who was by, thought he was mad. He was no sooner gone but + Lord Orkney sent to know whether he might come and sit with me half an + hour upon some business. I returned answer that I would wait on him; which + I did. We discoursed a while, and he left me with Lady Orkney; and in came + the Earl of Selkirk, whom I had never seen before. He is another brother + of the Duke of Hamilton, and is going to France, by a power from his + mother, the old Duchess,(26) to negotiate their pretensions to the duchy + of Chatelherault. He teased me for two hours in spite of my teeth, and + held my hand when I offered to stir; would have had me engage the Ministry + to favour him against Lord Abercorn, and to convince them that Lord + Abercorn had no pretensions; and desired I would also convince Lord + Abercorn himself so; and concluded he was sorry I was a greater friend to + Abercorn than Hamilton. I had no patience, and used him with some + plainness. Am not I purely handled between a couple of puppies? Ay, says + Ppt, you must be meddling in other folks' affairs. I appeal to the Bishop + of Clogher whether Abercorn did not complain that I would not let him see + me last year, and that he swore he would take no denial from my servant + when he came again. The Ministers gave me leave to tell the Hamilton + family it was their opinion that they ought to agree with Abercorn. Lord + Anglesea was then by, and told Abercorn; upon which he gravely tells me I + was commissioned by the Ministers, and ought to perform my commission, + etc.—But I'll have done with them. I have warned Lord Treasurer and + Lord Bolingbroke to beware of Selkirk's teasing; —x on him! Yet + Abercorn vexes me more. The whelp owes to me all the kind receptions he + has had from the Ministry. I dined to-day at Lord Treasurer's with the + young folks, and sat with Lord Treasurer till nine, and then was forced to + Lady Masham's, and sat there till twelve, talking of affairs, till I am + out of humour, as everyone must that knows them inwardly. A thousand + things wrong, most of them easy to mend; yet our schemes availing at best + but little, and sometimes nothing at all. One evil, which I twice patched + up with the hazard of all the credit I had, is now spread more than + ever.(27) But burn politics, and send me from Courts and Ministers! Nite + deelest richar MD. + </p> + <p> + 2. I sauntered about this morning, and went with Dr. Pratt to a picture + auction, where I had like to be drawn in to buy a picture that I was fond + of, but, it seems, was good for nothing. Pratt was there to buy some + pictures for the Bishop of Clogher, who resolves to lay out ten pounds to + furnish his house with curious pieces. We dined with the Bishop, I being + by chance disengaged. And this evening I sat with the Bishop of + Ossory,(28) who is laid up with the gout. The French Ambassador, Duke + d'Aumont,(29) came to town to-night; and the rabble conducted him home + with shouts. I cannot smell yet, though my cold begins to break. It + continues cruel hard frosty weather. Go and be melly,... sollahs.(30) + </p> + <p> + 3. Lord Dupplin and I went with Lord and Lady Orkney this morning at ten + to Wimbledon, six miles off, to see Lord and Lady Caermarthen. It is much + the finest place about this town. Did oo never see it? I was once there + before, about five years ago. You know Lady Caermarthen is Lord + Treasurer's daughter, married about three weeks ago. I hope the young + fellow will be a good husband.—I must send this away now. I came + back just by nightfall, cruel cold weather; I have no smell yet, but my + cold something better. Nite (?) sollahs; I'll take my reeve. I forget how + MD's accounts are. Pray let me know always timely before MD wants; and + pray give the bill on t'other side to Mrs. Brent as usual. I believe I + have not paid her this great while. Go, play cards, and... rove Pdfr. Nite + richar MD... roves Pdfr. FW lele.. . MD MD MD MD MD FW FW FW FW MD MD + Lele...(31) + </p> + <p> + The six odd shillings, tell Mrs. Brent, are for her new year's gift. + </p> + <p> + I(32) am just now told that poor dear Lady Ashburnham,(33) the Duke of + Ormond's daughter, died yesterday at her country house. The poor creature + was with child. She was my greatest favourite, and I am in excessive + concern for her loss. I hardly knew a more valuable person on all + accounts. You must have heard me talk of her. I am afraid to see the Duke + and Duchess. She was naturally very healthy; I am afraid she has been + thrown away for want of care. Pray condole with me. 'Tis extremely moving. + Her lord's a puppy; and I shall never think it worth my while to be + troubled with him, now he has lost all that was valuable in his + possession; yet I think he used her pretty well. I hate life when I think + it exposed to such accidents; and to see so many thousand wretches + burdening the earth, while such as her die, makes me think God did never + intend life for a blessing. Farewell. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0061" id="link2H_4_0061"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 58.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Jan. 4, 1712-13. + </h3> + <p> + I ended my last with the melancholy news of poor Lady Ashburnham's death. + The Bishop of Clogher and Dr. Pratt made me dine with them to-day at Lord + Mountjoy's, pursuant to an engagement, which I had forgot. Lady Mountjoy + told me that Maccartney was got safe out of our clutches, for she had + spoke with one who had a letter from him from Holland. Others say the same + thing. 'Tis hard such a dog should escape.—As I left Lord Mountjoy's + I saw the Duke d'Aumont, the French Ambassador, going from Lord + Bolingbroke's, where he dined, to have a private audience of the Queen. I + followed, and went up to Court, where there was a great crowd. I was + talking with the Duke of Argyle by the fireside in the bed-chamber, when + the Ambassador came out from the Queen. Argyle presented me to him, and + Lord Bolingbroke and we talked together a while. He is a fine gentleman, + something like the Duke of Ormond, and just such an expensive man. After + church to-day I showed the Bishop of Clogher, at Court, who was who. Nite + my two dee logues, and...(2) + </p> + <p> + 5. Our frost is broke, but it is bloody cold. Lord Treasurer is recovered, + and went out this evening to the Queen. I dined with Lady Oxford, and then + sat with Lord Treasurer while he went out. He gave me a letter from an + unknown hand, relating to Dr. Brown,(3) Bishop of Cork, recommending him + to a better bishopric, as a person who opposed Lord Wharton, and was made + a bishop on that account, celebrating him for a great politician, etc.: in + short, all directly contrary to his character, which I made bold to + explain. What dogs there are in the world! I was to see the poor Duke and + Duchess of Ormond this morning. The Duke was in his public room, with Mr. + Southwell(4) and two more gentlemen. When Southwell and I were alone with + him, he talked something of Lord Ashburnham, that he was afraid the Whigs + would get him again. He bore up as well as he could, but something falling + accidentally in discourse, the tears were just falling out of his eyes, + and I looked off to give him an opportunity (which he took) of wiping them + with his handkerchief. I never saw anything so moving, nor such a mixture + of greatness of mind, and tenderness, and discretion. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 6. Lord Bolingbroke and Parnell and I dined, by invitation, with my friend + Darteneuf,(5) whom you have heard me talk of. Lord Bolingbroke likes + Parnell mightily; and it is pleasant to see that one who hardly passed for + anything in Ireland makes his way here with a little friendly forwarding. + It is scurvy rainy weather, and I have hardly been abroad to-day, nor know + anything that passes.—Lord Treasurer is quite recovered, and I hope + will be careful to keep himself well. The Duchess of Marlborough is + leaving England to go to her Duke, and makes presents of rings to several + friends, they say worth two hundred pounds apiece. I am sure she ought to + give me one, though the Duke pretended to think me his greatest enemy, and + got people to tell me so, and very mildly to let me know how gladly he + would have me softened toward him. I bid a lady of his acquaintance and + mine let him know that I had hindered many a bitter thing against him; not + for his own sake, but because I thought it looked base; and I desired + everything should be left him, except power. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 7. I dined with Lord and Lady Masham to-day, and this evening played at + ombre with Mrs. Vanhom, merely for amusement. The Ministers have got my + papers, and will neither read them nor give them to me; and I can hardly + do anything. Very warm slabby weather, but I made a shift to get a walk; + yet I lost half of it, by shaking off Lord Rochester,(6) who is a good, + civil, simple man. The Bishop of Ossory will not be Bishop of Hereford,(7) + to the great grief of himself and his wife. And hat is MD doing now, I + wonder? Playing at cards with the Dean and Mrs. Walls? I think it is not + certain yet that Maccartney is escaped. I am plagued with bad authors, + verse and prose, who send me their books and poems, the vilest trash I + ever saw; but I have given their names to my man, never to let them see + me. I have got new ink, and 'tis very white; and I don't see that it turns + black at all. I'll go to seep; 'tis past twelve.—Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 8. Oo must understand that I am in my geers, and have got a chocolate-pot, + a present from Mrs. Ashe of Clogher, and some chocolate from my brother + Ormond, and I treat folks sometimes. I dined with Lord Treasurer at five + o'clock to-day, and was by while he and Lord Bolingbroke were at business; + for it is fit I should know all that passes now, because, etc. The Duke of + Ormond employed me to speak to Lord Treasurer to-day about an affair, and + I did so; and the Duke had spoke himself two hours before, which vexed me, + and I will chide the Duke about it. I'll tell you a good thing; there is + not one of the Ministry but what will employ me as gravely to speak for + them to Lord Treasurer as if I were their brother or his; and I do it as + gravely: though I know they do it only because they will not make + themselves uneasy, or had rather I should be denied than they. I believe + our peace will not be finished these two months; for I think we must have + a return from Spain by a messenger, who will not go till Sunday next. Lord + Treasurer has invited me to dine with him again to-morrow. Your + Commissioner, Keatley,(8) is to be there. Nite dee richar MD.(9) + </p> + <p> + 9. Dr. Pratt drank chocolate with me this morning, and then we walked. I + was yesterday with him to see Lady Betty Butler, grieving for her sister + Ashburnham. The jade was in bed in form, and she did so cant, she made me + sick. I meet Tom Leigh every day in the Park, to preserve his health. He + is as ruddy as a rose, and tells me his Bishop of Dromore(10) recovers + very much. That Bishop has been very near dying. This day's Examiner talks + of the play of "What is it like?"(11) and you will think it to be mine, + and be bit; for I have no hand in these papers at all. I dined with Lord + Treasurer, and shall again to-morrow, which is his day when all the + Ministers dine with him. He calls it whipping-day. It is always on + Saturday, and we do indeed usually rally him about his faults on that day. + I was of the original Club, when only poor Lord Rivers, Lord Keeper, and + Lord Bolingbroke came; but now Ormond, Anglesea, Lord Steward,(12) + Dartmouth, and other rabble intrude, and I scold at it; but now they + pretend as good a title as I; and, indeed, many Saturdays I am not there. + The company being too many, I don't love it. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 10. At seven this evening, as we sat after dinner at Lord Treasurer's, a + servant said Lord Peterborow was at the door. Lord Treasurer and Lord + Bolingbroke went out to meet him, and brought him in. He was just returned + from abroad, where he has been above a year. Soon as he saw me, he left + the Duke of Ormond and other lords, and ran and kissed me before he spoke + to them; but chid me terribly for not writing to him, which I never did + this last time he was abroad, not knowing where he was; and he changed + places so often, it was impossible a letter should overtake him. He left + England with a bruise, by his coach overturning, that made him spit blood, + and was so ill, we expected every post to hear of his death; but he + outrode it or outdrank it, or something, and is come home lustier than + ever. He is at least sixty, and has more spirits than any young fellow I + know in England. He has got the old Oxford regiment of horse, and I + believe will have a Garter. I love the hang-dog dearly. Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 11. The Court was crammed to-day to see(13) the French Ambassador; but he + did not come. Did I never tell you that I go to Court on Sundays as to a + coffee-house, to see acquaintance, whom I should otherwise not see twice a + year? The Provost(14) and I dined with Ned Southwell, by appointment, in + order to settle your kingdom, if my scheme can be followed; but I doubt + our Ministry will be too tedious. You must certainly have a new + Parliament; but they would have that a secret yet. Our Parliament here + will be prorogued for three weeks. Those puppies the Dutch will not yet + come in, though they pretend to submit to the Queen in everything; but + they would fain try first how our session begins, in hopes to embroil us + in the House of Lords: and if my advice had been taken, the session should + have begun, and we would have trusted the Parliament to approve the steps + already made toward the peace, and had an Address perhaps from them to + conclude without the Dutch, if they would not agree.—Others are of + my mind, but it is not reckoned so safe, it seems; yet I doubt whether the + peace will be ready so soon as three weeks, but that is a secret. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 12. Pratt and I walked into the City to one Bateman's,(15) a famous + bookseller, for old books. There I laid out four pounds like a fool, and + we dined at a hedge ale-house, for two shillings and twopence, like + emperors. Let me see, I bought Plutarch, two volumes, for thirty + shillings, etc. Well, I'll tell you no more; oo don't understand + Greek.(16) We have no news, and I have nothing more to say to-day, and I + can't finish my work. These Ministers will not find time to do what I + would have them. So nite, nown dee dallars. + </p> + <p> + 13. I was to have dined to-day with Lord Keeper, but would not, because + that brute Sir John Walter(17) was to be one of the company. You may + remember he railed at me last summer was twelvemonth at Windsor, and has + never begged my pardon, though he promised to do it; and Lord Mansel, who + was one of the company, would certainly have set us together by the ears, + out of pure roguish mischief. So I dined with Lord Treasurer, where there + was none but Lord Bolingbroke. I stayed till eight, and then went to Lady + Orkney's, who has been sick, and sat with her till twelve, from whence you + may consider it is late, sollahs. The Parliament was prorogued to-day, as + I told you, for three weeks. Our weather is very bad and slobbery, and I + shall spoil my new hat (I have bought a new hat), or empty my pockets. + Does Hawkshaw pay the interest he owes? Lord Abercorn plagues me to death. + I have now not above six people to provide for, and about as many to do + good offices to; and thrice as many that I will do nothing for; nor can I + if I would. Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 14. To-day I took the circle of morning visits. I went to the Duchess of + Ormond, and there was she, and Lady Betty, and Lord Ashburnham together: + this was the first time the mother and daughter saw each other since Lady + Ashburnham's death. They were both in tears, and I chid them for being + together, and made Lady Betty go to her own chamber; then sat a while with + the Duchess, and went after Lady Betty, and all was well. There is + something of farce in all these mournings, let them be ever so serious. + People will pretend to grieve more than they really do, and that takes off + from their true grief. I then went to the Duchess of Hamilton, who never + grieved, but raged, and stormed, and railed.(18) She is pretty quiet now, + but has a diabolical temper. Lord Keeper and his son, and their two + ladies, and I, dined to-day with Mr. Caesar,(19) Treasurer of the Navy, at + his house in the City, where he keeps his office. We happened to talk of + Brutus, and I said something in his praise, when it struck me immediately + that I had made a blunder in doing so; and, therefore, I recollected + myself, and said, "Mr. Caesar, I beg your pardon." So we laughed, etc. + Nite, my own deelest richar logues, MD. + </p> + <p> + 15. I forgot to tell you that last night I had a present sent me (I found + it, when I came home, in my chamber) of the finest wild fowl I ever saw, + with the vilest letter, and from the vilest poet in the world, who sent it + me as a bribe to get him an employment. I knew not where the scoundrel + lived, so I could not send them back, and therefore I gave them away as + freely as I got them, and have ordered my man never to let up the poet + when he comes. The rogue should have kept the wings at least for his muse. + One of his fowls was a large capon pheasant, as fat as a pullet. I ate + share of it to-day with a friend. We have now a Drawing-room every + Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at one o'clock. The Queen does not come + out; but all her Ministers, foreigners, and persons of quality are at it. + I was there to-day; and as Lord Treasurer came towards me, I avoided him, + and he hunted me thrice about the room. I affect never to take notice of + him at church or Court. He knows it, for I have told him so; and to-night, + at Lord Masham's, he gave an account of it to the company; but my reasons + are, that people seeing me speak to him causes a great deal of teasing. I + tell you what comes into my head, that I never knew whether MD were Whigs + or Tories, and I value our conversation the more that it never turned on + that subject. I have a fancy that Ppt is a Tory, and a violent one. I + don't know why; but methinks she looks like one, and DD a sort of a + Trimmer. Am I right? I gave the Examiner a hint about this prorogation, + and to praise the Queen for her tenderness to the Dutch in giving them + still more time to submit.(20) It fitted the occasions at present. Nite + MD. + </p> + <p> + 16. I was busy to-day at the Secretary's office, and stayed till past + three. The Duke of Ormond and I were to dine at Lord Orkney's. The Duke + was at the Committee, so I thought all was safe. When I went there, they + had almost dined; for the Duke had sent to excuse himself, which I never + knew. I came home at seven, and began a little whim, which just came into + my head; and will make a threepenny pamphlet.(21) It shall be finished and + out in a week; and if it succeeds, you shall know what it is; otherwise, + not. I cannot send this to-morrow, and will put it off till next Saturday, + because I have much business. So my journals shall be short, and Ppt must + have patience. So nite, dee sollahs. + </p> + <p> + 17. This rogue Parnell has not yet corrected his poem, and I would fain + have it out. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, and his Saturday company, + nine of us in all. They went away at seven, and Lord Treasurer and I sat + talking an hour after. After dinner he was talking to the lords about the + speech the Queen must make when the Parliament meets. He asked me how I + would make it. I was going to be serious, because it was seriously put; + but I turned it to a jest. And because they had been speaking of the + Duchess of Marlborough going to Flanders after the Duke, I said the speech + should begin thus: "My Lords and Gentlemen, In order to my own quiet, and + that of my subjects, I have thought fit to send the Duchess of Marlborough + abroad after the Duke." This took well, and turned off the discourse. I + must tell you I do not at all like the present situation of affairs, and + remember I tell you so. Things must be on another foot, or we are all + undone. I hate this driving always to an inch. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 18. We had a mighty full Court to-day. Dilly was with me at the French + church, and edified mightily. The Duke of Ormond and I dined at Lord + Orkney's; but I left them at seven, and came home to my whim. I have made + a great progress. My large Treatise(22) stands stock still. Some think it + too dangerous to publish, and would have me print only what relates to the + peace. I cannot tell what I shall do.—The Bishop of Dromore is + dying. They thought yesterday he could not live two hours; yet he is still + alive, but is utterly past all hopes. Go to cards, sollahs, and nite. + </p> + <p> + 19. I was this morning to see the Duke and Duchess of Ormond. The Duke + d'Aumont came in while I was with the Duke of Ormond, and we complimented + each other like dragons. A poor fellow called at the door where I lodge, + with a parcel of oranges for a present for me. I bid my man know what his + name was, and whence he came. He sent word his name was Bun, and that I + knew him very well. I bid my man tell him I was busy, and he could not + speak to me; and not to let him leave his oranges. I know no more of it, + but I am sure I never heard the name, and I shall take no such presents + from strangers. Perhaps he might be only some beggar, who wanted a little + money. Perhaps it might be something worse. Let them keep their poison for + their rats. I don't love it.(23) That blot is a blunder. Nite dee MD.... + </p> + <p> + 20. A Committee of our Society dined to-day with the Chancellor of the + Exchequer. Our Society does not meet now as usual, for which I am blamed: + but till Lord Treasurer will agree to give us money and employments to + bestow, I am averse to it; and he gives us nothing but promises. The + Bishop of Dromore is still alive, and that is all. We expect every day he + will die, and then Tom Leigh must go back, which is one good thing to the + town. I believe Pratt will drive at one of these bishoprics. Our English + bishopric(24) is not yet disposed of. I believe the peace will not be + ready by the session. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 21. I was to-day with my printer, to give him a little pamphlet I have + written, but not politics. It will be out by Monday. If it succeeds, I + will tell you of it; otherwise, not. We had a prodigious thaw to-day, as + bad as rain; yet I walked like a good boy all the way. The Bishop of + Dromore still draws breath, but cannot live two days longer. My large book + lies flat. Some people think a great part of it ought not to be now + printed. I believe I told you so before. This letter shall not go till + Saturday, which makes up the three weeks exactly; and I allow MD six + weeks, which are now almost out; so oo must know I expect a rettle vely + soon, and that MD is vely werr;(25) and so nite, dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 22. This is one of our Court days, and I was there. I told you there is a + Drawing-room, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The Hamiltons and + Abercorns have done teasing me. The latter, I hear, is actually going to + France. Lord Treasurer quarrelled with me at Court for being four days + without dining with him; so I dined there to-day, and he has at last + fallen in with my project (as he calls it) of coining halfpence and + farthings, with devices, like medals, in honour of the Queen, every year + changing the device. I wish it may be done. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 23. The Duke of Ormond and I appointed to dine with Ned Southwell to-day, + to talk of settling your affairs of Parliament in Ireland, but there was a + mixture of company, and the Duke of Ormond was in haste, and nothing was + done. If your Parliament meets this summer, it must be a new one; but I + find some are of opinion there should be none at all these two years. I + will trouble myself no more about it. My design was to serve the Duke of + Ormond. Dr. Pratt and I sat this evening with the Bishop of Clogher, and + played at ombre for threepences. That, I suppose, is but low with you. I + found, at coming home, a letter from MD, N.37. I shall not answer it zis + bout, but will the next. I am sorry for poo poo Ppt. Pray walk hen oo can. + I have got a terrible new cold before my old one was quite gone, and don't + know how. Pay. ... (26) I shall have DD's money soon from the Exchequer. + The Bishop of Dromore is dead now at last. Nite, dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 24. I was at Court to-day, and it was comical to see Lord Abercorn bowing + to me, but not speaking, and Lord Selkirk the same.(27) I dined with Lord + Treasurer and his Saturday Club, and sat with him two hours after the rest + were gone, and spoke freer to him of affairs than I am afraid others do, + who might do more good. All his friends repine, and shrug their shoulders; + but will not deal with him so freely as they ought. It is an odd business; + the Parliament just going to sit, and no employments given. They say they + will give them in a few days. There is a new bishop made of Hereford;(28) + so Ossory(29) is disappointed. I hinted so to his friends two months ago, + to make him leave off deluding himself, and being indiscreet, as he was. I + have just time to send this, without giving to the bellman. Nite deelest + richar MD.... dee MD MD MD FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele Lele Lele. + </p> + <p> + My second cold is better now. Lele lele lele lele. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0062" id="link2H_4_0062"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 59.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Jan. 25, 1712-1713. + </h3> + <p> + We had such a terrible storm to-day, that, going to Lord Bolingbroke's, I + saw a hundred tiles fallen down; and one swinger fell about forty yards + before me, that would have killed a horse: so, after church and Court, I + walked through the Park, and took a chair to Lord Treasurer's. Next door + to his house, a tin chimneytop had fallen down, with a hundred bricks. It + is grown calm this evening. I wonder had you such a wind to-day? I hate it + as much as any hog does. Lord Treasurer has engaged me to dine again with + him to-morrow. He has those tricks sometimes of inviting me from day to + day, which I am forced to break through. My little pamphlet(2) is out: + 'tis not politics. If it takes, I say again you shall hear of it. Nite dee + logues. + </p> + <p> + 26. This morning I felt a little touch of giddiness, which has disordered + and weakened me with its ugly remains all this day. Pity Pdfr. After + dinner at Lord Treasurer's, the French Ambassador, Duke d'Aumont, sent + Lord Treasurer word that his house was burnt down to the ground. It took + fire in the upper rooms, while he was at dinner with Monteleon, the + Spanish Ambassador, and other persons; and soon after Lord Bolingbroke + came to us with the same story. We are full of speculations upon it, but I + believe it was the carelessness of his French rascally servants. 'Tis odd + that this very day Lord Somers, Wharton, Sunderland, Halifax, and the + whole club of Whig lords, dined at Pontack's(3) in the City, as I received + private notice. They have some damned design. I tell you another odd + thing; I was observing it to Lord Treasurer, that he was stabbed on the + day King William died; and the day I saved his life, by opening the + bandbox,(4) was King William's birthday. My friend Mr. Lewis has had a lie + spread on him by the mistake of a man, who went to another of his name, to + give him thanks for passing his Privy Seal to come from France.(5) That + other Lewis spread about that the man brought him thanks from Lord Perth + and Lord Melfort (two lords with the Pretender), for his great services, + etc. The Lords will examine that t'other Lewis to-morrow in council; and I + believe you will hear of it in the prints, for I will make Abel Roper give + a relation of it. Pray tell me if it be necessary to write a little + plainer; for I looked over a bit of my last letter, and could hardly read + it. I'll mend my hand, if oo please: but you are more used to it nor I, as + Mr. Raymond says. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 27. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer: this makes four days together; and + he has invited me again to-morrow, but I absolutely refused him. I was + this evening at a christening with him of Lord Dupplin's(6) daughter. He + went away at ten; but they kept me and some others till past twelve; so + you may be sure 'tis late, as they say. We have now stronger suspicions + that the Duke d'Aumont's house was set on fire by malice. I was to-day to + see Lord Keeper, who has quite lost his voice with a cold. There Dr. + Radcliffe told me that it was the Ambassador's confectioner set the house + on fire by boiling sugar, and going down and letting it boil over. Yet + others still think differently; so I know not what to judge. Nite my own + deelest MD, rove Pdfr. + </p> + <p> + 28. I was to-day at Court, where the Spanish Ambassador talked to me as if + he did not suspect any design in burning d'Aumont's house: but Abbe + Gaultier, Secretary for France here, said quite otherwise; and that + d'Aumont had a letter the very same day to let him know his house should + be burnt, and they tell several other circumstances too tedious to write. + One is, that a fellow mending the tiles just when the fire broke out, saw + a pot with wildfire(7) in the room. I dined with Lord Orkney. Neither Lord + Abercorn nor Selkirk will now speak with me. I have disobliged both sides. + Nite dear MD. + </p> + <p> + 29. Our Society met to-day, fourteen of us, and at a tavern. We now + resolve to meet but once a fortnight, and have a Committee every other + week of six or seven, to consult about doing some good. I proposed another + message to Lord Treasurer by three principal members, to give a hundred + guineas to a certain person, and they are to urge it as well as they can. + We also raised sixty guineas upon our own Society; but I made them do it + by sessors,(8) and I was one of them, and we fitted our tax to the several + estates. The Duke of Ormond pays ten guineas, and I the third part of a + guinea; at that rate, they may tax as often as they please. Well, but I + must answer oor rettle, ung oomens: not yet; 'tis rate now, and I can't + tind it. Nite deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 30. I have drank Spa waters this two or three days; but they do not pass, + and make me very giddy. I an't well; faith, I'll take them no more. I + sauntered after church with the Provost to-day to see a library to be + sold, and dined at five with Lord Orkney. We still think there was malice + in burning d'Aumont's house. I hear little Harrison(9) is come over; it + was he I sent to Utrecht. He is now Queen's Secretary to the Embassy, and + has brought with him the Barrier Treaty, as it is now corrected by us, and + yielded to by the Dutch, which was the greatest difficulty to retard the + peace. I hope he will bring over the peace a month hence, for we will send + him back as soon as possible. I long to see the little brat, my own + creature. His pay is in all a thousand pounds a year, and they have never + paid him a groat, though I have teased their hearts out. He must be three + or four hundred pounds in debt at least, the brat! Let me go to bed, + sollahs.—Nite dee richar MD. + </p> + <p> + 31. Harrison was with me this morning: we talked three hours, and then I + carried him to Court. When we went down to the door of my lodging, I found + a coach waited for him. I chid him for it; but he whispered me it was + impossible to do otherwise; and in the coach he told me he had not one + farthing in his pocket to pay it; and therefore took the coach for the + whole day, and intended to borrow money somewhere or other. So there was + the Queen's Minister entrusted in affairs of the greatest importance, + without a shilling in his pocket to pay a coach! I paid him while he was + with me seven guineas, in part of a dozen of shirts he bought me in + Holland. I presented him to the Duke of Ormond, and several lords at + Court; and I contrived it so that Lord Treasurer came to me and asked (I + had Parnell by me) whether that was Dr. Parnell, and came up and spoke to + him with great kindness, and invited him to his house. I value myself upon + making the Ministry desire to be acquainted with Parnell, and not Parnell + with the Ministry. His poem is almost fully corrected, and shall soon be + out. Here's enough for to-day: only to tell you that I was in the City + with my printer to alter an Examiner about my friend Lewis's story,(10) + which will be told with remarks. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + Feb. 1. I could do nothing till to-day about the Examiner, but the printer + came this morning, and I dictated to him what was fit to be said, and then + Mr. Lewis came, and corrected it as he would have it; so I was neither at + church nor Court. The Duke of Ormond and I dined at Lord Orkney's. I left + them at seven, and sat with Sir Andrew Fountaine, who has a very bad sore + leg, for which he designs to go to France. Fais, here's a week gone, and + one side of this letter not finished. Oh, but I write now but once in + three weeks; iss, fais, this shall go sooner. The Parliament is to sit on + the third, but will adjourn for three or four days; for the Queen is laid + up with the gout, and both Speakers out of order, though one of them, the + Lord Keeper, is almost well. I spoke to the Duke of Ormond a good deal + about Ireland. We do not altogether agree, nor am I judge enough of Irish + affairs; but I will speak to Lord Treasurer to-morrow, that we three may + settle them some way or other. Nite sollahs both, rove Pdfr. + </p> + <p> + 2. I had a letter some days ago from Moll Gery;(11) her name is now + Wigmore, and her husband has turned parson. She desires nothing but that I + would get Lord Keeper to give him a living; but I will send her no answer, + though she desires it much. She still makes mantuas at Farnham. It rained + all this day, and Dilly came to me, and was coaching it into the City; so + I went with him for a shaking, because it would not cost me a farthing. + There I met my friend Stratford,(12) the merchant, who is going abroad to + gather up his debts, and be clear in the world. He begged that I would + dine with some merchant friends of ours there, because it was the last + time I should see him: so I did, and thought to have seen Lord Treasurer + in the evening, but he happened to go out at five; so I visited some + friends, and came home. And now I have the greatest part of your letter to + answer; and yet I will not do it to-night, say what oo please. The + Parliament meets to-morrow, but will be prorogued for a fortnight; which + disappointment will, I believe, vex abundance of them, though they are not + Whigs; for they are forced to be in town at expense for nothing: but we + want an answer from Spain, before we are sure of everything being right + for the peace; and God knows whether we can have that answer this month. + It is a most ticklish juncture of affairs; we are always driving to an + inch: I am weary of it. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 3. The Parliament met, and was prorogued, as I said, and I found some + cloudy faces, and heard some grumbling. We have got over all our + difficulties with France, I think. They have now settled all the articles + of commerce between us and them, wherein they were very much disposed to + play the rogue if we had not held them to (it); and this business we wait + from Spain is to prevent some other rogueries of the French, who are + finding an evasion to trade to the Spanish West Indies; but I hope we + shall prevent it. I dined with Lord Treasurer, and he was in good humour + enough. I gave him that part of my book in manuscript to read where his + character was, and drawn pretty freely. He was reading and correcting it + with his pencil, when the Bishop of St. David's(13) (now removing to + Hereford) came in and interrupted us. I left him at eight, and sat till + twelve with the Provost and Bishop of Clogher at the Provost's. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 4. I was to-day at Court, but kept out of Lord Treasurer's way, because I + was engaged to the Duke of Ormond, where I dined, and, I think, ate and + drank too much. I sat this evening with Lady Masham, and then with Lord + Masham and Lord Treasurer at Lord Masham's. It was last year, you may + remember, my constant evening place. I saw Lady Jersey(14) with Lady + Masham, who has been laying out for my acquaintance, and has forced a + promise for me to drink chocolate with her in a day or two, which I know + not whether I shall perform (I have just mended my pen, you see), for I do + not much like her character; but she is very malicious, and therefore I + think I must keep fair with her. I cannot send this letter till Saturday + next, I find; so I will answer oors now. I see no different days of the + month; yet it is dated January 3: so it was long a coming. I did not write + to Dr. Coghill that I would have nothing in Ireland, but that I was + soliciting nothing anywhere, and that is true. I have named Dr. Sterne to + Lord Treasurer, Lord Bolingbroke, and the Duke of Ormond, for a bishopric, + and I did it heartily. I know not what will come of it; but I tell you as + a great secret that I have made the Duke of Ormond promise me to recommend + nobody till he tells me, and this for some reasons too long to mention. My + head is still in no good order. I am heartily sorry for poo Ppt, I'm sure. + Her head is good for...(15) I'll answer more to-mollow. Nite, dearest MD; + nite dee sollahs, MD.(16) + </p> + <p> + 5. I must go on with oo letter. I dined to-day with Sir Andrew Fountaine + and the Provost, and I played at ombre with him all the afternoon. I won, + yet Sir Andrew is an admirable player. Lord Pembroke(17) came in, and I + gave him three or four scurvy Dilly puns, that begin with an IF. Well, but + oor letter, well, ret me see.—No; I believe I shall write no more + this good while, nor publish what I have done. Nauty (?) Ppt, oo are vely + tempegant. I did not suspect oo would tell Filby.(18) Oo are so... (19) + Turns and visitations—what are these? I'll preach and visit as much + for Mr. Walls. Pray God mend poopt's(20) health; mine is but very + indifferent. I have left off Spa water; it makes my leg swell. Nite + deelest MD. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +6. This is the Queen's Birthday, and I never saw it celebrated with so +much luxury and fine clothes. I went to Court to see them, and I dined +with Lord Keeper, where the ladies were fine to admiration. I passed the +evening at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and came home pretty early, to answer oo +rettle again. Pray God keep the Queen. She was very ill about ten days +ago, and had the gout in her stomach. When I came from Lord Keeper's, I +called at Lord Treasurer's, because I heard he was very fine, and +that was a new thing; and it was true, for his coat and waistcoat were +embroidered. I have seen the Provost often since, and never spoke to him +to speak to the Temples about Daniel Carr, nor will; I don't care to do +it. I have writ lately to Parvisol. Oo did well to let him make up his +accounts. All things grow dear in Ireland, but corn to the parsons; for +my livings are fallen much this year by Parvisol's account. Nite dee +logues, MD. + + 7.(8) I was at Court to-day, but saw no Birthday clothes; the great folks +never wear them above once or twice. I dined with Lord Orkney, and sat +the evening with Sir Andrew Fountaine, whose leg is in a very dubious +condition. Pray let me know when DD's money is near due: always let me +know it beforehand. This, I believe, will hardly go till Saturday; for +I tell you what, being not very well, I dare not study much: so I let +company come in a morning, and the afternoon pass in dining and sitting +somewhere. Lord Treasurer is angry if I don't dine with him every second +day, and I cannot part with him till late: he kept me last night till +near twelve. Our weather is constant rain above these two months, which +hinders walking, so that our spring is not like yours. I have not seen +Fanny Manley(21) yet; I cannot find time. I am in rebellion with all my +acquaintance, but I will mend with my health and the weather. Clogher +make a figure! Clogher make a ——. Colds! why, we have been all dying +with colds; but now they are a little over, and my second is almost +off. I can do nothing for Swanton indeed. It is a thing impossible, and +wholly out of my way. If he buys, he must buy. So now I have answered oo +rettle; and there's an end of that now; and I'll say no more, but bid oo +nite, dee MD. +</pre> + <p> + 8.(9) It was terrible rainy to-day from morning till night. I intended to + have dined with Lord Treasurer, but went to see Sir Andrew Fountaine, and + he kept me to dinner, which saved coach-hire; and I stayed with him all + the afternoon, and lost thirteen shillings and sixpence at ombre. There + was management! and Lord Treasurer will chide; but I'll dine with him + to-morrow. The Bishop of Clogher's daughter has been ill some days,(22) + and it proves the smallpox. She is very full; but it comes out well, and + they apprehend no danger. Lady Orkney has given me her picture; a very + fine original of Sir Godfrey Kneller's; it is now a mending. He has + favoured her squint admirably; and you know I love a cast in the eye. I + was to see Lady Worsley(23) to-day, who is just come to town; she is full + of rheumatic pains. All my acquaintance grow old and sickly. She lodges in + the very house in King Street, between St. James's Street and St. James's + Square, where DD's brother bought the sweetbread, when I lodged there, and + MD came to see me. Short sighs.(24) Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 9.(10) I thought to have dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, but he dined + abroad at Tom Harley's; so I dined at Lord Masham's, and was winning all I + had lost playing with Lady Masham at crown picquet, when we went to pools, + and I lost it again. Lord Treasurer came in to us, and chid me for not + following him to Tom Harley's. Miss Ashe is still the same, and they think + her not in danger; my man calls there daily after I am gone out, and tells + me at night. I was this morning to see Lady Jersey, and we have made + twenty parties about dining together, and I shall hardly keep one of them. + She is reduced after all her greatness to seven servants, and a small + house, and no coach.(25) I like her tolerably as yet. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 10.(11) I made visits this morning to the Duke and Duchess of Ormond, and + Lady Betty, and the Duchess of Hamilton. (When I was writing this near + twelve o'clock, the Duchess of Hamilton sent to have me dine with her + to-morrow. I am forced to give my answer through the door, for my man has + got the key, and is gone to bed; but I cannot obey her, for our Society + meets to-morrow.) I stole away from Lord Treasurer by eight, and intended + to have passed the evening with Sir Thomas Clarges(26) and his lady; but + met them in another place, and have there sat till now. My head has not + been ill to-day. I was at Court, and made Lord Mansel walk with me in the + Park before we went to dinner.—Yesterday and to-day have been fair, + but yet it rained all last night. I saw Sterne staring at Court to-day. He + has been often to see me, he says: but my man has not yet let him up. He + is in deep mourning; I hope it is not for his wife.(27) I did not ask him. + Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 12.(28) I have reckoned days wrong all this while; for this is the + twelfth. I do not know when I lost it. I dined to-day with our Society, + the greatest dinner I have ever seen. It was at Jack Hill's, the Governor + of Dunkirk. I gave an account of sixty guineas I had collected, and am to + give them away to two authors to-morrow; and Lord Treasurer has promised + us a hundred pounds to reward some others. I found a letter on my table + last night to tell me that poor little Harrison, the Queen's Secretary, + that came lately from Utrecht with the Barrier Treaty, was ill, and + desired to see me at night; but it was late, and I could not go till + to-day. I have often mentioned him in my letters, you may remember.... I + went in the morning, and found him mighty ill, and got thirty guineas for + him from Lord Bolingbroke, and an order for a hundred pounds from the + Treasury to be paid him to-morrow; and I have got him removed to + Knightsbridge for air. He has a fever and inflammation on his lungs; but I + hope will do well. Nite. + </p> + <p> + 13. I was to see a poor poet, one Mr. Diaper,(29) in a nasty garret, very + sick. I gave him twenty guineas from Lord Bolingbroke, and disposed the + other sixty to two other authors, and desired a friend to receive the + hundred pounds for poor Harrison, and will carry it to him to-morrow + morning. I sent to see how he did, and he is extremely ill; and I very + much afflicted for him, for he is my own creature, and in a very + honourable post, and very worthy of it. I dined in the City. I am in much + concern for this poor lad. His mother and sister attend him, and he wants + nothing. Nite poo dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 14. I took Parnell this morning, and we walked to see poor Harrison. I had + the hundred pounds in my pocket. I told Parnell I was afraid to knock at + the door; my mind misgave me. I knocked, and his man in tears told me his + master was dead an hour before. Think what grief this is to me! I went to + his mother, and have been ordering things for his funeral with as little + cost as possible, to-morrow at ten at night. Lord Treasurer was much + concerned when I told him. I could not dine with Lord Treasurer, nor + anywhere else; but got a bit of meat toward evening. No loss ever grieved + me so much: poor creature! Pray God Almighty bless poor MD. Adieu. + </p> + <p> + I send this away to-night, and am sorry it must go while I am in so much + grief. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0063" id="link2H_4_0063"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 60.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, Feb. 15 (1712-13). + </h3> + <p> + I dined to-day with Mr. Rowe(2) and a projector, who has been teasing me + with twenty schemes to get grants; and I don't like one of them; and, + besides, I was out of humour for the loss of poor Harrison. At ten this + night I was at his funeral, which I ordered to be as private as possible. + We had but one coach with four of us; and when it was carrying us home + after the funeral, the braces broke; and we were forced to sit in it, and + have it held up, till my man went for chairs,(3) at eleven at night in + terrible rain. I am come home very melancholy, and will go to bed. Nite... + MD.(4) + </p> + <p> + 16. I dined to-day with Lord Dupplin and some company to divert me; but + left them early, and have been reading a foolish book for amusement. I + shall never have courage again to care for making anybody's fortune. The + Parliament meets to-morrow, and will be prorogued another fortnight, at + which several of both parties were angry; but it cannot be helped, though + everything about the peace is past all danger. I never saw such a + continuance of rainy weather. We have not had two fair days together these + ten weeks. I have not dined with Lord Treasurer these four days, nor can I + till Saturday; for I have several engagements till then, and he will chide + me to some purpose. I am perplexed with this hundred pounds of poor + Harrison's, what to do with it. I cannot pay his relations till they + administer, for he is much in debt;(5) but I will have the staff in my own + hands, and venture nothing. Nite poo dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 17. Lady Jersey and I dined by appointment to-day with Lord Bolingbroke. + He is sending his brother(6) to succeed Mr.(7) Harrison. It is the + prettiest post in Europe for a young gentleman. I lose my money at ombre + sadly; I make a thousand blunders. I play but(8) threepenny ombre; but it + is what you call running ombre. Lady Clarges,(9) and a drab I hate, won a + dozen shillings of me last night. The Parliament was prorogued to-day; and + people grumble; and the good of it is the peace cannot be finished by the + time they meet, there are so many fiddling things to do. Is Ppt an ombre + lady yet? You know all the tricks of it now, I suppose. I reckon you have + all your cards from France, for ours pay sixpence a pack taxes, which goes + deep to the box. I have given away all my Spa water, and take some nasty + steel drops, and my head has been better this week past. I send every day + to see how Miss Ashe does: she is very full, they say, but in no danger. I + fear she will lose some of her beauty. The son lies out of the house. I + wish he had them too, while he is so young.—Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 18. The Earl of Abingdon(10) has been teasing me these three months to + dine with him; and this day was appointed about a week ago, and I named my + company; Lord Stawel,(11) Colonel Disney,(12) and Dr. Arbuthnot; but the + two last slipped out their necks, and left Stawell and me to dine there. + We did not dine till seven, because it is Ash Wednesday. We had nothing + but fish, which Lord Stawell could not eat, and got a broiled leg of a + turkey. Our wine was poison; yet the puppy has twelve thousand pound a + year. His carps were raw, and his candles tallow. He(13) shall not catch + me in haste again, and everybody has laughed at me for dining with him. I + was to-day to let Harrison's mother know I could not pay till she + administers; which she will do. I believe she is an old bawd,(14) and her + daughter a ———. There were more Whigs to-day at Court + than Tories. I believe they think the peace must be made, and so come to + please the Queen. She is still lame with the gout. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 19. I was at Court to-day, to speak to Lord Bolingbroke to look over + Parnell's poem since it is corrected; and Parnell and I dined with him, + and he has shown him three or four more places to alter a little. Lady + Bolingbroke came down to us while we were at dinner, and Parnell stared at + her as if she were a goddess. I thought she was like Parnell's wife, and + he thought so too. Parnell is much pleased with Lord Bolingbroke's favour + to him, and I hope it may one day turn to his advantage. His poem will be + printed in a few days. Our weather continues as fresh raining as if it had + not rained at all. I sat to-night at Lady Masham's, where Lord Treasurer + came and scolded me for not dining with him. I told him I could not till + Saturday. I have stayed there till past twelve. So nite dee sollahs, nite. + </p> + <p> + 20. Lady Jersey, Lady Catherine Hyde,(15) the Spanish Ambassador, the Duke + d'Atree,(16) another Spaniard, and I, dined to-day by appointment with + Lord Bolingbroke; but they fell a drinking so many Spanish healths in + champagne that I stole away to the ladies, and drank tea till eight; and + then went and lost my money at ombre with Sir Andrew Fountaine, who has a + very bad leg. Miss Ashe is past all danger; and her eye, which was lately + bad (I suppose one effect of her distemper), is now better. I do not let + the Bishop see me, nor shall this good while. Good luck! when I came home, + I warrant, I found a letter from MD, No.38; and oo write so small + nowadays, I hope oo poor eyes are better. Well, this shall go to-morrow + se'nnight, with a bill for MD. I will speak to Mr. Griffin(17) to-morrow + about Ppt's brother Filby, and desire, whether he deserves or no, that his + employment may be mended; that is to say, if I can see Griffin; otherwise + not; and I'll answer oo rettle hen I Pdfr think fit. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 21. Methinks I writ a little saucy last night. I mean the last... (18) I + saw Griffin at Court. He says he knows nothing of a salt-work at Recton; + but that he will give Filby a better employment, and desires Filby will + write to him. If I knew how to write to Filby, I would; but pray do you. + Bid him make no mention of you; but only let Mr. Griffin know that he has + the honour to be recommended by Dr. S——, etc.; that he will + endeavour to deserve, etc.; and if you dictated a whole letter for him, it + would be better; I hope he can write and spell well. I'll inquire for a + direction to Griffin before I finish this. I dined with Lord Treasurer and + seven lords to-day. You know Saturday is his great day, but I sat with + them alone till eight, and then came home, and have been writing a letter + to Mrs. Davis, at York. She took care to have a letter delivered for me at + Lord Treasurer's; for I would not own one she sent by post. She reproaches + me for not writing to her these four years; and I have honestly told her + it was my way never to write to those whom I am never likely to see, + unless I can serve them, which I cannot her, etc. Davis the schoolmaster's + widow. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 22. I dined to-day at Lord Orkney's, with the Duke of Ormond and Sir + Thomas Hanmer.(19) Have you ever heard of the latter? He married the + Duchess of Grafton in his youth (she dined with us too). He is the most + considerable man in the House of Commons. He went last spring to Flanders, + with the Duke of Ormond; from thence to France, and was going to Italy; + but the Ministry sent for him, and he has been come over about ten days. + He is much out of humour with things: he thinks the peace is kept off too + long, and is full of fears and doubts. It is thought he is designed for + Secretary of State, instead of Lord Dartmouth. We have been acquainted + these two years; and I intend, in a day or two, to have an hour's talk + with him on affairs. I saw the Bishop of Clogher at Court; Miss is + recovering. I know not how much she will be marked. The Queen is slowly + mending of her gout, and intends to be brought in a chair to Parliament + when it meets, which will be March 3; for I suppose they will prorogue no + more; yet the peace will not be signed then, and we apprehend the Tories + themselves will many of them be discontented. Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 23. It was ill weather to-day, and I dined with Sir Andrew Fountaine, and + in the evening played at ombre with him and the Provost, and won + twenty-five shillings; so I have recovered myself pretty well. Dilly has + been dunning me to see Fanny Manley; but I have not yet been able to do + it. Miss Ashe is now quite out of danger; and hope will not be much + marked. I cannot tell how to direct to Griffin; and think he lives in Bury + Street, near St. James's Street, hard by me; but I suppose your brother + may direct to him to the Salt Office, and, as I remember, he knows his + Christian name, because he sent it me in the list of the Commissioners. + Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 24. I walked this morning to Chelsea, to see Dr. Atterbury, Dean of Christ + Church. I had business with him about entering Mr. Fitzmaurice,(20) my + Lord Kerry's son, into his College; and Lady Kerry(21) is a great + favourite of mine. Lord Harley, Lord Dupplin, young Bromley(22) the + Speaker's son, and I, dined with Dr. Stratford(23) and some other + clergymen; but I left them at seven to go to Lady Jersey, to see Monteleon + the Spanish Ambassador play at ombre. Lady Jersey was abroad, and I chid + the servants, and made a rattle; but since I came home she sent me a + message that I was mistaken, and that the meeting is to be to-morrow. I + have a worse memory than when I left you, and every day forget + appointments; but here my memory was by chance too good. But I'll go + to-morrow; for Lady Catherine Hyde and Lady Bolingbroke are to be there by + appointment, and I listed(24) up my periwig, and all, to make a figure. + Well, who can help it? Not I, vow to...!(25) Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 25. Lord Treasurer met me last night at Lord Masham's, and thanked me for + my company in a jeer, because I had not dined with him in three days. He + chides me if I stay away but two days together. What will this come to? + Nothing. My grandmother used to say, "More of your lining, and less of + your dining." However, I dined with him, and could hardly leave him at + eight, to go to Lady Jersey's, where five or six foreign Ministers were, + and as many ladies. Monteleon played like the English, and cried "gacco," + and knocked his knuckles for trump, and played at small games like Ppt. + Lady Jersey whispered me to stay and sup with the ladies when the fellows + were gone; but they played till eleven, and I would not stay. I think this + letter must go on Saturday; that's certain; and it is not half full yet. + Lady Catherine Hyde had a mighty mind I should be acquainted with Lady + Dalkeith,(26) her sister, the Duke of Monmouth's eldest son's widow, who + was of the company to-night; but I did not like her; she paints too much. + Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 26. This day our Society met at the Duke of Ormond's, but I had business + that called me another way; so I sent my excuses, and dined privately with + a friend. Besides, Sir Thomas Hanmer whispered me last night at Lady + Jersey's that I must attend Lord Treasurer and Duke of Ormond at supper at + his house to-night; which I did at eleven, and stayed till one, so oo may + be sure 'tis late enough. There was the Duchess of Grafton, and the Duke + her son; nine of us in all. The Duke of Ormond chid me for not being at + the Society to-day, and said sixteen were there. I said I never knew + sixteen people good company in my life; no, fais, nor eight either. We + have no news in this town at all. I wonder why I don't write you news. I + know less of what passes than anybody, because I go to(27) no + coffee-house, nor see any but Ministers, and such people; and Ministers + never talk politics in conversation. The Whigs are forming great schemes + against the meeting of Parliament, which will be next Tuesday, I still + think, without fail; and we hope to hear by then that the peace is ready + to sign. The Queen's gout mends daily. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 27. I passed a very insipid day, and dined privately with a friend in the + neighbourhood. Did I tell you that I have a very fine picture of Lady + Orkney,(28) an original, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, three-quarters length? I + have it now at home, with a fine frame. Lord Bolingbroke and Lady Masham + have promised to sit for me; but I despair of Lord Treasurer; only I hope + he will give me a copy, and then I shall have all the pictures of those I + really love here; just half a dozen; only I'll make Lord Keeper give me + his print in a frame. This letter must go to-morrow, because of sending ME + a bill; else it should not till next week, I assure oo. I have little to + do now with my pen; for my grand business stops till they are more + pressing, and till something or other happens; and I believe I shall + return with disgust to finish it, it is so very laborious. Sir Thomas + Hanmer has my papers now. And hat is MD doing now? Oh, at ombre with the + Dean always on Friday night, with Mrs. Walls. Pray don't play at small + games. I stood by, t'other night, while the Duke d'Atree(29) lost six + times with manilio, basto, and three small trumps; and Lady Jersey won + above twenty pounds. Nite dee richar(30) MD. + </p> + <p> + 28. I was at Court to-day, when the Abbe Gaultier whispered me that a + courier was just come with an account that the French King had consented + to all the Queen's demands, and his consent was carried to Utrecht, and + the peace will be signed in a few days. I suppose the general peace cannot + be so soon ready; but that is no matter. The news presently ran about the + Court. I saw the Queen carried out in her chair, to take the air in the + garden. I met Griffin at Court, and he told me that orders were sent to + examine Filby; and, if he be fit, to make him (I think he called it) an + assistant; I don't know what, Supervisor, I think; but it is some + employment a good deal better than his own. The Parliament will have + another short prorogation, though it is not known yet. I dined with Lord + Treasurer and his Saturday company, and left him at eight to put this in + the post-office time enough. And now I must bid oo farewell, deelest + richar Ppt. God bless oo ever, and rove Pdfr. Farewell MD MD MD FW FW FW + FW ME ME ME Lele Lele. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0064" id="link2H_4_0064"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 61.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 1, 1712-13. + </h3> + <p> + 'Tis out of my head whether I answered all your letter in my last + yesterday or no. I think I was in haste, and could not: but now I see I + answered a good deal of it; no, only about your brother, and ME's bill. I + dined with Lady Orkney, and we talked politics till eleven at night; and, + as usual, found everything wrong, and put ourselves out of humour. Yes, I + have Lady Giffard's picture sent me by your mother. It is boxed up at a + place where my other things are. I have goods in two or three places; and + when I leave a lodging, I box up the books I get (for I always get some), + and come naked into a new lodging; and so on. Talk not to me of deaneries; + I know less of that than ever by much. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 2. I went to-day into the City to see Pat Rolt,(2) who lodges with a City + cousin, a daughter of coz Cleve; (you are much the wiser). I had never + been at her house before. My he-coz Thompson the butcher is dead, or + dying. I dined with my printer, and walked home, and went to sit with Lady + Clarges. I found four of them at whist; Lady Godolphin(3) was one. I sat + by her, and talked of her cards, etc., but she would not give me one look, + nor say a word to me. She refused some time ago to be acquainted with me. + You know she is Lord Marlborough's eldest daughter. She is a fool for her + pains, and I'll pull her down. What can I do for Dr. Smith's daughter's + husband? I have no personal credit with any of the Commissioners. I'll + speak to Keatley;(4) but I believe it will signify nothing. In the Customs + people must rise by degrees, and he must at first take what is very low, + if he be qualified for that. Ppt mistakes me; I am not angry at your + recommending anyone to me, provided you will take my answer. Some things + are in my way, and then I serve those I can. But people will not + distinguish, but take things ill, when I have no power; but Ppt is wiser. + And employments in general are very hard to be got. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 3. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for my absence, which + was only from Saturday last. The Parliament was again prorogued for a + week, and I suppose the peace will be ready by then, and the Queen will be + able to be brought to the House, and make her speech. I saw Dr. + Griffith(5) two or three months ago, at a Latin play at Westminster; but + did not speak to him. I hope he will not die; I should be sorry for Ppt's + sake; he is very tender of her. I have long lost all my colds, and the + weather mends a little. I take some steel drops, and my head is pretty + well. I walk when I can, but am grown very idle; and, not finishing my + thing, I gamble(6) abroad and play at ombre. I shall be more careful in my + physic than Mrs. Price: 'tis not a farthing matter her death, I think; and + so I say no more to-night, but will read a dull book, and go sleep. Nite + dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 4. Mr. Ford has been this half-year inviting me to dine at his lodgings: + so I did to-day, and brought the Provost and Dr. Parnell with me, and my + friend Lewis was there. Parnell went away, and the other three played at + ombre, and I looked on; which I love, and would not play. Tisdall is a + pretty fellow, as you say; and when I come back to Ireland with nothing, + he will condole with me with abundance of secret pleasure. I believe I + told you what he wrote to me, that I have saved England, and he + Ireland;(7) but I can bear that. I have learned to hear and see, and say + nothing. I was to see the Duchess of Hamilton to-day, and met Blith(8) of + Ireland just going out of her house into his coach. I asked her how she + came to receive young fellows. It seems he had a ball in the Duke of + Hamilton's house when the Duke died; and the Duchess got an advertisement + put in the Postboy,(9) reflecting on the ball, because the Marlborough + daughters(10) were there; and Blith came to beg the Duchess's pardon, and + clear himself. He's a sad dog. Nite poo dee deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 5. Lady Masham has miscarried; but is well almost again. I have many + visits to-day. I met Blith at the Duke of Ormond's; and he begged me to + carry him to the Duchess of Hamilton, to beg her pardon again. I did on + purpose to see how the blunderbuss behaved himself; but I begged the + Duchess to use him mercifully, for she is the devil of a teaser. The good + of it is, she ought to beg his pardon, for he meant no harm; yet she would + not allow him to put in an advertisement to clear himself from hers, + though hers was all a lie. He appealed to me, and I gravely gave it + against him. I was at Court to-day, and the foreign Ministers have got a + trick of employing me to speak for them to Lord Treasurer and Lord + Bolingbroke; which I do when the case is reasonable. The College(11) need + not fear; I will not be their Governor. I dined with Sir Thomas Hanmer and + his Duchess.(12) The Duke of Ormond was there, but we parted soon, and I + went to visit Lord Pembroke for the first time; but it was to see some + curious books. Lord Cholmondeley(13) came in; but I would not talk to him, + though he made many advances. I hate the scoundrel for all he is your + Griffith's friend.—Yes, yes, I am abused enough, if that be all. + Nite sollahs. + </p> + <p> + 6. I was to-day at an auction of pictures with Pratt,(14) and laid out two + pound five shillings for a picture of Titian, and if it were a Titian it + would be worth twice as many pounds. If I am cheated, I'll part with it to + Lord Masham: if it be a bargain, I'll keep it to myself. That's my + conscience. But I made Pratt buy several pictures for Lord Masham. Pratt + is a great virtuoso that way. I dined with Lord Treasurer, but made him go + to Court at eight. I always tease him to be gone. I thought to have made + Parnell dine with him, but he was ill; his head is out of order like mine, + but more constant, poor boy!—I was at Lord Treasurer's levee with + the Provost, to ask a book for the College.—I never go to his levee, + unless to present somebody. For all oor rallying, saucy(15) Ppt, as hope + saved, I expected they would have decided about me long ago; and as hope + saved, as soon as ever things are given away and I not provided for, I + will be gone with the very first opportunity, and put up bag and baggage. + But people are slower than can be thought. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 7. Yes, I hope Leigh will soon be gone, a p— on him! I met him once, + and he talked gravely to me of not seeing the Irish bishops here, and the + Irish gentlemen; but I believe my answers fretted him enough. I would not + dine with Lord Treasurer to-day, though it was Saturday (for he has + engaged me for to-morrow), but went and dined with Lord Masham, and played + at ombre, sixpenny running ombre, for three hours. There were three + voles(16) against me, and I was once a great loser, but came off for three + shillings and sixpence. One may easily lose five guineas at it. Lady + Orkney is gone out of town to-day, and I could not see her for laziness, + but writ to her. She has left me some physic. Fais, I never knew MD's + politics before, and I think it pretty extraordinary, and a great + compliment to you, and I believe never three people conversed so much with + so little politics. I avoid all conversation with the other party; it is + not to be borne, and I am sorry for it. O yes, things (are) very dear. DD + must come in at last with DD's two eggs a penny. There the proverb was + well applied. Parvisol has sent me a bill of fifty pounds, as I ordered + him, which, I hope, will serve me, and bring me over. Pray God MD does not + be delayed for it; but I have had very little from him this long time. I + was not at Court to-day; a wonder! Nite sollahs... Pdfr. + </p> + <p> + 8. Oo must know, I give chocolate almost every day to two or three people + that I suffer to come to see me in a morning. My man begins to lie pretty + well. 'Tis nothing for people to be denied ten times. My man knows all I + will see, and denies me to everybody else. This is the day of the Queen's + coming to the Crown, and the day Lord Treasurer was stabbed by Guiscard. I + was at Court, where everybody had their Birthday clothes on, and I dined + with Lord Treasurer, who was very fine. He showed me some of the Queen's + speech, which I corrected in several places, and penned the vote of + address of thanks for the speech; but I was of opinion the House should + not sit on Tuesday next, unless they hear the peace is signed; that is, + provided they are sure it will be signed the week after, and so have one + scolding for all. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 9. Lord Treasurer would have had me dine with him to-day; he desired me + last night, but I refused, because he would not keep the day of his + stabbing with all the Cabinet, as he intended: so I dined with my friend + Lewis; and the Provost and Parnell, and Ford, was with us. I lost sixteen + shillings at ombre; I don't like it, as etc. At night Lewis brought us + word that the Parliament does not sit to-morrow. I hope they are sure of + the peace by next week, and then they are right in my opinion: otherwise I + think they have done wrong, and might have sat three weeks ago. People + will grumble; but Lord Treasurer cares not a rush. Lord Keeper is suddenly + taken ill of a quinsy, and some lords are commissioned, I think Lord + Trevor,(17) to prorogue the Parliament in his stead. You never saw a town + so full of ferment and expectation. Mr. Pope has published a fine poem, + called Windsor Forest.(18) Read it. Nite. + </p> + <p> + 10. I was early this morning to see Lord Bolingbroke. I find he was of + opinion the Parliament should sit; and says they are not sure the peace + will be signed next week. The prorogation is to this day se'nnight. I went + to look on a library I am going to buy, if we can agree. I have offered a + hundred and twenty pounds, and will give ten more. Lord Bolingbroke will + lend me the money. I was two hours poring on the books. I will sell some + of them, and keep the rest; but I doubt they won't take the money. I dined + in the City, and sat an hour in the evening with Lord Treasurer, who was + in very good humour; but reproached me for not dining with him yesterday + and to-day. What will all this come to? Lord Keeper had a pretty good + night, and is better. I was in pain for him. How do oo do sollahs?... Nite + MD.(19) + </p> + <p> + 11. I was this morning to visit the Duke and Duchess of Ormond, and the + Duchess of Hamilton, and went with the Provost to an auction of pictures, + and laid out fourteen shillings. I am in for it, if I had money; but I + doubt I shall be undone; for Sir Andrew Fountaine invited the Provost and + me to dine with him, and play at ombre, when I fairly lost fourteen + shillings. Fais, it won't do; and I shall be out of conceit with play this + good while. I am come home; and it is late, and my puppy let out my fire, + and I am gone to bed and writing there, and it is past twelve a good + while. Went out four matadores and a trump in black, and was bested. Vely + bad, fais! Nite my deelest logues MD. + </p> + <p> + 12. I was at another auction of pictures to-day, and a great auction it + was. I made Lord Masham lay out forty pounds. There were pictures sold of + twice as much value apiece. Our Society met to-day at the Duke of + Beaufort's: a prodigious fine dinner, which I hate; but we did some + business. Our printer was to attend us, as usual; and the Chancellor of + the Exchequer sent the author of the Examiner(20) twenty guineas. He is an + ingenious fellow, but the most confounded vain coxcomb in the world, so + that I dare not let him see me, nor am acquainted with him. I had much + discourse with the Duke of Ormond this morning, and am driving some points + to secure us all in case of accidents, etc.(21) I left the Society at + seven. I can't drink now at all with any pleasure. I love white Portugal + wine better than claret, champagne, or burgundy. I have a sad vulgar + appetite. I remember Ppt used to maunder, when I came from a great dinner, + and DD had but a bit of mutton. I cannot endure above one dish; nor ever + could since I was a boy, and loved stuffing. It was a fine day, which is a + rarity with us, I assure (you). Never fair two days together. Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 13. I had a rabble of Irish parsons this morning drinking my chocolate. I + cannot remember appointments. I was to have supped last night with the + Swedish Envoy at his house, and some other company, but forgot it; and he + rallied me to-day at Lord Bolingbroke's, who excused me, saying, the Envoy + ought not to be angry, because I serve Lord Treasurer and him the same + way. For that reason, I very seldom promise to go anywhere. I dined with + Lord Treasurer, who chid me for being absent so long, as he always does if + I miss a day. I sat three hours this evening with Lady Jersey; but the + first two hours she was at ombre with some company. I left Lord Treasurer + at eight: I fancied he was a little thoughtful, for he was playing with an + orange by fits, which, I told him, among common men looked like the + spleen. This letter shall not go to-morrow; no haste, ung oomens; nothing + that presses. I promised but once in three weeks, and I am better than my + word. I wish the peace may be ready, I mean that we have notice it is + signed, before Tuesday; otherwise the grumbling will much increase. Nite + logues. + </p> + <p> + 14. It was a lovely day this, and I took the advantage of walking a good + deal in the Park, before I went to Court. Colonel Disney, one of our + Society, is ill of a fever, and, we fear, in great danger. We all love him + mightily, and he would be a great loss. I doubt I shall not buy the + library; for a roguey bookseller has offered sixty pounds more than I + designed to give; so you see I meant to have a good bargain. I dined with + Lord Treasurer and his Saturday company; but there were but seven at + table. Lord Peterborrow is ill, and spits blood, with a bruise he got + before he left England; but, I believe, an Italian lady he has brought + over is the cause that his illness returns. You know old Lady Bellasis(22) + is dead at last? She has left Lord Berkeley of Stratton(23) one of her + executors, and it will be of great advantage to him; they say above ten + thousand pounds. I stayed with Lord Treasurer upon business, after the + company was gone; but I dare not tell you upon what. My letters would be + good memoirs, if I durst venture to say a thousand things that pass; but I + hear so much of letters opening at your post-office that I am fearful, + etc., and so good-nite, sollahs, rove Pdfr, MD. + </p> + <p> + 15. Lord Treasurer engaged me to dine with him again to-day, and I had + ready what he wanted; but he would not see it, but put me off till + to-morrow. The Queen goes to chapel now. She is carried in an open chair, + and will be well enough to go to Parliament on Tuesday, if the Houses + meet, which is not yet certain; neither, indeed, can the Ministers + themselves tell; for it depends on winds and weather, and circumstances of + negotiation. However, we go on as if it was certainly to meet; and I am to + be at Lord Treasurer's to-morrow, upon that supposition, to settle some + things relating that way. Ppt(24) may understand me. The doctors tell me + that if poor Colonel Disney does not get some sleep to-night, he must die. + What care you? Ah! but I do care. He is one of our Society; a fellow of + abundance of humour; an old battered rake, but very honest, not an old + man, but an old rake. It was he that said of Jenny Kingdom,(25) the maid + of honour, who is a little old, that, since she could not get a husband, + the Queen should give her a brevet to act as a married woman. You don't + understand this. They give brevets to majors and captains to act as + colonels in the army. Brevets are commissions. Ask soldiers, dull sollahs. + Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 16. I was at Lord Treasurer's before he came; and, as he entered, he told + me the Parliament was prorogued till Thursday se'nnight. They have had + some expresses, by which they count that the peace may be signed by that + time; at least, that France, Holland, and we, will sign some articles, by + which we shall engage to sign the peace when it is ready: but Spain has no + Minister there; for Monteleon, who is to be their Ambassador at Utrecht, + is not yet gone from hence; and till he is there, the Spaniards can sign + no peace: and (of) one thing take notice, that a general peace can hardly + be finished these two months, so as to be proclaimed here; for, after + signing, it must be ratified; that is, confirmed by the several princes at + their Courts, which to Spain will cost a month; for we must have notice + that it is ratified in all Courts before we can proclaim it. So be not in + too much haste. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 17. The Irish folks were disappointed that the Parliament did not meet + to-day, because it was St. Patrick's Day; and the Mall was so full of + crosses that I thought all the world was Irish. Miss Ashe is almost quite + well, and I see the Bishop, but shall not yet go to his house. I dined + again with Lord Treasurer; but the Parliament being prorogued, I must keep + what I have till next week: for I believe he will not see it till just the + evening before the session. He has engaged me to dine with him again + to-morrow, though I did all I could to put it off; but I don't care to + disoblige him. Nite dee sollahs 'tis late. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 18. I have now dined six days successively with Lord Treasurer; but + to-night I stole away while he was talking with somebody else, and so am + at liberty to-morrow. There was a flying report of a general cessation of + arms: everybody had it at Court; but, I believe, there is nothing in it. I + asked a certain French Minister how things went. And he whispered me in + French, "Your Plenipotentiaries and ours play the fool." None of us, + indeed, approve of the conduct of either at this time; but Lord Treasurer + was in full good-humour for all that. He had invited a good many of his + relations; and, of a dozen at table, they were all of the Harley family + but myself. Disney is recovering, though you don't care a straw. Dilly + murders us with his IF puns. You know them.... (26) Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 19. The Bishop of Clogher has made an IF pun that he is mighty proud of, + and designs to send it over to his brother Tom. But Sir Andrew Fountaine + has wrote to Tom Ashe last post, and told him the pun, and desired him to + send it over to the Bishop as his own; and, if it succeeds, 'twill be a + pure bite. The Bishop will tell it us as a wonder that he and his brother + should jump so exactly. I'll tell you the pun:—If there was a + hackney coach at Mr. Pooley's(27) door, what town in Egypt would it be? + Why, it would be Hecatompolis; Hack at Tom Pooley's. "Sillly," says Ppt. I + dined with a private friend to-day; for our Society, I told you, meet but + once a fortnight. I have not seen Fanny Manley yet; I can't help it. Lady + Orkney is come to town: why, she was at her country house; hat(28) care + you? Nite darling (?) dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 20. Dilly read me a letter to-day from Ppt. She seems to have scratched + her head when she writ it. 'Tis a sad thing to write to people without + tact. There you say, you hear I was going to Bath. No such thing; I am + pretty well, I thank God. The town is now sending me to Savoy.(29) Forty + people have given me joy of it, yet there is not the least truth that I + know in it. I was at an auction of pictures, but bought none. I was so + glad of my liberty, that I would dine nowhere; but, the weather being + fine, I sauntered into the City, and ate a bit about five, and then supped + at Mr. Burke's(30) your Accountant-General, who had been engaging me this + month. The Bishop of Clogher was to have been there, but was hindered by + Lord Paget's(31) funeral. The Provost and I sat till one o'clock; and, if + that be not late, I don't know what is late. Parnell's poem will be + published on Monday, and to-morrow I design he shall present it to Lord + Treasurer and Lord Bolingbroke at Court. The poor lad is almost always out + of order with his head. Burke's wife is his sister. She has a little of + the pert Irish way. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 21. Morning. I will now finish my letter; for company will come, and a + stir, and a clutter; and I'll keep the letter in my pottick,(32) and give + it into the post myself. I must go to Court, and you know on Saturdays I + dine with Lord Treasurer, of course. Farewell, deelest MD MD MD, FW FW FW, + MD ME ME ME Lele sollahs.(33) + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0065" id="link2H_4_0065"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 62.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, March 21, 1712-13. + </h3> + <p> + I gave your letter in this night. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, and + find he has been at a meeting at Lord Halifax's house, with four principal + Whigs; but he is resolved to begin a speech against them when the + Parliament sits; and I have begged that the Ministers may have a meeting + on purpose to settle that matter, and let us be the attackers; and I + believe it will come to something, for the Whigs intend to attack the + Ministers: and if, instead of that, the Ministers attack the Whigs, it + will be better: and farther, I believe we shall attack them on those very + points they intend to attack us. The Parliament will be again prorogued + for a fortnight, because of Passion Week. I forgot to tell you that Mr. + Griffin has given Ppt's brother(2) a new employment, about ten pounds a + year better than his former; but more remote, and consequently cheaper. I + wish I could have done better, and hope oo will take what can be done in + good part, and that oo brother will not dislike it.—Nite own dear... + MD. + </p> + <p> + 22. I dined to-day with Lord Steward.(3) There Frank Annesley(4) (a + Parliament-man) told me he had heard that I had wrote to my friends in + Ireland to keep firm to the Whig interest; for that Lord Treasurer would + certainly declare for it after the peace. Annesley said twenty people had + told him this. You must know this is what they endeavour to report of Lord + Treasurer, that he designs to declare for the Whigs; and a Scotch fellow + has wrote the same to Scotland; and his meeting with those lords gives + occasion to such reports. Let me henceforth call Lord Treasurer Eltee, + because possibly my letters may be opened. Pray remember Eltee. You know + the reason; L.T. and Eltee pronounced the same way. Stay, 'tis five weeks + since I had a letter from MD. I allow you six. You see why I cannot come + over the beginning of April; whoever has to do with this Ministry can fix + no time: but as(5) hope saved, it is not Pdfr's fault. Pay don't blame poo + Pdfr. Nite deelest logues MD.(6) + </p> + <p> + 23. I dined to-day at Sir Thomas Hanmer's, by an old appointment: there + was the Duke of Ormond, and Lord and Lady Orkney. I left them at six. + Everybody is as sour as vinegar. I endeavour to keep a firm friendship + between the Duke of Ormond and Eltee. (Oo know who Eltee is, or have oo + fordot already?) I have great designs, if I can compass them; but delay is + rooted in Eltee's heart; yet the fault is not altogether there, that + things are no better. Here is the cursedest libel in verse come out that + ever was seen, called The Ambassadress;(7) it is very dull, too; it has + been printed three or four different ways, and is handed about, but not + sold. It abuses the Queen horribly. The Examiner has cleared me to-day of + being author of his paper, and done it with great civilities to me.(8) I + hope it will stop people's mouths; if not, they must go on and be hanged, + I care not. 'Tis terribly rainy weather, I'll go sleep. Nite deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 24. It rained all this day, and ruined me in coach-hire. I went to Colonel + Disney, who is past danger. Then I visited Lord Keeper, who was at dinner; + but I would not dine with him, but drove to Lord Treasurer (Eltee I mean), + paid the coachman, and went in; but he dined abroad: so I was forced to + call the coachman again, and went to Lord Bolingbroke's. He dined abroad + too; and at Lord Dupplin's I alighted, and by good luck got a dinner + there, and then went to the Latin play at Westminster School, acted by the + boys; and Lord Treasurer (Eltee I mean again) honoured them with his + presence. Lady Masham's eldest son, about two years old, is ill, and I am + afraid will not live: she is full of grief, and I pity and am angry with + her. Four shillings to-day in coach-hire; fais, it won't do. Our peace + will certainly be ready by Thursday fortnight; but our Plenipotentiaries + were to blame that it was not done already. They thought their powers were + not full enough to sign the peace, unless every Prince was ready, which + cannot yet be; for Spain has no Minister yet at Utrecht; but now ours have + new orders. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 25. Weather worse than ever; terrible rain all day, but I was resolved I + would spend no more money. I went to an auction of pictures with Dr. + Pratt, and there met the Duke of Beaufort, who promised to come with me to + Court, but did not. So a coach I got, and went to Court, and did some + little business there, but was forced to go home; for oo must understand I + take a little physic over-night, which works me next day. Lady Orkney is + my physician. It is hiera picra,(9) two spoonfuls, devilish stuff! I + thought to have dined with Eltee, but would not, merely to save a + shilling; but I dined privately with a friend, and played at ombre, and + won six shillings. Here are several people of quality lately dead of the + smallpox. I have not yet seen Miss Ashe, but hear she is well. The Bishop + of Clogher has bought abundance of pictures, and Dr. Pratt has got him + very good pennyworths.(10) I can get no walks, the weather is so bad. Is + it so with oo, sollahs?... (11) + </p> + <p> + 26. Though it was shaving-day, head and beard, yet I was out early to see + Lord Bolingbroke, and talk over affairs with him; and then I went to the + Duke of Ormond's, and so to Court, where the Ministers did not come, + because the Parliament was prorogued till this day fortnight. We had + terrible rain and hail to-day. Our Society met this day, but I left them + before seven, and went to Sir A(ndrew) F(ountaine), and played at ombre + with him and Sir Thomas Clarges, till ten, and then went to Sir Thomas + Hanmer. His wife, the Duchess of Grafton, left us after a little while, + and I stayed with him about an hour, upon some affairs, etc. Lord + Bolingbroke left us at the Society before I went; for there is an express + from Utrecht, but I know not yet what it contains; only I know the + Ministers expect the peace will be signed in a week, which is a week + before the session. Nite, MD. + </p> + <p> + 27. Parnell's poem is mightily esteemed; but poetry sells ill. I am + plagued with that... (12) poor Harrison's mother; you would laugh to see + how cautious I am of paying her the 100 pounds I received for her son from + the Treasury. I have asked every creature I know whether I may do it + safely, yet durst not venture, till my Lord Keeper assured me there was no + danger. I have not paid her, but will in a day or two: though I have a + great mind to stay till Ppt sends me her opinion, because Ppt is a great + lawyer. I dined to-day with a mixture of people at a Scotchman's, who made + the invitation to Mr. Lewis and me, and has some design upon us, which we + know very well. I went afterwards to see a famous moving picture,(13) and + I never saw anything so pretty. You see a sea ten miles wide, a town on + t'other end, and ships sailing in the sea, and discharging their cannon. + You see a great sky, with moon and stars, etc. I'm a fool. Nite, dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 28. I had a mighty levee to-day. I deny myself to everybody, except about + half a dozen, and they were all here, and Mr. Addison was one, and I had + chocolate twice, which I don't like. Our rainy weather continues. + Coach-hire goes deep. I dined with Eltee and his Saturday company, as + usual, and could not get away till nine. Lord Peterborow was making long + harangues, and Eltee kept me in spite. Then I went to see the Bishop of + Ossory, who had engaged me in the morning; he is going to Ireland. The + Bishop of Killaloe(14) and Tom Leigh was with us. The latter had wholly + changed his style, by seeing how the bishops behaved themselves, and he + seemed to think me one of more importance than I really am. I put the ill + conduct of the bishops about the First-Fruits, with relation to Eltee and + me, strongly upon Killaloe, and showed how it had hindered me from getting + a better thing for them, called the Crown rents, which the Queen had + promised. He had nothing to say, but was humble, and desired my interest + in that and some other things. This letter is half done in a week: I + believe oo will have it next. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 29. I have been employed in endeavouring to save one of your junior + Fellows,(15) who came over here for a dispensation from taking orders, + and, in soliciting it, has run out his time, and now his fellowship is + void, if the College pleases, unless the Queen suspends the execution, and + gives him time to take orders. I spoke to all the Ministers yesterday + about it; but they say the Queen is angry, and thought it was a trick to + deceive her; and she is positive, and so the man must be ruined, for I + cannot help him. I never saw him in my life; but the case was so hard, I + could not forbear interposing. Your Government recommended him to the Duke + of Ormond, and he thought they would grant it; and by the time it was + refused, the fellowship by rigour is forfeited. I dined with Dr. Arbuthnot + (one of my brothers) at his lodgings in Chelsea, and was there at chapel; + and the altar put me in mind of Tisdall's outlandish would(16) at your + hospital for the soldiers. I was not at Court to-day, and I hear the Queen + was not at church. Perhaps the gout has seized her again. Terrible rain + all day. Have oo such weather? Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 30. Morning. I was naming some time ago, to a certain person, another + certain person, that was very deserving, and poor and sickly; and t'other, + that first certain person, gave me a hundred pounds to give the other, + which I have not yet done. The person who is to have it never saw the + giver, nor expects one farthing, nor has the least knowledge or + imagination of it; so I believe it will be a very agreeable surprise; for + I think it is a handsome present enough. At night I dined in the City, at + Pontack's,(17) with Lord Dupplin, and some others. We were treated by one + Colonel Cleland,(18) who has a mind to be Governor of Barbados, and is + laying these long traps for me and others, to engage our interests for + him. He is a true Scotchman. I paid the hundred pounds this evening, and + it was an agreeable surprise to the receiver. We reckon the peace is now + signed, and that we shall have it in three days. I believe it is pretty + sure. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 31. I thought to-day on Ppt when she told me she suppose(d) I was + acquainted with the steward, when I was giving myself airs of being at + some lord's house. Sir Andrew Fountaine invited the Bishop of Clogher and + me, and some others, to dine where he did; and he carried us to the Duke + of Kent's,(19) who was gone out of town; but the steward treated us nobly, + and showed us the fine pictures, etc. I have not yet seen Miss Ashe. I + wait till she has been abroad, and taken the air. This evening Lady + Masham, Dr. Arbuthnot, and I, were contriving a lie for to-morrow, that + Mr. Noble,(20) who was hanged last Saturday, was recovered by his friends, + and then seized again by the sheriff, and is now in a messenger's hands at + the Black Swan in Holborn. We are all to send to our friends, to know + whether they have heard anything of it, and so we hope it will spread. + However, we shall do our endeavours; nothing shall be wanting on our + parts, and leave the rest to fortune. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + April 1. We had no success in our story, though I sent my man to several + houses, to inquire among the footmen, without letting him into the secret; + but I doubt my colleagues did not contribute as they ought. Parnell and I + dined with Darteneuf(21) to-day. You have heard of Darteneuf: I have told + you of Darteneuf. After dinner we all went to Lord Bolingbroke's, who had + desired me to dine with him; but I would not, because I heard it was to + look over a dull poem of one parson Trapp(22) upon the peace. The Swedish + Envoy told me to-day at Court that he was in great apprehensions about his + master;(23) and indeed we are afraid that prince has(24) died among those + Turkish dogs. I prevailed on Lord Bolingbroke to invite Mr. Addison to + dine with him on Good Friday. I suppose we shall be mighty mannerly. + Addison is to have a play of his acted on Friday in Easter Week: 'tis a + tragedy, called Cato; I saw it unfinished some years ago.(25) Did I tell + you that Steele has begun a new daily paper, called the Guardian?(26) they + say good for nothing. I have not seen it. Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 2. I was this morning with Lord Bolingbroke, and he tells me a Spanish + courier is just come, with the news that the King of Spain has agreed to + everything that the Queen desires; and the Duke d'Ossuna has left Paris in + order to his journey to Utrecht. I was prevailed on to come home with + Trapp, and read his poem and correct it; but it was good for nothing. + While I was thus employed, Sir Thomas Hanmer came up to my chamber, and + balked me of a journey he and I intended this week to Lord Orkney's at + Cliffden;(27) but he is not well, and his physician will not let him + undertake such a journey. I intended to dine with Lord Treasurer; but + going to see Colonel Disney, who lives with General Withers,(28) I liked + the General's little dinner so well, that I stayed and took share of it, + and did not go to Lord Treasurer till six, where I found Dr. Sacheverell, + who told us that the bookseller had given him 100 pounds for his + sermon,(29) preached last Sunday, and intended to print 30,000: I believe + he will be confoundedly bit, and will hardly sell above half. I have fires + still, though April has begun, against my old maxim; but the weather is + wet and cold. I never saw such a long run of ill weather in my life. Nite + dee logues MD. + </p> + <p> + 3. I was at the Queen's chapel to-day, but she was not there. Mr. St. + John, Lord Bolingbroke's brother, came this day at noon with an express + from Utrecht, that the peace is signed by all the Ministers there, but + those of the Emperor, who will likewise sign in a few days; so that now + the great work is in effect done, and I believe it will appear a most + excellent peace for Europe, particularly for England. Addison and I, and + some others, dined with Lord Bolingbroke, and sat with him till twelve. We + were very civil, but yet when we grew warm, we talked in a friendly manner + of party. Addison raised his objections, and Lord Bolingbroke answered + them with great complaisance. Addison began Lord Somers's health, which + went about; but I bid him not name Lord Wharton's, for I would not pledge + it; and I told Lord Bolingbroke frankly that Addison loved Lord Wharton as + little as I did: so we laughed, etc. Well, but you are glad of the peace, + you Ppt the Trimmer, are not you? As for DD I don't doubt her. Why, now, + if I did not think Ppt had been a violent Tory, and DD the greater Whig of + the two! 'Tis late. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 4. This Passion Week, people are so demure, especially this last day, that + I told Dilly, who called here, that I would dine with him, and so I did, + faith; and had a small shoulder of mutton of my own bespeaking. It rained + all day. I came home at seven, and have never stirred out, but have been + reading Sacheverell's long dull sermon, which he sent me. It is the first + sermon since his suspension is expired; but not a word in it upon the + occasion, except two or three remote hints. The Bishop of Clogher has been + sadly bit by Tom Ashe, who sent him a pun, which the Bishop had made, and + designed to send to him, but delayed it; and Lord Pembroke and I made Sir + Andrew Fountaine write it to Tom. I believe I told you of it in my last; + it succeeded right, and the Bishop was wondering to Lord Pembroke how he + and his brother could hit on the same thing. I'll go to bed soon, for I + must be at church by eight to-morrow, Easter Day. Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 5. Warburton(30) wrote to me two letters about a living of one Foulkes, + who is lately dead in the county of Meath. My answer is, that before I + received the first letter, General Gorges(31) had recommended a friend of + his to the Duke of Ormond, which was the first time I heard of its + vacancy, and it was the Provost told me of it. I believe verily that + Foulkes was not dead when Gorges recommended the other: for Warburton's + last letter said that Foulkes was dead the day before the date.—This + has prevented me from serving Warburton, as I would have done, if I had + received early notice enough. Pray say or write this to Warburton, to + justify me to him. I was at church at eight this morning, and dressed and + shaved after I came back, but was too late at Court; and Lord Abingdon(32) + was like to have snapped me for dinner, and I believe will fall out with + me for refusing him; but I hate dining with them, and I dined with a + private friend, and took two or three good walks; for it was a very fine + day, the first we have had a great while. Remember, was Easter Day a fine + day with you? I have sat with Lady Worsley till now. Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 6. I was this morning at ten at the rehearsal of Mr. Addison's play, + called Cato, which is to be acted on Friday. There were not above half a + score of us to see it. We stood on the stage, and it was foolish enough to + see the actors prompted every moment, and the poet directing them; and the + drab that acts Cato's daughter,(33) out in the midst of a passionate part, + and then calling out, "What's next?" The Bishop of Clogher was there too; + but he stood privately in a gallery. I went to dine with Lord Treasurer, + but he was gone to Wimbledon, his daughter Caermarthen's(34) country seat, + seven miles off. So I went back, and dined privately with Mr. Addison, + whom I had left to go to Lord Treasurer. I keep fires yet; I am very + extravagant. I sat this evening with Sir A. Fountaine, and we amused + ourselves with making IFS for Dilly. It is rainy weather again; nevle saw + ze rike.(35) This letter shall go to-morrow; remember, ung oomens, it is + seven weeks since oor last, and I allow oo but five weeks; but oo have + been galloping into the country to Swanton's.(36) O pray tell Swanton I + had his letter, but cannot contrive how to serve him. If a Governor were + to go over, I would recommend him as far as lay in my power, but I can do + no more: and you know all employments in Ireland, at least almost all, are + engaged in reversions. If I were on the spot, and had credit with a Lord + Lieutenant, I would very heartily recommend him; but employments here are + no more in my power than the monarchy itself. Nite, dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 7. Morning. I have had a visitor here, that has taken up my time. I have + not been abroad, oo may be sure; so I can say nothing to-day, but that I + rove MD bettle zan ever, if possibbere. I will put this in the + post-office; so I say no more. I write by this post to the Dean, but it is + not above two lines; and one enclosed to you, but that enclosed to you is + not above three lines; and then one enclosed to the Dean, which he must + not have but upon condition of burning it immediately after reading, and + that before your eyes; for there are some things in it I would not have + liable to accident. You shall only know in general that it is an account + of what I have done to serve him in his pretensions on these vacancies, + etc. But he must not know that you know so much.(37) Does this perplex + you? Hat care I? But rove Pdfr, saucy Pdfr. Farewell, deelest MD MD MD FW + FW FW,... ME, MD Lele. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0066" id="link2H_4_0066"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 63.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, April 7, 1713. + </h3> + <p> + I fancy I marked my last, which I sent this day, wrong; only 61, and it + ought to be 62. I dined with Lord Treasurer, and though the business I had + with him is something against Thursday, when the Parliament is to meet, + and this is Tuesday, yet he put it off till to-morrow. I dare not tell you + what it is, lest this letter should miscarry or be opened; but I never saw + his fellow for delays. The Parliament will now certainly sit, and + everybody's expectations are ready to burst. At a Council to-night the + Lord Chief-Justice Parker, a Whig, spoke against the peace; so did Lord + Chomley,(2) another Whig, who is Treasurer of the Household. My Lord + Keeper(3) was this night made Lord Chancellor. We hope there will soon be + some removes. Nite, dee sollahs; Late. Rove Pdfr.(4) + </p> + <p> + 8. Lord Chomley (the right name is Cholmondeley) is this day removed from + his employment, for his last night's speech; and Sir Richard Temple,(5) + Lieutenant-General, the greatest Whig in the army, is turned out; and + Lieutenant-General Palmes(6) will be obliged to sell his regiment. This is + the first-fruits of a friendship I have established between two great men. + I dined with Lord Treasurer, and did the business I had for him to his + satisfaction. I won't tell MD what it was.... (7) for zat. The Parliament + sits to-morrow for certain. Here is a letter printed in Maccartney's name, + vindicating himself from the murder of the Duke of Hamilton. I must give + some hints to have it answered; 'tis full of lies, and will give an + opportunity of exposing that party. To morrow will be a very important + day. All the world will be at Westminster. Lord Treasurer is as easy as a + lamb. They are mustering up the proxies of the absent lords; but they are + not in any fear of wanting a majority, which death and accidents have + increased this year. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 9. I was this morning with Lord Treasurer, to present to him a young + son(8) of the late Earl of Jersey, at the desire of the widow. There I saw + the mace and great coach ready for Lord Treasurer, who was going to + Parliament. Our Society met to-day; but I expected the Houses would sit + longer than I cared to fast; so I dined with a friend, and never inquired + how matters went till eight this evening, when I went to Lord Orkney's, + where I found Sir Thomas Hanmer. The Queen delivered her speech very well, + but a little weaker in her voice. The crowd was vast. The order for the + Address(9) was moved, and opposed by Lord Nottingham, Halifax, and Cowper. + Lord Treasurer spoke with great spirit and resolution; Lord Peterborow + flirted(10) against the Duke of Marlborough (who is in Germany, you know), + but it was in answer to one of Halifax's impertinences. The order for an + Address passed by a majority of thirty-three, and the Houses rose before + six. This is the account I heard at Lord Orkney's. The Bishop of + Chester,(11) a high Tory, was against the Court. The Duchess of + Marlborough sent for him some months ago, to justify herself to him in + relation to the Queen, and showed him letters, and told him stories, which + the weak man believed, and was perverted. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 10. I dined with a cousin in the City, and poor Pat Rolt was there. I have + got her rogue of a husband leave to come to England from Port-Mahon. The + Whigs are much down; but I reckon they have some scheme in agitation. This + Parliament-time hinders our Court meetings on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and + Saturdays. I had a great deal of business to-night, which gave me a + temptation to be idle, and I lost a dozen shillings at ombre, with Dr. + Pratt and another. I have been to see t'other day the Bishop of Clogher + and lady, but did not see Miss. It rains every day, and yet we are all + over dust. Lady Masham's eldest boy is very ill: I doubt he will not live, + and she stays at Kensington to nurse him, which vexes us all. She is so + excessively fond, it makes me mad. She should never leave the Queen, but + leave everything, to stick to what is so much the interest of the public, + as well as her own. This I tell her; but talk to the winds. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 11. I dined at Lord Treasurer's, with his Saturday company. We had ten at + table, all lords but myself and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Argyle + went off at six, and was in very indifferent humour as usual. Duke of + Ormond and Lord Bolingbroke were absent. I stayed till near ten. Lord + Treasurer showed us a small picture, enamelled work, and set in gold, + worth about twenty pounds; a picture, I mean, of the Queen, which she gave + to the Duchess of Marlborough, set in diamonds. When the Duchess was + leaving England, she took off all the diamonds, and gave the picture to + one Mrs. Higgins (an old intriguing woman, whom everybody knows), bidding + her make the best of it she could. Lord Treasurer sent to Mrs. Higgins for + this picture, and gave her a hundred pounds for it. Was ever such an + ungrateful beast as that Duchess? or did you ever hear such a story? I + suppose the Whigs will not believe it. Pray, try them. Takes off the + diamonds, and gives away the picture to an insignificant woman, as a thing + of no consequence: and gives it to her to sell, like a piece of + old-fashioned plate. Is she not a detestable slut? Nite deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 12. I went to Court to-day, on purpose to present Mr. Berkeley,(12) one of + your Fellows of Dublin College, to Lord Berkeley of Stratton. That Mr. + Berkeley is a very ingenious man, and great philosopher, and I have + mentioned him to all the Ministers, and given them some of his writings; + and I will favour him as much as I can. This I think I am bound to, in + honour and conscience, to use all my little credit toward helping forward + men of worth in the world. The Queen was at chapel to-day, and looks well. + I dined at Lord Orkney's with the Duke of Ormond, Lord Arran, and Sir + Thomas Hanmer. Mr. St. John, Secretary at Utrecht, expects every moment to + return there with the ratification of the peace. Did I tell you in my last + of Addison's play called Cato, and that I was at the rehearsal of it? Nite + MD. + </p> + <p> + 13. This morning my friend, Mr. Lewis, came to me, and showed me an order + for a warrant for the three vacant deaneries; but none of them to me. This + was what I always foresaw, and received the notice of it better, I + believe, than he expected. I bid Mr. Lewis tell Lord Treasurer that I took + nothing ill of him but his not giving me timely notice, as he promised to + do, if he found the Queen would do nothing for me. At noon, Lord Treasurer + hearing I was in Mr. Lewis's office, came to me, and said many things too + long to repeat. I told him I had nothing to do but go to Ireland + immediately; for I could not, with any reputation, stay longer here, + unless I had something honourable immediately given to me. We dined + together at the Duke of Ormond's. He there told me he had stopped the + warrants for the deans, that what was done for me might be at the same + time, and he hoped to compass it to-night; but I believe him not. I told + the Duke of Ormond my intentions. He is content Sterne should be a bishop, + and I have St. Patrick's; but I believe nothing will come of it, for stay + I will not; and so I believe for all oo... (13) oo may see me in Dublin + before April ends. I am less out of humour than you would imagine: and if + it were not that impertinent people will condole with me, as they used to + give me joy, I would value it less. But I will avoid company, and muster + up my baggage, and send them next Monday by the carrier to Chester, and + come and see my willows, against the expectation of all the world.—Hat + care I? Nite deelest logues, MD. + </p> + <p> + 14. I dined in the City to-day, and ordered a lodging to be got ready for + me against I came to pack up my things; for I will leave this end of the + town as soon as ever the warrants for the deaneries are out, which are yet + stopped. Lord Treasurer told Mr. Lewis that it should be determined + to-night: and so he will for(14) a hundred nights. So he said yesterday, + but I value it not. My daily journals shall be but short till I get into + the City, and then I will send away this, and follow it myself; and design + to walk it all the way to Chester, my man and I, by ten miles a day. It + will do my health a great deal of good. I shall do it in fourteen days. + Nite dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 15. Lord Bolingbroke made me dine with him to-day; he(15) was as good + company as ever; and told me the Queen would determine something for me + to-night. The dispute is, Windsor or St. Patrick's. I told him I would not + stay for their disputes, and he thought I was in the right. Lord Masham + told me that Lady Masham is angry I have not been to see her since this + business, and desires I will come to-morrow. Nite deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 16. I was this noon at Lady Masham's, who was just come from Kensington, + where her eldest son is sick. She said much to me of what she had talked + to the Queen and Lord Treasurer. The poor lady fell a shedding tears + openly. She could not bear to think of my having St. Patrick's, etc. I was + never more moved than to see so much friendship. I would not stay with + her, but went and dined with Dr. Arbuthnot, with Mr. Berkeley, one of your + Fellows, whom I have recommended to the Doctor, and to Lord Berkeley of + Stratton. Mr. Lewis tells me that the Duke of Ormond has been to-day with + the Queen; and she was content that Dr. Sterne should be Bishop of + Dromore, and I Dean of St. Patrick's; but then out came Lord Treasurer, + and said he would not be satisfied but that I must be Prebend(ary) of + Windsor. Thus he perplexes things. I expect neither; but I confess, as + much as I love England, I am so angry at this treatment that, if I had my + choice, I would rather have St. Patrick's. Lady Masham says she will speak + to purpose to the Queen to-morrow. Nite,... dee MD. + </p> + <p> + 17. I went to dine at Lady Masham's to-day, and she was taken ill of a + sore throat, and aguish. She spoke to the Queen last night, but had not + much time. The Queen says she will determine to-morrow with Lord + Treasurer. The warrants for the deaneries are still stopped, for fear I + should be gone. Do you think anything will be done? I don't care whether + it is or no. In the meantime, I prepare for my journey, and see no great + people, nor will see Lord Treasurer any more, if I go. Lord Treasurer told + Mr. Lewis it should be done to-night; so he said five nights ago. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 18. This morning Mr. Lewis sent me word that Lord Treasurer told him the + Queen would determine at noon. At three Lord Treasurer sent to me to come + to his lodgings at St. James's, and told me the Queen was at last resolved + that Dr. Sterne should be Bishop of Dromore, and I Dean of St. Patrick's; + and that Sterne's warrant should be drawn immediately. You know the + deanery is in the Duke of Ormond's gift; but this is concerted between the + Queen, Lord Treasurer, and the Duke of Ormond, to make room for me. I do + not know whether it will yet be done; some unlucky accident may yet come. + Neither can I feel joy at passing my days in Ireland; and I confess I + thought the Ministry would not let me go; but perhaps they can't help it. + Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 19. I forgot to tell you that Lord Treasurer forced me to dine with him + yesterday as usual, with his Saturday company; which I did after frequent + refusals. To-day I dined with a private friend, and was not at Court. + After dinner Mr. Lewis sent me a note, that the Queen stayed till she knew + whether the Duke of Ormond approved of Sterne for Bishop. I went this + evening, and found the Duke of Ormond at the Cock-pit, and told him, and + desired he would go to the Queen, and approve of Sterne. He made + objections, desired I would name any other deanery, for he did not like + Sterne; that Sterne never went to see him; that he was influenced by the + Archbishop of Dublin, etc.; so all now is broken again. I sent out for + Lord Treasurer, and told him this. He says all will do well; but I value + not what he says. This suspense vexes me worse than anything else. Nite + MD. + </p> + <p> + 20. I went to-day, by appointment, to the Cock-pit, to talk with the Duke + of Ormond. He repeated the same proposals of any other deanery, etc. I + desired he would put me out of the case, and do as he pleased. Then, with + great kindness, he said he would consent; but would do it for no man alive + but me, etc. And he will speak to the Queen today or to-morrow; so, + perhaps, something will come of it. I can't tell. Nite dee dee logues, MD. + </p> + <p> + 21. The Duke of Ormond has told the Queen he is satisfied that Sterne + should be Bishop, and she consents I shall be Dean; and I suppose the + warrants will be drawn in a day or two. I dined at an ale-house with + Parnell and Berkeley; for I am not in humour to go among the Ministers, + though Lord Dartmouth invited me to dine with him to-day, and Lord + Treasurer was to be there. I said I would, if I were out of suspense. Nite + deelest MD. + </p> + <p> + 22. The Queen says warrants shall be drawn, but she will dispose of all in + England and Ireland at once, to be teased no more. This will delay it some + time; and, while it is delayed, I am not sure of the Queen, my enemies + being busy. I hate this suspense. Nite deelest MD.(16) + </p> + <p> + 23. I dined yesterday with General Hamilton.(17) I forgot to tell oo. I + write short journals now. I have eggs on the spit. This night the Queen + has signed all the warrants, among which Sterne is Bishop of Dromore, and + the Duke of Ormond is to send over an order for making me Dean of St. + Patrick's. I have no doubt of him at all. I think 'tis now passed. And I + suppose MD is malicious enough to be glad, and rather have it than + Wells.(18) But you see what a condition I am in. I thought I was to pay + but six hundred pounds for the house; but the Bishop of Clogher says eight + hundred pounds; first-fruits one hundred and fifty pounds, and so, with + patent, a thousand pounds in all; so that I shall not be the better for + the deanery these three years. I hope in some time they will be persuaded + here to give me some money to pay off these debts. I must finish the book + I am writing,(19) before I can go over; and they expect I shall pass next + winter here, and then I will dun them to give me a sum of money. However, + I hope to pass four or five months with MD, and whatever comes on it. MD's + allowance must be increased, and shall be too, fais... (20) I received oor + rettle No. 39 to-night; just ten weeks since I had your last. I shall + write next post to Bishop Sterne. Never man had so many enemies of + Ireland(21) as he. I carried it with the strongest hand possible. If he + does not use me well and gently in what dealings I shall have with him, he + will be the most ungrateful of mankind. The Archbishop of York,(22) my + mortal enemy, has sent, by a third hand, that he would be glad to see me. + Shall I see him, or not? I hope to be over in a month, and that MD, with + their raillery, will be mistaken, that I shall make it three years. I will + answer oo rettle soon; but no more journals. I shall be very busy. Short + letters from hence forward. I shall not part with Laracor. That is all I + have to live on, except the deanery be worth more than four hundred pounds + a year. Is it? If it be, the overplus shall be divided between MD and FW + beside usual allowance of MD.... (23) Pray write to me a good-humoured + letter immediately, let it be ever so short. This affair was carried with + great difficulty, which vexes me. But they say here 'tis much to my + reputation that I have made a bishop, in spite of all the world, to get + the best deanery in Ireland. Nite dee sollahs. + </p> + <p> + 24. I forgot to tell you I had Sterne's letter yesterday, in answer to + mine. Oo performed oor commission well, dood dallars both.(24) I made + mistakes the three last days, and am forced to alter the number.(25) I + dined in the City to-day with my printer, and came home early, and am + going to (be) busy with my work. I will send this to-morrow, and I suppose + the warrants will go then. I wrote to Dr. Coghill, to take care of passing + my patent; and to Parvisol, to attend him with money, if he has any, or to + borrow some where he can. Nite MD. + </p> + <p> + 25. Morning. I know not whether my warrant be yet ready from the Duke of + Ormond. I suppose it will by tonight. I am going abroad, and will keep + this unsealed, till I know whether all be finished. Mollow,(26) sollahs. + </p> + <p> + I had this letter all day in my pocket, waiting till I heard the warrants + were gone over. Mr. Lewis sent to Southwell's clerk at ten; and he said + the Bishop of Killaloe(27) had desired they should be stopped till next + post. He sent again, that the Bishop of Killaloe's business had nothing to + do with ours. Then I went myself, but it was past eleven, and asked the + reason. Killaloe is removed to Raphoe, and he has a mind to have an order + for the rents of Raphoe, that have fallen due since the vacancy, and he + would have all stop till he has gotten that. A pretty request! But the + clerk, at Mr. Lewis's message, sent the warrants for Sterne and me; but + then it was too late to send this, which frets me heartily, that MD should + not have intelligence first from Pdfr. I think to take a hundred pounds a + year out of the deanery, and divide it between MD and Pr,(28) and so be + one year longer in paying the debt; but we'll talk of zis hen I come over. + So nite dear sollahs. Lele.(29) + </p> + <p> + 26. I was at Court to-day, and a thousand people gave me joy; so I ran + out. I dined with Lady Orkney. Yesterday I dined with Lord Treasurer and + his Saturday people as usual; and was so bedeaned! The Archbishop of York + says he will never more speak against me. Pray see that Parvisol stirs + about getting my patent. I have given Tooke DD's note to prove she is + alive. I'll answer oo rettle.... Nite. + </p> + <p> + 27. Nothing new to-day. I dined with Tom Harley, etc. I'll seal up this + to-night. Pray write soon.... MD MD MD FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele, lele. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0067" id="link2H_4_0067"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 64.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + LONDON, May 16 (1713). + </h3> + <p> + I had yours, No. 40, yesterday. Your new Bishop acts very ungratefully. I + cannot say so bad of it as he deserved. I begged at the same post his + warrant and mine went over, that he would leave those livings to my + disposal. I shall write this post to him to let him know how ill I take + it. I have letters to tell me that I ought to think of employing some body + to set the tithes of the deanery. I know not what to do at this distance. + I cannot be in Ireland under a month. I will write two orders; one to + Parvisol, and t'other to Parvisol, and a blank for whatever fellow it is + whom the last Dean employed; and I would desire you to advise with friends + which to make use of: and if the latter, let the fellow's name be + inserted, and both act by commission. If the former, then speak to + Parvisol, and know whether he can undertake it. I doubt it is hardly to be + done by a perfect stranger alone, as Parvisol is. He may perhaps venture + at all, to keep up his interest with me; but that is needless, for I am + willing to do him any good, that will do me no harm. Pray advise with + Walls and Raymond, and a little with Bishop Sterne for form. Tell Raymond + I cannot succeed for him to get that living of Moimed. It is represented + here as a great sinecure. Several chaplains have solicited for it; and it + has vexed me so, that, if I live, I will make it my business to serve him + better in something else. I am heartily sorry for his illness, and that of + the other two. If it be not necessary to let the tithes till a month + hence, you may keep the two papers, and advise well in the meantime; and + whenever it is absolutely necessary, then give that paper which you are + most advised to. I thank Mr. Walls for his letter. Tell him that must + serve for an answer, with my service to him and her. I shall buy Bishop + Sterne's hair as soon as his household goods. I shall be ruined, or at + least sadly cramped, unless the Queen will give me a thousand pounds. I am + sure she owes me a great deal more. Lord Treasurer rallies me upon it, and + I believe intends it; but, quando? I am advised to hasten over as soon as + possible, and so I will, and hope to set out the beginning of June. Take + no lodging for me. What? at your old tricks again? I can lie somewhere + after I land, and I care not where, nor how. I will buy your eggs and + bacon, DD... (2) your caps and Bible; and pray think immediately, and give + me some commissions, and I will perform them as far as oo poo Pdfr can.(3) + The letter I sent before this was to have gone a post before; but an + accident hindered it; and, I assure oo, I wam very akkree(4) MD did not + write to Dean Pdfr, and I think oo might have had a Dean under your girdle + for the superscription. I have just finished my Treatise,(5) and must be + ten days correcting it. Farewell, deelest MD, MD, MD, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, + ME, Lele. + </p> + <p> + You'll seal the two papers after my name. + </p> + <p> + "LONDON, May 16, 1713. + </p> + <p> + "I appoint Mr. Isaiah Parvisol and Mr. to set and let the tithes of the + Deanery of St. Patrick's for this present year. In witness whereof, I + hereunto set my hand and seal, the day and year above written. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (JONAT. SWIFT."(6)) +</pre> + <p> + "LONDON, May 16, 1713. + </p> + <p> + "I do hereby appoint Mr. Isaiah Parvisol my proctor, to set and let the + tithes of the Deanery of St. Patrick's. In witness whereof, I have + hereunto set my hand and seal, the day and year above written. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + JONAT. SWIFT." +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0068" id="link2H_4_0068"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 65.(1) + </h2> + <h3> + CHESTER, June 6, 1713. + </h3> + <p> + I am come here after six days. I set out on Monday last, and got here + to-day about eleven in the morning. A noble rider, fais! and all the ships + and people went off yesterday with a rare wind. This was told me, to my + comfort, upon my arrival. Having not used riding these three years, made + me terrible weary; yet I resolve on Monday to set out for Holyhead, as + weary as I am. 'Tis good for my health, mam. When I came here, I found + MD's letter of the 26th of May sent down to me. Had you writ a post sooner + I might have brought some pins: but you were lazy, and would not write + your orders immediately, as I desired you. I will come when God pleases; + perhaps I may be with you in a week. I will be three days going to + Holyhead; I cannot ride faster, say hat oo will. I am upon Stay-behind's + mare. I have the whole inn to myself. I would fain 'scape this Holyhead + journey; but I have no prospect of ships, and it will be almost necessary + I should be in Dublin before the 25th instant, to take the oaths;(2) + otherwise I must wait to a quarter sessions. I will lodge as I can; + therefore take no lodgings for me, to pay in my absence. The poor Dean + can't afford it. I spoke again to the Duke of Ormond about Moimed for + Raymond, and hope he may yet have it, for I laid it strongly to the Duke, + and gave him the Bishop of Meath's memorial. I am sorry for Raymond's + fistula; tell him so. I will speak to Lord Treasurer about Mrs. South(3) + to-morrow. Odso! I forgot; I thought I had been in London. Mrs. Tisdall(4) + is very big, ready to lie down. Her husband is a puppy. Do his feet stink + still? The letters to Ireland go at so uncertain an hour, that I am forced + to conclude. Farewell, MD, MD MD FW FW FW ME ME ME ME. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Lele lele + lele logues and + Ladies bose fair + and slender. +</pre> + <p> + (On flyleaf.) + </p> + <p> + I mightily approve Ppt's project of hanging the blind parson. When I read + that passage upon Chester walls, as I was coming into town, and just + received your letter, I said aloud—Agreeable B-tch. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <a name="link2H_NOTE" id="link2H_NOTE"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <a href="#link2H_NOTE"> <b>NOTES.</b> </a><br /><br /> + <a href="#link2H_NOTE1"> Notes to the Introduction. </a><br /> + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0071"> LETTER 1. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0072"> LETTER 9. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0073"> LETTER 10. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0074"> LETTER 11. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0075"> LETTER 12. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0076"> LETTER 13. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0077"> LETTER 14. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0078"> LETTER 15. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0079"> LETTER 16. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0080"> LETTER 17. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0081"> LETTER 18. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0082"> LETTER 20. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0083"> LETTER 21. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0084"> LETTER 22. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0085"> LETTER 23. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0086"> LETTER 24. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0087"> LETTER 26. </a> + </p> + </td> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0088"> LETTER 27. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0089"> LETTER 28. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0090"> LETTER 29. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0091"> LETTER 30. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0092"> LETTER 31. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0093"> LETTER 32. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0094"> LETTER 33. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0095"> LETTER 34. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0096"> LETTER 35. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0097"> LETTER 36. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0098"> LETTER 37. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0099"> LETTER 38. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0100"> LETTER 39. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0101"> LETTER 41. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0102"> LETTER 42. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0103"> LETTER 43. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0104"> LETTER 44. </a> + </p> + </td> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0105"> LETTER 46. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0106"> LETTER 47. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0107"> LETTER 48. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0108"> LETTER 49. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0109"> LETTER 50. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0110"> LETTER 51. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0111"> LETTER 52. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0112"> LETTER 53. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0113"> LETTER 54. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0114"> LETTER 55. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0115"> LETTER 56. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0116"> LETTER 57. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0117"> LETTER 58. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0118"> LETTER 59. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0119"> LETTER 61. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0120"> LETTER 62. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0121"> LETTER 63. </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + NOTES. + </h2> + <p> + These notes are referenced by 'Notes to the Introduction' or 'Letter + (number)', and the numbers in square brackets (thus — (3)) in the + body of the Journal. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_NOTE1" id="link2H_NOTE1"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Notes to the Introduction. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Notes and Queries, Sixth Series, x. 287. + </h3> + <p> + 2 See letter from Swift to John Temple, February 1737. She was then "quite + sunk with years and unwieldliness." + </p> + <p> + 3 Athenaeum, Aug. 8, 1891. + </p> + <p> + 4 Journal, May 4, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 5 Craik's Life of Swift, 269. + </p> + <p> + 6 Unpublished Letters of Dean Swift, pp. 189-96. + </p> + <p> + 7 In 1730 he wrote, "Those who have been married may form juster ideas of + that estate than I can pretend to do" (Dr. Birkbeck Hill's Unpublished + Letters of Dean Swift, p. 237). + </p> + <p> + 8 Scott added a new incident which has become incorporated in the popular + conception of Swift's story. Delany is said to have met Swift rushing out + of Archbishop King's study, with a countenance of distraction, immediately + after the wedding. King, who was in tears, said, "You have just met the + most unhappy man on earth; but on the subject of his wretchedness you must + never ask a question." Will it be believed that Scott—who rejects + Delany's inference from this alleged incident—had no better + authority for it than "a friend of his (Delany's) relict"? + </p> + <p> + 9 This incident, for which there is probably some foundation of fact—we + cannot say how much—has been greatly expanded by Mrs. Woods in her + novel Esther Vanhomrigh. Unfortunately most of her readers cannot, of + course, judge exactly how far her story is a work of imagination. + </p> + <p> + 10 In October Swift explained that he had been in the country "partly to + see a lady of my old acquaintance, who was extremely ill" (Unpublished + Letters of Dean Swift, p. 198). + </p> + <p> + 11 There is a story that shortly before her death Swift begged Stella to + allow herself to be publicly announced as his wife, but that she replied + that it was then too late. The versions given by Delany and Theophilus + Swift differ considerably, while Sheridan alters the whole thing by + representing Swift as brutally refusing to comply with Stella's last + wishes. + </p> + <p> + 12 There has also been the absurd suggestion that the impediment was + Swift's knowledge that both he and Stella were the illegitimate children + of Sir William Temple—a theory which is absolutely disproved by + known facts. + </p> + <p> + 13 It is curious to note the intimate knowledge of some of Swift's + peculiarities which was possessed by the hostile writer of a pamphlet + called A Hue and Cry after Dr. S—-t, published in 1714. That piece + consists, for the most part, of extracts from a supposed Diary by Swift, + and contains such passages as these: "Friday. Go to the Club... Am + treated. Expenses one shilling." "Saturday. Bid my servant get all things + ready for a journey to the country: mend my breeches; hire a washerwoman, + making her allow for old shirts, socks, dabbs and markees, which she + bought of me... Six coaches of quality, and nine hacks, this day called at + my lodgings." "Thursday. The Earl looked queerly: left him in a huff. Bid + him send for me when he was fit for company... Spent ten shillings." + </p> + <p> + 14 The "little language" is marked chiefly by such changes of letters + (e.g., l for r, or r for l) as a child makes when learning to speak. The + combinations of letters in which Swift indulges are not so easy of + interpretation. For himself he uses Pdfr, and sometimes Podefar or FR + (perhaps Poor dear foolish rogue). Stella is Ppt (Poor pretty thing). MD + (my dears) usually stands for both Stella and Mrs. Dingley, but sometimes + for Stella alone. Mrs. Dingley is indicated by ME (Madam Elderly), D, or + DD (Dear Dingley). The letters FW may mean Farewell, or Foolish Wenches. + Lele seems sometimes to be There, there, and sometimes Truly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0071" id="link2H_4_0071"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 1. + </h2> + <p> + 1. Addressed "To Mrs. Dingley, at Mr. Curry's house over against the Ram + in Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland," and endorsed by Esther Johnson, "Sept. + 9. Received." Afterwards Swift added, "MD received this Sept. 9," and + "Letters to Ireland from Sept.1710, begun soon after the change of + Ministry. Nothing in this." + </p> + <p> + 2. Beaumont is the "grey old fellow, poet Joe," of Swift's verses "On the + little house by the Churchyard at Castlenock." Joseph Beaumont, a + linen-merchant, is described as "a venerable, handsome, grey-headed man, + of quick and various natural abilities, but not improved by learning." His + inventions and mathematical speculations, relating to the longitude and + other things, brought on mental troubles, which were intensified by + bankruptcy, about 1718. He was afterwards removed from Dublin to his home + at Trim, where he rallied; but in a few years his madness returned, and he + committed suicide. + </p> + <p> + 3. Vicar of Trim, and formerly a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. In + various places in his correspondence Swift criticises the failings of Dr. + Anthony Raymond, who was, says Scott, "a particular friend." His + unreliability in money matters, the improvidence of his large family, his + peculiarities in grammar, his pride in his good manners, all these points + are noticed in the journal and elsewhere. But when Dr. Raymond returned to + Ireland after a visit to London, Swift felt a little melancholy, and + regretted that he had not seen more of him. In July 1713 Raymond was + presented to the Crown living of Moyenet. + </p> + <p> + 4. A small township on the estuary of the Dee, between twelve and thirteen + miles north-west of Chester. In the early part of the eighteenth century + Parkgate was a rival of Holyhead as a station for the Dublin packets, + which started, on the Irish side, from off Kingsend. + </p> + <p> + 5. Dr. St. George Ashe, afterwards Bishop of Derry, who had been Swift's + tutor at Trinity College, Dublin. He died in 1718. It is this lifelong + friend who is said to have married Swift and Esther Johnson in 1716. + </p> + <p> + 6. The Commission to solicit for the remission of the First-Fruits and + twentieth parts, payable to the Crown by the Irish clergy, was signed by + the Archbishops of Armagh, Dublin, and Cashel, and the Bishops of Kildare, + Meath, and Killala. + </p> + <p> + 7. Dr. William Lloyd was appointed Bishop of Killala in 1690. He had + previously been Dean of Achonry. + </p> + <p> + 8. Dr. John Hough (1651-1743). In 1687 he had been elected President of + Magdalen College, Oxford, in place of the nominee of James II. Hough was + Bishop of Oxford, Lichfield, and Worcester successively, and declined the + primacy in 1715. + </p> + <p> + 9. Steele was at this time Gazetteer. The Cockpit, in Whitehall, looked + upon St. James's Palace, and was used for various Government purposes. + </p> + <p> + 10. This coffee-house, the resort of the Whig politicians, was kept by a + man named Elliot. It is often alluded to in the Tatler and Spectator. + </p> + <p> + 11. William Stewart, second Viscount Mountjoy, a friend and correspondent + of Swift's in Ireland. He was the son of one of William's generals, and + was himself a Lieutenant-General and Master-General of the Ordnance; he + died in 1728. + </p> + <p> + 12. Catherine, daughter of Maurice Keating, of Narraghmore, Kildare, and + wife of Garret Wesley, of Dangan, M.P. for Meath. She died in 1745. On the + death of Garret Wesley without issue in 1728, the property passed to a + cousin, Richard Colley, who was afterwards created Baron Mornington, and + was grandfather to the Duke of Wellington. + </p> + <p> + 13. The landlady of Esther Johnson and Mrs. Dingley. + </p> + <p> + 14. Swift's housekeeper at Laracor. Elsewhere Swift speaks of his "old + Presbyterian housekeeper," "who has been my Walpole above thirty years, + whenever I lived in this kingdom." "Joe Beaumont is my oracle for public + affairs in the country, and an old Presbyterian woman in town." + </p> + <p> + 15. Isaiah Parvisol, Swift's tithe-agent and steward at Laracor, was an + Irishman of French extraction, who died in 1718 (Birkbeck's Unpublished + Letters of Dean Swift, 1899, p.85). + </p> + <p> + Letter 2. + </p> + <p> + 1. In some MS. Accounts of Swift's, in the Forster Collection at South + Kensington there is the following entry:—"Set out for England Aug. + 31st on Thursday, 10 at night; landed at Parkgate Friday 1st at noon. + Sept. 1, 1710, came to London. Thursday at noon, Sept. 7th, with Lord + Mountjoy, etc. Mem.: Lord Mountjoy bore my expenses from Chester to + London." + </p> + <p> + 2. In a letter to Archbishop King of the same date Swift says he was + "equally caressed by both parties; by one as a sort of bough for drowning + men to lay hold of, and by the other as one discontented with the late men + in power." + </p> + <p> + 3. The Earl of Godolphin, who was severely satirised by Swift in his Sid + Hamet's Rod, 1710. He had been ordered to break his staff as Treasurer on + August 8. Swift told Archbishop King that Godolphin was "altogether short, + dry, and morose." + </p> + <p> + 4. Martha, widow of Sir Thomas Giffard, Bart., of County Kildare, the + favourite sister of Sir William Temple, had been described by Swift in + early pindaric verses as "wise and great." Afterwards he was to call her + "an old beast" (Journal, Nov. 11, 1710). Their quarrel arose, towards the + close of 1709, out of a difference with regard to the publication of Sir + William Temple's Works. On the appearance of vol. v. Lady Giffard charged + Swift with publishing portions of the writings from an unfaithful copy in + lieu of the originals in his possession, and in particular with printing + laudatory notices of Godolphin and Sunderland which Temple intended to + omit, and with omitting an unfavourable remark on Sunderland which Temple + intended to print. Swift replied that the corrections were all made by + Temple himself. + </p> + <p> + 5. Lord Wharton's second wife, Lucy, daughter of Lord Lisburn. She died in + 1716, a few months after her husband. See Lady M. W. Montagu's Letters. + </p> + <p> + 6. Mrs. Bridget Johnson, who married, as her second husband, Ralph Mose or + Moss, of Farnham, an agent for Sir William Temple's estate, was + waiting-woman or companion to Lady Giffard. In her will (1722) Lady + Giffard left Mrs. Moss 20 pounds, "with my silver cup and cover." Mrs. + Moss died in 1745, when letters of administration were granted to a + creditor of the deceased. + </p> + <p> + 7. Dr. William King (1610-1729), a Whig and High Churchman, had more than + one difference with Swift during the twenty years following Swift's first + visit to London in connection with the First-Fruits question. + </p> + <p> + 8. Swift's benefice, in the diocese of Meath, two miles from Trim. + </p> + <p> + 9. Steele, who had been issuing the Tatler thrice weekly since April. He + lost the Gazetteership in October. + </p> + <p> + 10. James, second Duke of Ormond (1665-1745) was appointed Lord Lieutenant + on the 26th of October. In the following year he became Captain-General + and Commander-in-Chief. He was impeached of high treason and attainted in + 1715; and he died in exile. + </p> + <p> + 11. "Presto," substituted by the original editor for "Pdfr," was suggested + by a passage in the Journal for Aug. 2, 1711, where Swift says that the + Duchess of Shrewsbury "could not say my name in English, but said Dr. + Presto, which is Italian for Swift." + </p> + <p> + 12. Charles Jervas, the popular portrait-painter, has left two portraits + of Swift, one of which is in the National Portrait Gallery, and the other + in the Bodleian Library. + </p> + <p> + 13. Sir William Temple's nephew, and son of Sir John Temple (died 1704), + Solicitor and Attorney-General, and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. + "Jack" Temple acquired the estate of Moor Park, Surrey, by his marriage + with Elizabeth, granddaughter of Sir William Temple, and elder daughter of + John Temple, who committed suicide in 1689. As late as 1706 Swift received + an invitation to visit Moor Park. + </p> + <p> + 14. Dr. Benjamin Pratt, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, was appointed + Dean of Down in 1717. Swift calls him "a person of wit and learning," and + "a gentleman of good birth and fortune,... very much esteemed among us" + (Short Character of Thomas, Earl of Wharton). On his death in 1721 Swift + wrote, "He was one of the oldest acquaintance I had, and the last that I + expected to die. He has left a young widow, in very good circumstances. He + had schemes of long life.... What a ridiculous thing is man!" (Unpublished + Letters of Dean Swift, 1899, p. 106). + </p> + <p> + 15. A Westmeath landlord, whom Swift met from time to time in London. The + Leighs were well acquainted with Esther Johnson. + </p> + <p> + 16. Dr. Enoch Sterne, appointed Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, in 1704. + Swift was his successor in the deanery on Dr. Sterne's appointment as + Bishop of Dromore in 1713. In 1717 Sterne was translated to the bishopric + of Clogher. He spent much money on the cathedrals, etc., with which he was + connected. + </p> + <p> + 17. Archdeacon Walls was rector of Castle Knock, near Trim. Esther Johnson + was a frequent visitor at his house in Queen Street, Dublin. + </p> + <p> + 18. William Frankland, Comptroller of the Inland Office at the Post + Office, was the second son of the Postmaster-General, Sir Thomas + Frankland, Bart. Luttrell (vi. 333) records that in 1708 he was made + Treasurer of the Stamp Office, or, according to Chamberlayne's Mag. Brit. + Notitia for 1710, Receiver-General. + </p> + <p> + 19. Thomas Wharton, Earl and afterwards Marquis of Wharton, had been one + of Swift's fellow-travellers from Dublin. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under + the Whig Government, from 1708 to 1710, Wharton was the most + thorough-going party man that had yet appeared in English politics; and + his political enemies did not fail to make the most of his well-known + immorality. In his Notes to Macky's Characters Swift described Wharton as + "the most universal villain that ever I knew." On his death in 1715 he was + succeeded by his profligate son, Philip, who was created Duke of Wharton + in 1718. + </p> + <p> + 20. This money was a premium the Government had promised Beaumont for his + Mathematical Sleying Tables, calculated for the improvement of the linen + manufacture. + </p> + <p> + 21. The bellman was both town-crier and night-watchman. + </p> + <p> + Letter 3. + </p> + <p> + 1. Dr. William Cockburn (1669-1739), Swift's physician, of a good Scottish + family, was educated at Leyden. He invented an electuary for the cure of + fluxes, and in 1730, in The Danger of Improving Physick, satirised the + academical physicians who envied him the fortune he had made by his secret + remedy. He was described in 1729 as "an old very rich quack." + </p> + <p> + 2. Sir Matthew Dudley, Bart., an old Whig friend, was M.P. for + Huntingdonshire, and Commissioner of the Customs from 1706 to 1712, and + again under George I., until his death in 1721. + </p> + <p> + 3. Isaac Manley, who was appointed Postmaster-General in Ireland in 1703 + (Luttrell, v. 333). He had previously been Comptroller of the English + Letter Office, a post in which he was succeeded by William Frankland, son + of Sir Thomas Frankland. Dunton calls Manley "loyal and acute." + </p> + <p> + 4. Sir Thomas Frankland was joint Postmaster-General from 1691 to 1715. He + succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father, Sir William + Frankland, in 1697, and he died in 1726. Macky describes Sir Thomas as "of + a sweet and easy disposition, zealous for the Constitution, yet not + forward, and indulgent to his dependants." On this Swift comments, "This + is a fair character." + </p> + <p> + 5. Theophilus Butler, elected M.P. for Cavan, in the Irish Parliament, in + 1703, and for Belturbet (as "the Right Hon. Theophilus Butler") in 1713. + On May 3, 1710, Luttrell wrote (Brief Relation of State Affairs, vi. 577), + "'Tis said the Earl of Montrath, Lord Viscount Mountjoy... and Mr. Butler + will be made Privy Councillors of the Kingdom of Ireland." Butler—a + contemporary of Swift's at Trinity College, Dublin—was created Baron + of Newtown-Butler in 1715, and his brother, who succeeded him in 1723, was + made Viscount Lanesborough. Butler's wife was Emilia, eldest daughter and + co-heir of James Stopford, of Tara, County Meath. + </p> + <p> + 6. No. 193 of the Tatler, for July 4, 1710, contained a letter from Downes + the Prompter—not by Steele himself—in ridicule of Harley and + his proposed Ministry. + </p> + <p> + 7. Charles Robartes, second Earl of Radnor, who died in 1723. In the + Journal for Dec. 30, 1711, Swift calls him "a scoundrel." + </p> + <p> + 8. Benjamin Tooke, Swift's bookseller or publisher, lived at the Middle + Temple Gate. Dunton wrote of him, "He is truly honest, a man of refined + sense, and is unblemished in his reputation." Tooke died in 1723. + </p> + <p> + 9. Swift's servant, of whose misdeeds he makes frequent complaints in the + Journal. + </p> + <p> + 10. Deputy Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. In one place Swift calls him Captain + Pratt; and in all probability he is the John Pratt who, as we learn from + Dalton's English Army Lists, was appointed captain in General Erle's + regiment of foot in 1699, and was out of the regiment by 1706. In 1702 he + obtained the Queen's leave to be absent from the regiment when it was sent + to the West Indies. Pratt seems to have been introduced to Swift by + Addison. + </p> + <p> + 11. Charles Ford, of Wood Park, near Dublin, was a great lover of the + opera and a friend of the Tory wits. He was appointed Gazetteer in 1712. + Gay calls him "joyous Ford," and he was given to over-indulgence in + conviviality. See Swift's poem on Stella at Wood Park. + </p> + <p> + 12. Lord Somers, to whom Swift had dedicated The Tale of a Tub, with high + praise of his public and private virtues. In later years Swift said that + Somers "possessed all excellent qualifications except virtue." + </p> + <p> + 13. At the foundation school of the Ormonds at Kilkenny. (see note 22.) + </p> + <p> + 14. A Whig haberdasher. + </p> + <p> + 15. Benjamin Hoadley, the Whig divine, had been engaged in controversy + with Sacheverell, Blackall, and Atterbury. After the accession of George + I. he became Bishop of Bangor, Hereford, Salisbury, and Winchester in + success. + </p> + <p> + 16. Dr. Henry Sacheverell, whose impeachment and trial had led to the fall + of the Whig Government. + </p> + <p> + 17. Sir Berkeley Lucy, Bart., F.R.S., married Katherine, daughter of + Charles Cotton, of Beresford, Staffordshire, Isaac Walton's friend. Lady + Lucy died in 1740, leaving an only surviving daughter, Mary, who married + the youngest son of the Earl of Northampton, and had two sons, who became + successively seventh and eighth Earls of Northampton. Forster and others + assumed that "Lady Lucy" was a Lady Lucy Stanhope, though they were not + able to identify her. It was reserved for Mr. Ryland to clear up this + difficulty. As he points out, Lady Lucy's elder sister, Olive, married + George Stanhope, Dean of Canterbury, and left a daughter Mary,—Swift's + "Moll Stanhope,"—a beauty and a madcap, who married, in 1712, + William Burnet, son of Bishop Burnet, and died in 1714. Mary, another + sister of Lady Lucy's, married Augustine Armstrong, of Great Ormond + Street, and is the Mrs. Armstrong mentioned by Swift on Feb. 3, 1711, as a + pretender to wit, without taste. Sir Berkeley Lucy's mother was a daughter + of the first Earl of Berkeley, and it was probably through the Berkeleys + that Swift came to know the Lucys. + </p> + <p> + 18. Ann Long was sister to Sir James Long, and niece to Colonel + Strangeways. Once a beauty and toast of the Kit-Cat Club, she fell into + narrow circumstances through imprudence and the unkindness of her friends, + and retired under the name of Mrs. Smythe to Lynn, in Norfolk, where she + died in 1711 (see Journal, December 25, 1711). Swift said, "She was the + most beautiful person of the age she lived in; of great honour and virtue, + infinite sweetness and generosity of temper, and true good sense" + (Forster's Swift, 229). In a letter of December 1711, Swift wrote that she + "had every valuable quality of body and mind that could make a lady loved + and esteemed." + </p> + <p> + 19. Said, I know not on what authority, to be Swift's friend, Mrs. Barton. + But Mrs. Barton is often mentioned by Swift as living in London in + 1710-11. + </p> + <p> + 20. One of Swift's cousins, who was separated from her husband, a man of + bad character, living abroad. Her second husband, Lancelot, a servant of + Lord Sussex, lived in New Bond Street, and there Swift lodged in 1727. + </p> + <p> + 21. 100,000 pounds. + </p> + <p> + 22. Francis Stratford's name appears in the Dublin University Register for + 1686 immediately before Swift's. Budgell is believed to have referred to + the friendship of Swift and Stratford in the Spectator, No. 353, where he + describes two schoolfellows, and says that the man of genius was buried in + a country parsonage of 160 pounds a year, while his friend, with the bare + abilities of a common scrivener, had gained an estate of above 100,000 + pounds. + </p> + <p> + 23. William Cowper, afterwards Lord Cowper. + </p> + <p> + 24. Sir Simon Harcourt, afterwards Viscount Harcourt, had been counsel for + Sacheverell. On Sept. 19, 1710, he was appointed Attorney-General, and on + October 19 Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. In April 1713 he became Lord + Chancellor. + </p> + <p> + 25. This may be some relative of Dr. John Freind (see Letter 9), or, more + probably, as Sir Henry Craik suggests, a misprint for Colonel Frowde, + Addison's friend (see Journal, Nov. 4, 1710). No officer named Freind or + Friend is mentioned in Dalton's English Army Lists. + </p> + <p> + 26. See the Tatler, Nos. 124, 203. There are various allusions in the + "Wentworth Papers" to this, the first State Lottery of 1710; and two + bluecoat boys drawing out the tickets, and showing their hands to the + crowd, as Swift describes them, are shown in a reproduction of a picture + in a contemporary pamphlet given in Ashton's Social Life in the Reign of + Queen Anne, i. 115. + </p> + <p> + 27. A few weeks later Swift wrote, "I took a fancy of resolving to grow + mad for it, but now it is off." + </p> + <p> + 28. Sir John Holland, Bart., was a leading manager for the Commons in the + impeachment of Sacheverell. He succeeded Sir Thomas Felton in the + Comptrollership in March 1710. + </p> + <p> + 29. Dryden Leach. (see Letter 7.) + </p> + <p> + 30. William Pate, "bel esprit and woollen-draper," as Swift called him, + lived opposite the Royal Exchange. He was Sheriff of London in 1734, and + died in 1746. Arbuthnot, previous to matriculating at Oxford, lodged with + Pate, who gave him a letter of introduction to Dr. Charlett, Master of + University College; and Pate is supposed to have been the woollen-draper, + "remarkable for his learning and good-nature," who is mentioned by Steele + in the Guardian, No. 141. + </p> + <p> + 31. James Brydges, son of Lord Chandos of Sudeley, was appointed + Paymaster-General of Forces Abroad in 1707. He succeeded his father as + Baron Chandos in 1714, and was created Duke of Chandos in 1729. The + "princely Chandos" and his house at Canons suggested to Pope the Timon's + villa of the "Epistle to Lord Burlington." The Duke died in 1744. + </p> + <p> + 32. Charles Talbot, created Duke of Shrewsbury in 1694, was held in great + esteem by William III., and was Lord Chamberlain under Anne. In 1713 he + became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and held various offices under George + I., until his death in 1718. "Before he was o. age," says Macaulay, "he + was allowed to be one of the finest gentlemen and finest scholars of his + time." + </p> + <p> + 33. See No. 230. + </p> + <p> + 34. William Cavendish, second Duke of Devonshire (1673-1729), who was Lord + Steward from 1707 to 1710 and from 1714 to 1716. Afterwards he was Lord + President of the Council. Swift's comment on Macky's character of this + Whig nobleman was, "A very poor understanding." + </p> + <p> + 35. John Annesley, fourth Earl of Anglesea, a young nobleman of great + promise, had only recently been appointed joint Vice-Treasurer, + Receiver-General, and Paymaster of the Forces in Ireland, and sworn of the + Privy Council. + </p> + <p> + 36. Nichols, followed by subsequent editors, suggested that "Durham" was a + mistake for "St. David's," because Dr. George Bull, Bishop of St. David's, + died in 1710. But Dr. Bull died on Feb. 17, 1710, though his successor, + Dr. Philip Bisse, was not appointed until November; and Swift was merely + repeating a false report of the death of Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, + which was current on the day on which he wrote. Luttrell says, on Sept. + 19, "The Lord Crewe.. . died lately"; but on the 23rd he adds, "The Bishop + of Durham is not dead as reported" (Brief Relation, vi. 630, 633. + </p> + <p> + 37. Lady Elizabeth ("Betty") Butler, who died unmarried in 1750. + </p> + <p> + 38. Swift wrote in 1734, "Once every year I issued out an edict, + commanding that all ladies of wit, sense, merit, and quality, who had an + ambition to be acquainted with me, should make the first advances at their + peril: which edict, you may believe, was universally obeyed." + </p> + <p> + 39. Charles, second Earl of Berkeley (1649-1710), married Elizabeth, + daughter of Baptist Noel, Viscount Campden. The Earl died on Sept. 24, + 1710, and his widow in 1719. Swift, it will be remembered, had been + chaplain to Lord Berkeley in Ireland in 1699. + </p> + <p> + 40. Lady Betty and Lady Mary Butler. (see Letter 7, notes 2 and 3.) + </p> + <p> + 41. Henry Boyle, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1702 to 1708, was + Secretary of State from 1708 to 1710, when he was succeeded by St. John. + In 1714 he was created Baron Carleton, and he was Lord President from 1721 + until his death in 1725. + </p> + <p> + 42. On Sept. 29 Swift wrote that his rooms consisted of the first floor, a + dining-room and bed-chamber, at eight shillings a week. On his last visit + to England, in 1726, he lodged "next door to the Royal Chair" in Bury + Street. Steele lived in the same street from 1707 to 1712; and Mrs. + Vanhomrigh was Swift's next-door neighbour. + </p> + <p> + 43. In Exchange Alley. Cf. Spectator, No. 454: "I went afterwards to + Robin's, and saw people who had dined with me at the fivepenny ordinary + just before, give bills for the value of large estates." + </p> + <p> + Letter 4. + </p> + <p> + 1 John Molesworth, Commissioner of the Stamp Office, was sent as Envoy to + Tuscany in 1710, and was afterwards Minister at Florence, Venice, Geneva, + and Turin. He became second Viscount Molesworth in 1725, and died in 1731. + </p> + <p> + 2 Misson says, "Every two hours you may write to any part of the city or + suburbs: he that receives it pays a penny, and you give nothing when you + put it into the Post; but when you write into the country both he that + writes and he that receives pay each a penny." The Penny Post system had + been taken over by the Government, but was worked separately from the + general Post. + </p> + <p> + 3 The Countess of Berkeley's second daughter, who married, in 1706, Sir + John Germaine, Bart. (1650-1718), a soldier of fortune. Lady Betty + Germaine is said to have written a satire on Pope (Nichols' Literary + Anecdotes, ii. 11), and was a constant correspondent of Swift's. She was + always a Whig, and shortly before her death in 1769 she made a present of + 100 pounds to John Wilkes, then in prison in the Tower. Writing of Lady + Betty Butler and Lady Betty Germaine, Swift says elsewhere, "I saw two + Lady Bettys this afternoon; the beauty of one, the good breeding and + nature of the other, and the wit of either, would have made a fine woman." + Germaine obtained the estate at Drayton through his first wife, Lady Mary + Mordaunt—Lord Peterborough's sister—who had been divorced by + her first husband, the Duke of Norfolk. Lady Betty was thirty years + younger than her husband, and after Sir John's death she remained a widow + for over fifty years. + </p> + <p> + 4 The letter in No. 280 of the Tatler. + </p> + <p> + 5 Discover, find out. Cf. Shakespeare's All's Well that Ends Well, iii. 6: + "He was first smoked by the old Lord Lafeu." + </p> + <p> + 6 A village near Dublin. + </p> + <p> + 7 Excellent. + </p> + <p> + 8 John Molesworth, and, probably, his brother Richard, afterwards third + Viscount Molesworth, who had saved the Duke of Marlborough's life at the + battle of Ramillies, and had been appointed, in 1710, colonel of a + regiment of foot. + </p> + <p> + 9 Presumably at Charles Ford's. + </p> + <p> + 10 The Virtues of Sid Hamet the Magician's Rod, published as a single + folio sheet, was a satire on Godolphin. + </p> + <p> + 11 Apparently Marcus Antonius Morgan, steward to the Bishop of Kildare + (Craik). Swift wrote to the Duke of Montagu on Aug. 12, 1713 (Buccleuch + MSS., 1899, i. 359). "Mr. Morgan of Kingstrope is a friend, and was, I am + informed, put out of the Commission of justice for being so." + </p> + <p> + 12 Dr. Raymond is called Morgan's "father" because he warmly supported + Morgan's interests. + </p> + <p> + 13 The Rev. Thomas Warburton, Swift's curate at Laracor, whom Swift + described to the Archbishop as "a gentleman of very good learning and + sense, who has behaved himself altogether unblamably." + </p> + <p> + 14 The tobacco was to be used as snuff. About this time ladies much + affected the use of snuff, and Steele, in No. 344 of the Spectator, speaks + of Flavilla pulling out her box, "which is indeed full of good Brazil," in + the middle of the sermon. People often made their own snuff out of roll + tobacco, by means of rasps. On Nov. 3, 1711, Swift speaks of sending "a + fine snuff rasp of ivory, given me by Mrs. St. John for Dingley, and a + large roll of tobacco." + </p> + <p> + 15 Katherine Barton, second daughter of Robert Barton, of Brigstock, + Northamptonshire, and niece of Sir Isaac Newton. She was a favourite among + the toasts of the Kit-Cat Club, and Lord Halifax, who left her a fortune, + was an intimate friend. In 1717 she married John Conduitt, afterwards + Master of the Mint. + </p> + <p> + 16 William Connolly, appointed a Commissioner of the Revenue in 1709, was + afterwards Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He died in 1729. Francis + Robarts, appointed a Commissioner of the Revenue in 1692, was made a + Teller of the Exchequer in England in 1704, and quitted that office, in + September 1710, on his reappointment, in Connolly's place, as Revenue + Commissioner in Ireland. In 1714 Robarts was removed, and Connolly again + appointed Commissioner. + </p> + <p> + 17 Enoch Sterne, Collector of Wicklow and Clerk to the Irish House of + Lords. Writing to Dr. Sterne on Sept. 26, Swift said, "I saw Collector + Sterne, who desired me to present his service to you, and to tell you he + would be glad to hear from you, but not about business." + </p> + <p> + 18 In his "Character of Mrs. Johnson" Swift says, "She was never known to + cry out, or discover any fear, in a coach." The passage in the text is + obscure. Apparently Esther Johnson had boasted of saving money by walking, + instead of riding, like a coward. + </p> + <p> + 19 John Radcliffe (1650-1714), the well-known physician and wit, was often + denounced as a clever empiric. Early in 1711 he treated Swift for his + dizziness. By his will, Radcliffe left most of his property to the + University of Oxford. + </p> + <p> + 20 Charles Barnard, Sergeant-Surgeon to the Queen, and Master of the + Barber Surgeons' Company. His large and valuable library, to which Swift + afterwards refers, fetched great prices. Luttrell records Barnard's death + in his diary for Oct. 12, 1710. + </p> + <p> + 21 Robert Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, had been appointed Chancellor + of the Exchequer in August 1710. In May 1711 he was raised to the peerage + and made Lord High Treasurer; and he is constantly referred to in the + Journal as "Lord Treasurer." He was impeached in 1715, but was acquitted + to 1717; he died in 1724. + </p> + <p> + 22 The Right Hon. Thomas Bligh, M.P., of Rathmore, County Meath, died on + Aug. 28, 1710. His son, mentioned later in the Journal, became Earl of + Darnley. + </p> + <p> + Letter 5. + </p> + <p> + 1 Penalty. + </p> + <p> + 2 Erasmus Lewis, Under Secretary of State under Lord Dartmouth, was a + great friend of Swift, Pope, and Arbuthnot. He had previously been one of + Harley's secretaries, and in his Horace Imitated, Book I. Ep. vii., Swift + describes him as "a cunning shaver, and very much in Harley's favour." + Arbuthnot says that under George I. Lewis kept company with the greatest, + and was "principal governor" in many families. Lewis was a witness to + Arbuthnot's will. Pope and Esther Vanhomrigh both left him money to buy + rings. Lewis died in 1754, aged eighty-three. + </p> + <p> + 3 Charles Darteneuf, or Dartiquenave, was a celebrated epicure, who is + said to have been a son of Charles II. Lord Lyttleton, in his Dialogues of + the Dead, recalling Pope's allusions to him, selects him to represent + modern bon vivants in the dialogue between Darteneuf and Apicius. See + Tatler 252. Darteneuf was Paymaster of the Royal Works and a member of the + Kit-Cat Club. He died in 1737. + </p> + <p> + 4 No. 230. + </p> + <p> + 5 Good, excellent. + </p> + <p> + 6 Captain George Delaval, appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the King of + Portugal in Oct, 1710, was with Lord Peterborough in Spain in 1706. In May + 1707 he went to Lisbon with despatches for the Courts of Spain and + Portugal, from whence he was to proceed as Envoy to the Emperor of + Morocco, with rich presents (Luttrell, vi. 52, 174, 192). + </p> + <p> + 7 Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, as Ranger of Bushey Park and Hampton + Court, held many offices under William III., and was First Lord of the + Treasury under George I., until his death in 1715. He was great as + financier and as debater, and he was a liberal patron of literature. + </p> + <p> + 8 John Manley, M.P. for Bossiney, was made Surveyor-General on Sept. 30, + 1710, and died in 1714. In 1706 he fought a duel with another Cornish + member (Luttrell, vi. 11, 535, 635). He seems to be the cousin whom Mrs. + De la Riviere Manley accuses of having drawn her into a false marriage. + For Isaac Manley and Sir Thomas Frankland, see Letter 3, notes 3 and 4. + </p> + <p> + 9 The Earl of Godolphin (see Letter 2, note 3). + </p> + <p> + 10 Sir John Stanley, Bart., of Northend, Commissioner of Customs, whom + Swift knew through his intimate friends the Pendarves. His wife, Anne, + daughter of Bernard Granville, and niece of John, Earl of Bath, was aunt + to Mary Granville, afterwards Mrs. Delany, who lived with the Stanleys at + their house in Whitehall. + </p> + <p> + 11 Henry, Viscount Hyde, eldest son of Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, + succeeded his father in the earldom in 1711, and afterwards became Earl of + Clarendon. His wife, Jane, younger daughter of Sir William Leveson Gower,—who + married a daughter of John Granville, Earl of Bath,—was a beauty, + and the mother of two beauties—Jane, afterwards Countess of Essex + (see journal, Jan. 29, 1712), and Catherine, afterwards Countess of + Queensberry. Lady Hyde was complimented by Prior, Pope, and her kinsman, + Lord Lansdowne, and is said to have been more handsome than either of her + daughters. She died in 1725; her husband in 1753. Lord Hyde became joint + Vice-Treasurer for Ireland in 1710; hence his interest with respect to + Pratt's appointment. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 3, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 13 Sir Paul Methuen (1672-1757), son of John Methuen, diplomatist and Lord + Chancellor of Ireland. Methuen was Envoy and Ambassador to Portugal from + 1697 to 1708, and was M.P. for Devizes from 1708 to 1710, and a Lord of + the Admiralty. Under George I. he was Ambassador to Spain, and held other + offices. Gay speaks of "Methuen of sincerest mind, as Arthur grave, as + soft as womankind," and Steele dedicated to him the seventh volume of the + Spectator. In his Notes on Macky's Characters, Swift calls him "a + profligate rogue... without abilities of any kind." + </p> + <p> + 14 Sir James Montagu was Attorney-General from 1708 to Sept. 1710, when he + resigned, and was succeeded by Sir Simon Harcourt. Under George I. Montagu + was raised to the Bench, and a few months before his death in 1723 became + Chief Baron of the Exchequer. + </p> + <p> + 15 The turnpike system had spread rapidly since the Restoration, and had + already effected an important reform in the English roads. Turnpike roads + were as yet unknown in Ireland. + </p> + <p> + 16 Ann Johnson, who afterwards married a baker named Filby. + </p> + <p> + 17 An infusion of which the main ingredient was cowslip or palsy-wort. + </p> + <p> + 18 William Legge, first Earl of Dartmouth (1672-1750), was St. John's + fellow Secretary of State. Lord Dartmouth seems to have been a plain, + unpretending man, whose ignorance of French helped to throw important + matters into St. John's hands. + </p> + <p> + 19 Richard Dyot was tried at the Old Bailey, on Jan. 13, 1710-11, for + counterfeiting stamps, and was acquitted, the crime being found not + felony, but only breach of trust. Two days afterwards a bill of indictment + was found against him for high misdemeanour. + </p> + <p> + 20 Sir Philip Meadows (1626-1718) was knighted in 1658, and was Ambassador + to Sweden under Cromwell. His son Philip (died 1757) was knighted in 1700, + and was sent on a special mission to the Emperor in 1707. A great-grandson + of the elder Sir Philip was created Earl Manvers in 1806. + </p> + <p> + 21 Her eyes were weak. + </p> + <p> + 22 The son of the Sir Robert Southwell to whom Temple had offered Swift as + a "servant" on his going as Secretary of State to Ireland in 1690. Edward + Southwell (1671-1730) succeeded his father as Secretary of State for + Ireland in 1702, and in 1708 was appointed Clerk to the Privy Council of + Great Britain. Southwell held various offices under George I. and George + II., and amassed a considerable fortune. + </p> + <p> + 23 Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), dramatist and poet laureate, and one of the + first editors of Shakespeare, was at this time under-secretary to the Duke + of Queensberry, Secretary of State for Scotland. + </p> + <p> + 24 No. 238 contains Swift's "Description of a Shower in London." + </p> + <p> + 25 This seems to be a vague allusion to the text, "Cast thy bread upon the + waters," etc. + </p> + <p> + 26 Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), the fashionable portrait-painter of + the period. + </p> + <p> + 27 At the General election of 1710 the contest at Westminster excited much + interest. The number of constituents was large, and the franchise low, all + householders who paid scot and lot being voters. There were, too, many + houses of great Whig merchants, and a number of French Protestants. But + the High Church candidates, Cross and Medlicott, were returned by large + majorities, though the Whigs had chosen popular candidates—General + Stanhope, fresh from his successes in Spain, and Sir Henry Dutton Colt, a + Herefordshire gentleman. + </p> + <p> + 28 Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676-1753), a distinguished antiquary, of an old + Norfolk family, was knighted by William III. in 1699, and inherited his + father's estate at Norfolk in 1706. He succeeded Sir Isaac Newton as + Warden of the Mint in 1727, and was Vice-Chamberlain to Queen Caroline. He + became acquainted with Swift in Ireland in 1707, when he went over as + Usher of the Black Rod in Lord Pembroke's Court. + </p> + <p> + 29 See Letter 2, note 17. The Bishop was probably Dr. Moreton, Bishop of + Meath (see Journal, July 1, 1712). + </p> + <p> + 30 The game of ombre—of Spanish origin—is described in Pope's + Rape of the Lock. See also the Compleat Gamester, 1721, and Notes and + Queries, April 8, 1871. The ace of spades, or Spadille, was always the + first trump; the ace of clubs (Basto) always the third. The second trump + was the worst card of the trump suit in its natural order, i.e. the seven + in red and the deuce in black suits, and was called Manille. If either of + the red suits was trumps, the ace of the suit was fourth trump (Punto). + Spadille, Manille, and Basto were "matadores," or murderers, as they never + gave suit. + </p> + <p> + 31 See Letter 3, note 30, + </p> + <p> + 32 In the Spectator, No. 337, there is a complaint from "one of the top + China women about town," of the trouble given by ladies who turn over all + the goods in a shop without buying anything. Sometimes they cheapened tea, + at others examined screens or tea-dishes. + </p> + <p> + 33 The Right Hon. John Grubham Howe, M.P. for Gloucestershire, an extreme + Tory, had recently been appointed Paymaster of the Forces. He is mentioned + satirically as a patriot in sec. 9 of The Tale of a Tub. + </p> + <p> + 34 George Henry Hay, Viscount Dupplin, eldest son of the sixth Earl of + Kinnoull, was made a Teller of the Exchequer in August, and a peer of + Great Britain in December 1711, with the title of Baron Hay. He married, + in 1709, Abigail, Harley's younger daughter, and he succeeded his father + in the earldom of Kinnoull in 1719. + </p> + <p> + 35 Edward Harley, afterwards Lord Harley, who succeeded his father as Earl + of Oxford in 1724. He married Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, daughter of + the Duke of Newcastle, but died without male issue in 1741. His interest + in literature caused him to form the collection known as the Harleian + Miscellany. + </p> + <p> + 36 William Penn (1644-1718), the celebrated founder of Pennsylvania. Swift + says that he "spoke very agreeably, and with much spirit." + </p> + <p> + 37 This "Memorial to Mr. Harley about the First-Fruits" is dated Oct. 7, + 1710. + </p> + <p> + 38 Henry St. John, created Viscount Bolingbroke in July 1712. In the + quarrel between Oxford and Bolingbroke in 1714, Swift's sympathies were + with Oxford. + </p> + <p> + 39 I.e., it is decreed by fate. So Tillotson says, "These things are fatal + and necessary." + </p> + <p> + 40 See Letter 3, note 8. + </p> + <p> + 41 Obscure. Hooker speaks of a "blind or secret corner." + </p> + <p> + 42 Ale served in a gill measure. + </p> + <p> + 43 Scott suggests that the allusion is to The Tale of a Tub. + </p> + <p> + 44 An extravagant compliment. + </p> + <p> + 45 See Letter 8. + </p> + <p> + 46 L'Estrange speaks of "trencher-flies and spungers." + </p> + <p> + 47 See Letter 1, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 48 Samuel Garth, physician and member of the Kit-Cat Club, was knighted in + 1714. He is best known by his satirical poem, The Dispensary, 1699. + </p> + <p> + 49 Gay speaks of "Wondering Main, so fat, with laughing eyes" (Mr. Pope's + Welcome from Greece, st. xvii.). + </p> + <p> + 50 See Letter 5, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 51 See the letter of Oct. 10, 1710, to Archbishop King. + </p> + <p> + 52 See Letter 1. + </p> + <p> + 53 Seventy-three lines in folio upon one page, and in a very small hand." + (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + Letter 6. + </p> + <p> + 1. I.e., Lord Lieutenant. + </p> + <p> + 2 Tatler, No. 238. + </p> + <p> + 3 See Letter 1, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 4 Charles Coote, fourth Earl of Mountrath, and M.P. for Knaresborough. He + died unmarried in 1715. + </p> + <p> + 5 Henry Coote, Lord Mountrath's brother. He succeeded to the earldom in + 1715, but died unmarried in 1720. + </p> + <p> + 6 The Devil Tavern was the meeting-place of Ben Jonson's Apollo Club. The + house was pulled down in 1787. + </p> + <p> + 7 Addison was re-elected M.P. for Malmesbury in Oct. 1710, and he kept + that seat until his death in 1719. + </p> + <p> + 8 Captain Charles Lavallee, who served in the Cadiz Expedition of 1702, + and was appointed a captain in Colonel Hans Hamilton's Regiment of Foot in + 1706 (Luttrell, v. 175, vi. 640; Dalton's English Army Lists, iv. 126). + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 5. + </p> + <p> + 10 The Tatler, No. 230, Sid Hamet's Rod, and the ballad (now lost) on the + Westminster Election. + </p> + <p> + 11 The Earl of Galway (1648-1720), who lost the battle of Almanza to the + Duke of Berwick in 1707. Originally the Marquis de Ruvigny, a French + refugee, he had been made Viscount Galway and Earl of Galway successively + by William III. + </p> + <p> + 12 William Harrison, the son of a doctor at St. Cross, Winchester, had + been recommended to Swift by Addison, who obtained for him the post of + governor to the Duke of Queensberry's son. In Jan. 1711 Harrison began the + issue of a continuation of Steele's Tatler with Swift's assistance, but + without success. In May 1711, St. John gave Harrison the appointment of + secretary to Lord Raby, Ambassador Extraordinary at the Hague, and in Jan. + 1713 Harrison brought the Barrier Treaty to England. He died in the + following month, at the age of twenty-seven, and Lady Strafford says that + "his brother poets buried him, as Mr. Addison, Mr. Philips, and Dr. + Swift." Tickell calls him "that much loved youth," and Swift felt his + death keenly. Harrison's best poem is Woodstock Park, 1706. + </p> + <p> + 13 The last volume of Tonson's Miscellany, 1708. + </p> + <p> + 14 James Douglas, second Duke of Queensberry and Duke of Dover + (1662-1711), was appointed joint Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1708, and + third Secretary of State in 1709. Harrison must have been "governor" + either to the third son, Charles, Marquis of Beverley (born 1698), who + succeeded to the dukedom in 1711, or to the fourth son, George, born in + 1701. + </p> + <p> + 15 Anthony Henley, son of Sir Robert Henley, M.P. for Andover, was a + favourite with the wits in London. He was a strong Whig, and occasionally + contributed to the Tatler and Maynwaring's Medley. Garth dedicated The + Dispensary to him. Swift records Henley's death from apoplexy in August + 1711. + </p> + <p> + 16 Sir William Ashurst, Sir Gilbert Heathcote, and Mr. John Ward were + replaced by Sir Richard Hoare, Sir George Newland, and Mr. John Cass at + the election for the City in 1710. Scott was wrong in saying that the + Whigs lost also the fourth seat, for Sir William Withers had been member + for the City since 1707. + </p> + <p> + 17 Sir Richard Onslow, Bart., was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons + in 1708. Under George I. he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was + elevated to the peerage as Baron Onslow in 1716. He died in the following + year. + </p> + <p> + 18 "The upper part of the letter was a little besmeared with some such + stuff; the mark is still on it" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 19 John Bolton, D.D., appointed a prebendary of St. Patrick's in 1691, + became Dean of Derry in 1699. He died in 1724. Like Swift, Bolton was + chaplain to Lord Berkeley, the Lord Lieutenant, and, according to Swift, + he obtained the deanery of Derry through Swift having declined to give a + bribe of 1000 pounds to Lord Berkeley's secretary. But Lord Orrery says + that the Bishop of Derry objected to Swift, fearing that he would be + constantly flying backwards and forwards between Ireland and England. + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 2, note 16. + </p> + <p> + 21 "That is, to the next page; for he is now within three lines of the + bottom of the first" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 22 See Letter 4, note 15. + </p> + <p> + 23 Joshua Dawson, secretary to the Lords Justices. He built a fine house + in Dawson Street, Dublin, and provided largely for his relatives by the + aid of the official patronage in his hands. + </p> + <p> + 24 He had been dead three weeks (see Letters 3 and 5). + </p> + <p> + 25 In The Importance of the Guardian Considered, Swift says that Steele, + "to avoid being discarded, thought fit to resign his place of Gazetteer." + </p> + <p> + 26 As Swift never used the name "Stella" in the Journal, this fragment of + his "little language" must have been altered by Deane Swift, the first + editor. Forster makes the excellent suggestion that the correct reading is + "sluttikins," a word used in the Journal on Nov. 28, 1710. Swift often + calls his correspondents "sluts." + </p> + <p> + 27 Godolphin, who was satirised in Sid Hamel's Rod (see Letter 2, note 3). + </p> + <p> + 28 No. 230. + </p> + <p> + 29 "This appears to be an interjection of surprise at the length of his + journal" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 30 Matthew Prior, poet and diplomatist, had been deprived of his + Commissionership of Trade by the Whigs, but was rewarded for his Tory + principles in 1711 by a Commissionership of Customs. + </p> + <p> + 31 "The twentieth parts are 12 pence in the pound paid annually out of all + ecclesiastical benefices as they were valued at the Reformation. They + amount to about 500 pounds per annum; but are of little or no value to the + Queen after the offices and other charges are paid, though of much trouble + and vexation to the clergy" (Swift's "Memorial to Mr. Harley"). + </p> + <p> + 32 Charles Mordaunt, the brilliant but erratic Earl of Peterborough, had + been engaged for two years, after the unsatisfactory inquiry into his + conduct in Spain by the House of Lords in 1708, in preparing an account of + the money he had received and expended. The change of Government brought + him relief from his troubles; in November he was made Captain-General of + Marines, and in December he was nominated Ambassador Extraordinary to + Vienna. + </p> + <p> + 33 Tapped, nudged. + </p> + <p> + 34 I.e., told only to you. + </p> + <p> + 35 Sir Hew Dalrymple (1652-1737), Lord President of the Court of Session, + and son of the first Viscount Stair. + </p> + <p> + 36 Robert Benson, a moderate Tory, was made a Lord of the Treasury in + August 1710, and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the following June, and + was raised to the peerage as Baron Bingley in 1713. He died in 1731. + </p> + <p> + 37 The Smyrna Coffee-house was on the north side of Pall Mall, opposite + Marlborough House. In the Tatler (Nos. 10, 78) Steele laughed at the + "cluster of wise heads" to be found every evening at the Smyrna; and + Goldsmith says that Beau Nash would wait a whole day at a window at the + Smyrna, in order to receive a bow from the Prince or the Duchess of + Marlborough, and would then look round upon the company for admiration and + respect. + </p> + <p> + 38 See Letter 4, note 14. + </p> + <p> + 39 See Letter 5, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 40 An Irish doctor, with whom Swift invested money. + </p> + <p> + 41 Enoch Sterne, Collector of Wicklow and Clerk to the House of Lords in + Ireland. + </p> + <p> + 42 Claret. + </p> + <p> + 43 Colonel Ambrose Edgworth, a famous dandy, who is supposed to have been + referred to by Steele in No. 246 of the Tatler. Edgworth was the son of + Sir John Edgworth, who was made Colonel of a Regiment of Foot in 1689 + (Dalton, iii, 59). Ambrose Edgworth was a Captain in the same regiment, + but father and son were shortly afterwards turned out of the regiment for + dishonest conduct in connection with the soldiers' clothing. Ambrose was, + however, reappointed a Captain in General Eric's Regiment of Foot in 1691. + He served in Spain as Major in Brigadier Gorge's regiment; was taken + prisoner in 1706; and was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of Colonel Thomas + Allen's Regiment of Foot in 1707. + </p> + <p> + 44 This volume of Miscellanies in Prose and Verse was published by Morphew + in 1711. + </p> + <p> + 45 Dr. Thomas Lindsay, afterwards Bishop of Raphoe. + </p> + <p> + Letter 7. + </p> + <p> + 1 The first mention of the Vanhomrighs in the Journal. Swift had made + their acquaintance when he was in London in 1708. + </p> + <p> + 2 Lady Elizabeth and Lady Mary (see Letter 3, note 40 and below). + </p> + <p> + 3 John, third Lord Ashburnham, and afterwards Earl of Ashburnham + (1687-1737), married, on Oct. 21, 1710, Lady Mary Butler, younger daughter + of the Duke of Ormond. She died on Jan. 2, 1712-3, in her twenty-third + year. She was Swift's "greatest favourite," and he was much moved at her + death. + </p> + <p> + 4 Edward Wortley Montagu, grandson of the first Earl of Sandwich, and M.P. + for Huntingdon. He was a great friend of Addison's, and the second volume + of the Tatler was dedicated to him. In 1712 he married the famous Lady + Mary Pierrepont, eldest daughter of the Duke of Kingston, and under George + I. he became Ambassador Extraordinary to the Porte. He died in 1761, aged + eighty. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 5, note 27. No copy of these verses is known. + </p> + <p> + 6 Henry Alexander, fifth Earl of Stirling, who died without issue in 1739. + His sister, Lady Judith Alexander, married Sir William Trumbull, Pope's + friend. + </p> + <p> + 7 "These words, notwithstanding their great obscurity at present, were + very clear and intelligible to Mrs. Johnson: they referred to + conversations, which passed between her and Dr. Tisdall seven or eight + years before; when the Doctor, who was not only a learned and faithful + divine, but a zealous Church-Tory, frequently entertained her with + Convocation disputes. This gentleman, in the year 1704, paid his addresses + to Mrs. Johnson" (Deane Swift). The Rev. William Tisdall was made D.D. in + 1707. Swift never forgave Tisdall's proposal to marry Esther Johnson in + 1704, and often gave expression to his contempt for him. In 1706 Tisdall + married, and was appointed Vicar of Kerry and Ruavon; in 1712 he became + Vicar of Belfast. He published several controversial pieces, directed + against Presbyterians and other Dissenters. + </p> + <p> + 8 No. 193 of the Tatler, for July 4, 1710, contained a letter from Downes + the Prompter in ridicule of Harley's newly formed Ministry. This letter, + the authorship of which Steele disavowed, was probably by Anthony Henley. + </p> + <p> + 9 William Berkeley, fourth Baron Berkeley of Stratton, was sworn of the + Privy Council in September 1710, and was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy + of Lancaster. He married Frances, youngest daughter of Sir John Temple, of + East Sheen, Surrey, and died in 1740. + </p> + <p> + 10 Probably the widow of Sir William Temple's son, John Temple (see Letter + 2, note 13). She was Mary Duplessis, daughter of Duplessis Rambouillet, a + Huguenot. + </p> + <p> + 11 The Rev. James Sartre, who married Addison's sister Dorothy, was + Prebendary and Archdeacon of Westminster. He had formerly been French + pastor at Montpelier. After his death in 1713 his widow married a Mr. + Combe, and lived until 1750. + </p> + <p> + 12 William Congreve's last play was produced in 1700. In 1710, when he was + forty, he published a collected edition of his works. Swift and Congreve + had been schoolfellows at Kilkenny, and they had both been pupils of St. + George Ashe—afterwards Bishop of Clogher—at Trinity College, + Dublin. On Congreve's death, in 1729, Swift wrote, "I loved him from my + youth." + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 4, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 14 Dean Sterne. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 6, note 19. + </p> + <p> + 16 When he became Dean he withheld from Swift the living of St. Nicholas + Without, promised in gratitude for the aid rendered by Swift in his + election. + </p> + <p> + 17 Crowe was a Commissioner for Appeals from the Revenue Commissioners for + a short time in 1706, and was Recorder of Blessington, Co. Wicklow. In his + Short Character of Thomas, Earl of Wharton, 1710, Swift speaks of Whartons + "barbarous injustice to... poor Will Crowe." + </p> + <p> + 18 See Letter 3, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 3, note 35. + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 1, note 15. + </p> + <p> + 21 Richard Tighe, M.P. for Belturbet, was a Whig, much disliked by Swift. + He became a Privy Councillor under George I. + </p> + <p> + 22 Dryden Leach, of the Old Bailey, formerly an actor, was son of Francis + Leach. Swift recommended Harrison to employ Leach in printing the + continuation of the Tatler; but Harrison discarded him. (See Journal, Jan. + 16, 1710-11, and Timperley's Literary Anecdotes, 600, 631). + </p> + <p> + 23 The Postman, which appeared three days in the week, written by M. + Fonvive, a French Protestant, whom Dunton calls "the glory and mirror of + news writers, a very grave, learned, orthodox man." Fonvive had a + universal system of intelligence, at home and abroad, and "as his news is + early and good, so his style is excellent." + </p> + <p> + 24 Sir William Temple left Esther Johnson the lease of some property in + Ireland. + </p> + <p> + 25 See Letter 5, note 23. + </p> + <p> + 26 An out-of-the-way or obscure house. So Pepys (Diary, Oct. 15, 1661) "To + St. Paul's Churchyard to a blind place where Mr. Goldsborough was to meet + me." + </p> + <p> + 27 Sir Richard Temple, Bart., of Stowe, a Lieutenant-General who saw much + service in Flanders, was dismissed in 1713 owing to his Whig views, but on + the accession of George I. was raised to the peerage, and was created + Viscount Cobham in 1718. He died in 1749. Congreve wrote in praise of him, + and he was the "brave Cobham" of Pope's first Moral Essay. + </p> + <p> + 28 Richard Estcourt, the actor, died in August 1712, when his abilities on + the stage and as a talker were celebrated by Steele to No. 468 of the + Spectator. See also Tatler, Aug. 6, 1709, and Spectator, May 5, 1712. + Estcourt was "providore" of the Beef-Steak Club, and a few months before + his death opened the Bumper Tavern in James Street, Covent Garden. + </p> + <p> + 29 See Letter 5, note 49. + </p> + <p> + 30 Poor, mean. Elsewhere Swift speaks of "the corrector of a hedge press + in Little Britain," and "a little hedge vicar." + </p> + <p> + 31 Thomas Herbert, eighth Earl of Pembroke, was Lord Lieutenant from April + 1707 to December 1708. A nobleman of taste and learning, he was, like + Swift, very fond of punning, and they had been great friends in Ireland. + </p> + <p> + 32 See Letter 3, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 33 See Letter 3, note 18. + </p> + <p> + 34 A small town and fortress in what is now the Pas de Calais. + </p> + <p> + 35 Richard Stewart, third son of the first Lord Mountjoy (see Letter 1, + note 11), was M.P. at various times for Castlebar, Strabane, and County + Tyrone. He died in 1728. + </p> + <p> + Letter 8. + </p> + <p> + 1 See Letter 3, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 2 Swift, Esther Johnson, and Mrs. Dingley seem to have begun their + financial year on the 1st of November. Swift refers to "MD's allowance" in + the Journal for April 23, 1713. + </p> + <p> + 3 Samuel Dopping, an Irish friend of Stella's, who was probably related to + Anthony Dopping, Bishop of Meath (died 1697), and to his son Anthony (died + 1743), who became Bishop of Ossory. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 2, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 5 The wife of Alderman Stoyte, afterwards Lord Mayor of Dublin. Mrs. + Stoyte and her sister Catherine; the Walls; Isaac Manley and his wife; + Dean Sterne, Esther Johnson and Mrs. Dingley, and Swift, were the + principal members of a card club which met at each other's houses for a + number of years. + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 1, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 7 "This cypher stands for Presto, Stella, and Dingley; as much as to say, + it looks like us three quite retired from all the rest of the world" + (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 8 Steele's "dear Prue," Mary Scurlock, whom he married as his second wife + in 1707, was a lady of property and a "cried-up beauty." She was somewhat + of a prude, and did not hesitate to complain to her husband, in and out of + season, of his extravagance and other weaknesses. The other lady to whom + Swift alludes is probably the Duchess of Marlborough. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 7, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 10 Remembers: an Irish expression. + </p> + <p> + 11 This new Commission, signed by Narcissus Marsh, Archbishop of Armagh, + and William King, was dated Oct. 24, 1710. In this document Swift was + begged to take the full management of the business of the First-Fruits + into his hands, the Bishops of Ossory and Killala—who were to have + joined with him in the negotiations—having left London before Swift + arrived. But before this commission was despatched the Queen had granted + the First-Fruits and Twentieth Parts to the Irish clergy. + </p> + <p> + 12 Lady Mountjoy, wife of the second Viscount Mountjoy (see Letter 1), was + Anne, youngest daughter of Murrough Boyle, first Viscount Blessington, by + his second wife, Anne, daughter of Charles Coote, second Earl of + Mountrath. After Lord Mountjoy's death she married John Farquharson, and + she died in 1741. + </p> + <p> + 13 Forster suggests that Swift wrote "Frond " or "Frowde" and there is + every reason to believe that this was the case. No Colonel Proud appears + in Dalton's Army Lists. A Colonel William Frowde, apparently third son of + Sir Philip Frowde, Knight, by his third wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir + John Ashburnham, was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in Colonel Farrington's + (see note 18) Regiment of Foot in 1694. He resigned his commission on his + appointment to the First Life Guards in 1702, and he was in this latter + regiment in 1704. In November and December 1711 Swift wrote of Philip + Frowde the elder (Colonel William Frowde's brother) as "an old fool," in + monetary difficulties. It is probable that Swift's Colonel Proud (? + Frowde) was not Colonel William Frowde, but his nephew, Philip Frowde, + junior, who was Addison's friend at Oxford, and the author of two + tragedies and various poems. Nothing seems known of Philip Frowde's + connection with the army, but he is certainly called "Colonel" by Swift, + Addison, and Pope (see Forster's Swift, 159; Addison's Works, v. 324; + Pope's Works, v. 177, vi. 227). Swift wrote to Ambrose Philips in 1705, + "Col. Frond is just as he was, very friendly and grand reveur et distrait. + He has brought his poems almost to perfection." It will be observed that + when Swift met Colonel "Proud" he was in company with Addison, as was also + the case when he was with Colonel "Freind" (see Letter 3, note 25). + </p> + <p> + 14 Charles Davenant, LL.D., educated at Balliol College, Oxford, was the + eldest son of Sir William Davenant, author of Gondibert. In Parliament he + attacked Ministerial abuses with great bitterness until, in 1703, he was + made secretary to the Commissioners appointed to treat for a union with + Scotland. To this post was added, in 1705, an Inspector-Generalship of + Exports and Imports, which he retained until his death in 1714. Tom + Double, a satire on his change of front after obtaining his place, was + published in 1704. In a Note on Macky's character of Davenant, Swift says, + "He ruined his estate, which put him under a necessity to comply with the + times." Davenant's True Picture of a Modern Whig, in Two Parts, appeared + in 1701-2; in 1707 he published "The True Picture of a Modern Whig + revived, set forth in a third dialogue between Whiglove and Double," which + seems to be the piece mentioned in the text, though Swift speaks of the + pamphlet as "lately put out." + </p> + <p> + 15 Hugh Chamberlen, the younger (1664-1728), was a Fellow of the College + of Physicians and Censor in 1707, 1717, and 1721. Atterbury and the + Duchess of Buckingham and Normanby were among his fashionable patients. + His father, Hugh Chamberlen, M.D., was the author of the Land Bank Scheme + of 1693-94. + </p> + <p> + 16 Sir John Holland (see Letter 3, note 28). + </p> + <p> + 17 Swift may mean either rambling or gambolling. + </p> + <p> + 18 Thomas Farrington was appointed Colonel of the newly raised 29th + Regiment of Foot in 1702. He was a subscriber for a copy of the Tatler on + royal paper (Aitken, Life of Steele, i. 329, 330). + </p> + <p> + 19 In The History of Vanbrugh's House, Swift described everyone as hunting + for it up and down the river banks, and unable to find it, until at length + they— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "— in the rubbish spy + A thing resembling a goose pie." +</pre> + <p> + Sir John Vanbrugh was more successful as a dramatist than as an architect, + though his work at Blenheim and elsewhere has many merits. + </p> + <p> + 20 For the successes of the last campaign. + </p> + <p> + 21 John Sheffield, third Earl of Mulgrave, was created Duke of Buckingham + and Normanby in 1703, and died in 1721. On Queen Anne's accession he + became Lord Privy Seal, and on the return of the Tories to power in 1710 + he was Lord Steward, and afterward (June 1710) Lord President of the + Council. The Duke was a poet, as well as a soldier and statesman, his best + known work being the Essay on Poetry. He was Dryden's patron, and Pope + prepared a collected edition of his works. + </p> + <p> + 22 Laurence Hyde, created Earl of Rochester in 1682, died in 1711. He was + the Hushai of Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, "the friend of David in + distress." In 1684 he was made Lord President of the Council, and on the + accession of James II., Lord Treasurer; he was, however, dismissed in + 1687. Under William III. Rochester was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, an + office he resigned in 1703; and in September 1710 he again became Lord + President. His imperious temper always stood in the way of popularity or + real success. + </p> + <p> + 23 Sir Thomas Osborne, Charles II.'s famous Minister, was elevated to the + peerage in 1673, and afterwards was made successively Earl of Danby, + Marquis of Caermarthen, and Duke of Leeds. On Nov. 29, 1710, a few days + after this reference to him, the Duke was granted a pension of 3500 pounds + a year out of the Post Office revenues. He died in July 1712, aged + eighty-one, and soon afterwards his grandson married Lord Oxford's + daughter. + </p> + <p> + 24 This is, of course, a joke; Swift was never introduced at Court. + </p> + <p> + 25 Captain Delaval (see Letter 5, note 6). + </p> + <p> + 26 Admiral Sir Charles Wager (1666-1743) served in the West Indies from + 1707 to 1709, and gained great wealth from the prizes he took. Under + George I. he was Comptroller of the Navy, and in 1733 he became First Lord + of the Admiralty, a post which he held until 1742. + </p> + <p> + 27 See Letter 7, note 27. + </p> + <p> + 28 See Letter 5, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 29 Isaac Bickerstaff's "valentine" sent him a nightcap, finely wrought by + a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth (Tatler, No. 141). The "nightcap" was + a periwig with a short tie and small round head, and embroidered nightcaps + were worn chiefly by members of the graver professions. + </p> + <p> + 30 Tatler, No. 237. + </p> + <p> + 31 Tatler, No. 230. + </p> + <p> + 32 "Returning home at night, you'll find the sink + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Strike your offended sense with double stink." + ("Description of a City Shower, 11. 5, 6.) +</pre> + <p> + 33 Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. + </p> + <p> + 34 See Letter 1, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 35 See Letter 8, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 36 See Letter 6, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 37 See Letter 1, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 38 The bellman's accents. Cf. Pepys' Diary, Jan. 16, 1659-60: "I staid up + till the bellman came by with his bell just under my window as I was + writing of this very line, and cried, 'Past one of the clock, and a cold, + frosty, windy morning.'" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0072" id="link2H_4_0072"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 9. + </h2> + <p> + 1 John Freind, M.D. (1675-1728), was a younger brother of the Robert + Freind, of Westminster School, mentioned elsewhere in the Journal. + Educated under Dr. Busby at Westminster, he was in 1694 elected a student + of Christ Church, where he made the acquaintance of Atterbury, and + supported Boyle against Bentley in the dispute as to the authorship of the + letters of Phalaris. In 1705 he attended the Earl of Peterborough to + Spain, and in the following year wrote a defence of that commander + (Account of the Earl of Peterborough's Conduct in Spain). A steady Tory, + he took a share in the defence of Dr. Sacheverell; and in 1723, when M.P. + for Launceston, he fell under the suspicion of the Government, and was + sent to the Tower. On the accession of George II., however, he came into + favour with the Court, and died Physician to the Queen. + </p> + <p> + 2 See Letter 8, note 19. + </p> + <p> + 3 St. John was thirty-two in October 1710. He had been Secretary at War + six years before, resigning with Harley in 1707. Swift repeats this + comparison elsewhere. Temple was forty-six when he refused a Secretaryship + of State in 1674. + </p> + <p> + 4 Sir Henry St. John seems to have continued a gay man to the end of his + life. In his youth he was tried and convicted for the murder of Sir + William Estcourt in a duel (Scott). In 1716, after his son had been + attainted, he was made Viscount St. John. He died in 1742, aged ninety. + </p> + <p> + 5 "Swift delighted to let his pen run into such rhymes as these, which he + generally passes off as old proverbs" (Scott). Many of the charming scraps + of "Old Ballads" and "Old Plays" at the head of Scott's own chapters are + in reality the result of his own imagination. + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 3, note 18. + </p> + <p> + 7 Sir Richard Levinge, Bart., had been Solicitor-General for Ireland from + 1704 to 1709, and was Attorney-General from 1711 to 1714. Afterwards he + was Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and Chief-Justice of the Common + Pleas in Ireland. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 2, note 18. + </p> + <p> + 9 Thomas Belasyse, second Viscount Fauconberg, or Falconbridge (died + 1700), a nobleman of hereditary loyalty, married, in 1657, the Protector's + youngest daughter, Mary Cromwell, who is represented as a lady of high + talent and spirit. She died on March 14, 1712. Burnet describes her as "a + wise and worthy woman," who would have had a better prospect of + maintaining her father's post than either of her brothers. + </p> + <p> + 10 Richard Freeman, Chief Baron, was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1707 + until his death in November 1710. + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 7, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 12 Sir Richard Cox, Bart. (1650-1733), was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from + 1703 to 1707. In 1711 he was appointed Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench, + but he was removed from office on the death of Queen Anne. His zealous + Protestantism sometimes caused his views to be warped, but he was honest + and well-principled. + </p> + <p> + 13 Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bart. (1676-1746), succeeded Bromley as Speaker in + 1714. In February 1713 Swift said, "He is the most considerable man in the + House of Commons." His edition of Shakespeare was published by the + University of Oxford in 1743-44. Pope called it "pompous," and sneered at + Hanmer's "superior air" (Dunciad, iv. 105). + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 5, note 8. + </p> + <p> + 15 Elliot was keeper of the St. James's Coffee-house (see Letter 1). + </p> + <p> + 16 Forster suggested that the true reading is "writhing." If so, it is not + necessary to suppose that Lady Giffard was the cause of it. Perhaps it is + the word "tiger" that is corrupt. + </p> + <p> + 17 The Hon. Charles Boyle (1676-1731), of the Boyle and Bentley + controversy, succeeded to the peerage as Lord Orrery in 1703. When he + settled in London he became the centre of a Christ Church set, a strong + adherent of Harley's party, and a member of Swift's "club." His son John, + fifth Earl of Orrery, published Remarks on the Life and Writings of + Jonathan Swift in 1751. + </p> + <p> + 18 William Domville, a landed proprietor in County Dublin, whom Swift + called "perfectly as fine a gentleman as I know." + </p> + <p> + 19 On May 16, 1711, Swift wrote, "There will be an old to do." The word is + found in Elizabethan writers in the sense of "more than enough." Cf. + Macbeth, ii. 3: "If a man were porter of hell gate, he should have old + turning the key." + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 3, note 10. Clements was related to Pratt, the Deputy + Vice-Treasurer, and was probably the Robert Clements who became Deputy + Vice-Treasurer, and whose grandson Robert was created Earl of Leitrim in + 1795. + </p> + <p> + 21 Letter 5, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 22 Swift's sister Jane, who had married a currier in Bride Street, named + Joseph Fenton, a match to which Swift strongly objected. Deane Swift says + that Swift never saw his sister again after the marriage; he had offered + her 500 pounds if she would show a "proper disdain" of Fenton. On her + husband's dying bankrupt, however, Swift paid her an annuity until 1738, + when she died in the same lodging with Esther Johnson's mother, Mrs. + Bridget Mose, at Farnham (Forster's Swift, pp. 118-19). + </p> + <p> + 23 Welbore Ellis, appointed Bishop of Kildare in 1705. He was translated + to Meath in 1731, and died three years later. + </p> + <p> + 24 The expression of the Archbishop is, "I am not to conceal from you that + some expressed a little jealously, that you would not be acceptable to the + present courtiers; intimating that you were under the reputation of being + a favourite of the late party in power" (King to Swift, Nov. 2, 1710). + </p> + <p> + 25 This indignant letter is dated Nov. 23, 1710. It produced an apologetic + reply from the Archbishop (Nov. 30, 1710), who represented that the letter + to Southwell was a snare laid in his way, since if he declined signing it, + it might have been interpreted into disrespect to the Duke of Ormond. Of + the bishops King said, "You cannot do yourself a greater service than to + bring this to a good issue, to their shame and conviction." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0073" id="link2H_4_0073"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 10. + </h2> + <p> + 1 William Bromley (died 1732) was M.P. for the University of Oxford. A + good debater and a strong High Churchman, he was Secretary of State from + August 1713 until the Queen's death in the following year. + </p> + <p> + 2 Colonel, afterwards Major-General, John Hill (died 1735) was younger + brother of Mrs. Masham, the Queen's favourite, and a poor relation of the + Duchess of Marlborough. He was wounded at Mons in 1709, and in 1711 was + sent on an unsuccessful expedition to attack the French settlements in + North America. In 1713 he was appointed to command the troops at Dunkirk. + </p> + <p> + 3 "The footmen in attendance at the Houses of Parliament used at this time + to form themselves into a deliberative body, and usually debated the same + points with their masters. It was jocularly said that several questions + were lost by the Court party in the menial House of Lords which were + carried triumphantly in the real assembly; which was at length explained + by a discovery that the Scottish peers whose votes were sometimes decisive + of a question had but few representatives in the convocation of lacqueys. + The sable attendant mentioned by Swift, being an appendage of the brother + of Mrs. Masham, the reigning favourite, had a title to the chair, the + Court and Tory interest being exerted in his favour" (Scott). Steele + alludes to the "Footmen's Parliament" in No. 88 of the Spectator. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 1, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 5 A Court of Equity abolished in the reign of Charles I. It met in the + Camera Alba, or Whitehall, and the room appears to have retained the name + of the old Court. + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 6, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 7 Swift's first contribution to the Examiner (No. 13) is dated Nov. 2, + 1710. + </p> + <p> + 8 Seduced, induced. Dryden (Spanish Friar) has "To debauch a king to break + his laws." + </p> + <p> + 9 Freeman (see Letter 9, note 10). + </p> + <p> + 10 "To make this intelligible, it is necessary to observe, that the words + 'this fortnight', in the preceding sentence, were first written in what he + calls their little language, and afterwards scratched out and written + plain. It must be confessed this little language, which passed current + between Swift and Stella, has occasioned infinite trouble in the revisal + of these papers" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 11 Trim. An attack upon the liberties of this corporation is among the + political offences of Wharton's Lieutenancy of Ireland set forth in + Swift's Short Character of the Earl of Wharton. + </p> + <p> + 12 Apologies. + </p> + <p> + 13 "A Description of the Morning," in No. 9 of the Tatler. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 6, note 19. + </p> + <p> + 15 William Palliser (died 1726). + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 4, note 15. + </p> + <p> + 17 "Here he writ with his eyes shut; and the writing is somewhat crooked, + although as well in other respects as if his eyes had been open" (Deane + Swift). + </p> + <p> + 18 Tatler, No. 249; cf. p. 93. During this visit to London Swift + contributed to only three Tatlers, viz. Nos. 230, 238, and 258. + </p> + <p> + 19 St. Andrew's Day. + </p> + <p> + 20 No. 241. + </p> + <p> + 21 Tatler, No. 258. + </p> + <p> + 22 Lieutenant-General Philip Bragg, Colonel of the 28th Regiment of Foot, + and M.P. for Armagh, died in 1759. + </p> + <p> + 23 James Cecil, fifth Earl of Salisbury, who died in 1728. + </p> + <p> + 24 See Letter 2, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 25 See Letter 8, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 26 Kneller seems never to have painted Swift's portrait. + </p> + <p> + 27 On Nov. 25 and 28. + </p> + <p> + 28 Arthur Annesley, M.P. for Cambridge University, had recently become + fifth Earl of Anglesea, on the death of his brother (see Letter 3, note + 35). Under George I. he was Joint Treasurer of Ireland, and Treasurer at + War. + </p> + <p> + 29 A Short Character of the Earl of Wharton, by Swift himself, though the + authorship was not suspected at the time. "Archbishop King," says Scott, + "would have hardly otherwise ventured to mention it to Swift in his letter + of Jan. 9, 1710, as 'a wound given in the dark.'" Elsewhere, however, in a + note, Swift hints that Archbishop King was really aware of the authorship + of the pamphlet. + </p> + <p> + 30 A false report. (See Letter 11, note 4.) + </p> + <p> + 31 None of these Commissioners of Revenue lost their places at this time. + Samuel Ogle was Commissioner from 1699 to 1714; John South from 1696 until + his death in 1711; and Sir William St. Quintin, Bart., from 1706 to 1713. + Stephen Ludlow succeeded South in September 1711. + </p> + <p> + 32 See Letter 7, note 35. + </p> + <p> + 33 James Hamilton, sixth Earl of Abercorn (1656-1734), a Scotch peer who + had strongly supported the Union of 1706. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0074" id="link2H_4_0074"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 11. + </h2> + <p> + 1 L'Estrange speaks of "insipid twittle twattles." Johnson calls this "a + vile word." + </p> + <p> + 2 A cousin of Swift's; probably a son of William Swift. + </p> + <p> + 3 Nicholas Sankey (died 1722) succeeded Lord Lovelace as Colonel of a + Regiment of Foot in Ireland in 1689. He became Brigadier-General in 1704, + Major-General 1707, and Lieutenant-General 1710. He served in Spain, and + was taken prisoner at the battle of the Caya in 1709. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 10, note 30. + </p> + <p> + 5 The Earl of Abercorn (see Letter 10, note 33) married, in 1686, + Elizabeth, only child of Sir Robert Reading, Bart., of Dublin, by Jane, + Dowager Countess of Mountrath. Lady Abercorn survived her husband twenty + years, dying in 1754, aged eighty-six. + </p> + <p> + 6 Charles Lennox, first Duke of Richmond and Gordon (1672-1723), was the + illegitimate son of Charles II. by Madame de Querouaille. + </p> + <p> + 7 Sir Robert Raymond, afterwards Lord Raymond (1673-1733), M.P. for + Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, was appointed Solicitor-General in May 1710, + and was knighted in October. He was removed from office on the accession + of George I., but was made Attorney-General in 1720, and in 1724 became a + judge of the King's Bench. In the following year he was made Lord + Chief-Justice, and was distinguished both for his learning and his + impartiality. + </p> + <p> + 8 Lynn-Regis. + </p> + <p> + 9 Richard Savage, fourth Earl Rivers, the father of Richard Savage, the + poet. Under the Whigs Lord Rivers was Envoy to Hanover; and after his + conversion by Harley, he was Constable of the Tower under the Tories. He + died in 1712. + </p> + <p> + 10 Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland from 1695 until his death in + 1717. + </p> + <p> + 11 Lord Shelburne's clever sister, Anne, only daughter of Sir William + Petty, and wife of Thomas Fitzmaurice, Lord of Kerry, afterwards created + first Earl of Kerry. + </p> + <p> + 12 Mrs. Pratt, an Irish friend of Lady Kerry, lodged at Lord Shelburne's + during her visit to London. The reference to Clements (see Letter 9, note + 20), Pratt's relative, in the Journal for April 14, 1711, makes it clear + that Mrs. Pratt was the wife of the Deputy Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, to + whom Swift often alludes (see Letter 3, note 10). + </p> + <p> + 13 Lieutenant-General Thomas Meredith, Major-General Maccartney, and + Brigadier Philip Honeywood. They alleged that their offence only amounted + to drinking a health to the Duke of Marlborough, and confusion to his + enemies. But the Government said that an example must be made, because + various officers had dropped dangerous expressions about standing by their + General, Marlborough, who was believed to be aiming at being made Captain + General for life. For Maccartney see the Journal for Nov. 15, 1712, seq. + Meredith, who was appointed Adjutant-General of the Forces in 1701, was + made a Lieutenant-General in 1708. He saw much service under William III., + and Marlborough, and was elected M.P. for Midhurst in 1709. He died in + 1719 (Dalton's Army Lists, III. 181). Honeywood entered the army in 1694; + was at Namur; and was made a Brigadier-General before 1711. After the + accession of George I. he became Colonel of a Regiment of Dragoons, and + commanded a division at Dettingen. At his death in 1752 he was acting as + Governor of Portsmouth, with the rank of General (Dalton, iv. 30). + </p> + <p> + 14 Or "malkin"; a counterfeit, or scarecrow. + </p> + <p> + 15 William Cadogan, Lieutenant-General and afterwards Earl Cadogan + (1675-1726), a great friend of Marlborough, was Envoy to the United + Provinces and Spanish Flanders. Cadogan retained the post of Lieutenant to + the Tower until 1715. + </p> + <p> + 16 Earl Cadogan's father, Henry Cadogan, barrister, married Bridget, + daughter of Sir Hardresse Waller, and sister of Elizabeth, Baroness + Shelburne in her own right. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 5, note 30. + </p> + <p> + 18 Cadogan married Margaretta, daughter of William Munter, Counsellor of + the Court of Holland. + </p> + <p> + 19 Presumably the eldest son, William, who succeeded his father as second + Earl of Kerry in 1741, and died in 1747. He was at Eton and Christ Church, + Oxford, and was afterwards a Colonel in the Coldstream Guards. + </p> + <p> + 20 Henry Petty, third Lord Shelburne, who became Earl of Shelburne in + 1719. His son predeceased him, without issue, and on Lord Shelburne's + death, in 1751, his honours became extinct. His daughter Anne also died + without issue. + </p> + <p> + 21 The menagerie, which had been one of the sights of London, was removed + from the Tower in 1834. In his account of the Tory Fox Hunter in No. 47 of + the Freeholder, Addison says, "Our first visit was to the lions." + </p> + <p> + 22 Bethlehem Hospital, for lunatics, in Moorfields, was a popular "sight" + in the eighteenth century. Cf. the Tatler, No. 30: "On Tuesday last I took + three lads, who are under my guardianship, a rambling, in a hackney coach, + to show them the town: as the lions, the tombs, Bedlam." + </p> + <p> + 23 The Royal Society met at Gresham College from 1660 to 1710. The + professors of the College lectured on divinity, civil law, astronomy, + music, geometry, rhetoric, and physic. + </p> + <p> + 24 The most important of the puppet-shows was Powell's, in the Little + Piazza, Covent Garden, which is frequently mentioned in the Tatler. + </p> + <p> + 25 The precise nature this negligent costume is not known, but it is + always decried by popular writers of the time. + </p> + <p> + 26 Retched. Bacon has "Patients must not keck at them at the first." + </p> + <p> + 27 Swift was born on November 30. + </p> + <p> + 28 Mrs. De la Riviere Manley, daughter of Sir Roger Manley, and cousin of + John Manley, M.P., and Isaac Manley (see Letter 3, note 3), wrote poems + and plays, but is best known for her "Secret Memoirs and Manners of + Several Persons of Quality, of both sexes. From the New Atalantis, 1709," + a book abounding in scandalous references to her contemporaries. She was + arrested in October, but was discharged in Feb. 1710. In May 1710 she + brought out a continuation of the New Atalantis, called "Memoirs of Europe + towards the Close of the Eighth Century." In June 1711 she became editress + of the Tory Examiner, and wrote political pamphlets with Swift's + assistance. Afterwards she lived with Alderman Barber, the printer, at + whose office she died in 1724. In her will she mentioned her "much + honoured friend, the Dean of St. Patrick, Dr. Swift." + </p> + <p> + 29 "He seems to have written these words in a whim; for the sake of what + follows" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 30 See Letter 8, note 33. + </p> + <p> + 31 No. 249 (see Letter 10, note 18). + </p> + <p> + 32 See Letter 5, note 34. + </p> + <p> + 33 In a letter to the Rev. Dr. Tisdall, of Dec. 16, 1703, Swift said: + "I'll teach you a way to outwit Mrs. Johnson: it is a new-fashioned way of + being witty, and they call it a bite. You must ask a bantering question, + or tell some damned lie in a serious manner, and then she will answer or + speak as if you were in earnest; and then cry you, 'Madam, there's a + bite!' I would not have you undervalue this, for it is the constant + amusement in Court, and everywhere else among the great people." See, too, + the Tatler, No. 12, and Spectator, Nos. 47, 504: "In a word, a Biter is + one who thinks you a fool, because you do not think him a knave." + </p> + <p> + 34 See Letter 9, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 35 "As I hope to be saved;" a favourite phrase in the Journal. + </p> + <p> + 36 See Letter 7, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 37 This statement receives some confirmation from a pamphlet published in + September 1710, called "A Condoling Letter to the Tatler: On Account of + the Misfortunes of Isaac Bickerstaf Esq., a Prisoner in the —— + on Suspicion of Debt." + </p> + <p> + 38 Dr. Lambert, chaplain to Lord Wharton, was censured in Convocation for + being the author of a libellous letter. + </p> + <p> + 39 Probably the same person as Dr. Griffith, spoken of in the Journal for + March 3, 1713,—when he was ill,—as having been "very tender + of" Stella. + </p> + <p> + 40 See Letter 9, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 41 Vexed, offended. Elsewhere Swift wrote, "I am apt to grate the ears of + more than I could wish." + </p> + <p> + 42 Ambrose Philips, whose Pastorals had been published in the same volume + of Tonson's Miscellany as Pope's. Two years later Swift wrote, "I should + certainly have provided for him had he not run party mad." In 1712 his + play, The Distrest Mother, received flattering notice in the Spectator, + and in 1713, to Pope's annoyance, Philips' Pastorals were praised in the + Guardian. His pretty poems to children led Henry Carey to nickname him + "Namby Pamby." + </p> + <p> + 43 An equestrian statue of William III., in College Green, Dublin. It was + common, in the days of party, for students of the University of Dublin to + play tricks with this statue. + </p> + <p> + 44 Lieutenant-General Richard Ingoldsby (died 1712) was Commander of the + Forces in Ireland, and one of the Lords Justices in the absence of the + Lord Lieutenant. + </p> + <p> + 45 This seems to have been a mistake; cf. Journal for July 13, 1711, Alan + Brodrick, afterwards Viscount Midleton, a Whig politician and lawyer, was + made Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench in Ireland in 1709, but was + removed from office in June 1711, when Sir Richard Cox succeeded him. On + the accession of George I. he was appointed Lord Chancellor for Ireland. + Afterwards he declined to accept the dedication to him of Swift's Drapiers + Letters, and supported the prosecution of the author. He died in 1728. + </p> + <p> + 46 Robert Doyne was appointed Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland in + 1695, and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1703. This appointment was + revoked on the accession of George I. + </p> + <p> + 47 See Letter 9, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 48 Of the University of Dublin. + </p> + <p> + 49 See Letter 2, note 18 and Letter 3, note 4. Sir Thomas Frankland's + eldest son, Thomas, who afterwards succeeded to the baronetcy, acquired a + fortune with his first wife, Dinah, daughter of Francis Topham, of + Agelthorpe, Yorkshire. He died in 1747. + </p> + <p> + 50 See Letter 8, note 21. + </p> + <p> + 51 see Letter 4, note 15. + </p> + <p> + 52 Mary, daughter of Sir John Williams, Bart., and widow of Charles Petty, + second Lord Shelburne, who died in 1696. She had married, as her second + husband, Major-General Conyngham, and, as her third husband, Colonel + Dallway. + </p> + <p> + 53 Dr. John Vesey became Bishop of Limerick in 1672, and Archbishop of + Tuam in 1678. He died in 1716. + </p> + <p> + 54 See Letter 3, note 39. + </p> + <p> + 55 Sex. + </p> + <p> + 56 Toby Caulfeild, third son of the fifth Lord Charlemont. In 1689 he was + Colonel to the Earl of Drogheda's Regiment of Foot, and about 1705 he + succeeded to the command of Lord Skerrin's Regiment of Foot. After serving + in Spain his regiment was reduced, having lost most of its men (Luttrell, + vi. 158). + </p> + <p> + 57 John Campbell, second Duke of Argyle (1680-1743), was installed a + Knight of the Garter in December 1710, after he had successfully opposed a + vote of thanks to Marlborough, with whom he had quarrelled. It was of this + nobleman that Pope wrote— "Argyle, the State's whole thunder born to + wield, And shake alike the senate and the field." In a note to Macky's + Memoirs, Swift describes the Duke as an "ambitious, covetous, cunning + Scot, who had no principle but his own interests and greatness." + </p> + <p> + 58 Harley's second wife, Sarah, daughter of Simon Middleton, of Edmonton, + and sister of Sir Hugh Middleton, Bart. She died, without issue, in 1737. + </p> + <p> + 59 Elizabeth Harley, then unmarried, the daughter of Harley's first wife, + Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Foley, of Whitley Court, Worcestershire. She + subsequently married the Marquis of Caermarthen, afterwards Duke of Leeds. + </p> + <p> + 60 Harcourt (see Letter 3, note 24). + </p> + <p> + 61 William Stawel, the third baron, who succeeded to the title in 1692, + was half-brother to the second Baron Stawel. The brother here referred to + was Edward, who succeeded to the title as fourth baron in 1742. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0075" id="link2H_4_0075"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 12. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Charles Finch, third Earl of Winchelsea, son of Lord Maidstone, and + grandson of Heneage, second Earl of Winchelsea. On his death in 1712 Swift + spoke of him as "a worthy honest gentleman, and particular friend of + mine." + </p> + <p> + 2 Vedeau was a shopkeeper, who abandoned his trade for the army (Journal, + March 28, April 4, 1711). Swift calls him "a lieutenant, who is now broke, + and upon half pay" (Journal, Nov. 18, 1712) + </p> + <p> + 3 Sir Edmund Bacon, Bart. (died 1721), of Herringflat, Suffolk, succeeded + his father in the baronetcy in 1686. + </p> + <p> + 4 The reverse at Brihuega. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 8, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 6 John Barber, a printer, became Lord Mayor of London in 1732, and died in + 1741. Mrs. Manley was his mistress, and died at his printing office. Swift + speaks of Barber as his "very good and old friend." + </p> + <p> + 7 Bernage was an officer serving under Colonel Fielding. In August 1710 a + difficulty arose through Arbuthnot trying to get his brother George made + Captain over Bernage's head; but ultimately Arbuthnot waived the business, + because he would not wrong a friend of Swift's. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 1, note 52. + </p> + <p> + 9 George Smalridge (1663-1719), the High Church divine and popular + preacher, was made Dean of Carlisle in 1711, and Bishop of Bristol in + 1714. Steele spoke of him in the Tatler (Nos. 73, 114) as "abounding in + that sort of virtue and knowledge which makes religion beautiful." + </p> + <p> + 10 St. Albans Street, Pall Mall, was removed in 1815 to make way for + Waterloo Place. It was named after Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans. + </p> + <p> + 11 Ben Portlack, the Duke of Ormond's secretary. + </p> + <p> + 12 Algernon Seymour, Earl of Hertford (1684-1750), only son of Charles + Seymour, Duke of Somerset. Lord Hertford succeeded to the dukedom in 1748. + From 1708 to 1722 he was M.P. for Northumberland, and from 1708 to 1713 he + took an active part in the war in Flanders. + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 4. + </p> + <p> + 14 A Short Character of the Earl of Wharton (see Letter 10. note 29). + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 9. + </p> + <p> + 16 Henry Herbert, the last Baron Herbert of Cherbury, succeeded to the + peerage in 1709, and soon afterwards married a sister of the Earl of + Portsmouth. A ruined man, he committed suicide in 1738. + </p> + <p> + 17 Nos. 257, 260. + </p> + <p> + 18 See Letter 6, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 19 "AFTER is interlined" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 20 With this account may be compared what Pope says, as recorded in + Spence's Anecdotes, p. 223: "Lord Peterborough could dictate letters to + nine amanuenses together, as I was assured by a gentleman who saw him do + it when Ambassador at Turin. He walked round the room, and told each of + them in his turn what he was to write. One perhaps was a letter to the + emperor, another to an old friend, a third to a mistress, a fourth to a + statesman, and so on: yet he carried so many and so different connections + in his head, all at the same time." + </p> + <p> + 21 Francis Atterbury, Dean of Carlisle, had taken an active part in the + defence of Dr. Sacheverell. After a long period of suspense he received + the appointment of Dean of Christ Church, and in 1713 he was made Bishop + of Rochester and Dean of Westminster. Atterbury was on intimate terms with + Swift, Pope, and other writers on the Tory side, and Addison—at + whose funeral the Bishop officiated—described him as "one of the + greatest geniuses of his age." + </p> + <p> + 22 John Carteret, second Baron Carteret, afterwards to be well known as a + statesman, succeeded to the peerage in 1695, and became Earl Granville and + Viscount Carteret on the death of his brother in 1744. He died in 1763. In + October 1710, when twenty years of age, he had married Frances, only + daughter of Sir Robert Worsley, Bart., of Appuldurcombe, Isle of Wight. + </p> + <p> + 23 Dillon Ashe, D.D., Vicar of Finglas, and brother of the Bishop of + Clogher. In 1704 he was made Archdeacon of Clogher, and in 1706 Chancellor + of Armagh. He seems to have been too fond of drink. + </p> + <p> + 24 Henley (see Letter 6, note 15) married Mary, daughter of Peregrine + Bertie, the second son of Montagu, Earl of Lindsey, and with her obtained + a fortune of 30,000 pounds. After Henley's death his widow married her + relative, Henry Bertie, third son of James, Earl of Abingdon. + </p> + <p> + 25 Hebrews v. 6. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0076" id="link2H_4_0076"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 13. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Probably Mrs. Manley and John Barber (see Letter 11, note 28 and Letter + 12, note 6). + </p> + <p> + 2 Sir Andrew Fountaine's (see Letter 5, note 28) father, Andrew Fountaine, + M.P., married Sarah, daughter of Sir Thomas Chicheley, Master of the + Ordnance. Sir Andrew's sister, Elizabeth, married Colonel Edward Clent. + The "scoundrel brother," Brig, died in 1746, aged sixty-four (Blomefield's + Norfolk, vi. 233-36). + </p> + <p> + 3 Dame Overdo, the justice's wife in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 3, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 5 Atterbury, who had recently been elected Prolocutor to the Lower House + of Convocation. + </p> + <p> + 6 Dr. Sterne, Dean of St. Patrick's, was not married. + </p> + <p> + 7 January 6 was Twelfth-night. + </p> + <p> + 8 Garraway's Coffee-house, in Change Alley, was founded by Thomas Garway, + the first coffee-man who sold and retailed tea. A room upstairs was used + for sales of wine "by the candle." + </p> + <p> + 9 Sir Constantine Phipps, who had taken an active part in Sacheverell's + defence. Phipps' interference in elections in the Tory interest made him + very unpopular in Dublin, and he was recalled on the death of Queen Anne. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +10 Joseph Trapp, one of the seven poets alluded to in the distich:— +"Alma novem genuit celebres Rhedycina poetas, Bubb, Stubb, Gru + Trapp wrote a tragedy in 1704, and in 1708 was chosen the first +Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In 1710 he published pamphlets on behalf +of Sacheverell, and in 1712 Swift secured for him the post of chaplain +to Bolingbroke. During his latter years he held several good livings. +Elsewhere Swift calls him a "coxcomb." +</pre> + <p> + 11 See Letter 7, note 21. + </p> + <p> + 12 The extreme Tories, who afterwards formed the October Club. + </p> + <p> + 13 Crowd. A Jacobean writer speaks of "the lurry of lawyers," and "a lurry + and rabble of poor friars." + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 5, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 15 St. John's first wife was Frances, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry + Winchcombe, Bart., of Berkshire, and in her right St. John enjoyed the + estates of Bucklebury, which on her death in 1718 passed to her sister. In + April 1711 Swift said that "poor Mrs. St. John" was growing a great + favourite of his; she was going to Bath owing to ill-health, and begged + him to take care of her husband. She "said she had none to trust but me, + and the poor creature's tears came fresh in her eyes." Though the marriage + was, naturally enough, unhappy, she did not leave St. John's house until + 1713, and she returned to him when he fell from power. There are letters + from her to Swift as late as 1716, not only doing her best to defend his + honour, but speaking of him with tenderness. + </p> + <p> + 16 "Battoon" means (1) a truncheon; (2) a staff of office. Luttrell, in + 1704, speaks of "a battoon set with diamonds sent him from the French + king." + </p> + <p> + 17 Edward Harley, second son of Sir Edward Harley, was M.P. for Leominster + and Recorder of the same town. In 1702 he was appointed Auditor of the + Imposts, a post which he held until his death in 1735. His wife, Sarah, + daughter of Thomas Foley, was a sister of Robert Harley's wife, and his + eldest son eventually became third Earl of Oxford. Harley published + several books on biblical subjects. + </p> + <p> + 18 See Letter 6, note 12. The last number of Steele's Tatler appeared on + Jan. 2, 1711; Harrison's paper reached to fifty-two numbers. + </p> + <p> + 19 Dryden Leach (see Letter 7, note 22). + </p> + <p> + 20 Cf. Letter 7, October 28th. + </p> + <p> + 21 Published by John Baker and John Morphew. See Aitken's Life of Steele, + i. 299-301. + </p> + <p> + 22 In No. 224 of the Tatler, Addison, speaking of polemical + advertisements, says: "The inventors of Strops for Razors have written + against one another this way for several years, and that with great + bitterness." See also Spectator, Nos. 428, 509, and the Postman for March + 23, 1703: "The so much famed strops for setting razors, etc., are only to + be had at Jacob's Coffee-house.... Beware of counterfeits, for such are + abroad." + </p> + <p> + 23 Sir John Holland (see Letter 3, note 28). + </p> + <p> + 24 Addison speaks of a fine flaxen long wig costing thirty guineas + (Guardian, No. 97), and Duumvir's fair wig, which Phillis threw into the + fire, cost forty guineas (Tatler, No. 54) + </p> + <p> + 25 Swift's mother, Abigail Erick, was of a Leicestershire family, and + after her husband's death she spent much of her time with her friends near + her old home. Mr. Worrall, vicar of St. Patrick's, with whom Swift was on + terms of intimacy in 1728-29, was evidently a relative of the Worralls + where Mrs. Swift had lodged, and we may reasonably suppose that he owed + the living to Swift's interest in the family. + </p> + <p> + 26 The title of a humorous poem by Lydgate. A "lickpenny" is a greedy or + grasping person. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +27 Small wooden blocks used for lighting fires. See Swift ("Description +of the Morning"), "The small-coal man was heard with cadence deep, + Till drowned in shriller notes of chimney-sweep;" and Gay (Trivia, ii. +35), "When small-coal murmurs in the hoarser throat, + From smutty dangers guard thy threatened coat." +</pre> + <p> + 28 The Tory Ministers. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0077" id="link2H_4_0077"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 14. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 See Letter 7, note 22. + </h3> + <p> + 2 Thomas Southerne's play of Oroonoko, based on Mrs. Aphra Behn's novel of + the same name, was first acted in 1696. + </p> + <p> + 3 "Mrs." Cross created the part of Mrs. Clerimont in Steele's Tender + Husband in 1705. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 12, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 5 George Granville, afterwards Lord Lansdowne, was M.P. for Cornwall, and + Secretary at War. In December 1711 he was raised to the peerage, and in + 1712 was appointed Comptroller of the Household. He died in 1735, when the + title became extinct. Granville wrote plays and poems, and was a patron of + both Dryden and Pope. Pope called him "Granville the polite." His Works in + Verse and Prose appeared in 1732. + </p> + <p> + 6 Samuel Masham, son of Sir Francis Masham, Bart., had been a page to the + Queen while Princess of Denmark, and an equerry and gentleman of the + bed-chamber to Prince George. He married Abigail Hill (see Letter 16, note + 7), daughter of Francis Hill, a Turkey merchant, and sister of General + John Hill, and through that lady's influence with the Queen he was raised + to the peerage as Baron Masham, in January 1712. Under George I. he was + Remembrancer of the Exchequer. He died in 1758. + </p> + <p> + 7 A roughly printed pamphlet, The Honourable Descent, Life, and True + Character of the... Earl of Wharton, appeared early in 1711, in reply to + Swift's Short Character; but that can hardly be the pamphlet referred to + here, because it is directed against libellers and backbiters, and cannot + be described as "pretty civil." + </p> + <p> + 8 "In that word (the seven last words of the sentence huddled into one) + there were some puzzling characters" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 9 Sir Robert Worsley, Bart., married, in 1690, Frances, only daughter of + the first Viscount Weymouth. Their daughter Frances married Lord Carteret + (see Letter 12, note 22) in 1710. In a letter to Colonel Hunter in March + 1709 Swift spoke of Lady (then Mrs.) Worsley as one of the principal + beauties in town. See, too, Swift's letter to her of April 19, 1730: "My + Lady Carteret has been the best queen we have known in Ireland these many + years; yet is she mortally hated by all the young girls, because (and it + is your fault) she is handsomer than all of them together." + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 3, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 5, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 12 William Stratford, son of Nicholas Stratford, Bishop of Chester, was + Archdeacon of Richmond and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, until his death + in 1729. + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 3, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 14 James, third Earl of Berkeley (1680-1736), whom Swift calls a "young + rake" (see Letter 16, note 15). The young Countess of Berkeley was only + sixteen on her marriage. In 1714 she was appointed a lady of the + bed-chamber to Caroline, Princess of Wales, and she died of smallpox in + 1717, aged twenty-two. The Earl was an Admiral, and saw much service + between 1701 and 1710; under George I. he was First Lord of the Admiralty. + </p> + <p> + 15 Edward Wettenhall was Bishop of Kilmore from 1699 to 1713. + </p> + <p> + 16 In the Dedication to The Tale of a Tub Swift had addressed Somers in + very different terms: "There is no virtue, either in public or private + life, which some circumstances of your own have not often produced upon + the stage of the world." + </p> + <p> + 17 Their lodgings, opposite to St. Mary's Church in Stafford Street, + Dublin. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0078" id="link2H_4_0078"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 15. + </h2> + <p> + 1 The Stamp Act was not passed until June 1712: see the Journal for Aug. + 7, 1712. + </p> + <p> + 2 Both in St. James's Park. The Canal was formed by Charles II. from + several small ponds, and Rosamond's Pond was a sheet of water in the + south-west corner of the Park, "long consecrated," as Warburton said, "to + disastrous love and elegiac poetry." It is often mentioned as a place of + assignation in Restoration plays. Evelyn (Diary, Dec. 1, 1662) describes + the "scheets" used on the Canal. + </p> + <p> + 3 Mrs. Beaumont. + </p> + <p> + 4 The first direct mention of Hester Vanhomrigh. She is referred to only + in two other places in the Journal (Feb. 14, 1710-11, and Aug, 14, 1711). + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 3, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 6 No. 27, by Swift himself. + </p> + <p> + 7 No. 7 of Harrison's series. + </p> + <p> + 8 The printers of the original Tatler. + </p> + <p> + 9 Harley had forwarded to Swift a banknote for fifty pounds (see Journal, + March 7, 1710-11). + </p> + <p> + 10 At Moor Park. + </p> + <p> + 11 Scott says that Swift here alludes to some unidentified pamphlet of + which he was the real or supposed author. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 11, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 13 The Examiner. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 6, note 43. + </p> + <p> + 15 Mistaken. + </p> + <p> + 16 Mrs. De Caudres, "over against St. Mary's Church, near Capel Street," + where Stella now lodged. + </p> + <p> + 17 "A crease in the sheet" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 18 "In the original it was, good mallows, little sollahs. But in these + words, and many others, he writes constantly ll for rr" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 4, note 19. + </p> + <p> + 20 "Those letters which are in italics in the original are of a monstrous + size, which occasioned his calling himself a loggerhead" (Deane Swift). + (Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this etext.) + </p> + <p> + 21 I.e., to ask whether. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0079" id="link2H_4_0079"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 16. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Harcourt. + </h3> + <p> + 2 "A shilling passes for thirteenpence in Ireland" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 3 Robert Cope, a gentleman of learning with whom Swift corresponded. + </p> + <p> + 4 Archdeacon Morris is not mentioned in Cotton's Fasti Ecclesiae + Hiberniae. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 14, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 10, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 7 Abigail Hill, afterwards Lady Masham, had been introduced into the + Queens service as bed-chamber woman by the Duchess of Marlborough. Her + High Church and Tory views recommended her to Queen Anne, and in 1707 she + was privately married to Mr. Samuel Masham, a gentleman in the service of + Prince George (see Letter 14, note 6). The Duchess of Marlborough + discovered that Mrs. Masham's cousin, Harley, was using her influence to + further his own interests with the Queen; and in spite of her violence the + Duchess found herself gradually supplanted. From 1710 Mrs. Masham's only + rival in the royal favour was the Duchess of Somerset. Afterwards she + quarrelled with Harley and joined the Bolingbroke faction. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 4, note 16. + </p> + <p> + 9 No. 14 of Harrison's series. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 15, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 11 Richard Duke, a minor poet and friend of Dryden's, entered the Church + about 1685. In July 1710 he was presented by the Bishop of Winchester to + the living of Witney, Oxfordshire, which was worth 700 pounds a year. + </p> + <p> + 12 Sir Jonathan Trelawney, one of the seven bishops committed to the Tower + in 1688, was translated to Winchester in 1707, when he appointed Duke to + be his chaplain. + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 4, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 3, note 39. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 14, note 14. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 7, note 28. + </p> + <p> + 17 Cf. Feb. 22, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 18 Esther Johnson lodged opposite St. Mary's in Dublin. + </p> + <p> + 19 This famous Tory club began with the meeting together of a few extreme + Tories at the Bell in Westminster. The password to the Club—"October"—was + one easy of remembrance to a country gentleman who loved his ale. + </p> + <p> + 20 "Duke" Disney, "not an old man, but an old rake," died in 1731. Gay + calls him "facetious Disney," and Swift says that all the members of the + Club "love him mightily." Lady M. W. Montagu speaks of his + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Broad plump face, pert eyes, and ruddy skin, + Which showed the stupid joke which lurked within." +</pre> + <p> + Disney was a French Huguenot refugee, and his real name was Desaulnais. He + commanded an Irish regiment, and took part in General Hill's expedition to + Canada in 1711 (Kingsford's Canada, ii. 465). By his will (Wentworth + papers, 109) he "left nothing to his poor relations, but very handsome to + his bottle companions." + </p> + <p> + 21 There were several Colonel Fieldings in the first half of the + eighteenth century, and it is not clear which is the one referred to by + Swift. Possibly he was the Edmund Fielding—grandson of the first + Earl of Denbigh—who died a Lieutenant-General in 1741, at the age of + sixty-three, but is best known as the father of Henry Fielding, the + novelist. + </p> + <p> + 22 Cf. Feb. 17, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 23 See Letter 3, note 37. + </p> + <p> + 24 "It is a measured mile round the outer wall; and far beyond any the + finest square in London" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 25 "The common fare for a set-down in Dublin" (ib.). + </p> + <p> + 26 "Mrs. Stoyte lived at Donnybrook, the road to which from Stephen's + Green ran into the country about a mile from the south-east corner" (ib.). + </p> + <p> + 27 "Those words in italics are written in a very large hand, and so is the + word large" (ib.). (Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of + this etext.) + </p> + <p> + 28 Deane Swift alters "lele" to "there," but in a note states how he here + altered Swift's "cypher way of writing." No doubt "lele" and other + favourite words occurred frequently in the MS., as they do in the later + letters. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0080" id="link2H_4_0080"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 17. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Sir Thomas Mansel, Bart., Comptroller of the Household to Queen Anne, + and a Lord of the Treasury, was raised to the peerage in December 1711 as + Baron Mansel of Margam. He died in 1723. + </p> + <p> + 2 Lady Betty Butler and Lady Betty Germaine (see Letter 3, note 40 and + Letter 4, note 3). + </p> + <p> + 3 James Eckershall, "second clerk of the Queen's Privy Kitchen." + Chamberlayne (Magnae Britanniae Notitia, 1710, p. 536) says that his wages + were 11 pounds, 8 shillings and a penny-ha'penny, and board-wages 138 + pounds, 11 shillings and tenpence-ha'penny, making 150 pounds in all. + Afterwards Eckershall was gentleman usher to Queen Anne; he died at + Drayton in 1753, aged seventy-four. Pope was in correspondence with him in + 1720 on the subject of contemplated speculations in South Sea and other + stocks. + </p> + <p> + 4 In October 1710 (see Letter 6, note 44) Swift wrote as if he knew about + the preparation of these Miscellanies. The volume was published by Morphew + instead of Tooke, and it is frequently referred to in the Journal. + </p> + <p> + 5 In 1685 the Duke of Ormond (see Letter 2, note 10) married, as his + second wife, Lady Mary Somerset, eldest surviving daughter of Henry, first + Duke of Beaufort. + </p> + <p> + 6 Arthur Moore, M.P., was a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations from + 1710 until his death in 1730. Gay calls him "grave," and Pope ("Prologue + to the Satires," 23) says that Moore blamed him for the way in which his + "giddy son," James Moore Smythe, neglected the law. + </p> + <p> + 7 James, Lord Paisley, who succeeded his father (see Letter 10, note 33) + as seventh Earl of Abercorn in 1734, married, in 1711, Anne, eldest + daughter of Colonel John Plumer, of Blakesware, Herts. + </p> + <p> + 8 Harley's ill-health was partly due to his drinking habits. + </p> + <p> + 9 Crowd or confusion. + </p> + <p> + 10 The first wife of Charles Seymour, sixth Duke of Somerset, was Lady + Elizabeth Percy, only daughter of Joscelyn, eleventh Earl of + Northumberland, and heiress of the house of Percy. She married the Duke, + her third husband, at the age of eighteen. + </p> + <p> + 11 John Richardson, D.D., rector of Armagh, Cavan, and afterwards chaplain + to the Duke of Ormond. In 1711 he published a Proposal for the Conversion + of the Popish Natives of Ireland to the Established Religion, and in 1712 + a Short History of the Attempts to Convert the Popish Natives of Ireland. + In 1709 the Lower House of Convocation in Ireland had passed resolutions + for printing the Bible and liturgy in Irish, providing Irish preachers, + etc. In 1711 Thomas Parnell, the poet, headed a deputation to the Queen on + the subject, when an address was presented; but nothing came of the + proposals, owing to fears that the English interest in Ireland might be + injured. In 1731 Richardson was given the small deanery of Kilmacluagh. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Feb. 27, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 13 Harley. + </p> + <p> + 14 "Bank bill for fifty pound," taking the alternate letters (see Letter + 15, note 9). + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 5, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Nos. 27 and 29, by Swift himself. + </p> + <p> + 17 "Print cannot do justice to whims of this kind, as they depend wholly + upon the awkward shape of the letters" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 18 See Letter 8, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 19 "Here is just one specimen given of his way of writing to Stella in + these journals. The reader, I hope, will excuse my omitting it in all + other places where it occurs. The meaning of this pretty language is: 'And + you must cry There, and Here, and Here again. Must you imitate Presto, + pray? Yes, and so you shall. And so there's for your letter. Good-morrow'" + (Deane Swift). What Swift really wrote was probably as follows: "Oo must + cly Lele and Lele and Lele aden. Must oo mimitate Pdfr, pay? Iss, and so + oo sall. And so lele's fol oo rettle. Dood-mallow." + </p> + <p> + 20 Lady Catherine Morice (died 1716) was the eldest daughter of Thomas + Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and wife of Sir Nicholas Morice, Bart., M.P. + for Newport. + </p> + <p> + 21 Perhaps Henry Arundell, who succeeded his father as fifth Baron + Arundell of Wardour in 1712, and died in 1726. + </p> + <p> + 22 Antoine, Abbe de Bourlie and Marquis de Guiscard, was a cadet of a + distinguished family of the south of France. He joined the Church, but + having been driven from France in consequence of his licentious excesses, + he came to England, after many adventures in Europe, with a recommendation + from the Duke of Savoy. Godolphin gave him the command of a regiment of + refugees, and employed him in projects for effecting a landing in France. + These schemes proving abortive, Guiscard's regiment was disbanded, and he + was discharged with a pension of 500 pounds a year. Soon after the Tories + came to power Guiscard came to the conclusion that there was no hope of + employment for him, and little chance of receiving his pension; and he + began a treacherous correspondence with the French. When this was detected + he was brought before the Privy Council, and finding that everything was + known, and wishing a better death than hanging, he stabbed Harley in the + breast. Mrs. Manley, under Swift's directions, wrote a Narrative of + Guiscard's Examination, and the incident greatly added to the security of + Harley's position, and to the strength of the Government. + </p> + <p> + 23 Harley's surgeon, Mr. Green. + </p> + <p> + 24 See Letter 9, note 20. + </p> + <p> + 25 Mrs. Walls' baby (see Feb 5, 1711). + </p> + <p> + 26 The phrase had its origin in the sharp practices in the horse and + cattle markets. Writing to Arbuthnot in 1727, Swift said that Gay "had + made a pretty good bargain (that is a Smithfield) for a little place in + the Custom House." + </p> + <p> + 27 "There." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0081" id="link2H_4_0081"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 18. + </h2> + <p> + 1 See Swift's paper in the Examiner, No. 32, and Mrs. Manley's pamphlet, + already mentioned. + </p> + <p> + 2 Presumably Mrs. Johnson's palsy-water (see Letter 5, note 17). + </p> + <p> + 3 Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (1672-1739), was created Viscount Wentworth + and Earl of Strafford in June 1711. Lord Raby was Envoy and Ambassador at + Berlin for some years, and was appointed Ambassador at the Hague in March + 1711. In November he was nominated as joint Plenipotentiary with the + Bishop of Bristol to negotiate the terms of peace. He objected to Prior as + a colleague; Swift says he was "as proud as hell." In 1715 it was proposed + to impeach Strafford, but the proceedings were dropped. In his later years + he was, according to Lord Hervey, a loquacious and illiterate, but + constant, speaker in the House of Lords. + </p> + <p> + 4 A beauty, to whom Swift addressed verses in 1708. During the frost of + January 1709 Swift wrote: "Mrs. Floyd looked out with both her eyes, and + we had one day's thaw; but she drew in her head, and it now freezes as + hard as ever." She was a great friend of Lady Betty Germaine's. + </p> + <p> + 5 Swift never had the smallpox. + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 12, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 7 Heart. + </p> + <p> + 8 The first number of the Spectator appeared on March 1, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 9 In one of his poems Swift speaks of Stella "sossing in an easy-chair." + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 4, note 20. + </p> + <p> + 11 "It is reasonable to suppose that Swift's acquaintance with Arbuthnot + commenced just about this time; for in the original letter Swift misspells + his name, and writes it Arthbuthnet, in a clear large hand, that MD might + not mistake any of the letters" (Deane Swift). Dr. John Arbuthnot had been + made Physician in Ordinary to the Queen; he was one of Swift's dearest + friends. + </p> + <p> + 12 Clobery Bromley, M.P. for Coventry, son of William Bromley, M.P. (see + Letter 10, note 1), died on March 20, 1711, and Boyer (Political State, i. + 255) says that the House, "out of respect to the father, and to give him + time, both to perform the funeral rites and to indulge his just + affliction," adjourned until the 26th. + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 5, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 17, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 15 Sir John Perceval, Bart. (died 1748), was created Baron Perceval 1715, + Viscount Perceval 1722, and Earl of Egmont 1733, all in the Irish peerage. + He married, in 1710, Catherine, eldest daughter of Sir Philip Parker + A'Morley, Bart., of Erwarton, Suffolk; and his son (born Feb. 27, 1710-11) + was made Baron Perceval and Holland, in the English peerage, in 1762. + </p> + <p> + 16 This report was false. The Old Pretender did not marry until 1718, when + he was united to the Princess Clementina Maria, daughter of Prince James + Sobieski. + </p> + <p> + Letter 19. + </p> + <p> + 1 John Hartstonge, D.D. (died 1717), was Bishop of Ossory from 1693 to + 1714, when he was translated to Derry. + </p> + <p> + 2 See Letter 15, note 16. + </p> + <p> + 3 Thomas Proby was Chirurgeon-General in Ireland from 1699 until his death + in 1761. In his Short Character of Thomas, Earl of Wharton, Swift speaks + of him as "a person universally esteemed," who had been badly treated by + Lord Wharton. In 1724 Proby's son, a captain in the army, was accused of + popery, and Swift wrote to Lord Carteret that the charge was generally + believed to be false: "The father is the most universally beloved of any + man I ever knew in his station.... You cannot do any personal thing more + acceptable to the people of Ireland than in inclining towards lenity to + Mr. Proby and his family." Proby was probably a near relative of Sir + Thomas Proby, Bart., M.P., of Elton, Hunts, at whose death in 1689 the + baronetcy expired. Mrs. Proby seems to have been a Miss Spencer. + </p> + <p> + 4 Meliora, daughter of Thomas Coningsby, Baron of Clanbrassil and Earl of + Coningsby, and wife of Sir Thomas Southwell, afterwards Baron Southwell, + one of the Commissioners of Revenue in Ireland, and a member of the Irish + Privy Council. Lady Southwell died in 1736. + </p> + <p> + 5 Lady Betty Rochfort was the daughter of Henry Moore, third Earl of + Drogheda. Her husband, George Rochfort, M.P. for Westmeath, was son of + Robert Rochfort, an Irish judge, and brother of Robert Rochford, M.P., to + whose wife Swift addressed his Advice to a very Young Lady on her + Marriage. Lady Betty's son Robert was created Earl of Belvedere in 1757. + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 17, note 23. Mr. Bussiere, of Suffolk Street, had been called + in directly after the outrage, but Radcliffe would not consult him. + </p> + <p> + 7 The letter from Dr. King dated March 17, 1711, commenting on Guiscard's + attack upon Harley. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Feb. 10, 1710-11. + </p> + <p> + 9 The word "trangram" or "tangram" ordinarily means a toy or gimcrack, or + trumpery article. Cf. Wycherley (Plain Dealer, iii. 1), "But go, thou + trangram, and carry back those trangrams which thou hast stolen or + purloined." Apparently "trangum" here means a tally. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 12, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 11 Swift means Godolphin, the late Lord Treasurer. + </p> + <p> + 12 Sir John Holland (see Letter 3, note 28). + </p> + <p> + 13 "It caused a violent daub on the paper, which still continues much + discoloured in the original" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 14 "He forgot here to say, 'At night.' See what goes before" (Deane + Swift). + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 17, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 16 Irishman. "Teague" was a term of contempt for an Irishman. + </p> + <p> + 17 To "Mr. Harley, wounded by Guiscard." In this piece Prior said, + "Britain with tears shall bathe thy glorious wound," a wound which could + not have been inflicted by any but a stranger to our land. + </p> + <p> + 18 Sir Thomas Mansel married Martha, daughter and heiress of Francis + Millington, a London merchant. + </p> + <p> + 19 Slatterning, consuming carelessly. + </p> + <p> + 20 "The candle grease mentioned before, which soaked through, deformed + this part of the paper on the second page" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 21 Harcourt. + </p> + <p> + 22 William Rollinson, formerly a wine merchant, settled afterwards in + Oxfordshire, where he died at a great age. He was a friend of Pope, + Bolingbroke, and Gay. + </p> + <p> + 23 In relation to the banknote (see Letter 17, note 14). + </p> + <p> + 24 "Swift was, at this time, their great support and champion" (Deane + Swift). + </p> + <p> + 25 See Letter 14, note 15. + </p> + <p> + 26 See Letter 17, note 25. + </p> + <p> + 27 "Stella, with all her wit and good sense, spelled very ill; and Dr. + Swift insisted greatly upon women spelling well" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 28 "The slope of the letters in the words THIS WAY, THIS WAY, is to the + left hand, but the slope of the words THAT WAY, THAT WAY, is to the right + hand" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 29 See Letter 17, note 24. + </p> + <p> + 30 See Letter 5, note 11 and Letter 10, note 28. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0082" id="link2H_4_0082"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 20. + </h2> + <p> + 1 By the Act 9 Anne, cap. 23, the number of hackney coaches was increased + to 800, and it was provided that they were to go a mile and a half for one + shilling, two miles for one shilling and sixpence, and so on. + </p> + <p> + 2 See Letter 11, note 39. + </p> + <p> + 3 In a letter to Swift, of March 17, 1711, King said that it might have + been thought that Guiscard's attack would have convinced the world that + Harley was not in the French interest; but it did not have that effect + with all, for some whispered the case of Fenius Rufus and Scevinus in the + 15th book of Tacitus: "Accensis indicibus ad prodendum Fenium Rufum, quem + eundem conscium et inquisitorem non tolerabant." Next month Swift told + King that it was reported that the Archbishop had applied this passage in + a speech made to his clergy, and explained at some length the steps he had + taken to prevent the story being published in the Postboy. King thanked + Swift for this action, explaining that he had been arguing on Harley's + behalf when someone instanced the story of Rufus. + </p> + <p> + 4 A Tory paper, published thrice weekly by Abel Roper. + </p> + <p> + 5 Sir Charles Duncombe, banker, died on April 9, 1711. The first wife of + the Duke of Argyle (see Letter 11, note 57) was Duncombe's niece, Mary + Browne, daughter of Ursula Duncombe and Thomas Browne, of St. Margaret's, + Westminster. Duncombe was elected Lord Mayor in 1700, and was the richest + commoner in England. + </p> + <p> + 6 The Rev. Dillon Ashe (see Letter 12, note 23). + </p> + <p> + 7 John, fourth Baron Poulett, was created Earl Poulett in 1706, after + serving as one of the Commissioners for the Treaty of Union with Scotland. + From August 1710 to May 1711 he was First Lord of the Treasury, and from + June 1711 to August 1714 he was Lord Steward of the Household. + </p> + <p> + 8 Lost or stupid person. + </p> + <p> + 9 Sir William Read, a quack who advertised largely in the Tatler and other + papers. He was satirised in No. 547 of the Spectator. In 1705 he was + knighted for his services in curing many seamen and soldiers of blindness + gratis, and he was appointed Oculist in Ordinary to the Queen. Read died + in 1715, but his business was continued by his widow. + </p> + <p> + 10 General John Webb was not on good terms with Marlborough. He was a + Tory, and had gained distinction in the war at Wynendale (1708), though + the Duke's secretary gave the credit, in the despatch, to Cadogan. There + is a well-known account of Webb in Thackeray's Esmond. He was severely + wounded at Malplaquet in 1709, and in 1710 was given the governorship of + the Isle of Wight. He died in 1724. + </p> + <p> + 11 Henry Campion, M.P. for Penryn, is mentioned in the Political State for + February 1712 as one of the leading men of the October Club. Campion seems + to have been Member, not for Penryn, but for Bossiney. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 3, note 32. + </p> + <p> + 13 Sir George Beaumont, Bart., M.P. for Leicester, and an acquaintance of + Swift's mother, was made a Commissioner of the Privy Seal in 1712, and one + of the Lords of the Admiralty in 1714. He died in 1737. + </p> + <p> + 14 Heneage Finch, afterwards second Earl of Aylesford, was the son of + Heneage Finch, the chief counsel for the seven bishops, who was created + Baron Guernsey in 1703, and Earl of Aylesford in 1714. + </p> + <p> + 15 James, Lord Compton, afterwards fifth Earl of Northampton, was the + eldest son of George, the fourth Earl. He was summoned to the House of + Lords in December 1711, and died in 1754. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 11, note 12. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0083" id="link2H_4_0083"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 21. + </h2> + <p> + 1 In 1670 Temple thanked the Grand Duke of Tuscany for "an entire vintage + of the finest wines of Italy" (Temple's Works, 1814, ii. 155-56). + </p> + <p> + 2 Mrs. Manley (see Letter 17, note 22). + </p> + <p> + 3 Charles Caesar, M.P. for Hertford, was appointed Treasurer of the Navy + in June 1711, in the room of Robert Walpole. + </p> + <p> + 4 Joseph I. His successor was his brother Charles, the King of Spain + recognised by England. + </p> + <p> + 5 Simon Harcourt, M.P. for Wallingford. He married Elizabeth, sister of + Sir John Evelyn, Bart., and died in 1720, aged thirty-five, before his + father. He was secretary to the society of "Brothers," wrote verses, and + was a friend of the poets. His son Simon was created Earl Harcourt in + 1749, and was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. + </p> + <p> + 6 Doiley, a seventeenth-century linen-draper,—probably "Thomas + Doyley, at the Nun, in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden,"—invented + stuffs which "might at once be cheap and genteel" (Spectator, No. 283). + </p> + <p> + 7 A special envoy. The Resident from Venice in 1710 was Signor Bianchi. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 17, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 9 Nanfan Coote, second Earl of Bellamont, who died in 1708, married, in + 1705, Lucia Anna, daughter of Henry de Nassau, Lord of Auverquerque, and + sister of Henry, first Earl of Grantham. She died in 1744. + </p> + <p> + 10 "Farnese" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 20, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 12 Swift's changes of residence during the period covered by the Journal + were numerous. On Sept. 20, 1710, he moved from Pall Mall to Bury Street, + "where I suppose I shall continue while in London." But on Dec. 28 he went + to new lodgings in St. Albans Street, Haymarket. On April 26, 1711, he + moved to Chelsea, and from there to Suffolk Street, to be near the + Vanhomrighs. He next moved to St. Martins Street, Leicester Fields; and a + month later to Panton Street, Haymarket. In 1712 he lodged for a time at + Kensington Gravel Pits. + </p> + <p> + 13 At raffling for books. + </p> + <p> + 14 James Brydges, Paymaster-General, and afterwards Duke of Chandos (see + Letter 3, note 31). + </p> + <p> + 15 Thomas Foley, M.P. for Worcestershire, was created Baron Foley in + December 1711, and died in 1733. + </p> + <p> + 16 See 25th April, 1711 and Letter 20, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 19, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 18 Charles Dering, second son of Sir Edward Dering, Bart., M.P. for Kent, + was Auditor of the Exchequer in Ireland, and M.P. for Carlingford. + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 11, note 44. + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 17, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 21 A Whig paper, for the most part by Mainwaring and Oldmixon, in + opposition to the Examiner. It appeared weekly from October 1710 to August + 1711. + </p> + <p> + 22 See Letter 17, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 23 See Spectator, No. 50, by Addison. + </p> + <p> + 24 In all probability a mistake for "Wesley" (see Letter 1, note 12). + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0084" id="link2H_4_0084"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 22. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Lord Paisley (see Letter 17, note 7). + </h3> + <p> + 2 See Letter 11, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 3 Sir Hovenden Walker. The "man midwife" was Sir Chamberlen Walker, his + younger brother. The "secret expedition" against Quebec conveyed upwards + of 5000 soldiers, under the command of General John Hill (see Letter 10, + note 2), but owing to the want of due preparations and the severe weather + encountered, the fleet was compelled to return to England without + accomplishing anything. + </p> + <p> + 4 Robert Freind, elder brother of John Freind, M.D. (see Letter 9, note + 1), became headmaster of Westminster School in 1711, and held the + appointment until 1733. He was Rector of Witney, and afterwards Canon of + Windsor, Prebendary of Westminster, and Canon of Christ Church. He died in + 1751, aged eighty-four. + </p> + <p> + 5 Christopher Musgrave was Clerk of the Ordnance. + </p> + <p> + 6 Atterbury's wife, Katherine Osborn, has been described as "the + inspiration of his youth and the solace of his riper years." + </p> + <p> + 7 The original Chelsea Bun House, in Jew's Row, was pulled down in 1839. + Sir R. Philips, writing in 1817, said, "Those buns have afforded a + competency, and even wealth, to four generations of the same family; and + it is singular that their delicate flavour, lightness, and richness have + never been successfully imitated." + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 8, note 22. King wrote to Swift (May 15, 1711), "The death of + the Earl of Rochester is a great blow to all good men, and even his + enemies cannot but do justice to his character. What influence it will + have on public affairs God only knows." + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 11, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 17, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 18, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 20, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 13 Swift's curate at Laracor. + </p> + <p> + 14 Queen Anne was the last sovereign who exercised the supposed royal gift + of healing by touch. Dr. Johnson was touched by her, but without effect. + </p> + <p> + 15 Richard Thornhill was tried at the Old Bailey on May 18, 1711, for the + murder of Sir Cholmley Dering, M.P. for Kent, and found guilty of + manslaughter only; but he was shortly afterwards assassinated (see Journal + for Aug. 21, 1711; Spectator, No. 84). The quarrel began on April 27, when + they fell to blows, and Thornhill being knocked down, had some teeth + struck out by Sir C. Dering stamping on him. The spectators then + interfered, and Dering expressed himself as ready to beg pardon; but + Thornhill not thinking this was sufficient satisfaction, gave Dering the + lie, and on May 9 sent him a challenge. + </p> + <p> + 16 Tothill Fields, Westminster, was a favourite place for duels in the + seventeenth century. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 13, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 18 Benjamin Burton, a Dublin banker, and brother-in-law of Swift's friend + Stratford (see Letter 3, note 22). Swift says he hated this "rogue." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0085" id="link2H_4_0085"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 23. + </h2> + <p> + 1 The day on which the Club met. See letter from Swift to St. John, May + 11, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 2 Henry Barry, fourth Lord Barry of Santry (1680-1734), was an Irish Privy + Councillor, and Governor of Derry. In 1702 he married Bridget, daughter of + Sir Thomas Domville, Bart., and in an undated letter (about 1735) to Lady + Santry Swift spoke of his esteem for her, "although I had hardly the least + acquaintance with your lord, nor was at all desirous to cultivate it, + because I did not at all approve of his conduct." Lord Santry's only son + and heir, who was born in 1710, was condemned to death for the murder of a + footman in 1739, when the barony became extinct by forfeiture. See B. W. + Adams's History of Santry. + </p> + <p> + 3 Probably Captain Cammock, of the Speedwell, of 28 guns and 125 men + (Luttrell, vi. 331), who met on July 13, 1708, off Scotland, two French + privateers, one of 16, the other of 18 guns, and fought them several + hours. The first privateer got off, much shattered; the other was brought + into Carrickfergus. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 7, note 21. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 13, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 6 This valuable pamphlet is signed "J.G.," and is believed to be by John + Gay. + </p> + <p> + 7 Edmund Curll's collection of Swift's Miscellanies, published in 1711, + was an expansion of a pamphlet of 1710, "A Meditation upon a Broomstick, + and somewhat beside, of the same Author's." + </p> + <p> + 8 "In this passage DD signifies both Dingley and Stella" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 9 Sir Henry Craik's reading. The old editions have, "It would do: DD goes + as well as Presto," which is obviously corrupt. + </p> + <p> + 10 Cf. Journal, June 17, 1712. + </p> + <p> + 11 Cf. "old doings" (see Letter 9, note 19.) + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 17, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 13 Rymer's Foedera, in three volumes, which Swift obtained for Trinity + College, Dublin. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 6, note 43 and 9th Feb. 1710-11. + </p> + <p> + 15 Stephen Colledge, "the Protestant joiner," was hanged in 1681. He had + published attacks on the Roman Catholics, and had advocated resistance to + Charles II. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 3, note 39. + </p> + <p> + 17 Mitford Crowe was appointed Governor of Barbados in 1706, and before + his departure for that island went to Spain, "to settle the accounts of + our army there, of which he is paymaster" (Luttrell, vi. 104). In 1710 + charges of bribery brought against him by merchants were inquired into by + the Privy Council, but he seems to have cleared himself, for in June 1711 + Swift speaks of him as Governor of Jamaica. He died in 1719. + </p> + <p> + 18 See Letter 8, note 21. + </p> + <p> + 19 Swift's uncle Adam "lived and died in Ireland," and left no son. + Another daughter of his became Mrs. Whiteway. + </p> + <p> + 20 William Lowndes, M.P., secretary to the Treasury, whom Walpole called + "as able and honest a servant as ever the Crown had." + </p> + <p> + 21 The Lord Treasurer's staff: since the dismissal of Godolphin, the + Treasurership had been held in commission. + </p> + <p> + 22 "As I hope to be saved." + </p> + <p> + 23 Stella's maid. + </p> + <p> + 24 See letter from King to Swift, May 15, 1711. Alderman Constantine, a + High Churchman, indignant at being passed over by a junior in the contest + for the mayoralty, brought the matter before the Council Board, and + produced an old by-law by which aldermen, according to their ancientry, + were required to keep their mayoralty. King took the side of the city, but + the majority was for the by-law, and disapproved of the election; + whereupon the citizens repealed the by-law and re-elected the same + alderman as before. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0086" id="link2H_4_0086"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 24. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 The Lord Treasurer's staff. + </h3> + <p> + 2 Swift's "little parson cousin," the resident chaplain at Moor Park. He + pretended to have had some part in The Tale of a Tub, and Swift always + professed great contempt for him. Thomas Swift was son of an Oxford uncle + of Swift's, of the same name, and was at school and college with Swift. He + became Rector of Puttenham, Surrey, and died in 1752, aged eighty-seven. + </p> + <p> + 3 The Duke of Ormond's daughter, Lady Mary Butler (see Letter 7, notes 2 + and 3.) + </p> + <p> + 4 Thomas Harley, the Lord Treasurer's cousin, was secretary to the + Treasury. + </p> + <p> + 5 Lord Oxford's daughter Elizabeth married, in 1712, the Marquis of + Caermarthen. + </p> + <p> + 6 Henry Tenison, M.P. for County Louth, was one of the Commissioners of + the Revenue in Ireland from 1704 until his death in 1709 (Luttrell, v. + 381, vi. 523). Probably he was related to Dr. Tenison, Bishop of Meath, + who died in 1705. + </p> + <p> + 7 Anne Finch (died 1720), daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, and wife of + Heneage Finch, who became fourth Earl of Winchelsea in 1712. Lady + Winchelsea published a volume of poems in 1713, and was a friend of Pope + and Rowe. Wordsworth recognised the advance in the growth of attention to + "external nature" shown in her writings. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 23, note 24 and Letter 30, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 9 This was a mistake. Charles Hickman, D.D., Bishop of Derry, died in + November 1713. + </p> + <p> + 10 "These words in italics are written in a large round hand" (Deane + Swift). (Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this + etext.) + </p> + <p> + 11 "This entry is interlined in the original" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 12 Colonel James Graham (1649-1730) held various offices under James II., + and was granted a lease of a lodge in Bagshot Park. Like his brother, + Viscount Preston, he was suspected of treasonable practices in 1691, and + he was arrested in 1692 and 1696. Under Queen Anne and George I., Colonel + Graham was M.P. for Appleby and Westmorland. + </p> + <p> + 13 Mr. Leslie Stephen has pointed out that this is the name of an inn (now + the Jolly Farmer) near Frimley, on the hill between Bagshot and + Farnborough. This inn is still called the Golden Farmer on the Ordnance + map. + </p> + <p> + 14 "Soley" is probably a misreading for "sollah," a form often used by + Swift for "sirrah," and "figgarkick" may be "pilgarlick" (a poor creature) + in Swift's "little language" (cf. 20th Oct. 1711). + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 14, note 14. + </p> + <p> + 16 Probably a misprint for "Bertie." This Mr. Bertie may have been the + Hon. James Bertie, second son of the first Earl of Abingdon, and M.P. for + Middlesex. + </p> + <p> + 17 Evelyn Pierrepont, fifth Earl of Kingston, was made Marquis of + Dorchester in 1706. He became Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1715, and died + in 1726. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was his daughter. + </p> + <p> + 18 See Letter 12, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 19 Sir Thomas Thynne, first Viscount Weymouth, who died in 1714, aged + seventy-four, married Frances, daughter of Heneage Finch, second Earl of + Winchelsea. + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 7, note 31. + </p> + <p> + 21 Swift is referring to St. John's defence of Brydges (see Letter 21, + note 14.) + </p> + <p> + 22 "He does not mean smoking, which he never practised, but snuffing up + cut-and-dry tobacco, which sometimes was just coloured with Spanish snuff; + and this he used all his life, but would not own that he took snuff" + (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 23 Beaumont (see Letter 1, note 2). + </p> + <p> + 24 Sir Alexander Cairnes, M.P. for Monaghan, a banker, was created a + baronet in 1706, and died in 1732. + </p> + <p> + 25 See Letter 6, note 44 and Letter 17, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 26 Isaac Manley (see Letter 3, note 3.) + </p> + <p> + 27 Sir Thomas Frankland. + </p> + <p> + 28 See Letter 5, note 8. + </p> + <p> + 29 Hockley-in-the-Hole, Clerkenwell, a place of public diversion, was + famous for its bear and bull baitings. + </p> + <p> + 30 Sir William Seymour, second son of Sir Edward Seymour, Bart., of Berry + Pomeroy, retired from the army in 1717, and died in 1728 (Dalton's Army + Lists). He was wounded at Landen and Vigo, and saw much service between + his appointment as a Captain of Fusiliers in 1686 and his promotion to the + rank of Lieutenant-General in 1707. + </p> + <p> + 31 No. 45. + </p> + <p> + 32 "And now I conceive the main design I had in writing these papers is + fully executed. A great majority of the nation is at length thoroughly + convinced that the Queen proceeded with the highest wisdom, in changing + her Ministry and Parliament" (Examiner, No. 45). + </p> + <p> + 33 Edward Harley (see Letter 13, note 17). + </p> + <p> + 34 See Letter 24, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 35 Tom Ashe was an elder brother of the Bishop of Clogher. He had an + estate of more than 1000 pounds a year in County Meath, and Nichols + describes him as of droll appearance, thick and short in person: "a + facetious, pleasant companion, but the most eternal unwearied punster that + ever lived." + </p> + <p> + 36 "Even Joseph Beaumont, the son, was at this time an old man, whose grey + locks were venerable; yet his father lived until about 1719" (Deane + Swift). + </p> + <p> + Letter 25. + </p> + <p> + 1 Sir William Wyndham, Bart. (1687-1740), was M.P. for Somerset. He was a + close partisan of Bolingbroke's, and in 1713 introduced the Schism Bill, + which drove Oxford from office. Wyndham became Chancellor of the + Exchequer, and was afterwards a leading opponent of Walpole. His wife, + Lady Catherine Seymour (died 1713), was the second daughter of Charles, + Duke of Somerset (see Letter 28, note 8). + </p> + <p> + 2 Swift was afterwards President of this Club, which is better known as + "the Society." + </p> + <p> + 3 Perhaps Daniel Reading, M.P. for Newcastle, Co. Dublin. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +4 Afterwards Congreve formed a friendship with the Whigs; or, as Swift +put it, "Took proper principles to thrive, + And so might every dunce alive." +</pre> + <p> + 5 Atterbury. + </p> + <p> + 6 This pamphlet, published in February 1712, was called "A Proposal for + Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue, in a Letter to + the... Lord High Treasurer." + </p> + <p> + 7 No. 47 + </p> + <p> + 8 Francis Gastrell, Canon of Christ Church, was made Bishop of Chester in + 1713. His valuable Notitia Cestriensis was published in 1845-50. + </p> + <p> + 9 Near Fulham. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 12, note 21. + </p> + <p> + 11 The daughters of Meinhardt Schomberg, Duke of Leinster, in Ireland, and + third Duke of Schomberg. Lady Mary married Count Dagenfeldt, and Lady + Frederica married, first, the Earl of Holderness, and, secondly, Earl Fitz + Walter. + </p> + <p> + 12 Thomas Harley. + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 19, note 3. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0087" id="link2H_4_0087"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 26. + </h2> + <p> + 1 The widow of Sir John Lyndon, who was appointed a justice of the Court + of King's Bench in Ireland in 1682, and died in 1699. + </p> + <p> + 2 "Marmaduke Coghill, LL.D., was judge of the Prerogative Court in + Ireland. About this time he courted a lady, and was soon to have been + married to her; but unfortunately a cause was brought to trial before him, + wherein a man was sued for beating his wife. When the matter was agitated, + the Doctor gave his opinion, 'That although a man had no right to beat his + wife unmercifully, yet that, with such a little cane or switch as he then + held in his hand, a husband was at liberty, and was invested with a power, + to give his wife moderate correction'; which opinion determined the lady + against having the Doctor. He died an old man and a bachelor" (Deane + Swift). See also Lascelles, Liber Muner. Hibern., part ii. p. 80. + </p> + <p> + 3 This was a common exclamation of the time, but the spelling varies in + different writers. It seems to be a corruption of "God so," or "God ho," + but there may have been a confusion with "cat-so," derived from the + Italian "cazzo." + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 9, note 28. Mrs. Manley was now editing the Examiner. + </p> + <p> + 5 Sir Henry Belasyse was sent to Spain as Commissioner to inquire into the + state of the English forces in that country. The son of Sir Richard + Belasyse, Knight of Ludworth, Durham, Sir Henry finished a chequered + career in 1717, when he was buried in Westminster Abbey (Dalton's Army + Lists, ii. 228). In his earlier years he served under the United + Provinces, and after the accession of William was made a Brigadier-General + in the English army, and in 1694, Lieutenant-General. In 1702 he was + second in command of the expedition to Cadiz, but he was dismissed the + service in consequence of the looting of Port St. Mary. Subsequently he + was elected M.P. for Durham, and in 1713 was appointed Governor of + Berwick. + </p> + <p> + 6 Atterbury. + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 3, note 20. + </p> + <p> + 8 Sir John Powell, a Judge of the Queen's Bench, died in 1713, aged + sixty-eight. He was a kindly as well as able judge. + </p> + <p> + 9 See June 7th, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 10 This Tisdall has been described as a Dublin merchant; but in all + probability he was Richard Tisdall, Registrar of the Irish Court of + Chancery, and M.P. for Dundalk (1707-1713) and County Louth (1713-1727). + He married Marian, daughter of Richard Boyle, M.P., and died in 1742. + Richard Tisdall was a relative of Stella's suitor, the Rev. William + Tisdall, and years afterwards Swift took an interest in his son Philip, + who became a Secretary of State and Leader of the Irish House of Commons. + </p> + <p> + 11 "In Ireland there are not public paths from place to place, as in + England" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 24, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 13 Probably a son of John Manley, M.P. (see Letter 5, note 8). + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 11, note 45. + </p> + <p> + 15 Dr. George Stanhope, who was Vicar of Lewisham as well as of Deptford. + He was a popular preacher and a translator of Thomas a Kempis and other + religious writers. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 3, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 17 A favourite word with Swift, when he wished to indicate anything + obscure or humble. + </p> + <p> + 18 See Letter 17, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 19 See June 7th, 1711 and notes. + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 17, note 23. + </p> + <p> + 21 Thomas Mills (1671-1740) was made Bishop of Waterford and Lismore in + 1708. A man of learning and a liberal contributor to the cost of church + restorations, he is charged by Archbishop King with giving all the + valuable livings in his gift to his non-resident relatives. + </p> + <p> + 22 Tooke was appointed printer of the London Gazette in 1711 (see Letter + 3, note 8). + </p> + <p> + 23 See Letter 5, note 10 + </p> + <p> + 24 Lady Jane Hyde, the elder daughter of Henry Hyde, Earl of Rochester + (see Letter 5, note 11), married William Capel, third Earl of Essex. Her + daughter Charlotte's husband, the son of the Earl of Jersey, was created + Earl of Clarendon in 1776. Lady Jane's younger sister, Catherine, who + became the famous Duchess of Queensberry, Gay's patroness, is represented + by Prior, in The Female Phaeton, as jealous, when a young girl, of her + sister, "Lady Jenny," who went to balls, and "brought home hearts by + dozens." + </p> + <p> + 25 See Letter 3, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 26 John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, had held the Privy Seal from 1705, and + was regarded by the Ministers as a possible plenipotentiary in the event + of their negotiations for a peace being successful. He married Lady + Margaret Cavendish, daughter and co-heiress of Henry Cavendish, second + Duke of Newcastle, and was one of the richest nobles in England. His + death, on July 15, 1711, was the result of a fall while stag-hunting. The + Duke's only daughter married, in 1713, Edward, Lord Harley, the Earl of + Oxford's son. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0088" id="link2H_4_0088"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 27. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Alexander Forbes, fourth Lord Forbes, who was afterwards attainted for + his share in the Rebellion of 1745. + </p> + <p> + 2 Obscure (cf. Letter 7, note 30). + </p> + <p> + 3 Jacob Tonson the elder, who died in 1736, outlived his nephew, Jacob + Tonson the younger, by a few months. The elder Tonson, the secretary of + the Kit-Cat Club, published many of Dryden's works, and the firm continued + to be the chief publishers of the time during the greater part of the + eighteenth century. + </p> + <p> + 4 John Barber. + </p> + <p> + 5 By his will Swift left to Deane Swift his "large silver standish, + consisting of a large silver plate, an ink-pot, and a sand-box." + </p> + <p> + 6 I.e., we are only three hours in getting there. + </p> + <p> + 7 Cf. Letter 15, note 9. + </p> + <p> + 8 The Examiner was revived in December 1711, under Oldisworth's + editorship, and was continued by him until 1714. + </p> + <p> + 9 James Douglas, fourth Duke of Hamilton, was created Duke of Brandon in + the English peerage in September 1711, and was killed by Lord Mohun in a + duel in 1712. Swift calls him "a worthy good-natured person, very + generous, but of a middle understanding." He married, in 1698, as his + second wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Digby, Lord Gerard, a lady + to whom Swift often refers in the Journal. She outlived the Duke + thirty-two years. + </p> + <p> + 10 See August 27th, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 11 William Fitzmaurice (see Letter 11, note 19). + </p> + <p> + 12 The Duke of Shrewsbury (see Letter 3, note 32) married an Italian lady, + Adelhida, daughter of the Marquis of Paliotti, of Bologna, descended + maternally from Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Queen Elizabeth's + favourite. Lady Cowper (Diary, pp. 8, 9) says that the Duchess "had a + wonderful art of entertaining and diverting people, though she would + sometimes exceed the bounds of decency;... but then, with all her prate + and noise, she was the most cunning, designing woman alive, obliging to + people in prosperity, and a great party-woman." As regards the name + "Presto," see Letter 2, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 13 Probably a cousin. + </p> + <p> + 14 Presumptuous: claiming much. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 13, note 15. John Winchcombe, a weaver of Newbury, marched + with a hundred of his workmen, at his own expenses, against the Scots in + 1513. + </p> + <p> + 16 Thomas Coke, M.P., of Derbyshire, was appointed a Teller of the + Exchequer in 1704, and Vice-Chamberlain to the Queen in 1706. In 1706 he + married—as his second wife—Mrs. Hale, one of the maids of + honour (Luttrell, v. 411, 423; vi. 113, 462; Lady Cowper's Diary, 15, 16), + a lady whose "piercing" beauty it was, apparently, that Steele described + under the name of Chloe, in No. 4 of the Tatler. Jervas painted her as a + country girl, "with a liveliness that shows she is conscious, but not + affected, of her perfections." Coke was the Sir Plume of Pope's Rape of + the Lock. + </p> + <p> + 17 The committee of management of the Royal household. + </p> + <p> + 18 Francesca Margherita de l'Epine, the famous singer, and principal rival + of Mrs. Tofts, came to England in 1692, and constantly sang in opera until + her retirement in 1718, when she married Dr. Pepusch. She died in 1746. + Her sister, Maria Gallia, also a singer, did not attain the same + popularity. + </p> + <p> + 19 Charles Scarborow and Sir William Foster were the Clerks of the Board + of Green Cloth. + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 27, note 16 on Thomas Coke. + </p> + <p> + 21 The Earl of Sunderland's second wife, Lady Anne Churchill, who died in + 1716, aged twenty-eight. She was the favourite daughter of the Duke of + Marlborough, and was called "the little Whig." Verses were written in + honour of her beauty and talent by Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, Dr. + Watts and others, and her portrait was painted by Lely and Kneller. + </p> + <p> + 22 Mary, daughter of Sir William Forester, of Dothill, Shropshire. In + 1700, at the age of thirteen, she had been secretly married to her cousin, + George Downing, a lad of fifteen. Three years later, Downing, on his + return from abroad, refused to acknowledge his wife, and in 1715 both + parties petitioned the House of Lords for leave to bring in a Bill + declaring the marriage to be void; but leave was refused (Lords' Journals, + xx. 41, 45). Downing had become Sir George Downing, Bart., in 1711, and + had been elected M.P. for Dunwich; he died without issue in 1749, and was + the founder of Downing College, Cambridge. + </p> + <p> + 23 In a discussion upon what would be the result if beards became the + fashion, Budgell (Spectator, No. 331) says, "Besides, we are not certain + that the ladies would not come into the mode, when they take the air on + horseback. They already appear in hats and feathers, coats and periwigs." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0089" id="link2H_4_0089"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 28. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Horse-racing was much encouraged by Charles II., who, as Strutt tells + us, appointed races to be made in Datchet Mead, when he was residing at + Windsor. By Queen Anne's time horse-racing was becoming a regular + institution: see Spectator, No. 173. + </p> + <p> + 2 John Montagu, second Duke of Montagu, married Lady Mary Churchill, + youngest daughter of the Duke of Marlborough. + </p> + <p> + 3 Of Clogher. + </p> + <p> + 4 John Adams, Prebendary of Canterbury and Canon of Windsor. He was made + Provost of King's College, Cambridge, in 1712, and died in 1720. + </p> + <p> + 5 The Hon. and Rev. George Verney, Canon of Windsor (died 1728), became + fourth Lord Willoughby de Broke on the death of his father (Sir Richard + Verney, the third Baron), in July 1711. Lord Willoughby became Dean of + Windsor in 1713. + </p> + <p> + 6 Thomas Hare, Under Secretary of State in Bolingbroke's office. + </p> + <p> + 7 Richard Sutton was the second son of Robert Sutton, the nephew of the + Robert Sutton who was created Viscount Lexington by Charles I. Sutton + served under William III. and Marlborough in Flanders, and was made a + Brigadier-General in 1710, in which year also he was elected M.P. for + Newark. In 1711 he was appointed Governor of Hull, and he died, a + Lieutenant-General, in 1737 (Dalton's Army Lists, iii. 153) + </p> + <p> + 8 Charles Seymour, sixth Duke of Somerset (1662-1748), known as "the proud + Duke of Somerset." Through the influence which his wife—afterwards + Mistress of the Robes (see Letter 17, note 10)—had obtained over the + Queen, he bore no small part in bringing about the changes of 1710. His + intrigues during this period were, however, mainly actuated by jealousy of + Marlborough, and he had really no sympathies with the Tories. His + intrigues with the Whigs caused the utmost alarm to St. John and to Swift. + </p> + <p> + 9 The third and last reference to Vanessa in the Journal. + </p> + <p> + 10 "Pray God preserve her life, which is of great importance" (Swift to + Archbishop King, Aug. 15, 1711). St. John was at this moment very anxious + to conciliate Mrs. Masham, as he felt that she was the only person capable + of counteracting the intrigues of the Duchess of Somerset with the Queen. + </p> + <p> + 11 Pontack, of Abchurch Lane, son of Arnaud de Pontac, President of the + Parliament of Bordeaux, was proprietor of the most fashionable + eating-house in London. There the Royal Society met annually at dinner + until 1746. Several writers speak of the dinners at a guinea a head and + upwards served at Pontack's, and Swift comments on the price of the wine. + </p> + <p> + 12 "His name was Read" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 13 Up to the end of 1709 the warrants for the payment of the works at + Blenheim had been regularly issued by Godolphin and paid at the Treasury; + over 200,000 pounds was expended in this manner. But after the dismissal + of the Whigs the Queen drew tight the purse-strings. The 20,000 pounds + mentioned by Swift was paid in 1711, but on June 1, 1712, Anne gave + positive orders that nothing further should be allowed for Blenheim, + though 12,000 pounds remained due to the contractors. + </p> + <p> + 14 The piercing of the lines before Bouchain, which Villars had declared + to be the non plus ultra of the Allies, one of the most striking proofs of + Marlborough's military genius. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 22, note 15. + </p> + <p> + 16 A fashionable gaming-house in St. James's Street. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 6, note 15. The Grange, near Alresford, Hampshire, was + Henley's seat. His wife (see Letter 12, note 24) was the daughter of + Peregrine Bertie, son of Montagu Bertie, second Earl of Lindsey; and Earl + Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7) married Bridget, an elder daughter of + Bertie's. + </p> + <p> + 18 William Henry Hyde, Earl of Danby, grandson of the first Duke of Leeds + (see Letter 8, note 22), and eldest son of Peregrine Osborne, Baron + Osborne and Viscount Dunblane, who succeeded to the dukedom in 1712. Owing + to this young man's death (at the age of twenty-one), his brother, + Peregrine Hyde, Marquis of Caermarthen, who married Harley's daughter + Elizabeth, afterwards became third Duke of Leeds. + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 8, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 3, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 21 William Gregg was a clerk in Harley's office when the latter was + Secretary of State under the Whig Administration. In 1707-8 he was in + treasonable correspondence with M. de Chamillart, the French Secretary of + State. When he was detected he was tried for high treason, and hanged on + April 28. The Lords who examined Gregg did their utmost to establish + Harley's complicity, which Gregg, however, with his dying breath solemnly + denied. + </p> + <p> + 22 By Swift himself. The title was, Some Remarks upon a Pamphlet entitled, + A Letter to the Seven Lords of the Committee appointed to examine Gregg. + </p> + <p> + 23 See Letter 13, note 10. There is no copy in the British Museum. + </p> + <p> + 24 Thomas Parnell, the poet, married, in 1706, Anne, daughter of Thomas + Minchin, of Tipperary. In 1711 Parnell was thirty-two years of age, and + was Archdeacon of Clogher and Vicar of Clontibret. Swift took much trouble + to obtain for Parnell the friendship of Bolingbroke and other persons of + note, and Parnell became a member of the Scriblerus Club. In 1716 he was + made Vicar of Finglas, and after his death in 1718 Pope prepared an + edition of his poems. The fits of depression to which Parnell was liable + became more marked after his wife's death, and he seems to have to some + extent given way to drink. His sincerity and charm of manner made him + welcome with men of both parties. + </p> + <p> + 25 Dr. Henry Compton had been Bishop of London since 1675. He was + dangerously ill early in 1711, but he lived until 1713, when he was + eighty-one. + </p> + <p> + 26 See Letter 26, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 27 See Letter 7, note 21. + </p> + <p> + 28 L'Estrange speaks of "a whiffling fop" and Swift says, "Every whiffler + in a laced coat, who frequents the chocolate-house, shall talk of the + Constitution." + </p> + <p> + 29 Prior's first visit to France with a view to the secret negotiations + with that country which the Ministers were now bent on carrying through, + had been made in July, when he and Gaultier reached Calais in a + fishing-boat and proceeded to Fontainbleau under assumed names. He + returned to England in August, but was recognised at Dover, whence the + news spread all over London, to the great annoyance of the Ministers. The + officer who recognised Prior was John Macky, reputed author of those + Characters upon which Swift wrote comments. Formerly a secret service + agent under William III., Macky had been given the direction of the Ostend + mail packets by Marlborough, to whom he communicated the news of Prior's + journey. Bolingbroke threatened to hang Macky, and he was thrown into + prison; but the accession of George I. again brought him favour and + employment. + </p> + <p> + 30 See Letter 12, note 7. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0090" id="link2H_4_0090"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 29. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 See Letter 3, note 4. + </h3> + <p> + 2 See Letter 6, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 3 Edward Villiers (1656-1711), created Viscount Villiers in 1691, was made + Earl of Jersey in 1697. Under William III. he was Lord Chamberlain and + Secretary of State, but he was dismissed from office in 1704. When he died + he had been nominated as a plenipotentiary at the Congress of Utrecht, and + was about to receive the appointment of Lord Privy Seal. Lord Jersey + married, in 1681, when she was eighteen, Barbara, daughter of William + Chiffinch, closet-keeper to Charles II.; she died in 1735. + </p> + <p> + 4 Lord Paisley was the Earl of Abercorn's eldest surviving son (see Letter + 17, note 7). + </p> + <p> + 5 The Hon. John Hamilton, the Earl's second surviving son, died in 1714. + </p> + <p> + 6 Dr. John Robinson (1650-1723) had gone out as chaplain to the Embassy at + the Court of Sweden in 1682, and had returned in 1708 with the double + reputation of being a thorough Churchman and a sound diplomatist. He was + soon made Dean of Windsor, and afterwards Bishop of Bristol. He was now + introduced to the Council Board, and it was made known to those in the + confidence of Ministers that he would be one of the English + plenipotentiaries at the coming Peace Congress. In 1713 Dr. Robinson was + made Bishop of London. + </p> + <p> + 7 John Erskine, Earl of Mar (1675-1732), who was attainted for his part in + the Rebellion of 1715. His first wife, Lady Margaret Hay, was a daughter + of Lord Kinnoull. + </p> + <p> + 8 Thomas Hay, sixth Earl of Kinnoull (died 1719), a Commissioner for the + Treaty of Union between England and Scotland, and one of the Scotch + representative peers in the first Parliament of Great Britain. His son and + heir, Viscount Dupplin, afterwards Baron Hay (see Letter 5, note 34), who + married Harley's daughter Abigail, is often mentioned in the Journal. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 3, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 10 The title of the pamphlet was, "A New Journey to Paris, together with + some Secret Transactions between the French King and an English Gentleman. + By the Sieur du Baudrier. Translated from the French." + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 11, note 44. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 28, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 13 The Earl of Strafford (see Letter 18, note 3) married, on Sept. 6, + 1711, Anne, only daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Johnson, of Bradenham, + Buckinghamshire, a wealthy shipbuilder. Many of Lady Strafford's letters + to her husband are given in the Wentworth Papers, 1883. + </p> + <p> + 14 Samuel Pratt, who was also Clerk of the Closet. + </p> + <p> + 15 Alice Hill, woman of the bed-chamber to the Queen, died in 1762. + </p> + <p> + 16 Enniscorthy, the name of a town in the county of Wexford. + </p> + <p> + 17 Scrambling. + </p> + <p> + 18 "These words in italics are written in strange, misshapen letters, + inclining to the right hand, in imitation of Stella's writing" (Deane + Swift). (Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this + etext.) + </p> + <p> + 19 Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. + </p> + <p> + 20 John Pooley, appointed Bishop of Raphoe in 1702. + </p> + <p> + 21 These words in italics are miserably scrawled, in imitation of Stella's + hand (Deane Swift). (Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of + this etext.) + </p> + <p> + 22 See Letter 8, note 2. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0091" id="link2H_4_0091"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 30. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 See Letter 25, note 1. + </h3> + <p> + 2 See Letter 9, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 3 See Letter 29, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 4 Cf. the entry on the 11th (note 3 above). + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 6, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 6 William, Lord Villiers, second Earl of Jersey (died 1721), a strong + Jacobite, had been M.P. for Kent before his father's death. He married, in + 1704, Judith, only daughter of a City merchant, Frederick Herne, son of + Sir Nathaniel Herne, Alderman; she died in 1735. Lord Jersey, one of "the + prettiest young peers in England," was a companion of Bolingbroke, and + stories in the Wentworth Papers (pp. 149, 230, 395, 445), show that he had + a bad reputation. + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 28, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 8 The name of Arbuthnot's wife is not known: she died in 1730. + </p> + <p> + 9 James Lovet, one of the "Yeomen Porters" at Court. + </p> + <p> + 10 Richard Jones, Earl of Ranelagh, who died without male issue in January + 1712. Writing to Archbishop King on Jan. 8, Swift said, "Lord Ranelagh + died on Sunday morning; he was very poor and needy, and could hardly + support himself for want of a pension which used to be paid him." + </p> + <p> + 11 Arabella Churchill, maid of honour to the Duchess of York, and mistress + of James II., afterwards married Colonel Charles Godfrey, Clerk + Comptroller of the Green Cloth and Master of the Jewel Office. Her second + son by James II. was created Duke of Albemarle. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 28, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 13 The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of Dublin, elected in August 1711, "not + being approved of by the Government, the City was obliged to proceed to + another election, which occasioned a great ferment among the vulgar sort" + (Boyer, Political State, 1711, p. 500). After two other persons had been + elected and disapproved of, Alderman Gore was elected Lord Mayor, and + approved (ib. pp. 612-17). + </p> + <p> + 14 "These words in italics are written enormously large" (Deane Swift). + (Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this etext.) + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 3, note 39. + </p> + <p> + 16 Henry Lowman, First Clerk of the Kitchen. + </p> + <p> + 17 "The Doctor was always a bad reckoner, either of money or anything + else; and this is one of his rapid computations. For, as Stella was seven + days in journey, although Dr. Swift says only six, she might well have + spent four days at Inish-Corthy, and two nights at Mrs. Proby's mother's, + the distance from Wexford to Dublin being but two easy days' journey" + (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 18 Mrs. Fenton. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0092" id="link2H_4_0092"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 31. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 See Letter 10, note 31. + </h3> + <p> + 2 Charles Paulet, second Duke of Bolton, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of + Ireland in 1717, and died in 1722. In a note on Macky's character of the + Duke, Swift calls him "a great booby"; and Lady Cowper (Diary, p. 154) + says that he was generally to be seen with his tongue lolling out of his + mouth. + </p> + <p> + 3 Stella's maid. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 12, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 5 Colonel Fielding (see Letter 16, note 21). + </p> + <p> + 6 The envoys were Menager and the Abbe du Bois; the priest was the Abbe + Gaultier. + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 18, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 8 Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, General, who died in 1702, married Eleanor, + daughter of Richard Wall, of Rogane, Tipperary. She died in 1732, and + Swift described her as so "cunning a devil that she had great influence as + a reconciler of the differences at Court." One of her sons was General + James Oglethorpe, the philanthropist, and friend of Dr. Johnson. + </p> + <p> + 9 "Worrit," trouble, tease. + </p> + <p> + 10 Sir John Walter, Bart. (died 1722), was M.P. for the city of Oxford. He + and Charles Godfrey (see Letter 30, note 11) were the Clerks Comptrollers + of the Green Cloth. + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 17, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 12 No doubt one of the daughters of Mervyn Tuchet, fourth Earl of + Castlehaven, who died in 1686. + </p> + <p> + 13 Henrietta Maria, daughter of Charles Scarborow (see Letter 27, note + 19). She married, in 1712, Sir Robert Jenkinson, Bart., M.P. for + Oxfordshire, who died without issue in 1717. See Wentworth Papers, 244. + </p> + <p> + 14 In July 1712 a Commission passed empowering Conyers Darcy and George + Fielding (an equerry to the Queen) to execute the office of Master of the + Horse. + </p> + <p> + 15 At Killibride, about four miles from Trim. + </p> + <p> + 16 Swift's "mistress," Lady Hyde (see Letter 5, note 11), whose husband + had become Earl of Rochester in May 1711. She was forty-one in 1711. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Sept. 19, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 18 See Letter 29, note 14. + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 22, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 27, note 9. + </p> + <p> + 21 See Letter 26, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 22 "This happens to be the only single line written upon the margin of any + of his journals. By some accident there was a margin about as broad as the + back of a razor, and therefore he made this use of it" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0093" id="link2H_4_0093"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 32. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, of Colonel Kane's regiment. + </h3> + <p> + 2 A nickname for the High Church party. + </p> + <p> + 3 See Letter 29, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 4 "From this pleasantry of my Lord Oxford, the appellative Martinus + Scriblerus took its rise" (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 5 Cf. the Imitation of the Sixth Satire of the Second Book of Horace, + 1714, where Swift says that, during their drives together, Harley would + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "gravely try to read the lines + Writ underneath the country signs." +</pre> + <p> + 6 See Letter 23, note 15. + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 18, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 23, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 9 Lord Pembroke (see Letter 7, note 31) married, in 1708, as his second + wife, Barbara, Dowager Baroness Arundell of Trerice, formerly widow of Sir + Richard Mauleverer, and daughter of Sir Thomas Slingsby. She died in 1722. + </p> + <p> + 10 Caleb Coatesworth, who died in 1741, leaving a large fortune. + </p> + <p> + 11 Abel Boyer, Whig journalist and historian, attacked Swift in his + pamphlet, An Account of the State and Progress of the Present Negotiations + for Peace. Boyer says that he was released from custody by Harley; and in + the Political State for 1711 (p. 646) he speaks of Swift as "a shameless + and most contemptible ecclesiastical turncoat, whose tongue is as swift to + revile as his mind is swift to change." The Postboy said that Boyer would + "be prosecuted with the utmost severity of the law" for this attack. + </p> + <p> + 12 The "Edgar." Four hundred men were killed. + </p> + <p> + 13 William Bretton, or Britton, was made Lieutenant-Colonel in 1702, + Colonel of a new Regiment of Foot 1705, Brigadier-General 1710, and + Colonel of the King's Own Borderers in April 1711 (Dalton, Army Lists, + iii. 238). In December 1711 he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the + King of Prussia (Postboy, Jan. 1, 1712), and he died in December 1714 or + January 1715. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 24, note 14. + </p> + <p> + 15 It is not clear which of several Lady Gores is here referred to. It may + be (1) the wife of Sir William Gore, Bart., of Manor Gore, and Custos + Rotulorum, County Leitrim, who married Hannah, eldest daughter and co-heir + of James Hamilton, Esq., son of Sir Frederick Hamilton, and niece of + Gustavus Hamilton, created Viscount Boyne. She died 1733. Or (2) the wife + of Sir Ralph Gore, Bart. (died 1732), M.P. for County Donegal, and + afterwards Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He married Miss + Colville, daughter of Sir Robert Colville, of Newtown, Leitrim, and, as + his second wife, Elizabeth, only daughter of Dr. Ashe, Bishop of Clogher. + Or (3) the wife of Sir Arthur Gore, Bart. (died 1727), of Newtown Gore, + Mayo, who married Eleanor, daughter of Sir George St. George, Bart., of + Carrick, Leitrim, and was ancestor of the Earls of Arran. + </p> + <p> + 16 "Modern usage has sanctioned Stella's spelling" (Scott). Swift's + spelling was "wast." + </p> + <p> + 17 Mrs. Manley. + </p> + <p> + 18 Swift's own lines, "Mrs. Frances Harris's Petition." + </p> + <p> + 19 Thomas Coote was a justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, in Ireland, + from 1692 until his removal in 1715. + </p> + <p> + 20 Probably a relative of Robert Echlin, Dean of Tuam, who was killed by + some of his own servants in April 1712, at the age of seventy-three. His + son John became Prebendary and Vicar-General of Tuam, and died in 1764, + aged eighty-three. In August 1731 Bolingbroke sent Swift a letter by the + hands of "Mr. Echlin," who would, he said, tell Swift of the general state + of things in England. + </p> + <p> + 21 "This column of words, as they are corrected, is in Stella's hand" + (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0094" id="link2H_4_0094"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 33. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Swift's verses, "The Description of a Salamander," are a scurrilous + attack on John, Lord Cutts (died 1707), who was famous for his bravery. + Joanna Cutts, the sister who complained of Swift's abuse, died unmarried. + </p> + <p> + 2 See Letter 6, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 3 Fourteen printers or publishers were arrested, under warrants signed by + St. John, for publishing pamphlets directed against the Government. They + appeared at the Court of Queens Bench on Oct. 23, and were continued on + their own recognisances till the end of the term. + </p> + <p> + 4 Robert Benson (see Letter 6, note 36). + </p> + <p> + 5 "The South Sea Whim," printed in Scott's Swift, ii. 398. + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 21, Apr. 24, 1711, Letter 22, Apr. 28, 1711, and Letter 34, + 17 Nov. 1711. + </p> + <p> + 7 Count Gallas was dismissed with a message that he might depart from the + kingdom when he thought fit. He published the preliminaries of peace in + the Daily Courant. + </p> + <p> + 8 William, second Viscount Hatton, who died without issue in 1760. His + half-sister Anne married Daniel Finch, second Earl of Nottingham, and Lord + Hatton was therefore uncle to his fellow-guest, Mr. Finch. + </p> + <p> + 9 Crinkle or contract. Gay writes: "Showers soon drench the camblet's + cockled grain." + </p> + <p> + 10 The Countess of Jersey (see Letter 30, note 6), like her husband, was a + friend of Bolingbroke's. Lady Strafford speaks of her having lately + (November 1711) "been in pickle for her sins," at which she was not + surprised. Before the Earl succeeded to the title, Lady Wentworth wrote to + her son: "It's said Lord Villors Lady was worth fower scoar thoussand pd; + you might have got her, as wel as Lord Villors.... He (Lord Jersey) has + not don well by his son, the young lady is not yoused well as I hear + amongst them, which in my openion is not well." Wentworth Papers (pp. 214, + 234). + </p> + <p> + 11 Cf. Letter 9, Nov. 11, 1710, and Letter 9, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 12 Charles Crow, appointed Bishop of Cloyne in 1702. + </p> + <p> + 13 Swift. + </p> + <p> + 14 Mrs. Manley. + </p> + <p> + 15 The titles of these pamphlets are as follows: (1) A True Narrative of.. + . the Examination of the Marquis de Guiscard; (2) Some Remarks upon a + Pamphlet entitled, A Letter to the Seven Lords; (3) A New Journey to + Paris; (4) The Duke of Marlborough's Vindication; (5) A Learned Comment on + Dr. Hare's Sermon. + </p> + <p> + 16 See the pun this day above. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0095" id="link2H_4_0095"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 34. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 See Letter 3, note 17. + </h3> + <p> + 2 See Letter 11, note 44. + </p> + <p> + 3 Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14). + </p> + <p> + 4 Stella and Dingley. + </p> + <p> + 5 "Noah's Dove, an Exhortation to Peace, set forth in a Sermon preached on + the Seventh of November, 1710, a Thanksgiving Day, by Thomas Swift, A.M., + formerly Chaplain to Sir William Temple, now Rector of Puttenham in + Surrey." Thomas Swift was Swift's "little parson cousin" (see Letter 24, + note 2). + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 6, note 11. The book referred to is, apparently, An Impartial + Enquiry into the Management of the War in Spain, post-dated 1712. + </p> + <p> + 7 Lord Harley (afterwards second Earl of Oxford) (see Letter 5, note 35) + married, on Oct. 31, 1713, Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, only daughter + of John Holles, last Duke of Newcastle of that family (see Letter 26, note + 26). + </p> + <p> + 8 Bolingbroke afterwards said that the great aim (at length accomplished) + of Harley's administration was to marry his son to this young lady. Swift + wrote a poetical address to Lord Harley on his marriage. + </p> + <p> + 9 Thomas Pelham, first Baron Pelham, married, as his second wife, Lady + Grace Holles, daughter of the Earl of Clare and sister of the Duke of + Newcastle. Their eldest son, Thomas, who succeeded to the barony in 1712, + was afterwards created Earl of Clare and Duke of Newcastle, + </p> + <p> + 10 Francis Higgins, Rector of Baldruddery, called "the Sacheverell of + Ireland," was an extreme High Churchman, who had been charged with + sedition on account of sermons preached in London in 1707. In 1711 he was + again prosecuted as "a disloyal subject and disturber of the public + peace." At that time he was Prebendary of Christ Church, Dublin; in 1725 + he was made Archdeacon of Cashel. + </p> + <p> + 11 Swift's pamphlet, The Conduct of the Allies. + </p> + <p> + 12 Lord Oxford's daughter Abigail married, in 1709, Viscount Dupplin, + afterwards seventh Earl of Kinnoull (see Letter 5, note 34). She died in + 1750, and her husband in 1758, when the eldest son, Thomas, became Earl. + The second son, Robert, was made Archbishop of York in 1761. + </p> + <p> + 13 Kensington Gravel Pits was then a famous health resort. + </p> + <p> + 14 Draggled. Pope has, "A puppy, daggled through the town." + </p> + <p> + 15 Writing of Peperharrow, Manning and Bray state (Surrey, ii. 32, 47) + that Oxenford Grange was conveyed to Philip Froud (died 1736) in 1700, and + was sold by him in 1713 to Alan Broderick, afterwards Viscount Midleton. + This Froud (Swift's "old Frowde") had been Deputy Postmaster-General; he + was son of Sir Philip Frowde, who was knighted in 1665 (Le Neve's Knights, + Harleian Society, p. 190), and his son Philip was Addison's friend (see + Letter 8, note 13). + </p> + <p> + 16 Probably the Charles Child, Esq., of Farnham, whose death is recorded + in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1754. + </p> + <p> + 17 Grace Spencer was probably Mrs. Proby's sister (see Letter 19, note 3). + </p> + <p> + 18 Cf. Shakespeare, As You Like It, v. 3: "Shall we clap into 't roundly, + without hawking or spitting, which are the only prologues to a bad voice?" + </p> + <p> + 19 In the "Verses on his own Death," 1731, Swift says + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "When daily howd'y's come of course, + And servants answer, 'Worse and worse!'" +</pre> + <p> + Cf. Steele (Tatler, No. 109), + </p> + <p> + "After so many howdies, you proceed to visit or not, as you like the run + of each other's reputation or fortune," + </p> + <p> + and (Spectator, No. 143), + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "the howd'ye servants of our women." +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0096" id="link2H_4_0096"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 35. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 See Letter 31, note 8. + </h3> + <p> + 2 See Letter 14, note 9. + </p> + <p> + 3 The Tories alleged that the Duke of Marlborough, the Duke of Montagu, + Steele, etc., were to take part in the procession (cf. Spectator, No. + 269). Swift admits that the images seized were worth less than 40 pounds, + and not 1000 pounds, as he had said, and that the Devil was not like + Harley; yet he employed someone to write a lying pamphlet, A True Relation + of the Several Facts and Circumstances of the Intended Riot and Tumult, + etc. + </p> + <p> + 4 A brother of Jemmy Leigh (see Letter 2, note 16), and one of Stella's + card-playing acquaintances. + </p> + <p> + 5 Of The Conduct of the Allies (see Letter 34, Nov. 10, 1711, and Letter + 35, Nov. 24, 1711). + </p> + <p> + 6 Sir Thomas Hanmer (see Letter 9, note 13) married, in 1698, Isabella, + widow of the first Duke of Grafton, and only daughter and heiress of + Henry, Earl of Arlington. She died in 1723. + </p> + <p> + 7 James, Duke of Hamilton (see Letter 27, note 9), married, in 1698, as + his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter and sole heir of Digby, Lord Gerard. + She died in 1744. + </p> + <p> + 8 The Conduct of the Allies. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 25, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 10 Sir Matthew Dudley (see Letter 3, note 2) married Lady Mary O'Bryen, + youngest daughter of Henry, Earl of Thomond. + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 31, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 12 Sir John St. Leger (died 1743) was M.P. for Doneraile and a Baron of + the Exchequer in Ireland from 1714 to 1741. His elder brother, Arthur, was + created Viscount Doneraile in 1703. + </p> + <p> + 13 "Relation of the Facts and Circumstances of the Intended Riot on Queen + Elizabeth's Birthday." + </p> + <p> + 14 The Conduct of the Allies. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 9, note 18. + </p> + <p> + 16 The first motto was "Partem tibi Gallia nostri eripuit," etc. (Horace, + 2 Od. 17-24). + </p> + <p> + 17 See Plautus's Amphitrus, or Dryden's Amphitryon. + </p> + <p> + 18 It is not known whether or no this was Dr. William Savage, Master of + Emmanuel College, Cambridge. No copy of the sermon—if it was printed—has + been found. See Courtenay's Memoirs of Sir William Temple. + </p> + <p> + 19 Of The Conduct of the Allies, a pamphlet which had a very wide + circulation. See a paper by Edward Solly in the Antiquarian Magazine, + March 1885. + </p> + <p> + 20 Allen Bathurst, M.P. (1684-1775), created Baron Bathurst in December + 1711, and Earl Bathurst in 1772. His second and eldest surviving son was + appointed Lord Chancellor in the year preceding the father's death. + Writing to her son in January 1711 (Wentworth Papers, 173), Lady Wentworth + said of Bathurst, "He is, next to you, the finest gentleman and the best + young man I know; I love him dearly." + </p> + <p> + 21 See Letter 9, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 22 See Letter 16, note 20. + </p> + <p> + 23 Swift is alluding to the quarrel between Lord Santry (see Letter 23, + note 2) and Francis Higgins (see Letter 34, note 10), which led to + Higgins's prosecution. The matter is described at length in Boyer s + Political State, 1711, pp. 617 seq. + </p> + <p> + 24 See Letter 19, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 25 No doubt the same as Colonel Newburgh (see Journal, March 5, 1711-12). + </p> + <p> + 26 Beaumont (see Letter 1, note 2 and Letter 26, Jul. 6, 1711). + </p> + <p> + 27 See Letter 31, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 28 Cf. Letter 15, Feb. 9, 1710-11. + </p> + <p> + 29 See Letter 35, note 3. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0097" id="link2H_4_0097"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 36. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 See Letter 34, note 15. Debtors could not be arrested on Sunday. + </h3> + <p> + 2 Sir George Pretyman, Bart., dissipated the fortune of the family. The + title became dormant in 1749. + </p> + <p> + 3 See the Introduction. + </p> + <p> + 4 For the Whites of Farnham, see Manning and Bray's Surrey, iii. 177. + </p> + <p> + 5 The Conduct of the Allies. + </p> + <p> + 6 The Percevals were among Swift's principal friends in the neighbourhood + of Laracor. In a letter to John Temple in 1706 (Forster's Life of Swift, + 182) Swift alludes to Perceval; in spite of different views in politics, + "I always loved him," says Swift, "very well as a man of very good + understanding and humour." Perceval was related to Sir John Perceval, + afterwards Earl of Egmont (see Letter 18, note 15). + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 1, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 8, note 14. + </p> + <p> + 9 The Examiner was resumed on Dec. 6, 1711, under Oldisworth's editorship, + and was continued by him until July 1714. + </p> + <p> + 10 Daniel Finch, second Earl of Nottingham, a staunch Tory, had quarrelled + with the Government and the Court. On Dec. 7, 1711, he carried, by six + votes, an amendment to the Address, to the effect that no peace would be + acceptable which left Spain in the possession of the House of Bourbon. + Harley's counter-stroke was the creation of twelve new peers. The Whigs + rewarded Nottingham by withdrawing their opposition to the Occasional + Conformity Bill: + </p> + <p> + 11 This "Song" begins: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "An orator dismal of Nottinghamshire, + Who had forty years let out his conscience for hire." +</pre> + <p> + 12 The Conduct of the Allies. + </p> + <p> + 13 Robert Bertie, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and fourth Earl of Lindsey, + was created Marquis of Lindsay in 1706, and Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven + in 1715. He died in 1723. + </p> + <p> + 14 Lady Sunderland (see Letter 27, note 21) and Lady Rialton, ladies of + the bed-chamber to the Queen. + </p> + <p> + 15 Hugh Cholmondeley (died 1724), the second Viscount, was created + Viscount Malpas and Earl of Cholmondeley in 1706, and in 1708 was + appointed Treasurer of Her Majesty's Household, an office which he held + until 1713, in spite of his Whig sympathies. "Good for nothing, so far as + ever I knew," Swift wrote of him. + </p> + <p> + 16 Prov. xxv. 3. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 31, note 8. + </p> + <p> + 18 Thomas Parker, afterwards created Earl of Macclesfield, was appointed + Lord Chief-Justice in March 1710. In September 1711 he declined Harley's + offer of the Lord Chancellorship, a post which he accepted under a Whig + Government in the next reign. + </p> + <p> + 19 The Bill against Occasional Conformity. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0098" id="link2H_4_0098"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 37. + </h2> + <p> + 1 The proposed visit to London of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the renowned + General, and friend of Marlborough, was viewed by the Government with + considerable alarm. + </p> + <p> + 2 Swift's "An excellent new Song; being the intended Speech of a famous + orator against Peace," a ballad "two degrees above Grub Street" (see + Letter 36, note 11). + </p> + <p> + 3 Robert Walpole was then M.P. for King's Lynn, and Leader of the + Opposition in the House of Commons. He had been Secretary at War from + February 1708 to September 1710, and the Commissioners of Public Accounts + having reported, on Dec. 21, 1711, that he had been guilty of venality and + corruption, he was expelled from the House of Commons, and taken to the + Tower. + </p> + <p> + 4 William King, D.C.L., author of the Journey to London in 1698, Dialogues + of the Dead, The Art of Cookery, and other amusing works, was, at the end + of the month, appointed Gazetteer, in succession to Steele, on Swift's + recommendation. Writing earlier in the year, Gay said that King deserved + better than to "languish out the small remainder of his life in the Fleet + Prison." The duties of Gazetteer were too much for his easy-going nature + and failing health, and he resigned the post in July 1712. He died in the + following December. + </p> + <p> + 5 At the bottom of St. James's Street, on the west side. + </p> + <p> + 6 The Rev. John Shower, pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation at + Curriers' Hall, London Wall. + </p> + <p> + 7 The Windsor Prophecy, in which the Duchess of Somerset (see Letter 17, + note 10) is attacked as "Carrots from Northumberland." + </p> + <p> + 8 Merlin's Prophecy, 1709, written in pseudo-mediaeval English. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 3, note 18. + </p> + <p> + 10 Dorothy, daughter of Sir Edward Leach, of Shipley, Derbyshire. + </p> + <p> + 11 Sir James Long, Bart. (died 1729), was at this time M.P. for + Chippenham. + </p> + <p> + 12 The number containing this paragraph is not in the British Museum. + </p> + <p> + 13 Joseph Beaumont (see Letter 1, note 2, Letter 26, Jul. 6, 1711 and + Letter 35, note 26) + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 4, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 15 Apparently a misprint for "whether." + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 32, note 19. + </p> + <p> + 17 James Compton, afterwards fifth Earl of Northampton (died 1754), was + summoned to the House of Lords as Baron Compton in December 1711. Charles + Bruce, who succeeded his father as third Earl of Aylesbury in 1741, was + created Lord Bruce, of Whorlton, at the same time. + </p> + <p> + 18 James, Lord Compton, eldest son of the Earl of Northampton; Charles, + Lord Bruce, eldest son of the Earl of Aylesbury; Henry Paget, son of Lord + Paget; George Hay, Viscount Dupplin, the son-in-law of the Lord Treasurer, + created Baron Hay; Viscount Windsor, created Baron Montjoy; Sir Thomas + Mansel, Baron Mansel; Sir Thomas Willoughby, Baron Middleton; Sir Thomas + Trevor, Baron Trevor; George Granville, Baron Lansdowne; Samuel Masham, + Baron Masham; Thomas Foley, Baron Foley; and Allen Bathurst, Baron + Bathurst. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0099" id="link2H_4_0099"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 38. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Juliana, widow of the second Earl of Burlington, and daughter of the + Hon. Henry Noel, was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Anne. She died in + 1750, aged seventy-eight. + </p> + <p> + 2 Thomas Windsor, Viscount Windsor (died 1738), an Irish peer, who had + served under William III. in Flanders, was created Baron Montjoy, of the + Isle of Wight, in December 1711. He married Charlotte, widow of John, + Baron Jeffries, of Wem, and daughter of Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. + </p> + <p> + 3 The Hon. Russell Robartes, brother of Lord Radnor (see Letter 3, note + 7), was Teller of the Exchequer, and M.P. for Bodmin. His son became third + Earl of Radnor in 1723. + </p> + <p> + 4 Gay (Trivia, ii. 92) speaks of "the slabby pavement." + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 17, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 6 George Granville (see Letter 14, note 5), now Baron Lansdowne, married + Lady Mary Thynne, widow of Thomas Thynne, and daughter of Edward, Earl of + Jersey (see Letter 29, note 3). In October 1710 Lady Wentworth wrote to + her son, "Pray, my dear, why will you let Lady Mary Thynne go? She is + young, rich, and not unhandsome, some say she is pretty; and a virtuous + lady, and of the nobility, and why will you not try to get her?" + (Wentworth papers, 149). + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 24, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 8 Harness. + </p> + <p> + 9 On his birthday Swift read the third chapter of Job. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 33, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 11 Sir George St. George of Dunmore, Co. Galway, M.P. for Co. Leitrim from + 1661 to 1692, and afterwards for Co. Galway, died in December 1711. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 35, note 11 and Letter 31, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 4, note 16. + </p> + <p> + 14 Dr. Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14). + </p> + <p> + 15 King Henry VIII., act iv. sc. 2; "An old man broken with the storms," + etc. + </p> + <p> + 16 "These words in the manuscript imitate Stella's writing, and are sloped + the wrong way" (Deane Swift), + </p> + <p> + 17 Archibald Douglas, third Marquis of Douglas, was created Duke of + Douglas in 1703. He died, without issue, in 1761. + </p> + <p> + 18 Arbuthnot and Freind. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0100" id="link2H_4_0100"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 39. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Sir Stephen Evance, goldsmith, was knighted in 1690. + </h3> + <p> + 2 Because of the refusal of the House of Lords to allow the Duke of + Hamilton (see Letter 27, note 9), a Scottish peer who had been raised to + the peerage of Great Britain as Duke of Brandon, to sit under that title. + The Scottish peers discontinued their attendance at the House until the + resolution was partially amended; and the Duke of Hamilton always sat as a + representative Scottish peer. + </p> + <p> + 3 Sir William Robinson (1655-1736), created a baronet in 1689, was M.P. + for York from 1697 to 1722. His descendants include the late Earl De Grey + and the Marquis of Ripon. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 16, note 19. The full title was, Some Advice humbly offered + to the Members of the October Club, in a Letter from a Person of Honour. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 38, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 6 "It is the last of the page, and written close to the edge of the paper" + (Deane Swift). + </p> + <p> + 7 Henry Somerset, second Duke of Beaufort. In September 1711 the Duke—who + was then only twenty-seven—married, as his third wife, Mary, + youngest daughter of the Duke of Leeds. In the following January Lady + Strafford wrote, "The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort are the fondest of one + another in the world; I fear 'tis too hot to hold.... I own I fancy people + may love one another as well without making so great a rout" (Wentworth + Papers, 256). The Duke died in 1714, at the age of thirty. + </p> + <p> + 8 "Upon the 10th and 17th of this month the Examiner was very severe upon + the Duke of Marlborough, and in consequence of this report pursued him + with greater virulence in the following course of his papers" (Deane + Swift). + </p> + <p> + 9 A term of execration. Scott (Kenilworth) has, "A pize on it." + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 11, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 11 In a letter to Swift of Jan. 31, 1712, Sacheverell, after expressing + his indebtedness to St. John and Harley, said, "For yourself, good Doctor, + who was the first spring to move it, I can never sufficiently acknowledge + the obligation," and in a postscript he hinted that a place in the Custom + House which he heard was vacant might suit his brother. + </p> + <p> + 12 Thomas Yalden, D.D., (1671-1736), Addison's college friend, succeeded + Atterbury as preacher of Bridewell Hospital in 1713. In 1723 he was + arrested on suspicion of being involved in the Atterbury plot. + </p> + <p> + 13 Tablets. + </p> + <p> + 14 Sir Solomon de Medina, a Jew, was knighted in 1700. + </p> + <p> + 15 Davenant had been said to be the writer of papers which Swift + contributed to the Examiner. + </p> + <p> + 16 Henry Withers, a friend of "Duke" Disney (see Letter 16, note 20), was + appointed Lieutenant-General in 1707, and Major-General in 1712. On his + death in 1729 he was buried in Westminster Abbey. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 36, note 18. + </p> + <p> + 18 Dyer's News Letter, the favourite reading of Sir Roger de Coverley + (Spectator, No. 127), was the work of John Dyer, a Jacobite journalist. In + the Tatler (No. 18) Addison says that Dyer was "justly looked upon by all + the fox-hunters in the nation as the greatest statesman our country has + produced." Lord Chief-Justice Holt referred to the News Letter as "a + little scandalous paper of a scandalous author" (Howell's State Trials, + xiv. 1150). + </p> + <p> + Letter 40. + </p> + <p> + 1 Dr. John Sharp, made Archbishop of York in 1691, was called by Swift + "the harmless tool of others' hate." Swift believed that Sharp, owing to + his dislike of The Tale of a Tub, assisted in preventing the bishopric of + Hereford being offered to him. Sharp was an excellent preacher, with a + taste for both poetry and science. + </p> + <p> + 2 An edition of the Countess d'Aulnoy's Les Contes des Fees appeared in + 1710, in four volumes. + </p> + <p> + 3 Francis Godolphin, Viscount Rialton, the eldest son of Sidney, Earl of + Godolphin, succeeded his father as second Earl on Sept. 15, 1712. He held + 3 various offices, including that of Lord Privy Seal (1735-1740), and died + in 1766, aged eighty-eight. He married, in 1698, Lady Henrietta Churchill, + who afterwards was Duchess of Marlborough in her own right. She died in + 1733. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 26, note 24. Ladies of the bed-chamber received 1000 pounds a + year. + </p> + <p> + 5 William O'Brien, third Earl of Inchiquin, succeeded his father in 1691, + and died in 1719. + </p> + <p> + 6 Lady Catherine Hyde was an unmarried daughter of Laurence Hyde, first + Earl of Rochester (see Letter 8, note 22). Notwithstanding Swift's express + statement that the lady to whom he here refers was the late Earl's + daughter, and the allusion to her sister, Lady Dalkeith, in Letter 60, + note 26, she has been confused by previous editors with her niece, Lady + Catherine Hyde (see Letter 26, note 24), daughter of the second Earl, and + afterwards Duchess of Queensberry. That lady, not long afterwards to be + celebrated by Prior, was a child under twelve when Swift wrote. + </p> + <p> + 7 Sir John Trevor (1637-1717), formerly Speaker of the House of Commons. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 11, note 44. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 34, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 23, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 11 Charles Trimnel, made Bishop of Norwich in 1708, and Bishop of + Winchester in 1721, was strongly opposed to High Church doctrines. + </p> + <p> + 12 Jibe or jest. + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 22, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 14 The treaty concluded with Holland in 1711. + </p> + <p> + 15 Feb. 2 is the Purification of the Virgin Mary. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 29, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 11, note 53. + </p> + <p> + 18 Lady Mary Butler (see Letter 7, note 2 and Letter 3, note 40), daughter + of the Duke of Ormond, who married, in 1710, John, third Lord Ashburnham, + afterwards Earl of Ashburnham. + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 2, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 36, note 14. + </p> + <p> + 21 Scroop Egerton, fifth Earl and first Duke of Bridgewater, married, in + 1703, Lady Elizabeth Churchill, third daughter of the Duke of Marlborough. + She died in 1714, aged twenty-six. + </p> + <p> + 22 See Letter 30, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 23 Heart. + </p> + <p> + 24 Edward Fowler, D.D., appointed Bishop of Gloucester in 1691, died in + 1714. + </p> + <p> + 25 Isaac Manley (see Letter 3, note 3). + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0101" id="link2H_4_0101"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 41. + </h2> + <p> + 1 This letter, the first of the series published by Hawkesworth, of which + we have the originals (see Preface), was addressed "To Mrs. Johnson at her + Lodgings over against St. Mary's Church, near Capell Street, Dublin, + Ireland"; and was endorsed by her "Recd. Mar. 1st." + </p> + <p> + 2 See Letter 10, note 28. + </p> + <p> + 3 See Letter 12, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 23, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 5 Charles Ross, son of the eleventh Baron Ross, was Colonel of the Royal + Irish Dragoons from 1695 to 1705. He was a Lieutenant-General under the + Duke of Ormond in Flanders, and died in 1732 (Dalton, ii. 212, iii. 34). + </p> + <p> + 6 Charles Paulet, Marquis of Winchester, succeeded his father (see Letter + 31, note 2) as third Duke of Bolton in 1722. He married, as his second + wife, Lavinia Fenton, the actress who took the part of Polly Peacham in + Gay's Beggars Opera in 1728, and he died in 1754. + </p> + <p> + 7 John Blith, or Bligh, son of the Right Hon. Thomas Bligh, M.P. of + Rathmore, Co. Meath (see Letter 4, note 22). In August 1713 he married + Lady Theodosia Hyde, daughter of Edward, third Earl of Clarendon. Lord + Berkeley of Stratton wrote, "Lady Theodosia Hyde... is married to an Irish + Mr. Blythe, of a good estate, who will soon have enough of her, if I can + give any guess" (Wentworth Papers, 353). In 1715 Bligh was made Baron + Clifton, of Rathmore, and Earl of Darnley in 1725. He died in 1728. + </p> + <p> + 8 Obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 9 Word obliterated; probably "found." Forster reads "oors, dee MD." + </p> + <p> + 10 Words obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 31, note 1 and Letter 10, note 31. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 20, Apr. 13-14, 1711 and Letter 9, note 20. + </p> + <p> + 13 Words obliterated. Forster reads "fourth. Euge, euge, euge." + </p> + <p> + 14 Words obliterated; one illegible. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 2, note 14. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 1, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 17 Service. + </p> + <p> + 18 "Aplon"—if this is the right word—means, of course, apron—the + apron referred to on Letter 39, Jan. 25, 1711-12. + </p> + <p> + 19 Words obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 20 As the son of a "brother" of the Club. + </p> + <p> + 21 The Archbishop, Dr. King. + </p> + <p> + 22 See Tacitus, Annals, book ii. Cn. Calpurnius Piso, who was said to have + poisoned Germanicus, was found with his throat cut. + </p> + <p> + 23 This satire on Marlborough concludes— "And Midas now neglected + stands, With asses' ears and dirty hands." + </p> + <p> + 24 Dr. Robinson, Bishop of Bristol. + </p> + <p> + 25 Some Remarks on the Barrier Treaty. + </p> + <p> + 26 Several words are obliterated. Forster reads "MD MD, for we must always + write to MD MD MD, awake or asleep;" but the passage is illegible. + </p> + <p> + 27 See Letter 11, note 39 and Letter 61, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 28 A long erasure. Forster reads "Go to bed. Help pdfr. Rove pdfr. MD MD. + Nite darling rogues." + </p> + <p> + 29 Word obliterated. Forster reads "saucy." + </p> + <p> + 30 Letter from. + </p> + <p> + 31 Words partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 32 Swift wrote by mistake, "On Europe Britain's safety lies"; the slip was + pointed out by Hawkesworth. All the verse is written in the MSS. as prose. + </p> + <p> + 33 "Them" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 34 See Wyons Queen Anne, ii. 366-7. + </p> + <p> + 35 A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English + Tongue, in a Letter to the Most Honourable Robert, Earl of Oxford, 1712. + </p> + <p> + 36 "Help him to draw up the representation" (omitting every other letter). + </p> + <p> + 37 See Letter 23, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 38 Robert Benson. + </p> + <p> + 39 The Story of the St. Albans Ghost, 1712. + </p> + <p> + 40 "Usually" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 41 These words are partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 42 This sentence is obliterated. Forster reads, "Farewell, mine deelest + rife deelest char Ppt, MD MD MD Ppt, FW, Lele MD, ME ME ME ME aden FW MD + Lazy ones Lele Lele all a Lele." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0102" id="link2H_4_0102"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 42. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Endorsed by Stella "Recd. Mar. 19." + </h3> + <p> + 2 "Would" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 3 Conversation. + </p> + <p> + 4 John Guillim's Display of Heraldrie appeared first in 1610. The edition + to which Swift refers was probably that of 1679, which is wrongly + described as the "fifth edition," instead of the seventh. + </p> + <p> + 5 "One of the horses here mentioned may have been the celebrated Godolphin + Arabian from whom descends all the blue blood of the racecourse, and who + was the grandfather of Eclipse" (Larwood's Story of the London Parks, 99). + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 36, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 7 Dorothea, daughter of James Stopford, of New Hall, County Meath, and + sister of Lady Newtown-Butler, was the second wife of Edward, fourth Earl + of Meath, who died without issue in 1707. She afterwards married General + Richard Gorges (see Journal, April 5, 1713), of Kilbrue, County Meath, and + Swift wrote an epitaph on them—"Doll and Dickey." + </p> + <p> + 8 Here follow some obliterated words. + </p> + <p> + 9 Barber (see Letter 12, note 6). + </p> + <p> + 10 "The editors supposed Zinkerman (which they printed in capitals) to + mean some outlandish or foreign distinction; but it is the little language + for 'gentleman'" (Forster). + </p> + <p> + 11 The Hon. Charles Butler, second son of Thomas, Earl of Ossory, eldest + son of James, Duke of Ormond, was elevated to the peerage of Ireland in + 1693 as Earl of Arran, and was also created a peer of England, as Baron + Butler. He held various offices under William III. and Queen Anne, and + died without issue in 1759. + </p> + <p> + 12 "They" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 31, Jan. 12, 1711-12 and Letter 3, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 11, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 15 Sir William Wyndham, Bart., of Orchard Wyndham, married Lady Catherine + Seymour, daughter of the sixth Duke of Somerset (see Letter 25, note 1). + Their eldest son, Charles, succeeded his uncle, the Duke of Somerset, as + Earl of Egremont; and the second son, Percy, was afterwards created Earl + of Thomond. The Wyndhams' house was in Albemarle Street; the loss was over + 20,000 pounds; but they were "much more concerned for their servants than + for all the other losses" (Wentworth Papers, 274). The Duke of Ormond + "worked as hard as any of the ordinary men, and gave many guineas about to + encourage the men to work hard." The Queen gave the Wyndhams temporary + lodgings in "St. James's house." + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 3, note 31. + </p> + <p> + 17 What. + </p> + <p> + 18 Devil's. + </p> + <p> + 19 "To" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 35, note 25. + </p> + <p> + 21 See Letter 41, note 34. + </p> + <p> + 22 See Letter 12, Jan. 1, 1710-11. + </p> + <p> + 23 Peregrine Hyde Osborne, Earl of Danby, afterwards Marquis of + Caermarthen and third Duke of Leeds (see Letter 56, note 6). His sister + Mary was married to the Duke of Beaufort (see Letter 39, note 7). + </p> + <p> + 24 See Letter 9, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 25 Several undecipherable words. Forster reads, "Pidy Pdfr, deelest + Sollahs." + </p> + <p> + 26 "K" (MS.). It should, of course, be "Queen's." + </p> + <p> + 27 See Letter 22, note 18. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0103" id="link2H_4_0103"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 43. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Addressed "To Mrs. Johnson, at her lodgings over against St. Mary's + Church, near Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland." Endorsed "Mar. 30." + </p> + <p> + 2 See Letter 9, note 1. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +3 The Mohocks succeeded the Scowrers of William III.'s reign. Gay +(Trivia, iii. 325) says "Who has not heard the Scowrers' midnight fame? + Who has not trembled at the Mohocks' name?" +Lady Wentworth (Wentworth Papers, 277) says: "They put an old woman into +a hogshead, and rolled her down a hill; they cut off some noses, others' +hands, and several barbarous tricks, without any provocation. They are +said to be young gentlemen; they never take any money from any." See +also the Spectator, Nos. 324, 332, and 347 (where Budgell alludes to +"the late panic fear"), and Defoe's Review for March 15, 1712. Swift was +in considerable alarm about the Mohocks throughout March, and said that +they were all Whigs. The reports that numbers of persons, including men +of figure, had joined together to commit assaults in the streets, made +many fear to leave their houses at night. A proclamation was issued for +the suppressing of riots and the discovery of those guilty of the +late outrages; but it seems probable that the disorders were not more +frequent than might be expected from time to time in a great city. +</pre> + <p> + 4 Henry Davenant, son of Charles Davenant (see Letter 8, note 14), was + Resident at Frankfort. Macky described him as "very giddy-headed, with + some wit," to which Swift added, "He is not worth mentioning." + </p> + <p> + 5 Thomas Burnet, youngest son of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, was + at this time a young man about town of no good reputation. Afterwards he + turned his attention to the law, and was appointed a judge of the Court of + Common Pleas in 1741. He was knighted in 1745, and died in 1753. + </p> + <p> + 6 By Arbuthnot, written to recommend the peace proposals of the + Government. The full title was, Law is a Bottomless Pit. Exemplified in + the case of the Lord Strutt, John Bull, Nicholas Frog, and Lewis Baboon; + who spent all they had in a Law Suit. + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 25, note 6 and Letter 41, note 35. + </p> + <p> + 8 Our little language. + </p> + <p> + 9 Forster reads, "two deelest nauty nown MD." + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 6, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 11 William Diaper, son of Joseph Diaper of Bridgewater, was sent to + Balliol College, Oxford, in 1699, at the age of fourteen. He entered the + Church, and was curate at Brent, Somerset; but he died in 1717, aged + twenty-nine. + </p> + <p> + 12 The Examiner (vol. ii. No. 15) complained of general bribery and + oppression on the part of officials and underlings in the public service, + especially in matters connected with the army; but the writer said that + the head (Lord Lansdowne) was just and liberal in his nature, and easy in + his fortune, and a man of honour and virtue. + </p> + <p> + 13 Sealed documents given to show that a merchant's goods are entered. + </p> + <p> + 14 Thomas Lawrence, First Physician to Queen Anne, and Physician-General + to the Army, died in 1714 (Gentleman's Magazine, 1815, ii. 17). His + daughter Elizabeth was second wife to Lord Mohun. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 17, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 26, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 17 No officer named Newcomb appears in Dalton's Army Lists; but the + allusion to General Ross, further on in Letter 43, adds to the probability + that Swift was referring to one of the sons of Sir Thomas Newcomen, Bart., + who was killed at the siege of Enniskillen. Beverley Newcomen (Dalton, + iii. 52, iv. 60), who was probably Swift's acquaintance, was described in + a petition of 1706 as a Lieutenant who had served at Killiecrankie, and + had been in Major-General Ross's regiment ever since 1695. + </p> + <p> + 18 Atterbury. + </p> + <p> + 19 Evidently a familiar quotation at the time. Forster reads, incorrectly, + "But the more I lite MD." + </p> + <p> + 20 See Letter 41, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 21 See Letter 12, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 22 In 1681, Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of John Ayres, of the + City of London, then aged about twenty, became the fourth and last wife of + Heneage Finch, Earl of Winchelsea, who died in 1689. She lived until 1745. + </p> + <p> + 23 See Letter 23, note 17. + </p> + <p> + 24 Enoch Sterne (see Letter 4, note 17). + </p> + <p> + 25 Lieut.-Col. Robert Sterne was in Col. Frederick Hamilton's Regiment in + 1695. + </p> + <p> + 26 Letter. + </p> + <p> + 27 See Letter 13, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 28 The title was, John Bull in his Senses: being the Second Part of Law is + a Bottomless Pit. + </p> + <p> + 29 See Letter 36, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 30 Cf. note 9 above. Forster reads "nautyas," when the words would mean + "as naughty as nine," apparently. + </p> + <p> + 31 See note 19 above. + </p> + <p> + 32 In 1549, James, second Earl of Arran, was made Duke of Chatelherault by + Henry II. of France. His eldest son died without issue; the second, John, + became first Marquis of Hamilton, and was great-grandfather of Lady Anne + Hamilton (Duchess of Hamilton), mother of the Duke of Swift's Journal. The + Earl of Abercorn, on the other hand, was descended from Claud, third son + of the Earl of Arran, but in the male line; and his claim was therefore + the stronger, according to the French law of inheritance. + </p> + <p> + 33 Madams. + </p> + <p> + 34 This word is doubtful. Forster reads "cobbled." + </p> + <p> + 35 A mistake, apparently, for "writing." The letter was begun on March 8. + </p> + <p> + 36 Silly jade. + </p> + <p> + 37 O Lord, what a clutter. + </p> + <p> + 38 On the death of Dr. William Graham, Dean of Wells, it was reported that + Swift was to be his successor. Dr. Brailsford, however, received the + appointment. + </p> + <p> + 39 Abel Roper (1665-1726), a Tory journalist, published, thrice weekly, + the Postboy, to which Swift sometimes sent paragraphs. Boyer (Political + State, 1711, p. 678) said that Roper was only the tool of a party; "there + are men of figure and distinction behind the curtain, who furnish him with + such scandalous reflections as they think proper to cast upon their + antagonists." + </p> + <p> + 40 Joe Beaumont. + </p> + <p> + 41 Beg your pardon, Madams, I'm glad you like your apron (see Letter 41, + note 18). + </p> + <p> + 42 This word was smudged by Swift. + </p> + <p> + 43 I cannot find Somers in contemporary lists of officials. Cf. Letter 30, + note 16 and Letter 17, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 44 Obliterated and doubtful. + </p> + <p> + 45 Words obliterated and illegible. Forster reads, conjecturally, "Pray + send Pdfr the ME account that I may have time to write to Parvisol." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0104" id="link2H_4_0104"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 44. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Apr. 14." + </h3> + <p> + 2 "Is" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 3 The words after "yet" are partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 7, note 35. + </p> + <p> + 5 John Cecil, sixth Earl of Exeter (died 1721). + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 22, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 7 Arbuthnot. + </p> + <p> + 8 A resort of the Tories. + </p> + <p> + 9 Deane Swift, a son of Swift's uncle Godwin, was a merchant in Lisbon. + </p> + <p> + 10 Winces. Lyly says, "Rubbe there no more, least I winch." + </p> + <p> + 11 Probably William Whiston, who was deprived of the Lucasian + professorship at Cambridge in 1710 for his heterodox views. Parliament + having offered a reward for the discovery of means of finding the + longitude, Whiston made several attempts (1714 and 1721). + </p> + <p> + 12 Word obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 13 Distilled water prepared with rosemary flowers. In Fielding's Joseph + Andrews, a lady gives up to a highway robber, in her fright, a silver + bottle which, the ruffian said, contained some of the best brandy he had + ever tasted; this she "afterwards assured the company was a mistake of her + maid, for that she had ordered her to fill the bottle with Hungary water." + </p> + <p> + 14 As I hope to be saved. + </p> + <p> + 15 Added on the fourth page, as the letter was folded. + </p> + <p> + Letter 45. + </p> + <p> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Johnson," etc. Endorsed "May 1st." + </p> + <p> + 2 A kind of clover, used for soothing purposes. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0105" id="link2H_4_0105"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 46. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "May 15." + </h3> + <p> + 2 Madam Ayris. + </p> + <p> + 3 Simpleton. + </p> + <p> + 4 Robert Benson (see Letter 6, note 36). + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 41, note 35 and Letter 43, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 6 The title was, An Appendix to John Bull still in his Senses: or, Law is + a Bottomless Pit. + </p> + <p> + 7 Arbuthnot. + </p> + <p> + 8 Enquiries by servants. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 17, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 10 Sick. + </p> + <p> + 11 Afterwards Rector of Letcombe, Berks. It was to his house that Swift + repaired a few weeks before the Queen's death. On June 8, 1714, he wrote, + "I am at a clergyman's house, whom I love very well, but he is such a + melancholy, thoughtful man, partly from nature, and partly by a solitary + life, that I shall soon catch the spleen from him. His wife has been this + month twenty miles off at her father's, and will not return these ten + days, and perhaps the house will be worse when she comes." Swift spells + the name "Geree"; later on in the Journal he mentions two of Mr. Gery's + sisters, Betty (Mrs. Elwick) and Moll (Mrs. Wigmore); probably he made the + acquaintance of the family when he was living with the Temples at Moor + Park (see Letter 59, note 11). + </p> + <p> + 12 Because she is a good girl in other things. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0106" id="link2H_4_0106"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 47. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "June 5." + </h3> + <p> + 2 Sice, the number six at dice. + </p> + <p> + 3 At Laracor Swift had "a canal and river-walk and willows." + </p> + <p> + 4 Splenetic fellow. + </p> + <p> + 5 One of them was by Oldmixon: Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to the + Earl of Oxford. + </p> + <p> + 6 Beg your pardon. + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 25, note 9. + </p> + <p> + 8 On May 28, Lord Halifax moved an Address to the Queen that the + instructions given to the Duke of Ormond might be laid before the House, + and that further orders might be issued to him to act offensively, in + concert with the Allies. Wharton and Nottingham supported the motion, but + it was negatived by 68 votes against 40. A similar motion in the House of + Commons was defeated by 203 against 73. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 34, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 23, note 13. + </p> + <p> + 11 "Some Reasons to prove that no Person is obliged by his Principles, as + a Whig, to oppose Her Majesty: in a Letter to a Whig Lord." + </p> + <p> + 12 Several words obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 13 Several words obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 14 The bellman. + </p> + <p> + 15 This present writing. + </p> + <p> + 16 Please. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0107" id="link2H_4_0107"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 48. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Rebecca Dingley," etc. Endorsed "June 23d." + </h3> + <p> + 2 Mr. Ryland reads "second." + </p> + <p> + 3 As I hope to be saved. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 30, Sept. 18, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 5 Glad at heart. + </p> + <p> + 6 The threepenny pamphlet mentioned in Letter 47, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 7 I.e., for. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0108" id="link2H_4_0108"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 49. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley." Endorsed "July 8." + </h3> + <p> + 2 See Letter 28, note 24. + </p> + <p> + 3 See Letter 10, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 3, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 48, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 6 Dr. William Lloyd—one of the Seven Bishops of 1688—was + eighty-four years of age at this time; he died five years later. He was a + strong antipapist, and a great student of the Apocalypse, besides being a + hard-working bishop. A curious letter from him to Lord Oxford about a + coming war of religion is given in the Welbeck Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) + v. 128. + </p> + <p> + 7 "Toland's Invitation to Dismal to dine with the Calf's Head Club." The + Earl of Nottingham (Dismal) had deserted the Tories, and Swift's imitation + of Horace (Epist. I. v.) is an invitation from Toland to dine with "his + trusty friends" in celebration of the execution of Charles I. The Calf's + Head Club was in the habit of toasting "confusion to the race of kings." + </p> + <p> + 8 Bolingbroke. + </p> + <p> + 9 George Fitzroy, Duke of Northumberland (died 1716), a natural son of + Charles II., was also Viscount Falmouth and Baron of Pontefract. See Notes + and Queries, viii. i. 135. + </p> + <p> + 10 Enoch Sterne. + </p> + <p> + 11 Templeoag (see Letter 48, Jun. 17, 1712). + </p> + <p> + 12 Swift probably was only repeating an inaccurate rumour, for there is no + evidence that Steele was arrested. His gambling scheme was withdrawn + directly an information was laid under the new Act of Parliament against + gambling (Aitken's Life of Steele, i. 347). + </p> + <p> + 13 Dr. William Moreton (1641-1715), Swift's diocesan, was translated from + the see of Kildare to that of Meath in 1705. + </p> + <p> + 14 Words obliterated. Forster reads conjecturally, "when ME wants me to + send. She ought to have it," etc. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0109" id="link2H_4_0109"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 50. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "July 23." + </h3> + <p> + 2 "N.33" seems a mistake. Letter No. 32 was received after Swift had left + Kensington and gone to Windsor; see Letter 51, Aug. 7, 1712 and Letter 52, + Sept. 18, 1712 (Ryland). + </p> + <p> + 3 Dr. Moreton (see Letter 49, note 13). + </p> + <p> + 4 Memoranda. + </p> + <p> + 5 Again. + </p> + <p> + 6 O Lord, drunken slut. + </p> + <p> + 7 There's for you now, and there's for your letter, and every kind of + thing. + </p> + <p> + 8 Bolingbroke. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 13, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 10 Grub Street pamphlet. The title was, A Supposed Letter from the + Pretender to another Whig Lord. + </p> + <p> + 11 Arnold Joost Van Keppel, created Earl of Albemarle in 1697. He died in + 1718. The action referred to was at Denain, where the Dutch were defeated + by Villars. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0110" id="link2H_4_0110"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 51. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Aug. 14." + </h3> + <p> + 2 Perhaps this was influenza. + </p> + <p> + 3 By the Stamp Act passed on June 10, 1712—which was repealed in + 1859—a duty of one halfpenny was levied on all pamphlets and + newspapers contained in half a sheet or less, and a duty of one penny on + those of more than half but not exceeding a whole sheet. Swift opposed the + idea in January 1711 (see Letter 15, note 1), and Defoe argued against the + Bill in the Review for April 26, 1712, and following numbers. Addison, in + the Spectator, No. 445, spoke of the mortality among authors resulting + from the Stamp Act as "the fall of the leaf." + </p> + <p> + 4 The title is, "Lewis Baboon turned honest, and John Bull politician. + Being the Fourth Part of Law is a Bottomless Pit." This pamphlet—really + the fifth of the series—appeared on July 31, 1712. + </p> + <p> + 5 Poor Laracor. + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 12, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 7 On the death of the third Earl in 1712, the title of Earl of Winchelsea + passed to his uncle, Heneage Finch, who had married Anne, daughter of Sir + William Kingsmill (see Letter 24, note 7). + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0111" id="link2H_4_0111"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 52. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Oct. 1st. At Portraune" + (Portraine). + </p> + <p> + 2 Oxford and Bolingbroke. + </p> + <p> + 3 Including Hester Vanhomrigh. + </p> + <p> + 4 He died on Sept. 15, 1712. + </p> + <p> + 5 Elizabeth Villiers, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, Knight + Marischal of England, and sister of the first Earl of Jersey. In 1695 she + married Lord George Hamilton (son of Lord William Douglas, afterwards Duke + of Hamilton), who was raised to the peerage of Scotland in 1696 as Earl of + Orkney. William III. gave her an Irish estate worth 26,000 pounds a year. + Swift's opinion of her wisdom is confirmed by Lord Lansdowne, who speaks, + in his Progress of Poetry, of + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Villiers, for wisdom and deep judgment famed, + Of a high race, victorious beauty brings + To grace our Courts, and captivate our Kings." +</pre> + <p> + The "beauty" seems a poetic licence; Swift says the lady squinted "like a + dragon." + </p> + <p> + 6 Cliefden. + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 12, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 8 Swift's sister (see Letter 9, note 22). + </p> + <p> + 9 Forster reads "returned." + </p> + <p> + 10 See Swift's letter to General Hill of Aug. 12, 1712 + </p> + <p> + 11 Swift's housekeeper at Laracor. + </p> + <p> + 12 I.e., be made freemen of the City. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0112" id="link2H_4_0112"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 53. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Octr. 18. At Portraune." + </h3> + <p> + 2 "Sometimes, when better company was not to be had, he (Swift) was + honoured by being invited to play at cards with his patron; and on such + occasions Sir William was so generous as to give his antagonist a little + silver to begin with" (Macaulay, History of England, chap. xix.). + </p> + <p> + 3 The History of the Works of the Learned, a quarto periodical, was + published from 1699 to 1711. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 35, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 28, note 25. + </p> + <p> + 6 Lady Elizabeth Savage, daughter of Richard, fourth Earl Rivers (see + Letter 11, note 9), was the second wife of James Barry, fourth Earl of + Barrymore. Of Earl Rivers' illegitimate children, one, Bessy, married (1) + Frederick Nassau, third Earl of Rochford, and (2) a clergyman named + Carter; while another, Richard Savage, was the poet. Earl Rivers' + successor, John Savage, the fifth Earl, was a Roman Catholic priest, the + grandson of John, first Earl Rivers. On his death in 1728 the title became + extinct. + </p> + <p> + 7 No. 32. + </p> + <p> + 8 Very sick. + </p> + <p> + 9 From "but I" to "agreeable" is partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 10 Mrs. Swanton was the eldest daughter of Willoughby Swift, and therefore + Swift's second cousin. In her will Esther Johnson left to Swift "a bond of + thirty pounds, due to me by Dr. Russell, in trust for the use of Mrs. + Honoria Swanton." + </p> + <p> + 11 This sentence is partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 51, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 5, note 16. + </p> + <p> + 14 The latter half of this sentence is partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 15 Partly obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 8, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 17 Wise. + </p> + <p> + 18 Partly obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 6, note 45. + </p> + <p> + 20 This sentence is almost obliterated. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0113" id="link2H_4_0113"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 54. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 The MS. of this letter has not been preserved. + </h3> + <p> + 2 See Letter 26, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 3 Swift's friend, Dr. Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14), was then Provost of + Trinity College, Dublin. + </p> + <p> + 4 Samuel Molyneux, then aged twenty-three, was the son of William Molyneux + (1656-1698), M.P. for Dublin University, a writer on philosophical and + scientific subjects, and the friend of Locke. Samuel Molyneux took his + M.A. degree in Dublin in 1710, and in 1712 visited England. He was + befriended by the Duke of Marlborough at Antwerp, and in 1714 was sent by + the Duke on a mission to the Court of Hanover. He held office under George + I., but devoted most of his attention to astronomical research, until his + death in 1728. + </p> + <p> + 5 Probably "The Case of Ireland's being bound by Acts of Parliament in + England stated" (1698). + </p> + <p> + 6 Oxford and Bolingbroke. + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 36, note 18. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 51, Aug. 7, 1712. + </p> + <p> + 9 George Ridpath (died 1726), a Whig journalist, of whom Pope (Dunciad, i. + 208) wrote— "To Dulness Ridpath is as dear as Mist." He edited the + Flying Post for some years, and also wrote for the Medley in 1712. In + September William Hurt and Ridpath were arrested for libellous and + seditious articles, but were released on bail. On October 23 they appeared + before the Court of Queen's Bench, and were continued on their + recognizances. In February 1713 Ridpath was tried and, in spite of an able + defence by leading Whig lawyers, was convicted. Sentence was postponed, + and when Ridpath failed to appear, as ordered, in April, his recognizances + were escheated, and a reward offered for his discovery; but he had fled to + Scotland, and from thence to Holland. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 52, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 11 Lady Orkney's sister, Barbara Villiers, who married John Berkeley, + fourth Viscount Fitz-Hardinge, had been governess to the Duke of + Gloucester, Queen Anne's son. She died in 1708, in her fifty-second year; + and on her husband's death four years later the peerage became extinct. + </p> + <p> + 12 For the street criers, see the Spectator, No. 251. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0114" id="link2H_4_0114"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 55. + </h2> + <p> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley." Endorsed "Nov. 26, just come from + Portraine"; and "The band-box plot—D: Hamilton's murther." + </p> + <p> + 2 Charles Mohun, fifth Baron Mohun, had been twice arraigned of murder, + but acquitted; and during his short but turbulent life he had taken part + in many duels. Even Burnet could say nothing in his favour. + </p> + <p> + 3 This duel between the Duke of Hamilton (see Letter 27, note 9) and Lord + Mohun, who had married nieces of Lord Macclesfield, had its origin in a + protracted dispute about some property. The challenge came from Lord + Mohun, and the combatants fought like "enraged lions." Tory writers + suggested that the duel was a Whig conspiracy to get rid of the Duke of + Hamilton (Examiner, Nov. 20, 1712). The whole subject is discussed from + the Whig point of view in Boyer's Political State for 1712, pp. 297-326. + </p> + <p> + 4 "Will" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 27, note 9. + </p> + <p> + 6 George Maccartney (see Letter 11, note 13 and Letter 39, Jan. 22, + 1711-12 ) fought at Almanza, Malplaquet, and Douay. After the duel, + Maccartney escaped to Holland, but on the accession of George I. he + returned to England, and was tried for murder (June 1716), when Colonel + Hamilton gave evidence against him. Hamilton's evidence was discredited, + and he found it necessary to sell his commission and leave the country. + Maccartney was found guilty as an accessory, and "burnt" in the hand. + Within a month he was given an appointment in the army; and promoted to be + Lieutenant-General. He died in 1730. + </p> + <p> + 7 Colonel John Hamilton, of the Scots Guards. He surrendered himself, and + was tried at the Old Bailey on Dec. 12, 1712, when he was found guilty of + manslaughter, on two indictments; and on the following day he was "burnt" + in the hand. Hamilton died in October 1716, soon after Maccartney's trial, + from a sudden vomiting of blood. + </p> + <p> + 8 "That" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 9 The story (as told in the Tory Postboy of Nov. 11 to 13) was that on + Nov. 4 a bandbox was sent to the Earl of Oxford by post. When he began to + open it he saw a pistol, whereupon a gentleman present (Swift) asked for + the box, and opening it, by the window, found powder, nails, etc., so + arranged that, if opened in the ordinary way, the whole would have been + fired, and two barrels discharged different ways. No doubt a box so packed + was received, but whether anything serious was intended, or whether it was + a hoax, cannot be said with any certainty. The Earl of Oxford is said to + have met allusions to the subject with a smile, and Swift seems to have + been annoyed at the reports which were put into circulation. + </p> + <p> + 10 "We have received a more particular account relating to the box sent to + the Lord Treasurer, as mentioned in our last, which is as follows," etc. + (Evening News, Nov. 11 to 13, 1712). + </p> + <p> + 11 Either "A Letter to the People, to be left for them at the Booksellers, + with a word or two of the Bandbox Plot" (by T. Burnet), 1712, or "An + Account of the Duel..., with Previous Reflections on Sham Plots" (by A. + Boyer), 1712. Swift's connection with the Bandbox Plot was ridiculed in + the Flying Post for Nov. 20 to 22. + </p> + <p> + 12 Cf. Letter 16, Feb. 20, 1710-11. + </p> + <p> + 13 This sentence is partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 14 Part of this sentence has been obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 43, note 39. I have not been able to find a copy of the + paper containing Swift's paragraph. + </p> + <p> + 16 This sentence is partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 12, note 2. + </p> + <p> + 18 Apparently Humphrey Griffith, who was one of the Commissioners of Salt; + but Swift gives the name as "Griffin" throughout. + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 53, note 13 and Letter 5, note 16. + </p> + <p> + 20 For these shorter letters Swift folded the folio sheet before writing. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0115" id="link2H_4_0115"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 56. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Decr. 18." + </h3> + <p> + 2 Vengeance. + </p> + <p> + 3 Charles Connor, scholar of Trinity College, Dublin, who took his B.A. + degree in the same year as Swift (1686), and his M.A. degree in 1691. + </p> + <p> + 4 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 55, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 6 Lord Oxford's daughter Elizabeth married, on Dec. 16, 1712, Peregrine + Hyde, Marquis of Caermarthen, afterwards third Duke of Leeds (see Letter + 42, note 23 and Letter 24, note 5). She died on Nov. 20, 1713, a few days + after the birth of a son. Swift called her "a friend I extremely loved." + </p> + <p> + 7 "Is" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 8 Disorders. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 34, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 10 John Francis, Rector of St. Mary's, Dublin, was made Dean of Leighlin + in 1705. + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 9, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 12 Possibly "have." + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 55, notes 9, 10, 11. + </p> + <p> + 14 This clause is omitted by Mr. Ryland. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 31, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 16 See Letter 54, Oct. 30, 1712. + </p> + <p> + 17 Thomas Jones, Esq., was M.P. for Trim in the Parliament of 1713-4. + </p> + <p> + 18 A Dutch agent employed in the negotiations with Lewis XIV. + </p> + <p> + 19 When I come home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0116" id="link2H_4_0116"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 57. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Jan. 13." + </h3> + <p> + 2 "Ay, marry, this is something like." The earlier editions give, "How + agreeable it is in a morning." The words in the MS. are partially + obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 3 In this letter (Dec. 20, 1712) Swift paid many compliments to the + Duchess of Ormond (see Letter 17, note 5): "All the accomplishments of + your mind and person are so deeply printed in the heart, and represent you + so lively to my imagination, that I should take it for a high affront if + you believed it in the power of colours to refresh my memory." + </p> + <p> + 4 Tisdall's Conduct of the Dissenters in Ireland (see Letter 61, note 7). + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 9, note 20 and Letter 20, Apr. 13, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 6 Monteleon. + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 5, note 8 and Letter 3, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 8 Utrecht, North and South Holland, and West Frieseland. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 46, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 46, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 11 "On Queen Anne's Peace." + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 43, note 11. The poem was "Dryades, or the Nymph's + Prophecy." + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 35, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 17, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 15 Dr. Tobias Pullen (1648-1713) was made Bishop of Dromore in 1695. + </p> + <p> + 16 Lord Charles Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, died unmarried in 1739. When his + father, William, first Earl of Selkirk, married Anne, Duchess of Hamilton, + the Duchess obtained for her husband, in 1660, the title of Duke of + Hamilton, for life. James II. conferred the Earldom of Selkirk on his + Grace's second and younger sons, primogenitively; and the second son + having died without issue, the third, Charles, became Earl. The fifth son, + George, was created Earl of Orkney (see Letter 52, note 5). The difference + between Lord Selkirk and the Earl of Abercorn (see Letter 10, note 33) to + which Swift alludes was in connection with the claim to the Dukedom of + Chatelherault (see Letter 43, note 32). + </p> + <p> + 17 Heart. + </p> + <p> + 18 This sentence is almost illegible. + </p> + <p> + 19 A reward of 500 pounds was offered by the Crown for Maccartney's + apprehension, and 200 pounds by the Duchess of Hamilton. + </p> + <p> + 20 In the proposed History of the Peace of Utrecht. + </p> + <p> + 21 Mr. Ryland's reading. Forster has "Iss." These words are obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 22 Hoist. Cf."Hoised up the mainsail" (Acts xxvii. 40). + </p> + <p> + 23 It was afterwards found that Miss Ashe was suffering from smallpox. + </p> + <p> + 24 We are told in the Wentworth Papers, p. 268, that the Duchess of + Shrewsbury remarked to Lady Oxford, "Madam, I and my Lord are so weary of + talking politics; what are you and your Lord?" whereupon Lady Oxford + sighed and said she knew no Lord but the Lord Jehovah. The Duchess + rejoined, "Oh, dear! Madam, who is that? I believe 'tis one of the new + titles, for I never heard of him before." + </p> + <p> + 25 A thousand merry new years. The words are much obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 26 Lady Anne Hamilton, daughter of James, first Duke of Hamilton, became + Duchess on the death of her uncle William, the second Duke, at the battle + of Worcester. + </p> + <p> + 27 The quarrel between Oxford and Bolingbroke. + </p> + <p> + 28 See Letter 19, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 29 Burnet (History, iv. 382) says that the Duc d'Aumont was "a goodnatured + and generous man, of profuse expense, throwing handfuls of money often out + of his coach as he went about the streets. He was not thought a man of + business, and seemed to employ himself chiefly in maintaining the dignity + of his character and making himself acceptable to the nation." + </p> + <p> + 30 Partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 31 For the most part illegible. Forster reads, "Go, play cards, and be + melly, deelest logues, and rove Pdfr. Nite richar MD, FW oo roves Pdfr. FW + lele lele ME ME MD MD MD MD MD MD. MD FW FW FW ME ME FW FW FW FW FW ME ME + ME." + </p> + <p> + 32 On the third page of the paper. + </p> + <p> + 33 See Letter 7, note 3. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0117" id="link2H_4_0117"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 58. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 To "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Feb. 4." + </h3> + <p> + 2 This sentence is scribbled over. Forster reads the last word as + "lastalls," i.e. rascals, but it seems rather to be "ledles." + </p> + <p> + 3 Dr. Peter Brown was appointed Bishop of Cork in 1709. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 5, note 22. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 5, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 6 See Letter 5, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 7 Dr. H. Humphreys, Bishop of Hereford, died on Nov. 20, 1712. His + successor was Dr. Philip Bisse (1667-1721), Bishop of St. David's (see + Letter 3, note 36). + </p> + <p> + 8 Thomas Keightley, a Commissioner of the Great Seal in Ireland. + </p> + <p> + 9 Nearly obliterated. Mr. Ryland reads, "deelest MD." + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 57, note 14. + </p> + <p> + 11 In the Examiner for Jan. 5 to 9, 1712(-13), there is an account of the + game of Similitudes. One person thinks of a subject, and the others, not + knowing what it is, name similitudes, and when the subject is proclaimed, + must make good the comparisons. On the occasion described, the subject + chosen was Faction. The prize was given to a Dutchman, who argued that + Faction was like butter, because too much fire spoiled its consistency. + </p> + <p> + 12 Earl Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7). + </p> + <p> + 13 "Say" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 14 Dr. Pratt. + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 13, Jan. 6, 1710-11. + </p> + <p> + 16 This sentence is partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 31, note 10 and, in the same letter, Oct. 5, 1711. + </p> + <p> + 18 Cf. the account of Beatrix's feelings on the death of the Duke in + "Esmond", book iii. chaps. 6 and 7. + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 21, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 20 "Her Majesty is all goodness and tenderness to her people and her + Allies. She has now prorogued the best Parliament that ever assembled in + her reign and respited her own glory, and the wishes, prayers, and wants + of her people, only to give some of her Allies an opportunity to think of + the returns they owe her, and try if there be such a thing as gratitude, + justice, or humanity in Europe. The conduct of Her Majesty is without + parallel. Never was so great a condescension made to the unreasonable + clamours of an insolent faction now dwindled to the most contemptible + circumstances."—Examiner, Jan. 12-16, 1712(-13). + </p> + <p> + 21 Mr. Collins's "Discourse of Freethinking, put into plain English by way + of Abstract, for the use of the Poor," an ironical pamphlet on Arthur + Collins's Discourse of Freethinking, 1713. + </p> + <p> + 22 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + </p> + <p> + 23 A line here has been erased. Forster imagined that he read, "Nite dear + MD, drowsy drowsy dear." + </p> + <p> + 24 Hereford. + </p> + <p> + 25 Very well. + </p> + <p> + 26 Sentence obliterated. Forster professes to read, "Pay can oo walk + oftener—oftener still?" + </p> + <p> + 27 See Letter 57, note 15. + </p> + <p> + 28 Dr. Bisse, translated from St. David's. + </p> + <p> + 29 See Letter 58, note 7 and Letter 19, note 1. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0118" id="link2H_4_0118"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 59. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 To "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Febr. 26." + </h3> + <p> + 2 See Letter 58, note 21. + </p> + <p> + 3 See Letter 28, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 55, note 9. + </p> + <p> + 5 A result of confusion between Erasmus Lewis and Henry Lewis, a Hamburg + merchant. See Swift's paper in the Examiner of Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, + reprinted in his Works under the title, "A Complete Refutation of the + Falsehoods alleged against Erasmus Lewis, Esq." + </p> + <p> + 6 Lord Dupplin (see Letter 5, note 34) had been created Baron Hay in + December 1711. + </p> + <p> + 7 A composition of inflammable materials. + </p> + <p> + 8 Assessors. + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 6, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 59, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 46, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 3, notes 21 and 22, Letter 39, Jan. 12, 1711-12 and Letter + 42, Mar. 1, 1711-12. + </p> + <p> + 13 Dr. Bisse. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 33, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 15 Forster reads, "something." + </p> + <p> + 16 Hardly legible. + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 7, note 31. + </p> + <p> + 18 Stella's brother-in-law (See Letter 53, note 13, Letter 5, note 16 and + Letter 55, Nov. 18, 1712). + </p> + <p> + 19 Forster guesses, "Oo are so 'recise; not to oor health." + </p> + <p> + 20 For "poo Ppt's." Mr. Ryland reads, "people's." + </p> + <p> + 21 See Letter 57, 21 Dec. 1712. + </p> + <p> + 22 See Letter 57, note 23. + </p> + <p> + 23 See Letter 14, note 9. + </p> + <p> + 24 Obliterated; Forster's reading. + </p> + <p> + 25 Writing in October 1713, Lord Berkeley of Stratton told Lord Strafford + of "a fine prank of the widow Lady Jersey" (see Letter 29, note 3). "It is + well known her lord died much in debt, and she, after taking upon her the + administration, sold everything and made what money she could, and is run + away into France without paying a farthing of the debts, with only one + servant and unknown to all her friends, and hath taken her youngest son, + as 'tis supposed to make herself a merit in breeding him a papist. My Lord + Bolingbroke sent after her, but too late, and they say the Queen hath writ + a letter with her own hand to the King of France to send back the boy" + (Wentworth Papers, p. 357). See also Letter 63, note 8. I am not sure + whether in the present passage Swift is referring to the widow or the + younger Lady Jersey (see Letter 33, note 10). + </p> + <p> + 26 Sir Thomas Clarges, Bart. (died 1759), M.P. for Lostwithiel, married + Barbara, youngest daughter of John Berkeley, fourth Viscount + Fitz-Hardinge, and of Barbara Villiers (see Letter 54, note 11), daughter + of Sir Edward Villiers. + </p> + <p> + 27 See Letter 43, Mar. 21, 1711-12 and Letter 49, Jul. 1, 1712. + </p> + <p> + 28 Altered from "11" in the MS. It is not certain where the error in the + dates began; but the entry of the 6th must be correctly dated, because the + Feb. 6 was the Queen's Birthday. + </p> + <p> + 29 See Letter 43, note 11 and Letter 57, note 12. + </p> + <p> + Letter 60. + </p> + <p> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Mar. 7." + </p> + <p> + 2 See Letter 5, note 23. + </p> + <p> + 3 Sedan chairs were then comparatively novel (see Gay's Trivia). + </p> + <p> + 4 Some words obliterated. Forster reads, "Nite MD, My own deelest MD." + </p> + <p> + 5 Peter Wentworth wrote to Lord Strafford, on Feb. 17, 1713, "Poor Mr. + Harrison is very much lamented; he died last Saturday. Dr. Swift told me + that he had told him... he owed about 300 pounds, and the Queen owed him + 500 pounds, and that if you or some of your people could send an account + of his debts, that I might give it to him, he would undertake to solicit + Lord Treasurer and get this 500 pounds, and give the remainder to his + mother and sister" (Wentworth Papers, 320). + </p> + <p> + 6 George St. John (eldest son of Sir Harry St. John by his second + marriage) was Secretary to the English Plenipotentiaries at Utrecht. He + died at Venice in 1716 (Lady Cowper's Diary, 65). + </p> + <p> + 7 Forster wrongly reads, "poor." + </p> + <p> + 8 "Putt" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 59, note 26. + </p> + <p> + 10 Montagu Bertie, second Earl of Abingdon (died 1743), was a strong Tory. + </p> + <p> + 11 See Letter 11, note 61. These friends were together again on an + expedition to Bath in 1715, when Jervas wrote to Pope (Aug. 12, 1715) that + Arbuthnot, Disney, and he were to meet at Hyde Park Corner, proceed to Mr. + Hill's at Egham, meet Pope next day, and then go to Lord Stawell's to + lodge the night. Lord Stawell's seat, Aldermaston, was seventeen miles + from Binfield. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 16, note 20. + </p> + <p> + 13 "I" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 14 Obliterated. Forster reads, "devil," and Mr. Ryland, "bitch." + </p> + <p> + 15 See Letter 40, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 16 Victor Marie, duc d'Estrees, Marshal of France (died 1727). + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 55, note 18. + </p> + <p> + 18 Several words are obliterated. Forster reads, "the last word, God 'give + me"; but "'give me" is certainly wrong. + </p> + <p> + 19 See Letter 9, note 13. Sir Thomas Hanmer married, in 1698, at the age + of twenty-two, Isabella, Dowager Duchess of Grafton, daughter of Henry, + Earl of Arlington, and Countess of Arlington in her own right. Hanmer was + not made Secretary of State, but he succeeded Bromley as Speaker of the + House of Commons. + </p> + <p> + 20 William Fitzmaurice (see Letter 11, note 19 and Letter 27, note 11) + entered Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating on March 10, 1712-13, at the + age of eighteen. + </p> + <p> + 21 See Letter 11, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 22 William Bromley, second son of Bromley the Speaker (see Letter 10, note + 1), was a boy of fourteen at this time. In 1727 he was elected M.P. for + Warwick, and he died in 1737, shortly after being elected Member for + Oxford University. + </p> + <p> + 23 See Letter 14, note 12. + </p> + <p> + 24 Sometimes "list" means to border or edge; at others, to sew together, + so as to make a variegated display, or to form a border. Probably it here + means the curling of the bottom of the wig. + </p> + <p> + 25 The last eight words have been much obliterated, and the reading is + doubtful. + </p> + <p> + 26 Lady Henrietta Hyde, second daughter of Laurence Hyde, first Earl of + Rochester (see Letter 8, note 22), married James Scott, Earl of Dalkeith, + son of the Duke of Monmouth. Lord Dalkeith died in 1705, leaving a son, + who succeeded his grandmother (Monmouth's widow) as second Duke of + Buccleuch. Lady Catherine Hyde (see Letter 40, note 6) was a younger + sister of Lady Dalkeith. + </p> + <p> + 27 Swift first wrote "I frequent." + </p> + <p> + 28 See Letter 52, note 5. + </p> + <p> + 29 D'Estrees. + </p> + <p> + 30 Little (almost illegible). + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0119" id="link2H_4_0119"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 61. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Mar. 27." + </h3> + <p> + 2 See Letter 3, note 20. + </p> + <p> + 3 Formerly Lady Rialton (see Letter 40, note 3). + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 58, note 8. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 11, note 39 and Letter 41, note 27. + </p> + <p> + 6 Pun on "gambol." + </p> + <p> + 7 See Letter 57, note 4. + </p> + <p> + 8 See Letter 41, note 7. + </p> + <p> + 9 "Upon Tuesday last, the house where His Grace the late Duke of Hamilton + and Brandon lived was hired for that day, where there was a fine ball and + entertainment; and it is reported in town, that a great lady, lately gone + to travel, left one hundred guineas, with orders that it should be spent + in that manner, and in that house" (Postboy, Feb. 26-28, 1712-13). The + "great lady" was, presumably, the Duchess of Marlborough. + </p> + <p> + 10 See Letter 36, note 14 and Letter 40, note 21. + </p> + <p> + 11 Trinity College, Dublin. + </p> + <p> + 12 See Letter 60, note 19. + </p> + <p> + 13 See Letter 36, note 15. + </p> + <p> + 14 Dr. Pratt, Provost of Trinity College. + </p> + <p> + 15 Obliterated, and doubtful. + </p> + <p> + 16 A deal at cards, that draws the whole tricks. + </p> + <p> + 17 Previous editors have misread "Trevor" as "Treasurer." Thomas Trevor, + Chief-Justice of the Common Pleas, was created Baron Trevor, of Bromham, + in January 1712. By commission of March 9, 1713, he occupied the woolsack + during the illness of the Lord Keeper, Harcourt. + </p> + <p> + 18 This is the only reference to Pope in the Journal. In his "Windsor + Forest" the young poet assisted the Tories by his reference to the peace + of Utrecht, then awaiting ratification. + </p> + <p> + 19 Several words have been obliterated. Forster reads, "Rove Pdfr, poo + Pdfr, Nite MD MD MD," but this is more than the space would contain. + </p> + <p> + 20 William Oldisworth (1680-1734), a Tory journalist and pamphleteer, who + published various works, including a translation of the Iliad. He died in + a debtors' prison. + </p> + <p> + 21 Some words obliterated. The reading is Forster's, and seems to be + correct. + </p> + <p> + 22 Susan Armine, elder daughter of Sir William Armine, Bart., of Osgodby, + Lincolnshire, was created a life peeress in 1674, as Baroness Belasyse of + Osgodby. She died March 6, 1713. Her first husband was the Honourable Sir + Henry Belasyse, son and heir of John, Baron Belasyse, of Worlaby; and her + second, Mr. Fortney, of Chequers. + </p> + <p> + 23 See Letter 7, note 9. + </p> + <p> + 24 A word before "Ppt" is illegible. Forster's reading, "yes," does not + seem right. + </p> + <p> + 25 In November 1711 it was reported that Miss Kingdom was privately + married to Lord Conway (Wentworth Papers, 207), but this was not the case. + Lord Conway was a widower in 1713, but he married an Irish lady named + Bowden. + </p> + <p> + 26 Forster reads, "Nite, my own dee sollahs. Pdfr roves MD"; but the last + three words, at least, do not seem to be in the MS. + </p> + <p> + 27 Probably the Bishop of Raphoe's son (see Letter 29, note 20). + </p> + <p> + 28 What. + </p> + <p> + 29 As Master of the Savoy. + </p> + <p> + 30 William Burgh was Comptroller and Accountant-General for Ireland from + 1694 to 1717, when his patent was revoked. He was succeeded by Eustace + Budgell. + </p> + <p> + 31 William Paget, sixth Lord Paget, died in March 1713, aged seventy-six. + He spent a great part of his life as Ambassador at Vienna and + Constantinople. + </p> + <p> + 32 Pocket. + </p> + <p> + 33 Forster reads, "Lele lele logues"; Mr. Ryland, "Lele lele... " + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0120" id="link2H_4_0120"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 62. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Apr. 13." + </h3> + <p> + 2 Esther Johnson's brother-in-law, Filby (see Letter 55, note 19). + </p> + <p> + 3 Earl Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7). + </p> + <p> + 4 Francis Annesley, M.P. for Westbury. His colleague in the representation + of that borough was Henry Bertie (third son of James, Earl of Abingdon), + who married Earl Poulett's sister-in-law, Anthony Henley's widow (see + Letter 12, note 24). + </p> + <p> + 5 "Has" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 6 A dozen words are erased. The reading is Forster's, and appears to be + correct. + </p> + <p> + 7 The British Ambassadress's Speech to the French King. The printer was + sent to the pillory and fined. + </p> + <p> + 8 The Examiner (vol. iii. No. 35) said that Swift—"a gentleman of + the first character for learning, good sense, wit, and more virtues than + even they can set off and illustrate"—was not the author of that + periodical. "Out of pure regard to justice, I strip myself of all the + honour that lucky untruth did this paper." + </p> + <p> + 9 A purgative electuary. + </p> + <p> + 10 Bargains. + </p> + <p> + 11 Three or four words illegible. Forster reads, "Nite, nite, own MD." + </p> + <p> + 12 Forster reads, "devil's brood "; probably the second word is "bawd:" + Cf. Letter 60, note 14 and Feb. 18, 1712-13. + </p> + <p> + 13 Several "moving pictures," mostly brought from Germany, were on view in + London at about this time. See Tatler, No. 129, and Gay's Fables, No. 6. + </p> + <p> + 14 See Letter 6, note 45. + </p> + <p> + 15 "Mr. Charles Grattan, afterwards master of a free school at + Enniskillen" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 16 So given in the MS. Forster suggests that it is a mistake for "wood." + </p> + <p> + 17 See Letter 28, note 11. + </p> + <p> + 18 It is probable that this is Pope's friend, William Cleland, who died in + 1741, aged sixty-seven. William Cleland served in Spain under Lord Rivers, + but was not a Colonel, though he seems to have been a Major. Afterwards he + was a Commissioner of Customs in Scotland and a Commissioner of the Land + Tax in England. Colonel Cleland cannot, as Scott suggested (Swift's Works, + iii. 142, xviii. 137-39, xix. 8), have been the son of the Colonel William + Cleland, Covenanter and poet, who died in 1689, at the age of + twenty-eight. William Cleland allowed his name to be appended to a letter + of Pope's prefixed to the Dunciad, and Pope afterwards described him as "a + person of universal learning, and an enlarged conversation; no man had a + warmer heart for his friends, or a sincerer attachment to the constitution + of his country." Swift, referring to this letter, wrote to Pope, "Pray + tell me whether your Colonel (sic) Cleland be a tall Scots gentleman, + walking perpetually in the Mall, and fastening upon everybody he meets, as + he has often done upon me?" (Pope's Works, iv. 48, vii. 214). + </p> + <p> + 19 Henry Grey, Lord Lucas (died 1741), who became twelfth Earl of Kent in + 1702, was made Duke of Kent in 1710. He held various offices under George + I. and George II. + </p> + <p> + 20 Forster found, among the MSS. at Narford, the "lie" thus prepared for + All Fools' Day. Richard Noble, an attorney, ran away with a lady who was + the wife of John Sayer and daughter of Admiral Nevill; and he killed Sayer + on the discovery of the intrigue. The incident was made use of by Hogarth + in the fifth scene of "Marriage a la Mode." + </p> + <p> + 21 See Letter 5, note 3. + </p> + <p> + 22 See Letter 13, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 23 Charles XII. + </p> + <p> + 24 "Is" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 25 Cibber says that he saw four acts of Cato in 1703; the fifth act, + according to Steele, was written in less than a week. The famous first + performance was on April 14, 1713. + </p> + <p> + 26 The first number of the Guardian appeared on March 12, and the paper + was published daily until Oct. 1, 1713. Pope, Addison, and Berkeley were + among the contributors. + </p> + <p> + 27 See Letter 52, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 28 See Letter 39, note 16. + </p> + <p> + 29 The first preached after the period of his suspension by the House of + Lords. It was delivered at St. Saviour's, Southwark, before his + installation at St. Andrew's, and was published with the title, "The + Christian's Triumph, or the Duty of praying for our Enemies". + </p> + <p> + 30 Swift's curate at Laracor. + </p> + <p> + 31 Richard Gorges (died 1728) was eldest son and heir of Dr. Robert + Gorges, of Kilbrue, County Meath, by Jane, daughter of Sir Arthur Loftus, + and sister of Adam, Viscount Lisburne. He was appointed Adjutant-General + of the Forces in Ireland 1697, Colonel of a new Regiment of Foot 1703, + Major-General of the Forces 1707, and Lieutenant-General 1710 (Dalton's + Army Lists, iii. 75). + </p> + <p> + 32 See Letter 60, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 33 Mrs. Oldfield. + </p> + <p> + 34 See Letter 56, note 6. + </p> + <p> + 35 Never saw the like. + </p> + <p> + 36 See Letter 53, note 10. + </p> + <p> + 37 The remainder has been partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0121" id="link2H_4_0121"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LETTER 63. + </h2> + <h3> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "May 4." + </h3> + <p> + 2 Lord Cholmondeley (see Letter 36, note 15). + </p> + <p> + 3 Harcourt. + </p> + <p> + 4 Forster's reading; the last two words are doubtful. + </p> + <p> + 5 See Letter 7, note 27. + </p> + <p> + 6 Francis Palmes, who was wounded at Blenheim, was made a + Lieutenant-General in 1709. In 1707 he was elected M.P. for West Loo; in + 1708 he was sent as Envoy Extraordinary to the Duke of Savoy, and in 1710 + to Vienna. + </p> + <p> + 7 Apparently "so heed." + </p> + <p> + 8 Henry Villiers (died 1743), second son of the first Earl of Jersey and + of Barbara, daughter of William Chiffinch (see Letter 29, note 3 and + Letter 59, note 25). + </p> + <p> + 9 See Letter 61, Mar. 8, 1712-13. The Speech and Address are in the + Commons' Journals, xvii. 278, 280. For the draft Address, in Swift's + handwriting, see the Portland Papers (1899), v. 276. + </p> + <p> + 10 Scoffed, jeered. + </p> + <p> + 11 Dr. Gastrell (see Letter 25, note 8). + </p> + <p> + 12 George Berkeley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, but then a young man of + twenty-eight, came to London in January 1713. He was already known by his + "New Theory of Vision" and "Treatise on the Principles of Human + Knowledge", and he brought with him his "Three Dialogues between Hylas and + Philonous". Steele was among the first to welcome him, and he soon made + the acquaintance of Addison, Pope, and Swift. On March 27, Berkeley wrote + to Sir John Perceval of the breach between Swift and the Whigs: "Dr. + Swift's wit is admired by both of them (Addison and Steele), and indeed by + his greatest enemies, and... I think him one of the best-matured and + agreeable men in the world." In November 1713 Swift procured for Berkeley + the chaplaincy and secretaryship to Lord Peterborough, the new Envoy to + Sicily. + </p> + <p> + 13 Forster reads, "all oo sawcy Ppt can say oo may see me"; but the words + are illegible. + </p> + <p> + 14 Possibly "see," written in mistake for "say." + </p> + <p> + 15 "J" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 16 Obliterated. Forster imagined that he read, "Nite dee logues. Poo Mr." + </p> + <p> + 17 There were two General Hamiltons at this time; probably Swift's + acquaintance was Gustavus Hamilton (1639-1723), who was created Viscount + Boyne in 1717. Hamilton distinguished himself at the battle of the Boyne + and the capture of Athlone, and was made Brigadier-General in 1696, and + Major General in 1703. He took part in the siege of Vigo, and was made a + member of the Privy Council in 1710. + </p> + <p> + 18 See Letter 43, note 38. + </p> + <p> + 19 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + </p> + <p> + 20 This is Forster's reading, and appears to be correct. The last word, + which he gives as "iss truly," is illegible. + </p> + <p> + 21 Belonging to Ireland. + </p> + <p> + 22 See Letter 40, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 23 Another excellent reading of Forster's. I cannot decipher the last + word, which he gives as "dee rogues." + </p> + <p> + 24 Sentence obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 25 The number at the beginning of each entry in the Journal. + </p> + <p> + 26 Mr. Ryland's reading. Forster has "morning, dee." + </p> + <p> + 27 Dr. Thomas Lindsay (see Letter 6, note 45). + </p> + <p> + 28 I think the "MD" is right, though Forster gives "M." The "Pr" is + probably an abbreviation of "Pdfr." + </p> + <p> + 29 The last three lines have been obliterated. + </p> + <p> + Letter 64. + </p> + <p> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "May 22." + </p> + <p> + 2 Illegible. Forster reads, "and dee deelest Ppt." + </p> + <p> + 3 The last few words have been partially obliterated. + </p> + <p> + 4 Am very angry. The last word is scribbled over. + </p> + <p> + 5 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + </p> + <p> + 6 The signature has been cut off. + </p> + <p> + Letter 65. + </p> + <p> + 1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Chester Letter." + </p> + <p> + 2 "Others" (MS.). + </p> + <p> + 3 See Letter 10, note 31 and Letter 31, note 1. + </p> + <p> + 4 See Letter 7, note 7. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Journal to Stella, by Jonathan Swift + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JOURNAL TO STELLA *** + +***** This file should be named 4208-h.htm or 4208-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/0/4208/ + +Produced by Les Bowler, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Journal to Stella + +Author: Jonathan Swift + +Release Date: July, 2003 [Etext #4208] +Posting Date: January 28, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JOURNAL TO STELLA *** + + + + +Produced by Les Bowler + + + + + +THE JOURNAL TO STELLA + +By Jonathan Swift + +With preface, introduction and notes by George A. Aitken. + +(Numbers thus (5) refer to the Notes at the end, which are arranged by +"Introduction" or by "Letter 'number'".) + + + + +PREFACE + + +The history of the publication of the Journal to Stella is somewhat +curious. On Swift's death twenty-five of the letters, forming the +closing portion of the series, fell into the hands of Dr. Lyon, a +clergyman who had been in charge of Swift for some years. The letters +passed to a man named Wilkes, who sold them for publication. They +accordingly appeared in 1766 in the tenth volume of Dr. Hawkesworth's +quarto edition of Swift's works; but the editor made many changes in +the text, including a suppression of most of the "little language." The +publishers, however, fortunately for us, were public-spirited enough to +give the manuscripts (with one exception) to the British Museum, where, +after many years, they were examined by John Forster, who printed in his +unfinished "Life of Swift" numerous passages from the originals, showing +the manner in which the text had been tampered with by Hawkesworth. +Swift himself, too, in his later years, obliterated many words and +sentences in the letters, and Forster was able to restore not a few of +these omissions. His zeal, however, sometimes led him to make guesses at +words which are quite undecipherable. Besides Forster's work, I have had +the benefit of the careful collation made by Mr. Ryland for his edition +of 1897. Where these authorities differ I have usually found myself in +agreement with Mr. Ryland, but I have felt justified in accepting some +of Forster's readings which were rejected by him as uncertain; and the +examination of the manuscripts has enabled me to make some additions and +corrections of my own. Swift's writing is extremely small, and abounds +in abbreviations. The difficulty of arriving at the true reading is +therefore considerable, apart from the erasures. + +The remainder of the Journal, consisting of the first forty letters, +was published in 1768 by Deane Swift, Dr. Swift's second cousin. These +letters had been given to Mrs. Whiteway in 1788, and by her to her +son-in-law, Deane Swift. The originals have been lost, with the +exception of the first, which, by some accident, is in the British +Museum; but it is evident that Deane Swift took even greater liberties +with the text than Hawkesworth. He substituted for "Ppt" the word +"Stella," a name which Swift seems not to have used until some years +later; he adopted the name "Presto" for Swift, and in other ways tried +to give a greater literary finish to the letters. The whole of the +correspondence was first brought together, under the title of the +"Journal to Stella", in Sheridan's edition of 1784. + +Previous editions of the Journal have been but slightly annotated. +Swift's letters abound with allusions to people of all classes with whom +he came in contact in London, and to others known to Esther Johnson in +Ireland; and a large proportion of these persons have been passed over +in discreet silence by Sir Walter Scott and others. The task of +the annotator has, of course, been made easier of late years by the +publication of contemporary journals and letters, and of useful works +of reference dealing with Parliament, the Army, the Church, the Civil +Service, and the like, besides the invaluable Dictionary of National +Biography. I have also been assisted by a collection of MS. notes kindly +placed at my disposal by Mr. Thomas Seccombe. I have aimed at brevity +and relevance, but it is hoped that the reader will find all the +information that is necessary. Here and there a name has baffled +research, but I have been able to give definite particulars of a very +large number of people--noblemen and ladies in society in London or +Dublin, Members of Parliament, doctors, clergymen, Government officials, +and others who have hitherto been but names to the reader of the +Journal. I have corrected a good many errors in the older notes, but in +dealing with so large a number of persons, some of whom it is difficult +to identify, I cannot hope that I myself have escaped pitfalls. + +G. A. A. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +When Swift began to write the letters known as the Journal to Stella, he +was forty-two years of age, and Esther Johnson twenty-nine. Perhaps the +most useful introduction to the correspondence will be a brief setting +forth of what is known of their friendship from Stella's childhood, the +more specially as the question has been obscured by many assertions and +theories resting on a very slender basis of fact. + +Jonathan Swift, born in 1667 after his father's death, was educated +by his uncle Godwin, and after a not very successful career at Trinity +College, Dublin, went to stay with his mother, Abigail Erick, at +Leicester. Mrs. Swift feared that her son would fall in love with a girl +named Betty Jones, but, as Swift told a friend, he had had experience +enough "not to think of marriage till I settle my fortune in the world, +which I am sure will not be in some years; and even then, I am so hard +to please that I suppose I shall put it off to the other world." Soon +afterwards an opening for Swift presented itself. Sir William Temple, +now living in retirement at Moor Park, near Farnham, had been, like his +father, Master of the Irish Rolls, and had thus become acquainted with +Swift's uncle Godwin. Moreover, Lady Temple was related to Mrs. Swift, +as Lord Orrery tells us. Thanks to these facts, the application to +Sir William Temple was successful, and Swift went to live at Moor Park +before the end of 1689. There he read to Temple, wrote for him, and kept +his accounts, and growing into confidence with his employer, "was +often trusted with matters of great importance." The story--afterwards +improved upon by Lord Macaulay--that Swift received only 20 pounds +and his board, and was not allowed to sit at table with his master, is +wholly untrustworthy. Within three years of their first intercourse, +Temple had introduced his secretary to William the Third, and sent +him to London to urge the King to consent to a bill for triennial +Parliaments. + +When Swift took up his residence at Moor Park he found there a little +girl of eight, daughter of a merchant named Edward Johnson, who had died +young. Swift says that Esther Johnson was born on March 18, 1681; in +the parish register of Richmond,(1) which shows that she was baptized on +March 20, 1680-81, her name is given as Hester; but she signed her +will "Esther," the name by which she was always known. Swift says, "Her +father was a younger brother of a good family in Nottinghamshire, her +mother of a lower degree; and indeed she had little to boast in her +birth." Mrs. Johnson had two children, Esther and Ann, and lived at +Moor Park as companion to Lady Giffard, Temple's widowed sister. Another +member of the household, afterwards to be Esther's constant companion, +was Rebecca Dingley, a relative of the Temple family.(2) She was a year +or two older than Swift. + +The lonely young man of twenty-two was both playfellow and teacher +of the delicate child of eight. How he taught her to write has been +charmingly brought before us in the painting exhibited by Miss Dicksee +at the Royal Academy a few years ago; he advised her what books to read, +and instructed her, as he says, "in the principles of honour and virtue, +from which she never swerved in any one action or moment of her life." + +By 1694 Swift had grown tired of his position, and finding that Temple, +who valued his services, was slow in finding him preferment, he left +Moor Park in order to carry out his resolve to go into the Church. He +was ordained, and obtained the prebend of Kilroot, near Belfast, where +he carried on a flirtation with a Miss Waring, whom he called Varina. +But in May 1696 Temple made proposals which induced Swift to return +to Moor Park, where he was employed in preparing Temple's memoirs and +correspondence for publication, and in supporting the side taken by +Temple in the Letters of Phalaris controversy by writing The Battle of +the Books, which was, however, not published until 1704. On his return +to Temple's house, Swift found his old playmate grown from a sickly +child into a girl of fifteen, in perfect health. She came, he says, to +be "looked upon as one of the most beautiful, graceful, and agreeable +young women in London, only a little too fat. Her hair was blacker than +a raven, and every feature of her face in perfection." + +On his death in January 1699, Temple left a will,(3) dated 1694, +directing the payment of 20 pounds each, with half a year's wages, to +Bridget Johnson "and all my other servants"; and leaving a lease of some +land in Monistown, County Wicklow, to Esther Johnson, "servant to my +sister Giffard." By a codicil of February 1698, Temple left 100 pounds +to "Mr. Jonathan Swift, now living with me." It may be added that by her +will of 1722, proved in the following year, Lady Giffard gave 20 pounds +to Mrs. Moss--Mrs. Bridget Johnson, who had married Richard Mose or +Moss, Lady Giffard's steward. The will proceeds: "To Mrs. Hester (sic) +Johnson I give 10 pounds, with the 100 pounds I put into the Exchequer +for her life and my own, and declare the 100 pounds to be hers which I +am told is there in my name upon the survivorship, and for which she has +constantly sent over her certificate and received the interest. I give +her besides my two little silver candlesticks." + +Temple left in Swift's hands the task of publishing his posthumous +works, a duty which afterwards led to a quarrel with Lady Giffard and +other members of the family. Many years later Swift told Lord Palmerston +that he stopped at Moor Park solely for the benefit of Temple's +conversation and advice, and the opportunity of pursuing his studies. At +Temple's death he was "as far to seek as ever." In the summer of 1699, +however, he was offered and accepted the post of secretary and chaplain +to the Earl of Berkeley, one of the Lords Justices, but when he reached +Ireland he found that the secretaryship had been given to another. He +soon, however, obtained the living of Laracor, Agher, and Rathbeggan, +and the prebend of Dunlavin in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. The +total value of these preferments was about 230 pounds a year, an +income which Miss Waring seems to have thought enough to justify him in +marrying. Swift's reply to the lady whom he had "singled out at first +from the rest of women" could only have been written with the intention +of breaking off the connection, and accordingly we hear no more of poor +Varina. + +At Laracor, a mile or two from Trim, and twenty miles from Dublin, Swift +ministered to a congregation of about fifteen persons, and had abundant +leisure for cultivating his garden, making a canal (after the Dutch +fashion of Moor Park), planting willows, and rebuilding the vicarage. As +chaplain to Lord Berkeley, he spent much of his time in Dublin. He was +on intimate terms with Lady Berkeley and her daughters, one of whom is +best known by her married name of Lady Betty Germaine; and through them +he had access to the fashionable society of Dublin. When Lord Berkeley +returned to England in April 1701, Swift, after taking his Doctor's +degree at Dublin, went with him, and soon afterwards published, +anonymously, a political pamphlet, A Discourse on the Contests and +Dissentions in Athens and Rome. When he returned to Ireland in September +he was accompanied by Stella--to give Esther Johnson the name by which +she is best known--and her friend Mrs. Dingley. Stella's fortune was +about 1500 pounds, and the property Temple had left her was in County +Wicklow. Swift, very much for his "own satisfaction, who had few +friends or acquaintance in Ireland," persuaded Stella--now twenty years +old--that living was cheaper there than in England, and that a better +return was obtainable on money. The ladies took his advice, and made +Ireland their home. At first they felt themselves strangers in Dublin; +"the adventure looked so like a frolic," Swift says, "the censure held +for some time as if there were a secret history in such a removal: which +however soon blew off by her excellent conduct." Swift took every +step that was possible to avoid scandal. When he was away, the ladies +occupied his rooms; when he returned, they went into their own lodgings. +When he was absent, they often stopped at the vicarage at Laracor, but +if he were there, they moved to Trim, where they visited the vicar, Dr. +Raymond, or lived in lodgings in the town or neighbourhood. Swift was +never with Stella except in the presence of a third person, and in 1726 +he said that he had not seen her in a morning "these dozen years, except +once or twice in a journey." + +During a visit to England in the winter of 1703-4 we find Swift in +correspondence with the Rev. William Tisdall, a Dublin incumbent whom he +had formerly known at Belfast. Tisdall was on friendly terms with Stella +and Mrs. Dingley, and Swift sent messages to them through him. "Pray put +them upon reading," he wrote, "and be always teaching something to +Mrs. Johnson, because she is good at comprehending, remembering and +retaining." But the correspondence soon took a different turn. Tisdall +paid his addresses to Stella, and charged Swift with opposing his suit. +Tisdall's letters are missing, but Swift's reply of April 20, 1704, +puts things sufficiently clearly. "My conjecture is," he says, "that +you think I obstructed your inclinations to please my own, and that my +intentions were the same with yours. In answer to all which I will, upon +my conscience and honour, tell you the naked truth. First, I think I +have said to you before that, if my fortunes and humour served me to +think of that state, I should certainly, among all persons upon earth, +make your choice; because I never saw that person whose conversation I +entirely valued but hers; this was the utmost I ever gave way to. And +secondly, I must assure you sincerely that this regard of mine never +once entered into my head to be an impediment to you." He had thought +Tisdall not rich enough to marry; "but the objection of your fortune +being removed, I declare I have no other; nor shall any consideration +of my own misfortune, in losing so good a friend and companion as her, +prevail on me, against her interest and settlement in the world, since +it is held so necessary and convenient a thing for ladies to marry, and +that time takes off from the lustre of virgins in all other eyes but +mine. I appeal to my letters to herself whether I was your friend or not +in the whole concern, though the part I designed to act in it was purely +passive." He had even thought "it could not be decently broken," without +disadvantage to the lady's credit, since he supposed it was known to the +town; and he had always spoken of her in a manner far from discouraging. +Though he knew many ladies of rank, he had "nowhere met with an humour, +a wit, or conversation so agreeable, a better portion of good sense, or +a truer judgment of men or things." He envied Tisdall his prudence and +temper, and love of peace and settlement, "the reverse of which has been +the great uneasiness of my life, and is likely to continue so." + +This letter has been quoted at some length because of its great +importance. It is obviously capable of various interpretations, and +some, like Dr. Johnson, have concluded that Swift was resolved to keep +Stella in his power, and therefore prevented an advantageous match +by making unreasonable demands. I cannot see any ground for this +interpretation, though it is probable that Tisdall's appearance as +a suitor was sufficiently annoying. There is no evidence that Stella +viewed Tisdall's proposal with any favour, unless it can be held to +be furnished by Swift's belief that the town thought--rightly or +wrongly--that there was an engagement. In any case, there could be no +mistake in future with regard to Swift's attitude towards Stella. She +was dearer to him than anyone else, and his feeling for her would not +change, but for marriage he had neither fortune nor humour. Tisdall +consoled himself by marrying another lady two years afterwards; and +though for a long time Swift entertained for him feelings of dislike, +in later life their relations improved, and Tisdall was one of the +witnesses to Swift's will. + +The Tale of a Tub was published in 1704, and Swift was soon in constant +intercourse with Addison and the other wits. While he was in England in +1705, Stella and Mrs. Dingley made a short visit to London. This and a +similar visit in 1708 are the only occasions on which Stella is known to +have left Ireland after taking up her residence in that country. Swift's +influence over women was always very striking. Most of the toasts of the +day were his friends, and he insisted that any lady of wit and quality +who desired his acquaintance should make the first advances. This, he +says--writing in 1730--had been an established rule for over twenty +years. In 1708 a dispute on this question with one toast, Mrs. Long, +was referred for settlement to Ginckel Vanhomrigh, the son of the house +where it was proposed that the meeting should take place; and by the +decision--which was in Swift's favour--"Mrs. Vanhomrigh and her fair +daughter Hessy" were forbidden to aid Mrs. Long in her disobedience +for the future. This is the first that we hear of Hester or Esther +Vanhomrigh, who was afterwards to play so marked a part in the story +of Swift's life. Born on February 14, 1690, she was now eighteen. Her +father, Bartholomew Vanhomrigh, a Dublin merchant of Dutch origin, +had died in 1703, leaving his wife a fortune of some sixteen thousand +pounds. On the income from this money Mrs. Vanhomrigh, with her two +daughters, Hester and Mary, were able to mix in fashionable society in +London. Swift was introduced to them by Sir Andrew Fountaine early in +1708, but evidently Stella did not make their acquaintance, nor indeed +hear much, if anything, of them until the time of the Journal. + +Swift's visit to London in 1707-9 had for its object the obtaining for +the Irish Church of the surrender by the Crown of the First-Fruits and +Twentieths, which brought in about 2500 pounds a year. Nothing came +of Swift's interviews with the Whig statesmen, and after many +disappointments he returned to Laracor (June 1709), and conversed with +none but Stella and her card-playing friends, and Addison, now secretary +to Lord Wharton.(4) Next year came the fall of the Whigs, and a request +to Swift from the Irish bishops that he would renew the application for +the First-Fruits, in the hope that there would be greater success with +the Tories. Swift reached London in September 1710, and began the series +of letters, giving details of the events of each day, which now form the +Journal to Stella. "I will write something every day to MD," he says, +"and make it a sort of journal; and when it is full I will send it, +whether MD writes or no; and so that will be pretty; and I shall always +be in conversation with MD, and MD with Presto." It is interesting to +note that by way of caution these letters were usually addressed to Mrs. +Dingley, and not to Stella. + +The story of Swift's growing intimacy with the Tory leaders, of the +success of his mission, of the increasing coolness towards older +acquaintances, and of his services to the Government, can best be read +in the Journal itself. In the meantime the intimacy with the Vanhomrighs +grew rapidly. They were near neighbours of Swift's, and in a few weeks +after his arrival in town we find frequent allusions to the dinners at +their house (where he kept his best gown and periwig), sometimes with +the explanation that he went there "out of mere listlessness," or +because it was wet, or because another engagement had broken down. Only +thrice does he mention the "eldest daughter": once on her birthday; once +on the occasion of a trick played him, when he received a message that +she was suddenly very ill ("I rattled off the daughter"); and once to +state that she was come of age, and was going to Ireland to look after +her fortune. There is evidence that "Miss Essy," or Vanessa, to give her +the name by which she will always be known, was in correspondence with +Swift in July 1710--while he was still in Ireland--and in the spring of +1711;(5) and early in 1711 Stella seems to have expressed surprise at +Swift's intimacy with the family, for in February he replied, "You say +they are of no consequence; why, they keep as good female company as +I do male; I see all the drabs of quality at this end of the town +with them." In the autumn Swift seems to have thought that Vanessa was +keeping company with a certain Hatton, but Mrs. Long--possibly meaning +to give him a warning hint--remarked that if this were so "she is not +the girl I took her for; but to me she seems melancholy." + +In 1712 occasional letters took the place of the daily journal to "MD," +but there is no change in the affectionate style in which Swift wrote. +In the spring he had a long illness, which affected him, indeed, +throughout the year. Other reasons which he gives for the falling off in +his correspondence are his numerous business engagements, and the hope +of being able to send some good news of an appointment for himself. +There is only one letter to Stella between July 19 and September 15, +and Dr. Birkbeck Hill argues that the poem "Cadenus and Vanessa" was +composed at that time.(6) If this be so, it must have been altered next +year, because it was not until 1713 that Swift was made a Dean. Writing +on April 19, 1726, Swift said that the poem "was written at Windsor near +fourteen years ago, and dated: it was a task performed on a frolic among +some ladies, and she it was addressed to died some time ago in Dublin, +and on her death the copy shewn by her executor." Several copies were in +circulation, and he was indifferent what was done with it; it was "only +a cavalier business," and if those who would not give allowances were +malicious, it was only what he had long expected. + +From this letter it would appear that this remarkable poem was written +in the summer of 1712; whereas the title-page of the pamphlet says it +was "written at Windsor, 1713." Swift visited Windsor in both years, +but he had more leisure in 1712, and we know that Vanessa was also at +Windsor in that year. In that year, too, he was forty-four, the +age mentioned in the poem. Neither Swift nor Vanessa forgot this +intercourse: years afterwards Swift wrote to her, "Go over the scenes +of Windsor.... Cad thinks often of these"; and again, "Remember the +indisposition at Windsor." We know that this poem was revised in 1719, +when in all probability Swift added the lines to which most exception +can be taken. Cadenus was to be Vanessa's instructor:-- + + "His conduct might have made him styled + A father, and the nymph his child." + +He had "grown old in politics and wit," and "in every scene had kept +his heart," so that he now "understood not what was love." But he +had written much, and Vanessa admired his wit. Cadenus found that her +thoughts wandered-- + + "Though she seemed to listen more + To all he spoke than e'er before." + +When she confessed her love, he was filled with "shame, disappointment, +guilt, surprise." He had aimed only at cultivating the mind, and had +hardly known whether she was young or old. But he was flattered, and +though he could not give her love, he offered her friendship, "with +gratitude, respect, esteem." Vanessa took him at his word, and said she +would now be tutor, though he was not apt to learn:-- + + "But what success Vanessa met + Is to the world a secret yet. + Whether the nymph to please her swain + Talks in a high romantic strain; + Or whether he at last descends + To act with less seraphic ends; + Or, to compound the business, whether + They temper love and books together, + Must never to mankind be told, + Nor shall the conscious Muse unfold." + +Such is the poem as we now have it, written, it must be remembered, for +Vanessa's private perusal. It is to be regretted, for her own sake, that +she did not destroy it. + +Swift received the reward of his services to the Government--the +Deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin--in April 1713. Disappointed at what he +regarded as exile, he left London in June. Vanessa immediately began to +send him letters which brought home to him the extent of her passion; +and she hinted at jealousy in the words, "If you are very happy, it is +ill-natured of you not to tell me so, except 'tis what is inconsistent +with my own." In his reply Swift dwelt upon the dreariness of his +surroundings at Laracor, and reminded her that he had said he would +endeavour to forget everything in England, and would write as seldom as +he could. + +Swift was back again in the political strife in London in September, +taking Oxford's part in the quarrel between that statesman and +Bolingbroke. On the fall of the Tories at the death of Queen Anne, he +saw that all was over, and retired to Ireland, not to return again +for twelve years. In the meantime the intimacy with Vanessa had been +renewed. Her mother had died, leaving debts, and she pressed Swift for +advice in the management of her affairs. When she suggested coming to +Ireland, where she had property, he told her that if she took this +step he would "see her very seldom." However, she took up her abode at +Celbridge, only a few miles from Dublin. Swift gave her many cautions, +out of "the perfect esteem and friendship" he felt for her, but he often +visited her. She was dissatisfied, however, begging him to speak kindly, +and at least to counterfeit his former indulgent friendship. "What can +be wrong," she wrote, "in seeing and advising an unhappy young woman? +You cannot but know that your frowns make my life unsupportable." +Sometimes he treated the matter lightly; sometimes he showed annoyance; +sometimes he assured her of his esteem and love, but urged her not +to make herself or him "unhappy by imaginations." He was uniformly +unsuccessful in stopping Vanessa's importunity. He endeavoured, she +said, by severities to force her from him; she knew she was the cause of +uneasy reflections to him; but nothing would lessen her "inexpressible +passion." + +Unfortunately he failed--partly no doubt from mistaken considerations +of kindness, partly because he shrank from losing her affection--to take +effective steps to put an end to Vanessa's hopes. It would have been +better if he had unhesitatingly made it clear to her that he could +not return her passion, and that if she could not be satisfied with +friendship the intimacy must cease. To quote Sir Henry Craik, "The +friendship had begun in literary guidance: it was strengthened by +flattery: it lived on a cold and almost stern repression, fed by +confidences as to literary schemes, and by occasional literary +compliments: but it never came to have a real hold over Swift's heart." + +With 1716 we come to the alleged marriage with Stella. In 1752, seven +years after Swift's death, Lord Orrery, in his Remarks on Swift, said +that Stella was "the concealed, but undoubted, wife of Dr. Swift.... +If my informations are right, she was married to Dr. Swift in the year +1716, by Dr. Ashe, then Bishop of Clogher." Ten years earlier, in 1742, +in a letter to Deane Swift which I have not seen quoted before, Orrery +spoke of the advantage of a wife to a man in his declining years; "nor +had the Dean felt a blow, or wanted a companion, had he been married, +or, in other words, had Stella lived." What this means is not at all +clear. In 1754, Dr. Delany, an old friend of Swift's, wrote, in comment +upon Orrery's Remarks, "Your account of his marriage is, I am satisfied, +true." In 1789, George Monck Berkeley, in his Literary Relics, said +that Swift and Stella were married by Dr. Ashe, "who himself related +the circumstances to Bishop Berkeley, by whose relict the story was +communicated to me." Dr. Ashe cannot have told Bishop Berkeley by +word of mouth, because Ashe died in 1717, the year after the supposed +marriage, and Berkeley was then still abroad. But Berkeley was at +the time tutor to Ashe's son, and may therefore have been informed by +letter, though it is difficult to believe that Ashe would write about +such a secret so soon after the event. Thomas Sheridan, on information +received from his father, Dr. Sheridan, Swift's friend, accepted the +story of the marriage in his book (1784), adding particulars which are +of very doubtful authenticity; and Johnson, in his Lives of the Poets, +says that Dr. Madden told him that Stella had related her "melancholy +story" to Dr. Sheridan before her death. On the other hand, Dr. Lyon, +Swift's attendant in his later years, disbelieved the story of the +marriage, which was, he said, "founded only on hearsay"; and Mrs. +Dingley "laughed at it as an idle tale," founded on suspicion. + +Sir Henry Craik is satisfied with the evidence for the marriage. Mr. +Leslie Stephen is of opinion that it is inconclusive, and Forster could +find no evidence that is at all reasonably sufficient; while Mr. Stanley +Lane-Poole, Mr. Churton Collins, and others are strongly of opinion +that no such marriage ever took place. A full discussion of the evidence +would involve the consideration of the reliability of the witnesses, and +the probability of their having authentic information, and would be out +of place here. My own opinion is that the evidence for the marriage is +very far from convincing, and this view seems to be confirmed by all +that we know from his own letters of Swift's relations with Stella. It +has been suggested that she was pained by reports of Swift's intercourse +with Vanessa, and felt that his feelings towards herself were growing +colder; but this is surmise, and no satisfactory explanation has been +given to account for a form of marriage being gone through after so +many years of the closest friendship. There is no reason to suppose that +there was at the time any gossip in circulation about Stella, and if her +reputation was in question, a marriage of which the secret was carefully +kept would obviously be of no benefit to her. Moreover, we are told that +there was no change in their mode of life; if they were married, what +reason could there be for keeping it a secret, or for denying themselves +the closer relationship of marriage? The only possible benefit to +Stella was that Swift would be prevented marrying anyone else. It is +impossible, of course, to disprove a marriage which we are told was +secretly performed, without banns or licence or witnesses; but we may +reasonably require strong evidence for so startling a step. If we +reject the tale, the story of Swift's connection with Stella is at least +intelligible; while the acceptance of this marriage introduces many +puzzling circumstances, and makes it necessary to believe that during +the remainder of Stella's life Swift repeatedly spoke of his wife as a +friend, and of himself as one who had never married.(7) What right have +we to put aside Swift's plain and repeated statements? Moreover, his +attitude towards Vanessa for the remaining years of her life becomes +much more culpable if we are to believe that he had given Stella the +claim of a wife upon him.(8) + +From 1719 onwards we have a series of poems to Stella, written chiefly +in celebration of her birthday. She was now thirty-eight (Swift says, +"Thirty-four--we shan't dispute a year or more"), and the verses abound +in laughing allusions to her advancing years and wasting form. Hers was +"an angel's face a little cracked," but all men would crowd to her door +when she was fourscore. His verses to her had always been + + "Without one word of Cupid's darts, + Of killing eyes, or bleeding hearts; + With friendship and esteem possessed, + I ne'er admitted Love a guest." + +Her only fault was that she could not bear the lightest touch of blame. +Her wit and sense, her loving care in illness--to which he owed that +fact that he was alive to say it--made her the "best pattern of true +friends." She replied, in lines written on Swift's birthday in 1721, +that she was his pupil and humble friend. He had trained her judgment +and refined her fancy and taste:-- + + "You taught how I might youth prolong + By knowing what was right and wrong; + How from my heart to bring supplies + Of lustre to my fading eyes; + How soon a beauteous mind repairs + The loss of changed or falling hairs; + How wit and virtue from within + Send out a smoothness o'er the skin + Your lectures could my fancy fix, + And I can please at thirty-six." + +In 1723 Vanessa is said to have written to Stella or to Swift--there are +discrepancies in the versions given by Sheridan and Lord Orrery, both +of whom are unreliable--asking whether the report that they were married +was true. Swift, we are told, rode to Celbridge, threw down Vanessa's +letter in a great rage, and left without speaking a word.(9) Vanessa, +whose health had been failing for some time, died shortly afterwards, +having cancelled a will in Swift's favour. She left "Cadenus and +Vanessa" for publication, and when someone said that she must have been +a remarkable woman to inspire such a poem, Stella replied that it was +well known that the Dean could write finely upon a broomstick. + +Soon after this tragedy Swift became engrossed in the Irish agitation +which led to the publication of the Drapier's Letters, and in 1726 he +paid a long-deferred visit to London, taking with him the manuscript +of Gulliver's Travels. While in England he was harassed by bad news of +Stella, who had been in continued ill-health for some years. His letters +to friends in Dublin show how greatly he suffered. To the Rev. John +Worrall he wrote, in a letter which he begged him to burn, "What you +tell me of Mrs. Johnson I have long expected with great oppression +and heaviness of heart. We have been perfect friends these thirty-five +years. Upon my advice they both came to Ireland, and have been ever +since my constant companions; and the remainder of my life will be a +very melancholy scene, when one of them is gone, whom I most esteemed, +upon the score of every good quality that can possibly recommend a human +creature." He would not for the world be present at her death: "I should +be a trouble to her, and a torment to myself." If Stella came to Dublin, +he begged that she might be lodged in some airy, healthy part, and not +in the Deanery, where too it would be improper for her to die. "There +is not a greater folly," he thinks, "than to contract too great and +intimate a friendship, which must always leave the survivor miserable." +To Dr. Stopford he wrote in similar terms of the "younger of the two" +"oldest and dearest friends I have in the world." "This was a person +of my own rearing and instructing from childhood, who excelled in every +good quality that can possibly accomplish a human creature.... I know +not what I am saying; but believe me that violent friendship is much +more lasting and as much engaging as violent love." To Dr. Sheridan he +said, "I look upon this to be the greatest event that can ever happen +to me; but all my preparation will not suffice to make me bear it like +a philosopher nor altogether like a Christian. There hath been the most +intimate friendship between us from our childhood, and the greatest +merit on her side that ever was in one human creature towards +another."(10) Pope alludes in a letter to Sheridan to the illness of +Swift's "particular friend," but with the exception of another reference +by Pope, and of a curiously flippant remark by Bolingbroke, the subject +is nowhere mentioned in Swift's correspondence with his literary and +fashionable friends in London. + +Swift crossed to Ireland in August, fearing the worst; but Stella +rallied, and in the spring of 1727 he returned to London. In August, +however, there came alarming news, when Swift was himself suffering from +giddiness and deafness. To Dr. Sheridan he wrote that the last act of +life was always a tragedy at best: "it is a bitter aggravation to have +one's best friend go before one." Life was indifferent to him; if he +recovered from his disorder it would only be to feel the loss of "that +person for whose sake only life was worth preserving. I brought both +those friends over that we might be happy together as long as God should +please; the knot is broken, and the remaining person you know has ill +answered the end; and the other, who is now to be lost, is all that was +valuable." To Worrall he again wrote (in Latin) that Stella ought not +to be lodged at the Deanery; he had enemies who would place a bad +interpretation upon it if she died there. + +Swift left London for Dublin in September; he was detained some days at +Holyhead by stress of weather, and in the private journal which he kept +during that time he speaks of the suspense he was in about his "dearest +friend."(11) In December Stella made a will--signed "Esther Johnson, +spinster"--disposing of her property in the manner Swift had suggested. +Her allusions to Swift are incompatible with any such feeling of +resentment as is suggested by Sheridan. She died on January 28, 1728. +Swift could not bear to be present, but on the night of her death he +began to write his very interesting Character of Mrs. Johnson, from +which passages have already been quoted. He there calls her "the truest, +most virtuous and valuable friend that I, or perhaps any other person, +was ever blessed with." Combined with excellent gifts of the mind, "she +had a gracefulness, somewhat more than human, in every motion, word, and +action. Never was so happy a conjunction of civility, freedom, easiness, +and sincerity." Everyone treated her with marked respect, yet everyone +was at ease in her society. She preserved her wit, judgment, and +vivacity to the last, but often complained of her memory. She chose +men rather than women for her companions, "the usual topic of ladies' +discourse being such as she had little knowledge of and less relish." +"Honour, truth, liberality, good nature, and modesty were the virtues +she chiefly possessed, and most valued in her acquaintance." In some +Prayers used by Swift during her last sickness, he begged for pity for +"the mournful friends of Thy distressed servant, who sink under the +weight of her present condition, and the fear of losing the most +valuable of our friends." He was too ill to be present at the funeral at +St. Patrick's. Afterwards, we are told, a lock of her hair was found in +his desk, wrapped in a paper bearing the words, "Only a woman's hair." + +Swift continued to produce pamphlets manifesting growing misanthropy, +though he showed many kindnesses to people who stood in need of help. He +seems to have given Mrs. Dingley fifty guineas a year, pretending that +it came from a fund for which he was trustee. The mental decay which he +had always feared--"I shall be like that tree," he once said, "I shall +die at the top"--became marked about 1738. Paralysis was followed by +aphasia, and after acute pain, followed by a long period of apathy, +death relieved him in October 1745. He was buried by Stella's side, in +accordance with his wishes. The bulk of his fortune was left to found a +hospital for idiots and lunatics. + +There has been much rather fruitless discussion respecting the reason or +reasons why Swift did not marry Stella; for if there was any marriage, +it was nothing more than a form. Some have supposed that Swift resolved +to remain unmarried because the insanity of an uncle and the fits and +giddiness to which he was always subject led him to fear insanity in his +own case. Others, looking rather to physical causes, have dwelt upon his +coldness of temperament and indisposition to love; upon the repugnance +he often showed towards marriage, and the tone of some of the verses +on the subject written in his later years. Others, again, have found a +cause in his parsimonious habits, in his dread of poverty, the effects +of which he had himself felt, and in the smallness of his income, at +least until he was middle-aged.(12) It may well be that one or all of +these things influenced Swift's action. We cannot say more. He himself, +as we have seen, said, as early as 1704, that if his humour and means +had permitted him to think of marriage, his choice would have been +Stella. Perhaps, however, there is not much mystery in the matter. Swift +seems to have been wanting in passion; probably he was satisfied with +the affection which Stella gave him, and did not wish for more. Such an +attachment as his usually results in marriage, but not necessarily. +It is not sufficiently remembered that the affection began in Stella's +childhood. They were "perfect friends" for nearly forty years, and her +advancing years in no way lessened his love, which was independent +of beauty. Whether Stella was satisfied, who shall say? Mrs. Oliphant +thought that few women would be disposed to pity Stella, or think her +life one of blight or injury. Mr. Leslie Stephen says, "She might +and probably did regard his friendship as a full equivalent for the +sacrifice.... Is it better to be the most intimate friend of a man of +genius or the wife of a commonplace Tisdall?" Whatever we may surmise, +there is nothing to prove that she was disappointed. She was the one +star which brightened Swift's storm-tossed course; it is well that she +was spared seeing the wreck at the end. + + +The Journal to Stella is interesting from many points of view: for its +bearing upon Swift's relations with Stella and upon his own character; +for the light which it throws upon the history of the time and upon +prominent men of the day; and for the illustrations it contains of the +social life of people of various classes in London and elsewhere. The +fact that it was written without any thought of publication is one of +its greatest attractions. Swift jotted down his opinions, his hopes, his +disappointments, without thought of their being seen by anybody but his +correspondents. The letters are transparently natural. It has been said +more than once that the Journal, by the nature of the case, contains +no full-length portraits, and hardly any sketches. Swift mentions the +people he met, but rarely stops to draw a picture of them. But though +this is true, the casual remarks which he makes often give a vivid +impression of what he thought of the person of whom he is speaking, and +in many cases those few words form a chief part of our general estimate +of the man. There are but few people of note at the time who are not +mentioned in these pages. We see Queen Anne holding a Drawing-room in +her bedroom: "she looked at us round with her fan in her mouth, and once +a minute said about three words to some that were nearest her." We see +Harley, afterwards the Earl of Oxford, "a pure trifler," who was always +putting off important business; Bolingbroke, "a thorough rake"; the +prudent Lord Dartmouth, the other Secretary of State, from whom Swift +could never "work out a dinner." There is Marlborough, "covetous as +Hell, and ambitious as the prince of it," yet a great general and unduly +pressed by the Tories; and the volatile Earl of Peterborough, "above +fifty, and as active as one of five-and-twenty"--"the ramblingest lying +rogue on earth." We meet poor Congreve, nearly blind, and in fear +of losing his commissionership; the kindly Arbuthnot, the Queen's +physician; Addison, whom Swift met more and more rarely, busy with the +preparation and production of Cato; Steele, careless as ever, neglecting +important appointments, and "governed by his wife most abominably"; +Prior, poet and diplomatist, with a "lean carcass"; and young +Berkeley of Trinity College, Dublin, "a very ingenious man and great +philosopher," whom Swift determined to favour as much as he could. Mrs. +Masham, the Duchess of Somerset, the Duchess of Shrewsbury, the Duchess +of Hamilton, Lady Betty Germaine, and many other ladies appear with more +or less distinctness; besides a host of people of less note, of whom we +often know little but what Swift tells us. + +Swift throws much light, too, on the daily life of his time. The bellman +on his nightly rounds, calling "Paaast twelvvve o'clock"; the dinner +at three, or at the latest, four; the meetings at coffee-houses; the +book-sales; the visit to the London sights--the lions at the Tower, +Bedlam, the tombs in Westminster Abbey, and the puppet-show; the +terrible Mohocks, of whom Swift stood in so much fear; the polite +"howdees" sent to friends by footmen; these and more are all described +in the Journal. We read of curious habits and practices of fashionable +ladies; of the snuff used by Mrs. Dingley and others; of the +jokes--"bites," puns, and the like--indulged in by polite persons. +When Swift lodged at Chelsea, he reached London either by boat, or +by coach,--which was sometimes full when he wanted it,--or by walking +across the "Five Fields," not without fear of robbers at night. The +going to or from Ireland was a serious matter; after the long journey +by road came the voyage (weather permitting) of some fifteen hours, +with the risk of being seized or pursued by French privateers; and when +Ireland was reached the roads were of the worst. We have glimpses of +fashionable society in Dublin, of the quiet life at Laracor and Trim, +and of the drinking of the waters at Wexford, where visitors had to put +up with primitive arrangements: "Mrs. Dingley never saw such a place in +her life." + +Swift's own characteristics come out in the clearest manner in the +Journal, which gives all his hopes and fears during three busy years. He +was pleased to find on his arrival in London how great a value was set +on his friendship by both political parties: "The Whigs were ravished to +see me, and would lay hold on me as a twig while they are drowning;" +but Godolphin's coldness enraged him, so that he was "almost vowing +vengeance." Next day he talked treason heartily against the Whigs, their +baseness and ingratitude, and went home full of schemes of revenge. "The +Tories drily tell me I may make my fortune, if I please; but I do not +understand them, or rather, I DO understand them." He realised that the +Tories might not be more grateful than others, but he thought they were +pursuing the true interests of the public, and was glad to contribute +what was in his power. His vanity was gratified by Harley inviting him +to the private dinners with St. John and Harcourt which were given on +Saturdays, and by their calling him Jonathan; but he did not hope too +much from their friendship: "I said I believed they would leave me +Jonathan, as they found me... but I care not." + +Of Swift's frugal habits there is abundant evidence in the Journal. +When he came to town he took rooms on a first floor, "a dining-room and +bed-chamber, at eight shillings a week; plaguy dear, but I spend nothing +for eating, never go to a tavern, and very seldom in a coach; yet after +all it will be expensive." In November he mentions that he had a fire: +"I am spending my second half-bushel of coals." In another place +he says, "People have so left the town, that I am at a loss for a +dinner.... It cost me eighteenpence in coach-hire before I could find +a place to dine in." Elsewhere we find: "This paper does not cost me a +farthing: I have it from the Secretary's office." He often complains +of having to take a coach owing to the dirty condition of the streets: +"This rain ruins me in coach-hire; I walked away sixpennyworth, and came +within a shilling length, and then took a coach, and got a lift back for +nothing."(13) + +Swift's arrogance--the arrogance, sometimes, of a man who is morbidly +suspicious that he may be patronised--is shown in the manner in which +he speaks of the grand ladies with whom he came in contact. He calls the +Duke of Ormond's daughters "insolent drabs," and talks of his "mistress, +Ophy Butler's wife, who is grown a little charmless." When the Duchess +of Shrewsbury reproached him for not dining with her, Swift said that +was not so soon done; he expected more advances from ladies, +especially duchesses. On another occasion he was to have supped at Lady +Ashburnham's, "but the drab did not call for us in her coach, as she +promised, but sent for us, and so I sent my excuses." The arrogance was, +however, often only on the surface. It is evident that Swift was very +kind in many cases. He felt deeply for Mrs. Long in her misfortunes, +living and dying in an obscure country town. On the last illness of the +poet Harrison he says, "I am very much afflicted for him, as he is my +own creature.... I was afraid to knock at the door; my mind misgave me." +He was "heartily sorry for poor Mrs. Parnell's death; she seemed to be +an excellent good-natured young woman, and I believe the poor lad +is much afflicted; they appeared to live perfectly well together." +Afterwards he helped Parnell by introducing him to Bolingbroke and +Oxford. He found kind words for Mrs. Manley in her illness, and Lady +Ashburnham's death was "extremely moving.... She was my greatest +favourite, and I am in excessive concern for her loss." Lastly, he was +extraordinarily patient towards his servant Patrick, who drank, stopped +out at night, and in many ways tried Swift's temper. There were good +points about Patrick, but no doubt the great consideration which Swift +showed him was due in part to the fact that he was a favourite of the +ladies in Dublin, and had Mrs. Vanhomrigh to intercede for him. + +But for the best example of the kindly side of Swift's nature, we +must turn to what he tells us in the Journal about Stella herself. The +"little language" which Swift used when writing to her was the language +he employed when playing with Stella as a little child at Moor Park. +Thackeray, who was not much in sympathy with Swift, said that he knew of +"nothing more manly, more tender, more exquisitely touching, than some +of these notes." Swift says that when he wrote plainly, he felt as if +they were no longer alone, but "a bad scrawl is so snug it looks like +a PMD." In writing his fond and playful prattle, he made up his mouth +"just as if he were speaking it."(14) + +Though Mrs. Dingley is constantly associated with Stella in the +affectionate greetings in the Journal, she seems to have been included +merely as a cloak to enable him to express the more freely his +affection for her companion. Such phrases as "saucy girls," "sirrahs," +"sauceboxes," and the like, are often applied to both; and sometimes +Swift certainly writes as if the one were as dear to him as the other; +thus we find, "Farewell, my dearest lives and delights, I love you +better than ever, if possible, as hope saved, I do, and ever will.... +I can count upon nothing, nor will, but upon MD's love and kindness.... +And so farewell, dearest MD, Stella, Dingley, Presto, all together, +now and for ever, all together." But as a rule, notwithstanding +Swift's caution, the greetings intended for Stella alone are easily +distinguishable in tone. He often refers to her weak eyes and delicate +health. Thus he writes, "The chocolate is a present, madam, for Stella. +Don't read this, you little rogue, with your little eyes; but give it to +Dingley, pray now; and I will write as plain as the skies." And again, +"God Almighty bless poor Stella, and her eyes and head: what shall we do +to cure them, poor dear life?" Or, "Now to Stella's little postscript; +and I am almost crazed that you vex yourself for not writing. Can't you +dictate to Dingley, and not strain your dear little eyes? I am sure +'tis the grief of my soul to think you are out of order." They had been +keeping his birthday; Swift wished he had been with them, rather than +in London, where he had no manner of pleasure: "I say Amen with all my +heart and vitals, that we may never be asunder again ten days together +while poor Presto lives." A few days later he says, "I wish I were at +Laracor, with dear charming MD," and again, "Farewell, dearest beloved +MD, and love poor poor Presto, who has not had one happy day since he +left you." "I will say no more, but beg you to be easy till Fortune +takes his course, and to believe MD's felicity is the great goal I aim +at in all my pursuits." "How does Stella look, Madam Dingley?" he asks; +"pretty well, a handsome young woman still? Will she pass in a crowd? +Will she make a figure in a country church?" Elsewhere he writes, on +receipt of a letter, "God Almighty bless poor dear Stella, and send her +a great many birthdays, all happy and healthy and wealthy, and with +me ever together, and never asunder again, unless by chance.... I can +hardly imagine you absent when I am reading your letter or writing to +you. No, faith, you are just here upon this little paper, and therefore +I see and talk with you every evening constantly, and sometimes in the +morning." The letters lay under Swift's pillow, and he fondled them as +if he were caressing Stella's hand. + +Of Stella herself we naturally have no direct account in the Journal, +but we hear a good deal of her life in Ireland, and can picture what she +was. Among her friends in and about Trim and Laracor were Dr. Raymond, +the vicar of Trim, and his wife, the Garret Wesleys, the Percevals, and +Mr. Warburton, Swift's curate. At Dublin there were Archdeacon Walls and +his family; Alderman Stoyte, his wife and sister-in-law; Dean Sterne +and the Irish Postmaster-General, Isaac Manley. For years these friends +formed a club which met in Dublin at each other's houses, to sup and +play cards ("ombre and claret, and toasted oranges"), and we have +frequent allusions to Stella's indifferent play, and the money which +she lost, much to Mrs. Dingley's chagrin: "Poor Dingley fretted to +see Stella lose that four and elevenpence t'other night." Mrs. Dingley +herself could hardly play well enough to hold the cards while Stella +went into the next room. If at dinner the mutton was underdone, and +"poor Stella cannot eat, poor dear rogue," then "Dingley is so vexed." +Swift was for ever urging Stella to walk and ride; she was "naturally a +stout walker," and "Dingley would do well enough if her petticoats were +pinned up." And we see Stella setting out on and returning from her +ride, with her riband and mask: "Ah, that riding to Laracor gives me +short sighs as well as you," he says; "all the days I have passed here +have been dirt to those." + +If the Journal shows us some of Swift's less attractive qualities, it +shows still more how great a store of humour, tenderness, and affection +there was in him. In these letters we see his very soul; in his literary +work we are seldom moved to anything but admiration of his wit and +genius. Such daily outpourings could never have been written for +publication, they were meant only for one who understood him perfectly; +and everything that we know of Stella--her kindliness, her wit, her +vivacity, her loyalty--shows that she was worthy of the confidence. + + + + +JOURNAL TO STELLA + + + + +LETTER 1.(1) + +CHESTER, Sept. 2, 1710. + +Joe(2) will give you an account of me till I got into the boat; after +which the rogues made a new bargain, and forced me to give them two +crowns, and talked as if we should not be able to overtake any ship: but +in half an hour we got to the yacht; for the ships lay by (to) wait for +my Lord Lieutenant's steward. We made our voyage in fifteen hours +just. Last night I came to this town, and shall leave it, I believe, on +Monday. The first man I met in Chester was Dr. Raymond.(3) He and Mrs. +Raymond were here about levying a fine, in order to have power to sell +their estate. They have found everything answer very well. They both +desire to present their humble services to you: they do not think of +Ireland till next year. I got a fall off my horse, riding here from +Parkgate,(4) but no hurt; the horse understanding falls very well, and +lying quietly till I get up. My duty to the Bishop of Clogher.(5) I saw +him returning from Dunleary; but he saw not me. I take it ill he was not +at Convocation, and that I have not his name to my powers.(6) I beg you +will hold your resolution of going to Trim, and riding there as much as +you can. Let the Bishop of Clogher remind the Bishop of Killala(7) to +send me a letter, with one enclosed to the Bishop of Lichfield.(8) Let +all who write to me, enclose to Richard Steele, Esq., at his office at +the Cockpit, near Whitehall.(9) But not MD; I will pay for their letters +at St. James's Coffee-house,(10) that I may have them the sooner. My +Lord Mountjoy(11) is now in the humour that we should begin our journey +this afternoon; so that I have stole here again to finish this letter, +which must be short or long accordingly. I write this post to Mrs. +Wesley,(12) and will tell her, that I have taken care she may have her +bill of one hundred and fifteen pounds whenever she pleases to send for +it; and in that case I desire you will send it her enclosed and sealed, +and have it ready so, in case she should send for it: otherwise keep it. +I will say no more till I hear whether I go to-day or no: if I do, the +letter is almost at an end. My cozen Abigail is grown prodigiously old. +God Almighty bless poo dee richar MD; and, for God's sake, be merry, and +get oo health. I am perfectly resolved to return as soon as I have done +my commission, whether it succeeds or no. I never went to England with +so little desire in my life. If Mrs. Curry(13) makes any difficulty +about the lodgings, I will quit them and pay her from July 9 last, and +Mrs. Brent(14) must write to Parvisol(15) with orders accordingly. The +post is come from London, and just going out; so I have only time to +pray God to bless poor richr MD FW FW MD MD ME ME ME. + + + + +LETTER 2. + +LONDON, Sept. 9, 1710. + +Got here last Thursday,(1) after five days' travelling, weary the first, +almost dead the second, tolerable the third, and well enough the rest; +and am now glad of the fatigue, which has served for exercise; and I am +at present well enough. The Whigs were ravished to see me, and would +lay hold on me as a twig while they are drowning,(2) and the great men +making me their clumsy apologies, etc. But my Lord Treasurer(3) received +me with a great deal of coldness, which has enraged me so, I am almost +vowing revenge. I have not yet gone half my circle; but I find all my +acquaintance just as I left them. I hear my Lady Giffard(4) is much at +Court, and Lady Wharton(5) was ridiculing it t'other day; so I have +lost a friend there. I have not yet seen her, nor intend it; but I will +contrive to see Stella's mother(6) some other way. I writ to the Bishop +of Clogher from Chester; and I now write to the Archbishop of Dublin.(7) +Everything is turning upside down; every Whig in great office will, to a +man, be infallibly put out; and we shall have such a winter as hath not +been seen in England. Everybody asks me, how I came to be so long in +Ireland, as naturally as if here were my being; but no soul offers to +make it so: and I protest I shall return to Dublin, and the Canal at +Laracor,(8) with more satisfaction than ever I did in my life. The +Tatler(9) expects every day to be turned out of his employment; and the +Duke of Ormond,(10) they say, will be Lieutenant of Ireland. I hope you +are now peaceably in Presto's(11) lodgings; but I resolve to turn you +out by Christmas; in which time I shall either do my business, or find +it not to be done. Pray be at Trim by the time this letter comes to +you; and ride little Johnson, who must needs be now in good case. I have +begun this letter unusually, on the post-night, and have already written +to the Archbishop; and cannot lengthen this. Henceforth I will write +something every day to MD, and make it a sort of journal; and when it +is full, I will send it, whether MD writes or no; and so that will +be pretty: and I shall always be in conversation with MD, and MD with +Presto. Pray make Parvisol pay you the ten pounds immediately; so I +ordered him. They tell me I am grown fatter, and look better; and, +on Monday, Jervas(12) is to retouch my picture. I thought I saw Jack +Temple(13) and his wife pass by me to-day in their coach; but I took no +notice of them. I am glad I have wholly shaken off that family. Tell the +Provost,(14) I have obeyed his commands to the Duke of Ormond; or let +it alone, if you please. I saw Jemmy Leigh(15) just now at the +Coffee-house, who asked after you with great kindness: he talks of going +in a fortnight to Ireland. My service to the Dean,(16) and Mrs. Walls, +and her Archdeacon.(17) Will Frankland's(18) wife is near bringing +to-bed, and I have promised to christen the child. I fancy you had my +Chester letter the Tuesday after I writ. I presented Dr. Raymond to Lord +Wharton(19) at Chester. Pray let me know when Joe gets his money.(20) +It is near ten, and I hate to send by the bellman.(21) MD shall have +a longer letter in a week, but I send this only to tell I am safe in +London; and so farewell, etc. + + + + +LETTER 3. + +LONDON, Sept. 9, 1710. + +After seeing the Duke of Ormond, dining with Dr. Cockburn,(1) passing +some part of the afternoon with Sir Matthew Dudley(2) and Will +Frankland, the rest at St. James's Coffee-house, I came home, and writ +to the Archbishop of Dublin and MD, and am going to bed. I forgot to +tell you, that I begged Will Frankland to stand Manley's(3) friend with +his father in this shaking season for places. He told me, his father +was in danger to be out; that several were now soliciting for Manley's +place; that he was accused of opening letters; that Sir Thomas +Frankland(4) would sacrifice everything to save himself; and in that, I +fear, Manley is undone, etc. + +10. To-day I dined with Lord Mountjoy at Kensington; saw my mistress, +Ophy Butler's(5) wife, who is grown a little charmless. I sat till ten +in the evening with Addison and Steele: Steele will certainly lose his +Gazetteer's place, all the world detesting his engaging in parties.(6) +At ten I went to the Coffee-house, hoping to find Lord Radnor,(7) whom I +had not seen. He was there; and for an hour and a half we talked treason +heartily against the Whigs, their baseness and ingratitude. And I +am come home, rolling resentments in my mind, and framing schemes of +revenge: full of which (having written down some hints) I go to bed. +I am afraid MD dined at home, because it is Sunday; and there was the +little half-pint of wine: for God's sake, be good girls, and all will be +well. Ben Tooke(8) was with me this morning. + +11. Seven, morning. I am rising to go to Jervas to finish my picture, +and 'tis shaving-day, so good-morrow MD; but don't keep me now, for I +can't stay; and pray dine with the Dean, but don't lose your money. I +long to hear from you, etc.--Ten at night. I sat four hours this morning +to Jervas, who has given my picture quite another turn, and now approves +it entirely; but we must have the approbation of the town. If I were +rich enough, I would get a copy of it, and bring it over. Mr. Addison +and I dined together at his lodgings, and I sat with him part of this +evening; and I am now come home to write an hour. Patrick(9) observes, +that the rabble here are much more inquisitive in politics than +in Ireland. Every day we expect changes, and the Parliament to be +dissolved. Lord Wharton expects every day to be out: he is working like +a horse for elections; and, in short, I never saw so great a ferment +among all sorts of people. I had a miserable letter from Joe last +Saturday, telling me Mr. Pratt(10) refuses payment of his money. I +have told it Mr. Addison, and will to Lord Wharton; but I fear with no +success. However, I will do all I can. + +12. To-day I presented Mr. Ford(11) to the Duke of Ormond; and paid my +first visit to Lord President,(12) with whom I had much discourse; but +put him always off when he began to talk of Lord Wharton in relation +to me, till he urged it: then I said, he knew I never expected anything +from Lord Wharton, and that Lord Wharton knew that I understood it so. +He said that he had written twice to Lord Wharton about me, who both +times said nothing at all to that part of his letter. I am advised not +to meddle in the affair of the First-Fruits, till this hurry is a little +over, which still depends, and we are all in the dark. Lord President +told me he expects every day to be out, and has done so these two +months. I protest, upon my life, I am heartily weary of this town, and +wish I had never stirred. + +13. I went this morning to the city, to see Mr. Stratford the Hamburg +merchant, my old schoolfellow;(13) but calling at Bull's(14) on Ludgate +Hill, he forced me to his house at Hampstead to dinner among a great +deal of ill company; among the rest Mr. Hoadley,(15) the Whig clergyman, +so famous for acting the contrary part to Sacheverell:(16) but +tomorrow I design again to see Stratford. I was glad, however, to be +at Hampstead, where I saw Lady Lucy(17) and Moll Stanhope. I hear very +unfortunate news of Mrs. Long;(18) she and her comrade(19) have broke up +house, and she is broke for good and all, and is gone to the country: I +should be extremely sorry if this be true. + +14. To-day, I saw Patty Rolt,(20) who heard I was in town; and I dined +with Stratford at a merchant's in the city, where I drank the first +Tokay wine I ever saw; and it is admirable, yet not to the degree +I expected. Stratford is worth a plum,(21) and is now lending the +Government forty thousand pounds; yet we were educated together at the +same school and university.(22) We hear the Chancellor(23) is to be +suddenly out, and Sir Simon Harcourt(24) to succeed him: I am come early +home, not caring for the Coffee-house. + +15. To-day Mr. Addison, Colonel Freind,(25) and I, went to see the +million lottery(26) drawn at Guildhall. The jackanapes of bluecoat boys +gave themselves such airs in pulling out the tickets, and showed white +hands open to the company, to let us see there was no cheat. We dined +at a country-house near Chelsea, where Mr. Addison often retires; and +to-night, at the Coffee-house, we hear Sir Simon Harcourt is made +Lord Keeper; so that now we expect every moment the Parliament will be +dissolved; but I forgot that this letter will not go in three or four +days, and that my news will be stale, which I should therefore put in +the last paragraph. Shall I send this letter before I hear from MD, +or shall I keep it to lengthen? I have not yet seen Stella's mother, +because I will not see Lady Giffard; but I will contrive to go there +when Lady Giffard is abroad. I forgot to mark my two former letters; but +I remember this is Number 3, and I have not yet had Number 1 from MD; +but I shall by Monday, which I reckon will be just a fortnight after you +had my first. I am resolved to bring over a great deal of china. I loved +it mightily to-day.(27) What shall I bring? + +16. Morning. Sir John Holland,(28) Comptroller of the Household, has +sent to desire my acquaintance: I have a mind to refuse him, because he +is a Whig, and will, I suppose, be out among the rest; but he is a man +of worth and learning. Tell me, do you like this journal way of writing? +Is it not tedious and dull? + +Night. I dined to-day with a cousin, a printer,(29) where Patty Rolt +lodges, and then came home, after a visit or two; and it has been a very +insipid day. Mrs. Long's misfortune is confirmed to me; bailiffs were +in her house; she retired to private lodgings; thence to the country, +nobody knows where: her friends leave letters at some inn, and they +are carried to her; and she writes answers without dating them from any +place. I swear, it grieves me to the soul. + +17. To-day I dined six miles out of town, with Will Pate,(30) the +learned woollen-draper; Mr. Stratford went with me; six miles here is +nothing: we left Pate after sunset, and were here before it was dark. +This letter shall go on Tuesday, whether I hear from MD or no. My health +continues pretty well; pray God Stella may give me a good account +of hers! and I hope you are now at Trim, or soon designing it. I was +disappointed to-night: the fellow gave me a letter, and I hoped to +see little MD's hand; and it was only to invite me to a venison pasty +to-day: so I lost my pasty into the bargain. Pox on these declining +courtiers! Here is Mr. Brydges,(31) the Paymaster-General, desiring my +acquaintance; but I hear the Queen sent Lord Shrewsbury(32) to assure +him he may keep his place; and he promises me great assistance in the +affair of the First-Fruits. Well, I must turn over this leaf to-night, +though the side would hold another line; but pray consider this is +a whole sheet; it holds a plaguy deal, and you must be content to +be weary; but I'll do so no more. Sir Simon Harcourt is made +Attorney-General, and not Lord Keeper. + +18. To-day I dined with Mr. Stratford at Mr. Addison's retirement near +Chelsea; then came to town; got home early, and began a letter to the +Tatler,(33) about the corruptions of style and writing, etc., and, +having not heard from you, am resolved this letter shall go to-night. +Lord Wharton was sent for to town in mighty haste, by the Duke of +Devonshire:(34) they have some project in hand; but it will not do, for +every hour we expect a thorough revolution, and that the Parliament will +be dissolved. When you see Joe, tell him Lord Wharton is too busy to +mind any of his affairs; but I will get what good offices I can from +Mr. Addison, and will write to-day to Mr. Pratt; and bid Joe not to +be discouraged, for I am confident he will get the money under any +Government; but he must have patience. + +19. I have been scribbling this morning, and I believe shall hardly +fill this side to-day, but send it as it is; and it is good enough for +naughty girls that won't write to a body, and to a good boy like Presto. +I thought to have sent this to-night, but was kept by company, and could +not; and, to say the truth, I had a little mind to expect one post more +for a letter from MD. Yesterday at noon died the Earl of Anglesea,(35) +the great support of the Tories; so that employment of Vice-Treasurer of +Ireland is again vacant. We were to have been great friends, and I could +hardly have a loss that could grieve me more. The Bishop of Durham(36) +died the same day. The Duke of Ormond's daughter(37) was to visit me +to-day at a third place by way of advance,(38) and I am to return +it to-morrow. I have had a letter from Lady Berkeley, begging me for +charity to come to Berkeley Castle, for company to my lord,(39) who +has been ill of a dropsy; but I cannot go, and must send my excuse +to-morrow. I am told that in a few hours there will be more removals. + +20. To-day I returned my visits to the Duke's daughters;(40) the +insolent drabs came up to my very mouth to salute me. Then I heard the +report confirmed of removals; my Lord President Somers; the Duke of +Devonshire, Lord Steward; and Mr. Boyle,(41) Secretary of State, are all +turned out to-day. I never remember such bold steps taken by a Court: I +am almost shocked at it, though I did not care if they were all hanged. +We are astonished why the Parliament is not yet dissolved, and why they +keep a matter of that importance to the last. We shall have a strange +winter here, between the struggles of a cunning provoked discarded +party, and the triumphs of one in power; of both which I shall be an +indifferent spectator, and return very peaceably to Ireland, when I have +done my part in the affair I am entrusted with, whether it succeeds +or no. To-morrow I change my lodgings in Pall Mall for one in Bury +Street,(42) where I suppose I shall continue while I stay in London. If +anything happens tomorrow, I will add it.--Robin's Coffee-house.(43) We +have great news just now from Spain; Madrid taken, and Pampeluna. I am +here ever interrupted. + +21. I have just received your letter, which I will not answer now; +God be thanked all things are so well. I find you have not yet had my +second: I had a letter from Parvisol, who tells me he gave Mrs. Walls a +bill of twenty pounds for me, to be given to you; but you have not sent +it. This night the Parliament is dissolved: great news from Spain; +King Charles and Stanhope are at Madrid, and Count Staremberg has taken +Pampeluna. Farewell. This is from St. James's Coffee-house. I will begin +my answer to your letter to-night, but not send it this week. Pray tell +me whether you like this journal way of writing.--I don't like your +reasons for not going to Trim. Parvisol tells me he can sell your horse. +Sell it, with a pox? Pray let him know that he shall sell his soul as +soon. What? sell anything that Stella loves, and may sometimes ride? It +is hers, and let her do as she pleases: pray let him know this by the +first that you know goes to Trim. Let him sell my grey, and be hanged. + + + + +LETTER 4. + +LONDON, Sept. 21, 1710. + +Here must I begin another letter, on a whole sheet, for fear saucy +little MD should be angry, and think MUCH that the paper is too LITTLE. +I had your letter this night, as told you just and no more in my last; +for this must be taken up in answering yours, saucebox. I believe I told +you where I dined to-day; and to-morrow I go out of town for two days to +dine with the same company on Sunday; Molesworth(1) the Florence Envoy, +Stratford, and some others. I heard to-day that a gentlewoman from Lady +Giffard's house had been at the Coffee-house to inquire for me. It was +Stella's mother, I suppose. I shall send her a penny-post letter(2) +to-morrow, and contrive to see her without hazarding seeing Lady +Giffard, which I will not do until she begs my pardon. + +22. I dined to-day at Hampstead with Lady Lucy, etc., and when I got +home found a letter from Joe, with one enclosed to Lord Wharton, which I +will send to his Excellency, and second it as well as I can; but to talk +of getting the Queen's order is a jest. Things are in such a combustion +here, that I am advised not to meddle yet in the affair I am upon, which +concerns the clergy of a whole kingdom; and does he think anybody will +trouble the Queen about Joe? We shall, I hope, get a recommendation from +the Lord Lieutenant to the trustees for the linen business, and I hope +that will do; and so I will write to him in a few days, and he must have +patience. This is an answer to part of your letter as well as his. I +lied; it is to-morrow I go to the country, and I won't answer a bit more +of your letter yet. + +23. Here is such a stir and bustle with this little MD of ours; I must +be writing every night; I can't go to bed without a word to them; I +can't put out my candle till I have bid them good-night: O Lord, O +Lord! Well, I dined the first time to-day, with Will Frankland and his +fortune: she is not very handsome. Did I not say I would go out of town +to-day? I hate lying abroad and clutter; I go tomorrow in Frankland's +chariot, and come back at night. Lady Berkeley has invited me +to Berkeley Castle, and Lady Betty Germaine(3) to Drayton in +Northamptonshire; and I'll go to neither. Let me alone, I must finish my +pamphlet. I have sent a long letter to Bickerstaff:(4) let the Bishop +of Clogher smoke(5) it if he can. Well, I'll write to the Bishop of +Killala; but you might have told him how sudden and unexpected my +journey was though. Deuce take Lady S---; and if I know D---y, he is a +rawboned-faced fellow, not handsome, nor visibly so young as you say: +she sacrifices two thousand pounds a year, and keeps only six hundred. +Well, you have had all my land journey in my second letter, and so much +for that. So, you have got into Presto's lodgings; very fine, truly! We +have had a fortnight of the most glorious weather on earth, and still +continues: I hope you have made the best of it. Ballygall(6) will be a +pure(7) good place for air, if Mrs. Ashe makes good her promise. Stella +writes like an emperor: I am afraid it hurts your eyes; take care of +that pray, pray, Mrs. Stella. Can't you do what you will with your own +horse? Pray don't let that puppy Parvisol sell him. Patrick is drunk +about three times a week, and I bear it, and he has got the better of +me; but one of these days I will positively turn him off to the wide +world, when none of you are by to intercede for him.--Stuff--how can +I get her husband into the Charter-house? get a ---- into the +Charter-house.--Write constantly! Why, sirrah, don't I write every day, +and sometimes twice a day to MD? Now I have answered all your letter, +and the rest must be as it can be: send me my bill. Tell Mrs. Brent what +I say of the Charter-house. I think this enough for one night; and so +farewell till this time to-morrow. + +24. To-day I dined six miles out of town at Will Pate's, with Stratford, +Frankland, and the Molesworths,(8) and came home at night, and was weary +and lazy. I can say no more now, but good-night. + +25. I was so lazy to-day that I dined at next door,(9) and have sat at +home since six, writing to the Bishop of Clogher, Dean Sterne, and Mr. +Manley: the last, because I am in fear for him about his place, and have +sent him my opinion, what I and his other friends here think he ought +to do. I hope he will take it well. My advice was, to keep as much in +favour as possible with Sir Thomas Frankland, his master here. + +26. Smoke how I widen the margin by lying in bed when I write. My bed +lies on the wrong side for me, so that I am forced often to write when +I am up. Manley, you must know, has had people putting in for his place +already; and has been complained of for opening letters. Remember that +last Sunday, September 24, 1710, was as hot as midsummer. This was +written in the morning; it is now night, and Presto in bed. Here's a +clutter, I have gotten MD's second letter, and I must answer it here. +I gave the bill to Tooke, and so--Well, I dined to-day with Sir John +Holland the Comptroller, and sat with him till eight; then came home, +and sent my letters, and writ part of a lampoon,(10) which goes on very +slow: and now I am writing to saucy MD; no wonder, indeed, good boys +must write to naughty girls. I have not seen your mother yet; my +penny-post letter, I suppose, miscarried: I will write another. Mr. +S---- came to see me; and said M---- was going to the country next +morning with her husband (who I find is a surly brute); so I could only +desire my service to her. + +27. To-day all our company dined at Will Frankland's, with Steele and +Addison too. This is the first rainy day since I came to town; I cannot +afford to answer your letter yet. Morgan,(11) the puppy, writ me a long +letter, to desire I would recommend him for purse-bearer or secretary to +the next Lord Chancellor that would come with the next Governor. I +will not answer him; but beg you will say these words to his father +Raymond,(12) or anybody that will tell him: That Dr. Swift has received +his letter; and would be very ready to serve him, but cannot do it in +what he desires, because he has no sort of interest in the persons to +be applied to. These words you may write, and let Joe, or Mr. +Warburton,(13) give them to him: a pox on him! However, it is by these +sort of ways that fools get preferment. I must not end yet, because I +cannot say good-night without losing a line, and then MD would scold; +but now, good-night. + +28. I have the finest piece of Brazil tobacco for Dingley that ever +was born.(14) You talk of Leigh; why, he won't be in Dublin these two +months: he goes to the country, then returns to London, to see how the +world goes here in Parliament. Good-night, sirrahs; no, no, not night; +I writ this in the morning, and looking carelessly I thought it had +been of last night. I dined to-day with Mrs. Barton(15) alone at her +lodgings; where she told me for certain, that Lady S---- was with +child when she was last in England, and pretended a tympany, and saw +everybody; then disappeared for three weeks, her tympany was gone, and +she looked like a ghost, etc. No wonder she married when she was so ill +at containing. Connolly(16) is out; and Mr. Roberts in his place, who +loses a better here, but was formerly a Commissioner in Ireland. That +employment cost Connolly three thousand pounds to Lord Wharton; so he +has made one ill bargain in his life. + +29. I wish MD a merry Michaelmas. I dined with Mr. Addison, and Jervas +the painter, at Addison's country place; and then came home, and writ +more to my lampoon. I made a Tatler since I came: guess which it is, and +whether the Bishop of Clogher smokes it. I saw Mr. Sterne(17) to-day: he +will do as you order, and I will give him chocolate for Stella's health. +He goes not these three weeks. I wish I could send it some other way. +So now to your letter, brave boys. I don't like your way of saving +shillings: nothing vexes me but that it does not make Stella a coward +in a coach.(18) I don't think any lady's advice about my ear signifies +twopence: however I will, in compliance to you, ask Dr. Cockburn. +Radcliffe(19) I know not, and Barnard(20) I never see. Walls will +certainly be stingier for seven years, upon pretence of his robbery. So +Stella puns again; why, 'tis well enough; but I'll not second it, +though I could make a dozen: I never thought of a pun since I left +Ireland.--Bishop of Clogher's bill? Why, he paid it to me; do you think +I was such a fool to go without it? As for the four shillings, I will +give you a bill on Parvisol for it on t'other side of this paper; and +pray tear off the two letters I shall write to him and Joe, or let +Dingley transcribe and send them; though that to Parvisol, I believe, he +must have my hand for. No, no, I'll eat no grapes; I ate about six +the other day at Sir John Holland's; but would not give sixpence for a +thousand, they are so bad this year. Yes, faith, I hope in God Presto +and MD will be together this time twelvemonth. What then? Last year I +suppose I was at Laracor; but next I hope to eat my Michaelmas goose +at my two little gooses' lodgings. I drink no aile (I suppose you mean +ale); but yet good wine every day, of five and six shillings a bottle. +O Lord, how much Stella writes! pray don't carry that too far, young +women, but be temperate, to hold out. To-morrow I go to Mr. Harley.(21) +Why, small hopes from the Duke of Ormond: he loves me very well, I +believe, and would, in my turn, give me something to make me easy; and I +have good interest among his best friends. But I don't think of anything +further than the business I am upon. You see I writ to Manley before +I had your letter, and I fear he will be out. Yes, Mrs. Owl, Bligh's +corpse(22) came to Chester when I was there; and I told you so in my +letter, or forgot it. I lodge in Bury Street, where I removed a week +ago. I have the first floor, a dining-room, and bed-chamber, at eight +shillings a week; plaguy deep, but I spend nothing for eating, never +go to a tavern, and very seldom in a coach; yet after all it will +be expensive. Why do you trouble yourself, Mistress Stella, about my +instrument? I have the same the Archbishop gave me; and it is as good +now the bishops are away. The Dean friendly! the Dean be poxed: a +great piece of friendship indeed, what you heard him tell the Bishop of +Clogher; I wonder he had the face to talk so: but he lent me money, and +that's enough. Faith, I would not send this these four days, only for +writing to Joe and Parvisol. Tell the Dean that when the bishops send me +any packets, they must not write to me at Mr. Steele's; but direct +for Mr. Steele, at his office at the Cockpit, and let the enclosed be +directed for me: that mistake cost me eighteenpence the other day. + +30. I dined with Stratford to-day, but am not to see Mr. Harley till +Wednesday: it is late, and I send this before there is occasion for the +bell; because I would have Joe have his letter, and Parvisol too; which +you must so contrive as not to cost them double postage. I can say no +more, but that I am, etc. + + + + +LETTER 5. + +LONDON, Sept. 30, 1710. + +Han't I brought myself into a fine praemunire,(1) to begin writing +letters in whole sheets? and now I dare not leave it off. I cannot tell +whether you like these journal letters: I believe they would be dull +to me to read them over; but, perhaps, little MD is pleased to know how +Presto passes his time in her absence. I always begin my last the same +day I ended my former. I told you where I dined to-day at a tavern with +Stratford: Lewis,(2) who is a great favourite of Harley's, was to have +been with us; but he was hurried to Hampton Court, and sent his excuse; +and that next Wednesday he would introduce me to Harley. 'Tis good to +see what a lamentable confession the Whigs all make me of my ill +usage: but I mind them not. I am already represented to Harley as a +discontented person, that was used ill for not being Whig enough; and +I hope for good usage from him. The Tories drily tell me, I may make +my fortune, if I please; but I do not understand them--or rather, I do +understand them. + +Oct. 1. To-day I dined at Molesworth's, the Florence Envoy; and sat this +evening with my friend Darteneuf,(3) whom you have heard me talk of; +the greatest punner of this town next myself. Have you smoked the Tatler +that I writ?(4) It is much liked here, and I think it a pure(5) one. +To-morrow I go with Delaval,(6) the Portugal Envoy, to dine with Lord +Halifax near Hampton Court.(7) Your Manley's brother, a Parliament-man +here, has gotten an employment;(8) and I am informed uses much interest +to preserve his brother: and, to-day, I spoke to the elder Frankland +to engage his father (Postmaster here); and I hope he will be safe, +although he is cruelly hated by all the Tories of Ireland. I have almost +finished my lampoon, and will print it for revenge on a certain great +person.(9) It has cost me but three shillings in meat and drink since I +came here, as thin as the town is. I laugh to see myself so disengaged +in these revolutions. Well, I must leave off, and go write to Sir John +Stanley,(10) to desire him to engage Lady Hyde as my mistress to engage +Lord Hyde(11) in favour of Mr. Pratt.(12) + +2. Lord Halifax was at Hampton Court at his lodgings, and I dined +with him there with Methuen,(13) and Delaval, and the late +Attorney-General.(14) I went to the Drawing-room before dinner (for +the Queen was at Hampton Court), and expected to see nobody; but I +met acquaintance enough. I walked in the gardens, saw the cartoons +of Raphael, and other things; and with great difficulty got from Lord +Halifax, who would have kept me to-morrow to show me his house and park, +and improvements. We left Hampton Court at sunset, and got here in a +chariot and two horses time enough by starlight. That's something charms +me mightily about London; that you go dine a dozen miles off in October, +stay all day, and return so quickly: you cannot do anything like this in +Dublin.(15) I writ a second penny post letter to your mother, and hear +nothing of her. Did I tell you that Earl Berkeley died last Sunday was +se'nnight, at Berkeley Castle, of a dropsy? Lord Halifax began a health +to me to-day; it was the Resurrection of the Whigs, which I refused +unless he would add their Reformation too and I told him he was the only +Whig in England I loved, or had any good opinion of. + +3. This morning Stella's sister(16) came to me with a letter from her +mother, who is at Sheen; but will soon be in town, and will call to see +me: she gave me a bottle of palsy water,(17) a small one, and desired I +would send it you by the first convenience, as I will; and she promises +a quart bottle of the same: your sister looked very well, and seems a +good modest sort of girl. I went then to Mr. Lewis, first secretary to +Lord Dartmouth,(18) and favourite to Mr. Harley, who is to introduce +me to-morrow morning. Lewis had with him one Mr. Dyot,(19) a Justice of +Peace, worth twenty thousand pounds, a Commissioner of the Stamp Office, +and married to a sister of Sir Philip Meadows,(20) Envoy to the Emperor. +I tell you this, because it is odds but this Mr. Dyot will be hanged; +for he is discovered to have counterfeited stamped paper, in which he +was a Commissioner; and, with his accomplices, has cheated the Queen of +a hundred thousand pounds. You will hear of it before this come to you, +but may be not so particularly; and it is a very odd accident in such a +man. Smoke Presto writing news to MD. I dined to-day with Lord Mountjoy +at Kensington, and walked from thence this evening to town like an +emperor. Remember that yesterday, October 2, was a cruel hard frost, +with ice; and six days ago I was dying with heat. As thin as the town +is, I have more dinners than ever; and am asked this month by some +people, without being able to come for pre-engagements. Well, but +I should write plainer, when I consider Stella cannot read,(21) and +Dingley is not so skilful at my ugly hand. I had tonight a letter from +Mr. Pratt, who tells me Joe will have his money when there are trustees +appointed by the Lord Lieutenant for receiving and disposing the linen +fund; and whenever those trustees are appointed, I will solicit whoever +is Lord Lieutenant, and am in no fear of succeeding. So pray tell or +write him word, and bid him not be cast down; for Ned Southwell(22) +and Mr. Addison both think Pratt in the right. Don't lose your money at +Manley's to-night, sirrahs. + +4. After I had put out my candle last night, my landlady came into my +room, with a servant of Lord Halifax, to desire I would go dine with him +at his house near Hampton Court; but I sent him word, I had business +of great importance that hindered me, etc. And to-day I was brought +privately to Mr. Harley, who received me with the greatest respect and +kindness imaginable: he has appointed me an hour on Saturday at four, +afternoon, when I will open my business to him; which expression I would +not use if I were a woman. I know you smoked it; but I did not till I +writ it. I dined to-day at Mr. Delaval's, the Envoy for Portugal, with +Nic Rowe(23) the poet, and other friends; and I gave my lampoon to be +printed. I have more mischief in my heart; and I think it shall go +round with them all, as this hits, and I can find hints. I am certain I +answered your 2d letter, and yet I do not find it here. I suppose it was +in my 4th: and why N. 2d, 3d; is it not enough to say, as I do, 1, 2, 3? +etc. I am going to work at another Tatler:(24) I'll be far enough but +I say the same thing over two or three times, just as I do when I am +talking to little MD; but what care I? they can read it as easily as I +can write it: I think I have brought these lines pretty straight again. +I fear it will be long before I finish two sides at this rate. Pray, +dear MD, when I occasionally give you any little commission mixed with +my letters, don't forget it, as that to Morgan and Joe, etc., for I +write just as I can remember, otherwise I would put them all together. +I was to visit Mr. Sterne to-day, and give him your commission about +handkerchiefs: that of chocolate I will do myself, and send it him when +he goes, and you'll pay me when the GIVER'S BREAD,(25) etc. To-night I +will read a pamphlet, to amuse myself. God preserve your dear healths! + +5. This morning Delaval came to see me, and we went together to +Kneller's,(26) who was not in town. In the way we met the electors for +Parliament-men:(27) and the rabble came about our coach, crying, "A +Colt, a Stanhope," etc. We were afraid of a dead cat, or our glasses +broken, and so were always of their side. I dined again at Delaval's; +and in the evening, at the Coffee-house, heard Sir Andrew Fountaine(28) +was come to town. This has been but an insipid sort of day, and I have +nothing to remark upon it worth threepence: I hope MD had a better, with +the Dean, the Bishop, or Mrs. Walls.(29) Why, the reason you lost four +and eightpence last night but one at Manley's was, because you played +bad games: I took notice of six that you had ten to one against you: +Would any but a mad lady go out twice upon Manilio; Basto, and two small +diamonds?(30) Then in that game of spades, you blundered when you had +ten-ace; I never saw the like of you: and now you are in a huff because +I tell you this. Well, here's two and eightpence halfpenny towards your +loss. + +6. Sir Andrew Fountaine came this morning, and caught me writing in bed. +I went into the city with him; and we dined at the Chop-house with +Will Pate,(31) the learned woollen-draper: then we sauntered at +China-shops(32) and booksellers; went to the tavern, drank two pints of +white wine, and never parted till ten: and now I am come home, and must +copy out some papers I intend for Mr. Harley, whom I am to see, as I +told you, to-morrow afternoon; so that this night I shall say little to +MD, but that I heartily wish myself with them, and will come as soon as +I either fail, or compass my business. We now hear daily of elections; +and, in a list I saw yesterday of about twenty, there are seven or eight +more Tories than in the last Parliament; so that I believe they need +not fear a majority, with the help of those who will vote as the Court +pleases. But I have been told that Mr. Harley himself would not let +the Tories be too numerous, for fear they should be insolent, and +kick against him; and for that reason they have kept several Whigs +in employments, who expected to be turned out every day; as Sir John +Holland the Comptroller, and many others. And so get you gone to your +cards, and your claret and orange, at the Dean's; and I'll go write. + +7. I wonder when this letter will be finished: it must go by Tuesday, +that's certain; and if I have one from MD before, I will not answer it, +that's as certain too. 'Tis now morning, and I did not finish my papers +for Mr. Harley last night; for you must understand Presto was sleepy, +and made blunders and blots. Very pretty that I must be writing to young +women in a morning fresh and fasting, faith. Well, good-morrow to +you; and so I go to business, and lay aside this paper till night, +sirrahs.--At night. Jack How(33) told Harley that if there were a lower +place in hell than another, it was reserved for his porter, who tells +lies so gravely, and with so civil a manner. This porter I have had to +deal with, going this evening at four to visit Mr. Harley, by his own +appointment. But the fellow told me no lie, though I suspected every +word he said. He told me his master was just gone to dinner, with much +company, and desired I would come an hour hence: which I did, expecting +to hear Mr. Harley was gone out; but they had just done dinner. Mr. +Harley came out to me, brought me in, and presented to me his son-in-law +Lord Doblane(34) (or some such name) and his own son,(35) and, among +others, Will Penn(36) the Quaker: we sat two hours drinking as good wine +as you do; and two hours more he and I alone; where he heard me tell my +business; entered into it with all kindness; asked for my powers, and +read them; and read likewise a memorial(37) I had drawn up, and put it +in his pocket to show the Queen; told me the measures he would take; +and, in short, said everything I could wish: told me, he must bring Mr. +St. John(38) (Secretary of State) and me acquainted; and spoke so many +things of personal kindness and esteem for me, that I am inclined half +to believe what some friends have told me, that he would do everything +to bring me over. He has desired to dine with me (what a comical mistake +was that!). I mean he has desired me to dine with him on Tuesday; and +after four hours being with him, set me down at St. James's Coffee-house +in a hackney-coach. All this is odd and comical, if you consider him and +me. He knew my Christian name very well. I could not forbear saying thus +much upon this matter, although you will think it tedious. But I'll tell +you; you must know, 'tis fatal(39) to me to be a scoundrel and a prince +the same day: for, being to see him at four, I could not engage myself +to dine at any friend's; so I went to Tooke,(40) to give him a ballad, +and dine with him; but he was not at home: so I was forced to go to +a blind(41) chop-house, and dine for tenpence upon gill-ale,(42) bad +broth, and three chops of mutton; and then go reeking from thence to the +First Minister of State. And now I am going in charity to send Steele +a Tatler, who is very low of late. I think I am civiller than I used +to be; and have not used the expression of "you in Ireland" and "we +in England" as I did when I was here before, to your great +indignation.--They may talk of the you know what;(43) but, gad, if it +had not been for that, I should never have been able to get the access I +have had; and if that helps me to succeed, then that same thing will be +serviceable to the Church. But how far we must depend upon new friends, +I have learnt by long practice, though I think among great Ministers, +they are just as good as old ones. And so I think this important day has +made a great hole in this side of the paper; and the fiddle-faddles of +tomorrow and Monday will make up the rest; and, besides, I shall see +Harley on Tuesday before this letter goes. + +8. I must tell you a great piece of refinement(44) of Harley. He charged +me to come to him often: I told him I was loth to trouble him in so much +business as he had, and desired I might have leave to come at his levee; +which he immediately refused, and said, that was not a place for friends +to come to. 'Tis now but morning; and I have got a foolish trick, I must +say something to MD when I wake, and wish them a good-morrow; for this +is not a shaving-day, Sunday, so I have time enough: but get you gone, +you rogues, I must go write: Yes, 'twill vex me to the blood if any +of these long letters should miscarry: if they do, I will shrink to +half-sheets again; but then what will you do to make up the journal? +there will be ten days of Presto's life lost; and that will be a sad +thing, faith and troth.--At night. I was at a loss today for a dinner, +unless I would have gone a great way, so I dined with some friends +that board hereabout,(45) as a spunger;(46) and this evening Sir Andrew +Fountaine would needs have me go to the tavern; where, for two bottles +of wine, Portugal and Florence, among three of us, we had sixteen +shillings to pay; but if ever he catches me so again, I'll spend as many +pounds: and therefore I have it among my extraordinaries but we had a +neck of mutton dressed a la Maintenon, that the dog could not eat: and +it is now twelve o'clock, and I must go sleep. I hope this letter will +go before I have MD's third. Do you believe me? and yet, faith, I long +for MD's third too and yet I would have it to say, that I writ five for +two. I am not fond at all of St. James's Coffee-house,(47) as I used to +be. I hope it will mend in winter; but now they are all out of town at +elections, or not come from their country houses. Yesterday I was going +with Dr. Garth(48) to dine with Charles Main,(49) near the Tower, who +has an employment there: he is of Ireland; the Bishop of Clogher knows +him well: an honest, good-natured fellow, a thorough hearty laugher, +mightily beloved by the men of wit: his mistress is never above a +cook-maid. And so, good-night, etc. + +9. I dined to-day at Sir John Stanley's; my Lady Stanley(50) is one +of my favourites: I have as many here as the Bishop of Killala has in +Ireland. I am thinking what scurvy company I shall be to MD when I come +back: they know everything of me already: I will tell you no more, or +I shall have nothing to say, no story to tell, nor any kind of thing. +I was very uneasy last night with ugly, nasty, filthy wine, that turned +sour on my stomach. I must go to the tavern: oh, but I told you that +before. To-morrow I dine at Harley's, and will finish this letter at my +return; but I can write no more now, because of the Archbishop: faith, +'tis true; for I am going now to write to him an account of what I have +done in the business with Harley:(51) and, faith, young women, I'll tell +you what you must count upon, that I never will write one word on the +third side in these long letters. + +10. Poor MD's letter was lying so huddled up among papers, I could not +find it: I mean poor Presto's letter. Well, I dined with Mr. Harley +to-day, and hope some things will be done; but I must say no more: and +this letter must be sent to the post-house, and not by the bellman.(52) +I am to dine again there on Sunday next; I hope to some good issue. And +so now, soon as ever I can in bed, I must begin my 6th to MD as gravely +as if I had not written a word this month: fine doings, faith! Methinks +I don't write as I should, because I am not in bed: see the ugly wide +lines. God Almighty ever bless you, etc. + +Faith, this is a whole treatise; I'll go reckon the lines on the other +sides. I've reckoned them.(53) + + + + +LETTER 6. + +LONDON, Oct. 10, 1710. + +So, as I told you just now in the letter I sent half an hour ago, I +dined with Mr. Harley to-day, who presented me to the Attorney-General, +Sir Simon Harcourt, with much compliment on all sides, etc. Harley told +me he had shown my memorial to the Queen, and seconded it very heartily; +and he desires me to dine with him again on Sunday, when he promises +to settle it with Her Majesty, before she names a Governor:(1) and I +protest I am in hopes it will be done, all but the forms, by that time; +for he loves the Church. This is a popular thing, and he would not have +a Governor share in it; and, besides, I am told by all hands, he has a +mind to gain me over. But in the letter I writ last post (yesterday) to +the Archbishop, I did not tell him a syllable of what Mr. Harley said to +me last night, because he charged me to keep it secret; so I would not +tell it to you, but that, before this goes, I hope the secret will be +over. I am now writing my poetical "Description of a Shower in London," +and will send it to the Tatler.(2) This is the last sheet of a whole +quire I have written since I came to town. Pray, now it comes into my +head, will you, when you go to Mrs. Walls, contrive to know whether +Mrs. Wesley(3) be in town, and still at her brother's, and how she is +in health, and whether she stays in town. I writ to her from Chester, +to know what I should do with her note; and I believe the poor woman is +afraid to write to me: so I must go to my business, etc. + +11. To-day at last I dined with Lord Mountrath,(4) and carried Lord +Mountjoy, and Sir Andrew Fountaine with me; and was looking over them +at ombre till eleven this evening like a fool: they played running ombre +half-crowns; and Sir Andrew Fountaine won eight guineas of Mr. Coote;(5) +so I am come home late, and will say but little to MD this night. I have +gotten half a bushel of coals, and Patrick, the extravagant whelp, had +a fire ready for me; but I picked off the coals before I went to bed. It +is a sign London is now an empty place, when it will not furnish me with +matter for above five or six lines in a day. Did you smoke in my last +how I told you the very day and the place you were playing at ombre? But +I interlined and altered a little, after I had received a letter from +Mr. Manley, that said you were at it in his house, while he was writing +to me; but without his help I guessed within one day. Your town is +certainly much more sociable than ours. I have not seen your mother yet, +etc. + +12. I dined to-day with Dr. Garth and Mr. Addison, at the Devil +Tavern(6) by Temple Bar, and Garth treated; and 'tis well I dine every +day, else I should be longer making out my letters: for we are yet in a +very dull state, only inquiring every day after new elections, where +the Tories carry it among the new members six to one. Mr. Addison's +election(7) has passed easy and undisputed; and I believe if he had a +mind to be chosen king, he would hardly be refused. An odd accident has +happened at Colchester: one Captain Lavallin,(8) coming from Flanders or +Spain, found his wife with child by a clerk of Doctors' Commons, whose +trade, you know, it is to prevent fornications: and this clerk was the +very same fellow that made the discovery of Dyot's(9) counterfeiting the +stamp-paper. Lavallin has been this fortnight hunting after the clerk, +to kill him; but the fellow was constantly employed at the Treasury, +about the discovery he made: the wife had made a shift to patch up the +business, alleging that the clerk had told her her husband was dead +and other excuses; but t'other day somebody told Lavallin his wife had +intrigues before he married her: upon which he goes down in a rage, +shoots his wife through the head, then falls on his sword; and, to make +the matter sure, at the same time discharges a pistol through his own +head, and died on the spot, his wife surviving him about two hours, but +in what circumstances of mind and body is terrible to imagine. I have +finished my poem on the "Shower," all but the beginning; and am going on +with my Tatler. They have fixed about fifty things on me since I came: I +have printed but three.(10) One advantage I get by writing to you daily, +or rather you get, is, that I shall remember not to write the same +things twice; and yet, I fear, I have done it often already: but I will +mind and confine myself to the accidents of the day; and so get you gone +to ombre, and be good girls, and save your money, and be rich against +Presto comes, and write to me now and then: I am thinking it would be a +pretty thing to hear sometimes from saucy MD; but do not hurt your eyes, +Stella, I charge you. + +13. O Lord, here is but a trifle of my letter written yet; what shall +Presto do for prattle-prattle, to entertain MD? The talk now grows +fresher of the Duke of Ormond for Ireland; though Mr. Addison says he +hears it will be in commission, and Lord Galway(11) one. These letters +of mine are a sort of journal, where matters open by degrees; and, as I +tell true or false, you will find by the event whether my intelligence +be good; but I do not care twopence whether it be or no.--At night. +To-day I was all about St. Paul's, and up at the top like a fool, with +Sir Andrew Fountaine and two more; and spent seven shillings for my +dinner like a puppy: this is the second time he has served me so; but +I will never do it again, though all mankind should persuade me, +unconsidering puppies! There is a young fellow here in town we are +all fond of, and about a year or two come from the University, one +Harrison,(12) a little pretty fellow, with a great deal of wit, good +sense, and good nature; has written some mighty pretty things; that in +your 6th Miscellanea,(13) about the Sprig of an Orange, is his: he +has nothing to live on but being governor to one of the Duke of +Queensberry's(14) sons for forty pounds a year. The fine fellows are +always inviting him to the tavern, and make him pay his club. Henley(15) +is a great crony of his: they are often at the tavern at six or seven +shillings reckoning, and he always makes the poor lad pay his full +share. A colonel and a lord were at him and me the same way to-night: I +absolutely refused, and made Harrison lag behind, and persuaded him not +to go to them. I tell you this, because I find all rich fellows have +that humour of using all people without any consideration of their +fortunes; but I will see them rot before they shall serve me so. Lord +Halifax is always teasing me to go down to his country house, which will +cost me a guinea to his servants, and twelve shillings coach-hire; and +he shall be hanged first. Is not this a plaguy silly story? But I am +vexed at the heart; for I love the young fellow, and am resolved to stir +up people to do something for him: he is a Whig, and I will put him upon +some of my cast Whigs; for I have done with them; and they have, I hope, +done with this kingdom for our time. They were sure of the four members +for London above all places, and they have lost three in the four.(16) +Sir Richard Onslow,(17) we hear, has lost for Surrey; and they are +overthrown in most places. Lookee, gentlewomen, if I write long letters, +I must write you news and stuff, unless I send you my verses; and some I +dare not; and those on the "Shower in London" I have sent to the Tatler, +and you may see them in Ireland. I fancy you will smoke me in the Tatler +I am going to write; for I believe I have told you the hint. I had a +letter sent me tonight from Sir Matthew Dudley, and found it on my table +when I came in. Because it is extraordinary, I will transcribe it from +beginning to end. It is as follows: "Is the Devil in you? Oct. 13, +1710." I would have answered every particular passage in it, only I +wanted time. Here is enough for to-night, such as it is, etc. + +14. Is that tobacco at the top of the paper,(18) or what? I do not +remember I slobbered. Lord, I dreamt of Stella, etc., so confusedly last +night, and that we saw Dean Bolton(19) and Sterne(20) go into a shop: +and she bid me call them to her, and they proved to be two parsons I +know not; and I walked without till she was shifting, and such stuff, +mixed with much melancholy and uneasiness, and things not as they should +be, and I know not how: and it is now an ugly gloomy morning.--At night. +Mr. Addison and I dined with Ned Southwell, and walked in the Park; and +at the Coffee-house I found a letter from the Bishop of Clogher, and +a packet from MD. I opened the Bishop's letter; but put up MD's, and +visited a lady just come to town; and am now got into bed, and going to +open your little letter: and God send I may find MD well, and happy, and +merry, and that they love Presto as they do fires. Oh, I will not open +it yet! yes I will! no I will not! I am going; I cannot stay till I turn +over.(21) What shall I do? My fingers itch; and now I have it in my left +hand; and now I will open it this very moment.--I have just got it, and +am cracking the seal, and cannot imagine what is in it; I fear only some +letter from a bishop, and it comes too late; I shall employ nobody's +credit but my own. Well, I see though-- Pshaw, 'tis from Sir Andrew +Fountaine. What, another! I fancy that's from Mrs. Barton;(22) she told +me she would write to me; but she writes a better hand than this: I wish +you would inquire; it must be at Dawson's(23) office at the Castle. +I fear this is from Patty Rolt, by the scrawl. Well, I will read MD's +letter. Ah, no; it is from poor Lady Berkeley, to invite me to Berkeley +Castle this winter; and now it grieves my heart: she says, she hopes my +lord is in a fair way of recovery;(24) poor lady! Well, now I go to MD's +letter: faith, it is all right; I hoped it was wrong. Your letter, N.3, +that I have now received, is dated Sept. 26; and Manley's letter, that +I had five days ago, was dated Oct. 3, that's a fortnight difference: +I doubt it has lain in Steele's office, and he forgot. Well, there's +an end of that: he is turned out of his place;(25) and you must desire +those who send me packets, to enclose them in a paper directed to Mr. +Addison, at St. James's Coffee-house: not common letters, but packets: +the Bishop of Clogher may mention it to the Archbishop when he sees him. +As for your letter, it makes me mad: slidikins, I have been the best +boy in Christendom, and you come with your two eggs a penny.--Well; but +stay, I will look over my book: adad, I think there was a chasm between +my N.2 and N.3. Faith, I will not promise to write to you every week; +but I will write every night, and when it is full I will send it; that +will be once in ten days, and that will be often enough: and if you +begin to take up the way of writing to Presto, only because it is +Tuesday, a Monday bedad it will grow a task; but write when you have +a mind.--No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no--Agad, agad, agad, agad, +agad, agad; no, poor Stellakins.(26) Slids, I would the horse were in +your--chamber! Have not I ordered Parvisol to obey your directions about +him? And han't I said in my former letters that you may pickle him, and +boil him, if you will? What do you trouble me about your horses for? +Have I anything to do with them?--Revolutions a hindrance to me in +my business? Revolutions to me in my business? If it were not for +the revolutions, I could do nothing at all; and now I have all hopes +possible, though one is certain of nothing; but to-morrow I am to have +an answer, and am promised an effectual one. I suppose I have said +enough in this and a former letter how I stand with new people; ten +times better than ever I did with the old; forty times more caressed. +I am to dine to-morrow at Mr. Harley's; and if he continues as he has +begun, no man has been ever better treated by another. What you say +about Stella's mother, I have spoken enough to it already. I believe she +is not in town; for I have not yet seen her. My lampoon is cried up to +the skies; but nobody suspects me for it, except Sir Andrew Fountaine: +at least they say nothing of it to me. Did not I tell you of a great man +who received me very coldly?(27) That's he; but say nothing; 'twas +only a little revenge. I will remember to bring it over. The Bishop of +Clogher has smoked my Tatler,(28) about shortening of words, etc. But, +God So!(29) etc. + +15. I will write plainer if I can remember it; for Stella must not spoil +her eyes, and Dingley can't read my hand very well; and I am afraid my +letters are too long: then you must suppose one to be two, and read them +at twice. I dined to-day with Mr. Harley: Mr. Prior(30) dined with us. +He has left my memorial with the Queen, who has consented to give the +First-Fruits and Twentieth Parts,(31) and will, we hope, declare it +to-morrow in the Cabinet. But I beg you to tell it to no person alive; +for so I am ordered, till in public: and I hope to get something of +greater value. After dinner came in Lord Peterborow:(32) we renewed our +acquaintance, and he grew mightily fond of me. They began to talk of a +paper of verses called "Sid Hamet." Mr. Harley repeated part, and then +pulled them out, and gave them to a gentleman at the table to read, +though they had all read them often. Lord Peterborow would let nobody +read them but himself: so he did; and Mr. Harley bobbed(33) me at every +line, to take notice of the beauties. Prior rallied Lord Peterborow for +author of them; and Lord Peterborow said he knew them to be his; and +Prior then turned it upon me, and I on him. I am not guessed at all +in town to be the author; yet so it is: but that is a secret only to +you.(34) Ten to one whether you see them in Ireland; yet here they run +prodigiously. Harley presented me to Lord President of Scotland,(35) and +Mr. Benson,(36) Lord of the Treasury. Prior and I came away at nine, and +sat at the Smyrna(37) till eleven, receiving acquaintance. + +16. This morning early I went in a chair, and Patrick before it, to Mr. +Harley, to give him another copy of my memorial, as he desired; but he +was full of business, going to the Queen, and I could not see him; +but he desired I would send up the paper, and excused himself upon his +hurry. I was a little baulked; but they tell me it is nothing. I shall +judge by next visit. I tipped his porter with half a crown; and so I am +well there for a time at least. I dined at Stratford's in the City, and +had Burgundy and Tokay: came back afoot like a scoundrel: then went with +Mr. Addison and supped with Lord Mountjoy, which made me sick all night. +I forgot that I bought six pounds of chocolate for Stella, and a little +wooden box; and I have a great piece of Brazil tobacco for Dingley,(38) +and a bottle of palsy-water(39) for Stella: all which, with the two +handkerchiefs that Mr. Sterne has bought, and you must pay him for, +will be put in the box, directed to Mrs. Curry's, and sent by Dr. +Hawkshaw,(40) whom I have not seen; but Sterne has undertaken it. The +chocolate is a present, madam, for Stella. Don't read this, you little +rogue, with your little eyes; but give it to Dingley, pray now; and I +will write as plain as the skies: and let Dingley write Stella's part, +and Stella dictate to her, when she apprehends her eyes, etc. + +17. This letter should have gone this post, if I had not been taken +up with business, and two nights being late out; so it must stay till +Thursday. I dined to-day with your Mr. Sterne,(41) by invitation, and +drank Irish wine;(42) but, before we parted, there came in the prince +of puppies, Colonel Edgworth;(43) so I went away. This day came out the +Tatler, made up wholly of my "Shower," and a preface to it. They say it +is the best thing I ever writ, and I think so too. I suppose the Bishop +of Clogher will show it you. Pray tell me how you like it. Tooke is +going on with my Miscellany.(44) I'd give a penny the letter to the +Bishop of Killaloe(45) was in it: 'twould do him honour. Could not you +contrive to say, you hear they are printing my things together; and that +you with the bookseller had that letter among the rest: but don't say +anything of it as from me. I forget whether it was good or no; but only +having heard it much commended, perhaps it may deserve it. Well, I have +to-morrow to finish this letter in, and then I will send it next day. I +am so vexed that you should write your third to me, when you had but my +second, and I had written five, which now I hope you have all: and so I +tell you, you are saucy, little, pretty, dear rogues, etc. + +18. To-day I dined, by invitation, with Stratford and others, at a young +merchant's in the City, with Hermitage and Tokay, and stayed till nine, +and am now come home. And that dog Patrick is abroad, and drinking, and +I cannot I get my night-gown. I have a mind to turn that puppy away: he +has been drunk ten times in three weeks. But I han't time to say more; +so good-night, etc. + +19. I am come home from dining in the city with Mr. Addison, at a +merchant's; and just now, at the Coffee-house, we have notice that the +Duke of Ormond was this day declared Lord Lieutenant at Hampton Court, +in Council. I have not seen Mr. Harley since; but hope the affair is +done about First-Fruits. I will see him, if possible, to-morrow morning; +but this goes to-night. I have sent a box to Mr. Sterne, to send to you +by some friend: I have directed it for Mr. Curry, at his house; so you +have warning when it comes, as I hope it will soon. The handkerchiefs +will be put in some friend's pocket, not to pay custom. And so here ends +my sixth, sent when I had but three of MD's: now I am beforehand, and +will keep so; and God Almighty bless dearest MD, etc. + + + + +LETTER 7. + +LONDON, Oct. 19, 1710. + +Faith, I am undone! this paper is larger than the other, and yet I am +condemned to a sheet; but, since it is MD, I did not value though I were +condemned to a pair. I told you in my letter to-day where I had been, +and how the day passed; and so, etc. + +20. To-day I went to Mr. Lewis, at the Secretary's office, to know when +I might see Mr. Harley; and by and by comes up Mr. Harley himself, and +appoints me to dine with him to-morrow. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh,(1) +and went to wait on the two Lady Butlers;(2) but the porter answered +they were not at home: the meaning was, the youngest, Lady Mary, is +to be married to-morrow to Lord Ashburnham,(3) the best match now in +England, twelve thousand pounds a year, and abundance of money. Tell me +how my "Shower" is liked in Ireland: I never knew anything pass better +here. I spent the evening with Wortley Montagu(4) and Mr. Addison, over +a bottle of Irish wine. Do they know anything in Ireland of my greatness +among the Tories? Everybody reproaches me of it here; but I value them +not. Have you heard of the verses about the "Rod of Sid Hamet"? Say +nothing of them for your life. Hardly anybody suspects me for them; only +they think nobody but Prior or I could write them. But I doubt they +have not reached you. There is likewise a ballad full of puns on the +Westminster Election,(5) that cost me half an hour: it runs, though it +be good for nothing. But this is likewise a secret to all but MD. If you +have them not, I will bring them over. + +21. I got MD's fourth to-day at the Coffee-house. God Almighty bless +poor, dear Stella, and her eyes and head! What shall we do to cure them? +poor, dear life! Your disorders are a pull-back for your good qualities. +Would to Heaven I were this minute shaving your poor, dear head, either +here or there! Pray do not write, nor read this letter, nor anything +else; and I will write plainer for Dingley to read from henceforward, +though my pen is apt to ramble when I think whom I am writing to. I will +not answer your letter until I tell you that I dined this day with Mr. +Harley, who presented me to the Earl of Stirling,(6) a Scotch lord; and +in the evening came in Lord Peterborow. I stayed till nine before Mr. +Harley would let me go, or tell me anything of my affair. He says the +Queen has now granted the First-Fruits and Twentieth Parts; but he will +not give me leave to write to the Archbishop, because the Queen designs +to signify it to the Bishops in Ireland in form; and to take notice, +that it was done upon a memorial from me; which, Mr. Harley tells me he +does to make it look more respectful to me, etc.; and I am to see him +on Tuesday. I know not whether I told you that, in my memorial which was +given to the Queen, I begged for two thousand pounds a year more, though +it was not in my commission; but that, Mr. Harley says, cannot yet be +done, and that he and I must talk of it further: however, I have started +it, and it may follow in time. Pray say nothing of the First-Fruits +being granted, unless I give leave at the bottom of this. I believe +never anything was compassed so soon, and purely done by my personal +credit with Mr. Harley, who is so excessively obliging, that I know not +what to make of it, unless to show the rascals of the other party that +they used a man unworthily who had deserved better. The memorial given +to the Queen from me speaks with great plainness of Lord Wharton. I +believe this business is as important to you as the Convocation disputes +from Tisdall.(7) I hope in a month or two all the forms of settling this +matter will be over; and then I shall have nothing to do here. I will +only add one foolish thing more, because it is just come into my head. +When this thing is made known, tell me impartially whether they give +any of the merit to me, or no; for I am sure I have so much, that I will +never take it upon me.--Insolent sluts! because I say Dublin, Ireland, +therefore you must say London, England: that is Stella's malice.--Well, +for that I will not answer your letter till to-morrow-day, and so and +so: I will go write something else, and it will not be much; for 'tis +late. + +22. I was this morning with Mr. Lewis, the under-secretary to Lord +Dartmouth, two hours, talking politics, and contriving to keep Steele in +his office of stamped paper: he has lost his place of Gazetteer, three +hundred pounds a year, for writing a Tatler,(8) some months ago, against +Mr. Harley, who gave it him at first, and raised the salary from sixty +to three hundred pounds. This was devilish ungrateful; and Lewis was +telling me the particulars: but I had a hint given me, that I might save +him in the other employment: and leave was given me to clear matters +with Steele. Well, I dined with Sir Matthew Dudley, and in the evening +went to sit with Mr. Addison, and offer the matter at distance to him, +as the discreeter person; but found party had so possessed him, that +he talked as if he suspected me, and would not fall in with anything I +said. So I stopped short in my overture, and we parted very drily; and +I shall say nothing to Steele, and let them do as they will; but, if +things stand as they are, he will certainly lose it, unless I save him; +and therefore I will not speak to him, that I may not report to his +disadvantage. Is not this vexatious? and is there so much in the proverb +of proffered service? When shall I grow wise? I endeavour to act in the +most exact points of honour and conscience; and my nearest friends will +not understand it so. What must a man expect from his enemies? This +would vex me, but it shall not; and so I bid you good-night, etc. + +23. I know 'tis neither wit nor diversion to tell you every day where I +dine; neither do I write it to fill my letter; but I fancy I shall, +some time or other, have the curiosity of seeing some particulars how +I passed my life when I was absent from MD this time; and so I tell you +now that I dined to-day at Molesworth's, the Florence Envoy, then +went to the Coffee-house, where I behaved myself coldly enough to Mr. +Addison, and so came home to scribble. We dine together to-morrow and +next day by invitation; but I shall alter my behaviour to him, till he +begs my pardon, or else we shall grow bare acquaintance. I am weary of +friends; and friendships are all monsters, but MD's. + +24. I forgot to tell you, that last night I went to Mr. Harley's, +hoping--faith, I am blundering, for it was this very night at six; and I +hoped he would have told me all things were done and granted: but he +was abroad, and came home ill, and was gone to bed, much out of order, +unless the porter lied. I dined to-day at Sir Matthew Dudley's, with Mr. +Addison, etc. + +25. I was to-day to see the Duke of Ormond; and, coming out, met Lord +Berkeley of Stratton,(9) who told me that Mrs. Temple,(10) the widow, +died last Saturday, which, I suppose, is much to the outward grief and +inward joy of the family. I dined to-day with Addison and Steele, and +a sister of Mr. Addison, who is married to one Mons. Sartre,(11) a +Frenchman, prebendary of Westminster, who has a delicious house and +garden; yet I thought it was a sort of monastic life in those cloisters, +and I liked Laracor better. Addison's sister is a sort of a wit, very +like him. I am not fond of her, etc. + +26. I was to-day to see Mr. Congreve,(12) who is almost blind with +cataracts growing on his eyes; and his case is, that he must wait two or +three years, until the cataracts are riper, and till he is quite blind, +and then he must have them couched; and, besides, he is never rid of the +gout, yet he looks young and fresh, and is as cheerful as ever. He is +younger by three years or more than I; and I am twenty years younger +than he. He gave me a pain in the great toe, by mentioning the gout. I +find such suspicions frequently, but they go off again. I had a second +letter from Mr. Morgan,(13) for which I thank you: I wish you were +whipped, for forgetting to send him that answer I desired you in one of +my former, that I could do nothing for him of what he desired, having +no credit at all, etc. Go, be far enough, you negligent baggages. I have +had also a letter from Parvisol, with an account how my livings are set; +and that they are fallen, since last year, sixty pounds. A comfortable +piece of news! He tells me plainly that he finds you have no mind to +part with the horse, because you sent for him at the same time you sent +him my letter; so that I know not what must be done. It is a sad thing +that Stella must have her own horse, whether Parvisol will or no. So now +to answer your letter that I had three or four days ago. I am not now in +bed, but am come home by eight; and, it being warm, I write up. I never +writ to the Bishop of Killala, which, I suppose, was the reason he had +not my letter. I have not time, there is the short of it.--As fond as +the Dean(14) is of my letter, he has not written to me. I would only +know whether Dean Bolton(15) paid him the twenty pounds; and for the +rest, he may kiss--And that you may ask him, because I am in pain about +it, that Dean Bolton is such a whipster. 'Tis the most obliging thing +in the world in Dean Sterne to be so kind to you. I believe he knows it +will please me, and makes up, that way, his other usage.(16) No, we +have had none of your snow, but a little one morning; yet I think it +was great snow for an hour or so, but no longer. I had heard of Will +Crowe's(17) death before, but not the foolish circumstance that hastened +his end. No, I have taken care that Captain Pratt(18) shall not suffer +by Lord Anglesea's death.(19) I will try some contrivance to get a copy +of my picture from Jervas. I will make Sir Andrew Fountaine buy one as +for himself, and I will pay him again, and take it, that is, provided I +have money to spare when I leave this.--Poor John! is he gone? and +Madam Parvisol(20) has been in town! Humm. Why, Tighe(21) and I, when he +comes, shall not take any notice of each other; I would not do it +much in this town, though we had not fallen out.--I was to-day at Mr. +Sterne's lodging: he was not within; and Mr. Leigh is not come to town; +but I will do Dingley's errand when I see him. What do I know whether +china be dear or no? I once took a fancy of resolving to grow mad for +it, but now it is off; I suppose I told you in some former letter. And +so you only want some salad-dishes, and plates, and etc. Yes, yes, you +shall. I suppose you have named as much as will cost five pounds.--Now +to Stella's little postscript; and I am almost crazed that you vex +yourself for not writing. Cannot you dictate to Dingley, and not strain +your little, dear eyes? I am sure it is the grief of my soul to think +you are out of order. Pray be quiet; and, if you will write, shut your +eyes, and write just a line, and no more, thus, "How do you do, Mrs. +Stella?" That was written with my eyes shut. Faith, I think it is better +than when they are open: and then Dingley may stand by, and tell you +when you go too high or too low.--My letters of business, with packets, +if there be any more occasion for such, must be enclosed to Mr. Addison, +at St. James's Coffee-house: but I hope to hear, as soon as I see Mr. +Harley, that the main difficulties are over, and that the rest will be +but form.--Take two or three nutgalls, take two or three----galls, stop +your receipt in your--I have no need on't. Here is a clutter! Well, so +much for your letter, which I will now put up in my letter-partition in +my cabinet, as I always do every letter as soon as I answer it. Method +is good in all things. Order governs the world. The Devil is the author +of confusion. A general of an army, a minister of state; to descend +lower, a gardener, a weaver, etc. That may make a fine observation, +if you think it worth finishing; but I have not time. Is not this a +terrible long piece for one evening? I dined to-day with Patty Rolt at +my cousin Leach's,(22) with a pox, in the City: he is a printer, and +prints the Postman, oh hoo, and is my cousin, God knows how, and he +married Mrs. Baby Aires of Leicester; and my cousin Thomson was with us: +and my cousin Leach offers to bring me acquainted with the author of the +Postman;(23) and says he does not doubt but the gentleman will be glad +of my acquaintance; and that he is a very ingenious man, and a great +scholar, and has been beyond sea. But I was modest and said, may be the +gentleman was shy, and not fond of new acquaintance; and so put it off: +and I wish you could hear me repeating all I have said of this in its +proper tone, just as I am writing it. It is all with the same cadence +with "Oh hoo," or as when little girls say, "I have got an apple, miss, +and I won't give you some." It is plaguy twelvepenny weather this last +week, and has cost me ten shillings in coach and chair hire. If the +fellow that has your money will pay it, let me beg you to buy Bank Stock +with it, which is fallen near thirty per cent. and pays eight pounds per +cent. and you have the principal when you please: it will certainly soon +rise. I would to God Lady Giffard would put in the four hundred pounds +she owes you,(24) and take the five per cent. common interest, and give +you the remainder. I will speak to your mother about it when I see her. +I am resolved to buy three hundred pounds of it for myself, and take +up what I have in Ireland; and I have a contrivance for it, that I hope +will do, by making a friend of mine buy it as for himself, and I will +pay him when I can get in my money. I hope Stratford will do me that +kindness. I'll ask him tomorrow or next day. + +27. Mr. Rowe(25) the poet desired me to dine with him to-day. I went to +his office (he is under-secretary in Mr. Addison's place that he had +in England), and there was Mr. Prior; and they both fell commending my +"Shower" beyond anything that has been written of the kind: there never +was such a "Shower" since Danae's, etc. You must tell me how it is liked +among you. I dined with Rowe; Prior could not come: and after dinner +we went to a blind tavern,(26) where Congreve, Sir Richard Temple,(27) +Estcourt,(28) and Charles Main,(29) were over a bowl of bad punch. The +knight sent for six flasks of his own wine for me, and we stayed till +twelve. But now my head continues pretty well; I have left off my +drinking, and only take a spoonful mixed with water, for fear of the +gout, or some ugly distemper; and now, because it is late, I will, etc. + +28. Garth and Addison and I dined to-day at a hedge(30) tavern; then I +went to Mr. Harley, but he was denied, or not at home: so I fear I +shall not hear my business is done before this goes. Then I visited Lord +Pembroke,(31) who is just come to town; and we were very merry talking +of old things; and I hit him with one pun. Then I went to see the Ladies +Butler, and the son of a whore of a porter denied them: so I sent them a +threatening message by another lady, for not excepting me always to the +porter. I was weary of the Coffee-house, and Ford(32) desired me to sit +with him at next door; which I did, like a fool, chatting till twelve, +and now am got into bed. I am afraid the new Ministry is at a terrible +loss about money: the Whigs talk so, it would give one the spleen; and I +am afraid of meeting Mr. Harley out of humour. They think he will never +carry through this undertaking. God knows what will come of it. I should +be terribly vexed to see things come round again: it will ruin the +Church and clergy for ever; but I hope for better. I will send this on +Tuesday, whether I hear any further news of my affair or not. + +29. Mr. Addison and I dined to-day with Lord Mountjoy; which is all the +adventures of this day.--I chatted a while to-night in the Coffee-house, +this being a full night; and now am come home, to write some business. + +30. I dined to-day at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and sent a letter to poor Mrs. +Long,(33) who writes to us, but is God knows where, and will not tell +anybody the place of her residence. I came home early, and must go +write. + +31. The month ends with a fine day; and I have been walking, and +visiting Lewis, and concerting where to see Mr. Harley. I have no news +to send you. Aire,(34) they say, is taken, though the Whitehall letters +this morning say quite the contrary: 'tis good, if it be true. I dined +with Mr. Addison and Dick Stewart, Lord Mountjoy's brother;(35) a treat +of Addison's. They were half-fuddled, but not I; for I mixed water with +my wine, and left them together between nine and ten; and I must send +this by the bellman, which vexes me, but I will put it off no longer. +Pray God it does not miscarry. I seldom do so; but I can put off little +MD no longer. Pray give the under note to Mrs. Brent. + +I am a pretty gentleman; and you lose all your money at cards, sirrah +Stella. I found you out; I did so. + +I am staying before I can fold up this letter, till that ugly D is dry +in the last line but one. Do not you see it? O Lord, I am loth to leave +you, faith--but it must be so, till the next time. Pox take that D; I +will blot it, to dry it. + + + + +LETTER 8. + +LONDON, Oct. 31, 1710. + +So, now I have sent my seventh to your fourth, young women; and now I +will tell you what I would not in my last, that this morning, sitting +in my bed, I had a fit of giddiness: the room turned round for about a +minute, and then it went off, leaving me sickish, but not very: and so I +passed the day as I told you; but I would not end a letter with telling +you this, because it might vex you: and I hope in God I shall have no +more of it. I saw Dr. Cockburn(1) to-day, and he promises to send me the +pills that did me good last year; and likewise has promised me an oil +for my ear, that he has been making for that ailment for somebody else. + +Nov. 1. I wish MD a merry new year. You know this is the first day of +it with us.(2) I had no giddiness to-day; but I drank brandy, and have +bought a pint for two shillings. I sat up the night before my giddiness +pretty late, and writ very much; so I will impute it to that. But I +never eat fruit, nor drink ale; but drink better wine than you do, as I +did to-day with Mr. Addison at Lord Mountjoy's: then went at five to +see Mr. Harley, who could not see me for much company; but sent me his +excuse, and desired I would dine with him on Friday; and then I expect +some answer to this business, which must either be soon done, or begun +again; and then the Duke of Ormond and his people will interfere for +their honour, and do nothing. I came home at six, and spent my time in +my chamber, without going to the Coffee-house, which I grow weary of; +and I studied at leisure, writ not above forty lines, some inventions +of my own, and some hints, and read not at all, and this because I would +take care of Presto, for fear little MD should be angry. + +2. I took my four pills last night, and they lay an hour in my throat, +and so they will do to-night. I suppose I could swallow four affronts +as easily. I dined with Dr. Cockburn to-day, and came home at seven; but +Mr. Ford has been with me till just now, and it is near eleven. I have +had no giddiness to-day. Mr. Dopping(3) I have seen; and he tells me +coldly, my "Shower" is liked well enough; there's your Irish judgment! +I writ this post to the Bishop of Clogher. It is now just a fortnight +since I heard from you. I must have you write once a fortnight, and then +I will allow for wind and weather. How goes ombre? Does Mrs. Walls(4) +win constantly, as she used to do? And Mrs. Stoyte;(5) I have not +thought of her this long time: how does she? I find we have a cargo of +Irish coming for London: I am sorry for it; but I never go near them. +And Tighe is landed; but Mrs. Wesley,(6) they say, is going home to her +husband, like a fool. Well, little monkeys mine, I must go write; and so +goodnight. + +3. I ought to read these letters I write, after I have done; for, +looking over thus much, I found two or three literal mistakes, which +should not be when the hand is so bad. But I hope it does not puzzle +little Dingley to read, for I think I mend: but methinks, when I write +plain, I do not know how, but we are not alone, all the world can see +us. A bad scrawl is so snug, it looks like a PMD.(7) We have scurvy +Tatlers of late: so pray do not suspect me. I have one or two hints I +design to send him, and never any more: he does not deserve it. He is +governed by his wife most abominably,(8) as bad as ----. I never saw +her since I came; nor has he ever made me an invitation: either he dares +not, or is such a thoughtless Tisdall(9) fellow, that he never minds(10) +it. So what care I for his wit? for he is the worst company in the +world, till he has a bottle of wine in his head. I cannot write +straighter in bed, so you must be content.--At night in bed. Stay, let +me see where's this letter to MD among these papers? Oh! here. Well, I +will go on now; but I am very busy (smoke the new pen.) I dined with Mr. +Harley to-day, and am invited there again on Sunday. I have now leave +to write to the Primate and Archbishop of Dublin, that the Queen has +granted the First-Fruits; but they are to take no notice of it, till a +letter is sent them by the Queen's orders from Lord Dartmouth, Secretary +of State, to signify it. The bishops are to be made a corporation, to +dispose of the revenue, etc.; and I shall write to the Archbishop of +Dublin to-morrow (I have had no giddiness to-day). I know not whether +they will have any occasion for me longer to be here; nor can I judge +till I see what letter the Queen sends to the bishops, and what they +will do upon it. If despatch be used, it may be done in six weeks; but +I cannot judge. They sent me to-day a new Commission, signed by the +Primate and Archbishop of Dublin,(11) and promise me letters to the two +archbishops here; but mine a ---- for it all. The thing is done, and has +been so these ten days; though I had only leave to tell it to-day. I had +this day likewise a letter from the Bishop of Clogher, who complains of +my not writing; and, what vexes me, says he knows you have long letters +from me every week. Why do you tell him so? 'Tis not right, faith: but +I won't be angry with MD at distance. I writ to him last post, before I +had his; and will write again soon, since I see he expects it, and that +Lord and Lady Mountjoy(12) put him off upon me, to give themselves ease. +Lastly, I had this day a letter from a certain naughty rogue called MD, +and it was N. 5; which I shall not answer to-night, I thank you. No, +faith, I have other fish to fry; but to-morrow or next day will be time +enough. I have put MD's commissions in a memorandum paper. I think I +have done all before, and remember nothing but this to-day about glasses +and spectacles and spectacle cases. I have no commission from Stella, +but the chocolate and handkerchiefs; and those are bought, and I expect +they will be soon sent. I have been with, and sent to, Mr. Sterne, two +or three times to know; but he was not within. Odds my life, what am I +doing? I must go write and do business. + +4. I dined to-day at Kensington, with Addison, Steele, etc., came home, +and writ a short letter to the Archbishop of Dublin, to let him know +the Queen has granted the thing, etc. I writ in the Coffee-house, for +I stayed at Kensington till nine, and am plaguy weary; for Colonel +Proud(13) was very ill company, and I will never be of a party with him +again; and I drank punch, and that and ill company has made me hot. + +5. I was with Mr. Harley from dinner to seven this night, and went to +the Coffee-house, where Dr. Davenant(14) would fain have had me gone and +drink a bottle of wine at his house hard by, with Dr. Chamberlen,(15) +but the puppy used so many words, that I was afraid of his company; and +though we promised to come at eight, I sent a messenger to him, that +Chamberlen was going to a patient, and therefore we would put it off +till another time: so he, and the Comptroller,(16) and I, were prevailed +on by Sir Matthew Dudley to go to his house, where I stayed till twelve, +and left them. Davenant has been teasing me to look over some of his +writings that he is going to publish; but the rogue is so fond of his +own productions, that I hear he will not part with a syllable; and he +has lately put out a foolish pamphlet, called The Third Part of Tom +Double; to make his court to the Tories, whom he had left. + +6. I was to-day gambling(17) in the City to see Patty Rolt, who is going +to Kingston, where she lodges; but, to say the truth, I had a mind for a +walk to exercise myself, and happened to be disengaged: for dinners are +ten times more plentiful with me here than ever, or than in Dublin. I +won't answer your letter yet, because I am busy. I hope to send this +before I have another from MD: it would be a sad thing to answer two +letters together, as MD does from Presto. But when the two sides are +full, away the letter shall go, that is certain, like it or not like it; +and that will be about three days hence, for the answering-night will be +a long one. + +7. I dined to-day at Sir Richard Temple's, with Congreve, Vanbrugh, +Lieutenant-General Farrington,(18) etc. Vanbrugh, I believe I told you, +had a long quarrel with me about those verses on his house;(19) but we +were very civil and cold. Lady Marlborough used to tease him with them, +which had made him angry, though he be a good-natured fellow. It was a +Thanksgiving-day,(20) and I was at Court, where the Queen passed us by +with all Tories about her; not one Whig: Buckingham,(21) Rochester,(22) +Leeds,(23) Shrewsbury, Berkeley of Stratton, Lord Keeper Harcourt, Mr. +Harley, Lord Pembroke, etc.; and I have seen her without one Tory. The +Queen made me a curtsey, and said, in a sort of familiar way to Presto, +"How does MD?" I considered she was a Queen, and so excused her.(24) I +do not miss the Whigs at Court; but have as many acquaintance there as +formerly. + +8. Here's ado and a clutter! I must now answer MD's fifth; but first +you must know I dined at the Portugal Envoy's(25) to-day, with Addison, +Vanbrugh, Admiral Wager,(26) Sir Richard Temple,(27) Methuen,(28) etc. I +was weary of their company, and stole away at five, and came home like a +good boy, and studied till ten, and had a fire, O ho! and now am in bed. +I have no fireplace in my bed-chamber; but 'tis very warm weather when +one's in bed. Your fine cap,(29) Madam Dingley, is too little, and too +hot: I will have that fur taken off; I wish it were far enough; and my +old velvet cap is good for nothing. Is it velvet under the fur? I was +feeling, but cannot find: if it be, 'twill do without it else I will +face it; but then I must buy new velvet: but may be I may beg a piece. +What shall I do? Well, now to rogue MD's letter. God be thanked for +Stella's eyes mending; and God send it holds; but faith you writ too +much at a time: better write less, or write it at ten times. Yes, faith, +a long letter in a morning from a dear friend is a dear thing. I smoke +a compliment, little mischievous girls, I do so. But who are those WIGGS +that think I am turned Tory? Do you mean Whigs? Which WIGGS and WAT do +you mean? I know nothing of Raymond, and only had one letter from him a +little after I came here.(Pray remember Morgan.) Raymond is indeed +like to have much influence over me in London, and to share much of +my conversation. I shall, no doubt, introduce him to Harley, and Lord +Keeper, and the Secretary of State. The Tatler upon Ithuriel's spear(30) +is not mine, madam. What a puzzle there is betwixt you and your +judgment! In general you may be sometimes sure of things, as that about +STYLE,(31) because it is what I have frequently spoken of; but guessing +is mine a----, and I defy mankind, if I please. Why, I writ a pamphlet +when I was last in London, that you and a thousand have seen, and never +guessed it to be mine. Could you have guessed the "Shower in Town" to be +mine? How chance you did not see that before your last letter went? but +I suppose you in Ireland did not think it worth mentioning. Nor am I +suspected for the lampoon; only Harley said he smoked me; (have I told +you so before?) and some others knew it. 'Tis called "The Rod of Sid +Hamet." And I have written several other things that I hear commended, +and nobody suspects me for them; nor you shall not know till I see you +again. What do you mean, "That boards near me, that I dine with now and +then?" I know no such person: I do not dine with boarders. What the pox! +You know whom I have dined with every day since I left you, better than +I do. What do you mean, sirrah? Slids, my ailment has been over these +two months almost. Impudence, if you vex me, I will give ten shillings +a week for my lodging; for I am almost st--k out of this with the sink, +and it helps me to verses in my "Shower."(32) Well, Madam Dingley, what +say you to the world to come? What ballad? Why go look, it was not good +for much: have patience till I come back: patience is a gay thing as, +etc. I hear nothing of Lord Mountjoy's coming for Ireland. When +is Stella's birthday? in March? Lord bless me, my turn at Christ +Church;(33) it is so natural to hear you write about that, I believe +you have done it a hundred times; it is as fresh in my mind, the verger +coming to you; and why to you? Would he have you preach for me? O, pox +on your spelling of Latin, Johnsonibus atque, that is the way. How did +the Dean get that name by the end? 'Twas you betrayed me: not I, faith; +I'll not break his head. Your mother is still in the country, I suppose; +for she promised to see me when she came to town. I writ to her four +days ago, to desire her to break it to Lady Giffard, to put some money +for you in the Bank, which was then fallen thirty per cent. Would to God +mine had been here, I should have gained one hundred pounds, and got +as good interest as in Ireland, and much securer. I would fain have +borrowed three hundred pounds; but money is so scarce here, there is no +borrowing, by this fall of stocks. 'Tis rising now, and I knew it would: +it fell from one hundred and twenty-nine to ninety-six. I have not heard +since from your mother. Do you think I would be so unkind not to see +her, that you desire me in a style so melancholy? Mrs. Raymond,(34) +you say, is with child: I am sorry for it; and so is, I believe, her +husband. Mr. Harley speaks all the kind things to me in the world; and, +I believe, would serve me, if I were to stay here; but I reckon in time +the Duke of Ormond may give me some addition to Laracor. Why should +the Whigs think I came to England to leave them? Sure my journey was no +secret. I protest sincerely, I did all I could to hinder it, as the Dean +can tell you, although now I do not repent it. But who the Devil cares +what they think? Am I under obligations in the least to any of them all? +Rot 'em, for ungrateful dogs; I will make them repent their usage before +I leave this place. They say here the same thing of my leaving the +Whigs; but they own they cannot blame me, considering the treatment I +have had. I will take care of your spectacles, as I told you before, +and of the Bishop of Killala's; but I will not write to him, I have not +time. What do you mean by my fourth, Madam Dinglibus? Does not Stella +say you have had my fifth, Goody Blunder? You frighted me till I looked +back. Well, this is enough for one night. Pray give my humble service to +Mrs. Stoyte and her sister, Kate is it, or Sarah?(35) I have forgot her +name, faith. I think I will even (and to Mrs. Walls and the Archdeacon) +send this to-morrow: no, faith, that will be in ten days from the last. +I will keep it till Saturday, though I write no more. But what if a +letter from MD should come in the meantime? Why then I would only say, +"Madam, I have received your sixth letter; your most humble servant to +command, Presto"; and so conclude. Well, now I will write and think a +little, and so to bed, and dream of MD. + +9. I have my mouth full of water, and was going to spit it out, because +I reasoned with myself, how could I write when my mouth was full? Han't +you done things like that, reasoned wrong at first thinking? Well, I was +to see Mr. Lewis this morning, and am to dine a few days hence, as he +tells me, with Mr. Secretary St. John; and I must contrive to see Harley +soon again, to hasten this business from the Queen. I dined to-day at +Lord Mountrath's,(36) with Lord Mountjoy,(37) etc.; but the wine was not +good, so I came away, stayed at the Coffee-house till seven, then came +home to my fire, the maidenhead of my second half-bushel, and am now +in bed at eleven, as usual. 'Tis mighty warm; yet I fear I should catch +cold this wet weather, if I sat an evening in my room after coming from +warm places: and I must make much of myself, because MD is not here to +take care of Presto; and I am full of business, writing, etc., and do +not care for the Coffee-house; and so this serves for all together, not +to tell it you over and over, as silly people do; but Presto is a wiser +man, faith, than so, let me tell you, gentlewomen. See, I am got to +the third side; but, faith, I will not do that often; but I must say +something early to-day, till the letter is done, and on Saturday it +shall go; so I must leave something till to-morrow, till to-morrow and +next day. + +10. O Lord, I would this letter was with you with all my heart! If it +should miscarry, what a deal would be lost! I forgot to leave a gap +in the last line but one for the seal, like a puppy; but I should have +allowed for night, goodnight; but when I am taking leave, I cannot leave +a bit, faith; but I fancy the seal will not come there. I dined to-day +at Lady Lucy's, where they ran down my "Shower"; and said, "Sid Hamet" +was the silliest poem they ever read; and told Prior so, whom they +thought to be author of it. Don't you wonder I never dined there before? +But I am too busy, and they live too far off; and, besides, I do not +like women so much as I did. (MD, you must know, are not women.) I +supped to-night at Addison's, with Garth, Steele, and Mr. Dopping; and +am come home late. Lewis has sent to me to desire I will dine with +some company I shall like. I suppose it is Mr. Secretary St. John's +appointment. I had a letter just now from Raymond, who is at Bristol, +and says he will be at London in a fortnight, and leave his wife behind +him; and desires any lodging in the house where I am: but that must not +be. I shall not know what to do with him in town: to be sure, I will +not present him to any acquaintance of mine; and he will live a delicate +life, a parson and a perfect stranger! Paaast twelvvve o'clock,(38) and +so good-night, etc. Oh! but I forgot, Jemmy Leigh is come to town; +says he has brought Dingley's things, and will send them with the first +convenience. My parcel, I hear, is not sent yet. He thinks of going for +Ireland in a month, etc. I cannot write tomorrow, because--what, because +of the Archbishop; because I will seal my letter early; because I am +engaged from noon till night; because of many kind of things; and yet +I will write one or two words to-morrow morning, to keep up my journal +constant, and at night I will begin my ninth. + +11. Morning by candlelight. You must know that I am in my nightgown +every morning between six and seven, and Patrick is forced to ply me +fifty times before I can get on my nightgown; and so now I will take my +leave of my own dear MD for this letter, and begin my next when I come +home at night. God Almighty bless and protect dearest MD. Farewell, etc. + +This letter's as long as a sermon, faith. + + + + +LETTER 9. + +LONDON, Nov. 11, 1710. + +I dined to-day, by invitation, with the Secretary of State, Mr. St. +John. Mr. Harley came in to us before dinner, and made me his excuses +for not dining with us, because he was to receive people who came to +propose advancing money to the Government: there dined with us only +Mr. Lewis, and Dr. Freind(1) (that writ "Lord Peterborow's Actions in +Spain"). I stayed with them till just now between ten and eleven, and +was forced again to give my eighth to the bellman, which I did with my +own hands, rather than keep it till next post. The Secretary used me +with all the kindness in the world. Prior came in after dinner; and, +upon an occasion, he (the Secretary) said, "The best thing I ever read +is not yours, but Dr. Swift's on Vanbrugh"; which I do not reckon so +very good neither.(2) But Prior was damped, until I stuffed him with two +or three compliments. I am thinking what a veneration we used to have +for Sir William Temple, because he might have been Secretary of State at +fifty; and here is a young fellow, hardly thirty, in that employment.(3) +His father is a man of pleasure,(4) that walks the Mall, and frequents +St. James's Coffee-house, and the chocolate-houses; and the young son is +principal Secretary of State. Is there not something very odd in that? +He told me, among other things, that Mr. Harley complained he could keep +nothing from me, I had the way so much of getting into him. I knew that +was a refinement; and so I told him, and it was so: indeed, it is hard +to see these great men use me like one who was their betters, and the +puppies with you in Ireland hardly regarding me: but there are some +reasons for all this, which I will tell you when we meet. At coming +home, I saw a letter from your mother, in answer to one I sent her two +days ago. It seems she is in town; but cannot come out in a morning, +just as you said; and God knows when I shall be at leisure in an +afternoon: for if I should send her a penny-post letter, and afterwards +not be able to meet her, it would vex me; and, besides, the days are +short, and why she cannot come early in a morning, before she is wanted, +I cannot imagine. I will desire her to let Lady Giffard know that she +hears I am in town; and that she would go to see me, to inquire after +you. I wonder she will confine herself so much to that old beast's +humour. You know I cannot in honour see Lady Giffard, and consequently +not go into her house. This I think is enough for the first time. + +12. And how could you write with such thin paper? (I forgot to say this +in my former.) Cannot you get thicker? Why, that's a common caution that +writing-masters give their scholars; you must have heard it a hundred +times. 'Tis this: + + "If paper be thin, + Ink will slip in; + But, if it be thick, + You may write with a stick."(5) + +I had a letter to-day from poor Mrs. Long,(6) giving me an account of +her present life, obscure in a remote country town, and how easy she +is under it. Poor creature! 'tis just such an alteration in life, as if +Presto should be banished from MD, and condemned to converse with Mrs. +Raymond. I dined to-day with Ford, Sir Richard Levinge,(7) etc., at a +place where they board, hard by. I was lazy, and not very well, sitting +so long with company yesterday. I have been very busy writing this +evening at home, and had a fire: I am spending my second half-bushel of +coals; and now am in bed, and 'tis late. + +13. I dined to-day in the City, and then went to christen Will +Frankland's(8) child; and Lady Falconbridge(9) was one of the +godmothers: this is a daughter of Oliver Cromwell, and extremely like +him by his pictures that I have seen. I stayed till almost eleven, and +am now come home and gone to bed. My business in the City was, to thank +Stratford for a kindness he has done me, which now I will tell you. I +found Bank Stock was fallen thirty-four in the hundred, and was mighty +desirous to buy it; but I was a little too late for the cheapest time, +being hindered by business here; for I was so wise to guess to a day +when it would fall. My project was this: I had three hundred pounds in +Ireland; and so I writ to Mr. Stratford in the City, to desire he would +buy me three hundred pounds in Bank Stock, and that he should keep the +papers, and that I would be bound to pay him for them; and, if it +should rise or fall, I would take my chance, and pay him interest in the +meantime. I showed my letter to one or two people who understand those +things; and they said money was so hard to be got here, that no man +would do it for me. However, Stratford, who is the most generous man +alive, has done it: but it costs one hundred pounds and a half, that is, +ten shillings; so that three hundred pounds cost me three hundred pounds +and thirty shillings. This was done about a week ago, and I can have +five pounds for my bargain already. Before it fell, it was one hundred +and thirty pounds; and we are sure it will be the same again. I told +you I writ to your mother, to desire that Lady Giffard would do the same +with what she owes you; but she tells your mother she has no money. +I would to God all you had in the world was there. Whenever you lend +money, take this rule, to have two people bound, who have both visible +fortunes; for they will hardly die together; and, when one dies, you +fall upon the other, and make him add another security: and if Rathburn +(now I have his name) pays you in your money, let me know, and I will +direct Parvisol accordingly: however, he shall wait on you and know. So, +ladies, enough of business for one night. Paaaaast twelvvve o'clock. I +must only add, that, after a long fit of rainy weather, it has been fair +two or three days, and is this day grown cold and frosty; so that you +must give poor little Presto leave to have a fire in his chamber morning +and evening too; and he will do as much for you. + +14. What, has your Chancellor(10) lost his senses, like Will Crowe?(11) +I forgot to tell Dingley that I was yesterday at Ludgate, bespeaking the +spectacles at the great shop there, and shall have them in a day or two. +This has been an insipid day. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and came +gravely home, after just visiting the Coffee-house. Sir Richard Cox,(12) +they say, is sure of going over Lord Chancellor, who is as arrant a +puppy as ever ate bread: but the Duke of Ormond has a natural affection +to puppies; which is a thousand pities, being none himself. I have been +amusing myself at home till now, and in bed bid you good-night. + +15. I have been visiting this morning, but nobody was at home, Secretary +St. John, Sir Thomas Hanmer,(13) Sir Chancellor Cox-comb, etc. I +attended the Duke of Ormond with about fifty other Irish gentlemen at +Skinners' Hall, where the Londonderry Society laid out three hundred +pounds to treat us and his Grace with a dinner. Three great tables +with the dessert laid in mighty figure. Sir Richard Levinge and I got +discreetly to the head of the second table, to avoid the crowd at the +first: but it was so cold, and so confounded a noise with the trumpets +and hautboys, that I grew weary, and stole away before the second course +came on; so I can give you no account of it, which is a thousand pities. +I called at Ludgate for Dingley's glasses, and shall have them in a day +or two; and I doubt it will cost me thirty shillings for a microscope, +but not without Stella's permission; for I remember she is a virtuoso. +Shall I buy it or no? 'Tis not the great bulky ones, nor the common +little ones, to impale a louse (saving your presence) upon a needle's +point; but of a more exact sort, and clearer to the sight, with all its +equipage in a little trunk that you may carry in your pocket. Tell me, +sirrah, shall I buy it or not for you? I came home straight, etc. + +16. I dined to-day in the city with Mr. Manley,(14) who invited Mr. +Addison and me, and some other friends, to his lodging, and entertained +us very handsomely. I returned with Mr. Addison, and loitered till nine +in the Coffee-house, where I am hardly known, by going so seldom. I am +here soliciting for Trounce; you know him: he was gunner in the former +yacht, and would fain be so in the present one if you remember him, +a good, lusty, fresh-coloured fellow. Shall I stay till I get another +letter from MD before I close up this? Mr. Addison and I meet a little +seldomer than formerly, although we are still at bottom as good friends +as ever, but differ a little about party. + +17. To-day I went to Lewis at the Secretary's office; where I saw and +spoke to Mr. Harley, who promised, in a few days, to finish the rest of +my business. I reproached him for putting me on the necessity of minding +him of it, and rallied him, etc., which he took very well. I dined +to-day with one Mr. Gore, elder brother to a young merchant of my +acquaintance; and Stratford and my other friend merchants dined with us, +where I stayed late, drinking claret and burgundy; and am just got to +bed, and will say no more, but that it now begins to be time to have a +letter from my own little MD; for the last I had above a fortnight ago, +and the date was old too. + +18. To-day I dined with Lewis and Prior at an eating-house, but +with Lewis's wine. Lewis went away, and Prior and I sat on, where we +complimented one another for an hour or two upon our mutual wit and +poetry. Coming home at seven, a gentleman unknown stopped me in the Pall +Mall, and asked my advice; said he had been to see the Queen (who was +just come to town), and the people in waiting would not let him see her; +that he had two hundred thousand men ready to serve her in the war; that +he knew the Queen perfectly well, and had an apartment at Court, and +if she heard he was there, she would send for him immediately; that she +owed him two hundred thousand pounds, etc., and he desired my opinion, +whether he should go try again whether he could see her; or because, +perhaps, she was weary after her journey, whether he had not better stay +till to-morrow. I had a mind to get rid of my companion, and begged +him of all love to go and wait on her immediately; for that, to my +knowledge, the Queen would admit him; that this was an affair of great +importance, and required despatch: and I instructed him to let me know +the success of his business, and come to the Smyrna Coffee-house, where +I would wait for him till midnight; and so ended this adventure. I would +have fain given the man half a crown; but was afraid to offer it him, +lest he should be offended; for, beside his money, he said he had a +thousand pounds a year. I came home not early; and so, madams both, +goodnight, etc. + +19. I dined to-day with poor Lord Mountjoy, who is ill of the gout; and +this evening I christened our coffee-man Elliot's(15) child, where the +rogue had a most noble supper, and Steele and I sat among some scurvy +company over a bowl of punch; so that I am come home late, young women, +and can't stay to write to little rogues. + +20. I loitered at home, and dined with Sir Andrew Fountaine at his +lodging, and then came home: a silly day. + +21. I was visiting all this morning, and then went to the Secretary's +office, and found Mr. Harley, with whom I dined; and Secretary St. John, +etc., and Harley promised in a very few days to finish what remains +of my business. Prior was of the company, and we all dine at the +Secretary's to-morrow. I saw Stella's mother this morning: she came +early, and we talked an hour. I wish you would propose to Lady Giffard +to take the three hundred pounds out of her hands, and give her common +interest for life, and security that you will pay her: the Bishop of +Clogher, or any friend, would be security for you, if you gave them +counter-security; and it may be argued that it will pass better to be +in your hands than hers, in case of mortality, etc. Your mother says, +if you write, she will second it; and you may write to your mother, and +then it will come from her. She tells me Lady Giffard has a mind to see +me, by her discourse; but I told her what to say, with a vengeance. She +told Lady Giffard she was going to see me: she looks extremely well. I +am writing(16) in my bed like a tiger; and so good-night, etc. + +22. I dined with Secretary St. John; and Lord Dartmouth, who is t'other +Secretary, dined with us, and Lord Orrery(17) and Prior, etc. Harley +called, but could not dine with us, and would have had me away while I +was at dinner; but I did not like the company he was to have. We stayed +till eight, and I called at the Coffee-house, and looked where the +letters lie; but no letter directed for Mr. Presto: at last I saw a +letter to Mr. Addison, and it looked like a rogue's hand; so I made the +fellow give it me, and opened it before him, and saw three letters all +for myself: so, truly, I put them in my pocket, and came home to my +lodging. Well, and so you shall hear: well, and so I found one of +them in Dingley's hand, and t'other in Stella's, and the third in +Domville's.(18) Well, so you shall hear; so, said I to myself, What now, +two letters from MD together? But I thought there was something in the +wind; so I opened one, and I opened t'other; and so you shall hear, one +was from Walls. Well, but t'other was from our own dear MD; yes it was. +O faith, have you received my seventh, young women, already? Then I must +send this to-morrow, else there will be old(19) doings at our house, +faith.--Well, I won't answer your letter in this: no, faith, catch me +at that, and I never saw the like. Well; but as to Walls, tell him +(with service to him and wife, etc.) that I have no imagination of Mr. +Pratt's(20) losing his place: and while Pratt continues, Clements is in +no danger; and I have already engaged Lord Hyde(21) he speaks of, for +Pratt and twenty others; but, if such a thing should happen, I will +do what I can. I have above ten businesses of other people's now on my +hands, and, I believe, shall miscarry in half. It is your sixth I now +have received. I writ last post to the Bishop of Clogher again. Shall I +send this to-morrow? Well, I will, to oblige MD. Which would you rather, +a short letter every week, or a long one every fortnight? A long one; +well, it shall be done, and so good-night. Well, but is this a long one? +No, I warrant you: too long for naughty girls. + +23. I only ask, have you got both the ten pounds, or only the first; I +hope you mean both. Pray be good housewives; and I beg you to walk when +you can, for health. Have you the horse in town? and do you ever ride +him? how often? Confess. Ahhh, sirrah, have I caught you? Can you +contrive to let Mrs. Fenton(22) know, that the request she has made me +in her letter I will use what credit I have to bring about, although I +hear it is very difficult, and I doubt I shall not succeed? Cox is not +to be your Chancellor: all joined against him. I have been supping with +Lord Peterborow at his house, with Prior, Lewis, and Dr. Freind. 'Tis +the ramblingest lying rogue on earth. Dr. Raymond is come to town: 'tis +late, and so I bid you good-night. + +24. I tell you, pretty management! Ned Southwell told me the other day +he had a letter from the bishops of Ireland, with an address to the Duke +of Ormond, to intercede with the Queen to take off the First-Fruits. I +dined with him to-day, and saw it, with another letter to him from the +Bishop of Kildare,(23) to call upon me for the papers, etc.; and I had +last post one from the Archbishop of Dublin, telling me the reason of +this proceeding; that, upon hearing the Duke of Ormond was declared Lord +Lieutenant, they met; and the bishops were for this project, and talked +coldly of my being solicitor, as one that was favoured by t'other party, +etc., but desired that I would still solicit.(24) Now the wisdom of this +is admirable; for I had given the Archbishop an account of my reception +from Mr. Harley, and how he had spoken to the Queen, and promised it +should be done; but Mr. Harley ordered me to tell no person alive. Some +time after, he gave me leave to let the Primate and Archbishop know that +the Queen had remitted the First-Fruits; and that in a short time they +should have an account of it in form from Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of +State. So while their letter was on the road to the Duke of Ormond and +Southwell, mine was going to them with an account of the thing being +done. I writ a very warm answer(25) to the Archbishop immediately; and +showed my resentments, as I ought, against the bishops; only, in good +manners, excepting himself. I wonder what they will say when they hear +the thing is done. I was yesterday forced to tell Southwell so, that +the Queen had done it, etc.; for he said, my Lord Duke would think of +it some months hence, when he was going for Ireland; and he had it three +years in doing formerly, without any success. I give you free leave to +say, on occasion, that it is done; and that Mr. Harley prevailed on the +Queen to do it, etc., as you please. As I hope to live, I despise the +credit of it, out of an excess of pride; and desire you will not give +me the least merit when you talk of it; but I would vex the bishops, and +have it spread that Mr. Harley had done it: pray do so. Your mother +sent me last night a parcel of wax candles, and a bandbox full of small +plumcakes. I thought it had been something for you; and, without opening +them, sent answer by the maid that brought them, that I would take care +to send the things, etc.; but I will write her thanks. Is this a long +letter, sirrahs? Now, are you satisfied? I have had no fit since the +first: I drink brandy every morning, and take pills every night. Never +fear, I an't vexed at this puppy business of the bishops, although I was +a little at first. I will tell you my reward: Mr. Harley will think he +has done me a favour; the Duke of Ormond, perhaps, that I have put a +neglect on him; and the bishops in Ireland, that I have done nothing at +all. So goes the world. But I have got above all this, and, perhaps, I +have better reason for it than they know: and so you shall hear no more +of First-Fruits, dukes, Harleys, archbishops, and Southwells. + +I have slipped off Raymond upon some of his countrymen, to show him the +town, etc., and I lend him Patrick. He desires to sit with me in the +evenings; upon which I have given Patrick positive orders that I am not +within at evenings. + + + + +LETTER 10. + +LONDON, Nov. 25, 1710. + +I will tell you something that's plaguy silly: I had forgot to say on +the 23d in my last, where I dined; and because I had done it constantly, +I thought it was a great omission, and was going to interline it; but at +last the silliness of it made me cry, Pshah, and I let it alone. I was +to-day to see the Parliament meet; but only saw a great crowd; and Ford +and I went to see the tombs at Westminster, and sauntered so long I +was forced to go to an eating-house for my dinner. Bromley(1) is chosen +Speaker, nemine contradicente: Do you understand those two words? +And Pompey, Colonel Hill's(2) black, designs to stand Speaker for the +footmen.(3) I am engaged to use my interest for him, and have spoken to +Patrick to get him some votes. We are now all impatient for the Queen's +speech, what she will say about removing the Ministry, etc. I have got +a cold, and I don't know how; but got it I have, and am hoarse: I don't +know whether it will grow better or worse. What's that to you? I won't +answer your letter to-night. I'll keep you a little longer in suspense: +I can't send it. Your mother's cakes are very good, and one of them +serves me for a breakfast, and so I'll go sleep like a good boy. + +26. I have got a cruel cold, and stayed within all this day in my +nightgown, and dined on sixpennyworth of victuals, and read and writ, +and was denied to everybody. Dr. Raymond(4) called often, and I was +denied; and at last, when I was weary, I let him come up, and asked him, +without consequence, how Patrick denied me, and whether he had the +art of it? So by this means he shall be used to have me denied to him; +otherwise he would be a plaguy trouble and hindrance to me: he has sat +with me two hours, and drank a pint of ale cost me fivepence, and smoked +his pipe, and it is now past eleven that he is just gone. Well, my +eighth is with you now, young women; and your seventh to me is somewhere +in a post-boy's bag; and so go to your gang of deans, and Stoytes, and +Walls, and lose your money; go, sauceboxes: and so good-night, and be +happy, dear rogues. Oh, but your box was sent to Dr. Hawkshaw by Sterne, +and you will have it with Hawkshaw, and spectacles, etc., etc. + +27. To-day Mr. Harley met me in the Court of Requests,(5) and whispered +me to dine with him. At dinner I told him what those bishops had done, +and the difficulty I was under. He bid me never trouble myself; he would +tell the Duke of Ormond the business was done, and that he need not +concern himself about it. So now I am easy, and they may hang themselves +for a parcel of insolent, ungrateful rascals. I suppose I told you in +my last, how they sent an address to the Duke of Ormond, and a letter to +Southwell, to call on me for the papers, after the thing was over; but +they had not received my letter, though the Archbishop might, by what +I writ to him, have expected it would be done. Well, there is an end of +that; and in a little time the Queen will send them notice, etc. And +so the methods will be settled; and then I shall think of returning, +although the baseness of those bishops makes me love Ireland less than I +did. + +28. Lord Halifax sent to invite me to dinner; where I stayed till six, +and crossed him in all his Whig talk, and made him often come over to +me. I know he makes court to the new men, although he affects to talk +like a Whig. I had a letter to-day from the Bishop of Clogher; but +I writ to him lately, that I would obey his commands to the Duke of +Ormond. He says I bid him read the London "Shaver," and that you both +swore it was "Shaver," and not "Shower."(6) You all lie, and you are +puppies, and can't read Presto's hand. The Bishop is out entirely in his +conjectures of my share in the Tatlers.--I have other things to mind, +and of much greater importance;(7) else I have little to do to be +acquainted with a new Ministry, who consider me a little more than Irish +bishops do. + +29. Now for your saucy, good dear letter: let me see, what does it +say? come then. I dined to-day with Ford, and went home early; he +debauched(8) me to his chamber again with a bottle of wine till twelve: +so good-night. I cannot write an answer now, you rogues. + +30. To-day I have been visiting, which I had long neglected; and I dined +with Mrs. Barton alone; and sauntered at the Coffee-house till past +eight, and have been busy till eleven, and now I'll answer your letter, +saucebox. Well, let me see now again. My wax candle's almost out, but +however I'll begin. Well then, do not be so tedious, Mr. Presto; +what can you say to MD's letter? Make haste, have done with your +preambles--Why, I say I am glad you are so often abroad; your mother +thinks it is want of exercise hurts you, and so do I. (She called here +to-night, but I was not within, that's by the bye.) Sure you do not +deceive me, Stella, when you say you are in better health than you were +these three weeks; for Dr. Raymond told me yesterday, that Smyth of the +Blind Quay had been telling Mr. Leigh that he left you extremely ill; +and in short, spoke so, that he almost put poor Leigh into tears, and +would have made me run distracted; though your letter is dated the 11th +instant, and I saw Smyth in the city above a fortnight ago, as I passed +by in a coach. Pray, pray, don't write, Stella, until you are mighty, +mighty, mighty, mighty well in your eyes, and are sure it won't do you +the least hurt. Or come, I'll tell you what; you, Mistress Stella, shall +write your share at five or six sittings, one sitting a day; and then +comes Dingley all together, and then Stella a little crumb towards +the end, to let us see she remembers Presto; and then conclude with +something handsome and genteel, as your most humblecumdumble, or, etc. +O Lord! does Patrick write word of my not coming till spring? Insolent +man! he know my secrets? No; as my Lord Mayor said, No; if I thought my +shirt knew, etc. Faith, I will come as soon as it is any way proper for +me to come; but, to say the truth, I am at present a little involved +with the present Ministry in some certain things (which I tell you as a +secret); and soon as ever I can clear my hands, I will stay no longer; +for I hope the First-Fruit business will be soon over in all its forms. +But, to say the truth, the present Ministry have a difficult task, +and want me, etc. Perhaps they may be just as grateful as others: +but, according to the best judgment I have, they are pursuing the true +interest of the public; and therefore I am glad to contribute what is +in my power. For God's sake, not a word of this to any alive.--Your +Chancellor?(9) Why, madam, I can tell you he has been dead this +fortnight. Faith, I could hardly forbear our little language about a +nasty dead Chancellor, as you may see by the blot.(10) Ploughing? A pox +plough them; they'll plough me to nothing. But have you got your money, +both the ten pounds? How durst he pay you the second so soon? Pray be +good huswifes. Ay, well, and Joe, why, I had a letter lately from Joe, +desiring I would take some care of their poor town,(11) who, he says, +will lose their liberties. To which I desired Dr. Raymond would return +answer, that the town had behaved themselves so ill to me, so little +regarded the advice I gave them, and disagreed so much among themselves, +that I was resolved never to have more to do with them; but that +whatever personal kindness I could do to Joe, should be done. Pray, when +you happen to see Joe, tell him this, lest Raymond should have blundered +or forgotten--Poor Mrs. Wesley!--Why these poligyes(12) for being +abroad? Why should you be at home at all, until Stella is quite +well?--So, here is Mistress Stella again, with her two eggs, etc. My +"Shower" admired with you; why, the Bishop of Clogher says, he has seen +something of mine of the same sort, better than the "Shower." I suppose +he means "The Morning";(13) but it is not half so good. I want your +judgment of things, and not your country's. How does MD like it? and do +they taste it ALL? etc. I am glad Dean Bolton(14) has paid the twenty +pounds. Why should not I chide the Bishop of Clogher for writing to the +Archbishop of Cashel,(15) without sending the letter first to me? It +does not signify a ----; for he has no credit at Court. Stuff--they are +all puppies. I will break your head in good earnest, young woman, for +your nasty jest about Mrs. Barton.(16) Unlucky sluttikin, what a word is +there! Faith, I was thinking yesterday, when I was with her, whether she +could break them or no, and it quite spoilt my imagination. "Mrs. Walls, +does Stella win as she pretends?" "No indeed, Doctor; she loses always, +and will play so VENTERSOMELY, how can she win?" See here now; an't +you an impudent lying slut? Do, open Domville's letter; what does it +signify, if you have a mind? Yes, faith, you write smartly with your +eyes shut; all was well but the _n_. See how I can do it; MADAM STELLA, +YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT.(17) O, but one may look whether one goes crooked or +no, and so write on. I will tell you what you may do; you may write with +your eyes half shut, just as when one is going to sleep: I have done +so for two or three lines now; it is but just seeing enough to go +straight.--Now, Madam Dingley, I think I bid you tell Mr. Walls that, in +case there be occasion, I will serve his friend as far as I can; but I +hope there will be none. Yet I believe you will have a new Parliament; +but I care not whether you have or no a better. You are mistaken in all +your conjectures about the Tatlers. I have given him one or two +hints, and you have heard me talk about the Shilling.(18) Faith, these +answering letters are very long ones: you have taken up almost the room +of a week in journals; and I will tell you what, I saw fellows wearing +crosses to-day,(19) and I wondered what was the matter; but just this +minute I recollect it is little Presto's birthday; and I was resolved +these three days to remember it when it came, but could not. Pray, drink +my health to-day at dinner; do, you rogues. Do you like "Sid Hamet's +Rod"? Do you understand it all? Well, now at last I have done with your +letter, and so I will lay me down to sleep, and about, fair maids; and I +hope merry maids all. + +Dec. 1. Morning. I wish Smyth were hanged. I was dreaming the most +melancholy things in the world of poor Stella, and was grieving and +crying all night.--Pshah, it is foolish: I will rise and divert myself; +so good-morrow; and God of His infinite mercy keep and protect you! +The Bishop of Clogher's letter is dated Nov. 21. He says you thought of +going with him to Clogher. I am heartily glad of it, and wish you would +ride there, and Dingley go in a coach. I have had no fit since my first, +although sometimes my head is not quite in good order.--At night. I was +this morning to visit Mr. Pratt, who is come over with poor, sick Lord +Shelburne: they made me dine with them; and there I stayed, like a +booby, till eight, looking over them at ombre, and then came home. Lord +Shelburne's giddiness is turned into a colic, and he looks miserably. + +2. Steele, the rogue, has done the imprudentest thing in the world: +he said something in a Tatler,(20) that we ought to use the word Great +Britain, and not England, in common conversation, as, "The finest lady +in Great Britain," etc. Upon this, Rowe, Prior, and I sent him a letter, +turning this into ridicule. He has to-day printed the letter,(21) and +signed it J.S., M.P., and N.R., the first letters of all our names. +Congreve told me to-day, he smoked it immediately. Congreve and I, and +Sir Charles Wager, dined to-day at Delaval's, the Portugal Envoy; and I +stayed there till eight, and came home, and am now writing to you before +I do business, because that dog Patrick is not at home, and the fire +is not made, and I am not in my gear. Pox take him!--I was looking +by chance at the top of this side, and find I make plaguy mistakes +in words; so that you must fence against that as well as bad writing. +Faith, I can't nor won't read what I have written. (Pox of this puppy!) +Well, I'll leave you till I am got to bed, and then I will say a word or +two.--Well, 'tis now almost twelve, and I have been busy ever since, +by a fire too (I have my coals by half a bushel at a time, I'll assure +you), and now I am got to bed. Well, and what have you to say to Presto +now he is abed? Come now, let us hear your speeches. No, 'tis a lie; I +an't sleepy yet. Let us sit up a little longer, and talk. Well, where +have you been to-day, that you are but just this minute come home in a +coach? What have you lost? Pay the coachman, Stella. No, faith, not I, +he'll grumble.--What new acquaintance have you got? come, let us hear. +I have made Delaval promise to send me some Brazil tobacco from +Portugal for you, Madam Dingley. I hope you will have your chocolate and +spectacles before this comes to you. + +3. Pshaw, I must be writing to these dear saucy brats every night, +whether I will or no, let me have what business I will, or come home +ever so late, or be ever so sleepy; but an old saying, and a true one, + + "Be you lords, or be you earls, + You must write to naughty girls." + +I was to-day at Court, and saw Raymond among the Beefeaters, staying to +see the Queen: so I put him in a better station, made two or three +dozen of bows, and went to church, and then to Court again, to pick up +a dinner, as I did with Sir John Stanley; and then we went to visit Lord +Mountjoy, and just now left him; and 'tis near eleven at night, young +women; and methinks this letter comes pretty near to the bottom, and +'tis but eight days since the date, and don't think I'll write on +the other side, I thank you for nothing. Faith, if I would use you to +letters on sheets as broad as this room, you would always expect them +from me. O, faith, I know you well enough; but an old saying, etc., + + "Two sides in a sheet, + And one in a street." + +I think that's but a silly old saying; and so I'll go to sleep, and do +you so too. + +4. I dined to-day with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and then came home, and studied +till eleven. No adventure at all to-day. + +5. So I went to the Court of Requests (we have had the Devil and all of +rain by the bye) to pick up a dinner; and Henley made me go dine +with him and one Colonel Bragg(22) at a tavern; cost me money, faith. +Congreve was to be there, but came not. I came with Henley to the +Coffee-house, where Lord Salisbury(23) seemed mighty desirous to talk +with me; and, while he was wriggling himself into my favour, that dog +Henley asked me aloud, whether I would go to see Lord Somers as I had +promised (which was a lie); and all to vex poor Lord Salisbury, who is a +high Tory. He played two or three other such tricks; and I was forced +to leave my lord, and I came home at seven, and have been writing ever +since, and will now go to bed. The other day I saw Jack Temple(24) in +the Court of Requests: it was the first time of seeing him; so we talked +two or three careless words, and parted. Is it true that your Recorder +and Mayor, and fanatic aldermen, a month or two ago, at a solemn feast, +drank Mr. Harley's, Lord Rochester's,(25) and other Tory healths? Let me +know; it was confidently said here.--The scoundrels! It shan't do, Tom. + +6. When is this letter to go, I wonder? harkee, young women, tell me +that. Saturday next for certain, and not before: then it will be just +a fortnight; time enough for naughty girls, and long enough for two +letters, faith. Congreve and Delaval have at last prevailed on Sir +Godfrey Kneller to entreat me to let him draw my picture for nothing; +but I know not yet when I shall sit.(26)--It is such monstrous rainy +weather, that there is no doing with it. Secretary St. John sent to me +this morning, that my dining with him to-day was put off till to-morrow; +so I peaceably sat with my neighbour Ford, dined with him, and came home +at six, and am now in bed as usual; and now it is time to have another +letter from MD, yet I would not have it till this goes; for that would +look like two letters for one. Is it not whimsical that the Dean has +never once written to me? And I find the Archbishop very silent to that +letter I sent him with an account that the business was done. I believe +he knows not what to write or say; and I have since written twice to +him, both times with a vengeance.(27) Well, go to bed, sirrahs, and so +will I. But have you lost to-day? Three shillings! O fie, O fie! + +7. No, I won't send this letter to-day, nor till Saturday, faith; and I +am so afraid of one from MD between this and that; if it comes, I will +just say I received a letter, and that is all. I dined to-day with Mr. +Secretary St. John, where were Lord Anglesea,(28) Sir Thomas Hanmer, +Prior, Freind, etc., and then made a debauch after nine at Prior's +house, and have eaten cold pie, and I hate the thoughts of it, and I am +full, and I don't like it, and I will go to bed, and it is late, and so +good-night. + +8. To-day I dined with Mr. Harley and Prior; but Mr. St. John did not +come, though he promised: he chid me for not seeing him oftener. Here is +a damned, libellous pamphlet come out against Lord Wharton, giving the +character first, and then telling some of his actions: the character is +very well, but the facts indifferent.(29) It has been sent by dozens to +several gentlemen's lodgings, and I had one or two of them; but nobody +knows the author or printer. We are terribly afraid of the plague; they +say it is at Newcastle.(30) I begged Mr. Harley for the love of God to +take some care about it, or we are all ruined. There have been orders +for all ships from the Baltic to pass their quarantine before they land; +but they neglect it. You remember I have been afraid these two years. + +9. O, faith, you are a saucy rogue. I have had your sixth letter just +now, before this is gone; but I will not answer a word of it, only +that I never was giddy since my first fit; but I have had a cold just a +fortnight, and cough with it still morning and evening; but it will go +off. It is, however, such abominable weather that no creature can walk. +They say here three of your Commissioners will be turned out, Ogle, +South, and St. Quintin;(31) and that Dick Stewart(32) and Ludlow will +be two of the new ones. I am a little soliciting for another: it is poor +Lord Abercorn,(33) but that is a secret; I mean, that I befriend him +is a secret; but I believe it is too late, by his own fault and ill +fortune. I dined with him to-day. I am heartily sorry you do not go +to Clogher, faith, I am; and so God Almighty protect poor, dear, +dear, dear, dearest MD. Farewell till to-night. I'll begin my eleventh +to-night; so I am always writing to little MD. + + + + +LETTER 11. + +LONDON, Dec. 9, 1710. + +So, young women, I have just sent my tenth to the post-office, and, as I +told you, have received your seventh (faith, I am afraid I mistook, +and said your sixth, and then we shall be all in confusion this month.) +Well, I told you I dined with Lord Abercorn to-day; and that is +enough till by and bye; for I must go write idle things, and twittle +twattle.(1) What's here to do with your little MD's? and so I put this +by for a while. 'Tis now late, and I can only say MD is a dear, saucy +rogue, and what then? Presto loves them the better. + +10. This son of a b---- Patrick is out of the way, and I can do nothing; +am forced to borrow coals: 'tis now six o'clock, and I am come home +after a pure walk in the park; delicate weather, begun only to-day. +A terrible storm last night: we hear one of your packet-boats is cast +away, and young Beau Swift(2) in it, and General Sankey:(3) I know not +the truth; you will before me. Raymond talks of leaving the town in a +few days, and going in a month to Ireland, for fear his wife should be +too far gone, and forced to be brought to bed here. I think he is in the +right; but perhaps this packet-boat will fright him. He has no relish +for London; and I do not wonder at it. He has got some Templars from +Ireland that show him the town. I do not let him see me above twice a +week, and that only while I am dressing in the morning.--So, now the +puppy's come in, and I have got my own ink, but a new pen; and so now +you are rogues and sauceboxes till I go to bed; for I must go study, +sirrahs. Now I think of it, tell the Bishop of Clogher, he shall not +cheat me of one inch of my bell metal. You know it is nothing but to +save the town money; and Enniskillen can afford it better than Laracor: +he shall have but one thousand five hundred weight. I have been reading, +etc., as usual, and am now going to bed; and I find this day's article +is long enough: so get you gone till to-morrow, and then. I dined with +Sir Matthew Dudley. + +11. I am come home again as yesterday, and the puppy had again locked up +my ink, notwithstanding all I said to him yesterday; but he came home a +little after me, so all is well: they are lighting my fire, and I'll go +study. The fair weather is gone again, and it has rained all day. I do +not like this open weather, though some say it is healthy. They say +it is a false report about the plague at Newcastle.(4) I have no news +to-day: I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, to desire them to buy me a scarf; +and Lady Abercorn(5) is to buy me another, to see who does best: mine is +all in rags. I saw the Duke of Richmond(6) yesterday at Court again, but +would not speak to him: I believe we are fallen out. I am now in bed; +and it has rained all this evening, like wildfire: have you so much rain +in your town? Raymond was in a fright, as I expected, upon the news of +this shipwreck; but I persuaded him, and he leaves this town in a week. +I got him acquainted with Sir Robert Raymond,(7) the Solicitor-General, +who owns him to be of his family; and I believe it may do him a +kindness, by being recommended to your new Lord Chancellor.--I had a +letter from Mrs. Long, that has quite turned my stomach against her: +no less than two nasty jests in it, with dashes to suppose them. She is +corrupted in that country town(8) with vile conversation.--I will not +answer your letter till I have leisure: so let this go on as it will, +what care I? what cares saucy Presto? + +12. I was to-day at the Secretary's office with Lewis, and in came Lord +Rivers;(9) who took Lewis out and whispered him; and then came up to me +to desire my acquaintance, etc., so we bowed and complimented a while, +and parted and I dined with Phil. Savage(10) and his Irish Club, at +their boarding-place; and, passing an evening scurvily enough, did not +come home till eight. Mr. Addison and I hardly meet once a fortnight; +his Parliament and my different friendships keep us asunder. Sir Matthew +Dudley turned away his butler yesterday morning; and at night the poor +fellow died suddenly in the streets: was not it an odd event? But what +care you? But then I knew the butler.--Why, it seems your packet-boat is +not lost: psha, how silly that is, when I had already gone through the +forms, and said it was a sad thing, and that I was sorry for it! But +when must I answer this letter of our MD's? Here it is, it lies between +this paper on t'other side of the leaf: one of these odd-come-shortly's +I'll consider, and so good-night. + +13. Morning. I am to go trapesing with Lady Kerry(11) and Mrs. Pratt(12) +to see sights all this day: they engaged me yesterday morning at tea. +You hear the havoc making in the army: Meredith, Maccartney, and Colonel +Honeywood(13) are obliged to sell their commands at half-value, and +leave the army, for drinking destruction to the present Ministry, and +dressing up a hat on a stick, and calling it Harley; then drinking a +glass with one hand, and discharging a pistol with the other at the +maukin,(14) wishing it were Harley himself; and a hundred other such +pretty tricks, as inflaming their soldiers, and foreign Ministers, +against the late changes at Court. Cadogan(15) has had a little paring: +his mother(16) told me yesterday he had lost the place of Envoy; but I +hope they will go no further with him, for he was not at those mutinous +meetings.--Well, these saucy jades take up so much of my time with +writing to them in a morning; but, faith, I am glad to see you whenever +I can: a little snap and away; and so hold your tongue, for I must rise: +not a word, for your life. How nowww? So, very well; stay till I come +home, and then, perhaps, you may hear further from me. And where will +you go to-day, for I can't be with you for these ladies? It is a rainy, +ugly day. I'd have you send for Walls, and go to the Dean's; but don't +play small games when you lose. You'll be ruined by Manilio, Basto, +the queen, and two small trumps, in red.(17) I confess 'tis a good hand +against the player: but then there are Spadilio, Punto, the king, strong +trumps, against you, which, with one trump more, are three tricks ten +ace: for, suppose you play your Manilio--Oh, silly, how I prate, and +can't get away from this MD in a morning! Go, get you gone, dear naughty +girls, and let me rise. There, Patrick locked up my ink again the third +time last night: the rogue gets the better of me; but I will rise +in spite of you, sirrahs.--At night. Lady Kerry, Mrs. Pratt, Mrs. +Cadogan,(18) and I, in one coach; Lady Kerry's son(19) and his governor, +and two gentlemen, in another; maids, and misses and little master +(Lord Shelburne's(20) children, in a third, all hackneys, set out at ten +o'clock this morning from Lord Shelburne's house in Piccadilly to the +Tower, and saw all the sights, lions,(21) etc.; then to Bedlam;(22) then +dined at the chop-house behind the Exchange; then to Gresham College(23) +(but the keeper was not at home); and concluded the night at the +Puppet-show,(24) whence we came home safe at eight, and I left them. The +ladies were all in mobs(25) (how do you call it?), undrest; and it was +the rainiest day that ever dripped; and I am weary; and it is now past +eleven. + +14. Stay, I'll answer some of your letter this morning in bed: let me +see; come and appear, little letter. Here I am, says he: and what +say you to Mrs. MD this morning fresh and fasting? Who dares think MD +negligent? I allow them a fortnight; and they give it me. I could fill +a letter in a week; but it is longer every day; and so I keep it a +fortnight, and then 'tis cheaper by one half. I have never been giddy, +dear Stella, since that morning: I have taken a whole box of pills, +and kecked(26) at them every night, and drank a pint of brandy at +mornings.--Oh then, you kept Presto's little birthday:(27) would to +God I had been with you! I forgot it, as I told you before. REdiculous, +madam? I suppose you mean rIdiculous: let me have no more of that; 'tis +the author of the Atalantis's(28) spelling. I have mended it in your +letter. And can Stella read this writing without hurting her dear eyes? +O, faith, I am afraid not. Have a care of those eyes, pray, pray, pretty +Stella.--'Tis well enough what you observe, that, if I writ better, +perhaps you would not read so well, being used to this manner; 'tis an +alphabet you are used to: you know such a pot-hook makes a letter; and +you know what letter, and so and so.--I'll swear he told me so, and that +they were long letters too; but I told him it was a gasconnade of +yours, etc. I am talking of the Bishop of Clogher, how he forgot. Turn +over.(29) I had not room on t'other side to say that, so I did it on +this: I fancy that's a good Irish blunder. Ah, why do not you go down to +Clogher, nautinautinautideargirls; I dare not say nauti without dear: O, +faith, you govern me. But, seriously, I'm sorry you don't go, as far as +I can judge at this distance. No, we would get you another horse; I will +make Parvisol get you one. I always doubted that horse of yours: prythee +sell him, and let it be a present to me. My heart aches when I think you +ride him. Order Parvisol to sell him, and that you are to return me the +money: I shall never be easy until he is out of your hands. Faith, +I have dreamt five or six times of horses stumbling since I had your +letter. If he can't sell him, let him run this winter. Faith, if I was +near you, I would whip your ---- to some tune, for your grave, saucy +answer about the Dean and Johnsonibus; I would, young women. And did the +Dean preach for me?(30) Very well. Why, would they have me stand here +and preach to them? No, the Tatler of the Shilling(31) was not mine, +more than the hint, and two or three general heads for it. I have much +more important business on my hands; and, besides, the Ministry hate +to think that I should help him, and have made reproaches on it; and I +frankly told them I would do it no more. This is a secret though, Madam +Stella. You win eight shillings? you win eight fiddlesticks. Faith, you +say nothing of what you lose, young women.--I hope Manley is in no great +danger; for Ned Southwell is his friend, and so is Sir Thomas Frankland; +and his brother John Manley stands up heartily for him. On t'other +side, all the gentlemen of Ireland here are furiously against him. Now, +Mistress Dingley, an't you an impudent slut, to expect a letter next +packet from Presto, when you confess yourself that you had so lately +two letters in four days? Unreasonable baggage! No, little Dingley, I am +always in bed by twelve; I mean my candle is out by twelve, and I take +great care of myself. Pray let everybody know, upon occasion, that Mr. +Harley got the First-Fruits from the Queen for the clergy of Ireland, +and that nothing remains but the forms, etc. So you say the Dean and +you dined at Stoyte's, and Mrs. Stoyte was in raptures that I remembered +her. I must do it but seldom, or it will take off her rapture. But what +now, you saucy sluts? all this written in a morning, and I must rise and +go abroad. Pray stay till night: do not think I will squander mornings +upon you, pray, good madam. Faith, if I go on longer in this trick of +writing in the morning, I shall be afraid of leaving it off, and think +you expect it, and be in awe. Good-morrow, sirrahs, I will rise.--At +night. I went to-day to the Court of Requests (I will not answer the +rest of your letter yet, that by the way, in hopes to dine with Mr. +Harley: but Lord Dupplin,(32) his son-in-law, told me he did not dine at +home; so I was at a loss, until I met with Mr. Secretary St. John, and +went home and dined with him, where he told me of a good bite.(33) +Lord Rivers told me two days ago, that he was resolved to come Sunday +fortnight next to hear me preach before the Queen. I assured him the day +was not yet fixed, and I knew nothing of it. To-day the Secretary told +me that his father, Sir Harry St. John,(34) and Lord Rivers were to be +at St. James's Church, to hear me preach there; and were assured I was +to preach: so there will be another bite; for I know nothing of the +matter, but that Mr. Harley and St. John are resolved I must preach +before the Queen; and the Secretary of State has told me he will give +me three weeks' warning; but I desired to be excused, which he will not. +St. John, "You shall not be excused": however, I hope they will forget +it; for if it should happen, all the puppies hereabouts will throng to +hear me, and expect something wonderful, and be plaguily baulked; for I +shall preach plain honest stuff. I stayed with St. John till eight, and +then came home; and Patrick desired leave to go abroad, and by and by +comes up the girl to tell me, a gentleman was below in a coach, who had +a bill to pay me; so I let him come up, and who should it be but Mr. +Addison and Sam Dopping, to haul me out to supper, where I stayed till +twelve. If Patrick had been at home, I should have 'scaped this; for I +have taught him to deny me almost as well as Mr. Harley's porter.--Where +did I leave off in MD's letter? let me see. So, now I have it. You are +pleased to say, Madam Dingley, that those who go for England can never +tell when to come back. Do you mean this as a reflection upon Presto, +madam? Sauceboxes, I will come back as soon as I can, as hope saved,(35) +and I hope with some advantage, unless all Ministries be alike, as +perhaps they may. I hope Hawkshaw is in Dublin before now, and that you +have your things, and like your spectacles: if you do not, you shall +have better. I hope Dingley's tobacco did not spoil Stella's chocolate, +and that all is safe: pray let me know. Mr. Addison and I are different +as black and white, and I believe our friendship will go off, by this +damned business of party: he cannot bear seeing me fall in so with +this Ministry: but I love him still as well as ever, though we seldom +meet.--Hussy, Stella, you jest about poor Congreve's eyes;(36) you do +so, hussy; but I'll bang your bones, faith.--Yes, Steele was a little +while in prison, or at least in a spunging-house, some time before +I came, but not since.(37)--Pox on your convocations, and your +Lamberts;(38) they write with a vengeance! I suppose you think it a +piece of affectation in me to wish your Irish folks would not like my +"Shower,"; but you are mistaken. I should be glad to have the general +applause there as I have here (though I say it); but I have only that of +one or two, and therefore I would have none at all, but let you all be +in the wrong. I don't know, this is not what I would say; but I am so +tosticated with supper and stuff, that I can't express myself.--What you +say of "Sid Hamet" is well enough; that an enemy should like it, and +a friend not; and that telling the author would make both change their +opinions. Why did you not tell Griffyth(39) that you fancied there was +something in it of my manner; but first spur up his commendation to the +height, as we served my poor uncle about the sconce that I mended? Well, +I desired you to give what I intended for an answer to Mrs. Fenton,(40) +to save her postage, and myself trouble; and I hope I have done it, if +you han't. + +15. Lord, what a long day's writing was yesterday's answer to your +letter, sirrahs! I dined to-day with Lewis and Ford, whom I have brought +acquainted. Lewis told me a pure thing. I had been hankering with Mr. +Harley to save Steele his other employment, and have a little mercy on +him; and I had been saying the same thing to Lewis, who is Mr. Harley's +chief favourite. Lewis tells Mr. Harley how kindly I should take it, if +he would be reconciled to Steele, etc. Mr. Harley, on my account, falls +in with it, and appoints Steele a time to let him attend him, which +Steele accepts with great submission, but never comes, nor sends any +excuse. Whether it was blundering, sullenness, insolence, or rancour of +party, I cannot tell; but I shall trouble myself no more about him. I +believe Addison hindered him out of mere spite, being grated(41) to the +soul to think he should ever want my help to save his friend; yet now +he is soliciting me to make another of his friends Queen's Secretary at +Geneva; and I'll do it if I can; it is poor Pastoral Philips.(42) + +16. O, why did you leave my picture behind you at t'other lodgings? +Forgot it? Well; but pray remember it now, and don't roll it up, d'ye +hear; but hang it carefully in some part of your room, where chairs and +candles and mop-sticks won't spoil it, sirrahs. No, truly, I will not +be godfather to Goody Walls this bout, and I hope she will have no more. +There will be no quiet nor cards for this child. I hope it will die the +day after the christening. Mr. Harley gave me a paper, with an +account of the sentence you speak of against the lads that defaced the +statue,(43) and that Ingoldsby(44) reprieved that part of it of standing +before the statue. I hope it was never executed. We have got your +Broderick out;(45) Doyne(46) is to succeed him, and Cox(47) Doyne. And +so there's an end of your letter; 'tis all answered; and now I must go +on upon my own stock. Go on, did I say? Why, I have written enough; but +this is too soon to send it yet, young women; faith, I dare not use +you to it, you'll always expect it; what remains shall be only short +journals of a day, and so I'll rise for this morning.--At night. I dined +with my opposite neighbour, Darteneuf; and I was soliciting this day to +present the Bishop of Clogher Vice-Chancellor;(48) but it won't do; they +are all set against him, and the Duke of Ormond, they say, has resolved +to dispose of it somewhere else. Well; little saucy rogues, do not stay +out too late to-night, because it is Saturday night, and young women +should come home soon then. + +17. I went to Court to seek a dinner: but the Queen was not at church, +she has got a touch of the gout; so the Court was thin, and I went to +the Coffee-house; and Sir Thomas Frankland and his eldest son and I went +and dined with his son William.(49) I talked a great deal to Sir Thomas +about Manley; and find he is his good friend, and so has Ned Southwell +been, and I hope he will be safe, though all the Irish folks here are +his mortal enemies. There was a devilish bite to-day. They had it, I +know not how, that I was to preach this morning at St. James's Church; +an abundance went, among the rest Lord Radnor, who never is abroad till +three in the afternoon. I walked all the way home from Hatton Garden at +six, by moonlight, a delicate night. Raymond called at nine, but I was +denied; and now I am in bed between eleven and twelve, just going to +sleep, and dream of my own dear roguish impudent pretty MD. + +18. You will now have short days' works, just a few lines to tell you +where I am, and what I am doing; only I will keep room for the last day +to tell you news, if there be any worth sending. I have been sometimes +like to do it at the top of my letter, until I remark it would be old +before it reached you. I was hunting to dine with Mr. Harley to-day, but +could not find him; and so I dined with honest Dr. Cockburn, and came +home at six, and was taken out to next door by Dopping and Ford, to +drink bad claret and oranges; and we let Raymond come to us, who talks +of leaving the town to-morrow, but I believe will stay a day or two +longer. It is now late, and I will say no more, but end this line with +bidding my own dear saucy MD goodnight, etc. + +19. I am come down proud stomach in one instance, for I went to-day to +see the Duke of Buckingham,(50) but came too late: then I visited Mrs. +Barton,(51) and thought to have dined with some of the Ministry; but +it rained, and Mrs. Vanhomrigh was nigh, and I took the opportunity of +paying her for a scarf she bought me, and dined there; at four I went to +congratulate with Lord Shelburne, for the death of poor Lady Shelburne +dowager;(52) he was at his country house, and returned while I was +there, and had not heard of it, and he took it very well. I am now come +home before six, and find a packet from the Bishop of Clogher, with one +enclosed to the Duke of Ormond, which is ten days earlier dated than +another I had from Parvisol; however, 'tis no matter, for the Duke +has already disposed of the Vice-Chancellorship to the Archbishop of +Tuam,(53) and I could not help it, for it is a thing wholly you know in +the Duke's power; and I find the Bishop has enemies about the Duke. I +write this while Patrick is folding up my scarf, and doing up the fire +(for I keep a fire, it costs me twelvepence a week); and so be quiet +till I am gone to bed, and then sit down by me a little, and we will +talk a few words more. Well; now MD is at my bedside; and now what shall +we say? How does Mrs. Stoyte? What had the Dean for supper? How much did +Mrs. Walls win? Poor Lady Shelburne: well, go get you to bed, sirrahs. + +20. Morning. I was up this morning early, and shaved by candlelight, and +write this by the fireside. Poor Raymond just came in and took his leave +of me; he is summoned by high order from his wife, but pretends he has +had enough of London. I was a little melancholy to part with him; he +goes to Bristol, where they are to be with his merchant brother, and now +thinks of staying till May; so she must be brought to bed in England. He +was so easy and manageable, that I almost repent I suffered him to see +me so seldom. But he is gone, and will save Patrick some lies in a week: +Patrick is grown admirable at it, and will make his fortune. How now, +sirrah, must I write in a morning to your impudence? + + Stay till night, + And then I'll write, + In black and white, + By candlelight, + Of wax so bright, + It helps the sight-- + A bite, a bite! + +Marry come up, Mistress Boldface.--At night. Dr. Raymond came back, and +goes to-morrow. I did not come home till eleven, and found him here to +take leave of me. I went to the Court of Requests, thinking to find Mr. +Harley and dine with him, and refused Henley, and everybody, and at last +knew not where to go, and met Jemmy Leigh by chance, and he was just in +the same way, so I dined at his lodgings on a beef-steak, and drank +your health; then left him and went to the tavern with Ben Tooke and +Portlack, the Duke of Ormond's secretary, drinking nasty white wine till +eleven. I am sick, and ashamed of it, etc. + +21. I met that beast Ferris, Lord Berkeley's(54) steward formerly; I +walked with him a turn in the Park, and that scoundrel dog is as happy +as an emperor, has married a wife with a considerable estate in land and +houses about this town, and lives at his ease at Hammersmith. See your +confounded sect!(55) Well; I had the same luck to-day with Mr. Harley; +'twas a lovely day, and went by water into the City, and dined with +Stratford at a merchant's house, and walked home with as great a dunce +as Ferris, I mean honest Colonel Caulfeild,(56) and came home by eight, +and now am in bed, and going to sleep for a wager, and will send this +letter on Saturday, and so; but first I will wish you a merry Christmas +and a happy New Year, and pray God we may never keep them asunder again. + +22. Morning. I am going now to Mr. Harley's levee on purpose to vex him; +I will say I had no other way of seeing him, etc. Patrick says it is a +dark morning, and that the Duke of Argyle(57) is to be knighted to-day; +the booby means installed at Windsor. But I must rise, for this is a +shaving-day, and Patrick says there is a good fire; I wish MD were by +it, or I by MD's.--At night. I forgot to tell you, Madam Dingley, that +I paid nine shillings for your glass and spectacles, of which three were +for the Bishop's case: I am sorry I did not buy you such another case; +but if you like it, I will bring one over with me; pray tell me: the +glass to read was four shillings, the spectacles two. And have you had +your chocolate? Leigh says he sent the petticoat by one Mr. Spencer. +Pray have you no further commissions for me? I paid the glass-man but +last night, and he would have made me a present of the microscope worth +thirty shillings, and would have sent it home along with me; I thought +the deuce was in the man: he said I could do him more service than that +was worth, etc. I refused his present, but promised him all service +I could do him; and so now I am obliged in honour to recommend him to +everybody.--At night. I went to Mr. Harley's levee; he came and asked +me what I had to do there, and bid me come and dine with him on a family +dinner; which I did, and it was the first time I ever saw his lady(58) +and daughter;(59) at five my Lord Keeper(60) came in: I told Mr. Harley, +he had formerly presented me to Sir Simon Harcourt, but now must to my +Lord Keeper; so he laughed, etc. + +23. Morning. This letter goes to-night without fail; I hope there is +none from you yet at the Coffee-house; I will send and see by and by, +and let you know, and so and so. Patrick goes to see for a letter: what +will you lay, is there one from MD or no? No, I say; done for sixpence. +Why has the Dean never once written to me? I won sixpence; I won +sixpence; there is not one letter to Presto. Good-morrow, dear sirrahs: +Stratford and I dine to-day with Lord Mountjoy. God Almighty preserve +and bless you; farewell, etc. + +I have been dining at Lord Mountjoy's; and am come to study; our news +from Spain this post takes off some of our fears. The Parliament is +prorogued to-day, or adjourned rather till after the holidays. Bank +Stock is 105, so I may get 12 shillings for my bargain already. Patrick, +the puppy, is abroad, and how shall I send this letter? Good-night, +little dears both, and be happy; and remember your poor Presto, that +wants you sadly, as hope saved. Let me go study, naughty girls, and +don't keep me at the bottom of the paper. O, faith, if you knew what +lies on my hands constantly, you would wonder to see how I could write +such long letters; but we'll talk of that some other time. Good-night +again, and God bless dear MD with His best blessings, yes, yes, and +Dingley and Stella and me too, etc. + +Ask the Bishop of Clogher about the pun I sent him of Lord Stawel's +brother;(61) it will be a pure bite. This letter has 199 lines in it, +beside all postscripts; I had a curiosity to reckon. + +There is a long letter for you. + +It is longer than a sermon, faith. + +I had another letter from Mrs. Fenton, who says you were with her; I +hope you did not go on purpose. I will answer her letter soon; it is +about some money in Lady Giffard's hands. + +They say you have had eight packets due to you; so pray, madams, do not +blame Presto, but the wind. + +My humble service to Mrs. Walls and Mrs. Stoyte; I missed the former a +good while. + + + + +LETTER 12. + +LONDON, Dec. 23, 1710. + +I have sent my 11th to-night as usual, and begin the dozenth, and I told +you I dined with Stratford at Lord Mountjoy's, and I will tell you no +more at present, guess for why; because I am going to mind things, and +mighty affairs, not your nasty First-Fruits--I let them alone till Mr. +Harley gets the Queen's letter--but other things of greater moment, that +you shall know one day, when the ducks have eaten up all the dirt. So +sit still a while just by me, while I am studying, and don't say a word, +I charge you, and when I am going to bed, I will take you along, and +talk with you a little while, so there, sit there.--Come then, let us +see what we have to say to these saucy brats, that will not let us go +sleep at past eleven. Why, I am a little impatient to know how you do; +but that I take it for a standing maxim, that when you are silent, all +is pretty well, because that is the way I will deal with you; and if +there was anything you ought to know now, I would write by the first +post, although I had written but the day before. Remember this, young +women; and God Almighty preserve you both, and make us happy together; +and tell me how accompts stand between us, that you may be paid long +before it is due, not to want. I will return no more money while I stay, +so that you need not be in pain to be paid; but let me know at least a +month before you can want. Observe this, d'ye hear, little dear sirrahs, +and love Presto, as Presto loves MD, etc. + +24. You will have a merrier Christmas Eve than we here. I went up to +Court before church; and in one of the rooms, there being but little +company, a fellow in a red coat without a sword came up to me, and, +after words of course, asked me how the ladies did? I asked, "What +ladies?" He said, "Mrs. Dingley and Mrs. Johnson." "Very well," said I, +"when I heard from them last: and pray when came you from thence, +sir?" He said, "I never was in Ireland"; and just at that word Lord +Winchelsea(1) comes up to me, and the man went off: as I went out I saw +him again, and recollected him, it was Vedeau(2) with a pox: I then went +and made my apologies, that my head was full of something I had to say +to Lord Winchelsea, etc., and I asked after his wife, and so all was +well; and he inquired after my lodging, because he had some favour to +desire of me in Ireland, to recommend somebody to somebody, I know not +what it is. When I came from church, I went up to Court again, where Sir +Edmond Bacon(3) told me the bad news from Spain,(4) which you will hear +before this reaches you; as we have it now, we are undone there, and +it was odd to see the whole countenances of the Court changed so in two +hours. Lady Mountjoy(5) carried me home to dinner, where I stayed not +long after, and came home early, and now am got into bed, for you must +always write to your MD's in bed, that is a maxim. + + Mr. White and Mr. Red, + Write to MD when abed; + Mr. Black and Mr. Brown, + Write to MD when you're down; + Mr. Oak and Mr. Willow, + Write to MD on your pillow.-- + +What is this? faith, I smell fire; what can it be? this house has a +thousand stinks in it. I think to leave it on Thursday, and lodge over +the way. Faith, I must rise, and look at my chimney, for the smell grows +stronger, stay--I have been up, and in my room, and found all safe, only +a mouse within the fender to warm himself, which I could not catch. +I smelt nothing there, but now in my bed-chamber I smell it again; I +believe I have singed the woollen curtain, and that is all, though I +cannot smoke it. Presto is plaguy silly to-night, an't he? Yes, and so +he be. Ay, but if I should wake and see fire. Well; I will venture; so +good-night, etc. + +25. Pray, young women, if I write so much as this every day, how will +this paper hold a fortnight's work, and answer one of yours into the +bargain? You never think of this, but let me go on like a simpleton. +I wish you a merry Christmas, and many, many a one with poor Presto at +some pretty place. I was at church to-day by eight, and received the +Sacrament, and came home by ten; then went to Court at two: it was a +Collar-day, that is, when the Knights of the Garter wear their collars; +but the Queen stayed so late at Sacrament, that I came back, and dined +with my neighbour Ford, because all people dine at home on this day. +This is likewise a Collar-day all over England in every house, at least +where there is BRAWN: that's very well.--I tell you a good pun; a fellow +hard by pretends to cure agues, and has set out a sign, and spells it +EGOES; a gentleman and I observing it, he said, "How does that fellow +pretend to cure AGUES?" I said I did not know; but I was sure it was not +by a SPELL. That is admirable. And so you asked the Bishop about that +pun of Lord Stawel's brother. Bite! Have I caught you, young women? Must +you pretend to ask after roguish puns, and Latin ones too? Oh but you +smoked me, and did not ask the Bishop. Oh but you are a fool, and you +did. I met Vedeau again at Court to-day, and I observed he had a sword +on; I fancy he was broke, and has got a commission, but I never asked +him. Vedeau I think his name is, yet Parvisol's man is Vedel, that is +true. Bank Stock will fall like stock-fish by this bad news, and two +days ago I could have got twelve pounds by my bargain; but I do not +intend to sell, and in time it will rise. It is odd that my Lord +Peterborow foretold this loss two months ago, one night at Mr. Harley's, +when I was there; he bid us count upon it, that Stanhope would lose +Spain before Christmas; that he would venture his head upon it, and gave +us reasons; and though Mr. Harley argued the contrary, he still held to +his opinion. I was telling my Lord Angelsea this at Court this morning; +and a gentleman by said he had heard my Lord Peterborow affirm the same +thing. I have heard wise folks say, "An ill tongue may do much." And +'tis an odd saying, + + "Once I guessed right, + And I got credit by't; + Thrice I guessed wrong, + And I kept my credit on." + +No, it is you are sorry, not I. + +26. By the Lord Harry, I shall be undone here with Christmas boxes. +The rogues of the Coffee-house have raised their tax, everyone giving +a crown; and I gave mine for shame, besides a great many half-crowns +to great men's porters, etc. I went to-day by water into the city, and +dined with no less a man than the City Printer.(6) There is an intimacy +between us, built upon reasons that you shall know when I see you; but +the rain caught me within twelvepenny length of home. I called at Mr. +Harley's, who was not within, dropped my half-crown with his porter, +drove to the Coffee-house, where the rain kept me till nine. I had +letters to-day from the Archbishop of Dublin and Mr. Bernage;(7) the +latter sends me a melancholy account of Lady Shelburne's(8) death, and +his own disappointments, and would gladly be a captain; if I can help +him, I will. + +27. Morning. I bespoke a lodging over the way for tomorrow, and the dog +let it yesterday to another; I gave him no earnest, so it seems he could +do it; Patrick would have had me give him earnest to bind him; but I +would not. So I must go saunter to-day for a lodging somewhere else. +Did you ever see so open a winter in England? We have not had two frosty +days; but it pays it off in rain: we have not had three fair days +these six weeks. O, faith, I dreamt mightily of MD last night; but so +confused, I cannot tell a word. I have made Ford acquainted with Lewis; +and to-day we dined together: in the evening I called at one or two +neighbours, hoping to spend a Christmas evening; but none were at home, +they were all gone to be merry with others. I have often observed this, +that in merry times everybody is abroad; where the deuce are they? So +I went to the Coffee-house, and talked with Mr. Addison an hour, who at +last remembered to give me two letters, which I cannot answer to-night, +nor to-morrow neither, I can assure you, young women, count upon that. I +have other things to do than to answer naughty girls, an old saying and +true, + + Letters from MD's + Must not be answered in ten days: + +it is but bad rhyme, etc. + +28. To-day I had a message from Sir Thomas Hanmer, to dine with him; the +famous Dr. Smalridge(9) was of the company, and we sat till six; and I +came home to my new lodgings in St. Albans Street,(10) where I pay the +same rent (eight shillings a week) for an apartment two pair of stairs; +but I have the use of the parlour to receive persons of quality, and I +am got into my new bed, etc. + +29. Sir Andrew Fountaine has been very ill this week; and sent to me +early this morning to have prayers, which you know is the last thing. I +found the doctors and all in despair about him. I read prayers to him, +found he had settled all things; and, when I came out, the nurse asked +me whether I thought it possible he could live; for the doctors thought +not. I said, I believed he would live; for I found the seeds of life +in him, which I observe seldom fail (and I found them in poor, dearest +Stella, when she was ill many years ago); and to-night I was with him +again, and he was mightily recovered, and I hope he will do well, and +the doctor approved my reasons; but, if he should die, I should come off +scurvily. The Secretary of State (Mr. St. John) sent to me to dine with +him; Mr. Harley and Lord Peterborow dined there too; and at night came +Lord Rivers. Lord Peterborow goes to Vienna in a day or two: he has +promised to make me write to him. Mr. Harley went away at six; but we +stayed till seven. I took the Secretary aside, and complained to him +of Mr. Harley, that he had got the Queen to grant the First-Fruits, +promised to bring me to her, and get her letter to the bishops of +Ireland; but the last part he had not done in six weeks, and I was in +danger to lose reputation, etc. He took the matter right, desired me to +be with him on Sunday morning, and promises me to finish the affair in +four days; so I shall know in a little time what I have to trust +to.--It is nine o'clock, and I must go study, you little rogues; and so +good-night, etc. + +30. Morning. The weather grows cold, you sauceboxes. Sir Andrew +Fountaine, they bring me word, is better. I will go rise, for my hands +are starving while I write in bed. Night. Now Sir Andrew Fountaine is +recovering, he desires to be at ease; for I called in the morning to +read prayers, but he had given orders not to be disturbed. I have lost +a legacy by his living; for he told me he had left me a picture and some +books, etc. I called to see my quondam neighbour Ford (do you know what +quondam is, though?), and he engaged me to dine with him; for he always +dines at home on Opera-days. I came home at six, writ to the Archbishop, +then studied till past eleven, and stole to bed, to write to MD these +few lines, to let you know I am in good health at the present writing +hereof, and hope in God MD is so too. I wonder I never write politics to +you: I could make you the profoundest politician in all the lane.--Well, +but when shall we answer this letter, No. 8 of MD's? Not till next year, +faith. O Lord--bo--but that will be a Monday next. Cod's-so, is it? +and so it is: never saw the like.--I made a pun t'other day to Ben +Portlack(11) about a pair of drawers. Poh, said he, that's mine a--- all +over. Pray, pray, Dingley, let me go sleep; pray, pray, Stella, let me +go slumber; and put out my wax-candle. + +31. Morning. It is now seven, and I have got a fire, but am writing abed +in my bed-chamber. 'Tis not shaving-day, so I shall be ready early to +go before church to Mr. St. John; and to-morrow I will answer our MD's +letter. + + Would you answer MD's letter, + On New Year's Day you'll do it better; + For, when the year with MD 'gins, + It without MD never lins. + +(These proverbs have always old words in them; lins is leave off.) + + But, if on New Year you write nones, + MD then will bang your bones. + +But Patrick says I must rise.--Night. I was early this morning with +Secretary St. John, and gave him a memorial to get the Queen's letter +for the First-Fruits, who has promised to do it in a very few days. He +told me he had been with the Duke of Marlborough, who was lamenting his +former wrong steps in joining with the Whigs, and said he was worn out +with age, fatigues, and misfortunes. I swear it pitied me; and I really +think they will not do well in too much mortifying that man, although +indeed it is his own fault. He is covetous as hell, and ambitious as the +Prince of it: he would fain have been General for life, and has broken +all endeavours for peace, to keep his greatness and get money. He told +the Queen he was neither covetous nor ambitious. She said if she could +have conveniently turned about, she would have laughed, and could hardly +forbear it in his face. He fell in with all the abominable measures of +the late Ministry, because they gratified him for their own designs. +Yet he has been a successful General, and I hope he will continue his +command. O Lord, smoke the politics to MD! Well; but, if you like them, +I will scatter a little now and then, and mine are all fresh from the +chief hands. Well, I dined with Mr. Harley, and came away at six: there +was much company, and I was not merry at all. Mr. Harley made me read a +paper of verses of Prior's. I read them plain, without any fine manner; +and Prior swore, I should never read any of his again; but he would be +revenged, and read some of mine as bad. I excused myself, and said I +was famous for reading verses the worst in the world; and that everybody +snatched them from me when I offered to begin. So we laughed.--Sir +Andrew Fountaine still continues ill. He is plagued with some sort of +bile. + +Jan. 1. Morning. I wish my dearest, pretty Dingley and Stella a happy +New Year, and health, and mirth, and good stomachs, and Fr's company. +Faith, I did not know how to write Fr. I wondered what was the matter; +but now I remember I always write Pdfr. Patrick wishes me a happy New +Year, and desires I would rise, for it is a good fire, and faith 'tis +cold. I was so politic last night with MD, never saw the like. Get the +Examiners, and read them; the last nine or ten are full of the reasons +for the late change, and of the abuses of the last Ministry; and +the great men assure me they are all true. They are written by +their encouragement and direction. I must rise and go see Sir +Andrew Fountaine; but perhaps to-night I may answer MD's letter: so +good-morrow, my mistresses all, good-morrow. + + I wish you both a merry New Year, + Roast beef, minced pies, and good strong beer, + And me a share of your good cheer, + That I was there, or you were here; + And you're a little saucy dear. + +Good-morrow again, dear sirrahs; one cannot rise for your play.--At +night. I went this morning to visit Lady Kerry and Lord Shelburne; and +they made me dine with them. Sir Andrew Fountaine is better. And now +let us come and see what this saucy, dear letter of MD says. Come out, +letter, come out from between the sheets; here it is underneath, and +it will not come out. Come out again, I say: so there. Here it is. What +says Presto to me, pray? says it. Come, and let me answer for you to +your ladies. Hold up your head then, like a good letter. There. Pray, +how have you got up with Presto, Madam Stella? You write your eighth +when you receive mine: now I write my twelfth when I receive your +eighth. Do not you allow for what are upon the road, simpleton? What say +you to that? And so you kept Presto's little birthday, I warrant: would +to God I had been at the health rather than here, where I have no manner +of pleasure, nothing but eternal business upon my hands. I shall grow +wise in time; but no more of that: only I say Amen with my heart and +vitals, that we may never be asunder again ten days together while poor +Presto lives. + +***** + +I can't be merry so near any splenetic talk; so I made that long line, +and now all's well again. Yes, you are a pretending slut, indeed, with +your fourth and fifth in the margin, and your journal, and everything. +Wind--we saw no wind here, nothing at all extraordinary at any time. We +had it once when you had it not. But an old saying and a true: + + "I hate all wind, + Before and behind, + From cheeks with eyes, + Or from blind.----" + +Your chimney fall down! God preserve you. I suppose you only mean a +brick or two: but that's a d--ned lie of your chimney being carried +to the next house with the wind. Don't put such things upon us; those +matters will not pass here: keep a little to possibilities. My Lord +Hertford(12) would have been ashamed of such a stretch. You should take +care of what company you converse with: when one gets that faculty, 'tis +hard to break one's self of it. Jemmy Leigh talks of going over; but +quando? I do not know when he will go. Oh, now you have had my ninth, +now you are come up with me; marry come up with you, indeed. I know all +that business of Lady S----.(13) Will nobody cut that D--y's throat? +Five hundred pounds do you call poor pay for living three months the +life of a king? They say she died with grief, partly, being forced +to appear as a witness in court about some squabble among their +servants.--The Bishop of Clogher showed you a pamphlet.(14) Well, but +you must not give your mind to believe those things; people will say +anything. The Character is here reckoned admirable, but most of the +facts are trifles. It was first printed privately here; and then some +bold cur ventured to do it publicly, and sold two thousand in two +days: who the author is must remain uncertain. Do you pretend to +know, impudence? How durst you think so? Pox on your Parliaments: the +Archbishop has told me of it; but we do not vouchsafe to know anything +of it here. No, no, no more of your giddiness yet; thank you, Stella, +for asking after it; thank you; God Almighty bless you for your kindness +to poor Presto. You write to Lady Giffard and your mother upon what I +advise when it is too late. But yet I fancy this bad news will bring +down stocks so low, that one might buy to great advantage. I design to +venture going to see your mother some day when Lady Giffard is abroad. +Well, keep your Rathburn(15) and stuff. I thought he was to pay in +your money upon his houses to be flung down about the what do you call +it.--Well, Madam Dingley, I sent your enclosed to Bristol, but have not +heard from Raymond since he went. Come, come, young women, I keep a good +fire; it costs me twelvepence a week, and I fear something more; vex me, +and I will have one in my bed-chamber too. No, did not I tell you but +just now, we have no high winds here? Have you forgot already?--Now +you're at it again, silly Stella; why does your mother say my candles +are scandalous? They are good sixes in the pound, and she said I was +extravagant enough to burn them by daylight. I never burn fewer at a +time than one. What would people have? The D---- burst Hawkshaw. He told +me he had not the box; and the next day Sterne told me he had sent it +a fortnight ago. Patrick could not find him t'other day, but he shall +to-morrow. Dear life and heart, do you tease me? does Stella tease +Presto? That palsy-water was in the box; it was too big for a packet, +and I was afraid of its breaking. Leigh was not in town then; or I would +not have trusted it to Sterne, whom yet I have befriended enough to do +me more kindness than that. I'll never rest till you have it, or till +it is in a way for you to have it. Poor dear rogue, naughty to think it +teases me; how could I ever forgive myself for neglecting anything that +related to your health? Sure I were a Devil if I did. + + ------------------------------------------------------ + +See how far I am forced to stand from Stella, because I am afraid she +thinks poor Presto has not been careful about her little things; I am +sure I bought them immediately according to order, and packed them up +with my own hands, and sent them to Sterne, and was six times with him +about sending them away. I am glad you are pleased with your glasses. +I have got another velvet cap; a new one Lord Herbert(16) bought and +presented me one morning I was at breakfast with him, where he was as +merry and easy as ever I saw him, yet had received a challenge half an +hour before, and half an hour after fought a duel. It was about ten days +ago. You are mistaken in your guesses about Tatlers: I did neither write +that on Noses nor Religion,(17) nor do I send him of late any hints at +all.--Indeed, Stella, when I read your letter, I was not uneasy at all; +but when I came to answer the particulars, and found that you had not +received your box, it grated me to the heart, because I thought, through +your little words, that you imagined I had not taken the care I ought. +But there has been some blunder in this matter, which I will know +to-morrow, and write to Sterne, for fear he should not be within.--And +pray, pray, Presto, pray now do.--No, Raymond was not above four times +with me while he stayed, and then only while I was dressing. Mrs. Fenton +has written me another letter about some money of hers in Lady Giffard's +hands, that is entrusted to me by my mother, not to come to her husband. +I send my letters constantly every fortnight, and, if you will have them +oftener, you may, but then they will be the shorter. Pray, let Parvisol +sell the horse. I think I spoke to you of it in a former letter: I am +glad you are rid of him, and was in pain while I thought you rode him; +but, if he would buy you another, or anybody else, and that you could be +often able to ride, why do not you do it? + +2. I went this morning early to the Secretary of State, Mr. St. John; +and he told me from Mr. Harley that the warrant was now drawn, in order +for a patent for the First-Fruits: it must pass through several offices, +and take up some time, because in things the Queen gives they are always +considerate; but that, he assures me, 'tis granted and done, and past +all dispute, and desires I will not be in any pain at all. I will write +again to the Archbishop to-morrow, and tell him this, and I desire you +will say it on occasion. From the Secretary I went to Mr. Sterne, +who said he would write to you to-night; and that the box must be at +Chester; and that some friend of his goes very soon, and will carry it +over. I dined with Mr. Secretary St. John, and at six went to Darteneufs +house to drink punch with him, and Mr. Addison, and little Harrison,(18) +a young poet, whose fortune I am making. Steele was to have been there, +but came not, nor never did twice, since I knew him, to any appointment. +I stayed till past eleven, and am now in bed. Steele's last Tatler came +out to-day. You will see it before this comes to you, and how he takes +leave of the world. He never told so much as Mr. Addison of it, who was +surprised as much as I; but, to say the truth, it was time, for he grew +cruel dull and dry. To my knowledge he had several good hints to go +upon; but he was so lazy and weary of the work that he would not improve +them. I think I will send this after(19) to-morrow: shall I before 'tis +full, Dingley? + +3. Lord Peterborow yesterday called me into a barber's shop, and there +we talked deep politics: he desired me to dine with him to-day at the +Globe in the Strand; he said he would show me so clearly how to get +Spain, that I could not possibly doubt it. I went to-day accordingly, +and saw him among half a dozen lawyers and attorneys and hang-dogs, +signing of deeds and stuff before his journey; for he goes to-morrow +to Vienna. I sat among that scurvy company till after four, but heard +nothing of Spain; only I find, by what he told me before, that he fears +he shall do no good in his present journey.(20) We are to be mighty +constant correspondents. So I took my leave of him, and called at Sir +Andrew Fountaine's, who mends much. I came home, an't please you, at +six, and have been studying till now past eleven. + +4. Morning. Morrow, little dears. O, faith, I have been dreaming; I was +to be put in prison. I do not know why, and I was so afraid of a black +dungeon; and then all I had been inquiring yesterday of Sir Andrew +Fountaine's sickness I thought was of poor Stella. The worst of dreams +is, that one wakes just in the humour they leave one. Shall I send this +to-day? With all my heart: it is two days within the fortnight; but may +be MD are in haste to have a round dozen: and then how are you come up +to me with your eighth, young women? But you indeed ought to write twice +slower than I, because there are two of you; I own that. Well then, I +will seal up this letter by my morning candle, and carry it into the +city with me, where I go to dine, and put it into the post-office with +my own fair hands. So, let me see whether I have any news to tell MD. +They say they will very soon make some inquiries into the corruptions +of the late Ministry; and they must do it, to justify their turning them +out. Atterbury,(21) we think, is to be Dean of Christ Church in Oxford; +but the College would rather have Smalridge--What's all this to you? +What care you for Atterburys and Smalridges? No, you care for nothing +but Presto, faith. So I will rise, and bid you farewell; yet I am loth +to do so, because there is a great bit of paper yet to talk upon; but +Dingley will have it so: "Yes," says she, "make your journals shorter, +and send them oftener;" and so I will. And I have cheated you another +way too; for this is clipped paper, and holds at least six lines less +than the former ones. I will tell you a good thing I said to my Lord +Carteret.(22) "So," says he, "my Lord came up to me, and asked me," etc. +"No," said I, "my Lord never did, nor ever can come up to you." We all +pun here sometimes. Lord Carteret set down Prior t'other day in his +chariot; and Prior thanked him for his CHARITY; that was fit for +Dilly.(23) I do not remember I heard one good one from the Ministry; +which is really a shame. Henley is gone to the country for Christmas. +The puppy comes here without his wife,(24) and keeps no house, and would +have me dine with him at eating-houses; but I have only done it +once, and will do it no more. He had not seen me for some time in the +Coffee-house, and asking after me, desired Lord Herbert to tell me I was +a beast for ever, after the order of Melchisedec. Did you ever read the +Scripture?(25) It is only changing the word priest to beast.--I think +I am bewitched, to write so much in a morning to you, little MD. Let +me go, will you? and I'll come again to-night in a fine clean sheet of +paper; but I can nor will stay no longer now; no, I won't, for all your +wheedling: no, no, look off, do not smile at me, and say, "Pray, pray, +Presto, write a little more." Ah! you are a wheedling slut, you be so. +Nay, but prithee turn about, and let me go, do; 'tis a good girl, and +do. O, faith, my morning candle is just out, and I must go now in spite +of my teeth; for my bed-chamber is dark with curtains, and I am at the +wrong side. So farewell, etc. etc. + +I am in the dark almost: I must have another candle, when I am up, to +seal this; but I will fold it up in the dark, and make what you can of +this, for I can only see this paper I am writing upon. Service to Mrs. +Walls and Mrs. Stoyte. + +God Almighty bless you, etc. What I am doing I can't see; but I will +fold it up, and not look on it again. + + + + +LETTER 13. + +LONDON, Jan. 4, 1710-11. + +I was going into the City (where I dined and put my 12th, with my own +fair hands, into the post-office as I came back, which was not till nine +this night). I dined with people that you never heard of, nor is it worth +your while to know; an authoress and a printer.(1) I walked home for +exercise, and at eleven got to bed; and, all the while I was undressing +myself, there was I speaking monkey things in air, just as if MD had +been by, and did not recollect myself till I got into bed. I writ last +night to the Archbishop, and told him the warrant was drawn for the +First-Fruits; and I told him Lord Peterborow was set out for his journey +to Vienna; but it seems the Lords have addressed to have him stay, to +be examined about Spanish affairs, upon this defeat there, and to know +where the fault lay, etc. So I writ to the Archbishop a lie; but I think +it was not a sin. + +5. Mr. Secretary St. John sent for me this morning so early, that I was +forced to go without shaving, which put me quite out of method. I called +at Mr. Ford's, and desired him to lend me a shaving; and so made a +shift to get into order again. Lord! here is an impertinence: Sir Andrew +Fountaine's mother and sister(2) are come above a hundred miles, from +Worcester, to see him before he died. They got here but yesterday; and +he must have been past hopes, or past fears, before they could reach +him. I fell a scolding when I heard they were coming; and the people +about him wondered at me, and said what a mighty content it would be on +both sides to die when they were with him! I knew the mother; she is the +greatest Overdo(3) upon earth; and the sister, they say, is worse; the +poor man will relapse again among them. Here was the scoundrel brother +always crying in the outer room till Sir Andrew was in danger; and +the dog was to have all his estate if he died; and it is an ignorant, +worthless, scoundrel-rake: and the nurses were comforting him, and +desiring he would not take on so. I dined to-day the first time with +Ophy Butler(4) and his wife; and you supped with the Dean, and lost +two-and-twenty pence at cards. And so Mrs. Walls is brought to bed of +a girl, who died two days after it was christened; and, betwixt you and +me, she is not very sorry: she loves her ease and diversions too well to +be troubled with children. I will go to bed. + +6. Morning. I went last night to put some coals on my fire after Patrick +was gone to bed; and there I saw in a closet a poor linnet he has bought +to bring over to Dingley: it cost him sixpence, and is as tame as a +dormouse. I believe he does not know he is a bird: where you put him, +there he stands, and seems to have neither hope nor fear; I suppose in a +week he will die of the spleen. Patrick advised with me before he bought +him. I laid fairly before him the greatness of the sum, and the rashness +of the attempt; showed how impossible it was to carry him safe over the +salt sea: but he would not take my counsel; and he will repent it. 'Tis +very cold this morning in bed; and I hear there is a good fire in the +room without (what do you call it?), the dining-room. I hope it will be +good weather, and so let me rise, sirrahs, do so.--At night. I was this +morning to visit the Dean,(5) or Mr. Prolocutor, I think you call him, +don't you? Why should not I go to the Dean's as well as you? A little, +black man, of pretty near fifty? Ay, the same. A good, pleasant man? Ay, +the same. Cunning enough? Yes. One that understands his own interests? +As well as anybody. How comes it MD and I don't meet there sometimes? A +very good face, and abundance of wit? Do you know his lady? O Lord! whom +do you mean?(6) I mean Dr. Atterbury, Dean of Carlisle and Prolocutor. +Pshaw, Presto, you are a fool: I thought you had meant our Dean of St. +Patrick's.--Silly, silly, silly, you are silly, both are silly, every +kind of thing is silly. As I walked into the city I was stopped with +clusters of boys and wenches buzzing about the cake-shops like flies.(7) +There had the fools let out their shops two yards forward into the +streets, all spread with great cakes frothed with sugar, and stuck with +streamers of tinsel. And then I went to Bateman's the bookseller, and +laid out eight-and-forty shillings for books. I bought three little +volumes of Lucian in French for our Stella, and so and so. Then I went +to Garraway's(8) to meet Stratford and dine with him; but it was an idle +day with the merchants, and he was gone to our end of the town: so I +dined with Sir Thomas Frankland at the Post Office, and we drank your +Manley's health. It was in a newspaper that he was turned out; but +Secretary St. John told me it was false: only that newswriter is a +plaguy Tory. I have not seen one bit of Christmas merriment. + +7. Morning. Your new Lord Chancellor(9) sets out to-morrow for Ireland: +I never saw him. He carries over one Trapp(10) a parson as his chaplain, +a sort of pretender to wit, a second-rate pamphleteer for the cause, +whom they pay by sending him to Ireland. I never saw Trapp neither. I +met Tighe(11) and your Smyth of Lovet's yesterday by the Exchange. Tighe +and I took no notice of each other; but I stopped Smyth, and told him of +the box that lies for you at Chester, because he says he goes very soon +to Ireland, I think this week: and I will send this morning to Sterne, +to take measures with Smyth; so good-morrow, sirrahs, and let me rise, +pray. I took up this paper when I came in at evening, I mean this +minute, and then said I, "No, no, indeed, MD, you must stay"; and then +was laying it aside, but could not for my heart, though I am very busy, +till I just ask you how you do since morning; by and by we shall talk +more, so let me leave you: softly down, little paper, till then; so +there--now to business; there, I say, get you gone; no, I will not push +you neither, but hand you on one side--So--Now I am got into bed, I'll +talk with you. Mr. Secretary St. John sent for me this morning in all +haste; but I would not lose my shaving, for fear of missing church. I +went to Court, which is of late always very full; and young Manley and +I dined at Sir Matthew Dudley's.--I must talk politics. I protest I am +afraid we shall all be embroiled with parties. The Whigs, now they are +fallen, are the most malicious toads in the world. We have had now a +second misfortune, the loss of several Virginia ships. I fear people +will begin to think that nothing thrives under this Ministry: and if the +Ministry can once be rendered odious to the people, the Parliament may +be chosen Whig or Tory as the Queen pleases. Then I think our friends +press a little too hard on the Duke of Marlborough. The country +members(12) are violent to have past faults inquired into, and they have +reason; but I do not observe the Ministry to be very fond of it. In my +opinion we have nothing to save us but a Peace; and I am sure we cannot +have such a one as we hoped; and then the Whigs will bawl what they +would have done had they continued in power. I tell the Ministry this +as much as I dare; and shall venture to say a little more to them, +especially about the Duke of Marlborough, who, as the Whigs give out, +will lay down his command; and I question whether ever any wise State +laid aside a general who had been successful nine years together, whom +the enemy so much dread, and his own soldiers cannot but believe must +always conquer; and you know that in war opinion is nine parts in +ten. The Ministry hear me always with appearance of regard, and much +kindness; but I doubt they let personal quarrels mingle too much with +their proceedings. Meantime, they seem to value all this as nothing, +and are as easy and merry as if they had nothing in their hearts or upon +their shoulders; like physicians, who endeavour to cure, but feel no +grief, whatever the patient suffers.--Pshaw, what is all this? Do you +know one thing, that I find I can write politics to you much easier +than to anybody alive? But I swear my head is full; and I wish I were at +Laracor, with dear, charming MD, etc. + +8. Morning. Methinks, young women, I have made a great progress in four +days, at the bottom of this side already, and no letter yet come from +MD (that word interlined is morning). I find I have been writing State +affairs to MD. How do they relish it? Why, anything that comes from +Presto is welcome; though really, to confess the truth, if they had +their choice, not to disguise the matter, they had rather, etc. Now, +Presto, I must tell you, you grow silly, says Stella. That is but one +body's opinion, madam. I promised to be with Mr. Secretary St. John this +morning; but I am lazy, and will not go, because I had a letter from +him yesterday, to desire I would dine there to-day. I shall be chid; +but what care I?--Here has been Mrs. South with me, just come from Sir +Andrew Fountaine, and going to market. He is still in a fever, and may +live or die. His mother and sister are now come up, and in the house; so +there is a lurry.(13) I gave Mrs. South half a pistole for a New Year's +gift. So good-morrow, dears both, till anon.--At night. Lord! I have +been with Mr. Secretary from dinner till eight; and, though I drank +wine and water, I am so hot! Lady Stanley(14) came to visit Mrs. St. +John,(15) and sent up for me to make up a quarrel with Mrs. St. John, +whom I never yet saw; and do you think that devil of a Secretary would +let me go, but kept me by main force, though I told him I was in love +with his lady, and it was a shame to keep back a lover, etc.? But all +would not do; so at last I was forced to break away, but never went +up, it was then too late; and here I am, and have a great deal to do +to-night, though it be nine o'clock; but one must say something to these +naughty MD's, else there will be no quiet. + +9. To-day Ford and I set apart to go into the City to buy books; but we +only had a scurvy dinner at an alehouse; and he made me go to the tavern +and drink Florence, four and sixpence a flask; damned wine! so I spent +my money, which I seldom do, and passed an insipid day, and saw nobody, +and it is now ten o'clock, and I have nothing to say, but that 'tis a +fortnight to-morrow since I had a letter from MD; but if I have it +time enough to answer here, 'tis well enough, otherwise woe betide you, +faith. I will go to the toyman's, here just in Pall Mall, and he sells +great hugeous battoons;(16) yes, faith, and so he does. Does not he, +Dingley? Yes, faith. Don't lose your money this Christmas. + +10. I must go this morning to Mr. Secretary St. John. I promised +yesterday, but failed, so can't write any more till night to poor, dear +MD.--At night. O, faith, Dingley. I had company in the morning, and +could not go where I designed; and I had a basket from Raymond at +Bristol, with six bottles of wine and a pound of chocolate, and some +tobacco to snuff; and he writ under, the carriage was paid; but he lied, +or I am cheated, or there is a mistake; and he has written to me so +confusedly about some things, that Lucifer could not understand him. +This wine is to be drunk with Harley's brother(17) and Sir Robert +Raymond, Solicitor-General, in order to recommend the Doctor to your new +Lord Chancellor, who left this place on Monday; and Raymond says he +is hasting to Chester, to go with him.--I suppose he leaves his wife +behind; for when he left London he had no thoughts of stirring till +summer. So I suppose he will be with you before this. Ford came and +desired I would dine with him, because it was Opera-day; which I did, +and sent excuses to Lord Shelburne, who had invited me. + +11. I am setting up a new Tatler, little Harrison,(18) whom I have +mentioned to you. Others have put him on it, and I encourage him; and he +was with me this morning and evening, showing me his first, which comes +out on Saturday. I doubt he will not succeed, for I do not much approve +his manner; but the scheme is Mr. Secretary St. John's and mine, and +would have done well enough in good hands. I recommended him to a +printer,(19) whom I sent for, and settled the matter between them this +evening. Harrison has just left me, and I am tired with correcting his +trash. + +12. I was this morning upon some business with Mr. Secretary St. John, +and he made me promise to dine with him; which otherwise I would have +done with Mr. Harley, whom I have not been with these ten days. I cannot +but think they have mighty difficulties upon them; yet I always find +them as easy and disengaged as schoolboys on a holiday. Harley has the +procuring of five or six millions on his shoulders, and the Whigs will +not lend a groat;(20) which is the only reason of the fall of stocks: +for they are like Quakers and fanatics, that will only deal among +themselves, while all others deal indifferently with them. Lady +Marlborough offers, if they will let her keep her employments, never to +come into the Queen's presence. The Whigs say the Duke of Marlborough +will serve no more; but I hope and think otherwise. I would to Heaven +I were this minute with MD at Dublin; for I am weary of politics, that +give me such melancholy prospects. + +13. O, faith, I had an ugly giddy fit last night in my chamber, and I +have got a new box of pills to take, and hope I shall have no more +this good while. I would not tell you before, because it would vex you, +little rogues; but now it is over. I dined to-day with Lord Shelburne; +and to-day little Harrison's new Tatler came out: there is not much in +it, but I hope he will mend. You must understand that, upon Steele's +leaving off, there were two or three scrub Tatlers(21) came out, and one +of them holds on still, and to-day it advertised against Harrison's; +and so there must be disputes which are genuine, like the strops for +razors.(22) I am afraid the little toad has not the true vein for it. +I will tell you a copy of verses. When Mr. St. John was turned out from +being Secretary at War, three years ago, he retired to the country: +there he was talking of something he would have written over his +summer-house, and a gentleman gave him these verses-- + + From business and the noisy world retired, + Nor vexed by love, nor by ambition fired; + Gently I wait the call of Charon's boat, + Still drinking like a fish, and ------- like a stoat. + +He swore to me he could hardly bear the jest; for he pretended to retire +like a philosopher, though he was but twenty-eight years old: and I +believe the thing was true: for he had been a thorough rake. I think the +three grave lines do introduce the last well enough. Od so, but I will +go sleep; I sleep early now. + +14. O, faith, young women, I want a letter from MD; 'tis now nineteen +days since I had the last: and where have I room to answer it, pray? I +hope I shall send this away without any answer at all; for I'll hasten +it, and away it goes on Tuesday, by which time this side will be full. I +will send it two days sooner on purpose out of spite; and the very next +day after, you must know, your letter will come, and then 'tis too late, +and I will so laugh, never saw the like! 'Tis spring with us already. I +ate asparagus t'other day. Did you ever see such a frostless winter? Sir +Andrew Fountaine lies still extremely ill; it costs him ten guineas a +day to doctors, surgeons, and apothecaries, and has done so these three +weeks. I dined to-day with Mr. Ford; he sometimes chooses to dine at +home, and I am content to dine with him; and at night I called at the +Coffee-house, where I had not been in a week, and talked coldly a while +with Mr. Addison. All our friendship and dearness are off: we are civil +acquaintance, talk words of course, of when we shall meet, and that is +all. I have not been at any house with him these six weeks: t'other day +we were to have dined together at the Comptroller's;(23) but I sent my +excuses, being engaged to the Secretary of State. Is not it odd? But +I think he has used me ill; and I have used him too well, at least his +friend Steele. + +15. It has cost me three guineas to-day for a periwig.(24) I am undone! +It was made by a Leicester lad, who married Mr. Worrall's daughter, +where my mother lodged;(25) so I thought it would be cheap, and +especially since he lives in the city. Well, London lickpenny:(26) I +find it true. I have given Harrison hints for another Tatler to-morrow. +The jackanapes wants a right taste: I doubt he won't do. I dined with my +friend Lewis of the Secretary's office, and am got home early, because I +have much business to do; but before I begin, I must needs say something +to MD, faith--No, faith, I lie, it is but nineteen days to-day since my +last from MD. I have got Mr. Harley to promise that whatever changes are +made in the Council, the Bishop of Clogher shall not be removed, and he +has got a memorial accordingly. I will let the Bishop know so much in a +post or two. This is a secret; but I know he has enemies, and they shall +not be gratified, if they designed any such thing, which perhaps they +might; for some changes there will be made. So drink up your claret, and +be quiet, and do not lose your money. + +16. Morning. Faith, I will send this letter to-day to shame you, if I +han't one from MD before night, that's certain. Won't you grumble for +want of the third side, pray now? Yes, I warrant you; yes, yes, you +shall have the third, you shall so, when you can catch it, some other +time; when you be writing girls.--O, faith, I think I won't stay till +night, but seal up this just now, and carry it in my pocket, and whip +it into the post-office as I come home at evening. I am going out +early this morning.--Patrick's bills for coals and candles, etc., come +sometimes to three shillings a week; I keep very good fires, though the +weather be warm. Ireland will never be happy till you get small coal(27) +likewise; nothing so easy, so convenient, so cheap, so pretty, for +lighting a fire. My service to Mrs. Stoyte and Walls; has she a boy or a +girl? A girl, hum; and died in a week, humm; and was poor Stella forced +to stand for godmother?--Let me know how accompts stand, that you may +have your money betimes. There's four months for my lodging, that must +be thought on too: and so go dine with Manley, and lose your money, do, +extravagant sluttikin, but don't fret.--It will be just three weeks when +I have the next letter, that's to-morrow. Farewell, dearest beloved MD; +and love poor, poor Presto, who has not had one happy day since he left +you, as hope saved.--It is the last sally I will ever make, but I hope +it will turn to some account. I have done more for these,(28) and +I think they are more honest than the last; however, I will not +be disappointed. I would make MD and me easy; and I never desired +more.--Farewell, etc. etc. + + + + +LETTER 14. + +LONDON, Jan. 16, 1710-11. + +O faith, young women, I have sent my letter N.13 without one crumb of an +answer to any of MD's, there's for you now; and yet Presto ben't angry, +faith, not a bit, only he will begin to be in pain next Irish post, +except he sees MD's little handwriting in the glass-frame at the bar +of St. James's Coffee-house, where Presto would never go but for that +purpose. Presto is at home, God help him, every night from six till +bed-time, and has as little enjoyment or pleasure in life at present as +anybody in the world, although in full favour with all the Ministry. As +hope saved, nothing gives Presto any sort of dream of happiness but a +letter now and then from his own dearest MD. I love the expectation of +it; and when it does not come, I comfort myself that I have it yet to +be happy with. Yes, faith, and when I write to MD, I am happy too; it is +just as if methinks you were here, and I prating to you, and telling you +where I have been: "Well," says you, "Presto, come, where have you been +to-day? come, let's hear now." And so then I answer: "Ford and I were +visiting Mr. Lewis and Mr. Prior; and Prior has given me a fine Plautus; +and then Ford would have had me dine at his lodgings, and so I would +not; and so I dined with him at an eating-house, which I have not done +five times since I came here; and so I came home, after visiting Sir +Andrew Fountaine's mother and sister, and Sir Andrew Fountaine is +mending, though slowly." + +17. I was making, this morning, some general visits, and at twelve I +called at the Coffee-house for a letter from MD; so the man said he had +given it to Patrick. Then I went to the Court of Requests and Treasury, +to find Mr. Harley, and, after some time spent in mutual reproaches, +I promised to dine with him. I stayed there till seven, then called +at Sterne's and Leigh's to talk about your box, and to have it sent by +Smyth. Sterne says he has been making inquiries, and will set things +right as soon as possible. I suppose it lies at Chester, at least I hope +so, and only wants a lift over to you. Here has little Harrison been +to complain that the printer I recommended to him for his Tatler is a +coxcomb; and yet to see how things will happen; for this very printer +is my cousin, his name is Dryden Leach;(1) did you never hear of Dryden +Leach, he that prints the Postman? He acted Oroonoko;(2) he's in love +with Miss Cross.(3)--Well, so I came home to read my letter from Stella, +but the dog Patrick was abroad; at last he came, and I got my letter. +I found another hand had superscribed it; when I opened it, I found it +written all in French, and subscribed Bernage:(4) faith, I was ready to +fling it at Patrick's head. Bernage tells me he had been to desire your +recommendation to me, to make him a captain; and your cautious answer, +that he had as much power with me as you, was a notable one; if you +were here, I would present you to the Ministry as a person of ability. +Bernage should let me know where to write to him; this is the second +letter I have had without any direction; however, I beg I may not have a +third, but that you will ask him, and send me how I shall direct to him. +In the meantime, tell him that if regiments are to be raised here, as he +says, I will speak to George Granville,(5) Secretary at War, to make him +a captain; and use what other interest I conveniently can. I think that +is enough, and so tell him, and do not trouble me with his letters, when +I expect them from MD; do you hear, young women? write to Presto. + +18. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary St. John, and we were to dine +at Mr. Harley's alone, about some business of importance; but there were +two or three gentlemen there. Mr. Secretary and I went together from +his office to Mr. Harley's, and thought to have been very wise; but the +deuce a bit, the company stayed, and more came, and Harley went away at +seven, and the Secretary and I stayed with the rest of the company till +eleven; I would then have had him come away; but he was in for't; and +though he swore he would come away at that flask, there I left him. I +wonder at the civility of these people; when he saw I would drink no +more, he would always pass the bottle by me, and yet I could not keep +the toad from drinking himself, nor he would not let me go neither, nor +Masham,(6) who was with us. When I got home, I found a parcel directed +to me; and opening it, I found a pamphlet written entirely against +myself, not by name, but against something I writ:(7) it is pretty +civil, and affects to be so, and I think I will take no notice of it; +'tis against something written very lately; and indeed I know not what +to say, nor do I care. And so you are a saucy rogue for losing your +money to-day at Stoyte's; to let that bungler beat you, fie, Stella, +an't you ashamed? Well, I forgive you this once, never do so again; no, +noooo. Kiss and be friends, sirrah.--Come, let me go sleep, I go earlier +to bed than formerly; and have not been out so late these two +months; but the Secretary was in a drinking humour. So good-night, +myownlittledearsaucyinsolentrogues. + +19. Then you read that long word in the last line; no,(8) faith, han't +you. Well, when will this letter come from our MD? to-morrow or next day +without fail; yes, faith, and so it is coming. This was an insipid snowy +day, no walking day, and I dined gravely with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and +came home, and am now got to bed a little after ten; I remember old +Culpepper's maxim: + + "Would you have a settled head, + You must early go to bed: + I tell you, and I tell't again, + You must be in bed at ten." + +20. And so I went to-day with my new wig, o hoao, to visit Lady +Worsley,(9) whom I had not seen before, although she was near a month in +town. Then I walked in the Park to find Mr. Ford, whom I had promised to +meet; and coming down the Mall, who should come towards me but Patrick, +and gives me five letters out of his pocket. I read the superscription +of the first, "Pshoh," said I; of the second, "Pshoh" again; of the +third, "Pshah, pshah, pshah"; of the fourth, "A gad, a gad, a gad, I'm +in a rage"; of the fifth and last, "O hoooa; ay marry this is something, +this is our MD"; so truly we opened it, I think immediately, and it +began the most impudently in the world, thus: "Dear Presto, We are even +thus far." "Now we are even," quoth Stephen, when he gave his wife +six blows for one. I received your ninth four days after I had sent my +thirteenth. But I'll reckon with you anon about that, young women. Why +did not you recant at the end of your letter, when you got my eleventh, +tell me that, huzzies base? were we even then, were we, sirrah? But I +won't answer your letter now, I'll keep it for another time. We had a +great deal of snow to-day, and 'tis terrible cold. I dined with Ford, +because it was his Opera-day and snowed, so I did not care to stir +farther. I will send tomorrow to Smyth. + +21. Morning. It has snowed terribly all night, and is vengeance cold. I +am not yet up, but cannot write long; my hands will freeze. "Is there a +good fire, Patrick?" "Yes, sir." "Then I will rise; come, take away the +candle." You must know I write on the dark side of my bed-chamber, and +am forced to have a candle till I rise, for the bed stands between me +and the window, and I keep the curtains shut this cold weather. So pray +let me rise; and Patrick, here, take away the candle.--At night. We are +now here in high frost and snow, the largest fire can hardly keep us +warm. It is very ugly walking; a baker's boy broke his thigh yesterday. +I walk slow, make short steps, and never tread on my heel. 'Tis a good +proverb the Devonshire people have: + + "Walk fast in snow, + In frost walk slow; + And still as you go, + Tread on your toe. + When frost and snow are both together, + Sit by the fire, and spare shoe-leather." + +I dined to-day with Dr. Cockburn,(10) but will not do so again in haste, +he has generally such a parcel of Scots with him. + +22. Morning. Starving, starving, uth, uth, uth, uth, uth.--Don't you +remember I used to come into your chamber, and turn Stella out of her +chair, and rake up the fire in a cold morning, and cry Uth, uth, uth? +etc. O, faith, I must rise, my hand is so cold I can write no more. So +good-morrow, sirrahs.--At night. I went this morning to Lady Giffard's +house, and saw your mother, and made her give me a pint bottle of +palsy-water,(11) which I brought home in my pocket; and sealed and tied +up in a paper, and sent it to Mr. Smyth, who goes to-morrow for Ireland, +and sent a letter to him to desire his care of it, and that he would +inquire at Chester about the box. He was not within: so the bottle and +letter were left for him at his lodgings, with strict orders to give +them to him; and I will send Patrick in a day or two, to know whether +it was given, etc. Dr. Stratford(12) and I dined to-day with Mr. +Stratford(13) in the City, by appointment; but I chose to walk there, +for exercise in the frost. But the weather had given a little, as you +women call it, so it was something slobbery. I did not get home till +nine. + + And now I'm in bed, + To break your head. + +23. Morning. They tell me it freezes again, but it is not so cold as +yesterday: so now I will answer a bit of your letter.--At night. O, +faith, I was just going to answer some of our MD's letter this morning, +when a printer came in about some business, and stayed an hour; so I +rose, and then came in Ben Tooke, and then I shaved and scribbled; and +it was such a terrible day, I could not stir out till one, and then I +called at Mrs. Barton's, and we went to Lady Worsley's, where we were to +dine by appointment. The Earl of Berkeley(14) is going to be married to +Lady Louisa Lennox, the Duke of Richmond's daughter. I writ this night +to Dean Sterne, and bid him tell you all about the bottle of palsy-water +by Smyth; and to-morrow morning I will say something to your letter. + +24. Morning. Come now to your letter. As for your being even with me, I +have spoken to that already. So now, my dearly beloved, let us proceed +to the next. You are always grumbling that you han't letters fast +enough; "surely we shall have your tenth;" and yet, before you end your +letter, you own you have my eleventh.--And why did not MD go into the +country with the Bishop of Clogher? faith, such a journey would have +done you good; Stella should have rode, and Dingley gone in the coach. +The Bishop of Kilmore(15) I know nothing of; he is old, and may die; he +lives in some obscure corner, for I never heard of him. As for my old +friends, if you mean the Whigs, I never see them, as you may find by my +journals, except Lord Halifax, and him very seldom; Lord Somers never +since the first visit, for he has been a false, deceitful rascal.(16) +My new friends are very kind, and I have promises enough, but I do +not count upon them, and besides my pretences are very young to them. +However, we will see what may be done; and if nothing at all, I shall +not be disappointed; although perhaps poor MD may, and then I shall be +sorrier for their sakes than my own.--Talk of a merry Christmas (why do +you write it so then, young women? sauce for the goose is sauce for the +gander), I have wished you all that two or three letters ago. Good lack; +and your news, that Mr. St. John is going to Holland; he has no such +thoughts, to quit the great station he is in; nor, if he had, could I +be spared to go with him. So, faith, politic Madam Stella, you come +with your two eggs a penny, etc. Well, Madam Dingley, and so Mrs. Stoyte +invites you, and so you stay at Donnybrook, and so you could not write. +You are plaguy exact in your journals, from Dec. 25 to Jan. 4. Well, +Smyth and the palsy-water I have handled already, and he does not lodge +(or rather did not, for, poor man, now he is gone) at Mr. Jesse's, and +all that stuff; but we found his lodging, and I went to Stella's mother +on my own head, for I never remembered it was in the letter to desire +another bottle; but I was so fretted, so tosticated, and so impatient +that Stella should have her water (I mean decently, do not be rogues), +and so vexed with Sterne's carelessness.--Pray God, Stella's illness +may not return! If they come seldom, they begin to be weary; I judge by +myself; for when I seldom visit, I grow weary of my acquaintance.--Leave +a good deal of my tenth unanswered! Impudent slut, when did you ever +answer my tenth, or ninth, or any other number? or who desires you +to answer, provided you write? I defy the D---- to answer my letters: +sometimes there may be one or two things I should be glad you would +answer; but I forget them, and you never think of them. I shall never +love answering letters again, if you talk of answering. Answering, +quotha! pretty answerers truly.--As for the pamphlet you speak of, and +call it scandalous, and that one Mr. Presto is said to write it, hear my +answer. Fie, child, you must not mind what every idle body tells you--I +believe you lie, and that the dogs were not crying it when you said so; +come, tell truth. I am sorry you go to St. Mary's(17) so soon, you will +be as poor as rats; that place will drain you with a vengeance: besides, +I would have you think of being in the country in summer. Indeed, +Stella, pippins produced plentifully; Parvisol could not send from +Laracor: there were about half a score, I would be glad to know whether +they were good for anything.--Mrs. Walls at Donnybrook with you; why is +not she brought to bed? Well, well, well, Dingley, pray be satisfied; +you talk as if you were angry about the Bishop's not offering you +conveniences for the journey; and so he should.--What sort of Christmas? +Why, I have had no Christmas at all; and has it really been Christmas +of late? I never once thought of it. My service to Mrs. Stoyte, and +Catherine; and let Catherine get the coffee ready against I come, and +not have so much care on her countenance; for all will go well.--Mr. +Bernage, Mr. Bernage, Mr. Fiddlenage, I have had three letters from +him now successively; he sends no directions, and how the D---- shall +I write to him? I would have burnt his last, if I had not seen Stella's +hand at the bottom: his request is all nonsense. How can I assist him in +buying? and if he be ordered to go to Spain, go he must, or else sell, +and I believe one can hardly sell in such a juncture. If he had stayed, +and new regiments raised, I would have used my endeavour to have had him +removed; although I have no credit that way, or very little: but, if +the regiment goes, he ought to go too; he has had great indulgence, and +opportunities of saving; and I have urged him to it a hundred times. +What can I do? whenever it lies in my power to do him a good office, I +will do it. Pray draw up this into a handsome speech, and represent it +to him from me, and that I would write, if I knew where to direct to +him; and so I have told you, and desired you would tell him, fifty +times. Yes, Madam Stella, I think I can read your long concluding word, +but you can't read mine after bidding you good-night. And yet methinks, +I mend extremely in my writing; but when Stella's eyes are well, I hope +to write as bad as ever.--So now I have answered your letter, and mine +is an answer; for I lay yours before me, and I look and write, and write +and look, and look and write again.--So good-morrow, madams both, and I +will go rise, for I must rise; for I take pills at night, and so I must +rise early, I don't know why. + +25. Morning. I did not tell you how I passed my time yesterday, nor +bid you good-night, and there was good reason. I went in the morning +to Secretary St. John about some business; he had got a great Whig with +him; a creature of the Duke of Marlborough, who is a go-between to make +peace between the Duke and the Ministry: so he came out of his closet, +and, after a few words, desired I would dine with him at three; but Mr. +Lewis stayed till six before he came; and there we sat talking, and the +time slipped so, that at last, when I was positive to go, it was past +two o'clock; so I came home, and went straight to bed. He would never +let me look at his watch, and I could not imagine it above twelve when +we went away. So I bid you good-night for last night, and now I bid you +good-morrow, and I am still in bed, though it be near ten, but I must +rise. + +26, 27, 28, 29, 30. I have been so lazy and negligent these last four +days that I could not write to MD. My head is not in order, and yet is +not absolutely ill, but giddyish, and makes me listless; I walk every +day, and take drops of Dr. Cockburn, and I have just done a box of +pills; and to-day Lady Kerry sent me some of her bitter drink, which I +design to take twice a day, and hope I shall grow better. I wish I were +with MD; I long for spring and good weather, and then I will come over. +My riding in Ireland keeps me well. I am very temperate, and eat of the +easiest meats as I am directed, and hope the malignity will go off; +but one fit shakes me a long time. I dined to-day with Lord Mountjoy, +yesterday at Mr. Stone's, in the City, on Sunday at Vanhomrigh's, +Saturday with Ford, and Friday I think at Vanhomrigh's; and that is all +the journal I can send MD, for I was so lazy while I was well, that I +could not write. I thought to have sent this to-night, but 'tis ten, +and I'll go to bed, and write on t'other side to Parvisol to-morrow, and +send it on Thursday; and so good-night, my dears; and love Presto, and +be healthy, and Presto will be so too, etc. + +Cut off these notes handsomely, d'ye hear, sirrahs, and give Mrs. Brent +hers, and keep yours till you see Parvisol, and then make up the letter +to him, and send it him by the first opportunity; and so God Almighty +bless you both, here and ever, and poor Presto. + +What, I warrant you thought at first that these last lines were another +letter. + +Dingley, Pray pay Stella six fishes, and place them to the account of +your humble servant, Presto. + +Stella, Pray pay Dingley six fishes, and place them to the account of +your humble servant, Presto. + +There are bills of exchange for you. + + + + +LETTER 15. + +LONDON, Jan. 31, 1710-11. + +I am to send you my fourteenth to-morrow; but my head, having some +little disorders, confounds all my journals. I was early this morning +with Mr. Secretary St. John about some business, so I could not scribble +my morning lines to MD. They are here intending to tax all little +printed penny papers a halfpenny every half-sheet, which will utterly +ruin Grub Street, and I am endeavouring to prevent it.(1) Besides, I was +forwarding an impeachment against a certain great person; that was two +of my businesses with the Secretary, were they not worthy ones? It was +Ford's birthday, and I refused the Secretary, and dined with Ford. +We are here in as smart a frost for the time as I have seen; delicate +walking weather, and the Canal and Rosamond's Pond(2) full of the rabble +sliding and with skates, if you know what those are. Patrick's bird's +water freezes in the gallipot, and my hands in bed. + +Feb. 1. I was this morning with poor Lady Kerry, who is much worse in +her head than I. She sends me bottles of her bitter; and we are so fond +of one another, because our ailments are the same; don't you know that, +Madam Stella? Han't I seen you conning ailments with Joe's wife,(3) +and some others, sirrah? I walked into the City to dine, because of the +walk, for we must take care of Presto's health, you know, because of +poor little MD. But I walked plaguy carefully, for fear of sliding +against my will; but I am very busy. + +2. This morning Mr. Ford came to me to walk into the City, where he had +business, and then to buy books at Bateman's; and I laid out one pound +five shillings for a Strabo and Aristophanes, and I have now got books +enough to make me another shelf, and I will have more, or it shall cost +me a fall; and so as we came back, we drank a flask of right French wine +at Ben Tooke's chamber; and when I got home, Mrs. Vanhomrigh sent me +word her eldest daughter(4) was taken suddenly very ill, and desired I +would come and see her. I went, and found it was a silly trick of Mrs. +Armstrong,(5) Lady Lucy's sister, who, with Moll Stanhope, was visiting +there: however, I rattled off the daughter. + +3. To-day I went and dined at Lady Lucy's, where you know I have not +been this long time. They are plaguy Whigs, especially the sister +Armstrong, the most insupportable of all women, pretending to wit, +without any taste. She was running down the last Examiner,(6) the +prettiest I had read, with a character of the present Ministry.--I left +them at five, and came home. But I forgot to tell you, that this morning +my cousin Dryden Leach, the printer, came to me with a heavy complaint, +that Harrison the new Tatler had turned him off, and taken the last +Tatler's printers again. He vowed revenge; I answered gravely, and so he +left me, and I have ordered Patrick to deny me to him from henceforth: +and at night comes a letter from Harrison, telling me the same thing, +and excused his doing it without my notice, because he would bear all +the blame; and in his Tatler of this day(7) he tells you the story, how +he has taken his old officers, and there is a most humble letter from +Morphew and Lillie to beg his pardon, etc.(8) And lastly, this morning +Ford sent me two letters from the Coffee-house (where I hardly ever go), +one from the Archbishop of Dublin, and t'other from--Who do you think +t'other was from?--I'll tell you, because you are friends; why, then it +was, faith, it was from my own dear little MD, N.10. Oh, but will not +answer it now, no, noooooh, I'll keep it between the two sheets; here it +is, just under; oh, I lifted up the sheet and saw it there: lie still, +you shan't be answered yet, little letter; for I must go to bed, and +take care of my head. + +4. I avoid going to church yet, for fear of my head, though it has been +much better these last five or six days, since I have taken Lady Kerry's +bitter. Our frost holds like a dragon. I went to Mr. Addison's, and +dined with him at his lodgings; I had not seen him these three weeks, we +are grown common acquaintance; yet what have not I done for his friend +Steele? Mr. Harley reproached me the last time I saw him, that to please +me he would be reconciled to Steele, and had promised and appointed +to see him, and that Steele never came. Harrison, whom Mr. Addison +recommended to me, I have introduced to the Secretary of State, who has +promised me to take care of him; and I have represented Addison himself +so to the Ministry, that they think and talk in his favour, though they +hated him before.--Well, he is now in my debt, and there's an end; and +I never had the least obligation to him, and there's another end. This +evening I had a message from Mr. Harley, desiring to know whether I was +alive, and that I would dine with him to-morrow. They dine so late, that +since my head has been wrong I have avoided being with them.--Patrick +has been out of favour these ten days; I talk dry and cross to him, +and have called him "friend" three or four times. But, sirrahs, get you +gone. + +5. Morning. I am going this morning to see Prior, who dines with me +at Mr. Harley's; so I can't stay fiddling and talking with dear little +brats in a morning, and 'tis still terribly cold.--I wish my cold hand +was in the warmest place about you, young women, I'd give ten guineas +upon that account with all my heart, faith; oh, it starves my thigh; so +I'll rise and bid you good-morrow, my ladies both, good-morrow. Come, +stand away, let me rise: Patrick, take away the candle. Is there a good +fire?--So--up-a-dazy.--At night. Mr. Harley did not sit down till six, +and I stayed till eleven; henceforth I will choose to visit him in the +evenings, and dine with him no more if I can help it. It breaks all my +measures, and hurts my health; my head is disorderly, but not ill, and I +hope it will mend. + +6. Here has been such a hurry with the Queen's Birthday, so much fine +clothes, and the Court so crowded that I did not go there. All the frost +is gone. It thawed on Sunday, and so continues, yet ice is still on the +Canal (I did not mean that of Laracor, but St. James's Park) and boys +sliding on it. Mr. Ford pressed me to dine with him in his chamber.--Did +not I tell you Patrick has got a bird, a linnet, to carry over to +Dingley? It was very tame at first, and 'tis now the wildest I ever saw. +He keeps it in a closet, where it makes a terrible litter; but I say +nothing: I am as tame as a clout. When must we answer our MD's letter? +One of these odd-come-shortlies. This is a week old, you see, and no +farther yet. Mr. Harley desired I would dine with him again to-day; but +I refused him, for I fell out with him yesterday,(9) and will not see +him again till he makes me amends: and so I go to bed. + +7. I was this morning early with Mr. Lewis of the Secretary's office, +and saw a letter Mr. Harley had sent to him, desiring to be reconciled; +but I was deaf to all entreaties, and have desired Lewis to go to him, +and let him know I expect further satisfaction. If we let these great +Ministers pretend too much, there will be no governing them. He promises +to make me easy, if I will but come and see him; but I won't, and he +shall do it by message, or I will cast him off. I'll tell you the cause +of our quarrel when I see you, and refer it to yourselves. In that he +did something, which he intended for a favour; and I have taken it quite +otherwise, disliking both the thing and the manner, and it has heartily +vexed me, and all I have said is truth, though it looks like jest; and I +absolutely refused to submit to his intended favour, and expect further +satisfaction. Mr. Ford and I dined with Mr. Lewis. We have a monstrous +deal of snow, and it has cost me two shillings to-day in chair and +coach, and walked till I was dirty besides. I know not what it is now +to read or write after I am in bed. The last thing I do up is to write +something to our MD, and then get into bed, and put out my candle, +and so go sleep as fast as ever I can. But in the mornings I do write +sometimes in bed, as you know. + +8. Morning. I HAVE DESIRED APRONIA TO BE ALWAYS CAREFUL, ESPECIALLY +ABOUT THE LEGS. Pray, do you see any such great wit in that sentence? +I must freely own that I do not. But party carries everything nowadays, +and what a splutter have I heard about the wit of that saying, repeated +with admiration above a hundred times in half an hour! Pray read it over +again this moment, and consider it. I think the word is ADVISED, and not +DESIRED. I should not have remembered it if I had not heard it so often. +Why--ay--You must know I dreamed it just now, and waked with it in my +mouth. Are you bit, or are you not, sirrahs? I met Mr. Harley in the +Court of Requests, and he asked me how long I had learnt the trick of +writing to myself? He had seen your letter through the glass case at the +Coffee-house, and would swear it was my hand; and Mr. Ford, who took and +sent it me, was of the same mind. I remember others have formerly said +so too. I think I was little MD's writing-master.(10)--But come, what +is here to do, writing to young women in a morning? I have other fish +to fry; so good-morrow, my ladies all, good-morrow. Perhaps I'll answer +your letter to-night, perhaps I won't; that's as saucy little Presto +takes the humour.--At night. I walked in the Park to-day in spite of the +weather, as I do always when it does not actually rain. Do you know what +it has gone and done? We had a thaw for three days, then a monstrous +dirt and snow, and now it freezes, like a pot-lid, upon our snow. I +dined with Lady Betty Germaine, the first time since I came for England; +and there did I sit, like a booby, till eight, looking over her and +another lady at piquet, when I had other business enough to do. It was +the coldest day I felt this year. + +9. Morning. After I had been abed an hour last night, I was forced to +rise and call to the landlady and maid to have the fire removed in a +chimney below stairs, which made my bed-chamber smoke, though I had no +fire in it. I have been twice served so. I never lay so miserable an +hour in my life. Is it not plaguy vexatious?--It has snowed all night, +and rains this morning.--Come, where's MD's letter? Come, Mrs. Letter, +make your appearance. Here am I, says she, answer me to my face.--O, +faith, I am sorry you had my twelfth so soon; I doubt you will stay +longer for the rest. I'm so 'fraid you have got my fourteenth while I +am writing this; and I would always have one letter from Presto reading, +one travelling, and one writing. As for the box, I now believe it lost. +It is directed for Mr. Curry, at his house in Capel Street, etc. I had +a letter yesterday from Dr. Raymond in Chester, who says he sent his +man everywhere, and cannot find it; and God knows whether Mr. Smyth will +have better success. Sterne spoke to him, and I writ to him with the +bottle of palsy-water; that bottle, I hope, will not miscarry: I long +to hear you have it. O, faith, you have too good an opinion of Presto's +care. I am negligent enough of everything but MD, and I should not have +trusted Sterne.--But it shall not go so: I will have one more tug for +it.--As to what you say of Goodman Peasly and Isaac,(11) I answer as I +did before. Fie, child, you must not give yourself the way to believe +any such thing: and afterwards, only for curiosity, you may tell me +how these things are approved, and how you like them; and whether they +instruct you in the present course of affairs, and whether they are +printed in your town, or only sent from hence.--Sir Andrew Fountaine is +recovered; so take your sorrow again, but don't keep it, fling it to the +dogs. And does little MD walk indeed?--I'm glad of it at heart.--Yes, we +have done with the plague here: it was very saucy in you to pretend to +have it before your betters. Your intelligence that the story is false +about the officers forced to sell,(12) is admirable. You may see them +all three here every day, no more in the army than you. Twelve shillings +for mending the strong box; that is, for putting a farthing's worth of +iron on a hinge, and gilding it; give him six shillings, and I'll pay +it, and never employ him or his again.--No indeed, I put off preaching +as much as I can. I am upon another foot: nobody doubts here whether +I can preach, and you are fools.--The account you give of that weekly +paper(13) agrees with us here. Mr. Prior was like to be insulted in the +street for being supposed the author of it; but one of the last papers +cleared him. Nobody knows who it is, but those few in the secret, I +suppose the Ministry and the printer.--Poor Stella's eyes! God bless +them, and send them better. Pray spare them, and write not above two +lines a day in broad daylight. How does Stella look, Madam Dingley? +Pretty well, a handsome young woman still. Will she pass in a crowd? +Will she make a figure in a country church?--Stay a little, fair ladies. +I this minute sent Patrick to Sterne: he brings back word that your box +is very safe with one Mr. Earl's sister in Chester, and that Colonel +Edgworth's widow(14) goes for Ireland on Monday next, and will receive +the box at Chester, and deliver it you safe: so there are some hopes +now.--Well, let us go on to your letter.--The warrant is passed for the +First-Fruits. The Queen does not send a letter; but a patent will be +drawn here, and that will take up time. Mr. Harley of late has said +nothing of presenting me to the Queen: I was overseen(15) when I +mentioned it to you. He has such a weight of affairs on him, that he +cannot mind all; but he talked of it three or four times to me, long +before I dropped it to you. What, is not Mrs. Walls' business over +yet? I had hopes she was up and well, and the child dead before this +time.--You did right, at last, to send me your accompts; but I did not +stay for them, I thank you. I hope you have your bill sent in my last, +and there will be eight pounds' interest soon due from Hawkshaw: pray +look at his bond. I hope you are good managers; and that, when I say so, +Stella won't think I intend she should grudge herself wine. But going to +those expensive lodgings requires some fund. I wish you had stayed till +I came over, for some reasons. That Frenchwoman(16) will be grumbling +again in a little time: and if you are invited anywhere to the country, +it will vex you to pay in absence; and the country may be necessary for +poor Stella's health: but do as you like, and do not blame Presto.--Oh, +but you are telling your reasons.--Well, I have read them; do as you +please.--Yes, Raymond says he must stay longer than he thought, because +he cannot settle his affairs. M---- is in the country at some friend's, +comes to town in spring, and then goes to settle in Herefordshire. Her +husband is a surly, ill-natured brute, and cares not she should see +anybody. O Lord, see how I blundered, and left two lines short; it was +that ugly score in the paper(17) that made me mistake.--I believe you +lie about the story of the fire, only to make it more odd. Bernage must +go to Spain; and I will see to recommend him to the Duke of Argyle, his +General, when I see the Duke next: but the officers tell me it would be +dishonourable in the last degree for him to sell now, and he would never +be preferred in the army; so that, unless he designs to leave it for +good and all, he must go. Tell him so, and that I would write if I knew +where to direct to him; which I have said fourscore times already. I had +rather anything almost than that you should strain yourselves to send +a letter when it is inconvenient; we have settled that matter already. +I'll write when I can, and so shall MD; and upon occasions extraordinary +I will write, though it be a line; and when we have not letters soon, we +agree that all things are well; and so that's settled for ever, and +so hold your tongue.--Well, you shall have your pins; but for candles' +ends, I cannot promise, because I burn them to the stumps; besides, I +remember what Stella told Dingley about them many years ago, and she +may think the same thing of me.--And Dingley shall have her hinged +spectacles.--Poor dear Stella, how durst you write those two lines by +candlelight? bang your bones! Faith, this letter shall go to-morrow, I +think, and that will be in ten days from the last, young women; that's +too soon of all conscience: but answering yours has filled it up so +quick, and I do not design to use you to three pages in folio, no, +nooooh. All this is one morning's work in bed;--and so good-morrow, +little sirrahs; that's for the rhyme.(18) You want politics: faith, I +can't think of any; but may be at night I may tell you a passage. Come, +sit off the bed, and let me rise, will you?--At night. I dined to-day +with my neighbour Vanhomrigh; it was such dismal weather I could not +stir further. I have had some threatenings with my head, but no fits. I +still drink Dr. Radcliffe's(19) bitter, and will continue it. + +10. I was this morning to see the Secretary of State, and have engaged +him to give a memorial from me to the Duke of Argyle in behalf of +Bernage. The Duke is a man that distinguishes people of merit, and I +will speak to him myself; but the Secretary backing it will be very +effectual, and I will take care to have it done to purpose. Pray tell +Bernage so, and that I think nothing can be luckier for him, and that I +would have him go by all means. I will order it that the Duke shall send +for him when they are in Spain; or, if he fails, that he shall receive +him kindly when he goes to wait on him. Can I do more? Is not this a +great deal?--I now send away this letter, that you may not stay.--I +dined with Ford upon his Opera-day, and am now come home, and am going +to study; do not you presume to guess, sirrahs, impudent saucy dear +boxes. Towards the end of a letter I could not say saucy boxes without +putting dear between. An't that right now? Farewell. THIS should BE +longer, BUT that _I_ send IT to-night.(20) + +O silly, silly loggerhead! + +I send a letter this post to one Mr. Staunton, and I direct it to Mr. +Acton's in St. Michael's Lane. He formerly lodged there, but he has not +told me where to direct. Pray send to that Acton, whether(21) the letter +is come there, and whether he has sent it to Staunton. + +If Bernage designs to sell his commission and stay at home, pray let him +tell me so, that my recommendation to the Duke of Argyle may not be in +vain. + + + + +LETTER 16. + +LONDON, Feb. 10, 1710-11. + +I have just despatched my fifteenth to the post; I tell you how things +will be, after I have got a letter from MD. I am in furious haste +to finish mine, for fear of having two of MD's to answer in one of +Presto's, which would be such a disgrace, never saw the like; but, +before you write to me, I write at my leisure, like a gentleman, a +little every day, just to let you know how matters go, and so and +so; and I hope before this comes to you, you'll have got your box and +chocolate, and Presto will take more care another time. + +11. Morning. I must rise and go see my Lord Keeper,(1) which will +cost me two shillings in coach-hire. Don't you call them two +thirteens?(2)--At night. It has rained all day, and there was no +walking. I read prayers to Sir Andrew Fountaine in the forenoon, and I +dined with three Irishmen, at one Mr. Cope's(3) lodgings; the other two +were one Morris an archdeacon,(4) and Mr. Ford. When I came home this +evening, I expected that little jackanapes Harrison would have come to +get help about his Tatler for Tuesday: I have fixed two evenings in the +week which I allow him to come. The toad never came, and I expecting him +fell a reading, and left off other business.--Come, what are you doing? +How do you pass your time this ugly weather? Gaming and drinking, I +suppose: fine diversions for young ladies, truly! I wish you had some +of our Seville oranges, and we some of your wine. We have the finest +oranges for twopence apiece, and the basest wine for six shillings a +bottle. They tell me wine grows cheap with you. I am resolved to have +half a hogshead when I get to Ireland, if it be good and cheap, as it +used to be; and I will treat MD at my table in an evening, oh hoa, and +laugh at great Ministers of State. + +12. The days are grown fine and long, ---- be thanked. O, faith, you +forget all our little sayings, and I am angry. I dined to-day with Mr. +Secretary St. John: I went to the Court of Requests at noon, and sent +Mr. Harley into the House to call the Secretary, to let him know I would +not dine with him if he dined late. By good luck the Duke of Argyle was +at the lobby of the House too, and I kept him in talk till the Secretary +came out; then told them I was glad to meet them together, and that +I had a request to the Duke, which the Secretary must second, and +his Grace must grant. The Duke said he was sure it was something +insignificant, and wished it was ten times greater. At the Secretary's +house I writ a memorial, and gave it to the Secretary to give the Duke, +and shall see that he does it. It is, that his Grace will please to +take Mr. Bernage into his protection; and if he finds Bernage answers my +character, to give him all encouragement. Colonel Masham(5) and Colonel +Hill(6) Mrs. Masham's(7) brother tell me my request is reasonable, and +they will second it heartily to the Duke too: so I reckon Bernage is +on a very good foot when he goes to Spain. Pray tell him this, though +perhaps I will write to him before he goes; yet where shall I direct? +for I suppose he has left Connolly's.(8) + +13. I have left off Lady Kerry's bitter, and got another box of pills. +I have no fits of giddiness, but only some little disorders towards it; +and I walk as much as I can. Lady Kerry is just as I am, only a great +deal worse: I dined to-day at Lord Shelburne's, where she is, and we +con ailments, which makes us very fond of each other. I have taken Mr. +Harley into favour again, and called to see him, but he was not within; +I will use to visit him after dinner, for he dines too late for my head: +then I went to visit poor Congreve, who is just getting out of a severe +fit of the gout; and I sat with him till near nine o'clock. He gave me a +Tatler(9) he had written out, as blind as he is, for little Harrison. It +is about a scoundrel that was grown rich, and went and bought a coat of +arms at the Herald's, and a set of ancestors at Fleet Ditch; 'tis well +enough, and shall be printed in two or three days, and if you read those +kind of things, this will divert you. It is now between ten and eleven, +and I am going to bed. + +14. This was Mrs. Vanhomrigh's daughter's(10) birthday, and Mr. Ford +and I were invited to dinner to keep it, and we spent the evening there, +drinking punch. That was our way of beginning Lent; and in the morning +Lord Shelburne, Lady Kerry, Mrs. Pratt, and I, went to Hyde Park, +instead of going to church; for, till my head is a little settled, I +think it better not to go; it would be so silly and troublesome to go +out sick. Dr. Duke(11) died suddenly two or three nights ago; he was one +of the wits when we were children, but turned parson, and left it, and +never writ farther than a prologue or recommendatory copy of verses. He +had a fine living given him by the Bishop of Winchester(12) about three +months ago; he got his living suddenly, and he got his dying so too. + +15. I walked purely to-day about the Park, the rain being just over, of +which we have had a great deal, mixed with little short frosts. I went +to the Court of Requests, thinking, if Mr. Harley dined early, to go +with him. But meeting Leigh and Sterne, they invited me to dine +with them, and away we went. When we got into his room, one H----, a +worthless Irish fellow, was there, ready to dine with us; so I stepped +out, and whispered them, that I would not dine with that fellow: they +made excuses, and begged me to stay; but away I went to Mr. Harley's, +and he did not dine at home; and at last I dined at Sir John +Germaine's,(13) and found Lady Betty but just recovered of a +miscarriage. I am writing an inscription for Lord Berkeley's(14) tomb; +you know the young rake his son, the new Earl, is married to the Duke of +Richmond's daughter,(15) at the Duke's country house, and are now coming +to town. She will be fluxed in two months, and they'll be parted in a +year. You ladies are brave, bold, venturesome folks; and the chit is but +seventeen, and is ill-natured, covetous, vicious, and proud in extremes. +And so get you gone to Stoyte to-morrow. + +16. Faith, this letter goes on but slow; 'tis a week old, and the first +side not written. I went to-day into the City for a walk, but the person +I designed to dine with was not at home; so I came back, and called at +Congreve's, and dined with him and Estcourt,(16) and laughed till six; +then went to Mr. Harley's, who was not gone to dinner; there I stayed +till nine, and we made up our quarrel, and he has invited me to dinner +to-morrow, which is the day of the week (Saturday) that Lord Keeper +and Secretary St. John dine with him privately, and at last they have +consented to let me among them on that day. Atterbury and Prior went +to bury poor Dr. Duke. Congreve's nasty white wine has given me the +heart-burn. + +17. I took some good walks in the Park to-day, and then went to +Mr. Harley. Lord Rivers was got there before me, and I chid him for +presuming to come on a day when only Lord Keeper and the Secretary and I +were to be there; but he regarded me not; so we all dined together, +and sat down at four; and the Secretary has invited me to dine with him +to-morrow. I told them I had no hopes they could ever keep in, but that +I saw they loved one another so well, as indeed they seem to do. They +call me nothing but Jonathan; and I said I believed they would leave me +Jonathan as they found me; and that I never knew a Ministry do anything +for those whom they make companions of their pleasures; and I believe +you will find it so; but I care not. I am upon a project of getting +five hundred pounds,(17) without being obliged to anybody; but that is +a secret, till I see my dearest MD; and so hold your tongue, and do not +talk, sirrahs, for I am now about it. + +18. My head has no fits, but a little disordered before dinner; yet I +walk stoutly, and take pills, and hope to mend. Secretary St. John would +needs have me dine with him to-day; and there I found three persons I +never saw, two I had no acquaintance with, and one I did not care for: +so I left them early and came home, it being no day to walk, but scurvy +rain and wind. The Secretary tells me he has put a cheat on me; for Lord +Peterborow sent him twelve dozen flasks of burgundy, on condition that I +should have my share; but he never was quiet till they were all gone, +so I reckon he owes me thirty-six pounds. Lord Peterborow is now got +to Vienna, and I must write to him to-morrow. I begin now to be towards +looking for a letter from some certain ladies of Presto's acquaintance, +that live at St. Mary's,(18) and are called in a certain language, our +little MD. No, stay, I don't expect one these six days, that will be +just three weeks; an't I a reasonable creature? We are plagued here with +an October Club, that is, a set of above a hundred Parliament men of +the country, who drink October beer at home, and meet every evening at +a tavern near the Parliament to consult affairs, and drive things on to +extremes against the Whigs, to call the old Ministry to account, and get +off five or six heads.(19) The Ministry seem not to regard them; yet one +of them in confidence told me that there must be something thought +on, to settle things better. I'll tell you one great State secret: the +Queen, sensible how much she was governed by the late Ministry, runs a +little into t'other extreme, and is jealous in that point, even of +those who got her out of the others' hands. The Ministry is for gentler +measures, and the other Tories for more violent. Lord Rivers, talking +to me the other day, cursed the paper called the Examiner, for speaking +civilly of the Duke of Marlborough; this I happened to talk of to the +Secretary, who blamed the warmth of that lord and some others, and swore +that if their advice were followed they would be blown up in twenty-four +hours. And I have reason to think that they will endeavour to prevail +on the Queen to put her affairs more in the hands of a Ministry than she +does at present; and there are, I believe, two men thought on, one +of them you have often met the name of in my letters. But so much for +politics. + +19. This proved a terrible rainy day, which prevented my walk into the +City, and I was only able to run and dine with my neighbour Vanhomrigh, +where Sir Andrew Fountaine dined too, who has just began to sally out, +and has shipped his mother and sister, who were his nurses, back to the +country. This evening was fair, and I walked a little in the Park, till +Prior made me go with him to the Smyrna Coffee-house, where I sat +a while, and saw four or five Irish persons, who are very handsome, +genteel fellows; but I know not their names. I came away at seven, and +got home. Two days ago I writ to Bernage, and told him what I had +done, and directed the letter to Mr. Curry's, to be left with Dingley. +Brigadiers Hill and Masham, brother and husband to Mrs. Masham, the +Queen's favourite, Colonel Disney,(20) and I, have recommended Bernage +to the Duke of Argyle; and Secretary St. John has given the Duke +my memorial; and, besides, Hill tells me, that Bernage's colonel, +Fielding,(21) designs to make him his captain-lieutenant: but I believe +I said this to you before, and in this letter; but I will not look. + +20. Morning. It snows terribly again; and 'tis mistaken, for I now want +a little good weather. I bid you good-morrow; and, if it clear up, get +you gone to poor Mrs. Walls, who has had a hard time of it, but is now +pretty well again. I am sorry it is a girl: the poor Archdeacon too, see +how simply he looked when they told him: what did it cost Stella to be +gossip? I'll rise; so, d'ye hear, let me see you at night; and do not +stay late out, and catch cold, sirrahs.--At night. It grew good weather, +and I got a good walk, and dined with Ford upon his Opera-day; but, now +all his wine is gone, I shall dine with him no more. I hope to send +this letter before I hear from MD, methinks there is--something great in +doing so, only I can't express where it lies; and, faith, this shall go +by Saturday, as sure as you're a rogue. Mrs. Edgworth was to set out but +last Monday; so you won't have your box so soon perhaps as this letter; +but Sterne told me since that it is safe at Chester, and that she will +take care of it. I'd give a guinea you had it. + +21. Morning. Faith, I hope it will be fair for me to walk into the City; +for I take all occasions of walking.--I should be plaguy busy at Laracor +if I were there now, cutting down willows, planting others, scouring my +canal, and every kind of thing. If Raymond goes over this summer, you +must submit, and make them a visit, that we may have another eel and +trout fishing; and that Stella may ride by, and see Presto in his +morning-gown in the garden, and so go up with Joe to the Hill of Bree, +and round by Scurlock's Town. O Lord, how I remember names! faith, +it gives me short sighs; therefore no more of that, if you love me. +Good-morrow, I will go rise like a gentleman; my pills say I must.--At +night. Lady Kerry sent to desire me to engage some lords about an affair +she has in their house here: I called to see her, but found she +had already engaged every lord I knew, and that there was no great +difficulty in the matter; and it rained like a dog; so I took coach, +for want of better exercise, and dined privately with a hang-dog in the +City, and walked back in the evening. The days are now long enough to +walk in the Park after dinner; and so I do whenever it is fair. This +walking is a strange remedy: Mr. Prior walks, to make himself fat, and +I to bring myself down; he has generally a cough, which he only calls a +cold; we often walk round the Park together. So I'll go sleep. + +22. It snowed all this morning prodigiously, and was some inches thick +in three or four hours. I dined with Mr. Lewis of the Secretary's office +at his lodgings: the chairmen that carried me squeezed a great fellow +against a wall, who wisely turned his back, and broke one of the +side-glasses in a thousand pieces. I fell a scolding, pretended I was +like to be cut to pieces, and made them set down the chair in the Park, +while they picked out the bits of glasses; and, when I paid them, I +quarrelled still; so they dared not grumble, and I came off for my fare; +but I was plaguily afraid they would have said, "God bless your honour, +won't you give us something for our glass?" Lewis and I were forming +a project how I might get three or four hundred pounds,(22) which +I suppose may come to nothing. I hope Smyth has brought you your +palsy-drops. How does Stella do? I begin more and more to desire to +know. The three weeks since I had your last is over within two days, and +I will allow three for accidents. + +23. The snow is gone every bit, except the remainder of some great balls +made by the boys. Mr. Sterne was with me this morning about an affair he +has before the Treasury. That drab Mrs. Edgworth is not yet set out, but +will infallibly next Monday: and this is the third infallible Monday, +and pox take her! So you will have this letter first; and this shall go +to-morrow; and, if I have one from MD in that time, I will not answer it +till my next; only I will say, "Madam, I received your letter, and so, +and so." I dined to-day with my Mistress Butler,(23) who grows very +disagreeable. + +24. Morning. This letter certainly goes this evening, sure as you're +alive, young women, and then you will be so shamed that I have had none +from you; and, if I was to reckon like you, I would say, I were six +letters before you, for this is N.16, and I have had your N.10. But I +reckon you have received but fourteen, and have sent eleven. I think to +go to-day a Minister-of-State-hunting in the Court of Requests; for +I have something to say to Mr. Harley. And it is fine, cold, sunshiny +weather; I wish dear MD would walk this morning in your Stephen's Green; +'tis as good as our Park, but not so large.(24) Faith, this summer we'll +take a coach for sixpence(25) to the Green Well, the two walks, and +thence all the way to Stoyte's.(26) My hearty service to Goody Stoyte +and Catherine; and I hope Mrs. Walls had a good time. How inconstant I +am! I can't imagine I was ever in love with her. Well, I'm going; what +have you to say? I DO NOT CARE HOW I WRITE NOW.(27) I don't design to +write on this side; these few lines are but so much more than your +due; so I will write LARGE or small as I please. O, faith, my hands are +starving in bed; I believe it is a hard frost. I must rise, and bid +you good-bye, for I'll seal this letter immediately, and carry it in +my pocket, and put it into the post-office with my own fair hands. +Farewell. + +This letter is just a fortnight's journal to-day. Yes, and so it is, I'm +sure, says you, with your two eggs a penny. + +Lele, lele, lele.(28) + +O Lord, I am saying lele, lele, to myself, in all our little keys: and, +now you talk of keys, that dog Patrick broke the key-general of the +chest of drawers with six locks, and I have been so plagued to get a new +one, besides my good two shillings! + + + + +LETTER 17. + +LONDON, Feb. 24, 1710-11. + +Now, young women, I gave in my sixteenth this evening. I dined with Ford +(it was his Opera-day) as usual; it is very convenient to me to do so, +for coming home early after a walk in the Park, which now the days will +allow. I called on the Secretary at his office, and he had forgot to +give the memorial about Bernage to the Duke of Argyle; but, two days +ago, I met the Duke, who desired I would give it him myself, which +should have more power with him than all the Ministry together, as he +protested solemnly, repeated it two or three times, and bid me count +upon it. So that I verily believe Bernage will be in a very good way +to establish himself. I think I can do no more for him at present, and +there's an end of that; and so get you gone to bed, for it is late. + +25. The three weeks are out yesterday since I had your last, and so now +I will be expecting every day a pretty dear letter from my own MD, and +hope to hear that Stella has been much better in her head and eyes: +my head continues as it was, no fits, but a little disorder every day, +which I can easily bear, if it will not grow worse. I dined to-day with +Mr. Secretary St. John, on condition I might choose my company, which +were Lord Rivers, Lord Carteret, Sir Thomas Mansel,(1) and Mr. Lewis; I +invited Masham, Hill, Sir John Stanley, and George Granville, but they +were engaged; and I did it in revenge of his having such bad company +when I dined with him before; so we laughed, etc. And I ventured to go +to church to-day, which I have not done this month before. Can you send +me such a good account of Stella's health, pray now? Yes, I hope, and +better too. We dined (says you) at the Dean's, and played at cards +till twelve, and there came in Mr. French, and Dr. Travors, and Dr. +Whittingham, and Mr. (I forget his name, that I always tell Mrs. Walls +of) the banker's son, a pox on him. And we were so merry; I vow they are +pure good company. But I lost a crown; for you must know I had always +hands tempting me to go out, but never took in anything, and often +two black aces without a manilio; was not that hard, Presto? Hold your +tongue, etc. + +26. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary about some business, and +he tells me that Colonel Fielding is now going to make Bernage +his captain-lieutenant, that is, a captain by commission, and the +perquisites of the company; but not captain's pay, only the first step +to it. I suppose he will like it; and the recommendation to the Duke +of Argyle goes on. And so trouble me no more about your Bernage; the +jackanapes understands what fair solicitors he has got, I warrant you. +Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined, by invitation, with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. +You say they are of no consequence: why, they keep as good female +company as I do male; I see all the drabs of quality at this end of +the town with them: I saw two Lady Bettys(2) there this afternoon; the +beauty of one, the good-breeding and nature of t'other, and the wit of +neither, would have made a fine woman. Rare walking in the Park now: why +don't you walk in the Green of St. Stephen? The walks there are finer +gravelled than the Mall. What beasts the Irish women are, never to walk! + +27. Darteneuf and I, and little Harrison the new Tatler, and Jervas the +painter, dined to-day with James,(3) I know not his other name, but it +is one of Darteneuf's dining-places, who is a true epicure. James is +clerk of the kitchen to the Queen, and has a little snug house at St. +James's; and we had the Queen's wine, and such very fine victuals that +I could not eat it. Three weeks and three days since my last letter from +MD; rare doings! why, truly we were so busy with poor Mrs. Walls, that +indeed, Presto, we could not write, we were afraid the poor woman would +have died; and it pitied us to see the Archdeacon, how concerned he was. +The Dean never came to see her but once; but now she is up again, and we +go and sit with her in the evenings. The child died the next day after +it was born; and I believe, between friends, she is not very sorry for +it.--Indeed, Presto, you are plaguy silly tonight, and han't guessed one +word right; for she and the child are both well, and it is a fine girl, +likely to live; and the Dean was godfather, and Mrs. Catherine and I +were godmothers; I was going to say Stoyte, but I think I have heard +they don't put maids and married women together; though I know not why I +think so, nor I don't care; what care I? but I must prate, etc. + +28. I walked to-day into the City for my health, and there dined; which +I always do when the weather is fair, and business permits, that I may +be under a necessity of taking a good walk, which is the best thing I +can do at present for my health. Some bookseller has raked up everything +I writ, and published it t'other day in one volume; but I know nothing +of it, 'twas without my knowledge or consent: it makes a four-shilling +book, and is called Miscellanies in Prose and Verse.(4) Tooke pretends +he knows nothing of it; but I doubt he is at the bottom. One must have +patience with these things; the best of it is, I shall be plagued +no more. However, I will bring a couple of them over with me for MD; +perhaps you may desire to see them. I hear they sell mightily. + +March 1. Morning. I have been calling to Patrick to look in his almanac +for the day of the month; I did not know but it might be leap-year. The +almanac says 'tis the third after leap-year; and I always thought till +now, that every third year was leap-year. I am glad they come so seldom; +but I'm sure 'twas otherwise when I was a young man; I see times are +mightily changed since then.--Write to me, sirrahs; be sure do by the +time this side is done, and I'll keep t'other side for the answer: so +I'll go write to the Bishop of Clogher; good-morrow, sirrahs.--Night. +I dined to-day at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, being a rainy day; and Lady Betty +Butler, knowing it, sent to let me know she expected my company in the +evening, where the Vans (so we call them) were to be. The Duchess(5) and +they do not go over this summer with the Duke; so I go to bed. + +2. This rainy weather undoes me in coaches and chairs. I was traipsing +to-day with your Mr. Sterne, to go along with them to Moore,(6) and +recommend his business to the Treasury. Sterne tells me his dependence +is wholly on me; but I have absolutely refused to recommend it to Mr. +Harley, because I have troubled him lately so much with other folks' +affairs; and besides, to tell the truth, Mr. Harley told me he did not +like Sterne's business: however, I will serve him, because I suppose MD +would have me. But, in saying his dependence lies wholly on me, he lies, +and is a fool. I dined with Lord Abercorn, whose son Peasley(7) will be +married at Easter to ten thousand pounds. + +3. I forgot to tell you that yesterday morning I was at Mr. Harley's +levee: he swore I came in spite, to see him among a parcel of fools. +My business was to desire I might let the Duke of Ormond know how the +affair stood of the First-Fruits. He promised to let him know it, +and engaged me to dine with him to-day. Every Saturday, Lord Keeper, +Secretary St. John, and I dine with him, and sometimes Lord Rivers; and +they let in none else. Patrick brought me some letters into the Park; +among which one was from Walls; and t'other, yes, faith, t'other was +from our little MD, N.11. I read the rest in the Park, and MD's in a +chair as I went from St. James's to Mr. Harley; and glad enough I was, +faith, to read it, and see all right. Oh, but I won't answer it these +three or four days at least, or may be sooner. An't I silly? faith, your +letters would make a dog silly, if I had a dog to be silly, but it must +be a little dog.--I stayed with Mr. Harley till past nine, where we had +much discourse together after the rest were gone; and I gave him very +truly my opinion where he desired it. He complained he was not very +well, and has engaged me to dine with him again on Monday. So I came +home afoot, like a fine gentleman, to tell you all this. + +4. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. John; and after dinner he had +a note from Mr. Harley, that he was much out of order.(8) Pray God +preserve his health! everything depends upon it. The Parliament at +present cannot go a step without him, nor the Queen neither. I long +to be in Ireland; but the Ministry beg me to stay: however, when this +Parliament lurry(9) is over, I will endeavour to steal away; by which +time I hope the First-Fruit business will be done. This kingdom is +certainly ruined as much as was ever any bankrupt merchant. We must have +peace, let it be a bad or a good one, though nobody dares talk of it. +The nearer I look upon things, the worse I like them. I believe +the confederacy will soon break to pieces, and our factions at home +increase. The Ministry is upon a very narrow bottom, and stand like an +isthmus, between the Whigs on one side, and violent Tories on the other. +They are able seamen; but the tempest is too great, the ship too rotten, +and the crew all against them. Lord Somers has been twice in the Queen's +closet, once very lately; and your Duchess of Somerset,(10) who now has +the key, is a most insinuating woman; and I believe they will endeavour +to play the same game that has been played against them.--I have told +them of all this, which they know already, but they cannot help it. +They have cautioned the Queen so much against being governed, that she +observes it too much. I could talk till to-morrow upon these things, but +they make me melancholy. I could not but observe that lately, after much +conversation with Mr. Harley, though he is the most fearless man alive, +and the least apt to despond, he confessed to me that uttering his mind +to me gave him ease. + +5. Mr. Harley continues out of order, yet his affairs force him abroad: +he is subject to a sore throat, and was cupped last night: I sent and +called two or three times. I hear he is better this evening. I dined +to-day in the City with Dr. Freind at a third body's house, where I was +to pass for somebody else; and there was a plaguy silly jest carried on, +that made me sick of it. Our weather grows fine, and I will walk like +camomile. And pray walk you to your Dean's, or your Stoyte's, or your +Manley's, or your Walls'. But your new lodgings make you so proud, you +will walk less than ever. Come, let me go to bed, sirrahs. + +6. Mr. Harley's going out yesterday has put him a little backwards. I +called twice, and sent, for I am in pain for him. Ford caught me, and +made me dine with him on his Opera-day; so I brought Mr. Lewis with +me, and sat with him till six. I have not seen Mr. Addison these three +weeks; all our friendship is over. I go to no Coffee-house. I presented +a parson of the Bishop of Clogher's, one Richardson,(11) to the Duke of +Ormond to-day: he is translating prayers and sermons into Irish, and has +a project about instructing the Irish in the Protestant religion. + +7. Morning. Faith, a little would make me, I could find in my heart, if +it were not for one thing, I have a good mind, if I had not something +else to do, I would answer your dear saucy letter. O, Lord, I am going +awry with writing in bed. O, faith, but I must answer it, or I shan't +have room, for it must go on Saturday; and don't think I will fill the +third side, I an't come to that yet, young women. Well then, as for your +Bernage, I have said enough: I writ to him last week.--Turn over that +leaf. Now, what says MD to the world to come? I tell you, Madam Stella, +my head is a great deal better, and I hope will keep so. How came yours +to be fifteen days coming, and you had my fifteenth in seven? Answer me +that, rogues. Your being with Goody Walls is excuse enough: I find I was +mistaken in the sex, 'tis a boy.(12) Yes, I understand your cypher, +and Stella guesses right, as she always does. He(13) gave me al bsadnuk +lboinlpl dfaonr ufainf btoy dpionufnad,(14) which I sent him again by +Mr. Lewis, to whom I writ a very complaining letter that was showed him; +and so the matter ended. He told me he had a quarrel with me; I said I +had another with him, and we returned to our friendship, and I should +think he loves me as well as a great Minister can love a man in so +short a time. Did not I do right? I am glad at heart you have got your +palsy-water;(15) pray God Almighty it may do my dearest little Stella +good! I suppose Mrs. Edgworth set out last Monday se'ennight. Yes, I do +read the Examiners, and they are written very finely, as you judge. I +do not think they are too severe on the Duke;(16) they only tax him of +avarice, and his avarice has ruined us. You may count upon all things in +them to be true. The author has said it is not Prior, but perhaps it +may be Atterbury.--Now, Madam Dingley, says she, 'tis fine weather, says +she; yes, says she, and we have got to our new lodgings. I compute you +ought to save eight pounds by being in the others five months; and you +have no more done it than eight thousand. I am glad you are rid of that +squinting, blinking Frenchman. I will give you a bill on Parvisol for +five pounds for the half-year. And must I go on at four shillings a +week, and neither eat nor drink for it? Who the Devil said Atterbury and +your Dean were alike? I never saw your Chancellor, nor his chaplain. +The latter has a good deal of learning, and is a well-wisher to be an +author: your Chancellor is an excellent man. As for Patrick's bird, he +bought him for his tameness, and is grown the wildest I ever saw. His +wings have been quilled thrice, and are now up again: he will be able +to fly after us to Ireland, if he be willing.--Yes, Mrs. Stella, Dingley +writes more like Presto than you; for all you superscribed the letter, +as who should say, Why should not I write like our Presto as well as +Dingley? You with your awkward SS;(17) cannot you write them thus, SS? +No, but always SSS. Spiteful sluts, to affront Presto's writing; as that +when you shut your eyes you write most like Presto. I know the time when +I did not write to you half so plain as I do now; but I take pity on you +both. I am very much concerned for Mrs. Walls's eyes. Walls says nothing +of it to me in his letter dated after yours. You say, "If she recovers, +she may lose her sight." I hope she is in no danger of her life. Yes, +Ford is as sober as I please: I use him to walk with me as an easy +companion, always ready for what I please, when I am weary of business +and Ministers. I don't go to a Coffee-house twice a month. I am very +regular in going to sleep before eleven.--And so you say that Stella +is a pretty girl; and so she be, and methinks I see her just now as +handsome as the day is long. Do you know what? when I am writing in +our language, I make up my mouth just as if I was speaking it. I caught +myself at it just now. And I suppose Dingley is so fair and so fresh as +a lass in May, and has her health, and no spleen.--In your account +you sent do you reckon as usual from the 1st of November(18) was +twelvemonth? Poor Stella, will not Dingley leave her a little daylight +to write to Presto? Well, well, we'll have daylight shortly, spite of +her teeth; and zoo(19) must cly Lele and Hele, and Hele aden. Must loo +mimitate Pdfr, pay? Iss, and so la shall. And so lele's fol ee rettle. +Dood-mollow.--At night. Mrs. Barton sent this morning to invite me to +dinner; and there I dined, just in that genteel manner that MD used when +they would treat some better sort of body than usual. + +8. O dear MD, my heart is almost broken. You will hear the thing +before this comes to you. I writ a full account of it this night to the +Archbishop of Dublin; and the Dean may tell you the particulars from +the Archbishop. I was in a sorry way to write, but thought it might be +proper to send a true account of the fact; for you will hear a thousand +lying circumstances. It is of Mr. Harley's being stabbed this afternoon, +at three o'clock, at a Committee of the Council. I was playing Lady +Catharine Morris's(20) cards, where I dined, when young Arundel(21) came +in with the story. I ran away immediately to the Secretary, which was +in my way: no one was at home. I met Mrs. St. John in her chair; she had +heard it imperfectly. I took a chair to Mr. Harley, who was asleep, and +they hope in no danger; but he has been out of order, and was so when he +came abroad to-day, and it may put him in a fever: I am in mortal pain +for him. That desperate French villain, Marquis de Guiscard,(22) stabbed +Mr. Harley. Guiscard was taken up by Mr. Secretary St. John's warrant +for high treason, and brought before the Lords to be examined; there +he stabbed Mr. Harley. I have told all the particulars already to the +Archbishop. I have now, at nine, sent again, and they tell me he is in a +fair way. Pray pardon my distraction; I now think of all his kindness to +me.--The poor creature now lies stabbed in his bed by a desperate French +Popish villain. Good-night, and God preserve you both, and pity me; I +want it. + +9. Morning; seven, in bed. Patrick is just come from Mr. Harley's. He +slept well till four; the surgeon sat(23) up with him: he is asleep +again: he felt a pain in his wound when he waked: they apprehend him in +no danger. This account the surgeon left with the porter, to tell +people that send. Pray God preserve him. I am rising, and going to Mr. +Secretary St. John. They say Guiscard will die with the wounds Mr. St. +John and the rest gave him. I shall tell you more at night.--Night. +Mr. Harley still continues on the mending hand; but he rested ill last +night, and felt pain. I was early with the Secretary this morning, and I +dined with him, and he told me several particularities of this accident, +too long to relate now. Mr. Harley is still mending this evening, but +not at all out of danger; and till then I can have no peace. Good-night, +etc., and pity Presto. + +10. Mr. Harley was restless last night; but he has no fever, and the +hopes of his mending increase. I had a letter from Mr. Walls, and one +from Mr. Bernage. I will answer them here, not having time to write. Mr. +Walls writes about three things. First, about a hundred pounds from +Dr. Raymond, of which I hear nothing, and it is now too late. Secondly, +about Mr. Clements:(24) I can do nothing in it, because I am not to +mention Mr. Pratt; and I cannot recommend without knowing Mr. Pratt's +objections, whose relation Clements is, and who brought him into the +place. The third is about my being godfather to the child:(25) that +is in my power, and (since there is no remedy) will submit. I wish you +could hinder it; but if it can't be helped, pay what you think proper, +and get the Provost to stand for me, and let his Christian name be +Harley, in honour of my friend, now lying stabbed and doubtful of his +life. As for Bernage, he writes me word that his colonel has offered to +make him captain-lieutenant for a hundred pounds. He was such a fool to +offer him money without writing to me till it was done, though I have +had a dozen letters from him; and then he desires I would say nothing of +this, for fear his colonel should be angry. People are mad. What can +I do? I engaged Colonel Disney, who was one of his solicitors to the +Secretary, and then told him the story. He assured me that Fielding +(Bernage's colonel) said he might have got that sum; but, on account of +those great recommendations he had, would give it him for nothing: and I +would have Bernage write him a letter of thanks, as of a thing given him +for nothing, upon recommendations, etc. Disney tells me he will again +speak to Fielding, and clear up this matter; then I will write to +Bernage. A pox on him for promising money till I had it promised to me; +and then making it such a ticklish point, that one cannot expostulate +with the colonel upon it: but let him do as I say, and there is an +end. I engaged the Secretary of State in it; and am sure it was meant a +kindness to me, and that no money should be given, and a hundred pounds +is too much in a Smithfield bargain,(26) as a major-general told me, +whose opinion I asked. I am now hurried, and can say no more. Farewell, +etc. etc. + +How shall I superscribe to your new lodgings, pray, madams? Tell me but +that, impudence and saucy-face. + +Are not you sauceboxes to write "lele"(27) like Presto? O poor Presto! + +Mr. Harley is better to-night, that makes me so pert, you saucy Gog and +Magog. + + + + +LETTER 18. + +LONDON, March 10, 1710-11. + +Pretty little MD must expect little from me till Mr. Harley is out of +danger. We hope he is so now; but I am subject to fear for my friends. +He has a head full of the whole business of the nation, was out of order +when the villain stabbed him, and had a cruel contusion by the second +blow. But all goes on well yet. Mr. Ford and I dined with Mr. Lewis, and +we hope the best. + +11. This morning Mr. Secretary and I met at Court, where he went to +the Queen, who is out of order, and aguish: I doubt the worse for this +accident to Mr. Harley. We went together to his house, and his wound +looks well, and he is not feverish at all, and I think it is foolish in +me to be so much in pain as I am. I had the penknife in my hand, which +is broken within a quarter of an inch of the handle. I have a mind to +write and publish an account of all the particularities of this fact:(1) +it will be very curious, and I would do it when Mr. Harley is past +danger. + +12. We have been in terrible pain to-day about Mr. Harley, who never +slept last night, and has been very feverish. But this evening I called +there; and young Mr. Harley (his only son) tells me he is now much +better, and was then asleep. They let nobody see him, and that is +perfectly right. The Parliament cannot go on till he is well, and are +forced to adjourn their money businesses, which none but he can help +them in. Pray God preserve him. + +13. Mr. Harley is better to-day, slept well all night, and we are a +little out of our fears. I send and call three or four times every day. +I went into the City for a walk, and dined there with a private man; and +coming home this evening, broke my shin in the Strand over a tub of sand +left just in the way. I got home dirty enough, and went straight to +bed, where I have been cooking it with gold-beater's skin, and have been +peevish enough with Patrick, who was near an hour bringing a rag from +next door. It is my right shin, where never any humour fell when t'other +used to swell; so I apprehend it less: however, I shall not stir till +'tis well, which I reckon will be in a week. I am very careful in these +sort of things; but I wish I had Mrs. J----'s water:(2) she is out +of town, and I must make a shift with alum. I will dine with Mrs. +Vanhomrigh till I am well, who lives but five doors off; and that I may +venture. + +14. My journals are like to be very diverting, now I cannot stir abroad, +between accounts of Mr. Harley's mending, and of my broken shin. I just +walked to my neighbour Vanhomrigh at two, and came away at six, when +little Harrison the Tatler came to me, and begged me to dictate a paper +to him, which I was forced in charity to do. Mr. Harley still mends; +and I hope in a day or two to trouble you no more with him, nor with my +shin. Go to bed and sleep, sirrahs, that you may rise to-morrow and walk +to Donnybrook, and lose your money with Stoyte and the Dean; do so, +dear little rogues, and drink Presto's health. O pray, don't you drink +Presto's health sometimes with your deans, and your Stoytes, and your +Walls, and your Manleys, and your everybodies, pray now? I drink MD's to +myself a hundred thousand times. + +15. I was this morning at Mr. Secretary St. John's for all my shin; and +he has given me for young Harrison the Tatler the prettiest employment +in Europe; secretary to my Lord Raby,(3) who is to be Ambassador +Extraordinary at the Hague, where all the great affairs will be +concerted; so we shall lose the Tatlers in a fortnight. I will send +Harrison to-morrow morning to thank the Secretary. Poor Biddy Floyd(4) +has got the smallpox. I called this morning to see Lady Betty Germaine, +and when she told me so, I fairly took my leave. I have the luck of +it;(5) for about ten days ago I was to see Lord Carteret;(6) and my lady +was entertaining me with telling of a young lady, a cousin, who was then +ill in the house of the smallpox, and is since dead: it was near Lady +Betty's, and I fancy Biddy took the fright by it. I dined with Mr. +Secretary; and a physician came in just from Guiscard, who tells us he +is dying of his wounds, and can hardly live till to-morrow. A poor wench +that Guiscard kept, sent him a bottle of sack; but the keeper would +not let him touch it, for fear it was poison. He had two quarts of old +clotted blood come out of his side to-day, and is delirious. I am sorry +he is dying; for they had found out a way to hang him. He certainly had +an intention to murder the Queen. + +16. I have made but little progress in this letter for so many days, +thanks to Guiscard and Mr. Harley; and it would be endless to tell you +all the particulars of that odious fact. I do not yet hear that Guiscard +is dead, but they say 'tis impossible he should recover. I walked too +much yesterday for a man with a broken shin; to-day I rested, and went +no farther than Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, where I dined; and Lady Betty Butler +coming in about six, I was forced in good manners to sit with her till +nine; then I came home, and Mr. Ford came in to visit my shin, and sat +with me till eleven: so I have been very idle and naughty. It vexes me +to the pluck(7) that I should lose walking this delicious day. Have +you seen the Spectator(8) yet, a paper that comes out every day? 'Tis +written by Mr. Steele, who seems to have gathered new life, and have a +new fund of wit; it is in the same nature as his Tatlers, and they have +all of them had something pretty. I believe Addison and he club. I never +see them; and I plainly told Mr. Harley and Mr. St. John, ten days ago, +before my Lord Keeper and Lord Rivers, that I had been foolish enough +to spend my credit with them in favour of Addison and Steele; but that +I would engage and promise never to say one word in their behalf, having +been used so ill for what I had already done.--So, now I am got into the +way of prating again, there will be no quiet for me. + + When Presto begins to prate, + Give him a rap upon the pate. + +O Lord, how I blot! it is time to leave off, etc. + +17. Guiscard died this morning at two; and the coroner's inquest have +found that he was killed by bruises received from a messenger, so to +clear the Cabinet Councillors from whom he received his wounds. I had a +letter from Raymond, who cannot hear of your box; but I hope you have +it before this comes to your hands. I dined to-day with Mr. Lewis of the +Secretary's office. Mr. Harley has abundance of extravasated blood comes +from his breast out of his wound, and will not be well so soon as we +expected. I had something to say, but cannot call it to mind. (What was +it?) + +18. I was to-day at Court to look for the Duke of Argyle, and gave him +the memorial about Bernage. The Duke goes with the first fair wind. I +could not find him, but I have given the memorial to another to give +him; and, however, it shall be sent after him. Bernage has made a +blunder in offering money to his colonel without my advice; however, he +is made captain-lieutenant, only he must recruit the company, which +will cost him forty pounds, and that is cheaper than an hundred. I dined +to-day with Mr. Secretary St. John, and stayed till seven, but would not +drink his champagne and burgundy, for fear of the gout. My shin mends, +but is not well. I hope it will by the time I send this letter, next +Saturday. + +19. I went to-day into the City, but in a coach, and sossed(9) up my +leg on the seat; and as I came home, I went to see poor Charles +Barnard's(10) books, which are to be sold by auction, and I itch to lay +out nine or ten pounds for some fine editions of fine authors. But +'tis too far, and I shall let it slip, as I usually do all such +opportunities. I dined in a coffee-house with Stratford upon chops and +some of his wine. Where did MD dine? Why, poor MD dined at home to-day, +because of the Archbishop, and they could not go abroad, and had a +breast of mutton and a pint of wine. I hope Mrs. Walls mends; and pray +give me an account what sort of godfather I made, and whether I behaved +myself handsomely. The Duke of Argyle is gone; and whether he has my +memorial, I know not, till I see Dr. Arbuthnot,(11) to whom I gave it. +That hard name belongs to a Scotch doctor, an acquaintance of the Duke's +and me; Stella can't pronounce it. Oh that we were at Laracor this fine +day! the willows begin to peep, and the quicks to bud. My dream is out: +I was a-dreamed last night that I ate ripe cherries.--And now they +begin to catch the pikes, and will shortly the trouts (pox on these +Ministers!)--and I would fain know whether the floods were ever so high +as to get over the holly bank or the river walk; if so, then all my +pikes are gone; but I hope not. Why don't you ask Parvisol these things, +sirrahs? And then my canal, and trouts, and whether the bottom be fine +and clear? But harkee, ought not Parvisol to pay in my last year's rents +and arrears out of his hands? I am thinking, if either of you have heads +to take his accounts, it should be paid in to you; otherwise to Mr. +Walls. I will write an order on t'other side; and do as you will. Here's +a world of business; but I must go sleep, I'm drowsy; and so goodnight, +etc. + +20. This sore shin ruins me in coach-hire; no less than two shillings +to-day going and coming from the City, where I dined with one you never +heard of, and passed an insipid day. I writ this post to Bernage, with +the account I told you above. I hope he will like it; 'tis his own +fault, or it would have been better. I reckon your next letter will +be full of Mr. Harley's stabbing. He still mends, but abundance of +extravasated blood has come out of the wound: he keeps his bed, and sees +nobody. The Speaker's eldest son(12) is just dead of the smallpox, and +the House is adjourned a week, to give him time to wipe off his tears. +I think it very handsomely done; but I believe one reason is, that they +want Mr. Harley so much. Biddy Floyd is like to do well: and so go to +your Dean's, and roast his oranges, and lose your money, do so, you +saucy sluts. Stella, you lost three shillings and fourpence t'other +night at Stoyte's, yes, you did, and Presto stood in a corner, and +saw you all the while, and then stole away. I dream very often I am in +Ireland, and that I have left my clothes and things behind me, and have +not taken leave of anybody; and that the Ministry expect me tomorrow, +and such nonsense. + +21. I would not for a guinea have a letter from you till this goes; and +go it shall on Saturday, faith. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, to save my +shin, and then went on some business to the Secretary, and he was not at +home. + +22. Yesterday was a short day's journal: but what care I? what cares +saucy Presto? Darteneuf(13) invited me to dinner to-day. Do not you +know Darteneuf? That's the man that knows everything, and that everybody +knows; and that knows where a knot of rabble are going on a holiday, and +when they were there last: and then I went to the Coffee-house. My shin +mends, but is not quite healed: I ought to keep it up, but I don't; I +e'en let it go as it comes. Pox take Parvisol and his watch! If I do +not receive the ten-pound bill I am to get towards it, I will neither +receive watch nor chain; so let Parvisol know. + +23. I this day appointed the Duke of Ormond to meet him at Ned +Southwell's, about an affair of printing Irish Prayer-Books, etc.,(14) +but the Duke never came. There Southwell had letters that two packets +are taken; so if MD writ then, the letters are gone; for they are +packets coming hither. Mr. Harley is not yet well, but his extravasated +blood continues, and I doubt he will not be quite well in a good while: +I find you have heard of the fact by Southwell's letters from Ireland: +what do you think of it? I dined with Sir John Perceval,(15) and saw his +lady sitting in the bed, in the forms of a lying-in woman; and coming +home my sore shin itched, and I forgot what it was, and rubbed off the +scab, and blood came; but I am now got into bed, and have put on alum +curd, and it is almost well. Lord Rivers told me yesterday a piece of +bad news, as a secret, that the Pretender is going to be married to +the Duke of Savoy's daughter.(16) 'Tis very bad if it be true. We were +walking in the Mall with some Scotch lords, and he could not tell it +until they were gone, and he bade me tell it to none but the Secretary +of State and MD. This goes tomorrow, and I have no room but to bid my +dearest little MD good-night. 24. I will now seal up this letter, and +send it; for I reckon to have none from you ('tis morning now) between +this and night; and I will put it in the post with my own hands. I am +going out in great haste; so farewell, etc. + + + + +LETTER 19. + +LONDON, March 24, 1710-11. + +It was a little cross in Presto not to send to-day to the Coffee-house +to see whether there was a letter from MD before I sent away mine; but, +faith, I did it on purpose, because I would scorn to answer two letters +of yours successively. This way of journal is the worst in the world for +writing of news, unless one does it the last day; and so I will observe +henceforward, if there be any politics or stuff worth sending. My shin +mends in spite of the scratching last night. I dined to-day at +Ned Southwell's with the Bishop of Ossory(1) and a parcel of Irish +gentlemen. Have you yet seen any of the Spectators? Just three weeks +to-day since I had your last, N.11. I am afraid I have lost one by the +packet that was taken; that will vex me, considering the pains MD take +to write, especially poor pretty Stella, and her weak eyes. God bless +them and the owner, and send them well, and little me together, I hope +ere long. This illness of Mr. Harley puts everything backwards, and he +is still down, and like to be so, by that extravasated blood which comes +from his breast to the wound: it was by the second blow Guiscard +gave him after the penknife was broken. I am shocked at that villainy +whenever I think of it. Biddy Floyd is past danger, but will lose all +her beauty: she had them mighty thick, especially about her nose. + +25. Morning. I wish you a merry New Year; this is the first day of the +year, you know, with us, and 'tis Lady-day. I must rise and go to my +Lord Keeper: it is not shaving-day to-day, so I shall be early. I am +to dine with Mr. Secretary St. John. Good-morrow, my mistresses +both, good-morrow. Stella will be peeping out of her room at Mrs. De +Caudres'(2) down upon the folks as they come from church; and there +comes Mrs. Proby,(3) and that is my Lady Southwell,(4) and there is +Lady Betty Rochfort.(5) I long to hear how you are settled in your new +lodgings. I wish I were rid of my old ones, and that Mrs. Brent could +contrive to put up my books in boxes, and lodge them in some safe place, +and you keep my papers of importance. But I must rise, I tell you.--At +night. So I visited and dined as I told you, and what of that? We have +let Guiscard be buried at last, after showing him pickled in a trough +this fortnight for twopence apiece: and the fellow that showed would +point to his body, and, "See, gentlemen, this is the wound that was +given him by his Grace the Duke of Ormond; and this is the wound," etc., +and then the show was over, and another set of rabble came in. 'Tis hard +our laws would not suffer us to hang his body in chains, because he +was not tried; and in the eye of our law every man is innocent till +then.--Mr. Harley is still very weak, and never out of bed. + +26. This was a most delicious day; and my shin being past danger, I +walked like lightning above two hours in the Park. We have generally one +fair day, and then a great deal of rain for three or four days together. +All things are at a stop in Parliament for want of Mr. Harley; they +cannot stir an inch without him in their most material affairs: and +we fear, by the caprice of Radcliffe, who will admit none but his own +surgeon,(6) he has not been well looked after. I dined at an alehouse +with Mr. Lewis, but had his wine. Don't you begin to see the flowers and +blossoms of the field? How busy should I be now at Laracor! No news +of your box? I hope you have it, and are this minute drinking the +chocolate, and that the smell of the Brazil tobacco has not affected it. +I would be glad to know whether you like it, because I would send you +more by people that are now every day thinking of going to Ireland; +therefore pray tell me, and tell me soon: and I will have the strong +box. + +27. A rainy, wretched, scurvy day from morning till night: and my +neighbour Vanhomrigh invited me to dine with them and this evening I +passed at Mr. Prior's with Dr. Freind; and 'tis now past twelve, so I +must go sleep. + +28. Morning. O, faith, you're an impudent saucy couple of sluttikins for +presuming to write so soon, said I to myself this morning; who knows but +there may be a letter from MD at the Coffee-house? Well, you must know, +and so, I just now sent Patrick, and he brought me three letters, but +not one from MD, no indeed, for I read all the superscriptions; and +not one from MD. One I opened, it was from the Archbishop;(7) t'other +I opened, it was from Staunton;(8) the third I took, and looked at the +hand. Whose hand is this? says I; yes, says I, whose hand is this? Then +there was wax between the folds; then I began to suspect; then I peeped; +faith, it was Walls's hand after all: then I opened it in a rage, and +then it was little MD's hand, dear, little, pretty, charming MD's sweet +hand again. O Lord, an't here a clutter and a stir, and a bustle? never +saw the like. Faith, I believe yours lay some days at the post-office, +and that it came before my eighteenth went, but that I did not expect +it, and I hardly ever go there. Well, and so you think I'll answer this +letter now; no, faith, and so I won't. I'll make you wait, young women; +but I'll inquire immediately about poor Dingley's exchequer trangum.(9) +What, is that Vedel again a soldier? was he broke? I'll put it in Ben +Tooke's hand. I hope Vedel could not sell it.--At night. Vedel, Vedel, +poh, pox, I think it is Vedeau;(10) ay, Vedeau, now I have it; let me +see, do you name him in yours? Yes, Mr. John Vedeau is the brother; but +where does this brother live? I'll inquire. This was a fast-day for the +public; so I dined late with Sir Matthew Dudley, whom I have not been +with a great while. He is one of those that must lose his employment +whenever the great shake comes; and I can't contribute to keep him in, +though I have dropped words in his favour to the Ministry; but he is too +violent a Whig, and friend to the Lord Treasurer,(11) to stay in. 'Tis +odd to think how long they let those people keep their places; but the +reason is, they have not enough to satisfy all expecters, and so they +keep them all in hopes, that they may be good boys in the meantime; and +thus the old ones hold in still. The Comptroller(12) told me that there +are eight people expect his staff. I walked after dinner to-day round +the Park. What, do I write politics to little young women? Hold your +tongue, and go to your Dean's. + +29. Morning. If this be a fine day, I will walk into the City, and see +Charles Barnard's library. What care I for your letter, saucy N.12? I +will say nothing to it yet: faith, I believe this will be full before +its time, and then go it must. I will always write once a fortnight; and +if it goes sooner by filling sooner, why, then there is so much clear +gain. Morrow, morrow, rogues and lasses both, I can't lie scribbling +here in bed for your play; I must rise, and so morrow again.--At night. +Your friend Montgomery and his sister are here, as I am told by Patrick. +I have seen him often, but take no notice of him: he is grown very ugly +and pimpled. They tell me he is a gamester, and wins money.--How could I +help it, pray? Patrick snuffed the candle too short, and the grease ran +down upon the paper.(13) It an't my fault, 'tis Patrick's fault; pray +now don't blame Presto. I walked today in the City, and dined at a +private house, and went to see the auction of poor Charles Barnard's +books; they were in the middle of the physic books, so I bought none; +and they are so dear, I believe I shall buy none, and there is an end; +and go to Stoyte's, and I'll go sleep. + +30. Morning. This is Good Friday, you must know; and I must rise and go +to Mr. Secretary about some business, and Mrs. Vanhomrigh desires me to +breakfast with her, because she is to intercede for Patrick, who is so +often drunk and quarrelsome in the house, that I was resolved to send +him over; but he knows all the places where I send, and is so used to my +ways, that it would be inconvenient to me; but when I come to Ireland, +I will discharge him.(14) Sir Thomas Mansel,(15) one of the Lords of the +Treasury, setting me down at my door to-day, saw Patrick, and swore he +was a Teague-lander.(16) I am so used to his face, I never observed it, +but thought him a pretty fellow. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I supped this +fast-day with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. We were afraid Mr. Harley's wound would +turn to a fistula; but we think the danger is now past. He rises +every day, and walks about his room, and we hope he will be out in a +fortnight. Prior showed me a handsome paper of verses he has writ on Mr. +Harley's accident:(17) they are not out; I will send them to you, if he +will give me a copy. + +31. Morning. What shall we do to make April fools this year, now it +happens on Sunday? Patrick brings word that Mr. Harley still mends, and +is up every day. I design to see him in a few days: and he brings me +word too that he has found out Vedeau's brother's shop: I shall call +there in a day or two. It seems the wife lodges next door to the +brother. I doubt the scoundrel was broke, and got a commission, or +perhaps is a volunteer gentleman, and expects to get one by his valour. +Morrow, sirrahs, let me rise.--At night. I dined to-day with Sir Thomas +Mansel. We were walking in the Park, and Mr. Lewis came to us. Mansel +asked where we dined. We said, "Together." He said, we should dine with +him, only his wife(18) desired him to bring nobody, because she had only +a leg of mutton. I said I would dine with him to choose; but he would +send a servant to order a plate or two: yet this man has ten thousand +pounds a year in land, and is a Lord of the Treasury, and is not +covetous neither, but runs out merely by slattering(19) and negligence. +The worst dinner I ever saw at the Dean's was better: but so it is with +abundance of people here. I called at night at Mr. Harley's, who begins +to walk in his room with a stick, but is mighty weak.--See how much I +have lost with that ugly grease.(20) 'Tis your fault, pray; and I'll go +to bed. + +April 1. The Duke of Buckingham's house fell down last night with an +earthquake, and is half swallowed up; won't you go and see it?--An April +fool, an April fool, oh ho, young women. Well, don't be angry. I will +make you an April fool no more till the next time; we had no sport here, +because it is Sunday, and Easter Sunday. I dined with the Secretary, who +seemed terribly down and melancholy, which Mr. Prior and Lewis observed +as well as I: perhaps something is gone wrong; perhaps there is nothing +in it. God bless my own dearest MD, and all is well. + +2. We have such windy weather, 'tis troublesome walking, yet all the +rabble have got into our Park these Easter holidays. I am plagued with +one Richardson, an Irish parson, and his project of printing Irish +Bibles, etc., to make you Christians in that country: I befriend him +what I can, on account of the Archbishop and Bishop of Clogher.--But +what business have I to meddle, etc. Do not you remember that, sirrah +Stella? what was that about, when you thought I was meddling with +something that was not my business? O, faith, you are an impudent slut, +I remember your doings, I'll never forget you as long as I live. Lewis +and I dined together at his lodgings. But where's the answer to this +letter of MD's? O, faith, Presto, you must think of that. Time enough, +says saucy Presto. + +3. I was this morning to see Mrs. Barton: I love her better than anybody +here, and see her seldomer. Why, really now, so it often happens in the +world, that where one loves a body best--pshah, pshah, you are so silly +with your moral observations. Well, but she told me a very good story. +An old gentlewoman died here two months ago, and left in her will, to +have eight men and eight maids bearers, who should have two guineas +apiece, ten guineas to the parson for a sermon, and two guineas to the +clerk. But bearers, parson, and clerk must be all true virgins; and +not to be admitted till they took their oaths of virginity: so the +poor woman still lies unburied, and so must do till the general +resurrection.--I called at Mr. Secretary's, to see what the D---- ailed +him on Sunday. I made him a very proper speech; told him I observed +he was much out of temper; that I did not expect he would tell me the +cause, but would be glad to see he was in better; and one thing I warned +him of, never to appear cold to me, for I would not be treated like a +schoolboy; that I had felt too much of that in my life already (meaning +from Sir William Temple); that I expected every great Minister who +honoured me with his acquaintance, if he heard or saw anything to my +disadvantage, would let me know it in plain words, and not put me in +pain to guess by the change or coldness of his countenance or behaviour; +for it was what I would hardly bear from a crowned head, and I thought +no subject's favour was worth it; and that I designed to let my Lord +Keeper(21) and Mr. Harley know the same thing, that they might use me +accordingly. He took all right; said I had reason; vowed nothing ailed +him but sitting up whole nights at business, and one night at drinking; +would have had me dine with him and Mrs. Masham's brother, to make up +matters; but I would not. I don't know, but I would not. But indeed I +was engaged with my old friend Rollinson;(22) you never heard of him +before. + +4. I sometimes look a line or two back, and see plaguy mistakes of the +pen; how do you get over them? You are puzzled sometimes. Why, I think +what I said to Mr. Secretary was right. Don't you remember how I used to +be in pain when Sir William Temple would look cold and out of humour +for three or four days, and I used to suspect a hundred reasons? I have +plucked up my spirit since then, faith; he spoilt a fine gentleman. I +dined with my neighbour Vanhomrigh, and MD, poor MD, at home on a loin +of mutton and half a pint of wine, and the mutton was raw, poor Stella +could not eat, poor dear rogue, and Dingley was so vexed; but we will +dine at Stoyte's to-morrow. Mr. Harley promised to see me in a day or +two, so I called this evening; but his son and others were abroad, and +he asleep, so I came away, and found out Mrs. Vedeau. She drew out a +letter from Dingley, and said she would get a friend to receive the +money. I told her I would employ Mr. Tooke in it henceforward. Her +husband bought a lieutenancy of foot, and is gone to Portugal. He sold +his share of the shop to his brother, and put out the money to maintain +her, all but what bought the commission. She lodges within two doors +of her brother. She told me it made her very melancholy to change her +manner of life thus, but trade was dead, etc. She says she will write to +you soon. I design to engage Ben Tooke, and then receive the parchment +from her.--I gave Mr. Dopping a copy of Prior's verses on Mr. Harley; he +sent them yesterday to Ireland, so go look for them, for I won't be at +the trouble to transcribe them here. They will be printed in a day or +two. Give my hearty service to Stoyte and Catherine: upon my word I love +them dearly, and desire you will tell them so: pray desire Goody Stoyte +not to let Mrs. Walls and Mrs. Johnson cheat her of her money at ombre, +but assure her from me that she is a bungler. Dine with her to-day, and +tell her so, and drink my health, and good voyage, and speedy return, +and so you're a rogue. + +5. Morning. Now let us proceed to examine a saucy letter from one Madam +MD.--God Almighty bless poor dear Stella, and send her a great many +birthdays, all happy, and healthy, and wealthy, and with me ever +together, and never asunder again, unless by chance. When I find you are +happy or merry there, it makes me so here, and I can hardly imagine you +absent when I am reading your letter, or writing to you. No, faith, you +are just here upon this little paper, and therefore I see and talk with +you every evening constantly, and sometimes in the morning, but +not always in the morning, because that is not so modest to young +ladies.--What, you would fain palm a letter on me more than you sent: +and I, like a fool, must look over all yours, to see whether this was +really N.12, or more. (Patrick has this moment brought me letters from +the Bishop of Clogher and Parvisol; my heart was at my mouth for fear of +one from MD; what a disgrace would it be to have two of yours to answer +together! But, faith, this shall go to-night, for fear; and then come +when it will, I defy it.) No, you are not naughty at all, write when you +are disposed. And so the Dean told you the story of Mr. Harley from the +Archbishop; I warrant it never spoiled your supper, or broke off your +game. Nor yet, have not you the box? I wish Mrs. Edgworth had the -----. +But you have it now, I suppose; and is the chocolate good, or has the +tobacco spoilt it? Leigh stays till Sterne has done his business, no +longer; and when that will be, God knows: I befriend him as much as I +can, but Harley's accident stops that as well as all things else. You +guess, Madam Dingley, that I shall stay a round twelvemonth; as hope +saved, I would come over, if I could, this minute; but we will talk of +that by and by. Your affair of Vedeau I have told you of already; now +to the next, turn over the leaf. Mrs. Dobbins lies, I have no more +provision here or in Ireland than I had. I am pleased that Stella the +conjurer approves what I did with Mr. Harley;(23) but your generosity +makes me mad; I know you repine inwardly at Presto's absence; you think +he has broken his word of coming in three months, and that this is +always his trick; and now Stella says she does not see possibly how I +can come away in haste, and that MD is satisfied, etc. An't you a rogue +to overpower me thus? I did not expect to find such friends as I +have done. They may indeed deceive me too. But there are important +reasons (Pox on this grease, this candle tallow!) why they should +not.(24) I have been used barbarously by the late Ministry; I am a +little piqued in honour to let people see I am not to be despised. The +assurances they give me, without any scruple or provocation, are such +as are usually believed in the world; they may come to nothing, but the +first opportunity that offers, and is neglected, I shall depend no more, +but come away. I could say a thousand things on this head, if I were +with you. I am thinking why Stella should not go to the Bath, if she be +told it will do her good. I will make Parvisol get up fifty pounds, and +pay it you; and you may be good housewives, and live cheap there some +months, and return in autumn, or visit London, as you please: pray think +of it. I writ to Bernage, directed to Curry's; I wish he had the letter. +I will send the bohea tea, if I can. The Bishop of Kilmore,(25) I don't +keep such company; an old dying fool whom I never was with in my life. +So I am no godfather;(26) all the better. Pray, Stella, explain those +two words of yours to me, what you mean by VILLIAN and DAINGER;(27) and +you, Madam Dingley, what is CHRISTIANING?--Lay your letter THIS WAY, +THIS WAY, and the devil a bit of difference between this way and the +other way. No; I will show you, lay them THIS WAY, THIS WAY, and not +THAT WAY, THAT WAY.(28)--You shall have your aprons; and I will put all +your commissions as they come, in a paper together, and do not think I +will forget MD's orders, because they are friends; I will be as +careful as if they were strangers. I knew not what to do about this +Clements.(29) Walls will not let me say anything as if Mr. Pratt was +against him; and now the Bishop of Clogher has written to me in his +behalf. This thing does not rightly fall in my way, and that people +never consider: I always give my good offices where they are proper, and +that I am judge of; however, I will do what I can. But, if he has +the name of a Whig, it will be hard, considering my Lord Anglesea and +Hyde(30) are very much otherwise, and you know they have the employment +of Deputy Treasurer. If the frolic should take you of going to the Bath, +I here send you a note on Parvisol; if not, you may tear it, and there's +an end. Farewell. + +If you have an imagination that the Bath will do you good, I say again, +I would have you go; if not, or it be inconvenient, burn this note. Or, +if you would go, and not take so much money, take thirty pounds, and I +will return you twenty from hence. Do as you please, sirrahs. I suppose +it will not be too late for the first season; if it be, I would have you +resolve however to go the second season, if the doctors say it will do +you good, and you fancy so. + + + + +LETTER 20. + +LONDON, April 5, 1711. + +I put my nineteenth in the post-office just now myself, as I came out of +the City, where I dined. This rain ruins me in coach-hire; I walked +away sixpennyworth, and came within a shilling length, and then took a +coach,(1) and got a lift back for nothing; and am now busy. + +6. Mr. Secretary desired I would see him this morning; said he had +several things to say to me, and said not one; and the Duke of Ormond +sent to desire I would meet him at Mr. Southwell's by ten this morning +too, which I did, thinking it was some particular matter. All the Irish +in town were there, to consult upon preventing a Bill for laying a duty +on Irish yarn; so we talked a while, and then all went to the lobby of +the House of Commons, to solicit our friends, and the Duke came among +the rest; and Lord Anglesea solicited admirably, and I did wonders. But, +after all, the matter was put off till Monday, and then we are to be +at it again. I dined with Lord Mountjoy, and looked over him at chess, +which put me in mind of Stella and Griffyth.(2) I came home, and that +dog Patrick was not within; so I fretted, and fretted, and what good did +that do me? + + And so get you gone to your deans, + You couple of queans. + +I cannot find rhyme to Walls and Stoyte.--Yes, yes, + + You expect Mrs. Walls, + Be dressed when she calls, + To carry you to Stoyte, + Or else HONI SOIT. + +Henley told me that the Tories were insup-port-able people, because they +are for bringing in French claret, and will not SUP-PORT. Mr. Harley +will hardly get abroad this week or ten days yet. I reckon, when I send +away this letter, he will be just got into the House of Commons. My last +letter went in twelve days, and so perhaps may this. No it won't, for +those letters that go under a fortnight are answers to one of yours, +otherwise you must take the days as they happen, some dry, some wet, +some barren, some fruitful, some merry, some insipid; some, etc.--I will +write you word exactly the first day I see young gooseberries, and pray +observe how much later you are. We have not had five fine days this five +weeks, but rain or wind. 'Tis a late spring they say here.--Go to bed, +you two dear saucy brats, and don't keep me up all night. + +7. Ford has been at Epsom, to avoid Good Friday and Easter Sunday. He +forced me to-day to dine with him; and tells me there are letters from +Ireland, giving an account of a great indiscretion in the Archbishop +of Dublin, who applied a story out of Tacitus very reflectingly on Mr. +Harley, and that twenty people have written of it; I do not believe it +yet.(3) I called this evening to see Mr. Secretary, who has been very +ill with the gravel and pain in his back, by burgundy and champagne, +added to the sitting up all night at business; I found him drinking tea +while the rest were at champagne, and was very glad of it. I have chid +him so severely that I hardly knew whether he would take it well: then +I went and sat an hour with Mrs. St. John, who is growing a great +favourite of mine; she goes to the Bath on Wednesday, for she is much +out of health, and has begged me to take care of the Secretary. + +8. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. John; he gave me a letter +to read, which was from the publisher of the newspaper called the +Postboy;(4) in it there was a long copy of a letter from Dublin, giving +an account of what the Whigs said upon Mr. Harley's being stabbed, and +how much they abuse him and Mr. Secretary St. John; and at the end there +were half a dozen lines, telling the story of the Archbishop of Dublin, +and abusing him horribly; this was to be printed on Tuesday. I told the +Secretary I would not suffer that about the Archbishop to be printed, +and so I crossed it out; and afterwards, to prevent all danger, I made +him give me the letter, and, upon further thought, would let none of it +be published: and I sent for the printer, and told him so, and ordered +him, in the Secretary's name, to print nothing reflecting on anybody +in Ireland till he had showed it me. Thus I have prevented a terrible +scandal to the Archbishop, by a piece of perfect good fortune. I will +let him know it by next post; and pray, if you pick it out, let me know, +and whether he is thankful for it; but say nothing. + +9. I was to-day at the House of Commons again about their yarn, at Lord +Anglesea's desire; but the business is again put off till Monday. I +dined with Sir John Stanley, by an assignation I had made with Mr. St. +John, and George Granville, the Secretary at War; but they let in other +company, some ladies, and so we were not so easy as I intended. My head +is pretty tolerable, but every day I feel some little disorders; I have +left off snuff since Sunday, finding myself much worse after taking +a good deal at the Secretary's. I would not let him drink one drop of +champagne or burgundy without water, and in compliment I did so myself. +He is much better; but when he is well, he is like Stella, and will not +be governed. So go to your Stoyte's, and I'll go sleep. + +10. I have been visiting Lady Worsley and Mrs. Barton today, and dined +soberly with my friend Lewis. The Dauphin is dead of an apoplexy; I wish +he had lived till the finishing of this letter, that it might be news +to you. Duncombe,(5) the rich alderman, died to-day, and I hear has left +the Duke of Argyle, who married his niece, two hundred thousand pounds; +I hope it is true, for I love that Duke mightily. I writ this evening to +the Archbishop of Dublin, about what I told you; and then went to take +leave of poor Mrs. St. John, who gave me strict charge to take care of +the Secretary in her absence; said she had none to trust but me; and the +poor creature's tears came fresh in her eyes. Before we took leave, I +was drawn in by the other ladies and Sir John Stanley to raffle for +a fan, with a pox; it was four guineas, and we put in seven shillings +apiece, several raffling for absent people; but I lost, and so missed an +opportunity of showing my gallantry to Mrs. St. John, whom I designed +to have presented it to if I had won. Is Dilly(6) gone to the Bath? His +face will whizz in the water; I suppose he will write to us from thence, +and will take London in his way back.--The rabble will say, "There goes +a drunken parson"; and, which is worse, they will say true. Oh, but you +must know I carried Ford to dine with Mr. St. John last Sunday, that he +may brag, when he goes back, of dining with a Secretary of State. The +Secretary and I went away early, and left him drinking with the rest, +and he told me that two or three of them were drunk. They talk of great +promotions to be made; that Mr. Harley is to be Lord Treasurer, and Lord +Poulett(7) Master of the Horse, etc., but they are only conjecture. The +Speaker is to make Mr. Harley a compliment the first time he comes into +the House, which I hope will be in a week. He has had an ill surgeon, +by the caprice of that puppy Dr. Radcliffe, which has kept him back so +long; and yesterday he got a cold, but is better to-day.--What! I think +I am stark mad, to write so much in one day to little saucy MD; here +is a deal of stuff, indeed! can't you bid those little dear rogues +good-night, and let them go sleep, Mr. Presto? When your tongue runs +there's no ho with you, pray. + +11. Again at the lobby (like a lobcock)(8) of the House of Commons, +about your Irish yarn, and again put off till Friday; and I and Patrick +went into the City by water, where I dined, and then I went to the +auction of Charles Barnard's books; but the good ones were so monstrous +dear, I could not reach them, so I laid out one pound seven shillings +but very indifferently, and came away, and will go there no more. Henley +would fain engage me to go with Steele and Rowe, etc., to an invitation +at Sir William Read's.(9) Surely you have heard of him. He has been a +mountebank, and is the Queen's oculist; he makes admirable punch, and +treats you in gold vessels. But I am engaged, and will not go, neither +indeed am I fond of the jaunt. So good-night, and go sleep. + +12. I went about noon to the Secretary, who is very ill with a cold, and +sometimes of the gravel, with his champagne, etc. I scolded him like a +dog, and he promises faithfully more care for the future. To-day my Lord +Anglesea, and Sir Thomas Hammer, and Prior, and I dined, by appointment, +with Lieutenant-General Webb.(10) My lord and I stayed till ten o'clock; +but we drank soberly, and I always with water. There was with us one Mr. +Campain,(11) one of the October Club, if you know what that is; a +Club of country members, who think the Ministers are too backward +in punishing and turning out the Whigs. I found my lord and the rest +thought I had more credit with the Ministry than I pretend to have, +and would have engaged me to put them upon something that would satisfy +their desires, and indeed I think they have some reason to complain; +however, I will not burn my fingers. I will remember Stella's chiding, +"What had you to do with what did not belong to you?" etc. However, you +will give me leave to tell the Ministry my thoughts when they ask them, +and other people's thoughts sometimes when they do not ask; so thinks +Dingley. + +13. I called this morning at Mrs. Vedeau's again, who has employed a +friend to get the money; it will be done in a fortnight, and then she +will deliver me up the parchment. I went then to see Mr. Harley, who I +hope will be out in a few days; he was in excellent good humour, only +complained to me of the neglect of Guiscard's cure, how glad he would +have been to have had him live. Mr. Secretary came in to us, and we were +very merry till Lord Chamberlain (Duke of Shrewsbury)(12) came up; then +Colonel Masham and I went off, after I had been presented to the +Duke, and that we made two or three silly compliments suitable to the +occasion. Then I attended at the House of Commons about your yarn, and +it is again put off. Then Ford drew me to dine at a tavern; it happened +to be the day and the house where the October Club dine. After we had +dined, coming down we called to inquire whether our yarn business +had been over that day, and I sent into the room for Sir George +Beaumont.(13) But I had like to be drawn into a difficulty; for in two +minutes out comes Mr. Finch,(14) Lord Guernsey's son, to let me know +that my Lord Compton,(15) the steward of this feast, desired, in the +name of the Club, that I would do them the honour to dine with them. I +sent my excuses, adorned with about thirty compliments, and got off as +fast as I could. It would have been a most improper thing for me to dine +there, considering my friendship with the Ministry. The Club is about a +hundred and fifty, and near eighty of them were then going to dinner at +two long tables in a great ground-room. At evening I went to the auction +of Barnard's books, and laid out three pounds three shillings, but I'll +go there no more; and so I said once before, but now I'll keep to it. I +forgot to tell that when I dined at Webb's with Lord Anglesea, I spoke +to him of Clements, as one recommended for a very honest gentleman and +good officer, and hoped he would keep him. He said he had not thought +otherwise, and that he should certainly hold his place while he +continued to deserve it; and I could not find there had been any +intentions from his lordship against him. But I tell you, hunny, the +impropriety of this. A great man will do a favour for me, or for my +friend; but why should he do it for my friend's friend? Recommendations +should stop before they come to that. Let any friend of mine recommend +one of his to me for a thing in my power, I will do it for his sake; but +to speak to another for my friend's friend is against all reason; and I +desire you will understand this, and discourage any such troubles given +me.--I hope this may do some good to Clements, it can do him no hurt; +and I find by Mrs. Pratt,(16) that her husband is his friend; and the +Bishop of Clogher says Clements's danger is not from Pratt, but from +some other enemies, that think him a Whig. + +14. I was so busy this morning that I did not go out till late. I +writ to-day to the Duke of Argyle, but said nothing of Bernage, who, I +believe, will not see him till Spain is conquered, and that is, not at +all. I was to-day at Lord Shelburne's, and spoke to Mrs. Pratt again +about Clements; her husband himself wants some good offices, and I +have done him very good ones lately, and told Mrs. Pratt I expected her +husband should stand by Clements in return. Sir Andrew Fountaine and +I dined with neighbour Vanhomrigh; he is mighty ill of an asthma, and +apprehends himself in much danger; 'tis his own fault, that will rake +and drink, when he is but just crawled out of his grave. I will send +this letter just now, because I think my half-year is out for my +lodging; and, if you please, I would be glad it were paid off, and some +deal boxes made for my books, and kept in some safe place. I would give +something for their keeping: but I doubt that lodging will not serve me +when I come back; I would have a larger place for books, and a stable, +if possible. So pray be so kind to pay the lodging, and all accounts +about it; and get Mrs. Brent to put up my things. I would have no books +put in that trunk where my papers are. If you do not think of going to +the Bath, I here send you a bill on Parvisol for twenty pounds Irish, +out of which you will pay for the lodging, and score the rest to me. Do +as you please, and love poor Presto, that loves MD better than his life +a thousand millions of times. Farewell, MD, etc. etc. + + + + +LETTER 21. + +LONDON, April 14, 1711. + +Remember, sirrahs, that there are but nine days between the dates of +my two former letters. I sent away my twentieth this moment, and now am +writing on like a fish, as if nothing was done. But there was a cause +for my hasting away the last, for fear it should not come time enough +before a new quarter began. I told you where I dined to-day; but forgot +to tell you what I believe, that Mr. Harley will be Lord Treasurer in +a short time, and other great removes and promotions made. This is my +thought, etc. + +15. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary, and he is grown pretty well. +I dined with him to-day, and drank some of that wine which the Duke of +Tuscany used to send to Sir William Temple:(1) he always sends some +to the chief Ministers. I liked it mightily, but he does not; and he +ordered his butler to send me a chest of it to-morrow. Would to God MD +had it! The Queen is well again, and was at chapel to-day, etc. + +16. I went with Ford into the City to-day, and dined with Stratford, +and drank Tokay, and then we went to the auction; but I did not lay +out above twelve shillings. My head is a little out of order to-night, +though no formal fit. My Lord Keeper has sent to invite me to dinner +to-morrow, and you'll dine better with the Dean; and God bless you. I +forgot to tell you that yesterday was sent me a Narrative printed, with +all the circumstances of Mr. Harley's stabbing. I had not time to do it +myself; so I sent my hints to the author of the Atalantis,(2) and she +has cooked it into a sixpenny pamphlet, in her own style, only the first +page is left as I was beginning it. But I was afraid of disobliging Mr. +Harley or Mr. St. John in one critical point about it, and so would not +do it myself. It is worth your reading, for the circumstances are all +true. My chest of Florence was sent me this morning, and cost me seven +and sixpence to two servants. I would give two guineas you had it, etc. + +17. I was so out of order with my head this morning, that I was going to +send my excuses to my Lord Keeper; but however I got up at eleven, and +walked there after two, and stayed till eight. There was Sir Thomas +Mansel, Prior, George Granville, and Mr. Caesar,(3) and we were very +merry. My head is still wrong, but I have had no formal fit, only I +totter a little. I have left off snuff altogether. I have a noble roll +of tobacco for grating, very good. Shall I send it to MD, if she likes +that sort? My Lord Keeper and our this day's company are to dine on +Saturday with George Granville, and to-morrow I dine with Lord Anglesea. + +18. Did you ever see such a blundering goosecap as Presto? I saw the +number 21 at top, and so I went on as if it were the day of the month, +whereas this is but Wednesday the 18th. How shall I do to blot and alter +them? I have made a shift to do it behind, but it is a great botch. I +dined with Lord Anglesea to-day, but did not go to the House of Commons +about the yarn; my head was not well enough. I know not what is the +matter; it has never been thus before: two days together giddy from +morning till night, but not with any violence or pain; and I totter +a little, but can make shift to walk. I doubt I must fall to my pills +again: I think of going into the country a little way. I tell you +what you must do henceforward: you must enclose your letter in a fair +half-sheet of paper, and direct the outside "To Erasmus Lewis, Esquire, +at my Lord Dartmouth's office at Whitehall": for I never go to the +Coffee-house, and they will grudge to take in my letters. I forgot to +tell you that your mother was to see me this morning, and brought me a +flask of sweet-water for a present, admirable for my head; but I shall +not smell to it. She is going to Sheen, with Lady Giffard: she would +fain send your papers over to you, or give them to me. Say what you +would have done, and it shall be done; because I love Stella, and she is +a good daughter, they say, and so is Dingley. + +19. This morning General Webb was to give me a visit: he goes with +a crutch and stick, yet was forced to come up two pair of stairs. I +promised to dine with him, but afterwards sent my excuses, and dined +privately in my friend Lewis's lodgings at Whitehall, with whom I had +much business to talk of, relating to the public and myself. Little +Harrison the Tatler goes to-morrow to the secretaryship I got him at the +Hague, and Mr. St. John has made him a present of fifty guineas to bear +his charges. An't I a good friend? Why are not you a young fellow, that +I might prefer you? I had a letter from Bernage from Kinsale: he tells +me his commission for captain-lieutenant was ready for him at his +arrival: so there are two jackanapeses I have done with. My head is +something better this evening, though not well. + +20. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary, whose packets were just come +in, and among them a letter from Lord Peterborow to me: he writes so +well, I have no mind to answer him, and so kind, that I must answer him. +The Emperor's(4) death must, I think, cause great alterations in Europe, +and, I believe, will hasten a peace. We reckon our King Charles will be +chosen Emperor, and the Duke of Savoy set up for Spain; but I believe +he will make nothing of it. Dr. Freind and I dined in the City at a +printer's, and it has cost me two shillings in coach-hire, and a great +deal more this week and month, which has been almost all rain, with now +and then sunshine, and is the truest April that I have known these many +years. The lime-trees in the Park are all out in leaves, though not +large leaves yet. Wise people are going into the country; but many think +the Parliament can hardly be up these six weeks. Mr. Harley was with the +Queen on Tuesday. I believe certainly he will be Lord Treasurer: I have +not seen him this week. + +21. Morning. Lord Keeper, and I, and Prior, and Sir Thomas Mansel, have +appointed to dine this day with George Granville. My head, I thank God, +is better; but to be giddyish three or four days together mortified me. +I take no snuff, and I will be very regular in eating little and the +gentlest meats. How does poor Stella just now, with her deans and +her Stoytes? Do they give you health for the money you lose at ombre, +sirrah? What say you to that? Poor Dingley frets to see Stella lose that +four and elevenpence, the other night. Let us rise. Morrow, sirrahs. I +will rise, spite of your little teeth; good-morrow.--At night. O, faith, +you are little dear saucyboxes. I was just going in the morning to tell +you that I began to want a letter from MD, and in four minutes after Mr. +Ford sends me one that he had picked up at St. James's Coffee-house; for +I go to no coffee-house at all. And, faith, I was glad at heart to see +it, and to see Stella so brisk. O Lord, what pretending? Well, but I +will not answer it yet; I'll keep it for t'other side. Well, we dined +to-day according to appointment: Lord Keeper went away at near eight, +I at eight, and I believe the rest will be fairly fuddled; for young +Harcourt,(5) Lord Keeper's son, began to prattle before I came away. +It will not do with Prior's lean carcass. I drink little, miss my glass +often, put water in my wine, and go away before the rest, which I take +to be a good receipt for sobriety. Let us put it into rhyme, and so make +a proverb-- + + Drink little at a time; + Put water with your wine; + Miss your glass when you can; + And go off the first man. + +God be thanked, I am much better than I was, though something of a +totterer. I ate but little to-day, and of the gentlest meat. I refused +ham and pigeons, pease-soup, stewed beef, cold salmon, because they were +too strong. I take no snuff at all, but some herb snuff prescribed by +Dr. Radcliffe. + + Go to your deans, + You couple of queans. + +I believe I said that already. What care I? what cares Presto? + +22. Morning. I must rise and go to the Secretary's. Mr. Harley has +been out of town this week to refresh himself before he comes into +Parliament. Oh, but I must rise, so there is no more to be said; and so +morrow, sirrahs both.--Night. I dined to-day with the Secretary, who +has engaged me for every Sunday; and I was an hour with him this morning +deep in politics, where I told him the objections of the October Club, +and he answered all except one, that no inquiries are made into past +mismanagement. But indeed I believe they are not yet able to make +any: the late Ministry were too cunning in their rogueries, and fenced +themselves with an Act of general pardon. I believe Mr. Harley must be +Lord Treasurer; yet he makes one difficulty which is hard to answer: he +must be made a lord, and his estate is not large enough, and he is too +generous to make it larger; and if the Ministry should change soon by +any accident, he will be left in the suds. Another difficulty is, that +if he be made a peer, they will want him prodigiously in the House of +Commons, of which he is the great mover, and after him the Secretary, +and hardly any else of weight. Two shillings more to-day for coach and +chair. I shall be ruined. + +23. So you expect an answer to your letter, do you so? Yes, yes, you +shall have an answer, you shall, young women. I made a good pun +on Saturday to my Lord Keeper. After dinner we had coarse Doiley +napkins,(6) fringed at each end, upon the table, to drink with: my Lord +Keeper spread one of them between him and Mr. Prior; I told him I was +glad to see there was such a fringeship (friendship) between Mr. Prior +and his lordship. Prior swore it was the worst he ever heard: I said I +thought so too; but at the same time I thought it was most like one of +Stella's that ever I heard. I dined to-day with Lord Mountjoy, and this +evening saw the Venetian Ambassador(7) coming from his first public +audience. His coach was the most monstrous, huge, fine, rich gilt thing +that ever I saw. I loitered this evening, and came home late. + +24. I was this morning to visit the Duchess of Ormond,(8) who has long +desired it, or threatened she would not let me visit her daughters. +I sat an hour with her, and we were good company, when in came the +Countess of Bellamont,(9) with a pox. I went out, and we did not know +one another; yet hearing me named, she asked, "What, is that Dr. Swift?" +said she and I were very well acquainted, and fell a railing at me +without mercy, as a lady told me that was there; yet I never was but +once in the company of that drab of a Countess. Sir Andrew Fountaine and +I dined with my neighbour Van. I design in two days, if possible, to +go lodge at Chelsea for the air, and put myself under a necessity of +walking to and from London every day. I writ this post to the Bishop of +Clogher a long politic letter, to entertain him. I am to buy statues and +harnese(10) for them, with a vengeance. I have packed and sealed up MD's +twelve letters against I go to Chelsea. I have put the last commissions +of MD in my account-book; but if there be any former ones, I have forgot +them. I have Dingley's pocket-book down, and Stella's green silk apron, +and the pound of tea; pray send me word if you have any other, and down +they shall go. I will not answer your letter yet, saucy boxes. You are +with the Dean just now, Madam Stella, losing your money. Why do not +you name what number you have received? You say you have received my +letters, but do not tell the number. + +25. I was this day dining in the City with very insignificant, low, and +scurvy company. I had a letter from the Archbishop of Dublin, with a +long denial of the report raised on him,(11) which yet has been since +assured to me from those who say they have it from the first hand; but +I cannot believe them. I will show it to the Secretary to-morrow. I will +not answer yours till I get to Chelsea. + +26. Chelsea. I have sent two boxes of lumber to my friend Darteneuf's +house, and my chest of Florence and other things to Mrs. Vanhomrigh, +where I dined to-day. I was this morning with the Secretary, and showed +him the Archbishop's letter, and convinced him of his Grace's innocence, +and I will do the same to Mr. Harley. I got here in the stage-coach with +Patrick and my portmanteau for sixpence, and pay six shillings a week +for one silly room with confounded coarse sheets.(12) We have had such a +horrible deal of rain, that there is no walking to London, and I must go +as I came until it mends; and besides the whelp has taken my lodging as +far from London as this town could afford, at least half a mile farther +than he need; but I must be content. The best is, I lodge just over +against Dr. Atterbury's house, and yet perhaps I shall not like the +place the better for that. Well, I will stay till to-morrow before I +answer your letter; and you must suppose me always writing at Chelsea +from henceforward, till I alter, and say London. This letter goes on +Saturday, which will be just a fortnight; so go and cheat Goody Stoyte, +etc. + +27. Do you know that I fear my whole chest of Florence is turned sour, +at least the two first flasks were so, and hardly drinkable. How plaguy +unfortunate am I! and the Secretary's own is the best I ever tasted; +and I must not tell him, but be as thankful as if it were the best in +Christendom. I went to town in the sixpenny stage to-day; and hearing +Mr. Harley was not at home, I went to see him, because I knew by the +message of his lying porter that he was at home. He was very well, and +just going out, but made me promise to dine with him; and betwixt +that and indeed strolling about, I lost four pound seven shillings +at play--with a--a--a--bookseller, and got but about half a dozen +books.(13) I will buy no more books now, that's certain. Well, I +dined at Mr. Harley's, came away at six, shifted my gown, cassock, and +periwig, and walked hither to Chelsea, as I always design to do when +it is fair. I am heartily sorry to find my friend the Secretary stand +a little ticklish with the rest of the Ministry; there have been one or +two disobliging things that have happened, too long to tell: and t'other +day in Parliament, upon a debate of about thirty-five millions that have +not been duly accounted for, Mr. Secretary, in his warmth of speech, +and zeal for his friend Mr. Brydges,(14) on whom part of the blame +was falling, said he did not know that either Mr. Brydges or the late +Ministry were at all to blame in this matter; which was very desperately +spoken, and giving up the whole cause: for the chief quarrel against the +late Ministry was the ill management of the treasure, and was more than +all the rest together. I had heard of this matter: but Mr. Foley(15) +beginning to discourse to-day at table, without naming Mr. St. John, I +turned to Mr. Harley, and said if the late Ministry were not to blame +in that article, he (Mr. Harley) ought to lose his head for putting the +Queen upon changing them. He made it a jest; but by some words dropped, +I easily saw that they take things ill of Mr. St. John; and by some +hints given me from another hand that I deal with, I am afraid the +Secretary will not stand long. This is the fate of Courts. I will, if I +meet Mr. St. John alone on Sunday, tell him my opinion, and beg him to +set himself right, else the consequences may be very bad; for I see +not how they can well want him neither, and he would make a troublesome +enemy. But enough of politics. + +28. Morning. I forgot to tell you that Mr. Harley asked me yesterday how +he came to disoblige the Archbishop of Dublin. Upon which (having not +his letter about me) I told him what the Bishop had written to me on +that subject,(16) and desired I might read him the letter some other +time. But after all, from what I have heard from other hands, I am +afraid the Archbishop is a little guilty. Here is one Brent Spencer, a +brother of Mr. Proby's,(17) who affirms it, and says he has leave to do +so from Charles Dering,(18) who heard the words; and that Ingoldsby,(19) +abused the Archbishop, etc. Well, but now for your saucy letter: I have +no room to answer it; O yes, enough on t'other side. Are you no sicker? +Stella jeers Presto for not coming over by Christmas; but indeed Stella +does not jeer, but reproach, poor poor Presto. And how can I come away +and the First-Fruits not finished? I am of opinion the Duke of Ormond +will do nothing in them before he goes, which will be in a fortnight, +they say; and then they must fall to me to be done in his absence. +No, indeed, I have nothing to print: you know they have printed the +Miscellanies(20) already. Are they on your side yet? If you have my +snuff box, I will have your strong box. Hi, does Stella take snuff +again? or is it only because it is a fine box? Not the Meddle, but the +Medley,(21) you fool. Yes, yes, a wretched thing, because it is against +you Tories: now I think it very fine, and the Examiner a wretched +thing.--Twist your mouth, sirrah. Guiscard, and what you will read +in the Narrative,(22) I ordered to be written, and nothing else. The +Spectator is written by Steele, with Addison's help: it is often very +pretty. Yesterday it was made of a noble hint I gave him long ago +for his Tatlers, about an Indian supposed to write his Travels into +England.(23) I repent he ever had it. I intended to have written a book +on that subject. I believe he has spent it all in one paper, and all +the under-hints there are mine too; but I never see him or Addison. The +Queen is well, but I fear will be no long liver; for I am told she has +sometimes the gout in her bowels (I hate the word bowels). My ears +have been, these three months past, much better than any time these two +years; but now they begin to be a little out of order again. My head is +better, though not right; but I trust to air and walking. You have got +my letter, but what number? I suppose 18. Well, my shin has been +well this month. No, Mrs. Westley(24) came away without her husband's +knowledge, while she was in the country: she has written to me for some +tea. They lie; Mr. Harley's wound was very terrible: he had convulsions, +and very narrowly escaped. The bruise was nine times worse than the +wound: he is weak still. Well, Brooks married; I know all that. I am +sorry for Mrs. Walls's eye: I hope 'tis better. O yes, you are great +walkers: but I have heard them say, "Much talkers, little walkers": and +I believe I may apply the old proverb to you-- + + If you talked no more than you walked, + Those that think you wits would be baulked. + +Yes, Stella shall have a large printed Bible: I have put it down among +my commissions for MD. I am glad to hear you have taken the fancy of +intending to read the Bible. Pox take the box; is not it come yet? +This is trusting to your young fellows, young women; 'tis your fault: +I thought you had such power with Sterne that he would fly over Mount +Atlas to serve you. You say you are not splenetic; but if you be, faith, +you will break poor Presto's--I will not say the rest; but I vow to God, +if I could decently come over now, I would, and leave all schemes of +politics and ambition for ever. I have not the opportunities here of +preserving my health by riding, etc., that I have in Ireland; and the +want of health is a great cooler of making one's court. You guess right +about my being bit with a direction from Walls, and the letter from MD: +I believe I described it in one of my last. This goes to-night; and +I must now rise and walk to town, and walk back in the evening. God +Almighty bless and preserve poor MD. Farewell. + +O, faith, don't think, saucy noses, that I'll fill this third side: I +can't stay a letter above a fortnight: it must go then; and you would +rather see a short one like this, than want it a week longer. + +My humble service to the Dean, and Mrs. Walls, and good, kind, hearty +Mrs. Stoyte, and honest Catherine. + + + + +LETTER 22. + +CHELSEA, April 28, 1711. + +At night. I say at night, because I finished my twenty-first this +morning here, and put it into the post-office my own self, like a good +boy. I think I am a little before you now, young women: I am writing my +twenty-second, and have received your thirteenth. I got to town between +twelve and one, and put on my new gown and periwig, and dined with +Lord Abercorn, where I had not been since the marriage of his son Lord +Peasley,(1) who has got ten thousand pounds with a wife. I am now a +country gentleman. I walked home as I went, and am a little weary, and +am got into bed: I hope in God the air and exercise will do me a little +good. I have been inquiring about statues for Mrs. Ashe: I made Lady +Abercorn(2) go with me; and will send them word next post to Clogher. I +hate to buy for her: I am sure she will maunder. I am going to study. + +29. I had a charming walk to and from town to-day: I washed, shaved and +all, and changed gown and periwig, by half an hour after nine, and went +to the Secretary, who told me how he had differed with his friends in +Parliament: I apprehended this division, and told him a great deal of +it. I went to Court, and there several mentioned it to me as what they +much disliked. I dined with the Secretary; and we proposed doing some +business of importance in the afternoon, which he broke to me first, and +said how he and Mr. Harley were convinced of the necessity of it; yet he +suffered one of his under-secretaries to come upon us after dinner, who +stayed till six, and so nothing was done: and what care I? he shall send +to me the next time, and ask twice. To-morrow I go to the election at +Westminster School, where lads are chosen for the University: they say +it is a sight, and a great trial of wits. Our Expedition Fleet is but +just sailed: I believe it will come to nothing. Mr. Secretary frets at +their tediousness, but hopes great things from it, though he owns four +or five princes are in the secret; and, for that reason, I fear it is no +secret to France. There are eight regiments; and the Admiral(3) is your +Walker's brother the midwife. + +30. Morn. I am here in a pretty pickle: it rains hard; and the cunning +natives of Chelsea have outwitted me, and taken up all the three stage +coaches. What shall I do? I must go to town: this is your fault. I +cannot walk: I will borrow a coat. This is the blind side of my lodging +out of town; I must expect such inconveniences as these. Faith, I'll +walk in the rain. Morrow.--At night. I got a gentleman's chaise by +chance, and so went to town for a shilling, and lie this night in town. +I was at the election of lads at Westminster to-day, and a very silly +thing it is; but they say there will be fine doings to-morrow. I dined +with Dr. Freind,(4) the second master of the school, with a dozen +parsons and others: Prior would make me stay. Mr. Harley is to hear the +election to-morrow; and we are all to dine with tickets, and hear fine +speeches. 'Tis terrible rainy weather again: I lie at a friend's in the +City. + +May 1. I wish you a merry May Day, and a thousand more. I was baulked at +Westminster; I came too late: I heard no speeches nor verses. They would +not let me in to their dining-place for want of a ticket; and I +would not send in for one, because Mr. Harley excused his coming, and +Atterbury was not there; and I cared not for the rest: and so my friend +Lewis and I dined with Kitt Musgrave,(5) if you know such a man: and, +the weather mending, I walked gravely home this evening; and so I design +to walk and walk till I am well: I fancy myself a little better already. +How does poor Stella? Dingley is well enough. Go, get you gone, naughty +girl, you are well enough. O dear MD, contrive to have some share of +the country this spring: go to Finglas, or Donnybrook, or Clogher, or +Killala, or Lowth. Have you got your box yet? Yes, yes. Do not write to +me again till this letter goes: I must make haste, that I may write two +for one. Go to the Bath: I hope you are now at the Bath, if you had a +mind to go; or go to Wexford: do something for your living. Have +you given up my lodging, according to order? I have had just now a +compliment from Dean Atterbury's lady,(6) to command the garden and +library, and whatever the house affords. I lodge just over against them; +but the Dean is in town with his Convocation: so I have my Dean and +Prolocutor as well as you, young women, though he has not so good wine, +nor so much meat. + +2. A fine day, but begins to grow a little warm; and that makes your +little fat Presto sweat in the forehead. Pray, are not the fine buns +sold here in our town; was it not Rrrrrrrrrare Chelsea buns?(7) I bought +one to-day in my walk; it cost me a penny; it was stale, and I did not +like it, as the man said, etc. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined at +Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and had a flask of my Florence, which lies in their +cellar; and so I came home gravely, and saw nobody of consequence +to-day. I am very easy here, nobody plaguing me in a morning; and +Patrick saves many a score lies. I sent over to Mrs Atterbury to +know whether I might wait on her; but she is gone a visiting: we have +exchanged some compliments, but I have not seen her yet. We have no news +in our town. + +3. I did not go to town to-day, it was so terrible rainy; nor have I +stirred out of my room till eight this evening, when I crossed the way +to see Mrs. Atterbury, and thank her for her civilities. She would needs +send me some veal, and small beer, and ale, to-day at dinner; and I have +lived a scurvy, dull, splenetic day, for want of MD: I often thought how +happy I could have been, had it rained eight thousand times more, if MD +had been with a body. My Lord Rochester(8) is dead this morning; they +say at one o'clock; and I hear he died suddenly. To-morrow I shall know +more. He is a great loss to us: I cannot think who will succeed him as +Lord President. I have been writing a long letter to Lord Peterborow, +and am dull. + +4. I dined to-day at Lord Shelburne's, where Lady Kerry(9) made me a +present of four India handkerchiefs, which I have a mind to keep +for little MD, only that I had rather, etc. I have been a mighty +handkerchief-monger, and have bought abundance of snuff ones since I +have left off taking snuff. And I am resolved, when I come over, +MD shall be acquainted with Lady Kerry: we have struck up a mighty +friendship; and she has much better sense than any other lady of +your country. We are almost in love with one another: but she is most +egregiously ugly; but perfectly well-bred, and governable as I please. I +am resolved, when I come, to keep no company but MD: you know I kept my +resolution last time; and, except Mr. Addison, conversed with none but +you and your club of deans and Stoytes. 'Tis three weeks, young women, +since I had a letter from you; and yet, methinks, I would not have +another for five pounds till this is gone; and yet I send every day to +the Coffee-house, and I would fain have a letter, and not have a letter: +and I do not know what, nor I do not know how, and this goes on very +slow; it is a week to-morrow since I began it. I am a poor country +gentleman, and do not know how the world passes. Do you know that every +syllable I write I hold my lips just for all the world as if I were +talking in our own little language to MD? Faith, I am very silly; but +I cannot help it for my life. I got home early to-night. My solicitors, +that used to ply me every morning, knew not where to find me; and I am +so happy not to hear "Patrick, Patrick," called a hundred times every +morning. But I looked backward, and find I have said this before. What +care I? Go to the Dean, and roast the oranges. + +5. I dined to-day with my friend Lewis, and we were deep in politics +how to save the present Ministry; for I am afraid of Mr. Secretary, as +I believe I told you. I went in the evening to see Mr. Harley; and, upon +my word, I was in perfect joy. Mr. Secretary was just going out of the +door; but I made him come back, and there was the old Saturday Club, +Lord Keeper, Lord Rivers, Mr. Secretary, Mr. Harley, and I; the first +time since his stabbing. Mr. Secretary went away; but I stayed till +nine, and made Mr. Harley show me his breast, and tell all the story; +and I showed him the Archbishop of Dublin's letter, and defended him +effectually. We were all in mighty good humour. Lord Keeper and I left +them together, and I walked here after nine two miles, and I found a +parson drunk fighting with a seaman, and Patrick and I were so wise to +part them, but the seaman followed him to Chelsea, cursing at him, and +the parson slipped into a house, and I know no more. It mortified me to +see a man in my coat so overtaken. A pretty scene for one that just came +from sitting with the Prime Ministers! I had no money in my pocket, and +so could not be robbed. However, nothing but Mr. Harley shall make me +take such a journey again. We don't yet know who will be President in +Lord Rochester's room. I measured, and found that the penknife would +have killed Mr. Harley if it had gone but half the breadth of my +thumb-nail lower, so near was he to death. I was so curious as to ask +him what were his thoughts while they were carrying him home in the +chair. He said he concluded himself a dead man. He will not allow that +Guiscard gave him the second stab; though my Lord Keeper, who is blind, +and I that was not there, are positive in it. He wears a plaster still +as broad as half a crown. Smoke how wide the lines are, but, faith, I +don't do it on purpose: but I have changed my side in this new Chelsea +bed, and I do not know how, methinks, but it is so unfit, and so +awkward, never saw the like. + +6. You must remember to enclose your letters in a fair paper, and direct +the outside thus: "To Erasmus Lewis, Esq.; at my Lord Dartmouth's office +at Whitehall." I said so before, but it may miscarry, you know, yet I +think none of my letters did ever miscarry; faith, I think never one; +among all the privateers and the storms. O, faith, my letters are too +good to be lost. MD's letters may tarry, but never miscarry, as the old +woman used to say. And indeed, how should they miscarry, when they never +come before their time? It was a terrible rainy day; yet I made a shift +to steal fair weather overhead enough to go and come in. I was early +with the Secretary, and dined with him afterwards. In the morning I +began to chide him, and tell him my fears of his proceedings. But Arthur +Moore(10) came up and relieved him. But I forgot, for you never heard of +Arthur Moore. But when I get Mr. Harley alone, I will know the bottom. +You will have Dr. Raymond over before this letter, and what care you? + +7. I hope and believe my walks every day do me good. I was busy at home, +and set out late this morning, and dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, at whose +lodgings I always change my gown and periwig. I visited this afternoon, +and among others, poor Biddy Floyd,(11) who is very red, but I +believe won't be much marked. As I was coming home, I met Sir George +Beaumont(12) in the Pall Mall, who would needs walk with me as far as +Buckingham House. I was telling him of my head; he said he had been ill +of the same disorder, and by all means forbid me bohea tea, which, he +said, always gave it him; and that Dr. Radcliffe said it was very bad. +Now I had observed the same thing, and have left it off this month, +having found myself ill after it several times; and I mention it that +Stella may consider it for her own poor little head: a pound lies +ready packed up and directed for Mrs. Walls, to be sent by the first +convenience. Mr. Secretary told me yesterday that Mr. Harley would this +week be Lord Treasurer and a peer; so I expect it every day; yet perhaps +it may not be till Parliament is up, which will be in a fortnight. + +8. I was to-day with the Duke of Ormond, and recommended to him the care +of poor Joe Beaumont, who promises me to do him all justice and favour, +and give him encouragement; and desired I would give a memorial to Ned +Southwell about it, which I will, and so tell Joe when you see him, +though he knows it already by a letter I writ to Mr. Warburton.(13) It +was bloody hot walking to-day. I dined in the City, and went and came +by water; and it rained so this evening again, that I thought I should +hardly be able to get a dry hour to walk home in. I will send to-morrow +to the Coffee-house for a letter from MD; but I would not have one +methinks till this is gone, as it shall on Saturday. I visited the +Duchess of Ormond this morning; she does not go over with the Duke. I +spoke to her to get a lad touched for the evil,(14) the son of a grocer +in Capel Street, one Bell; the ladies have bought sugar and plums of +him. Mrs. Mary used to go there often. This is Patrick's account; and +the poor fellow has been here some months with his boy. But the Queen +has not been able to touch, and it now grows so warm, I fear she +will not at all. Go, go, go to the Dean's, and let him carry you to +Donnybrook, and cut asparagus. Has Parvisol sent you any this year? +I cannot sleep in the beginnings of the nights, the heat or something +hinders me, and I am drowsy in the mornings. + +9. Dr. Freind came this morning to visit Atterbury's lady and children +as physician, and persuaded me to go with him to town in his chariot. +He told me he had been an hour before with Sir Cholmley Dering, Charles +Dering's nephew, and head of that family in Kent, for which he is Knight +of the shire. He said he left him dying of a pistol-shot quite through +the body, by one Mr. Thornhill.(15) They fought at sword and pistol this +morning in Tuttle Fields,(16) their pistols so near that the muzzles +touched. Thornhill discharged first; and Dering, having received the +shot, discharged his pistol as he was falling, so it went into the air. +The story of this quarrel is long. Thornhill had lost seven teeth by a +kick in the mouth from Dering, who had first knocked him down; this +was above a fortnight ago. Dering was next week to be married to a fine +young lady. This makes a noise here, but you will not value it. Well, +Mr. Harley, Lord Keeper, and one or two more, are to be made lords +immediately; their patents are now passing, and I read the preamble to +Mr. Harley's, full of his praises. Lewis and I dined with Ford: I found +the wine; two flasks of my Florence, and two bottles of six that Dr. +Raymond sent me of French wine; he sent it to me to drink with Sir +Robert Raymond and Mr. Harley's brother,(17) whom I had introduced him +to; but they never could find time to come; and now I have left the +town, and it is too late. Raymond will think it a cheat. What care I, +sirrah? + +10. Pshaw, pshaw. Patrick brought me four letters to-day: from Dilly at +Bath; Joe; Parvisol; and what was the fourth, who can tell? Stand away, +who'll guess? Who can it be? You old man with a stick, can you tell who +the fourth is from? Iss, an please your honour, it is from one Madam MD, +Number Fourteen. Well; but I can't send this away now, because it +was here, and I was in town; but it shall go on Saturday, and this is +Thursday night, and it will be time enough for Wexford. Take my method: +I write here to Parvisol to lend Stella twenty pounds, and to take her +note promissory to pay it in half a year, etc. You shall see, and if you +want more, let me know afterwards; and be sure my money shall be always +paid constantly too. Have you been good or ill housewives, pray? + +11. Joe has written me to get him a collector's place, nothing less; he +says all the world knows of my great intimacy with Mr. Harley, and that +the smallest word to him will do. This is the constant cant of puppies +who are at a distance, and strangers to Courts and Ministers. My answer +is this, which pray send: that I am ready to serve Joe as far as I can; +that I have spoken to the Duke of Ormond about his money, as I writ to +Warburton; that for the particular he mentions, it is a work of time, +which I cannot think of at present; but, if accidents and opportunities +should happen hereafter, I would not be wanting; that I know best how +far my credit goes; that he is at a distance, and cannot judge; that I +would be glad to do him good, and if fortune throws an opportunity in +my way I shall not be wanting. This is my answer, which you may send or +read to him. Pray contrive that Parvisol may not run away with my two +hundred pounds; but get Burton's(18) note, and let the money be returned +me by bill. Don't laugh, for I will be suspicious. Teach Parvisol to +enclose, and direct the outside to Mr. Lewis. I will answer your letter +in my next, only what I take notice of here excepted. I forgot to tell +you that at the Court of Requests to-day I could not find a dinner I +liked, and it grew late, and I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, etc. + +12. Morning. I will finish this letter before I go to town, because I +shall be busy, and have neither time nor place there. Farewell, etc. +etc. + + + + +LETTER 23. + +CHELSEA, May 12, 1711. + +I sent you my twenty-second this afternoon in town. I dined with Mr. +Harley and the old Club, Lord Rivers, Lord Keeper, and Mr. Secretary. +They rallied me last week, and said I must have Mr. St. John's leave; so +I writ to him yesterday, that foreseeing I should never dine again with +Sir Simon Harcourt, Knight, and Robert Harley, Esq., I was resolved to +do it to-day. The jest is, that before Saturday(1) next we expect they +will be lords; for Mr. Harley's patent is drawing, to be Earl of Oxford. +Mr. Secretary and I came away at seven, and he brought me to our town's +end in his coach; so I lost my walk. St. John read my letter to the +company, which was all raillery, and passed purely. + +13. It rained all last night and this morning as heavy as lead; but I +just got fair weather to walk to town before church. The roads are all +over in deep puddle. The hay of our town is almost fit to be mowed. I +went to Court after church (as I always do on Sundays), and then dined +with Mr. Secretary, who has engaged me for every Sunday; and poor MD +dined at home upon a bit of veal and a pint of wine. Is it not plaguy +insipid to tell you every day where I dine? yet now I have got into +the way of it, I cannot forbear it neither. Indeed, Mr. Presto, you had +better go answer MD's letter, N.14. I will answer it when I please, +Mr. Doctor. What is that you say? The Court was very full this morning, +expecting Mr. Harley would be declared Earl of Oxford and have the +Treasurer's staff. Mr. Harley never comes to Court at all; somebody +there asked me the reason. "Why," said I, "the Lord of Oxford knows." He +always goes to the Queen by the back stairs. I was told for certain, you +jackanapes, Lord Santry(2) was dead, Captain Cammock(3) assured me so; +and now he's alive again, they say; but that shan't do: he shall be dead +to me as long as he lives. Dick Tighe(4) and I meet, and never stir our +hats. I am resolved to mistake him for Witherington, the little nasty +lawyer that came up to me so sternly at the Castle the day I left +Ireland. I'll ask the gentleman I saw walking with him how long +Witherington has been in town. + +14. I went to town to-day by water. The hail quite discouraged me from +walking, and there is no shade in the greatest part of the way. I took +the first boat, and had a footman my companion; then I went again +by water, and dined in the City with a printer, to whom I carried a +pamphlet in manuscript, that Mr. Secretary gave me. The printer sent it +to the Secretary for his approbation, and he desired me to look it over, +which I did, and found it a very scurvy piece. The reason I tell you so, +is because it was done by your parson Slap, Scrap, Flap (what d'ye call +him), Trapp,(5) your Chancellor's chaplain. 'Tis called A Character of +the Present Set of Whigs, and is going to be printed, and no doubt the +author will take care to produce it in Ireland. Dr. Freind was with me, +and pulled out a twopenny pamphlet just published, called The State of +Wit,(6) giving a character of all the papers that have come out of late. +The author seems to be a Whig, yet he speaks very highly of a paper +called the Examiner, and says the supposed author of it is Dr. Swift. +But above all things he praises the Tatlers and Spectators; and I +believe Steele and Addison were privy to the printing of it. Thus is one +treated by these impudent dogs. And that villain Curll(7) has scraped +up some trash, and calls it Dr. Swift's Miscellanies, with the name at +large: and I can get no satisfaction of him. Nay, Mr. Harley told me +he had read it, and only laughed at me before Lord Keeper and the +rest. Since I came home, I have been sitting with the Prolocutor, Dean +Atterbury, who is my neighbour over the way, but generally keeps in town +with his Convocation. 'Tis late, etc. + +15. My walk to town to-day was after ten, and prodigiously hot. I dined +with Lord Shelburne, and have desired Mrs. Pratt, who lodges there, to +carry over Mrs. Walls's tea; I hope she will do it, and they talk of +going in a fortnight. My way is this: I leave my best gown and periwig +at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, then walk up the Pall Mall, through the Park, out +at Buckingham House, and so to Chelsea a little beyond the church: I set +out about sunset, and get here in something less than an hour; it is two +good miles, and just five thousand seven hundred and forty-eight steps; +so there is four miles a day walking, without reckoning what I walk +while I stay in town. When I pass the Mall in the evening, it is +prodigious to see the number of ladies walking there; and I always cry +shame at the ladies of Ireland, who never walk at all, as if their legs +were of no use, but to be laid aside. I have been now almost three +weeks here, and I thank God, am much better in my head, if it does but +continue. I tell you what, if I was with you, when we went to Stoyte at +Donnybrook, we would only take a coach to the hither end of Stephen's +Green, and from thence go every step on foot, yes, faith, every step; +it would do DD(8) good as well as Presto.(9) Everybody tells me I +look better already; for, faith, I looked sadly, that is certain. My +breakfast is milk porridge: I do not love it; faith, I hate it, but +it is cheap and wholesome; and I hate to be obliged to either of those +qualities for anything.(10) + +16. I wonder why Presto will be so tedious in answering MD's letters; +because he would keep the best to the last, I suppose. Well, Presto must +be humoured, it must be as he will have it, or there will be an old to +do.(11) Dead with heat; are not you very hot? My walks make my forehead +sweat rarely; sometimes my morning journey is by water, as it was to-day +with one Parson Richardson,(12) who came to see me, on his going to +Ireland; and with him I send Mrs. Walls's tea, and three books(13) I +got from the Lords of the Treasury for the College. I dined with Lord +Shelburne to-day; Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt are going likewise for +Ireland.--Lord! I forgot, I dined with Mr. Prior to-day, at his house, +with Dean Atterbury and others; and came home pretty late, and I think +I'm in a fuzz, and don't know what I say, never saw the like. + +17. Sterne came here by water to see me this morning, and I went back +with him to his boat. He tells me that Mrs. Edgworth(14) married a +fellow in her journey to Chester; so I believe she little thought of +anybody's box but her own. I desired Sterne to give me directions where +to get the box in Chester, which he says he will to-morrow; and I will +write to Richardson to get it up there as he goes by, and whip it over. +It is directed to Mrs. Curry: you must caution her of it, and desire +her to send it you when it comes. Sterne says Jemmy Leigh loves London +mightily; that makes him stay so long, I believe, and not Sterne's +business, which Mr. Harley's accident has put much backward. We expect +now every day that he will be Earl of Oxford and Lord Treasurer. His +patent is passing; but, they say, Lord Keeper's not yet; at least his +son, young Harcourt, told me so t'other day. I dined to-day privately +with my friend Lewis at his lodgings at Whitehall. T'other day at +Whitehall I met a lady of my acquaintance, whom I had not seen before +since I came to England; we were mighty glad to see each other, and she +has engaged me to visit her, as I design to do. It is one Mrs. Colledge: +she has lodgings at Whitehall, having been seamstress to King William, +worth three hundred a year. Her father was a fanatic joiner,(15) hanged +for treason in Shaftesbury's plot. This noble person and I were brought +acquainted, some years ago, by Lady Berkeley.(16) I love good creditable +acquaintance: I love to be the worst of the company: I am not of those +that say, "For want of company, welcome trumpery." I was this evening +with Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt at Vauxhall, to hear the nightingales; +but they are almost past singing. + +18. I was hunting the Secretary to-day in vain about some business, and +dined with Colonel Crowe, late Governor of Barbados,(17) and your friend +Sterne was the third: he is very kind to Sterne, and helps him in his +business, which lies asleep till Mr. Harley is Lord Treasurer, because +nothing of moment is now done in the Treasury, the change being expected +every day. I sat with Dean Atterbury till one o'clock after I came home; +so 'tis late, etc. + +19. Do you know that about our town we are mowing already and making +hay, and it smells so sweet as we walk through the flowery meads; but +the hay-making nymphs are perfect drabs, nothing so clean and pretty as +farther in the country. There is a mighty increase of dirty wenches in +straw hats since I knew London. I stayed at home till five o'clock, and +dined with Dean Atterbury; then went by water to Mr. Harley's, where the +Saturday Club was met, with the addition of the Duke of Shrewsbury. I +whispered Lord Rivers that I did not like to see a stranger among us; +and the rogue told it aloud: but Mr. Secretary said the Duke writ to +have leave; so I appeared satisfied, and so we laughed. Mr. Secretary +told me the Duke of Buckingham(18) had been talking to him much about +me, and desired my acquaintance. I answered it could not be, for he +had not made sufficient advances. Then the Duke of Shrewsbury said he +thought that Duke was not used to make advances. I said I could not help +that; for I always expected advances in proportion to men's quality, and +more from a duke than any other man. The Duke replied that he did not +mean anything of his quality; which was handsomely said enough; for he +meant his pride: and I have invented a notion to believe that nobody +is proud. At ten all the company went away; and from ten to twelve +Mr. Harley and I sat together, where we talked through a great deal +of matters I had a mind to settle with him; and then walked in a fine +moonshine night to Chelsea, where I got by one. Lord Rivers conjured me +not to walk so late; but I would, because I had no other way; but I had +no money to lose. + +20. By what the Lord Keeper told me last night, I find he will not be +made a peer so soon; but Mr. Harley's patent for Earl of Oxford is now +drawing, and will be done in three days. We made him own it, which he +did scurvily, and then talked of it like the rest. Mr. Secretary had too +much company with him to-day; so I came away soon after dinner. I give +no man liberty to swear or talk b---dy, and I found some of them were +in constraint, so I left them to themselves. I wish you a merry +Whitsuntide, and pray tell me how you pass away your time; but, faith, +you are going to Wexford, and I fear this letter is too late; it shall +go on Thursday, and sooner it cannot, I have so much business to hinder +me answering yours. Where must I direct in your absence? Do you quit +your lodgings? + +21. Going to town this morning, I met in the Pall Mall a clergyman +of Ireland, whom I love very well and was glad to see, and with him +a little jackanapes, of Ireland too, who married Nanny Swift, Uncle +Adam's(19) daughter, one Perry; perhaps you may have heard of him. His +wife has sent him here, to get a place from Lowndes;(20) because my +uncle and Lowndes married two sisters, and Lowndes is a great man here +in the Treasury; but by good luck I have no acquaintance with him: +however, he expected I should be his friend to Lowndes, and one word +of mine, etc., the old cant. But I will not go two yards to help him. +I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, where I keep my best gown and periwig, to +put on when I come to town and be a spark. + +22. I dined to-day in the City, and coming home this evening, I met Sir +Thomas Mansel and Mr. Lewis in the Park. Lewis whispered me that Mr. +Harley's patent for the Earl of Oxford was passed in Mr. Secretary St. +John's office; so to-morrow or next day, I suppose, he will be +declared Earl of Oxford, and have the staff.(21) This man has grown by +persecutions, turnings out, and stabbing. What waiting, and crowding, +and bowing will be at his levee! yet, if human nature be capable of so +much constancy, I should believe he will be the same man still, bating +the necessary forms of grandeur he must keep up. 'Tis late, sirrahs, and +I'll go sleep. + +23. Morning. I sat up late last night, and waked late to-day; but will +now answer your letter in bed before I go to town, and I will send it +to-morrow; for perhaps you mayn't go so soon to Wexford.--No, you are +not out in your number; the last was Number 14, and so I told you +twice or thrice; will you never be satisfied? What shall we do for poor +Stella? Go to Wexford, for God's sake: I wish you were to walk there by +three miles a day, with a good lodging at every mile's end. Walking +has done me so much good, that I cannot but prescribe it often to poor +Stella. Parvisol has sent me a bill for fifty pounds, which I am sorry +for, having not written to him for it, only mentioned it two months ago; +but I hope he will be able to pay you what I have drawn upon him for: he +never sent me any sum before, but one bill of twenty pounds half a year +ago. You are welcome as my blood to every farthing I have in the world; +and all that grieves me is, I am not richer, for MD's sake, as hope +saved.(22) I suppose you give up your lodgings when you go to Wexford; +yet that will be inconvenient too: yet I wish again you were under a +necessity of rambling the country until Michaelmas, faith. No, let them +keep the shelves, with a pox; yet they are exacting people about those +four weeks; or Mrs. Brent may have the shelves, if she please. I am +obliged to your Dean for his kind offer of lending me money. Will that +be enough to say? A hundred people would lend me money, or to any man +who has not the reputation of a squanderer. O, faith, I should be glad +to be in the same kingdom with MD, however, although you are at Wexford. +But I am kept here by a most capricious fate, which I would break +through, if I could do it with decency or honour.--To return without +some mark of distinction would look extremely little; and I would +likewise gladly be somewhat richer than I am. I will say no more, but +beg you to be easy till Fortune take her course, and to believe that +MD's felicity is the great end I aim at in all my pursuits. And so let +us talk no more on this subject, which makes me melancholy, and that +I would fain divert. Believe me, no man breathing at present has less +share of happiness in life than I: I do not say I am unhappy at all, but +that everything here is tasteless to me for want of being as I would +be. And so, a short sigh, and no more of this. Well, come and let's see +what's next, young women. Pox take Mrs. Edgworth and Sterne! I will take +some methods about that box. What orders would you have me give about +the picture? Can't you do with it as if it were your own? No, I hope +Manley will keep his place; for I hear nothing of Sir Thomas Frankland's +losing his. Send nothing under cover to Mr. Addison, but "To Erasmus +Lewis, Esq.; at my Lord Dartmouth's office at Whitehall." Direct your +outside so.--Poor dear Stella, don't write in the dark, nor in the light +neither, but dictate to Dingley; she is a naughty, healthy girl, and may +drudge for both. Are you good company together? and don't you quarrel +too often? Pray love one another, and kiss one another just now, as +Dingley is reading this; for you quarrelled this morning just after Mrs. +Marget(23) had poured water on Stella's head: I heard the little bird +say so. Well, I have answered everything in your letter that required +it, and yet the second side is not full. I'll come home at night, and +say more; and to-morrow this goes for certain. Go, get you gone to your +own chambers, and let Presto rise like a modest gentleman, and walk to +town. I fancy I begin to sweat less in the forehead by constant walking +than I used to do; but then I shall be so sunburnt, the ladies will not +like me. Come, let me rise, sirrahs. Morrow.--At night. I dined with +Ford to-day at his lodgings, and I found wine out of my own cellar, some +of my own chest of the great Duke's wine: it begins to turn. They say +wine with you in Ireland is half a crown a bottle. 'Tis as Stella says; +nothing that once grows dear in Ireland ever grows cheap again, except +corn, with a pox, to ruin the parson. I had a letter to-day from the +Archbishop of Dublin, giving me further thanks about vindicating him +to Mr. Harley and Mr. St. John, and telling me a long story about your +Mayor's election,(24) wherein I find he has had a finger, and given +way to further talk about him; but we know nothing of it here yet. This +walking to and fro, and dressing myself, takes up so much of my time +that I cannot go among company so much as formerly; yet what must a body +do? I thank God I yet continue much better since I left the town; I know +not how long it may last. I am sure it has done me some good for the +present. I do not totter as I did, but walk firm as a cock, only once +or twice for a minute, I do not know how; but it went off, and I never +followed it. Does Dingley read my hand as well as ever? do you, sirrah? +Poor Stella must not read Presto's ugly small hand. + + Preserve your eyes, + If you be wise. + +Your friend Walls's tea will go in a day or two towards Chester by one +Parson Richardson. My humble service to her, and to good Mrs. Stoyte, +and Catherine; and pray walk while you continue in Dublin. I expect your +next but one will be from Wexford. God bless dearest MD. + +24. Morning. Mr. Secretary has sent his groom hither, to invite me to +dinner to-day, etc. God Almighty for ever bless and preserve you both, +and give you health, etc. Amen. Farewell, etc. + +Do not I often say the same thing two or three times in the same letter, +sirrah? + +Great wits, they say, have but short memories; that's good vile +conversation. + + + + +LETTER 24. + +CHELSEA, May 24, 1711. + +Morning. Once in my life the number of my letters and of the day of the +month is the same; that's lucky, boys; that's a sign that things will +meet, and that we shall make a figure together. What, will you still +have the impudence to say London, England, because I say Dublin, +Ireland? Is there no difference between London and Dublin, saucyboxes? +I have sealed up my letter, and am going to town. Morrow, sirrahs.--At +night. I dined with the Secretary to-day; we sat down between five and +six. Mr. Harley's patent passed this morning: he is now Earl of Oxford, +Earl Mortimer, and Lord Harley of Wigmore Castle. My letter was sealed, +or I would have told you this yesterday; but the public news may tell +it you. The Queen, for all her favour, has kept a rod(1) for him in her +closet this week; I suppose he will take it from her, though, in a day +or two. At eight o'clock this evening it rained prodigiously, as it did +from five; however, I set out, and in half-way the rain lessened, and I +got home, but tolerably wet; and this is the first wet walk I have had +in a month's time that I am here but, however, I got to bed, after a +short visit to Atterbury. + +25. It rained this morning, and I went to town by water; and Ford and I +dined with Mr. Lewis by appointment. I ordered Patrick to bring my gown +and periwig to Mr. Lewis, because I designed to go to see Lord Oxford, +and so I told the dog; but he never came, though I stayed an hour longer +than I appointed; so I went in my old gown, and sat with him two hours, +but could not talk over some business I had with him; so he has desired +me to dine with him on Sunday, and I must disappoint the Secretary. +My lord set me down at a coffee-house, where I waited for the Dean +of Carlisle's chariot to bring me to Chelsea; for it has rained +prodigiously all this afternoon. The Dean did not come himself, but sent +me his chariot, which has cost me two shillings to the coachman; and so +I am got home, and Lord knows what is become of Patrick. I think I must +send him over to you; for he is an intolerable rascal. If I had +come without a gown, he would have served me so, though my life and +preferment should have lain upon it: and I am making a livery for him +will cost me four pounds; but I will order the tailor to-morrow to stop +till further orders. My Lord Oxford can't yet abide to be called +"my lord"; and when I called him "my lord," he called me "Dr. Thomas +Swift,"(2) which he always does when he has a mind to tease me. By a +second hand, he proposed my being his chaplain, which I by a second +hand excused; but we had no talk of it to-day: but I will be no man's +chaplain alive. But I must go and be busy. + +26. I never saw Patrick till this morning, and that only once, for I +dressed myself without him; and when I went to town he was out of the +way. I immediately sent for the tailor, and ordered him to stop his hand +in Patrick's clothes till further orders. Oh, if it were in Ireland, I +should have turned him off ten times ago; and it is no regard to him, +but myself, that has made me keep him so long. Now I am afraid to give +the rogue his clothes. What shall I do? I wish MD were here to entreat +for him, just here at the bed's side. Lady Ashburnham(3) has been +engaging me this long time to dine with her, and I set to-day apart for +it; and whatever was the mistake, she sent me word she was at dinner and +undressed, but would be glad to see me in the afternoon: so I dined with +Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and would not go to see her at all, in a huff. My fine +Florence is turning sour with a vengeance, and I have not drunk half of +it. As I was coming home to-night, Sir Thomas Mansel and Tom Harley(4) +met me in the Park, and made me walk with them till nine, like +unreasonable whelps; so I got not here till ten: but it was a fine +evening, and the foot-path clean enough already after this hard rain. + +27. Going this morning to town, I saw two old lame fellows, walking to +a brandy-shop, and when they got to the door, stood a long time +complimenting who should go in first. Though this be no jest to tell, it +was an admirable one to see. I dined to-day with my Lord Oxford and the +ladies, the new Countess, and Lady Betty,(5) who has been these three +days a lady born. My lord left us at seven, and I had no time to speak +to him about some affairs; but he promises in a day or two we shall dine +alone; which is mighty likely, considering we expect every moment that +the Queen will give him the staff, and then he will be so crowded he +will be good for nothing: for aught I know he may have it to-night at +Council. + +28. I had a petition sent me t'other day from one Stephen Gernon, +setting forth that he formerly lived with Harry Tenison,(6) who gave him +an employment of gauger, and that he was turned out after Harry's death, +and came for England, and is now starving, or, as he expresses it, THAT +THE STAFF OF LIFE HAS BEEN OF LATE A STRANGER TO HIS APPETITE. Today +the poor fellow called, and I knew him very well, a young slender fellow +with freckles in his face: you must remember him; he waited at table as +a better sort of servant. I gave him a crown, and promised to do what I +could to help him to a service, which I did for Harry Tenison's memory. +It was bloody hot walking to-day, and I was so lazy I dined where my new +gown was, at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and came back like a fool, and the Dean +of Carlisle has sat with me till eleven. Lord Oxford has not the staff +yet. + +29. I was this morning in town by ten, though it was shaving-day, and +went to the Secretary about some affairs, then visited the Duke and +Duchess of Ormond; but the latter was dressing to go out, and I could +not see her. My Lord Oxford had the staff given him this morning; so now +I must call him Lord Oxford no more, but Lord Treasurer: I hope he will +stick there: this is twice he has changed his name this week; and I +heard to-day in the City (where I dined) that he will very soon have the +Garter.--Pr'ythee, do not you observe how strangely I have changed my +company and manner of living? I never go to a coffee-house; you hear no +more of Addison, Steele, Henley, Lady Lucy, Mrs. Finch,(7) Lord Somers, +Lord Halifax, etc. I think I have altered for the better. Did I tell you +the Archbishop of Dublin has writ me a long letter of a squabble in your +town about choosing a Mayor, and that he apprehended some censure for +the share he had in it?(8) I have not heard anything of it here; but I +shall not be always able to defend him. We hear your Bishop Hickman is +dead;(9) but nobody here will do anything for me in Ireland; so they +may die as fast or slow as they please.--Well, you are constant to your +deans, and your Stoyte, and your Walls. Walls will have her tea soon; +Parson Richardson is either going or gone to Ireland, and has it with +him. I hear Mr. Lewis has two letters for me: I could not call for them +to-day, but will to-morrow; and perhaps one of them may be from our +little MD, who knows, man? who can tell? Many a more unlikely thing has +happened.--Pshaw, I write so plaguy little, I can hardly see it myself. +WRITE BIGGER, SIRRAH(10) Presto. No, but I won't. Oh, you are a saucy +rogue, Mr. Presto, you are so impudent. Come, dear rogues, let Presto go +to sleep; I have been with the Dean, and 'tis near twelve. + +30. I am so hot and lazy after my morning's walk, that I loitered at +Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, where my best gown and periwig are, and out of mere +listlessness dine there very often; so I did to-day; but I got little +MD's letter, N.15 (you see, sirrahs, I remember to tell the number), +from Mr. Lewis, and I read it in a closet they lend me at Mrs. Van's; +and I find Stella is a saucy rogue and a great writer, and can write +finely still when her hand is in, and her pen good. When I came here +to-night, I had a mighty mind to go swim after I was cool, for my +lodging is just by the river; and I went down with only my nightgown and +slippers on at eleven, but came up again; however, one of these nights I +will venture. + +31. I was so hot this morning with my walk, that I resolve to do so +no more during this violent burning weather. It is comical that now we +happen to have such heat to ripen the fruit there has been the greatest +blast that was ever known, and almost all the fruit is despaired of. +I dined with Lord Shelburne: Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt are going to +Ireland. I went this evening to Lord Treasurer, and sat about two hours +with him in mixed company; he left us, and went to Court, and carried +two staves with him, so I suppose we shall have a new Lord Steward or +Comptroller to-morrow; I smoked that State secret out by that accident. +I will not answer your letter yet, sirrahs; no I won't, madam. + +June 1. I wish you a merry month of June. I dined again with the Vans +and Sir Andrew Fountaine. I always give them a flask of my Florence, +which now begins to spoil, but it is near an end. I went this afternoon +to Mrs. Vedeau's, and brought away Madam Dingley's parchment and letter +of attorney. Mrs. Vedeau tells me she has sent the bill a fortnight ago. +I will give the parchment to Ben Tooke, and you shall send him a letter +of attorney at your leisure, enclosed to Mr. Presto. Yes, I now think +your mackerel is full as good as ours, which I did not think formerly. I +was bit about two staves, for there is no new officer made to-day. This +letter will find you still in Dublin, I suppose, or at Donnybrook, or +losing your money at Walls' (how does she do?). + +2. I missed this day by a blunder and dining in the City.(11) + +3. No boats on Sunday, never: so I was forced to walk, and so hot by the +time I got to Ford's lodging that I was quite spent; I think the weather +is mad. I could not go to church. I dined with the Secretary as usual, +and old Colonel Graham(12) that lived at Bagshot Heath, and they said it +was Colonel Graham's house. Pshaw, I remember it very well, when I used +to go for a walk to London from Moor Park. What, I warrant you do not +remember the Golden Farmer(13) neither, figgarkick soley?(14) + +4. When must we answer this letter, this N.15 of our little MD? Heat and +laziness, and Sir Andrew Fountaine, made me dine to-day again at Mrs. +Van's; and, in short, this weather is unsupportable: how is it with you? +Lady Betty Butler and Lady Ashburnham sat with me two or three hours +this evening in my closet at Mrs. Van's. They are very good girls; and +if Lady Betty went to Ireland, you should let her be acquainted with +you. How does Dingley do this hot weather? Stella, I think, never +complains of it; she loves hot weather. There has not been a drop of +rain since Friday se'ennight. Yes, you do love hot weather, naughty +Stella, you do so; and Presto can't abide it. Be a good girl then, and I +will love you; and love one another, and don't be quarrelling girls. + +5. I dined in the City to-day, and went from hence early to town, and +visited the Duke of Ormond and Mr. Secretary. They say my Lord Treasurer +has a dead warrant in his pocket; they mean a list of those who are to +be turned out of employment; and we every day now expect those changes. +I passed by the Treasury to-day, and saw vast crowds waiting to give +Lord Treasurer petitions as he passes by. He is now at the top of +power and favour: he keeps no levees yet. I am cruel thirsty this hot +weather.--I am just this minute going to swim. I take Patrick down with +me, to hold my nightgown, shirt, and slippers, and borrow a napkin of my +landlady for a cap. So farewell till I come up; but there is no danger, +don't be frighted.--I have been swimming this half-hour and more; and +when I was coming out I dived, to make my head and all through wet, like +a cold bath; but, as I dived, the napkin fell off and is lost, and I +have that to pay for. O, faith, the great stones were so sharp, I could +hardly set my feet on them as I came out. It was pure and warm. I got to +bed, and will now go sleep. + +6. Morning. This letter shall go to-morrow; so I will answer yours when +I come home to-night. I feel no hurt from last night's swimming. I lie +with nothing but the sheet over me, and my feet quite bare. I must rise +and go to town before the tide is against me. Morrow, sirrahs; dear +sirrahs, morrow.--At night. I never felt so hot a day as this since I +was born. I dined with Lady Betty Germaine, and there was the young Earl +of Berkeley(15) and his fine lady. I never saw her before, nor think her +near so handsome as she passes for.--After dinner, Mr. Bertue(16) would +not let me put ice in my wine, but said my Lord Dorchester(17) got the +bloody flux with it, and that it was the worst thing in the world. Thus +are we plagued, thus are we plagued; yet I have done it five or six +times this summer, and was but the drier and the hotter for it. Nothing +makes me so excessively peevish as hot weather. Lady Berkeley after +dinner clapped my hat on another lady's head, and she in roguery put it +upon the rails. I minded them not; but in two minutes they called me +to the window, and Lady Carteret(18) showed me my hat out of her window +five doors off, where I was forced to walk to it, and pay her and old +Lady Weymouth(19) a visit, with some more beldames. Then I went and +drank coffee, and made one or two puns, with Lord Pembroke,(20) and +designed to go to Lord Treasurer; but it was too late, and beside I +was half broiled, and broiled without butter; for I never sweat after +dinner, if I drink any wine. Then I sat an hour with Lady Betty Butler +at tea, and everything made me hotter and drier. Then I walked home, and +was here by ten, so miserably hot, that I was in as perfect a passion as +ever I was in my life at the greatest affront or provocation. Then I sat +an hour, till I was quite dry and cool enough to go swim; which I did, +but with so much vexation that I think I have given it over: for I +was every moment disturbed by boats, rot them; and that puppy Patrick, +standing ashore, would let them come within a yard or two, and then call +sneakingly to them. The only comfort I proposed here in hot weather is +gone; for there is no jesting with those boats after it is dark: I had +none last night. I dived to dip my head, and held my cap on with both +my hands, for fear of losing it. Pox take the boats! Amen. 'Tis near +twelve, and so I'll answer your letter (it strikes twelve now) to-morrow +morning. + +7. Morning. Well, now let us answer MD's letter, N.15, 15, 15, 15. Now +have I told you the number? 15, 15; there, impudence, to call names in +the beginning of your letter, before you say, How do you do, Mr. Presto? +There is your breeding! Where is your manners, sirrah, to a gentleman? +Get you gone, you couple of jades.--No, I never sit up late now; but +this abominable hot weather will force me to eat or drink something that +will do me hurt. I do venture to eat a few strawberries.--Why then, do +you know in Ireland that Mr. St. John talked so in Parliament?(21) Your +Whigs are plaguily bit; for he is entirely for their being all out.--And +are you as vicious in snuff as ever? I believe, as you say, it does +neither hurt nor good; but I have left it off, and when anybody offers +me their box, I take about a tenth part of what I used to do, and +then just smell to it, and privately fling the rest away. I keep to my +tobacco still,(22) as you say; but even much less of that than formerly, +only mornings and evenings, and very seldom in the day.--As for Joe,(23) +I have recommended his case heartily to my Lord Lieutenant; and, by +his direction, given a memorial of it to Mr. Southwell, to whom I have +recommended it likewise. I can do no more, if he were my brother. His +business will be to apply himself to Southwell. And you must desire +Raymond, if Price of Galway comes to town, to desire him to wait on Mr. +Southwell, as recommended by me for one of the Duke's chaplains, which +was all I could do for him; and he must be presented to the Duke, and +make his court, and ply about, and find out some vacancy, and solicit +early for it. The bustle about your Mayor I had before, as I told you, +from the Archbishop of Dublin. Was Raymond not come till May 18? So +he says fine things of me? Certainly he lies. I am sure I used him +indifferently enough; and we never once dined together, or walked, or +were in any third place; only he came sometimes to my lodgings, and even +there was oftener denied than admitted.--What an odd bill is that you +sent of Raymond's! A bill upon one Murry in Chester, which depends +entirely not only upon Raymond's honesty, but his discretion; and in +money matters he is the last man I would depend on. Why should Sir +Alexander Cairnes(24) in London pay me a bill, drawn by God knows who, +upon Murry in Chester? I was at Cairnes's, and they can do no such +thing. I went among some friends, who are merchants, and I find the bill +must be sent to Murry, accepted by him, and then returned back, and then +Cairnes may accept or refuse it as he pleases. Accordingly I gave Sir +Thomas Frankland the bill, who has sent it to Chester, and ordered the +postmaster there to get it accepted, and then send it back, and in a day +or two I shall have an answer; and therefore this letter must stay a day +or two longer than I intended, and see what answer I get. Raymond should +have written to Murry at the same time, to desire Sir Alexander Cairnes +to have answered such a bill, if it come. But Cairnes's clerks (himself +was not at home) said they had received no notice of it, and could do +nothing; and advised me to send to Murry.--I have been six weeks to-day +at Chelsea, and you know it but just now. And so Dean ------ thinks I +write the Medley. Pox of his judgment! It is equal to his honesty. Then +you han't seen the Miscellany yet?(25) Why, 'tis a four-shilling book: +has nobody carried it over?--No, I believe Manley(26) will not lose his +place; for his friend(27) in England is so far from being out that he +has taken a new patent since the Post Office Act; and his brother +Jack Manley(28) here takes his part firmly; and I have often spoken to +Southwell in his behalf, and he seems very well inclined to him. But the +Irish folks here in general are horribly violent against him. Besides, +he must consider he could not send Stella wine if he were put out. And +so he is very kind, and sends you a dozen bottles of wine AT A TIME, +and you win eight shillings AT A TIME; and how much do you lose? No, no, +never one syllable about that, I warrant you.--Why, this same Stella is +so unmerciful a writer, she has hardly left any room for Dingley. If you +have such summer there as here, sure the Wexford waters are good by this +time. I forgot what weather we had May 6th; go look in my journal. We +had terrible rain the 24th and 25th, and never a drop since. Yes, yes, +I remember Berested's bridge; the coach sosses up and down as one goes +that way, just as at Hockley-in-the-Hole.(29) I never impute any illness +or health I have to good or ill weather, but to want of exercise, or ill +air, or something I have eaten, or hard study, or sitting up; and so +I fence against those as well as I can: but who a deuce can help the +weather? Will Seymour,(30) the General, was excessively hot with the +sun shining full upon him; so he turns to the sun, and says, "Harkee, +friend, you had better go and ripen cucumbers than plague me at this +rate," etc. Another time, fretting at the heat, a gentleman by said it +was such weather as pleased God: Seymour said, "Perhaps it may; but I am +sure it pleases nobody else." Why, Madam Dingley, the First-Fruits +are done. Southwell told me they went to inquire about them, and Lord +Treasurer said they were done, and had been done long ago. And I'll tell +you a secret you must not mention, that the Duke of Ormond is ordered to +take notice of them in his speech in your Parliament: and I desire you +will take care to say on occasion that my Lord Treasurer Harley did it +many months ago, before the Duke was Lord Lieutenant. And yet I cannot +possibly come over yet: so get you gone to Wexford, and make Stella +well. Yes, yes, I take care not to walk late; I never did but once, and +there are five hundred people on the way as I walk. Tisdall is a puppy, +and I will excuse him the half-hour he would talk with me. As for the +Examiner, I have heard a whisper that after that of this day,(31) which +tells us what this Parliament has done, you will hardly find them so +good. I prophesy they will be trash for the future; and methinks in +this day's Examiner the author talks doubtfully, as if he would write no +more.(32) Observe whether the change be discovered in Dublin, only +for your own curiosity, that's all. Make a mouth there. Mrs. Vedeau's +business I have answered, and I hope the bill is not lost. Morrow. 'Tis +stewing hot, but I must rise and go to town between fire and water. +Morrow, sirrahs both, morrow.--At night. I dined to-day with Colonel +Crowe, Governor of Jamaica, and your friend Sterne. I presented Sterne +to my Lord Treasurer's brother,(33) and gave him his case, and engaged +him in his favour. At dinner there fell the swingingest long shower, and +the most grateful to me, that ever I saw: it thundered fifty times at +least, and the air is so cool that a body is able to live; and I walked +home to-night with comfort, and without dirt. I went this evening to +Lord Treasurer, and sat with him two hours, and we were in very good +humour, and he abused me, and called me Dr. Thomas Swift fifty times: +I have told you he does that when he has mind to make me mad.(34) Sir +Thomas Frankland gave me to-day a letter from Murry, accepting my bill; +so all is well: only, by a letter from Parvisol, I find there are some +perplexities.--Joe has likewise written to me, to thank me for what I +have done for him; and desires I would write to the Bishop of Clogher, +that Tom Ashe(35) may not hinder his father(36) from being portreve. +I have written and sent to Joe several times, that I will not trouble +myself at all about Trim. I wish them their liberty, but they do not +deserve it: so tell Joe, and send to him. I am mighty happy with this +rain: I was at the end of my patience, but now I live again. This cannot +go till Saturday; and perhaps I may go out of town with Lord Shelburne +and Lady Kerry to-morrow for two or three days. Lady Kerry has written +to desire it; but tomorrow I shall know farther.--O this dear rain, I +cannot forbear praising it: I never felt myself to be revived so in my +life. It lasted from three till five, hard as a horn, and mixed with +hail. + +8. Morning. I am going to town, and will just finish this there, if I go +into the country with Lady Kerry and Lord Shelburne: so morrow, till an +hour or two hence.--In town. I met Cairnes, who, I suppose, will pay me +the money; though he says I must send him the bill first, and I will get +it done in absence. Farewell, etc. etc. + + + + +LETTER 25. + +CHELSEA, June 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. + +I have been all this time at Wycombe, between Oxford and London, with +Lord Shelburne, who has the squire's house at the town's end, and an +estate there in a delicious country. Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt were with +us, and we passed our time well enough; and there I wholly disengaged +myself from all public thoughts, and everything but MD, who had the +impudence to send me a letter there; but I'll be revenged: I will +answer it. This day, the 20th, I came from Wycombe with Lady Kerry after +dinner, lighted at Hyde Park Corner, and walked: it was twenty-seven +miles, and we came it in about five hours. + +21. I went at noon to see Mr. Secretary at his office, and there was +Lord Treasurer: so I killed two birds, etc., and we were glad to see +one another, and so forth. And the Secretary and I dined at Sir William +Wyndham's,(1) who married Lady Catharine Seymour, your acquaintance, I +suppose. There were ten of us at dinner. It seems, in my absence, they +had erected a Club,(2) and made me one; and we made some laws to-day, +which I am to digest and add to, against next meeting. Our meetings +are to be every Thursday. We are yet but twelve: Lord Keeper and +Lord Treasurer were proposed; but I was against them, and so was Mr. +Secretary, though their sons are of it, and so they are excluded; but +we design to admit the Duke of Shrewsbury. The end of our Club is, to +advance conversation and friendship, and to reward deserving persons +with our interest and recommendation. We take in none but men of wit or +men of interest; and if we go on as we begin, no other Club in this town +will be worth talking of. The Solicitor-General, Sir Robert Raymond, +is one of our Club; and I ordered him immediately to write to your Lord +Chancellor in favour of Dr. Raymond: so tell Raymond, if you see him; +but I believe this will find you at Wexford. This letter will come three +weeks after the last, so there is a week lost; but that is owing to my +being out of town; yet I think it is right, because it goes enclosed to +Mr. Reading:(3) and why should he know how often Presto writes to MD, +pray?--I sat this evening with Lady Betty Butler and Lady Ashburnham, +and then came home by eleven, and had a good cool walk; for we have +had no extreme hot weather this fortnight, but a great deal of rain at +times, and a body can live and breathe. I hope it will hold so. We had +peaches to-day. + +22. I went late to-day to town, and dined with my friend Lewis. I saw +Will Congreve attending at the Treasury, by order, with his brethren, +the Commissioners of the Wine Licences. I had often mentioned him with +kindness to Lord Treasurer; and Congreve told me that, after they had +answered to what they were sent for, my lord called him privately, and +spoke to him with great kindness, promising his protection, etc. The +poor man said he had been used so ill of late years that he was quite +astonished at my lord's goodness, etc., and desired me to tell my lord +so; which I did this evening, and recommended him heartily. My lord +assured me he esteemed him very much, and would be always kind to him; +that what he said was to make Congreve easy, because he knew people +talked as if his lordship designed to turn everybody out, and +particularly Congreve: which indeed was true, for the poor man told me +he apprehended it. As I left my Lord Treasurer, I called on Congreve +(knowing where he dined), and told him what had passed between my lord +and me; so I have made a worthy man easy, and that is a good day's +work.(4) I am proposing to my lord to erect a society or academy for +correcting and settling our language, that we may not perpetually be +changing as we do. He enters mightily into it, so does the Dean of +Carlisle;(5) and I design to write a letter to Lord Treasurer with +the proposals of it, and publish it;(6) and so I told my lord, and he +approves it. Yesterday's(7) was a sad Examiner, and last week was very +indifferent, though some little scraps of the old spirit, as if he had +given some hints; but yesterday's is all trash. It is plain the hand is +changed. + +23. I have not been in London to-day: for Dr. Gastrell(8) and I dined, +by invitation, with the Dean of Carlisle, my neighbour; so I know not +what they are doing in the world, a mere country gentleman. And are not +you ashamed both to go into the country just when I did, and stay ten +days, just as I did, saucy monkeys? But I never rode; I had no horses, +and our coach was out of order, and we went and came in a hired one. Do +you keep your lodgings when you go to Wexford? I suppose you do; for you +will hardly stay above two months. I have been walking about our town +to-night, and it is a very scurvy place for walking. I am thinking to +leave it, and return to town, now the Irish folks are gone. Ford goes +in three days. How does Dingley divert herself while Stella is riding? +work, or read, or walk? Does Dingley ever read to you? Had you ever a +book with you in the country? Is all that left off? Confess. Well, I'll +go sleep; 'tis past eleven, and I go early to sleep: I write nothing at +night but to MD. + +24. Stratford and I, and Pastoral Philips (just come from Denmark) dined +at Ford's to-day, who paid his way, and goes for Ireland on Tuesday. The +Earl of Peterborow is returned from Vienna without one servant: he left +them scattered in several towns of Germany. I had a letter from him, +four days ago, from Hanover, where he desires I would immediately send +him an answer to his house at Parson's Green,(9) about five miles off. I +wondered what he meant, till I heard he was come. He sent expresses, +and got here before them. He is above fifty, and as active as one of +five-and-twenty. I have not seen him yet, nor know when I shall, or +where to find him. + +25. Poor Duke of Shrewsbury has been very ill of a fever: we were all +in a fright about him: I thank God, he is better. I dined to-day at Lord +Ashburnham's, with his lady, for he was not at home: she is a very +good girl, and always a great favourite of mine. Sterne tells me he has +desired a friend to receive your box in Chester, and carry it over. I +fear he will miscarry in his business, which was sent to the Treasury +before he was recommended; for I was positive only to second his +recommendations, and all his other friends failed him. However, on your +account I will do what I can for him to-morrow with the secretary of the +Treasury. + +26. We had much company to-day at dinner at Lord Treasurer's. Prior +never fails: he is a much better courtier than I; and we expect every +day that he will be a Commissioner of the Customs, and that in a short +time a great many more will be turned out. They blame Lord Treasurer for +his slowness in turning people out; but I suppose he has his reasons. +They still keep my neighbour Atterbury in suspense about the deanery +of Christ Church,(10) which has been above six months vacant, and he +is heartily angry. I reckon you are now preparing for your Wexford +expedition; and poor Dingley is full of carking and caring, scolding. +How long will you stay? Shall I be in Dublin before you return? Don't +fall and hurt yourselves, nor overturn the coach. Love one another, and +be good girls; and drink Presto's health in water, Madam Stella; and in +good ale, Madam Dingley. + +27. The Secretary appointed me to dine with him to-day, and we were to +do a world of business: he came at four, and brought Prior with him, +and had forgot the appointment, and no business was done. I left him at +eight, and went to change my gown at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's; and there was +Sir Andrew Fountaine at ombre with Lady Ashburnham and Lady Frederic +Schomberg, and Lady Mary Schomberg,(11) and Lady Betty Butler, and +others, talking; and it put me in mind of the Dean and Stoyte, and +Walls, and Stella at play, and Dingley and I looking on. I stayed with +them till ten, like a fool. Lady Ashburnham is something like Stella; so +I helped her, and wished her good cards. It is late, etc. + +28. Well, but I must answer this letter of our MD's. Saturday +approaches, and I han't written down this side. O, faith, Presto has +been a sort of a lazy fellow: but Presto will remove to town this day +se'ennight; the Secretary has commanded me to do so; and I believe he +and I shall go for some days to Windsor, where he will have leisure to +mind some business we have together. To-day, our Society (it must not +be called a Club) dined at Mr. Secretary's: we were but eight; the rest +sent excuses, or were out of town. We sat till eight, and made some laws +and settlements; and then I went to take leave of Lady Ashburnham, +who goes out of town to-morrow, as a great many of my acquaintance are +already, and left the town very thin. I shall make but short journeys +this summer, and not be long out of London. The days are grown sensibly +short already, all our fruit blasted. Your Duke of Ormond is still +at Chester; and perhaps this letter will be with you as soon as he. +Sterne's business is quite blown up: they stand to it to send him back +to the Commissioners of the Revenue in Ireland for a reference, and +all my credit could not alter it, though I almost fell out with +the secretary of the Treasury,(12) who is my Lord Treasurer's +cousin-germain, and my very good friend. It seems every step he has +hitherto taken hath been wrong; at least they say so, and that is the +same thing. I am heartily sorry for it; and I really think they are in +the wrong, and use him hardly; but I can do no more. + +29. Steele has had the assurance to write to me that I would engage my +Lord Treasurer to keep a friend of his in an employment: I believe I +told you how he and Addison served me for my good offices in Steele's +behalf; and I promised Lord Treasurer never to speak for either of them +again. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined to-day at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's. +Dilly Ashe has been in town this fortnight: I saw him twice; he was four +days at Lord Pembroke's in the country, punning with him; his face is +very well. I was this evening two or three hours at Lord Treasurer's, +who called me Dr. Thomas Swift twenty times; that's his way of teasing. +I left him at nine, and got home here by ten, like a gentleman; and +to-morrow morning I'll answer your little letter, sirrahs. + +30. Morning. I am terribly sleepy always in a morning; I believe it is +my walk over-night that disposes me to sleep: faith, 'tis now striking +eight, and I am but just awake. Patrick comes early, and wakes me five +or six times; but I have excuses, though I am three parts asleep. I tell +him I sat up late, or slept ill in the night, and often it is a lie. I +have now got little MD's letter before me, N.16, no more, nor no less, +no mistake. Dingley says, "This letter won't be above six lines"; and I +was afraid it was true, though I saw it filled on both sides. The Bishop +of Clogher writ me word you were in the country, and that he heard you +were well: I am glad at heart MD rides, and rides, and rides. Our hot +weather ended in May, and all this month has been moderate: it was then +so hot I was not able to endure it; I was miserable every moment, and +found myself disposed to be peevish and quarrelsome: I believe a very +hot country would make me stark mad.--Yes, my head continues pretty +tolerable, and I impute it all to walking. Does Stella eat fruit? I eat +a little; but I always repent, and resolve against it. No, in very hot +weather I always go to town by water; but I constantly walk back, for +then the sun is down. And so Mrs. Proby(13) goes with you to Wexford: +she's admirable company; you'll grow plaguy wise with those you +frequent. Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Proby! take care of infection. I believe +my two hundred pounds will be paid, but that Sir Alexander Cairnes is a +scrupulous puppy: I left the bill with Mr. Stratford, who is to have the +money. Now, Madam Stella, what say you? you ride every day; I know that +already, sirrah; and, if you rid every day for a twelvemonth, you +would be still better and better. No, I hope Parvisol will not have +the impudence to make you stay an hour for the money; if he does, I'll +UN-PARVISOL him; pray let me know. O Lord, how hasty we are! Stella +can't stay writing and writing; she must write and go a cock-horse, pray +now. Well, but the horses are not come to the door; the fellow can't +find the bridle; your stirrup is broken; where did you put the whips, +Dingley? Marget, where have you laid Mrs. Johnson's ribbon to tie about +her? reach me my mask: sup up this before you go. So, so, a gallop, a +gallop: sit fast, sirrah, and don't ride hard upon the stones.--Well, +now Stella is gone, tell me, Dingley, is she a good girl? and what news +is that you are to tell me?--No, I believe the box is not lost: Sterne +says it is not.--No, faith, you must go to Wexford without seeing +your Duke of Ormond, unless you stay on purpose; perhaps you may be +so wise.--I tell you this is your sixteenth letter; will you never be +satisfied? No, no, I will walk late no more; I ought less to venture it +than other people, and so I was told: but I will return to lodge in +town next Thursday. When you come from Wexford, I would have you send +a letter of attorney to Mr. Benjamin Tooke, bookseller, in London, +directed to me; and he shall manage your affair. I have your parchment +safely locked up in London.--O, Madam Stella, welcome home; was it +pleasant riding? did your horse stumble? how often did the man light to +settle your stirrup? ride nine miles! faith, you have galloped indeed. +Well, but where is the fine thing you promised me? I have been a good +boy, ask Dingley else. I believe you did not meet the fine-thing-man: +faith, you are a cheat. So you will see Raymond and his wife in town. +Faith, that riding to Laracor gives me short sighs, as well as you. All +the days I have passed here have been dirt to those. I have been gaining +enemies by the scores, and friends by the couples; which is against the +rules of wisdom, because they say one enemy can do more hurt than +ten friends can do good. But I have had my revenge at least, if I +get nothing else. And so let Fate govern.--Now I think your letter is +answered; and mine will be shorter than ordinary, because it must go +to-day. We have had a great deal of scattering rain for some days past, +yet it hardly keeps down the dust.--We have plays acted in our town; and +Patrick was at one of them, oh oh. He was damnably mauled one day when +he was drunk; he was at cuffs with a brother-footman, who dragged him +along the floor upon his face, which looked for a week after as if he +had the leprosy; and I was glad enough to see it. I have been ten times +sending him over to you; yet now he has new clothes, and a laced hat, +which the hatter brought by his orders, and he offered to pay for the +lace out of his wages.--I am to dine to-day with Dilly at Sir Andrew +Fountaine's, who has bought a new house, and will be weary of it in half +a year. I must rise and shave, and walk to town, unless I go with the +Dean in his chariot at twelve, which is too late: and I have not seen +that Lord Peterborow yet. The Duke of Shrewsbury is almost well again, +and will be abroad in a day or two: what care you? There it is now: you +do not care for my friends. Farewell, my dearest lives and delights; I +love you better than ever, if possible, as hope saved, I do, and ever +will. God Almighty bless you ever, and make us happy together! I pray +for this twice every day; and I hope God will hear my poor hearty +prayers.--Remember, if I am used ill and ungratefully, as I have +formerly been, 'tis what I am prepared for, and shall not wonder at +it. Yet I am now envied, and thought in high favour, and have every +day numbers of considerable men teasing me to solicit for them. And the +Ministry all use me perfectly well; and all that know them say they +love me. Yet I can count upon nothing, nor will, but upon MD's love and +kindness.--They think me useful; they pretended they were afraid of none +but me, and that they resolved to have me; they have often confessed +this: yet all makes little impression on me.--Pox of these speculations! +they give me the spleen; and that is a disease I was not born to. Let +me alone, sirrahs, and be satisfied: I am, as long as MD and Presto are +well. + + Little wealth, + And much health, + And a life by stealth: + +that is all we want; and so farewell, dearest MD; Stella, Dingley, +Presto, all together, now and for ever all together. Farewell again and +again. + + + + +LETTER 26. + +CHELSEA, June 30, 1711. + +See what large paper I am forced to take, to write to MD; Patrick has +brought me none clipped; but, faith, the next shall be smaller. I dined +to-day, as I told you, with Dilly at Sir Andrew Fountaine's: there were +we wretchedly punning, and writing together to Lord Pembroke. Dilly +is just such a puppy as ever; and it is so uncouth, after so long an +intermission. My twenty-fifth is gone this evening to the post. I think +I will direct my next (which is this) to Mr. Curry's, and let them send +it to Wexford; and then the next enclosed to Reading. Instruct me how I +shall do. I long to hear from you from Wexford, and what sort of place +it is. The town grows very empty and dull. This evening I have had +a letter from Mr. Philips, the pastoral poet, to get him a certain +employment from Lord Treasurer. I have now had almost all the Whig poets +my solicitors; and I have been useful to Congreve, Steele, and Harrison: +but I will do nothing for Philips; I find he is more a puppy than ever, +so don't solicit for him. Besides, I will not trouble Lord Treasurer, +unless upon some very extraordinary occasion. + +July 1. Dilly lies conveniently for me when I come to town from Chelsea +of a Sunday, and go to the Secretary's; so I called at his lodgings this +morning, and sent for my gown, and dressed myself there. He had a letter +from the Bishop, with an account that you were set out for Wexford the +morning he writ, which was June 26, and he had the letter the 30th; that +was very quick: the Bishop says you design to stay there two months or +more. Dilly had also a letter from Tom Ashe, full of Irish news; +that your Lady Lyndon(1) is dead, and I know not what besides of Dr. +Coghill(2) losing his drab, etc. The Secretary was gone to Windsor, and +I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. Lord Treasurer is at Windsor too; they +will be going and coming all summer, while the Queen is there, and the +town is empty, and I fear I shall be sometimes forced to stoop beneath +my dignity, and send to the ale-house for a dinner. Well, sirrahs, had +you a good journey to Wexford? did you drink ale by the way? were you +never overturned? how many things did you forget? do you lie on straw in +your new town where you are? Cudshoe,(3) the next letter to Presto +will be dated from Wexford. What fine company have you there? what new +acquaintance have you got? You are to write constantly to Mrs. Walls and +Mrs. Stoyte: and the Dean said, "Shall we never hear from you?" "Yes, +Mr. Dean, we'll make bold to trouble you with a letter." Then at +Wexford; when you meet a lady, "Did your waters pass well this morning, +madam?" Will Dingley drink them too? Yes, I warrant; to get her a +stomach. I suppose you are all gamesters at Wexford. Do not lose your +money, sirrah, far from home. I believe I shall go to Windsor in a few +days; at least, the Secretary tells me so. He has a small house there, +with just room enough for him and me; and I would be satisfied to pass a +few days there sometimes. Sirrahs, let me go to sleep, it is past twelve +in our town. + +2. Sterne came to me this morning, and tells me he has yet some hopes +of compassing his business: he was with Tom Harley, the secretary of the +Treasury, and made him doubt a little he was in the wrong; the poor man +tells me it will almost undo him if he fails. I called this morning +to see Will Congreve, who lives much by himself, is forced to read for +amusement, and cannot do it without a magnifying-glass. I have set him +very well with the Ministry, and I hope he is in no danger of losing his +place. I dined in the City with Dr. Freind, not among my merchants, but +with a scrub instrument of mischief of mine, whom I never mentioned to +you, nor am like to do. You two little saucy Wexfordians, you are now +drinking waters. You drink waters! you go fiddlestick. Pray God send +them to do you good; if not, faith, next summer you shall come to the +Bath. + +3. Lord Peterborow desired to see me this morning at nine; I had not +seen him before since he came home. I met Mrs. Manley(4) there, who +was soliciting him to get some pension or reward for her service in +the cause, by writing her Atalantis, and prosecution, etc., upon it. +I seconded her, and hope they will do something for the poor woman. My +lord kept me two hours upon politics: he comes home very sanguine; +he has certainly done great things at Savoy and Vienna, by his +negotiations: he is violent against a peace, and finds true what I writ +to him, that the Ministry seems for it. He reasons well; yet I am for a +peace. I took leave of Lady Kerry, who goes to-morrow for Ireland; she +picks up Lord Shelburne and Mrs. Pratt at Lord Shelburne's house. I was +this evening with Lord Treasurer: Tom Harley was there, and whispered me +that he began to doubt about Sterne's business; I told him he would find +he was in the wrong. I sat two or three hours at Lord Treasurer's; he +rallied me sufficiently upon my refusing to take him into our Club, and +told a judge who was with us that my name was Thomas Swift. I had a mind +to prevent Sir H. Belasyse(5) going to Spain, who is a most covetous +cur, and I fell a railing against avarice, and turned it so that he +smoked me, and named Belasyse. I went on, and said it was a shame +to send him; to which he agreed, but desired I would name some who +understood business, and do not love money, for he could not find them. +I said there was something in a Treasurer different from other men; that +we ought not to make a man a Bishop who does not love divinity, or a +General who does not love war; and I wondered why the Queen would make a +man Lord Treasurer who does not love money. He was mightily pleased with +what I said. He was talking of the First-Fruits of England, and I took +occasion to tell him that I would not for a thousand pounds anybody but +he had got them for Ireland, who got them for England too. He bid me +consider what a thousand pounds was; I said I would have him to know I +valued a thousand pounds as little as he valued a million.--Is it not +silly to write all this? but it gives you an idea what our conversation +is with mixed company. I have taken a lodging in Suffolk Street, and go +to it on Thursday; and design to walk the Park and the town, to supply +my walking here: yet I will walk here sometimes too, in a visit now and +then to the Dean.(6) When I was almost at home, Patrick told me he had +two letters for me, and gave them to me in the dark, yet I could see one +of them was from saucy MD. I went to visit the Dean for half an hour; +and then came home, and first read the other letter, which was from the +Bishop of Clogher, who tells me the Archbishop of Dublin mentioned in a +full assembly of the clergy the Queen's granting the First-Fruits, said +it was done by the Lord Treasurer, and talked much of my merit in it: +but reading yours I find nothing of that: perhaps the Bishop lies, out +of a desire to please me. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. Well, sirrahs, +you are gone to Wexford; but I'll follow you. + +4. Sterne came to me again this morning, to advise about reasons and +memorials he is drawing up; and we went to town by water together; and +having nothing to do, I stole into the City to an instrument of mine, +and then went to see poor Patty Rolt,(7) who has been in town these +two months with a cousin of hers. Her life passes with boarding in some +country town as cheap as she can, and, when she runs out, shifting to +some cheaper place, or coming to town for a month. If I were rich, I +would ease her, which a little thing would do. Some months ago I sent +her a guinea, and it patched up twenty circumstances. She is now going +to Berkhamstead in Hertfordshire. It has rained and hailed prodigiously +to-day, with some thunder. This is the last night I lie at Chelsea; and +I got home early, and sat two hours with the Dean, and ate victuals, +having had a very scurvy dinner. I'll answer your letter when I come to +live in town. You shall have a fine London answer: but first I will go +sleep, and dream of MD. + +London, July 5. This day I left Chelsea for good (that's a genteel +phrase), and am got into Suffolk Street. I dined to-day at our Society, +and we are adjourned for a month, because most of us go into the +country: we dined at Lord Keeper's with young Harcourt, and Lord Keeper +was forced to sneak off, and dine with Lord Treasurer, who had invited +the Secretary and me to dine with him; but we scorned to leave our +company, as George Granville did, whom we have threatened to expel: +however, in the evening I went to Lord Treasurer, and, among other +company, found a couple of judges with him; one of them, Judge +Powell,(8) an old fellow with grey hairs, was the merriest old gentleman +I ever saw, spoke pleasant things, and laughed and chuckled till he +cried again. I stayed till eleven, because I was not now to walk to +Chelsea. + +6. An ugly rainy day. I was to visit Mrs. Barton, then called at Mrs. +Vanhomrigh's, where Sir Andrew Fountaine and the rain kept me to dinner; +and there did I loiter all the afternoon, like a fool, out of perfect +laziness, and the weather not permitting me to walk: but I'll do so no +more. Are your waters at Wexford good in this rain? I long to hear how +you are established there, how and whom you visit, what is your lodging, +what are your entertainments. You are got far southwards; but I think +you must eat no fruit while you drink the waters. I ate some Kentish +cherries t'other day, and I repent it already; I have felt my head a +little disordered. We had not a hot day all June, or since, which I +reckon a mighty happiness. Have you left a direction with Reading for +Wexford? I will, as I said, direct this to Curry's, and the next to +Reading; or suppose I send this at a venture straight to Wexford? It +would vex me to have it miscarry. I had a letter to-night from Parvisol, +that White has paid me most of my remaining money; and another from +Joe, that they have had their election at Trim, but not a word of who +is chosen portreeve.(9) Poor Joe is full of complaints, says he has +enemies, and fears he will never get his two hundred pounds; and I fear +so too, although I have done what I could.--I'll answer your letter when +I think fit, when saucy Presto thinks fit, sirrahs. I am not at leisure +yet; when I have nothing to do, perhaps I may vouchsafe.--O Lord, the +two Wexford ladies; I'll go dream of you both. + +7. It was the dismallest rainy day I ever saw: I went to the Secretary +in the morning, and he was gone to Windsor. Then it began raining, and +I struck in to Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and dined, and stayed till night very +dull and insipid. I hate this town in summer; I'll leave it for a while, +if I can have time. + +8. I have a fellow of your town, one Tisdall,(10) lodges in the same +house with me. Patrick told me Squire Tisdall and his lady lodged here. +I pretended I never heard of him; but I knew his ugly face, and saw him +at church in the next pew to me, and he often looked for a bow, but it +would not do. I think he lives in Capel Street, and has an ugly fine +wife in a fine coach. Dr. Freind and I dined in the City by invitation, +and I drank punch, very good, but it makes me hot. People here are +troubled with agues by this continuance of wet, cold weather; but I am +glad to find the season so temperate. I was this evening to see Will +Congreve, who is a very agreeable companion. + +9. I was to-day in the City, and dined with Mr. Stratford, who tells me +Sir Alexander Cairnes makes difficulties about paying my bill; so that I +cannot give order yet to Parvisol to deliver up the bond to Dr. Raymond. +To-morrow I shall have a positive answer: that Cairnes is a shuffling +scoundrel; and several merchants have told me so: what can one expect +from a Scot and a fanatic? I was at Bateman's the bookseller's, to see a +fine old library he has bought; and my fingers itched, as yours would +do at a china-shop; but I resisted, and found everything too dear, and +I have fooled away too much money that way already. So go and drink your +waters, saucy rogue, and make yourself well; and pray walk while you are +there: I have a notion there is never a good walk in Ireland.(11) Do +you find all places without trees? Pray observe the inhabitants about +Wexford; they are old English; see what they have particular in their +manners, names, and language: magpies have been always there, and +nowhere else in Ireland, till of late years. They say the cocks and dogs +go to sleep at noon, and so do the people. Write your travels, and bring +home good eyes and health. + +10. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer: we did not sit down till four. +I despatched three businesses with him, and forgot a fourth. I think I +have got a friend an employment; and besides I made him consent to let +me bring Congreve to dine with him. You must understand I have a mind +to do a small thing, only turn out all the Queen's physicians; for in my +conscience they will soon kill her among them. And I must talk over +that matter with some people. My Lord Treasurer told me the Queen and he +between them have lost the paper about the First-Fruits, but desires I +will let the bishops know it shall be done with the first opportunity. + +11. I dined to-day with neighbour Van, and walked pretty well in the +Park this evening. Stella, hussy, don't you remember, sirrah, you used +to reproach me about meddling in other folk's affairs? I have enough of +it now: two people came to me to-night in the Park to engage to speak +to Lord Treasurer in their behalf, and I believe they make up fifty who +have asked me the same favour. I am hardened, and resolve to trouble +him, or any other Minister, less than ever. And I observe those who have +ten times more credit than I will not speak a word for anybody. I met +yesterday the poor lad I told you of, who lived with Mr. Tenison,(12) +who has been ill of an ague ever since I saw him. He looked wretchedly, +and was exceeding thankful for half a crown I gave him. He had a crown +from me before. + +12. I dined to-day with young Manley(13) in the City, who is to get me +out a box of books and a hamper of wine from Hamburg. I inquired of Mr. +Stratford, who tells me that Cairnes has not yet paid my two hundred +pounds, but shams and delays from day to day. Young Manley's wife is a +very indifferent person of a young woman, goggle-eyed, and looks like a +fool: yet he is a handsome fellow, and married her for love after long +courtship, and she refused him until he got his last employment.--I +believe I shall not be so good a boy for writing as I was during your +stay at Wexford, unless I may send my letters every second time to +Curry's; pray let me know. This, I think, shall go there: or why not +to Wexford itself? That is right, and so it shall this next Tuesday, +although it costs you tenpence. What care I? + +13. This toad of a Secretary is come from Windsor, and I cannot find +him; and he goes back on Sunday, and I can't see him to-morrow. I dined +scurvily to-day with Mr. Lewis and a parson; and then went to see Lord +Treasurer, and met him coming from his house in his coach: he smiled, +and I shrugged, and we smoked each other; and so my visit is paid. I +now confine myself to see him only twice a week: he has invited me to +Windsor, and betwixt two stools, etc. I will go live at Windsor, if +possible, that's pozzz. I have always the luck to pass my summer +in London. I called this evening to see poor Sir Matthew Dudley, a +Commissioner of the Customs; I know he is to be out for certain: he is +in hopes of continuing: I would not tell him bad news, but advised him +to prepare for the worst. Dilly was with me this morning, to invite me +to dine at Kensington on Sunday with Lord Mountjoy, who goes soon for +Ireland. Your late Chief-Justice Broderick(14) is here, and they say +violent as a tiger. How is party among you at Wexford? Are the majority +of ladies for the late or present Ministry? Write me Wexford news, and +love Presto, because he is a good boy. + +14. Although it was shaving-day, I walked to Chelsea, and was there by +nine this morning; and the Dean of Carlisle and I crossed the water to +Battersea, and went in his chariot to Greenwich, where we dined at +Dr. Gastrell's, and passed the afternoon at Lewisham, at the Dean +of Canterbury's;(15) and there I saw Moll Stanhope,(16) who is grown +monstrously tall, but not so handsome as formerly. It is the first +little rambling journey I have had this summer about London, and they +are the agreeablest pastimes one can have, in a friend's coach, and +to good company. Bank Stock is fallen three or four per cent. by the +whispers about the town of the Queen's being ill, who is however very +well. + +15. How many books have you carried with you to Wexford? What, not one +single book? Oh, but your time will be so taken up; and you can borrow +of the parson. I dined to-day with Sir Andrew Fountaine and Dilly at +Kensington with Lord Mountjoy; and in the afternoon Stratford came +there, and told me my two hundred pounds were paid at last; so that +business is over, and I am at ease about it; and I wish all your money +was in the Bank too. I will have my other hundred pounds there, that is +in Hawkshaw's hands. Have you had the interest of it paid yet? I ordered +Parvisol to do it. What makes Presto write so crooked? I will answer +your letter to-morrow, and send it on Tuesday. Here's hot weather come +again, yesterday and to-day: fine drinking waters now. We had a sad pert +dull parson at Kensington to-day. I almost repent my coming to town; I +want the walks I had. + +16. I dined in the City to-day with a hedge(17) acquaintance, and the +day passed without any consequence. I will answer your letter to-morrow. + +17. Morning. I have put your letter before me, and am going to answer +it. Hold your tongue: stand by. Your weather and ours were not alike; we +had not a bit of hot weather in June, yet you complain of it on the 19th +day. What, you used to love hot weather then? I could never endure it: +I detest and abominate it. I would not live in a hot country, to be king +of it. What a splutter you keep about my bonds with Raymond, and all to +affront Presto! Presto will be suspicious of everything but MD, in spite +of your little nose. Soft and fair, Madam Stella, how you gallop away, +in your spleen and your rage, about repenting my journey, and preferment +here, and sixpence a dozen, and nasty England, and Laracor all my life. +Hey-dazy, will you never have done? I had no offers of any living. Lord +Keeper told me some months ago he would give me one when I pleased; +but I told him I would not take any from him; and the Secretary told me +t'other day he had refused a very good one for me, but it was in a place +he did not like; and I know nothing of getting anything here, and, if +they would give me leave, I would come over just now. Addison, I hear, +has changed his mind about going over; but I have not seen him these +four months.--Oh ay, that's true, Dingley; that's like herself: millions +of businesses to do before she goes. Yes, my head has been pretty well, +but threatening within these two or three days, which I impute to some +fruit I ate; but I will eat no more: not a bit of any sort. I suppose +you had a journey without dust, and that was happy. I long for a Wexford +letter, but must not think of it yet: your last was finished but three +weeks ago. It is d----d news you tell me of Mrs. F----; it makes me love +England less a great deal. I know nothing of the trunk being left or +taken; so 'tis odd enough, if the things in it were mine; and I think +I was told that there are some things for me that my mother left +particularly to me. I am really sorry for -----; that scoundrel ----- +will have his estate after his mother's death. Let me know if Mrs. Walls +has got her tea: I hope Richardson(18) stayed in Dublin till it came. +Mrs. Walls needed not have that blemish in her eye; for I am not in love +with her at all. No, I do not like anything in the Examiner after the +45th, except the first part of the 46th;(19) all the rest is trash; and +if you like them, especially the 47th, your judgment is spoiled by ill +company and want of reading, which I am more sorry for than you think: +and I have spent fourteen years in improving you to little purpose. +(Mr. Tooke is come here, and I must stop.)--At night. I dined with +Lord Treasurer to-day, and he kept me till nine; so I cannot send this +to-night, as I intended, nor write some other letters. Green,(20) his +surgeon, was there, and dressed his breast; that is, put on a plaster, +which is still requisite: and I took an opportunity to speak to him of +the Queen; but he cut me short with this saying, "Laissez faire a Don +Antoine," which is a French proverb, expressing, "Leave that to me." +I find he is against her taking much physic; and I doubt he cannot +persuade her to take Dr. Radcliffe. However, she is very well now, and +all the story of her illness, except the first day or two, was a lie. +We had some business, that company hindered us from doing, though he is +earnest for it, yet would not appoint me a certain day, but bids me come +at all times till we can have leisure. This takes up a great deal of my +time, and I can do nothing I would do for them. I was with the Secretary +this morning, and we both think to go to Windsor for some days, to +despatch an affair, if we can have leisure. Sterne met me just now in +the street by his lodgings, and I went in for an hour to Jemmy Leigh, +who loves London dearly: he asked after you with great respect and +friendship.--To return to your letter. Your Bishop Mills(21) hates me +mortally: I wonder he should speak well of me, having abused me in +all places where he went. So you pay your way. Cudsho: you had a +fine supper, I warrant; two pullets, and a bottle of wine, and some +currants.--It is just three weeks to-day since you set out to Wexford; +you were three days going, and I do not expect a letter these ten days +yet, or rather this fortnight. I got a grant of the Gazette(22) for Ben +Tooke this morning from Mr. Secretary: it will be worth to him a hundred +pounds a year. + +18. To-day I took leave of Mrs. Barton, who is going into the country; +and I dined with Sir John Stanley,(23) where I have not been this great +while. There dined with us Lord Rochester, and his fine daughter, Lady +Jane,(24) just growing a top-toast. I have been endeavouring to save +Sir Matthew Dudley,(25) but fear I cannot. I walked the Mall six times +to-night for exercise, and would have done more; but, as empty as the +town is, a fool got hold of me, and so I came home, to tell you this +shall go to-morrow, without fail, and follow you to Wexford, like a dog. + +19. Dean Atterbury sent to me to dine with him at Chelsea. I refused +his coach, and walked, and am come back by seven, because I would finish +this letter, and some others I am writing. Patrick tells me the maid +says one Mr. Walls, a clergyman, a tall man, was here to visit me. Is it +your Irish Archdeacon? I shall be sorry for it; but I shall make shift +to see him seldom enough, as I do Dilly. What can he do here? or is it +somebody else? The Duke of Newcastle(26) is dead by the fall he had from +his horse. God send poor Stella her health, and keep MD happy! Farewell, +and love Presto, who loves MD above all things ten million of times. God +bless the dear Wexford girls. Farewell again, etc. etc. + + + + +LETTER 27. + +LONDON, July 19, 1711. + +I have just sent my 26th, and have nothing to say, because I have other +letters to write (pshaw, I began too high); but I must lay the beginning +like a nest-egg: to-morrow I will say more, and fetch up this line to be +straight. This is enough at present for two dear saucy naughty girls. + +20. Have I told you that Walls has been with me, and leaves the town +in three days? He has brought no gown with him. Dilly carried him to a +play. He has come upon a foolish errand, and goes back as he comes. +I was this day with Lord Peterborow, who is going another ramble: I +believe I told you so. I dined with Lord Treasurer, but cannot get him +to do his own business with me; he has put me off till to-morrow. + +21, 22. I dined yesterday with Lord Treasurer, who would needs take me +along with him to Windsor, although I refused him several times, having +no linen, etc. I had just time to desire Lord Forbes(1) to call at my +lodging and order my man to send my things to-day to Windsor by his +servant. I lay last night at the Secretary's lodgings at Windsor, and +borrowed one of his shirts to go to Court in. The Queen is very well. I +dined with Mr. Masham; and not hearing anything of my things, I got Lord +Winchelsea to bring me to town. Here I found that Patrick had broke open +the closet to get my linen and nightgown, and sent them to Windsor, and +there they are; and he, not thinking I would return so soon, is gone +upon his rambles: so here I am left destitute, and forced to borrow a +nightgown of my landlady, and have not a rag to put on to-morrow: faith, +it gives me the spleen. + +23. Morning. It is a terrible rainy day, and rained prodigiously on +Saturday night. Patrick lay out last night, and is not yet returned: +faith, poor Presto is a desolate creature; neither servant, nor linen, +nor anything.--Night. Lord Forbes's man has brought back my portmantua, +and Patrick is come; so I am in Christian circumstances: I shall hardly +commit such a frolic again. I just crept out to Mrs. Van's, and dined, +and stayed there the afternoon: it has rained all this day. Windsor is +a delicious place: I never saw it before, except for an hour about +seventeen years ago. Walls has been here in my absence, I suppose, to +take his leave; for he designed not to stay above five days in London. +He says he and his wife will come here for some months next year; and, +in short, he dares not stay now for fear of her. + +24. I dined to-day with a hedge(2) friend in the City; and Walls +overtook me in the street, and told me he was just getting on horseback +for Chester. He has as much curiosity as a cow: he lodged with his horse +in Aldersgate Street: he has bought his wife a silk gown, and himself a +hat. And what are you doing? what is poor MD doing now? how do you pass +your time at Wexford? how do the waters agree with you? Let Presto +know soon; for Presto longs to know, and must know. Is not Madam Proby +curious company? I am afraid this rainy weather will spoil your waters. +We have had a great deal of wet these three days. Tell me all the +particulars of Wexford: the place, the company, the diversions, the +victuals, the wants, the vexations. Poor Dingley never saw such a place +in her life; sent all over the town for a little parsley to a boiled +chicken, and it was not to be had; the butter is stark naught, except an +old English woman's; and it is such a favour to get a pound from her now +and then! I am glad you carried down your sheets with you, else you must +have lain in sackcloth. O Lord! + +25. I was this forenoon with Mr. Secretary at his office, and helped +to hinder a man of his pardon, who is condemned for a rape. The Under +Secretary was willing to save him, upon an old notion that a woman +cannot be ravished; but I told the Secretary he could not pardon him +without a favourable report from the judge; besides, he was a fiddler, +and consequently a rogue, and deserved hanging for some thing else; and +so he shall swing. What, I must stand up for the honour of the fair sex! +'Tis true the fellow had lain with her a hundred times before, but +what care I for that! What, must a woman be ravished because she is +a whore?--The Secretary and I go on Saturday to Windsor for a week. +I dined with Lord Treasurer, and stayed with him till past ten. I was +to-day at his levee, where I went against my custom, because I had a +mind to do a good office for a gentleman: so I talked with him before +my lord, that he might see me, and then found occasion to recommend him +this afternoon. I was forced to excuse my coming to the levee, that I +did it to see the sight; for he was going to chide me away: I had never +been there but once, and that was long before he was Treasurer. The +rooms were all full, and as many Whigs as Tories. He whispered me a jest +or two, and bid me come to dinner. I left him but just now; and 'tis +late. + +26. Mr. Addison and I have at last met again. I dined with him and +Steele to-day at young Jacob Tonson's. The two Jacobs(3) think it is I +who have made the Secretary take from them the printing of the Gazette, +which they are going to lose, and Ben Tooke and another(4) are to have +it. Jacob came to me the other day, to make his court; but I told him it +was too late, and that it was not my doing. I reckon they will lose it +in a week or two. Mr. Addison and I talked as usual, and as if we had +seen one another yesterday; and Steele and I were very easy, though +I writ him lately a biting letter, in answer to one of his, where he +desired me to recommend a friend of his to Lord Treasurer. Go, get you +gone to your waters, sirrah. Do they give you a stomach? Do you eat +heartily?--We have had much rain to-day and yesterday. + +27. I dined to-day in the City, and saw poor Patty Rolt, and gave her +a pistole to help her a little forward against she goes to board in the +country. She has but eighteen pounds a year to live on, and is forced +to seek out for cheap places. Sometimes they raise their price, and +sometimes they starve her, and then she is forced to shift. Patrick the +puppy put too much ink in my standish,(5) and, carrying too many things +together, I spilled it on my paper and floor. The town is dull, wet, +and empty; Wexford is worth two of it; I hope so at least, and that poor +little MD finds it so. I reckon upon going to Windsor to-morrow with Mr. +Secretary, unless he changes his mind, or some other business prevents +him. I shall stay there a week, I hope. + +28. Morning. Mr. Secretary sent me word he will call at my lodgings by +two this afternoon, to take me to Windsor; so I must dine nowhere; and I +promised Lord Treasurer to dine with him to-day; but I suppose we shall +dine at Windsor at five, for we make but three hours there.(6) I am +going abroad, but have left Patrick to put up my things, and to be sure +to be at home half an hour before two.--Windsor, at night. We did not +leave London till three, and dined here between six and seven; at nine +I left the company, and went to see Lord Treasurer, who is just come. I +chid him for coming so late; he chid me for not dining with him; said he +stayed an hour for me. Then I went and sat with Mr. Lewis till just now, +and it is past eleven. I lie in the same house with the Secretary, one +of the Prebendary's houses. The Secretary is not come from his apartment +in the Castle. Do you think that abominable dog Patrick was out after +two to-day, and I in a fright every moment, for fear the chariot should +come; and when he came in, he had not put up one rag of my things! I +never was in a greater passion, and would certainly have cropped one of +his ears, if I had not looked every moment for the Secretary, who sent +his equipage to my lodging before, and came in a chair from Whitehall +to me, and happened to stay half an hour later than he intended. One of +Lord Treasurer's servants gave me a letter to-night: I found it was +from ----, with an offer of fifty pounds, to be paid me in what manner +I pleased; because, he said, he desired to be well with me. I was in a +rage;(7) but my friend Lewis cooled me, and said it is what the best +men sometimes meet with; and I have been not seldom served in the like +manner, although not so grossly. In these cases I never demur a moment, +nor ever found the least inclination to take anything. Well, I will go +try to sleep in my new bed, and to dream of poor Wexford MD, and Stella +that drinks water, and Dingley that drinks ale. + +29. I was at Court and church to-day, as I was this day se'ennight: I +generally am acquainted with about thirty in the drawing-room, and I +am so proud I make all the lords come up to me: one passes half an hour +pleasant enough. We had a dunce to preach before the Queen to-day, +which often happens. Windsor is a delicious situation, but the town is +scoundrel. I have this morning got the Gazette for Ben Tooke and one +Barber a printer; it will be about three hundred pounds a year between +them. The other fellow was printer of the Examiner, which is now laid +down.(8) I dined with the Secretary: we were a dozen in all, three +Scotch lords, and Lord Peterborow. The Duke of Hamilton(9) would needs +be witty, and hold up my train as I walked upstairs. It is an ill +circumstance that on Sundays much company always meet at the great +tables. Lord Treasurer told at Court what I said to Mr. Secretary on +this occasion. The Secretary showed me his bill of fare, to encourage me +to dine with him. "Poh," said I, "show me a bill of company, for I value +not your dinner." See how this is all blotted,(10) I can write no more +here, but to tell you I love MD dearly, and God bless them. + +30. In my conscience, I fear I shall have the gout. I sometimes feel +pains about my feet and toes: I never drank till within these two years, +and I did it to cure my head. I often sit evenings with some of these +people, and drink in my turn; but I am now resolved to drink ten times +less than before; but they advise me to let what I drink be all wine, +and not to put water to it. Tooke and the printer stayed to-day to +finish their affair, and treated me and two of the Under Secretaries +upon their getting the Gazette. Then I went to see Lord Treasurer, and +chid him for not taking notice of me at Windsor. He said he kept a place +for me yesterday at dinner, and expected me there; but I was glad I did +not go, because the Duke of Buckingham was there, and that would have +made us acquainted; which I have no mind to. However, we appointed to +sup at Mr. Masham's, and there stayed till past one o'clock; and that is +late, sirrahs: and I have much business. + +31. I have sent a noble haunch of venison this afternoon to Mrs. +Vanhomrigh: I wish you had it, sirrahs. I dined gravely with my landlord +the Secretary. The Queen was abroad to-day in order to hunt; but, +finding it disposed to rain, she kept in her coach; she hunts in a +chaise with one horse, which she drives herself, and drives furiously, +like Jehu, and is a mighty hunter, like Nimrod. Dingley has heard of +Nimrod, but not Stella, for it is in the Bible. I was to-day at Eton, +which is but just cross the bridge, to see my Lord Kerry's son,(11) who +is at school there. Mr. Secretary has given me a warrant for a buck; I +can't send it to MD. It is a sad thing, faith, considering how Presto +loves MD, and how MD would love Presto's venison for Presto's sake. God +bless the two dear Wexford girls! + +Aug. 1. We had for dinner the fellow of that haunch of venison I sent to +London; 'twas mighty fat and good, and eight people at dinner; that was +bad. The Queen and I were going to take the air this afternoon, but +not together; and were both hindered by a sudden rain. Her coaches +and chaises all went back, and the guards too; and I scoured into the +market-place for shelter. I intended to have walked up the finest avenue +I ever saw, two miles long, with two rows of elms on each side. I walked +in the evening a little upon the terrace, and came home at eight: Mr. +Secretary came soon after, and we were engaging in deep discourse, and I +was endeavouring to settle some points of the greatest consequence, and +had wormed myself pretty well into him, when his Under Secretary came in +(who lodges in the same house with us) and interrupted all my scheme. I +have just left him: it is late, etc. + +2. I have been now five days at Windsor, and Patrick has been drunk +three times that I have seen, and oftener I believe. He has lately had +clothes that have cost me five pounds, and the dog thinks he has the +whip-hand of me: he begins to master me; so now I am resolved to part +with him, and will use him without the least pity. The Secretary and +I have been walking three or four hours to-day. The Duchess of +Shrewsbury(12) asked him, was not that Dr.--Dr.--and she could not say +my name in English, but said Dr. Presto, which is Italian for Swift. +Whimsical enough, as Billy Swift(13) says. I go to-morrow with the +Secretary to his house at Bucklebury, twenty-five miles from hence, +and return early on Sunday morning. I will leave this letter behind me +locked up, and give you an account of my journey when I return. I had +a letter yesterday from the Bishop of Clogher, who is coming up to his +Parliament. Have you any correspondence with him to Wexford? Methinks, +I now long for a letter from you, dated Wexford, July 24, etc. O Lord, +that would be so pretending;(14) and then, says you, Stella can't write +much, because it is bad to write when one drinks the waters; and I +think, says you, I find myself better already, but I cannot tell yet +whether it be the journey or the waters. Presto is so silly to-night; +yes he be; but Presto loves MD dearly, as hope saved. + +3. Morning. I am to go this day at noon, as I told you, to Bucklebury: +we dine at twelve, and expect to be there in four hours. I cannot bid +you good-night now, because I shall be twenty-five miles from this paper +to-night, and so my journal must have a break; so good-morrow, etc. + +4, 5. I dined yesterday at Bucklebury, where we lay two nights, and set +out this morning at eight, and were here at twelve; in four hours we +went twenty-six miles. Mr. Secretary was a perfect country gentleman at +Bucklebury: he smoked tobacco with one or two neighbours; he inquired +after the wheat in such a field; he went to visit his hounds, and +knew all their names; he and his lady saw me to my chamber just in the +country fashion. His house is in the midst of near three thousand pounds +a year he had by his lady,(15) who is descended from Jack Newbury, of +whom books and ballads are written; and there is an old picture of him +in the house. She is a great favourite of mine. I lost church to-day; +but I dressed and shaved, and went to Court, and would not dine with the +Secretary, but engaged myself to a private dinner with Mr. Lewis, and +one friend more. We go to London to-morrow; for Lord Dartmouth, the +other Secretary, is come, and they are here their weeks by turns. + +6. Lord Treasurer comes every Saturday to Windsor, and goes away on +Monday or Tuesday. I was with him this morning at his levee, for one +cannot see him otherwise here, he is so hurried: we had some talk; and +I told him I would stay this week at Windsor by myself, where I can have +more leisure to do some business that concerns them. Lord Treasurer +and the Secretary thought to mortify me; for they told me they had been +talking a great deal of me to-day to the Queen, and she said she had +never heard of me. I told them that was their fault, and not hers, etc., +and so we laughed. I dined with the Secretary, and let him go to London +at five without me; and here am I alone in the Prebendary's house, which +Mr. Secretary has taken; only Mr. Lewis is in my neighbourhood, and we +shall be good company. The Vice-Chamberlain,(16) and Mr. Masham, and the +Green Cloth,(17) have promised me dinners. I shall want but four till +Mr. Secretary returns. We have a music-meeting in our town to-night. +I went to the rehearsal of it, and there was Margarita,(18) and her +sister, and another drab, and a parcel of fiddlers: I was weary, and +would not go to the meeting, which I am sorry for, because I heard it +was a great assembly. Mr. Lewis came from it, and sat with me till just +now; and 'tis late. + +7. I can do no business, I fear, because Mr. Lewis, who has nothing or +little to do here, sticks close to me. I dined today with the gentlemen +ushers, among scurvy company; but the Queen was hunting the stag till +four this afternoon, and she drove in her chaise above forty miles, and +it was five before we went to dinner. Here are fine walks about this +town. I sometimes walk up the avenue. + +8. There was a Drawing-room to-day at Court; but so few company, that +the Queen sent for us into her bed-chamber, where we made our bows, and +stood about twenty of us round the room, while she looked at us round +with her fan in her mouth, and once a minute said about three words to +some that were nearest her, and then she was told dinner was ready, and +went out. I dined at the Green Cloth, by Mr. Scarborow's(19) invitation, +who is in waiting. It is much the best table in England, and costs +the Queen a thousand pounds a month while she is at Windsor or Hampton +Court, and is the only mark of magnificence or hospitality I can see in +the Queen's family: it is designed to entertain foreign Ministers, and +people of quality, who come to see the Queen, and have no place to dine +at. + +9. Mr. Coke, the Vice-Chamberlain, made me a long visit this morning, +and invited me to dinner; but the toast, his lady,(20) was unfortunately +engaged to Lady Sunderland.(21) Lord Treasurer stole here last night, +but did not lie at his lodgings in the Castle; and, after seeing the +Queen, went back again. I just drank a dish of chocolate with him. I +fancy I shall have reason to be angry with him very soon; but what +care I? I believe I shall die with Ministries in my debt.--This night +I received a certain letter from a place called Wexford, from two dear +naughty girls of my acquaintance; but, faith, I will not answer it here, +no in troth. I will send this to Mr. Reading, supposing it will find you +returned; and I hope better for the waters. + +10. Mr. Vice-Chamberlain lent me his horses to ride about and see +the country this morning. Dr. Arbuthnot, the Queen's physician and +favourite, went out with me to show me the places: we went a little +after the Queen, and overtook Miss Forester,(22) a maid of honour, on +her palfrey, taking the air; we made her go along with us. We saw a +place they have made for a famous horse-race to-morrow, where the Queen +will come. We met the Queen coming back, and Miss Forester stood, like +us, with her hat off while the Queen went by. The Doctor and I left the +lady where we found her, but under other conductors; and we dined at a +little place he has taken, about a mile off.--When I came back I found +Mr. Scarborow had sent all about to invite me to the Green Cloth, and +lessened his company on purpose to make me easy. It is very obliging, +and will cost me thanks. Much company is come to town this evening, +to see to-morrow's race. I was tired with riding a trotting mettlesome +horse a dozen miles, having not been on horseback this twelvemonth. +And Miss Forester did not make it easier; she is a silly true maid of +honour, and I did not like her, although she be a toast, and was dressed +like a man.(23) + +11. I will send this letter to-day. I expect the Secretary by noon. I +will not go to the race unless I can get room in some coach. It is now +morning. I must rise, and fold up and seal my letter. Farewell, and God +preserve dearest MD. + +I believe I shall leave this town on Monday. + + + + +LETTER 28. + +WINDSOR, Aug. 11, 1711. + +I sent away my twenty-seventh this morning in an express to London, and +directed to Mr. Reading: this shall go to your lodgings, where I reckon +you will be returned before it reaches you. I intended to go to the +race(1) to-day, but was hindered by a visit: I believe I told you so in +my last. I dined to-day at the Green Cloth, where everybody had been at +the race but myself, and we were twenty in all, and very noisy company; +but I made the Vice-Chamberlain and two friends more sit at a side +table, to be a little quiet. At six I went to see the Secretary, who is +returned; but Lord Keeper sent to desire I would sup with him, where I +stayed till just now: Lord Treasurer and Secretary were to come to us, +but both failed. 'Tis late, etc. + +12. I was this morning to visit Lord Keeper, who made me reproaches +that I had never visited him at Windsor. He had a present sent him of +delicious peaches, and he was champing and champing, but I durst not eat +one; I wished Dingley had some of them, for poor Stella can no more eat +fruit than Presto. Dilly Ashe is come to Windsor; and after church +I carried him up to the drawing-room, and talked to the Keeper and +Treasurer, on purpose to show them to him; and he saw the Queen and +several great lords, and the Duchess of Montagu;(2) he was mighty happy, +and resolves to fill a letter to the Bishop.(3) My friend Lewis and I +dined soberly with Dr. Adams,(4) the only neighbour prebendary. One of +the prebendaries here is lately a peer, by the death of his father. He +is now Lord Willoughby of Broke,(5) and will sit in the House of Lords +with his gown. I supped to-night at Masham's with Lord Treasurer, Mr. +Secretary, and Prior. The Treasurer made us stay till twelve, before he +came from the Queen, and 'tis now past two. + +13. I reckoned upon going to London to-day; but by an accident the +Cabinet Council did not sit last night, and sat to-day, so we go +to-morrow at six in the morning. I missed the race to-day by coming out +too late, when everybody's coach was gone, and ride I would not: I +felt my last riding three days after. We had a dinner to-day at the +Secretary's lodgings without him: Mr. Hare,(6) his Under Secretary, +Mr. Lewis, Brigadier Sutton,(7) and I, dined together; and I made the +Vice-Chamberlain take a snap with us, rather than stay till five for his +lady, who was gone to the race. The reason why the Cabinet Council was +not held last night was because Mr. Secretary St. John would not sit +with your Duke of Somerset.(8) So to-day the Duke was forced to go to +the race while the Cabinet was held. We have music-meetings in our town, +and I was at the rehearsal t'other day; but I did not value it, nor +would go to the meeting. Did I tell you this before? + +London, 14. We came to town this day in two hours and forty minutes: +twenty miles are nothing here. I found a letter from the Archbishop of +Dublin, sent me the Lord knows how. He says some of the bishops +will hardly believe that Lord Treasurer got the Queen to remit the +First-Fruits before the Duke of Ormond was declared Lord Lieutenant, and +that the bishops have written a letter to Lord Treasurer to thank him. +He has sent me the address of the Convocation, ascribing, in good part, +that affair to the Duke, who had less share in it than MD; for if it +had not been for MD, I should not have been so good a solicitor. I dined +to-day in the City, about a little bit of mischief, with a printer.--I +found Mrs. Vanhomrigh all in combustion, squabbling with her rogue of +a landlord; she has left her house, and gone out of our neighbourhood +a good way. Her eldest daughter is come of age, and going to Ireland to +look after her fortune, and get it in her own hands.(9) + +15. I dined to-day with Mrs. Van, who goes to-night to her new lodgings. +I went at six to see Lord Treasurer; but his company was gone, contrary +to custom, and he was busy, and I was forced to stay some time before I +could see him. We were together hardly an hour, and he went away, being +in haste. He desired me to dine with him on Friday, because there would +be a friend of his that I must see: my Lord Harley told me, when he was +gone, that it was Mrs. Masham his father meant, who is come to town to +lie-in, and whom I never saw, though her husband is one of our Society. +God send her a good time! her death would be a terrible thing.(10)--Do +you know that I have ventured all my credit with these great Ministers, +to clear some misunderstandings betwixt them; and if there be no breach, +I ought to have the merit of it. 'Tis a plaguy ticklish piece of work, +and a man hazards losing both sides. It is a pity the world does not +know my virtue.--I thought the clergy in Convocation in Ireland would +have given me thanks for being their solicitor; but I hear of no such +thing. Pray talk occasionally on that subject, and let me know what you +hear. Do you know the greatness of my spirit, that I value their thanks +not a rush, but at my return shall freely let all people know that it +was my Lord Treasurer's action, wherein the Duke of Ormond had no more +share than a cat? And so they may go whistle, and I'll go sleep. + +16. I was this day in the City, and dined at Pontack's(11) with +Stratford, and two other merchants. Pontack told us, although his wine +was so good, he sold it cheaper than others; he took but seven shillings +a flask. Are not these pretty rates? The books he sent for from Hamburg +are come, but not yet got out of the custom-house. My library will be at +least double when I come back. I shall go to Windsor again on Saturday, +to meet our Society, who are to sup at Mr. Secretary's; but I believe +I shall return on Monday, and then I will answer your letter, that lies +here safe underneath;--I see it; lie still: I will answer you when the +ducks have eaten up the dirt. + +17. I dined to-day at Lord Treasurer's with Mrs. Masham, and she is +extremely like one Mrs. Malolly, that was once my landlady in Trim. +She was used with mighty kindness and respect, like a favourite. It +signifies nothing going to this Lord Treasurer about business, although +it be his own. He was in haste, and desires I will come again, and dine +with him to-morrow. His famous lying porter is fallen sick, and they +think he will die: I wish I had all my half-crowns again. I believe I +have told you he is an old Scotch fanatic, and the damn'dest liar in his +office alive.(12) I have a mind to recommend Patrick to succeed him: +I have trained him up pretty well. I reckon for certain you are now in +town. The weather now begins to alter to rain. + +Windsor, 18. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, and he would make me go +with him to Windsor, although I was engaged to the Secretary, to whom +I made my excuses: we had in the coach besides, his son and son-in-law, +Lord Harley and Lord Dupplin, who are two of our Society, and seven of +us met by appointment, and supped this night with the Secretary. It was +past nine before we got here, but a fine moonshiny night. I shall go +back, I believe, on Monday. 'Tis very late. + +19. The Queen did not stir out to-day, she is in a little fit of the +gout. I dined at Mr. Masham's; we had none but our Society members, six +in all, and I supped with Lord Treasurer. The Queen has ordered twenty +thousand pounds to go on with the building at Blenheim, which has been +starved till now, since the change of the Ministry.(13) I suppose it +is to reward his last action of getting into the French lines.(14) Lord +Treasurer kept me till past twelve. + +London, 20. It rained terribly every step of our journey to-day: I +returned with the Secretary after a dinner of cold meat, and went to +Mrs. Van's, where I sat the evening. I grow very idle, because I have a +great deal of business. Tell me how you passed your time at Wexford; and +are not you glad at heart you have got home safe to your lodgings at St. +Mary's, pray? And so your friends come to visit you; and Mrs. Walls is +much better of her eye; and the Dean is just as he used to be: and what +does Walls say of London? 'tis a reasoning coxcomb. And Goody Stoyte, +and Hannah what d'ye call her; no, her name an't Hannah, Catherine I +mean; they were so glad to see the ladies again! and Mrs. Manley wanted +a companion at ombre. + +21. I writ to-day to the Archbishop of Dublin, and enclosed a long +politic paper by itself. You know the bishops are all angry (smoke the +wax-candle drop at the bottom of this paper) I have let the world know +the First-Fruits were got by Lord Treasurer before the Duke of Ormond +was Governor. I told Lord Treasurer all this, and he is very angry; but +I pacified him again by telling him they were fools, and knew nothing of +what passed here; but thought all was well enough if they complimented +the Duke of Ormond. Lord Treasurer gave me t'other day a letter of +thanks he received from the bishops of Ireland, signed by seventeen; +and says he will write them an answer. The Dean of Carlisle sat with +me to-day till three; and I went to dine with Lord Treasurer, who dined +abroad, so did the Secretary, and I was left in the suds. 'Twas almost +four, and I got to Sir Matthew Dudley, who had half dined. Thornhill, +who killed Sir Cholmley Dering,(15) was murdered by two men, on Turnham +Green, last Monday night: as they stabbed him, they bid him remember Sir +Cholmley Dering. They had quarrelled at Hampton Court, and followed and +stabbed him on horseback. We have only a Grub Street paper of it, but I +believe it is true. I went myself through Turnham Green the same night, +which was yesterday. + +22. We have had terrible rains these two or three days. I intended to +dine at Lord Treasurer's, but went to see Lady Abercorn, who is come +to town, and my lord; and I dined with them, and visited Lord Treasurer +this evening. His porter is mending. I sat with my lord about +three hours, and am come home early to be busy. Passing by White's +Chocolate-house,(16) my brother Masham called me, and told me his wife +was brought to bed of a boy, and both very well. (Our Society, you must +know, are all brothers.) Dr. Garth told us that Mr. Henley(17) is dead +of an apoplexy. His brother-in-law, Earl Poulett, is gone down to the +Grange, to take care of his funeral. The Earl of Danby,(18) the Duke of +Leeds's eldest grandson, a very hopeful young man of about twenty, is +dead at Utrecht of the smallpox.--I long to know whether you begin +to have any good effect by your waters.--Methinks this letter goes on +slowly; 'twill be a fortnight next Saturday since it was begun, and one +side not filled. O fie for shame, Presto! Faith, I'm so tosticated to +and from Windsor, that I know not what to say; but, faith, I'll go to +Windsor again on Saturday, if they ask me, not else. So lose your money +again, now you are come home; do, sirrah. + +Take your magnifying-glass, Madam Dingley. + +You shan't read this, sirrah Stella; don't read it for your life, for +fear of your dearest eyes. + +There's enough for this side; these Ministers hinder me. Pretty, dear, +little, naughty, saucy MD. + +Silly, impudent, loggerhead Presto. + +23. Dilly and I dined to-day with Lord Abercorn, and had a fine fat +haunch of venison, that smelt rarely on one side: and after dinner +Dilly won half a crown of me at backgammon at his lodgings, to his great +content. It is a scurvy empty town this melancholy season of the year; +but I think our weather begins to mend. The roads are as deep as in +winter. The grapes are sad things; but the peaches are pretty good, and +there are some figs. I sometimes venture to eat one, but always repent +it. You say nothing of the box sent half a year ago. I wish you would +pay me for Mrs. Walls's tea. Your mother is in the country, I suppose. +Pray send me the account of MD, Madam Dingley, as it stands since +November,(19) that is to say, for this year (excluding the twenty pounds +lent Stella for Wexford), for I cannot look in your letters. I think I +ordered that Hawkshaw's interest should be paid to you. When you think +proper, I will let Parvisol know you have paid that twenty pounds, or +part of it; and so go play with the Dean, and I will answer your letter +to-morrow. Good-night, sirrahs, and love Presto, and be good girls. + +24. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for not dining with +him yesterday, for it seems I did not understand his invitation; +and their Club of the Ministry dined together, and expected me. Lord +Radnor(20) and I were walking the Mall this evening; and Mr. Secretary +met us, and took a turn or two, and then stole away, and we both +believed it was to pick up some wench; and to-morrow he will be at the +Cabinet with the Queen: so goes the world! Prior has been out of town +these two months, nobody knows where, and is lately returned. People +confidently affirm he has been in France, and I half believe it. It +is said he was sent by the Ministry, and for some overtures towards a +peace. The Secretary pretends he knows nothing of it. I believe your +Parliament will be dissolved. I have been talking about the quarrel +between your Lords and Commons with Lord Treasurer, and did, at the +request of some people, desire that the Queen's answer to the Commons' +address might express a dislike of some principles, etc.; but was +answered dubiously.--And so now to your letter, fair ladies. I know +drinking is bad; I mean writing is bad in drinking the waters; and was +angry to see so much in Stella's hand. But why Dingley drinks them, I +cannot imagine; but truly she'll drink waters as well as Stella: why +not? I hope you now find the benefit of them since you are returned; +pray let me know particularly. I am glad you are forced upon exercise, +which, I believe, is as good as the waters for the heart of them. 'Tis +now past the middle of August; so by your reckoning you are in Dublin. +It would vex me to the dogs that letters should miscarry between Dublin +and Wexford, after 'scaping the salt seas. I will write no more to +that nasty town in haste again, I warrant you. I have been four Sundays +together at Windsor, of which a fortnight together; but I believe I +shall not go to-morrow, for I will not, unless the Secretary asks me. I +know all your news about the Mayor: it makes no noise here at all, but +the quarrel of your Parliament does; it is so very extraordinary, and +the language of the Commons so very pretty. The Examiner has been down +this month, and was very silly the five or six last papers; but there +is a pamphlet come out, in answer to a letter to the seven Lords +who examined Gregg.(21) The Answer(22) is by the real author of the +Examiner, as I believe; for it is very well written. We had Trapp's poem +on the Duke of Ormond(23) printed here, and the printer sold just eleven +of them. 'Tis a dull piece, not half so good as Stella's; and she is +very modest to compare herself with such a poetaster. I am heartily +sorry for poor Mrs. Parnell's(24) death; she seemed to be an excellent +good-natured young woman, and I believe the poor lad is much afflicted; +they appeared to live perfectly well together. Dilly is not tired at all +with England, but intends to continue here a good while: he is mighty +easy to be at distance from his two sisters-in-law. He finds some sort +of scrub acquaintance; goes now and then in disguise to a play; smokes +his pipe; reads now and then a little trash, and what else the Lord +knows. I see him now and then; for he calls here, and the town being +thin, I am less pestered with company than usual. I have got rid of many +of my solicitors, by doing nothing for them: I have not above eight or +nine left, and I'll be as kind to them. Did I tell you of a knight who +desired me to speak to Lord Treasurer to give him two thousand pounds, +or five hundred pounds a year, until he could get something better? I +honestly delivered my message to the Treasurer, adding, the knight was +a puppy, whom I would not give a groat to save from the gallows. Cole +Reading's father-in-law has been two or three times at me, to recommend +his lights to the Ministry, assuring me that a word of mine would, etc. +Did not that dog use to speak ill of me, and profess to hate me? He +knows not where I lodge, for I told him I lived in the country; and I +have ordered Patrick to deny me constantly to him.--Did the Bishop of +London(25) die in Wexford? poor gentleman! Did he drink the waters? were +you at his burial? was it a great funeral? so far from his friends! +But he was very old: we shall all follow. And yet it was a pity, if +God pleased. He was a good man; not very learned: I believe he died but +poor. Did he leave any charity legacies? who held up his pall? was there +a great sight of clergy? do they design a tomb for him?--Are you sure +it was the Bishop of London? because there is an elderly gentleman here +that we give the same title to: or did you fancy all this in your water, +as others do strange things in their wine? They say these waters trouble +the head, and make people imagine what never came to pass. Do you make +no more of killing a Bishop? are these your Whiggish tricks?--Yes, yes, +I see you are in a fret. O, faith, says you, saucy Presto, I'll break +your head; what, can't one report what one hears, without being made +a jest and a laughing-stock? Are these your English tricks, with a +murrain? And Sacheverell will be the next Bishop? He would be glad of an +addition of two hundred pounds a year to what he has, and that is more +than they will give him, for aught I see. He hates the new Ministry +mortally, and they hate him, and pretend to despise him too. They will +not allow him to have been the occasion of the late change; at least +some of them will not: but my Lord Keeper owned it to me the other day. +No, Mr. Addison does not go to Ireland this year: he pretended he would; +but he is gone to Bath with Pastoral Philips, for his eyes.--So now I +have run over your letter; and I think this shall go to-morrow, which +will be just a fortnight from the last, and bring things to the old form +again, after your rambles to Wexford, and mine to Windsor. Are there not +many literal faults in my letters? I never read them over, and I fancy +there are. What do you do then? do you guess my meaning, or are you +acquainted with my manner of mistaking? I lost my handkerchief in the +Mall to-night with Lord Radnor; but I made him walk with me to find it, +and find it I did not. Tisdall(26) (that lodges with me) and I have had +no conversation, nor do we pull off our hats in the streets. There is a +cousin of his (I suppose,) a young parson, that lodges in the house +too; a handsome, genteel fellow. Dick Tighe(27) and his wife lodged over +against us; and he has been seen, out of our upper windows, beating her +two or three times: they are both gone to Ireland, but not together; and +he solemnly vows never to live with her. Neighbours do not stick to +say that she has a tongue: in short, I am told she is the most urging, +provoking devil that ever was born; and he a hot, whiffling(28) puppy, +very apt to resent. I'll keep this bottom till to-morrow: I'm sleepy. + +25. I was with the Secretary this morning, who was in a mighty hurry, +and went to Windsor in a chariot with Lord Keeper; so I was not invited, +and am forced to stay at home, but not at all against my will; for +I could have gone, and would not. I dined in the City with one of my +printers, for whom I got the Gazette, and am come home early; and have +nothing to say to you more, but finish this letter, and not send it by +the bellman. Days grow short, and the weather grows bad, and the town +is splenetic, and things are so oddly contrived that I cannot be absent; +otherwise I would go for a few days to Oxford, as I promised.--They say +it is certain that Prior has been in France,(29) nobody doubts it: I had +not time to ask the Secretary, he was in such haste. Well, I will take +my leave of dearest MD for a while; for I must begin my next letter +to-night: consider that, young women; and pray be merry, and good girls, +and love Presto. There is now but one business the Ministry want me for, +and when that is done, I will take my leave of them. I never got a +penny from them, nor expect it. In my opinion, some things stand very +ticklish; I dare say nothing at this distance. Farewell, dear sirrahs, +dearest lives: there is peace and quiet with MD, and nowhere else. They +have not leisure here to think of small things, which may ruin them; and +I have been forward enough. Farewell again, dearest rogues; I am never +happy but when I write or think of MD. I have enough of Courts and +Ministries, and wish I were at Laracor; and if I could with honour come +away this moment, I would. Bernage(30) came to see me to-day; he is just +landed from Portugal, and come to raise recruits; he looks very well, +and seems pleased with his station and manner of life. He never saw +London nor England before; he is ravished with Kent, which was his first +prospect when he landed. Farewell again, etc. etc. + + + + +LETTER 29. + +LONDON, Aug. 25, 1711. + +I have got a pretty small gilt sheet of paper, to write to MD. I have +this moment sent my 28th by Patrick, who tells me he has put it in the +post-office; 'tis directed to your lodgings: if it wants more particular +direction, you must set me right. It is now a solar month and two days +since the date of your last, N.18; and I reckon you are now quiet +at home, and thinking to begin your 19th, which will be full of your +quarrel between the two Houses, all which I know already. Where shall +I dine to-morrow? can you tell? Mrs. Vanhomrigh boards now, and cannot +invite one; and there I used to dine when I was at a loss: and all my +friends are gone out of town, and your town is now at the fullest, with +your Parliament and Convocation. But let me alone, sirrahs; for Presto +is going to be very busy; not Presto, but the other I. + +26. People have so left the town that I am at a loss for a dinner. It is +a long time since I have been at London upon a Sunday; and the Ministers +are all at Windsor. It cost me eighteenpence in coach-hire before I +could find a place to dine in. I went to Frankland's,(1) and he was +abroad, and the drab his wife looked out at window, and bowed to +me without inviting me up: so I dined with Mr. Coote,(2) my Lord +Mountrath's brother; my lord is with you in Ireland. This morning at +five my Lord Jersey(3) died of the gout in his stomach, or apoplexy, +or both: he was abroad yesterday, and his death was sudden. He was +Chamberlain to King William, and a great favourite, turned out by the +Queen as a Tory, and stood now fair to be Privy Seal; and by his death +will, I suppose, make that matter easier, which has been a very stubborn +business at Court, as I have been informed. I never remember so many +people of quality to have died in so short a time. + +27. I went to-day into the City, to thank Stratford for my books, +and dine with him, and settle my affairs of my money in the Bank, and +receive a bill for Mrs. Wesley for some things I am to buy for her; and +the d---- a one of all these could I do. The merchants were all out of +town, and I was forced to go to a little hedge place for my dinner. May +my enemies live here in summer! and yet I am so unlucky that I cannot +possibly be out of the way at this juncture. People leave the town so +late in summer, and return so late in winter, that they have almost +inverted the seasons. It is autumn this good while in St. James's Park; +the limes have been losing their leaves, and those remaining on the +trees are all parched: I hate this season, where everything grows worse +and worse. The only good thing of it is the fruit, and that I dare not +eat. Had you any fruit at Wexford? A few cherries, and durst not eat +them. I do not hear we have yet got a new Privy Seal. The Whigs whisper +that our new Ministry differ among themselves, and they begin to talk +out Mr. Secretary: they have some reasons for their whispers, although +I thought it was a greater secret. I do not much like the posture of +things; I always apprehended that any falling out would ruin them, and +so I have told them several times. The Whigs are mighty full of hopes at +present; and whatever is the matter, all kind of stocks fall. I have not +yet talked with the Secretary about Prior's journey. I should be apt to +think it may foretell a peace, and that is all we have to preserve us. +The Secretary is not come from Windsor, but I expect him to-morrow. Burn +all politics! + +28. We begin to have fine weather, and I walked to-day to Chelsea, and +dined with the Dean of Carlisle, who is laid up with the gout. It is now +fixed that he is to be Dean of Christ Church in Oxford. I was advising +him to use his interest to prevent any misunderstanding between our +Ministers; but he is too wise to meddle, though he fears the thing and +the consequences as much as I. He will get into his own warm, quiet +deanery, and leave them to themselves; and he is in the right.--When +I came home to-night, I found a letter from Mr. Lewis, who is now at +Windsor; and in it, forsooth, another which looked like Presto's hand; +and what should it be but a 19th from MD? O, faith, I 'scaped narrowly, +for I sent my 28th but on Saturday; and what should I have done if I had +two letters to answer at once? I did not expect another from Wexford, +that is certain. Well, I must be contented; but you are dear saucy +girls, for all that, to write so soon again, faith; an't you? + +29. I dined to-day with Lord Abercorn, and took my leave of them: they +set out to-morrow for Chester, and, I believe, will now fix in Ireland. +They have made a pretty good journey of it: his eldest son(4) is married +to a lady with ten thousand pounds; and his second son(5) has, t'other +day, got a prize in the lottery of four thousand pounds, beside two +small ones of two hundred pounds each: nay, the family was so fortunate, +that my lord bestowing one ticket, which is a hundred pounds, to one of +his servants, who had been his page, the young fellow got a prize, which +has made it another hundred. I went in the evening to Lord Treasurer, +who desires I will dine with him to-morrow, when he will show me the +answer he designs to return to the letter of thanks from your bishops in +Ireland. The Archbishop of Dublin desired me to get myself mentioned +in the answer which my lord would send; but I sent him word I would not +open my lips to my lord upon it. He says it would convince the bishops +of what I have affirmed, that the First-Fruits were granted before the +Duke of Ormond was declared Governor; and I writ to him that I would not +give a farthing to convince them. My Lord Treasurer began a health to my +Lord Privy Seal: Prior punned, and said it was so privy, he knew not who +it was; but I fancy they have fixed it all, and we shall know to-morrow. +But what care you who is Privy Seal, saucy sluttikins? + +30. When I went out this morning, I was surprised with the news that +the Bishop of Bristol is made Lord Privy Seal. You know his name is +Robinson,(6) and that he was many years Envoy in Sweden. All the friends +of the present Ministry are extremely glad, and the clergy above the +rest. The Whigs will fret to death to see a civil employment given to a +clergyman. It was a very handsome thing in my Lord Treasurer, and will +bind the Church to him for ever. I dined with him to-day, but he had not +written his letter;(see above, 29th Aug.) but told me he would not offer +to send it without showing it to me: he thought that would not be just, +since I was so deeply concerned in the affair. We had much company: Lord +Rivers, Mar,(7) and Kinnoull,(8) Mr. Secretary, George Granville, and +Masham: the last has invited me to the christening of his son to-morrow +se'ennight; and on Saturday I go to Windsor with Mr. Secretary. + +31. Dilly and I walked to-day to Kensington to Lady Mountjoy, who +invited us to dinner. He returned soon, to go to a play, it being the +last that will be acted for some time: he dresses himself like a +beau, and no doubt makes a fine figure. I went to visit some people at +Kensington: Ophy Butler's wife(9) there lies very ill of an ague, which +is a very common disease here, and little known in Ireland. I am apt to +think we shall soon have a peace, by the little words I hear thrown out +by the Ministry. I have just thought of a project to bite the town. I +have told you that it is now known that Mr. Prior has been lately in +France. I will make a printer of my own sit by me one day, and I will +dictate to him a formal relation of Prior's journey,(10) with several +particulars, all pure invention; and I doubt not but it will take. + +Sept. 1. Morning. I go to-day to Windsor with Mr. Secretary; and Lord +Treasurer has promised to bring me back. The weather has been fine for +some time, and I believe we shall have a great deal of dust.--At night. +Windsor. The Secretary and I dined to-day at Parson's Green, at my Lord +Peterborow's house, who has left it and his gardens to the Secretary +during his absence. It is the finest garden I have ever seen about this +town; and abundance of hot walls for grapes, where they are in great +plenty, and ripening fast. I durst not eat any fruit but one fig; but +I brought a basket full to my friend Lewis here at Windsor. Does Stella +never eat any? what, no apricots at Donnybrook! nothing but claret and +ombre! I envy people maunching and maunching peaches and grapes, and I +not daring to eat a bit. My head is pretty well, only a sudden turn any +time makes me giddy for a moment, and sometimes it feels very +stuffed; but if it grows no worse, I can bear it very well. I take all +opportunities of walking; and we have a delicious park here just joining +to the Castle, and an avenue in the great park very wide and two miles +long, set with a double row of elms on each side. Were you ever at +Windsor? I was once, a great while ago; but had quite forgotten it. + +2. The Queen has the gout, and did not come to chapel, nor stir out from +her chamber, but received the sacrament there, as she always does the +first Sunday in the month. Yet we had a great Court; and, among others, +I saw your Ingoldsby,(11) who, seeing me talk very familiarly with +the Keeper, Treasurer, etc., came up and saluted me, and began a very +impertinent discourse about the siege of Bouchain. I told him I could +not answer his questions, but I would bring him one that should; so +I went and fetched Sutton (who brought over the express about a +month ago), and delivered him to the General, and bid him answer his +questions; and so I left them together. Sutton after some time comes +back in a rage, finds me with Lord Rivers and Masham, and there +complains of the trick I had played him, and swore he had been plagued +to death with Ingoldsby's talk. But he told me Ingoldsby asked him what +I meant by bringing him; so, I suppose, he smoked me a little. So we +laughed, etc. My Lord Willoughby,(12) who is one of the chaplains, and +Prebendary of Windsor, read prayers last night to the family; and the +Bishop of Bristol, who is Dean of Windsor, officiated last night at the +Cathedral. This they do to be popular; and it pleases mightily. I dined +with Mr. Masham, because he lets me have a select company: for the Court +here have got by the end a good thing I said to the Secretary some weeks +ago. He showed me his bill of fare, to tempt me to dine with him. "Poh," +said I, "I value not your bill of fare; give me your bill of company." +Lord Treasurer was mightily pleased, and told it everybody as a notable +thing. I reckon upon returning to-morrow: they say the Bishop will then +have the Privy Seal delivered him at a great Council. + +3. Windsor still. The Council was held so late to-day that I do not go +back to town till to-morrow. The Bishop was sworn Privy Councillor, and +had the Privy Seal given him: and now the patents are passed for those +who were this long time to be made lords or earls. Lord Raby,(13) who is +Earl of Strafford, is on Thursday to marry a namesake of Stella's; the +daughter of Sir H. Johnson in the City; he has three-score thousand +pounds with her, ready money; besides the rest at the father's death. I +have got my friend Stratford to be one of the directors of the South Sea +Company, who were named to-day. My Lord Treasurer did it for me a month +ago; and one of those whom I got to be printer of the Gazette I am +recommending to be printer to the same company. He treated Mr. Lewis and +me to-day at dinner. I supped last night and this with Lord Treasurer, +Keeper, etc., and took occasion to mention the printer. I said it was +the same printer whom my Lord Treasurer has appointed to print for the +South Sea Company. He denied, and I insisted on it; and I got the laugh +on my side. + +London, 4. I came as far as Brentford in Lord Rivers's chariot, who +had business with Lord Treasurer; then I went into Lord Treasurer's. We +stopped at Kensington, where Lord Treasurer went to see Mrs. Masham, +who is now what they call in the straw. We got to town by three, and I +lighted at Lord Treasurer's, who commanded me not to stir: but I was not +well; and when he went up, I begged the young lord to excuse me, and so +went into the City by water, where I could be easier, and dined with the +printer, and dictated to him some part of Prior's Journey to France. I +walked from the City, for I take all occasions of exercise. Our journey +was horridly dusty. + +5. When I went out to-day, I found it had rained mightily in the night, +and the streets were as dirty as winter: it is very refreshing after ten +days dry.--I went into the City, and dined with Stratford, thanked him +for his books, gave him joy of his being director, of which he had the +first notice by a letter from me. I ate sturgeon, and it lies on my +stomach. I almost finished Prior's Journey at the printer's; and came +home pretty late, with Patrick at my heels. + +7. Morning. But what shall we do about this letter of MD's, N.19? Not a +word answered yet, and so much paper spent! I cannot do anything in +it, sweethearts, till night.--At night. O Lord, O Lord! the greatest +disgrace that ever was has happened to Presto. What do you think? but, +when I was going out this forenoon a letter came from MD, N.20, dated +Dublin. O dear, O dear! O sad, O sad!--Now I have two letters together +to answer: here they are, lying together. But I will only answer the +first; for I came in late. I dined with my friend Lewis at his lodgings, +and walked at six to Kensington to Mrs. Masham's son's christening. +It was very private; nobody there but my Lord Treasurer, his son and +son-in-law, that is to say, Lord Harley and Lord Dupplin, and Lord +Rivers and I. The Dean of Rochester(14) christened the child, but soon +went away. Lord Treasurer and Lord Rivers were godfathers; and Mrs. +Hill,(15) Mrs. Masham's sister, godmother. The child roared like a bull, +and I gave Mrs. Masham joy of it; and she charged me to take care of my +nephew, because, Mr. Masham being a brother of our Society, his son, you +know, is consequently a nephew. Mrs. Masham sat up dressed in bed, but +not, as they do in Ireland, with all smooth about her, as if she was +cut off in the middle; for you might see the counterpane (what d'ye +call it?) rise about her hips and body. There is another name of the +counterpane; and you will laugh now, sirrahs. George Granville came in +at supper, and we stayed till eleven; and Lord Treasurer set me down at +my lodging in Suffolk Street. Did I ever tell you that Lord Treasurer +hears ill with the left ear, just as I do? He always turns the right, +and his servants whisper him at that only. I dare not tell him that I am +so too, for fear he should think I counterfeited, to make my court. + +6. You must read this before the other; for I mistook, and forgot to +write yesterday's journal, it was so insignificant. I dined with Dr. +Cockburn, and sat the evening with Lord Treasurer till ten o'clock. +On Thursdays he has always a large select company, and expects me. So +good-night for last night, etc. + +8. Morning. I go to Windsor with Lord Treasurer to-day, and will leave +this behind me, to be sent to the post. And now let us hear what says +the first letter, N.19. You are still at Wexford, as you say, Madam +Dingley. I think no letter from me ever yet miscarried. And so +Inish-Corthy,(16) and the river Slainy; fine words those in a lady's +mouth. Your hand like Dingley's, you scambling,(17) scattering +sluttikin! YES, MIGHTY LIKE INDEED, IS NOT IT?(18) Pisshh, do not talk +of writing or reading till your eyes are well, and long well; only I +would have Dingley read sometimes to you, that you may not lose the +desire of it. God be thanked, that the ugly numbing is gone! Pray +use exercise when you go to town. What game is that ombra which +Dr. Elwood(19) and you play at? is it the Spanish game ombre? Your +card-purse? you a card-purse! you a fiddlestick. You have luck indeed; +and luck in a bag. What a devil! is that eight-shilling tea-kettle +copper, or tin japanned? It is like your Irish politeness, raffling for +tea-kettles. What a splutter you keep, to convince me that Walls has +no taste! My head continues pretty well. Why do you write, dear sirrah +Stella, when you find your eyes so weak that you cannot see? what +comfort is there in reading what you write, when one knows that? So +Dingley cannot write, because of the clutter of new company come to +Wexford! I suppose the noise of their hundred horses disturbs you; or +do you lie in one gallery, as in an hospital? What! you are afraid of +losing in Dublin the acquaintance you have got in Wexford, and chiefly +the Bishop of Raphoe,(20) an old, doting, perverse coxcomb? Twenty at a +time at breakfast. That is like five pounds at a time, when it was never +but once. I doubt, Madam Dingley, you are apt to lie in your travels, +though not so bad as Stella; she tells thumpers, as I shall prove in my +next, if I find this receives encouragement.--So Dr. Elwood says there +are a world of pretty things in my works. A pox on his praises! an enemy +here would say more. The Duke of Buckingham would say as much, though +he and I are terribly fallen out; and the great men are perpetually +inflaming me against him: they bring me all he says of me, and, I +believe, make it worse out of roguery.--No, 'tis not your pen is +bewitched, Madam Stella, but your old SCRAWLING, SPLAY-FOOT POT-HOOKS, +S, S,(21) ay that's it: there the s, s, s, there, there, that's exact. +Farewell, etc. + +Our fine weather is gone; and I doubt we shall have a rainy journey +to-day. Faith, 'tis shaving-day, and I have much to do. When Stella says +her pen was bewitched, it was only because there was a hair in it. You +know, the fellow they call God-help-it had the same thoughts of his +wife, and for the same reason. I think this is very well observed, and I +unfolded the letter to tell you it. + +Cut off those two notes above; and see the nine pounds indorsed, and +receive the other; and send me word how my accounts stand, that they +may be adjusted by Nov. 1.(22) Pray be very particular; but the twenty +pounds I lend you is not to be included: so make no blunder. I won't +wrong you, nor you shan't wrong me; that is the short. O Lord, how stout +Presto is of late! But he loves MD more than his life a thousand times, +for all his stoutness; tell them that; and that I'll swear it, as hope +saved, ten millions of times, etc. etc. + +I open my letter once more, to tell Stella that if she does not use +exercise after her waters, it will lose all the effects of them: I +should not live if I did not take all opportunities of walking. Pray, +pray, do this, to oblige poor Presto. + + + + +LETTER 30. + +WINDSOR, Sept. 8, 1711. + +I made the coachman stop, and put in my twenty-ninth at the post-office +at two o'clock to-day, as I was going to Lord Treasurer, with whom I +dined, and came here by a quarter-past eight; but the moon shone, and so +we were not in much danger of overturning; which, however, he values not +a straw, and only laughs when I chide at him for it. There was +nobody but he and I, and we supped together, with Mr. Masham, and Dr. +Arbuthnot, the Queen's favourite physician, a Scotchman. I could not +keep myself awake after supper, but did all I was able to disguise it, +and thought I came off clear; but, at parting, he told me I had got my +nap already. It is now one o'clock; but he loves sitting up late. + +9. The Queen is still in the gout, but recovering: she saw company in +her bed-chamber after church; but the crowd was so great, I could not +see her. I dined with my brother Sir William Wyndham,(1) and some others +of our Society, to avoid the great tables on Sunday at Windsor, which I +hate. The usual company supped to-night at Lord Treasurer's, which was +Lord Keeper, Mr. Secretary, George Granville, Masham, Arbuthnot, and +I. But showers have hindered me from walking to-day, and that I do not +love.--Noble fruit, and I dare not eat a bit. I ate one fig to-day, and +sometimes a few mulberries, because it is said they are wholesome, and +you know a good name does much. I shall return to town to-morrow, though +I thought to have stayed a week, to be at leisure for something I am +doing. But I have put it off till next; for I shall come here again on +Saturday, when our Society are to meet at supper at Mr. Secretary's. +My life is very regular here: on Sunday morning I constantly visit Lord +Keeper, and sup at Lord Treasurer's with the same set of company. I was +not sleepy to-night; I resolved I would not; yet it is past midnight at +this present writing. + +London, 10. Lord Treasurer and Masham and I left Windsor at three this +afternoon: we dropped Masham at Kensington with his lady, and got home +by six. It was seven before we sat down to dinner, and I stayed till +past eleven. Patrick came home with the Secretary: I am more plagued +with Patrick and my portmantua than with myself. I forgot to tell you +that when I went to Windsor on Saturday I overtook Lady Giffard and +Mrs. Fenton(2) in a chariot, going, I suppose, to Sheen. I was then in +a chariot too, of Lord Treasurer's brother, who had business with the +Treasurer; and my lord came after, and overtook me at Turnham Green, +four miles from London; and then the brother went back, and I went in +the coach with Lord Treasurer: so it happened that those people saw me, +and not with Lord Treasurer. Mrs. F. was to see me about a week ago; and +desired I would get her son into the Charter-house. + +11. This morning the printer sent me an account of Prior's Journey;(3) +it makes a twopenny pamphlet. I suppose you will see it, for I dare +engage it will run; 'tis a formal, grave lie, from the beginning to +the end. I writ all but about the last page; that I dictated, and the +printer writ. Mr. Secretary sent to me to dine where he did; it was +at Prior's: when I came in, Prior showed me the pamphlet, seemed to be +angry, and said, "Here is our English liberty!" I read some of it, and +said I liked it mightily, and envied the rogue the thought; for, had it +come into my head, I should have certainly done it myself. We stayed at +Prior's till past ten; and then the Secretary received a packet with the +news of Bouchain being taken, for which the guns will go off to-morrow. +Prior owned his having been in France, for it was past denying: it seems +he was discovered by a rascal at Dover, who had positive orders to let +him pass. I believe we shall have a peace. + +12. It is terrible rainy weather, and has cost me three shillings in +coaches and chairs to-day, yet I was dirty into the bargain. I was three +hours this morning with the Secretary about some business of moment, and +then went into the City to dine. The printer tells me he sold yesterday +a thousand of Prior's Journey, and had printed five hundred more. It +will do rarely, I believe, and is a pure bite. And what is MD doing all +this while? got again to their cards, their Walls, their deans, their +Stoytes, and their claret? Pray present my service to Mr. Stoyte and +Catherine. Tell Goody Stoyte she owes me a world of dinners, and I will +shortly come over and demand them.--Did I tell you of the Archbishop of +Dublin's last letter? He had been saying, in several of his former, that +he would shortly write to me something about myself; and it looked as if +he intended something for me: at last out it comes, and consists of two +parts. First, he advises me to strike in for some preferment now I have +friends; and secondly, he advises me, since I have parts, and learning, +and a happy pen, to think of some new subject in divinity not handled +by others, which I should manage better than anybody. A rare spark this, +with a pox! but I shall answer him as rarely. Methinks he should have +invited me over, and given me some hopes or promises. But hang him! and +so good-night, etc. + +13. It rained most furiously all this morning till about twelve, and +sometimes thundered; I trembled for my shillings, but it cleared up, +and I made a shift to get a walk in the Park, and then went with the +Secretary to dine with Lord Treasurer. Upon Thursdays there is always +a select company: we had the Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Rivers, the two +Secretaries, Mr. Granville, and Mr. Prior. Half of them went to Council +at six; but Rivers, Granville, Prior, and I, stayed till eight. Prior +was often affecting to be angry at the account of his journey to Paris; +and indeed the two last pages, which the printer got somebody to add,(4) +are so romantic, they spoil all the rest. Dilly Ashe pretended to me +that he was only going to Oxford and Cambridge for a fortnight, and then +would come back. I could not see him as I appointed t'other day; but +some of his friends tell me he took leave of them as going to Ireland; +and so they say at his lodging. I believe the rogue was ashamed to tell +me so, because I advised him to stay the winter, and he said he would. +I find he had got into a good set of scrub acquaintance, and I thought +passed his time very merrily; but I suppose he languished after +Balderig, and the claret of Dublin; and, after all, I think he is in +the right; for he can eat, drink, and converse better there than here. +Bernage was with me this morning: he calls now and then; he is in +terrible fear of a peace. He said he never had his health so well as in +Portugal. He is a favourite of his Colonel. + +14. I was mortified enough to-day, not knowing where in the world to +dine, the town is so empty. I met H. Coote,(5) and thought he would +invite me, but he did not: Sir John Stanley did not come into my head; +so I took up with Mrs. Van, and dined with her and her damned landlady, +who, I believe, by her eyebrows, is a bawd. This evening I met Addison +and Pastoral Philips in the Park, and supped with them at Addison's +lodgings: we were very good company, and I yet know no man half so +agreeable to me as he is. I sat with them till twelve, so you may think +it is late, young women; however, I would have some little conversation +with MD before your Presto goes to bed, because it makes me sleep, and +dream, and so forth. Faith, this letter goes on slowly enough, sirrahs; +but I cannot write much at a time till you are quite settled after your +journey, you know, and have gone all your visits, and lost your money at +ombre. You never play at chess now, Stella. That puts me in mind of +Dick Tighe; I fancy I told you he used to beat his wife here; and she +deserved it; and he resolves to part with her; and they went to Ireland +in different coaches. O Lord, I said all this before, I am sure. Go to +bed, sirrahs. + +Windsor, 15. I made the Secretary stop at Brentford, because we set +out at two this afternoon, and fasting would not agree with me. I only +designed to eat a bit of bread-and-butter; but he would light, and +we ate roast beef like dragons. And he made me treat him and two more +gentlemen; faith, it cost me a guinea. I do not like such jesting, yet +I was mightily pleased with it too. To-night our Society met at the +Secretary's: there were nine of us; and we have chosen a new member, the +Earl of Jersey,(6) whose father died lately. 'Tis past one, and I have +stolen away. + +16. I design to stay here this week by myself, about some business that +lies on my hands, and will take up a great deal of time. Dr. Adams,(7) +one of the canons, invited me to-day to dinner. The tables are so full +here on Sunday that it is hard to dine with a few, and Dr. Adams knows +I love to do so; which is very obliging. The Queen saw company in her +bed-chamber; she looks very well, but she sat down. I supped with Lord +Treasurer as usual, and stayed till past one as usual, and with our +usual company, except Lord Keeper, who did not come this time to +Windsor. I hate these suppers mortally, but I seldom eat anything. + +17. Lord Treasurer and Mr. Secretary stay here till tomorrow; some +business keeps them, and I am sorry for it, for they hinder me a day. +Mr. Lewis and I were going to dine soberly with a little Court friend +at one. But Lord Harley and Lord Dupplin kept me by force, and said we +should dine at Lord Treasurer's, who intended to go at four to London. I +stayed like a fool, and went with the two young lords to Lord Treasurer, +who very fairly turned us all three out of doors. They both were invited +to the Duke of Somerset, but he was gone to a horse-race, and would not +come till five; so we were forced to go to a tavern, and sent for wine +from Lord Treasurer's, who at last, we were told, did not go to town +till the morrow, and at Lord Treasurer's we supped again; and I desired +him to let me add four shillings to the bill I gave him. We sat up till +two, yet I must write to little MD. + +18. They are all gone early this morning, and I am alone to seek my +fortune; but Dr. Arbuthnot engages me for my dinners; and he yesterday +gave me my choice of place, person, and victuals for to-day. So I chose +to dine with Mrs. Hill, who is one of the dressers, and Mrs. Masham's +sister, no company but us three, and to have a shoulder of mutton, a +small one; which was exactly, only there was too much victuals besides; +and the Doctor's wife(8) was of the company. And to-morrow Mrs. Hill and +I are to dine with the Doctor. I have seen a fellow often about Court +whom I thought I knew. I asked who he was, and they told me it was the +gentleman porter; then I called him to mind; he was Killy's acquaintance +(I won't say yours); I think his name is Lovet,(9) or Lovel, or +something like it. I believe he does not know me, and in my present +posture I shall not be fond of renewing old acquaintance; I believe I +used to see him with the Bradleys; and, by the way, I have not seen Mrs. +Bradley since I came to England. I left your letter in London, like +a fool; and cannot answer it till I go back, which will not be until +Monday next; so this will be above a fortnight from my last; but I will +fetch it up in my next; so go and walk to the Dean's for your health +this fine weather. + +19. The Queen designs to have cards and dancing here next week, which +makes us think she will stay here longer than we believed. Mrs. Masham +is not well after her lying-in: I doubt she got some cold; she is lame +in one of her legs with a rheumatic pain. Dr. Arbuthnot and Mrs. Hill go +tomorrow to Kensington to see her, and return the same night. Mrs. Hill +and I dined with the Doctor to-day. I rode out this morning with the +Doctor to see Cranburn, a house of Lord Ranelagh's,(10) and the Duchess +of Marlborough's lodge, and the Park; the finest places they are, for +nature and plantations, that ever I saw; and the finest riding upon +artificial roads, made on purpose for the Queen. Arbuthnot made me draw +up a sham subscription for a book, called A History of the Maids of +Honour since Harry the Eighth, showing they make the best wives, with a +list of all the maids of honour since, etc.; to pay a crown in hand, and +the other crown upon delivery of the book; and all in common forms of +those things. We got a gentleman to write it fair, because my hand is +known; and we sent it to the maids of honour, when they came to supper. +If they bite at it, it will be a very good Court jest; and the Queen +will certainly have it: we did not tell Mrs. Hill. + +20. To-day I was invited to the Green Cloth by Colonel Godfrey, who +married the Duke of Marlborough's sister,(11) mother to the Duke of +Berwick by King James: I must tell you those things that happened before +you were born. But I made my excuses, and young Harcourt (Lord Keeper's +son) and I dined with my next neighbour, Dr Adams.(12) Mrs. Masham is +better, and will be here in three or four days. She had need; for the +Duchess of Somerset is thought to gain ground daily.--We have not sent +you over all your bills; and I think we have altered your money-bill. +The Duke of Ormond is censured here, by those in power, for very wrong +management in the affair of the mayoralty.(13) He is governed by fools, +and has usually much more sense than his advisers, but never proceeds +by it. I must know how your health continues after Wexford. Walk and +use exercise, sirrahs both; and get somebody to play at shuttlecock with +you, Madam Stella, and walk to the Dean's and Donnybrook. + +21. Colonel Godfrey sent to me again to-day; so I dined at the Green +Cloth, and we had but eleven at dinner, which is a small number there, +the Court being always thin of company till Saturday night.--This new +ink and pen make a strange figure; I MUST WRITE LARGER, YES I MUST, OR +STELLA WILL NOT BE ABLE TO READ THIS.(14) S. S. S., there is your S's +for you, Stella. The maids of honour are bit, and have all contributed +their crowns, and are teasing others to subscribe for the book. I will +tell Lord Keeper and Lord Treasurer to-morrow; and I believe the Queen +will have it. After a little walk this evening, I squandered away the +rest of it in sitting at Lewis's lodging, while he and Dr. Arbuthnot +played at picquet. I have that foolish pleasure, which I believe nobody +has beside me, except old Lady Berkeley.(15) But I fretted when I came +away: I will loiter so no more, for I have a plaguy deal of business +upon my hands, and very little time to do it. The pamphleteers begin to +be very busy against the Ministry: I have begged Mr. Secretary to make +examples of one or two of them, and he assures me he will. They are very +bold and abusive. + +22. This being the day the Ministry come to Windsor, I ate a bit or two +at Mr. Lewis's lodgings, because I must sup with Lord Treasurer; and at +half an hour after one, I led Mr. Lewis a walk up the avenue, which is +two miles long. We walked in all about five miles; but I was so tired +with his slow walking, that I left him here, and walked two miles +towards London, hoping to meet Lord Treasurer, and return with him; but +it grew darkish, and I was forced to walk back, so I walked nine miles +in all; and Lord Treasurer did not come till after eight; which is very +wrong, for there was no moon, and I often tell him how ill he does to +expose himself so; but he only makes a jest of it. I supped with him, +and stayed till now, when it is half an hour after two. He is as merry +and careless and disengaged as a young heir at one-and-twenty. 'Tis late +indeed. + +23. The Secretary did not come last night, but at three this afternoon. +I have not seen him yet, but I verily think they are contriving a peace +as fast as they can, without which it will be impossible to subsist. The +Queen was at church to-day, but was carried in a chair. I and Mr. Lewis +dined privately with Mr. Lowman,(16) Clerk of the Kitchen. I was to see +Lord Keeper this morning, and told him the jest of the maids of honour; +and Lord Treasurer had it last night. That rogue Arbuthnot puts it all +upon me. The Court was very full to-day. I expected Lord Treasurer +would have invited me to supper; but he only bowed to me; and we had +no discourse in the drawing-room. It is now seven at night, and I am at +home; and I hope Lord Treasurer will not send for me to supper: if he +does not, I will reproach him; and he will pretend to chide me for not +coming.--So farewell till I go to bed, for I am going to be busy.--It is +now past ten, and I went down to ask the servants about Mr. Secretary: +they tell me the Queen is yet at Council, and that she went to supper, +and came out to the Council afterwards. It is certain they are managing +a peace. I will go to bed, and there is an end.--It is now eleven, and +a messenger is come from Lord Treasurer to sup with them; but I have +excused myself, and am glad I am in bed; for else I should sit up till +two, and drink till I was hot. Now I'll go sleep. + +London, 24. I came to town by six with Lord Treasurer, and have stayed +till ten. That of the Queen's going out to sup, and coming in again, is +a lie, as the Secretary told me this morning; but I find the Ministry +are very busy with Mr. Prior, and I believe he will go again to France. +I am told so much, that we shall certainly have a peace very soon. I had +charming weather all last week at Windsor; but we have had a little rain +to-day, and yesterday was windy. Prior's Journey sells still; they have +sold two thousand, although the town is empty. I found a letter from +Mrs. Fenton here, desiring me, in Lady Giffard's name, to come and pass +a week at Sheen, while she is at Moor Park. I will answer it with a +vengeance: and now you talk of answering, there is MD's N.20 is yet to +be answered: I had put it up so safe, I could hardly find it; but here +it is, faith, and I am afraid I cannot send this till Thursday; for I +must see the Secretary to-morrow morning, and be in some other place in +the evening. + +25. Stella writes like an emperor, and gives such an account of her +journey, never saw the like. Let me see; stand away, let us compute; you +stayed four days at Inish-Corthy, two nights at Mrs. Proby's mother's, +and yet was but six days in journey; for your words are, "We left +Wexford this day se'ennight, and came here last night." I have heard +them say that "travellers may lie by authority." Make up this, if you +can. How far is it from Wexford to Dublin? how many miles did you travel +in a day?(17) Let me see--thirty pounds in two months is nine score +pounds a year; a matter of nothing in Stella's purse! I dreamed Billy +Swift was alive, and that I told him you writ me word he was dead, and +that you had been at his funeral; and I admired at your impudence, and +was in mighty haste to run and let you know what lying rogues you were. +Poor lad! he is dead of his mother's former folly and fondness; and yet +now I believe, as you say, that her grief will soon wear off.--O +yes, Madam Dingley, mightily tired of the company, no doubt of it, at +Wexford! And your description of it is excellent; clean sheets, but bare +walls; I suppose then you lay upon the walls.--Mrs. Walls has got her +tea; but who pays me the money? Come, I shall never get it; so I make a +present of it, to stop some gaps, etc. Where's the thanks of the house? +So, that's well; why, it cost four-and-thirty shillings English--you +must adjust that with Mrs. Walls; I think that is so many pence more +with you.--No, Leigh and Sterne, I suppose, were not at the water-side: +I fear Sterne's business will not be done; I have not seen him this +good while. I hate him, for the management of that box; and I was the +greatest fool in nature for trusting to such a young jackanapes; I will +speak to him once more about it, when I see him. Mr. Addison and I +met once more since, and I supped with him; I believe I told you so +somewhere in this letter. The Archbishop chose an admirable messenger +in Walls, to send to me; yet I think him fitter for a messenger than +anything.--The D---- she has! I did not observe her looks. Will she rot +out of modesty with Lady Giffard? I pity poor Jenny(18)--but her husband +is a dunce, and with respect to him she loses little by her deafness. +I believe, Madam Stella, in your accounts you mistook one liquor for +another, and it was an hundred and forty quarts of wine, and thirty-two +of water.--This is all written in the morning before I go to the +Secretary, as I am now doing. I have answered your letter a little +shorter than ordinary; but I have a mind it should go to-day, and I will +give you my journal at night in my next; for I'm so afraid of +another letter before this goes: I will never have two together again +unanswered.--What care I for Dr. Tisdall and Dr. Raymond, or how many +children they have! I wish they had a hundred apiece.--Lord Treasurer +promises me to answer the bishops' letter to-morrow, and show it me; and +I believe it will confirm all I said, and mortify those that threw the +merit on the Duke of Ormond; for I have made him jealous of it; and +t'other day, talking of the matter, he said, "I am your witness, you got +it for them before the Duke was Lord Lieutenant." My humble service to +Mrs. Walls, Mrs. Stoyte, and Catherine. Farewell, etc. + +What do you do when you see any literal mistakes in my letters? how +do you set them right? for I never read them over to correct them. +Farewell, again. + +Pray send this note to Mrs. Brent, to get the money when Parvisol comes +to town, or she can send to him. + + + + +LETTER 31. + +LONDON, Sept. 25, 1711. + +I dined in the City to-day, and at my return I put my 30th into the +post-office; and when I got home I found for me one of the noblest +letters I ever read: it was from ----, three sides and a half in folio, +on a large sheet of paper; the two first pages made up of satire upon +London, and crowds and hurry, stolen from some of his own schoolboy's +exercises: the side and a half remaining is spent in desiring me to +recommend Mrs. South, your Commissioner's widow,(1) to my Lord Treasurer +for a pension. He is the prettiest, discreetest fellow that ever my eyes +beheld, or that ever dipped pen into ink. I know not what to say to him. +A pox on him, I have too many such customers on this side already. I +think I will send him word that I never saw my Lord Treasurer in my +life: I am sure I industriously avoided the name of any great person +when I saw him, for fear of his reporting it in Ireland. And this +recommendation must be a secret too, for fear the Duke of Bolton(2) +should know it, and think it was too mean. I never read so d----d a +letter in my life: a little would make me send it over to you.--I must +send you a pattern, the first place I cast my eyes on, I will not pick +and choose. IN THIS PLACE (meaning the Exchange in London), WHICH IS THE +COMPENDIUM OF OLD TROYNOVANT, AS THAT IS OF THE WHOLE BUSY WORLD, I GOT +SUCH A SURFEIT, THAT I GREW SICK OF MANKIND, AND RESOLVED FOR EVER AFTER +TO BURY MYSELF IN THE SHADY RETREAT OF -----. You must know that London +has been called by some Troynovant, or New Troy. Will you have any +more? Yes, one little bit for Stella, because she'll be fond of it. This +wondrous theatre (meaning London) was no more to me than a desert, and +I should less complain of solitude in a Connaught shipwreck, or even the +great bog of Allen. A little scrap for Mrs. Marget,(3) and then I have +done. THEIR ROYAL FANUM, WHEREIN THE IDOL PECUNIA IS DAILY WORSHIPPED, +SEEMED TO ME TO BE JUST LIKE A HIVE OF BEES WORKING AND LABOURING UNDER +HUGE WEIGHTS OF CARES. Fanum is a temple, but he means the Exchange; and +Pecunia is money: so now Mrs. Marget will understand her part. One more +paragraph, and I-- Well, come, don't be in such a rage, you shall have +no more. Pray, Stella, be satisfied; 'tis very pretty: and that I must +be acquainted with such a dog as this!--Our peace goes on fast. Prior +was with the Secretary two hours this morning: I was there a little +after he went away, and was told it. I believe he will soon be +despatched again to France; and I will put somebody to write an account +of his second journey: I hope you have seen the other. This latter has +taken up my time with storming at it. + +26. Bernage has been with me these two days; yesterday I sent for him +to let him know that Dr. Arbuthnot is putting in strongly to have his +brother made a captain over Bernage's(4) head. Arbuthnot's brother is +but an ensign, but the Doctor has great power with the Queen: yet he +told me he would not do anything hard to a gentleman who is my friend; +and I have engaged the Secretary and his Colonel(5) for him. To-day he +told me very melancholy, that the other had written from Windsor (where +he went to solicit) that he has got the company; and Bernage is full of +the spleen. I made the Secretary write yesterday a letter to the Colonel +in Bernage's behalf. I hope it will do yet; and I have written to Dr. +Arbuthnot to Windsor, not to insist on doing such a hardship. I dined +in the City at Pontack's, with Stratford; it cost me seven shillings: he +would have treated, but I did not let him. I have removed my money from +the Bank to another fund. I desire Parvisol may speak to Hawkshaw to +pay in my money when he can, for I will put it in the funds; and, in the +meantime, borrow so much of Mr. Secretary, who offers to lend it me. Go +to the Dean's, sirrahs. + +27. Bernage was with me again to-day, and is in great fear, and so was +I; but this afternoon, at Lord Treasurer's, where I dined, my brother, +George Granville, Secretary at War, after keeping me a while in +suspense, told me that Dr. Arbuthnot had waived the business, because +he would not wrong a friend of mine; that his brother is to be a +lieutenant, and Bernage is made a captain. I called at his lodging, and +the soldier's coffee-house, to put him out of pain, but cannot find him; +so I have left word, and shall see him to-morrow morning, I suppose. +Bernage is now easy; he has ten shillings a day, beside lawful cheating. +However, he gives a private sum to his Colonel, but it is very cheap: +his Colonel loves him well, but is surprised to see him have so many +friends. So he is now quite off my hands. I left the company early +to-night, at Lord Treasurer's; but the Secretary followed me, to desire +I would go with him to W--. Mr. Lewis's man came in before I could +finish that word beginning with a W, which ought to be Windsor, and +brought me a very handsome rallying letter from Dr. Arbuthnot, to tell +me he had, in compliance to me, given up his brother's pretensions in +favour of Bernage, this very morning; that the Queen had spoken to +Mr. Granville to make the company easy in the other's having the +captainship. Whether they have done it to oblige me or no, I must own it +so. He says he this very morning begged Her Majesty to give Mr. Bernage +the company. I am mighty well pleased to have succeeded so well; but you +will think me tedious, although you like the man, as I think. + +Windsor, 28. I came here a day sooner than ordinary, at Mr. Secretary's +desire, and supped with him and Prior, and two private Ministers from +France, and a French priest.(6) I know not the two Ministers' names; but +they are come about the peace. The names the Secretary called them, +I suppose, were feigned; they were good rational men. We have already +settled all things with France, and very much to the honour and +advantage of England; and the Queen is in mighty good humour. All this +news is a mighty secret; the people in general know that a peace is +forwarding. The Earl of Strafford(7) is to go soon to Holland, and let +them know what we have been doing: and then there will be the devil +and all to pay; but we'll make them swallow it with a pox. The French +Ministers stayed with us till one, and the Secretary and I sat up +talking till two; so you will own 'tis late, sirrahs, and time for your +little saucy Presto to go to bed and sleep adazy; and God bless poor +little MD: I hope they are now fast asleep, and dreaming of Presto. + +29. Lord Treasurer came to-night, as usual, at half an hour after eight, +as dark as pitch. I am weary of chiding him; so I commended him for +observing his friend's advice, and coming so early, etc. I was two hours +with Lady Oglethorpe(8) to-night, and then supped with Lord Treasurer, +after dining at the Green Cloth: I stayed till two; this is the effect +of Lord Treasurer's being here; I must sup with him; and he keeps cursed +hours. Lord Keeper and the Secretary were absent; they cannot sit up +with him. This long sitting up makes the periods in my letters so short. +I design to stay here all the next week, to be at leisure by myself, to +finish something of weight I have upon my hands, and which must soon be +done. I shall then think of returning to Ireland, if these people will +let me; and I know nothing else they have for me to do. I gave Dr. +Arbuthnot my thanks for his kindness to Bernage, whose commission is +now signed. Methinks I long to know something of Stella's health, how it +continues after Wexford waters. + +30. The Queen was not at chapel to-day, and all for the better, for we +had a dunce to preach: she has a little of the gout. I dined with +my brother Masham, and a moderate company, and would not go to Lord +Treasurer's till after supper at eleven o'clock, and pretended I had +mistaken the hour; so I ate nothing: and a little after twelve the +company broke up, the Keeper and Secretary refusing to stay; so I saved +this night's debauch. Prior went away yesterday with his Frenchmen, and +a thousand reports are raised in this town. Some said they knew one to +be the Abbe de Polignac: others swore it was the Abbe du Bois. The Whigs +are in a rage about the peace; but we'll wherret(9) them, I warrant, +boys. Go, go, go to the Dean's and don't mind politics, young women, +they are not good after the waters; they are stark naught: they strike +up into the head. Go, get two black aces, and fish for a manilio. + +Oct. 1. Sir John Walter,(10) an honest drunken fellow, is now in +waiting, and invited me to the Green Cloth to-day, that he might not +be behindhand with Colonel Godfrey, who is a Whig. I was engaged to +the Mayor's feast with Mr. Masham; but waiting to take leave of Lord +Treasurer, I came too late, and so returned sneaking to the Green Cloth, +and did not see my Lord Treasurer neither; but was resolved not to lose +two dinners for him. I took leave to-day of my friend and solicitor +Lord Rivers, who is commanded by the Queen to set out for Hanover on +Thursday. The Secretary does not go to town till to-morrow; he and I, +and two friends more, drank a sober bottle of wine here at home, and +parted at twelve; he goes by seven to-morrow morning, so I shall not see +him. I have power over his cellar in his absence, and make little use +of it. Lord Dartmouth and my friend Lewis stay here this week; but I can +never work out a dinner from Dartmouth. Masham has promised to provide +for me: I squired his lady out of her chaise to-day, and must visit her +in a day or two. So you have had a long fit of the finest weather in the +world; but I am every day in pain that it will go off. I have done no +business to-day; I am very idle. + +2. My friend Lewis and I, to avoid over much eating and great tables, +dined with honest Jemmy Eckershall,(11) Clerk of the Kitchen, now in +waiting, and I bespoke my dinner: but the cur had your acquaintance +Lovet, the gentleman porter, to be our company. Lovet, towards the end +of dinner, after twenty wrigglings, said he had the honour to see me +formerly at Moor Park, and thought he remembered my face. I said I +thought I remembered him, and was glad to see him, etc., and I escaped +for that much, for he was very pert. It has rained all this day, and I +doubt our good weather is gone. I have been very idle this afternoon, +playing at twelvepenny picquet with Lewis: I won seven shillings, which +is the only money I won this year: I have not played above four times, +and I think always at Windsor. Cards are very dear: there is a duty on +them of sixpence a pack, which spoils small gamesters. + +3. Mr. Masham sent this morning to desire I would ride out with him, the +weather growing again very fine. I was very busy, and sent my excuses; +but desired he would provide me a dinner. I dined with him, his lady, +and her sister, Mrs. Hill, who invites us to-morrow to dine with her, +and we are to ride out in the morning. I sat with Lady Oglethorpe till +eight this evening, then was going home to write; looked about for the +woman that keeps the key of the house: she told me Patrick had it. +I cooled my heels in the cloisters till nine, then went in to the +music-meeting, where I had been often desired to go; but was weary +in half an hour of their fine stuff, and stole out so privately that +everybody saw me; and cooled my heels in the cloisters again till after +ten: then came in Patrick. I went up, shut the chamber door, and gave +him two or three swinging cuffs on the ear, and I have strained the +thumb of my left hand with pulling him, which I did not feel until he +was gone. He was plaguily afraid and humbled. + +4. It was the finest day in the world, and we got out before eleven, a +noble caravan of us. The Duchess of Shrewsbury in her own chaise +with one horse, and Miss Touchet(12) with her, Mrs. Masham and Mrs. +Scarborow, one of the dressers, in one of the Queen's chaises; Miss +Forester and Miss Scarborow,(13) two maids of honour, and Mrs. Hill +on horseback. The Duke of Shrewsbury, Mr. Masham, George Fielding,(14) +Arbuthnot, and I, on horseback too. Mrs. Hill's horse was hired for Miss +Scarborow, but she took it in civility; her own horse was galled and +could not be rid, but kicked and winced: the hired horse was not worth +eighteenpence. I borrowed coat, boots, and horse, and in short we had +all the difficulties, and more than we used to have in making a party +from Trim to Longfield's.(15) My coat was light camlet, faced with red +velvet, and silver buttons. We rode in the great park and the forest +about a dozen miles, and the Duchess and I had much conversation: we got +home by two, and Mr. Masham, his lady, Arbuthnot and I, dined with +Mrs. Hill. Arbuthnot made us all melancholy, by some symptoms of bloody +u---e: he expects a cruel fit of the stone in twelve hours; he says +he is never mistaken, and he appears like a man that was to be racked +to-morrow. I cannot but hope it will not be so bad; he is a perfectly +honest man, and one I have much obligation to. It rained a little this +afternoon, and grew fair again. Lady Oglethorpe sent to speak to me, and +it was to let me know that Lady Rochester(16) desires she and I may be +better acquainted. 'Tis a little too late; for I am not now in love with +Lady Rochester: they shame me out of her, because she is old. Arbuthnot +says he hopes my strained thumb is not the gout; for he has often found +people so mistaken. I do not remember the particular thing that gave it +me, only I had it just after beating Patrick, and now it is better; so I +believe he is mistaken. + +5. The Duchess of Shrewsbury sent to invite me to dinner; but I was +abroad last night when her servant came, and this morning I sent my +excuses, because I was engaged, which I was sorry for. Mrs. Forester +taxed me yesterday about the History of the Maids of Honour;(17) but I +told her fairly it was no jest of mine; for I found they did not relish +it altogether well; and I have enough already of a quarrel with that +brute Sir John Walter, who has been railing at me in all companies ever +since I dined with him; that I abused the Queen's meat and drink, and +said nothing at the table was good, and all a d----d lie; for after +dinner, commending the wine, I said I thought it was something small. +You would wonder how all my friends laugh at this quarrel. It will be +such a jest for the Keeper, Treasurer, and Secretary.--I dined with +honest Colonel Godfrey, took a good walk of an hour on the terrace, and +then came up to study; but it grows bloody cold, and I have no waistcoat +here. + +6. I never dined with the chaplains till to-day; but my friend Gastrell +and the Dean of Rochester(18) had often invited me, and I happened to be +disengaged: it is the worst provided table at Court. We ate on pewter: +every chaplain, when he is made a dean, gives a piece of plate, and so +they have got a little, some of it very old. One who was made Dean of +Peterborough (a small deanery) said he would give no plate; he was +only Dean of Pewterborough. The news of Mr. Hill's miscarriage in his +expedition(19) came to-day, and I went to visit Mrs. Masham and Mrs. +Hill, his two sisters, to condole with them. I advised them by all means +to go to the music-meeting to-night, to show they were not cast down, +etc., and they thought my advice was right, and went. I doubt Mr. Hill +and his admiral made wrong steps; however, we lay it all to a storm, +etc. I sat with the Secretary at supper; then we both went to Lord +Treasurer's supper, and sat till twelve. The Secretary is much mortified +about Hill, because this expedition was of his contriving, and he +counted much upon it; but Lord Treasurer was just as merry as usual, +and old laughing at Sir John Walter and me falling out. I said nothing +grieved me but that they would take example, and perhaps presume upon +it, and get out of my government; but that I thought I was not obliged +to govern bears, though I governed men. They promise to be as obedient +as ever, and so we laughed; and so I go to bed; for it is colder still, +and you have a fire now, and are at cards at home. + +7. Lord Harley and I dined privately to-day with Mrs. Masham and Mrs. +Hill, and my brother Masham. I saw Lord Halifax at Court, and we joined +and talked; and the Duchess of Shrewsbury came up and reproached me for +not dining with her. I said that was not so soon done, for I expected +more advances from ladies, especially duchesses: she promised to comply +with any demands I pleased; and I agreed to dine with her to-morrow, +if I did not go to London too soon, as I believe I shall before dinner. +Lady Oglethorpe brought me and the Duchess of Hamilton(20) together +to-day in the drawing-room, and I have given her some encouragement, but +not much. Everybody has been teasing Walter. He told Lord Treasurer that +he took his company from him that were to dine with him: my lord said, +"I will send you Dr. Swift:" Lord Keeper bid him take care what he +did; "for," said he, "Dr. Swift is not only all our favourite, but our +governor." The old company supped with Lord Treasurer, and got away by +twelve. + +London, 8. I believe I shall go no more to Windsor, for we expect the +Queen will come in ten days to Hampton Court. It was frost last night, +and cruel cold to-day. I could not dine with the Duchess, for I left +Windsor half an hour after one with Lord Treasurer, and we called at +Kensington, where Mrs. Masham was got to see her children for two days. +I dined, or rather supped, with Lord Treasurer, and stayed till after +ten. Tisdall(21) and his family are gone from hence, upon some wrangle +with the family. Yesterday I had two letters brought me to Mr. Masham's; +one from Ford, and t'other from our little MD, N.21. I would not tell +you till to-day, because I would not. I won't answer it till the next, +because I have slipped two days by being at Windsor, which I must +recover here. Well, sirrahs, I must go to sleep. The roads were as dry +as at midsummer to-day. This letter shall go to-morrow. + +9. Morning. It rains hard this morning. I suppose our fair weather is +now at an end. I think I'll put on my waistcoat to-day: shall I? Well, +I will then, to please MD. I think of dining at home to-day upon a chop +and a pot. The town continues yet very thin. Lord Strafford is gone to +Holland, to tell them what we have done here toward a peace. We shall +soon hear what the Dutch say, and how they take it. My humble service +to Mrs. Walls, Mrs. Stoyte, and Catherine.--Morrow, dearest sirrahs, and +farewell; and God Almighty bless MD, poor little dear MD, for so I mean, +and Presto too. I'll write to you again to-night, that is, I'll begin my +next letter. Farewell, etc. + +This little bit belongs to MD; we must always write on the margin:(22) +you are saucy rogues. + + + + +LETTER 32. + +LONDON, Oct. 9, 1711. + +I was forced to lie down at twelve to-day, and mend my night's sleep: I +slept till after two, and then sent for a bit of mutton and pot of ale +from the next cook's shop, and had no stomach. I went out at four, and +called to see Biddy Floyd, which I had not done these three months: she +is something marked, but has recovered her complexion quite, and looks +very well. Then I sat the evening with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and drank +coffee, and ate an egg. I likewise took a new lodging to-day, not liking +a ground-floor, nor the ill smell, and other circumstances. I lodge, +or shall lodge, by Leicester Fields, and pay ten shillings a week; that +won't hold out long, faith. I shall lie here but one night more. It +rained terribly till one o'clock to-day. I lie, for I shall lie here two +nights, till Thursday, and then remove. Did I tell you that my friend +Mrs. Barton has a brother(1) drowned, that went on the expedition with +Jack Hill? He was a lieutenant-colonel, and a coxcomb; and she keeps her +chamber in form, and the servants say she receives no messages.--Answer +MD's letter, Presto, d'ye hear? No, says Presto, I won't yet, I'm busy; +you're a saucy rogue. Who talks? + +10. It cost me two shillings in coach-hire to dine in the City with a +printer. I have sent, and caused to be sent, three pamphlets out in a +fortnight. I will ply the rogues warm; and whenever anything of theirs +makes a noise, it shall have an answer. I have instructed an under +spur-leather to write so, that it is taken for mine. A rogue that writes +a newspaper, called The Protestant Postboy, has reflected on me in one +of his papers; but the Secretary has taken him up, and he shall have a +squeeze extraordinary. He says that an ambitious tantivy,(2) missing of +his towering hopes of preferment in Ireland, is come over to vent his +spleen on the late Ministry, etc. I'll tantivy him with a vengeance. I +sat the evening at home, and am very busy, and can hardly find time to +write, unless it were to MD. I am in furious haste. + +11. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer. Thursdays are now his days +when his choice company comes, but we are too much multiplied. George +Granville sent his excuses upon being ill; I hear he apprehends the +apoplexy, which would grieve me much. Lord Treasurer calls Prior nothing +but Monsieur Baudrier, which was the feigned name of the Frenchman that +writ his Journey to Paris.(3) They pretend to suspect me, so I talk +freely of it, and put them out of their play. Lord Treasurer calls me +now Dr. Martin, because martin(4) is a sort of a swallow, and so is a +swift. When he and I came last Monday from Windsor, we were reading +all the signs on the road.(5) He is a pure trifler; tell the Bishop of +Clogher so. I made him make two lines in verse for the Bell and Dragon, +and they were rare bad ones. I suppose Dilly is with you by this time: +what could his reason be of leaving London, and not owning it? 'Twas +plaguy silly. I believe his natural inconstancy made him weary. I think +he is the king of inconstancy. I stayed with Lord Treasurer till ten; we +had five lords and three commoners. Go to ombre, sirrahs. + +12. Mrs. Vanhomrigh has changed her lodging as well as I. She found she +had got with a bawd, and removed. I dined with her to-day; for though +she boards, her landlady does not dine with her. I am grown a mighty +lover of herrings; but they are much smaller here than with you. In the +afternoon I visited an old major-general, and ate six oysters; then sat +an hour with Mrs. Colledge,(6) the joiner's daughter that was hanged; it +was the joiner was hanged, and not his daughter; with Thompson's wife, a +magistrate. There was the famous Mrs. Floyd of Chester, who, I think, +is the handsomest woman (except MD) that ever I saw. She told me that +twenty people had sent her the verses upon Biddy,(7) as meant to her: +and, indeed, in point of handsomeness, she deserves them much better. I +will not go to Windsor to-morrow, and so I told the Secretary to-day. +I hate the thoughts of Saturday and Sunday suppers with Lord Treasurer. +Jack Hill is come home from his unfortunate expedition, and is, I think, +now at Windsor: I have not yet seen him. He is privately blamed by his +own friends for want of conduct. He called a council of war, and therein +it was determined to come back. But they say a general should not do +that, because the officers will always give their opinion for returning, +since the blame will not lie upon them, but the general. I pity him +heartily. Bernage received his commission to-day. + +13. I dined to-day with Colonel Crowe,(8) late Governor of Barbadoes; +he is a great acquaintance of your friend Sterne, to whom I trusted the +box. Lord Treasurer has refused Sterne's business, and I doubt he is a +rake; Jemmy Leigh stays for him, and nobody knows where to find him. I +am so busy now I have hardly time to spare to write to our little MD, +but in a fortnight I hope it will be over. I am going now to be busy, +etc. + +14. I was going to dine with Dr. Cockburn, but Sir Andrew Fountaine +met me, and carried me to Mrs. Van's, where I drank the last bottle +of Raymond's wine, admirable good, better than any I get among the +Ministry. I must pick up time to answer this letter of MD's; I'll do it +in a day or two for certain.--I am glad I am not at Windsor, for it is +very cold, and I won't have a fire till November. I am contriving how to +stop up my grate with bricks. Patrick was drunk last night; but did +not come to me, else I should have given him t'other cuff. I sat this +evening with Mrs. Barton; it is the first day of her seeing company; but +I made her merry enough, and we were three hours disputing upon Whig and +Tory. She grieved for her brother only for form, and he was a sad +dog. Is Stella well enough to go to church, pray? no numbings left? +no darkness in your eyes? do you walk and exercise? Your exercise is +ombre.--People are coming up to town: the Queen will be at Hampton Court +in a week. Lady Betty Germaine, I hear, is come; and Lord Pembroke is +coming: his wife(9) is as big with child as she can tumble. + +15. I sat at home till four this afternoon to-day writing, and ate a +roll and butter; then visited Will Congreve an hour or two, and supped +with Lord Treasurer, who came from Windsor to-day, and brought Prior +with him. The Queen has thanked Prior for his good service in France, +and promised to make him a Commissioner of the Customs. Several of that +Commission are to be out; among the rest, my friend Sir Matthew Dudley. +I can do nothing for him, he is so hated by the Ministry. Lord Treasurer +kept me till twelve, so I need not tell you it is now late. + +16. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary at Dr. Coatesworth's,(10) where he +now lodges till his house be got ready in Golden Square. One Boyer,(11) +a French dog, has abused me in a pamphlet, and I have got him up in +a messenger's hands: the Secretary promises me to swinge him. Lord +Treasurer told me last night that he had the honour to be abused with me +in a pamphlet. I must make that rogue an example, for warning to +others. I was to see Jack Hill this morning, who made that unfortunate +expedition; and there is still more misfortune; for that ship, which was +admiral of his fleet,(12) is blown up in the Thames, by an accident and +carelessness of some rogue, who was going, as they think, to steal some +gunpowder: five hundred men are lost. We don't yet know the particulars. +I am got home by seven, and am going to be busy, and you are going to +play and supper; you live ten times happier than I; but I should live +ten times happier than you if I were with MD. I saw Jemmy Leigh to-day +in the street, who tells me that Sterne has not lain above once these +three weeks in his lodgings, and he doubts he takes ill courses; he +stays only till he can find Sterne to go along with him, and he cannot +hear of him. I begged him to inquire about the box when he comes to +Chester, which he promises. + +17. The Secretary and I dined to-day with Brigadier Britton,(13) a great +friend of his. The lady of the house is very gallant, about thirty-five; +she is said to have a great deal of wit; but I see nothing among any of +them that equals MD by a bar's length, as hope saved. My Lord Treasurer +is much out of order; he has a sore throat, and the gravel, and a pain +in his breast where the wound was: pray God preserve him. The Queen +comes to Hampton Court on Tuesday next; people are coming fast to town, +and I must answer MD's letter, which I can hardly find time to do, +though I am at home the greatest part of the day. Lady Betty Germaine +and I were disputing Whig and Tory to death this morning. She is grown +very fat, and looks mighty well. Biddy Floyd was there, and she is, I +think, very much spoiled with the smallpox. + +18. Lord Treasurer is still out of order, and that breaks our method of +dining there to-day. He is often subject to a sore throat, and some time +or other it will kill him, unless he takes more care than he is apt to +do. It was said about the town that poor Lord Peterborow was dead at +Frankfort; but he is something better, and the Queen is sending him to +Italy, where I hope the warm climate will recover him: he has abundance +of excellent qualities, and we love one another mightily. I was this +afternoon in the City, ate a bit of meat, and settled some things with +a printer. I will answer your letter on Saturday, if possible, and then +send away this; so to fetch up the odd days I lost at Windsor, and keep +constant to my fortnight. Ombre time is now coming on, and we shall have +nothing but Manley, and Walls, and Stoytes, and the Dean. Have you got +no new acquaintance? Poor girls; nobody knows MD's good qualities.--'Tis +very cold; but I will not have a fire till November, that's pozz.--Well, +but coming home to-night, I found on my table a letter from MD; faith, +I was angry, that is, with myself; and I was afraid too to see MD's hand +so soon, for fear of something, I don't know what: at last I opened it, +and it was over well, and a bill for the two hundred guineas. However, +'tis a sad thing that this letter is not gone, nor your twenty-first +answered yet. + +19. I was invited to-day to dine with Mrs. Van, with some company who +did not come; but I ate nothing but herrings; you must know I hardly +ever eat of above one thing, and that the plainest ordinary meat at +table; I love it best, and believe it wholesomest. You love rarities; +yes you do; I wish you had all that I ever see where I go. I was coming +home early, and met the Secretary in his chair, who persuaded me to go +with him to Britton's; for he said he had been all day at business, and +had eaten nothing. So I went, and the time passed so, that we stayed +till two, so you may believe 'tis late enough. + +20. This day has gone all wrong, by sitting up so late last night. Lord +Treasurer is not yet well, and can't go to Windsor. I dined with Sir +Matthew Dudley, and took occasion to hint to him that he would lose his +employment, for which I am very sorry. Lord Pembroke and his family are +all come to town. I was kept so long at a friend's this evening that I +cannot send this to-night. When I knocked at my lodgings, a fellow asked +me where lodged Dr. Swift? I told him I was the person: he gave me +a letter he brought from the Secretary's office, and I gave him a +shilling: when I came up, I saw Dingley's hand: faith, I was afraid, I +do not know what. At last it was a formal letter, from Dingley about +her exchequer business. Well, I'll do it on Monday, and settle it with +Tooke. And now, boys, for your letter, I mean the first, N.21. Let's +see; come out, little letter. I never had the letter from the Bishop +that Raymond mentions; but I have written to Ned Southwell, to desire +the Duke of Ormond to speak to his reverence, that he may leave off his +impertinence. What a pox can they think I am doing for the Archbishop +here? You have a pretty notion of me in Ireland, to make me an agent +for the Archbishop of Dublin.--Why! do you think I value your +people's ingratitude about my part in serving them? I remit them their +first-fruits of ingratitude, as freely as I got the other remitted to +them. The Lord Treasurer defers writing his letter to them, or else they +would be plaguily confounded by this time. For he designs to give the +merit of it wholly to the Queen and me, and to let them know it was +done before the Duke of Ormond was Lord Lieutenant. You visit, you dine +abroad, you see friends; you pilgarlick;(14) you walk from Finglas, you +a cat's foot. O Lord--Lady Gore(15) hung her child by the WAIST; what is +that waist?(16) I don't understand that word; he must hang on till +you explain or spell it.--I don't believe he was pretty, that's a +liiii.--Pish! burn your First-Fruits; again at it. Stella has made +twenty false spellings in her writing; I'll send them to you all back +again on the other side of this letter, to mend them; I won't miss one. +Why, I think there were seventeen bishops' names to the letter Lord +Oxford received.--I will send you some pamphlets by Leigh; put me in +mind of it on Monday, for I shall go then to the printer; yes, and the +Miscellany. I am mightily obliged to Walls, but I don't deserve it by +any usage of him here, having seen him but twice, and once en passant. +Mrs. Manley forsworn ombre! What! and no blazing star appear? no +monsters born? no whale thrown up? have you not found out some evasion +for her? She had no such regard to oaths in her younger days. I got the +books for nothing, Madam Dingley; but the wine I got not; it was but a +promise.--Yes, my head is pretty well in the main, only now and then a +little threatening or so.--You talk of my reconciling some great folks. +I tell you what. The Secretary told me last night that he had found the +reason why the Queen was cold to him for some months past; that a friend +had told it him yesterday; and it was, that they suspected he was at the +bottom with the Duke of Marlborough. Then he said he had reflected upon +all I had spoken to him long ago, but he thought it had only been my +suspicion, and my zeal and kindness for him. I said I had reason to take +that very ill, to imagine I knew so little of the world as to talk at +a venture to a great Minister; that I had gone between him and Lord +Treasurer often, and told each of them what I had said to the other, and +that I had informed him so before. He said all that you may imagine to +excuse himself, and approve my conduct. I told him I knew all along that +this proceeding of mine was the surest way to send me back to my willows +in Ireland, but that I regarded it not, provided I could do the kingdom +service in keeping them well together. I minded him how often I had told +Lord Treasurer, Lord Keeper, and him together, that all things depended +on their union, and that my comfort was to see them love one another; +and I had told them all singly that I had not said this by chance, etc. +He was in a rage to be thus suspected; swears he will be upon a better +foot, or none at all; and I do not see how they can well want him in +this juncture. I hope to find a way of settling this matter. I act an +honest part, that will bring me neither honour nor praise. MD must +think the better of me for it: nobody else shall ever know of it. Here's +politics enough for once; but Madam DD gave me occasion for it. I think +I told you I have got into lodgings that don't smell ill--O Lord! the +spectacles: well, I'll do that on Monday too; although it goes against +me to be employed for folks that neither you nor I care a groat for. Is +the eight pounds from Hawkshaw included in the thirty-nine pounds five +shillings and twopence? How do I know by this how my account stands? +Can't you write five or six lines to cast it up? Mine is forty-four +pounds per annum, and eight pounds from Hawkshaw makes fifty-two pounds. +Pray set it right, and let me know; you had best.--And so now I have +answered N.21, and 'tis late, and I will answer N.22 in my next: this +cannot go to-night, but shall on Tuesday: and so go to your play, and +lose your money, with your two eggs a penny; silly jade; you witty? very +pretty. + +21. Mrs. Van would have me dine with her again to-day, and so I did, +though Lady Mountjoy has sent two or three times to have me see and dine +with her, and she is a little body I love very well. My head has ached +a little in the evenings these three or four days, but it is not of the +giddy sort, so I do not much value it. I was to see Lord Harley to-day, +but Lord Treasurer took physic; and I could not see him. He has voided +much gravel, and is better, but not well: he talks of going on Tuesday +to see the Queen at Hampton Court; I wish he may be able. I never saw so +fine a summer day as this was: how is it with you, pray? and can't you +remember, naughty packs? I han't seen Lord Pembroke yet. He will be +sorry to miss Dilly: I wonder you say nothing of Dilly's being got +to Ireland; if he be not there soon, I shall have some certain odd +thoughts: guess them if you can. + +22. I dined in the City to-day with Dr. Freind, at one of my printers: +I inquired for Leigh, but could not find him: I have forgot what sort of +apron you want. I must rout among your letters, a needle in a bottle of +hay. I gave Sterne directions, but where to find him Lord knows. I have +bespoken the spectacles; got a set of Examiners, and five pamphlets, +which I have either written or contributed to, except the best, which +is the vindication of the Duke of Marlborough, and is entirely of the +author of the Atalantis.(17) I have settled Dingley's affair with Tooke, +who has undertaken it, and understands it. I have bespoken a Miscellany: +what would you have me do more? It cost me a shilling coming home; it +rains terribly, and did so in the morning. Lord Treasurer has had an ill +day, in much pain. He writes and does business in his chamber now he is +ill: the man is bewitched: he desires to see me, and I'll maul him, but +he will not value it a rush. I am half weary of them all. I often burst +out into these thoughts, and will certainly steal away as soon as I +decently can. I have many friends, and many enemies; and the last are +more constant in their nature. I have no shuddering at all to think of +retiring to my old circumstances, if you can be easy; but I will always +live in Ireland as I did the last time; I will not hunt for dinners +there, nor converse with more than a very few. + +23. Morning. This goes to-day, and shall be sealed by and by. Lord +Treasurer takes physic again to-day: I believe I shall dine with Lord +Dupplin. Mr. Tooke brought me a letter directed for me at Morphew's the +bookseller. I suppose, by the postage, it came from Ireland. It is a +woman's hand, and seems false spelt on purpose: it is in such sort of +verse as Harris's petition;(18) rallies me for writing merry things, +and not upon divinity; and is like the subject of the Archbishop's last +letter, as I told you. Can you guess whom it came from? It is not ill +written; pray find it out. There is a Latin verse at the end of it all +rightly spelt; yet the English, as I think, affectedly wrong in many +places. My plaguing time is coming. A young fellow brought me a +letter from Judge Coote,(19) with recommendation to be lieutenant of a +man-of-war. He is the son of one Echlin,(20) who was minister of Belfast +before Tisdall, and I have got some other new customers; but I shall +trouble my friends as little as possible. Saucy Stella used to jeer +me for meddling with other folks' affairs; but now I am punished for +it.--Patrick has brought the candle, and I have no more room. Farewell, +etc. etc. + +Here is a full and true account of Stella's new spelling:--(21) + +Plaguely, Plaguily. Dineing, Dining. Straingers, Strangers. Chais, +Chase. Waist, Wast. Houer, Hour. Immagin, Imagine. A bout, About. +Intellegence, Intelligence. Merrit, Merit. Aboundance, Abundance. +Secreet, Secret. Phamphlets, Pamphlets. Bussiness, Business. + +Tell me truly, sirrah, how many of these are mistakes of the pen, and +how many are you to answer for as real ill spelling? There are but +fourteen; I said twenty by guess. You must not be angry, for I will have +you spell right, let the world go how it will. Though, after all, +there is but a mistake of one letter in any of these words. I allow you +henceforth but six false spellings in every letter you send me. + + + + +LETTER 33. + +LONDON, Oct. 23, 1711. + +I dined with Lord Dupplin as I told you I would, and put my +thirty-second into the post-office my own self; and I believe there has +not been one moment since we parted wherein a letter was not upon the +road going or coming to or from PMD. If the Queen knew it, she would +give us a pension; for it is we bring good luck to their post-boys and +their packets; else they would break their necks and sink. But, an old +saying and a true one: + + Be it snow, or storm, or hail, + PMD's letters never fail; + Cross winds may sometimes make them tarry, + But PMD's letters can't miscarry. + +Terrible rain to-day, but it cleared up at night enough to save my +twelvepence coming home. Lord Treasurer is much better this evening. +I hate to have him ill, he is so confoundedly careless. I won't answer +your letter yet, so be satisfied. + +24. I called at Lord Treasurer's to-day at noon: he was eating some +broth in his bed-chamber, undressed, with a thousand papers about him. +He has a little fever upon him, and his eye terribly bloodshot; yet he +dressed himself and went out to the Treasury. He told me he had a letter +from a lady with a complaint against me; it was from Mrs. Cutts, a +sister of Lord Cutts, who writ to him that I had abused her brother:(1) +you remember the "Salamander," it is printed in the Miscellany. I told +my lord that I would never regard complaints, and that I expected, +whenever he received any against me, he would immediately put them into +the fire, and forget them, else I should have no quiet. I had a little +turn in my head this morning; which, though it did not last above a +moment, yet being of the true sort, has made me as weak as a dog all +this day. 'Tis the first I have had this half-year. I shall take my +pills if I hear of it again. I dined at Lady Mountjoy's with Harry +Coote,(2) and went to see Lord Pembroke upon his coming to town.--The +Whig party are furious against a peace, and every day some ballad comes +out reflecting on the Ministry on that account. The Secretary St. John +has seized on a dozen booksellers and publishers into his messengers' +hands.(3) Some of the foreign Ministers have published the preliminaries +agreed on here between France and England; and people rail at them as +insufficient to treat a peace upon; but the secret is, that the French +have agreed to articles much more important, which our Ministers +have not communicated, and the people, who think they know all, are +discontented that there is no more. This was an inconvenience I foretold +to the Secretary, but we could contrive no way to fence against it. So +there's politics for you. + +25. The Queen is at Hampton Court: she went on Tuesday in that terrible +rain. I dined with Lewis at his lodgings, to despatch some business we +had. I sent this morning and evening to Lord Treasurer, and he is much +worse by going out; I am in pain about evening. He has sent for Dr. +Radcliffe; pray God preserve him. The Chancellor of the Exchequer(4) +showed me to-day a ballad(5) in manuscript against Lord Treasurer and +his South Sea project; it is very sharply written: if it be not +printed, I will send it you. If it be, it shall go in your packet of +pamphlets.--I found out your letter about directions for the apron, and +have ordered to be bought a cheap green silk work apron; I have it by +heart. I sat this evening with Mrs. Barton, who is my near neighbour. It +was a delicious day, and I got my walk, and was thinking whether MD was +walking too just at that time that Presto was. This paper does not +cost me a farthing, I have it from the Secretary's office. I long till +to-morrow to know how my Lord Treasurer sleeps this night, and to hear +he mends: we are all undone without him; so pray for him, sirrahs, and +don't stay too late at the Dean's. + +26. I dined with Mrs. Van; for the weather is so bad, and I am so busy, +that I can't dine with great folks: and besides I dare eat but little, +to keep my head in order, which is better. Lord Treasurer is very ill, +but I hope in no danger. We have no quiet with the Whigs, they are so +violent against a peace; but I'll cool them, with a vengeance, very +soon. I have not heard from the Bishop of Clogher, whether he has got +his statues.(6) I writ to him six weeks ago; he's so busy with his +Parliament. I won't answer your letter yet, say what you will, saucy +girls. + +27. I forgot to go about some business this morning, which cost me +double the time; and I was forced to be at the Secretary's office till +four, and lose my dinner; so I went to Mrs. Van's, and made them get me +three herrings, which I am very fond of, and they are a light victuals: +besides, I was to have supped at Lady Ashburnham's; but the drab did +not call for us in her coach, as she promised, but sent for us, and so I +sent my excuses. It has been a terrible rainy day, but so flattering in +the morning, that I would needs go out in my new hat. I met Leigh and +Sterne as I was going into the Park. Leigh says he will go to Ireland +in ten days, if he can get Sterne to go with him; so I will send him the +things for MD, and I have desired him to inquire about the box. I hate +that Sterne for his carelessness about it; but it was my fault. + +29. I was all this terrible rainy day with my friend Lewis upon business +of importance; and I dined with him, and came home about seven, and +thought I would amuse myself a little, after the pains I had taken. I +saw a volume of Congreve's plays in my room, that Patrick had taken +to read; and I looked into it, and in mere loitering read in it till +twelve, like an owl and a fool: if ever I do so again; never saw +the like. Count Gallas,(7) the Emperor's Envoy, you will hear, is in +disgrace with us: the Queen has ordered her Ministers to have no more +commerce with him; the reason is, the fool writ a rude letter to Lord +Dartmouth, Secretary of State, complaining of our proceedings about +a peace; and he is always in close confidence with Lord Wharton and +Sunderland, and others of the late Ministry. I believe you begin to +think there will be no peace; the Whigs here are sure it cannot be, and +stocks are fallen again. But I am confident there will, unless France +plays us tricks; and you may venture a wager with any of your Whig +acquaintance that we shall not have another campaign. You will get +more by it than by ombre, sirrah.--I let slip telling you yesterday's +journal, which I thought to have done this morning, but blundered. I +dined yesterday at Harry Coote's, with Lord Hatton,(8) Mr. Finch, a son +of Lord Nottingham, and Sir Andrew Fountaine. I left them soon, but +hear they stayed till two in the morning, and were all drunk: and so +good-night for last night, and good-night for to-night. You blundering +goosecap, an't you ashamed to blunder to young ladies? I shall have a +fire in three or four days now, oh ho. + +30. I was to-day in the City concerting some things with a printer, and +am to be to-morrow all day busy with Mr. Secretary about the same. I +won't tell you now; but the Ministers reckon it will do abundance of +good, and open the eyes of the nation, who are half bewitched against a +peace. Few of this generation can remember anything but war and taxes, +and they think it is as it should be; whereas 'tis certain we are the +most undone people in Europe, as I am afraid I shall make appear beyond +all contradiction. But I forgot; I won't tell you what I will do, nor +what I will not do: so let me alone, and go to Stoyte, and give Goody +Stoyte and Catherine my humble service; I love Goody Stoyte better than +Goody Walls. Who'll pay me for this green apron? I will have the money; +it cost ten shillings and sixpence. I think it plaguy dear for a cheap +thing; but they said that English silk would cockle,(9) and I know not +what. You have the making into the bargain. 'Tis right Italian: I have +sent it and the pamphlets to Leigh, and will send the Miscellanies and +spectacles in a day or two. I would send more; but, faith, I'm plaguy +poor at present. + +31. The devil's in this Secretary: when I went this morning he had +people with him; but says he, "we are to dine with Prior to-day, and +then will do all our business in the afternoon": at two, Prior sends +word he is otherwise engaged; then the Secretary and I go and dine with +Brigadier Britton, sit till eight, grow merry, no business done; he is +in haste to see Lady Jersey;(10) we part, and appoint no time to meet +again. This is the fault of all the present Ministers, teasing me to +death for my assistance, laying the whole weight of their affairs upon +it, yet slipping opportunities. Lord Treasurer mends every day, though +slowly: I hope he will take care of himself. Pray, will you send to +Parvisol to send me a bill of twenty pounds as soon as he can, for I +want money. I must have money; I will have money, sirrahs. + +Nov. 1. I went to-day into the City to settle some business with +Stratford, and to dine with him; but he was engaged, and I was so angry +I would not dine with any other merchant, but went to my printer, and +ate a bit, and did business of mischief with him, and I shall have the +spectacles and Miscellany to-morrow, and leave them with Leigh. A fine +day always makes me go into the City, if I can spare time, because it is +exercise; and that does me more good than anything. I have heard nothing +since of my head, but a little, I don't know how, sometimes: but I am +very temperate, especially now the Treasurer is ill, and the Ministers +often at Hampton Court, and the Secretary not yet fixed in his house, +and I hate dining with many of my old acquaintance. Here has been +a fellow discovered going out of the East India House with sixteen +thousand pounds in money and bills; he would have escaped, if he had not +been so uneasy with thirst, that he stole out before his time, and was +caught. But what is that to MD? I wish we had the money, provided the +East India Company was never the worse; you know we must not covet, etc. +Our weather, for this fortnight past, is chequered, a fair and a rainy +day: this was very fine, and I have walked four miles; wish MD would do +so, lazy sluttikins. + +2. It has rained all day with a continuendo, and I went in a chair to +dine with Mrs. Van; always there in a very rainy day. But I made a shift +to come back afoot. I live a very retired life, pay very few visits, and +keep but very little company; I read no newspapers. I am sorry I sent +you the Examiner, for the printer is going to print them in a small +volume: it seems the author is too proud to have them printed by +subscription, though his friends offered, they say, to make it worth +five hundred pounds to him. The Spectators are likewise printing in a +larger and a smaller volume, so I believe they are going to leave +them off, and indeed people grow weary of them, though they are often +prettily written. We have had no news for me to send you now towards +the end of my letter. The Queen has the gout a little: I hoped the Lord +Treasurer would have had it too, but Radcliffe told me yesterday it was +the rheumatism in his knee and foot; however, he mends, and I hope will +be abroad in a short time. I am told they design giving away several +employments before the Parliament sits, which will be the thirteenth +instant. I either do not like, or not understand this policy; and if +Lord Treasurer does not mend soon, they must give them just before the +session. But he is the greatest procrastinator in the world. + +3. A fine day this, and I walked a pretty deal. I stuffed the +Secretary's pockets with papers, which he must read and settle at +Hampton Court, where he went to-day, and stays some time. They have no +lodgings for me there, so I can't go, for the town is small, chargeable, +and inconvenient. Lord Treasurer had a very ill night last night, with +much pain in his knee and foot, but is easier to-day.--And so I went to +visit Prior about some business, and so he was not within, and so Sir +Andrew Fountaine made me dine to-day again with Mrs. Van, and I came +home soon, remembering this must go to-night, and that I had a letter of +MD's to answer. O Lord, where is it? let me see; so, so, here it is. You +grudge writing so soon. Pox on that bill! the woman would have me manage +that money for her. I do not know what to do with it now I have it: I am +like the unprofitable steward in the Gospel: I laid it up in a napkin; +there thou hast what is thine own, etc. Well, well, I know of your new +Mayor. (I'll tell you a pun: a fishmonger owed a man two crowns; so he +sent him a piece of bad ling and a tench, and then said he was paid: how +is that now? find it out; for I won't tell it you: which of you finds +it out?) Well, but as I was saying, what care I for your Mayor? I +fancy Ford may tell Forbes right about my returning to Ireland before +Christmas, or soon after. I'm sorry you did not go on with your story +about Pray God you be John; I never heard it in my life, and wonder what +it can be.--Ah, Stella, faith, you leaned upon your Bible to think what +to say when you writ that. Yes, that story of the Secretary's making me +an example is true; "never heard it before;" why, how could you hear +it? is it possible to tell you the hundredth part of what passes in our +companies here? The Secretary is as easy with me as Mr. Addison was. I +have often thought what a splutter Sir William Temple makes about being +Secretary of State:(11) I think Mr. St. John the greatest young man +I ever knew; wit, capacity, beauty, quickness of apprehension, good +learning, and an excellent taste; the best orator in the House of +Commons, admirable conversation, good nature, and good manners; +generous, and a despiser of money. His only fault is talking to his +friends in way of complaint of too great a load of business, which looks +a little like affectation; and he endeavours too much to mix the fine +gentleman and man of pleasure with the man of business. What truth and +sincerity he may have I know not: he is now but thirty-two, and has been +Secretary above a year. Is not all this extraordinary? how he stands +with the Queen and Lord Treasurer I have told you before. This is his +character; and I believe you will be diverted by knowing it. I writ to +the Archbishop of Dublin, Bishop of Cloyne(12) and of Clogher together, +five weeks ago from Windsor: I hope they had my letters; pray know if +Clogher had his.--Fig for your physician and his advice, Madam Dingley: +if I grow worse, I will; otherwise I will trust to temperance and +exercise: your fall of the leaf; what care I when the leaves fall? I am +sorry to see them fall with all my heart; but why should I take physic +because leaves fall off from trees? that won't hinder them from falling. +If a man falls from a horse, must I take physic for that?--This arguing +makes you mad; but it is true right reason, not to be disproved.--I +am glad at heart to hear poor Stella is better; use exercise and walk, +spend pattens and spare potions, wear out clogs and waste claret. Have +you found out my pun of the fishmonger? don't read a word more till you +have got it. And Stella is handsome again, you say? and is she fat? I +have sent to Leigh the set of Examiners: the first thirteen were written +by several hands, some good, some bad; the next three-and-thirty were +all by one hand, that makes forty-six: then that author,(13) whoever he +was, laid it down on purpose to confound guessers; and the last six were +written by a woman.(14) Then there is an account of Guiscard by the same +woman, but the facts sent by Presto. Then an answer to the letter to the +Lords about Gregg by Presto; Prior's Journey by Presto; Vindication of +the Duke of Marlborough, entirely by the same woman; Comment on Hare's +Sermon by the same woman, only hints sent to the printer from Presto to +give her.(15) Then there's the Miscellany, an apron for Stella, a pound +of chocolate, without sugar, for Stella, a fine snuff-rasp of ivory, +given me by Mrs. St. John for Dingley, and a large roll of tobacco, +which she must hide or cut shorter out of modesty, and four pair of +spectacles for the Lord knows who. There's the cargo, I hope it will +come safe. Oh, Mrs. Masham and I are very well; we write to one another, +but it is upon business; I believe I told you so before: pray pardon my +forgetfulness in these cases; poor Presto can't help it. MD shall have +the money as soon as Tooke gets it. And so I think I have answered all, +and the paper is out, and now I have fetched up my week, and will +send you another this day fortnight.--Why, you rogues, two crowns make +TENCH-ILL-LING:(16) you are so dull you could never have found it out. +Farewell, etc. etc. + + + + +LETTER 34. + +LONDON, Nov. 3, 1711. + +My thirty-third lies now before me just finished, and I am going to seal +and send it, so let me know whether you would have me add anything: I +gave you my journal of this day; and it is now nine at night, and I am +going to be busy for an hour or two. + +4. I left a friend's house to-day where I was invited, just when dinner +was setting on, and pretended I was engaged, because I saw some fellows +I did not know; and went to Sir Matthew Dudley's, where I had the same +inconvenience, but he would not let me go; otherwise I would have gone +home, and sent for a slice of mutton and a pot of ale, rather than dine +with persons unknown, as bad, for aught I know, as your deans, parsons, +and curates. Bad slabby weather to-day.--Now methinks I write at ease, +when I have no letter of MD's to answer. But I mistook, and have got the +large paper. The Queen is laid up with the gout at Hampton Court: she +is now seldom without it any long time together; I fear it will wear her +out in a very few years. I plainly find I have less twitchings about my +toes since these Ministers are sick and out of town, and that I don't +dine with them. I would compound for a light easy gout to be perfectly +well in my head.--Pray walk when the frost comes, young ladies go a +frost-biting. It comes into my head, that, from the very time you first +went to Ireland, I have been always plying you to walk and read. The +young fellows here have begun a kind of fashion to walk, and many of +them have got swingeing strong shoes on purpose; it has got as far as +several young lords; if it hold, it would be a very good thing. Lady +Lucy(1) and I are fallen out; she rails at me, and I have left visiting +her. + +5. MD was very troublesome to me last night in my sleep; I was a +dreamed, methought, that Stella was here. I asked her after Dingley, and +she said she had left her in Ireland, because she designed her stay to +be short, and such stuff.--Monsieur Pontchartain, the Secretary of State +in France, and Monsieur Fontenelle, the Secretary of the Royal Academy +there (who writ the Dialogues des Morts, etc.), have sent letters to +Lord Pembroke that the Academy have, with the King's consent, chosen +him one of their members in the room of one who is lately dead. But the +cautious gentleman has given me the letters to show my Lord Dartmouth +and Mr. St. John, our two Secretaries, and let them see there is no +treason in them; which I will do on Wednesday, when they come from +Hampton Court. The letters are very handsome, and it is a very great +mark of honour and distinction to Lord Pembroke. I hear the two French +Ministers are come over again about the peace; but I have seen nobody +of consequence to know the truth. I dined to-day with a lady of my +acquaintance, who was sick, in her bed-chamber, upon three herrings and +a chicken: the dinner was my bespeaking. We begin now to have chestnuts +and Seville oranges; have you the latter yet? 'Twas a terrible windy +day, and we had processions in carts of the Pope and the Devil, and the +butchers rang their cleavers. You know this is the Fifth of November, +Popery and gunpowder. + +6. Since I am used to this way of writing, I fancy I could hardly make +out a long letter to MD without it. I think I ought to allow for every +line taken up by telling you where I dined; but that will not be above +seven lines in all, half a line to a dinner. Your Ingoldsby(2) is going +over, and they say here he is to be made a lord.--Here was I staying in +my room till two this afternoon for that puppy Sir Andrew Fountaine, who +was to go with me into the City, and never came; and if I had not shot +a dinner flying, with one Mr. Murray, I might have fasted, or gone to an +alehouse.--You never said one word of Goody Stoyte in your letter; but +I suppose these winter nights we shall hear more of her. Does the +Provost(3) laugh as much as he used to do? We reckon him here a +good-for-nothing fellow.--I design to write to your Dean one of these +days, but I can never find time, nor what to say.--I will think of +something: but if DD(4) were not in Ireland I believe seriously I +should not think of the place twice a year. Nothing there ever makes the +subject of talk in any company where I am. + +7. I went to-day to the City on business; but stopped at a printer's, +and stayed there: it was a most delicious day. I hear the Parliament is +to be prorogued for a fortnight longer; I suppose, either because the +Queen has the gout, or that Lord Treasurer is not well, or that they +would do something more towards a peace. I called at Lord Treasurer's +at noon, and sat a while with Lord Harley, but his father was asleep. +A bookseller has reprinted or new-titled a sermon of Tom Swift's,(5) +printed last year, and publishes an advertisement calling it Dr. Swift's +Sermon. Some friend of Lord Galway(6) has, by his directions, published +a four-shilling book about his conduct in Spain, to defend him; I +have but just seen it. But what care you for books, except Presto's +Miscellanies? Leigh promised to call and see me, but has not yet; I hope +he will take care of his cargo, and get your Chester box. A murrain take +that box! everything is spoiled that is in it. How does the strong box +do? You say nothing of Raymond: is his wife brought to bed again; or +how? has he finished his house; paid his debts; and put out the rest +of the money to use? I am glad to hear poor Joe is like to get his two +hundred pounds. I suppose Trim is now reduced to slavery again. I am +glad of it; the people were as great rascals as the gentlemen. But I +must go to bed, sirrahs: the Secretary is still at Hampton Court with my +papers, or is come only to-night. They plague me with attending them. + +8. I was with the Secretary this morning, and we dined with Prior, and +did business this afternoon till about eight; and I must alter and undo, +and a clutter. I am glad the Parliament is prorogued. I stayed with +Prior till eleven; the Secretary left us at eight. Prior, I believe, +will be one of those employed to make the peace, when a Congress is +opened. Lord Ashburnham told to-day at the Coffee-house that Lord +Harley(7) was yesterday morning married to the Duke of Newcastle's +daughter, the great heiress, and it got about all the town. But I saw +Lord Harley yesterday at noon in his nightgown, and he dined in the City +with Prior and others; so it is not true; but I hope it will be so; for +I know it has been privately managing this long time:(8) the lady will +not have half her father's estate; for the Duke left Lord Pelham's son +his heir.(9) The widow Duchess will not stand to the will, and she is +now at law with Pelham. However, at worst, the girl will have about ten +thousand pounds a year to support the honour; for Lord Treasurer will +never save a groat for himself. Lord Harley is a very valuable young +gentleman; and they say the girl is handsome, and has good sense, but +red hair. + +9. I designed a jaunt into the City to-day to be merry, but was +disappointed; so one always is in this life; and I could not see Lord +Dartmouth to-day, with whom I had some business. Business and pleasure +both disappointed. You can go to your Dean, and for want of him, Goody +Stoyte, or Walls, or Manley, and meet everywhere with cards and claret. +I dined privately with a friend on a herring and chicken, and half a +flask of bad Florence. I begin to have fires now, when the mornings +are cold. I have got some loose bricks at the back of my grate for good +husbandry. Fine weather. Patrick tells me my caps are wearing out. I +know not how to get others. I want a necessary woman strangely. I am +as helpless as an elephant.--I had three packets from the Archbishop of +Dublin, cost me four shillings, all about Higgins,(10) printed stuff, +and two long letters. His people forgot to enclose them to Lewis; +and they were only directed to Doctor Swift, without naming London +or anything else. I wonder how they reached me, unless the postmaster +directed them. I have read all the trash, and am weary. + +10. Why, if you must have it out, something is to be published of great +moment,(11) and three or four great people are to see there are no +mistakes in point of fact: and 'tis so troublesome to send it among +them, and get their corrections, that I am weary as a dog. I dined +to-day with the printer, and was there all the afternoon; and it plagues +me, and there's an end, and what would you have? Lady Dupplin, Lord +Treasurer's daughter,(12) is brought to bed of a son. Lord Treasurer +has had an ugly return of his gravel. 'Tis good for us to live in gravel +pits,(13) but not for gravel pits to live in us; a man in this case +should leave no stone unturned. Lord Treasurer's sickness, the Queen's +gout, the forwarding the peace, occasion putting off the Parliament a +fortnight longer. My head has had no ill returns. I had good walking +to-day in the City, and take all opportunities of it on purpose for my +health; but I can't walk in the Park, because that is only for walking's +sake, and loses time, so I mix it with business. I wish MD walked half +as much as Presto. If I was with you, I'd make you walk; I would walk +behind or before you, and you should have masks on, and be tucked up +like anything; and Stella is naturally a stout walker, and carries +herself firm; methinks I see her strut, and step clever over a kennel; +and Dingley would do well enough if her petticoats were pinned up; but +she is so embroiled, and so fearful, and then Stella scolds, and Dingley +stumbles, and is so daggled.(14) Have you got the whalebone petticoats +among you yet? I hate them; a woman here may hide a moderate gallant +under them. Pshaw, what's all this I'm saying? Methinks I am talking to +MD face to face. + +11. Did I tell you that old Frowde,(15) the old fool, is selling his +estate at Pepperhara, and is skulking about the town nobody knows where? +and who do you think manages all this for him, but that rogue Child,(16) +the double squire of Farnham? I have put Mrs. Masham, the Queen's +favourite, upon buying it, but that is yet a great secret; and I have +employed Lady Oglethorpe to inquire about it. I was with Lady Oglethorpe +to-day, who is come to town for a week or two, and to-morrow I will see +to hunt out the old fool: he is utterly ruined, and at this present +in some blind alley with some dirty wench. He has two sons that must +starve, and he never gives them a farthing. If Mrs. Masham buys the +land, I will desire her to get the Queen to give some pension to the +old fool, to keep him from absolutely starving. What do you meddle with +other people's affairs for? says Stella. Oh, but Mr. Masham and his wife +are very urgent with me, since I first put them in the head of it. +I dined with Sir Matthew Dudley, who, I doubt, will soon lose his +employment. + +12. Morning. I am going to hunt out old Frowde, and to do some business +in the City. I have not yet called to Patrick to know whether it be +fair.--It has been past dropping these two days. Rainy weather hurts my +pate and my purse. He tells me 'tis very windy, and begins to look dark; +woe be to my shillings! an old saying and a true, + + Few fillings, + Many shillings. + +If the day be dark, my purse will be light. + + To my enemies be this curse, + A dark day and a light purse. + +And so I'll rise, and go to my fire, for Patrick tells me I have a +fire; yet it is not shaving-day, nor is the weather cold; this is too +extravagant. What is become of Dilly? I suppose you have him with you. +Stella is just now showing a white leg, and putting it into the slipper. +Present my service to her, and tell her I am engaged to the Dean, and +desire she will come too: or, Dingley, can't you write a note? This is +Stella's morning dialogue, no, morning speech I mean.--Morrow, sirrahs, +and let me rise as well as you; but I promise you Walls can't dine with +the Dean to-day, for she is to be at Mrs. Proby's just after dinner, and +to go with Gracy Spencer(17) to the shops to buy a yard of muslin, and a +silver lace for an under petticoat. Morrow again, sirrahs.--At night. I +dined with Stratford in the City, but could not finish my affairs with +him; but now I am resolved to buy five hundred pounds South Sea Stock, +which will cost me three hundred and eighty ready money; and I will make +use of the bill of a hundred pounds you sent me, and transfer Mrs. Walls +over to Hawkshaw; or if she dislikes it, I will borrow a hundred pounds +of the Secretary, and repay her. Three shillings coach-hire to-day. +I have spoken to Frowde's brother to get me the lowest price of the +estate, to tell Mrs. Masham. + +13. I dined privately with a friend to-day in the neighbourhood. Last +Saturday night I came home, and the drab had just washed my room, and +my bed-chamber was all wet, and I was forced to go to bed in my own +defence, and no fire: I was sick on Sunday, and now have got a swingeing +cold. I scolded like a dog at Patrick, although he was out with me: I +detest washing of rooms; can't they wash them in a morning, and make +a fire, and leave open the windows? I slept not a wink last night for +hawking(18) and spitting: and now everybody has colds. Here's a clutter: +I'll go to bed and sleep if I can. + +14. Lady Mountjoy sent to me two days ago, so I dined with her to-day, +and in the evening went to see Lord Treasurer. I found Patrick had been +just there with a how d'ye,(19) and my lord had returned answer that he +desired to see me. Mrs. Masham was with him when I came, and they are +never disturbed: 'tis well she is not very handsome; they sit alone +together settling the nation. I sat with Lady Oxford, and stopped Mrs. +Masham as she came out, and told her what progress I had made, etc., and +then went to Lord Treasurer: he is very well, only uneasy at rising +or sitting, with some rheumatic pain in his thigh, and a foot weak. He +showed me a small paper, sent by an unknown hand to one Mr. Cook, who +sent it to my lord: it was written in plain large letters thus + + "Though G----d's knife did not succeed, + A F----n's yet may do the deed." + +And a little below: "BURN THIS, YOU DOG." My lord has frequently such +letters as these: once he showed me one, which was a vision describing +a certain man, his dress, his sword, and his countenance, who was to +murder my lord. And he told me he saw a fellow in the chapel at Windsor +with a dress very like it. They often send him letters signed, "Your +humble servant, The Devil," and such stuff. I sat with him till after +ten, and have business to do. + +15. The Secretary came yesterday to town from Hampton Court, so I went +to him early this morning; but he went back last night again: and coming +home to-night I found a letter from him to tell me that he was just +come from Hampton Court, and just returning, and will not be here till +Saturday night. A pox take him! he stops all my business. I'll beg leave +to come back when I have got over this, and hope to see MD in Ireland +soon after Christmas.--I'm weary of Courts, and want my journeys to +Laracor; they did me more good than all the Ministries these twenty +years. I dined to-day in the City, but did no business as I designed. +Lady Mountjoy tells me that Dilly is got to Ireland, and that the +Archbishop of Dublin was the cause of his returning so soon. The +Parliament was prorogued two days ago for a fortnight, which, with the +Queen's absence, makes the town very dull and empty. They tell me the +Duke of Ormond brings all the world away with him from Ireland. London +has nothing so bad in it in winter as your knots of Irish folks; but I +go to no coffee-house, and so I seldom see them. This letter shall go +on Saturday; and then I am even with the world again. I have lent money, +and cannot get it, and am forced to borrow for myself. + +16. My man made a blunder this morning, and let up a visitor, when I had +ordered to see nobody; so I was forced to hurry a hang-dog instrument of +mine into my bed-chamber, and keep him cooling his heels there above +an hour.--I am going on fairly in the common forms of a great cold; I +believe it will last me about ten days in all.--I should have told +you, that in those two verses sent to Lord Treasurer, G---d stands for +Guiscard; that is easy; but we differed about F---n; I thought it was +for Frenchman, because he hates them, and they him: and so it would +be, That although Guiscard's knife missed its design, the knife of a +Frenchman might yet do it. My lord thinks it stands for Felton, the name +of him that stabbed the first Duke of Buckingham. Sir Andrew Fountaine +and I dined with the Vans to-day, and my cold made me loiter all the +evening. Stay, young women, don't you begin to owe me a letter? just a +month to-day since I had your N.22. I'll stay a week longer, and then, +I'll expect like agog; till then you may play at ombre, and so forth, as +you please. The Whigs are still crying down our peace, but we will have +it, I hope, in spite of them: the Emperor comes now with his two eggs +a penny, and promises wonders to continue the war; but it is too late; +only I hope the fear of it will serve to spur on the French to be easy +and sincere: Night, sirrahs; I'll go early to bed. + +17. Morning. This goes to-night; I will put it myself in the +post-office. I had just now a long letter from the Archbishop of Dublin, +giving me an account of the ending your session, how it ended in a +storm; which storm, by the time it arrives here, will be only half +nature. I can't help it, I won't hide. I often advised the dissolution +of that Parliament, although I did not think the scoundrels had so much +courage; but they have it only in the wrong, like a bully that will +fight for a whore, and run away in an army. I believe, by several things +the Archbishop says, he is not very well either with the Government or +clergy.--See how luckily my paper ends with a fortnight.--God Almighty +bless and preserve dearest little MD.--I suppose your Lord Lieutenant +is now setting out for England. I wonder the Bishop of Clogher does not +write to me, or let me know of his statues, and how he likes them: I +will write to him again, as soon as I have leisure. Farewell, dearest +MD, and love Presto, who loves MD infinitely above all earthly things, +and who will.--My service to Mrs. Stoyte and Catherine. I'm sitting in +my bed, but will rise to seal this. Morrow, dear rogues: Farewell again, +dearest MD, etc. + + + + +LETTER 35. + +LONDON, NOV. 17, 1711. + +I put my last this evening in the post-office. I dined with Dr. +Cockburn. This being Queen Elizabeth's birthday, we have the D---- and +all to do among us. I just heard of the stir as my letter was sealed +this morning, and was so cross I would not open it to tell you. I have +been visiting Lady Oglethorpe(1) and Lady Worsley;(2) the latter is +lately come to town for the winter, and with child, and what care +you? This is Queen Elizabeth's birthday, usually kept in this town +by apprentices, etc.; but the Whigs designed a mighty procession by +midnight, and had laid out a thousand pounds to dress up the Pope, +Devil, cardinals, Sacheverell, etc., and carry them with torches about, +and burn them. They did it by contribution. Garth gave five guineas; Dr. +Garth I mean, if ever you heard of him. But they were seized last night, +by order from the Secretary: you will have an account of it, for they +bawl it about the streets already.(3) They had some very foolish and +mischievous designs; and it was thought they would have put the rabble +upon assaulting my Lord Treasurer's house and the Secretary's, and other +violences. The militia was raised to prevent it, and now, I suppose, +all will be quiet. The figures are now at the Secretary's office at +Whitehall. I design to see them if I can. + +18. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary, who just came from Hampton +Court. He was telling me more particulars about this business of burning +the Pope. It cost a great deal of money, and had it gone on, would have +cost three times as much; but the town is full of it, and half a dozen +Grub Street papers already. The Secretary and I dined at Brigadier +Britton's, but I left them at six, upon an appointment with some sober +company of men and ladies, to drink punch at Sir Andrew Fountaine's. We +were not very merry; and I don't love rack punch, I love it better with +brandy; are you of my opinion? Why then, twelvepenny weather; sirrahs, +why don't you play at shuttlecock? I have thought of it a hundred times; +faith, Presto will come over after Christmas, and will play with Stella +before the cold weather is gone. Do you read the Spectators? I never do; +they never come in my way; I go to no coffee-houses. They say abundance +of them are very pretty; they are going to be printed in small volumes; +I'll bring them over with me. I shall be out of my hurry in a week, +and if Leigh be not gone over, I will send you by him what I am now +finishing. I don't know where Leigh is; I have not seen him this good +while, though he promised to call: I shall send to him. The Queen comes +to town on Thursday for good and all. + +19. I was this morning at Lord Dartmouth's office, and sent out for him +from the Committee of Council, about some business. I was asking him +more concerning this bustle about the figures in wax-work of the Pope, +and Devil, etc. He was not at leisure, or he would have seen them. I +hear the owners are so impudent, that they design to replevin them by +law. I am assured that the figure of the Devil is made as like Lord +Treasurer as they could. Why, I dined with a friend in St. James's +Street. Lord Treasurer, I am told, was abroad to-day; I will know +to-morrow how he does after it. The Duke of Marlborough is come, and was +yesterday at Hampton Court with the Queen; no, it was t'other day; no, +it was yesterday; for to-day I remember Mr. Secretary was going to see +him, when I was there, not at the Duke of Marlborough's, but at the +Secretary's; the Duke is not so fond of me. What care I? I won seven +shillings to-night at picquet: I play twice a year or so. + +20. I have been so teased with Whiggish discourse by Mrs. Barton and +Lady Betty Germaine, never saw the like. They turn all this affair of +the Pope-burning into ridicule; and, indeed, they have made too great a +clutter about it, if they had no real reason to apprehend some tumults. +I dined with Lady Betty. I hear Prior's commission is passed to be +Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for the peace; my Lord +Privy Seal, who you know is Bishop of Bristol, is the other; and Lord +Strafford, already Ambassador at The Hague, the third: I am forced to +tell you, ignorant sluts, who is who. I was punning scurvily with Sir +Andrew Fountaine and Lord Pembroke this evening: do you ever pun now? +Sometimes with the Dean, or Tom Leigh.(4) Prior puns very well. Odso, I +must go see His Excellency, 'tis a noble advancement: but they could +do no less, after sending him to France. Lord Strafford is as proud +as Hell, and how he will bear one of Prior's mean birth on an equal +character with him, I know not. And so I go to my business, and bid you +good-night. + +21. I was this morning busy with my printer: I gave him the fifth +sheet,(5) and then I went and dined with him in the City, to correct +something, and alter, etc., and I walked home in the dusk, and the rain +overtook me: and I found a letter here from Mr. Lewis; well, and so I +opened it; and he says the peace is past danger, etc. Well, and so there +was another letter enclosed in his: well, and so I looked on the outside +of this t'other letter. Well, and so who do you think this t'other +letter was from? Well, and so I'll tell you; it was from little MD, +N.23, 23, 23, 23. I tell you it is no more, I have told you so before: +but I just looked again to satisfy you. Hie, Stella, you write like an +emperor, a great deal together; a very good hand, and but four false +spellings in all. Shall I send them to you? I am glad you did not take +my correction ill. Well, but I won't answer your letter now, sirrah +saucyboxes, no, no; not yet; just a month and three days from the last, +which is just five weeks: you see it comes just when I begin to grumble. + +22. Morning. Tooke has just brought me Dingley's money. I will give +you a note for it at the end of this letter. There was half a crown for +entering the letter of attorney; but I swore to stop that. I'll spend +your money bravely here. Morrow, dear sirrahs.--At night. I dined to-day +with Sir Thomas Hanmer; his wife, the Duchess of Grafton,(6) dined with +us: she wears a great high head-dress, such as was in fashion fifteen +years ago, and looks like a mad woman in it; yet she has great remains +of beauty. I was this evening to see Lord Harley, and thought to have +sat with Lord Treasurer, but he was taken up with the Dutch Envoy and +such folks; and I would not stay. One particular in life here, different +from what I have in Dublin, is, that whenever I come home I expect +to find some letter for me, and seldom miss; and never any worth a +farthing, but often to vex me. The Queen does not come to town till +Saturday. Prior is not yet declared; but these Ministers being at +Hampton Court, I know nothing; and if I write news from common hands, it +is always lies. You will think it affectation; but nothing has vexed +me more for some months past, than people I never saw pretending to be +acquainted with me, and yet speak ill of me too; at least some of them. +An old crooked Scotch countess, whom I never heard of in my life, told +the Duchess of Hamilton(7) t'other day that I often visited her. People +of worth never do that; so that a man only gets the scandal of having +scurvy acquaintance. Three ladies were railing against me some time +ago, and said they were very well acquainted with me; two of which I had +never heard of, and the third I had only seen twice where I happened to +visit. A man who has once seen me in a coffee-house will ask me how I +do, when he sees me talking at Court with a Minister of State; who is +sure to ask me how I came acquainted with that scoundrel. But come, +sirrahs, this is all stuff to you, so I'll say no more on this side the +paper, but turn over. + +23. My printer invited Mr. Lewis and me to dine at a tavern to-day, +which I have not done five times since I came to England; I never will +call it Britain, pray don't call it Britain. My week is not out, and one +side of this paper is out, and I have a letter to answer of MD's into +the bargain: must I write on the third side? faith, that will give you +an ill habit. I saw Leigh last night: he gives a terrible account of +Sterne; he reckons he is seduced by some wench; he is over head and ears +in debt, and has pawned several things. Leigh says he goes on Monday +next for Ireland, but believes Sterne will not go with him; Sterne has +kept him these three months. Leigh has got the apron and things, +and promises to call for the box at Chester; but I despair of it. +Good-night, sirrahs; I have been late abroad. + +24. I have finished my pamphlet(8) to-day, which has cost me so much +time and trouble: it will be published in three or four days, when the +Parliament begins sitting. I suppose the Queen is come to town, but +know nothing, having been in the City finishing and correcting with the +printer. When I came home, I found letters on my table as usual, and one +from your mother, to tell me that you desire your writings and a picture +should be sent to me, to be sent over to you. I have just answered her +letter, and promised to take care of them if they be sent to me. She is +at Farnham: it is too late to send them by Leigh; besides, I will +wait your orders, Madam Stella. I am going to finish a letter to Lord +Treasurer about reforming our language;(9) but first I must put an end +to a ballad; and go you to your cards, sirrahs, this is card season. + +25. I was early with the Secretary to-day, but he was gone to his +devotions, and to receive the sacrament: several rakes did the same; it +was not for piety, but employments; according to Act of Parliament. I +dined with Lady Mary Dudley;(10) and passed my time since insipidly, +only I was at Court at noon, and saw fifty acquaintance I had not met +this long time: that is the advantage of a Court, and I fancy I am +better known than any man that goes there. Sir John Walter's(11) quarrel +with me has entertained the town ever since; and yet we never had a +word, only he railed at me behind my back. The Parliament is again to +be prorogued for eight or nine days, for the Whigs are too strong in the +House of Lords: other reasons are pretended, but that is the truth. The +prorogation is not yet known, but will be to-morrow. + +26. Mr. Lewis and I dined with a friend of his, and unexpectedly there +dined with us an Irish knight, one Sir John St. Leger,(12) who follows +the law here, but at a great distance: he was so pert, I was forced to +take him down more than once. I saw to-day the Pope, and Devil, and the +other figures of cardinals, etc., fifteen in all, which have made such a +noise. I have put an under-strapper upon writing a twopenny pamphlet(13) +to give an account of the whole design. My large pamphlet(14) will +be published to-morrow; copies are sent to the great men this night. +Domville(15) is come home from his travels; I am vexed at it: I have not +seen him yet; I design to present him to all the great men. + +27. Domville came to me this morning, and we dined at Pontack's, and +were all day together, till six this evening: he is perfectly as fine +a gentleman as I know; he set me down at Lord Treasurer's, with whom I +stayed about an hour, till Monsieur Buys, the Dutch Envoy, came to him +about business. My Lord Treasurer is pretty well, but stiff in the hips +with the remains of the rheumatism. I am to bring Domville to my Lord +Harley in a day or two. It was the dirtiest rainy day that ever I saw. +The pamphlet is published; Lord Treasurer had it by him on the table, +and was asking me about the mottoes in the title-page; he gave me one of +them himself.(16) I must send you the pamphlet, if I can. + +28. Mrs. Van sent to me to dine with her to-day, because some ladies of +my acquaintance were to be there; and there I dined. I was this morning +to return Domville his visit, and went to visit Mrs. Masham, who was +not within. I am turned out of my lodging by my landlady: it seems her +husband and her son are coming home; but I have taken another lodging +hard by, in Leicester Fields. I presented Mr. Domville to Mr. Lewis and +Mr. Prior this morning. Prior and I are called the two Sosias,(17) in a +Whig newspaper. Sosias, can you read it? The pamphlet begins to make a +noise: I was asked by several whether I had seen it, and they advised +me to read it, for it was something very extraordinary. I shall be +suspected; and it will have several paltry answers. It must take its +fate, as Savage(18) said of his sermon that he preached at Farnham on +Sir William Temple's death. Domville saw Savage in Italy, and says he is +a coxcomb, and half mad: he goes in red, and with yellow waistcoats, +and was at ceremony kneeling to the Pope on a Palm Sunday, which is much +more than kissing his toe; and I believe it will ruin him here when 'tis +told. I'll answer your letter in my new lodgings: I have hardly room; I +must borrow from the other side. + +29. New lodgings. My printer came this morning to tell me he must +immediately print a second edition,(19) and Lord Treasurer made one +or two small additions: they must work day and night to have it out on +Saturday; they sold a thousand in two days. Our Society met to-day; +nine of us were present: we dined at our brother Bathurst's.(20) We made +several regulations, and have chosen three new members, Lord Orrery,(21) +Jack Hill, who is Mrs. Masham's brother, he that lately miscarried in +the expedition to Quebec, and one Colonel Disney.(22)--We have taken +a room in a house near St. James's to meet in. I left them early about +correcting the pamphlet, etc., and am now got home, etc. + +30. This morning I carried Domville to see my Lord Harley, and I did +some business with Lord Treasurer, and have been all this afternoon with +the printer, adding something to the second edition. I dined with the +printer: the pamphlet makes a world of noise, and will do a great deal +of good; it tells abundance of most important facts which were not +at all known. I'll answer your letter to-morrow morning; or suppose I +answer it just now, though it is pretty late. Come then.--You say you +are busy with Parliaments, etc.; that's more than ever I will be when +I come back; but you will have none these two years. Lord Santry, etc., +yes, I have had enough on't.(23) I am glad Dilly is mended; does not he +thank me for showing him the Court and the great people's faces? He had +his glass out at the Queen and the rest. 'Tis right what Dilly says: +I depend upon nothing from my friends, but to go back as I came. Never +fear Laracor, 'twill mend with a peace, or surely they'll give me the +Dublin parish. Stella is in the right: the Bishop of Ossory(24) is the +silliest, best-natured wretch breathing, of as little consequence as +an egg-shell. Well, the spelling I have mentioned before; only the next +time say AT LEAST, and not AT LEST. Pox on your Newbury!(25) what can I +do for him? I'll give his case (I am glad it is not a woman's) to what +members I know; that's all I can do. Lord Treasurer's lameness goes off +daily. Pray God preserve poor good Mrs. Stoyte; she would be a great +loss to us all: pray give her my service, and tell her she has my +heartiest prayers. I pity poor Mrs. Manley; but I think the child is +happy to die, considering how little provision it would have had.--Poh, +every pamphlet abuses me, and for things that I never writ. Joe(26) +should have written me thanks for his two hundred pounds: I reckon he +got it by my means; and I must thank the Duke of Ormond, who I dare +swear will say he did it on my account. Are they golden pippins, those +seven apples? We have had much rain every day as well as you. 7 pounds, +17 shillings, 8 pence, old blunderer, not 18 shillings: I have reckoned +it eighteen times. Hawkshaw's eight pounds is not reckoned and if it +be secure, it may lie where it is, unless they desire to pay it: so +Parvisol may let it drop till further orders; for I have put Mrs. +Wesley's money into the Bank, and will pay her with Hawkshaw's.--I mean +that Hawkshaw's money goes for an addition to MD, you know; but be good +housewives. Bernage never comes now to see me; he has no more to ask; +but I hear he has been ill.--A pox on Mrs. South's(27) affair; I can do +nothing in it, but by way of assisting anybody else that solicits it, +by dropping a favourable word, if it comes in my way. Tell Walls I do +no more for anybody with my Lord Treasurer, especially a thing of this +kind. Tell him I have spent all my discretion, and have no more to +use.--And so I have answered your letter fully and plainly.--And so I +have got to the third side of my paper, which is more than belongs to +you, young women. + + It goes to-morrow, + To nobody's sorrow. + +You are silly, not I; I'm a poet, if I had but, etc.--Who's silly now? +rogues and lasses, tinderboxes and buzzards. O Lord, I am in a high +vein of silliness; methought I was speaking to dearest little MD face +to face. There; so, lads, enough for to-night; to cards with the +blackguards. Goodnight, my delight, etc. + +Dec. 1. Pish, sirrahs, put a date always at the bottom of your letter, +as well as the top, that I may know when you send it; your last is +of November 3, yet I had others at the same time, written a fortnight +after. Whenever you would have any money, send me word three weeks +before, and in that time you will certainly have an answer, with a bill +on Parvisol: pray do this; for my head is full, and it will ease my +memory. Why, I think I quoted to you some of ----'s letter, so you may +imagine how witty the rest was; for it was all of a bunch, as Goodman +Peesley(28) says. Pray let us have no more bussiness, but busyness: +the deuce take me if I know how to spell it; your wrong spelling, Madam +Stella, has put me out: it does not look right; let me see, bussiness, +busyness, business, bisyness, bisness, bysness; faith, I know not which +is right, I think the second; I believe I never writ the word in my life +before; yes, sure I must, though; business, busyness, bisyness.--I have +perplexed myself, and can't do it. Prithee ask Walls. Business, I fancy +that's right. Yes it is; I looked in my own pamphlet, and found it twice +in ten lines, to convince you that I never writ it before. Oh, now I see +it as plain as can be; so yours is only an _s_ too much. The Parliament +will certainly meet on Friday next: the Whigs will have a great majority +in the House of Lords, no care is taken to prevent it; there is too +much neglect; they are warned of it, and that signifies nothing: it +was feared there would be some peevish address from the Lords against a +peace. 'Tis said about the town that several of the Allies begin now to +be content that a peace should be treated. This is all the news I have. +The Queen is pretty well: and so now I bid poor dearest MD farewell till +to-night; then I will talk with them again. + +The fifteen images that I saw were not worth forty pounds, so I +stretched a little when I said a thousand. The Grub Street account of +that tumult is published. The Devil is not like Lord Treasurer: they +were all in your odd antic masks, bought in common shops.(29) I fear +Prior will not be one of the plenipotentiaries. + +I was looking over this letter, and find I make many mistakes of +leaving out words; so 'tis impossible to find my meaning, unless you be +conjurers. I will take more care for the future, and read over every day +just what I have written that day, which will take up no time to speak +of. + + + + +LETTER 36. + +LONDON, Dec. 1, 1711. + +My last was put in this evening. I intended to dine with Mr. Masham +to-day, and called at White's chocolate house to see if he was there. +Lord Wharton saw me at the door, and I saw him, but took no notice, +and was going away, but he came through the crowd, called after me, and +asked me how I did, etc. This was pretty; and I believe he wished every +word he spoke was a halter to hang me. Masham did not dine at home, so I +ate with a friend in the neighbourhood. The printer has not sent me the +second edition; I know not the reason, for it certainly came out to-day; +perhaps they are glutted with it already. I found a letter from Lord +Harley on my table, to tell me that his father desires I would make two +small alterations. I am going to be busy, etc. + +2. Morning. See the blunder; I was making it the 37th day of the month, +from the number above. Well, but I am staying here for old Frowde, who +appointed to call this morning: I am ready dressed to go to church: I +suppose he dare not stir out but on Sundays.(1) The printer called early +this morning, told me the second edition went off yesterday in five +hours, and he must have a third ready to-morrow, for they might have +sold half another: his men are all at work with it, though it be +Sunday. This old fool will not come, and I shall miss church. Morrow, +sirrahs.--At night. I was at Court to-day: the Queen is well, and walked +through part of the rooms. I dined with the Secretary, and despatched +some business. He tells me the Dutch Envoy designs to complain of that +pamphlet. The noise it makes is extraordinary. It is fit it should +answer the pains I have been at about it. I suppose it will be printed +in Ireland. Some lay it to Prior, others to Mr. Secretary St. John, but +I am always the first they lay everything to. I'll go sleep, etc. + +3. I have ordered Patrick not to let any odd fellow come up to me; and +a fellow would needs speak with me from Sir George Pretyman.(2) I had +never heard of him, and would not see the messenger: but at last it +proved that this Sir George has sold his estate, and is a beggar. +Smithers, the Farnham carrier, brought me this morning a letter from +your mother, with three papers enclosed of Lady Giffard's writing; one +owning some exchequer business of 100 pounds to be Stella's;(3) another +for 100 pounds that she has of yours, which I made over to you for +Mariston; and a third for 300 pounds; the last is on stamped paper. I +think they had better lie in England in some good hand till Lady Giffard +dies; and I will think of some such hand before I come over. I was +asking Smithers about all the people of Farnham. Mrs. White(4) has left +off dressing, is troubled with lameness and swelled legs, and seldom +stirs out; but her old hang-dog husband as hearty as ever. I was this +morning with Lord Treasurer, about something he would have altered +in the pamphlet;(5) but it can't be till the fourth edition, which I +believe will be soon; for I dined with the printer, and he tells me they +have sold off half the third. Mrs. Perceval(6) and her daughter have +been in town these three weeks, which I never heard till to-day; and +Mrs. Wesley(7) is come to town too, to consult Dr. Radcliffe. The Whigs +are resolved to bring that pamphlet into the House of Lords to have it +condemned, so I hear. But the printer will stand to it, and not own the +author; he must say he had it from the penny-post. Some people talk as +if the House of Lords would do some peevish thing, for the Whigs are now +a great majority in it; our Ministers are too negligent of such things: +I have never slipped giving them warning; some of them are sensible of +it; but Lord Treasurer stands too much upon his own legs. I fancy his +good fortune will bear him out in everything; but in reason I should +think this Ministry to stand very unsteady; if they can carry a peace, +they may hold; I believe not else. + +4. Mr. Secretary sent to me to-day to dine with him alone; but we had +two more with us, which hindered me doing some business. I was this +morning with young Harcourt, secretary to our Society, to take a room +for our weekly meetings; and the fellow asked us five guineas a week +only to have leave to dine once a week; was not that pretty? so we broke +off with him, and are to dine next Thursday at Harcourt's (he is Lord +Keeper's son). They have sold off above half the third edition, +and answers are coming out: the Dutch Envoy refused dining with Dr. +Davenant,(8) because he was suspected to write it: I have made some +alterations in every edition, and it has cost me more trouble, for the +time, since the printing, than before. 'Tis sent over to Ireland, and I +suppose you will have it reprinted. + +5. They are now printing the fourth edition, which is reckoned very +extraordinary, considering 'tis a dear twelvepenny book, and not bought +up in numbers by the party to give away, as the Whigs do, but purely +upon its own strength. I have got an under spur-leather to write an +Examiner again,(9) and the Secretary and I will now and then send hints; +but we would have it a little upon the Grub Street, to be a match for +their writers. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day at five: he dined +by himself after his family, and drinks no claret yet, for fear of his +rheumatism, of which he is almost well. He was very pleasant, as he is +always: yet I fancied he was a little touched with the present posture +of affairs. The Elector of Hanover's Minister here has given in a +violent memorial against the peace, and caused it to be printed. The +Whig lords are doing their utmost for a majority against Friday, and +design, if they can, to address the Queen against the peace. Lord +Nottingham,(10) a famous Tory and speech-maker, is gone over to the Whig +side: they toast him daily, and Lord Wharton says, It is Dismal (so they +call him from his looks) will save England at last. Lord Treasurer was +hinting as if he wished a ballad was made on him, and I will get up +one against to-morrow.(11) He gave me a scurrilous printed paper of bad +verses on himself, under the name of the English Catiline, and made me +read them to the company. It was his birthday, which he would not tell +us, but Lord Harley whispered it to me. + +6. I was this morning making the ballad, two degrees above Grub Street: +at noon I paid a visit to Mrs. Masham, and then went to dine with our +Society. Poor Lord Keeper dined below stairs, I suppose, on a bit of +mutton. We chose two members: we were eleven met, the greatest meeting +we ever had: I am next week to introduce Lord Orrery. The printer came +before we parted, and brought the ballad, which made them laugh very +heartily a dozen times. He is going to print the pamphlet(12) in small, +a fifth edition, to be taken off by friends, and sent into the country. +A sixpenny answer is come out, good for nothing, but guessing me, among +others, for the author. To-morrow is the fatal day for the Parliament +meeting, and we are full of hopes and fears. We reckon we have a +majority of ten on our side in the House of Lords; yet I observed Mrs. +Masham a little uneasy: she assures me the Queen is stout. The Duke of +Marlborough has not seen the Queen for some days past; Mrs. Masham is +glad of it, because she says he tells a hundred lies to his friends of +what she says to him: he is one day humble, and the next day on the high +ropes. The Duke of Ormond, they say, will be in town to-night by twelve. + +7. This being the day the Parliament was to meet, and the great question +to be determined, I went with Dr. Freind to dine in the City, on purpose +to be out of the way, and we sent our printer to see what was our +fate; but he gave us a most melancholy account of things. The Earl of +Nottingham began, and spoke against a peace, and desired that in their +address they might put in a clause to advise the Queen not to make a +peace without Spain; which was debated, and carried by the Whigs by +about six voices: and this has happened entirely by my Lord Treasurer's +neglect, who did not take timely care to make up all his strength, +although every one of us gave him caution enough. Nottingham has +certainly been bribed. The question is yet only carried in the Committee +of the whole House, and we hope when it is reported to the House +to-morrow, we shall have a majority, by some Scotch lords coming to +town. However, it is a mighty blow and loss of reputation to Lord +Treasurer, and may end in his ruin. I hear the thing only as the printer +brought it, who was at the debate; but how the Ministry take it, or what +their hopes and fears are, I cannot tell until I see them. I shall be +early with the Secretary to-morrow, and then I will tell you more, and +shall write a full account to the Bishop of Clogher to-morrow, and to +the Archbishop of Dublin, if I have time. I am horribly down at present. +I long to know how Lord Treasurer bears this, and what remedy he has. +The Duke of Ormond came this day to town, and was there. + +8. I was early this morning with the Secretary, and talked over this +matter. He hoped that when it was reported this day in the House of +Lords, they would disagree with their Committee, and so the matter would +go off, only with a little loss of reputation to the Lord Treasurer. I +dined with Mr. Cockburn, and after, a Scotch member came in, and told +us that the clause was carried against the Court in the House of Lords +almost two to one. I went immediately to Mrs. Masham, and meeting Dr. +Arbuthnot (the Queen's favourite physician), we went together. She was +just come from waiting at the Queen's dinner, and going to her own. +She had heard nothing of the thing being gone against us. It seems Lord +Treasurer had been so negligent that he was with the Queen while the +question was put in the House: I immediately told Mrs. Masham that +either she and Lord Treasurer had joined with the Queen to betray us, or +that they two were betrayed by the Queen: she protested solemnly it +was not the former, and I believed her; but she gave me some lights to +suspect the Queen is changed. For yesterday, when the Queen was +going from the House, where she sat to hear the debate, the Duke +of Shrewsbury, Lord Chamberlain, asked her whether he or the Great +Chamberlain Lindsey(13) ought to lead her out; she answered short, +"Neither of you," and gave her hand to the Duke of Somerset, who was +louder than any in the House for the clause against peace. She gave me +one or two more instances of this sort, which convince me that the Queen +is false, or at least very much wavering. Mr. Masham begged us to stay, +because Lord Treasurer would call, and we were resolved to fall on him +about his negligence in securing a majority. He came, and appeared in +good humour as usual, but I thought his countenance was much cast down. +I rallied him, and desired him to give me his staff, which he did: I +told him, if he would secure it me a week, I would set all right: he +asked how; I said I would immediately turn Lord Marlborough, his +two daughters,(14) the Duke and Duchess of Somerset, and Lord +Cholmondeley,(15) out of all their employments; and I believe he had +not a friend but was of my opinion. Arbuthnot asked how he came not to +secure a majority. He could answer nothing but that he could not +help it, if people would lie and forswear. A poor answer for a great +Minister. There fell from him a Scripture expression, that "the hearts +of kings are unsearchable."(16) I told him it was what I feared, and was +from him the worst news he could tell me. I begged him to know what he +had to trust to: he stuck a little; but at last bid me not fear, for all +would be well yet. We would fain have had him eat a bit where he was, +but he would go home, it was past six: he made me go home with him. +There we found his brother and Mr. Secretary. He made his son take +a list of all in the House of Commons who had places, and yet voted +against the Court, in such a manner as if they should lose their places: +I doubt he is not able to compass it. Lord Keeper came in an hour, +and they were going upon business. So I left him, and returned to Mrs. +Masham; but she had company with her, and I would not stay.--This is +a long journal, and of a day that may produce great alterations, and +hazard the ruin of England. The Whigs are all in triumph; they foretold +how all this would be, but we thought it boasting. Nay, they said the +Parliament should be dissolved before Christmas, and perhaps it may: +this is all your d----d Duchess of Somerset's doings. I warned them +of it nine months ago, and a hundred times since: the Secretary always +dreaded it. I told Lord Treasurer I should have the advantage of him; +for he would lose his head, and I should only be hanged, and so carry my +body entire to the grave. + +9. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary: we are both of opinion that +the Queen is false. I told him what I heard, and he confirmed it by +other circumstances. I then went to my friend Lewis, who had sent to see +me. He talks of nothing but retiring to his estate in Wales. He gave me +reasons to believe the whole matter is settled between the Queen and the +Whigs; he hears that Lord Somers is to be Treasurer, and believes that, +sooner than turn out the Duchess of Somerset, she will dissolve the +Parliament, and get a Whiggish one, which may be done by managing +elections. Things are now in the crisis, and a day or two will +determine. I have desired him to engage Lord Treasurer that as soon as +he finds the change is resolved on, he will send me abroad as Queen's +Secretary somewhere or other, where I may remain till the new Ministers +recall me; and then I will be sick for five or six months, till the +storm has spent itself. I hope he will grant me this; for I should +hardly trust myself to the mercy of my enemies while their anger is +fresh. I dined to-day with the Secretary, who affects mirth, and seems +to hope all will yet be well. I took him aside after dinner, told him +how I had served them, and had asked no reward, but thought I might +ask security; and then desired the same thing of him, to send me abroad +before a change. He embraced me, and swore he would take the same care +of me as himself, etc., but bid me have courage, for that in two days my +Lord Treasurer's wisdom would appear greater than ever; that he suffered +all that had happened on purpose, and had taken measures to turn it to +advantage. I said, "God send it"; but I do not believe a syllable; and, +as far as I can judge, the game is lost. I shall know more soon, and my +letters will at least be a good history to show you the steps of this +change. + +10. I was this morning with Lewis, who thinks they will let the +Parliament sit till they have given the money, and then dissolve them in +spring, and break the Ministry. He spoke to Lord Treasurer about what +I desired him. My lord desired him with great earnestness to assure me +that all would be well, and that I should fear nothing. I dined in the +City with a friend. This day the Commons went to the Queen with their +address, and all the Lords who were for the peace went with them, to +show their zeal. I have now some further conviction that the Queen is +false, and it begins to be known. + +11. I went between two and three to see Mrs. Masham; while I was there +she went to her bed-chamber to try a petticoat. Lord Treasurer came in +to see her, and seeing me in the outer room, fell a rallying me: says +he, "You had better keep company with me, than with such a fellow as +Lewis, who has not the soul of a chicken, nor the heart of a mite." Then +he went in to Mrs. Masham, and as he came back desired her leave to let +me go home with him to dinner. He asked whether I was not afraid to be +seen with him. I said I never valued my Lord Treasurer in my life, and +therefore should have always the same esteem for Mr. Harley and Lord +Oxford. He seemed to talk confidently, as if he reckoned that all this +would turn to advantage. I could not forbear hinting that he was not +sure of the Queen, and that those scoundrel, starving lords would never +have dared to vote against the Court, if Somerset had not assured them +that it would please the Queen. He said that was true, and Somerset did +so. I stayed till six; then De Buys, the Dutch Envoy, came to him, and +I left him. Prior was with us a while after dinner. I see him and all of +them cast down, though they make the best of it. + +12. Ford is come to town; I saw him last night: he is in no fear, but +sanguine, although I have told him the state of things. This change so +resembles the last, that I wonder they do not observe it. The Secretary +sent for me yesterday to dine with him, but I was abroad; I hope he had +something to say to me. This is morning, and I write in bed. I am going +to the Duke of Ormond, whom I have not yet seen. Morrow, sirrahs.--At +night. I was to see the Duke of Ormond this morning: he asked me two +or three questions after his civil way, and they related to Ireland: at +last I told him that, from the time I had seen him, I never once thought +of Irish affairs. He whispered me that he hoped I had done some good +things here: I said, if everybody else had done half as much, we should +not be as we are: then we went aside, and talked over affairs. I told +him how all things stood, and advised him what was to be done. I +then went and sat an hour with the Duchess; then as long with Lady +Oglethorpe,(17) who is so cunning a devil that I believe she could yet +find a remedy, if they would take her advice. I dined with a friend at +Court. + +13. I was this morning with the Secretary: he will needs pretend to talk +as if things would be well: "Will you believe it," said he, "if you see +these people turned out?" I said, yes, if I saw the Duke and Duchess of +Somerset out: he swore if they were not, he would give up his place. Our +Society dined to-day at Sir William Wyndham's; we were thirteen present. +Lord Orrery and two other members were introduced: I left them at seven. +I forgot to tell you that the printer told me yesterday that Morphew, +the publisher, was sent for by that Lord Chief-Justice, who was a +manager against Sacheverell; he showed him two or three papers and +pamphlets; among the rest mine of the Conduct of the Allies, threatened +him, asked who was the author, and has bound him over to appear next +term. He would not have the impudence to do this, if he did not foresee +what was coming at Court. + +14. Lord Shelburne was with me this morning, to be informed of the state +of affairs, and desired I would answer all his objections against a +peace, which was soon done, for he would not give me room to put in a +word. He is a man of good sense enough; but argues so violently, that he +will some day or other put himself into a consumption. He desires that +he may not be denied when he comes to see me, which I promised, but will +not perform. Leigh and Sterne set out for Ireland on Monday se'nnight: I +suppose they will be with you long before this.--I was to-night drinking +very good wine in scurvy company, at least some of them; I was drawn in, +but will be more cautious for the future; 'tis late, etc. + +15. Morning. They say the Occasional Bill(19) is brought to-day into the +House of Lords; but I know not. I will now put an end to my letter, and +give it into the post-house myself. This will be a memorable letter, and +I shall sigh to see it some years hence. Here are the first steps toward +the ruin of an excellent Ministry; for I look upon them as certainly +ruined; and God knows what may be the consequences.--I now bid my +dearest MD farewell; for company is coming, and I must be at Lord +Dartmouth's office by noon. Farewell, dearest MD; I wish you a merry +Christmas; I believe you will have this about that time. Love Presto, +who loves MD above all things a thousand times. Farewell again, dearest +MD, etc. + + + + +LETTER 37. + +LONDON, Dec. 15, 1711. + +I put in my letter this evening myself. I was to-day inquiring at the +Secretary's office of Mr. Lewis how things went: I there met Prior, +who told me he gave all for gone, etc., and was of opinion the whole +Ministry would give up their places next week: Lewis thinks they +will not till spring, when the session is over; both of them entirely +despair. I went to see Mrs. Masham, who invited me to dinner; but I was +engaged to Lewis. At four I went to Masham's. He came and whispered me +that he had it from a very good hand that all would be well, and I found +them both very cheerful. The company was going to the opera, but desired +I would come and sup with them. I did so at ten, and Lord Treasurer was +there, and sat with us till past twelve, and was more cheerful than I +have seen him these ten days. Mrs. Masham told me he was mightily cast +down some days ago, and he could not indeed hide it from me. Arbuthnot +is in good hopes that the Queen has not betrayed us, but only has been +frightened, and flattered, etc. But I cannot yet be of his opinion, +whether my reasons are better, or that my fears are greater. I do +resolve, if they give up, or are turned out soon, to retire for some +months, and I have pitched upon the place already: but I will take +methods for hearing from MD, and writing to them. But I would be out of +the way upon the first of the ferment; for they lay all things on me, +even some I have never read. + +16. I took courage to-day, and went to Court with a very cheerful +countenance. It was mightily crowded; both parties coming to observe +each other's faces. I have avoided Lord Halifax's bow till he forced +it on me; but we did not talk together. I could not make less than +fourscore bows, of which about twenty might be to Whigs. The Duke of +Somerset is gone to Petworth, and, I hear, the Duchess too, of which I +shall be very glad. Prince Eugene,(1) who was expected here some days +ago, we are now told, will not come at all. The Whigs designed to have +met him with forty thousand horse. Lord Treasurer told me some days ago +of his discourse with the Emperor's Resident, that puppy Hoffman, about +Prince Eugene's coming; by which I found my lord would hinder it, if he +could; and we shall be all glad if he does not come, and think it a good +point gained. Sir Andrew Fountaine, Ford, and I dined to-day with Mrs. +Van, by invitation. + +17. I have mistaken the day of the month, and been forced to mend it +thrice. I dined to-day with Mr. Masham and his lady, by invitation. Lord +Treasurer was to be there, but came not. It was to entertain Buys, the +Dutch Envoy, who speaks English well enough: he was plaguily politic, +telling a thousand lies, of which none passed upon any of us. We are +still in the condition of suspense, and I think have little hopes. The +Duchess of Somerset is not gone to Petworth; only the Duke, and that is +a poor sacrifice. I believe the Queen certainly designs to change the +Ministry, but perhaps may put it off till the session is over: and I +think they had better give up now, if she will not deal openly; and +then they need not answer for the consequences of a peace, when it is in +other hands, and may yet be broken. They say my Lord Privy Seal sets out +for Holland this week: so the peace goes on. + +18. It has rained hard from morning till night, and cost me three +shillings in coach-hire. We have had abundance of wet weather. I dined +in the City, and was with the printer, who has now a fifth edition of +the Conduct, etc.: it is in small, and sold for sixpence; they have +printed as many as three editions, because they are to be sent in +numbers into the country by great men, etc., who subscribe for hundreds. +It has been sent a fortnight ago to Ireland: I suppose you will print it +there. The Tory Lords and Commons in Parliament argue all from it; and +all agree that never anything of that kind was of so great consequence, +or made so many converts. By the time I have sent this letter, I expect +to hear from little MD: it will be a month, two days hence, since I had +your last, and I will allow ten days for accidents. I cannot get rid +of the leavings of a cold I got a month ago, or else it is a new one. +I have been writing letters all this evening till I am weary, and I am +sending out another little thing, which I hope to finish this week, and +design to send to the printer in an unknown hand. There was printed +a Grub Street speech of Lord Nottingham;(2) and he was such an owl to +complain of it in the House of Lords, who have taken up the printer for +it. I heard at Court that Walpole(3) (a great Whig member) said that I +and my whimsical Club writ it at one of our meetings, and that I should +pay for it. He will find he lies: and I shall let him know by a third +hand my thoughts of him. He is to be Secretary of State, if the Ministry +changes; but he has lately had a bribe proved against him in Parliament, +while he was Secretary at War. He is one of the Whigs' chief speakers. + +19. Sad dismal weather. I went to the Secretary's office, and Lewis made +me dine with him. I intended to have dined with Lord Treasurer. I +have not seen the Secretary this week. Things do not mend at all. Lord +Dartmouth despairs, and is for giving up; Lewis is of the same mind; but +Lord Treasurer only says, "Poh, poh, all will be well." I am come +home early to finish something I am doing; but I find I want heart and +humour, and would read any idle book that came in my way. I have just +sent away a penny paper to make a little mischief. Patrick is gone to +the burial of an Irish footman, who was Dr. King's(4) servant; he died +of a consumption, a fit death for a poor starving wit's footman. The +Irish servants always club to bury a countryman. + +20. I was with the Secretary this morning, and, for aught I can see, +we shall have a languishing death: I can know nothing, nor themselves +neither. I dined, you know, with our Society, and that odious Secretary +would make me President next week; so I must entertain them this day +se'nnight at the Thatched House Tavern,(5) where we dined to-day: it +will cost me five or six pounds; yet the Secretary says he will give me +wine. I found a letter when I came home from the Bishop of Clogher. + +21. This is the first time I ever got a new cold before the old one was +going: it came yesterday, and appeared in all due forms, eyes and nose +running, etc., and is now very bad; and I cannot tell how I got it. Sir +Andrew Fountaine and I were invited to dine with Mrs. Van. I was this +morning with the Duke of Ormond; and neither he nor I can think of +anything to comfort us in present affairs. We must certainly fall, if +the Duchess of Somerset be not turned out; and nobody believes the Queen +will ever part with her. The Duke and I were settling when Mr. Secretary +and I should dine with him, and he fixes upon Tuesday; and when I came +away I remembered it was Christmas Day. I was to see Lady ----, who is +just up after lying-in; and the ugliest sight I have seen, pale, dead, +old and yellow, for want of her paint. She has turned my stomach. But +she will soon be painted, and a beauty again. + +22. I find myself disordered with a pain all round the small of my back, +which I imputed to champagne I had drunk; but find it to have been only +my new cold. It was a fine frosty day, and I resolved to walk into the +City. I called at Lord Treasurer's at eleven, and stayed some time with +him.--He showed me a letter from a great Presbyterian parson(6) to +him, complaining how their friends had betrayed them by passing this +Conformity Bill; and he showed me the answer he had written, which his +friends would not let him send; but was a very good one. He is very +cheerful; but gives one no hopes, nor has any to give. I went into the +City, and there I dined. + +23. Morning. As I was dressing to go to church, a friend that was to see +me advised me not to stir out; so I shall keep at home to-day, and only +eat some broth, if I can get it. It is a terrible cold frost, and snow +fell yesterday, which still remains: look there, you may see it from the +penthouses. The Lords made yesterday two or three votes about peace, and +Hanover, of a very angry kind to vex the Ministry, and they will meet +sooner by a fortnight than the Commons; and they say, are preparing some +knocking addresses. Morrow, sirrahs. I'll sit at home, and when I go +to bed I will tell you how I am.--I have sat at home all day, and eaten +only a mess of broth and a roll. I have written a Prophecy,(7) which I +design to print; I did it to-day, and some other verses. + +24. I went into the City to-day in a coach, and dined there. My cold is +going. It is now bitter hard frost, and has been so these three or four +days. My Prophecy is printed, and will be published after Christmas +Day; I like it mightily: I don't know how it will pass. You will never +understand it at your distance, without help. I believe everybody will +guess it to be mine, because it is somewhat in the same manner with that +of "Merlin"(8) in the Miscellanies. My Lord Privy Seal set out this day +for Holland: he'll have a cold journey. I gave Patrick half a crown for +his Christmas box, on condition he would be good, and he came home drunk +at midnight. I have taken a memorandum of it, because I never design to +give him a groat more. 'Tis cruel cold. + +25. I wish MD a merry Christmas, and many a one; but mine is melancholy: +I durst not go to church to-day, finding myself a little out of order, +and it snowing prodigiously, and freezing. At noon I went to Mrs. Van, +who had this week engaged me to dine there to-day: and there I received +the news that poor Mrs. Long(9) died at Lynn in Norfolk on Saturday +last, at four in the morning: she was sick but four hours. We suppose it +was the asthma, which she was subject to as well as the dropsy, as she +sent me word in her last letter, written about five weeks ago; but then +said she was recovered. I never was more afflicted at any death. The +poor creature had retired to Lynn two years ago, to live cheap, and +pay her debts. In her last letter she told me she hoped to be easy by +Christmas; and she kept her word, although she meant it otherwise. +She had all sorts of amiable qualities, and no ill ones, but the +indiscretion of too much neglecting her own affairs. She had two +thousand pounds left her by an old grandmother,(10) with which she +intended to pay her debts, and live on an annuity she had of one hundred +pounds a year, and Newburg House, which would be about sixty pounds +more. That odious grandmother living so long, forced her to retire; for +the two thousand pounds was settled on her after the old woman's death, +yet her brute of a brother, Sir James Long,(11) would not advance it for +her; else she might have paid her debts, and continued here, and lived +still: I believe melancholy helped her on to her grave. I have ordered a +paragraph to be put in the Postboy,(12) giving an account of her death, +and making honourable mention of her; which is all I can do to serve her +memory: but one reason was spite; for her brother would fain have her +death a secret, to save the charge of bringing her up here to bury her, +or going into mourning. Pardon all this, for the sake of a poor creature +I had so much friendship for. + +26. I went to Mr. Secretary this morning, and he would have me dine with +him. I called at noon at Mrs. Masham's, who desired me not to let the +Prophecy be published, for fear of angering the Queen about the Duchess +of Somerset; so I writ to the printer to stop them. They have been +printed and given about, but not sold. I saw Lord Treasurer there, who +had been two hours with the Queen; and Mrs. Masham is in hopes things +will do well again. I went at night again, and supped at Mr. Masham's, +and Lord Treasurer sat with us till one o'clock. So 'tis late, etc. + +27. I entertained our Society at the Thatched House Tavern to-day at +dinner; but brother Bathurst sent for wine, the house affording none. +The printer had not received my letter, and so he brought up dozens +apiece of the Prophecy; but I ordered him to part with no more. 'Tis an +admirable good one, and people are mad for it. The frost still continues +violently cold. Mrs. Masham invited me to come to-night and play at +cards; but our Society did not part till nine. But I supped with Mrs. +Hill, her sister, and there was Mrs. Masham and Lord Treasurer, and we +stayed till twelve. He is endeavouring to get a majority against next +Wednesday, when the House of Lords is to meet, and the Whigs intend to +make some violent addresses against a peace, if not prevented. God knows +what will become of us.--It is still prodigiously cold; but so I told +you already. We have eggs on the spit, I wish they may not be addled. +When I came home tonight I found, forsooth, a letter from MD, N.24, 24, +24, 24; there, do you know the numbers now? and at the same time one +from Joe,(13) full of thanks: let him know I have received it, and am +glad of his success, but won't put him to the charge of a letter. I had +a letter some time ago from Mr. Warburton,(14) and I beg one of you +will copy out what I shall tell you, and send it by some opportunity +to Warburton. 'Tis as follows: The Doctor has received Mr. Warburton's +letter, and desires he will let the Doctor know where(15) that accident +he mentions is like soon to happen, and he will do what he can in +it.--And pray, madam, let them know that I do this to save myself the +trouble, and them the expense of a letter. And I think that this is +enough for one that comes home at twelve from a Lord Treasurer and Mrs. +Masham. Oh, I could tell you ten thousand things of our mad politics, +upon what small circumstances great affairs have turned. But I will go +rest my busy head. + +28. I was this morning with brother Bathurst to see the Duke of Ormond. +We have given his Grace some hopes to be one of our Society. The +Secretary and I and Bathurst are to dine with him on Sunday next. The +Duke is not in much hopes, but has been very busy in endeavouring to +bring over some lords against next Wednesday. The Duchess caught me as I +was going out; she is sadly in fear about things, and blames me for not +mending them by my credit with Lord Treasurer; and I blame her. She met +me in the street at noon, and engaged me to dine with her, which I did; +and we talked an hour after dinner in her closet. If we miscarry on +Wednesday, I believe it will be by some strange sort of neglect. They +talk of making eight new lords by calling up some peers' eldest sons; +but they delay strangely. I saw Judge Coote(16) to-day at the Duke of +Ormond's: he desires to come and see me, to justify his principles. + +29. Morning. This goes to-day. I will not answer yours, your 24th, till +next, which shall begin to-night, as usual. Lord Shelburne has sent to +invite me to dinner, but I am engaged with Lewis at Ned Southwell's. +Lord Northampton and Lord Aylesbury's sons(17) are both made peers; but +we shall want more. I write this post to your Dean. I owe the Archbishop +a letter this long time. All people that come from Ireland complain of +him, and scold me for protecting him. Pray, Madam Dingley, let me know +what Presto has received for this year, or whether anything is due +to him for last: I cannot look over your former letters now. As for +Dingley's own account of her exchequer money, I will give it on t'other +side. Farewell, my own dearest MD, and love Presto; and God ever bless +dearest MD, etc. etc. I wish you many happy Christmases and new years. + +I have owned to the Dean a letter I just had from you, but that I had +not one this great while before. + + +DINGLEY'S ACCOUNT + + Received of Mr. Tooke.. 6 17 6 + Deducted for entering the letter of attorney. 0 2 6 + For the three half-crowns it used to cost you, I don't + know why nor wherefore.. 0 7 6 + For exchange to Ireland.. 0 10 0 + Forcoach-hire.. 0 2 6 + -------- + In all, just 8 0 0 + +So there's your money, and we are both even: for I'll pay you no more +than that eight pounds Irish, and pray be satisfied. + +Churchwarden's accounts, boys. + +Saturday night. I have broke open my letter, and tore it into the +bargain, to let you know that we are all safe: the Queen has made no +less than twelve lords,(18) to have a majority; nine new ones, the +other three peers' sons; and has turned out the Duke of Somerset. She is +awaked at last, and so is Lord Treasurer: I want nothing now but to +see the Duchess out. But we shall do without her. We are all extremely +happy. Give me joy, sirrahs. This is written in a coffee-house. Three of +the new lords are of our Society. + + + + +LETTER 38. + +LONDON, Dec. 29, 1711. + +I put my letter in this evening, after coming from dinner at Ned +Southwell's, where I drank very good Irish wine, and we are in great joy +at this happy turn of affairs. The Queen has been at last persuaded to +her own interest and security, and I freely think she must have made +both herself and kingdom very unhappy, if she had done otherwise. It is +still a mighty secret that Masham is to be one of the new lords; they +say he does not yet know it himself; but the Queen is to surprise him +with it. Mr. Secretary will be a lord at the end of the session; but +they want him still in Parliament. After all, it is a strange unhappy +necessity of making so many peers together; but the Queen has drawn it +upon herself, by her confounded trimming and moderation. Three, as I +told you, are of our Society. + +30. I writ the Dean and you a lie yesterday; for the Duke of Somerset is +not yet turned out. I was to-day at Court, and resolved to be very civil +to the Whigs; but saw few there. When I was in the bed-chamber talking +to Lord Rochester, he went up to Lady Burlington,(1) who asked him who +I was; and Lady Sunderland and she whispered about me: I desired Lord +Rochester to tell Lady Sunderland I doubted she was not as much in love +with me as I was with her; but he would not deliver my message. The +Duchess of Shrewsbury came running up to me, and clapped her fan up to +hide us from the company, and we gave one another joy of this change; +but sighed when we reflected on the Somerset family not being out. The +Secretary and I, and brother Bathurst, and Lord Windsor, dined with the +Duke of Ormond. Bathurst and Windsor(2) are to be two of the new lords. +I desired my Lord Radnor's brother,(3) at Court to-day, to let my lord +know I would call on him at six, which I did, and was arguing with +him three hours to bring him over to us, and I spoke so closely that I +believe he will be tractable; but he is a scoundrel, and though I said +I only talked for my love to him, I told a lie; for I did not care if +he were hanged: but everyone gained over is of consequence. The Duke of +Marlborough was at Court today, and nobody hardly took notice of him. +Masham's being a lord begins to take wind: nothing at Court can be kept +a secret. Wednesday will be a great day: you shall know more. + +31. Our frost is broken since yesterday, and it is very slabbery;(4) +yet I walked to the City and dined, and ordered some things with the +printer. I have settled Dr. King in the Gazette; it will be worth two +hundred pounds a year to him. Our new lords' patents are passed: I don't +like the expedient, if we could have found any other. I see I have said +this before. I hear the Duke of Marlborough is turned out of all his +employments: I shall know to-morrow when I am to carry Dr. King to dine +with the Secretary.--These are strong remedies; pray God the patient is +able to bear them. The last Ministry people are utterly desperate. + +Jan. 1. Now I wish my dearest little MD many happy new years; yes, both +Dingley and Stella, ay and Presto too, many happy new years. I dined +with the Secretary, and it is true that the Duke of Marlborough +is turned out of all. The Duke of Ormond has got his regiment of +foot-guards, I know not who has the rest. If the Ministry be not sure of +a peace, I shall wonder at this step, and do not approve it at best. The +Queen and Lord Treasurer mortally hate the Duke of Marlborough, and to +that he owes his fall, more than to his other faults: unless he has +been tampering too far with his party, of which I have not heard any +particulars; however it be, the world abroad will blame us. I confess +my belief that he has not one good quality in the world beside that of +a general, and even that I have heard denied by several great soldiers. +But we have had constant success in arms while he commanded. Opinion is +a mighty matter in war, and I doubt the French think it impossible to +conquer an army that he leads, and our soldiers think the same; and how +far even this step may encourage the French to play tricks with us, +no man knows. I do not love to see personal resentment mix with public +affairs. + +2. This being the day the Lords meet, and the new peers to be +introduced, I went to Westminster to see the sight; but the crowd was +too great in the house. So I only went into the robing-room, to give my +four brothers joy, and Sir Thomas Mansel,(5) and Lord Windsor; the other +six I am not acquainted with. It was apprehended the Whigs would have +raised some difficulties, but nothing happened. I went to see Lady +Masham at noon, and wish her joy of her new honour, and a happy new +year. I found her very well pleased; for peerage will be some sort of +protection to her upon any turn of affairs. She engaged me to come at +night, and sup with her and Lord Treasurer: I went at nine, and she was +not at home, so I would not stay.--No, no, I won't answer your letter +yet, young women. I dined with a friend in the neighbourhood. I see +nothing here like Christmas, except brawn or mince-pies in places where +I dine, and giving away my half-crowns like farthings to great men's +porters and butlers. Yesterday I paid seven good guineas to the fellow +at the tavern where I treated the Society. I have a great mind to send +you the bill. I think I told you some articles. I have not heard whether +anything was done in the House of Lords after introducing the new ones. +Ford has been sitting with me till peeast tweeleve a clock. + +3. This was our Society day: Lord Dupplin was President; we choose every +week; the last President treats and chooses his successor. I believe our +dinner cost fifteen pounds beside wine. The Secretary grew brisk, and +would not let me go, nor Lord Lansdowne,(6) who would fain have gone +home to his lady, being newly married to Lady Mary Thynne. It was near +one when we parted, so you must think I cannot write much to-night. The +adjourning of the House of Lords yesterday, as the Queen desired, was +just carried by the twelve new lords, and one more. Lord Radnor was not +there: I hope I have cured him. Did I tell you that I have brought Dr. +King in to be Gazetteer? It will be worth above two hundred pounds a +year to him: I believe I told you so before, but I am forgetful. Go, get +you gone to ombre, and claret, and toasted oranges. I'll go sleep. + +4. I cannot get rid of the leavings of my cold. I was in the City +to-day, and dined with my printer, and gave him a ballad made by several +hands, I know not whom. I believe Lord Treasurer had a finger in it; I +added three stanzas; I suppose Dr. Arbuthnot had the greatest share. I +had been overseeing some other little prints, and a pamphlet made by one +of my under-strappers. Somerset is not out yet. I doubt not but you will +have the Prophecy in Ireland, although it is not published here, only +printed copies given to friends. Tell me, do you understand it? No, +faith, not without help. Tell me what you stick at, and I'll explain. +We turned out a member of our Society yesterday for gross neglect and +non-attendance. I writ to him by order to give him notice of it. It is +Tom Harley,(7) secretary to the Treasurer, and cousin-german to Lord +Treasurer. He is going to Hanover from the Queen. I am to give the Duke +of Ormond notice of his election as soon as I can see him. + +5. I went this morning with a parishioner of mine, one Nuttal, who came +over here for a legacy of one hundred pounds, and a roguish lawyer had +refused to pay him, and would not believe he was the man. I writ to the +lawyer a sharp letter, that I had taken Nuttal into my protection, and +was resolved to stand by him, and the next news was, that the lawyer +desired I would meet him, and attest he was the man, which I did, and +his money was paid upon the spot. I then visited Lord Treasurer, who is +now right again, and all well, only that the Somerset family is not out +yet. I hate that; I don't like it, as the man said, by, etc. Then I went +and visited poor Will Congreve, who had a French fellow tampering with +one of his eyes; he is almost blind of both. I dined with some merchants +in the City, but could not see Stratford, with whom I had business. +Presto, leave off your impertinence, and answer our letter, saith MD. +Yes, yes, one of these days, when I have nothing else to do. O, faith, +this letter is a week written, and not one side done yet. These ugly +spots are not tobacco, but this is the last gilt sheet I have of large +paper, therefore hold your tongue. Nuttal was surprised when they gave +him bits of paper instead of money, but I made Ben Tooke put him in his +geers:(8) he could not reckon ten pounds, but was puzzled with the Irish +way. Ben Tooke and my printer have desired me to make them stationers +to the Ordnance, of which Lord Rivers is Master, instead of the Duke of +Marlborough. It will be a hundred pounds a year apiece to them, if I can +get it. I will try to-morrow. + +6. I went this morning to Earl Rivers, gave him joy of his new +employment, and desired him to prefer my printer and bookseller to be +stationers to his office. He immediately granted it me; but, like an old +courtier, told me it was wholly on my account, but that he heard I had +intended to engage Mr. Secretary to speak to him, and desired I would +engage him to do so, but that, however, he did it only for my sake. This +is a Court trick, to oblige as many as you can at once. I read prayers +to poor Mrs. Wesley, who is very much out of order, instead of going +to church; and then I went to Court, which I found very full, in +expectation of seeing Prince Eugene, who landed last night, and lies at +Leicester House; he was not to see the Queen till six this evening. I +hope and believe he comes too late to do the Whigs any good. I refused +dining with the Secretary, and was like to lose my dinner, which was at +a private acquaintance's. I went at six to see the Prince at Court, but +he was gone in to the Queen; and when he came out, Mr. Secretary, who +introduced him, walked so near him that he quite screened me from him +with his great periwig. I'll tell you a good passage: as Prince Eugene +was going with Mr. Secretary to Court, he told the Secretary that +Hoffman, the Emperor's Resident, said to His Highness that it was not +proper to go to Court without a long wig, and his was a tied-up one: +"Now," says the Prince, "I knew not what to do, for I never had a long +periwig in my life; and I have sent to all my valets and footmen, to see +whether any of them have one, that I might borrow it, but none of them +has any."--Was not this spoken very greatly with some sort of contempt? +But the Secretary said it was a thing of no consequence, and only +observed by gentlemen ushers. I supped with Lord Masham, where Lord +Treasurer and Mr. Secretary supped with us: the first left us at twelve, +but the rest did not part till two, yet I have written all this, because +it is fresh: and now I'll go sleep if I can; that is, I believe I shall, +because I have drank a little. + +7. I was this morning to give the Duke of Ormond notice of the honour +done him to make him one of our Society, and to invite him on Thursday +next to the Thatched House: he has accepted it with the gratitude and +humility such a preferment deserves, but cannot come till the next +meeting, because Prince Eugene is to dine with him that day, which I +allowed for: a good excuse, and will report accordingly. I dined with +Lord Masham, and sat there till eight this evening, and came home, +because I was not very well, but a little griped; but now I am well +again, I will not go, at least but very seldom, to Lord Masham's +suppers. Lord Treasurer is generally there, and that tempts me, but late +sitting up does not agree with me: there's the short and the long, and I +won't do it; so take your answer, dear little young women; and I have no +more to say to you to-night, because of the Archbishop, for I am going +to write a long letter to him, but not so politely as formerly: I won't +trust him. + +8. Well, then, come, let us see this letter; if I must answer it, I +must. What's here now? yes, faith, I lamented my birthday(9) two days +after, and that's all: and you rhyme, Madam Stella; were those verses +made upon my birthday? faith, when I read them, I had them running in my +head all the day, and said them over a thousand times; they drank your +health in all their glasses, and wished, etc. I could not get them +out of my head. What? no, I believe it was not; what do I say upon the +eighth of December? Compare, and see whether I say so. I am glad of +Mrs. Stoyte's recovery, heartily glad; your Dolly Manley's and Bishop of +Cloyne's(10) child I have no concern about: I am sorry in a civil way, +that's all. Yes, yes, Sir George St. George dead.(11)--Go, cry, Madam +Dingley; I have written to the Dean. Raymond will be rich, for he has +the building itch. I wish all he has got may put him out of debt. Poh, I +have fires like lightning; they cost me twelvepence a week, beside small +coal. I have got four new caps, madam, very fine and convenient, with +striped cambric, instead of muslin; so Patrick need not mend them, but +take the old ones. Stella snatched Dingley's word out of her pen; Presto +a cold? Why, all the world here is dead with them: I never had anything +like it in my life; 'tis not gone in five weeks. I hope Leigh is with +you before this, and has brought your box. How do you like the ivory +rasp? Stella is angry; but I'll have a finer thing for her. Is not +the apron as good? I'm sure I shall never be paid it; so all's well +again.--What? the quarrel with Sir John Walter?(12) Why, we had not one +word of quarrel; only he railed at me when I was gone: and Lord Keeper +and Treasurer teased me for a week. It was nuts to them; a serious +thing with a vengeance.--The Whigs may sell their estates then, or +hang themselves, as they are disposed; for a peace there will be. +Lord Treasurer told me that Connolly(13) was going to Hanover. Your +Provost(14) is a coxcomb. Stella is a good girl for not being angry +when I tell her of spelling; I see none wrong in this. God Almighty be +praised that your disorder lessens; it increases my hopes mightily that +they will go off. And have you been plagued with the fear of the plague? +never mind those reports; I have heard them five hundred times. Replevi? +Replevin, simpleton, 'tis Dingley I mean; but it is a hard word, and +so I'll excuse it. I stated Dingley's accounts in my last. I forgot +Catherine's sevenpenny dinner. I hope it was the beef-steaks; I'll call +and eat them in spring; but Goody Stoyte must give me coffee, or green +tea, for I drink no bohea. Well, ay, the pamphlet; but there are some +additions to the fourth edition; the fifth edition was of four thousand, +in a smaller print, sold for sixpence. Yes, I had the twenty-pound bill +from Parvisol: and what then? Pray now eat the Laracor apples; I beg you +not to keep them, but tell me what they are. You have had Tooke's bill +in my last. And so there now, your whole letter is answered. I tell you +what I do; I lay your letter before me, and take it in order, and answer +what is necessary; and so and so. Well, when I expected we were all +undone, I designed to retire for six months, and then steal over +to Laracor; and I had in my mouth a thousand times two lines of +Shakespeare, where Cardinal Wolsey says, + + "A weak old man, battered with storms of state, + Is come to lay his weary bones among you."(15) + +I beg your pardon; I have cheated you all this margin, I did not +perceive it; and I went on wider and wider like Stella; awkward sluts; +SHE WRITES SO SO, THERE:(16) that's as like as two eggs a penny.--"A +weak old man," now I am saying it, and shall till to-morrow.--The +Duke of Marlborough says there is nothing he now desires so much as to +contrive some way how to soften Dr. Swift. He is mistaken; for those +things that have been hardest against him were not written by me. Mr. +Secretary told me this from a friend of the Duke's; and I'm sure now he +is down, I shall not trample on him; although I love him not, I dislike +his being out.--Bernage was to see me this morning, and gave some very +indifferent excuses for not calling here so long. I care not twopence. +Prince Eugene did not dine with the Duke of Marlborough on Sunday, but +was last night at Lady Betty Germaine's assemblee, and a vast number of +ladies to see him. Mr. Lewis and I dined with a private friend. I was +this morning to see the Duke of Ormond, who appointed me to meet him +at the Cockpit at one, but never came. I sat too some time with the +Duchess. We don't like things very well yet. I am come home early, and +going to be busy. I'll go write. + +9. I could not go sleep last night till past two, and was waked before +three by a noise of people endeavouring to break open my window. For a +while I would not stir, thinking it might be my imagination; but hearing +the noise continued, I rose and went to the window, and then it ceased. +I went to bed again, and heard it repeated more violently; then I rose +and called up the house, and got a candle: the rogues had lifted up +the sash a yard; there are great sheds before my windows, although +my lodgings be a storey high; and if they get upon the sheds they are +almost even with my window. We observed their track, and panes of glass +fresh broken. The watchmen told us to-day they saw them, but could not +catch them. They attacked others in the neighbourhood about the same +time, and actually robbed a house in Suffolk Street, which is the +next street but one to us. It is said they are seamen discharged from +service. I went up to call my man, and found his bed empty; it seems he +often lies abroad. I challenged him this morning as one of the robbers. +He is a sad dog; and the minute I come to Ireland I will discard him. I +have this day got double iron bars to every window in my dining-room and +bed-chamber; and I hide my purse in my thread stocking between the bed's +head and the wainscot. Lewis and I dined with an old Scotch friend, who +brought the Duke of Douglas(17) and three or four more Scots upon us. + +10. This was our Society day, you know; but the Duke of Ormond could +not be with us, because he dined with Prince Eugene. It cost me a guinea +contribution to a poet, who had made a copy of verses upon monkeys, +applying the story to the Duke of Marlborough; the rest gave two +guineas, except the two physicians,(18) who followed my example. I don't +like this custom: the next time I will give nothing. I sat this evening +at Lord Masham's with Lord Treasurer: I don't like his countenance; nor +I don't like the posture of things well. + + We cannot be stout, + Till Somerset's out: + +as the old saying is. + +11. Mr. Lewis and I dined with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who eats +the most elegantly of any man I know in town. I walked lustily in the +Park by moonshine till eight, to shake off my dinner and wine; and then +went to sup at Mr. Domville's with Ford, and stayed till twelve. It is +told me to-day as a great secret that the Duke of Somerset will be out +soon, that the thing is fixed; but what shall we do with the Duchess? +They say the Duke will make her leave the Queen out of spite, if he be +out. It has stuck upon that fear a good while already. Well, but Lewis +gave me a letter from MD, N.25. O Lord, I did not expect one this +fortnight, faith. You are mighty good, that's certain: but I won't +answer it, because this goes to-morrow, only what you say of the +printer being taken up; I value it not; all's safe there; nor do I fear +anything, unless the Ministry be changed: I hope that danger is over. +However, I shall be in Ireland before such a change; which could not +be, I think, till the end of the session, if the Whigs' designs had +gone on.--Have not you an apron by Leigh, Madam Stella? have you all I +mentioned in a former letter? + +12. Morning. This goes to-day as usual. I think of going into the City; +but of that at night. 'Tis fine moderate weather these two or three days +last. Farewell, etc. etc. + + + + +LETTER 39. + +LONDON, Jan. 12,1711-12. + +When I sealed up my letter this morning, I looked upon myself to be +not worth a groat in the world. Last night, after Mr. Ford and I left +Domville, Ford desired me to go with him for a minute upon earnest +business, and then told me that both he and I were ruined; for he had +trusted Stratford with five hundred pounds for tickets for the lottery, +and he had been with Stratford, who confessed he had lost fifteen +thousand pounds by Sir Stephen Evans,(1) who broke last week; that he +concluded Stratford must break too; that he could not get his tickets, +but Stratford made him several excuses, which seemed very blind ones, +etc. And Stratford had near four hundred pounds of mine, to buy me +five hundred pounds in the South Sea Company. I came home reflecting +a little; nothing concerned me but MD. I called all my philosophy and +religion up; and, I thank God, it did not keep me awake beyond my usual +time above a quarter of an hour. This morning I sent for Tooke, whom I +had employed to buy the stock of Stratford, and settle things with him. +He told me I was secure; for Stratford had transferred it to me in form +in the South Sea House, and he had accepted it for me, and all was done +on stamped parchment. However, he would be further informed; and at +night sent me a note to confirm me. However, I am not yet secure; and, +besides, am in pain for Ford, whom I first brought acquainted with +Stratford. I dined in the City. + +13. Domville and I dined with Ford to-day by appointment: the Lord +Mansel told me at Court to-day that I was engaged to him; but Stratford +had promised Ford to meet him and me to-night at Ford's lodgings. He +did so; said he had hopes to save himself in his affair with Evans. +Ford asked him for his tickets: he said he would send them tomorrow; but +looking in his pocket-book, said he believed he had some of them about +him, and gave him as many as came to two hundred pounds, which rejoiced +us much; besides, he talked so frankly, that we might think there is no +danger. I asked him, Was there any more to be settled between us in my +affair? He said, No; and answered my questions just as Tooke had got +them from others; so I hope I am safe. This has been a scurvy affair. I +believe Stella would have half laughed at me, to see a suspicious fellow +like me overreached. I saw Prince Eugene to-day at Court: I don't think +him an ugly-faced fellow, but well enough, and a good shape. + +14. The Parliament was to sit to-day, and met; but were adjourned by +the Queen's directions till Thursday. She designs to make some important +speech then. She pretended illness; but I believe they were not ready, +and they expect some opposition: and the Scotch lords are angry,(2) and +must be pacified. I was this morning to invite the Duke of Ormond to our +Society on Thursday, where he is then to be introduced. He has appointed +me at twelve to-morrow about some business: I would fain have his help +to impeach a certain lord; but I doubt we shall make nothing of it. I +intended to have dined with Lord Treasurer, but I was told he would be +busy: so I dined with Mrs. Van; and at night I sat with Lord Masham till +one. Lord Treasurer was there, and chid me for not dining with him: he +was in very good humour. I brought home two flasks of burgundy in my +chair: I wish MD had them. You see it is very late; so I'll go to bed, +and bid MD good night. + +15. This morning I presented my printer and bookseller to Lord Rivers, +to be stationers to the Ordnance; stationers, that's the word; I did not +write it plain at first. I believe it will be worth three hundred pounds +a year between them. This is the third employment I have got for them. +Rivers told them the Doctor commanded him, and he durst not refuse it. I +would have dined with Lord Treasurer to-day again, but Lord Mansel would +not let me, and forced me home with him. I was very deep with the Duke +of Ormond to-day at the Cockpit, where we met to be private; but I doubt +I cannot do the mischief I intended. My friend Penn came there, Will +Penn the Quaker, at the head of his brethren, to thank the Duke for +his kindness to their people in Ireland. To see a dozen scoundrels with +their hats on, and the Duke complimenting with his off, was a good sight +enough. I sat this evening with Sir William Robinson,(3) who has mighty +often invited me to a bottle of wine: and it is past twelve. + +16. This being fast-day, Dr. Freind and I went into the City to dine +late, like good fasters. My printer and bookseller want me to hook in +another employment for them in the Tower, because it was enjoyed before +by a stationer, although it be to serve the Ordnance with oil, tallow, +etc., and is worth four hundred pounds per annum more: I will try what +I can do. They are resolved to ask several other employments of the +same nature to other offices; and I will then grease fat sows, and see +whether it be possible to satisfy them. Why am not I a stationer? The +Parliament sits to-morrow, and Walpole, late Secretary at War, is to be +swinged for bribery, and the Queen is to communicate something of great +importance to the two Houses, at least they say so. But I must think of +answering your letter in a day or two. + +17. I went this morning to the Duke of Ormond about some business, and +he told me he could not dine with us today, being to dine with Prince +Eugene. Those of our Society of the House of Commons could not be with +us, the House sitting late on Walpole. I left them at nine, and they +were not come. We kept some dinner for them. I hope Walpole will be sent +to the Tower, and expelled the House; but this afternoon the members I +spoke with in the Court of Requests talked dubiously of it. It will be +a leading card to maul the Duke of Marlborough for the same crime, or at +least to censure him. The Queen's message was only to give them notice +of the peace she is treating, and to desire they will make some law to +prevent libels against the Government; so farewell to Grub Street. + +18. I heard to-day that the commoners of our Society did not leave the +Parliament till eleven at night, then went to those I left, and stayed +till three in the morning. Walpole is expelled, and sent to the Tower. +I was this morning again with Lord Rivers, and have made him give the +other employment to my printer and bookseller; 'tis worth a great deal. +I dined with my friend Lewis privately, to talk over affairs. We want to +have this Duke of Somerset out, and he apprehends it will not be, but I +hope better. They are going now at last to change the Commissioners of +the Customs; my friend Sir Matthew Dudley will be out, and three more, +and Prior will be in. I have made Ford copy out a small pamphlet, and +sent it to the press, that I might not be known for author; 'tis +A Letter to the October Club,(4) if ever you heard of such a +thing.--Methinks this letter goes on but slowly for almost a week: I +want some little conversation with MD, and to know what they are doing +just now. I am sick of politics. I have not dined with Lord Treasurer +these three weeks: he chides me, but I don't care: I don't. + +19. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer: this is his day of choice +company, where they sometimes admit me, but pretend to grumble. And +to-day they met on some extraordinary business; the Keeper, Steward, +both Secretaries, Lord Rivers, and Lord Anglesea: I left them at seven, +and came away, and have been writing to the Bishop of Clogher. I forgot +to know where to direct to him since Sir George St. George's death,(5) +but I have directed to the same house: you must tell me better, for +the letter is sent by the bellman. Don't write to me again till this is +gone, I charge you, for I won't answer two letters together. The Duke of +Somerset is out, and was with his yellow liveries at Parliament to-day. +You know he had the same with the Queen, when he was Master of the +Horse: we hope the Duchess will follow, or that he will take her away +in spite. Lord Treasurer, I hope, has now saved his head. Has the Dean +received my letter? ask him at cards to-night. + +20. There was a world of people to-day at Court to see Prince Eugene, +but all bit, for he did not come. I saw the Duchess of Somerset talking +with the Duke of Buckingham; she looked a little down, but was extremely +courteous. The Queen has the gout, but is not in much pain. Must I fill +this line too?(6) well then, so let it be. The Duke of Beaufort(7) has +a mighty mind to come into our Society; shall we let him? I spoke to the +Duke of Ormond about it, and he doubts a little whether to let him in or +no. They say the Duke of Somerset is advised by his friends to let his +wife stay with the Queen; I am sorry for it. I dined with the Secretary +to-day, with mixed company; I don't love it. Our Society does not +meet till Friday, because Thursday will be a busy day in the House of +Commons, for then the Duke of Marlborough's bribery is to be examined +into about the pension paid him by those that furnished bread to the +army. + +21. I have been five times with the Duke of Ormond about a perfect +trifle, and he forgets it: I used him like a dog this morning for it. I +was asked to-day by several in the Court of Requests whether it was +true that the author of the Examiner was taken up in an action of twenty +thousand pounds by the Duke of Marlborough?(8) I dined in the City, +where my printer showed me a pamphlet, called Advice to the October +Club, which he said was sent him by an unknown hand: I commended it +mightily; he never suspected me; 'tis a twopenny pamphlet. I came home +and got timely to bed; but about eleven one of the Secretary's servants +came to me to let me know that Lord Treasurer would immediately speak +to me at Lord Masham's upon earnest business, and that, if I was abed, I +should rise and come. I did so: Lord Treasurer was above with the Queen; +and when he came down he laughed, and said it was not he that sent for +me: the business was of no great importance, only to give me a paper, +which might have been done to-morrow. I stayed with them till past one, +and then got to bed again. Pize(9) take their frolics. I thought to have +answered your letter. + +22. Dr. Gastrell was to see me this morning: he is an eminent divine, +one of the canons of Christ Church, and one I love very well: he said +he was glad to find I was not with James Broad. I asked what he meant. +"Why," says he, "have you not seen the Grub Street paper, that says Dr. +Swift was taken up as author of the Examiner, on an action of twenty +thousand pounds, and was now at James Broad's?" who, I suppose, is some +bailiff. I knew of this; but at the Court of Requests twenty people +told me they heard I had been taken up. Lord Lansdowne observed to the +Secretary and me that the Whigs spread three lies yesterday; that about +me; and another, that Maccartney, who was turned out last summer,(10) +is again restored to his places in the army; and the third, that Jack +Hill's commission for Lieutenant of the Tower is stopped, and that +Cadogan is to continue. Lansdowne thinks they have some design by these +reports; I cannot guess it. Did I tell you that Sacheverell has desired +mightily to come and see me? but I have put it off: he has heard that I +have spoken to the Secretary in behalf of a brother whom he maintains, +and who desires an employment.(11) T'other day at the Court of Requests +Dr. Yalden(12) saluted me by name: Sacheverell, who was just by, came +up to me, and made me many acknowledgment and compliments. Last night +I desired Lord Treasurer to do something for that brother of +Sacheverell's: he said he never knew he had a brother, but thanked me +for telling him, and immediately put his name in his table-book.(13) +I will let Sacheverell know this, that he may take his measures +accordingly, but he shall be none of my acquaintance. I dined to-day +privately with the Secretary, left him at six, paid a visit or two, and +came home. + +23. I dined again to-day with the Secretary, but could not despatch some +business I had with him, he has so much besides upon his hands at this +juncture, and preparing against the great business to-morrow, which we +are top full of. The Minister's design is that the Duke of Marlborough +shall be censured as gently as possible, provided his friends will not +make head to defend him, but if they do, it may end in some severer +votes. A gentleman, who was just now with him, tells me he is much cast +down, and fallen away; but he is positive, if he has but ten friends in +the House, that they shall defend him to the utmost, and endeavour to +prevent the least censure upon him, which I think cannot be, since the +bribery is manifest. Sir Solomon Medina(14) paid him six thousand pounds +a year to have the employment of providing bread for the army, and +the Duke owns it in his letter to the Commissioners of Accounts. I was +to-night at Lord Masham's: Lord Dupplin took out my new little pamphlet, +and the Secretary read a great deal of it to Lord Treasurer: they all +commended it to the skies, and so did I, and they began a health to the +author. But I doubt Lord Treasurer suspected; for he said, "This is +Mr. Davenant's style," which is his cant when he suspects me.(15) But +I carried the matter very well. Lord Treasurer put the pamphlet in his +pocket to read at home. I'll answer your letter to-morrow. + +24. The Secretary made me promise to dine with him today, after the +Parliament was up: I said I would come; but I dined at my usual time, +knowing the House would sit late on this great affair. I dined at a +tavern with Mr. Domville and another gentleman; I have not done so +before these many months. At ten this evening I went to the Secretary, +but he was not come home: I sat with his lady till twelve, then came +away; and he just came as I was gone, and he sent to my lodgings, but +I would not go back; and so I know not how things have passed, but hope +all is well; and I will tell you to-morrow day. It is late, etc. + +25. The Secretary sent to me this morning to know whether we should +dine together. I went to him, and there I learned that the question +went against the Duke of Marlborough, by a majority of a hundred; so the +Ministry is mighty well satisfied, and the Duke will now be able to +do no hurt. The Secretary and I, and Lord Masham, etc., dined with +Lieutenant-General Withers,(16) who is just going to look after the army +in Flanders: the Secretary and I left them a little after seven, and +I am come home, and will now answer your letter, because this goes +to-morrow: let me see--The box at Chester; oh, burn that box, and +hang that Sterne; I have desired one to inquire for it who went toward +Ireland last Monday, but I am in utter despair of it. No, I was not +splenetic; you see what plunges the Court has been at to set all right +again. And that Duchess is not out yet, and may one day cause more +mischief. Somerset shows all about a letter from the Queen, desiring +him to let his wife continue with her. Is not that rare! I find Dingley +smelled a rat; because the Whigs are UPISH; but if ever I hear that word +again, I'll UPPISH you. I am glad you got your rasp safe and sound; does +Stella like her apron? Your critics about guarantees of succession are +puppies; that's an answer to the objection. The answerers here made the +same objection, but it is wholly wrong. I am of your opinion that Lord +Marlborough is used too hardly: I have often scratched out passages +from papers and pamphlets sent me, before they were printed, because I +thought them too severe. But he is certainly a vile man, and has no sort +of merit beside the military. The Examiners are good for little: I would +fain have hindered the severity of the two or three last, but could +not. I will either bring your papers over, or leave them with Tooke, for +whose honesty I will engage. And I think it is best not to venture them +with me at sea. Stella is a prophet, by foretelling so very positively +that all would be well. Duke of Ormond speak against peace? No, +simpleton, he is one of the staunchest we have for the Ministry. Neither +trouble yourself about the printer: he appeared the first day of the +term, and is to appear when summoned again; but nothing else will come +of it. Lord Chief-Justice(17) is cooled since this new settlement. No; +I will not split my journals in half; I will write but once a fortnight: +but you may do as you will; which is, read only half at once, and +t'other half next week. So now your letter is answered. (P--- on these +blots.) What must I say more? I will set out in March, if there be a fit +of fine weather; unless the Ministry desire me to stay till the end of +the session, which may be a month longer; but I believe they will not: +for I suppose the peace will be made, and they will have no further +service for me. I must make my canal fine this summer, as fine as I can. +I am afraid I shall see great neglects among my quicksets. I hope the +cherry-trees on the river walk are fine things now. But no more of this. + +26. I forgot to finish this letter this morning, and am come home so +late I must give it to the bellman; but I would have it go to-night, +lest you should think there is anything in the story of my being +arrested in an action of twenty thousand pounds by Lord Marlborough, +which I hear is in Dyer's Letter,(18) and, consequently, I suppose, gone +to Ireland. Farewell, dearest MD, etc. etc. + + + + +LETTER 40. + +LONDON, Jan. 26, 1711-12. + +I have no gilt paper left of this size, so you must be content with +plain. Our Society dined together today, for it was put off, as I told +you, upon Lord Marlborough's business on Thursday. The Duke of Ormond +dined with us to-day, the first time: we were thirteen at table; and +Lord Lansdowne came in after dinner, so that we wanted but three. The +Secretary proposed the Duke of Beaufort, who desires to be one of our +Society; but I stopped it, because the Duke of Ormond doubts a little +about it; and he was gone before it was proposed. I left them at seven, +and sat this evening with poor Mrs. Wesley, who has been mightily ill +to-day with a fainting fit; she has often convulsions, too: she takes +a mixture with asafoetida, which I have now in my nose, and everything +smells of it. I never smelt it before; 'tis abominable. We have eight +packets, they say, due from Ireland. + +27. I could not see Prince Eugene at Court to-day, the crowd was so +great. The Whigs contrive to have a crowd always about him, and employ +the rabble to give the word, when he sets out from any place. When the +Duchess of Hamilton came from the Queen after church, she whispered me +that she was going to pay me a visit. I went to Lady Oglethorpe's, the +place appointed; for ladies always visit me in third places; and she +kept me till near four: she talks too much, is a plaguy detractor, and +I believe I shall not much like her. I was engaged to dine with Lord +Masham: they stayed as long as they could, yet had almost dined, and +were going in anger to pull down the brass peg for my hat, but Lady +Masham saved it. At eight I went again to Lord Masham's; Lord Treasurer +is generally there at night: we sat up till almost two. Lord Treasurer +has engaged me to contrive some way to keep the Archbishop of York(1) +from being seduced by Lord Nottingham. I will do what I can in it +to-morrow. 'Tis very late, so I must go sleep. + +28. Poor Mrs. Manley, the author, is very ill of a dropsy and sore leg: +the printer tells me he is afraid she cannot live long. I am heartily +sorry for her: she has very generous principles for one of her sort, +and a great deal of good sense and invention: she is about forty, very +homely, and very fat. Mrs. Van made me dine with her to-day. I was +this morning with the Duke of Ormond and the Prolocutor about what Lord +Treasurer spoke to me yesterday; I know not what will be the issue. +There is but a slender majority in the House of Lords, and we want more. +We are sadly mortified at the news of the French taking the town in +Brazil from the Portuguese. The sixth edition of three thousand of +the Conduct of the Allies is sold, and the printer talks of a seventh: +eleven thousand of them have been sold, which is a most prodigious run. +The little twopenny Letter of Advice to the October Club does not sell: +I know not the reason, for it is finely written, I assure you; and, like +a true author, I grow fond of it, because it does not sell: you know +that it is usual to writers to condemn the judgment of the world: if I +had hinted it to be mine, everybody would have bought it, but it is a +great secret. + +29. I borrowed one or two idle books of Contes des Fees,(2) and have +been reading them these two days, although I have much business upon +my hands. I loitered till one at home; then went to Mr. Lewis at his +office; and the Vice-Chamberlain told me that Lady Rialton(3) had +yesterday resigned her employment of lady of the bed-chamber, and that +Lady Jane Hyde,(4) Lord Rochester's daughter, a mighty pretty girl, is +to succeed. He said, too, that Lady Sunderland would resign in a day or +two. I dined with Lewis, and then went to see Mrs. Wesley, who is better +to-day. But you must know that Mr. Lewis gave me two letters, one from +the Bishop of Cloyne, with an enclosed from Lord Inchiquin(5) to Lord +Treasurer, which he desires I would deliver and recommend. I am told +that lord was much in with Lord Wharton, and I remember he was to have +been one of the Lords Justices by his recommendation; yet the Bishop +recommends him as a great friend to the Church, etc. I'll do what I +think proper. T'other letter was from little saucy MD, N.26. O Lord, +never saw the like, under a cover, too, and by way of journal; we shall +never have done. Sirrahs, how durst you write so soon, sirrahs? I won't +answer it yet. + +30. I was this morning with the Secretary, who was sick, and out of +humour: he would needs drink champagne some days ago, on purpose to +spite me, because I advised him against it, and now he pays for it. +Stella used to do such tricks formerly; he put me in mind of her. Lady +Sunderland has resigned her place too. It is Lady Catherine Hyde(6) that +succeeds Lady Rialton, and not Lady Jane. Lady Catherine is the late +Earl of Rochester's daughter. I dined with the Secretary, then visited +his lady; and sat this evening with Lady Masham: the Secretary came +to us; but Lord Treasurer did not; he dined with the Master of the +Rolls,(7) and stayed late with him. Our Society does not meet till +to-morrow se'nnight, because we think the Parliament will be very busy +to-morrow upon the state of the war, and the Secretary, who is to treat +as President, must be in the House. I fancy my talking of persons and +things here must be very tedious to you, because you know nothing of +them, and I talk as if you did. You know Kevin's Street, and Werburgh +Street, and (what do you call the street where Mrs. Walls lives?) and +Ingoldsby,(8) and Higgins,(9) and Lord Santry;(10) but what care you for +Lady Catherine Hyde? Why do you say nothing of your health, sirrah? I +hope it is well. + +31. Trimnel, Bishop of Norwich,(11) who was with this Lord Sunderland +at Moor Park in their travels, preached yesterday before the House +of Lords; and to-day the question was put to thank him, and print his +sermon; but passed against him; for it was a terrible Whig sermon. The +Bill to repeal the Act for naturalising Protestant foreigners passed the +House of Lords to-day by a majority of twenty, though the Scotch lords +went out, and would vote neither way, in discontent about the Duke of +Hamilton's patent, if you know anything of it. A poem is come out to-day +inscribed to me, by way of a flirt;(12) for it is a Whiggish poem, and +good for nothing. They plagued me with it in the Court of Requests. I +dined with Lord Treasurer at five alone, only with one Dutchman. Prior +is now a Commissioner of the Customs. I told you so before, I suppose. +When I came home to-night, I found a letter from Dr. Sacheverell, +thanking me for recommending his brother to Lord Treasurer and Mr. +Secretary for a place. Lord Treasurer sent to him about it: so good a +solicitor was I, although I once hardly thought I should be a solicitor +for Sacheverell. + +Feb. 1. Has not your Dean of St. Patrick received my letter? you say +nothing of it, although I writ above a month ago. My printer has got the +gout, and I was forced to go to him to-day, and there I dined. It was a +most delicious day: why don't you observe whether the same days be fine +with you? To-night, at six, Dr. Atterbury, and Prior, and I, and Dr. +Freind, met at Dr. Robert Freind's(13) house at Westminster, who is +master of the school: there we sat till one, and were good enough +company. I here take leave to tell politic Dingley that the passage +in the Conduct of the Allies is so far from being blamable that the +Secretary designs to insist upon it in the House of Commons, when the +Treaty of Barrier(14) is debated there, as it now shortly will, for they +have ordered it to be laid before them. The pamphlet of Advice to the +October Club begins now to sell; but I believe its fame will hardly +reach Ireland: 'tis finely written, I assure you. I long to answer your +letter, but won't yet; you know, 'tis late, etc. + +2. This ends Christmas,(15) and what care I? I have neither seen, nor +felt, nor heard any Christmas this year. I passed a lazy dull day. I was +this morning with Lord Treasurer, to get some papers from him, which +he will remember as much as a cat, although it be his own business. It +threatened rain, but did not much; and Prior and I walked an hour in the +Park, which quite put me out of my measures. I dined with a friend hard +by; and in the evening sat with Lord Masham till twelve. Lord Treasurer +did not come; this is an idle dining-day usually with him. We want to +hear from Holland how our peace goes on; for we are afraid of those +scoundrels the Dutch, lest they should play us tricks. Lord Mar,(16) a +Scotch earl, was with us at Lord Masham's: I was arguing with him about +the stubbornness and folly of his countrymen; they are so angry about +the affair of the Duke of Hamilton, whom the Queen has made a duke of +England, and the House of Lords will not admit him. He swears he would +vote for us, but dare not, because all Scotland would detest him if he +did: he should never be chosen again, nor be able to live there. + +3. I was at Court to-day to look for a dinner, but did not like any that +were offered me; and I dined with Lord Mountjoy. The Queen has the gout +in her knee, and was not at chapel. I hear we have a Dutch mail, but I +know not what news, although I was with the Secretary this morning. He +showed me a letter from the Hanover Envoy, Mr. Bothmar, complaining that +the Barrier Treaty is laid before the House of Commons; and desiring +that no infringement may be made in the guarantee of the succession; but +the Secretary has written him a peppering answer. I fancy you understand +all this, and are able states-girls, since you have read the Conduct +of the Allies. We are all preparing against the Birthday; I think it +is Wednesday next. If the Queen's gout increases, it will spoil sport. +Prince Eugene has two fine suits made against it; and the Queen is +to give him a sword worth four thousand pounds, the diamonds set +transparent. + +4. I was this morning soliciting at the House of Commons' door for Mr. +Vesey, a son of the Archbishop of Tuam,(17) who has petitioned for a +Bill to relieve him in some difficulty about his estate: I secured him +above fifty members. I dined with Lady Masham. We have no packet from +Holland, as I was told yesterday: and this wind will hinder many people +from appearing at the Birthday, who expected clothes from Holland. I +appointed to meet a gentleman at the Secretary's to-night, and they both +failed. The House of Commons have this day made many severe votes about +our being abused by our Allies. Those who spoke drew all their arguments +from my book, and their votes confirm all I writ; the Court had a +majority of a hundred and fifty: all agree that it was my book that +spirited them to these resolutions; I long to see them in print. My head +has not been as well as I could wish it for some days past, but I have +not had any giddy fit, and I hope it will go over. + +5. The Secretary turned me out of his room this morning, and showed me +fifty guineas rolled up, which he was going to give some French spy. I +dined with four Irishmen at a tavern to-day: I thought I had resolved +against it before, but I broke it. I played at cards this evening at +Lady Masham's, but I only played for her while she was waiting; and I +won her a pool, and supped there. Lord Treasurer was with us, but went +away before twelve. The ladies and lords have all their clothes ready +against to-morrow: I saw several mighty fine, and I hope there will be +a great appearance, in spite of that spiteful French fashion of the +Whiggish ladies not to come, which they have all resolved to a woman; +and I hope it will more spirit the Queen against them for ever. + +6. I went to dine at Lord Masham's at three, and met all the company +just coming out of Court; a mighty crowd: they stayed long for their +coaches: I had an opportunity of seeing several lords and ladies of my +acquaintance in their fineries. Lady Ashburnham(18) looked the best in +my eyes. They say the Court was never fuller nor finer. Lord Treasurer, +his lady, and two daughters and Mrs. Hill, dined with Lord and Lady +Masham; the five ladies were monstrous fine. The Queen gave Prince +Eugene the diamond sword to-day; but nobody was by when she gave it +except my Lord Chamberlain. There was an entertainment of opera songs +at night, and the Queen was at all the entertainment, and is very well +after it. I saw Lady Wharton,(19) as ugly as the devil, coming out +in the crowd all in an undress; she has been with the Marlborough +daughters(20) and Lady Bridgewater(21) in St. James's, looking out of +the window all undressed to see the sight. I do not hear that one Whig +lady was there, except those of the bed-chamber. Nothing has made so +great a noise as one Kelson's chariot, that cost nine hundred and thirty +pounds, the finest was ever seen. The rabble huzzaed him as much as they +did Prince Eugene. This is Birthday chat. + +7. Our Society met to-day: the Duke of Ormond was not with us; we +have lessened our dinners, which were grown so extravagant that Lord +Treasurer and everybody else cried shame. I left them at seven, visited +for an hour, and then came home, like a good boy. The Queen is much +better after yesterday's exercise: her friends wish she would use a +little more. I opposed Lord Jersey's(22) election into our Society, and +he is refused: I likewise opposed the Duke of Beaufort; but I believe +he will be chosen in spite of me: I don't much care; I shall not be +with them above two months; for I resolve to set out for Ireland the +beginning of April next (before I treat them again), and see my willows. + +8. I dined to-day in the City. This morning a scoundrel dog, one of the +Queen's music, a German, whom I had never seen, got access to me in my +chamber by Patrick's folly, and gravely desired me to get an employment +in the Customs for a friend of his, who would be very grateful; and +likewise to forward a project of his own, for raising ten thousand +pounds a year upon operas: I used him civiller than he deserved; but it +vexed me to the pluck.(23) He was told I had a mighty interest with Lord +Treasurer, and one word of mine, etc. Well; I got home early on purpose +to answer MD's letter, N.26; for this goes to-morrow.--Well; I never saw +such a letter in all my life; so saucy, so journalish, so sanguine, so +pretending, so everything. I satisfied all your fears in my last: all is +gone well, as you say; yet you are an impudent slut to be so positive; +you will swagger so upon your sagacity that we shall never have done. +Pray don't mislay your reply; I would certainly print it, if I had it +here: how long is it? I suppose half a sheet: was the answer written in +Ireland? Yes, yes, you shall have a letter when you come from Ballygall. +I need not tell you again who's out and who's in: we can never get out +the Duchess of Somerset.--So, they say Presto writ the Conduct, etc. Do +they like it? I don't care whether they do or no; but the resolutions +printed t'other day in the Votes are almost quotations from it, and +would never have passed if that book had not been written. I will not +meddle with the Spectator, let him fair-sex it to the world's end. +My disorder is over, but blood was not from the p-les.--Well, Madam +Dingley, the frost; why, we had a great frost, but I forget how long +ago; it lasted above a week or ten days: I believe about six weeks ago; +but it did not break so soon with us, I think, as December 29; yet I +think it was about that time, on second thoughts. MD can have no letter +from Presto, says you; and yet four days before you own you had my +thirty-seventh, unreasonable sluts! The Bishop of Gloucester is not +dead,(24) and I am as likely to succeed the Duke of Marlborough as him +if he were; there's enough for that now. It is not unlikely that the +Duke of Shrewsbury will be your Governor; at least I believe the Duke of +Ormond will not return.--Well, Stella again: why, really three editions +of the Conduct, etc., is very much for Ireland; it is a sign you have +some honest among you. Well; I will do Mr. Manley(25) all the service +I can; but he will ruin himself. What business had he to engage at all +about the City? Can't he wish his cause well, and be quiet, when he +finds that stirring will do it no good, and himself a great deal of +hurt? I cannot imagine who should open my letter: it must be done at +your side.--If I hear of any thoughts of turning out Mr. Manley, I will +endeavour to prevent it. I have already had all the gentlemen of Ireland +here upon my back often, for defending him. So now I have answered your +saucy letter. My humble service to Goody Stoyte and Catherine; I will +come soon for my dinner. + +9. Morning. My cold goes off at last; but I think I have got a small new +one. I have no news since last. They say we hear by the way of Calais, +that peace is very near concluding. I hope it may be true. I'll go and +seal up my letter, and give it myself to-night into the post-office; and +so I bid my dearest MD farewell till to-night. I heartily wish myself +with them, as hope saved. My willows, and quicksets, and trees, will be +finely improved, I hope, this year. It has been fine hard frosty weather +yesterday and to-day. Farewell, etc. etc. etc. + + + + +LETTER 41.(1) + +LONDON, Feb. 9, 1711-12. + +When my letter is gone, and I have none of yours to answer, my +conscience is so clear, and my shoulder so light, and I go on with such +courage to prate upon nothing to deerichar MD, oo would wonder. I dined +with Sir Matthew Dudley, who is newly turned out of Commission of +the Customs. He affects a good heart, and talks in the extremity of +Whiggery, which was always his principle, though he was gentle a little, +while he kept in employment. We can yet get no packets from Holland. I +have not been with any of the Ministry these two or three days. I keep +out of their way on purpose, for a certain reason, for some time, though +I must dine with the Secretary to-morrow, the choosing of the company +being left to me. I have engaged Lord Anglesea(2) and Lord Carteret,(3) +and have promised to get three more; but I have a mind that none else +should be admitted: however, if I like anybody at Court to-morrow, I may +perhaps invite them. I have got another cold, but not very bad. Nite. .. +MD. + +10. I saw Prince Eugene at Court to-day very plain; he's plaguy yellow, +and tolerably ugly besides. The Court was very full, and people had +their Birthday clothes. I dined with the Secretary to-day. I was to +invite five, but I only invited two, Lord Anglesea and Lord Carteret. +Pshaw, I told you this but yesterday. We have no packets from Holland +yet. Here are a parcel of drunken Whiggish lords, like your Lord +Santry,(4) who come into chocolate-houses and rail aloud at the Tories, +and have challenges sent them, and the next morning come and beg pardon. +General Ross(5) was like to swinge the Marquis of Winchester(6) for +this trick t'other day; and we have nothing else now to talk of till +the Parliament has had another bout with the state of the war, as they +intended in a few days. They have ordered the Barrier Treaty to be laid +before them; and it was talked some time ago, as if there was a design +to impeach Lord Townshend, who made it. I have no more politics now. +Nite dee MD. + +11. I dined with Lord Anglesea to-day, who had seven Irishmen to be my +companions, of which two only were coxcombs; one I did not know, and +t'other was young Blith,(7) who is a puppy of figure here, with a fine +chariot. He asked me one day at Court, when I had been just talking +with some lords who stood near me, "Doctor, when shall we see you in +the county of Meath?" I whispered him to take care what he said, for +the people would think he was some barbarian. He never would speak to +me since, till we met to-day. I went to Lady Masham's to-night, and sat +with Lord Treasurer and the Secretary there till past two o'clock; and +when I came home, found some letters from Ireland, which I read, but +can say nothing of them till to-morrow, 'tis so very late; but I(8) must +always be...,(9) late or early. Nite deelest sollahs.(10) + +12. One letter was from the Bishop of Clogher last night, and t'other +from Walls, about Mrs. South's(11) salary, and his own pension of 18 +pounds for his tithe of the park. I will do nothing in either; the first +I cannot serve in, and the other is a trifle; only you may tell him I +had his letter, and will speak to Ned Southwell about what he desires +me. You say nothing of your Dean's receiving my letter. I find +Clements,(12) whom I recommended to Lord Anglesea last year, at +Walls's desire, or rather the Bishop of Clogher's, is mightily in Lord +Anglesea's favour. You may tell the Bishop and Walls so; I said to Lord +Anglesea that I was (glad) I had the good luck to recommend him, etc. I +dined in the City with my printer, to consult with him about some papers +Lord Treasurer gave me last night, as he always does, too late; however, +I will do something with them. My third cold is a little better; I never +had anything like it before, three colds successively; I hope I shall +have the fourth.(13) Those messengers come from Holland to-day, and they +brought over the six packets that were due. I know not the particulars +yet, for when I was with the Secretary at noon they were just opening; +but one thing I find, that the Dutch are playing us tricks, and +tampering with the French; they are dogs; I shall know more tomollow... +MD.(14) + +13. I dined to-day privately with my friend Lewis, at his lodgings, to +consult about some observations on the Barrier Treaty. Our news from +Holland is not good. The French raise difficulties, and make such offers +to the Allies as cannot be accepted. And the Dutch are uneasy that we +are likely to get anything for ourselves; and the Whigs are glad at all +this. I came home early, and have been very busy three or four hours. I +had a letter from Dr. Pratt(15) to-day by a private hand, recommending +the bearer to me, for something that I shall not trouble myself about. +Wesley(16) writ to recommend the same fellow to me. His expression is +that, hearing I am acquainted with my Lord Treasurer, he desires I would +do so and so: a matter of nothing. What puppies are mankind! I hope +I shall be wiser when I have once done with Courts. I think you han't +troubled me much with your recommendations. I would do you all the +saavis(17) I could. + +Pray have you got your aplon,(18) maram Ppt? I paid for it but +yesterday; that puts me in mind of it. I writ an inventory of what +things I sent by Leigh in one of my letters; did you compare it with +what you got? I hear nothing of your cards now; do you never play? Yes, +at Ballygall. Go to bed. Nite, deelest MD.(19) + +14. Our Society dined to-day at Mr. Secretary's house. I went there at +four; but hearing the House of Commons would sit late upon the Barrier +Treaty, I went for an hour to Kensington, to see Lord Masham's children. +My young nephew,(20) his son of six months old, has got a swelling in +his neck; I fear it is the evil. We did not go to dinner till eight at +night, and I left them at ten. The Commons have been very severe on the +Barrier Treaty, as you will find by their votes. A Whig member took out +the Conduct of the Allies, and read that passage about the succession +with great resentment; but none seconded him. The Church party carried +every vote by a great majority. The A.B.(21) Dublin is so railed at by +all who come from Ireland that I can defend him no longer. Lord Anglesea +assured me that the story of applying Piso out of Tacitus(22) to Lord +Treasurer's being wounded is true. I believe the Duke of Beaufort will +be admitted to our Society next meeting. To-day I published the Fable +of Midas,(23) a poem, printed in a loose half-sheet of paper. I know not +how it will sell; but it passed wonderfully at our Society to-night; and +Mr. Secretary read it before me the other night to Lord Treasurer, at +Lord Masham's, where they equally approved of it. Tell me how it passes +with you. I think this paper is larger than ordinary; for here is six +days' journal, and no nearer the bottom. I fear these journals are very +dull. Nite my deelest lives. + +15. Mr. Lewis and I dined by invitation with a Scotch acquaintance, +after I had been very busy in my chamber till two afternoon. My third +cold is now very troublesome on my breast, especially in the morning. +This is a great revolution in my health; colds never used to return so +soon with me, or last so long. 'Tis very surprising this news to-day of +the Dauphin and Dauphiness both dying within six days. They say the old +King is almost heart-broke. He has had prodigious mortifications in his +family. The Dauphin has left two little sons, of four and two years old; +the eldest is sick. There is a foolish story got about the town that +Lord Strafford, one of our Plenipotentiaries, is in the interests of +France; and it has been a good while said that Lord Privy Seal(24) and +he do not agree very well. They are both long practised in business, but +neither of them of much parts. Strafford has some life and spirit, but +is infinitely proud, and wholly illiterate. Nite, MD. + +16. I dined to-day in the City with my printer, to finish something I +am doing about the Barrier Treaty;(25) but it is not quite done. I went +this evening to Lord Masham's, where Lord Treasurer sat with us till +past twelve. The Lords have voted an Address to the Queen, to tell +her they are not satisfied with the King of France's offers. The Whigs +brought it in of a sudden; and the Court could not prevent it, and +therefore did not oppose it. The House of Lords is too strong in Whigs, +notwithstanding the new creations; for they are very diligent, and the +Tories as lazy: the side that is down has always most industry. The +Whigs intended to have made a vote that would reflect on Lord Treasurer; +but their project was not ripe. I hit my face such a rap by calling the +coach to stop to-night, that it is plaguy sore, the bone beneath the +eye. Nite dee logues. + +17. The Court was mighty full to-day, and has been these many Sundays; +but the Queen was not at chapel. She has got a little fit of the gout +in her foot. The good of going to Court is that one sees all one's +acquaintance, whom otherwise I should hardly meet twice a year. Prince +Eugene dines with the Secretary to-day, with about seven or eight +General Officers, or foreign Ministers. They will be all drunk, I am +sure. I never was in company with this Prince: I have proposed to some +lords that we should have a sober meal with him; but I can't compass +it. It is come over in the Dutch news prints that I was arrested on an +action of twenty thousand pounds by the Duke of Marlborough. I did not +like my Court invitation to-day; so Sir Andrew Fountaine and I went and +dined with Mrs. Van. I came home at six, and have been very busy till +this minute, and it is past twelve. So I got into bed to write to MD... +MD.(26) We reckon the Dauphin's death will put forward the peace a good +deal. Pray is Dr. Griffith(27) reconciled to me yet? Have I done enough +to soften him?... (28) Nite deelest logues. + +18. Lewis had Guiscard's picture: he bought it, and offered it to Lord +Treasurer, who promised to send for it, but never did; so I made Lewis +give it me, and I have it in my room; and now Lord Treasurer says he +will take it from me: is that fair? He designs to have it at length in +the clothes he was when he did the action, and a penknife in his hand; +and Kneller is to copy it from this that I have. I intended to dine with +Lord Treasurer to-day, but he has put me off till to-morrow; so I dined +with Lord Dupplin. You know Lord Dupplin very well; he is a brother +of the Society. Well, but I have received a letter from the Bishop of +Cloyne, to solicit an affair for him with Lord Treasurer, and with the +Parliament, which I will do as soon as fly. I am not near so keen about +other people's affairs as... (29) Ppt used to reproach me about; it was +a judgment on me. Harkee, idle dearees both, meetinks I begin to want +a rettle flom(30) MD: faith, and so I do. I doubt you have been in pain +about the report of my being arrested. The pamphleteers have let me +alone this month, which is a great wonder: only the third part of the +Answer to the Conduct, which is lately come out. (Did I tell you of it +already?) The House of Commons goes on in mauling the late Ministry and +their proceedings. Nite deelest MD.(31) + +19. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, and sat with him till ten, in +spite of my teeth, though my printer waited for me to correct a sheet. +I told him of four lines I writ extempore with my pencil, on a bit +of paper in his house, while he lay wounded. Some of the servants, I +suppose, made waste-paper of them, and he never had heard of them. Shall +I tell them you? They were inscribed to Mr. Harley's physician. Thus + + On Britain Europe's safety lies;(32) + Britain is lost, if Harley dies. + Harley depends upon your skill: + Think what you save, or what you kill. + +Are not they well enough to be done off-hand; for that is the meaning +of the word extempore, which you did not know, did you? I proposed that +some company should dine with him on the 8th of March, which was the day +he was wounded, but he says he designs that the Lords of the Cabinet, +who then sat with him, should dine that day with him:(33) however, he +has invited me too. I am not got rid of my cold; it plagues me in the +morning chiefly. Nite, MD, + +20. After waiting to catch the Secretary coming out from Sir Thomas +Hanmer, for two hours, in vain, about some business, I went into the +City to my printer, to correct some sheets of the Barrier Treaty and +Remarks, which must be finished to-morrow: I have been horrible busy for +some days past, with this and some other things; and I wanted some very +necessary papers, which the Secretary was to give me, and the pamphlet +must now be published without them. But they are all busy too. +Sir Thomas Hanmer is Chairman of the Committee for drawing up a +Representation of the state of the nation(34) to the Queen, where all +the wrong steps of the Allies and late Ministry about the war will be +mentioned. The Secretary, I suppose, was helping him about it to-day; I +believe it will be a pepperer. Nite, deel MD. + +21. I have been six hours to-day morning writing nineteen pages of a +letter to Lord Treasurer, about forming a Society or Academy to correct +and fix the English language.(35) (Is English a speech or a language?) +It will not be above five or six more. I will send it to him to-morrow, +and will print it, if he desires me. I dined, you know, with our Society +to-day: Thursday is our day. We had a new member admitted; it was the +Duke of Beaufort. We had thirteen met: brother Ormond was not there, but +sent his excuse that Prince Eugene dined with him. I left them at seven, +being engaged to go to Sir Thomas Hanmer, who desired I would see him at +that hour. His business was that I would hoenlbp ihainm itavoi dsroanws +ubpl tohne sroegporaensiepnotlastoigobn,(36) which I consented to do; +but know not whether I shall succeed, because it is a little out of my +way. However, I have taken my share. Nite, MD. + +22. I finished the rest of my letter to Lord Treasurer today, and sent +it to him about one o'clock; and then dined privately with my friend Mr. +Lewis, to talk over some affairs of moment. I had gotten the thirteenth +volume of Rymer's Collection of the Records of the Tower for the +University of Dublin.(37) I have two volumes now. I will write to the +Provost, to know how I shall send them to him; no, I won't, for I will +bring them myself among my own books. I was with Hanmer this morning, +and there were the Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer(38) very +busy with him, laying their heads together about the representation. I +went to Lord Masham's to-night, and Lady Masham made me read to her a +pretty twopenny pamphlet, called The St. Albans Ghost.(39) I thought I +had writ it myself; so did they; but I did not. Lord Treasurer came down +to us from the Queen, and we stayed till two o'clock. That is the best +night-place I have. The usual(40) company are Lord and Lady Masham, Lord +Treasurer, Dr. Arbuthnot, and I; sometimes the Secretary, and sometimes +Mrs. Hill of the bed-chamber, Lady Masham's sister. I assure oo, it im +vely rate now; but zis goes to-morrow: and I must have time to converse +with own richar MD. Nite, deelest sollahs.(41) + +23. I have no news to tell you this last day, nor do I know where I +shall dine. I hear the Secretary is a little out of order; perhaps I may +dine there, perhaps not. I sent Hanmer what he wanted from me, I know +not how he will approve of it. I was to do more of the same sort; I am +going out, and must carry zis in my pottick to give it at some general +post-house. I will talk further with oo at night. I suppose in my next +I shall answer a letter from MD that will be sent me. On Tuesday it will +be four weeks since I had your last, N.26. This day se'nnight I expect +one, for that will be something more than a full month. Farewell, MD... +deelest... MD MD MD... ME ME ME... logues... lele.(42) + + + + +LETTER 42.(1) + +LONDON, Feb. 23, 1711-12. + +After having disposed my last letter in the post-office, I am now to +begin this with telling MD that I dined with the Secretary to-day, +who is much out of order with a cold, and feverish; yet he went to the +Cabinet Council tonight at six, against my will. The Secretary is much +the greatest commoner in England, and turns the whole Parliament, who +can do nothing without him; and if he lives and has his health, will, +I believe, be one day at the head of affairs. I have told him sometimes +that, if I were a dozen years younger, I would cultivate his favour, +and trust my fortune with his. But what care oo for all this? I am sorry +when I came first acquainted with this Ministry that I did not send you +their names and characters, and then you would have relished what(2) +I would have writ, especially if I had let you into the particulars of +affairs: but enough of this. Nite, deelest logues. + +24. I went early this morning to the Secretary, who is not yet well. +Sir Thomas Hanmer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer came while I was +there, and he would not let me stir; so I did not go to church, but was +busy with them till noon, about the affair I told you in my last. The +other two went away; and I dined with the Secretary, and found my head +very much out of order, but no absolute fit; and I have not been well +all this day. It has shook me a little. I sometimes sit up very late +at Lord Masham's, and have writ much for several days past: but I will +amend both; for I have now very little business, and hope I shall have +no more, and I am resolved to be a great rider this summer in Ireland. +I was to see Mrs. Wesley this evening, who has been somewhat better for +this month past, and talks of returning to the Bath in a few weeks. Our +peace goes on but slowly; the Dutch are playing tricks, and we do not +push it strongly as we ought. The fault of our Court is delay, of which +the Queen has a great deal; and Lord Treasurer is not without his share. +But pay richar MD ret us know a little of your life and tonvelsasens.(3) +Do you play at ombre, or visit the Dean, and Goody Walls and Stoytes and +Manleys, as usual? I must have a letter from oo, to fill the other side +of this sheet. Let me know what you do. Is my aunt alive yet? + +Oh, pray, now I think of it, be so kind to step to my aunt, and take +notice of my great-grandfather's picture; you know he has a ring on his +finger, with a seal of an anchor and dolphin about it; but I think +there is besides, at the bottom of the picture, the same coat of arms +quartered with another, which I suppose was my great-grandmother's. +If this be so, it is a stronger argument than the seal. And pray see +whether you think that coat of arms was drawn at the same time with +the picture, or whether it be of a later hand; and ask my aunt what +she knows about it. But perhaps there is no such coat of arms on the +picture, and I only dreamed it. My reason is, because I would ask some +herald here, whether I should choose that coat, or one in Guillim's +large folio of heraldry,(4) where my uncle Godwin is named with another +coat of arms of three stags. This is sad stuff to rite; so nite, MD. + +25. I was this morning again with the Secretary, and we were two hours +busy; and then went together to the Park, Hyde Park, I mean; and he +walked to cure his cold, and we were looking at two Arabian horses sent +some time ago to Lord Treasurer.(5) The Duke of Marlborough's coach +overtook us, with his Grace and Lord Godolphin in it; but they did not +see us, to our great satisfaction; for neither of us desired that either +of those two lords should see us together. There was half a dozen ladies +riding like cavaliers to take the air. My head is better to-day. I dined +with the Secretary; but we did no business after dinner, and at six I +walked into the fields; the days are grown pure and long; then I went to +visit Perceval(6) and his family, whom I had seen but twice since they +came to town. They too are going to the Bath next month. Countess Doll +of Meath(7) is such an owl that, wherever I visit, people are asking +me whether I know such an Irish lady, and her figure and her foppery? I +came home early, and have been amusing myself with looking into one of +Rymer's volumes of the Records of the Tower, and am mighty easy to think +I have no urgent business upon my hands. My third cold is not yet off; I +sometimes cough, and am not right with it in the morning. Did I tell you +that I believe it is Lady Masham's hot room that gives it me? I never +knew such a stove; and in my conscience I believe both my lord and she, +my Lord Treasurer, Mr. Secretary, and myself have all suffered by it. We +have all had colds together, but I walk home on foot. Nite dee logues. + +26. I was again busy with the Secretary.(8) We read over some papers, +and did a good deal of business; and I dined with him, and we were to +do more business after dinner; but after dinner is after dinner--an old +saying and a true, "much drinking, little thinking." We had company with +us, and nothing could be done, and I am to go there again to-morrow. +I have now nothing to do; and the Parliament, by the Queen's +recommendation, is to take some method for preventing libels, etc., +which will include pamphlets, I suppose. I don't know what method they +will take, but it comes on in a day or two. To-day in the morning I +visited upwards: first I saw the Duke of Ormond below stairs, and gave +him joy of his being declared General in Flanders; then I went up one +pair of stairs, and sat with the Duchess; then I went up another pair of +stairs, and paid a visit to Lady Betty; and desired her woman to go +up to the garret, that I might pass half an hour with her, but she was +young and handsome, and would not. The Duke is our President this week, +and I have bespoke a small dinner on purpose, for good example. Nite mi +deelest logues. + +27. I was again with the Secretary this morning; but we only read over +some papers with Sir Thomas Hanmer; then I called at Lord Treasurer's; +it was his levee-day, but I went up to his bed-chamber, and said what +I had to say. I came down and peeped in at the chamber, where a hundred +fools were waiting, and two streets were full of coaches. I dined in the +City with my printer,(9) and came back at six to Lord Treasurer, who had +invited me to dinner, but I refused him. I sat there an hour or two, and +then went to Lord Masham's. They were all abroad: so truly I came, and +read whatever stuff was next me. I can sit and be idle now, which I have +not been above a year past. However, I will stay out the session, to see +if they have any further commands for me, and that, I suppose, will end +in April. But I may go somewhat before, for I hope all will be ended +by then, and we shall have either a certain peace, or certain war. The +Ministry is contriving new funds for money by lotteries, and we go on as +if the war were to continue, but I believe it will not. 'Tis pretty late +now, ung oomens; so I bid oo nite, own dee dallars. + +28. I have been packing up some books in a great box I have bought, and +must buy another for clothes and luggage. This is a beginning towards +a removal. I have sent to Holland for a dozen shirts, and design to buy +another new gown and hat. I will come over like a zinkerman,(10) and +lay out nothing in clothes in Ireland this good while. I have writ +this night to the Provost. Our Society met to-day as usual, and we were +fourteen, beside the Earl of Arran,(11) whom his brother, the Duke of +Ormond, brought among us against all order. We were mightily shocked; +but, after some whispers, it ended in choosing Lord Arran one of our +Society, which I opposed to his face, but it was carried by all the rest +against me. + +29. This is leap year, and this is leap day. Prince George was born on +this day. People are mistaken; and some here think it is St. David's +Day; but they do not understand the virtue of leap year. I have nothing +to do now, boys, and have been reading all this day like Gumdragon; and +yet I was dictating some trifles this morning to a printer. I dined with +a friend hard by, and the weather was so discouraging I could not walk. +I came home early, and have read two hundred pages of Arran. Alexander +the Great is just dead: I do not think he was poisoned; betwixt you and +me, all those are but idle stories: it is certain that neither Ptolemy +nor Aristobulus thought so, and they were both with him when he(12) +died. It is a pity we have not their histories. The Bill for limiting +Members of Parliament to have but so many places passed the House of +Commons, and will pass the House of Lords, in spite of the Ministry, +which you know is a great lessening of the Queen's power. Four of the +new lords voted against the Court in this point. It is certainly a good +Bill in the reign of an ill prince, but I think things are not settled +enough for it at present. And the Court may want a majority upon a +pinch. Nite deelest logues. Rove Pdfr. + +March 1. I went into the City to inquire after poor Stratford,(13) who +has put himself a prisoner into the Queen's Bench, for which his friends +blame him much, because his creditors designed to be very easy with him. +He grasped at too many things together, and that was his ruin. There +is one circumstance relative to Lieutenant-General Meredith(14) that +is very melancholy: Meredith was turned out of all his employments +last year, and had about 10,000 pounds left to live on. Stratford, upon +friendship, desired he might have the management of it for Meredith, to +put it into the stocks and funds for the best advantage, and now he +has lost it all. You have heard me often talk of Stratford; we were +class-fellows at school and university. I dined with some merchants, +his friends, to-day, and they said they expected his breaking this good +while. I gave him notice of a treaty of peace, while it was a secret, of +which he might have made good use, but that helped to ruin him; for he +gave money, reckoning there would be actually a peace by this time, and +consequently stocks rise high. Ford narrowly 'scaped losing 500 pounds +by him, and so did I too. Nite, my two deelest rives MD. + +2. Morning. I was wakened at three this morning, my man and the people +of the house telling me of a great fire in the Haymarket. I slept again, +and two hours after my man came in again, and told me it was my poor +brother Sir William Wyndham's(15) house burnt, and that two maids, +leaping out of an upper room to avoid the fire, both fell on their +heads, one of them upon the iron spikes before the door, and both lay +dead in the streets. It is supposed to have been some carelessness of +one or both those maids. The Duke of Ormond was there helping to put +out the fire. Brother Wyndham gave 6,000 pounds but a few months ago +for that house, as he told me, and it was very richly furnished. I shall +know more particulars at night. He married Lady Catherine Seymour, +the Duke of Somerset's daughter; you know her, I believe.--At night. +Wyndham's young child escaped very narrowly; Lady Catherine escaped +barefoot; they all went to Northumberland House. Mr. Brydges's(16) +house, at next door, is damaged much, and was like to be burnt. Wyndham +has lost above 10,000 pounds by this accident; his lady above a thousand +pounds worth of clothes. It was a terrible accident. He was not at Court +to-day. I dined with Lord Masham. The Queen was not at church. Nite, MD. + +3. Pray tell Walls that I spoke to the Duke of Ormond and Mr. Southwell +about his friend's affair, who, I find, needed not me for a solicitor, +for they both told me the thing would be done. I likewise mentioned +his own affair to Mr. Southwell, and I hope that will be done too, for +Southwell seems to think it reasonable, and I will mind him of it again. +Tell him this nakedly. You need not know the particulars. They are +secrets: one of them is about Mrs. South having a pension; the other +about his salary from the Government for the tithes of the park that lie +in his parish, to be put upon the establishment, but oo must not know +zees sings, zey are secrets; and we must keep them flom nauty dallars. +I dined in the City with my printer, with whom I had some small affair; +but I have no large work on my hands now. I was with Lord Treasurer this +morning, and hat(17) care oo for zat? Oo dined with the Dean to-day. +Monday is parson's holiday, and oo lost oo money at cards and dice; ze +Givars(18) device. So I'll go to bed. Nite, my two deelest logues. + +4. I sat to-day with poor Mrs. Wesley, who made me dine with her. She +is much better than she was. I heartily pray for her health, out of +the entire love I bear to her worthy husband. This day has passed very +insignificantly. But it is a great comfort to me now that I can come +home and read, and have nothing upon my hands to write. I was at Lord +Masham's to-night, and stayed there till one. Lord Treasurer was there; +but I thought, I thought he looked melancholy, just as he did at the +beginning of the session, and he was not so merry as usual. In short, +the majority in the House of Lords is a very weak one: and he has much +ado to keep it up; and he is not able to make those removes he would, +and oblige his friends; and I doubt too(19) he does not take care enough +about it, or rather cannot do all himself, and will not employ others: +which is his great fault, as I have often told you. 'Tis late. Nite, MD. + +5. I wish you a merry Lent. I hate Lent; I hate different diets, and +furmity and butter, and herb porridge; and sour devout faces of people +who only put on religion for seven weeks. I was at the Secretary's +office this morning; and there a gentleman brought me two letters, dated +last October; one from the Bishop of Clogher, t'other from Walls. The +gentleman is called Colonel Newburgh.(20) I think you mentioned him to +me some time ago; he has business in the House of Lords. I will do +him what service I can. The Representation of the House of Commons is +printed:(21) I have not seen it yet; it is plaguy severe, they say. I +dined with Dr. Arbuthnot, and had a true Lenten dinner, not in point of +victuals, but spleen; for his wife and a child or two were sick in the +house, and that was full as mortifying as fish. We have had fine mighty +cold frosty weather for some days past. I hope you take the advantage +of it, and walk now and then. You never answer that part of my letters +where I desire you to walk. I must keep my breath to cool my Lenten +porridge. Tell Jemmy Leigh that his boy that robbed him now appears +about the town: Patrick has seen him once or twice. I knew nothing of +his being robbed till Patrick told me he had seen the boy. I wish it +had been Sterne that had been robbed, to be revenged for the box that he +lost,(22) and be p-xed to him. Nite, MD. + +6. I hear Mr. Prior has suffered by Stratford's breaking. I was +yesterday to see Prior, who is not well, and I thought he looked +melancholy. He can ill afford to lose money. I walked before dinner +in the Mall a good while with Lord Arran and Lord Dupplin, two of my +brothers, and then we went to dinner, where the Duke of Beaufort was our +President. We were but eleven to-day. We are now in all nine lords and +ten commoners. The Duke of Beaufort had the confidence to propose his +brother-in-law, the Earl of Danby,(23) to be a member; but I opposed +it so warmly that it was waived. Danby is not above twenty, and we will +have no more boys, and we want but two to make up our number. I stayed +till eight, and then we all went away soberly. The Duke of Ormond's +treat last week cost 20 pounds, though it was only four dishes and four, +without a dessert; and I bespoke it in order to be cheap. Yet I could +not prevail to change the house. Lord Treasurer is in a rage with us for +being so extravagant: and the wine was not reckoned neither; for that +is always brought by him that is President. Lord Orrery(24) is to be +President next week; and I will see whether it cannot be cheaper; or +else we will leave the house...(25) Lord Masham made me go home with him +to-night to eat boiled oysters. Take oysters, wash them clean; that is, +wash their shells clean; then put your oysters into an earthen pot, +with their hollow sides down, then put this pot into a great kettle +with water, and so let them boil. Your oysters are boiled in their own +liquor, and not mixed water. Lord Treasurer was not with us; he was very +ill to-day with a swimming in the head, and is gone home to be cupped, +and sent to desire Lady Masham to excuse him to the Queen. Nite, dee MD. + +7. I was to-day at the House of Lords about a friend's Bill. Then I +crossed the water at Westminster Stairs to Southwark, went through St. +George's Fields to the Mint, which is the dominion of the King's(26) +Bench Prison, where Stratford lodges in a blind alley, and writ to me to +come to him; but he was gone to the 'Change. I thought he had +something to say to me about his own affairs. I found him at his usual +coffee-house, and went to his own lodgings, and dined with him and +his wife, and other company. His business was only to desire I would +intercede with the Ministry about his brother-in-law, Ben Burton,(27) +of Dublin, the banker, who is likely to come into trouble, as we hear, +about spreading false Whiggish news. I hate Burton, and told Stratford +so; and I will advise the Duke of Ormond to make use of it, to keep +the rogue in awe. Mrs. Stratford tells me her husband's creditors have +consented to give him liberty to get up his debts abroad; and she hopes +he will pay them all. He was cheerfuller than I have seen him this great +while. I have walked much today.--Night, deelest logues. + +8. This day twelvemonth Mr. Harley was stabbed; but he is ill, and takes +physic to-day, I hear ('tis now morning), and cannot have the Cabinet +Council with him, as he intended, nor me to say grace. I am going to see +him. Pray read the Representation; 'tis the finest that ever was writ. +Some of it is Pdfr's style, but not very much. This is the day of the +Queen's accession to the Crown; so it is a great day. I am going to +Court, and will dine with Lord Masham; but I must go this moment to see +the Secretary about some businesses; so I will seal up this, and put +it in the post my own self. Farewell, deelest hearts and souls, MD. +Farewell MD MD MD FW FW FW ME ME Lele Lele Lele Sollahs lele. + + + + +LETTER 43.(1) + +LONDON, March 8, 1711-12. + +I carried my forty-second letter in my pocket till evening, and then put +it in the general post.--I went in the morning to see Lord Treasurer, +who had taken physic, and was drinking his broth. I had been with +the Secretary before, to recommend a friend, one Dr. Freind,(2) to +be Physician-General; and the Secretary promised to mention it to the +Queen. I can serve everybody but myself. Then I went to Court, and +carried Lord Keeper and the Secretary to dine with Lord Masham, when we +drank the Queen and Lord Treasurer with every health, because this was +the day of his stabbing.--Then I went and played pools at picquet with +Lady Masham and Mrs. Hill; won ten shillings, gave a crown to the +box, and came home. I met at my lodgings a letter from Joe, with a bit +annexed from Ppt. What Joe asks is entirely out of my way, and I take it +for a foolish whim in him. Besides, I know not who is to give a patent: +if the Duke of Ormond, I would speak to him; and if it come in my head +I will mention it to Ned Southwell. They have no patents that I know +of for such things here, but good security is all; and to think that I +would speak to Lord Treasurer for any such matter at random is a jest. +Did I tell you of a race of rakes, called the Mohocks,(3) that play the +devil about this town every night, slit people's noses, and beat them, +etc.? Nite, sollahs, and rove Pdfr. Nite, MD. + +9. I was at Court to-day, and nobody invited me to dinner, except one or +two, whom I did not care to dine with; so I dined with Mrs. Van. Young +Davenant(4) was telling us at Court how he was set upon by the Mohocks, +and how they ran his chair through with a sword. It is not safe being in +the streets at night for them. The Bishop of Salisbury's son(5) is said +to be of the gang. They are all Whigs; and a great lady sent to me, to +speak to her father and to Lord Treasurer, to have a care of them, +and to be careful likewise of myself; for she heard they had malicious +intentions against the Ministers and their friends. I know not whether +there be anything in this, though others are of the same opinion. The +weather still continues very fine and frosty. I walked in the Park this +evening, and came home early to avoid the Mohocks. Lord Treasurer is +better. Nite, my own two deelest MD. + +10. I went this morning again to the Lord Treasurer, who is quite +recovered; and I stayed till he went out. I dined with a friend in the +City, about a little business of printing; but not my own. You must buy +a small twopenny pamphlet, called Law is a Bottomless Pit.(6) 'Tis very +prettily written, and there will be a Second Part. The Commons are very +slow in bringing in their Bill to limit the press, and the pamphleteers +make good use of their time; for there come out three or four every day. +Well, but is not it time, methinks, to have a letter from MD? 'Tis +now six weeks since I had your Number 26. I can assure oo I expect +one before this goes; and I'll make shorter day's journals than usual, +'cause I hope to fill up a good deal of t'other side with my answer. +Our fine weather lasts yet, but grows a little windy. We shall have rain +soon, I dispose. Go to cards, sollahs, and I to seep. Nite, MD. + +11. Lord Treasurer has lent the long letter I writ him(7) to Prior, and +I can't get Prior to return it. I want to have it printed, and to make +up this Academy for the improvement of our language. Faith, we never +shall improve it so much as FW has done; sall we? No, faith, ourrichar +gangridge.(8) I dined privately with my friend Lewis, and then went to +see Ned Southwell, and talk with him about Walls's business, and Mrs. +South's. The latter will be done; but his own not. Southwell tells +me that it must be laid before Lord Treasurer, and the nature of it +explained, and a great deal of clutter, which is not worth the while; +and maybe Lord Treasurer won't do it (at) last; and it is, as Walls +says himself, not above forty shillings a year difference. You must tell +Walls this, unless he would have the business a secret from you: in +that case only say I did all I could with Ned Southwell, and it can't be +done; for it must be laid before Lord Treasurer, etc., who will not do +it; and besides, it is not worth troubling his lordship. So nite, my two +deelest nuntyes nine MD.(9) + +12. Here is the D---- and all to do with these Mohocks. Grub Street +papers about them fly like lightning, and a list printed of near eighty +put into several prisons, and all a lie; and I begin almost to think +there is no truth, or very little, in the whole story. He that abused +Davenant was a drunken gentleman; none of that gang. My man tells me +that one of the lodgers heard in a coffee-house, publicly, that one +design of the Mohocks was upon me, if they could catch me; and though I +believe nothing of it, I forbear walking late, and they have put me to +the charge of some shillings already. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer +and two gentlemen of the Highlands of Scotland, yet very polite men. +I sat there till nine, and then went to Lord Masham's, where Lord +Treasurer followed me, and we sat till twelve; and I came home in a +chair for fear of the Mohocks, and I have given him warning of it +too. Little Harrison,(10) whom I sent to Holland, is now actually made +Queen's Secretary at The Hague. It will be in the Gazette to-morrow. +'Tis worth twelve hundred pounds a year. Here is a young fellow has writ +some Sea Eclogues, poems of Mermen, resembling pastorals of shepherds, +and they are very pretty, and the thought is new. Mermen are +he-mermaids; Tritons, natives of the sea. Do you understand me? I think +to recommend him to our Society to-morrow. His name is Diaper.(11) P-- +on him, I must do something for him, and get him out of the way. I hate +to have any new wits rise, but when they do rise I would encourage them; +but they tread on our heels and thrust us off the stage. Nite deelest +MD. + +13. You would laugh to see our printer constantly attending our Society +after dinner, and bringing us whatever new thing he has printed, which +he seldom fails to do. Yet he had nothing to-day. Lord Lansdowne, one of +our Society, was offended at a passage in this day's Examiner, which he +thinks reflects on him, as I believe it does, though in a mighty civil +way. 'Tis only that his underlings cheat; but that he is a very fine +gentleman every way, etc.(12) Lord Orrery was President to-day; but +both our dukes were absent. Brother Wyndham recommended Diaper to the +Society. I believe we shall make a contribution among ourselves, which I +don't like. Lord Treasurer has yet done nothing for us, but we shall try +him soon. The company parted early, but Freind, and Prior, and I, sat a +while longer and reformed the State, and found fault with the Ministry. +Prior hates his Commission of the Customs, because it spoils his wit. He +says he dreams of nothing but cockets,(13) and dockets, and drawbacks, +and other jargon words of the custom-house. Our good weather went away +yesterday, and the nights are now dark, and I came home before ten. +Night nown... deelest sollahs. + +14. I have been plagued this morning with solicitors, and with nobody +more than my brother, Dr. Freind, who must needs have to get old Dr. +Lawrence,(14) the Physician-General, turned out and himself in. He has +argued with me so long upon the reasonableness of it, that I am fully +convinced it is very unreasonable; and so I would tell the Secretary, if +I had not already made him speak to the Queen. Besides, I know not but +my friend Dr. Arbuthnot would be content to have it himself, and I love +him ten times better than Freind. What's all this to you? but I must +talk of things as they happen in the day, whether you know anything +of them or no. I dined in the City, and, coming back, one Parson +Richardson(15) of Ireland overtook me. He was here last summer upon +a project of converting the Irish and printing Bibles, etc., in +that language, and is now returned to pursue it on. He tells me Dr. +Coghill(16) came last night (to) town. I will send to see how he does +to-morrow. He gave me a letter from Walls about his old business. Nite, +deelest MD. + +15. I had intended to be early with the Secretary this morning, when my +man admitted upstairs one Mr. Newcomb,(17) an officer, who brought me a +letter from the Bishop of Clogher, with four lines added by Mrs. Ashe, +all about that Newcomb. I think, indeed, his case is hard, but God +knows whether I shall be able to do him any service. People will +not understand: I am a very good second, but I care not to begin a +recommendation, unless it be for an intimate friend. However, I will do +what I can. I missed the Secretary, and then walked to Chelsea to dine +with the Dean of Christ Church,(18) who was engaged to Lord Orrery with +some other Christ Church men. He made me go with him whether I would or +not, for they have this long time admitted me a Christ Church man. +Lord Orrery, generally every winter, gives his old acquaintance of that +college a dinner. There were nine clergymen at table, and four laymen. +The Dean and I soon left them, and after a visit or two, I went to Lord +Masham's, and Lord Treasurer, Arbuthnot and I sat till twelve. And now I +am come home and got to bed. I came afoot, but had my man with me. Lord +Treasurer advised me not to go in a chair, because the Mohocks insult +chairs more than they do those on foot. They think there is some +mischievous design in those villains. Several of them, Lord Treasurer +told me, are actually taken up. I heard at dinner that one of them was +killed last night. We shall know more in a little time. I don't like +them, as the men said.(19) Nite MD. + +16. This morning, at the Secretary's, I met General Ross,(20) and +recommended Newcomb's case to him, who promises to join with me +in working up the Duke of Ormond to do something for him. Lord +Winchelsea(21) told me to-day at Court that two of the Mohocks caught +a maid of old Lady Winchelsea's,(22) at the door of their house in the +Park, where she was with a candle, and had just lighted out somebody. +They cut all her face, and beat her without any provocation. I hear my +friend Lewis has got a Mohock in one of the messenger's hands. The Queen +was at church to-day, but was carried in an open chair. She has got an +ugly cough, Arbuthnot, her physician, says. I dined with Crowe,(23) late +Governor of Barbados; an acquaintance of Sterne's.(24) After dinner I +asked him whether he had heard of Sterne. "Here he is," said he, "at the +door in a coach:" and in came Sterne. He has been here this week. He is +buying a captainship in his cousin Sterne's(25) regiment. He told me he +left Jemmy Leigh playing at cards with you. He is to give 800 guineas +for his commission. I suppose you know all this better than I. How shall +I have room to answer oo rettle(26) hen I get it, I have gone so far +already? Nite, deelest logues MD. + +17. Dr. Sacheverell came this morning to give me thanks for getting his +brother an employment. It was but six or seven weeks since I spoke to +Lord Treasurer for him. Sacheverell brought Trapp(27) along with him. We +dined together at my printer's, and I sat with them till seven. I little +thought, and I believe so did he, that ever I should be his solicitor +to the present Ministry, when I left Ireland. This is the seventh I have +now provided for since I came, and can do nothing for myself. I don't +care; I shall have Ministries and other people obliged to me. Trapp is a +coxcomb, and the t'other is not very deep; and their judgment in things +of wit or sense is miraculous. The Second Part of Law is a Bottomless +Pit(28) is just now printed, and better, I think, than the first. Night, +my two deel saucy dallars. + +18. There is a proclamation out against the Mohocks. One of those that +are taken is a baronet. I dined with poor Mrs. Wesley, who is returning +to the Bath. Mrs. Perceval's(29) young daughter has got the smallpox, +but will do well. I walked this evening in the Park, and met Prior, who +made me go home with him, where I stayed till past twelve, and could not +get a coach, and was alone, and was afraid enough of the Mohocks. I +will do so no more, though I got home safe. Prior and I were talking +discontentedly of some managements, that no more people are turned out, +which get Lord Treasurer many enemies: but whether the fault be in him, +or the Queen, I know not; I doubt, in both. Ung omens, it is now seven +weeks since I received your last; but I expect one next Irish packet, to +fill the rest of this paper; but if it don't come, I'll do without it: +so I wish oo good luck at ombre with the Dean. Nite, nuntyes nine.(30) + +19. Newcomb came to me this morning, and I went to the Duke of Ormond +to speak for him; but the Duke was just going out to take the oaths for +General. The Duke of Shrewsbury is to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. I +walked with Domville and Ford to Kensington, where we dined, and it +cost me above a crown. I don't like it, as the man said.(31) It was +very windy walking. I saw there Lord Masham's children. The youngest, my +nephew, I fear, has got the king's evil; the other two are daughters of +three and four years old. 'Twas very windy walking. The gardens there +are mighty fine. I passed the evening at Lord Masham's with Lord +Treasurer and Arbuthnot, as usual, and we stayed till past one; but I +had my man to come with me, and at home I found three letters; one from +one Fetherston, a parson, with a postscript of Tisdall's to recommend +him: and Fetherston, whom I never saw, has been so kind to give me +a letter of attorney to recover a debt for him. Another from Lord +Abercorn, to get him the dukedom of Chatelherault(32) from the King +of France; in which I will do what I can, for his pretensions are very +just. The third, I warrant you, from our MD. 'Tis a great stir this, of +getting a dukedom from the King of France: but it is only to speak to +the Secretary, and get the Duke of Ormond to engage in it, and mention +the case to Lord Treasurer, etc., and this I shall do. Nite deelest +richar MD. + +20. I was with the Duke of Ormond this morning, about Lord Abercorn, Dr. +Freind, and Newcomb. Some will do, and some will not do; that's wise, +marams.(33) The Duke of Shrewsbury is certainly to be your Governor. +I will go in a day or two, and give the Duchess joy, and recommend the +Archbishop of Dublin to her. I writ to the Archbishop, some months ago, +that it would be so, and told him I would speak a good word for him to +the Duchess; and he says he has a great respect for her, etc. I made our +Society change their house, and we met to-day at the Star and Garter +in the Pall Mall. Lord Arran was President. The other dog was so +extravagant in his bills, that for four dishes and four, first and +second course, without wine or dessert, he charged twenty-one pounds, +six shillings, and eightpence, to the Duke of Ormond. We design, when +all have been Presidents this turn, to turn it into a reckoning of so +much a head; but we shall break up when the session ends. Nite deelest +MD. + +21. Morning. Now I will answer MD's rettle, N.27; you that are adding +to your number and grumbling, had made it 26, and then altered(34) it +to 27. I believe it is above a month since your last; yes, it is above +seven weeks since I had your last: but I ought to consider that this +was twelve days right,(35) so that makes it pretty even. O, the sirry +zade,(36) with her excuses of a fortnight at Ballygall, seeing their +friends, and landlord running away. O Rold, hot a cruttle(37) and a +bustle!--No--if you will have it--I am not Dean of Wells,(38) nor know +anything of being so; nor is there anything in the story; and that's +enough. It was not Roper(39) sent that news: Roper is my humble +slave.--Yes, I heard of your resolves, and that Burton was embroiled. +Stratford spoke to me in his behalf; but I said I hated the rascal. Poor +Catherine gone to Wales? But she will come back again, I hope. I would +see her in my journey, if she were near the road; and bring her over. +Joe(40) is a fool; that sort of business is not at all in my way, pray +put him off it. People laugh when I mention it. Bed ee paadon, Maram; +I'm drad oo rike ee aplon:(41) no harm, I hope. And so... DD wonders +she has not a letter at the day; oo'll have it soon.... The D---- he is! +married to that vengeance! Men are not to be believed. I don't think her +a fool. Who would have her? Dilly will be governed like an ass; and she +will govern like a lion. Is not that true, Ppt? Why, Sterne told me he +left you at ombre with Leigh; and yet you never saw him. I know nothing +of his wife being here: it may cost her a c---(42) (I don't care +to write that word plain). He is a little in doubt about buying his +commission. Yes, I will bring oo over all the little papers I can think +on. I thought I sent you, by Leigh, all that were good at that time. The +author of the Sea Eclogues sent books to the Society yesterday, and we +gave him guineas apiece; and, maybe, will do further from him (for him, +I mean). So the Bishop of Clogher, and lady, were your guests for a +night or two. Why, Ppt, you are grown a great gamester and company +keeper. I did say to myself, when I read those names, just what you +guess; and you clear up the matter wonderfully. You may converse with +those two nymphs if you please, but the ----- take me if ever I do. Iss, +fais, it is delightful to hear that Ppt is every way Ppt now, in health, +and looks, and all. Pray God keep her so, many, many, many years. I +doubt the session will not be over till the end of April; however, I +shall not wait for it, if the Ministry will let me go sooner. I wish I +were just now in my garden at Laracor. I would set out for Dublin early +on Monday, and bring you an account of my young trees, which you are +better acquainted with than the Ministry, and so am I. Oh, now you have +got Number 41, have you so? Why, perhaps, I forgot, and kept it to next +post in my pocket: I have done such tricks. My cold is better, but not +gone. I want air and riding. Hold ee tongue, oo Ppt, about colds at +Moor Park! the case is quite different. I will do what you desire me for +Tisdall, when I next see Lord Anglesea. Pray give him my service. The +weather is warm these three or four days, and rainy. I am to dine to-day +with Lewis and Darteneuf at Somers's,(43) the Clerk of the Kitchen at +Court. Darteneuf loves good bits and good sups. Good mollows richar +sollohs.--At night. I dined, as I said; and it cost me a shilling for a +chair. It has rained all day, and is very warm. Lady Masham's young son, +my nephew, is very ill; and she is out of mind(44) with grief. I pity +her mightily. I am got home early, and going to write to the Bishop of +Clogher, but have no politics to send him. Nite my own two deelest saucy +d(ear) ones. + +22. I am going into the City this morning with a friend about some +business; so I will immediately seal up this, and keep it in my pottick +till evening, and zen put it in the post. The weather continues warm and +gloomy. I have heard no news since I went to bed, so can say no more. +Pray send... that I may have time to write to...(45) about it. I have +here underneath given order for forty shillings to Mrs. Brent, which you +will send to Parvisol. Farewell, deelest deel MD, and rove Pdfr dearly +dearly. Farewell, MD, MD, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, ME, Lele lele lele lele +lele lele, and lele aden. + + + + +LETTER 44.(1) + +LONDON, March 22, 1711-12. + +Ugly, nasty weather. I was in the City to-day with Mrs. Wesley and Mrs. +Perceval, to get money from a banker for Mrs. Wesley, who goes to Bath +on Thursday. I left them there, and dined with a friend, and went to see +Lord Treasurer; but he had people with him I did not know: so I went to +Lady Masham's, and lost a crown with her at picquet, and then sat with +Lord Masham and Lord Treasurer, etc., there till past one; but I had +my man with me, to come home. I gave in my forty-third, and one for the +Bishop of Clogher, to the post-office, as I came from the City; and +so oo know 'tis late now, and I have nothing to say for this day. Our +Mohocks are all vanished; however, I shall take care of my person. Nite +my own two deelest nuntyes MD. + +23. I was this morning, before church, with the Secretary, about Lord +Abercorn's business, and some others. My soliciting season is come, and +will last as long as the session. I went late to Court, and the company +was almost gone. The Court serves me for a coffee-house; once a week I +meet acquaintance there, that I should not otherwise see in a quarter. +There is a flying report that the French have offered a cessation of +arms, and to give us Dunkirk, and the Dutch Namur, for security, +till the peace is made. The Duke of Ormond, they say, goes in a week. +Abundance of his equipage is already gone. His(2) friends are afraid +the expense of this employment will ruin him, since he must lose the +government of Ireland. I dined privately with a friend, and refused all +dinners offered me at Court; which, however, were but two, and I did not +like either. Did I tell you of a scoundrel about the Court that sells +employments to ignorant people, and cheats them of their money? He +lately made a bargain for the Vice-Chamberlain's place, for seven +thousand pounds, and had received some guineas earnest; but the whole +thing was discovered t'other day, and examination taken of it by Lord +Dartmouth, and I hope he will be swinged. The Vice-Chamberlain told me +several particulars of it last night at Lord Masham's. Can DD play at +ombre yet, enough to hold the cards while Ppt steps into the next room? +Nite deelest sollahs.(3) + +24. This morning I recommended Newcomb again to the Duke of Ormond, and +left Dick Stewart(4) to do it further. Then I went to visit the Duchess +of Hamilton, who was not awake. So I went to the Duchess of Shrewsbury, +and sat an hour at her toilet. I talked to her about the Duke's being +Lord Lieutenant. She said she knew nothing of it; but I rallied her +out of that, and she resolves not to stay behind the Duke. I intend to +recommend the Bishop of Clogher to her for an acquaintance. He will +like her very well: she is, indeed, a most agreeable woman, and a great +favourite of mine. I know not whether the ladies in Ireland will like +her. I was at the Court of Requests, to get some lords to be at a +committee to-morrow, about a friend's Bill: and then the Duke of +Beaufort gave me a poem, finely bound in folio, printed at Stamford, and +writ by a country squire. Lord Exeter(5) desired the Duke to give it the +Queen, because the author is his friend; but the Duke desired I would +let him know whether it was good for anything. I brought it home, and +will return it to-morrow, as the dullest thing I ever read; and advise +the Duke not to present it. I dined with Domville at his lodgings, by +invitation; for he goes in a few days for Ireland. Nite dee MD. + +25. There is a mighty feast at a Tory sheriff's to-day in the City: +twelve hundred dishes of meat.--Above five lords, and several hundred +gentlemen, will be there, and give four or five guineas apiece, +according to custom. Dr. Coghill and I dined, by invitation, at Mrs. +Van's. It has rained or mizzled all day, as my pockets feel. There are +two new answers come out to the Conduct of the Allies. The last year's +Examiners, printed together in a small volume, go off but slowly. The +printer over-printed himself by at least a thousand; so soon out of +fashion are party papers, however so well writ. The Medleys are coming +out in the same volume, and perhaps may sell better. Our news about a +cessation of arms begins to flag, and I have not these three days seen +anybody in business to ask them about it. We had a terrible fire last +night in Drury Lane, or thereabouts, and three or four people destroyed. +One of the maids of honour has the smallpox; but the best is, she can +lose no beauty; and we have one new handsome maid of honour. Nite MD. + +26. I forgot to tell you that on Sunday last, about seven at night, +it lightened above fifty times as I walked the Mall, which I think is +extraordinary at this time of the year, and the weather was very +hot. Had you anything of this in Dublin? I intended to dine with Lord +Treasurer to-day; but Lord Mansel and Mr. Lewis made me dine with them +at Kit Musgrave's.(6) I sat the evening with Mrs. Wesley, who goes +to-morrow morning to the Bath. She is much better than she was. The news +of the French desiring a cessation of arms, etc., was but town talk. We +shall know in a few days, as I am told, whether there will be a peace +or not. The Duke of Ormond will go in a week for Flanders, they say. +Our Mohocks go on still, and cut people's faces every night; fais, they +shan't cut mine, I like it better as it is. The dogs will cost me at +least a crown a week in chairs. I believe the souls of your houghers of +cattle have got into them, and now they don't distinguish between a cow +and a Christian. I forgot to wish you yesterday a happy New Year. You +know the twenty-fifth of March is the first day of the year, and now you +must leave off cards, and put out your fire. I'll put out mine the first +of April, cold or not cold. I believe I shall lose credit with you by +not coming over at the beginning of April; but I hoped the session +would be ended, and I must stay till then; yet I would fain be at the +beginning of my willows growing. Perceval tells me that the quicksets +upon the flat in the garden do not grow so well as those famous ones +on the ditch. They want digging about them. The cherry-trees, by the +river-side, my heart is set upon. Nite MD. + +27. Society day. You know that, I suppose. Dr. Arthburnett(7) was +President. His dinner was dressed in the Queen's kitchen, and was mighty +fine. We ate it at Ozinda's Chocolate-house,(8) just by St. James's. +We were never merrier, nor better company, and did not part till after +eleven. I did not summon Lord Lansdowne: he and I are fallen out. There +was something in an Examiner a fortnight ago that he thought reflected +on the abuses in his office (he is Secretary at War), and he writ to the +Secretary that he heard I had inserted that paragraph. This I resented +highly, that he should complain of me before he spoke to me. I sent him +a peppering letter, and would not summon him by a note, as I did the +rest; nor ever will have anything to say to him, till he begs my pardon. +I met Lord Treasurer to-day at Lady Masham's. He would fain have carried +me home to dinner, but I begged his pardon. What! upon a Society day! +No, no. 'Tis rate, sollahs. I an't dlunk. Nite MD. + +28. I was with my friend Lewis to-day, getting materials for a little +mischief; and I dined with Lord Treasurer, and three or four fellows +I never saw before. I left them at seven, and came home, and have been +writing to the Archbishop of Dublin, and cousin Deane,(9) in answer to +one of his of four months old, that I spied by chance, routing among +my papers. I have a pain these two days exactly upon the top of my left +shoulder. I fear it is something rheumatic; it winches(10) now and then. +Shall I put flannel to it? Domville is going to Ireland; he came here +this morning to take leave of me, but I shall dine with him to-morrow. +Does the Bishop of Clogher talk of coming for England this summer? I +think Lord Molesworth told me so about two months ago. The weather +is bad again; rainy and very cold this evening. Do you know what the +longitude is? A projector(11) has been applying himself to me, to +recommend him to the Ministry, because he pretends to have found out the +longitude. I believe he has no more found it out than he has found out +mine...(12) However, I will gravely hear what he says, and discover him +a knave or fool. Nite MD. + +29. I am plagued with these pains in my shoulder; I believe it is +rheumatic; I will do something for it to-night. Mr. Lewis and I dined +with Mr. Domville, to take our leave of him. I drank three or four +glasses of champagne by perfect teasing, though it is bad for my pain; +but if it continue, I will not drink any wine without water till I am +well. The weather is abominably cold and wet. I am got into bed, and +have put some old flannel, for want of new, to my shoulder, and rubbed +it with Hungary water.(13) It is plaguy hard. I never would drink any +wine, if it were not for my head, and drinking has given me this pain. I +will try abstemiousness for a while. How does MD do now; how does DD and +Ppt? You must know I hate pain, as the old woman said. But I'll try to +go seep. My flesh sucks up Hungary water rarely. My man is an awkward +rascal, and makes me peevish. Do you know that t'other day he was forced +to beg my pardon, that he could not shave my head, his hand shook so? He +is drunk every day, and I design to turn him off soon as ever I get to +Ireland. I'll write no more now, but go to sleep, and see whether sleep +and flannel will cure my shoulder. Nite deelest MD. + +30. I was not able to go to church or Court to-day for my shoulder. +The pain has left my shoulder, and crept to my neck and collar-bone. It +makes me think of poo Ppt's bladebone. Urge, urge, urge; dogs gnawing. I +went in a chair at two, and dined with Mrs. Van, where I could be easy, +and came back at seven. My Hungary water is gone; and to-night I use +spirits of wine, which my landlady tells me is very good. It has rained +terribly all day long, and is extremely cold. I am very uneasy, and such +cruel twinges every moment! Nite deelest MD. + +31. April 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. All these days I have been extremely +ill, though I twice crawled out a week ago; but am now recovering, +though very weak. The violence of my pain abated the night before last: +I will just tell you how I was, and then send away this letter, which +ought to have gone Saturday last. The pain increased with mighty +violence in my left shoulder and collar-bone, and that side my neck. On +Thursday morning appeared great red spots in all those places where my +pain was, and the violence of the pain was confined to my neck behind, a +little on the left side; which was so violent that I had not a minute's +ease, nor hardly a minute's sleep in three days and nights. The spots +increased every day, and bred little pimples, which are now grown white, +and full of corruption, though small. The red still continues too, and +most prodigious hot and inflamed. The disease is the shingles. I eat +nothing but water-gruel; am very weak; but out of all violent pain. The +doctors say it would have ended in some violent disease if it had not +come out thus. I shall now recover fast. I have been in no danger +of life, but miserable torture. I must not write too much. So adieu, +deelest MD MD MD FW FW, ME ME ME, Lele. I can say lele yet, oo see. +Fais, I don't conceal a bit, as hope saved.(14) + +I(15) must purge and clyster after this; and my next letter will not +be in the old order of journal, till I have done with physic. An't oo +surprised to see a letter want half a side? + + + + +LETTER 45.(1) + +LONDON, April 24, 1712. + +I had your twenty-eighth two or three days ago. I can hardly answer it +now. Since my last I have been extremely ill. 'Tis this day just a month +since I felt a small pain on the tip of my left shoulder, which grew +worse, and spread for six days; then broke all out by my collar and left +side of my neck in monstrous red spots inflamed, and these grew to small +pimples. For four days I had no rest, nor nights, for a pain in my neck; +then I grew a little better; afterward, where my pains were, a cruel +itching seized me, beyond whatever I could imagine, and kept me awake +several nights. I rubbed it vehemently, but did not scratch it: then it +grew into three or four great sores like blisters, and run; at last I +advised the doctor to use it like a blister, so I did with melilot(2) +plasters, which still run: and am now in pain enough, but am daily +mending. I kept my chamber a fortnight, then went out a day or two, but +then confined myself again. Two days ago I went to a neighbour to dine, +but yesterday again kept at home. To-day I will venture abroad a little, +and hope to be well in a week or ten days. I never suffered so much in +my life. I have taken my breeches in above two inches, so I am leaner, +which answers one question in your letter. The weather is mighty fine. +I write in the morning, because I am better then. I will go and try +to walk a little. I will give DD's certificate to Tooke to-morrow. +Farewell, MD MD MD, ME ME, FW FW ME ME. + + + + +LETTER 46.(1) + +LONDON, May 10, 1712. + +I have not yet ease or humour enough to go on in my journal method, +though I have left my chamber these ten days. My pain continues still +in my shoulder and collar: I keep flannel on it, and rub it with brandy, +and take a nasty diet drink. I still itch terribly, and have some few +pimples; I am weak, and sweat; and then the flannel makes me mad with +itching; but I think my pain lessens. A journal, while I was sick, +would have been a noble thing, made up of pain and physic, visits, and +messages; the two last were almost as troublesome as the two first. One +good circumstance is that I am grown much leaner. I believe I told you +that I have taken in my breeches two inches. I had your N.29 last night. +In answer to your good opinion of my disease, the doctors said they +never saw anything so odd of the kind; they were not properly shingles, +but herpes miliaris, and twenty other hard names. I can never be sick +like other people, but always something out of the common way; and as +for your notion of its coming without pain, it neither came, nor +stayed, nor went without pain, and the most pain I ever bore in my life. +Medemeris(2) is retired in the country, with the beast her husband, long +ago. I thank the Bishop of Clogher for his proxy; I will write to him +soon. Here is Dilly's wife in town; but I have not seen her yet. No, +sinkerton:(3) 'tis not a sign of health, but a sign that, if it had not +come out, some terrible fit of sickness would have followed. I was at +our Society last Thursday, to receive a new member, the Chancellor of +the Exchequer;(4) but I drink nothing above wine and water. We shall +have a peace, I hope, soon, or at least entirely broke; but I believe +the first. My Letter to Lord Treasurer, about the English tongue,(5) is +now printing; and I suffer my name to be put at the end of it, which +I never did before in my life. The Appendix to the Third Part of John +Bull(6) was published yesterday; it is equal to the rest. I hope you +read John Bull. It was a Scotch gentleman,(7) a friend of mine, that +writ it; but they put it upon me. The Parliament will hardly be up +till June. We were like to be undone some days ago with a tack; but we +carried it bravely, and the Whigs came in to help us. Poor Lady Masham, +I am afraid, will lose her only son, about a twelvemonth old, with the +king's evil. I never would let Mrs. Fenton see me during my illness, +though she often came; but she has been once here since I recovered. +Bernage has been twice to see me of late. His regiment will be broke, +and he only upon half-pay; so perhaps he thinks he will want me again. +I am told here the Bishop of Clogher and family are coming over, but he +says nothing of it himself. I have been returning the visits of those +that sent howdees(8) in my sickness; particularly the Duchess of +Hamilton, who came and sat with me two hours. I make bargains with all +people that I dine with, to let me scrub my back against a chair; and +the Duchess of Ormond(9) was forced to bear it the other day. Many of +my friends are gone to Kensington, where the Queen has been removed for +some time. This is a long letter for a kick(10) body. I will begin the +next in the journal way, though my journals will be sorry ones. My left +hand is very weak, and trembles; but my right side has not been touched. + + This is a pitiful letter + For want of a better; + But plagued with a tetter, + My fancy does fetter. + +Ah! my poor willows and quicksets! Well, but you must read John Bull. +Do you understand it all? Did I tell you that young Parson Gery(11) is +going to be married, and asked my advice when it was too late to break +off? He tells me Elwick has purchased forty pounds a year in land +adjoining to his living. Ppt does not say one word of her own little +health. I am angry almost; but I won't, 'cause see im a dood dallar in +odle sings;(12) iss, and so im DD too. God bless MD, and FW, and ME, ay +and Pdfr too. Farewell, MD, MD, MD, FW, FW, FW. ME, ME Lele. I can say +lele it, ung oomens, iss I tan, well as oo. + + + + +LETTER 47.(1) + +LONDON, May 31, 1712. + +I cannot yet arrive to my journal letters, my pains continuing still, +though with less violence; but I don't love to write journals while I am +in pain; and above all, not journals to MD. But, however, I am so much +mended, that I intend my next shall be in the old way; and yet I shall, +perhaps, break my resolution when I feel pain. I believe I have lost +credit with you, in relation to my coming over; but I protest it is +impossible for one who has anything to do with this Ministry to be +certain when he fixes any time. There is a business which, till it take +some turn or other, I cannot leave this place in prudence or honour. And +I never wished so much as now that I had stayed in Ireland; but the +die is cast, and is now a spinning, and till it settles, I cannot tell +whether it be an ace or a sise.(2) I am confident by what you know +yourselves, that you will justify me in all this. The moment I am used +ill, I will leave them; but know not how to do it while things are in +suspense. The session will soon be over (I believe in a fortnight), and +the peace, we hope, will be made in a short time; and there will be +no further occasion for me; nor have I anything to trust to but Court +gratitude, so that I expect to see my willows(3) a month after the +Parliament is up: but I will take MD in my way, and not go to Laracor +like an unmannerly spraenekich ferrow.(4) Have you seen my Letter to +Lord Treasurer? There are two answers come out to it already;(5) though +it is no politics, but a harmless proposal about the improvement of +the English Tongue. I believe if I writ an essay upon a straw some +fool would answer it. About ten days hence I expect a letter from MD; +N.30.--You are now writing it, near the end, as I guess.--I have not +received DD's money; but I will give you a note for it on Parvisol, and +bed oo paadon(6) I have not done it before. I am just now thinking to go +lodge at Kensington for the air. Lady Masham has teased me to do it, but +business has hindered me; but now Lord Treasurer has removed thither. +Fifteen of our Society dined together under a canopy in an arbour +at Parson's Green(7) last Thursday: I never saw anything so fine and +romantic. We got a great victory last Wednesday in the House of Lords +by a majority, I think, of twenty-eight; and the Whigs had desired their +friends to bespeak places to see Lord Treasurer carried to the Tower.(8) +I met your Higgins(9) here yesterday: he roars at the insolence of +the Whigs in Ireland, talks much of his own sufferings and expenses in +asserting the cause of the Church; and I find he would fain plead merit +enough to desire that his fortune should be mended. I believe he designs +to make as much noise as he can in order to preferment. Pray let the +Provost, when he sees you, give you ten English shillings, and I will +give as much here to the man who delivered me Rymer's books:(10) he +knows the meaning. Tell him I will not trust him, but that you can order +it to be paid me here; and I will trust you till I see you. Have I told +you that the rogue Patrick has left me these two months, to my great +satisfaction? I have got another, who seems to be much better, if he +continues it. I am printing a threepenny pamphlet,(11) and shall print +another in a fortnight, and then I have done, unless some new occasion +starts. Is my curate Warburton married to Mrs. Melthrop in my parish? so +I hear. Or is it a lie? Has Raymond got to his new house? Do you see +Joe now and then? What luck have you at ombre? How stands it with the +Dean?...(12) My service to Mrs. Stoyte, and Catherine, if she be come +from Wales. I have not yet seen Dilly Ashe's wife. I called once, but +she was not at home: I think she is under the doctor's hand....(13) I +believe the news of the Duke of Ormond producing letters in the council +of war, with orders not to fight, will surprise you in Ireland. Lord +Treasurer said in the House of Lords that in a few days the treaty of +peace should be laid before them; and our Court thought it wrong to +hazard a battle, and sacrifice many lives in such a juncture. If the +peace holds, all will do well, otherwise I know not how we shall weather +it. And it was reckoned as a wrong step in politics for Lord Treasurer +to open himself so much. The Secretary would not go so far to satisfy +the Whigs in the House of Commons; but there all went swimmingly. I'll +say no more to oo to-nite, sellohs, because I must send away the letter, +not by the bell,(14) but early: and besides, I have not much more to say +at zis plesent liting.(15) Does MD never read at all now, pee?(16) But +oo walk plodigiousry, I suppose; oo make nothing of walking to, to, +to, ay, to Donnybrook. I walk too as much as I can, because sweating is +good; but I'll walk more if I go to Kensington. I suppose I shall have +no apples this year neither, for I dined t'other day with Lord Rivers, +who is sick at his country-house, and he showed me all his cherries +blasted. Nite deelest sollahs; farewell deelest rives; rove poo poo +Pdfr. Farewell deelest richar MD, MD, MD, FW, FW, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, +Lele, ME, Lele, Lele, richar MD. + + + + +LETTER 48.(1) + +KENSINGTON, June 17, 1712. + +I have been so tosticated about since my last, that I could not go on in +my journal manner, though my shoulder is a great deal better; however, I +feel constant pain in it, but I think it diminishes, and I have cut off +some slices from my flannel. I have lodged here near a fortnight, partly +for the air and exercise, partly to be near the Court, where dinners +are to be found. I generally get a lift in a coach to town, and in the +evening I walk back. On Saturday I dined with the Duchess of Ormond at +her lodge near Sheen, and thought to get a boat back as usual. I walked +by the bank to Cue (Kew), but no boat, then to Mortlake, but no boat, +and it was nine o'clock. At last a little sculler called, full of nasty +people. I made him set me down at Hammersmith, so walked two miles +to this place, and got here by eleven. Last night I had another such +difficulty. I was in the City till past ten at night; it rained hard, +but no coach to be had. It gave over a little, and I walked all the way +here, and got home by twelve. I love these shabby difficulties when they +are over; but I hate them, because they arise from not having a thousand +pound a year. I had your N.30 about three days ago, which I will now +answer. And first, I did not relapse, but found(2) I came out before I +ought; and so, and so, as I have told you in some of my last. The first +coming abroad made people think I was quite recovered, and I had no more +messages afterwards. Well, but John Bull is not writ by the person you +imagine, as hope!(3) It is too good for another to own. Had it been Grub +Street, I would have let people think as they please; and I think that's +right: is not it now? so flap ee hand, and make wry mouth oo-self, sauci +doxi. Now comes DD. Why sollah, I did write in a fortnight my 47th; +and if it did not come in due time, can I help wind and weather? am I a +Laplander? am I a witch? can I work miracles? can I make easterly winds? +Now I am against Dr. Smith. I drink little water with my wine, yet I +believe he is right. Yet Dr. Cockburn told me a little wine would not +hurt me; but it is so hot and dry, and water is so dangerous. The worst +thing here is my evenings at Lord Masham's, where Lord Treasurer comes, +and we sit till after twelve. But it is convenient I should be among +them for a while as much as possible. I need not tell oo why. But I hope +that will be at an end in a month or two, one way or other, and I am +resolved it shall. But I can't go to Tunbridge, or anywhere else out of +the way, in this juncture. So Ppt designs for Templeoag (what a name +is that!). Whereabouts is that place? I hope not very far from Dublin. +Higgins is here, roaring that all is wrong in Ireland, and would have +me get him an audience of Lord Treasurer to tell him so; but I will have +nothing to do in it, no, not I, faith. We have had no thunder till last +night, and till then we were dead for want of rain; but there fell a +great deal: no field looked green. I reckon the Queen will go to Windsor +in three or four weeks: and if the Secretary takes a house there, I +shall be sometimes with him. But how affectedly Ppt talks of my being +here all the summer; which I do not intend: nor to stay one minute +longer in England than becomes the circumstances I am in. I wish you +would go soon into the country, and take a good deal of it; and where +better than Trim? Joe will be your humble servant, Parvisol your slave, +and Raymond at your command, for he piques himself on good manners. I +have seen Dilly's wife--and I have seen once or twice old Bradley(4) +here. He is very well, very old, and very wise: I believe I must go see +his wife, when I have leisure. I should be glad to see Goody Stoyte and +her husband; pray give them my humble service, and to Catherine, and to +Mrs. Walls--I am not the least bit in love with Mrs. Walls--I suppose +the cares of the husband increase with the fruitfulness of the wife. I +am grad at halt(5) to hear of Ppt's good health: pray let her finish it +by drinking waters. I hope DD had her bill, and has her money. Remember +to write a due time before ME money is wanted, and be good galls, +dood dallars, I mean, and no crying dallars. I heard somebody coming +upstairs, and forgot I was in the country; and I was afraid of a +visitor: that is one advantage of being here, that I am not teased with +solicitors. Molt, the chemist, is my acquaintance. My service to Dr. +Smith. I sent the question to him about Sir Walter Raleigh's cordial, +and the answer he returned is in these words: "It is directly after Mr. +Boyle's receipt." That commission is performed; if he wants any of it, +Molt shall use him fairly. I suppose Smith is one of your physicians. +So, now your letter is fully and impartially answered; not as rascals +answer me: I believe, if I writ an essay upon a straw, I should have a +shoal of answerers: but no matter for that; you see I can answer without +making any reflections, as becomes men of learning. Well, but now for +the peace: why, we expect it daily; but the French have the staff +in their own hands, and we trust to their honesty. I wish it were +otherwise. Things are now in the way of being soon in the extremes of +well or ill. I hope and believe the first. Lord Wharton is gone out of +town in a rage, and curses himself and friends for ruining themselves +in defending Lord Marlborough and Godolphin, and taking Nottingham into +their favour. He swears he will meddle no more during this reign; a +pretty speech at sixty-six, and the Queen is near twenty years younger, +and now in very good health; for you must know her health is fixed by +a certain reason, that she has done with braces (I must use the +expression), and nothing ill is happened to her since; so she has a new +lease of her life. Read the Letter to a Whig Lord.(6) Do you ever read? +Why don't you say so? I mean does DD read to Ppt? Do you walk? I think +Ppt should walk to(7) DD; as DD reads to Ppt, for Ppt oo must know is a +good walker; but not so good as Pdfr. I intend to dine to-day with Mr. +Lewis, but it threatens rain; and I shall be too late to get a lift; and +I must write to the Bishop of Clogher. 'Tis now ten in the morning; and +this is all writ at a heat. Farewell deelest... deelest MD, MD, MD, MD, +MD, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, ME, Lele, ME, Lele, ME, Lele, ME, Lele, Lele, +Lele, ME. + + + + +LETTER 49.(1) + +KENSINGTON, July 1, 1712. + +I never was in a worse station for writing letters than this, especially +for writing to MD, since I left off my journals. For I go to town early; +and when I come home at night, I generally go to Lord Masham, where Lord +Treasurer comes, and we stay till past twelve. But I am now resolved +to write journals again, though my shoulder is not yet well; for I have +still a few itching pimples, and a little pain now and then. It is now +high cherry-time with us; take notice, is it so soon with you? And we +have early apricots, and gooseberries are ripe. On Sunday Archdeacon +Parnell came here to see me. It seems he has been ill for grief of his +wife's death,(2) and has been two months at the Bath. He has a mind +to go to Dunkirk with Jack Hill,(3) and I persuade him to it, and have +spoke to Hill to receive him; but I doubt he won't have spirit to go. I +have made Ford(4) Gazetteer, and got two hundred pounds a year settled +on the employment by the Secretary of State, beside the perquisites. +It is the prettiest employment in England of its bigness; yet the puppy +does not seem satisfied with it. I think people keep some follies to +themselves, till they have occasion to produce them. He thinks it not +genteel enough, and makes twenty difficulties. 'Tis impossible to make +any man easy. His salary is paid him every week, if he pleases, without +taxes or abatements. He has little to do for it. He has a pretty office, +with coals, candles, papers, etc.; can frank what letters he will; and +his perquisites, if he takes care, may be worth one hundred pounds more. +I hear the Bishop of Clogher is landing, or landed, in England; and I +hope to see him in a few days. I was to see Mrs. Bradley(5) on Sunday +night. Her youngest son is married to somebody worth nothing, and her +daughter was forced to leave Lady Giffard, because she was striking up +an intrigue with a footman, who played well upon the flute. This is the +mother's account of it. Yesterday the old Bishop of Worcester,(6) who +pretends to be a prophet, went to the Queen, by appointment, to prove +to Her Majesty, out of Daniel and the Revelations, that four years hence +there would be a war of religion; that the King of France would be +a Protestant, and fight on their side; that the Popedom would be +destroyed, etc.; and declared that he would be content to give up his +bishopric if it were not true. Lord Treasurer, who told it me, was by, +and some others; and I am told Lord Treasurer confounded him sadly in +his own learning, which made the old fool very quarrelsome. He is near +ninety years old. Old Bradley is fat and lusty, and has lost his palsy. +Have you seen Toland's Invitation to Dismal?(7) How do you like it? But +it is an imitation of Horace, and perhaps you don't understand Horace. +Here has been a great sweep of employments, and we expect still more +removals. The Court seems resolved to make thorough work. Mr. Hill +intended to set out to-morrow for Dunkirk, of which he is appointed +Governor; but he tells me to-day that he cannot go till Thursday or +Friday. I wish it were over. Mr. Secretary tells me he is (in) no fear +at all that France will play tricks with us. If we have Dunkirk once, +all is safe. We rail now all against the Dutch, who, indeed, have acted +like knaves, fools, and madmen. Mr. Secretary is soon to be made a +viscount. He desired I would draw the preamble of his patent; but +I excused myself from a work that might lose me a great deal of +reputation, and get me very little. We would fain have the Court make +him an earl, but it would not be; and therefore he will not take the +title of Bullenbrook,(8) which is lately extinct in the elder branch of +his family. I have advised him to be called Lord Pomfret; but he thinks +that title is already in some other family;(9) and, besides, he objects +that it is in Yorkshire, where he has no estate; but there is nothing in +that, and I love Pomfret. Don't you love Pomfret? Why? 'Tis in all our +histories; they are full of Pomfret Castle. But what's all this to you? +You don't care for this. Is Goody Stoyte come to London? I have not +heard of her yet. The Dean of St. Patrick's never had the manners to +answer my letter. I was t'other day to see Sterne(10) and his wife. +She is not half so handsome as when I saw her with you at Dublin. They +design to pass the summer at a house near Lord Somers's, about a dozen +miles off. You never told me how my "Letter to Lord Treasurer" passes in +Ireland. I suppose you are drinking at this time Temple-something's(11) +waters. Steele was arrested the other day for making a lottery directly +against an Act of Parliament. He is now under prosecution; but they +think it will be dropped out of pity.(12) I believe he will very soon +lose his employment, for he has been mighty impertinent of late in his +Spectators; and I will never offer a word in his behalf. Raymond writes +me word that the Bishop of Meath(13) was going to summon me, in order +to suspension, for absence, if the Provost had not prevented him. I am +prettily rewarded for getting them their First-Fruits, with a p--. We +have had very little hot weather during the whole month of June; and for +a week past we have had a great deal of rain, though not every day. I am +just now told that the Governor of Dunkirk has not orders yet to deliver +up the town to Jack Hill and his forces, but expects them daily. This +must put off Hill's journey a while, and I don't like these stoppings in +such an affair. Go, get oo gone, and drink oo waters, if this rain has +not spoiled them, sauci doxi. I have no more to say to oo at plesent; +but rove Pdfr, and MD, and ME. And Podefr will rove Pdfr, and MD and +ME. I wish you had taken any account when I sent money to Mrs. Brent. +I believe I han't done it a great while. And pray send me notice when +ME... to have it when it is due.(14) Farewell, dearest MD FW FW FW ME ME +ME. + + + + +LETTER 50.(1) + +KENSINGTON, July 17, 1712. + +I am weary of living in this place, and glad to leave it soon. The Queen +goes on Tuesday to Windsor, and I shall follow in three or four days +after. I can do nothing here, going early to London, and coming late +from it, and supping at Lady Masham's. I dined to-day with the Duke of +Argyle at Cue (Kew), and would not go to the Court to-night, because of +writing to MD. The Bishop of Clogher has been here this fortnight: I see +him as often as I can. Poor Master Ashe has a sad redness in his face; +it is St. Anthony's fire; his face all swelled, and will break in his +cheek, but no danger. Since Dunkirk has been in our hands, Grub Street +has been very fruitful. Pdfr has writ five or six Grub Street papers +this last week. Have you seen Toland's Invitation to Dismal, or Hue and +Cry after Dismal, or Ballad on Dunkirk, or Argument that Dunkirk is not +in our Hands? Poh! you have seen nothing. I am dead here with the hot +weather; yet I walk every night home, and believe it does me good: +but my shoulder is not yet right; itchings, and scratchings, and small +achings. Did I tell you I had made Ford Gazetteer, with two hundred +pounds a year salary, beside perquisites? I had a letter lately from +Parvisol, who says my canal looks very finely; I long to see it; but +no apples; all blasted again. He tells me there will be a triennial +visitation in August. I must send Raymond another proxy. So now I will +answer oo rettle N.33,(2) dated June 17. Ppt writes as well as ever, for +all her waters. I wish I had never come here, as often and as heartily +as Ppt. What had I to do here? I have heard of the Bishop's making me +uneasy, but I did not think it was because I never writ to him. A little +would make me write to him, but I don't know what to say. I find I am +obliged to the Provost for keeping the Bishop(3) from being impertinent. +Yes, Maram DD, but oo would not be content with letters flom Pdfr of six +lines, or twelve either, fais. I hope Ppt will have done with the waters +soon, and find benefit by them. I believe, if they were as far off +as Wexford, they would do as much good; for I take the journey to +contribute as much as anything. I can assure you the Bishop of Clogher's +being here does not in the least affect my staying or going. I never +talked to Higgins but once in my life in the street, and I believe he +and I shall hardly meet but by chance. What care I whether my Letter to +Lord Treasurer be commended there or no? Why does not somebody among +you answer it, as three or four have done here? (I am now sitting with +nothing but my nightgown, for heat.) Ppt shall have a great Bible. I +have put it down in my memlandums(4) just now. And DD shall be repaid +her t'other book; but patience, all in good time: you are so hasty, +a dog would, etc. So Ppt has neither won nor lost. Why, mun, I play +sometimes too at picket, that is picquet, I mean; but very seldom.--Out +late? why, 'tis only at Lady Masham's, and that is in our town; but I +never come late here from London, except once in rain, when I could +not get a coach. We have had very little thunder here; none these +two months. Why, pray, madam philosopher, how did the rain hinder the +thunder from doing any harm? I suppose it ssquenched it. So here comes +Ppt aden(5) with her little watery postscript. O Rold, dlunken srut!(6) +drink Pdfr's health ten times in a morning! you are a whetter, fais; +I sup MD's fifteen times evly molning in milk porridge. Lele's fol oo +now--and lele's fol oo rettle, and evly kind of sing(7)--and now I +must say something else. You hear Secretary St. John is made Viscount +Bullinbrook.(8) I can hardly persuade him to take that title, because +the eldest branch of his family had it in an earldom, and it was last +year extinct. If he did not take it, I advised him to be Lord Pomfret, +which I think is a noble title. You hear of it often in the Chronicles, +Pomfret Castle: but we believed it was among the titles of some other +lord. Jack Hill sent his sister a pattern of a head-dress from Dunkirk; +it was like our fashion twenty years ago, only not quite so high, and +looked very ugly. I have made Trapp(9) chaplain to Lord Bullinbroke, and +he is mighty happy and thankful for it. Mr. Addison returned me my +visit this morning. He lives in our town. I shall be mighty retired, and +mighty busy for a while at Windsor. Pray why don't MD go to Trim, and +see Laracor, and give me an account of the garden, and the river, and +the holly and the cherry-trees on the river-walk? + +19. I could not send this letter last post, being called away before I +could fold or finish it. I dined yesterday with Lord Treasurer; sat with +him till ten at night; yet could not find a minute for some business I +had with him. He brought me to Kensington, and Lord Bulingbrook would +not let me go away till two; and I am now in bed, very lazy and sleepy +at nine. I must shave head and face, and meet Lord Bullinbrook at +eleven, and dine again with Lord Treasurer. To-day there will be another +Grub,(10) A Letter from the Pretender to a Whig Lord. Grub Street has +but ten days to live; then an Act of Parliament takes place that ruins +it, by taxing every half-sheet at a halfpenny. We have news just come, +but not the particulars, that the Earl of Albemarle,(11) at the head of +eight thousand Dutch, is beaten, lost the greatest part of his men, and +himself a prisoner. This perhaps may cool their courage, and make them +think of a peace. The Duke of Ormond has got abundance of credit by his +good conduct of affairs in Flanders. We had a good deal of rain last +night, very refreshing. 'Tis late, and I must rise. Don't play at ombre +in your waters, sollah. Farewell, deelest MD, MD MD MD FW FW ME ME ME +Lele Lele Lele. + + + + +LETTER 51.(1) + +LONDON, Aug. 7, 1712. + +I had your N.32 at Windsor: I just read it, and immediately sealed it up +again, and shall read it no more this twelvemonth at least. The reason +of my resentment at it is, because you talk as glibly of a thing as if +it were done, which, for aught I know, is farther from being done than +ever, since I hear not a word of it, though the town is full of it, and +the Court always giving me joy and vexation. You might be sure I would +have let you know as soon as it was done; but I believe you fancied I +would affect not to tell it you, but let you learn it from newspapers +and reports. I remember only there was something in your letter about +ME's money, and that shall be taken care of on the other side. I left +Windsor on Monday last, upon Lord Bolingbroke's being gone to France, +and somebody's being here that I ought often to consult with in an +affair I am upon: but that person talks of returning to Windsor again, +and I believe I shall follow him. I am now in a hedge-lodging very busy, +as I am every day till noon: so that this letter is like to be short, +and you are not to blame me these two months; for I protest, if I study +ever so hard, I cannot in that time compass what I am upon. We have +a fever both here and at Windsor, which hardly anybody misses; but it +lasts not above three or four days, and kills nobody.(2) The Queen has +forty servants down of it at once. I dined yesterday with Treasurer, but +could do no business, though he sent for me, I thought, on purpose; +but he desires I will dine with him again to-day. Windsor is a most +delightful place, and at this time abounds in dinners. My lodgings there +look upon Eton and the Thames. I wish I was owner of them; they belong +to a prebend. God knows what was in your letter; and if it be not +answered, whose fault is it, sauci dallars?--Do you know that Grub +Street is dead and gone last week? No more ghosts or murders now for +love or money. I plied it pretty close the last fortnight, and published +at least seven penny papers of my own, besides some of other people's: +but now every single half-sheet pays a halfpenny to the Queen.(3) The +Observator is fallen; the Medleys are jumbled together with the Flying +Post; the Examiner is deadly sick; the Spectator keeps up, and doubles +its price; I know not how long it will hold. Have you seen the red +stamp the papers are marked with? Methinks it is worth a halfpenny, +the stamping it. Lord Bolingbroke and Prior set out for France last +Saturday. My lord's business is to hasten the peace before the Dutch +are too much mauled, and hinder France from carrying the jest of beating +them too far. Have you seen the Fourth Part of John Bull?(4) It is equal +to the rest, and extremely good. The Bishop of Clogher's son has been +ill of St. Anthony's fire, but is now quite well. I was afraid his face +would be spoiled, but it is not. Dilly is just as he used to be, and +puns as plentifully and as bad. The two brothers see one another; but I +think not the two sisters. Raymond writ to me that he intended to invite +you to Trim. Are you, have you, will you be there? Won't oo see pool +Laratol?(5) Parvisol says I shall have no fruit. Blasts have taken away +all. Pray observe the cherry-trees on the river-walk; but oo are too +lazy to take such a journey. If you have not your letters in due time +for two months hence, impute it to my being tosticated between this and +Windsor. And pray send me again the state of ME's money; for I will not +look into your letter for it. Poor Lord Winchelsea(6) is dead, to my +great grief. He was a worthy honest gentleman, and particular friend of +mine: and, what is yet worse, my old acquaintance, Mrs. Finch,(7) is +now Countess of Winchelsea, the title being fallen to her husband, but +without much estate. I have been poring my eyes all this morning, and it +is now past two afternoon, so I shall take a little walk in the Park. +Do you play at ombre still? Or is that off by Mr. Stoyte's absence, and +Mrs. Manley's grief? Somebody was telling me of a strange sister that +Mrs. Manley has got in Ireland, who disappointed you all about her being +handsome. My service to Mrs. Walls. Farewell, deelest MD MD MD, FW FW +FW, ME ME ME ME ME. Lele, logues both; rove poo Pdfr. + + + + +LETTER 52.(1) + +WINDSOR, Sept. 15, 1712. + +I never was so long without writing to MD as now, since I left them, nor +ever will again while I am able to write. I have expected from one week +to another that something would be done in my own affairs; but nothing +at all is, nor I don't know when anything will, or whether ever at all, +so slow are people at doing favours. I have been much out of order of +late with the old giddiness in my head. I took a vomit for it two days +ago, and will take another about a day or two hence. I have eat mighty +little fruit; yet I impute my disorder to that little, and shall +henceforth wholly forbear it. I am engaged in a long work, and have +done all I can of it, and wait for some papers from the Ministry for +materials for the rest; and they delay me, as if it were a favour I +asked of them; so that I have been idle here this good while, and it +happened in a right time, when I was too much out of order to study. One +is kept constantly out of humour by a thousand unaccountable things +in public proceedings; and when I reason with some friends, we cannot +conceive how affairs can last as they are. God only knows, but it is a +very melancholy subject for those who have any near concern in it. I am +again endeavouring, as I was last year, to keep people(2) from breaking +to pieces upon a hundred misunderstandings. One cannot withhold them +from drawing different ways, while the enemy is watching to destroy +both. See how my style is altered, by living and thinking and talking +among these people, instead of my canal and river-walk and willows. I +lose all my money here among the ladies;(3) so that I never play when I +can help it, being sure to lose. I have lost five pounds the five weeks +I have been here. I hope Ppt is luckier at picquet with the Dean and +Mrs. Walls. The Dean never answered my letter, though. I have clearly +forgot whether I sent a bill for ME in any of my last letters. I think I +did; pray let me know, and always give me timely notice. I wait here but +to see what they will do for me; and whenever preferments are given from +me, as hope saved, I will come over. + +18. I have taken a vomit to-day, and hope I shall be better. I have been +very giddy since I writ what is before, yet not as I used to be: more +frequent, but not so violent. Yesterday we were alarmed with the Queen's +being ill: she had an aguish and feverish fit; and you never saw such +countenances as we all had, such dismal melancholy. Her physicians from +town were sent for, but towards night she grew better; to-day she missed +her fit, and was up: we are not now in any fear; it will be at worst but +an ague, and we hope even that will not return. Lord Treasurer would not +come here from London, because it would make a noise if he came before +his usual time, which is Saturday, and he goes away on Mondays. The +Whigs have lost a great support in the Earl of Godolphin.(4) It is a +good jest to hear the Ministers talk of him now with humanity and pity, +because he is dead, and can do them no more hurt. Lady Orkney,(5) the +late King's mistress (who lives at a fine place, five miles from hence, +called Cliffden(6)), and I, are grown mighty acquaintance. She is the +wisest woman I ever saw; and Lord Treasurer made great use of her advice +in the late change of affairs. I heard Lord Marlborough is growing ill +of his diabetes; which, if it be true, may soon carry him off; and then +the Ministry will be something more at ease. MD has been a long time +without writing to Pdfr, though they have not the same cause: it is +seven weeks since your last came to my hands, which was N.32, that you +may not be mistaken. I hope Ppt has not wanted her health. You were then +drinking waters. The doctor tells me I must go into a course of steel, +though I have not the spleen; for that they can never give me, though I +have as much provocation to it as any man alive. Bernage's(7) regiment +is broke; but he is upon half-pay. I have not seen him this long time; +but I suppose he is overrun with melancholy. My Lord Shrewsbury is +certainly designed to be Governor of Ireland; and I believe the Duchess +will please the people there mightily. The Irish Whig leaders promise +great things to themselves from his government; but care shall be taken, +if possible, to prevent them. Mrs. Fenton(8) has writ to me that she has +been forced to leave Lady Giffard, and come to town, for a rheumatism: +that lady does not love to be troubled with sick people. Mrs. Fenton +writes to me as one dying, and desires I would think of her son: I have +not answered her letter. She is retired(9) to Mrs. Povey's. Is my aunt +alive yet? and do you ever see her? I suppose she has forgot the loss of +her son. Is Raymond's new house quite finished? and does he squander as +he used to do? Has he yet spent all his wife's fortune? I hear there are +five or six people putting strongly in for my livings; God help them! +But if ever the Court should give me anything, I would recommend Raymond +to the Duke of Ormond; not for any particular friendship to him, but +because it would be proper for the minister of Trim to have Laracor. You +may keep the gold-studded snuff-box now; for my brother Hill, Governor +of Dunkirk, has sent me the finest that ever you saw.(10) It is allowed +at Court that none in England comes near it, though it did not cost +above twenty pounds. And the Duchess of Hamilton has made me pockets for +(it) like a woman's, with a belt and buckle (for, you know, I wear +no waistcoat in summer), and there are several divisions, and one on +purpose for my box, oh ho!--We have had most delightful weather this +whole week; but illness and vomiting have hindered me from sharing in a +great part of it. Lady Masham made the Queen send to Kensington for some +of her preserved ginger for me, which I take in the morning, and hope +it will do me good. Mrs. Brent(11) sent me a letter by a young fellow, +a printer, desiring I would recommend him here, which you may tell her +I have done: but I cannot promise what will come of it, for it is +necessary they should be made free here(12) before they can be employed. +I remember I put the boy prentice to Brent. I hope Parvisol has set my +tithes well this year: he has writ nothing to me about it; pray talk to +him of it when you see him, and let him give me an account how things +are. I suppose the corn is now off the ground. I hope he has sold that +great ugly horse. Why don't you sell to him? He keeps me at charges +for horses that I never ride: yours is lame, and will never be good for +anything. The Queen will stay here about a month longer, I suppose; but +Lady Masham will go in ten days to lie in at Kensington. Poor creature, +she fell down in the court here t'other day. She would needs walk across +it upon some displeasure with her chairmen, and was likely to be spoiled +so near her time; but we hope all is over for a black eye and a sore +side: though I shall not be at ease till she is brought to bed. I find I +can fill up a letter, some way or other, without a journal. If I had +not a spirit naturally cheerful, I should be very much discontented at +a thousand things. Pray God preserve MD's health, and Pdfr's, and that +I may live far from the envy and discontent that attends those who are +thought to have more favour at Courts than they really possess. Love +Pdfr, who loves MD above all things. Farewell, deelest, ten thousand +times deelest, MD MD MD, FW FW, ME ME ME ME. Lele, Lele, Lele, Lele. + + + + +LETTER 53.(1) + +LONDON, Oct. 9, 1712. + +I have left Windsor these ten days, and am deep in pills with +asafoetida, and a steel bitter drink; and I find my head much better +than it was. I was very much discouraged; for I used to be ill for three +or four days together, ready to totter as I walked. I take eight pills a +day, and have taken, I believe, a hundred and fifty already. The Queen, +Lord Treasurer, Lady Masham, and I, were all ill together, but are now +all better; only Lady Masham expects every day to lie in at Kensington. +There was never such a lump of lies spread about the town together as +now. I doubt not but you will have them in Dublin before this comes to +you, and all without the least grounds of truth. I have been mightily +put backward in something I am writing by my illness, but hope to fetch +it up, so as to be ready when the Parliament meets. Lord Treasurer has +had an ugly fit of the rheumatism, but is now near quite well. I was +playing at one-and-thirty with him and his family t'other night. He +gave us all twelvepence apiece to begin with: it put me in mind of Sir +William Temple.(2) I asked both him and Lady Masham seriously whether +the Queen were at all inclined to a dropsy, and they positively assured +me she was not: so did her physician Arbuthnot, who always attends her. +Yet these devils have spread that she has holes in her legs, and runs +at her navel, and I know not what. Arbuthnot has sent me from Windsor a +pretty Discourse upon Lying, and I have ordered the printer to come for +it. It is a proposal for publishing a curious piece, called The Art of +Political Lying, in two volumes, etc. And then there is an abstract of +the first volume, just like those pamphlets which they call The Works of +the Learned.(3) Pray get it when it comes out. The Queen has a little of +the gout in one of her hands. I believe she will stay a month still at +Windsor. Lord Treasurer showed me the kindest letter from her in the +world, by which I picked out one secret, that there will be soon +made some Knights of the Garter. You know another is fallen by Lord +Godolphin's death: he will be buried in a day or two at Westminster +Abbey. I saw Tom Leigh(4) in town once. The Bishop of Clogher has taken +his lodging for the winter; they are all well. I hear there are in town +abundance of people from Ireland; half a dozen bishops at least. The +poor old Bishop of London,(5) at past fourscore, fell down backward +going upstairs, and I think broke or cracked his skull; yet is now +recovering. The town is as empty as at midsummer; and if I had not +occasion for physic, I would be at Windsor still. Did I tell you of Lord +Rivers's will? He has left legacies to about twenty paltry old whores by +name, and not a farthing to any friend, dependent, or relation: he has +left from his only child, Lady Barrymore,(6) her mother's estate, and +given the whole to his heir-male, a popish priest, a second cousin, who +is now Earl Rivers, and whom he used in his life like a footman. After +him it goes to his chief wench and bastard. Lord Treasurer and Lord +Chamberlain are executors of this hopeful will. I loved the man, and +detest his memory. We hear nothing of peace yet: I believe verily the +Dutch are so wilful, because they are told the Queen cannot live. I had +poor MD's letter, N.3,(7) at Windsor: but I could not answer it +then; poor Pdfr was vely kick(8) then: and, besides, it was a very +inconvenient place to send letters from. Oo thought to come home +the same day, and stayed a month: that was a sign the place was +agreeable.(9) I should love such a sort of jaunt. Is that lad +Swanton(10) a little more fixed than he used to be? I think you like +the girl very well. She has left off her grave airs, I suppose. I am now +told Lord Godolphin was buried last night.--O poo Ppt! lay down oo head +aden, fais I...; I always reckon if oo are ill I shall hear it, and +therefore hen oo are silent I reckon all is well.(11) I believe I +'scaped the new fever(12) for the same reason that Ppt did, because I am +not well; but why should DD 'scape it, pray? She is melthigal, oo know, +and ought to have the fever; but I hope it is now too late, and she +won't have it at all. Some physicians here talk very melancholy, and +think it foreruns the plague, which is actually at Hamburg. I hoped Ppt +would have done with her illness; but I think we both have that faculty +never to part with a disorder for ever; we are very constant. I have had +my giddiness twenty-three years by fits. Will Mrs. Raymond never have +done lying-in? He intends to leave beggars enough; for I daresay he has +squandered away the best part of his fortune already, and is not out of +debt. I had a letter from him lately. + +Oct. 11. Lord Treasurer sent for me yesterday and the day before to sit +with him, because he is not yet quite well enough to go abroad; and I +could not finish my letter. How the deuce come I to be so exact in ME +money? Just seventeen shillings and eightpence more than due; I believe +you cheat me. If Hawkshaw does not pay the interest I will have the +principal; pray speak to Parvisol and have his advice what I should do +about it. Service to Mrs. Stoyte and Catherine and Mrs. Walls. Ppt +makes a petition with many apologies. John Danvers, you know, is Lady +Giffard's friend. The rest I never heard of. I tell you what, as things +are at present, I cannot possibly speak to Lord Treasurer for anybody. +I need tell you no more. Something or nothing will be done in my own +affairs: if the former, I will be a solicitor for your sister;(13) if +the latter, I have done with Courts for ever. Opportunities will often +fall in my way, if I am used well, and I will then make it my business. +It is my delight to do good offices for people who want and deserve, and +a tenfold delight to do it to a relation of Ppt, whose affairs she has +so at heart.(14) I have taken down his name and his case (not HER case), +and whenever a proper time comes, I will do all I can; zat's enough to +say when I can do no more; and I beg oo pardon a sousand times,(15) that +I cannot do better. I hope the Dean of St. P(atrick's) is well of his +fever: he has never writ to me: I am glad of it; pray don't desire him +to write. I have dated your bill late, because it must not commence, ung +oomens, till the first of November(16) next. O, fais, I must be ise;(17) +iss, fais, must I; else ME will cheat Pdfr. Are you good housewives and +readers? Are you walkers? I know you are gamesters. Are you drinkers? +Are you-- O Rold, I must go no further, for fear of abusing fine +radies.(18) Parvisol has never sent me one word how he set this year's +tithes. Pray ask whether tithes set well or ill this year. The Bishop +of Killaloe(19) tells me wool bears a good rate in Ireland: but how is +corn? I dined yesterday with Lady Orkney, and we sat alone from two +till eleven at night.--You have heard of her, I suppose. I have twenty +letters upon my hands, and am so lazy and so busy, I cannot answer them, +and they grow upon me for several months. Have I any apples at Laracor? +It is strange every year should blast them, when I took so much care +for shelter. Lord Bolingbroke has been idle at his country-house this +fortnight, which puts me backward in a business I have. I am got into an +ordinary room two pair of stairs, and see nobody, if I can help it; +yet some puppies have found me out, and my man is not such an artist as +Patrick at denying me. Patrick has been soliciting to come to me again, +but in vain. The printer has been here with some of the new whims +printed, and has taken up my time. I am just going out, and can only bid +oo farewell. Farewell, deelest ickle MD, MD MD MD FW FW FW FW ME ME ME +ME. Lele deel ME. Lele lele lele sollahs bose.(20) + + + + +LETTER 54.(1) + +LONDON, Oct. 28, 1712. + +I have been in physic this month, and have been better these three +weeks. I stop my physic, by the doctor's orders, till he sends me +further directions. DD grows politician, and longs to hear the peace +is proclaimed. I hope we shall have it soon, for the Dutch are fully +humbled; and Prior is just come over from France for a few days; I +suppose upon some important affair. I saw him last night, but had no +private talk with him. Stocks rise upon his coming. As for my stay in +England, it cannot be long now, so tell my friends. The Parliament will +not meet till after Christmas, and by that time the work I am doing will +be over, and then nothing shall keep me. I am very much discontented at +Parvisol, about neglecting to sell my horses, etc. + +Lady Masham is not yet brought to bed; but we expect it daily. I dined +with her to-day. Lord Bolingbroke returned about two months ago, and +Prior about a week; and goes back (Prior I mean) in a few days. Who told +you of my snuff-box and pocket? Did I? I had a letter to-day from Dr. +Coghill,(2) desiring me to get Raphoe for Dean Sterne, and the deanery +for myself. I shall indeed, I have such obligations to Sterne. But +however, if I am asked who will make a good bishop, I shall name him +before anybody. Then comes another letter, desiring I would recommend a +Provost,(3) supposing that Pratt (who has been here about a week) will +certainly be promoted; but I believe he will not. I presented Pratt to +Lord Treasurer, and truly young Molyneux(4) would have had me present +him too; but I directly answered him I would not, unless he had business +with him. He is the son of one Mr. Molyneux of Ireland. His father wrote +a book;(5) I suppose you know it. Here is the Duke of Marlborough going +out of England (Lord knows why), which causes many speculations. Some +say he is conscious of guilt, and dare not stand it. Others think he has +a mind to fling an odium on the Government, as who should say that one +who has done such great services to his country cannot live quietly in +it, by reason of the malice of his enemies. I have helped to patch up +these people(6) together once more. God knows how long it may last. +I was to-day at a trial between Lord Lansdowne and Lord Carteret, two +friends of mine. It was in the Queen's Bench, for about six thousand a +year (or nine, I think). I sat under Lord Chief-Justice Parker, and his +pen falling down I reached it up. He made me a low bow; and I was going +to whisper him that I HAD DONE GOOD FOR EVIL; FOR HE WOULD HAVE TAKEN +MINE FROM ME.(7) I told it Lord Treasurer and Bolingbroke. Parker would +not have known me, if several lords on the bench, and in the court, +bowing, had not turned everybody's eyes, and set them a whispering. I +owe the dog a spite, and will pay him in two months at furthest, if +I can. So much for that. But you must have chat, and I must say every +sorry thing that comes into my head. They say the Queen will stay a +month longer at Windsor. These devils of Grub Street rogues, that write +the Flying Post and Medley in one paper,(8) will not be quiet. They are +always mauling Lord Treasurer, Lord Bolingbroke, and me. We have the dog +under prosecution, but Bolingbroke is not active enough; but I hope +to swinge him. He is a Scotch rogue, one Ridpath.(9) They get out upon +bail, and write on. We take them again, and get fresh bail; so it goes +round. They say some learned Dutchman has wrote a book, proving by +civil law that we do them wrong by this peace; but I shall show by plain +reason that we have suffered the wrong, and not they. I toil like a +horse, and have hundreds of letters still to read and squeeze a line out +of each, or at least the seeds of a line. Strafford goes back to Holland +in a day or two, and I hope our peace is very near. I have about thirty +pages more to write (that is, to be extracted), which will be sixty in +print. It is the most troublesome part of all, and I cannot keep myself +private, though I stole into a room up two pair of stairs, when I came +from Windsor; but my present man has not yet learned his lesson of +denying me discreetly. + +30. The Duchess of Ormond found me out to-day, and made me dine with +her. Lady Masham is still expecting. She has had a cruel cold. I could +not finish my letter last post for the soul of me. Lord Bolingbroke has +had my papers these six weeks, and done nothing to them. Is Tisdall +yet in the world? I propose writing controversies, to get a name with +posterity. The Duke of Ormond will not be over these three or four +days. I desire to make him join with me in settling all right among our +people. I have ordered the Duchess to let me have an hour with the Duke +at his first coming, to give him a true state of persons and things. +I believe the Duke of Shrewsbury will hardly be declared your Governor +yet; at least, I think so now; but resolutions alter very often. The +Duke of Hamilton gave me a pound of snuff to-day, admirable good. I wish +DD had it, and Ppt too, if she likes it. It cost me a quarter of an hour +of his politics, which I was forced to hear. Lady Orkney(10) is making +me a writing-table of her own contrivance, and a bed nightgown. She is +perfectly kind, like a mother. I think the devil was in it the other +day, that I should talk to her of an ugly squinting cousin of hers, and +the poor lady herself, you know, squints like a dragon. The other day +we had a long discourse with her about love; and she told us a saying +of her sister Fitz-Hardinge,(11) which I thought excellent, that in men, +desire begets love, and in women, love begets desire. We have abundance +of our old criers(12) still hereabouts. I hear every morning your women +with the old satin and taffeta, etc., the fellow with old coats, suits +or cloaks. Our weather is abominable of late. We have not two tolerable +days in twenty. I have lost money again at ombre, with Lord Orkney +and others; yet, after all, this year I have lost but three-and-twenty +shillings; so that, considering card money, I am no loser. + +Our Society hath not yet renewed their meetings. I hope we shall +continue to do some good this winter; and Lord Treasurer promises the +Academy for reforming our language shall soon go forward. I must now +go hunt those dry letter for materials. You will see something very +notable, I hope. So much for that. God Almighty bless you. + + + + +LETTER 55.(1) + +LONDON, Nov. 15, 1712. + +Before this comes to your hands, you will have heard of the most +terrible accident that hath almost ever happened. This morning, at +eight, my man brought me word that the Duke of Hamilton had fought +with Lord Mohun,(2) and killed him, and was brought home wounded.(3) I +immediately sent him to the Duke's house, in St. James's Square; but the +porter could hardly answer for tears, and a great rabble was about the +house. In short, they fought at seven this morning. The dog Mohun +was killed on the spot; and while(4) the Duke was over him, Mohun, +shortening his sword, stabbed him in at the shoulder to the heart. The +Duke was helped toward the cake-house by the Ring in Hyde Park (where +they fought), and died on the grass, before he could reach the house; +and was brought home in his coach by eight, while the poor Duchess(5) +was asleep. Maccartney,(6) and one Hamilton,(7) were the seconds, who +fought likewise, and are both fled. I am told that a footman of Lord +Mohun's stabbed the Duke of Hamilton; and some say Maccartney did so +too. Mohun gave the affront, and yet sent the challenge. I am infinitely +concerned for the poor Duke, who was a frank, honest, good-natured man. +I loved him very well, and I think he loved me better. He had(8) the +greatest mind in the world to have me go with him to France, but durst +not tell it me; and those he did, said I could not be spared, which +was true. They have removed the poor Duchess to a lodging in the +neighbourhood, where I have been with her two hours, and am just come +away. I never saw so melancholy a scene; for indeed all reasons for +real grief belong to her; nor is it possible for anybody to be a greater +loser in all regards. She has moved my very soul. The lodging was +inconvenient, and they would have removed her to another; but I would +not suffer it, because it had no room backward, and she must have been +tortured with the noise of the Grub Street screamers mention(ing) her +husband's murder to her ears. + +I believe you have heard the story of my escape, in opening the bandbox +sent to Lord Treasurer.(9) The prints have told a thousand lies of it; +but at last we gave them a true account of it at length, printed in the +evening;(10) only I would not suffer them to name me, having been so +often named before, and teased to death with questions. I wonder how I +came to have so much presence of mind, which is usually not my talent; +but so it pleased God, and I saved myself and him; for there was a +bullet apiece. A gentleman told me that if I had been killed, the Whigs +would have called it a judgment, because the barrels were of inkhorns, +with which I had done them so much mischief. There was a pure Grub +Street of it, full of lies and inconsistencies.(11) I do not like these +things at all, and I wish myself more and more among my willows.(12) +There is a devilish spirit among people, and the Ministry must exert +themselves, or sink. Nite dee sollahs, I'll go seep.(13) + +16. I thought to have finished this yesterday; but was too much +disturbed. I sent a letter early this morning to Lady Masham, to beg +her to write some comforting words to the poor Duchess. I dined to-(day) +with Lady Masham at Kensington, where she is expecting these two months +to lie in. She has promised me to get the Queen to write to the Duchess +kindly on this occasion; and to-morrow I will beg Lord Treasurer to +visit and comfort her. I have been with her two hours again, and find +her worse: her violences not so frequent, but her melancholy more formal +and settled. She has abundance of wit and spirit; about thirty-three +years old; handsome and airy, and seldom spared anybody that gave her +the least provocation; by which she had many enemies and few friends. +Lady Orkney, her sister-in-law, is come to town on this occasion, and +has been to see her, and behaved herself with great humanity. They +have been always very ill together, and the poor Duchess could not have +patience when people told her I went often to Lady Orkney's. But I am +resolved to make them friends; for the Duchess is now no more the object +of envy, and must learn humility from the severest master, Affliction. +I design to make the Ministry put out a proclamation (if it can be found +proper) against that villain Maccartney. What shall we do with these +murderers? I cannot end this letter to-night, and there is no occasion; +for I cannot send it till Tuesday, and the crowner's inquest on the +Duke's body is to be to-morrow, and I shall know more. But what care oo +for all this? Iss, poo MD im sorry for poo Pdfr's(14) friends; and this +is a very surprising event. 'Tis late, and I'll go to bed. This looks +like journals. Nite. + +17. I was to-day at noon with the Duchess of Hamilton again, after I had +been with Lady Orkney, and charged her to be kind to her sister in her +affliction. The Duchess told me Lady Orkney had been with her, and that +she did not treat her as gently as she ought. They hate one another, but +I will try to patch it up. I have been drawing up a paragraph for the +Postboy, to be out to-morrow, and as malicious as possible, and +very proper for Abel Roper,(15) the printer of it. I dined at Lord +Treasurer's at six in the evening, which is his usual hour of returning +from Windsor: he promises to visit the Duchess to-morrow, and says he +has a message to her from the Queen. Thank God. I have stayed till past +one with him. So nite deelest MD.(16) + +18. The Committee of Council is to sit this afternoon upon the affair +of the Duke of Hamilton's murder, and I hope a proclamation will be out +against Maccartney. I was just now ('tis now noon) with the Duchess, to +let her know Lord Treasurer will see her. She is mightily out of order. +The jury have not yet brought in their verdict upon the crowner's +inquest. We suspect Maccartney stabbed the Duke while he was fighting. +The Queen and Lord Treasurer are in great concern at this event. I dine +to-day again with Lord Treasurer; but must send this to the post-office +before, because else I shall not have time; he usually keeping me so +late. Ben Tooke bid me write to DD to send her certificate, for it is +high time it should be sent, he says. Pray make Parvisol write to me, +and send me a general account of my affairs; and let him know I shall +be over in spring, and that by all means he sells the horses. Prior has +kissed the Queen's hand, and will return to France in a few days, and +Lord Strafford to Holland; and now the King of Spain has renounced his +pretensions to France, the peace must follow very soon unavoidably. You +must no more call Philip, Duke of Anjou, for we now acknowledge him +King of Spain. Dr. Pratt tells me you are all mad in Ireland with your +playhouse frolics and prologues, and I know not what. The Bishop of +Clogher and family are well: they have heard from you, or you from them, +lately, I have forgot which: I dined there t'other day, but the Bishop +came not till after dinner; and our meat and drink was very so so. +Mr. Vedeau(17) was with me yesterday, and inquired after you. He was a +lieutenant, and is now broke, and upon half-pay. He asked me nothing +for himself; but wanted an employment for a friend, who would give a +handsome pair of gloves. One Hales sent me up a letter t'other day, +which said you lodged in his house, and therefore desired I would get +him a civil employment. I would not be within, and have directed my +man to give him an answer, that I never open letters brought me by +the writers, etc. I was complaining to a lady that I wanted to mend an +employment from forty to sixty pounds a year, in the Salt Office, and +thought it hard I could not do it. She told me one Mr. Griffin(18) +should do it. And afterward I met Griffin at her lodgings; and he was, +as I found, one I had been acquainted with. I named Filby(19) to him, +and his abode somewhere near Nantwich. He said frankly he had formerly +examined the man, and found he understood very little of his business; +but if he heard he mended, he would do what I desired. I will let it +rest a while, and then resume it; and if Ppt writes to Filby, she may +advise him to diligence, etc. I told Griffin positively I would have it +done, if the man mended. This is an account of poo Ppt's commission to +her most humble servant Pdfr. I have a world of writing to finish, and +little time; these toads of Ministers are so slow in their helps. This +makes me sometimes steal a week from the exactness I used to write to +MD. Farewell, dee logues, deelest MD MD MD,... FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele. + +Smoke the folding of my letters of late.(20) + + + + +LETTER 56.(1) + +LONDON, Dec. 12, 1712. + +Here is now a stlange ting; a rettle flom MD unanswered: never was +before. I am slower, and MD is faster: but the last was owing to DD's +certificate. Why could it not be sent before, pay now? Is it so hard for +DD to prove she is alive? I protest solemnly I am not able to write to +MD for other business, but I will resume my journal method next time. I +find it is easier, though it contains nothing but where I dine, and the +occurrences of the day. I will write now but once in three weeks +till this business is off my hands, which must be in six, I think, at +farthest. O Ppt, I remember your reprimanding me for meddling in other +people's affairs: I have enough of it now, with a wanion.(2) Two women +have been here six times apiece; I never saw them yet. The first I have +despatched with a letter; the other I must see, and tell her I can +do nothing for her: she is wife of one Connor,(3) an old college +acquaintance, and comes on a foolish errand, for some old pretensions, +that will succeed when I am Lord Treasurer. I am got (up) two pair of +stairs, in a private lodging, and have ordered all my friends not to +discover where I am; yet every morning two or three sots are plaguing +me, and my present servant has not yet his lesson perfect of denying me. +I have written a hundred and thirty pages in folio, to be printed, +and must write thirty more, which will make a large book of four +shillings.(4) I wish I knew an opportunity of sending you some snuff. +I will watch who goes to Ireland, and do it if possible. I had a +letter from Parvisol, and find he has set my livings very low. Colonel +Hamilton, who was second to the Duke of Hamilton, is tried to-day. +I suppose he is come off, but have not heard.(5) I dined with Lord +Treasurer, but left him by nine, and visited some people. Lady Betty,(6) +his(7) daughter, will be married on Monday next (as I suppose) to the +Marquis of Caermarthen. I did not know your country place had been +Portraine, till you told me so in your last. Has Swanton taken it of +Wallis? That Wallis was a grave, wise coxcomb. God be thanked that Ppt +im better of her disoddles.(8) Pray God keep her so. The pamphlet of +Political Lying is written by Dr. Arbuthnot, the author of John Bull; +'tis very pretty, but not so obvious to be understood. Higgins,(9) first +chaplain to the Duke of Hamilton? Why, the Duke of Hamilton never dreamt +of a chaplain, nor I believe ever heard of Higgins. You are glorious +newsmongers in Ireland--Dean Francis,(10) Sir R. Levinge,(11) stuff +stuff: and Pratt, more stuff. We have lost our fine frost here; and Abel +Roper tells as you have had floods in Dublin; ho, brave(12) you! Oh +ho! Swanton seized Portraine, now I understand oo. Ay, ay, now I see +Portraune at the top of your letter. I never minded it before. Now +to your second, N.36. So, you read one of the Grub Streets about the +bandbox.(13) The Whig papers have abused me about the bandbox. God help +me, what could I do? I fairly ventured my life. There is a particular +account of it in the Postboy, and Evening Post of that day. Lord +Treasurer has had the seal sent him that sealed the box, and directions +where to find the other pistol in a tree in St. James's Park, which Lord +Bolingbroke's messenger found accordingly; but who sent the present +is not yet known. The Duke of Hamilton avoided the quarrel as much as +possible, according to the foppish rules of honour in practice. What +signified your writing angry to Filby? I hope you said nothing of +hearing anything from me. Heigh! do oo write by sandlelight! nauti, +nauti, nauti dallar, a hundred times, fol doing so. O, fais, DD, I'll +take care of myself! The Queen is in town, and Lady Masham's month of +lying-in is within two days of being out. I was at the christening on +Monday. I could not get the child named Robin, after Lord Treasurer; it +is Samuel, after the father. My brother Ormond sent me some chocolate +to-day. I wish you had share of it: but they say 'tis good for me, and I +design to drink some in a morning. Our Society meets next Thursday, now +the Queen is in town; and Lord Treasurer assures me that the Society for +reforming the language shall soon be established. I have given away ten +shillings to-day to servants; 'tan't be help if one should cry one's +eyes out.(14) Hot a stir is here about your company and visits! Charming +company, no doubt; now I keep no company at all, nor have I any desire +to keep any. I never go to a coffee-house nor a tavern, nor have touched +a card since I left Windsor. I make few visits, nor go to levees; my +only debauching is sitting late where I dine, if I like the company. +I have almost dropped the Duchesses of Shrewsbury and Hamilton, and +several others. Lord Treasurer, the Duke of Ormond, and Lady Orkney are +all that I see very often. Oh yes, and Lady Masham and Lord Bolingbroke, +and one or two private friends. I make no figure but at Court, where I +affect to turn from a lord to the meanest of my acquaintance, and I love +to go there on Sundays to see the world. But, to say the truth, I am +growing weary of it. I dislike a million of things in the course of +public affairs; and if I were to stay here much longer, I am sure +I should ruin myself with endeavouring to mend them. I am every day +invited into schemes of doing this, but I cannot find any that will +probably succeed. It is impossible to save people against their own +will; and I have been too much engaged in patchwork already. Do you +understand all this stuff? No. Well zen, you are now returned to ombre +and the Dean, and Christmas; I wish oo a very merry one; and pray don't +lose oo money, nor play upon Watt Welch's game. Nite, sollahs, 'tis rate +I'll go to seep; I don't seep well, and therefore never dare to drink +coffee or tea after dinner: but I am very seepy in a molning. This is +the effect of time and years. Nite deelest MD. + +18. Morn. I am so very seepy in the morning that my man wakens me +above ten times; and now I can tell oo no news of this day. (Here is a +restless dog, crying cabbages and savoys, plagues me every morning about +this time; he is now at it. I wish his largest cabbage were sticking +in his throat.) I lodge over against the house in Little Rider Street, +where DD lodged. Don't oo lememble, maram? To-night I must see the Abbe +Gaultier,(15) to get some particulars for my History. It was he who was +first employed by France in the overtures of peace, and I have not had +time this month to see him; he is but a puppy too. Lady Orkney has just +sent to invite me to dinner; she has not given me the bed-nightgown;(16) +besides, I am come very much off from writing in bed, though I am doing +it this minute; but I stay till my fire is burnt up. My grate is very +large; two bushels of coals in a week: but I save it in lodgings. Lord +Abercorn is come to London, and will plague me, and I can do him no +service. The Duke of Shrewsbury goes in a day or two for France, perhaps +to-day. We shall have a peace very soon; the Dutch are almost entirely +agreed, and if they stop we shall make it without them; that has been +long resolved. One Squire Jones,(17) a scoundrel in my parish, has writ +to me to desire I would engage Joe Beaumont to give him his interest for +Parliament-man for Trim: pray tell Joe this; and if he designed to vote +for him already, then he may tell Jones that I received his letter, and +that I writ to Joe to do it. If Joe be engaged for any other, then he +may do what he will: and Parvisol may say he spoke to Joe, but Joe's +engaged, etc. I received three pair of fine thread stockings from Joe +lately. Pray thank him when you see him, and that I say they are very +fine and good. (I never looked at them yet, but that's no matter.) This +is a fine day. I am ruined with coaches and chairs this twelvepenny +weather. I must see my brother Ormond at eleven, and then the Duchess of +Hamilton, with whom I doubt I am in disgrace, not having seen her these +ten days. I send this to-day, and must finish it now; and perhaps +some people may come and hinder me; for it im ten o'clock (but not +shaving-day), and I must be abroad at eleven. Abbe Gaultier sends me +word I can't see him to-night; pots cake him! I don't value anything but +one letter he has of Petecum's,(18) showing the roguery of the Dutch. +Did not the Conduct of the Allies make you great politicians? Fais, I +believe you are not quite so ignorant as I thought you. I am glad to +hear oo walked so much in the country. Does DD ever read to you, ung +ooman? O, fais! I shall find strange doings hen I tum ole!(19) Here is +somebody coming that I must see that wants a little place; the son of +cousin Rooke's eldest daughter, that died many years ago. He's here. +Farewell, deelest MD MD MD ME ME ME FW FW FW, Lele. + + + + +LETTER 57.(1) + +LONDON, Dec. 18, 1712. + +Our Society was to meet to-day; but Lord Harley, who was President +this week, could not attend, being gone to Wimbledon with his new +brother-in-law, the young Marquis of Caermarthen, who married Lady Betty +Harley on Monday last; and Lord Treasurer is at Wimbledon too. However, +half a dozen of us met, and I propose our meetings should be once a +fortnight; for, between you and me, we do no good. It cost me nineteen +shillings to-day for my Club at dinner; I don't like it, fais. We have +terrible snowy slobbery weather. Lord Abercorn is come to town, and will +see me, whether I will or no. You know he has a pretence to a dukedom +in France, which the Duke of Hamilton was soliciting for; but Abercorn +resolves to spoil their title, if they will not allow him a fourth part; +and I have advised the Duchess to compound with him, and have made the +Ministry of my opinion. Night, dee sollahs, MD, MD. + +19. Ay mally zis is sumsing rike,(2) for Pdfr to write journals again! +'Tis as natural as mother's milk, now I am got into it. Lord Treasurer +is returned from Wimbledon ('tis not above eight miles off), and sent +for me to dine with him at five; but I had the grace to be abroad, +and dined with some others, with honest Ben Tooke, by invitation. The +Duchess of Ormond promised me her picture, and coming home tonight, +I found hers and the Duke's both in my chamber. Was not that a pretty +civil surprise? Yes, and they are in fine gilded frames, too. I am +writing a letter to thank her, which I will send to-morrow morning. +I'll tell her she is such a prude that she will not let so much as her +picture be alone in a room with a man, unless the Duke's be with it; +and so forth.(3) We are full of snow, and dabbling. Lady Masham has come +abroad these three days, and seen the Queen. I dined with her t'other +day at her sister Hill's. I hope she will remove in a few days to her +new lodgings at St. James's from Kensington. Nite, dee logues MD. + +20. I lodge (up) two pair of stairs, have but one room, and deny myself +to everybody almost, yet I cannot be quiet; and all my mornings are lost +with people, who will not take answers below stairs; such as Dilly, and +the Bishop, and Provost, etc. Lady Orkney invited me to dinner to-day, +which hindered me from dining with Lord Treasurer. This is his day that +his chief friends in the Ministry dine with him. However, I went there +about six, and sat with them till past nine, when they all went off; but +he kept me back, and told me the circumstances of Lady Betty's match. +The young fellow has 60,000 pounds ready money, three great houses +furnished, 7,000 pounds a year at present, and about five more after his +father and mother die. I think Lady Betty's portion is not above 8,000 +pounds. I remember either Tisdall writ to me in somebody's letter, +or you did it for him, that I should mention him on occasion to Lord +Anglesea, with whom, he said, he had some little acquaintance. Lord +Anglesea was with me to-night at Lord Treasurer's; and then I asked him +about Tisdall, and described him. He said he never saw him, but that he +had sent him his book.(4) See what it is to be a puppy. Pray tell Mr. +Walls that Lord Anglesea thanked me for recommending Clements(5) to him; +that he says he is 20,000 pounds the better for knowing Clements. But +pray don't let Clements go and write a letter of thanks, and tell +my lord that he hears so and so, etc. Why, 'tis but like an Irish +understanding to do so. Sad weather; two shillings in coaches to-day, +and yet I am dirty. I am now going to read over something and correct +it. So, nite. + +21. Puppies have got a new way of plaguing me. I find letters directed +for me at Lord Treasurer's, sometimes with enclosed ones to him, and +sometimes with projects, and some times with libels. I usually keep them +three or four days without opening. I was at Court to-day, as I always +am on Sundays, instead of a coffee-house, to see my acquaintance. +This day se'nnight, after I had been talking at Court with Sir William +Wyndham, the Spanish Ambassador(6) came to him and said he heard that +was Dr. Swift, and desired him to tell me that his master, and the +King of France, and the Queen, were more obliged to me than any man in +Europe; so we bowed, and shook hands, etc. I took it very well of him. I +dined with Lord Treasurer, and must again to-morrow, though I had rather +not (as DD says); but now the Queen is in town, he does not keep me so +late. I have not had time to see Fanny Manley since she came, but intend +it one of these days. Her uncle, Jack Manley,(7) I hear, cannot live +a month, which will be a great loss to her father in Ireland, for I +believe he is one of his chief supports. Our peace now will soon +be determined; for Lord Bolingbroke tells me this morning that four +provinces of Holland(8) have complied with the Queen, and we expect the +rest will do so immediately. Nite MD. + +22. Lord Keeper promised me yesterday the first convenient living to +poor Mr. Gery,(9) who is married, and wants some addition to what he +has. He is a very worthy creature. I had a letter some weeks ago from +Elwick,(10) who married Betty Gery. It seems the poor woman died some +time last summer. Elwick grows rich, and purchases lands. I dined with +Lord Treasurer to-day, who has engaged me to come again to-morrow. I +gave Lord Bolingbroke a poem of Parnell's.(11) I made Parnell insert +some compliments in it to his lordship. He is extremely pleased with +it, and read some parts of it to-day to Lord Treasurer, who liked it +as much. And indeed he outdoes all our poets here a bar's length. Lord +Bolingbroke has ordered me to bring him to dinner on Christmas Day, and +I made Lord Treasurer promise to see him; and it may one day do Parnell +a kindness. You know Parnell. I believe I have told you of that poem. +Nite, deel MD. + +23. This morning I presented one Diaper,(12) a poet, to Lord +Bolingbroke, with a new poem, which is a very good one; and I am to give +him a sum of money from my lord; and I have contrived to make a parson +of him, for he is half one already, being in deacon's orders, and serves +a small cure in the country; but has a sword at his a--- here in town. +'Tis a poor little short wretch, but will do best in a gown, and we +will make Lord Keeper give him a living. Lord Bolingbroke writ to +Lord Treasurer to excuse me to-day; so I dined with the former, and +Monteleon, the Spanish Ambassador, who made me many compliments. I +stayed till nine, and now it is past ten, and my man has locked me up, +and I have just called to mind that I shall be in disgrace with +Tom Leigh.(13) That coxcomb had got into acquaintance with one +Eckershall,(14) Clerk of the Kitchen to the Queen, who was civil to him +at Windsor on my account; for I had done some service to Eckershall. +Leigh teases me to pass an evening at his lodgings with Eckershall. I +put it off several times, but was forced at last to promise I would come +to-night; and it never was in my head till I was locked up, and I have +called and called, but my man is gone to bed; so I will write an excuse +to-morrow. I detest that Tom Leigh, and am as formal to him as I can +when I happen to meet him in the Park. The rogue frets me, if he knew +it. He asked me why I did not wait on the Bishop of Dromore.(15) I +answered I had not the honour to be acquainted with him, and would not +presume, etc. He takes me seriously, and says the Bishop is no proud +man, etc. He tells me of a judge in Ireland that has done ill things. +I ask why he is not out? Says he, "I think the bishops, and you, and I, +and the rest of the clergy, should meet and consult about it." I beg his +pardon, and say, "I cannot be serviceable that way." He answers, "Yes, +everybody may help something."--Don't you see how curiously he contrives +to vex me; for the dog knows that with half a word I could do more than +all of them together. But he only does it from the pride and envy of +his own heart, and not out of a humorous design of teasing. He is one +of those that would rather a service should not be done, than done by a +private man, and of his own country. You take all this, don't you? Nite +dee sollahs, I'll go seep a dozey. + +24. I dined to-day with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in order to +look over some of my papers; but nothing was done. I have been also +mediating between the Hamilton family and Lord Abercorn, to have them +compound with him; and I believe they will do it. Lord Selkirk,(16) the +late Duke's brother, is to be in town, in order to go to France, to +make the demands; and the Ministry are of opinion they will get some +satisfaction, and they empowered me to advise the Hamilton side to agree +with Abercorn, who asks a fourth part, and will go to France and spoil +all if they won't yield it. Nite sollahs. + +25. All melly Titmasses--melly Titmasses--I said it first--I wish it a +souzand (times) zoth with halt(17) and soul.(18) I carried Parnell to +dine at Lord Bolingbroke's, and he behaved himself very well; and Lord +Bolingbroke is mightily pleased with him. I was at St. James's Chapel by +eight this morning; and church and sacrament were done by ten. The Queen +has the gout in her hand, and did not come to church today; and I stayed +so long in my chamber that I missed going to Court. Did I tell you that +the Queen designs to have a Drawing-room and company every day? Nite dee +logues. + +26. I was to wish the Duke of Ormond a happy Christmas, and give half +a crown to his porter. It will cost me a dozen half-crowns among such +fellows. I dined with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for being absent +three days. Mighty kind, with a p--; less of civility, and more of his +interest! We hear Maccartney is gone over to Ireland. Was it not comical +for a gentleman to be set upon by highwaymen, and to tell them he was +Maccartney? Upon which they brought him to a justice of peace, in hopes +of the reward,(19) and the rogues were sent to gaol. Was it not great +presence of mind? But maybe you heard this already; for there was a +Grub Street of it. Lord Bolingbroke told me I must walk away to-day when +dinner was done, because Lord Treasurer, and he, and another, were +to enter upon business; but I said it was as fit I should know their +business as anybody, for I was to justify (it).(20) So the rest went, +and I stayed, and it was so important, I was like to sleep over it. I +left them at nine, and it is now twelve. Nite, MD. + +27. I dined to-day with General Hill, Governor of Dunkirk. Lady Masham +and Mrs. Hill, his two sisters, were of the company, and there have I +been sitting this evening till eleven, looking over others at play; +for I have left off loving play myself; and I think Ppt is now a great +gamester. I have a great cold on me, not quite at its height. I have +them seldom, and therefore ought to be patient. I met Mr. Addison and +Pastoral Philips on the Mall to-day, and took a turn with them; but they +both looked terrible dry and cold. A curse of party! And do you know I +have taken more pains to recommend the Whig wits to the favour and mercy +of the Ministers than any other people. Steele I have kept in his +place. Congreve I have got to be used kindly, and secured. Rowe I have +recommended, and got a promise of a place. Philips I could certainly +have provided for, if he had not run party mad, and made me withdraw my +recommendation; and I set Addison so right at first that he might have +been employed, and have partly secured him the place he has; yet I am +worse used by that faction than any man. Well, go to cards, sollah Ppt, +and dress the wine and olange, sollah MD, and I'll go seep. 'Tis rate. +Nite MD. + +28. My cold is so bad that I could not go to church today, nor to Court; +but I was engaged to Lord Orkney's with the Duke of Ormond, at dinner; +and ventured, because I could cough and spit there as I pleased. The +Duke and Lord Arran left us, and I have been sitting ever since with +Lord and Lady Orkney till past eleven: and my cold is worse, and makes +me giddy. I hope it is only my cold. Oh, says Ppt, everybody is giddy +with a cold; I hope it is no more; but I'll go to bed, for the fellow +has bawled "Past twelve." Night, deels. + +29. I got out early to-day, and escaped all my duns. I went to see Lord +Bolingbroke about some business, and truly he was gone out too. I dined +in the City upon the broiled leg of a goose and a bit of brawn, with +my printer. Did I tell you that I forbear printing what I have in hand, +till the Court decides something about me? I will contract no more +enemies, at least I will not embitter worse those I have already, till +I have got under shelter; and the Ministers know my resolution, so that +you may be disappointed in seeing this thing as soon as you expected. +I hear Lord Treasurer is out of order. My cold is very bad. Every(body) +has one. Nite two dee logues. + +30. I suppose this will be full by Saturday; zen(21) it sall go. Duke +of Ormond, Lord Arran, and I, dined privately to-day at an old servant's +house of his. The Council made us part at six. One Mrs. Ramsay dined +with us; an old lady of about fifty-five, that we are all very fond of. +I called this evening at Lord Treasurer's, and sat with him two hours. +He has been cupped for a cold, and has been very ill. He cannot dine +with Parnell and me at Lord Bolingbroke's to-morrow, but says he will +see Parnell some other time. I hoise(22) up Parnell partly to spite the +envious Irish folks here, particularly Tom Leigh. I saw the Bishop +of Clogher's family to-day; Miss is mighty ill of a cold, coughs +incessantly.(23) Nite MD. + +31. To-day Parnell and I dined with Lord Bolingbroke, to correct +Parnell's poem. I made him show all the places he disliked; and when +Parnell has corrected it fully he shall print it. I went this evening to +sit with Lord Treasurer. He is better, and will be out in a day or two. +I sat with him while the young folks went to supper; and then went down, +and there were the young folks merry together, having turned Lady Oxford +up to my lord, and I stayed with them till twelve. There was the young +couple, Lord and Lady Caermarthen, and Lord and Lady Dupplin, and Lord +Harley and I; and the old folks were together above. It looked like what +I have formerly done so often; stealing together from the old folks, +though indeed it was not from poor Lord Treasurer, who is as young a +fellow as any of us: but Lady Oxford is a silly mere old woman.(24) My +cold is still so bad that I have not the least smelling. I am just got +home, and 'tis past twelve; and I'll go to bed, and settle my head, +heavy as lead. Nite MD. + +Jan. 1, 1712-13. A sousand melly new eels(25) to deelest richar MD. Pray +God Almighty bless you, and send you ever happy! I forgot to tell you +that yesterday Lord Abercorn was here, teasing me about his French +duchy, and suspecting my partiality to the Hamilton family in such a +whimsical manner that Dr. Pratt, who was by, thought he was mad. He was +no sooner gone but Lord Orkney sent to know whether he might come and +sit with me half an hour upon some business. I returned answer that I +would wait on him; which I did. We discoursed a while, and he left me +with Lady Orkney; and in came the Earl of Selkirk, whom I had never seen +before. He is another brother of the Duke of Hamilton, and is going to +France, by a power from his mother, the old Duchess,(26) to negotiate +their pretensions to the duchy of Chatelherault. He teased me for two +hours in spite of my teeth, and held my hand when I offered to stir; +would have had me engage the Ministry to favour him against Lord +Abercorn, and to convince them that Lord Abercorn had no pretensions; +and desired I would also convince Lord Abercorn himself so; and +concluded he was sorry I was a greater friend to Abercorn than Hamilton. +I had no patience, and used him with some plainness. Am not I purely +handled between a couple of puppies? Ay, says Ppt, you must be meddling +in other folks' affairs. I appeal to the Bishop of Clogher whether +Abercorn did not complain that I would not let him see me last year, +and that he swore he would take no denial from my servant when he came +again. The Ministers gave me leave to tell the Hamilton family it was +their opinion that they ought to agree with Abercorn. Lord Anglesea +was then by, and told Abercorn; upon which he gravely tells me I was +commissioned by the Ministers, and ought to perform my commission, +etc.--But I'll have done with them. I have warned Lord Treasurer and +Lord Bolingbroke to beware of Selkirk's teasing; --x on him! Yet +Abercorn vexes me more. The whelp owes to me all the kind receptions he +has had from the Ministry. I dined to-day at Lord Treasurer's with the +young folks, and sat with Lord Treasurer till nine, and then was forced +to Lady Masham's, and sat there till twelve, talking of affairs, till I +am out of humour, as everyone must that knows them inwardly. A thousand +things wrong, most of them easy to mend; yet our schemes availing at +best but little, and sometimes nothing at all. One evil, which I twice +patched up with the hazard of all the credit I had, is now spread more +than ever.(27) But burn politics, and send me from Courts and Ministers! +Nite deelest richar MD. + +2. I sauntered about this morning, and went with Dr. Pratt to a picture +auction, where I had like to be drawn in to buy a picture that I was +fond of, but, it seems, was good for nothing. Pratt was there to buy +some pictures for the Bishop of Clogher, who resolves to lay out ten +pounds to furnish his house with curious pieces. We dined with the +Bishop, I being by chance disengaged. And this evening I sat with +the Bishop of Ossory,(28) who is laid up with the gout. The French +Ambassador, Duke d'Aumont,(29) came to town to-night; and the rabble +conducted him home with shouts. I cannot smell yet, though my cold +begins to break. It continues cruel hard frosty weather. Go and be +melly,... sollahs.(30) + +3. Lord Dupplin and I went with Lord and Lady Orkney this morning at +ten to Wimbledon, six miles off, to see Lord and Lady Caermarthen. It is +much the finest place about this town. Did oo never see it? I was once +there before, about five years ago. You know Lady Caermarthen is Lord +Treasurer's daughter, married about three weeks ago. I hope the young +fellow will be a good husband.--I must send this away now. I came back +just by nightfall, cruel cold weather; I have no smell yet, but my cold +something better. Nite (?) sollahs; I'll take my reeve. I forget how +MD's accounts are. Pray let me know always timely before MD wants; and +pray give the bill on t'other side to Mrs. Brent as usual. I believe I +have not paid her this great while. Go, play cards, and... rove Pdfr. +Nite richar MD... roves Pdfr. FW lele.. . MD MD MD MD MD FW FW FW FW MD +MD Lele...(31) + +The six odd shillings, tell Mrs. Brent, are for her new year's gift. + + + +I(32) am just now told that poor dear Lady Ashburnham,(33) the Duke +of Ormond's daughter, died yesterday at her country house. The poor +creature was with child. She was my greatest favourite, and I am in +excessive concern for her loss. I hardly knew a more valuable person on +all accounts. You must have heard me talk of her. I am afraid to see the +Duke and Duchess. She was naturally very healthy; I am afraid she has +been thrown away for want of care. Pray condole with me. 'Tis extremely +moving. Her lord's a puppy; and I shall never think it worth my while +to be troubled with him, now he has lost all that was valuable in his +possession; yet I think he used her pretty well. I hate life when I +think it exposed to such accidents; and to see so many thousand wretches +burdening the earth, while such as her die, makes me think God did never +intend life for a blessing. Farewell. + + + + +LETTER 58.(1) + +LONDON, Jan. 4, 1712-13. + +I ended my last with the melancholy news of poor Lady Ashburnham's +death. The Bishop of Clogher and Dr. Pratt made me dine with them to-day +at Lord Mountjoy's, pursuant to an engagement, which I had forgot. Lady +Mountjoy told me that Maccartney was got safe out of our clutches, for +she had spoke with one who had a letter from him from Holland. Others +say the same thing. 'Tis hard such a dog should escape.--As I left Lord +Mountjoy's I saw the Duke d'Aumont, the French Ambassador, going from +Lord Bolingbroke's, where he dined, to have a private audience of the +Queen. I followed, and went up to Court, where there was a great +crowd. I was talking with the Duke of Argyle by the fireside in the +bed-chamber, when the Ambassador came out from the Queen. Argyle +presented me to him, and Lord Bolingbroke and we talked together a +while. He is a fine gentleman, something like the Duke of Ormond, and +just such an expensive man. After church to-day I showed the Bishop of +Clogher, at Court, who was who. Nite my two dee logues, and...(2) + +5. Our frost is broke, but it is bloody cold. Lord Treasurer is +recovered, and went out this evening to the Queen. I dined with Lady +Oxford, and then sat with Lord Treasurer while he went out. He gave me +a letter from an unknown hand, relating to Dr. Brown,(3) Bishop of Cork, +recommending him to a better bishopric, as a person who opposed Lord +Wharton, and was made a bishop on that account, celebrating him for +a great politician, etc.: in short, all directly contrary to his +character, which I made bold to explain. What dogs there are in the +world! I was to see the poor Duke and Duchess of Ormond this morning. +The Duke was in his public room, with Mr. Southwell(4) and two more +gentlemen. When Southwell and I were alone with him, he talked something +of Lord Ashburnham, that he was afraid the Whigs would get him again. +He bore up as well as he could, but something falling accidentally in +discourse, the tears were just falling out of his eyes, and I looked +off to give him an opportunity (which he took) of wiping them with his +handkerchief. I never saw anything so moving, nor such a mixture of +greatness of mind, and tenderness, and discretion. Nite MD. + +6. Lord Bolingbroke and Parnell and I dined, by invitation, with my +friend Darteneuf,(5) whom you have heard me talk of. Lord Bolingbroke +likes Parnell mightily; and it is pleasant to see that one who hardly +passed for anything in Ireland makes his way here with a little friendly +forwarding. It is scurvy rainy weather, and I have hardly been abroad +to-day, nor know anything that passes.--Lord Treasurer is quite +recovered, and I hope will be careful to keep himself well. The Duchess +of Marlborough is leaving England to go to her Duke, and makes presents +of rings to several friends, they say worth two hundred pounds apiece. I +am sure she ought to give me one, though the Duke pretended to think me +his greatest enemy, and got people to tell me so, and very mildly to let +me know how gladly he would have me softened toward him. I bid a lady of +his acquaintance and mine let him know that I had hindered many a bitter +thing against him; not for his own sake, but because I thought it looked +base; and I desired everything should be left him, except power. Nite +MD. + +7. I dined with Lord and Lady Masham to-day, and this evening played at +ombre with Mrs. Vanhom, merely for amusement. The Ministers have got my +papers, and will neither read them nor give them to me; and I can hardly +do anything. Very warm slabby weather, but I made a shift to get a walk; +yet I lost half of it, by shaking off Lord Rochester,(6) who is a +good, civil, simple man. The Bishop of Ossory will not be Bishop of +Hereford,(7) to the great grief of himself and his wife. And hat is MD +doing now, I wonder? Playing at cards with the Dean and Mrs. Walls? I +think it is not certain yet that Maccartney is escaped. I am plagued +with bad authors, verse and prose, who send me their books and poems, +the vilest trash I ever saw; but I have given their names to my man, +never to let them see me. I have got new ink, and 'tis very white; and +I don't see that it turns black at all. I'll go to seep; 'tis past +twelve.--Nite, MD. + +8. Oo must understand that I am in my geers, and have got a +chocolate-pot, a present from Mrs. Ashe of Clogher, and some chocolate +from my brother Ormond, and I treat folks sometimes. I dined with +Lord Treasurer at five o'clock to-day, and was by while he and Lord +Bolingbroke were at business; for it is fit I should know all that +passes now, because, etc. The Duke of Ormond employed me to speak to +Lord Treasurer to-day about an affair, and I did so; and the Duke had +spoke himself two hours before, which vexed me, and I will chide the +Duke about it. I'll tell you a good thing; there is not one of the +Ministry but what will employ me as gravely to speak for them to Lord +Treasurer as if I were their brother or his; and I do it as gravely: +though I know they do it only because they will not make themselves +uneasy, or had rather I should be denied than they. I believe our peace +will not be finished these two months; for I think we must have a +return from Spain by a messenger, who will not go till Sunday next. +Lord Treasurer has invited me to dine with him again to-morrow. Your +Commissioner, Keatley,(8) is to be there. Nite dee richar MD.(9) + +9. Dr. Pratt drank chocolate with me this morning, and then we walked. I +was yesterday with him to see Lady Betty Butler, grieving for her sister +Ashburnham. The jade was in bed in form, and she did so cant, she made +me sick. I meet Tom Leigh every day in the Park, to preserve his +health. He is as ruddy as a rose, and tells me his Bishop of Dromore(10) +recovers very much. That Bishop has been very near dying. This day's +Examiner talks of the play of "What is it like?"(11) and you will think +it to be mine, and be bit; for I have no hand in these papers at all. I +dined with Lord Treasurer, and shall again to-morrow, which is his day +when all the Ministers dine with him. He calls it whipping-day. It is +always on Saturday, and we do indeed usually rally him about his faults +on that day. I was of the original Club, when only poor Lord Rivers, +Lord Keeper, and Lord Bolingbroke came; but now Ormond, Anglesea, Lord +Steward,(12) Dartmouth, and other rabble intrude, and I scold at it; but +now they pretend as good a title as I; and, indeed, many Saturdays I am +not there. The company being too many, I don't love it. Nite MD. + +10. At seven this evening, as we sat after dinner at Lord Treasurer's, +a servant said Lord Peterborow was at the door. Lord Treasurer and +Lord Bolingbroke went out to meet him, and brought him in. He was just +returned from abroad, where he has been above a year. Soon as he saw me, +he left the Duke of Ormond and other lords, and ran and kissed me before +he spoke to them; but chid me terribly for not writing to him, which I +never did this last time he was abroad, not knowing where he was; and he +changed places so often, it was impossible a letter should overtake him. +He left England with a bruise, by his coach overturning, that made him +spit blood, and was so ill, we expected every post to hear of his death; +but he outrode it or outdrank it, or something, and is come home lustier +than ever. He is at least sixty, and has more spirits than any young +fellow I know in England. He has got the old Oxford regiment of horse, +and I believe will have a Garter. I love the hang-dog dearly. Nite dee +MD. + +11. The Court was crammed to-day to see(13) the French Ambassador; but +he did not come. Did I never tell you that I go to Court on Sundays as +to a coffee-house, to see acquaintance, whom I should otherwise not +see twice a year? The Provost(14) and I dined with Ned Southwell, +by appointment, in order to settle your kingdom, if my scheme can +be followed; but I doubt our Ministry will be too tedious. You must +certainly have a new Parliament; but they would have that a secret yet. +Our Parliament here will be prorogued for three weeks. Those puppies the +Dutch will not yet come in, though they pretend to submit to the Queen +in everything; but they would fain try first how our session begins, +in hopes to embroil us in the House of Lords: and if my advice had been +taken, the session should have begun, and we would have trusted the +Parliament to approve the steps already made toward the peace, and had +an Address perhaps from them to conclude without the Dutch, if they +would not agree.--Others are of my mind, but it is not reckoned so safe, +it seems; yet I doubt whether the peace will be ready so soon as three +weeks, but that is a secret. Nite MD. + +12. Pratt and I walked into the City to one Bateman's,(15) a famous +bookseller, for old books. There I laid out four pounds like a fool, +and we dined at a hedge ale-house, for two shillings and twopence, +like emperors. Let me see, I bought Plutarch, two volumes, for thirty +shillings, etc. Well, I'll tell you no more; oo don't understand +Greek.(16) We have no news, and I have nothing more to say to-day, and +I can't finish my work. These Ministers will not find time to do what I +would have them. So nite, nown dee dallars. + +13. I was to have dined to-day with Lord Keeper, but would not, because +that brute Sir John Walter(17) was to be one of the company. You may +remember he railed at me last summer was twelvemonth at Windsor, and has +never begged my pardon, though he promised to do it; and Lord Mansel, +who was one of the company, would certainly have set us together by +the ears, out of pure roguish mischief. So I dined with Lord Treasurer, +where there was none but Lord Bolingbroke. I stayed till eight, and then +went to Lady Orkney's, who has been sick, and sat with her till twelve, +from whence you may consider it is late, sollahs. The Parliament was +prorogued to-day, as I told you, for three weeks. Our weather is very +bad and slobbery, and I shall spoil my new hat (I have bought a new +hat), or empty my pockets. Does Hawkshaw pay the interest he owes? Lord +Abercorn plagues me to death. I have now not above six people to provide +for, and about as many to do good offices to; and thrice as many that I +will do nothing for; nor can I if I would. Nite dee MD. + +14. To-day I took the circle of morning visits. I went to the Duchess of +Ormond, and there was she, and Lady Betty, and Lord Ashburnham together: +this was the first time the mother and daughter saw each other since +Lady Ashburnham's death. They were both in tears, and I chid them for +being together, and made Lady Betty go to her own chamber; then sat a +while with the Duchess, and went after Lady Betty, and all was well. +There is something of farce in all these mournings, let them be ever +so serious. People will pretend to grieve more than they really do, +and that takes off from their true grief. I then went to the Duchess of +Hamilton, who never grieved, but raged, and stormed, and railed.(18) She +is pretty quiet now, but has a diabolical temper. Lord Keeper and his +son, and their two ladies, and I, dined to-day with Mr. Caesar,(19) +Treasurer of the Navy, at his house in the City, where he keeps his +office. We happened to talk of Brutus, and I said something in his +praise, when it struck me immediately that I had made a blunder in doing +so; and, therefore, I recollected myself, and said, "Mr. Caesar, I beg +your pardon." So we laughed, etc. Nite, my own deelest richar logues, +MD. + +15. I forgot to tell you that last night I had a present sent me (I +found it, when I came home, in my chamber) of the finest wild fowl I +ever saw, with the vilest letter, and from the vilest poet in the world, +who sent it me as a bribe to get him an employment. I knew not where +the scoundrel lived, so I could not send them back, and therefore I gave +them away as freely as I got them, and have ordered my man never to let +up the poet when he comes. The rogue should have kept the wings at least +for his muse. One of his fowls was a large capon pheasant, as fat as +a pullet. I ate share of it to-day with a friend. We have now a +Drawing-room every Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at one o'clock. The +Queen does not come out; but all her Ministers, foreigners, and persons +of quality are at it. I was there to-day; and as Lord Treasurer came +towards me, I avoided him, and he hunted me thrice about the room. I +affect never to take notice of him at church or Court. He knows it, for +I have told him so; and to-night, at Lord Masham's, he gave an account +of it to the company; but my reasons are, that people seeing me speak to +him causes a great deal of teasing. I tell you what comes into my head, +that I never knew whether MD were Whigs or Tories, and I value our +conversation the more that it never turned on that subject. I have +a fancy that Ppt is a Tory, and a violent one. I don't know why; but +methinks she looks like one, and DD a sort of a Trimmer. Am I right? I +gave the Examiner a hint about this prorogation, and to praise the +Queen for her tenderness to the Dutch in giving them still more time to +submit.(20) It fitted the occasions at present. Nite MD. + +16. I was busy to-day at the Secretary's office, and stayed till past +three. The Duke of Ormond and I were to dine at Lord Orkney's. The Duke +was at the Committee, so I thought all was safe. When I went there, they +had almost dined; for the Duke had sent to excuse himself, which I never +knew. I came home at seven, and began a little whim, which just came +into my head; and will make a threepenny pamphlet.(21) It shall be +finished and out in a week; and if it succeeds, you shall know what it +is; otherwise, not. I cannot send this to-morrow, and will put it off +till next Saturday, because I have much business. So my journals shall +be short, and Ppt must have patience. So nite, dee sollahs. + +17. This rogue Parnell has not yet corrected his poem, and I would +fain have it out. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, and his Saturday +company, nine of us in all. They went away at seven, and Lord Treasurer +and I sat talking an hour after. After dinner he was talking to the +lords about the speech the Queen must make when the Parliament meets. He +asked me how I would make it. I was going to be serious, because it +was seriously put; but I turned it to a jest. And because they had been +speaking of the Duchess of Marlborough going to Flanders after the Duke, +I said the speech should begin thus: "My Lords and Gentlemen, In order +to my own quiet, and that of my subjects, I have thought fit to send +the Duchess of Marlborough abroad after the Duke." This took well, +and turned off the discourse. I must tell you I do not at all like the +present situation of affairs, and remember I tell you so. Things must be +on another foot, or we are all undone. I hate this driving always to an +inch. Nite MD. + +18. We had a mighty full Court to-day. Dilly was with me at the French +church, and edified mightily. The Duke of Ormond and I dined at Lord +Orkney's; but I left them at seven, and came home to my whim. I have +made a great progress. My large Treatise(22) stands stock still. Some +think it too dangerous to publish, and would have me print only what +relates to the peace. I cannot tell what I shall do.--The Bishop of +Dromore is dying. They thought yesterday he could not live two hours; +yet he is still alive, but is utterly past all hopes. Go to cards, +sollahs, and nite. + +19. I was this morning to see the Duke and Duchess of Ormond. The +Duke d'Aumont came in while I was with the Duke of Ormond, and we +complimented each other like dragons. A poor fellow called at the door +where I lodge, with a parcel of oranges for a present for me. I bid my +man know what his name was, and whence he came. He sent word his name +was Bun, and that I knew him very well. I bid my man tell him I was +busy, and he could not speak to me; and not to let him leave his +oranges. I know no more of it, but I am sure I never heard the name, and +I shall take no such presents from strangers. Perhaps he might be only +some beggar, who wanted a little money. Perhaps it might be something +worse. Let them keep their poison for their rats. I don't love it.(23) +That blot is a blunder. Nite dee MD.... + +20. A Committee of our Society dined to-day with the Chancellor of +the Exchequer. Our Society does not meet now as usual, for which I +am blamed: but till Lord Treasurer will agree to give us money and +employments to bestow, I am averse to it; and he gives us nothing but +promises. The Bishop of Dromore is still alive, and that is all. We +expect every day he will die, and then Tom Leigh must go back, which is +one good thing to the town. I believe Pratt will drive at one of these +bishoprics. Our English bishopric(24) is not yet disposed of. I believe +the peace will not be ready by the session. Nite MD. + +21. I was to-day with my printer, to give him a little pamphlet I have +written, but not politics. It will be out by Monday. If it succeeds, I +will tell you of it; otherwise, not. We had a prodigious thaw to-day, +as bad as rain; yet I walked like a good boy all the way. The Bishop of +Dromore still draws breath, but cannot live two days longer. My large +book lies flat. Some people think a great part of it ought not to be now +printed. I believe I told you so before. This letter shall not go till +Saturday, which makes up the three weeks exactly; and I allow MD six +weeks, which are now almost out; so oo must know I expect a rettle vely +soon, and that MD is vely werr;(25) and so nite, dee MD. + +22. This is one of our Court days, and I was there. I told you there +is a Drawing-room, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The Hamiltons and +Abercorns have done teasing me. The latter, I hear, is actually going to +France. Lord Treasurer quarrelled with me at Court for being four days +without dining with him; so I dined there to-day, and he has at last +fallen in with my project (as he calls it) of coining halfpence and +farthings, with devices, like medals, in honour of the Queen, every year +changing the device. I wish it may be done. Nite MD. + +23. The Duke of Ormond and I appointed to dine with Ned Southwell +to-day, to talk of settling your affairs of Parliament in Ireland, but +there was a mixture of company, and the Duke of Ormond was in haste, and +nothing was done. If your Parliament meets this summer, it must be a new +one; but I find some are of opinion there should be none at all these +two years. I will trouble myself no more about it. My design was to +serve the Duke of Ormond. Dr. Pratt and I sat this evening with the +Bishop of Clogher, and played at ombre for threepences. That, I suppose, +is but low with you. I found, at coming home, a letter from MD, N.37. I +shall not answer it zis bout, but will the next. I am sorry for poo poo +Ppt. Pray walk hen oo can. I have got a terrible new cold before my old +one was quite gone, and don't know how. Pay. ... (26) I shall have DD's +money soon from the Exchequer. The Bishop of Dromore is dead now at +last. Nite, dee MD. + +24. I was at Court to-day, and it was comical to see Lord Abercorn +bowing to me, but not speaking, and Lord Selkirk the same.(27) I dined +with Lord Treasurer and his Saturday Club, and sat with him two hours +after the rest were gone, and spoke freer to him of affairs than I am +afraid others do, who might do more good. All his friends repine, and +shrug their shoulders; but will not deal with him so freely as they +ought. It is an odd business; the Parliament just going to sit, and no +employments given. They say they will give them in a few days. There +is a new bishop made of Hereford;(28) so Ossory(29) is disappointed. I +hinted so to his friends two months ago, to make him leave off deluding +himself, and being indiscreet, as he was. I have just time to send this, +without giving to the bellman. Nite deelest richar MD.... dee MD MD MD +FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele Lele Lele. + +My second cold is better now. Lele lele lele lele. + + + + +LETTER 59.(1) + +LONDON, Jan. 25, 1712-1713. + +We had such a terrible storm to-day, that, going to Lord Bolingbroke's, +I saw a hundred tiles fallen down; and one swinger fell about forty +yards before me, that would have killed a horse: so, after church and +Court, I walked through the Park, and took a chair to Lord Treasurer's. +Next door to his house, a tin chimneytop had fallen down, with a hundred +bricks. It is grown calm this evening. I wonder had you such a wind +to-day? I hate it as much as any hog does. Lord Treasurer has engaged +me to dine again with him to-morrow. He has those tricks sometimes of +inviting me from day to day, which I am forced to break through. My +little pamphlet(2) is out: 'tis not politics. If it takes, I say again +you shall hear of it. Nite dee logues. + +26. This morning I felt a little touch of giddiness, which has +disordered and weakened me with its ugly remains all this day. Pity +Pdfr. After dinner at Lord Treasurer's, the French Ambassador, Duke +d'Aumont, sent Lord Treasurer word that his house was burnt down to the +ground. It took fire in the upper rooms, while he was at dinner with +Monteleon, the Spanish Ambassador, and other persons; and soon after +Lord Bolingbroke came to us with the same story. We are full of +speculations upon it, but I believe it was the carelessness of his +French rascally servants. 'Tis odd that this very day Lord Somers, +Wharton, Sunderland, Halifax, and the whole club of Whig lords, dined at +Pontack's(3) in the City, as I received private notice. They have some +damned design. I tell you another odd thing; I was observing it to Lord +Treasurer, that he was stabbed on the day King William died; and the +day I saved his life, by opening the bandbox,(4) was King William's +birthday. My friend Mr. Lewis has had a lie spread on him by the mistake +of a man, who went to another of his name, to give him thanks for +passing his Privy Seal to come from France.(5) That other Lewis spread +about that the man brought him thanks from Lord Perth and Lord Melfort +(two lords with the Pretender), for his great services, etc. The Lords +will examine that t'other Lewis to-morrow in council; and I believe +you will hear of it in the prints, for I will make Abel Roper give +a relation of it. Pray tell me if it be necessary to write a little +plainer; for I looked over a bit of my last letter, and could hardly +read it. I'll mend my hand, if oo please: but you are more used to it +nor I, as Mr. Raymond says. Nite MD. + +27. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer: this makes four days together; +and he has invited me again to-morrow, but I absolutely refused him. +I was this evening at a christening with him of Lord Dupplin's(6) +daughter. He went away at ten; but they kept me and some others till +past twelve; so you may be sure 'tis late, as they say. We have now +stronger suspicions that the Duke d'Aumont's house was set on fire by +malice. I was to-day to see Lord Keeper, who has quite lost his voice +with a cold. There Dr. Radcliffe told me that it was the Ambassador's +confectioner set the house on fire by boiling sugar, and going down and +letting it boil over. Yet others still think differently; so I know not +what to judge. Nite my own deelest MD, rove Pdfr. + +28. I was to-day at Court, where the Spanish Ambassador talked to me as +if he did not suspect any design in burning d'Aumont's house: but Abbe +Gaultier, Secretary for France here, said quite otherwise; and that +d'Aumont had a letter the very same day to let him know his house should +be burnt, and they tell several other circumstances too tedious to +write. One is, that a fellow mending the tiles just when the fire broke +out, saw a pot with wildfire(7) in the room. I dined with Lord Orkney. +Neither Lord Abercorn nor Selkirk will now speak with me. I have +disobliged both sides. Nite dear MD. + +29. Our Society met to-day, fourteen of us, and at a tavern. We now +resolve to meet but once a fortnight, and have a Committee every other +week of six or seven, to consult about doing some good. I proposed +another message to Lord Treasurer by three principal members, to give a +hundred guineas to a certain person, and they are to urge it as well as +they can. We also raised sixty guineas upon our own Society; but I made +them do it by sessors,(8) and I was one of them, and we fitted our tax +to the several estates. The Duke of Ormond pays ten guineas, and I the +third part of a guinea; at that rate, they may tax as often as they +please. Well, but I must answer oor rettle, ung oomens: not yet; 'tis +rate now, and I can't tind it. Nite deelest MD. + +30. I have drank Spa waters this two or three days; but they do not +pass, and make me very giddy. I an't well; faith, I'll take them no +more. I sauntered after church with the Provost to-day to see a library +to be sold, and dined at five with Lord Orkney. We still think there was +malice in burning d'Aumont's house. I hear little Harrison(9) is come +over; it was he I sent to Utrecht. He is now Queen's Secretary to the +Embassy, and has brought with him the Barrier Treaty, as it is now +corrected by us, and yielded to by the Dutch, which was the greatest +difficulty to retard the peace. I hope he will bring over the peace a +month hence, for we will send him back as soon as possible. I long +to see the little brat, my own creature. His pay is in all a thousand +pounds a year, and they have never paid him a groat, though I have +teased their hearts out. He must be three or four hundred pounds in debt +at least, the brat! Let me go to bed, sollahs.--Nite dee richar MD. + +31. Harrison was with me this morning: we talked three hours, and then +I carried him to Court. When we went down to the door of my lodging, I +found a coach waited for him. I chid him for it; but he whispered me it +was impossible to do otherwise; and in the coach he told me he had not +one farthing in his pocket to pay it; and therefore took the coach for +the whole day, and intended to borrow money somewhere or other. So +there was the Queen's Minister entrusted in affairs of the greatest +importance, without a shilling in his pocket to pay a coach! I paid +him while he was with me seven guineas, in part of a dozen of shirts he +bought me in Holland. I presented him to the Duke of Ormond, and several +lords at Court; and I contrived it so that Lord Treasurer came to me and +asked (I had Parnell by me) whether that was Dr. Parnell, and came up +and spoke to him with great kindness, and invited him to his house. +I value myself upon making the Ministry desire to be acquainted with +Parnell, and not Parnell with the Ministry. His poem is almost fully +corrected, and shall soon be out. Here's enough for to-day: only to tell +you that I was in the City with my printer to alter an Examiner about my +friend Lewis's story,(10) which will be told with remarks. Nite MD. + +Feb. 1. I could do nothing till to-day about the Examiner, but the +printer came this morning, and I dictated to him what was fit to be +said, and then Mr. Lewis came, and corrected it as he would have it; +so I was neither at church nor Court. The Duke of Ormond and I dined at +Lord Orkney's. I left them at seven, and sat with Sir Andrew Fountaine, +who has a very bad sore leg, for which he designs to go to France. Fais, +here's a week gone, and one side of this letter not finished. Oh, but I +write now but once in three weeks; iss, fais, this shall go sooner. The +Parliament is to sit on the third, but will adjourn for three or four +days; for the Queen is laid up with the gout, and both Speakers out of +order, though one of them, the Lord Keeper, is almost well. I spoke +to the Duke of Ormond a good deal about Ireland. We do not altogether +agree, nor am I judge enough of Irish affairs; but I will speak to Lord +Treasurer to-morrow, that we three may settle them some way or other. +Nite sollahs both, rove Pdfr. + +2. I had a letter some days ago from Moll Gery;(11) her name is now +Wigmore, and her husband has turned parson. She desires nothing but that +I would get Lord Keeper to give him a living; but I will send her no +answer, though she desires it much. She still makes mantuas at Farnham. +It rained all this day, and Dilly came to me, and was coaching it into +the City; so I went with him for a shaking, because it would not cost +me a farthing. There I met my friend Stratford,(12) the merchant, who +is going abroad to gather up his debts, and be clear in the world. +He begged that I would dine with some merchant friends of ours there, +because it was the last time I should see him: so I did, and thought to +have seen Lord Treasurer in the evening, but he happened to go out +at five; so I visited some friends, and came home. And now I have +the greatest part of your letter to answer; and yet I will not do it +to-night, say what oo please. The Parliament meets to-morrow, but will +be prorogued for a fortnight; which disappointment will, I believe, vex +abundance of them, though they are not Whigs; for they are forced to be +in town at expense for nothing: but we want an answer from Spain, before +we are sure of everything being right for the peace; and God knows +whether we can have that answer this month. It is a most ticklish +juncture of affairs; we are always driving to an inch: I am weary of it. +Nite MD. + +3. The Parliament met, and was prorogued, as I said, and I found +some cloudy faces, and heard some grumbling. We have got over all +our difficulties with France, I think. They have now settled all the +articles of commerce between us and them, wherein they were very much +disposed to play the rogue if we had not held them to (it); and this +business we wait from Spain is to prevent some other rogueries of the +French, who are finding an evasion to trade to the Spanish West Indies; +but I hope we shall prevent it. I dined with Lord Treasurer, and he was +in good humour enough. I gave him that part of my book in manuscript to +read where his character was, and drawn pretty freely. He was reading +and correcting it with his pencil, when the Bishop of St. David's(13) +(now removing to Hereford) came in and interrupted us. I left him at +eight, and sat till twelve with the Provost and Bishop of Clogher at the +Provost's. Nite MD. + +4. I was to-day at Court, but kept out of Lord Treasurer's way, because +I was engaged to the Duke of Ormond, where I dined, and, I think, ate +and drank too much. I sat this evening with Lady Masham, and then with +Lord Masham and Lord Treasurer at Lord Masham's. It was last year, you +may remember, my constant evening place. I saw Lady Jersey(14) with Lady +Masham, who has been laying out for my acquaintance, and has forced a +promise for me to drink chocolate with her in a day or two, which I know +not whether I shall perform (I have just mended my pen, you see), for I +do not much like her character; but she is very malicious, and therefore +I think I must keep fair with her. I cannot send this letter till +Saturday next, I find; so I will answer oors now. I see no different +days of the month; yet it is dated January 3: so it was long a coming. +I did not write to Dr. Coghill that I would have nothing in Ireland, but +that I was soliciting nothing anywhere, and that is true. I have named +Dr. Sterne to Lord Treasurer, Lord Bolingbroke, and the Duke of Ormond, +for a bishopric, and I did it heartily. I know not what will come of +it; but I tell you as a great secret that I have made the Duke of Ormond +promise me to recommend nobody till he tells me, and this for some +reasons too long to mention. My head is still in no good order. I am +heartily sorry for poo Ppt, I'm sure. Her head is good for...(15) I'll +answer more to-mollow. Nite, dearest MD; nite dee sollahs, MD.(16) + +5. I must go on with oo letter. I dined to-day with Sir Andrew Fountaine +and the Provost, and I played at ombre with him all the afternoon. I +won, yet Sir Andrew is an admirable player. Lord Pembroke(17) came in, +and I gave him three or four scurvy Dilly puns, that begin with an IF. +Well, but oor letter, well, ret me see.--No; I believe I shall write no +more this good while, nor publish what I have done. Nauty (?) Ppt, oo +are vely tempegant. I did not suspect oo would tell Filby.(18) Oo are +so... (19) Turns and visitations--what are these? I'll preach and visit +as much for Mr. Walls. Pray God mend poopt's(20) health; mine is but +very indifferent. I have left off Spa water; it makes my leg swell. Nite +deelest MD. + +6. This is the Queen's Birthday, and I never saw it celebrated with so +much luxury and fine clothes. I went to Court to see them, and I dined +with Lord Keeper, where the ladies were fine to admiration. I passed the +evening at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and came home pretty early, to answer oo +rettle again. Pray God keep the Queen. She was very ill about ten days +ago, and had the gout in her stomach. When I came from Lord Keeper's, I +called at Lord Treasurer's, because I heard he was very fine, and +that was a new thing; and it was true, for his coat and waistcoat were +embroidered. I have seen the Provost often since, and never spoke to him +to speak to the Temples about Daniel Carr, nor will; I don't care to do +it. I have writ lately to Parvisol. Oo did well to let him make up his +accounts. All things grow dear in Ireland, but corn to the parsons; for +my livings are fallen much this year by Parvisol's account. Nite dee +logues, MD. + + 7.(8) I was at Court to-day, but saw no Birthday clothes; the great folks +never wear them above once or twice. I dined with Lord Orkney, and sat +the evening with Sir Andrew Fountaine, whose leg is in a very dubious +condition. Pray let me know when DD's money is near due: always let me +know it beforehand. This, I believe, will hardly go till Saturday; for +I tell you what, being not very well, I dare not study much: so I let +company come in a morning, and the afternoon pass in dining and sitting +somewhere. Lord Treasurer is angry if I don't dine with him every second +day, and I cannot part with him till late: he kept me last night till +near twelve. Our weather is constant rain above these two months, which +hinders walking, so that our spring is not like yours. I have not seen +Fanny Manley(21) yet; I cannot find time. I am in rebellion with all my +acquaintance, but I will mend with my health and the weather. Clogher +make a figure! Clogher make a ----. Colds! why, we have been all dying +with colds; but now they are a little over, and my second is almost +off. I can do nothing for Swanton indeed. It is a thing impossible, and +wholly out of my way. If he buys, he must buy. So now I have answered oo +rettle; and there's an end of that now; and I'll say no more, but bid oo +nite, dee MD. + +8.(9) It was terrible rainy to-day from morning till night. I intended +to have dined with Lord Treasurer, but went to see Sir Andrew Fountaine, +and he kept me to dinner, which saved coach-hire; and I stayed with him +all the afternoon, and lost thirteen shillings and sixpence at ombre. +There was management! and Lord Treasurer will chide; but I'll dine +with him to-morrow. The Bishop of Clogher's daughter has been ill some +days,(22) and it proves the smallpox. She is very full; but it comes +out well, and they apprehend no danger. Lady Orkney has given me her +picture; a very fine original of Sir Godfrey Kneller's; it is now a +mending. He has favoured her squint admirably; and you know I love a +cast in the eye. I was to see Lady Worsley(23) to-day, who is just come +to town; she is full of rheumatic pains. All my acquaintance grow old +and sickly. She lodges in the very house in King Street, between St. +James's Street and St. James's Square, where DD's brother bought the +sweetbread, when I lodged there, and MD came to see me. Short sighs.(24) +Nite MD. + +9.(10) I thought to have dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, but he dined +abroad at Tom Harley's; so I dined at Lord Masham's, and was winning all +I had lost playing with Lady Masham at crown picquet, when we went to +pools, and I lost it again. Lord Treasurer came in to us, and chid me +for not following him to Tom Harley's. Miss Ashe is still the same, and +they think her not in danger; my man calls there daily after I am gone +out, and tells me at night. I was this morning to see Lady Jersey, and +we have made twenty parties about dining together, and I shall hardly +keep one of them. She is reduced after all her greatness to seven +servants, and a small house, and no coach.(25) I like her tolerably as +yet. Nite MD. + +10.(11) I made visits this morning to the Duke and Duchess of Ormond, +and Lady Betty, and the Duchess of Hamilton. (When I was writing this +near twelve o'clock, the Duchess of Hamilton sent to have me dine with +her to-morrow. I am forced to give my answer through the door, for my +man has got the key, and is gone to bed; but I cannot obey her, for our +Society meets to-morrow.) I stole away from Lord Treasurer by eight, and +intended to have passed the evening with Sir Thomas Clarges(26) and his +lady; but met them in another place, and have there sat till now. My +head has not been ill to-day. I was at Court, and made Lord Mansel walk +with me in the Park before we went to dinner.--Yesterday and to-day have +been fair, but yet it rained all last night. I saw Sterne staring at +Court to-day. He has been often to see me, he says: but my man has +not yet let him up. He is in deep mourning; I hope it is not for his +wife.(27) I did not ask him. Nite MD. + +12.(28) I have reckoned days wrong all this while; for this is the +twelfth. I do not know when I lost it. I dined to-day with our Society, +the greatest dinner I have ever seen. It was at Jack Hill's, the +Governor of Dunkirk. I gave an account of sixty guineas I had collected, +and am to give them away to two authors to-morrow; and Lord Treasurer +has promised us a hundred pounds to reward some others. I found a letter +on my table last night to tell me that poor little Harrison, the Queen's +Secretary, that came lately from Utrecht with the Barrier Treaty, was +ill, and desired to see me at night; but it was late, and I could not +go till to-day. I have often mentioned him in my letters, you may +remember.... I went in the morning, and found him mighty ill, and got +thirty guineas for him from Lord Bolingbroke, and an order for a hundred +pounds from the Treasury to be paid him to-morrow; and I have got him +removed to Knightsbridge for air. He has a fever and inflammation on his +lungs; but I hope will do well. Nite. + +13. I was to see a poor poet, one Mr. Diaper,(29) in a nasty garret, +very sick. I gave him twenty guineas from Lord Bolingbroke, and disposed +the other sixty to two other authors, and desired a friend to receive +the hundred pounds for poor Harrison, and will carry it to him to-morrow +morning. I sent to see how he did, and he is extremely ill; and I +very much afflicted for him, for he is my own creature, and in a very +honourable post, and very worthy of it. I dined in the City. I am in +much concern for this poor lad. His mother and sister attend him, and he +wants nothing. Nite poo dee MD. + +14. I took Parnell this morning, and we walked to see poor Harrison. +I had the hundred pounds in my pocket. I told Parnell I was afraid to +knock at the door; my mind misgave me. I knocked, and his man in tears +told me his master was dead an hour before. Think what grief this is to +me! I went to his mother, and have been ordering things for his funeral +with as little cost as possible, to-morrow at ten at night. Lord +Treasurer was much concerned when I told him. I could not dine with Lord +Treasurer, nor anywhere else; but got a bit of meat toward evening. No +loss ever grieved me so much: poor creature! Pray God Almighty bless +poor MD. Adieu. + +I send this away to-night, and am sorry it must go while I am in so much +grief. + + + + +LETTER 60.(1) + +LONDON, Feb. 15 (1712-13). + +I dined to-day with Mr. Rowe(2) and a projector, who has been teasing +me with twenty schemes to get grants; and I don't like one of them; and, +besides, I was out of humour for the loss of poor Harrison. At ten +this night I was at his funeral, which I ordered to be as private as +possible. We had but one coach with four of us; and when it was carrying +us home after the funeral, the braces broke; and we were forced to sit +in it, and have it held up, till my man went for chairs,(3) at eleven at +night in terrible rain. I am come home very melancholy, and will go to +bed. Nite... MD.(4) + +16. I dined to-day with Lord Dupplin and some company to divert me; but +left them early, and have been reading a foolish book for amusement. I +shall never have courage again to care for making anybody's fortune. The +Parliament meets to-morrow, and will be prorogued another fortnight, +at which several of both parties were angry; but it cannot be helped, +though everything about the peace is past all danger. I never saw such +a continuance of rainy weather. We have not had two fair days together +these ten weeks. I have not dined with Lord Treasurer these four days, +nor can I till Saturday; for I have several engagements till then, +and he will chide me to some purpose. I am perplexed with this hundred +pounds of poor Harrison's, what to do with it. I cannot pay his +relations till they administer, for he is much in debt;(5) but I will +have the staff in my own hands, and venture nothing. Nite poo dee MD. + +17. Lady Jersey and I dined by appointment to-day with Lord Bolingbroke. +He is sending his brother(6) to succeed Mr.(7) Harrison. It is the +prettiest post in Europe for a young gentleman. I lose my money at ombre +sadly; I make a thousand blunders. I play but(8) threepenny ombre; but +it is what you call running ombre. Lady Clarges,(9) and a drab I hate, +won a dozen shillings of me last night. The Parliament was prorogued +to-day; and people grumble; and the good of it is the peace cannot be +finished by the time they meet, there are so many fiddling things to do. +Is Ppt an ombre lady yet? You know all the tricks of it now, I suppose. +I reckon you have all your cards from France, for ours pay sixpence a +pack taxes, which goes deep to the box. I have given away all my Spa +water, and take some nasty steel drops, and my head has been better this +week past. I send every day to see how Miss Ashe does: she is very full, +they say, but in no danger. I fear she will lose some of her beauty. +The son lies out of the house. I wish he had them too, while he is so +young.--Nite MD. + +18. The Earl of Abingdon(10) has been teasing me these three months to +dine with him; and this day was appointed about a week ago, and I named +my company; Lord Stawel,(11) Colonel Disney,(12) and Dr. Arbuthnot; but +the two last slipped out their necks, and left Stawell and me to dine +there. We did not dine till seven, because it is Ash Wednesday. We had +nothing but fish, which Lord Stawell could not eat, and got a broiled +leg of a turkey. Our wine was poison; yet the puppy has twelve thousand +pound a year. His carps were raw, and his candles tallow. He(13) shall +not catch me in haste again, and everybody has laughed at me for dining +with him. I was to-day to let Harrison's mother know I could not +pay till she administers; which she will do. I believe she is an old +bawd,(14) and her daughter a ------. There were more Whigs to-day at +Court than Tories. I believe they think the peace must be made, and so +come to please the Queen. She is still lame with the gout. Nite MD. + +19. I was at Court to-day, to speak to Lord Bolingbroke to look over +Parnell's poem since it is corrected; and Parnell and I dined with him, +and he has shown him three or four more places to alter a little. Lady +Bolingbroke came down to us while we were at dinner, and Parnell stared +at her as if she were a goddess. I thought she was like Parnell's wife, +and he thought so too. Parnell is much pleased with Lord Bolingbroke's +favour to him, and I hope it may one day turn to his advantage. His poem +will be printed in a few days. Our weather continues as fresh raining as +if it had not rained at all. I sat to-night at Lady Masham's, where +Lord Treasurer came and scolded me for not dining with him. I told him +I could not till Saturday. I have stayed there till past twelve. So nite +dee sollahs, nite. + +20. Lady Jersey, Lady Catherine Hyde,(15) the Spanish Ambassador, the +Duke d'Atree,(16) another Spaniard, and I, dined to-day by appointment +with Lord Bolingbroke; but they fell a drinking so many Spanish healths +in champagne that I stole away to the ladies, and drank tea till eight; +and then went and lost my money at ombre with Sir Andrew Fountaine, who +has a very bad leg. Miss Ashe is past all danger; and her eye, which was +lately bad (I suppose one effect of her distemper), is now better. I do +not let the Bishop see me, nor shall this good while. Good luck! when I +came home, I warrant, I found a letter from MD, No.38; and oo write +so small nowadays, I hope oo poor eyes are better. Well, this shall go +to-morrow se'nnight, with a bill for MD. I will speak to Mr. Griffin(17) +to-morrow about Ppt's brother Filby, and desire, whether he deserves +or no, that his employment may be mended; that is to say, if I can see +Griffin; otherwise not; and I'll answer oo rettle hen I Pdfr think fit. +Nite MD. + +21. Methinks I writ a little saucy last night. I mean the last... (18) I +saw Griffin at Court. He says he knows nothing of a salt-work at Recton; +but that he will give Filby a better employment, and desires Filby will +write to him. If I knew how to write to Filby, I would; but pray do you. +Bid him make no mention of you; but only let Mr. Griffin know that +he has the honour to be recommended by Dr. S----, etc.; that he will +endeavour to deserve, etc.; and if you dictated a whole letter for him, +it would be better; I hope he can write and spell well. I'll inquire for +a direction to Griffin before I finish this. I dined with Lord Treasurer +and seven lords to-day. You know Saturday is his great day, but I sat +with them alone till eight, and then came home, and have been writing a +letter to Mrs. Davis, at York. She took care to have a letter delivered +for me at Lord Treasurer's; for I would not own one she sent by post. +She reproaches me for not writing to her these four years; and I have +honestly told her it was my way never to write to those whom I am never +likely to see, unless I can serve them, which I cannot her, etc. Davis +the schoolmaster's widow. Nite MD. + +22. I dined to-day at Lord Orkney's, with the Duke of Ormond and Sir +Thomas Hanmer.(19) Have you ever heard of the latter? He married the +Duchess of Grafton in his youth (she dined with us too). He is the +most considerable man in the House of Commons. He went last spring to +Flanders, with the Duke of Ormond; from thence to France, and was going +to Italy; but the Ministry sent for him, and he has been come over about +ten days. He is much out of humour with things: he thinks the peace is +kept off too long, and is full of fears and doubts. It is thought he is +designed for Secretary of State, instead of Lord Dartmouth. We have been +acquainted these two years; and I intend, in a day or two, to have an +hour's talk with him on affairs. I saw the Bishop of Clogher at Court; +Miss is recovering. I know not how much she will be marked. The Queen +is slowly mending of her gout, and intends to be brought in a chair to +Parliament when it meets, which will be March 3; for I suppose they +will prorogue no more; yet the peace will not be signed then, and we +apprehend the Tories themselves will many of them be discontented. Nite +dee MD. + +23. It was ill weather to-day, and I dined with Sir Andrew Fountaine, +and in the evening played at ombre with him and the Provost, and won +twenty-five shillings; so I have recovered myself pretty well. Dilly has +been dunning me to see Fanny Manley; but I have not yet been able to +do it. Miss Ashe is now quite out of danger; and hope will not be much +marked. I cannot tell how to direct to Griffin; and think he lives in +Bury Street, near St. James's Street, hard by me; but I suppose your +brother may direct to him to the Salt Office, and, as I remember, he +knows his Christian name, because he sent it me in the list of the +Commissioners. Nite dee MD. + +24. I walked this morning to Chelsea, to see Dr. Atterbury, Dean +of Christ Church. I had business with him about entering Mr. +Fitzmaurice,(20) my Lord Kerry's son, into his College; and Lady +Kerry(21) is a great favourite of mine. Lord Harley, Lord Dupplin, young +Bromley(22) the Speaker's son, and I, dined with Dr. Stratford(23) and +some other clergymen; but I left them at seven to go to Lady Jersey, +to see Monteleon the Spanish Ambassador play at ombre. Lady Jersey was +abroad, and I chid the servants, and made a rattle; but since I came +home she sent me a message that I was mistaken, and that the meeting is +to be to-morrow. I have a worse memory than when I left you, and every +day forget appointments; but here my memory was by chance too good. But +I'll go to-morrow; for Lady Catherine Hyde and Lady Bolingbroke are to +be there by appointment, and I listed(24) up my periwig, and all, to +make a figure. Well, who can help it? Not I, vow to...!(25) Nite MD. + +25. Lord Treasurer met me last night at Lord Masham's, and thanked me +for my company in a jeer, because I had not dined with him in three +days. He chides me if I stay away but two days together. What will this +come to? Nothing. My grandmother used to say, "More of your lining, and +less of your dining." However, I dined with him, and could hardly +leave him at eight, to go to Lady Jersey's, where five or six foreign +Ministers were, and as many ladies. Monteleon played like the English, +and cried "gacco," and knocked his knuckles for trump, and played at +small games like Ppt. Lady Jersey whispered me to stay and sup with the +ladies when the fellows were gone; but they played till eleven, and I +would not stay. I think this letter must go on Saturday; that's certain; +and it is not half full yet. Lady Catherine Hyde had a mighty mind I +should be acquainted with Lady Dalkeith,(26) her sister, the Duke of +Monmouth's eldest son's widow, who was of the company to-night; but I +did not like her; she paints too much. Nite MD. + +26. This day our Society met at the Duke of Ormond's, but I had business +that called me another way; so I sent my excuses, and dined privately +with a friend. Besides, Sir Thomas Hanmer whispered me last night at +Lady Jersey's that I must attend Lord Treasurer and Duke of Ormond at +supper at his house to-night; which I did at eleven, and stayed till +one, so oo may be sure 'tis late enough. There was the Duchess of +Grafton, and the Duke her son; nine of us in all. The Duke of Ormond +chid me for not being at the Society to-day, and said sixteen were +there. I said I never knew sixteen people good company in my life; no, +fais, nor eight either. We have no news in this town at all. I wonder +why I don't write you news. I know less of what passes than anybody, +because I go to(27) no coffee-house, nor see any but Ministers, and such +people; and Ministers never talk politics in conversation. The Whigs are +forming great schemes against the meeting of Parliament, which will be +next Tuesday, I still think, without fail; and we hope to hear by then +that the peace is ready to sign. The Queen's gout mends daily. Nite MD. + +27. I passed a very insipid day, and dined privately with a friend in +the neighbourhood. Did I tell you that I have a very fine picture of +Lady Orkney,(28) an original, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, three-quarters +length? I have it now at home, with a fine frame. Lord Bolingbroke +and Lady Masham have promised to sit for me; but I despair of Lord +Treasurer; only I hope he will give me a copy, and then I shall have all +the pictures of those I really love here; just half a dozen; only I'll +make Lord Keeper give me his print in a frame. This letter must go +to-morrow, because of sending ME a bill; else it should not till next +week, I assure oo. I have little to do now with my pen; for my grand +business stops till they are more pressing, and till something or other +happens; and I believe I shall return with disgust to finish it, it is +so very laborious. Sir Thomas Hanmer has my papers now. And hat is MD +doing now? Oh, at ombre with the Dean always on Friday night, with Mrs. +Walls. Pray don't play at small games. I stood by, t'other night, while +the Duke d'Atree(29) lost six times with manilio, basto, and three small +trumps; and Lady Jersey won above twenty pounds. Nite dee richar(30) MD. + +28. I was at Court to-day, when the Abbe Gaultier whispered me that a +courier was just come with an account that the French King had consented +to all the Queen's demands, and his consent was carried to Utrecht, +and the peace will be signed in a few days. I suppose the general peace +cannot be so soon ready; but that is no matter. The news presently ran +about the Court. I saw the Queen carried out in her chair, to take the +air in the garden. I met Griffin at Court, and he told me that orders +were sent to examine Filby; and, if he be fit, to make him (I think he +called it) an assistant; I don't know what, Supervisor, I think; but it +is some employment a good deal better than his own. The Parliament will +have another short prorogation, though it is not known yet. I dined with +Lord Treasurer and his Saturday company, and left him at eight to put +this in the post-office time enough. And now I must bid oo farewell, +deelest richar Ppt. God bless oo ever, and rove Pdfr. Farewell MD MD MD +FW FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele Lele. + + + + +LETTER 61.(1) + +LONDON, March 1, 1712-13. + +'Tis out of my head whether I answered all your letter in my last +yesterday or no. I think I was in haste, and could not: but now I see I +answered a good deal of it; no, only about your brother, and ME's bill. +I dined with Lady Orkney, and we talked politics till eleven at night; +and, as usual, found everything wrong, and put ourselves out of humour. +Yes, I have Lady Giffard's picture sent me by your mother. It is boxed +up at a place where my other things are. I have goods in two or three +places; and when I leave a lodging, I box up the books I get (for I +always get some), and come naked into a new lodging; and so on. Talk not +to me of deaneries; I know less of that than ever by much. Nite MD. + +2. I went to-day into the City to see Pat Rolt,(2) who lodges with a +City cousin, a daughter of coz Cleve; (you are much the wiser). I had +never been at her house before. My he-coz Thompson the butcher is dead, +or dying. I dined with my printer, and walked home, and went to sit with +Lady Clarges. I found four of them at whist; Lady Godolphin(3) was one. +I sat by her, and talked of her cards, etc., but she would not give +me one look, nor say a word to me. She refused some time ago to be +acquainted with me. You know she is Lord Marlborough's eldest daughter. +She is a fool for her pains, and I'll pull her down. What can I do for +Dr. Smith's daughter's husband? I have no personal credit with any +of the Commissioners. I'll speak to Keatley;(4) but I believe it will +signify nothing. In the Customs people must rise by degrees, and he +must at first take what is very low, if he be qualified for that. Ppt +mistakes me; I am not angry at your recommending anyone to me, provided +you will take my answer. Some things are in my way, and then I serve +those I can. But people will not distinguish, but take things ill, when +I have no power; but Ppt is wiser. And employments in general are very +hard to be got. Nite MD. + +3. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for my absence, which +was only from Saturday last. The Parliament was again prorogued for a +week, and I suppose the peace will be ready by then, and the Queen +will be able to be brought to the House, and make her speech. I saw Dr. +Griffith(5) two or three months ago, at a Latin play at Westminster; +but did not speak to him. I hope he will not die; I should be sorry for +Ppt's sake; he is very tender of her. I have long lost all my colds, +and the weather mends a little. I take some steel drops, and my head +is pretty well. I walk when I can, but am grown very idle; and, not +finishing my thing, I gamble(6) abroad and play at ombre. I shall be +more careful in my physic than Mrs. Price: 'tis not a farthing matter +her death, I think; and so I say no more to-night, but will read a dull +book, and go sleep. Nite dee MD. + +4. Mr. Ford has been this half-year inviting me to dine at his lodgings: +so I did to-day, and brought the Provost and Dr. Parnell with me, and my +friend Lewis was there. Parnell went away, and the other three played at +ombre, and I looked on; which I love, and would not play. Tisdall is a +pretty fellow, as you say; and when I come back to Ireland with nothing, +he will condole with me with abundance of secret pleasure. I believe +I told you what he wrote to me, that I have saved England, and he +Ireland;(7) but I can bear that. I have learned to hear and see, and say +nothing. I was to see the Duchess of Hamilton to-day, and met Blith(8) +of Ireland just going out of her house into his coach. I asked her how +she came to receive young fellows. It seems he had a ball in the Duke +of Hamilton's house when the Duke died; and the Duchess got an +advertisement put in the Postboy,(9) reflecting on the ball, because +the Marlborough daughters(10) were there; and Blith came to beg the +Duchess's pardon, and clear himself. He's a sad dog. Nite poo dee +deelest MD. + +5. Lady Masham has miscarried; but is well almost again. I have many +visits to-day. I met Blith at the Duke of Ormond's; and he begged me to +carry him to the Duchess of Hamilton, to beg her pardon again. I did +on purpose to see how the blunderbuss behaved himself; but I begged the +Duchess to use him mercifully, for she is the devil of a teaser. The +good of it is, she ought to beg his pardon, for he meant no harm; yet +she would not allow him to put in an advertisement to clear himself from +hers, though hers was all a lie. He appealed to me, and I gravely gave +it against him. I was at Court to-day, and the foreign Ministers have +got a trick of employing me to speak for them to Lord Treasurer and Lord +Bolingbroke; which I do when the case is reasonable. The College(11) +need not fear; I will not be their Governor. I dined with Sir Thomas +Hanmer and his Duchess.(12) The Duke of Ormond was there, but we parted +soon, and I went to visit Lord Pembroke for the first time; but it was +to see some curious books. Lord Cholmondeley(13) came in; but I would +not talk to him, though he made many advances. I hate the scoundrel for +all he is your Griffith's friend.--Yes, yes, I am abused enough, if that +be all. Nite sollahs. + +6. I was to-day at an auction of pictures with Pratt,(14) and laid +out two pound five shillings for a picture of Titian, and if it were +a Titian it would be worth twice as many pounds. If I am cheated, I'll +part with it to Lord Masham: if it be a bargain, I'll keep it to myself. +That's my conscience. But I made Pratt buy several pictures for Lord +Masham. Pratt is a great virtuoso that way. I dined with Lord Treasurer, +but made him go to Court at eight. I always tease him to be gone. I +thought to have made Parnell dine with him, but he was ill; his head +is out of order like mine, but more constant, poor boy!--I was at Lord +Treasurer's levee with the Provost, to ask a book for the College.--I +never go to his levee, unless to present somebody. For all oor rallying, +saucy(15) Ppt, as hope saved, I expected they would have decided about +me long ago; and as hope saved, as soon as ever things are given away +and I not provided for, I will be gone with the very first opportunity, +and put up bag and baggage. But people are slower than can be thought. +Nite MD. + +7. Yes, I hope Leigh will soon be gone, a p-- on him! I met him once, +and he talked gravely to me of not seeing the Irish bishops here, and +the Irish gentlemen; but I believe my answers fretted him enough. I +would not dine with Lord Treasurer to-day, though it was Saturday (for +he has engaged me for to-morrow), but went and dined with Lord Masham, +and played at ombre, sixpenny running ombre, for three hours. There were +three voles(16) against me, and I was once a great loser, but came off +for three shillings and sixpence. One may easily lose five guineas at +it. Lady Orkney is gone out of town to-day, and I could not see her for +laziness, but writ to her. She has left me some physic. Fais, I never +knew MD's politics before, and I think it pretty extraordinary, and a +great compliment to you, and I believe never three people conversed so +much with so little politics. I avoid all conversation with the other +party; it is not to be borne, and I am sorry for it. O yes, things (are) +very dear. DD must come in at last with DD's two eggs a penny. There the +proverb was well applied. Parvisol has sent me a bill of fifty pounds, +as I ordered him, which, I hope, will serve me, and bring me over. Pray +God MD does not be delayed for it; but I have had very little from him +this long time. I was not at Court to-day; a wonder! Nite sollahs... +Pdfr. + +8. Oo must know, I give chocolate almost every day to two or three +people that I suffer to come to see me in a morning. My man begins to +lie pretty well. 'Tis nothing for people to be denied ten times. My man +knows all I will see, and denies me to everybody else. This is the +day of the Queen's coming to the Crown, and the day Lord Treasurer was +stabbed by Guiscard. I was at Court, where everybody had their Birthday +clothes on, and I dined with Lord Treasurer, who was very fine. He +showed me some of the Queen's speech, which I corrected in several +places, and penned the vote of address of thanks for the speech; but +I was of opinion the House should not sit on Tuesday next, unless they +hear the peace is signed; that is, provided they are sure it will be +signed the week after, and so have one scolding for all. Nite MD. + +9. Lord Treasurer would have had me dine with him to-day; he desired +me last night, but I refused, because he would not keep the day of his +stabbing with all the Cabinet, as he intended: so I dined with my +friend Lewis; and the Provost and Parnell, and Ford, was with us. I +lost sixteen shillings at ombre; I don't like it, as etc. At night Lewis +brought us word that the Parliament does not sit to-morrow. I hope +they are sure of the peace by next week, and then they are right in +my opinion: otherwise I think they have done wrong, and might have sat +three weeks ago. People will grumble; but Lord Treasurer cares not a +rush. Lord Keeper is suddenly taken ill of a quinsy, and some lords are +commissioned, I think Lord Trevor,(17) to prorogue the Parliament in his +stead. You never saw a town so full of ferment and expectation. Mr. Pope +has published a fine poem, called Windsor Forest.(18) Read it. Nite. + +10. I was early this morning to see Lord Bolingbroke. I find he was of +opinion the Parliament should sit; and says they are not sure the peace +will be signed next week. The prorogation is to this day se'nnight. I +went to look on a library I am going to buy, if we can agree. I have +offered a hundred and twenty pounds, and will give ten more. Lord +Bolingbroke will lend me the money. I was two hours poring on the books. +I will sell some of them, and keep the rest; but I doubt they won't take +the money. I dined in the City, and sat an hour in the evening with Lord +Treasurer, who was in very good humour; but reproached me for not dining +with him yesterday and to-day. What will all this come to? Lord Keeper +had a pretty good night, and is better. I was in pain for him. How do oo +do sollahs?... Nite MD.(19) + +11. I was this morning to visit the Duke and Duchess of Ormond, and +the Duchess of Hamilton, and went with the Provost to an auction of +pictures, and laid out fourteen shillings. I am in for it, if I had +money; but I doubt I shall be undone; for Sir Andrew Fountaine invited +the Provost and me to dine with him, and play at ombre, when I fairly +lost fourteen shillings. Fais, it won't do; and I shall be out of +conceit with play this good while. I am come home; and it is late, and +my puppy let out my fire, and I am gone to bed and writing there, and +it is past twelve a good while. Went out four matadores and a trump in +black, and was bested. Vely bad, fais! Nite my deelest logues MD. + +12. I was at another auction of pictures to-day, and a great auction it +was. I made Lord Masham lay out forty pounds. There were pictures sold +of twice as much value apiece. Our Society met to-day at the Duke of +Beaufort's: a prodigious fine dinner, which I hate; but we did some +business. Our printer was to attend us, as usual; and the Chancellor of +the Exchequer sent the author of the Examiner(20) twenty guineas. He is +an ingenious fellow, but the most confounded vain coxcomb in the world, +so that I dare not let him see me, nor am acquainted with him. I had +much discourse with the Duke of Ormond this morning, and am driving +some points to secure us all in case of accidents, etc.(21) I left the +Society at seven. I can't drink now at all with any pleasure. I love +white Portugal wine better than claret, champagne, or burgundy. I have a +sad vulgar appetite. I remember Ppt used to maunder, when I came from a +great dinner, and DD had but a bit of mutton. I cannot endure above one +dish; nor ever could since I was a boy, and loved stuffing. It was a +fine day, which is a rarity with us, I assure (you). Never fair two days +together. Nite dee MD. + +13. I had a rabble of Irish parsons this morning drinking my chocolate. +I cannot remember appointments. I was to have supped last night with the +Swedish Envoy at his house, and some other company, but forgot it; and +he rallied me to-day at Lord Bolingbroke's, who excused me, saying, the +Envoy ought not to be angry, because I serve Lord Treasurer and him the +same way. For that reason, I very seldom promise to go anywhere. I dined +with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for being absent so long, as he always +does if I miss a day. I sat three hours this evening with Lady Jersey; +but the first two hours she was at ombre with some company. I left Lord +Treasurer at eight: I fancied he was a little thoughtful, for he was +playing with an orange by fits, which, I told him, among common men +looked like the spleen. This letter shall not go to-morrow; no haste, +ung oomens; nothing that presses. I promised but once in three weeks, +and I am better than my word. I wish the peace may be ready, I mean that +we have notice it is signed, before Tuesday; otherwise the grumbling +will much increase. Nite logues. + +14. It was a lovely day this, and I took the advantage of walking a good +deal in the Park, before I went to Court. Colonel Disney, one of our +Society, is ill of a fever, and, we fear, in great danger. We all love +him mightily, and he would be a great loss. I doubt I shall not buy the +library; for a roguey bookseller has offered sixty pounds more than I +designed to give; so you see I meant to have a good bargain. I dined +with Lord Treasurer and his Saturday company; but there were but seven +at table. Lord Peterborrow is ill, and spits blood, with a bruise he got +before he left England; but, I believe, an Italian lady he has +brought over is the cause that his illness returns. You know old Lady +Bellasis(22) is dead at last? She has left Lord Berkeley of Stratton(23) +one of her executors, and it will be of great advantage to him; they say +above ten thousand pounds. I stayed with Lord Treasurer upon business, +after the company was gone; but I dare not tell you upon what. My +letters would be good memoirs, if I durst venture to say a thousand +things that pass; but I hear so much of letters opening at your +post-office that I am fearful, etc., and so good-nite, sollahs, rove +Pdfr, MD. + +15. Lord Treasurer engaged me to dine with him again to-day, and I +had ready what he wanted; but he would not see it, but put me off till +to-morrow. The Queen goes to chapel now. She is carried in an open +chair, and will be well enough to go to Parliament on Tuesday, if +the Houses meet, which is not yet certain; neither, indeed, can the +Ministers themselves tell; for it depends on winds and weather, and +circumstances of negotiation. However, we go on as if it was certainly +to meet; and I am to be at Lord Treasurer's to-morrow, upon that +supposition, to settle some things relating that way. Ppt(24) may +understand me. The doctors tell me that if poor Colonel Disney does not +get some sleep to-night, he must die. What care you? Ah! but I do +care. He is one of our Society; a fellow of abundance of humour; an old +battered rake, but very honest, not an old man, but an old rake. It was +he that said of Jenny Kingdom,(25) the maid of honour, who is a little +old, that, since she could not get a husband, the Queen should give her +a brevet to act as a married woman. You don't understand this. They give +brevets to majors and captains to act as colonels in the army. Brevets +are commissions. Ask soldiers, dull sollahs. Nite MD. + +16. I was at Lord Treasurer's before he came; and, as he entered, he +told me the Parliament was prorogued till Thursday se'nnight. They have +had some expresses, by which they count that the peace may be signed +by that time; at least, that France, Holland, and we, will sign some +articles, by which we shall engage to sign the peace when it is ready: +but Spain has no Minister there; for Monteleon, who is to be their +Ambassador at Utrecht, is not yet gone from hence; and till he is there, +the Spaniards can sign no peace: and (of) one thing take notice, that +a general peace can hardly be finished these two months, so as to be +proclaimed here; for, after signing, it must be ratified; that is, +confirmed by the several princes at their Courts, which to Spain will +cost a month; for we must have notice that it is ratified in all Courts +before we can proclaim it. So be not in too much haste. Nite MD. + +17. The Irish folks were disappointed that the Parliament did not meet +to-day, because it was St. Patrick's Day; and the Mall was so full of +crosses that I thought all the world was Irish. Miss Ashe is almost +quite well, and I see the Bishop, but shall not yet go to his house. I +dined again with Lord Treasurer; but the Parliament being prorogued, I +must keep what I have till next week: for I believe he will not see it +till just the evening before the session. He has engaged me to dine with +him again to-morrow, though I did all I could to put it off; but I don't +care to disoblige him. Nite dee sollahs 'tis late. Nite MD. + +18. I have now dined six days successively with Lord Treasurer; but +to-night I stole away while he was talking with somebody else, and so am +at liberty to-morrow. There was a flying report of a general cessation +of arms: everybody had it at Court; but, I believe, there is nothing in +it. I asked a certain French Minister how things went. And he whispered +me in French, "Your Plenipotentiaries and ours play the fool." None +of us, indeed, approve of the conduct of either at this time; but Lord +Treasurer was in full good-humour for all that. He had invited a good +many of his relations; and, of a dozen at table, they were all of the +Harley family but myself. Disney is recovering, though you don't care +a straw. Dilly murders us with his IF puns. You know them.... (26) Nite +MD. + +19. The Bishop of Clogher has made an IF pun that he is mighty proud of, +and designs to send it over to his brother Tom. But Sir Andrew Fountaine +has wrote to Tom Ashe last post, and told him the pun, and desired him +to send it over to the Bishop as his own; and, if it succeeds, 'twill +be a pure bite. The Bishop will tell it us as a wonder that he and his +brother should jump so exactly. I'll tell you the pun:--If there was a +hackney coach at Mr. Pooley's(27) door, what town in Egypt would it be? +Why, it would be Hecatompolis; Hack at Tom Pooley's. "Sillly," says Ppt. +I dined with a private friend to-day; for our Society, I told you, meet +but once a fortnight. I have not seen Fanny Manley yet; I can't help it. +Lady Orkney is come to town: why, she was at her country house; hat(28) +care you? Nite darling (?) dee MD. + +20. Dilly read me a letter to-day from Ppt. She seems to have scratched +her head when she writ it. 'Tis a sad thing to write to people without +tact. There you say, you hear I was going to Bath. No such thing; I am +pretty well, I thank God. The town is now sending me to Savoy.(29) Forty +people have given me joy of it, yet there is not the least truth that I +know in it. I was at an auction of pictures, but bought none. I was so +glad of my liberty, that I would dine nowhere; but, the weather being +fine, I sauntered into the City, and ate a bit about five, and then +supped at Mr. Burke's(30) your Accountant-General, who had been engaging +me this month. The Bishop of Clogher was to have been there, but was +hindered by Lord Paget's(31) funeral. The Provost and I sat till one +o'clock; and, if that be not late, I don't know what is late. Parnell's +poem will be published on Monday, and to-morrow I design he shall +present it to Lord Treasurer and Lord Bolingbroke at Court. The poor lad +is almost always out of order with his head. Burke's wife is his sister. +She has a little of the pert Irish way. Nite MD. + +21. Morning. I will now finish my letter; for company will come, and +a stir, and a clutter; and I'll keep the letter in my pottick,(32) +and give it into the post myself. I must go to Court, and you know on +Saturdays I dine with Lord Treasurer, of course. Farewell, deelest MD MD +MD, FW FW FW, MD ME ME ME Lele sollahs.(33) + + + + +LETTER 62.(1) + +LONDON, March 21, 1712-13. + +I gave your letter in this night. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, +and find he has been at a meeting at Lord Halifax's house, with four +principal Whigs; but he is resolved to begin a speech against them when +the Parliament sits; and I have begged that the Ministers may have a +meeting on purpose to settle that matter, and let us be the attackers; +and I believe it will come to something, for the Whigs intend to attack +the Ministers: and if, instead of that, the Ministers attack the Whigs, +it will be better: and farther, I believe we shall attack them on those +very points they intend to attack us. The Parliament will be again +prorogued for a fortnight, because of Passion Week. I forgot to tell you +that Mr. Griffin has given Ppt's brother(2) a new employment, about ten +pounds a year better than his former; but more remote, and consequently +cheaper. I wish I could have done better, and hope oo will take what can +be done in good part, and that oo brother will not dislike it.--Nite own +dear... MD. + +22. I dined to-day with Lord Steward.(3) There Frank Annesley(4) (a +Parliament-man) told me he had heard that I had wrote to my friends in +Ireland to keep firm to the Whig interest; for that Lord Treasurer would +certainly declare for it after the peace. Annesley said twenty people +had told him this. You must know this is what they endeavour to report +of Lord Treasurer, that he designs to declare for the Whigs; and a +Scotch fellow has wrote the same to Scotland; and his meeting with +those lords gives occasion to such reports. Let me henceforth call +Lord Treasurer Eltee, because possibly my letters may be opened. Pray +remember Eltee. You know the reason; L.T. and Eltee pronounced the same +way. Stay, 'tis five weeks since I had a letter from MD. I allow you +six. You see why I cannot come over the beginning of April; whoever has +to do with this Ministry can fix no time: but as(5) hope saved, it is +not Pdfr's fault. Pay don't blame poo Pdfr. Nite deelest logues MD.(6) + +23. I dined to-day at Sir Thomas Hanmer's, by an old appointment: there +was the Duke of Ormond, and Lord and Lady Orkney. I left them at six. +Everybody is as sour as vinegar. I endeavour to keep a firm friendship +between the Duke of Ormond and Eltee. (Oo know who Eltee is, or have oo +fordot already?) I have great designs, if I can compass them; but delay +is rooted in Eltee's heart; yet the fault is not altogether there, that +things are no better. Here is the cursedest libel in verse come out that +ever was seen, called The Ambassadress;(7) it is very dull, too; it has +been printed three or four different ways, and is handed about, but not +sold. It abuses the Queen horribly. The Examiner has cleared me to-day +of being author of his paper, and done it with great civilities to +me.(8) I hope it will stop people's mouths; if not, they must go on and +be hanged, I care not. 'Tis terribly rainy weather, I'll go sleep. Nite +deelest MD. + +24. It rained all this day, and ruined me in coach-hire. I went to +Colonel Disney, who is past danger. Then I visited Lord Keeper, who was +at dinner; but I would not dine with him, but drove to Lord Treasurer +(Eltee I mean), paid the coachman, and went in; but he dined abroad: so +I was forced to call the coachman again, and went to Lord Bolingbroke's. +He dined abroad too; and at Lord Dupplin's I alighted, and by good +luck got a dinner there, and then went to the Latin play at Westminster +School, acted by the boys; and Lord Treasurer (Eltee I mean again) +honoured them with his presence. Lady Masham's eldest son, about two +years old, is ill, and I am afraid will not live: she is full of grief, +and I pity and am angry with her. Four shillings to-day in coach-hire; +fais, it won't do. Our peace will certainly be ready by Thursday +fortnight; but our Plenipotentiaries were to blame that it was not done +already. They thought their powers were not full enough to sign the +peace, unless every Prince was ready, which cannot yet be; for Spain has +no Minister yet at Utrecht; but now ours have new orders. Nite MD. + +25. Weather worse than ever; terrible rain all day, but I was resolved +I would spend no more money. I went to an auction of pictures with Dr. +Pratt, and there met the Duke of Beaufort, who promised to come with me +to Court, but did not. So a coach I got, and went to Court, and did some +little business there, but was forced to go home; for oo must understand +I take a little physic over-night, which works me next day. Lady Orkney +is my physician. It is hiera picra,(9) two spoonfuls, devilish stuff! +I thought to have dined with Eltee, but would not, merely to save a +shilling; but I dined privately with a friend, and played at ombre, and +won six shillings. Here are several people of quality lately dead of +the smallpox. I have not yet seen Miss Ashe, but hear she is well. The +Bishop of Clogher has bought abundance of pictures, and Dr. Pratt has +got him very good pennyworths.(10) I can get no walks, the weather is so +bad. Is it so with oo, sollahs?... (11) + +26. Though it was shaving-day, head and beard, yet I was out early to +see Lord Bolingbroke, and talk over affairs with him; and then I went to +the Duke of Ormond's, and so to Court, where the Ministers did not come, +because the Parliament was prorogued till this day fortnight. We had +terrible rain and hail to-day. Our Society met this day, but I left them +before seven, and went to Sir A(ndrew) F(ountaine), and played at ombre +with him and Sir Thomas Clarges, till ten, and then went to Sir Thomas +Hanmer. His wife, the Duchess of Grafton, left us after a little while, +and I stayed with him about an hour, upon some affairs, etc. Lord +Bolingbroke left us at the Society before I went; for there is an +express from Utrecht, but I know not yet what it contains; only I know +the Ministers expect the peace will be signed in a week, which is a week +before the session. Nite, MD. + +27. Parnell's poem is mightily esteemed; but poetry sells ill. I am +plagued with that... (12) poor Harrison's mother; you would laugh to see +how cautious I am of paying her the 100 pounds I received for her son +from the Treasury. I have asked every creature I know whether I may do +it safely, yet durst not venture, till my Lord Keeper assured me there +was no danger. I have not paid her, but will in a day or two: though I +have a great mind to stay till Ppt sends me her opinion, because Ppt +is a great lawyer. I dined to-day with a mixture of people at a +Scotchman's, who made the invitation to Mr. Lewis and me, and has some +design upon us, which we know very well. I went afterwards to see a +famous moving picture,(13) and I never saw anything so pretty. You see a +sea ten miles wide, a town on t'other end, and ships sailing in the sea, +and discharging their cannon. You see a great sky, with moon and stars, +etc. I'm a fool. Nite, dee MD. + +28. I had a mighty levee to-day. I deny myself to everybody, except +about half a dozen, and they were all here, and Mr. Addison was one, and +I had chocolate twice, which I don't like. Our rainy weather continues. +Coach-hire goes deep. I dined with Eltee and his Saturday company, as +usual, and could not get away till nine. Lord Peterborow was making long +harangues, and Eltee kept me in spite. Then I went to see the Bishop of +Ossory, who had engaged me in the morning; he is going to Ireland. The +Bishop of Killaloe(14) and Tom Leigh was with us. The latter had wholly +changed his style, by seeing how the bishops behaved themselves, and he +seemed to think me one of more importance than I really am. I put the +ill conduct of the bishops about the First-Fruits, with relation to +Eltee and me, strongly upon Killaloe, and showed how it had hindered me +from getting a better thing for them, called the Crown rents, which the +Queen had promised. He had nothing to say, but was humble, and desired +my interest in that and some other things. This letter is half done in a +week: I believe oo will have it next. Nite MD. + +29. I have been employed in endeavouring to save one of your junior +Fellows,(15) who came over here for a dispensation from taking orders, +and, in soliciting it, has run out his time, and now his fellowship is +void, if the College pleases, unless the Queen suspends the execution, +and gives him time to take orders. I spoke to all the Ministers +yesterday about it; but they say the Queen is angry, and thought it +was a trick to deceive her; and she is positive, and so the man must be +ruined, for I cannot help him. I never saw him in my life; but the +case was so hard, I could not forbear interposing. Your Government +recommended him to the Duke of Ormond, and he thought they would +grant it; and by the time it was refused, the fellowship by rigour +is forfeited. I dined with Dr. Arbuthnot (one of my brothers) at his +lodgings in Chelsea, and was there at chapel; and the altar put me +in mind of Tisdall's outlandish would(16) at your hospital for the +soldiers. I was not at Court to-day, and I hear the Queen was not at +church. Perhaps the gout has seized her again. Terrible rain all day. +Have oo such weather? Nite MD. + +30. Morning. I was naming some time ago, to a certain person, another +certain person, that was very deserving, and poor and sickly; and +t'other, that first certain person, gave me a hundred pounds to give the +other, which I have not yet done. The person who is to have it never +saw the giver, nor expects one farthing, nor has the least knowledge or +imagination of it; so I believe it will be a very agreeable surprise; +for I think it is a handsome present enough. At night I dined in the +City, at Pontack's,(17) with Lord Dupplin, and some others. We were +treated by one Colonel Cleland,(18) who has a mind to be Governor of +Barbados, and is laying these long traps for me and others, to engage +our interests for him. He is a true Scotchman. I paid the hundred pounds +this evening, and it was an agreeable surprise to the receiver. We +reckon the peace is now signed, and that we shall have it in three days. +I believe it is pretty sure. Nite MD. + +31. I thought to-day on Ppt when she told me she suppose(d) I was +acquainted with the steward, when I was giving myself airs of being at +some lord's house. Sir Andrew Fountaine invited the Bishop of Clogher +and me, and some others, to dine where he did; and he carried us to the +Duke of Kent's,(19) who was gone out of town; but the steward treated +us nobly, and showed us the fine pictures, etc. I have not yet seen Miss +Ashe. I wait till she has been abroad, and taken the air. This evening +Lady Masham, Dr. Arbuthnot, and I, were contriving a lie for to-morrow, +that Mr. Noble,(20) who was hanged last Saturday, was recovered by +his friends, and then seized again by the sheriff, and is now in a +messenger's hands at the Black Swan in Holborn. We are all to send to +our friends, to know whether they have heard anything of it, and so we +hope it will spread. However, we shall do our endeavours; nothing shall +be wanting on our parts, and leave the rest to fortune. Nite MD. + +April 1. We had no success in our story, though I sent my man to several +houses, to inquire among the footmen, without letting him into the +secret; but I doubt my colleagues did not contribute as they ought. +Parnell and I dined with Darteneuf(21) to-day. You have heard of +Darteneuf: I have told you of Darteneuf. After dinner we all went to +Lord Bolingbroke's, who had desired me to dine with him; but I would +not, because I heard it was to look over a dull poem of one parson +Trapp(22) upon the peace. The Swedish Envoy told me to-day at Court that +he was in great apprehensions about his master;(23) and indeed we are +afraid that prince has(24) died among those Turkish dogs. I prevailed on +Lord Bolingbroke to invite Mr. Addison to dine with him on Good Friday. +I suppose we shall be mighty mannerly. Addison is to have a play of his +acted on Friday in Easter Week: 'tis a tragedy, called Cato; I saw it +unfinished some years ago.(25) Did I tell you that Steele has begun a +new daily paper, called the Guardian?(26) they say good for nothing. I +have not seen it. Nite dee MD. + +2. I was this morning with Lord Bolingbroke, and he tells me a Spanish +courier is just come, with the news that the King of Spain has agreed to +everything that the Queen desires; and the Duke d'Ossuna has left Paris +in order to his journey to Utrecht. I was prevailed on to come home with +Trapp, and read his poem and correct it; but it was good for nothing. +While I was thus employed, Sir Thomas Hanmer came up to my chamber, and +balked me of a journey he and I intended this week to Lord Orkney's at +Cliffden;(27) but he is not well, and his physician will not let him +undertake such a journey. I intended to dine with Lord Treasurer; but +going to see Colonel Disney, who lives with General Withers,(28) I liked +the General's little dinner so well, that I stayed and took share of +it, and did not go to Lord Treasurer till six, where I found Dr. +Sacheverell, who told us that the bookseller had given him 100 pounds +for his sermon,(29) preached last Sunday, and intended to print 30,000: +I believe he will be confoundedly bit, and will hardly sell above half. +I have fires still, though April has begun, against my old maxim; but +the weather is wet and cold. I never saw such a long run of ill weather +in my life. Nite dee logues MD. + +3. I was at the Queen's chapel to-day, but she was not there. Mr. St. +John, Lord Bolingbroke's brother, came this day at noon with an express +from Utrecht, that the peace is signed by all the Ministers there, but +those of the Emperor, who will likewise sign in a few days; so that now +the great work is in effect done, and I believe it will appear a most +excellent peace for Europe, particularly for England. Addison and I, and +some others, dined with Lord Bolingbroke, and sat with him till twelve. +We were very civil, but yet when we grew warm, we talked in a friendly +manner of party. Addison raised his objections, and Lord Bolingbroke +answered them with great complaisance. Addison began Lord Somers's +health, which went about; but I bid him not name Lord Wharton's, for I +would not pledge it; and I told Lord Bolingbroke frankly that Addison +loved Lord Wharton as little as I did: so we laughed, etc. Well, but +you are glad of the peace, you Ppt the Trimmer, are not you? As for DD +I don't doubt her. Why, now, if I did not think Ppt had been a violent +Tory, and DD the greater Whig of the two! 'Tis late. Nite MD. + +4. This Passion Week, people are so demure, especially this last day, +that I told Dilly, who called here, that I would dine with him, and so I +did, faith; and had a small shoulder of mutton of my own bespeaking. It +rained all day. I came home at seven, and have never stirred out, but +have been reading Sacheverell's long dull sermon, which he sent me. It +is the first sermon since his suspension is expired; but not a word in +it upon the occasion, except two or three remote hints. The Bishop of +Clogher has been sadly bit by Tom Ashe, who sent him a pun, which the +Bishop had made, and designed to send to him, but delayed it; and Lord +Pembroke and I made Sir Andrew Fountaine write it to Tom. I believe +I told you of it in my last; it succeeded right, and the Bishop was +wondering to Lord Pembroke how he and his brother could hit on the same +thing. I'll go to bed soon, for I must be at church by eight to-morrow, +Easter Day. Nite dee MD. + +5. Warburton(30) wrote to me two letters about a living of one Foulkes, +who is lately dead in the county of Meath. My answer is, that before I +received the first letter, General Gorges(31) had recommended a friend +of his to the Duke of Ormond, which was the first time I heard of its +vacancy, and it was the Provost told me of it. I believe verily that +Foulkes was not dead when Gorges recommended the other: for Warburton's +last letter said that Foulkes was dead the day before the date.--This +has prevented me from serving Warburton, as I would have done, if I had +received early notice enough. Pray say or write this to Warburton, to +justify me to him. I was at church at eight this morning, and dressed +and shaved after I came back, but was too late at Court; and Lord +Abingdon(32) was like to have snapped me for dinner, and I believe will +fall out with me for refusing him; but I hate dining with them, and I +dined with a private friend, and took two or three good walks; for it +was a very fine day, the first we have had a great while. Remember, was +Easter Day a fine day with you? I have sat with Lady Worsley till now. +Nite dee MD. + +6. I was this morning at ten at the rehearsal of Mr. Addison's play, +called Cato, which is to be acted on Friday. There were not above half a +score of us to see it. We stood on the stage, and it was foolish enough +to see the actors prompted every moment, and the poet directing them; +and the drab that acts Cato's daughter,(33) out in the midst of a +passionate part, and then calling out, "What's next?" The Bishop of +Clogher was there too; but he stood privately in a gallery. I went to +dine with Lord Treasurer, but he was gone to Wimbledon, his daughter +Caermarthen's(34) country seat, seven miles off. So I went back, +and dined privately with Mr. Addison, whom I had left to go to Lord +Treasurer. I keep fires yet; I am very extravagant. I sat this evening +with Sir A. Fountaine, and we amused ourselves with making IFS for +Dilly. It is rainy weather again; nevle saw ze rike.(35) This letter +shall go to-morrow; remember, ung oomens, it is seven weeks since oor +last, and I allow oo but five weeks; but oo have been galloping into +the country to Swanton's.(36) O pray tell Swanton I had his letter, but +cannot contrive how to serve him. If a Governor were to go over, I would +recommend him as far as lay in my power, but I can do no more: and you +know all employments in Ireland, at least almost all, are engaged +in reversions. If I were on the spot, and had credit with a Lord +Lieutenant, I would very heartily recommend him; but employments here +are no more in my power than the monarchy itself. Nite, dee MD. + +7. Morning. I have had a visitor here, that has taken up my time. I have +not been abroad, oo may be sure; so I can say nothing to-day, but that +I rove MD bettle zan ever, if possibbere. I will put this in the +post-office; so I say no more. I write by this post to the Dean, but it +is not above two lines; and one enclosed to you, but that enclosed to +you is not above three lines; and then one enclosed to the Dean, which +he must not have but upon condition of burning it immediately after +reading, and that before your eyes; for there are some things in it I +would not have liable to accident. You shall only know in general that +it is an account of what I have done to serve him in his pretensions on +these vacancies, etc. But he must not know that you know so much.(37) +Does this perplex you? Hat care I? But rove Pdfr, saucy Pdfr. Farewell, +deelest MD MD MD FW FW FW,... ME, MD Lele. + + + + +LETTER 63.(1) + +LONDON, April 7, 1713. + +I fancy I marked my last, which I sent this day, wrong; only 61, and it +ought to be 62. I dined with Lord Treasurer, and though the business I +had with him is something against Thursday, when the Parliament is to +meet, and this is Tuesday, yet he put it off till to-morrow. I dare not +tell you what it is, lest this letter should miscarry or be opened; but +I never saw his fellow for delays. The Parliament will now certainly +sit, and everybody's expectations are ready to burst. At a Council +to-night the Lord Chief-Justice Parker, a Whig, spoke against the peace; +so did Lord Chomley,(2) another Whig, who is Treasurer of the Household. +My Lord Keeper(3) was this night made Lord Chancellor. We hope there +will soon be some removes. Nite, dee sollahs; Late. Rove Pdfr.(4) + +8. Lord Chomley (the right name is Cholmondeley) is this day removed +from his employment, for his last night's speech; and Sir Richard +Temple,(5) Lieutenant-General, the greatest Whig in the army, is turned +out; and Lieutenant-General Palmes(6) will be obliged to sell his +regiment. This is the first-fruits of a friendship I have established +between two great men. I dined with Lord Treasurer, and did the business +I had for him to his satisfaction. I won't tell MD what it was.... (7) +for zat. The Parliament sits to-morrow for certain. Here is a letter +printed in Maccartney's name, vindicating himself from the murder of the +Duke of Hamilton. I must give some hints to have it answered; 'tis full +of lies, and will give an opportunity of exposing that party. To morrow +will be a very important day. All the world will be at Westminster. Lord +Treasurer is as easy as a lamb. They are mustering up the proxies of the +absent lords; but they are not in any fear of wanting a majority, which +death and accidents have increased this year. Nite MD. + +9. I was this morning with Lord Treasurer, to present to him a young +son(8) of the late Earl of Jersey, at the desire of the widow. There I +saw the mace and great coach ready for Lord Treasurer, who was going to +Parliament. Our Society met to-day; but I expected the Houses would +sit longer than I cared to fast; so I dined with a friend, and never +inquired how matters went till eight this evening, when I went to Lord +Orkney's, where I found Sir Thomas Hanmer. The Queen delivered her +speech very well, but a little weaker in her voice. The crowd was vast. +The order for the Address(9) was moved, and opposed by Lord Nottingham, +Halifax, and Cowper. Lord Treasurer spoke with great spirit and +resolution; Lord Peterborow flirted(10) against the Duke of Marlborough +(who is in Germany, you know), but it was in answer to one of Halifax's +impertinences. The order for an Address passed by a majority of +thirty-three, and the Houses rose before six. This is the account I +heard at Lord Orkney's. The Bishop of Chester,(11) a high Tory, was +against the Court. The Duchess of Marlborough sent for him some months +ago, to justify herself to him in relation to the Queen, and showed +him letters, and told him stories, which the weak man believed, and was +perverted. Nite MD. + +10. I dined with a cousin in the City, and poor Pat Rolt was there. +I have got her rogue of a husband leave to come to England from +Port-Mahon. The Whigs are much down; but I reckon they have some +scheme in agitation. This Parliament-time hinders our Court meetings +on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I had a great deal of business +to-night, which gave me a temptation to be idle, and I lost a dozen +shillings at ombre, with Dr. Pratt and another. I have been to see +t'other day the Bishop of Clogher and lady, but did not see Miss. It +rains every day, and yet we are all over dust. Lady Masham's eldest boy +is very ill: I doubt he will not live, and she stays at Kensington to +nurse him, which vexes us all. She is so excessively fond, it makes me +mad. She should never leave the Queen, but leave everything, to stick to +what is so much the interest of the public, as well as her own. This I +tell her; but talk to the winds. Nite MD. + +11. I dined at Lord Treasurer's, with his Saturday company. We had ten +at table, all lords but myself and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. +Argyle went off at six, and was in very indifferent humour as usual. +Duke of Ormond and Lord Bolingbroke were absent. I stayed till near ten. +Lord Treasurer showed us a small picture, enamelled work, and set in +gold, worth about twenty pounds; a picture, I mean, of the Queen, +which she gave to the Duchess of Marlborough, set in diamonds. When the +Duchess was leaving England, she took off all the diamonds, and gave +the picture to one Mrs. Higgins (an old intriguing woman, whom everybody +knows), bidding her make the best of it she could. Lord Treasurer sent +to Mrs. Higgins for this picture, and gave her a hundred pounds for it. +Was ever such an ungrateful beast as that Duchess? or did you ever hear +such a story? I suppose the Whigs will not believe it. Pray, try them. +Takes off the diamonds, and gives away the picture to an insignificant +woman, as a thing of no consequence: and gives it to her to sell, like a +piece of old-fashioned plate. Is she not a detestable slut? Nite deelest +MD. + +12. I went to Court to-day, on purpose to present Mr. Berkeley,(12) one +of your Fellows of Dublin College, to Lord Berkeley of Stratton. That +Mr. Berkeley is a very ingenious man, and great philosopher, and I have +mentioned him to all the Ministers, and given them some of his writings; +and I will favour him as much as I can. This I think I am bound to, +in honour and conscience, to use all my little credit toward helping +forward men of worth in the world. The Queen was at chapel to-day, +and looks well. I dined at Lord Orkney's with the Duke of Ormond, +Lord Arran, and Sir Thomas Hanmer. Mr. St. John, Secretary at Utrecht, +expects every moment to return there with the ratification of the peace. +Did I tell you in my last of Addison's play called Cato, and that I was +at the rehearsal of it? Nite MD. + +13. This morning my friend, Mr. Lewis, came to me, and showed me an +order for a warrant for the three vacant deaneries; but none of them +to me. This was what I always foresaw, and received the notice of it +better, I believe, than he expected. I bid Mr. Lewis tell Lord Treasurer +that I took nothing ill of him but his not giving me timely notice, as +he promised to do, if he found the Queen would do nothing for me. At +noon, Lord Treasurer hearing I was in Mr. Lewis's office, came to me, +and said many things too long to repeat. I told him I had nothing to +do but go to Ireland immediately; for I could not, with any reputation, +stay longer here, unless I had something honourable immediately given to +me. We dined together at the Duke of Ormond's. He there told me he had +stopped the warrants for the deans, that what was done for me might be +at the same time, and he hoped to compass it to-night; but I believe +him not. I told the Duke of Ormond my intentions. He is content Sterne +should be a bishop, and I have St. Patrick's; but I believe nothing will +come of it, for stay I will not; and so I believe for all oo... (13) oo +may see me in Dublin before April ends. I am less out of humour than you +would imagine: and if it were not that impertinent people will condole +with me, as they used to give me joy, I would value it less. But I will +avoid company, and muster up my baggage, and send them next Monday +by the carrier to Chester, and come and see my willows, against the +expectation of all the world.--Hat care I? Nite deelest logues, MD. + +14. I dined in the City to-day, and ordered a lodging to be got ready +for me against I came to pack up my things; for I will leave this end of +the town as soon as ever the warrants for the deaneries are out, +which are yet stopped. Lord Treasurer told Mr. Lewis that it should be +determined to-night: and so he will for(14) a hundred nights. So he said +yesterday, but I value it not. My daily journals shall be but short +till I get into the City, and then I will send away this, and follow it +myself; and design to walk it all the way to Chester, my man and I, by +ten miles a day. It will do my health a great deal of good. I shall do +it in fourteen days. Nite dee MD. + +15. Lord Bolingbroke made me dine with him to-day; he(15) was as good +company as ever; and told me the Queen would determine something for me +to-night. The dispute is, Windsor or St. Patrick's. I told him I would +not stay for their disputes, and he thought I was in the right. Lord +Masham told me that Lady Masham is angry I have not been to see her +since this business, and desires I will come to-morrow. Nite deelest MD. + +16. I was this noon at Lady Masham's, who was just come from Kensington, +where her eldest son is sick. She said much to me of what she had talked +to the Queen and Lord Treasurer. The poor lady fell a shedding tears +openly. She could not bear to think of my having St. Patrick's, etc. I +was never more moved than to see so much friendship. I would not stay +with her, but went and dined with Dr. Arbuthnot, with Mr. Berkeley, +one of your Fellows, whom I have recommended to the Doctor, and to Lord +Berkeley of Stratton. Mr. Lewis tells me that the Duke of Ormond has +been to-day with the Queen; and she was content that Dr. Sterne should +be Bishop of Dromore, and I Dean of St. Patrick's; but then out came +Lord Treasurer, and said he would not be satisfied but that I must be +Prebend(ary) of Windsor. Thus he perplexes things. I expect neither; but +I confess, as much as I love England, I am so angry at this treatment +that, if I had my choice, I would rather have St. Patrick's. Lady Masham +says she will speak to purpose to the Queen to-morrow. Nite,... dee MD. + +17. I went to dine at Lady Masham's to-day, and she was taken ill of a +sore throat, and aguish. She spoke to the Queen last night, but had +not much time. The Queen says she will determine to-morrow with Lord +Treasurer. The warrants for the deaneries are still stopped, for fear I +should be gone. Do you think anything will be done? I don't care whether +it is or no. In the meantime, I prepare for my journey, and see no great +people, nor will see Lord Treasurer any more, if I go. Lord Treasurer +told Mr. Lewis it should be done to-night; so he said five nights ago. +Nite MD. + +18. This morning Mr. Lewis sent me word that Lord Treasurer told him +the Queen would determine at noon. At three Lord Treasurer sent to me to +come to his lodgings at St. James's, and told me the Queen was at last +resolved that Dr. Sterne should be Bishop of Dromore, and I Dean of St. +Patrick's; and that Sterne's warrant should be drawn immediately. You +know the deanery is in the Duke of Ormond's gift; but this is concerted +between the Queen, Lord Treasurer, and the Duke of Ormond, to make room +for me. I do not know whether it will yet be done; some unlucky accident +may yet come. Neither can I feel joy at passing my days in Ireland; and +I confess I thought the Ministry would not let me go; but perhaps they +can't help it. Nite MD. + +19. I forgot to tell you that Lord Treasurer forced me to dine with +him yesterday as usual, with his Saturday company; which I did after +frequent refusals. To-day I dined with a private friend, and was not at +Court. After dinner Mr. Lewis sent me a note, that the Queen stayed till +she knew whether the Duke of Ormond approved of Sterne for Bishop. I +went this evening, and found the Duke of Ormond at the Cock-pit, and +told him, and desired he would go to the Queen, and approve of Sterne. +He made objections, desired I would name any other deanery, for he +did not like Sterne; that Sterne never went to see him; that he was +influenced by the Archbishop of Dublin, etc.; so all now is broken +again. I sent out for Lord Treasurer, and told him this. He says all +will do well; but I value not what he says. This suspense vexes me worse +than anything else. Nite MD. + +20. I went to-day, by appointment, to the Cock-pit, to talk with the +Duke of Ormond. He repeated the same proposals of any other deanery, +etc. I desired he would put me out of the case, and do as he pleased. +Then, with great kindness, he said he would consent; but would do it +for no man alive but me, etc. And he will speak to the Queen today or +to-morrow; so, perhaps, something will come of it. I can't tell. Nite +dee dee logues, MD. + +21. The Duke of Ormond has told the Queen he is satisfied that Sterne +should be Bishop, and she consents I shall be Dean; and I suppose the +warrants will be drawn in a day or two. I dined at an ale-house with +Parnell and Berkeley; for I am not in humour to go among the Ministers, +though Lord Dartmouth invited me to dine with him to-day, and Lord +Treasurer was to be there. I said I would, if I were out of suspense. +Nite deelest MD. + +22. The Queen says warrants shall be drawn, but she will dispose of all +in England and Ireland at once, to be teased no more. This will delay +it some time; and, while it is delayed, I am not sure of the Queen, my +enemies being busy. I hate this suspense. Nite deelest MD.(16) + +23. I dined yesterday with General Hamilton.(17) I forgot to tell oo. I +write short journals now. I have eggs on the spit. This night the Queen +has signed all the warrants, among which Sterne is Bishop of Dromore, +and the Duke of Ormond is to send over an order for making me Dean of +St. Patrick's. I have no doubt of him at all. I think 'tis now passed. +And I suppose MD is malicious enough to be glad, and rather have it than +Wells.(18) But you see what a condition I am in. I thought I was to pay +but six hundred pounds for the house; but the Bishop of Clogher says +eight hundred pounds; first-fruits one hundred and fifty pounds, and so, +with patent, a thousand pounds in all; so that I shall not be the better +for the deanery these three years. I hope in some time they will be +persuaded here to give me some money to pay off these debts. I must +finish the book I am writing,(19) before I can go over; and they expect +I shall pass next winter here, and then I will dun them to give me a +sum of money. However, I hope to pass four or five months with MD, and +whatever comes on it. MD's allowance must be increased, and shall be +too, fais... (20) I received oor rettle No. 39 to-night; just ten weeks +since I had your last. I shall write next post to Bishop Sterne. Never +man had so many enemies of Ireland(21) as he. I carried it with the +strongest hand possible. If he does not use me well and gently in +what dealings I shall have with him, he will be the most ungrateful of +mankind. The Archbishop of York,(22) my mortal enemy, has sent, by a +third hand, that he would be glad to see me. Shall I see him, or not? +I hope to be over in a month, and that MD, with their raillery, will +be mistaken, that I shall make it three years. I will answer oo rettle +soon; but no more journals. I shall be very busy. Short letters from +hence forward. I shall not part with Laracor. That is all I have to live +on, except the deanery be worth more than four hundred pounds a year. +Is it? If it be, the overplus shall be divided between MD and FW beside +usual allowance of MD.... (23) Pray write to me a good-humoured letter +immediately, let it be ever so short. This affair was carried with great +difficulty, which vexes me. But they say here 'tis much to my reputation +that I have made a bishop, in spite of all the world, to get the best +deanery in Ireland. Nite dee sollahs. + +24. I forgot to tell you I had Sterne's letter yesterday, in answer to +mine. Oo performed oor commission well, dood dallars both.(24) I made +mistakes the three last days, and am forced to alter the number.(25) I +dined in the City to-day with my printer, and came home early, and +am going to (be) busy with my work. I will send this to-morrow, and I +suppose the warrants will go then. I wrote to Dr. Coghill, to take care +of passing my patent; and to Parvisol, to attend him with money, if he +has any, or to borrow some where he can. Nite MD. + +25. Morning. I know not whether my warrant be yet ready from the Duke of +Ormond. I suppose it will by tonight. I am going abroad, and will keep +this unsealed, till I know whether all be finished. Mollow,(26) sollahs. + +I had this letter all day in my pocket, waiting till I heard the +warrants were gone over. Mr. Lewis sent to Southwell's clerk at ten; and +he said the Bishop of Killaloe(27) had desired they should be stopped +till next post. He sent again, that the Bishop of Killaloe's business +had nothing to do with ours. Then I went myself, but it was past eleven, +and asked the reason. Killaloe is removed to Raphoe, and he has a mind +to have an order for the rents of Raphoe, that have fallen due since the +vacancy, and he would have all stop till he has gotten that. A pretty +request! But the clerk, at Mr. Lewis's message, sent the warrants for +Sterne and me; but then it was too late to send this, which frets me +heartily, that MD should not have intelligence first from Pdfr. I +think to take a hundred pounds a year out of the deanery, and divide it +between MD and Pr,(28) and so be one year longer in paying the debt; but +we'll talk of zis hen I come over. So nite dear sollahs. Lele.(29) + +26. I was at Court to-day, and a thousand people gave me joy; so I ran +out. I dined with Lady Orkney. Yesterday I dined with Lord Treasurer +and his Saturday people as usual; and was so bedeaned! The Archbishop +of York says he will never more speak against me. Pray see that Parvisol +stirs about getting my patent. I have given Tooke DD's note to prove she +is alive. I'll answer oo rettle.... Nite. + +27. Nothing new to-day. I dined with Tom Harley, etc. I'll seal up this +to-night. Pray write soon.... MD MD MD FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele, lele. + + + + +LETTER 64.(1) + +LONDON, May 16 (1713). + +I had yours, No. 40, yesterday. Your new Bishop acts very ungratefully. +I cannot say so bad of it as he deserved. I begged at the same post +his warrant and mine went over, that he would leave those livings to my +disposal. I shall write this post to him to let him know how ill I take +it. I have letters to tell me that I ought to think of employing some +body to set the tithes of the deanery. I know not what to do at this +distance. I cannot be in Ireland under a month. I will write two orders; +one to Parvisol, and t'other to Parvisol, and a blank for whatever +fellow it is whom the last Dean employed; and I would desire you to +advise with friends which to make use of: and if the latter, let the +fellow's name be inserted, and both act by commission. If the former, +then speak to Parvisol, and know whether he can undertake it. I doubt it +is hardly to be done by a perfect stranger alone, as Parvisol is. He +may perhaps venture at all, to keep up his interest with me; but that is +needless, for I am willing to do him any good, that will do me no harm. +Pray advise with Walls and Raymond, and a little with Bishop Sterne +for form. Tell Raymond I cannot succeed for him to get that living of +Moimed. It is represented here as a great sinecure. Several chaplains +have solicited for it; and it has vexed me so, that, if I live, I will +make it my business to serve him better in something else. I am heartily +sorry for his illness, and that of the other two. If it be not necessary +to let the tithes till a month hence, you may keep the two papers, and +advise well in the meantime; and whenever it is absolutely necessary, +then give that paper which you are most advised to. I thank Mr. Walls +for his letter. Tell him that must serve for an answer, with my +service to him and her. I shall buy Bishop Sterne's hair as soon as his +household goods. I shall be ruined, or at least sadly cramped, unless +the Queen will give me a thousand pounds. I am sure she owes me a great +deal more. Lord Treasurer rallies me upon it, and I believe intends it; +but, quando? I am advised to hasten over as soon as possible, and so I +will, and hope to set out the beginning of June. Take no lodging for me. +What? at your old tricks again? I can lie somewhere after I land, and I +care not where, nor how. I will buy your eggs and bacon, DD... (2) +your caps and Bible; and pray think immediately, and give me some +commissions, and I will perform them as far as oo poo Pdfr can.(3) +The letter I sent before this was to have gone a post before; but an +accident hindered it; and, I assure oo, I wam very akkree(4) MD did +not write to Dean Pdfr, and I think oo might have had a Dean under your +girdle for the superscription. I have just finished my Treatise,(5) and +must be ten days correcting it. Farewell, deelest MD, MD, MD, FW, FW, +FW, ME, ME, ME, Lele. + +You'll seal the two papers after my name. + + +"LONDON, May 16, 1713. + +"I appoint Mr. Isaiah Parvisol and Mr. to set and let the tithes of the +Deanery of St. Patrick's for this present year. In witness whereof, I +hereunto set my hand and seal, the day and year above written. + + (JONAT. SWIFT."(6)) + + +"LONDON, May 16, 1713. + +"I do hereby appoint Mr. Isaiah Parvisol my proctor, to set and let +the tithes of the Deanery of St. Patrick's. In witness whereof, I have +hereunto set my hand and seal, the day and year above written. + + JONAT. SWIFT." + + + + +LETTER 65.(1) + +CHESTER, June 6, 1713. + +I am come here after six days. I set out on Monday last, and got here +to-day about eleven in the morning. A noble rider, fais! and all the +ships and people went off yesterday with a rare wind. This was told +me, to my comfort, upon my arrival. Having not used riding these three +years, made me terrible weary; yet I resolve on Monday to set out for +Holyhead, as weary as I am. 'Tis good for my health, mam. When I came +here, I found MD's letter of the 26th of May sent down to me. Had you +writ a post sooner I might have brought some pins: but you were lazy, +and would not write your orders immediately, as I desired you. I will +come when God pleases; perhaps I may be with you in a week. I will be +three days going to Holyhead; I cannot ride faster, say hat oo will. I +am upon Stay-behind's mare. I have the whole inn to myself. I would fain +'scape this Holyhead journey; but I have no prospect of ships, and it +will be almost necessary I should be in Dublin before the 25th instant, +to take the oaths;(2) otherwise I must wait to a quarter sessions. I +will lodge as I can; therefore take no lodgings for me, to pay in my +absence. The poor Dean can't afford it. I spoke again to the Duke of +Ormond about Moimed for Raymond, and hope he may yet have it, for I laid +it strongly to the Duke, and gave him the Bishop of Meath's memorial. +I am sorry for Raymond's fistula; tell him so. I will speak to Lord +Treasurer about Mrs. South(3) to-morrow. Odso! I forgot; I thought I +had been in London. Mrs. Tisdall(4) is very big, ready to lie down. Her +husband is a puppy. Do his feet stink still? The letters to Ireland go +at so uncertain an hour, that I am forced to conclude. Farewell, MD, MD +MD FW FW FW ME ME ME ME. + + Lele lele + lele logues and + Ladies bose fair + and slender. + +(On flyleaf.) + +I mightily approve Ppt's project of hanging the blind parson. When I +read that passage upon Chester walls, as I was coming into town, and +just received your letter, I said aloud--Agreeable B-tch. + + + +NOTES. + +These notes are referenced by 'Notes to the Introduction' or 'Letter +(number)', and the numbers in square brackets (thus -- (3)) in the body +of the Journal. + + + +Notes to the Introduction. + +1 Notes and Queries, Sixth Series, x. 287. + +2 See letter from Swift to John Temple, February 1737. She was then +"quite sunk with years and unwieldliness." + +3 Athenaeum, Aug. 8, 1891. + +4 Journal, May 4, 1711. + +5 Craik's Life of Swift, 269. + +6 Unpublished Letters of Dean Swift, pp. 189-96. + +7 In 1730 he wrote, "Those who have been married may form juster +ideas of that estate than I can pretend to do" (Dr. Birkbeck Hill's +Unpublished Letters of Dean Swift, p. 237). + +8 Scott added a new incident which has become incorporated in the +popular conception of Swift's story. Delany is said to have met +Swift rushing out of Archbishop King's study, with a countenance of +distraction, immediately after the wedding. King, who was in tears, +said, "You have just met the most unhappy man on earth; but on the +subject of his wretchedness you must never ask a question." Will it be +believed that Scott--who rejects Delany's inference from this alleged +incident--had no better authority for it than "a friend of his +(Delany's) relict"? + +9 This incident, for which there is probably some foundation of fact--we +cannot say how much--has been greatly expanded by Mrs. Woods in her +novel Esther Vanhomrigh. Unfortunately most of her readers cannot, of +course, judge exactly how far her story is a work of imagination. + +10 In October Swift explained that he had been in the country "partly to +see a lady of my old acquaintance, who was extremely ill" (Unpublished +Letters of Dean Swift, p. 198). + +11 There is a story that shortly before her death Swift begged Stella to +allow herself to be publicly announced as his wife, but that she replied +that it was then too late. The versions given by Delany and Theophilus +Swift differ considerably, while Sheridan alters the whole thing by +representing Swift as brutally refusing to comply with Stella's last +wishes. + +12 There has also been the absurd suggestion that the impediment was +Swift's knowledge that both he and Stella were the illegitimate children +of Sir William Temple--a theory which is absolutely disproved by known +facts. + +13 It is curious to note the intimate knowledge of some of Swift's +peculiarities which was possessed by the hostile writer of a pamphlet +called A Hue and Cry after Dr. S---t, published in 1714. That piece +consists, for the most part, of extracts from a supposed Diary by Swift, +and contains such passages as these: "Friday. Go to the Club... Am +treated. Expenses one shilling." "Saturday. Bid my servant get all +things ready for a journey to the country: mend my breeches; hire a +washerwoman, making her allow for old shirts, socks, dabbs and markees, +which she bought of me... Six coaches of quality, and nine hacks, this +day called at my lodgings." "Thursday. The Earl looked queerly: left him +in a huff. Bid him send for me when he was fit for company... Spent ten +shillings." + +14 The "little language" is marked chiefly by such changes of letters +(e.g., l for r, or r for l) as a child makes when learning to speak. +The combinations of letters in which Swift indulges are not so easy of +interpretation. For himself he uses Pdfr, and sometimes Podefar or FR +(perhaps Poor dear foolish rogue). Stella is Ppt (Poor pretty thing). +MD (my dears) usually stands for both Stella and Mrs. Dingley, but +sometimes for Stella alone. Mrs. Dingley is indicated by ME (Madam +Elderly), D, or DD (Dear Dingley). The letters FW may mean Farewell, or +Foolish Wenches. Lele seems sometimes to be There, there, and sometimes +Truly. + + + + +LETTER 1. + +1. Addressed "To Mrs. Dingley, at Mr. Curry's house over against the +Ram in Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland," and endorsed by Esther Johnson, +"Sept. 9. Received." Afterwards Swift added, "MD received this Sept. 9," +and "Letters to Ireland from Sept.1710, begun soon after the change of +Ministry. Nothing in this." + +2. Beaumont is the "grey old fellow, poet Joe," of Swift's verses "On +the little house by the Churchyard at Castlenock." Joseph Beaumont, a +linen-merchant, is described as "a venerable, handsome, grey-headed man, +of quick and various natural abilities, but not improved by learning." +His inventions and mathematical speculations, relating to the longitude +and other things, brought on mental troubles, which were intensified +by bankruptcy, about 1718. He was afterwards removed from Dublin to his +home at Trim, where he rallied; but in a few years his madness returned, +and he committed suicide. + +3. Vicar of Trim, and formerly a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. In +various places in his correspondence Swift criticises the failings of +Dr. Anthony Raymond, who was, says Scott, "a particular friend." His +unreliability in money matters, the improvidence of his large family, +his peculiarities in grammar, his pride in his good manners, all these +points are noticed in the journal and elsewhere. But when Dr. Raymond +returned to Ireland after a visit to London, Swift felt a little +melancholy, and regretted that he had not seen more of him. In July 1713 +Raymond was presented to the Crown living of Moyenet. + +4. A small township on the estuary of the Dee, between twelve and +thirteen miles north-west of Chester. In the early part of the +eighteenth century Parkgate was a rival of Holyhead as a station for the +Dublin packets, which started, on the Irish side, from off Kingsend. + +5. Dr. St. George Ashe, afterwards Bishop of Derry, who had been Swift's +tutor at Trinity College, Dublin. He died in 1718. It is this lifelong +friend who is said to have married Swift and Esther Johnson in 1716. + +6. The Commission to solicit for the remission of the First-Fruits and +twentieth parts, payable to the Crown by the Irish clergy, was signed +by the Archbishops of Armagh, Dublin, and Cashel, and the Bishops of +Kildare, Meath, and Killala. + +7. Dr. William Lloyd was appointed Bishop of Killala in 1690. He had +previously been Dean of Achonry. + +8. Dr. John Hough (1651-1743). In 1687 he had been elected President of +Magdalen College, Oxford, in place of the nominee of James II. Hough was +Bishop of Oxford, Lichfield, and Worcester successively, and declined +the primacy in 1715. + +9. Steele was at this time Gazetteer. The Cockpit, in Whitehall, looked +upon St. James's Palace, and was used for various Government purposes. + +10. This coffee-house, the resort of the Whig politicians, was kept by a +man named Elliot. It is often alluded to in the Tatler and Spectator. + +11. William Stewart, second Viscount Mountjoy, a friend and +correspondent of Swift's in Ireland. He was the son of one of William's +generals, and was himself a Lieutenant-General and Master-General of the +Ordnance; he died in 1728. + +12. Catherine, daughter of Maurice Keating, of Narraghmore, Kildare, and +wife of Garret Wesley, of Dangan, M.P. for Meath. She died in 1745. On +the death of Garret Wesley without issue in 1728, the property passed to +a cousin, Richard Colley, who was afterwards created Baron Mornington, +and was grandfather to the Duke of Wellington. + +13. The landlady of Esther Johnson and Mrs. Dingley. + +14. Swift's housekeeper at Laracor. Elsewhere Swift speaks of his "old +Presbyterian housekeeper," "who has been my Walpole above thirty years, +whenever I lived in this kingdom." "Joe Beaumont is my oracle for public +affairs in the country, and an old Presbyterian woman in town." + +15. Isaiah Parvisol, Swift's tithe-agent and steward at Laracor, was an +Irishman of French extraction, who died in 1718 (Birkbeck's Unpublished +Letters of Dean Swift, 1899, p.85). + +Letter 2. + +1. In some MS. Accounts of Swift's, in the Forster Collection at South +Kensington there is the following entry:--"Set out for England Aug. 31st +on Thursday, 10 at night; landed at Parkgate Friday 1st at noon. +Sept. 1, 1710, came to London. Thursday at noon, Sept. 7th, with Lord +Mountjoy, etc. Mem.: Lord Mountjoy bore my expenses from Chester to +London." + +2. In a letter to Archbishop King of the same date Swift says he +was "equally caressed by both parties; by one as a sort of bough for +drowning men to lay hold of, and by the other as one discontented with +the late men in power." + +3. The Earl of Godolphin, who was severely satirised by Swift in his Sid +Hamet's Rod, 1710. He had been ordered to break his staff as Treasurer +on August 8. Swift told Archbishop King that Godolphin was "altogether +short, dry, and morose." + +4. Martha, widow of Sir Thomas Giffard, Bart., of County Kildare, the +favourite sister of Sir William Temple, had been described by Swift in +early pindaric verses as "wise and great." Afterwards he was to call her +"an old beast" (Journal, Nov. 11, 1710). Their quarrel arose, towards +the close of 1709, out of a difference with regard to the publication +of Sir William Temple's Works. On the appearance of vol. v. Lady +Giffard charged Swift with publishing portions of the writings from +an unfaithful copy in lieu of the originals in his possession, and in +particular with printing laudatory notices of Godolphin and Sunderland +which Temple intended to omit, and with omitting an unfavourable remark +on Sunderland which Temple intended to print. Swift replied that the +corrections were all made by Temple himself. + +5. Lord Wharton's second wife, Lucy, daughter of Lord Lisburn. She +died in 1716, a few months after her husband. See Lady M. W. Montagu's +Letters. + +6. Mrs. Bridget Johnson, who married, as her second husband, Ralph +Mose or Moss, of Farnham, an agent for Sir William Temple's estate, +was waiting-woman or companion to Lady Giffard. In her will (1722) Lady +Giffard left Mrs. Moss 20 pounds, "with my silver cup and cover." Mrs. +Moss died in 1745, when letters of administration were granted to a +creditor of the deceased. + +7. Dr. William King (1610-1729), a Whig and High Churchman, had more +than one difference with Swift during the twenty years following Swift's +first visit to London in connection with the First-Fruits question. + +8. Swift's benefice, in the diocese of Meath, two miles from Trim. + +9. Steele, who had been issuing the Tatler thrice weekly since April. +He lost the Gazetteership in October. + +10. James, second Duke of Ormond (1665-1745) was appointed Lord +Lieutenant on the 26th of October. In the following year he became +Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief. He was impeached of high treason +and attainted in 1715; and he died in exile. + +11. "Presto," substituted by the original editor for "Pdfr," was +suggested by a passage in the Journal for Aug. 2, 1711, where Swift says +that the Duchess of Shrewsbury "could not say my name in English, but +said Dr. Presto, which is Italian for Swift." + +12. Charles Jervas, the popular portrait-painter, has left two portraits +of Swift, one of which is in the National Portrait Gallery, and the +other in the Bodleian Library. + +13. Sir William Temple's nephew, and son of Sir John Temple (died +1704), Solicitor and Attorney-General, and Speaker of the Irish House of +Commons. "Jack" Temple acquired the estate of Moor Park, Surrey, by his +marriage with Elizabeth, granddaughter of Sir William Temple, and elder +daughter of John Temple, who committed suicide in 1689. As late as 1706 +Swift received an invitation to visit Moor Park. + +14. Dr. Benjamin Pratt, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, was +appointed Dean of Down in 1717. Swift calls him "a person of wit and +learning," and "a gentleman of good birth and fortune,... very much +esteemed among us" (Short Character of Thomas, Earl of Wharton). On his +death in 1721 Swift wrote, "He was one of the oldest acquaintance I had, +and the last that I expected to die. He has left a young widow, in very +good circumstances. He had schemes of long life.... What a ridiculous +thing is man!" (Unpublished Letters of Dean Swift, 1899, p. 106). + +15. A Westmeath landlord, whom Swift met from time to time in London. +The Leighs were well acquainted with Esther Johnson. + +16. Dr. Enoch Sterne, appointed Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, in 1704. +Swift was his successor in the deanery on Dr. Sterne's appointment +as Bishop of Dromore in 1713. In 1717 Sterne was translated to the +bishopric of Clogher. He spent much money on the cathedrals, etc., with +which he was connected. + +17. Archdeacon Walls was rector of Castle Knock, near Trim. Esther +Johnson was a frequent visitor at his house in Queen Street, Dublin. + +18. William Frankland, Comptroller of the Inland Office at the Post +Office, was the second son of the Postmaster-General, Sir Thomas +Frankland, Bart. Luttrell (vi. 333) records that in 1708 he was made +Treasurer of the Stamp Office, or, according to Chamberlayne's Mag. +Brit. Notitia for 1710, Receiver-General. + +19. Thomas Wharton, Earl and afterwards Marquis of Wharton, had been +one of Swift's fellow-travellers from Dublin. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland +under the Whig Government, from 1708 to 1710, Wharton was the most +thorough-going party man that had yet appeared in English politics; and +his political enemies did not fail to make the most of his well-known +immorality. In his Notes to Macky's Characters Swift described Wharton +as "the most universal villain that ever I knew." On his death in 1715 +he was succeeded by his profligate son, Philip, who was created Duke of +Wharton in 1718. + +20. This money was a premium the Government had promised Beaumont for +his Mathematical Sleying Tables, calculated for the improvement of the +linen manufacture. + +21. The bellman was both town-crier and night-watchman. + +Letter 3. + +1. Dr. William Cockburn (1669-1739), Swift's physician, of a good +Scottish family, was educated at Leyden. He invented an electuary for +the cure of fluxes, and in 1730, in The Danger of Improving Physick, +satirised the academical physicians who envied him the fortune he had +made by his secret remedy. He was described in 1729 as "an old very rich +quack." + +2. Sir Matthew Dudley, Bart., an old Whig friend, was M.P. for +Huntingdonshire, and Commissioner of the Customs from 1706 to 1712, and +again under George I., until his death in 1721. + +3. Isaac Manley, who was appointed Postmaster-General in Ireland in 1703 +(Luttrell, v. 333). He had previously been Comptroller of the English +Letter Office, a post in which he was succeeded by William Frankland, +son of Sir Thomas Frankland. Dunton calls Manley "loyal and acute." + +4. Sir Thomas Frankland was joint Postmaster-General from 1691 to 1715. +He succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father, Sir William +Frankland, in 1697, and he died in 1726. Macky describes Sir Thomas as +"of a sweet and easy disposition, zealous for the Constitution, yet not +forward, and indulgent to his dependants." On this Swift comments, "This +is a fair character." + +5. Theophilus Butler, elected M.P. for Cavan, in the Irish Parliament, +in 1703, and for Belturbet (as "the Right Hon. Theophilus Butler") in +1713. On May 3, 1710, Luttrell wrote (Brief Relation of State Affairs, +vi. 577), "'Tis said the Earl of Montrath, Lord Viscount Mountjoy... and +Mr. Butler will be made Privy Councillors of the Kingdom of Ireland." +Butler--a contemporary of Swift's at Trinity College, Dublin--was +created Baron of Newtown-Butler in 1715, and his brother, who succeeded +him in 1723, was made Viscount Lanesborough. Butler's wife was Emilia, +eldest daughter and co-heir of James Stopford, of Tara, County Meath. + +6. No. 193 of the Tatler, for July 4, 1710, contained a letter from +Downes the Prompter--not by Steele himself--in ridicule of Harley and +his proposed Ministry. + +7. Charles Robartes, second Earl of Radnor, who died in 1723. In the +Journal for Dec. 30, 1711, Swift calls him "a scoundrel." + +8. Benjamin Tooke, Swift's bookseller or publisher, lived at the Middle +Temple Gate. Dunton wrote of him, "He is truly honest, a man of refined +sense, and is unblemished in his reputation." Tooke died in 1723. + +9. Swift's servant, of whose misdeeds he makes frequent complaints in +the Journal. + +10. Deputy Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. In one place Swift calls him +Captain Pratt; and in all probability he is the John Pratt who, as we +learn from Dalton's English Army Lists, was appointed captain in General +Erle's regiment of foot in 1699, and was out of the regiment by 1706. In +1702 he obtained the Queen's leave to be absent from the regiment when +it was sent to the West Indies. Pratt seems to have been introduced to +Swift by Addison. + +11. Charles Ford, of Wood Park, near Dublin, was a great lover of the +opera and a friend of the Tory wits. He was appointed Gazetteer in 1712. +Gay calls him "joyous Ford," and he was given to over-indulgence in +conviviality. See Swift's poem on Stella at Wood Park. + +12. Lord Somers, to whom Swift had dedicated The Tale of a Tub, with +high praise of his public and private virtues. In later years Swift said +that Somers "possessed all excellent qualifications except virtue." + +13. At the foundation school of the Ormonds at Kilkenny. (see note 22.) + +14. A Whig haberdasher. + +15. Benjamin Hoadley, the Whig divine, had been engaged in controversy +with Sacheverell, Blackall, and Atterbury. After the accession of George +I. he became Bishop of Bangor, Hereford, Salisbury, and Winchester in +success. + +16. Dr. Henry Sacheverell, whose impeachment and trial had led to the +fall of the Whig Government. + +17. Sir Berkeley Lucy, Bart., F.R.S., married Katherine, daughter of +Charles Cotton, of Beresford, Staffordshire, Isaac Walton's friend. Lady +Lucy died in 1740, leaving an only surviving daughter, Mary, who married +the youngest son of the Earl of Northampton, and had two sons, who +became successively seventh and eighth Earls of Northampton. Forster and +others assumed that "Lady Lucy" was a Lady Lucy Stanhope, though they +were not able to identify her. It was reserved for Mr. Ryland to clear +up this difficulty. As he points out, Lady Lucy's elder sister, Olive, +married George Stanhope, Dean of Canterbury, and left a daughter +Mary,--Swift's "Moll Stanhope,"--a beauty and a madcap, who married, +in 1712, William Burnet, son of Bishop Burnet, and died in 1714. Mary, +another sister of Lady Lucy's, married Augustine Armstrong, of Great +Ormond Street, and is the Mrs. Armstrong mentioned by Swift on Feb. 3, +1711, as a pretender to wit, without taste. Sir Berkeley Lucy's mother +was a daughter of the first Earl of Berkeley, and it was probably +through the Berkeleys that Swift came to know the Lucys. + +18. Ann Long was sister to Sir James Long, and niece to Colonel +Strangeways. Once a beauty and toast of the Kit-Cat Club, she fell +into narrow circumstances through imprudence and the unkindness of her +friends, and retired under the name of Mrs. Smythe to Lynn, in Norfolk, +where she died in 1711 (see Journal, December 25, 1711). Swift said, +"She was the most beautiful person of the age she lived in; of great +honour and virtue, infinite sweetness and generosity of temper, and true +good sense" (Forster's Swift, 229). In a letter of December 1711, Swift +wrote that she "had every valuable quality of body and mind that could +make a lady loved and esteemed." + +19. Said, I know not on what authority, to be Swift's friend, Mrs. +Barton. But Mrs. Barton is often mentioned by Swift as living in London +in 1710-11. + +20. One of Swift's cousins, who was separated from her husband, a man of +bad character, living abroad. Her second husband, Lancelot, a servant of +Lord Sussex, lived in New Bond Street, and there Swift lodged in 1727. + +21. 100,000 pounds. + +22. Francis Stratford's name appears in the Dublin University Register +for 1686 immediately before Swift's. Budgell is believed to have +referred to the friendship of Swift and Stratford in the Spectator, +No. 353, where he describes two schoolfellows, and says that the man of +genius was buried in a country parsonage of 160 pounds a year, while +his friend, with the bare abilities of a common scrivener, had gained an +estate of above 100,000 pounds. + +23. William Cowper, afterwards Lord Cowper. + +24. Sir Simon Harcourt, afterwards Viscount Harcourt, had been counsel +for Sacheverell. On Sept. 19, 1710, he was appointed Attorney-General, +and on October 19 Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. In April 1713 he became +Lord Chancellor. + +25. This may be some relative of Dr. John Freind (see Letter 9), or, +more probably, as Sir Henry Craik suggests, a misprint for Colonel +Frowde, Addison's friend (see Journal, Nov. 4, 1710). No officer named +Freind or Friend is mentioned in Dalton's English Army Lists. + +26. See the Tatler, Nos. 124, 203. There are various allusions in the +"Wentworth Papers" to this, the first State Lottery of 1710; and two +bluecoat boys drawing out the tickets, and showing their hands to the +crowd, as Swift describes them, are shown in a reproduction of a picture +in a contemporary pamphlet given in Ashton's Social Life in the Reign of +Queen Anne, i. 115. + +27. A few weeks later Swift wrote, "I took a fancy of resolving to grow +mad for it, but now it is off." + +28. Sir John Holland, Bart., was a leading manager for the Commons in +the impeachment of Sacheverell. He succeeded Sir Thomas Felton in the +Comptrollership in March 1710. + +29. Dryden Leach. (see Letter 7.) + +30. William Pate, "bel esprit and woollen-draper," as Swift called him, +lived opposite the Royal Exchange. He was Sheriff of London in 1734, +and died in 1746. Arbuthnot, previous to matriculating at Oxford, lodged +with Pate, who gave him a letter of introduction to Dr. Charlett, +Master of University College; and Pate is supposed to have been the +woollen-draper, "remarkable for his learning and good-nature," who is +mentioned by Steele in the Guardian, No. 141. + +31. James Brydges, son of Lord Chandos of Sudeley, was appointed +Paymaster-General of Forces Abroad in 1707. He succeeded his father +as Baron Chandos in 1714, and was created Duke of Chandos in 1729. The +"princely Chandos" and his house at Canons suggested to Pope the Timon's +villa of the "Epistle to Lord Burlington." The Duke died in 1744. + +32. Charles Talbot, created Duke of Shrewsbury in 1694, was held in +great esteem by William III., and was Lord Chamberlain under Anne. In +1713 he became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and held various offices +under George I., until his death in 1718. "Before he was o. age," says +Macaulay, "he was allowed to be one of the finest gentlemen and finest +scholars of his time." + +33. See No. 230. + +34. William Cavendish, second Duke of Devonshire (1673-1729), who was +Lord Steward from 1707 to 1710 and from 1714 to 1716. Afterwards he was +Lord President of the Council. Swift's comment on Macky's character of +this Whig nobleman was, "A very poor understanding." + +35. John Annesley, fourth Earl of Anglesea, a young nobleman of +great promise, had only recently been appointed joint Vice-Treasurer, +Receiver-General, and Paymaster of the Forces in Ireland, and sworn of +the Privy Council. + +36. Nichols, followed by subsequent editors, suggested that "Durham" +was a mistake for "St. David's," because Dr. George Bull, Bishop of St. +David's, died in 1710. But Dr. Bull died on Feb. 17, 1710, though his +successor, Dr. Philip Bisse, was not appointed until November; and Swift +was merely repeating a false report of the death of Lord Crewe, Bishop +of Durham, which was current on the day on which he wrote. Luttrell +says, on Sept. 19, "The Lord Crewe.. . died lately"; but on the 23rd he +adds, "The Bishop of Durham is not dead as reported" (Brief Relation, +vi. 630, 633. + +37. Lady Elizabeth ("Betty") Butler, who died unmarried in 1750. + +38. Swift wrote in 1734, "Once every year I issued out an edict, +commanding that all ladies of wit, sense, merit, and quality, who had +an ambition to be acquainted with me, should make the first advances at +their peril: which edict, you may believe, was universally obeyed." + +39. Charles, second Earl of Berkeley (1649-1710), married Elizabeth, +daughter of Baptist Noel, Viscount Campden. The Earl died on Sept. 24, +1710, and his widow in 1719. Swift, it will be remembered, had been +chaplain to Lord Berkeley in Ireland in 1699. + +40. Lady Betty and Lady Mary Butler. (see Letter 7, notes 2 and 3.) + +41. Henry Boyle, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1702 to 1708, was +Secretary of State from 1708 to 1710, when he was succeeded by St. John. +In 1714 he was created Baron Carleton, and he was Lord President from +1721 until his death in 1725. + +42. On Sept. 29 Swift wrote that his rooms consisted of the first floor, +a dining-room and bed-chamber, at eight shillings a week. On his last +visit to England, in 1726, he lodged "next door to the Royal Chair" in +Bury Street. Steele lived in the same street from 1707 to 1712; and Mrs. +Vanhomrigh was Swift's next-door neighbour. + +43. In Exchange Alley. Cf. Spectator, No. 454: "I went afterwards to +Robin's, and saw people who had dined with me at the fivepenny ordinary +just before, give bills for the value of large estates." + +Letter 4. + +1 John Molesworth, Commissioner of the Stamp Office, was sent as Envoy +to Tuscany in 1710, and was afterwards Minister at Florence, Venice, +Geneva, and Turin. He became second Viscount Molesworth in 1725, and +died in 1731. + +2 Misson says, "Every two hours you may write to any part of the city or +suburbs: he that receives it pays a penny, and you give nothing when you +put it into the Post; but when you write into the country both he that +writes and he that receives pay each a penny." The Penny Post system had +been taken over by the Government, but was worked separately from the +general Post. + +3 The Countess of Berkeley's second daughter, who married, in 1706, +Sir John Germaine, Bart. (1650-1718), a soldier of fortune. Lady Betty +Germaine is said to have written a satire on Pope (Nichols' Literary +Anecdotes, ii. 11), and was a constant correspondent of Swift's. She was +always a Whig, and shortly before her death in 1769 she made a present +of 100 pounds to John Wilkes, then in prison in the Tower. Writing of +Lady Betty Butler and Lady Betty Germaine, Swift says elsewhere, "I saw +two Lady Bettys this afternoon; the beauty of one, the good breeding +and nature of the other, and the wit of either, would have made a fine +woman." Germaine obtained the estate at Drayton through his first wife, +Lady Mary Mordaunt--Lord Peterborough's sister--who had been divorced +by her first husband, the Duke of Norfolk. Lady Betty was thirty years +younger than her husband, and after Sir John's death she remained a +widow for over fifty years. + +4 The letter in No. 280 of the Tatler. + +5 Discover, find out. Cf. Shakespeare's All's Well that Ends Well, iii. +6: "He was first smoked by the old Lord Lafeu." + +6 A village near Dublin. + +7 Excellent. + +8 John Molesworth, and, probably, his brother Richard, afterwards third +Viscount Molesworth, who had saved the Duke of Marlborough's life at +the battle of Ramillies, and had been appointed, in 1710, colonel of a +regiment of foot. + +9 Presumably at Charles Ford's. + +10 The Virtues of Sid Hamet the Magician's Rod, published as a single +folio sheet, was a satire on Godolphin. + +11 Apparently Marcus Antonius Morgan, steward to the Bishop of Kildare +(Craik). Swift wrote to the Duke of Montagu on Aug. 12, 1713 (Buccleuch +MSS., 1899, i. 359). "Mr. Morgan of Kingstrope is a friend, and was, I +am informed, put out of the Commission of justice for being so." + +12 Dr. Raymond is called Morgan's "father" because he warmly supported +Morgan's interests. + +13 The Rev. Thomas Warburton, Swift's curate at Laracor, whom Swift +described to the Archbishop as "a gentleman of very good learning and +sense, who has behaved himself altogether unblamably." + +14 The tobacco was to be used as snuff. About this time ladies much +affected the use of snuff, and Steele, in No. 344 of the Spectator, +speaks of Flavilla pulling out her box, "which is indeed full of good +Brazil," in the middle of the sermon. People often made their own snuff +out of roll tobacco, by means of rasps. On Nov. 3, 1711, Swift speaks +of sending "a fine snuff rasp of ivory, given me by Mrs. St. John for +Dingley, and a large roll of tobacco." + +15 Katherine Barton, second daughter of Robert Barton, of Brigstock, +Northamptonshire, and niece of Sir Isaac Newton. She was a favourite +among the toasts of the Kit-Cat Club, and Lord Halifax, who left her +a fortune, was an intimate friend. In 1717 she married John Conduitt, +afterwards Master of the Mint. + +16 William Connolly, appointed a Commissioner of the Revenue in 1709, +was afterwards Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He died in 1729. +Francis Robarts, appointed a Commissioner of the Revenue in 1692, was +made a Teller of the Exchequer in England in 1704, and quitted that +office, in September 1710, on his reappointment, in Connolly's place, +as Revenue Commissioner in Ireland. In 1714 Robarts was removed, and +Connolly again appointed Commissioner. + +17 Enoch Sterne, Collector of Wicklow and Clerk to the Irish House of +Lords. Writing to Dr. Sterne on Sept. 26, Swift said, "I saw Collector +Sterne, who desired me to present his service to you, and to tell you he +would be glad to hear from you, but not about business." + +18 In his "Character of Mrs. Johnson" Swift says, "She was never known +to cry out, or discover any fear, in a coach." The passage in the text +is obscure. Apparently Esther Johnson had boasted of saving money by +walking, instead of riding, like a coward. + +19 John Radcliffe (1650-1714), the well-known physician and wit, was +often denounced as a clever empiric. Early in 1711 he treated Swift for +his dizziness. By his will, Radcliffe left most of his property to the +University of Oxford. + +20 Charles Barnard, Sergeant-Surgeon to the Queen, and Master of the +Barber Surgeons' Company. His large and valuable library, to which Swift +afterwards refers, fetched great prices. Luttrell records Barnard's +death in his diary for Oct. 12, 1710. + +21 Robert Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, had been appointed +Chancellor of the Exchequer in August 1710. In May 1711 he was raised to +the peerage and made Lord High Treasurer; and he is constantly referred +to in the Journal as "Lord Treasurer." He was impeached in 1715, but was +acquitted to 1717; he died in 1724. + +22 The Right Hon. Thomas Bligh, M.P., of Rathmore, County Meath, died on +Aug. 28, 1710. His son, mentioned later in the Journal, became Earl of +Darnley. + +Letter 5. + +1 Penalty. + +2 Erasmus Lewis, Under Secretary of State under Lord Dartmouth, was a +great friend of Swift, Pope, and Arbuthnot. He had previously been one +of Harley's secretaries, and in his Horace Imitated, Book I. Ep. vii., +Swift describes him as "a cunning shaver, and very much in Harley's +favour." Arbuthnot says that under George I. Lewis kept company with +the greatest, and was "principal governor" in many families. Lewis was +a witness to Arbuthnot's will. Pope and Esther Vanhomrigh both left him +money to buy rings. Lewis died in 1754, aged eighty-three. + +3 Charles Darteneuf, or Dartiquenave, was a celebrated epicure, who is +said to have been a son of Charles II. Lord Lyttleton, in his Dialogues +of the Dead, recalling Pope's allusions to him, selects him to represent +modern bon vivants in the dialogue between Darteneuf and Apicius. See +Tatler 252. Darteneuf was Paymaster of the Royal Works and a member of +the Kit-Cat Club. He died in 1737. + +4 No. 230. + +5 Good, excellent. + +6 Captain George Delaval, appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the King of +Portugal in Oct, 1710, was with Lord Peterborough in Spain in 1706. In +May 1707 he went to Lisbon with despatches for the Courts of Spain +and Portugal, from whence he was to proceed as Envoy to the Emperor of +Morocco, with rich presents (Luttrell, vi. 52, 174, 192). + +7 Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, as Ranger of Bushey Park and Hampton +Court, held many offices under William III., and was First Lord of +the Treasury under George I., until his death in 1715. He was great as +financier and as debater, and he was a liberal patron of literature. + +8 John Manley, M.P. for Bossiney, was made Surveyor-General on Sept. 30, +1710, and died in 1714. In 1706 he fought a duel with another Cornish +member (Luttrell, vi. 11, 535, 635). He seems to be the cousin whom Mrs. +De la Riviere Manley accuses of having drawn her into a false marriage. +For Isaac Manley and Sir Thomas Frankland, see Letter 3, notes 3 and 4. + +9 The Earl of Godolphin (see Letter 2, note 3). + +10 Sir John Stanley, Bart., of Northend, Commissioner of Customs, whom +Swift knew through his intimate friends the Pendarves. His wife, Anne, +daughter of Bernard Granville, and niece of John, Earl of Bath, was aunt +to Mary Granville, afterwards Mrs. Delany, who lived with the Stanleys +at their house in Whitehall. + +11 Henry, Viscount Hyde, eldest son of Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, +succeeded his father in the earldom in 1711, and afterwards became Earl +of Clarendon. His wife, Jane, younger daughter of Sir William Leveson +Gower,--who married a daughter of John Granville, Earl of Bath,--was +a beauty, and the mother of two beauties--Jane, afterwards Countess of +Essex (see journal, Jan. 29, 1712), and Catherine, afterwards Countess +of Queensberry. Lady Hyde was complimented by Prior, Pope, and her +kinsman, Lord Lansdowne, and is said to have been more handsome than +either of her daughters. She died in 1725; her husband in 1753. Lord +Hyde became joint Vice-Treasurer for Ireland in 1710; hence his interest +with respect to Pratt's appointment. + +12 See Letter 3, note 10. + +13 Sir Paul Methuen (1672-1757), son of John Methuen, diplomatist and +Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Methuen was Envoy and Ambassador to Portugal +from 1697 to 1708, and was M.P. for Devizes from 1708 to 1710, and a +Lord of the Admiralty. Under George I. he was Ambassador to Spain, and +held other offices. Gay speaks of "Methuen of sincerest mind, as Arthur +grave, as soft as womankind," and Steele dedicated to him the seventh +volume of the Spectator. In his Notes on Macky's Characters, Swift calls +him "a profligate rogue... without abilities of any kind." + +14 Sir James Montagu was Attorney-General from 1708 to Sept. 1710, when +he resigned, and was succeeded by Sir Simon Harcourt. Under George I. +Montagu was raised to the Bench, and a few months before his death in +1723 became Chief Baron of the Exchequer. + +15 The turnpike system had spread rapidly since the Restoration, and +had already effected an important reform in the English roads. Turnpike +roads were as yet unknown in Ireland. + +16 Ann Johnson, who afterwards married a baker named Filby. + +17 An infusion of which the main ingredient was cowslip or palsy-wort. + +18 William Legge, first Earl of Dartmouth (1672-1750), was St. John's +fellow Secretary of State. Lord Dartmouth seems to have been a plain, +unpretending man, whose ignorance of French helped to throw important +matters into St. John's hands. + +19 Richard Dyot was tried at the Old Bailey, on Jan. 13, 1710-11, for +counterfeiting stamps, and was acquitted, the crime being found +not felony, but only breach of trust. Two days afterwards a bill of +indictment was found against him for high misdemeanour. + +20 Sir Philip Meadows (1626-1718) was knighted in 1658, and was +Ambassador to Sweden under Cromwell. His son Philip (died 1757) was +knighted in 1700, and was sent on a special mission to the Emperor in +1707. A great-grandson of the elder Sir Philip was created Earl Manvers +in 1806. + +21 Her eyes were weak. + +22 The son of the Sir Robert Southwell to whom Temple had offered Swift +as a "servant" on his going as Secretary of State to Ireland in 1690. +Edward Southwell (1671-1730) succeeded his father as Secretary of +State for Ireland in 1702, and in 1708 was appointed Clerk to the Privy +Council of Great Britain. Southwell held various offices under George I. +and George II., and amassed a considerable fortune. + +23 Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), dramatist and poet laureate, and one of +the first editors of Shakespeare, was at this time under-secretary to +the Duke of Queensberry, Secretary of State for Scotland. + +24 No. 238 contains Swift's "Description of a Shower in London." + +25 This seems to be a vague allusion to the text, "Cast thy bread upon +the waters," etc. + +26 Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), the fashionable portrait-painter of +the period. + +27 At the General election of 1710 the contest at Westminster excited +much interest. The number of constituents was large, and the franchise +low, all householders who paid scot and lot being voters. There were, +too, many houses of great Whig merchants, and a number of French +Protestants. But the High Church candidates, Cross and Medlicott, +were returned by large majorities, though the Whigs had chosen popular +candidates--General Stanhope, fresh from his successes in Spain, and Sir +Henry Dutton Colt, a Herefordshire gentleman. + +28 Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676-1753), a distinguished antiquary, of an +old Norfolk family, was knighted by William III. in 1699, and inherited +his father's estate at Norfolk in 1706. He succeeded Sir Isaac Newton as +Warden of the Mint in 1727, and was Vice-Chamberlain to Queen Caroline. +He became acquainted with Swift in Ireland in 1707, when he went over as +Usher of the Black Rod in Lord Pembroke's Court. + +29 See Letter 2, note 17. The Bishop was probably Dr. Moreton, Bishop of +Meath (see Journal, July 1, 1712). + +30 The game of ombre--of Spanish origin--is described in Pope's Rape of +the Lock. See also the Compleat Gamester, 1721, and Notes and Queries, +April 8, 1871. The ace of spades, or Spadille, was always the first +trump; the ace of clubs (Basto) always the third. The second trump was +the worst card of the trump suit in its natural order, i.e. the seven in +red and the deuce in black suits, and was called Manille. If either of +the red suits was trumps, the ace of the suit was fourth trump (Punto). +Spadille, Manille, and Basto were "matadores," or murderers, as they +never gave suit. + +31 See Letter 3, note 30, + +32 In the Spectator, No. 337, there is a complaint from "one of the top +China women about town," of the trouble given by ladies who turn +over all the goods in a shop without buying anything. Sometimes they +cheapened tea, at others examined screens or tea-dishes. + +33 The Right Hon. John Grubham Howe, M.P. for Gloucestershire, an +extreme Tory, had recently been appointed Paymaster of the Forces. He is +mentioned satirically as a patriot in sec. 9 of The Tale of a Tub. + +34 George Henry Hay, Viscount Dupplin, eldest son of the sixth Earl of +Kinnoull, was made a Teller of the Exchequer in August, and a peer of +Great Britain in December 1711, with the title of Baron Hay. He married, +in 1709, Abigail, Harley's younger daughter, and he succeeded his father +in the earldom of Kinnoull in 1719. + +35 Edward Harley, afterwards Lord Harley, who succeeded his father as +Earl of Oxford in 1724. He married Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, +daughter of the Duke of Newcastle, but died without male issue in 1741. +His interest in literature caused him to form the collection known as +the Harleian Miscellany. + +36 William Penn (1644-1718), the celebrated founder of Pennsylvania. +Swift says that he "spoke very agreeably, and with much spirit." + +37 This "Memorial to Mr. Harley about the First-Fruits" is dated Oct. 7, +1710. + +38 Henry St. John, created Viscount Bolingbroke in July 1712. In the +quarrel between Oxford and Bolingbroke in 1714, Swift's sympathies were +with Oxford. + +39 I.e., it is decreed by fate. So Tillotson says, "These things are +fatal and necessary." + +40 See Letter 3, note 8. + +41 Obscure. Hooker speaks of a "blind or secret corner." + +42 Ale served in a gill measure. + +43 Scott suggests that the allusion is to The Tale of a Tub. + +44 An extravagant compliment. + +45 See Letter 8. + +46 L'Estrange speaks of "trencher-flies and spungers." + +47 See Letter 1, note 10. + +48 Samuel Garth, physician and member of the Kit-Cat Club, was knighted +in 1714. He is best known by his satirical poem, The Dispensary, 1699. + +49 Gay speaks of "Wondering Main, so fat, with laughing eyes" (Mr. +Pope's Welcome from Greece, st. xvii.). + +50 See Letter 5, note 10. + +51 See the letter of Oct. 10, 1710, to Archbishop King. + +52 See Letter 1. + +53 Seventy-three lines in folio upon one page, and in a very small +hand." (Deane Swift). + +Letter 6. + +1. I.e., Lord Lieutenant. + +2 Tatler, No. 238. + +3 See Letter 1, note 12. + +4 Charles Coote, fourth Earl of Mountrath, and M.P. for Knaresborough. +He died unmarried in 1715. + +5 Henry Coote, Lord Mountrath's brother. He succeeded to the earldom in +1715, but died unmarried in 1720. + +6 The Devil Tavern was the meeting-place of Ben Jonson's Apollo Club. +The house was pulled down in 1787. + +7 Addison was re-elected M.P. for Malmesbury in Oct. 1710, and he kept +that seat until his death in 1719. + +8 Captain Charles Lavallee, who served in the Cadiz Expedition of 1702, +and was appointed a captain in Colonel Hans Hamilton's Regiment of Foot +in 1706 (Luttrell, v. 175, vi. 640; Dalton's English Army Lists, iv. +126). + +9 See Letter 5. + +10 The Tatler, No. 230, Sid Hamet's Rod, and the ballad (now lost) on +the Westminster Election. + +11 The Earl of Galway (1648-1720), who lost the battle of Almanza to +the Duke of Berwick in 1707. Originally the Marquis de Ruvigny, a +French refugee, he had been made Viscount Galway and Earl of Galway +successively by William III. + +12 William Harrison, the son of a doctor at St. Cross, Winchester, had +been recommended to Swift by Addison, who obtained for him the post of +governor to the Duke of Queensberry's son. In Jan. 1711 Harrison began +the issue of a continuation of Steele's Tatler with Swift's assistance, +but without success. In May 1711, St. John gave Harrison the appointment +of secretary to Lord Raby, Ambassador Extraordinary at the Hague, and in +Jan. 1713 Harrison brought the Barrier Treaty to England. He died in +the following month, at the age of twenty-seven, and Lady Strafford says +that "his brother poets buried him, as Mr. Addison, Mr. Philips, and Dr. +Swift." Tickell calls him "that much loved youth," and Swift felt his +death keenly. Harrison's best poem is Woodstock Park, 1706. + +13 The last volume of Tonson's Miscellany, 1708. + +14 James Douglas, second Duke of Queensberry and Duke of Dover +(1662-1711), was appointed joint Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1708, and +third Secretary of State in 1709. Harrison must have been "governor" +either to the third son, Charles, Marquis of Beverley (born 1698), who +succeeded to the dukedom in 1711, or to the fourth son, George, born in +1701. + +15 Anthony Henley, son of Sir Robert Henley, M.P. for Andover, was +a favourite with the wits in London. He was a strong Whig, and +occasionally contributed to the Tatler and Maynwaring's Medley. Garth +dedicated The Dispensary to him. Swift records Henley's death from +apoplexy in August 1711. + +16 Sir William Ashurst, Sir Gilbert Heathcote, and Mr. John Ward were +replaced by Sir Richard Hoare, Sir George Newland, and Mr. John Cass at +the election for the City in 1710. Scott was wrong in saying that the +Whigs lost also the fourth seat, for Sir William Withers had been member +for the City since 1707. + +17 Sir Richard Onslow, Bart., was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons +in 1708. Under George I. he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and +was elevated to the peerage as Baron Onslow in 1716. He died in the +following year. + +18 "The upper part of the letter was a little besmeared with some such +stuff; the mark is still on it" (Deane Swift). + +19 John Bolton, D.D., appointed a prebendary of St. Patrick's in 1691, +became Dean of Derry in 1699. He died in 1724. Like Swift, Bolton was +chaplain to Lord Berkeley, the Lord Lieutenant, and, according to Swift, +he obtained the deanery of Derry through Swift having declined to give a +bribe of 1000 pounds to Lord Berkeley's secretary. But Lord Orrery says +that the Bishop of Derry objected to Swift, fearing that he would be +constantly flying backwards and forwards between Ireland and England. + +20 See Letter 2, note 16. + +21 "That is, to the next page; for he is now within three lines of the +bottom of the first" (Deane Swift). + +22 See Letter 4, note 15. + +23 Joshua Dawson, secretary to the Lords Justices. He built a fine house +in Dawson Street, Dublin, and provided largely for his relatives by the +aid of the official patronage in his hands. + +24 He had been dead three weeks (see Letters 3 and 5). + +25 In The Importance of the Guardian Considered, Swift says that +Steele, "to avoid being discarded, thought fit to resign his place of +Gazetteer." + +26 As Swift never used the name "Stella" in the Journal, this fragment +of his "little language" must have been altered by Deane Swift, the +first editor. Forster makes the excellent suggestion that the correct +reading is "sluttikins," a word used in the Journal on Nov. 28, 1710. +Swift often calls his correspondents "sluts." + +27 Godolphin, who was satirised in Sid Hamel's Rod (see Letter 2, note +3). + +28 No. 230. + +29 "This appears to be an interjection of surprise at the length of his +journal" (Deane Swift). + +30 Matthew Prior, poet and diplomatist, had been deprived of his +Commissionership of Trade by the Whigs, but was rewarded for his Tory +principles in 1711 by a Commissionership of Customs. + +31 "The twentieth parts are 12 pence in the pound paid annually out of +all ecclesiastical benefices as they were valued at the Reformation. +They amount to about 500 pounds per annum; but are of little or no value +to the Queen after the offices and other charges are paid, though of +much trouble and vexation to the clergy" (Swift's "Memorial to Mr. +Harley"). + +32 Charles Mordaunt, the brilliant but erratic Earl of Peterborough, had +been engaged for two years, after the unsatisfactory inquiry into his +conduct in Spain by the House of Lords in 1708, in preparing an account +of the money he had received and expended. The change of Government +brought him relief from his troubles; in November he was made +Captain-General of Marines, and in December he was nominated Ambassador +Extraordinary to Vienna. + +33 Tapped, nudged. + +34 I.e., told only to you. + +35 Sir Hew Dalrymple (1652-1737), Lord President of the Court of +Session, and son of the first Viscount Stair. + +36 Robert Benson, a moderate Tory, was made a Lord of the Treasury in +August 1710, and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the following June, and +was raised to the peerage as Baron Bingley in 1713. He died in 1731. + +37 The Smyrna Coffee-house was on the north side of Pall Mall, opposite +Marlborough House. In the Tatler (Nos. 10, 78) Steele laughed at the +"cluster of wise heads" to be found every evening at the Smyrna; and +Goldsmith says that Beau Nash would wait a whole day at a window at +the Smyrna, in order to receive a bow from the Prince or the Duchess of +Marlborough, and would then look round upon the company for admiration +and respect. + +38 See Letter 4, note 14. + +39 See Letter 5, note 17. + +40 An Irish doctor, with whom Swift invested money. + +41 Enoch Sterne, Collector of Wicklow and Clerk to the House of Lords in +Ireland. + +42 Claret. + +43 Colonel Ambrose Edgworth, a famous dandy, who is supposed to have +been referred to by Steele in No. 246 of the Tatler. Edgworth was the +son of Sir John Edgworth, who was made Colonel of a Regiment of Foot +in 1689 (Dalton, iii, 59). Ambrose Edgworth was a Captain in the same +regiment, but father and son were shortly afterwards turned out of +the regiment for dishonest conduct in connection with the soldiers' +clothing. Ambrose was, however, reappointed a Captain in General Eric's +Regiment of Foot in 1691. He served in Spain as Major in Brigadier +Gorge's regiment; was taken prisoner in 1706; and was appointed +Lieutenant-Colonel of Colonel Thomas Allen's Regiment of Foot in 1707. + +44 This volume of Miscellanies in Prose and Verse was published by +Morphew in 1711. + +45 Dr. Thomas Lindsay, afterwards Bishop of Raphoe. + + +Letter 7. + +1 The first mention of the Vanhomrighs in the Journal. Swift had made +their acquaintance when he was in London in 1708. + +2 Lady Elizabeth and Lady Mary (see Letter 3, note 40 and below). + +3 John, third Lord Ashburnham, and afterwards Earl of Ashburnham +(1687-1737), married, on Oct. 21, 1710, Lady Mary Butler, younger +daughter of the Duke of Ormond. She died on Jan. 2, 1712-3, in her +twenty-third year. She was Swift's "greatest favourite," and he was much +moved at her death. + +4 Edward Wortley Montagu, grandson of the first Earl of Sandwich, and +M.P. for Huntingdon. He was a great friend of Addison's, and the second +volume of the Tatler was dedicated to him. In 1712 he married the famous +Lady Mary Pierrepont, eldest daughter of the Duke of Kingston, and under +George I. he became Ambassador Extraordinary to the Porte. He died in +1761, aged eighty. + +5 See Letter 5, note 27. No copy of these verses is known. + +6 Henry Alexander, fifth Earl of Stirling, who died without issue in +1739. His sister, Lady Judith Alexander, married Sir William Trumbull, +Pope's friend. + +7 "These words, notwithstanding their great obscurity at present, +were very clear and intelligible to Mrs. Johnson: they referred to +conversations, which passed between her and Dr. Tisdall seven or eight +years before; when the Doctor, who was not only a learned and faithful +divine, but a zealous Church-Tory, frequently entertained her with +Convocation disputes. This gentleman, in the year 1704, paid his +addresses to Mrs. Johnson" (Deane Swift). The Rev. William Tisdall +was made D.D. in 1707. Swift never forgave Tisdall's proposal to marry +Esther Johnson in 1704, and often gave expression to his contempt for +him. In 1706 Tisdall married, and was appointed Vicar of Kerry and +Ruavon; in 1712 he became Vicar of Belfast. He published several +controversial pieces, directed against Presbyterians and other +Dissenters. + +8 No. 193 of the Tatler, for July 4, 1710, contained a letter from +Downes the Prompter in ridicule of Harley's newly formed Ministry. +This letter, the authorship of which Steele disavowed, was probably by +Anthony Henley. + +9 William Berkeley, fourth Baron Berkeley of Stratton, was sworn of the +Privy Council in September 1710, and was appointed Chancellor of the +Duchy of Lancaster. He married Frances, youngest daughter of Sir John +Temple, of East Sheen, Surrey, and died in 1740. + +10 Probably the widow of Sir William Temple's son, John Temple (see +Letter 2, note 13). She was Mary Duplessis, daughter of Duplessis +Rambouillet, a Huguenot. + +11 The Rev. James Sartre, who married Addison's sister Dorothy, was +Prebendary and Archdeacon of Westminster. He had formerly been French +pastor at Montpelier. After his death in 1713 his widow married a Mr. +Combe, and lived until 1750. + +12 William Congreve's last play was produced in 1700. In 1710, when +he was forty, he published a collected edition of his works. Swift and +Congreve had been schoolfellows at Kilkenny, and they had both been +pupils of St. George Ashe--afterwards Bishop of Clogher--at Trinity +College, Dublin. On Congreve's death, in 1729, Swift wrote, "I loved him +from my youth." + +13 See Letter 4, note 11. + +14 Dean Sterne. + +15 See Letter 6, note 19. + +16 When he became Dean he withheld from Swift the living of St. Nicholas +Without, promised in gratitude for the aid rendered by Swift in his +election. + +17 Crowe was a Commissioner for Appeals from the Revenue Commissioners +for a short time in 1706, and was Recorder of Blessington, Co. Wicklow. +In his Short Character of Thomas, Earl of Wharton, 1710, Swift speaks of +Whartons "barbarous injustice to... poor Will Crowe." + +18 See Letter 3, note 10. + +19 See Letter 3, note 35. + +20 See Letter 1, note 15. + +21 Richard Tighe, M.P. for Belturbet, was a Whig, much disliked by +Swift. He became a Privy Councillor under George I. + +22 Dryden Leach, of the Old Bailey, formerly an actor, was son of +Francis Leach. Swift recommended Harrison to employ Leach in printing +the continuation of the Tatler; but Harrison discarded him. (See +Journal, Jan. 16, 1710-11, and Timperley's Literary Anecdotes, 600, +631). + +23 The Postman, which appeared three days in the week, written by M. +Fonvive, a French Protestant, whom Dunton calls "the glory and mirror +of news writers, a very grave, learned, orthodox man." Fonvive had a +universal system of intelligence, at home and abroad, and "as his news +is early and good, so his style is excellent." + +24 Sir William Temple left Esther Johnson the lease of some property in +Ireland. + +25 See Letter 5, note 23. + +26 An out-of-the-way or obscure house. So Pepys (Diary, Oct. 15, 1661) +"To St. Paul's Churchyard to a blind place where Mr. Goldsborough was to +meet me." + +27 Sir Richard Temple, Bart., of Stowe, a Lieutenant-General who saw +much service in Flanders, was dismissed in 1713 owing to his Whig views, +but on the accession of George I. was raised to the peerage, and was +created Viscount Cobham in 1718. He died in 1749. Congreve wrote in +praise of him, and he was the "brave Cobham" of Pope's first Moral +Essay. + +28 Richard Estcourt, the actor, died in August 1712, when his abilities +on the stage and as a talker were celebrated by Steele to No. 468 of the +Spectator. See also Tatler, Aug. 6, 1709, and Spectator, May 5, 1712. +Estcourt was "providore" of the Beef-Steak Club, and a few months before +his death opened the Bumper Tavern in James Street, Covent Garden. + +29 See Letter 5, note 49. + +30 Poor, mean. Elsewhere Swift speaks of "the corrector of a hedge press +in Little Britain," and "a little hedge vicar." + +31 Thomas Herbert, eighth Earl of Pembroke, was Lord Lieutenant from +April 1707 to December 1708. A nobleman of taste and learning, he was, +like Swift, very fond of punning, and they had been great friends in +Ireland. + +32 See Letter 3, note 11. + +33 See Letter 3, note 18. + +34 A small town and fortress in what is now the Pas de Calais. + +35 Richard Stewart, third son of the first Lord Mountjoy (see Letter 1, +note 11), was M.P. at various times for Castlebar, Strabane, and County +Tyrone. He died in 1728. + +Letter 8. + +1 See Letter 3, note 1. + +2 Swift, Esther Johnson, and Mrs. Dingley seem to have begun their +financial year on the 1st of November. Swift refers to "MD's allowance" +in the Journal for April 23, 1713. + +3 Samuel Dopping, an Irish friend of Stella's, who was probably related +to Anthony Dopping, Bishop of Meath (died 1697), and to his son Anthony +(died 1743), who became Bishop of Ossory. + +4 See Letter 2, note 17. + +5 The wife of Alderman Stoyte, afterwards Lord Mayor of Dublin. Mrs. +Stoyte and her sister Catherine; the Walls; Isaac Manley and his wife; +Dean Sterne, Esther Johnson and Mrs. Dingley, and Swift, were the +principal members of a card club which met at each other's houses for a +number of years. + +6 See Letter 1, note 12. + +7 "This cypher stands for Presto, Stella, and Dingley; as much as to +say, it looks like us three quite retired from all the rest of the +world" (Deane Swift). + +8 Steele's "dear Prue," Mary Scurlock, whom he married as his second +wife in 1707, was a lady of property and a "cried-up beauty." She was +somewhat of a prude, and did not hesitate to complain to her husband, in +and out of season, of his extravagance and other weaknesses. The other +lady to whom Swift alludes is probably the Duchess of Marlborough. + +9 See Letter 7, note 7. + +10 Remembers: an Irish expression. + +11 This new Commission, signed by Narcissus Marsh, Archbishop of Armagh, +and William King, was dated Oct. 24, 1710. In this document Swift was +begged to take the full management of the business of the First-Fruits +into his hands, the Bishops of Ossory and Killala--who were to have +joined with him in the negotiations--having left London before Swift +arrived. But before this commission was despatched the Queen had granted +the First-Fruits and Twentieth Parts to the Irish clergy. + +12 Lady Mountjoy, wife of the second Viscount Mountjoy (see Letter +1), was Anne, youngest daughter of Murrough Boyle, first Viscount +Blessington, by his second wife, Anne, daughter of Charles Coote, +second Earl of Mountrath. After Lord Mountjoy's death she married John +Farquharson, and she died in 1741. + +13 Forster suggests that Swift wrote "Frond " or "Frowde" and there is +every reason to believe that this was the case. No Colonel Proud appears +in Dalton's Army Lists. A Colonel William Frowde, apparently third son +of Sir Philip Frowde, Knight, by his third wife, Margaret, daughter +of Sir John Ashburnham, was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in Colonel +Farrington's (see note 18) Regiment of Foot in 1694. He resigned his +commission on his appointment to the First Life Guards in 1702, and he +was in this latter regiment in 1704. In November and December 1711 Swift +wrote of Philip Frowde the elder (Colonel William Frowde's brother) as +"an old fool," in monetary difficulties. It is probable that Swift's +Colonel Proud (? Frowde) was not Colonel William Frowde, but his nephew, +Philip Frowde, junior, who was Addison's friend at Oxford, and the +author of two tragedies and various poems. Nothing seems known of Philip +Frowde's connection with the army, but he is certainly called "Colonel" +by Swift, Addison, and Pope (see Forster's Swift, 159; Addison's Works, +v. 324; Pope's Works, v. 177, vi. 227). Swift wrote to Ambrose Philips +in 1705, "Col. Frond is just as he was, very friendly and grand reveur +et distrait. He has brought his poems almost to perfection." It will +be observed that when Swift met Colonel "Proud" he was in company with +Addison, as was also the case when he was with Colonel "Freind" (see +Letter 3, note 25). + +14 Charles Davenant, LL.D., educated at Balliol College, Oxford, was the +eldest son of Sir William Davenant, author of Gondibert. In Parliament +he attacked Ministerial abuses with great bitterness until, in 1703, he +was made secretary to the Commissioners appointed to treat for a union +with Scotland. To this post was added, in 1705, an Inspector-Generalship +of Exports and Imports, which he retained until his death in 1714. Tom +Double, a satire on his change of front after obtaining his place, was +published in 1704. In a Note on Macky's character of Davenant, Swift +says, "He ruined his estate, which put him under a necessity to comply +with the times." Davenant's True Picture of a Modern Whig, in Two Parts, +appeared in 1701-2; in 1707 he published "The True Picture of a Modern +Whig revived, set forth in a third dialogue between Whiglove and +Double," which seems to be the piece mentioned in the text, though Swift +speaks of the pamphlet as "lately put out." + +15 Hugh Chamberlen, the younger (1664-1728), was a Fellow of the College +of Physicians and Censor in 1707, 1717, and 1721. Atterbury and the +Duchess of Buckingham and Normanby were among his fashionable patients. +His father, Hugh Chamberlen, M.D., was the author of the Land Bank +Scheme of 1693-94. + +16 Sir John Holland (see Letter 3, note 28). + +17 Swift may mean either rambling or gambolling. + +18 Thomas Farrington was appointed Colonel of the newly raised 29th +Regiment of Foot in 1702. He was a subscriber for a copy of the Tatler +on royal paper (Aitken, Life of Steele, i. 329, 330). + +19 In The History of Vanbrugh's House, Swift described everyone as +hunting for it up and down the river banks, and unable to find it, until +at length they-- + + "-- in the rubbish spy + A thing resembling a goose pie." + +Sir John Vanbrugh was more successful as a dramatist than as an +architect, though his work at Blenheim and elsewhere has many merits. + +20 For the successes of the last campaign. + +21 John Sheffield, third Earl of Mulgrave, was created Duke of +Buckingham and Normanby in 1703, and died in 1721. On Queen Anne's +accession he became Lord Privy Seal, and on the return of the Tories +to power in 1710 he was Lord Steward, and afterward (June 1710) Lord +President of the Council. The Duke was a poet, as well as a soldier +and statesman, his best known work being the Essay on Poetry. He was +Dryden's patron, and Pope prepared a collected edition of his works. + +22 Laurence Hyde, created Earl of Rochester in 1682, died in 1711. He +was the Hushai of Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, "the friend of David +in distress." In 1684 he was made Lord President of the Council, and on +the accession of James II., Lord Treasurer; he was, however, dismissed +in 1687. Under William III. Rochester was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, an +office he resigned in 1703; and in September 1710 he again became Lord +President. His imperious temper always stood in the way of popularity or +real success. + +23 Sir Thomas Osborne, Charles II.'s famous Minister, was elevated to +the peerage in 1673, and afterwards was made successively Earl of Danby, +Marquis of Caermarthen, and Duke of Leeds. On Nov. 29, 1710, a few days +after this reference to him, the Duke was granted a pension of 3500 +pounds a year out of the Post Office revenues. He died in July 1712, +aged eighty-one, and soon afterwards his grandson married Lord Oxford's +daughter. + +24 This is, of course, a joke; Swift was never introduced at Court. + +25 Captain Delaval (see Letter 5, note 6). + +26 Admiral Sir Charles Wager (1666-1743) served in the West Indies from +1707 to 1709, and gained great wealth from the prizes he took. Under +George I. he was Comptroller of the Navy, and in 1733 he became First +Lord of the Admiralty, a post which he held until 1742. + +27 See Letter 7, note 27. + +28 See Letter 5, note 13. + +29 Isaac Bickerstaff's "valentine" sent him a nightcap, finely wrought +by a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth (Tatler, No. 141). The "nightcap" +was a periwig with a short tie and small round head, and embroidered +nightcaps were worn chiefly by members of the graver professions. + +30 Tatler, No. 237. + +31 Tatler, No. 230. + +32 "Returning home at night, you'll find the sink + + Strike your offended sense with double stink." + ("Description of a City Shower, 11. 5, 6.) + +33 Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. + +34 See Letter 1, note 3. + +35 See Letter 8, note 5. + +36 See Letter 6, note 4. + +37 See Letter 1, note 11. + +38 The bellman's accents. Cf. Pepys' Diary, Jan. 16, 1659-60: "I staid +up till the bellman came by with his bell just under my window as I +was writing of this very line, and cried, 'Past one of the clock, and a +cold, frosty, windy morning.'" + + + + +LETTER 9. + +1 John Freind, M.D. (1675-1728), was a younger brother of the Robert +Freind, of Westminster School, mentioned elsewhere in the Journal. +Educated under Dr. Busby at Westminster, he was in 1694 elected a +student of Christ Church, where he made the acquaintance of Atterbury, +and supported Boyle against Bentley in the dispute as to the authorship +of the letters of Phalaris. In 1705 he attended the Earl of Peterborough +to Spain, and in the following year wrote a defence of that commander +(Account of the Earl of Peterborough's Conduct in Spain). A steady Tory, +he took a share in the defence of Dr. Sacheverell; and in 1723, when +M.P. for Launceston, he fell under the suspicion of the Government, and +was sent to the Tower. On the accession of George II., however, he came +into favour with the Court, and died Physician to the Queen. + +2 See Letter 8, note 19. + +3 St. John was thirty-two in October 1710. He had been Secretary at +War six years before, resigning with Harley in 1707. Swift repeats +this comparison elsewhere. Temple was forty-six when he refused a +Secretaryship of State in 1674. + +4 Sir Henry St. John seems to have continued a gay man to the end of +his life. In his youth he was tried and convicted for the murder of +Sir William Estcourt in a duel (Scott). In 1716, after his son had been +attainted, he was made Viscount St. John. He died in 1742, aged ninety. + +5 "Swift delighted to let his pen run into such rhymes as these, which +he generally passes off as old proverbs" (Scott). Many of the charming +scraps of "Old Ballads" and "Old Plays" at the head of Scott's own +chapters are in reality the result of his own imagination. + +6 See Letter 3, note 18. + +7 Sir Richard Levinge, Bart., had been Solicitor-General for Ireland +from 1704 to 1709, and was Attorney-General from 1711 to 1714. +Afterwards he was Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and +Chief-Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland. + +8 See Letter 2, note 18. + +9 Thomas Belasyse, second Viscount Fauconberg, or Falconbridge +(died 1700), a nobleman of hereditary loyalty, married, in 1657, the +Protector's youngest daughter, Mary Cromwell, who is represented as +a lady of high talent and spirit. She died on March 14, 1712. Burnet +describes her as "a wise and worthy woman," who would have had a better +prospect of maintaining her father's post than either of her brothers. + +10 Richard Freeman, Chief Baron, was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from +1707 until his death in November 1710. + +11 See Letter 7, note 17. + +12 Sir Richard Cox, Bart. (1650-1733), was Lord Chancellor of Ireland +from 1703 to 1707. In 1711 he was appointed Chief-Justice of the Queen's +Bench, but he was removed from office on the death of Queen Anne. His +zealous Protestantism sometimes caused his views to be warped, but he +was honest and well-principled. + +13 Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bart. (1676-1746), succeeded Bromley as Speaker in +1714. In February 1713 Swift said, "He is the most considerable man in +the House of Commons." His edition of Shakespeare was published by the +University of Oxford in 1743-44. Pope called it "pompous," and sneered +at Hanmer's "superior air" (Dunciad, iv. 105). + +14 See Letter 5, note 8. + +15 Elliot was keeper of the St. James's Coffee-house (see Letter 1). + +16 Forster suggested that the true reading is "writhing." If so, it is +not necessary to suppose that Lady Giffard was the cause of it. Perhaps +it is the word "tiger" that is corrupt. + +17 The Hon. Charles Boyle (1676-1731), of the Boyle and Bentley +controversy, succeeded to the peerage as Lord Orrery in 1703. When he +settled in London he became the centre of a Christ Church set, a strong +adherent of Harley's party, and a member of Swift's "club." His son +John, fifth Earl of Orrery, published Remarks on the Life and Writings +of Jonathan Swift in 1751. + +18 William Domville, a landed proprietor in County Dublin, whom Swift +called "perfectly as fine a gentleman as I know." + +19 On May 16, 1711, Swift wrote, "There will be an old to do." The word +is found in Elizabethan writers in the sense of "more than enough." Cf. +Macbeth, ii. 3: "If a man were porter of hell gate, he should have old +turning the key." + +20 See Letter 3, note 10. Clements was related to Pratt, the Deputy +Vice-Treasurer, and was probably the Robert Clements who became Deputy +Vice-Treasurer, and whose grandson Robert was created Earl of Leitrim in +1795. + +21 Letter 5, note 11. + +22 Swift's sister Jane, who had married a currier in Bride Street, named +Joseph Fenton, a match to which Swift strongly objected. Deane Swift +says that Swift never saw his sister again after the marriage; he had +offered her 500 pounds if she would show a "proper disdain" of Fenton. +On her husband's dying bankrupt, however, Swift paid her an annuity +until 1738, when she died in the same lodging with Esther Johnson's +mother, Mrs. Bridget Mose, at Farnham (Forster's Swift, pp. 118-19). + +23 Welbore Ellis, appointed Bishop of Kildare in 1705. He was translated +to Meath in 1731, and died three years later. + +24 The expression of the Archbishop is, "I am not to conceal from you +that some expressed a little jealously, that you would not be acceptable +to the present courtiers; intimating that you were under the reputation +of being a favourite of the late party in power" (King to Swift, Nov. 2, +1710). + +25 This indignant letter is dated Nov. 23, 1710. It produced an +apologetic reply from the Archbishop (Nov. 30, 1710), who represented +that the letter to Southwell was a snare laid in his way, since if he +declined signing it, it might have been interpreted into disrespect to +the Duke of Ormond. Of the bishops King said, "You cannot do yourself a +greater service than to bring this to a good issue, to their shame and +conviction." + + + + +LETTER 10. + +1 William Bromley (died 1732) was M.P. for the University of Oxford. A +good debater and a strong High Churchman, he was Secretary of State from +August 1713 until the Queen's death in the following year. + +2 Colonel, afterwards Major-General, John Hill (died 1735) was younger +brother of Mrs. Masham, the Queen's favourite, and a poor relation of +the Duchess of Marlborough. He was wounded at Mons in 1709, and in 1711 +was sent on an unsuccessful expedition to attack the French settlements +in North America. In 1713 he was appointed to command the troops at +Dunkirk. + +3 "The footmen in attendance at the Houses of Parliament used at this +time to form themselves into a deliberative body, and usually debated +the same points with their masters. It was jocularly said that several +questions were lost by the Court party in the menial House of Lords +which were carried triumphantly in the real assembly; which was at +length explained by a discovery that the Scottish peers whose votes +were sometimes decisive of a question had but few representatives in the +convocation of lacqueys. The sable attendant mentioned by Swift, being +an appendage of the brother of Mrs. Masham, the reigning favourite, had +a title to the chair, the Court and Tory interest being exerted in his +favour" (Scott). Steele alludes to the "Footmen's Parliament" in No. 88 +of the Spectator. + +4 See Letter 1, note 3. + +5 A Court of Equity abolished in the reign of Charles I. It met in the +Camera Alba, or Whitehall, and the room appears to have retained the +name of the old Court. + +6 See Letter 6, note 2. + +7 Swift's first contribution to the Examiner (No. 13) is dated Nov. 2, +1710. + +8 Seduced, induced. Dryden (Spanish Friar) has "To debauch a king to +break his laws." + +9 Freeman (see Letter 9, note 10). + +10 "To make this intelligible, it is necessary to observe, that the +words 'this fortnight', in the preceding sentence, were first written +in what he calls their little language, and afterwards scratched out and +written plain. It must be confessed this little language, which passed +current between Swift and Stella, has occasioned infinite trouble in the +revisal of these papers" (Deane Swift). + +11 Trim. An attack upon the liberties of this corporation is among the +political offences of Wharton's Lieutenancy of Ireland set forth in +Swift's Short Character of the Earl of Wharton. + +12 Apologies. + +13 "A Description of the Morning," in No. 9 of the Tatler. + +14 See Letter 6, note 19. + +15 William Palliser (died 1726). + +16 See Letter 4, note 15. + +17 "Here he writ with his eyes shut; and the writing is somewhat +crooked, although as well in other respects as if his eyes had been +open" (Deane Swift). + +18 Tatler, No. 249; cf. p. 93. During this visit to London Swift +contributed to only three Tatlers, viz. Nos. 230, 238, and 258. + +19 St. Andrew's Day. + +20 No. 241. + +21 Tatler, No. 258. + +22 Lieutenant-General Philip Bragg, Colonel of the 28th Regiment of +Foot, and M.P. for Armagh, died in 1759. + +23 James Cecil, fifth Earl of Salisbury, who died in 1728. + +24 See Letter 2, note 13. + +25 See Letter 8, note 22. + +26 Kneller seems never to have painted Swift's portrait. + +27 On Nov. 25 and 28. + +28 Arthur Annesley, M.P. for Cambridge University, had recently become +fifth Earl of Anglesea, on the death of his brother (see Letter 3, note +35). Under George I. he was Joint Treasurer of Ireland, and Treasurer at +War. + +29 A Short Character of the Earl of Wharton, by Swift himself, though +the authorship was not suspected at the time. "Archbishop King," says +Scott, "would have hardly otherwise ventured to mention it to Swift in +his letter of Jan. 9, 1710, as 'a wound given in the dark.'" Elsewhere, +however, in a note, Swift hints that Archbishop King was really aware of +the authorship of the pamphlet. + +30 A false report. (See Letter 11, note 4.) + +31 None of these Commissioners of Revenue lost their places at this +time. Samuel Ogle was Commissioner from 1699 to 1714; John South from +1696 until his death in 1711; and Sir William St. Quintin, Bart., from +1706 to 1713. Stephen Ludlow succeeded South in September 1711. + +32 See Letter 7, note 35. + +33 James Hamilton, sixth Earl of Abercorn (1656-1734), a Scotch peer who +had strongly supported the Union of 1706. + + + + +LETTER 11. + +1 L'Estrange speaks of "insipid twittle twattles." Johnson calls this "a +vile word." + +2 A cousin of Swift's; probably a son of William Swift. + +3 Nicholas Sankey (died 1722) succeeded Lord Lovelace as Colonel of +a Regiment of Foot in Ireland in 1689. He became Brigadier-General in +1704, Major-General 1707, and Lieutenant-General 1710. He served in +Spain, and was taken prisoner at the battle of the Caya in 1709. + +4 See Letter 10, note 30. + +5 The Earl of Abercorn (see Letter 10, note 33) married, in 1686, +Elizabeth, only child of Sir Robert Reading, Bart., of Dublin, by Jane, +Dowager Countess of Mountrath. Lady Abercorn survived her husband twenty +years, dying in 1754, aged eighty-six. + +6 Charles Lennox, first Duke of Richmond and Gordon (1672-1723), was the +illegitimate son of Charles II. by Madame de Querouaille. + +7 Sir Robert Raymond, afterwards Lord Raymond (1673-1733), M.P. for +Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, was appointed Solicitor-General in May +1710, and was knighted in October. He was removed from office on the +accession of George I., but was made Attorney-General in 1720, and in +1724 became a judge of the King's Bench. In the following year he was +made Lord Chief-Justice, and was distinguished both for his learning and +his impartiality. + +8 Lynn-Regis. + +9 Richard Savage, fourth Earl Rivers, the father of Richard Savage, the +poet. Under the Whigs Lord Rivers was Envoy to Hanover; and after his +conversion by Harley, he was Constable of the Tower under the Tories. He +died in 1712. + +10 Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland from 1695 until his death in +1717. + +11 Lord Shelburne's clever sister, Anne, only daughter of Sir William +Petty, and wife of Thomas Fitzmaurice, Lord of Kerry, afterwards created +first Earl of Kerry. + +12 Mrs. Pratt, an Irish friend of Lady Kerry, lodged at Lord Shelburne's +during her visit to London. The reference to Clements (see Letter 9, +note 20), Pratt's relative, in the Journal for April 14, 1711, makes +it clear that Mrs. Pratt was the wife of the Deputy Vice-Treasurer of +Ireland, to whom Swift often alludes (see Letter 3, note 10). + +13 Lieutenant-General Thomas Meredith, Major-General Maccartney, +and Brigadier Philip Honeywood. They alleged that their offence only +amounted to drinking a health to the Duke of Marlborough, and confusion +to his enemies. But the Government said that an example must be made, +because various officers had dropped dangerous expressions about +standing by their General, Marlborough, who was believed to be aiming at +being made Captain General for life. For Maccartney see the Journal for +Nov. 15, 1712, seq. Meredith, who was appointed Adjutant-General of +the Forces in 1701, was made a Lieutenant-General in 1708. He saw much +service under William III., and Marlborough, and was elected M.P. for +Midhurst in 1709. He died in 1719 (Dalton's Army Lists, III. 181). +Honeywood entered the army in 1694; was at Namur; and was made a +Brigadier-General before 1711. After the accession of George I. he +became Colonel of a Regiment of Dragoons, and commanded a division at +Dettingen. At his death in 1752 he was acting as Governor of Portsmouth, +with the rank of General (Dalton, iv. 30). + +14 Or "malkin"; a counterfeit, or scarecrow. + +15 William Cadogan, Lieutenant-General and afterwards Earl Cadogan +(1675-1726), a great friend of Marlborough, was Envoy to the United +Provinces and Spanish Flanders. Cadogan retained the post of Lieutenant +to the Tower until 1715. + +16 Earl Cadogan's father, Henry Cadogan, barrister, married Bridget, +daughter of Sir Hardresse Waller, and sister of Elizabeth, Baroness +Shelburne in her own right. + +17 See Letter 5, note 30. + +18 Cadogan married Margaretta, daughter of William Munter, Counsellor of +the Court of Holland. + +19 Presumably the eldest son, William, who succeeded his father as +second Earl of Kerry in 1741, and died in 1747. He was at Eton and +Christ Church, Oxford, and was afterwards a Colonel in the Coldstream +Guards. + +20 Henry Petty, third Lord Shelburne, who became Earl of Shelburne in +1719. His son predeceased him, without issue, and on Lord Shelburne's +death, in 1751, his honours became extinct. His daughter Anne also died +without issue. + +21 The menagerie, which had been one of the sights of London, was +removed from the Tower in 1834. In his account of the Tory Fox Hunter +in No. 47 of the Freeholder, Addison says, "Our first visit was to the +lions." + +22 Bethlehem Hospital, for lunatics, in Moorfields, was a popular +"sight" in the eighteenth century. Cf. the Tatler, No. 30: "On Tuesday +last I took three lads, who are under my guardianship, a rambling, in a +hackney coach, to show them the town: as the lions, the tombs, Bedlam." + +23 The Royal Society met at Gresham College from 1660 to 1710. The +professors of the College lectured on divinity, civil law, astronomy, +music, geometry, rhetoric, and physic. + +24 The most important of the puppet-shows was Powell's, in the Little +Piazza, Covent Garden, which is frequently mentioned in the Tatler. + +25 The precise nature this negligent costume is not known, but it is +always decried by popular writers of the time. + +26 Retched. Bacon has "Patients must not keck at them at the first." + +27 Swift was born on November 30. + +28 Mrs. De la Riviere Manley, daughter of Sir Roger Manley, and cousin +of John Manley, M.P., and Isaac Manley (see Letter 3, note 3), wrote +poems and plays, but is best known for her "Secret Memoirs and Manners +of Several Persons of Quality, of both sexes. From the New Atalantis, +1709," a book abounding in scandalous references to her contemporaries. +She was arrested in October, but was discharged in Feb. 1710. In +May 1710 she brought out a continuation of the New Atalantis, called +"Memoirs of Europe towards the Close of the Eighth Century." In June +1711 she became editress of the Tory Examiner, and wrote political +pamphlets with Swift's assistance. Afterwards she lived with Alderman +Barber, the printer, at whose office she died in 1724. In her will +she mentioned her "much honoured friend, the Dean of St. Patrick, Dr. +Swift." + +29 "He seems to have written these words in a whim; for the sake of what +follows" (Deane Swift). + +30 See Letter 8, note 33. + +31 No. 249 (see Letter 10, note 18). + +32 See Letter 5, note 34. + +33 In a letter to the Rev. Dr. Tisdall, of Dec. 16, 1703, Swift said: +"I'll teach you a way to outwit Mrs. Johnson: it is a new-fashioned +way of being witty, and they call it a bite. You must ask a bantering +question, or tell some damned lie in a serious manner, and then she will +answer or speak as if you were in earnest; and then cry you, 'Madam, +there's a bite!' I would not have you undervalue this, for it is +the constant amusement in Court, and everywhere else among the great +people." See, too, the Tatler, No. 12, and Spectator, Nos. 47, 504: "In +a word, a Biter is one who thinks you a fool, because you do not think +him a knave." + +34 See Letter 9, note 4. + +35 "As I hope to be saved;" a favourite phrase in the Journal. + +36 See Letter 7, note 12. + +37 This statement receives some confirmation from a pamphlet published +in September 1710, called "A Condoling Letter to the Tatler: On Account +of the Misfortunes of Isaac Bickerstaf Esq., a Prisoner in the ---- on +Suspicion of Debt." + +38 Dr. Lambert, chaplain to Lord Wharton, was censured in Convocation +for being the author of a libellous letter. + +39 Probably the same person as Dr. Griffith, spoken of in the Journal +for March 3, 1713,--when he was ill,--as having been "very tender of" +Stella. + +40 See Letter 9, note 22. + +41 Vexed, offended. Elsewhere Swift wrote, "I am apt to grate the ears +of more than I could wish." + +42 Ambrose Philips, whose Pastorals had been published in the same +volume of Tonson's Miscellany as Pope's. Two years later Swift wrote, +"I should certainly have provided for him had he not run party mad." In +1712 his play, The Distrest Mother, received flattering notice in the +Spectator, and in 1713, to Pope's annoyance, Philips' Pastorals were +praised in the Guardian. His pretty poems to children led Henry Carey to +nickname him "Namby Pamby." + +43 An equestrian statue of William III., in College Green, Dublin. It +was common, in the days of party, for students of the University of +Dublin to play tricks with this statue. + +44 Lieutenant-General Richard Ingoldsby (died 1712) was Commander of the +Forces in Ireland, and one of the Lords Justices in the absence of the +Lord Lieutenant. + +45 This seems to have been a mistake; cf. Journal for July 13, 1711, +Alan Brodrick, afterwards Viscount Midleton, a Whig politician and +lawyer, was made Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench in Ireland in 1709, +but was removed from office in June 1711, when Sir Richard Cox succeeded +him. On the accession of George I. he was appointed Lord Chancellor +for Ireland. Afterwards he declined to accept the dedication to him of +Swift's Drapiers Letters, and supported the prosecution of the author. +He died in 1728. + +46 Robert Doyne was appointed Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland +in 1695, and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1703. This appointment +was revoked on the accession of George I. + +47 See Letter 9, note 12. + +48 Of the University of Dublin. + +49 See Letter 2, note 18 and Letter 3, note 4. Sir Thomas Frankland's +eldest son, Thomas, who afterwards succeeded to the baronetcy, acquired +a fortune with his first wife, Dinah, daughter of Francis Topham, of +Agelthorpe, Yorkshire. He died in 1747. + +50 See Letter 8, note 21. + +51 see Letter 4, note 15. + +52 Mary, daughter of Sir John Williams, Bart., and widow of Charles +Petty, second Lord Shelburne, who died in 1696. She had married, as +her second husband, Major-General Conyngham, and, as her third husband, +Colonel Dallway. + +53 Dr. John Vesey became Bishop of Limerick in 1672, and Archbishop of +Tuam in 1678. He died in 1716. + +54 See Letter 3, note 39. + +55 Sex. + +56 Toby Caulfeild, third son of the fifth Lord Charlemont. In 1689 he +was Colonel to the Earl of Drogheda's Regiment of Foot, and about 1705 +he succeeded to the command of Lord Skerrin's Regiment of Foot. After +serving in Spain his regiment was reduced, having lost most of its men +(Luttrell, vi. 158). + +57 John Campbell, second Duke of Argyle (1680-1743), was installed a +Knight of the Garter in December 1710, after he had successfully opposed +a vote of thanks to Marlborough, with whom he had quarrelled. It was of +this nobleman that Pope wrote-- "Argyle, the State's whole thunder born +to wield, And shake alike the senate and the field." +In a note to Macky's Memoirs, Swift describes the Duke as an "ambitious, +covetous, cunning Scot, who had no principle but his own interests and +greatness." + +58 Harley's second wife, Sarah, daughter of Simon Middleton, of +Edmonton, and sister of Sir Hugh Middleton, Bart. She died, without +issue, in 1737. + +59 Elizabeth Harley, then unmarried, the daughter of Harley's +first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Foley, of Whitley Court, +Worcestershire. She subsequently married the Marquis of Caermarthen, +afterwards Duke of Leeds. + +60 Harcourt (see Letter 3, note 24). + +61 William Stawel, the third baron, who succeeded to the title in 1692, +was half-brother to the second Baron Stawel. The brother here referred +to was Edward, who succeeded to the title as fourth baron in 1742. + + + + +LETTER 12. + +1 Charles Finch, third Earl of Winchelsea, son of Lord Maidstone, and +grandson of Heneage, second Earl of Winchelsea. On his death in 1712 +Swift spoke of him as "a worthy honest gentleman, and particular friend +of mine." + +2 Vedeau was a shopkeeper, who abandoned his trade for the army +(Journal, March 28, April 4, 1711). Swift calls him "a lieutenant, who +is now broke, and upon half pay" (Journal, Nov. 18, 1712) + +3 Sir Edmund Bacon, Bart. (died 1721), of Herringflat, Suffolk, +succeeded his father in the baronetcy in 1686. + +4 The reverse at Brihuega. + +5 See Letter 8, note 12. + +6 John Barber, a printer, became Lord Mayor of London in 1732, and died +in 1741. Mrs. Manley was his mistress, and died at his printing office. +Swift speaks of Barber as his "very good and old friend." + +7 Bernage was an officer serving under Colonel Fielding. In August 1710 +a difficulty arose through Arbuthnot trying to get his brother George +made Captain over Bernage's head; but ultimately Arbuthnot waived the +business, because he would not wrong a friend of Swift's. + +8 See Letter 1, note 52. + +9 George Smalridge (1663-1719), the High Church divine and popular +preacher, was made Dean of Carlisle in 1711, and Bishop of Bristol in +1714. Steele spoke of him in the Tatler (Nos. 73, 114) as "abounding in +that sort of virtue and knowledge which makes religion beautiful." + +10 St. Albans Street, Pall Mall, was removed in 1815 to make way for +Waterloo Place. It was named after Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans. + +11 Ben Portlack, the Duke of Ormond's secretary. + +12 Algernon Seymour, Earl of Hertford (1684-1750), only son of Charles +Seymour, Duke of Somerset. Lord Hertford succeeded to the dukedom in +1748. From 1708 to 1722 he was M.P. for Northumberland, and from 1708 to +1713 he took an active part in the war in Flanders. + +13 See Letter 4. + +14 A Short Character of the Earl of Wharton (see Letter 10. note 29). + +15 See Letter 9. + +16 Henry Herbert, the last Baron Herbert of Cherbury, succeeded to the +peerage in 1709, and soon afterwards married a sister of the Earl of +Portsmouth. A ruined man, he committed suicide in 1738. + +17 Nos. 257, 260. + +18 See Letter 6, note 12. + +19 "AFTER is interlined" (Deane Swift). + +20 With this account may be compared what Pope says, as recorded in +Spence's Anecdotes, p. 223: "Lord Peterborough could dictate letters to +nine amanuenses together, as I was assured by a gentleman who saw him do +it when Ambassador at Turin. He walked round the room, and told each of +them in his turn what he was to write. One perhaps was a letter to the +emperor, another to an old friend, a third to a mistress, a fourth to +a statesman, and so on: yet he carried so many and so different +connections in his head, all at the same time." + +21 Francis Atterbury, Dean of Carlisle, had taken an active part in the +defence of Dr. Sacheverell. After a long period of suspense he received +the appointment of Dean of Christ Church, and in 1713 he was made Bishop +of Rochester and Dean of Westminster. Atterbury was on intimate terms +with Swift, Pope, and other writers on the Tory side, and Addison--at +whose funeral the Bishop officiated--described him as "one of the +greatest geniuses of his age." + +22 John Carteret, second Baron Carteret, afterwards to be well known as +a statesman, succeeded to the peerage in 1695, and became Earl Granville +and Viscount Carteret on the death of his brother in 1744. He died in +1763. In October 1710, when twenty years of age, he had married Frances, +only daughter of Sir Robert Worsley, Bart., of Appuldurcombe, Isle of +Wight. + +23 Dillon Ashe, D.D., Vicar of Finglas, and brother of the Bishop +of Clogher. In 1704 he was made Archdeacon of Clogher, and in 1706 +Chancellor of Armagh. He seems to have been too fond of drink. + +24 Henley (see Letter 6, note 15) married Mary, daughter of Peregrine +Bertie, the second son of Montagu, Earl of Lindsey, and with her +obtained a fortune of 30,000 pounds. After Henley's death his widow +married her relative, Henry Bertie, third son of James, Earl of +Abingdon. + +25 Hebrews v. 6. + + + + +LETTER 13. + +1 Probably Mrs. Manley and John Barber (see Letter 11, note 28 and +Letter 12, note 6). + +2 Sir Andrew Fountaine's (see Letter 5, note 28) father, Andrew +Fountaine, M.P., married Sarah, daughter of Sir Thomas Chicheley, Master +of the Ordnance. Sir Andrew's sister, Elizabeth, married Colonel Edward +Clent. The "scoundrel brother," Brig, died in 1746, aged sixty-four +(Blomefield's Norfolk, vi. 233-36). + +3 Dame Overdo, the justice's wife in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair. + +4 See Letter 3, note 5. + +5 Atterbury, who had recently been elected Prolocutor to the Lower House +of Convocation. + +6 Dr. Sterne, Dean of St. Patrick's, was not married. + +7 January 6 was Twelfth-night. + +8 Garraway's Coffee-house, in Change Alley, was founded by Thomas +Garway, the first coffee-man who sold and retailed tea. A room upstairs +was used for sales of wine "by the candle." + +9 Sir Constantine Phipps, who had taken an active part in Sacheverell's +defence. Phipps' interference in elections in the Tory interest made +him very unpopular in Dublin, and he was recalled on the death of Queen +Anne. + +10 Joseph Trapp, one of the seven poets alluded to in the distich:-- +"Alma novem genuit celebres Rhedycina poetas, Bubb, Stubb, Gru + Trapp wrote a tragedy in 1704, and in 1708 was chosen the first +Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In 1710 he published pamphlets on behalf +of Sacheverell, and in 1712 Swift secured for him the post of chaplain +to Bolingbroke. During his latter years he held several good livings. +Elsewhere Swift calls him a "coxcomb." + +11 See Letter 7, note 21. + +12 The extreme Tories, who afterwards formed the October Club. + +13 Crowd. A Jacobean writer speaks of "the lurry of lawyers," and "a +lurry and rabble of poor friars." + +14 See Letter 5, note 10. + +15 St. John's first wife was Frances, daughter and co-heiress of Sir +Henry Winchcombe, Bart., of Berkshire, and in her right St. John enjoyed +the estates of Bucklebury, which on her death in 1718 passed to her +sister. In April 1711 Swift said that "poor Mrs. St. John" was growing +a great favourite of his; she was going to Bath owing to ill-health, and +begged him to take care of her husband. She "said she had none to trust +but me, and the poor creature's tears came fresh in her eyes." Though +the marriage was, naturally enough, unhappy, she did not leave St. +John's house until 1713, and she returned to him when he fell from +power. There are letters from her to Swift as late as 1716, not +only doing her best to defend his honour, but speaking of him with +tenderness. + +16 "Battoon" means (1) a truncheon; (2) a staff of office. Luttrell, in +1704, speaks of "a battoon set with diamonds sent him from the French +king." + +17 Edward Harley, second son of Sir Edward Harley, was M.P. for +Leominster and Recorder of the same town. In 1702 he was appointed +Auditor of the Imposts, a post which he held until his death in 1735. +His wife, Sarah, daughter of Thomas Foley, was a sister of Robert +Harley's wife, and his eldest son eventually became third Earl of +Oxford. Harley published several books on biblical subjects. + +18 See Letter 6, note 12. The last number of Steele's Tatler appeared on +Jan. 2, 1711; Harrison's paper reached to fifty-two numbers. + +19 Dryden Leach (see Letter 7, note 22). + +20 Cf. Letter 7, October 28th. + +21 Published by John Baker and John Morphew. See Aitken's Life of +Steele, i. 299-301. + +22 In No. 224 of the Tatler, Addison, speaking of polemical +advertisements, says: "The inventors of Strops for Razors have written +against one another this way for several years, and that with great +bitterness." See also Spectator, Nos. 428, 509, and the Postman for +March 23, 1703: "The so much famed strops for setting razors, etc., are +only to be had at Jacob's Coffee-house.... Beware of counterfeits, for +such are abroad." + +23 Sir John Holland (see Letter 3, note 28). + +24 Addison speaks of a fine flaxen long wig costing thirty guineas +(Guardian, No. 97), and Duumvir's fair wig, which Phillis threw into the +fire, cost forty guineas (Tatler, No. 54) + +25 Swift's mother, Abigail Erick, was of a Leicestershire family, and +after her husband's death she spent much of her time with her friends +near her old home. Mr. Worrall, vicar of St. Patrick's, with whom Swift +was on terms of intimacy in 1728-29, was evidently a relative of the +Worralls where Mrs. Swift had lodged, and we may reasonably suppose that +he owed the living to Swift's interest in the family. + +26 The title of a humorous poem by Lydgate. A "lickpenny" is a greedy or +grasping person. + +27 Small wooden blocks used for lighting fires. See Swift ("Description +of the Morning"), "The small-coal man was heard with cadence deep, + Till drowned in shriller notes of chimney-sweep;" and Gay (Trivia, ii. +35), "When small-coal murmurs in the hoarser throat, + From smutty dangers guard thy threatened coat." + +28 The Tory Ministers. + + + + +LETTER 14. + +1 See Letter 7, note 22. + +2 Thomas Southerne's play of Oroonoko, based on Mrs. Aphra Behn's novel +of the same name, was first acted in 1696. + +3 "Mrs." Cross created the part of Mrs. Clerimont in Steele's Tender +Husband in 1705. + +4 See Letter 12, note 7. + +5 George Granville, afterwards Lord Lansdowne, was M.P. for Cornwall, +and Secretary at War. In December 1711 he was raised to the peerage, +and in 1712 was appointed Comptroller of the Household. He died in 1735, +when the title became extinct. Granville wrote plays and poems, and +was a patron of both Dryden and Pope. Pope called him "Granville the +polite." His Works in Verse and Prose appeared in 1732. + +6 Samuel Masham, son of Sir Francis Masham, Bart., had been a page to +the Queen while Princess of Denmark, and an equerry and gentleman of the +bed-chamber to Prince George. He married Abigail Hill (see Letter 16, +note 7), daughter of Francis Hill, a Turkey merchant, and sister of +General John Hill, and through that lady's influence with the Queen he +was raised to the peerage as Baron Masham, in January 1712. Under George +I. he was Remembrancer of the Exchequer. He died in 1758. + +7 A roughly printed pamphlet, The Honourable Descent, Life, and True +Character of the... Earl of Wharton, appeared early in 1711, in reply to +Swift's Short Character; but that can hardly be the pamphlet referred +to here, because it is directed against libellers and backbiters, and +cannot be described as "pretty civil." + +8 "In that word (the seven last words of the sentence huddled into one) +there were some puzzling characters" (Deane Swift). + +9 Sir Robert Worsley, Bart., married, in 1690, Frances, only daughter +of the first Viscount Weymouth. Their daughter Frances married Lord +Carteret (see Letter 12, note 22) in 1710. In a letter to Colonel Hunter +in March 1709 Swift spoke of Lady (then Mrs.) Worsley as one of the +principal beauties in town. See, too, Swift's letter to her of April 19, +1730: "My Lady Carteret has been the best queen we have known in Ireland +these many years; yet is she mortally hated by all the young girls, +because (and it is your fault) she is handsomer than all of them +together." + +10 See Letter 3, note 1. + +11 See Letter 5, note 17. + +12 William Stratford, son of Nicholas Stratford, Bishop of Chester, was +Archdeacon of Richmond and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, until his +death in 1729. + +13 See Letter 3, note 22. + +14 James, third Earl of Berkeley (1680-1736), whom Swift calls a "young +rake" (see Letter 16, note 15). The young Countess of Berkeley was +only sixteen on her marriage. In 1714 she was appointed a lady of the +bed-chamber to Caroline, Princess of Wales, and she died of smallpox +in 1717, aged twenty-two. The Earl was an Admiral, and saw much +service between 1701 and 1710; under George I. he was First Lord of the +Admiralty. + +15 Edward Wettenhall was Bishop of Kilmore from 1699 to 1713. + +16 In the Dedication to The Tale of a Tub Swift had addressed Somers in +very different terms: "There is no virtue, either in public or private +life, which some circumstances of your own have not often produced upon +the stage of the world." + +17 Their lodgings, opposite to St. Mary's Church in Stafford Street, +Dublin. + + + + +LETTER 15. + +1 The Stamp Act was not passed until June 1712: see the Journal for Aug. +7, 1712. + +2 Both in St. James's Park. The Canal was formed by Charles II. from +several small ponds, and Rosamond's Pond was a sheet of water in the +south-west corner of the Park, "long consecrated," as Warburton said, +"to disastrous love and elegiac poetry." It is often mentioned as a +place of assignation in Restoration plays. Evelyn (Diary, Dec. 1, 1662) +describes the "scheets" used on the Canal. + +3 Mrs. Beaumont. + +4 The first direct mention of Hester Vanhomrigh. She is referred to +only in two other places in the Journal (Feb. 14, 1710-11, and Aug, 14, +1711). + +5 See Letter 3, note 17. + +6 No. 27, by Swift himself. + +7 No. 7 of Harrison's series. + +8 The printers of the original Tatler. + +9 Harley had forwarded to Swift a banknote for fifty pounds (see +Journal, March 7, 1710-11). + +10 At Moor Park. + +11 Scott says that Swift here alludes to some unidentified pamphlet of +which he was the real or supposed author. + +12 See Letter 11, note 13. + +13 The Examiner. + +14 See Letter 6, note 43. + +15 Mistaken. + +16 Mrs. De Caudres, "over against St. Mary's Church, near Capel Street," +where Stella now lodged. + +17 "A crease in the sheet" (Deane Swift). + +18 "In the original it was, good mallows, little sollahs. But in these +words, and many others, he writes constantly ll for rr" (Deane Swift). + +19 See Letter 4, note 19. + +20 "Those letters which are in italics in the original are of a +monstrous size, which occasioned his calling himself a loggerhead" +(Deane Swift). (Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of +this etext.) + +21 I.e., to ask whether. + + + + +LETTER 16. + +1 Harcourt. + +2 "A shilling passes for thirteenpence in Ireland" (Deane Swift). + +3 Robert Cope, a gentleman of learning with whom Swift corresponded. + +4 Archdeacon Morris is not mentioned in Cotton's Fasti Ecclesiae +Hiberniae. + +5 See Letter 14, note 6. + +6 See Letter 10, note 2. + +7 Abigail Hill, afterwards Lady Masham, had been introduced into the +Queens service as bed-chamber woman by the Duchess of Marlborough. Her +High Church and Tory views recommended her to Queen Anne, and in 1707 +she was privately married to Mr. Samuel Masham, a gentleman in the +service of Prince George (see Letter 14, note 6). The Duchess of +Marlborough discovered that Mrs. Masham's cousin, Harley, was using her +influence to further his own interests with the Queen; and in spite of +her violence the Duchess found herself gradually supplanted. From +1710 Mrs. Masham's only rival in the royal favour was the Duchess +of Somerset. Afterwards she quarrelled with Harley and joined the +Bolingbroke faction. + +8 See Letter 4, note 16. + +9 No. 14 of Harrison's series. + +10 See Letter 15, note 4. + +11 Richard Duke, a minor poet and friend of Dryden's, entered the Church +about 1685. In July 1710 he was presented by the Bishop of Winchester to +the living of Witney, Oxfordshire, which was worth 700 pounds a year. + +12 Sir Jonathan Trelawney, one of the seven bishops committed to the +Tower in 1688, was translated to Winchester in 1707, when he appointed +Duke to be his chaplain. + +13 See Letter 4, note 3. + +14 See Letter 3, note 39. + +15 See Letter 14, note 14. + +16 See Letter 7, note 28. + +17 Cf. Feb. 22, 1711. + +18 Esther Johnson lodged opposite St. Mary's in Dublin. + +19 This famous Tory club began with the meeting together of a few +extreme Tories at the Bell in Westminster. The password to the +Club--"October"--was one easy of remembrance to a country gentleman who +loved his ale. + +20 "Duke" Disney, "not an old man, but an old rake," died in 1731. Gay +calls him "facetious Disney," and Swift says that all the members of the +Club "love him mightily." Lady M. W. Montagu speaks of his + + "Broad plump face, pert eyes, and ruddy skin, + Which showed the stupid joke which lurked within." + +Disney was a French Huguenot refugee, and his real name was Desaulnais. +He commanded an Irish regiment, and took part in General Hill's +expedition to Canada in 1711 (Kingsford's Canada, ii. 465). By his will +(Wentworth papers, 109) he "left nothing to his poor relations, but very +handsome to his bottle companions." + +21 There were several Colonel Fieldings in the first half of the +eighteenth century, and it is not clear which is the one referred to by +Swift. Possibly he was the Edmund Fielding--grandson of the first +Earl of Denbigh--who died a Lieutenant-General in 1741, at the age of +sixty-three, but is best known as the father of Henry Fielding, the +novelist. + +22 Cf. Feb. 17, 1711. + +23 See Letter 3, note 37. + +24 "It is a measured mile round the outer wall; and far beyond any the +finest square in London" (Deane Swift). + +25 "The common fare for a set-down in Dublin" (ib.). + +26 "Mrs. Stoyte lived at Donnybrook, the road to which from Stephen's +Green ran into the country about a mile from the south-east corner" +(ib.). + +27 "Those words in italics are written in a very large hand, and so +is the word large" (ib.). (Italics replaced by capitals for the +transcription of this etext.) + +28 Deane Swift alters "lele" to "there," but in a note states how he +here altered Swift's "cypher way of writing." No doubt "lele" and other +favourite words occurred frequently in the MS., as they do in the later +letters. + + + + +LETTER 17. + +1 Sir Thomas Mansel, Bart., Comptroller of the Household to Queen Anne, +and a Lord of the Treasury, was raised to the peerage in December 1711 +as Baron Mansel of Margam. He died in 1723. + +2 Lady Betty Butler and Lady Betty Germaine (see Letter 3, note 40 and +Letter 4, note 3). + +3 James Eckershall, "second clerk of the Queen's Privy Kitchen." +Chamberlayne (Magnae Britanniae Notitia, 1710, p. 536) says that his +wages were 11 pounds, 8 shillings and a penny-ha'penny, and board-wages +138 pounds, 11 shillings and tenpence-ha'penny, making 150 pounds in +all. Afterwards Eckershall was gentleman usher to Queen Anne; he died at +Drayton in 1753, aged seventy-four. Pope was in correspondence with him +in 1720 on the subject of contemplated speculations in South Sea and +other stocks. + +4 In October 1710 (see Letter 6, note 44) Swift wrote as if he knew +about the preparation of these Miscellanies. The volume was published +by Morphew instead of Tooke, and it is frequently referred to in the +Journal. + +5 In 1685 the Duke of Ormond (see Letter 2, note 10) married, as his +second wife, Lady Mary Somerset, eldest surviving daughter of Henry, +first Duke of Beaufort. + +6 Arthur Moore, M.P., was a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations from +1710 until his death in 1730. Gay calls him "grave," and Pope ("Prologue +to the Satires," 23) says that Moore blamed him for the way in which his +"giddy son," James Moore Smythe, neglected the law. + +7 James, Lord Paisley, who succeeded his father (see Letter 10, note +33) as seventh Earl of Abercorn in 1734, married, in 1711, Anne, eldest +daughter of Colonel John Plumer, of Blakesware, Herts. + +8 Harley's ill-health was partly due to his drinking habits. + +9 Crowd or confusion. + +10 The first wife of Charles Seymour, sixth Duke of Somerset, was +Lady Elizabeth Percy, only daughter of Joscelyn, eleventh Earl of +Northumberland, and heiress of the house of Percy. She married the Duke, +her third husband, at the age of eighteen. + +11 John Richardson, D.D., rector of Armagh, Cavan, and afterwards +chaplain to the Duke of Ormond. In 1711 he published a Proposal for the +Conversion of the Popish Natives of Ireland to the Established Religion, +and in 1712 a Short History of the Attempts to Convert the Popish +Natives of Ireland. In 1709 the Lower House of Convocation in Ireland +had passed resolutions for printing the Bible and liturgy in Irish, +providing Irish preachers, etc. In 1711 Thomas Parnell, the poet, headed +a deputation to the Queen on the subject, when an address was presented; +but nothing came of the proposals, owing to fears that the English +interest in Ireland might be injured. In 1731 Richardson was given the +small deanery of Kilmacluagh. + +12 See Feb. 27, 1711. + +13 Harley. + +14 "Bank bill for fifty pound," taking the alternate letters (see Letter +15, note 9). + +15 See Letter 5, note 17. + +16 See Nos. 27 and 29, by Swift himself. + +17 "Print cannot do justice to whims of this kind, as they depend wholly +upon the awkward shape of the letters" (Deane Swift). + +18 See Letter 8, note 2. + +19 "Here is just one specimen given of his way of writing to Stella in +these journals. The reader, I hope, will excuse my omitting it in all +other places where it occurs. The meaning of this pretty language is: +'And you must cry There, and Here, and Here again. Must you imitate +Presto, pray? Yes, and so you shall. And so there's for your letter. +Good-morrow'" (Deane Swift). What Swift really wrote was probably as +follows: "Oo must cly Lele and Lele and Lele aden. Must oo mimitate +Pdfr, pay? Iss, and so oo sall. And so lele's fol oo rettle. +Dood-mallow." + +20 Lady Catherine Morice (died 1716) was the eldest daughter of Thomas +Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and wife of Sir Nicholas Morice, Bart., M.P. +for Newport. + +21 Perhaps Henry Arundell, who succeeded his father as fifth Baron +Arundell of Wardour in 1712, and died in 1726. + +22 Antoine, Abbe de Bourlie and Marquis de Guiscard, was a cadet of a +distinguished family of the south of France. He joined the Church, +but having been driven from France in consequence of his licentious +excesses, he came to England, after many adventures in Europe, with a +recommendation from the Duke of Savoy. Godolphin gave him the command +of a regiment of refugees, and employed him in projects for effecting a +landing in France. These schemes proving abortive, Guiscard's regiment +was disbanded, and he was discharged with a pension of 500 pounds +a year. Soon after the Tories came to power Guiscard came to the +conclusion that there was no hope of employment for him, and +little chance of receiving his pension; and he began a treacherous +correspondence with the French. When this was detected he was brought +before the Privy Council, and finding that everything was known, and +wishing a better death than hanging, he stabbed Harley in the breast. +Mrs. Manley, under Swift's directions, wrote a Narrative of Guiscard's +Examination, and the incident greatly added to the security of Harley's +position, and to the strength of the Government. + +23 Harley's surgeon, Mr. Green. + +24 See Letter 9, note 20. + +25 Mrs. Walls' baby (see Feb 5, 1711). + +26 The phrase had its origin in the sharp practices in the horse and +cattle markets. Writing to Arbuthnot in 1727, Swift said that Gay "had +made a pretty good bargain (that is a Smithfield) for a little place in +the Custom House." + +27 "There." + + + + +LETTER 18. + +1 See Swift's paper in the Examiner, No. 32, and Mrs. Manley's pamphlet, +already mentioned. + +2 Presumably Mrs. Johnson's palsy-water (see Letter 5, note 17). + +3 Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (1672-1739), was created Viscount +Wentworth and Earl of Strafford in June 1711. Lord Raby was Envoy and +Ambassador at Berlin for some years, and was appointed Ambassador at +the Hague in March 1711. In November he was nominated as joint +Plenipotentiary with the Bishop of Bristol to negotiate the terms of +peace. He objected to Prior as a colleague; Swift says he was "as +proud as hell." In 1715 it was proposed to impeach Strafford, but the +proceedings were dropped. In his later years he was, according to Lord +Hervey, a loquacious and illiterate, but constant, speaker in the House +of Lords. + +4 A beauty, to whom Swift addressed verses in 1708. During the frost of +January 1709 Swift wrote: "Mrs. Floyd looked out with both her eyes, and +we had one day's thaw; but she drew in her head, and it now freezes as +hard as ever." She was a great friend of Lady Betty Germaine's. + +5 Swift never had the smallpox. + +6 See Letter 12, note 22. + +7 Heart. + +8 The first number of the Spectator appeared on March 1, 1711. + +9 In one of his poems Swift speaks of Stella "sossing in an easy-chair." + +10 See Letter 4, note 20. + +11 "It is reasonable to suppose that Swift's acquaintance with Arbuthnot +commenced just about this time; for in the original letter Swift +misspells his name, and writes it Arthbuthnet, in a clear large hand, +that MD might not mistake any of the letters" (Deane Swift). Dr. John +Arbuthnot had been made Physician in Ordinary to the Queen; he was one +of Swift's dearest friends. + +12 Clobery Bromley, M.P. for Coventry, son of William Bromley, M.P. (see +Letter 10, note 1), died on March 20, 1711, and Boyer (Political State, +i. 255) says that the House, "out of respect to the father, and to give +him time, both to perform the funeral rites and to indulge his just +affliction," adjourned until the 26th. + +13 See Letter 5, note 4. + +14 See Letter 17, note 11. + +15 Sir John Perceval, Bart. (died 1748), was created Baron Perceval +1715, Viscount Perceval 1722, and Earl of Egmont 1733, all in the Irish +peerage. He married, in 1710, Catherine, eldest daughter of Sir Philip +Parker A'Morley, Bart., of Erwarton, Suffolk; and his son (born Feb. 27, +1710-11) was made Baron Perceval and Holland, in the English peerage, in +1762. + +16 This report was false. The Old Pretender did not marry until 1718, +when he was united to the Princess Clementina Maria, daughter of Prince +James Sobieski. + + +Letter 19. + +1 John Hartstonge, D.D. (died 1717), was Bishop of Ossory from 1693 to +1714, when he was translated to Derry. + +2 See Letter 15, note 16. + +3 Thomas Proby was Chirurgeon-General in Ireland from 1699 until his +death in 1761. In his Short Character of Thomas, Earl of Wharton, Swift +speaks of him as "a person universally esteemed," who had been badly +treated by Lord Wharton. In 1724 Proby's son, a captain in the army, was +accused of popery, and Swift wrote to Lord Carteret that the charge +was generally believed to be false: "The father is the most universally +beloved of any man I ever knew in his station.... You cannot do +any personal thing more acceptable to the people of Ireland than +in inclining towards lenity to Mr. Proby and his family." Proby was +probably a near relative of Sir Thomas Proby, Bart., M.P., of Elton, +Hunts, at whose death in 1689 the baronetcy expired. Mrs. Proby seems to +have been a Miss Spencer. + +4 Meliora, daughter of Thomas Coningsby, Baron of Clanbrassil and +Earl of Coningsby, and wife of Sir Thomas Southwell, afterwards Baron +Southwell, one of the Commissioners of Revenue in Ireland, and a member +of the Irish Privy Council. Lady Southwell died in 1736. + +5 Lady Betty Rochfort was the daughter of Henry Moore, third Earl of +Drogheda. Her husband, George Rochfort, M.P. for Westmeath, was son of +Robert Rochfort, an Irish judge, and brother of Robert Rochford, M.P., +to whose wife Swift addressed his Advice to a very Young Lady on her +Marriage. Lady Betty's son Robert was created Earl of Belvedere in 1757. + +6 See Letter 17, note 23. Mr. Bussiere, of Suffolk Street, had been +called in directly after the outrage, but Radcliffe would not consult +him. + +7 The letter from Dr. King dated March 17, 1711, commenting on +Guiscard's attack upon Harley. + +8 See Feb. 10, 1710-11. + +9 The word "trangram" or "tangram" ordinarily means a toy or gimcrack, +or trumpery article. Cf. Wycherley (Plain Dealer, iii. 1), "But go, +thou trangram, and carry back those trangrams which thou hast stolen or +purloined." Apparently "trangum" here means a tally. + +10 See Letter 12, note 2. + +11 Swift means Godolphin, the late Lord Treasurer. + +12 Sir John Holland (see Letter 3, note 28). + +13 "It caused a violent daub on the paper, which still continues much +discoloured in the original" (Deane Swift). + +14 "He forgot here to say, 'At night.' See what goes before" (Deane +Swift). + +15 See Letter 17, note 1. + +16 Irishman. "Teague" was a term of contempt for an Irishman. + +17 To "Mr. Harley, wounded by Guiscard." In this piece Prior said, +"Britain with tears shall bathe thy glorious wound," a wound which could +not have been inflicted by any but a stranger to our land. + +18 Sir Thomas Mansel married Martha, daughter and heiress of Francis +Millington, a London merchant. + +19 Slatterning, consuming carelessly. + +20 "The candle grease mentioned before, which soaked through, deformed +this part of the paper on the second page" (Deane Swift). + +21 Harcourt. + +22 William Rollinson, formerly a wine merchant, settled afterwards in +Oxfordshire, where he died at a great age. He was a friend of Pope, +Bolingbroke, and Gay. + +23 In relation to the banknote (see Letter 17, note 14). + +24 "Swift was, at this time, their great support and champion" (Deane +Swift). + +25 See Letter 14, note 15. + +26 See Letter 17, note 25. + +27 "Stella, with all her wit and good sense, spelled very ill; and Dr. +Swift insisted greatly upon women spelling well" (Deane Swift). + +28 "The slope of the letters in the words THIS WAY, THIS WAY, is to +the left hand, but the slope of the words THAT WAY, THAT WAY, is to the +right hand" (Deane Swift). + +29 See Letter 17, note 24. + +30 See Letter 5, note 11 and Letter 10, note 28. + + + + +LETTER 20. + +1 By the Act 9 Anne, cap. 23, the number of hackney coaches was +increased to 800, and it was provided that they were to go a mile and a +half for one shilling, two miles for one shilling and sixpence, and so +on. + +2 See Letter 11, note 39. + +3 In a letter to Swift, of March 17, 1711, King said that it might have +been thought that Guiscard's attack would have convinced the world that +Harley was not in the French interest; but it did not have that effect +with all, for some whispered the case of Fenius Rufus and Scevinus in +the 15th book of Tacitus: "Accensis indicibus ad prodendum Fenium Rufum, +quem eundem conscium et inquisitorem non tolerabant." Next month Swift +told King that it was reported that the Archbishop had applied this +passage in a speech made to his clergy, and explained at some length the +steps he had taken to prevent the story being published in the Postboy. +King thanked Swift for this action, explaining that he had been arguing +on Harley's behalf when someone instanced the story of Rufus. + +4 A Tory paper, published thrice weekly by Abel Roper. + +5 Sir Charles Duncombe, banker, died on April 9, 1711. The first wife of +the Duke of Argyle (see Letter 11, note 57) was Duncombe's niece, +Mary Browne, daughter of Ursula Duncombe and Thomas Browne, of St. +Margaret's, Westminster. Duncombe was elected Lord Mayor in 1700, and +was the richest commoner in England. + +6 The Rev. Dillon Ashe (see Letter 12, note 23). + +7 John, fourth Baron Poulett, was created Earl Poulett in 1706, after +serving as one of the Commissioners for the Treaty of Union with +Scotland. From August 1710 to May 1711 he was First Lord of the +Treasury, and from June 1711 to August 1714 he was Lord Steward of the +Household. + +8 Lost or stupid person. + +9 Sir William Read, a quack who advertised largely in the Tatler and +other papers. He was satirised in No. 547 of the Spectator. In 1705 +he was knighted for his services in curing many seamen and soldiers of +blindness gratis, and he was appointed Oculist in Ordinary to the Queen. +Read died in 1715, but his business was continued by his widow. + +10 General John Webb was not on good terms with Marlborough. He was a +Tory, and had gained distinction in the war at Wynendale (1708), though +the Duke's secretary gave the credit, in the despatch, to Cadogan. There +is a well-known account of Webb in Thackeray's Esmond. He was severely +wounded at Malplaquet in 1709, and in 1710 was given the governorship of +the Isle of Wight. He died in 1724. + +11 Henry Campion, M.P. for Penryn, is mentioned in the Political State +for February 1712 as one of the leading men of the October Club. Campion +seems to have been Member, not for Penryn, but for Bossiney. + +12 See Letter 3, note 32. + +13 Sir George Beaumont, Bart., M.P. for Leicester, and an acquaintance +of Swift's mother, was made a Commissioner of the Privy Seal in 1712, +and one of the Lords of the Admiralty in 1714. He died in 1737. + +14 Heneage Finch, afterwards second Earl of Aylesford, was the son of +Heneage Finch, the chief counsel for the seven bishops, who was created +Baron Guernsey in 1703, and Earl of Aylesford in 1714. + +15 James, Lord Compton, afterwards fifth Earl of Northampton, was the +eldest son of George, the fourth Earl. He was summoned to the House of +Lords in December 1711, and died in 1754. + +16 See Letter 11, note 12. + + + + +LETTER 21. + +1 In 1670 Temple thanked the Grand Duke of Tuscany for "an entire +vintage of the finest wines of Italy" (Temple's Works, 1814, ii. +155-56). + +2 Mrs. Manley (see Letter 17, note 22). + +3 Charles Caesar, M.P. for Hertford, was appointed Treasurer of the Navy +in June 1711, in the room of Robert Walpole. + +4 Joseph I. His successor was his brother Charles, the King of Spain +recognised by England. + +5 Simon Harcourt, M.P. for Wallingford. He married Elizabeth, sister of +Sir John Evelyn, Bart., and died in 1720, aged thirty-five, before his +father. He was secretary to the society of "Brothers," wrote verses, and +was a friend of the poets. His son Simon was created Earl Harcourt in +1749, and was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. + +6 Doiley, a seventeenth-century linen-draper,--probably "Thomas Doyley, +at the Nun, in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden,"--invented stuffs which +"might at once be cheap and genteel" (Spectator, No. 283). + +7 A special envoy. The Resident from Venice in 1710 was Signor Bianchi. + +8 See Letter 17, note 5. + +9 Nanfan Coote, second Earl of Bellamont, who died in 1708, married, in +1705, Lucia Anna, daughter of Henry de Nassau, Lord of Auverquerque, and +sister of Henry, first Earl of Grantham. She died in 1744. + +10 "Farnese" (Deane Swift). + +11 See Letter 20, note 3. + +12 Swift's changes of residence during the period covered by the Journal +were numerous. On Sept. 20, 1710, he moved from Pall Mall to Bury +Street, "where I suppose I shall continue while in London." But on Dec. +28 he went to new lodgings in St. Albans Street, Haymarket. On April 26, +1711, he moved to Chelsea, and from there to Suffolk Street, to be near +the Vanhomrighs. He next moved to St. Martins Street, Leicester Fields; +and a month later to Panton Street, Haymarket. In 1712 he lodged for a +time at Kensington Gravel Pits. + +13 At raffling for books. + +14 James Brydges, Paymaster-General, and afterwards Duke of Chandos (see +Letter 3, note 31). + +15 Thomas Foley, M.P. for Worcestershire, was created Baron Foley in +December 1711, and died in 1733. + +16 See 25th April, 1711 and Letter 20, note 3. + +17 See Letter 19, note 3. + +18 Charles Dering, second son of Sir Edward Dering, Bart., M.P. for +Kent, was Auditor of the Exchequer in Ireland, and M.P. for Carlingford. + +19 See Letter 11, note 44. + +20 See Letter 17, note 4. + +21 A Whig paper, for the most part by Mainwaring and Oldmixon, in +opposition to the Examiner. It appeared weekly from October 1710 to +August 1711. + +22 See Letter 17, note 22. + +23 See Spectator, No. 50, by Addison. + +24 In all probability a mistake for "Wesley" (see Letter 1, note 12). + + + + +LETTER 22. + +1 Lord Paisley (see Letter 17, note 7). + +2 See Letter 11, note 5. + +3 Sir Hovenden Walker. The "man midwife" was Sir Chamberlen Walker, his +younger brother. The "secret expedition" against Quebec conveyed upwards +of 5000 soldiers, under the command of General John Hill (see Letter +10, note 2), but owing to the want of due preparations and the severe +weather encountered, the fleet was compelled to return to England +without accomplishing anything. + +4 Robert Freind, elder brother of John Freind, M.D. (see Letter 9, +note 1), became headmaster of Westminster School in 1711, and held the +appointment until 1733. He was Rector of Witney, and afterwards Canon of +Windsor, Prebendary of Westminster, and Canon of Christ Church. He died +in 1751, aged eighty-four. + +5 Christopher Musgrave was Clerk of the Ordnance. + +6 Atterbury's wife, Katherine Osborn, has been described as "the +inspiration of his youth and the solace of his riper years." + +7 The original Chelsea Bun House, in Jew's Row, was pulled down in +1839. Sir R. Philips, writing in 1817, said, "Those buns have afforded a +competency, and even wealth, to four generations of the same family; and +it is singular that their delicate flavour, lightness, and richness have +never been successfully imitated." + +8 See Letter 8, note 22. King wrote to Swift (May 15, 1711), "The death +of the Earl of Rochester is a great blow to all good men, and even his +enemies cannot but do justice to his character. What influence it will +have on public affairs God only knows." + +9 See Letter 11, note 11. + +10 See Letter 17, note 6. + +11 See Letter 18, note 4. + +12 See Letter 20, note 13. + +13 Swift's curate at Laracor. + +14 Queen Anne was the last sovereign who exercised the supposed royal +gift of healing by touch. Dr. Johnson was touched by her, but without +effect. + +15 Richard Thornhill was tried at the Old Bailey on May 18, 1711, for +the murder of Sir Cholmley Dering, M.P. for Kent, and found guilty +of manslaughter only; but he was shortly afterwards assassinated (see +Journal for Aug. 21, 1711; Spectator, No. 84). The quarrel began on +April 27, when they fell to blows, and Thornhill being knocked down, had +some teeth struck out by Sir C. Dering stamping on him. The spectators +then interfered, and Dering expressed himself as ready to beg pardon; +but Thornhill not thinking this was sufficient satisfaction, gave Dering +the lie, and on May 9 sent him a challenge. + +16 Tothill Fields, Westminster, was a favourite place for duels in the +seventeenth century. + +17 See Letter 13, note 17. + +18 Benjamin Burton, a Dublin banker, and brother-in-law of Swift's +friend Stratford (see Letter 3, note 22). Swift says he hated this +"rogue." + + + + +LETTER 23. + +1 The day on which the Club met. See letter from Swift to St. John, May +11, 1711. + +2 Henry Barry, fourth Lord Barry of Santry (1680-1734), was an Irish +Privy Councillor, and Governor of Derry. In 1702 he married Bridget, +daughter of Sir Thomas Domville, Bart., and in an undated letter (about +1735) to Lady Santry Swift spoke of his esteem for her, "although I had +hardly the least acquaintance with your lord, nor was at all desirous +to cultivate it, because I did not at all approve of his conduct." Lord +Santry's only son and heir, who was born in 1710, was condemned to death +for the murder of a footman in 1739, when the barony became extinct by +forfeiture. See B. W. Adams's History of Santry. + +3 Probably Captain Cammock, of the Speedwell, of 28 guns and 125 men +(Luttrell, vi. 331), who met on July 13, 1708, off Scotland, two French +privateers, one of 16, the other of 18 guns, and fought them several +hours. The first privateer got off, much shattered; the other was +brought into Carrickfergus. + +4 See Letter 7, note 21. + +5 See Letter 13, note 10. + +6 This valuable pamphlet is signed "J.G.," and is believed to be by John +Gay. + +7 Edmund Curll's collection of Swift's Miscellanies, published in 1711, +was an expansion of a pamphlet of 1710, "A Meditation upon a Broomstick, +and somewhat beside, of the same Author's." + +8 "In this passage DD signifies both Dingley and Stella" (Deane Swift). + +9 Sir Henry Craik's reading. The old editions have, "It would do: DD +goes as well as Presto," which is obviously corrupt. + +10 Cf. Journal, June 17, 1712. + +11 Cf. "old doings" (see Letter 9, note 19.) + +12 See Letter 17, note 11. + +13 Rymer's Foedera, in three volumes, which Swift obtained for Trinity +College, Dublin. + +14 See Letter 6, note 43 and 9th Feb. 1710-11. + +15 Stephen Colledge, "the Protestant joiner," was hanged in 1681. He had +published attacks on the Roman Catholics, and had advocated resistance +to Charles II. + +16 See Letter 3, note 39. + +17 Mitford Crowe was appointed Governor of Barbados in 1706, and before +his departure for that island went to Spain, "to settle the accounts of +our army there, of which he is paymaster" (Luttrell, vi. 104). In 1710 +charges of bribery brought against him by merchants were inquired into +by the Privy Council, but he seems to have cleared himself, for in June +1711 Swift speaks of him as Governor of Jamaica. He died in 1719. + +18 See Letter 8, note 21. + +19 Swift's uncle Adam "lived and died in Ireland," and left no son. +Another daughter of his became Mrs. Whiteway. + +20 William Lowndes, M.P., secretary to the Treasury, whom Walpole called +"as able and honest a servant as ever the Crown had." + +21 The Lord Treasurer's staff: since the dismissal of Godolphin, the +Treasurership had been held in commission. + +22 "As I hope to be saved." + +23 Stella's maid. + +24 See letter from King to Swift, May 15, 1711. Alderman Constantine, +a High Churchman, indignant at being passed over by a junior in the +contest for the mayoralty, brought the matter before the Council +Board, and produced an old by-law by which aldermen, according to their +ancientry, were required to keep their mayoralty. King took the side of +the city, but the majority was for the by-law, and disapproved of the +election; whereupon the citizens repealed the by-law and re-elected the +same alderman as before. + + + + +LETTER 24. + +1 The Lord Treasurer's staff. + +2 Swift's "little parson cousin," the resident chaplain at Moor Park. He +pretended to have had some part in The Tale of a Tub, and Swift always +professed great contempt for him. Thomas Swift was son of an Oxford +uncle of Swift's, of the same name, and was at school and college with +Swift. He became Rector of Puttenham, Surrey, and died in 1752, aged +eighty-seven. + +3 The Duke of Ormond's daughter, Lady Mary Butler (see Letter 7, notes 2 +and 3.) + +4 Thomas Harley, the Lord Treasurer's cousin, was secretary to the +Treasury. + +5 Lord Oxford's daughter Elizabeth married, in 1712, the Marquis of +Caermarthen. + +6 Henry Tenison, M.P. for County Louth, was one of the Commissioners of +the Revenue in Ireland from 1704 until his death in 1709 (Luttrell, v. +381, vi. 523). Probably he was related to Dr. Tenison, Bishop of Meath, +who died in 1705. + +7 Anne Finch (died 1720), daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, and wife +of Heneage Finch, who became fourth Earl of Winchelsea in 1712. Lady +Winchelsea published a volume of poems in 1713, and was a friend of Pope +and Rowe. Wordsworth recognised the advance in the growth of attention +to "external nature" shown in her writings. + +8 See Letter 23, note 24 and Letter 30, note 13. + +9 This was a mistake. Charles Hickman, D.D., Bishop of Derry, died in +November 1713. + +10 "These words in italics are written in a large round hand" (Deane +Swift). (Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this +etext.) + +11 "This entry is interlined in the original" (Deane Swift). + +12 Colonel James Graham (1649-1730) held various offices under James +II., and was granted a lease of a lodge in Bagshot Park. Like his +brother, Viscount Preston, he was suspected of treasonable practices in +1691, and he was arrested in 1692 and 1696. Under Queen Anne and George +I., Colonel Graham was M.P. for Appleby and Westmorland. + +13 Mr. Leslie Stephen has pointed out that this is the name of an inn +(now the Jolly Farmer) near Frimley, on the hill between Bagshot and +Farnborough. This inn is still called the Golden Farmer on the Ordnance +map. + +14 "Soley" is probably a misreading for "sollah," a form often used +by Swift for "sirrah," and "figgarkick" may be "pilgarlick" (a poor +creature) in Swift's "little language" (cf. 20th Oct. 1711). + +15 See Letter 14, note 14. + +16 Probably a misprint for "Bertie." This Mr. Bertie may have been the +Hon. James Bertie, second son of the first Earl of Abingdon, and M.P. +for Middlesex. + +17 Evelyn Pierrepont, fifth Earl of Kingston, was made Marquis of +Dorchester in 1706. He became Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1715, and +died in 1726. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was his daughter. + +18 See Letter 12, note 22. + +19 Sir Thomas Thynne, first Viscount Weymouth, who died in 1714, aged +seventy-four, married Frances, daughter of Heneage Finch, second Earl of +Winchelsea. + +20 See Letter 7, note 31. + +21 Swift is referring to St. John's defence of Brydges (see Letter 21, +note 14.) + +22 "He does not mean smoking, which he never practised, but snuffing +up cut-and-dry tobacco, which sometimes was just coloured with Spanish +snuff; and this he used all his life, but would not own that he took +snuff" (Deane Swift). + +23 Beaumont (see Letter 1, note 2). + +24 Sir Alexander Cairnes, M.P. for Monaghan, a banker, was created a +baronet in 1706, and died in 1732. + +25 See Letter 6, note 44 and Letter 17, note 4. + +26 Isaac Manley (see Letter 3, note 3.) + +27 Sir Thomas Frankland. + +28 See Letter 5, note 8. + +29 Hockley-in-the-Hole, Clerkenwell, a place of public diversion, was +famous for its bear and bull baitings. + +30 Sir William Seymour, second son of Sir Edward Seymour, Bart., of +Berry Pomeroy, retired from the army in 1717, and died in 1728 (Dalton's +Army Lists). He was wounded at Landen and Vigo, and saw much service +between his appointment as a Captain of Fusiliers in 1686 and his +promotion to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1707. + +31 No. 45. + +32 "And now I conceive the main design I had in writing these papers is +fully executed. A great majority of the nation is at length thoroughly +convinced that the Queen proceeded with the highest wisdom, in changing +her Ministry and Parliament" (Examiner, No. 45). + +33 Edward Harley (see Letter 13, note 17). + +34 See Letter 24, note 2. + +35 Tom Ashe was an elder brother of the Bishop of Clogher. He had an +estate of more than 1000 pounds a year in County Meath, and Nichols +describes him as of droll appearance, thick and short in person: "a +facetious, pleasant companion, but the most eternal unwearied punster +that ever lived." + +36 "Even Joseph Beaumont, the son, was at this time an old man, whose +grey locks were venerable; yet his father lived until about 1719" (Deane +Swift). + + +Letter 25. + +1 Sir William Wyndham, Bart. (1687-1740), was M.P. for Somerset. He was +a close partisan of Bolingbroke's, and in 1713 introduced the Schism +Bill, which drove Oxford from office. Wyndham became Chancellor of the +Exchequer, and was afterwards a leading opponent of Walpole. His wife, +Lady Catherine Seymour (died 1713), was the second daughter of Charles, +Duke of Somerset (see Letter 28, note 8). + +2 Swift was afterwards President of this Club, which is better known as +"the Society." + +3 Perhaps Daniel Reading, M.P. for Newcastle, Co. Dublin. + +4 Afterwards Congreve formed a friendship with the Whigs; or, as Swift +put it, "Took proper principles to thrive, + And so might every dunce alive." + +5 Atterbury. + +6 This pamphlet, published in February 1712, was called "A Proposal for +Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue, in a Letter +to the... Lord High Treasurer." + +7 No. 47 + +8 Francis Gastrell, Canon of Christ Church, was made Bishop of Chester +in 1713. His valuable Notitia Cestriensis was published in 1845-50. + +9 Near Fulham. + +10 See Letter 12, note 21. + +11 The daughters of Meinhardt Schomberg, Duke of Leinster, in Ireland, +and third Duke of Schomberg. Lady Mary married Count Dagenfeldt, and +Lady Frederica married, first, the Earl of Holderness, and, secondly, +Earl Fitz Walter. + +12 Thomas Harley. + +13 See Letter 19, note 3. + + + + +LETTER 26. + +1 The widow of Sir John Lyndon, who was appointed a justice of the Court +of King's Bench in Ireland in 1682, and died in 1699. + +2 "Marmaduke Coghill, LL.D., was judge of the Prerogative Court in +Ireland. About this time he courted a lady, and was soon to have been +married to her; but unfortunately a cause was brought to trial before +him, wherein a man was sued for beating his wife. When the matter was +agitated, the Doctor gave his opinion, 'That although a man had no right +to beat his wife unmercifully, yet that, with such a little cane or +switch as he then held in his hand, a husband was at liberty, and was +invested with a power, to give his wife moderate correction'; which +opinion determined the lady against having the Doctor. He died an old +man and a bachelor" (Deane Swift). See also Lascelles, Liber Muner. +Hibern., part ii. p. 80. + +3 This was a common exclamation of the time, but the spelling varies in +different writers. It seems to be a corruption of "God so," or "God +ho," but there may have been a confusion with "cat-so," derived from the +Italian "cazzo." + +4 See Letter 9, note 28. Mrs. Manley was now editing the Examiner. + +5 Sir Henry Belasyse was sent to Spain as Commissioner to inquire into +the state of the English forces in that country. The son of Sir Richard +Belasyse, Knight of Ludworth, Durham, Sir Henry finished a chequered +career in 1717, when he was buried in Westminster Abbey (Dalton's +Army Lists, ii. 228). In his earlier years he served under the +United Provinces, and after the accession of William was made a +Brigadier-General in the English army, and in 1694, Lieutenant-General. +In 1702 he was second in command of the expedition to Cadiz, but he was +dismissed the service in consequence of the looting of Port St. Mary. +Subsequently he was elected M.P. for Durham, and in 1713 was appointed +Governor of Berwick. + +6 Atterbury. + +7 See Letter 3, note 20. + +8 Sir John Powell, a Judge of the Queen's Bench, died in 1713, aged +sixty-eight. He was a kindly as well as able judge. + +9 See June 7th, 1711. + +10 This Tisdall has been described as a Dublin merchant; but in all +probability he was Richard Tisdall, Registrar of the Irish Court of +Chancery, and M.P. for Dundalk (1707-1713) and County Louth (1713-1727). +He married Marian, daughter of Richard Boyle, M.P., and died in 1742. +Richard Tisdall was a relative of Stella's suitor, the Rev. William +Tisdall, and years afterwards Swift took an interest in his son Philip, +who became a Secretary of State and Leader of the Irish House of +Commons. + +11 "In Ireland there are not public paths from place to place, as in +England" (Deane Swift). + +12 See Letter 24, note 6. + +13 Probably a son of John Manley, M.P. (see Letter 5, note 8). + +14 See Letter 11, note 45. + +15 Dr. George Stanhope, who was Vicar of Lewisham as well as of +Deptford. He was a popular preacher and a translator of Thomas a Kempis +and other religious writers. + +16 See Letter 3, note 17. + +17 A favourite word with Swift, when he wished to indicate anything +obscure or humble. + +18 See Letter 17, note 11. + +19 See June 7th, 1711 and notes. + +20 See Letter 17, note 23. + +21 Thomas Mills (1671-1740) was made Bishop of Waterford and Lismore in +1708. A man of learning and a liberal contributor to the cost of church +restorations, he is charged by Archbishop King with giving all the +valuable livings in his gift to his non-resident relatives. + +22 Tooke was appointed printer of the London Gazette in 1711 (see Letter +3, note 8). + +23 See Letter 5, note 10 + +24 Lady Jane Hyde, the elder daughter of Henry Hyde, Earl of Rochester +(see Letter 5, note 11), married William Capel, third Earl of Essex. Her +daughter Charlotte's husband, the son of the Earl of Jersey, was created +Earl of Clarendon in 1776. Lady Jane's younger sister, Catherine, +who became the famous Duchess of Queensberry, Gay's patroness, is +represented by Prior, in The Female Phaeton, as jealous, when a young +girl, of her sister, "Lady Jenny," who went to balls, and "brought home +hearts by dozens." + +25 See Letter 3, note 2. + +26 John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, had held the Privy Seal from 1705, +and was regarded by the Ministers as a possible plenipotentiary in the +event of their negotiations for a peace being successful. He married +Lady Margaret Cavendish, daughter and co-heiress of Henry Cavendish, +second Duke of Newcastle, and was one of the richest nobles in +England. His death, on July 15, 1711, was the result of a fall while +stag-hunting. The Duke's only daughter married, in 1713, Edward, Lord +Harley, the Earl of Oxford's son. + + + + +LETTER 27. + +1 Alexander Forbes, fourth Lord Forbes, who was afterwards attainted for +his share in the Rebellion of 1745. + +2 Obscure (cf. Letter 7, note 30). + +3 Jacob Tonson the elder, who died in 1736, outlived his nephew, Jacob +Tonson the younger, by a few months. The elder Tonson, the secretary +of the Kit-Cat Club, published many of Dryden's works, and the firm +continued to be the chief publishers of the time during the greater part +of the eighteenth century. + +4 John Barber. + +5 By his will Swift left to Deane Swift his "large silver standish, +consisting of a large silver plate, an ink-pot, and a sand-box." + +6 I.e., we are only three hours in getting there. + +7 Cf. Letter 15, note 9. + +8 The Examiner was revived in December 1711, under Oldisworth's +editorship, and was continued by him until 1714. + +9 James Douglas, fourth Duke of Hamilton, was created Duke of Brandon in +the English peerage in September 1711, and was killed by Lord Mohun in +a duel in 1712. Swift calls him "a worthy good-natured person, very +generous, but of a middle understanding." He married, in 1698, as his +second wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Digby, Lord Gerard, a +lady to whom Swift often refers in the Journal. She outlived the Duke +thirty-two years. + +10 See August 27th, 1711. + +11 William Fitzmaurice (see Letter 11, note 19). + +12 The Duke of Shrewsbury (see Letter 3, note 32) married an Italian +lady, Adelhida, daughter of the Marquis of Paliotti, of Bologna, +descended maternally from Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Queen +Elizabeth's favourite. Lady Cowper (Diary, pp. 8, 9) says that the +Duchess "had a wonderful art of entertaining and diverting people, +though she would sometimes exceed the bounds of decency;... but then, +with all her prate and noise, she was the most cunning, designing woman +alive, obliging to people in prosperity, and a great party-woman." As +regards the name "Presto," see Letter 2, note 11. + +13 Probably a cousin. + +14 Presumptuous: claiming much. + +15 See Letter 13, note 15. John Winchcombe, a weaver of Newbury, marched +with a hundred of his workmen, at his own expenses, against the Scots in +1513. + +16 Thomas Coke, M.P., of Derbyshire, was appointed a Teller of the +Exchequer in 1704, and Vice-Chamberlain to the Queen in 1706. In 1706 +he married--as his second wife--Mrs. Hale, one of the maids of honour +(Luttrell, v. 411, 423; vi. 113, 462; Lady Cowper's Diary, 15, 16), a +lady whose "piercing" beauty it was, apparently, that Steele described +under the name of Chloe, in No. 4 of the Tatler. Jervas painted her as +a country girl, "with a liveliness that shows she is conscious, but not +affected, of her perfections." Coke was the Sir Plume of Pope's Rape of +the Lock. + +17 The committee of management of the Royal household. + +18 Francesca Margherita de l'Epine, the famous singer, and principal +rival of Mrs. Tofts, came to England in 1692, and constantly sang in +opera until her retirement in 1718, when she married Dr. Pepusch. She +died in 1746. Her sister, Maria Gallia, also a singer, did not attain +the same popularity. + +19 Charles Scarborow and Sir William Foster were the Clerks of the Board +of Green Cloth. + +20 See Letter 27, note 16 on Thomas Coke. + +21 The Earl of Sunderland's second wife, Lady Anne Churchill, who died +in 1716, aged twenty-eight. She was the favourite daughter of the Duke +of Marlborough, and was called "the little Whig." Verses were written in +honour of her beauty and talent by Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, Dr. +Watts and others, and her portrait was painted by Lely and Kneller. + +22 Mary, daughter of Sir William Forester, of Dothill, Shropshire. +In 1700, at the age of thirteen, she had been secretly married to her +cousin, George Downing, a lad of fifteen. Three years later, Downing, +on his return from abroad, refused to acknowledge his wife, and in 1715 +both parties petitioned the House of Lords for leave to bring in a +Bill declaring the marriage to be void; but leave was refused (Lords' +Journals, xx. 41, 45). Downing had become Sir George Downing, Bart., in +1711, and had been elected M.P. for Dunwich; he died without issue in +1749, and was the founder of Downing College, Cambridge. + +23 In a discussion upon what would be the result if beards became the +fashion, Budgell (Spectator, No. 331) says, "Besides, we are not certain +that the ladies would not come into the mode, when they take the air +on horseback. They already appear in hats and feathers, coats and +periwigs." + + + + +LETTER 28. + +1 Horse-racing was much encouraged by Charles II., who, as Strutt tells +us, appointed races to be made in Datchet Mead, when he was residing +at Windsor. By Queen Anne's time horse-racing was becoming a regular +institution: see Spectator, No. 173. + +2 John Montagu, second Duke of Montagu, married Lady Mary Churchill, +youngest daughter of the Duke of Marlborough. + +3 Of Clogher. + +4 John Adams, Prebendary of Canterbury and Canon of Windsor. He was made +Provost of King's College, Cambridge, in 1712, and died in 1720. + +5 The Hon. and Rev. George Verney, Canon of Windsor (died 1728), became +fourth Lord Willoughby de Broke on the death of his father (Sir Richard +Verney, the third Baron), in July 1711. Lord Willoughby became Dean of +Windsor in 1713. + +6 Thomas Hare, Under Secretary of State in Bolingbroke's office. + +7 Richard Sutton was the second son of Robert Sutton, the nephew of the +Robert Sutton who was created Viscount Lexington by Charles I. Sutton +served under William III. and Marlborough in Flanders, and was made a +Brigadier-General in 1710, in which year also he was elected M.P. +for Newark. In 1711 he was appointed Governor of Hull, and he died, a +Lieutenant-General, in 1737 (Dalton's Army Lists, iii. 153) + +8 Charles Seymour, sixth Duke of Somerset (1662-1748), known as +"the proud Duke of Somerset." Through the influence which his +wife--afterwards Mistress of the Robes (see Letter 17, note 10)--had +obtained over the Queen, he bore no small part in bringing about the +changes of 1710. His intrigues during this period were, however, mainly +actuated by jealousy of Marlborough, and he had really no sympathies +with the Tories. His intrigues with the Whigs caused the utmost alarm to +St. John and to Swift. + +9 The third and last reference to Vanessa in the Journal. + +10 "Pray God preserve her life, which is of great importance" (Swift +to Archbishop King, Aug. 15, 1711). St. John was at this moment very +anxious to conciliate Mrs. Masham, as he felt that she was the only +person capable of counteracting the intrigues of the Duchess of Somerset +with the Queen. + +11 Pontack, of Abchurch Lane, son of Arnaud de Pontac, President of +the Parliament of Bordeaux, was proprietor of the most fashionable +eating-house in London. There the Royal Society met annually at dinner +until 1746. Several writers speak of the dinners at a guinea a head +and upwards served at Pontack's, and Swift comments on the price of the +wine. + +12 "His name was Read" (Scott). + +13 Up to the end of 1709 the warrants for the payment of the works +at Blenheim had been regularly issued by Godolphin and paid at the +Treasury; over 200,000 pounds was expended in this manner. But after +the dismissal of the Whigs the Queen drew tight the purse-strings. The +20,000 pounds mentioned by Swift was paid in 1711, but on June 1, 1712, +Anne gave positive orders that nothing further should be allowed for +Blenheim, though 12,000 pounds remained due to the contractors. + +14 The piercing of the lines before Bouchain, which Villars had declared +to be the non plus ultra of the Allies, one of the most striking proofs +of Marlborough's military genius. + +15 See Letter 22, note 15. + +16 A fashionable gaming-house in St. James's Street. + +17 See Letter 6, note 15. The Grange, near Alresford, Hampshire, was +Henley's seat. His wife (see Letter 12, note 24) was the daughter of +Peregrine Bertie, son of Montagu Bertie, second Earl of Lindsey; and +Earl Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7) married Bridget, an elder daughter +of Bertie's. + +18 William Henry Hyde, Earl of Danby, grandson of the first Duke of +Leeds (see Letter 8, note 22), and eldest son of Peregrine Osborne, +Baron Osborne and Viscount Dunblane, who succeeded to the dukedom in +1712. Owing to this young man's death (at the age of twenty-one), his +brother, Peregrine Hyde, Marquis of Caermarthen, who married Harley's +daughter Elizabeth, afterwards became third Duke of Leeds. + +19 See Letter 8, note 2. + +20 See Letter 3, note 7. + +21 William Gregg was a clerk in Harley's office when the latter was +Secretary of State under the Whig Administration. In 1707-8 he was in +treasonable correspondence with M. de Chamillart, the French Secretary +of State. When he was detected he was tried for high treason, and hanged +on April 28. The Lords who examined Gregg did their utmost to establish +Harley's complicity, which Gregg, however, with his dying breath +solemnly denied. + +22 By Swift himself. The title was, Some Remarks upon a Pamphlet +entitled, A Letter to the Seven Lords of the Committee appointed to +examine Gregg. + +23 See Letter 13, note 10. There is no copy in the British Museum. + +24 Thomas Parnell, the poet, married, in 1706, Anne, daughter of Thomas +Minchin, of Tipperary. In 1711 Parnell was thirty-two years of age, +and was Archdeacon of Clogher and Vicar of Clontibret. Swift took much +trouble to obtain for Parnell the friendship of Bolingbroke and other +persons of note, and Parnell became a member of the Scriblerus Club. +In 1716 he was made Vicar of Finglas, and after his death in 1718 +Pope prepared an edition of his poems. The fits of depression to which +Parnell was liable became more marked after his wife's death, and he +seems to have to some extent given way to drink. His sincerity and charm +of manner made him welcome with men of both parties. + +25 Dr. Henry Compton had been Bishop of London since 1675. He was +dangerously ill early in 1711, but he lived until 1713, when he was +eighty-one. + +26 See Letter 26, note 10. + +27 See Letter 7, note 21. + +28 L'Estrange speaks of "a whiffling fop" and Swift says, "Every +whiffler in a laced coat, who frequents the chocolate-house, shall talk +of the Constitution." + +29 Prior's first visit to France with a view to the secret negotiations +with that country which the Ministers were now bent on carrying +through, had been made in July, when he and Gaultier reached Calais in +a fishing-boat and proceeded to Fontainbleau under assumed names. He +returned to England in August, but was recognised at Dover, whence the +news spread all over London, to the great annoyance of the Ministers. +The officer who recognised Prior was John Macky, reputed author of those +Characters upon which Swift wrote comments. Formerly a secret service +agent under William III., Macky had been given the direction of the +Ostend mail packets by Marlborough, to whom he communicated the news of +Prior's journey. Bolingbroke threatened to hang Macky, and he was thrown +into prison; but the accession of George I. again brought him favour and +employment. + +30 See Letter 12, note 7. + + + + +LETTER 29. + +1 See Letter 3, note 4. + +2 See Letter 6, note 4. + +3 Edward Villiers (1656-1711), created Viscount Villiers in 1691, was +made Earl of Jersey in 1697. Under William III. he was Lord Chamberlain +and Secretary of State, but he was dismissed from office in 1704. When +he died he had been nominated as a plenipotentiary at the Congress of +Utrecht, and was about to receive the appointment of Lord Privy Seal. +Lord Jersey married, in 1681, when she was eighteen, Barbara, daughter +of William Chiffinch, closet-keeper to Charles II.; she died in 1735. + +4 Lord Paisley was the Earl of Abercorn's eldest surviving son (see +Letter 17, note 7). + +5 The Hon. John Hamilton, the Earl's second surviving son, died in 1714. + +6 Dr. John Robinson (1650-1723) had gone out as chaplain to the Embassy +at the Court of Sweden in 1682, and had returned in 1708 with the double +reputation of being a thorough Churchman and a sound diplomatist. He was +soon made Dean of Windsor, and afterwards Bishop of Bristol. He was now +introduced to the Council Board, and it was made known to those in +the confidence of Ministers that he would be one of the English +plenipotentiaries at the coming Peace Congress. In 1713 Dr. Robinson was +made Bishop of London. + +7 John Erskine, Earl of Mar (1675-1732), who was attainted for his +part in the Rebellion of 1715. His first wife, Lady Margaret Hay, was a +daughter of Lord Kinnoull. + +8 Thomas Hay, sixth Earl of Kinnoull (died 1719), a Commissioner for +the Treaty of Union between England and Scotland, and one of the Scotch +representative peers in the first Parliament of Great Britain. His son +and heir, Viscount Dupplin, afterwards Baron Hay (see Letter 5, note +34), who married Harley's daughter Abigail, is often mentioned in the +Journal. + +9 See Letter 3, note 5. + +10 The title of the pamphlet was, "A New Journey to Paris, together +with some Secret Transactions between the French King and an English +Gentleman. By the Sieur du Baudrier. Translated from the French." + +11 See Letter 11, note 44. + +12 See Letter 28, note 6. + +13 The Earl of Strafford (see Letter 18, note 3) married, on Sept. +6, 1711, Anne, only daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Johnson, of +Bradenham, Buckinghamshire, a wealthy shipbuilder. Many of Lady +Strafford's letters to her husband are given in the Wentworth Papers, +1883. + +14 Samuel Pratt, who was also Clerk of the Closet. + +15 Alice Hill, woman of the bed-chamber to the Queen, died in 1762. + +16 Enniscorthy, the name of a town in the county of Wexford. + +17 Scrambling. + +18 "These words in italics are written in strange, misshapen letters, +inclining to the right hand, in imitation of Stella's writing" (Deane +Swift). (Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this +etext.) + +19 Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. + +20 John Pooley, appointed Bishop of Raphoe in 1702. + +21 These words in italics are miserably scrawled, in imitation of +Stella's hand (Deane Swift). (Italics replaced by capitals for the +transcription of this etext.) + +22 See Letter 8, note 2. + + + + +LETTER 30. + +1 See Letter 25, note 1. + +2 See Letter 9, note 22. + +3 See Letter 29, note 10. + +4 Cf. the entry on the 11th (note 3 above). + +5 See Letter 6, note 4. + +6 William, Lord Villiers, second Earl of Jersey (died 1721), a strong +Jacobite, had been M.P. for Kent before his father's death. He married, +in 1704, Judith, only daughter of a City merchant, Frederick Herne, son +of Sir Nathaniel Herne, Alderman; she died in 1735. Lord Jersey, one of +"the prettiest young peers in England," was a companion of Bolingbroke, +and stories in the Wentworth Papers (pp. 149, 230, 395, 445), show that +he had a bad reputation. + +7 See Letter 28, note 4. + +8 The name of Arbuthnot's wife is not known: she died in 1730. + +9 James Lovet, one of the "Yeomen Porters" at Court. + +10 Richard Jones, Earl of Ranelagh, who died without male issue in +January 1712. Writing to Archbishop King on Jan. 8, Swift said, "Lord +Ranelagh died on Sunday morning; he was very poor and needy, and could +hardly support himself for want of a pension which used to be paid him." + +11 Arabella Churchill, maid of honour to the Duchess of York, and +mistress of James II., afterwards married Colonel Charles Godfrey, +Clerk Comptroller of the Green Cloth and Master of the Jewel Office. Her +second son by James II. was created Duke of Albemarle. + +12 See Letter 28, note 4. + +13 The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of Dublin, elected in August 1711, "not +being approved of by the Government, the City was obliged to proceed +to another election, which occasioned a great ferment among the vulgar +sort" (Boyer, Political State, 1711, p. 500). After two other persons +had been elected and disapproved of, Alderman Gore was elected Lord +Mayor, and approved (ib. pp. 612-17). + +14 "These words in italics are written enormously large" (Deane Swift). +(Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this etext.) + +15 See Letter 3, note 39. + +16 Henry Lowman, First Clerk of the Kitchen. + +17 "The Doctor was always a bad reckoner, either of money or anything +else; and this is one of his rapid computations. For, as Stella was +seven days in journey, although Dr. Swift says only six, she might well +have spent four days at Inish-Corthy, and two nights at Mrs. Proby's +mother's, the distance from Wexford to Dublin being but two easy days' +journey" (Deane Swift). + +18 Mrs. Fenton. + + + + +LETTER 31. + +1 See Letter 10, note 31. + +2 Charles Paulet, second Duke of Bolton, was appointed Lord Lieutenant +of Ireland in 1717, and died in 1722. In a note on Macky's character of +the Duke, Swift calls him "a great booby"; and Lady Cowper (Diary, p. +154) says that he was generally to be seen with his tongue lolling out +of his mouth. + +3 Stella's maid. + +4 See Letter 12, note 7. + +5 Colonel Fielding (see Letter 16, note 21). + +6 The envoys were Menager and the Abbe du Bois; the priest was the Abbe +Gaultier. + +7 See Letter 18, note 3. + +8 Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, General, who died in 1702, married Eleanor, +daughter of Richard Wall, of Rogane, Tipperary. She died in 1732, and +Swift described her as so "cunning a devil that she had great influence +as a reconciler of the differences at Court." One of her sons was +General James Oglethorpe, the philanthropist, and friend of Dr. Johnson. + +9 "Worrit," trouble, tease. + +10 Sir John Walter, Bart. (died 1722), was M.P. for the city of +Oxford. He and Charles Godfrey (see Letter 30, note 11) were the Clerks +Comptrollers of the Green Cloth. + +11 See Letter 17, note 3. + +12 No doubt one of the daughters of Mervyn Tuchet, fourth Earl of +Castlehaven, who died in 1686. + +13 Henrietta Maria, daughter of Charles Scarborow (see Letter 27, +note 19). She married, in 1712, Sir Robert Jenkinson, Bart., M.P. for +Oxfordshire, who died without issue in 1717. See Wentworth Papers, 244. + +14 In July 1712 a Commission passed empowering Conyers Darcy and George +Fielding (an equerry to the Queen) to execute the office of Master of +the Horse. + +15 At Killibride, about four miles from Trim. + +16 Swift's "mistress," Lady Hyde (see Letter 5, note 11), whose husband +had become Earl of Rochester in May 1711. She was forty-one in 1711. + +17 See Sept. 19, 1711. + +18 See Letter 29, note 14. + +19 See Letter 22, note 3. + +20 See Letter 27, note 9. + +21 See Letter 26, note 10. + +22 "This happens to be the only single line written upon the margin of +any of his journals. By some accident there was a margin about as broad +as the back of a razor, and therefore he made this use of it" (Deane +Swift). + + + + +LETTER 32. + +1 Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, of Colonel Kane's regiment. + +2 A nickname for the High Church party. + +3 See Letter 29, note 10. + +4 "From this pleasantry of my Lord Oxford, the appellative Martinus +Scriblerus took its rise" (Deane Swift). + +5 Cf. the Imitation of the Sixth Satire of the Second Book of Horace, +1714, where Swift says that, during their drives together, Harley would + + "gravely try to read the lines + Writ underneath the country signs." + +6 See Letter 23, note 15. + +7 See Letter 18, note 4. + +8 See Letter 23, note 17. + +9 Lord Pembroke (see Letter 7, note 31) married, in 1708, as his second +wife, Barbara, Dowager Baroness Arundell of Trerice, formerly widow of +Sir Richard Mauleverer, and daughter of Sir Thomas Slingsby. She died in +1722. + +10 Caleb Coatesworth, who died in 1741, leaving a large fortune. + +11 Abel Boyer, Whig journalist and historian, attacked Swift in +his pamphlet, An Account of the State and Progress of the Present +Negotiations for Peace. Boyer says that he was released from custody by +Harley; and in the Political State for 1711 (p. 646) he speaks of Swift +as "a shameless and most contemptible ecclesiastical turncoat, whose +tongue is as swift to revile as his mind is swift to change." The +Postboy said that Boyer would "be prosecuted with the utmost severity of +the law" for this attack. + +12 The "Edgar." Four hundred men were killed. + +13 William Bretton, or Britton, was made Lieutenant-Colonel in 1702, +Colonel of a new Regiment of Foot 1705, Brigadier-General 1710, and +Colonel of the King's Own Borderers in April 1711 (Dalton, Army Lists, +iii. 238). In December 1711 he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the +King of Prussia (Postboy, Jan. 1, 1712), and he died in December 1714 or +January 1715. + +14 See Letter 24, note 14. + +15 It is not clear which of several Lady Gores is here referred to. +It may be (1) the wife of Sir William Gore, Bart., of Manor Gore, and +Custos Rotulorum, County Leitrim, who married Hannah, eldest daughter +and co-heir of James Hamilton, Esq., son of Sir Frederick Hamilton, and +niece of Gustavus Hamilton, created Viscount Boyne. She died 1733. +Or (2) the wife of Sir Ralph Gore, Bart. (died 1732), M.P. for County +Donegal, and afterwards Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He +married Miss Colville, daughter of Sir Robert Colville, of Newtown, +Leitrim, and, as his second wife, Elizabeth, only daughter of Dr. Ashe, +Bishop of Clogher. Or (3) the wife of Sir Arthur Gore, Bart. (died +1727), of Newtown Gore, Mayo, who married Eleanor, daughter of Sir +George St. George, Bart., of Carrick, Leitrim, and was ancestor of the +Earls of Arran. + +16 "Modern usage has sanctioned Stella's spelling" (Scott). Swift's +spelling was "wast." + +17 Mrs. Manley. + +18 Swift's own lines, "Mrs. Frances Harris's Petition." + +19 Thomas Coote was a justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, in Ireland, +from 1692 until his removal in 1715. + +20 Probably a relative of Robert Echlin, Dean of Tuam, who was killed by +some of his own servants in April 1712, at the age of seventy-three. His +son John became Prebendary and Vicar-General of Tuam, and died in 1764, +aged eighty-three. In August 1731 Bolingbroke sent Swift a letter by +the hands of "Mr. Echlin," who would, he said, tell Swift of the general +state of things in England. + +21 "This column of words, as they are corrected, is in Stella's hand" +(Deane Swift). + + + + +LETTER 33. + +1 Swift's verses, "The Description of a Salamander," are a scurrilous +attack on John, Lord Cutts (died 1707), who was famous for his +bravery. Joanna Cutts, the sister who complained of Swift's abuse, died +unmarried. + +2 See Letter 6, note 5. + +3 Fourteen printers or publishers were arrested, under warrants signed +by St. John, for publishing pamphlets directed against the Government. +They appeared at the Court of Queens Bench on Oct. 23, and were +continued on their own recognisances till the end of the term. + +4 Robert Benson (see Letter 6, note 36). + +5 "The South Sea Whim," printed in Scott's Swift, ii. 398. + +6 See Letter 21, Apr. 24, 1711, Letter 22, Apr. 28, 1711, and Letter 34, +17 Nov. 1711. + +7 Count Gallas was dismissed with a message that he might depart from +the kingdom when he thought fit. He published the preliminaries of peace +in the Daily Courant. + +8 William, second Viscount Hatton, who died without issue in 1760. His +half-sister Anne married Daniel Finch, second Earl of Nottingham, and +Lord Hatton was therefore uncle to his fellow-guest, Mr. Finch. + +9 Crinkle or contract. Gay writes: "Showers soon drench the camblet's +cockled grain." + +10 The Countess of Jersey (see Letter 30, note 6), like her husband, was +a friend of Bolingbroke's. Lady Strafford speaks of her having lately +(November 1711) "been in pickle for her sins," at which she was not +surprised. Before the Earl succeeded to the title, Lady Wentworth wrote +to her son: "It's said Lord Villors Lady was worth fower scoar thoussand +pd; you might have got her, as wel as Lord Villors.... He (Lord Jersey) +has not don well by his son, the young lady is not yoused well as I hear +amongst them, which in my openion is not well." Wentworth Papers (pp. +214, 234). + +11 Cf. Letter 9, Nov. 11, 1710, and Letter 9, note 3. + +12 Charles Crow, appointed Bishop of Cloyne in 1702. + +13 Swift. + +14 Mrs. Manley. + +15 The titles of these pamphlets are as follows: (1) A True Narrative +of.. . the Examination of the Marquis de Guiscard; (2) Some Remarks upon +a Pamphlet entitled, A Letter to the Seven Lords; (3) A New Journey to +Paris; (4) The Duke of Marlborough's Vindication; (5) A Learned Comment +on Dr. Hare's Sermon. + +16 See the pun this day above. + + + + +LETTER 34. + +1 See Letter 3, note 17. + +2 See Letter 11, note 44. + +3 Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14). + +4 Stella and Dingley. + +5 "Noah's Dove, an Exhortation to Peace, set forth in a Sermon preached +on the Seventh of November, 1710, a Thanksgiving Day, by Thomas Swift, +A.M., formerly Chaplain to Sir William Temple, now Rector of Puttenham +in Surrey." Thomas Swift was Swift's "little parson cousin" (see Letter +24, note 2). + +6 See Letter 6, note 11. The book referred to is, apparently, An +Impartial Enquiry into the Management of the War in Spain, post-dated +1712. + +7 Lord Harley (afterwards second Earl of Oxford) (see Letter 5, note +35) married, on Oct. 31, 1713, Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, only +daughter of John Holles, last Duke of Newcastle of that family (see +Letter 26, note 26). + +8 Bolingbroke afterwards said that the great aim (at length +accomplished) of Harley's administration was to marry his son to +this young lady. Swift wrote a poetical address to Lord Harley on his +marriage. + +9 Thomas Pelham, first Baron Pelham, married, as his second wife, Lady +Grace Holles, daughter of the Earl of Clare and sister of the Duke of +Newcastle. Their eldest son, Thomas, who succeeded to the barony in +1712, was afterwards created Earl of Clare and Duke of Newcastle, + +10 Francis Higgins, Rector of Baldruddery, called "the Sacheverell +of Ireland," was an extreme High Churchman, who had been charged with +sedition on account of sermons preached in London in 1707. In 1711 he +was again prosecuted as "a disloyal subject and disturber of the public +peace." At that time he was Prebendary of Christ Church, Dublin; in 1725 +he was made Archdeacon of Cashel. + +11 Swift's pamphlet, The Conduct of the Allies. + +12 Lord Oxford's daughter Abigail married, in 1709, Viscount Dupplin, +afterwards seventh Earl of Kinnoull (see Letter 5, note 34). She died in +1750, and her husband in 1758, when the eldest son, Thomas, became Earl. +The second son, Robert, was made Archbishop of York in 1761. + +13 Kensington Gravel Pits was then a famous health resort. + +14 Draggled. Pope has, "A puppy, daggled through the town." + +15 Writing of Peperharrow, Manning and Bray state (Surrey, ii. 32, 47) +that Oxenford Grange was conveyed to Philip Froud (died 1736) in 1700, +and was sold by him in 1713 to Alan Broderick, afterwards Viscount +Midleton. This Froud (Swift's "old Frowde") had been Deputy +Postmaster-General; he was son of Sir Philip Frowde, who was knighted in +1665 (Le Neve's Knights, Harleian Society, p. 190), and his son Philip +was Addison's friend (see Letter 8, note 13). + +16 Probably the Charles Child, Esq., of Farnham, whose death is recorded +in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1754. + +17 Grace Spencer was probably Mrs. Proby's sister (see Letter 19, note +3). + +18 Cf. Shakespeare, As You Like It, v. 3: "Shall we clap into 't +roundly, without hawking or spitting, which are the only prologues to a +bad voice?" + +19 In the "Verses on his own Death," 1731, Swift says + + "When daily howd'y's come of course, + And servants answer, 'Worse and worse!'" + +Cf. Steele (Tatler, No. 109), + +"After so many howdies, you proceed to visit or not, as you like the run +of each other's reputation or fortune," + +and (Spectator, No. 143), + + "the howd'ye servants of our women." + + + + +LETTER 35. + +1 See Letter 31, note 8. + +2 See Letter 14, note 9. + +3 The Tories alleged that the Duke of Marlborough, the Duke of Montagu, +Steele, etc., were to take part in the procession (cf. Spectator, +No. 269). Swift admits that the images seized were worth less than 40 +pounds, and not 1000 pounds, as he had said, and that the Devil was not +like Harley; yet he employed someone to write a lying pamphlet, A True +Relation of the Several Facts and Circumstances of the Intended Riot and +Tumult, etc. + +4 A brother of Jemmy Leigh (see Letter 2, note 16), and one of Stella's +card-playing acquaintances. + +5 Of The Conduct of the Allies (see Letter 34, Nov. 10, 1711, and Letter +35, Nov. 24, 1711). + +6 Sir Thomas Hanmer (see Letter 9, note 13) married, in 1698, Isabella, +widow of the first Duke of Grafton, and only daughter and heiress of +Henry, Earl of Arlington. She died in 1723. + +7 James, Duke of Hamilton (see Letter 27, note 9), married, in 1698, +as his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter and sole heir of Digby, Lord +Gerard. She died in 1744. + +8 The Conduct of the Allies. + +9 See Letter 25, note 6. + +10 Sir Matthew Dudley (see Letter 3, note 2) married Lady Mary O'Bryen, +youngest daughter of Henry, Earl of Thomond. + +11 See Letter 31, note 10. + +12 Sir John St. Leger (died 1743) was M.P. for Doneraile and a Baron of +the Exchequer in Ireland from 1714 to 1741. His elder brother, Arthur, +was created Viscount Doneraile in 1703. + +13 "Relation of the Facts and Circumstances of the Intended Riot on +Queen Elizabeth's Birthday." + +14 The Conduct of the Allies. + +15 See Letter 9, note 18. + +16 The first motto was "Partem tibi Gallia nostri eripuit," etc. +(Horace, 2 Od. 17-24). + +17 See Plautus's Amphitrus, or Dryden's Amphitryon. + +18 It is not known whether or no this was Dr. William Savage, Master +of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. No copy of the sermon--if it was +printed--has been found. See Courtenay's Memoirs of Sir William Temple. + +19 Of The Conduct of the Allies, a pamphlet which had a very wide +circulation. See a paper by Edward Solly in the Antiquarian Magazine, +March 1885. + +20 Allen Bathurst, M.P. (1684-1775), created Baron Bathurst in December +1711, and Earl Bathurst in 1772. His second and eldest surviving son +was appointed Lord Chancellor in the year preceding the father's +death. Writing to her son in January 1711 (Wentworth Papers, 173), Lady +Wentworth said of Bathurst, "He is, next to you, the finest gentleman +and the best young man I know; I love him dearly." + +21 See Letter 9, note 17. + +22 See Letter 16, note 20. + +23 Swift is alluding to the quarrel between Lord Santry (see Letter +23, note 2) and Francis Higgins (see Letter 34, note 10), which led +to Higgins's prosecution. The matter is described at length in Boyer s +Political State, 1711, pp. 617 seq. + +24 See Letter 19, note 1. + +25 No doubt the same as Colonel Newburgh (see Journal, March 5, +1711-12). + +26 Beaumont (see Letter 1, note 2 and Letter 26, Jul. 6, 1711). + +27 See Letter 31, note 1. + +28 Cf. Letter 15, Feb. 9, 1710-11. + +29 See Letter 35, note 3. + + + + +LETTER 36. + +1 See Letter 34, note 15. Debtors could not be arrested on Sunday. + +2 Sir George Pretyman, Bart., dissipated the fortune of the family. The +title became dormant in 1749. + +3 See the Introduction. + +4 For the Whites of Farnham, see Manning and Bray's Surrey, iii. 177. + +5 The Conduct of the Allies. + +6 The Percevals were among Swift's principal friends in the +neighbourhood of Laracor. In a letter to John Temple in 1706 (Forster's +Life of Swift, 182) Swift alludes to Perceval; in spite of different +views in politics, "I always loved him," says Swift, "very well as a man +of very good understanding and humour." Perceval was related to Sir John +Perceval, afterwards Earl of Egmont (see Letter 18, note 15). + +7 See Letter 1, note 12. + +8 See Letter 8, note 14. + +9 The Examiner was resumed on Dec. 6, 1711, under Oldisworth's +editorship, and was continued by him until July 1714. + +10 Daniel Finch, second Earl of Nottingham, a staunch Tory, had +quarrelled with the Government and the Court. On Dec. 7, 1711, he +carried, by six votes, an amendment to the Address, to the effect that +no peace would be acceptable which left Spain in the possession of the +House of Bourbon. Harley's counter-stroke was the creation of twelve new +peers. The Whigs rewarded Nottingham by withdrawing their opposition to +the Occasional Conformity Bill: + +11 This "Song" begins: + + "An orator dismal of Nottinghamshire, + Who had forty years let out his conscience for hire." + +12 The Conduct of the Allies. + +13 Robert Bertie, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and fourth Earl of Lindsey, +was created Marquis of Lindsay in 1706, and Duke of Ancaster and +Kesteven in 1715. He died in 1723. + +14 Lady Sunderland (see Letter 27, note 21) and Lady Rialton, ladies of +the bed-chamber to the Queen. + +15 Hugh Cholmondeley (died 1724), the second Viscount, was created +Viscount Malpas and Earl of Cholmondeley in 1706, and in 1708 was +appointed Treasurer of Her Majesty's Household, an office which he held +until 1713, in spite of his Whig sympathies. "Good for nothing, so far +as ever I knew," Swift wrote of him. + +16 Prov. xxv. 3. + +17 See Letter 31, note 8. + +18 Thomas Parker, afterwards created Earl of Macclesfield, was appointed +Lord Chief-Justice in March 1710. In September 1711 he declined Harley's +offer of the Lord Chancellorship, a post which he accepted under a Whig +Government in the next reign. + +19 The Bill against Occasional Conformity. + + + + +LETTER 37. + +1 The proposed visit to London of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the renowned +General, and friend of Marlborough, was viewed by the Government with +considerable alarm. + +2 Swift's "An excellent new Song; being the intended Speech of a famous +orator against Peace," a ballad "two degrees above Grub Street" (see +Letter 36, note 11). + +3 Robert Walpole was then M.P. for King's Lynn, and Leader of the +Opposition in the House of Commons. He had been Secretary at War +from February 1708 to September 1710, and the Commissioners of Public +Accounts having reported, on Dec. 21, 1711, that he had been guilty of +venality and corruption, he was expelled from the House of Commons, and +taken to the Tower. + +4 William King, D.C.L., author of the Journey to London in 1698, +Dialogues of the Dead, The Art of Cookery, and other amusing works, was, +at the end of the month, appointed Gazetteer, in succession to Steele, +on Swift's recommendation. Writing earlier in the year, Gay said that +King deserved better than to "languish out the small remainder of his +life in the Fleet Prison." The duties of Gazetteer were too much for his +easy-going nature and failing health, and he resigned the post in July +1712. He died in the following December. + +5 At the bottom of St. James's Street, on the west side. + +6 The Rev. John Shower, pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation at +Curriers' Hall, London Wall. + +7 The Windsor Prophecy, in which the Duchess of Somerset (see Letter 17, +note 10) is attacked as "Carrots from Northumberland." + +8 Merlin's Prophecy, 1709, written in pseudo-mediaeval English. + +9 See Letter 3, note 18. + +10 Dorothy, daughter of Sir Edward Leach, of Shipley, Derbyshire. + +11 Sir James Long, Bart. (died 1729), was at this time M.P. for +Chippenham. + +12 The number containing this paragraph is not in the British Museum. + +13 Joseph Beaumont (see Letter 1, note 2, Letter 26, Jul. 6, 1711 and +Letter 35, note 26) + +14 See Letter 4, note 13. + +15 Apparently a misprint for "whether." + +16 See Letter 32, note 19. + +17 James Compton, afterwards fifth Earl of Northampton (died 1754), +was summoned to the House of Lords as Baron Compton in December 1711. +Charles Bruce, who succeeded his father as third Earl of Aylesbury in +1741, was created Lord Bruce, of Whorlton, at the same time. + +18 James, Lord Compton, eldest son of the Earl of Northampton; Charles, +Lord Bruce, eldest son of the Earl of Aylesbury; Henry Paget, son of +Lord Paget; George Hay, Viscount Dupplin, the son-in-law of the Lord +Treasurer, created Baron Hay; Viscount Windsor, created Baron Montjoy; +Sir Thomas Mansel, Baron Mansel; Sir Thomas Willoughby, Baron Middleton; +Sir Thomas Trevor, Baron Trevor; George Granville, Baron Lansdowne; +Samuel Masham, Baron Masham; Thomas Foley, Baron Foley; and Allen +Bathurst, Baron Bathurst. + + + + +LETTER 38. + +1 Juliana, widow of the second Earl of Burlington, and daughter of the +Hon. Henry Noel, was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Anne. She died in +1750, aged seventy-eight. + +2 Thomas Windsor, Viscount Windsor (died 1738), an Irish peer, who had +served under William III. in Flanders, was created Baron Montjoy, of the +Isle of Wight, in December 1711. He married Charlotte, widow of +John, Baron Jeffries, of Wem, and daughter of Philip Herbert, Earl of +Pembroke. + +3 The Hon. Russell Robartes, brother of Lord Radnor (see Letter 3, note +7), was Teller of the Exchequer, and M.P. for Bodmin. His son became +third Earl of Radnor in 1723. + +4 Gay (Trivia, ii. 92) speaks of "the slabby pavement." + +5 See Letter 17, note 1. + +6 George Granville (see Letter 14, note 5), now Baron Lansdowne, married +Lady Mary Thynne, widow of Thomas Thynne, and daughter of Edward, Earl +of Jersey (see Letter 29, note 3). In October 1710 Lady Wentworth wrote +to her son, "Pray, my dear, why will you let Lady Mary Thynne go? She is +young, rich, and not unhandsome, some say she is pretty; and a virtuous +lady, and of the nobility, and why will you not try to get her?" +(Wentworth papers, 149). + +7 See Letter 24, note 4. + +8 Harness. + +9 On his birthday Swift read the third chapter of Job. + +10 See Letter 33, note 12. + +11 Sir George St. George of Dunmore, Co. Galway, M.P. for Co. Leitrim +from 1661 to 1692, and afterwards for Co. Galway, died in December 1711. + +12 See Letter 35, note 11 and Letter 31, note 10. + +13 See Letter 4, note 16. + +14 Dr. Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14). + +15 King Henry VIII., act iv. sc. 2; "An old man broken with the storms," +etc. + +16 "These words in the manuscript imitate Stella's writing, and are +sloped the wrong way" (Deane Swift), + +17 Archibald Douglas, third Marquis of Douglas, was created Duke of +Douglas in 1703. He died, without issue, in 1761. + +18 Arbuthnot and Freind. + + + + +LETTER 39. + +1 Sir Stephen Evance, goldsmith, was knighted in 1690. + +2 Because of the refusal of the House of Lords to allow the Duke of +Hamilton (see Letter 27, note 9), a Scottish peer who had been raised +to the peerage of Great Britain as Duke of Brandon, to sit under that +title. The Scottish peers discontinued their attendance at the House +until the resolution was partially amended; and the Duke of Hamilton +always sat as a representative Scottish peer. + +3 Sir William Robinson (1655-1736), created a baronet in 1689, was M.P. +for York from 1697 to 1722. His descendants include the late Earl De +Grey and the Marquis of Ripon. + +4 See Letter 16, note 19. The full title was, Some Advice humbly offered +to the Members of the October Club, in a Letter from a Person of Honour. + +5 See Letter 38, note 11. + +6 "It is the last of the page, and written close to the edge of the +paper" (Deane Swift). + +7 Henry Somerset, second Duke of Beaufort. In September 1711 the +Duke--who was then only twenty-seven--married, as his third wife, Mary, +youngest daughter of the Duke of Leeds. In the following January Lady +Strafford wrote, "The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort are the fondest of +one another in the world; I fear 'tis too hot to hold.... I own I fancy +people may love one another as well without making so great a rout" +(Wentworth Papers, 256). The Duke died in 1714, at the age of thirty. + +8 "Upon the 10th and 17th of this month the Examiner was very severe +upon the Duke of Marlborough, and in consequence of this report pursued +him with greater virulence in the following course of his papers" (Deane +Swift). + +9 A term of execration. Scott (Kenilworth) has, "A pize on it." + +10 See Letter 11, note 13. + +11 In a letter to Swift of Jan. 31, 1712, Sacheverell, after expressing +his indebtedness to St. John and Harley, said, "For yourself, good +Doctor, who was the first spring to move it, I can never sufficiently +acknowledge the obligation," and in a postscript he hinted that a place +in the Custom House which he heard was vacant might suit his brother. + +12 Thomas Yalden, D.D., (1671-1736), Addison's college friend, succeeded +Atterbury as preacher of Bridewell Hospital in 1713. In 1723 he was +arrested on suspicion of being involved in the Atterbury plot. + +13 Tablets. + +14 Sir Solomon de Medina, a Jew, was knighted in 1700. + +15 Davenant had been said to be the writer of papers which Swift +contributed to the Examiner. + +16 Henry Withers, a friend of "Duke" Disney (see Letter 16, note 20), +was appointed Lieutenant-General in 1707, and Major-General in 1712. On +his death in 1729 he was buried in Westminster Abbey. + +17 See Letter 36, note 18. + +18 Dyer's News Letter, the favourite reading of Sir Roger de Coverley +(Spectator, No. 127), was the work of John Dyer, a Jacobite journalist. +In the Tatler (No. 18) Addison says that Dyer was "justly looked upon by +all the fox-hunters in the nation as the greatest statesman our country +has produced." Lord Chief-Justice Holt referred to the News Letter as "a +little scandalous paper of a scandalous author" (Howell's State Trials, +xiv. 1150). + + +Letter 40. + +1 Dr. John Sharp, made Archbishop of York in 1691, was called by Swift +"the harmless tool of others' hate." Swift believed that Sharp, owing to +his dislike of The Tale of a Tub, assisted in preventing the bishopric +of Hereford being offered to him. Sharp was an excellent preacher, with +a taste for both poetry and science. + +2 An edition of the Countess d'Aulnoy's Les Contes des Fees appeared in +1710, in four volumes. + +3 Francis Godolphin, Viscount Rialton, the eldest son of Sidney, Earl +of Godolphin, succeeded his father as second Earl on Sept. 15, 1712. He +held 3 various offices, including that of Lord Privy Seal (1735-1740), +and died in 1766, aged eighty-eight. He married, in 1698, Lady Henrietta +Churchill, who afterwards was Duchess of Marlborough in her own right. +She died in 1733. + +4 See Letter 26, note 24. Ladies of the bed-chamber received 1000 pounds +a year. + +5 William O'Brien, third Earl of Inchiquin, succeeded his father in +1691, and died in 1719. + +6 Lady Catherine Hyde was an unmarried daughter of Laurence Hyde, first +Earl of Rochester (see Letter 8, note 22). Notwithstanding Swift's +express statement that the lady to whom he here refers was the late +Earl's daughter, and the allusion to her sister, Lady Dalkeith, in +Letter 60, note 26, she has been confused by previous editors with her +niece, Lady Catherine Hyde (see Letter 26, note 24), daughter of the +second Earl, and afterwards Duchess of Queensberry. That lady, not long +afterwards to be celebrated by Prior, was a child under twelve when +Swift wrote. + +7 Sir John Trevor (1637-1717), formerly Speaker of the House of Commons. + +8 See Letter 11, note 44. + +9 See Letter 34, note 10. + +10 See Letter 23, note 2. + +11 Charles Trimnel, made Bishop of Norwich in 1708, and Bishop of +Winchester in 1721, was strongly opposed to High Church doctrines. + +12 Jibe or jest. + +13 See Letter 22, note 4. + +14 The treaty concluded with Holland in 1711. + +15 Feb. 2 is the Purification of the Virgin Mary. + +16 See Letter 29, note 7. + +17 See Letter 11, note 53. + +18 Lady Mary Butler (see Letter 7, note 2 and Letter 3, note 40), +daughter of the Duke of Ormond, who married, in 1710, John, third Lord +Ashburnham, afterwards Earl of Ashburnham. + +19 See Letter 2, note 5. + +20 See Letter 36, note 14. + +21 Scroop Egerton, fifth Earl and first Duke of Bridgewater, married, +in 1703, Lady Elizabeth Churchill, third daughter of the Duke of +Marlborough. She died in 1714, aged twenty-six. + +22 See Letter 30, note 6. + +23 Heart. + +24 Edward Fowler, D.D., appointed Bishop of Gloucester in 1691, died in +1714. + +25 Isaac Manley (see Letter 3, note 3). + + + + +LETTER 41. + +1 This letter, the first of the series published by Hawkesworth, of +which we have the originals (see Preface), was addressed "To Mrs. +Johnson at her Lodgings over against St. Mary's Church, near Capell +Street, Dublin, Ireland"; and was endorsed by her "Recd. Mar. 1st." + +2 See Letter 10, note 28. + +3 See Letter 12, note 22. + +4 See Letter 23, note 2. + +5 Charles Ross, son of the eleventh Baron Ross, was Colonel of the Royal +Irish Dragoons from 1695 to 1705. He was a Lieutenant-General under the +Duke of Ormond in Flanders, and died in 1732 (Dalton, ii. 212, iii. 34). + +6 Charles Paulet, Marquis of Winchester, succeeded his father (see +Letter 31, note 2) as third Duke of Bolton in 1722. He married, as his +second wife, Lavinia Fenton, the actress who took the part of Polly +Peacham in Gay's Beggars Opera in 1728, and he died in 1754. + +7 John Blith, or Bligh, son of the Right Hon. Thomas Bligh, M.P. of +Rathmore, Co. Meath (see Letter 4, note 22). In August 1713 he married +Lady Theodosia Hyde, daughter of Edward, third Earl of Clarendon. Lord +Berkeley of Stratton wrote, "Lady Theodosia Hyde... is married to an +Irish Mr. Blythe, of a good estate, who will soon have enough of her, +if I can give any guess" (Wentworth Papers, 353). In 1715 Bligh was +made Baron Clifton, of Rathmore, and Earl of Darnley in 1725. He died in +1728. + +8 Obliterated. + +9 Word obliterated; probably "found." Forster reads "oors, dee MD." + +10 Words obliterated. + +11 See Letter 31, note 1 and Letter 10, note 31. + +12 See Letter 20, Apr. 13-14, 1711 and Letter 9, note 20. + +13 Words obliterated. Forster reads "fourth. Euge, euge, euge." + +14 Words obliterated; one illegible. + +15 See Letter 2, note 14. + +16 See Letter 1, note 12. + +17 Service. + +18 "Aplon"--if this is the right word--means, of course, apron--the +apron referred to on Letter 39, Jan. 25, 1711-12. + +19 Words obliterated. + +20 As the son of a "brother" of the Club. + +21 The Archbishop, Dr. King. + +22 See Tacitus, Annals, book ii. Cn. Calpurnius Piso, who was said to +have poisoned Germanicus, was found with his throat cut. + +23 This satire on Marlborough concludes-- "And Midas now neglected +stands, With asses' ears and dirty hands." + +24 Dr. Robinson, Bishop of Bristol. + +25 Some Remarks on the Barrier Treaty. + +26 Several words are obliterated. Forster reads "MD MD, for we +must always write to MD MD MD, awake or asleep;" but the passage is +illegible. + +27 See Letter 11, note 39 and Letter 61, note 5. + +28 A long erasure. Forster reads "Go to bed. Help pdfr. Rove pdfr. MD +MD. Nite darling rogues." + +29 Word obliterated. Forster reads "saucy." + +30 Letter from. + +31 Words partially obliterated. + +32 Swift wrote by mistake, "On Europe Britain's safety lies"; the slip +was pointed out by Hawkesworth. All the verse is written in the MSS. as +prose. + +33 "Them" (MS.). + +34 See Wyons Queen Anne, ii. 366-7. + +35 A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English +Tongue, in a Letter to the Most Honourable Robert, Earl of Oxford, 1712. + +36 "Help him to draw up the representation" (omitting every other +letter). + +37 See Letter 23, note 13. + +38 Robert Benson. + +39 The Story of the St. Albans Ghost, 1712. + +40 "Usually" (MS.). + +41 These words are partially obliterated. + +42 This sentence is obliterated. Forster reads, "Farewell, mine deelest +rife deelest char Ppt, MD MD MD Ppt, FW, Lele MD, ME ME ME ME aden FW MD +Lazy ones Lele Lele all a Lele." + + + + +LETTER 42. + +1 Endorsed by Stella "Recd. Mar. 19." + +2 "Would" (MS.). + +3 Conversation. + +4 John Guillim's Display of Heraldrie appeared first in 1610. The +edition to which Swift refers was probably that of 1679, which is +wrongly described as the "fifth edition," instead of the seventh. + +5 "One of the horses here mentioned may have been the celebrated +Godolphin Arabian from whom descends all the blue blood of the +racecourse, and who was the grandfather of Eclipse" (Larwood's Story of +the London Parks, 99). + +6 See Letter 36, note 6. + +7 Dorothea, daughter of James Stopford, of New Hall, County Meath, and +sister of Lady Newtown-Butler, was the second wife of Edward, fourth +Earl of Meath, who died without issue in 1707. She afterwards married +General Richard Gorges (see Journal, April 5, 1713), of Kilbrue, County +Meath, and Swift wrote an epitaph on them--"Doll and Dickey." + +8 Here follow some obliterated words. + +9 Barber (see Letter 12, note 6). + +10 "The editors supposed Zinkerman (which they printed in capitals) +to mean some outlandish or foreign distinction; but it is the little +language for 'gentleman'" (Forster). + +11 The Hon. Charles Butler, second son of Thomas, Earl of Ossory, eldest +son of James, Duke of Ormond, was elevated to the peerage of Ireland in +1693 as Earl of Arran, and was also created a peer of England, as Baron +Butler. He held various offices under William III. and Queen Anne, and +died without issue in 1759. + +12 "They" (MS.). + +13 See Letter 31, Jan. 12, 1711-12 and Letter 3, note 22. + +14 See Letter 11, note 13. + +15 Sir William Wyndham, Bart., of Orchard Wyndham, married Lady +Catherine Seymour, daughter of the sixth Duke of Somerset (see Letter +25, note 1). Their eldest son, Charles, succeeded his uncle, the Duke of +Somerset, as Earl of Egremont; and the second son, Percy, was afterwards +created Earl of Thomond. The Wyndhams' house was in Albemarle Street; +the loss was over 20,000 pounds; but they were "much more concerned for +their servants than for all the other losses" (Wentworth Papers, 274). +The Duke of Ormond "worked as hard as any of the ordinary men, and gave +many guineas about to encourage the men to work hard." The Queen gave +the Wyndhams temporary lodgings in "St. James's house." + +16 See Letter 3, note 31. + +17 What. + +18 Devil's. + +19 "To" (MS.). + +20 See Letter 35, note 25. + +21 See Letter 41, note 34. + +22 See Letter 12, Jan. 1, 1710-11. + +23 Peregrine Hyde Osborne, Earl of Danby, afterwards Marquis of +Caermarthen and third Duke of Leeds (see Letter 56, note 6). His sister +Mary was married to the Duke of Beaufort (see Letter 39, note 7). + +24 See Letter 9, note 17. + +25 Several undecipherable words. Forster reads, "Pidy Pdfr, deelest +Sollahs." + +26 "K" (MS.). It should, of course, be "Queen's." + +27 See Letter 22, note 18. + + + + +LETTER 43. + +1 Addressed "To Mrs. Johnson, at her lodgings over against St. Mary's +Church, near Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland." Endorsed "Mar. 30." + +2 See Letter 9, note 1. + +3 The Mohocks succeeded the Scowrers of William III.'s reign. Gay +(Trivia, iii. 325) says "Who has not heard the Scowrers' midnight fame? + Who has not trembled at the Mohocks' name?" +Lady Wentworth (Wentworth Papers, 277) says: "They put an old woman into +a hogshead, and rolled her down a hill; they cut off some noses, others' +hands, and several barbarous tricks, without any provocation. They are +said to be young gentlemen; they never take any money from any." See +also the Spectator, Nos. 324, 332, and 347 (where Budgell alludes to +"the late panic fear"), and Defoe's Review for March 15, 1712. Swift was +in considerable alarm about the Mohocks throughout March, and said that +they were all Whigs. The reports that numbers of persons, including men +of figure, had joined together to commit assaults in the streets, made +many fear to leave their houses at night. A proclamation was issued for +the suppressing of riots and the discovery of those guilty of the +late outrages; but it seems probable that the disorders were not more +frequent than might be expected from time to time in a great city. + +4 Henry Davenant, son of Charles Davenant (see Letter 8, note 14), was +Resident at Frankfort. Macky described him as "very giddy-headed, with +some wit," to which Swift added, "He is not worth mentioning." + +5 Thomas Burnet, youngest son of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, +was at this time a young man about town of no good reputation. +Afterwards he turned his attention to the law, and was appointed a judge +of the Court of Common Pleas in 1741. He was knighted in 1745, and died +in 1753. + +6 By Arbuthnot, written to recommend the peace proposals of the +Government. The full title was, Law is a Bottomless Pit. Exemplified in +the case of the Lord Strutt, John Bull, Nicholas Frog, and Lewis Baboon; +who spent all they had in a Law Suit. + +7 See Letter 25, note 6 and Letter 41, note 35. + +8 Our little language. + +9 Forster reads, "two deelest nauty nown MD." + +10 See Letter 6, note 12. + +11 William Diaper, son of Joseph Diaper of Bridgewater, was sent to +Balliol College, Oxford, in 1699, at the age of fourteen. He entered +the Church, and was curate at Brent, Somerset; but he died in 1717, aged +twenty-nine. + +12 The Examiner (vol. ii. No. 15) complained of general bribery and +oppression on the part of officials and underlings in the public +service, especially in matters connected with the army; but the writer +said that the head (Lord Lansdowne) was just and liberal in his nature, +and easy in his fortune, and a man of honour and virtue. + +13 Sealed documents given to show that a merchant's goods are entered. + +14 Thomas Lawrence, First Physician to Queen Anne, and Physician-General +to the Army, died in 1714 (Gentleman's Magazine, 1815, ii. 17). His +daughter Elizabeth was second wife to Lord Mohun. + +15 See Letter 17, note 11. + +16 See Letter 26, note 2. + +17 No officer named Newcomb appears in Dalton's Army Lists; but +the allusion to General Ross, further on in Letter 43, adds to the +probability that Swift was referring to one of the sons of Sir Thomas +Newcomen, Bart., who was killed at the siege of Enniskillen. +Beverley Newcomen (Dalton, iii. 52, iv. 60), who was probably Swift's +acquaintance, was described in a petition of 1706 as a Lieutenant +who had served at Killiecrankie, and had been in Major-General Ross's +regiment ever since 1695. + +18 Atterbury. + +19 Evidently a familiar quotation at the time. Forster reads, +incorrectly, "But the more I lite MD." + +20 See Letter 41, note 5. + +21 See Letter 12, note 1. + +22 In 1681, Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of John Ayres, of the +City of London, then aged about twenty, became the fourth and last wife +of Heneage Finch, Earl of Winchelsea, who died in 1689. She lived until +1745. + +23 See Letter 23, note 17. + +24 Enoch Sterne (see Letter 4, note 17). + +25 Lieut.-Col. Robert Sterne was in Col. Frederick Hamilton's Regiment +in 1695. + +26 Letter. + +27 See Letter 13, note 10. + +28 The title was, John Bull in his Senses: being the Second Part of Law +is a Bottomless Pit. + +29 See Letter 36, note 6. + +30 Cf. note 9 above. Forster reads "nautyas," when the words would mean +"as naughty as nine," apparently. + +31 See note 19 above. + +32 In 1549, James, second Earl of Arran, was made Duke of Chatelherault +by Henry II. of France. His eldest son died without issue; the second, +John, became first Marquis of Hamilton, and was great-grandfather of +Lady Anne Hamilton (Duchess of Hamilton), mother of the Duke of Swift's +Journal. The Earl of Abercorn, on the other hand, was descended from +Claud, third son of the Earl of Arran, but in the male line; and +his claim was therefore the stronger, according to the French law of +inheritance. + +33 Madams. + +34 This word is doubtful. Forster reads "cobbled." + +35 A mistake, apparently, for "writing." The letter was begun on March +8. + +36 Silly jade. + +37 O Lord, what a clutter. + +38 On the death of Dr. William Graham, Dean of Wells, it was reported +that Swift was to be his successor. Dr. Brailsford, however, received +the appointment. + +39 Abel Roper (1665-1726), a Tory journalist, published, thrice weekly, +the Postboy, to which Swift sometimes sent paragraphs. Boyer (Political +State, 1711, p. 678) said that Roper was only the tool of a party; +"there are men of figure and distinction behind the curtain, who furnish +him with such scandalous reflections as they think proper to cast upon +their antagonists." + +40 Joe Beaumont. + +41 Beg your pardon, Madams, I'm glad you like your apron (see Letter 41, +note 18). + +42 This word was smudged by Swift. + +43 I cannot find Somers in contemporary lists of officials. Cf. Letter +30, note 16 and Letter 17, note 3. + +44 Obliterated and doubtful. + +45 Words obliterated and illegible. Forster reads, conjecturally, "Pray +send Pdfr the ME account that I may have time to write to Parvisol." + + + + +LETTER 44. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Apr. 14." + +2 "Is" (MS.). + +3 The words after "yet" are partially obliterated. + +4 See Letter 7, note 35. + +5 John Cecil, sixth Earl of Exeter (died 1721). + +6 See Letter 22, note 5. + +7 Arbuthnot. + +8 A resort of the Tories. + +9 Deane Swift, a son of Swift's uncle Godwin, was a merchant in Lisbon. + +10 Winces. Lyly says, "Rubbe there no more, least I winch." + +11 Probably William Whiston, who was deprived of the Lucasian +professorship at Cambridge in 1710 for his heterodox views. Parliament +having offered a reward for the discovery of means of finding the +longitude, Whiston made several attempts (1714 and 1721). + +12 Word obliterated. + +13 Distilled water prepared with rosemary flowers. In Fielding's Joseph +Andrews, a lady gives up to a highway robber, in her fright, a silver +bottle which, the ruffian said, contained some of the best brandy he had +ever tasted; this she "afterwards assured the company was a mistake of +her maid, for that she had ordered her to fill the bottle with Hungary +water." + +14 As I hope to be saved. + +15 Added on the fourth page, as the letter was folded. + + +Letter 45. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Johnson," etc. Endorsed "May 1st." + +2 A kind of clover, used for soothing purposes. + + + + +LETTER 46. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "May 15." + +2 Madam Ayris. + +3 Simpleton. + +4 Robert Benson (see Letter 6, note 36). + +5 See Letter 41, note 35 and Letter 43, note 7. + +6 The title was, An Appendix to John Bull still in his Senses: or, Law +is a Bottomless Pit. + +7 Arbuthnot. + +8 Enquiries by servants. + +9 See Letter 17, note 5. + +10 Sick. + +11 Afterwards Rector of Letcombe, Berks. It was to his house that Swift +repaired a few weeks before the Queen's death. On June 8, 1714, he +wrote, "I am at a clergyman's house, whom I love very well, but he is +such a melancholy, thoughtful man, partly from nature, and partly by a +solitary life, that I shall soon catch the spleen from him. His wife has +been this month twenty miles off at her father's, and will not return +these ten days, and perhaps the house will be worse when she comes." +Swift spells the name "Geree"; later on in the Journal he mentions two +of Mr. Gery's sisters, Betty (Mrs. Elwick) and Moll (Mrs. Wigmore); +probably he made the acquaintance of the family when he was living with +the Temples at Moor Park (see Letter 59, note 11). + +12 Because she is a good girl in other things. + + + + +LETTER 47. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "June 5." + +2 Sice, the number six at dice. + +3 At Laracor Swift had "a canal and river-walk and willows." + +4 Splenetic fellow. + +5 One of them was by Oldmixon: Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to the +Earl of Oxford. + +6 Beg your pardon. + +7 See Letter 25, note 9. + +8 On May 28, Lord Halifax moved an Address to the Queen that the +instructions given to the Duke of Ormond might be laid before the House, +and that further orders might be issued to him to act offensively, in +concert with the Allies. Wharton and Nottingham supported the motion, +but it was negatived by 68 votes against 40. A similar motion in the +House of Commons was defeated by 203 against 73. + +9 See Letter 34, note 10. + +10 See Letter 23, note 13. + +11 "Some Reasons to prove that no Person is obliged by his Principles, +as a Whig, to oppose Her Majesty: in a Letter to a Whig Lord." + +12 Several words obliterated. + +13 Several words obliterated. + +14 The bellman. + +15 This present writing. + +16 Please. + + + + +LETTER 48. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Rebecca Dingley," etc. Endorsed "June 23d." + +2 Mr. Ryland reads "second." + +3 As I hope to be saved. + +4 See Letter 30, Sept. 18, 1711. + +5 Glad at heart. + +6 The threepenny pamphlet mentioned in Letter 47, note 11. + +7 I.e., for. + + + + +LETTER 49. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley." Endorsed "July 8." + +2 See Letter 28, note 24. + +3 See Letter 10, note 2. + +4 See Letter 3, note 11. + +5 See Letter 48, note 4. + +6 Dr. William Lloyd--one of the Seven Bishops of 1688--was eighty-four +years of age at this time; he died five years later. He was a strong +antipapist, and a great student of the Apocalypse, besides being a +hard-working bishop. A curious letter from him to Lord Oxford about a +coming war of religion is given in the Welbeck Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) +v. 128. + +7 "Toland's Invitation to Dismal to dine with the Calf's Head Club." +The Earl of Nottingham (Dismal) had deserted the Tories, and Swift's +imitation of Horace (Epist. I. v.) is an invitation from Toland to dine +with "his trusty friends" in celebration of the execution of Charles I. +The Calf's Head Club was in the habit of toasting "confusion to the race +of kings." + +8 Bolingbroke. + +9 George Fitzroy, Duke of Northumberland (died 1716), a natural son of +Charles II., was also Viscount Falmouth and Baron of Pontefract. See +Notes and Queries, viii. i. 135. + +10 Enoch Sterne. + +11 Templeoag (see Letter 48, Jun. 17, 1712). + +12 Swift probably was only repeating an inaccurate rumour, for there is +no evidence that Steele was arrested. His gambling scheme was withdrawn +directly an information was laid under the new Act of Parliament against +gambling (Aitken's Life of Steele, i. 347). + +13 Dr. William Moreton (1641-1715), Swift's diocesan, was translated +from the see of Kildare to that of Meath in 1705. + +14 Words obliterated. Forster reads conjecturally, "when ME wants me to +send. She ought to have it," etc. + + + + +LETTER 50. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "July 23." + +2 "N.33" seems a mistake. Letter No. 32 was received after Swift had +left Kensington and gone to Windsor; see Letter 51, Aug. 7, 1712 and +Letter 52, Sept. 18, 1712 (Ryland). + +3 Dr. Moreton (see Letter 49, note 13). + +4 Memoranda. + +5 Again. + +6 O Lord, drunken slut. + +7 There's for you now, and there's for your letter, and every kind of +thing. + +8 Bolingbroke. + +9 See Letter 13, note 10. + +10 Grub Street pamphlet. The title was, A Supposed Letter from the +Pretender to another Whig Lord. + +11 Arnold Joost Van Keppel, created Earl of Albemarle in 1697. He died +in 1718. The action referred to was at Denain, where the Dutch were +defeated by Villars. + + + + +LETTER 51. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Aug. 14." + +2 Perhaps this was influenza. + +3 By the Stamp Act passed on June 10, 1712--which was repealed in +1859--a duty of one halfpenny was levied on all pamphlets and newspapers +contained in half a sheet or less, and a duty of one penny on those of +more than half but not exceeding a whole sheet. Swift opposed the idea +in January 1711 (see Letter 15, note 1), and Defoe argued against the +Bill in the Review for April 26, 1712, and following numbers. Addison, +in the Spectator, No. 445, spoke of the mortality among authors +resulting from the Stamp Act as "the fall of the leaf." + +4 The title is, "Lewis Baboon turned honest, and John Bull politician. +Being the Fourth Part of Law is a Bottomless Pit." This pamphlet--really +the fifth of the series--appeared on July 31, 1712. + +5 Poor Laracor. + +6 See Letter 12, note 1. + +7 On the death of the third Earl in 1712, the title of Earl of +Winchelsea passed to his uncle, Heneage Finch, who had married Anne, +daughter of Sir William Kingsmill (see Letter 24, note 7). + + + + +LETTER 52. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Oct. 1st. At Portraune" +(Portraine). + +2 Oxford and Bolingbroke. + +3 Including Hester Vanhomrigh. + +4 He died on Sept. 15, 1712. + +5 Elizabeth Villiers, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, Knight +Marischal of England, and sister of the first Earl of Jersey. In +1695 she married Lord George Hamilton (son of Lord William Douglas, +afterwards Duke of Hamilton), who was raised to the peerage of Scotland +in 1696 as Earl of Orkney. William III. gave her an Irish estate worth +26,000 pounds a year. Swift's opinion of her wisdom is confirmed by Lord +Lansdowne, who speaks, in his Progress of Poetry, of + + "Villiers, for wisdom and deep judgment famed, + Of a high race, victorious beauty brings + To grace our Courts, and captivate our Kings." + +The "beauty" seems a poetic licence; Swift says the lady squinted "like +a dragon." + +6 Cliefden. + +7 See Letter 12, note 7. + +8 Swift's sister (see Letter 9, note 22). + +9 Forster reads "returned." + +10 See Swift's letter to General Hill of Aug. 12, 1712 + +11 Swift's housekeeper at Laracor. + +12 I.e., be made freemen of the City. + + + + +LETTER 53. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Octr. 18. At Portraune." + +2 "Sometimes, when better company was not to be had, he (Swift) was +honoured by being invited to play at cards with his patron; and on such +occasions Sir William was so generous as to give his antagonist a little +silver to begin with" (Macaulay, History of England, chap. xix.). + +3 The History of the Works of the Learned, a quarto periodical, was +published from 1699 to 1711. + +4 See Letter 35, note 4. + +5 See Letter 28, note 25. + +6 Lady Elizabeth Savage, daughter of Richard, fourth Earl Rivers (see +Letter 11, note 9), was the second wife of James Barry, fourth Earl of +Barrymore. Of Earl Rivers' illegitimate children, one, Bessy, married +(1) Frederick Nassau, third Earl of Rochford, and (2) a clergyman +named Carter; while another, Richard Savage, was the poet. Earl Rivers' +successor, John Savage, the fifth Earl, was a Roman Catholic priest, +the grandson of John, first Earl Rivers. On his death in 1728 the title +became extinct. + +7 No. 32. + +8 Very sick. + +9 From "but I" to "agreeable" is partially obliterated. + +10 Mrs. Swanton was the eldest daughter of Willoughby Swift, and +therefore Swift's second cousin. In her will Esther Johnson left to +Swift "a bond of thirty pounds, due to me by Dr. Russell, in trust for +the use of Mrs. Honoria Swanton." + +11 This sentence is partially obliterated. + +12 See Letter 51, note 2. + +13 See Letter 5, note 16. + +14 The latter half of this sentence is partially obliterated. + +15 Partly obliterated. + +16 See Letter 8, note 2. + +17 Wise. + +18 Partly obliterated. + +19 See Letter 6, note 45. + +20 This sentence is almost obliterated. + + + + +LETTER 54. + +1 The MS. of this letter has not been preserved. + +2 See Letter 26, note 2. + +3 Swift's friend, Dr. Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14), was then Provost of +Trinity College, Dublin. + +4 Samuel Molyneux, then aged twenty-three, was the son of William +Molyneux (1656-1698), M.P. for Dublin University, a writer on +philosophical and scientific subjects, and the friend of Locke. Samuel +Molyneux took his M.A. degree in Dublin in 1710, and in 1712 visited +England. He was befriended by the Duke of Marlborough at Antwerp, and in +1714 was sent by the Duke on a mission to the Court of Hanover. He +held office under George I., but devoted most of his attention to +astronomical research, until his death in 1728. + +5 Probably "The Case of Ireland's being bound by Acts of Parliament in +England stated" (1698). + +6 Oxford and Bolingbroke. + +7 See Letter 36, note 18. + +8 See Letter 51, Aug. 7, 1712. + +9 George Ridpath (died 1726), a Whig journalist, of whom Pope (Dunciad, +i. 208) wrote-- "To Dulness Ridpath is as dear as Mist." He edited the +Flying Post for some years, and also wrote for the Medley in 1712. +In September William Hurt and Ridpath were arrested for libellous +and seditious articles, but were released on bail. On October 23 they +appeared before the Court of Queen's Bench, and were continued on their +recognizances. In February 1713 Ridpath was tried and, in spite of +an able defence by leading Whig lawyers, was convicted. Sentence was +postponed, and when Ridpath failed to appear, as ordered, in April, his +recognizances were escheated, and a reward offered for his discovery; +but he had fled to Scotland, and from thence to Holland. + +10 See Letter 52, note 5. + +11 Lady Orkney's sister, Barbara Villiers, who married John Berkeley, +fourth Viscount Fitz-Hardinge, had been governess to the Duke of +Gloucester, Queen Anne's son. She died in 1708, in her fifty-second +year; and on her husband's death four years later the peerage became +extinct. + +12 For the street criers, see the Spectator, No. 251. + + + + +LETTER 55. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley." Endorsed "Nov. 26, just come from +Portraine"; and "The band-box plot--D: Hamilton's murther." + +2 Charles Mohun, fifth Baron Mohun, had been twice arraigned of murder, +but acquitted; and during his short but turbulent life he had taken part +in many duels. Even Burnet could say nothing in his favour. + +3 This duel between the Duke of Hamilton (see Letter 27, note 9) and +Lord Mohun, who had married nieces of Lord Macclesfield, had its origin +in a protracted dispute about some property. The challenge came from +Lord Mohun, and the combatants fought like "enraged lions." Tory writers +suggested that the duel was a Whig conspiracy to get rid of the Duke of +Hamilton (Examiner, Nov. 20, 1712). The whole subject is discussed from +the Whig point of view in Boyer's Political State for 1712, pp. 297-326. + +4 "Will" (MS.). + +5 See Letter 27, note 9. + +6 George Maccartney (see Letter 11, note 13 and Letter 39, Jan. 22, +1711-12 ) fought at Almanza, Malplaquet, and Douay. After the duel, +Maccartney escaped to Holland, but on the accession of George I. he +returned to England, and was tried for murder (June 1716), when Colonel +Hamilton gave evidence against him. Hamilton's evidence was discredited, +and he found it necessary to sell his commission and leave the country. +Maccartney was found guilty as an accessory, and "burnt" in the hand. +Within a month he was given an appointment in the army; and promoted to +be Lieutenant-General. He died in 1730. + +7 Colonel John Hamilton, of the Scots Guards. He surrendered himself, +and was tried at the Old Bailey on Dec. 12, 1712, when he was found +guilty of manslaughter, on two indictments; and on the following day +he was "burnt" in the hand. Hamilton died in October 1716, soon after +Maccartney's trial, from a sudden vomiting of blood. + +8 "That" (MS.). + +9 The story (as told in the Tory Postboy of Nov. 11 to 13) was that on +Nov. 4 a bandbox was sent to the Earl of Oxford by post. When he began +to open it he saw a pistol, whereupon a gentleman present (Swift) asked +for the box, and opening it, by the window, found powder, nails, etc., +so arranged that, if opened in the ordinary way, the whole would have +been fired, and two barrels discharged different ways. No doubt a box +so packed was received, but whether anything serious was intended, or +whether it was a hoax, cannot be said with any certainty. The Earl of +Oxford is said to have met allusions to the subject with a smile, and +Swift seems to have been annoyed at the reports which were put into +circulation. + +10 "We have received a more particular account relating to the box sent +to the Lord Treasurer, as mentioned in our last, which is as follows," +etc. (Evening News, Nov. 11 to 13, 1712). + +11 Either "A Letter to the People, to be left for them at the +Booksellers, with a word or two of the Bandbox Plot" (by T. Burnet), +1712, or "An Account of the Duel..., with Previous Reflections on Sham +Plots" (by A. Boyer), 1712. Swift's connection with the Bandbox Plot was +ridiculed in the Flying Post for Nov. 20 to 22. + +12 Cf. Letter 16, Feb. 20, 1710-11. + +13 This sentence is partially obliterated. + +14 Part of this sentence has been obliterated. + +15 See Letter 43, note 39. I have not been able to find a copy of the +paper containing Swift's paragraph. + +16 This sentence is partially obliterated. + +17 See Letter 12, note 2. + +18 Apparently Humphrey Griffith, who was one of the Commissioners of +Salt; but Swift gives the name as "Griffin" throughout. + +19 See Letter 53, note 13 and Letter 5, note 16. + +20 For these shorter letters Swift folded the folio sheet before +writing. + + + + +LETTER 56. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Decr. 18." + +2 Vengeance. + +3 Charles Connor, scholar of Trinity College, Dublin, who took his B.A. +degree in the same year as Swift (1686), and his M.A. degree in 1691. + +4 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +5 See Letter 55, note 7. + +6 Lord Oxford's daughter Elizabeth married, on Dec. 16, 1712, Peregrine +Hyde, Marquis of Caermarthen, afterwards third Duke of Leeds (see Letter +42, note 23 and Letter 24, note 5). She died on Nov. 20, 1713, a few +days after the birth of a son. Swift called her "a friend I extremely +loved." + +7 "Is" (MS.). + +8 Disorders. + +9 See Letter 34, note 10. + +10 John Francis, Rector of St. Mary's, Dublin, was made Dean of Leighlin +in 1705. + +11 See Letter 9, note 7. + +12 Possibly "have." + +13 See Letter 55, notes 9, 10, 11. + +14 This clause is omitted by Mr. Ryland. + +15 See Letter 31, note 6. + +16 See Letter 54, Oct. 30, 1712. + +17 Thomas Jones, Esq., was M.P. for Trim in the Parliament of 1713-4. + +18 A Dutch agent employed in the negotiations with Lewis XIV. + +19 When I come home. + + + + +LETTER 57. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Jan. 13." + +2 "Ay, marry, this is something like." The earlier editions give, +"How agreeable it is in a morning." The words in the MS. are partially +obliterated. + +3 In this letter (Dec. 20, 1712) Swift paid many compliments to the +Duchess of Ormond (see Letter 17, note 5): "All the accomplishments of +your mind and person are so deeply printed in the heart, and represent +you so lively to my imagination, that I should take it for a high +affront if you believed it in the power of colours to refresh my +memory." + +4 Tisdall's Conduct of the Dissenters in Ireland (see Letter 61, note +7). + +5 See Letter 9, note 20 and Letter 20, Apr. 13, 1711. + +6 Monteleon. + +7 See Letter 5, note 8 and Letter 3, note 3. + +8 Utrecht, North and South Holland, and West Frieseland. + +9 See Letter 46, note 11. + +10 See Letter 46, note 11. + +11 "On Queen Anne's Peace." + +12 See Letter 43, note 11. The poem was "Dryades, or the Nymph's +Prophecy." + +13 See Letter 35, note 4. + +14 See Letter 17, note 3. + +15 Dr. Tobias Pullen (1648-1713) was made Bishop of Dromore in 1695. + +16 Lord Charles Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, died unmarried in 1739. When +his father, William, first Earl of Selkirk, married Anne, Duchess of +Hamilton, the Duchess obtained for her husband, in 1660, the title of +Duke of Hamilton, for life. James II. conferred the Earldom of Selkirk +on his Grace's second and younger sons, primogenitively; and the second +son having died without issue, the third, Charles, became Earl. The +fifth son, George, was created Earl of Orkney (see Letter 52, note 5). +The difference between Lord Selkirk and the Earl of Abercorn (see Letter +10, note 33) to which Swift alludes was in connection with the claim to +the Dukedom of Chatelherault (see Letter 43, note 32). + +17 Heart. + +18 This sentence is almost illegible. + +19 A reward of 500 pounds was offered by the Crown for Maccartney's +apprehension, and 200 pounds by the Duchess of Hamilton. + +20 In the proposed History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +21 Mr. Ryland's reading. Forster has "Iss." These words are obliterated. + +22 Hoist. Cf."Hoised up the mainsail" (Acts xxvii. 40). + +23 It was afterwards found that Miss Ashe was suffering from smallpox. + +24 We are told in the Wentworth Papers, p. 268, that the Duchess of +Shrewsbury remarked to Lady Oxford, "Madam, I and my Lord are so weary +of talking politics; what are you and your Lord?" whereupon Lady Oxford +sighed and said she knew no Lord but the Lord Jehovah. The Duchess +rejoined, "Oh, dear! Madam, who is that? I believe 'tis one of the new +titles, for I never heard of him before." + +25 A thousand merry new years. The words are much obliterated. + +26 Lady Anne Hamilton, daughter of James, first Duke of Hamilton, became +Duchess on the death of her uncle William, the second Duke, at the +battle of Worcester. + +27 The quarrel between Oxford and Bolingbroke. + +28 See Letter 19, note 1. + +29 Burnet (History, iv. 382) says that the Duc d'Aumont was "a +goodnatured and generous man, of profuse expense, throwing handfuls of +money often out of his coach as he went about the streets. He was not +thought a man of business, and seemed to employ himself chiefly in +maintaining the dignity of his character and making himself acceptable +to the nation." + +30 Partially obliterated. + +31 For the most part illegible. Forster reads, "Go, play cards, and be +melly, deelest logues, and rove Pdfr. Nite richar MD, FW oo roves Pdfr. +FW lele lele ME ME MD MD MD MD MD MD. MD FW FW FW ME ME FW FW FW FW FW +ME ME ME." + +32 On the third page of the paper. + +33 See Letter 7, note 3. + + + + +LETTER 58. + +1 To "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Feb. 4." + +2 This sentence is scribbled over. Forster reads the last word as +"lastalls," i.e. rascals, but it seems rather to be "ledles." + +3 Dr. Peter Brown was appointed Bishop of Cork in 1709. + +4 See Letter 5, note 22. + +5 See Letter 5, note 3. + +6 See Letter 5, note 11. + +7 Dr. H. Humphreys, Bishop of Hereford, died on Nov. 20, 1712. His +successor was Dr. Philip Bisse (1667-1721), Bishop of St. David's (see +Letter 3, note 36). + +8 Thomas Keightley, a Commissioner of the Great Seal in Ireland. + +9 Nearly obliterated. Mr. Ryland reads, "deelest MD." + +10 See Letter 57, note 14. + +11 In the Examiner for Jan. 5 to 9, 1712(-13), there is an account of +the game of Similitudes. One person thinks of a subject, and the others, +not knowing what it is, name similitudes, and when the subject is +proclaimed, must make good the comparisons. On the occasion described, +the subject chosen was Faction. The prize was given to a Dutchman, who +argued that Faction was like butter, because too much fire spoiled its +consistency. + +12 Earl Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7). + +13 "Say" (MS.). + +14 Dr. Pratt. + +15 See Letter 13, Jan. 6, 1710-11. + +16 This sentence is partially obliterated. + +17 See Letter 31, note 10 and, in the same letter, Oct. 5, 1711. + +18 Cf. the account of Beatrix's feelings on the death of the Duke in +"Esmond", book iii. chaps. 6 and 7. + +19 See Letter 21, note 3. + +20 "Her Majesty is all goodness and tenderness to her people and her +Allies. She has now prorogued the best Parliament that ever assembled in +her reign and respited her own glory, and the wishes, prayers, and wants +of her people, only to give some of her Allies an opportunity to +think of the returns they owe her, and try if there be such a thing as +gratitude, justice, or humanity in Europe. The conduct of Her Majesty +is without parallel. Never was so great a condescension made to the +unreasonable clamours of an insolent faction now dwindled to the most +contemptible circumstances."--Examiner, Jan. 12-16, 1712(-13). + +21 Mr. Collins's "Discourse of Freethinking, put into plain English +by way of Abstract, for the use of the Poor," an ironical pamphlet on +Arthur Collins's Discourse of Freethinking, 1713. + +22 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +23 A line here has been erased. Forster imagined that he read, "Nite +dear MD, drowsy drowsy dear." + +24 Hereford. + +25 Very well. + +26 Sentence obliterated. Forster professes to read, "Pay can oo walk +oftener--oftener still?" + +27 See Letter 57, note 15. + +28 Dr. Bisse, translated from St. David's. + +29 See Letter 58, note 7 and Letter 19, note 1. + + + + +LETTER 59. + +1 To "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Febr. 26." + +2 See Letter 58, note 21. + +3 See Letter 28, note 11. + +4 See Letter 55, note 9. + +5 A result of confusion between Erasmus Lewis and Henry Lewis, a Hamburg +merchant. See Swift's paper in the Examiner of Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, +reprinted in his Works under the title, "A Complete Refutation of the +Falsehoods alleged against Erasmus Lewis, Esq." + +6 Lord Dupplin (see Letter 5, note 34) had been created Baron Hay in +December 1711. + +7 A composition of inflammable materials. + +8 Assessors. + +9 See Letter 6, note 12. + +10 See Letter 59, note 5. + +11 See Letter 46, note 11. + +12 See Letter 3, notes 21 and 22, Letter 39, Jan. 12, 1711-12 and Letter +42, Mar. 1, 1711-12. + +13 Dr. Bisse. + +14 See Letter 33, note 10. + +15 Forster reads, "something." + +16 Hardly legible. + +17 See Letter 7, note 31. + +18 Stella's brother-in-law (See Letter 53, note 13, Letter 5, note 16 +and Letter 55, Nov. 18, 1712). + +19 Forster guesses, "Oo are so 'recise; not to oor health." + +20 For "poo Ppt's." Mr. Ryland reads, "people's." + +21 See Letter 57, 21 Dec. 1712. + +22 See Letter 57, note 23. + +23 See Letter 14, note 9. + +24 Obliterated; Forster's reading. + +25 Writing in October 1713, Lord Berkeley of Stratton told Lord +Strafford of "a fine prank of the widow Lady Jersey" (see Letter 29, +note 3). "It is well known her lord died much in debt, and she, after +taking upon her the administration, sold everything and made what money +she could, and is run away into France without paying a farthing of the +debts, with only one servant and unknown to all her friends, and hath +taken her youngest son, as 'tis supposed to make herself a merit in +breeding him a papist. My Lord Bolingbroke sent after her, but too late, +and they say the Queen hath writ a letter with her own hand to the King +of France to send back the boy" (Wentworth Papers, p. 357). See also +Letter 63, note 8. I am not sure whether in the present passage Swift is +referring to the widow or the younger Lady Jersey (see Letter 33, note +10). + +26 Sir Thomas Clarges, Bart. (died 1759), M.P. for Lostwithiel, +married Barbara, youngest daughter of John Berkeley, fourth Viscount +Fitz-Hardinge, and of Barbara Villiers (see Letter 54, note 11), +daughter of Sir Edward Villiers. + +27 See Letter 43, Mar. 21, 1711-12 and Letter 49, Jul. 1, 1712. + +28 Altered from "11" in the MS. It is not certain where the error in the +dates began; but the entry of the 6th must be correctly dated, because +the Feb. 6 was the Queen's Birthday. + +29 See Letter 43, note 11 and Letter 57, note 12. + + +Letter 60. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Mar. 7." + +2 See Letter 5, note 23. + +3 Sedan chairs were then comparatively novel (see Gay's Trivia). + +4 Some words obliterated. Forster reads, "Nite MD, My own deelest MD." + +5 Peter Wentworth wrote to Lord Strafford, on Feb. 17, 1713, "Poor Mr. +Harrison is very much lamented; he died last Saturday. Dr. Swift told me +that he had told him... he owed about 300 pounds, and the Queen owed him +500 pounds, and that if you or some of your people could send an account +of his debts, that I might give it to him, he would undertake to solicit +Lord Treasurer and get this 500 pounds, and give the remainder to his +mother and sister" (Wentworth Papers, 320). + +6 George St. John (eldest son of Sir Harry St. John by his second +marriage) was Secretary to the English Plenipotentiaries at Utrecht. He +died at Venice in 1716 (Lady Cowper's Diary, 65). + +7 Forster wrongly reads, "poor." + +8 "Putt" (MS.). + +9 See Letter 59, note 26. + +10 Montagu Bertie, second Earl of Abingdon (died 1743), was a strong +Tory. + +11 See Letter 11, note 61. These friends were together again on an +expedition to Bath in 1715, when Jervas wrote to Pope (Aug. 12, 1715) +that Arbuthnot, Disney, and he were to meet at Hyde Park Corner, +proceed to Mr. Hill's at Egham, meet Pope next day, and then go to Lord +Stawell's to lodge the night. Lord Stawell's seat, Aldermaston, was +seventeen miles from Binfield. + +12 See Letter 16, note 20. + +13 "I" (MS.). + +14 Obliterated. Forster reads, "devil," and Mr. Ryland, "bitch." + +15 See Letter 40, note 6. + +16 Victor Marie, duc d'Estrees, Marshal of France (died 1727). + +17 See Letter 55, note 18. + +18 Several words are obliterated. Forster reads, "the last word, God +'give me"; but "'give me" is certainly wrong. + +19 See Letter 9, note 13. Sir Thomas Hanmer married, in 1698, at the age +of twenty-two, Isabella, Dowager Duchess of Grafton, daughter of Henry, +Earl of Arlington, and Countess of Arlington in her own right. Hanmer +was not made Secretary of State, but he succeeded Bromley as Speaker of +the House of Commons. + +20 William Fitzmaurice (see Letter 11, note 19 and Letter 27, note 11) +entered Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating on March 10, 1712-13, at +the age of eighteen. + +21 See Letter 11, note 11. + +22 William Bromley, second son of Bromley the Speaker (see Letter 10, +note 1), was a boy of fourteen at this time. In 1727 he was elected M.P. +for Warwick, and he died in 1737, shortly after being elected Member for +Oxford University. + +23 See Letter 14, note 12. + +24 Sometimes "list" means to border or edge; at others, to sew together, +so as to make a variegated display, or to form a border. Probably it +here means the curling of the bottom of the wig. + +25 The last eight words have been much obliterated, and the reading is +doubtful. + +26 Lady Henrietta Hyde, second daughter of Laurence Hyde, first Earl +of Rochester (see Letter 8, note 22), married James Scott, Earl of +Dalkeith, son of the Duke of Monmouth. Lord Dalkeith died in 1705, +leaving a son, who succeeded his grandmother (Monmouth's widow) as +second Duke of Buccleuch. Lady Catherine Hyde (see Letter 40, note 6) +was a younger sister of Lady Dalkeith. + +27 Swift first wrote "I frequent." + +28 See Letter 52, note 5. + +29 D'Estrees. + +30 Little (almost illegible). + + + + +LETTER 61. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Mar. 27." + +2 See Letter 3, note 20. + +3 Formerly Lady Rialton (see Letter 40, note 3). + +4 See Letter 58, note 8. + +5 See Letter 11, note 39 and Letter 41, note 27. + +6 Pun on "gambol." + +7 See Letter 57, note 4. + +8 See Letter 41, note 7. + +9 "Upon Tuesday last, the house where His Grace the late Duke of +Hamilton and Brandon lived was hired for that day, where there was a +fine ball and entertainment; and it is reported in town, that a great +lady, lately gone to travel, left one hundred guineas, with orders that +it should be spent in that manner, and in that house" (Postboy, Feb. +26-28, 1712-13). The "great lady" was, presumably, the Duchess of +Marlborough. + +10 See Letter 36, note 14 and Letter 40, note 21. + +11 Trinity College, Dublin. + +12 See Letter 60, note 19. + +13 See Letter 36, note 15. + +14 Dr. Pratt, Provost of Trinity College. + +15 Obliterated, and doubtful. + +16 A deal at cards, that draws the whole tricks. + +17 Previous editors have misread "Trevor" as "Treasurer." Thomas Trevor, +Chief-Justice of the Common Pleas, was created Baron Trevor, of Bromham, +in January 1712. By commission of March 9, 1713, he occupied the +woolsack during the illness of the Lord Keeper, Harcourt. + +18 This is the only reference to Pope in the Journal. In his "Windsor +Forest" the young poet assisted the Tories by his reference to the peace +of Utrecht, then awaiting ratification. + +19 Several words have been obliterated. Forster reads, "Rove Pdfr, poo +Pdfr, Nite MD MD MD," but this is more than the space would contain. + +20 William Oldisworth (1680-1734), a Tory journalist and pamphleteer, +who published various works, including a translation of the Iliad. He +died in a debtors' prison. + +21 Some words obliterated. The reading is Forster's, and seems to be +correct. + +22 Susan Armine, elder daughter of Sir William Armine, Bart., of +Osgodby, Lincolnshire, was created a life peeress in 1674, as Baroness +Belasyse of Osgodby. She died March 6, 1713. Her first husband was the +Honourable Sir Henry Belasyse, son and heir of John, Baron Belasyse, of +Worlaby; and her second, Mr. Fortney, of Chequers. + +23 See Letter 7, note 9. + +24 A word before "Ppt" is illegible. Forster's reading, "yes," does not +seem right. + +25 In November 1711 it was reported that Miss Kingdom was privately +married to Lord Conway (Wentworth Papers, 207), but this was not the +case. Lord Conway was a widower in 1713, but he married an Irish lady +named Bowden. + +26 Forster reads, "Nite, my own dee sollahs. Pdfr roves MD"; but the +last three words, at least, do not seem to be in the MS. + +27 Probably the Bishop of Raphoe's son (see Letter 29, note 20). + +28 What. + +29 As Master of the Savoy. + +30 William Burgh was Comptroller and Accountant-General for Ireland from +1694 to 1717, when his patent was revoked. He was succeeded by Eustace +Budgell. + +31 William Paget, sixth Lord Paget, died in March 1713, aged +seventy-six. He spent a great part of his life as Ambassador at Vienna +and Constantinople. + +32 Pocket. + +33 Forster reads, "Lele lele logues"; Mr. Ryland, "Lele lele... " + + + + +LETTER 62. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Apr. 13." + +2 Esther Johnson's brother-in-law, Filby (see Letter 55, note 19). + +3 Earl Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7). + +4 Francis Annesley, M.P. for Westbury. His colleague in the +representation of that borough was Henry Bertie (third son of James, +Earl of Abingdon), who married Earl Poulett's sister-in-law, Anthony +Henley's widow (see Letter 12, note 24). + +5 "Has" (MS.). + +6 A dozen words are erased. The reading is Forster's, and appears to be +correct. + +7 The British Ambassadress's Speech to the French King. The printer was +sent to the pillory and fined. + +8 The Examiner (vol. iii. No. 35) said that Swift--"a gentleman of the +first character for learning, good sense, wit, and more virtues than +even they can set off and illustrate"--was not the author of that +periodical. "Out of pure regard to justice, I strip myself of all the +honour that lucky untruth did this paper." + +9 A purgative electuary. + +10 Bargains. + +11 Three or four words illegible. Forster reads, "Nite, nite, own MD." + +12 Forster reads, "devil's brood "; probably the second word is "bawd:" +Cf. Letter 60, note 14 and Feb. 18, 1712-13. + +13 Several "moving pictures," mostly brought from Germany, were on view +in London at about this time. See Tatler, No. 129, and Gay's Fables, No. +6. + +14 See Letter 6, note 45. + +15 "Mr. Charles Grattan, afterwards master of a free school at +Enniskillen" (Scott). + +16 So given in the MS. Forster suggests that it is a mistake for "wood." + +17 See Letter 28, note 11. + +18 It is probable that this is Pope's friend, William Cleland, who died +in 1741, aged sixty-seven. William Cleland served in Spain under Lord +Rivers, but was not a Colonel, though he seems to have been a +Major. Afterwards he was a Commissioner of Customs in Scotland and a +Commissioner of the Land Tax in England. Colonel Cleland cannot, as +Scott suggested (Swift's Works, iii. 142, xviii. 137-39, xix. 8), have +been the son of the Colonel William Cleland, Covenanter and poet, who +died in 1689, at the age of twenty-eight. William Cleland allowed his +name to be appended to a letter of Pope's prefixed to the Dunciad, and +Pope afterwards described him as "a person of universal learning, and an +enlarged conversation; no man had a warmer heart for his friends, or +a sincerer attachment to the constitution of his country." Swift, +referring to this letter, wrote to Pope, "Pray tell me whether your +Colonel (sic) Cleland be a tall Scots gentleman, walking perpetually in +the Mall, and fastening upon everybody he meets, as he has often done +upon me?" (Pope's Works, iv. 48, vii. 214). + +19 Henry Grey, Lord Lucas (died 1741), who became twelfth Earl of Kent +in 1702, was made Duke of Kent in 1710. He held various offices under +George I. and George II. + +20 Forster found, among the MSS. at Narford, the "lie" thus prepared for +All Fools' Day. Richard Noble, an attorney, ran away with a lady who +was the wife of John Sayer and daughter of Admiral Nevill; and he killed +Sayer on the discovery of the intrigue. The incident was made use of by +Hogarth in the fifth scene of "Marriage a la Mode." + +21 See Letter 5, note 3. + +22 See Letter 13, note 10. + +23 Charles XII. + +24 "Is" (MS.). + +25 Cibber says that he saw four acts of Cato in 1703; the fifth act, +according to Steele, was written in less than a week. The famous first +performance was on April 14, 1713. + +26 The first number of the Guardian appeared on March 12, and the paper +was published daily until Oct. 1, 1713. Pope, Addison, and Berkeley were +among the contributors. + +27 See Letter 52, note 6. + +28 See Letter 39, note 16. + +29 The first preached after the period of his suspension by the House +of Lords. It was delivered at St. Saviour's, Southwark, before his +installation at St. Andrew's, and was published with the title, "The +Christian's Triumph, or the Duty of praying for our Enemies". + +30 Swift's curate at Laracor. + +31 Richard Gorges (died 1728) was eldest son and heir of Dr. Robert +Gorges, of Kilbrue, County Meath, by Jane, daughter of Sir Arthur +Loftus, and sister of Adam, Viscount Lisburne. He was appointed +Adjutant-General of the Forces in Ireland 1697, Colonel of a +new Regiment of Foot 1703, Major-General of the Forces 1707, and +Lieutenant-General 1710 (Dalton's Army Lists, iii. 75). + +32 See Letter 60, note 10. + +33 Mrs. Oldfield. + +34 See Letter 56, note 6. + +35 Never saw the like. + +36 See Letter 53, note 10. + +37 The remainder has been partially obliterated. + + + + +LETTER 63. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "May 4." + +2 Lord Cholmondeley (see Letter 36, note 15). + +3 Harcourt. + +4 Forster's reading; the last two words are doubtful. + +5 See Letter 7, note 27. + +6 Francis Palmes, who was wounded at Blenheim, was made a +Lieutenant-General in 1709. In 1707 he was elected M.P. for West Loo; +in 1708 he was sent as Envoy Extraordinary to the Duke of Savoy, and in +1710 to Vienna. + +7 Apparently "so heed." + +8 Henry Villiers (died 1743), second son of the first Earl of Jersey +and of Barbara, daughter of William Chiffinch (see Letter 29, note 3 and +Letter 59, note 25). + +9 See Letter 61, Mar. 8, 1712-13. The Speech and Address are in the +Commons' Journals, xvii. 278, 280. For the draft Address, in Swift's +handwriting, see the Portland Papers (1899), v. 276. + +10 Scoffed, jeered. + +11 Dr. Gastrell (see Letter 25, note 8). + +12 George Berkeley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, but then a young man +of twenty-eight, came to London in January 1713. He was already known +by his "New Theory of Vision" and "Treatise on the Principles of Human +Knowledge", and he brought with him his "Three Dialogues between Hylas +and Philonous". Steele was among the first to welcome him, and he soon +made the acquaintance of Addison, Pope, and Swift. On March 27, Berkeley +wrote to Sir John Perceval of the breach between Swift and the Whigs: +"Dr. Swift's wit is admired by both of them (Addison and Steele), +and indeed by his greatest enemies, and... I think him one of the +best-matured and agreeable men in the world." In November 1713 +Swift procured for Berkeley the chaplaincy and secretaryship to Lord +Peterborough, the new Envoy to Sicily. + +13 Forster reads, "all oo sawcy Ppt can say oo may see me"; but the +words are illegible. + +14 Possibly "see," written in mistake for "say." + +15 "J" (MS.). + +16 Obliterated. Forster imagined that he read, "Nite dee logues. Poo +Mr." + +17 There were two General Hamiltons at this time; probably Swift's +acquaintance was Gustavus Hamilton (1639-1723), who was created Viscount +Boyne in 1717. Hamilton distinguished himself at the battle of the Boyne +and the capture of Athlone, and was made Brigadier-General in 1696, and +Major General in 1703. He took part in the siege of Vigo, and was made a +member of the Privy Council in 1710. + +18 See Letter 43, note 38. + +19 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +20 This is Forster's reading, and appears to be correct. The last word, +which he gives as "iss truly," is illegible. + +21 Belonging to Ireland. + +22 See Letter 40, note 1. + +23 Another excellent reading of Forster's. I cannot decipher the last +word, which he gives as "dee rogues." + +24 Sentence obliterated. + +25 The number at the beginning of each entry in the Journal. + +26 Mr. Ryland's reading. Forster has "morning, dee." + +27 Dr. Thomas Lindsay (see Letter 6, note 45). + +28 I think the "MD" is right, though Forster gives "M." The "Pr" is +probably an abbreviation of "Pdfr." + +29 The last three lines have been obliterated. + + +Letter 64. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "May 22." + +2 Illegible. Forster reads, "and dee deelest Ppt." + +3 The last few words have been partially obliterated. + +4 Am very angry. The last word is scribbled over. + +5 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +6 The signature has been cut off. + + +Letter 65. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Chester Letter." + +2 "Others" (MS.). + +3 See Letter 10, note 31 and Letter 31, note 1. + +4 See Letter 7, note 7. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Journal to Stella, by Jonathan Swift + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JOURNAL TO STELLA *** + +***** This file should be named 4208.txt or 4208.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/0/4208/ + +Produced by Les Bowler + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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They accordingly appeared in 1766 in the tenth +volume of Dr. Hawkesworth's quarto edition of Swift's works; but the editor +made many changes in the text, including a suppression of most of the "little +language." The publishers, however, fortunately for us, were public-spirited +enough to give the manuscripts (with one exception) to the British Museum, +where, after many years, they were examined by John Forster, who printed in +his unfinished "Life of Swift" numerous passages from the originals, showing +the manner in which the text had been tampered with by Hawkesworth. Swift +himself, too, in his later years, obliterated many words and sentences in the +letters, and Forster was able to restore not a few of these omissions. His +zeal, however, sometimes led him to make guesses at words which are quite +undecipherable. Besides Forster's work, I have had the benefit of the careful +collation made by Mr. Ryland for his edition of 1897. Where these authorities +differ I have usually found myself in agreement with Mr. Ryland, but I have +felt justified in accepting some of Forster's readings which were rejected by +him as uncertain; and the examination of the manuscripts has enabled me to +make some additions and corrections of my own. Swift's writing is extremely +small, and abounds in abbreviations. The difficulty of arriving at the true +reading is therefore considerable, apart from the erasures. + +The remainder of the Journal, consisting of the first forty letters, was +published in 1768 by Deane Swift, Dr. Swift's second cousin. These letters +had been given to Mrs. Whiteway in 1788, and by her to her son-in-law, Deane +Swift. The originals have been lost, with the exception of the first, which, +by some accident, is in the British Museum; but it is evident that Deane Swift +took even greater liberties with the text than Hawkesworth. He substituted +for "Ppt" the word "Stella," a name which Swift seems not to have used until +some years later; he adopted the name "Presto" for Swift, and in other ways +tried to give a greater literary finish to the letters. The whole of the +correspondence was first brought together, under the title of the "Journal to +Stella", in Sheridan's edition of 1784. + +Previous editions of the Journal have been but slightly annotated. Swift's +letters abound with allusions to people of all classes with whom he came in +contact in London, and to others known to Esther Johnson in Ireland; and a +large proportion of these persons have been passed over in discreet silence by +Sir Walter Scott and others. The task of the annotator has, of course, been +made easier of late years by the publication of contemporary journals and +letters, and of useful works of reference dealing with Parliament, the Army, +the Church, the Civil Service, and the like, besides the invaluable Dictionary +of National Biography. I have also been assisted by a collection of MS. notes +kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. Thomas Seccombe. I have aimed at brevity +and relevance, but it is hoped that the reader will find all the information +that is necessary. Here and there a name has baffled research, but I have +been able to give definite particulars of a very large number of people-- +noblemen and ladies in society in London or Dublin, Members of Parliament, +doctors, clergymen, Government officials, and others who have hitherto been +but names to the reader of the Journal. I have corrected a good many errors +in the older notes, but in dealing with so large a number of persons, some of +whom it is difficult to identify, I cannot hope that I myself have escaped +pitfalls. + +G. A. A. + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +When Swift began to write the letters known as the Journal to Stella, he was +forty-two years of age, and Esther Johnson twenty-nine. Perhaps the most +useful introduction to the correspondence will be a brief setting forth of +what is known of their friendship from Stella's childhood, the more specially +as the question has been obscured by many assertions and theories resting on a +very slender basis of fact. + +Jonathan Swift, born in 1667 after his father's death, was educated by his +uncle Godwin, and after a not very successful career at Trinity College, +Dublin, went to stay with his mother, Abigail Erick, at Leicester. Mrs. Swift +feared that her son would fall in love with a girl named Betty Jones, but, as +Swift told a friend, he had had experience enough "not to think of marriage +till I settle my fortune in the world, which I am sure will not be in some +years; and even then, I am so hard to please that I suppose I shall put it off +to the other world." Soon afterwards an opening for Swift presented itself. +Sir William Temple, now living in retirement at Moor Park, near Farnham, had +been, like his father, Master of the Irish Rolls, and had thus become +acquainted with Swift's uncle Godwin. Moreover, Lady Temple was related to +Mrs. Swift, as Lord Orrery tells us. Thanks to these facts, the application +to Sir William Temple was successful, and Swift went to live at Moor Park +before the end of 1689. There he read to Temple, wrote for him, and kept his +accounts, and growing into confidence with his employer, "was often trusted +with matters of great importance." The story--afterwards improved upon by +Lord Macaulay--that Swift received only 20 pounds and his board, and was not +allowed to sit at table with his master, is wholly untrustworthy. Within +three years of their first intercourse, Temple had introduced his secretary to +William the Third, and sent him to London to urge the King to consent to a +bill for triennial Parliaments. + +When Swift took up his residence at Moor Park he found there a little girl of +eight, daughter of a merchant named Edward Johnson, who had died young. Swift +says that Esther Johnson was born on March 18, 1681; in the parish register of +Richmond,[1] which shows that she was baptized on March 20, 1680-81, her name +is given as Hester; but she signed her will "Esther," the name by which she +was always known. Swift says, "Her father was a younger brother of a good +family in Nottinghamshire, her mother of a lower degree; and indeed she had +little to boast in her birth." Mrs. Johnson had two children, Esther and Ann, +and lived at Moor Park as companion to Lady Giffard, Temple's widowed sister. +Another member of the household, afterwards to be Esther's constant companion, +was Rebecca Dingley, a relative of the Temple family.[2] She was a year or +two older than Swift. + +The lonely young man of twenty-two was both playfellow and teacher of the +delicate child of eight. How he taught her to write has been charmingly +brought before us in the painting exhibited by Miss Dicksee at the Royal +Academy a few years ago; he advised her what books to read, and instructed +her, as he says, "in the principles of honour and virtue, from which she never +swerved in any one action or moment of her life." + +By 1694 Swift had grown tired of his position, and finding that Temple, who +valued his services, was slow in finding him preferment, he left Moor Park in +order to carry out his resolve to go into the Church. He was ordained, and +obtained the prebend of Kilroot, near Belfast, where he carried on a +flirtation with a Miss Waring, whom he called Varina. But in May 1696 Temple +made proposals which induced Swift to return to Moor Park, where he was +employed in preparing Temple's memoirs and correspondence for publication, and +in supporting the side taken by Temple in the Letters of Phalaris controversy +by writing The Battle of the Books, which was, however, not published until +1704. On his return to Temple's house, Swift found his old playmate grown +from a sickly child into a girl of fifteen, in perfect health. She came, he +says, to be "looked upon as one of the most beautiful, graceful, and agreeable +young women in London, only a little too fat. Her hair was blacker than a +raven, and every feature of her face in perfection." + +On his death in January 1699, Temple left a will,[3] dated 1694, directing the +payment of 20 pounds each, with half a year's wages, to Bridget Johnson "and +all my other servants"; and leaving a lease of some land in Monistown, County +Wicklow, to Esther Johnson, "servant to my sister Giffard." By a codicil of +February 1698, Temple left 100 pounds to "Mr. Jonathan Swift, now living with +me." It may be added that by her will of 1722, proved in the following year, +Lady Giffard gave 20 pounds to Mrs. Moss--Mrs. Bridget Johnson, who had +married Richard Mose or Moss, Lady Giffard's steward. The will proceeds: "To +Mrs. Hester (sic) Johnson I give 10 pounds, with the 100 pounds I put into the +Exchequer for her life and my own, and declare the 100 pounds to be hers which +I am told is there in my name upon the survivorship, and for which she has +constantly sent over her certificate and received the interest. I give her +besides my two little silver candlesticks." + +Temple left in Swift's hands the task of publishing his posthumous works, a +duty which afterwards led to a quarrel with Lady Giffard and other members of +the family. Many years later Swift told Lord Palmerston that he stopped at +Moor Park solely for the benefit of Temple's conversation and advice, and the +opportunity of pursuing his studies. At Temple's death he was "as far to seek +as ever." In the summer of 1699, however, he was offered and accepted the +post of secretary and chaplain to the Earl of Berkeley, one of the Lords +Justices, but when he reached Ireland he found that the secretaryship had been +given to another. He soon, however, obtained the living of Laracor, Agher, +and Rathbeggan, and the prebend of Dunlavin in St. Patrick's Cathedral, +Dublin. The total value of these preferments was about 230 pounds a year, an +income which Miss Waring seems to have thought enough to justify him in +marrying. Swift's reply to the lady whom he had "singled out at first from +the rest of women" could only have been written with the intention of breaking +off the connection, and accordingly we hear no more of poor Varina. + +At Laracor, a mile or two from Trim, and twenty miles from Dublin, Swift +ministered to a congregation of about fifteen persons, and had abundant +leisure for cultivating his garden, making a canal (after the Dutch fashion of +Moor Park), planting willows, and rebuilding the vicarage. As chaplain to +Lord Berkeley, he spent much of his time in Dublin. He was on intimate terms +with Lady Berkeley and her daughters, one of whom is best known by her married +name of Lady Betty Germaine; and through them he had access to the fashionable +society of Dublin. When Lord Berkeley returned to England in April 1701, +Swift, after taking his Doctor's degree at Dublin, went with him, and soon +afterwards published, anonymously, a political pamphlet, A Discourse on the +Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome. When he returned to Ireland in +September he was accompanied by Stella--to give Esther Johnson the name by +which she is best known--and her friend Mrs. Dingley. Stella's fortune was +about 1500 pounds, and the property Temple had left her was in County Wicklow. +Swift, very much for his "own satisfaction, who had few friends or +acquaintance in Ireland," persuaded Stella--now twenty years old--that living +was cheaper there than in England, and that a better return was obtainable on +money. The ladies took his advice, and made Ireland their home. At first +they felt themselves strangers in Dublin; "the adventure looked so like a +frolic," Swift says, "the censure held for some time as if there were a secret +history in such a removal: which however soon blew off by her excellent +conduct." Swift took every step that was possible to avoid scandal. When he +was away, the ladies occupied his rooms; when he returned, they went into +their own lodgings. When he was absent, they often stopped at the vicarage at +Laracor, but if he were there, they moved to Trim, where they visited the +vicar, Dr. Raymond, or lived in lodgings in the town or neighbourhood. Swift +was never with Stella except in the presence of a third person, and in 1726 he +said that he had not seen her in a morning "these dozen years, except once or +twice in a journey." + +During a visit to England in the winter of 1703-4 we find Swift in +correspondence with the Rev. William Tisdall, a Dublin incumbent whom he had +formerly known at Belfast. Tisdall was on friendly terms with Stella and Mrs. +Dingley, and Swift sent messages to them through him. "Pray put them upon +reading," he wrote, "and be always teaching something to Mrs. Johnson, because +she is good at comprehending, remembering and retaining." But the +correspondence soon took a different turn. Tisdall paid his addresses to +Stella, and charged Swift with opposing his suit. Tisdall's letters are +missing, but Swift's reply of April 20, 1704, puts things sufficiently +clearly. "My conjecture is," he says, "that you think I obstructed your +inclinations to please my own, and that my intentions were the same with +yours. In answer to all which I will, upon my conscience and honour, tell you +the naked truth. First, I think I have said to you before that, if my +fortunes and humour served me to think of that state, I should certainly, +among all persons upon earth, make your choice; because I never saw that +person whose conversation I entirely valued but hers; this was the utmost I +ever gave way to. And secondly, I must assure you sincerely that this regard +of mine never once entered into my head to be an impediment to you." He had +thought Tisdall not rich enough to marry; "but the objection of your fortune +being removed, I declare I have no other; nor shall any consideration of my +own misfortune, in losing so good a friend and companion as her, prevail on +me, against her interest and settlement in the world, since it is held so +necessary and convenient a thing for ladies to marry, and that time takes off +from the lustre of virgins in all other eyes but mine. I appeal to my letters +to herself whether I was your friend or not in the whole concern, though the +part I designed to act in it was purely passive." He had even thought "it +could not be decently broken," without disadvantage to the lady's credit, +since he supposed it was known to the town; and he had always spoken of her in +a manner far from discouraging. Though he knew many ladies of rank, he had +"nowhere met with an humour, a wit, or conversation so agreeable, a better +portion of good sense, or a truer judgment of men or things." He envied +Tisdall his prudence and temper, and love of peace and settlement, "the +reverse of which has been the great uneasiness of my life, and is likely to +continue so." + +This letter has been quoted at some length because of its great importance. +It is obviously capable of various interpretations, and some, like Dr. +Johnson, have concluded that Swift was resolved to keep Stella in his power, +and therefore prevented an advantageous match by making unreasonable demands. +I cannot see any ground for this interpretation, though it is probable that +Tisdall's appearance as a suitor was sufficiently annoying. There is no +evidence that Stella viewed Tisdall's proposal with any favour, unless it can +be held to be furnished by Swift's belief that the town thought--rightly or +wrongly--that there was an engagement. In any case, there could be no mistake +in future with regard to Swift's attitude towards Stella. She was dearer to +him than anyone else, and his feeling for her would not change, but for +marriage he had neither fortune nor humour. Tisdall consoled himself by +marrying another lady two years afterwards; and though for a long time Swift +entertained for him feelings of dislike, in later life their relations +improved, and Tisdall was one of the witnesses to Swift's will. + +The Tale of a Tub was published in 1704, and Swift was soon in constant +intercourse with Addison and the other wits. While he was in England in 1705, +Stella and Mrs. Dingley made a short visit to London. This and a similar +visit in 1708 are the only occasions on which Stella is known to have left +Ireland after taking up her residence in that country. Swift's influence over +women was always very striking. Most of the toasts of the day were his +friends, and he insisted that any lady of wit and quality who desired his +acquaintance should make the first advances. This, he says--writing in 1730-- +had been an established rule for over twenty years. In 1708 a dispute on this +question with one toast, Mrs. Long, was referred for settlement to Ginckel +Vanhomrigh, the son of the house where it was proposed that the meeting should +take place; and by the decision--which was in Swift's favour--"Mrs. Vanhomrigh +and her fair daughter Hessy" were forbidden to aid Mrs. Long in her +disobedience for the future. This is the first that we hear of Hester or +Esther Vanhomrigh, who was afterwards to play so marked a part in the story of +Swift's life. Born on February 14, 1690, she was now eighteen. Her father, +Bartholomew Vanhomrigh, a Dublin merchant of Dutch origin, had died in 1703, +leaving his wife a fortune of some sixteen thousand pounds. On the income +from this money Mrs. Vanhomrigh, with her two daughters, Hester and Mary, were +able to mix in fashionable society in London. Swift was introduced to them by +Sir Andrew Fountaine early in 1708, but evidently Stella did not make their +acquaintance, nor indeed hear much, if anything, of them until the time of the +Journal. + +Swift's visit to London in 1707-9 had for its object the obtaining for the +Irish Church of the surrender by the Crown of the First-Fruits and Twentieths, +which brought in about 2500 pounds a year. Nothing came of Swift's interviews +with the Whig statesmen, and after many disappointments he returned to Laracor +(June 1709), and conversed with none but Stella and her card-playing friends, +and Addison, now secretary to Lord Wharton.[4] Next year came the fall of the +Whigs, and a request to Swift from the Irish bishops that he would renew the +application for the First-Fruits, in the hope that there would be greater +success with the Tories. Swift reached London in September 1710, and began +the series of letters, giving details of the events of each day, which now +form the Journal to Stella. "I will write something every day to MD," he +says, "and make it a sort of journal; and when it is full I will send it, +whether MD writes or no; and so that will be pretty; and I shall always be in +conversation with MD, and MD with Presto." It is interesting to note that by +way of caution these letters were usually addressed to Mrs. Dingley, and not +to Stella. + +The story of Swift's growing intimacy with the Tory leaders, of the success of +his mission, of the increasing coolness towards older acquaintances, and of +his services to the Government, can best be read in the Journal itself. In +the meantime the intimacy with the Vanhomrighs grew rapidly. They were near +neighbours of Swift's, and in a few weeks after his arrival in town we find +frequent allusions to the dinners at their house (where he kept his best gown +and periwig), sometimes with the explanation that he went there "out of mere +listlessness," or because it was wet, or because another engagement had broken +down. Only thrice does he mention the "eldest daughter": once on her +birthday; once on the occasion of a trick played him, when he received a +message that she was suddenly very ill ("I rattled off the daughter"); and +once to state that she was come of age, and was going to Ireland to look after +her fortune. There is evidence that "Miss Essy," or Vanessa, to give her the +name by which she will always be known, was in correspondence with Swift in +July 1710--while he was still in Ireland--and in the spring of 1711;[5] and +early in 1711 Stella seems to have expressed surprise at Swift's intimacy with +the family, for in February he replied, "You say they are of no consequence; +why, they keep as good female company as I do male; I see all the drabs of +quality at this end of the town with them." In the autumn Swift seems to have +thought that Vanessa was keeping company with a certain Hatton, but Mrs. Long- +-possibly meaning to give him a warning hint--remarked that if this were so +"she is not the girl I took her for; but to me she seems melancholy." + +In 1712 occasional letters took the place of the daily journal to "MD," but +there is no change in the affectionate style in which Swift wrote. In the +spring he had a long illness, which affected him, indeed, throughout the year. +Other reasons which he gives for the falling off in his correspondence are his +numerous business engagements, and the hope of being able to send some good +news of an appointment for himself. There is only one letter to Stella +between July 19 and September 15, and Dr. Birkbeck Hill argues that the poem +"Cadenus and Vanessa" was composed at that time.[6] If this be so, it must +have been altered next year, because it was not until 1713 that Swift was made +a Dean. Writing on April 19, 1726, Swift said that the poem "was written at +Windsor near fourteen years ago, and dated: it was a task performed on a +frolic among some ladies, and she it was addressed to died some time ago in +Dublin, and on her death the copy shewn by her executor." Several copies were +in circulation, and he was indifferent what was done with it; it was "only a +cavalier business," and if those who would not give allowances were malicious, +it was only what he had long expected. + +From this letter it would appear that this remarkable poem was written in the +summer of 1712; whereas the title-page of the pamphlet says it was "written at +Windsor, 1713." Swift visited Windsor in both years, but he had more leisure +in 1712, and we know that Vanessa was also at Windsor in that year. In that +year, too, he was forty-four, the age mentioned in the poem. Neither Swift +nor Vanessa forgot this intercourse: years afterwards Swift wrote to her, "Go +over the scenes of Windsor. . . . Cad thinks often of these"; and again, +"Remember the indisposition at Windsor." We know that this poem was revised +in 1719, when in all probability Swift added the lines to which most exception +can be taken. Cadenus was to be Vanessa's instructor:-- + + "His conduct might have made him styled + A father, and the nymph his child." + +He had "grown old in politics and wit," and "in every scene had kept his +heart," so that he now "understood not what was love." But he had written +much, and Vanessa admired his wit. Cadenus found that her thoughts wandered-- + + "Though she seemed to listen more + To all he spoke than e'er before." + +When she confessed her love, he was filled with "shame, disappointment, guilt, +surprise." He had aimed only at cultivating the mind, and had hardly known +whether she was young or old. But he was flattered, and though he could not +give her love, he offered her friendship, "with gratitude, respect, esteem." +Vanessa took him at his word, and said she would now be tutor, though he was +not apt to learn:-- + + "But what success Vanessa met + Is to the world a secret yet. + Whether the nymph to please her swain + Talks in a high romantic strain; + Or whether he at last descends + To act with less seraphic ends; + Or, to compound the business, whether + They temper love and books together, + Must never to mankind be told, + Nor shall the conscious Muse unfold." + +Such is the poem as we now have it, written, it must be remembered, for +Vanessa's private perusal. It is to be regretted, for her own sake, that she +did not destroy it. + +Swift received the reward of his services to the Government--the Deanery of +St. Patrick's, Dublin--in April 1713. Disappointed at what he regarded as +exile, he left London in June. Vanessa immediately began to send him letters +which brought home to him the extent of her passion; and she hinted at +jealousy in the words, "If you are very happy, it is ill-natured of you not to +tell me so, except 'tis what is inconsistent with my own." In his reply Swift +dwelt upon the dreariness of his surroundings at Laracor, and reminded her +that he had said he would endeavour to forget everything in England, and would +write as seldom as he could. + +Swift was back again in the political strife in London in September, taking +Oxford's part in the quarrel between that statesman and Bolingbroke. On the +fall of the Tories at the death of Queen Anne, he saw that all was over, and +retired to Ireland, not to return again for twelve years. In the meantime the +intimacy with Vanessa had been renewed. Her mother had died, leaving debts, +and she pressed Swift for advice in the management of her affairs. When she +suggested coming to Ireland, where she had property, he told her that if she +took this step he would "see her very seldom." However, she took up her abode +at Celbridge, only a few miles from Dublin. Swift gave her many cautions, out +of "the perfect esteem and friendship" he felt for her, but he often visited +her. She was dissatisfied, however, begging him to speak kindly, and at least +to counterfeit his former indulgent friendship. "What can be wrong," she +wrote, "in seeing and advising an unhappy young woman? You cannot but know +that your frowns make my life unsupportable." Sometimes he treated the matter +lightly; sometimes he showed annoyance; sometimes he assured her of his esteem +and love, but urged her not to make herself or him "unhappy by imaginations." +He was uniformly unsuccessful in stopping Vanessa's importunity. He +endeavoured, she said, by severities to force her from him; she knew she was +the cause of uneasy reflections to him; but nothing would lessen her +"inexpressible passion." + +Unfortunately he failed--partly no doubt from mistaken considerations of +kindness, partly because he shrank from losing her affection--to take +effective steps to put an end to Vanessa's hopes. It would have been better +if he had unhesitatingly made it clear to her that he could not return her +passion, and that if she could not be satisfied with friendship the intimacy +must cease. To quote Sir Henry Craik, "The friendship had begun in literary +guidance: it was strengthened by flattery: it lived on a cold and almost +stern repression, fed by confidences as to literary schemes, and by occasional +literary compliments: but it never came to have a real hold over Swift's +heart." + +With 1716 we come to the alleged marriage with Stella. In 1752, seven years +after Swift's death, Lord Orrery, in his Remarks on Swift, said that Stella +was "the concealed, but undoubted, wife of Dr. Swift. . . . If my +informations are right, she was married to Dr. Swift in the year 1716, by Dr. +Ashe, then Bishop of Clogher." Ten years earlier, in 1742, in a letter to +Deane Swift which I have not seen quoted before, Orrery spoke of the advantage +of a wife to a man in his declining years; "nor had the Dean felt a blow, or +wanted a companion, had he been married, or, in other words, had Stella +lived." What this means is not at all clear. In 1754, Dr. Delany, an old +friend of Swift's, wrote, in comment upon Orrery's Remarks, "Your account of +his marriage is, I am satisfied, true." In 1789, George Monck Berkeley, in +his Literary Relics, said that Swift and Stella were married by Dr. Ashe, "who +himself related the circumstances to Bishop Berkeley, by whose relict the +story was communicated to me." Dr. Ashe cannot have told Bishop Berkeley by +word of mouth, because Ashe died in 1717, the year after the supposed +marriage, and Berkeley was then still abroad. But Berkeley was at the time +tutor to Ashe's son, and may therefore have been informed by letter, though it +is difficult to believe that Ashe would write about such a secret so soon +after the event. Thomas Sheridan, on information received from his father, +Dr. Sheridan, Swift's friend, accepted the story of the marriage in his book +(1784), adding particulars which are of very doubtful authenticity; and +Johnson, in his Lives of the Poets, says that Dr. Madden told him that Stella +had related her "melancholy story" to Dr. Sheridan before her death. On the +other hand, Dr. Lyon, Swift's attendant in his later years, disbelieved the +story of the marriage, which was, he said, "founded only on hearsay"; and Mrs. +Dingley "laughed at it as an idle tale," founded on suspicion. + +Sir Henry Craik is satisfied with the evidence for the marriage. Mr. Leslie +Stephen is of opinion that it is inconclusive, and Forster could find no +evidence that is at all reasonably sufficient; while Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, +Mr. Churton Collins, and others are strongly of opinion that no such marriage +ever took place. A full discussion of the evidence would involve the +consideration of the reliability of the witnesses, and the probability of +their having authentic information, and would be out of place here. My own +opinion is that the evidence for the marriage is very far from convincing, and +this view seems to be confirmed by all that we know from his own letters of +Swift's relations with Stella. It has been suggested that she was pained by +reports of Swift's intercourse with Vanessa, and felt that his feelings +towards herself were growing colder; but this is surmise, and no satisfactory +explanation has been given to account for a form of marriage being gone +through after so many years of the closest friendship. There is no reason to +suppose that there was at the time any gossip in circulation about Stella, and +if her reputation was in question, a marriage of which the secret was +carefully kept would obviously be of no benefit to her. Moreover, we are told +that there was no change in their mode of life; if they were married, what +reason could there be for keeping it a secret, or for denying themselves the +closer relationship of marriage? The only possible benefit to Stella was that +Swift would be prevented marrying anyone else. It is impossible, of course, +to disprove a marriage which we are told was secretly performed, without banns +or licence or witnesses; but we may reasonably require strong evidence for so +startling a step. If we reject the tale, the story of Swift's connection with +Stella is at least intelligible; while the acceptance of this marriage +introduces many puzzling circumstances, and makes it necessary to believe that +during the remainder of Stella's life Swift repeatedly spoke of his wife as a +friend, and of himself as one who had never married.[7] What right have we to +put aside Swift's plain and repeated statements? Moreover, his attitude +towards Vanessa for the remaining years of her life becomes much more culpable +if we are to believe that he had given Stella the claim of a wife upon him.[8] + +From 1719 onwards we have a series of poems to Stella, written chiefly in +celebration of her birthday. She was now thirty-eight (Swift says, "Thirty- +four--we shan't dispute a year or more"), and the verses abound in laughing +allusions to her advancing years and wasting form. Hers was "an angel's face +a little cracked," but all men would crowd to her door when she was fourscore. +His verses to her had always been + + "Without one word of Cupid's darts, + Of killing eyes, or bleeding hearts; + With friendship and esteem possessed, + I ne'er admitted Love a guest." + +Her only fault was that she could not bear the lightest touch of blame. Her +wit and sense, her loving care in illness--to which he owed that fact that he +was alive to say it--made her the "best pattern of true friends." She +replied, in lines written on Swift's birthday in 1721, that she was his pupil +and humble friend. He had trained her judgment and refined her fancy and +taste:-- + + "You taught how I might youth prolong + By knowing what was right and wrong; + How from my heart to bring supplies + Of lustre to my fading eyes; + How soon a beauteous mind repairs + The loss of changed or falling hairs; + How wit and virtue from within + Send out a smoothness o'er the skin + Your lectures could my fancy fix, + And I can please at thirty-six." + +In 1723 Vanessa is said to have written to Stella or to Swift--there are +discrepancies in the versions given by Sheridan and Lord Orrery, both of whom +are unreliable--asking whether the report that they were married was true. +Swift, we are told, rode to Celbridge, threw down Vanessa's letter in a great +rage, and left without speaking a word.[9] Vanessa, whose health had been +failing for some time, died shortly afterwards, having cancelled a will in +Swift's favour. She left "Cadenus and Vanessa" for publication, and when +someone said that she must have been a remarkable woman to inspire such a +poem, Stella replied that it was well known that the Dean could write finely +upon a broomstick. + +Soon after this tragedy Swift became engrossed in the Irish agitation which +led to the publication of the Drapier's Letters, and in 1726 he paid a long- +deferred visit to London, taking with him the manuscript of Gulliver's +Travels. While in England he was harassed by bad news of Stella, who had been +in continued ill-health for some years. His letters to friends in Dublin show +how greatly he suffered. To the Rev. John Worrall he wrote, in a letter which +he begged him to burn, "What you tell me of Mrs. Johnson I have long expected +with great oppression and heaviness of heart. We have been perfect friends +these thirty-five years. Upon my advice they both came to Ireland, and have +been ever since my constant companions; and the remainder of my life will be a +very melancholy scene, when one of them is gone, whom I most esteemed, upon +the score of every good quality that can possibly recommend a human creature." +He would not for the world be present at her death: "I should be a trouble to +her, and a torment to myself." If Stella came to Dublin, he begged that she +might be lodged in some airy, healthy part, and not in the Deanery, where too +it would be improper for her to die. "There is not a greater folly," he +thinks, "than to contract too great and intimate a friendship, which must +always leave the survivor miserable." To Dr. Stopford he wrote in similar +terms of the "younger of the two" "oldest and dearest friends I have in the +world." "This was a person of my own rearing and instructing from childhood, +who excelled in every good quality that can possibly accomplish a human +creature. . . . I know not what I am saying; but believe me that violent +friendship is much more lasting and as much engaging as violent love." To Dr. +Sheridan he said, "I look upon this to be the greatest event that can ever +happen to me; but all my preparation will not suffice to make me bear it like +a philosopher nor altogether like a Christian. There hath been the most +intimate friendship between us from our childhood, and the greatest merit on +her side that ever was in one human creature towards another."[10] Pope +alludes in a letter to Sheridan to the illness of Swift's "particular friend," +but with the exception of another reference by Pope, and of a curiously +flippant remark by Bolingbroke, the subject is nowhere mentioned in Swift's +correspondence with his literary and fashionable friends in London. + +Swift crossed to Ireland in August, fearing the worst; but Stella rallied, and +in the spring of 1727 he returned to London. In August, however, there came +alarming news, when Swift was himself suffering from giddiness and deafness. +To Dr. Sheridan he wrote that the last act of life was always a tragedy at +best: "it is a bitter aggravation to have one's best friend go before one." +Life was indifferent to him; if he recovered from his disorder it would only +be to feel the loss of "that person for whose sake only life was worth +preserving. I brought both those friends over that we might be happy together +as long as God should please; the knot is broken, and the remaining person you +know has ill answered the end; and the other, who is now to be lost, is all +that was valuable." To Worrall he again wrote (in Latin) that Stella ought +not to be lodged at the Deanery; he had enemies who would place a bad +interpretation upon it if she died there. + +Swift left London for Dublin in September; he was detained some days at +Holyhead by stress of weather, and in the private journal which he kept during +that time he speaks of the suspense he was in about his "dearest friend."[11] +In December Stella made a will--signed "Esther Johnson, spinster"--disposing +of her property in the manner Swift had suggested. Her allusions to Swift are +incompatible with any such feeling of resentment as is suggested by Sheridan. +She died on January 28, 1728. Swift could not bear to be present, but on the +night of her death he began to write his very interesting Character of Mrs. +Johnson, from which passages have already been quoted. He there calls her +"the truest, most virtuous and valuable friend that I, or perhaps any other +person, was ever blessed with." Combined with excellent gifts of the mind, +"she had a gracefulness, somewhat more than human, in every motion, word, and +action. Never was so happy a conjunction of civility, freedom, easiness, and +sincerity." Everyone treated her with marked respect, yet everyone was at +ease in her society. She preserved her wit, judgment, and vivacity to the +last, but often complained of her memory. She chose men rather than women for +her companions, "the usual topic of ladies' discourse being such as she had +little knowledge of and less relish." "Honour, truth, liberality, good +nature, and modesty were the virtues she chiefly possessed, and most valued in +her acquaintance." In some Prayers used by Swift during her last sickness, he +begged for pity for "the mournful friends of Thy distressed servant, who sink +under the weight of her present condition, and the fear of losing the most +valuable of our friends." He was too ill to be present at the funeral at St. +Patrick's. Afterwards, we are told, a lock of her hair was found in his desk, +wrapped in a paper bearing the words, "Only a woman's hair." + +Swift continued to produce pamphlets manifesting growing misanthropy, though +he showed many kindnesses to people who stood in need of help. He seems to +have given Mrs. Dingley fifty guineas a year, pretending that it came from a +fund for which he was trustee. The mental decay which he had always feared-- +"I shall be like that tree," he once said, "I shall die at the top"--became +marked about 1738. Paralysis was followed by aphasia, and after acute pain, +followed by a long period of apathy, death relieved him in October 1745. He +was buried by Stella's side, in accordance with his wishes. The bulk of his +fortune was left to found a hospital for idiots and lunatics. + +There has been much rather fruitless discussion respecting the reason or +reasons why Swift did not marry Stella; for if there was any marriage, it was +nothing more than a form. Some have supposed that Swift resolved to remain +unmarried because the insanity of an uncle and the fits and giddiness to which +he was always subject led him to fear insanity in his own case. Others, +looking rather to physical causes, have dwelt upon his coldness of temperament +and indisposition to love; upon the repugnance he often showed towards +marriage, and the tone of some of the verses on the subject written in his +later years. Others, again, have found a cause in his parsimonious habits, in +his dread of poverty, the effects of which he had himself felt, and in the +smallness of his income, at least until he was middle-aged.[12] It may well +be that one or all of these things influenced Swift's action. We cannot say +more. He himself, as we have seen, said, as early as 1704, that if his humour +and means had permitted him to think of marriage, his choice would have been +Stella. Perhaps, however, there is not much mystery in the matter. Swift +seems to have been wanting in passion; probably he was satisfied with the +affection which Stella gave him, and did not wish for more. Such an +attachment as his usually results in marriage, but not necessarily. It is not +sufficiently remembered that the affection began in Stella's childhood. They +were "perfect friends" for nearly forty years, and her advancing years in no +way lessened his love, which was independent of beauty. Whether Stella was +satisfied, who shall say? Mrs. Oliphant thought that few women would be +disposed to pity Stella, or think her life one of blight or injury. Mr. +Leslie Stephen says, "She might and probably did regard his friendship as a +full equivalent for the sacrifice. . . . Is it better to be the most intimate +friend of a man of genius or the wife of a commonplace Tisdall?" Whatever we +may surmise, there is nothing to prove that she was disappointed. She was the +one star which brightened Swift's storm-tossed course; it is well that she was +spared seeing the wreck at the end. + + +The Journal to Stella is interesting from many points of view: for its +bearing upon Swift's relations with Stella and upon his own character; for the +light which it throws upon the history of the time and upon prominent men of +the day; and for the illustrations it contains of the social life of people of +various classes in London and elsewhere. The fact that it was written without +any thought of publication is one of its greatest attractions. Swift jotted +down his opinions, his hopes, his disappointments, without thought of their +being seen by anybody but his correspondents. The letters are transparently +natural. It has been said more than once that the Journal, by the nature of +the case, contains no full-length portraits, and hardly any sketches. Swift +mentions the people he met, but rarely stops to draw a picture of them. But +though this is true, the casual remarks which he makes often give a vivid +impression of what he thought of the person of whom he is speaking, and in +many cases those few words form a chief part of our general estimate of the +man. There are but few people of note at the time who are not mentioned in +these pages. We see Queen Anne holding a Drawing-room in her bedroom: "she +looked at us round with her fan in her mouth, and once a minute said about +three words to some that were nearest her." We see Harley, afterwards the +Earl of Oxford, "a pure trifler," who was always putting off important +business; Bolingbroke, "a thorough rake"; the prudent Lord Dartmouth, the +other Secretary of State, from whom Swift could never "work out a dinner." +There is Marlborough, "covetous as Hell, and ambitious as the prince of it," +yet a great general and unduly pressed by the Tories; and the volatile Earl of +Peterborough, "above fifty, and as active as one of five-and-twenty"--"the +ramblingest lying rogue on earth." We meet poor Congreve, nearly blind, and +in fear of losing his commissionership; the kindly Arbuthnot, the Queen's +physician; Addison, whom Swift met more and more rarely, busy with the +preparation and production of Cato; Steele, careless as ever, neglecting +important appointments, and "governed by his wife most abominably"; Prior, +poet and diplomatist, with a "lean carcass"; and young Berkeley of Trinity +College, Dublin, "a very ingenious man and great philosopher," whom Swift +determined to favour as much as he could. Mrs. Masham, the Duchess of +Somerset, the Duchess of Shrewsbury, the Duchess of Hamilton, Lady Betty +Germaine, and many other ladies appear with more or less distinctness; besides +a host of people of less note, of whom we often know little but what Swift +tells us. + +Swift throws much light, too, on the daily life of his time. The bellman on +his nightly rounds, calling "Paaast twelvvve o'clock"; the dinner at three, or +at the latest, four; the meetings at coffee-houses; the book-sales; the visit +to the London sights--the lions at the Tower, Bedlam, the tombs in Westminster +Abbey, and the puppet-show; the terrible Mohocks, of whom Swift stood in so +much fear; the polite "howdees" sent to friends by footmen; these and more are +all described in the Journal. We read of curious habits and practices of +fashionable ladies; of the snuff used by Mrs. Dingley and others; of the +jokes--"bites," puns, and the like--indulged in by polite persons. When Swift +lodged at Chelsea, he reached London either by boat, or by coach,--which was +sometimes full when he wanted it,--or by walking across the "Five Fields," not +without fear of robbers at night. The going to or from Ireland was a serious +matter; after the long journey by road came the voyage (weather permitting) of +some fifteen hours, with the risk of being seized or pursued by French +privateers; and when Ireland was reached the roads were of the worst. We have +glimpses of fashionable society in Dublin, of the quiet life at Laracor and +Trim, and of the drinking of the waters at Wexford, where visitors had to put +up with primitive arrangements: "Mrs. Dingley never saw such a place in her +life." + +Swift's own characteristics come out in the clearest manner in the Journal, +which gives all his hopes and fears during three busy years. He was pleased +to find on his arrival in London how great a value was set on his friendship +by both political parties: "The Whigs were ravished to see me, and would lay +hold on me as a twig while they are drowning;" but Godolphin's coldness +enraged him, so that he was "almost vowing vengeance." Next day he talked +treason heartily against the Whigs, their baseness and ingratitude, and went +home full of schemes of revenge. "The Tories drily tell me I may make my +fortune, if I please; but I do not understand them, or rather, I DO understand +them." He realised that the Tories might not be more grateful than others, +but he thought they were pursuing the true interests of the public, and was +glad to contribute what was in his power. His vanity was gratified by Harley +inviting him to the private dinners with St. John and Harcourt which were +given on Saturdays, and by their calling him Jonathan; but he did not hope too +much from their friendship: "I said I believed they would leave me Jonathan, +as they found me. . . but I care not." + +Of Swift's frugal habits there is abundant evidence in the Journal. When he +came to town he took rooms on a first floor, "a dining-room and bed-chamber, +at eight shillings a week; plaguy dear, but I spend nothing for eating, never +go to a tavern, and very seldom in a coach; yet after all it will be +expensive." In November he mentions that he had a fire: "I am spending my +second half-bushel of coals." In another place he says, "People have so left +the town, that I am at a loss for a dinner. . . . It cost me eighteenpence in +coach-hire before I could find a place to dine in." Elsewhere we find: "This +paper does not cost me a farthing: I have it from the Secretary's office." +He often complains of having to take a coach owing to the dirty condition of +the streets: "This rain ruins me in coach-hire; I walked away sixpennyworth, +and came within a shilling length, and then took a coach, and got a lift back +for nothing."[13] + +Swift's arrogance--the arrogance, sometimes, of a man who is morbidly +suspicious that he may be patronised--is shown in the manner in which he +speaks of the grand ladies with whom he came in contact. He calls the Duke of +Ormond's daughters "insolent drabs," and talks of his "mistress, Ophy Butler's +wife, who is grown a little charmless." When the Duchess of Shrewsbury +reproached him for not dining with her, Swift said that was not so soon done; +he expected more advances from ladies, especially duchesses. On another +occasion he was to have supped at Lady Ashburnham's, "but the drab did not +call for us in her coach, as she promised, but sent for us, and so I sent my +excuses." The arrogance was, however, often only on the surface. It is +evident that Swift was very kind in many cases. He felt deeply for Mrs. Long +in her misfortunes, living and dying in an obscure country town. On the last +illness of the poet Harrison he says, "I am very much afflicted for him, as he +is my own creature. . . . I was afraid to knock at the door; my mind misgave +me." He was "heartily sorry for poor Mrs. Parnell's death; she seemed to be +an excellent good-natured young woman, and I believe the poor lad is much +afflicted; they appeared to live perfectly well together." Afterwards he +helped Parnell by introducing him to Bolingbroke and Oxford. He found kind +words for Mrs. Manley in her illness, and Lady Ashburnham's death was +"extremely moving. . . . She was my greatest favourite, and I am in excessive +concern for her loss." Lastly, he was extraordinarily patient towards his +servant Patrick, who drank, stopped out at night, and in many ways tried +Swift's temper. There were good points about Patrick, but no doubt the great +consideration which Swift showed him was due in part to the fact that he was a +favourite of the ladies in Dublin, and had Mrs. Vanhomrigh to intercede for +him. + +But for the best example of the kindly side of Swift's nature, we must turn to +what he tells us in the Journal about Stella herself. The "little language" +which Swift used when writing to her was the language he employed when playing +with Stella as a little child at Moor Park. Thackeray, who was not much in +sympathy with Swift, said that he knew of "nothing more manly, more tender, +more exquisitely touching, than some of these notes." Swift says that when he +wrote plainly, he felt as if they were no longer alone, but "a bad scrawl is +so snug it looks like a PMD." In writing his fond and playful prattle, he +made up his mouth "just as if he were speaking it."[14] + +Though Mrs. Dingley is constantly associated with Stella in the affectionate +greetings in the Journal, she seems to have been included merely as a cloak to +enable him to express the more freely his affection for her companion. Such +phrases as "saucy girls," "sirrahs," "sauceboxes," and the like, are often +applied to both; and sometimes Swift certainly writes as if the one were as +dear to him as the other; thus we find, "Farewell, my dearest lives and +delights, I love you better than ever, if possible, as hope saved, I do, and +ever will. . . . I can count upon nothing, nor will, but upon MD's love and +kindness. . . . And so farewell, dearest MD, Stella, Dingley, Presto, all +together, now and for ever, all together." But as a rule, notwithstanding +Swift's caution, the greetings intended for Stella alone are easily +distinguishable in tone. He often refers to her weak eyes and delicate +health. Thus he writes, "The chocolate is a present, madam, for Stella. +Don't read this, you little rogue, with your little eyes; but give it to +Dingley, pray now; and I will write as plain as the skies." And again, "God +Almighty bless poor Stella, and her eyes and head: what shall we do to cure +them, poor dear life?" Or, "Now to Stella's little postscript; and I am +almost crazed that you vex yourself for not writing. Can't you dictate to +Dingley, and not strain your dear little eyes? I am sure 'tis the grief of my +soul to think you are out of order." They had been keeping his birthday; +Swift wished he had been with them, rather than in London, where he had no +manner of pleasure: "I say Amen with all my heart and vitals, that we may +never be asunder again ten days together while poor Presto lives." A few days +later he says, "I wish I were at Laracor, with dear charming MD," and again, +"Farewell, dearest beloved MD, and love poor poor Presto, who has not had one +happy day since he left you." "I will say no more, but beg you to be easy +till Fortune takes his course, and to believe MD's felicity is the great goal +I aim at in all my pursuits." "How does Stella look, Madam Dingley?" he asks; +"pretty well, a handsome young woman still? Will she pass in a crowd? Will +she make a figure in a country church?" Elsewhere he writes, on receipt of a +letter, "God Almighty bless poor dear Stella, and send her a great many +birthdays, all happy and healthy and wealthy, and with me ever together, and +never asunder again, unless by chance. . . . I can hardly imagine you absent +when I am reading your letter or writing to you. No, faith, you are just here +upon this little paper, and therefore I see and talk with you every evening +constantly, and sometimes in the morning." The letters lay under Swift's +pillow, and he fondled them as if he were caressing Stella's hand. + +Of Stella herself we naturally have no direct account in the Journal, but we +hear a good deal of her life in Ireland, and can picture what she was. Among +her friends in and about Trim and Laracor were Dr. Raymond, the vicar of Trim, +and his wife, the Garret Wesleys, the Percevals, and Mr. Warburton, Swift's +curate. At Dublin there were Archdeacon Walls and his family; Alderman +Stoyte, his wife and sister-in-law; Dean Sterne and the Irish Postmaster- +General, Isaac Manley. For years these friends formed a club which met in +Dublin at each other's houses, to sup and play cards ("ombre and claret, and +toasted oranges"), and we have frequent allusions to Stella's indifferent +play, and the money which she lost, much to Mrs. Dingley's chagrin: "Poor +Dingley fretted to see Stella lose that four and elevenpence t'other night." +Mrs. Dingley herself could hardly play well enough to hold the cards while +Stella went into the next room. If at dinner the mutton was underdone, and +"poor Stella cannot eat, poor dear rogue," then "Dingley is so vexed." Swift +was for ever urging Stella to walk and ride; she was "naturally a stout +walker," and "Dingley would do well enough if her petticoats were pinned up." +And we see Stella setting out on and returning from her ride, with her riband +and mask: "Ah, that riding to Laracor gives me short sighs as well as you," +he says; "all the days I have passed here have been dirt to those." + +If the Journal shows us some of Swift's less attractive qualities, it shows +still more how great a store of humour, tenderness, and affection there was in +him. In these letters we see his very soul; in his literary work we are +seldom moved to anything but admiration of his wit and genius. Such daily +outpourings could never have been written for publication, they were meant +only for one who understood him perfectly; and everything that we know of +Stella--her kindliness, her wit, her vivacity, her loyalty--shows that she was +worthy of the confidence. + + ---------- + + + +JOURNAL TO STELLA + + +LETTER 1.[1] + +CHESTER, Sept. 2, 1710. + +Joe[2] will give you an account of me till I got into the boat; after which +the rogues made a new bargain, and forced me to give them two crowns, and +talked as if we should not be able to overtake any ship: but in half an hour +we got to the yacht; for the ships lay by [to] wait for my Lord Lieutenant's +steward. We made our voyage in fifteen hours just. Last night I came to this +town, and shall leave it, I believe, on Monday. The first man I met in +Chester was Dr. Raymond.[3] He and Mrs. Raymond were here about levying a +fine, in order to have power to sell their estate. They have found everything +answer very well. They both desire to present their humble services to you: +they do not think of Ireland till next year. I got a fall off my horse, +riding here from Parkgate,[4] but no hurt; the horse understanding falls very +well, and lying quietly till I get up. My duty to the Bishop of Clogher.[5] +I saw him returning from Dunleary; but he saw not me. I take it ill he was +not at Convocation, and that I have not his name to my powers.[6] I beg you +will hold your resolution of going to Trim, and riding there as much as you +can. Let the Bishop of Clogher remind the Bishop of Killala[7] to send me a +letter, with one enclosed to the Bishop of Lichfield.[8] Let all who write to +me, enclose to Richard Steele, Esq., at his office at the Cockpit, near +Whitehall.[9] But not MD; I will pay for their letters at St. James's Coffee- +house,[10] that I may have them the sooner. My Lord Mountjoy[11] is now in +the humour that we should begin our journey this afternoon; so that I have +stole here again to finish this letter, which must be short or long +accordingly. I write this post to Mrs. Wesley,[12] and will tell her, that I +have taken care she may have her bill of one hundred and fifteen pounds +whenever she pleases to send for it; and in that case I desire you will send +it her enclosed and sealed, and have it ready so, in case she should send for +it: otherwise keep it. I will say no more till I hear whether I go to-day or +no: if I do, the letter is almost at an end. My cozen Abigail is grown +prodigiously old. God Almighty bless poo dee richar MD; and, for God's sake, +be merry, and get oo health. I am perfectly resolved to return as soon as I +have done my commission, whether it succeeds or no. I never went to England +with so little desire in my life. If Mrs. Curry[13] makes any difficulty +about the lodgings, I will quit them and pay her from July 9 last, and Mrs. +Brent[14] must write to Parvisol[15] with orders accordingly. The post is +come from London, and just going out; so I have only time to pray God to bless +poor richr MD FW FW MD MD ME ME ME. + + + +LETTER 2. + +LONDON, Sept. 9, 1710. + +Got here last Thursday,[1] after five days' travelling, weary the first, +almost dead the second, tolerable the third, and well enough the rest; and am +now glad of the fatigue, which has served for exercise; and I am at present +well enough. The Whigs were ravished to see me, and would lay hold on me as a +twig while they are drowning,[2] and the great men making me their clumsy +apologies, etc. But my Lord Treasurer[3] received me with a great deal of +coldness, which has enraged me so, I am almost vowing revenge. I have not yet +gone half my circle; but I find all my acquaintance just as I left them. I +hear my Lady Giffard[4] is much at Court, and Lady Wharton[5] was ridiculing +it t'other day; so I have lost a friend there. I have not yet seen her, nor +intend it; but I will contrive to see Stella's mother[6] some other way. I +writ to the Bishop of Clogher from Chester; and I now write to the Archbishop +of Dublin.[7] Everything is turning upside down; every Whig in great office +will, to a man, be infallibly put out; and we shall have such a winter as hath +not been seen in England. Everybody asks me, how I came to be so long in +Ireland, as naturally as if here were my being; but no soul offers to make it +so: and I protest I shall return to Dublin, and the Canal at Laracor,[8] with +more satisfaction than ever I did in my life. The Tatler[9] expects every day +to be turned out of his employment; and the Duke of Ormond,[10] they say, will +be Lieutenant of Ireland. I hope you are now peaceably in Presto's[11] +lodgings; but I resolve to turn you out by Christmas; in which time I shall +either do my business, or find it not to be done. Pray be at Trim by the time +this letter comes to you; and ride little Johnson, who must needs be now in +good case. I have begun this letter unusually, on the post-night, and have +already written to the Archbishop; and cannot lengthen this. Henceforth I +will write something every day to MD, and make it a sort of journal; and when +it is full, I will send it, whether MD writes or no; and so that will be +pretty: and I shall always be in conversation with MD, and MD with Presto. +Pray make Parvisol pay you the ten pounds immediately; so I ordered him. They +tell me I am grown fatter, and look better; and, on Monday, Jervas[12] is to +retouch my picture. I thought I saw Jack Temple[13] and his wife pass by me +to-day in their coach; but I took no notice of them. I am glad I have wholly +shaken off that family. Tell the Provost,[14] I have obeyed his commands to +the Duke of Ormond; or let it alone, if you please. I saw Jemmy Leigh[15] +just now at the Coffee-house, who asked after you with great kindness: he +talks of going in a fortnight to Ireland. My service to the Dean,[16] and +Mrs. Walls, and her Archdeacon.[17] Will Frankland's[18] wife is near +bringing to-bed, and I have promised to christen the child. I fancy you had +my Chester letter the Tuesday after I writ. I presented Dr. Raymond to Lord +Wharton[19] at Chester. Pray let me know when Joe gets his money.[20] It is +near ten, and I hate to send by the bellman.[21] MD shall have a longer +letter in a week, but I send this only to tell I am safe in London; and so +farewell, etc. + + + +LETTER 3. + +LONDON, Sept. 9, 1710. + +After seeing the Duke of Ormond, dining with Dr. Cockburn,[1] passing some +part of the afternoon with Sir Matthew Dudley[2] and Will Frankland, the rest +at St. James's Coffee-house, I came home, and writ to the Archbishop of +Dublin and MD, and am going to bed. I forgot to tell you, that I begged Will +Frankland to stand Manley's[3] friend with his father in this shaking season +for places. He told me, his father was in danger to be out; that several were +now soliciting for Manley's place; that he was accused of opening letters; +that Sir Thomas Frankland[4] would sacrifice everything to save himself; and +in that, I fear, Manley is undone, etc. + +l0. To-day I dined with Lord Mountjoy at Kensington; saw my mistress, Ophy +Butler's[5] wife, who is grown a little charmless. I sat till ten in the +evening with Addison and Steele: Steele will certainly lose his Gazetteer's +place, all the world detesting his engaging in parties.[6] At ten I went to +the Coffee-house, hoping to find Lord Radnor,[7] whom I had not seen. He was +there; and for an hour and a half we talked treason heartily against the +Whigs, their baseness and ingratitude. And I am come home, rolling +resentments in my mind, and framing schemes of revenge: full of which (having +written down some hints) I go to bed. I am afraid MD dined at home, because +it is Sunday; and there was the little half-pint of wine: for God's sake, be +good girls, and all will be well. Ben Tooke[8] was with me this morning. + +11. Seven, morning. I am rising to go to Jervas to finish my picture, and +'tis shaving-day, so good-morrow MD; but don't keep me now, for I can't stay; +and pray dine with the Dean, but don't lose your money. I long to hear from +you, etc.--Ten at night. I sat four hours this morning to Jervas, who has +given my picture quite another turn, and now approves it entirely; but we must +have the approbation of the town. If I were rich enough, I would get a copy +of it, and bring it over. Mr. Addison and I dined together at his lodgings, +and I sat with him part of this evening; and I am now come home to write an +hour. Patrick[9] observes, that the rabble here are much more inquisitive in +politics than in Ireland. Every day we expect changes, and the Parliament to +be dissolved. Lord Wharton expects every day to be out: he is working like a +horse for elections; and, in short, I never saw so great a ferment among all +sorts of people. I had a miserable letter from Joe last Saturday, telling me +Mr. Pratt[10] refuses payment of his money. I have told it Mr. Addison, and +will to Lord Wharton; but I fear with no success. However, I will do all I +can. + +12. To-day I presented Mr. Ford[11] to the Duke of Ormond; and paid my first +visit to Lord President,[12] with whom I had much discourse; but put him +always off when he began to talk of Lord Wharton in relation to me, till he +urged it: then I said, he knew I never expected anything from Lord Wharton, +and that Lord Wharton knew that I understood it so. He said that he had +written twice to Lord Wharton about me, who both times said nothing at all to +that part of his letter. I am advised not to meddle in the affair of the +First-Fruits, till this hurry is a little over, which still depends, and we +are all in the dark. Lord President told me he expects every day to be out, +and has done so these two months. I protest, upon my life, I am heartily +weary of this town, and wish I had never stirred. + +13. I went this morning to the city, to see Mr. Stratford the Hamburg +merchant, my old schoolfellow;[13] but calling at Bull's[14] on Ludgate Hill, +he forced me to his house at Hampstead to dinner among a great deal of ill +company; among the rest Mr. Hoadley,[15] the Whig clergyman, so famous for +acting the contrary part to Sacheverell:[16] but tomorrow I design again to +see Stratford. I was glad, however, to be at Hampstead, where I saw Lady +Lucy[17] and Moll Stanhope. I hear very unfortunate news of Mrs. Long;[18] +she and her comrade[19] have broke up house, and she is broke for good and +all, and is gone to the country: I should be extremely sorry if this be true. + +14. To-day, I saw Patty Rolt,[20] who heard I was in town; and I dined with +Stratford at a merchant's in the city, where I drank the first Tokay wine I +ever saw; and it is admirable, yet not to the degree I expected. Stratford is +worth a plum,[21] and is now lending the Government forty thousand pounds; yet +we were educated together at the same school and university.[22] We hear the +Chancellor[23] is to be suddenly out, and Sir Simon Harcourt[24] to succeed +him: I am come early home, not caring for the Coffee-house. + +15. To-day Mr. Addison, Colonel Freind,[25] and I, went to see the million +lottery[26] drawn at Guildhall. The jackanapes of bluecoat boys gave +themselves such airs in pulling out the tickets, and showed white hands open +to the company, to let us see there was no cheat. We dined at a country-house +near Chelsea, where Mr. Addison often retires; and to-night, at the Coffee- +house, we hear Sir Simon Harcourt is made Lord Keeper; so that now we expect +every moment the Parliament will be dissolved; but I forgot that this letter +will not go in three or four days, and that my news will be stale, which I +should therefore put in the last paragraph. Shall I send this letter before I +hear from MD, or shall I keep it to lengthen? I have not yet seen Stella's +mother, because I will not see Lady Giffard; but I will contrive to go there +when Lady Giffard is abroad. I forgot to mark my two former letters; but I +remember this is Number 3, and I have not yet had Number 1 from MD; but I +shall by Monday, which I reckon will be just a fortnight after you had my +first. I am resolved to bring over a great deal of china. I loved it +mightily to-day.[27] What shall I bring? + +16. Morning. Sir John Holland,[28] Comptroller of the Household, has sent to +desire my acquaintance: I have a mind to refuse him, because he is a Whig, +and will, I suppose, be out among the rest; but he is a man of worth and +learning. Tell me, do you like this journal way of writing? Is it not +tedious and dull? + +Night. I dined to-day with a cousin, a printer,[29] where Patty Rolt lodges, +and then came home, after a visit or two; and it has been a very insipid day. +Mrs. Long's misfortune is confirmed to me; bailiffs were in her house; she +retired to private lodgings; thence to the country, nobody knows where: her +friends leave letters at some inn, and they are carried to her; and she writes +answers without dating them from any place. I swear, it grieves me to the +soul. + +17. To-day I dined six miles out of town, with Will Pate,[30] the learned +woollen-draper; Mr. Stratford went with me; six miles here is nothing: we +left Pate after sunset, and were here before it was dark. This letter shall +go on Tuesday, whether I hear from MD or no. My health continues pretty well; +pray God Stella may give me a good account of hers! and I hope you are now at +Trim, or soon designing it. I was disappointed to-night: the fellow gave me +a letter, and I hoped to see little MD's hand; and it was only to invite me to +a venison pasty to-day: so I lost my pasty into the bargain. Pox on these +declining courtiers! Here is Mr. Brydges,[31] the Paymaster-General, desiring +my acquaintance; but I hear the Queen sent Lord Shrewsbury[32] to assure him +he may keep his place; and he promises me great assistance in the affair of +the First-Fruits. Well, I must turn over this leaf to-night, though the side +would hold another line; but pray consider this is a whole sheet; it holds a +plaguy deal, and you must be content to be weary; but I'll do so no more. Sir +Simon Harcourt is made Attorney-General, and not Lord Keeper. + +18. To-day I dined with Mr. Stratford at Mr. Addison's retirement near +Chelsea; then came to town; got home early, and began a letter to the +Tatler,[33] about the corruptions of style and writing, etc., and, having not +heard from you, am resolved this letter shall go to-night. Lord Wharton was +sent for to town in mighty haste, by the Duke of Devonshire:[34] they have +some project in hand; but it will not do, for every hour we expect a thorough +revolution, and that the Parliament will be dissolved. When you see Joe, tell +him Lord Wharton is too busy to mind any of his affairs; but I will get what +good offices I can from Mr. Addison, and will write to-day to Mr. Pratt; and +bid Joe not to be discouraged, for I am confident he will get the money under +any Government; but he must have patience. + +19. I have been scribbling this morning, and I believe shall hardly fill this +side to-day, but send it as it is; and it is good enough for naughty girls +that won't write to a body, and to a good boy like Presto. I thought to have +sent this to-night, but was kept by company, and could not; and, to say the +truth, I had a little mind to expect one post more for a letter from MD. +Yesterday at noon died the Earl of Anglesea,[35] the great support of the +Tories; so that employment of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland is again vacant. We +were to have been great friends, and I could hardly have a loss that could +grieve me more. The Bishop of Durham[36] died the same day. The Duke of +Ormond's daughter[37] was to visit me to-day at a third place by way of +advance,[38] and I am to return it to-morrow. I have had a letter from Lady +Berkeley, begging me for charity to come to Berkeley Castle, for company to my +lord,[39] who has been ill of a dropsy; but I cannot go, and must send my +excuse to-morrow. I am told that in a few hours there will be more removals. + +20. To-day I returned my visits to the Duke's daughters;[40] the insolent +drabs came up to my very mouth to salute me. Then I heard the report +confirmed of removals; my Lord President Somers; the Duke of Devonshire, Lord +Steward; and Mr. Boyle,[41] Secretary of State, are all turned out to-day. I +never remember such bold steps taken by a Court: I am almost shocked at it, +though I did not care if they were all hanged. We are astonished why the +Parliament is not yet dissolved, and why they keep a matter of that importance +to the last. We shall have a strange winter here, between the struggles of a +cunning provoked discarded party, and the triumphs of one in power; of both +which I shall be an indifferent spectator, and return very peaceably to +Ireland, when I have done my part in the affair I am entrusted with, whether +it succeeds or no. To-morrow I change my lodgings in Pall Mall for one in +Bury Street,[42] where I suppose I shall continue while I stay in London. If +anything happens tomorrow, I will add it.--Robin's Coffee-house.[43] We have +great news just now from Spain; Madrid taken, and Pampeluna. I am here ever +interrupted. + +21. I have just received your letter, which I will not answer now; God be +thanked all things are so well. I find you have not yet had my second: I had +a letter from Parvisol, who tells me he gave Mrs. Walls a bill of twenty +pounds for me, to be given to you; but you have not sent it. This night the +Parliament is dissolved: great news from Spain; King Charles and Stanhope are +at Madrid, and Count Staremberg has taken Pampeluna. Farewell. This is from +St. James's Coffee-house. I will begin my answer to your letter to-night, but +not send it this week. Pray tell me whether you like this journal way of +writing.--I don't like your reasons for not going to Trim. Parvisol tells me +he can sell your horse. Sell it, with a pox? Pray let him know that he shall +sell his soul as soon. What? sell anything that Stella loves, and may +sometimes ride? It is hers, and let her do as she pleases: pray let him know +this by the first that you know goes to Trim. Let him sell my grey, and be +hanged. + + + +LETTER 4. + +LONDON, Sept. 21, 1710. + +Here must I begin another letter, on a whole sheet, for fear saucy little MD +should be angry, and think MUCH that the paper is too LITTLE. I had your +letter this night, as told you just and no more in my last; for this must be +taken up in answering yours, saucebox. I believe I told you where I dined to- +day; and to-morrow I go out of town for two days to dine with the same company +on Sunday; Molesworth[1] the Florence Envoy, Stratford, and some others. I +heard to-day that a gentlewoman from Lady Giffard's house had been at the +Coffee-house to inquire for me. It was Stella's mother, I suppose. I shall +send her a penny-post letter[2] to-morrow, and contrive to see her without +hazarding seeing Lady Giffard, which I will not do until she begs my pardon. + +22. I dined to-day at Hampstead with Lady Lucy, etc., and when I got home +found a letter from Joe, with one enclosed to Lord Wharton, which I will send +to his Excellency, and second it as well as I can; but to talk of getting the +Queen's order is a jest. Things are in such a combustion here, that I am +advised not to meddle yet in the affair I am upon, which concerns the clergy +of a whole kingdom; and does he think anybody will trouble the Queen about +Joe? We shall, I hope, get a recommendation from the Lord Lieutenant to the +trustees for the linen business, and I hope that will do; and so I will write +to him in a few days, and he must have patience. This is an answer to part of +your letter as well as his. I lied; it is to-morrow I go to the country, and +I won't answer a bit more of your letter yet. + +23. Here is such a stir and bustle with this little MD of ours; I must be +writing every night; I can't go to bed without a word to them; I can't put out +my candle till I have bid them good-night: O Lord, O Lord! Well, I dined the +first time to-day, with Will Frankland and his fortune: she is not very +handsome. Did I not say I would go out of town to-day? I hate lying abroad +and clutter; I go tomorrow in Frankland's chariot, and come back at night. +Lady Berkeley has invited me to Berkeley Castle, and Lady Betty Germaine[3] to +Drayton in Northamptonshire; and I'll go to neither. Let me alone, I must +finish my pamphlet. I have sent a long letter to Bickerstaff:[4] let the +Bishop of Clogher smoke[5] it if he can. Well, I'll write to the Bishop of +Killala; but you might have told him how sudden and unexpected my journey was +though. Deuce take Lady S---; and if I know D---y, he is a rawboned-faced +fellow, not handsome, nor visibly so young as you say: she sacrifices two +thousand pounds a year, and keeps only six hundred. Well, you have had all my +land journey in my second letter, and so much for that. So, you have got into +Presto's lodgings; very fine, truly! We have had a fortnight of the most +glorious weather on earth, and still continues: I hope you have made the best +of it. Ballygall[6] will be a pure[7] good place for air, if Mrs. Ashe makes +good her promise. Stella writes like an emperor: I am afraid it hurts your +eyes; take care of that pray, pray, Mrs. Stella. Can't you do what you will +with your own horse? Pray don't let that puppy Parvisol sell him. Patrick is +drunk about three times a week, and I bear it, and he has got the better of +me; but one of these days I will positively turn him off to the wide world, +when none of you are by to intercede for him.--Stuff--how can I get her +husband into the Charter-house? get a ---- into the Charter-house.--Write +constantly! Why, sirrah, don't I write every day, and sometimes twice a day +to MD? Now I have answered all your letter, and the rest must be as it can +be: send me my bill. Tell Mrs. Brent what I say of the Charter-house. I +think this enough for one night; and so farewell till this time to-morrow. + +24. To-day I dined six miles out of town at Will Pate's, with Stratford, +Frankland, and the Molesworths,[8] and came home at night, and was weary and +lazy. I can say no more now, but good-night. + +25. I was so lazy to-day that I dined at next door,[9] and have sat at home +since six, writing to the Bishop of Clogher, Dean Sterne, and Mr. Manley: the +last, because I am in fear for him about his place, and have sent him my +opinion, what I and his other friends here think he ought to do. I hope he +will take it well. My advice was, to keep as much in favour as possible with +Sir Thomas Frankland, his master here. + +26. Smoke how I widen the margin by lying in bed when I write. My bed lies +on the wrong side for me, so that I am forced often to write when I am up. +Manley, you must know, has had people putting in for his place already; and +has been complained of for opening letters. Remember that last Sunday, +September 24, 1710, was as hot as midsummer. This was written in the morning; +it is now night, and Presto in bed. Here's a clutter, I have gotten MD's +second letter, and I must answer it here. I gave the bill to Tooke, and so-- +Well, I dined to-day with Sir John Holland the Comptroller, and sat with him +till eight; then came home, and sent my letters, and writ part of a +lampoon,[10] which goes on very slow: and now I am writing to saucy MD; no +wonder, indeed, good boys must write to naughty girls. I have not seen your +mother yet; my penny-post letter, I suppose, miscarried: I will write +another. Mr. S---- came to see me; and said M---- was going to the country +next morning with her husband (who I find is a surly brute); so I could only +desire my service to her. + +27. To-day all our company dined at Will Frankland's, with Steele and Addison +too. This is the first rainy day since I came to town; I cannot afford to +answer your letter yet. Morgan,[11] the puppy, writ me a long letter, to +desire I would recommend him for purse-bearer or secretary to the next Lord +Chancellor that would come with the next Governor. I will not answer him; but +beg you will say these words to his father Raymond,[12] or anybody that will +tell him: That Dr. Swift has received his letter; and would be very ready to +serve him, but cannot do it in what he desires, because he has no sort of +interest in the persons to be applied to. These words you may write, and let +Joe, or Mr. Warburton,[13] give them to him: a pox on him! However, it is by +these sort of ways that fools get preferment. I must not end yet, because I +cannot say good-night without losing a line, and then MD would scold; but now, +good-night. + +28. I have the finest piece of Brazil tobacco for Dingley that ever was +born.[14] You talk of Leigh; why, he won't be in Dublin these two months: he +goes to the country, then returns to London, to see how the world goes here in +Parliament. Good-night, sirrahs; no, no, not night; I writ this in the +morning, and looking carelessly I thought it had been of last night. I dined +to-day with Mrs. Barton[15] alone at her lodgings; where she told me for +certain, that Lady S---- was with child when she was last in England, and +pretended a tympany, and saw everybody; then disappeared for three weeks, her +tympany was gone, and she looked like a ghost, etc. No wonder she married +when she was so ill at containing. Connolly[16] is out; and Mr. Roberts in +his place, who loses a better here, but was formerly a Commissioner in +Ireland. That employment cost Connolly three thousand pounds to Lord Wharton; +so he has made one ill bargain in his life. + +29. I wish MD a merry Michaelmas. I dined with Mr. Addison, and Jervas the +painter, at Addison's country place; and then came home, and writ more to my +lampoon. I made a Tatler since I came: guess which it is, and whether the +Bishop of Clogher smokes it. I saw Mr. Sterne[17] to-day: he will do as you +order, and I will give him chocolate for Stella's health. He goes not these +three weeks. I wish I could send it some other way. So now to your letter, +brave boys. I don't like your way of saving shillings: nothing vexes me but +that it does not make Stella a coward in a coach.[18] I don't think any lady's +advice about my ear signifies twopence: however I will, in compliance to you, +ask Dr. Cockburn. Radcliffe[19] I know not, and Barnard[20] I never see. +Walls will certainly be stingier for seven years, upon pretence of his +robbery. So Stella puns again; why, 'tis well enough; but I'll not second it, +though I could make a dozen: I never thought of a pun since I left Ireland.-- +Bishop of Clogher's bill? Why, he paid it to me; do you think I was such a +fool to go without it? As for the four shillings, I will give you a bill on +Parvisol for it on t'other side of this paper; and pray tear off the two +letters I shall write to him and Joe, or let Dingley transcribe and send them; +though that to Parvisol, I believe, he must have my hand for. No, no, I'll +eat no grapes; I ate about six the other day at Sir John Holland's; but would +not give sixpence for a thousand, they are so bad this year. Yes, faith, I +hope in God Presto and MD will be together this time twelvemonth. What then? +Last year I suppose I was at Laracor; but next I hope to eat my Michaelmas +goose at my two little gooses' lodgings. I drink no aile (I suppose you mean +ale); but yet good wine every day, of five and six shillings a bottle. O +Lord, how much Stella writes! pray don't carry that too far, young women, but +be temperate, to hold out. To-morrow I go to Mr. Harley.[21] Why, small hopes +from the Duke of Ormond: he loves me very well, I believe, and would, in my +turn, give me something to make me easy; and I have good interest among his +best friends. But I don't think of anything further than the business I am +upon. You see I writ to Manley before I had your letter, and I fear he will +be out. Yes, Mrs. Owl, Bligh's corpse[22] came to Chester when I was there; +and I told you so in my letter, or forgot it. I lodge in Bury Street, where I +removed a week ago. I have the first floor, a dining-room, and bed-chamber, +at eight shillings a week; plaguy deep, but I spend nothing for eating, never +go to a tavern, and very seldom in a coach; yet after all it will be +expensive. Why do you trouble yourself, Mistress Stella, about my instrument? +I have the same the Archbishop gave me; and it is as good now the bishops are +away. The Dean friendly! the Dean be poxed: a great piece of friendship +indeed, what you heard him tell the Bishop of Clogher; I wonder he had the +face to talk so: but he lent me money, and that's enough. Faith, I would not +send this these four days, only for writing to Joe and Parvisol. Tell the +Dean that when the bishops send me any packets, they must not write to me at +Mr. Steele's; but direct for Mr. Steele, at his office at the Cockpit, and let +the enclosed be directed for me: that mistake cost me eighteenpence the other +day. + +30. I dined with Stratford to-day, but am not to see Mr. Harley till +Wednesday: it is late, and I send this before there is occasion for the bell; +because I would have Joe have his letter, and Parvisol too; which you must so +contrive as not to cost them double postage. I can say no more, but that I +am, etc. + + + +LETTER 5. + +LONDON, Sept. 30, 1710. + +Han't I brought myself into a fine praemunire,[1] to begin writing letters in +whole sheets? and now I dare not leave it off. I cannot tell whether you like +these journal letters: I believe they would be dull to me to read them over; +but, perhaps, little MD is pleased to know how Presto passes his time in her +absence. I always begin my last the same day I ended my former. I told you +where I dined to-day at a tavern with Stratford: Lewis,[2] who is a great +favourite of Harley's, was to have been with us; but he was hurried to Hampton +Court, and sent his excuse; and that next Wednesday he would introduce me to +Harley. 'Tis good to see what a lamentable confession the Whigs all make me +of my ill usage: but I mind them not. I am already represented to Harley as +a discontented person, that was used ill for not being Whig enough; and I hope +for good usage from him. The Tories drily tell me, I may make my fortune, if +I please; but I do not understand them--or rather, I do understand them. + +Oct. 1. To-day I dined at Molesworth's, the Florence Envoy; and sat this +evening with my friend Darteneuf,[3] whom you have heard me talk of; the +greatest punner of this town next myself. Have you smoked the Tatler that I +writ?[4] It is much liked here, and I think it a pure[5] one. To-morrow I go +with Delaval,[6] the Portugal Envoy, to dine with Lord Halifax near Hampton +Court.[7] Your Manley's brother, a Parliament-man here, has gotten an +employment;[8] and I am informed uses much interest to preserve his brother: +and, to-day, I spoke to the elder Frankland to engage his father (Postmaster +here); and I hope he will be safe, although he is cruelly hated by all the +Tories of Ireland. I have almost finished my lampoon, and will print it for +revenge on a certain great person.[9] It has cost me but three shillings in +meat and drink since I came here, as thin as the town is. I laugh to see +myself so disengaged in these revolutions. Well, I must leave off, and go +write to Sir John Stanley,[10] to desire him to engage Lady Hyde as my +mistress to engage Lord Hyde[11] in favour of Mr. Pratt.[12] + +2. Lord Halifax was at Hampton Court at his lodgings, and I dined with him +there with Methuen,[13] and Delaval, and the late Attorney-General.[14] I went +to the Drawing-room before dinner (for the Queen was at Hampton Court), and +expected to see nobody; but I met acquaintance enough. I walked in the +gardens, saw the cartoons of Raphael, and other things; and with great +difficulty got from Lord Halifax, who would have kept me to-morrow to show me +his house and park, and improvements. We left Hampton Court at sunset, and +got here in a chariot and two horses time enough by starlight. That's +something charms me mightily about London; that you go dine a dozen miles off +in October, stay all day, and return so quickly: you cannot do anything like +this in Dublin.[15] I writ a second penny post letter to your mother, and hear +nothing of her. Did I tell you that Earl Berkeley died last Sunday was +se'nnight, at Berkeley Castle, of a dropsy? Lord Halifax began a health to me +to-day; it was the Resurrection of the Whigs, which I refused unless he would +add their Reformation too and I told him he was the only Whig in England I +loved, or had any good opinion of. + +3. This morning Stella's sister[16] came to me with a letter from her mother, +who is at Sheen; but will soon be in town, and will call to see me: she gave +me a bottle of palsy water,[17] a small one, and desired I would send it you +by the first convenience, as I will; and she promises a quart bottle of the +same: your sister looked very well, and seems a good modest sort of girl. I +went then to Mr. Lewis, first secretary to Lord Dartmouth,[18] and favourite +to Mr. Harley, who is to introduce me to-morrow morning. Lewis had with him +one Mr. Dyot,[19] a Justice of Peace, worth twenty thousand pounds, a +Commissioner of the Stamp Office, and married to a sister of Sir Philip +Meadows,[20] Envoy to the Emperor. I tell you this, because it is odds but +this Mr. Dyot will be hanged; for he is discovered to have counterfeited +stamped paper, in which he was a Commissioner; and, with his accomplices, has +cheated the Queen of a hundred thousand pounds. You will hear of it before +this come to you, but may be not so particularly; and it is a very odd +accident in such a man. Smoke Presto writing news to MD. I dined to-day with +Lord Mountjoy at Kensington, and walked from thence this evening to town like +an emperor. Remember that yesterday, October 2, was a cruel hard frost, with +ice; and six days ago I was dying with heat. As thin as the town is, I have +more dinners than ever; and am asked this month by some people, without being +able to come for pre-engagements. Well, but I should write plainer, when I +consider Stella cannot read,[21] and Dingley is not so skilful at my ugly +hand. I had tonight a letter from Mr. Pratt, who tells me Joe will have his +money when there are trustees appointed by the Lord Lieutenant for receiving +and disposing the linen fund; and whenever those trustees are appointed, I +will solicit whoever is Lord Lieutenant, and am in no fear of succeeding. So +pray tell or write him word, and bid him not be cast down; for Ned +Southwell[22] and Mr. Addison both think Pratt in the right. Don't lose your +money at Manley's to-night, sirrahs. + +4. After I had put out my candle last night, my landlady came into my room, +with a servant of Lord Halifax, to desire I would go dine with him at his +house near Hampton Court; but I sent him word, I had business of great +importance that hindered me, etc. And to-day I was brought privately to Mr. +Harley, who received me with the greatest respect and kindness imaginable: he +has appointed me an hour on Saturday at four, afternoon, when I will open my +business to him; which expression I would not use if I were a woman. I know +you smoked it; but I did not till I writ it. I dined to-day at Mr. Delaval's, +the Envoy for Portugal, with Nic Rowe[23] the poet, and other friends; and I +gave my lampoon to be printed. I have more mischief in my heart; and I think +it shall go round with them all, as this hits, and I can find hints. I am +certain I answered your 2d letter, and yet I do not find it here. I suppose +it was in my 4th: and why N. 2d, 3d; is it not enough to say, as I do, 1, 2, +3? etc. I am going to work at another Tatler:[24] I'll be far enough but I +say the same thing over two or three times, just as I do when I am talking to +little MD; but what care I? they can read it as easily as I can write it: I +think I have brought these lines pretty straight again. I fear it will be +long before I finish two sides at this rate. Pray, dear MD, when I +occasionally give you any little commission mixed with my letters, don't +forget it, as that to Morgan and Joe, etc., for I write just as I can +remember, otherwise I would put them all together. I was to visit Mr. Sterne +to-day, and give him your commission about handkerchiefs: that of chocolate I +will do myself, and send it him when he goes, and you'll pay me when the +GIVER'S BREAD,[25] etc. To-night I will read a pamphlet, to amuse myself. +God preserve your dear healths! + +5. This morning Delaval came to see me, and we went together to +Kneller's,[26] who was not in town. In the way we met the electors for +Parliament-men:[27] and the rabble came about our coach, crying, "A Colt, a +Stanhope," etc. We were afraid of a dead cat, or our glasses broken, and so +were always of their side. I dined again at Delaval's; and in the evening, at +the Coffee-house, heard Sir Andrew Fountaine[28] was come to town. This has +been but an insipid sort of day, and I have nothing to remark upon it worth +threepence: I hope MD had a better, with the Dean, the Bishop, or Mrs. +Walls.[29] Why, the reason you lost four and eightpence last night but one at +Manley's was, because you played bad games: I took notice of six that you had +ten to one against you: Would any but a mad lady go out twice upon Manilio; +Basto, and two small diamonds?[30] Then in that game of spades, you blundered +when you had ten-ace; I never saw the like of you: and now you are in a huff +because I tell you this. Well, here's two and eightpence halfpenny towards +your loss. + +6. Sir Andrew Fountaine came this morning, and caught me writing in bed. I +went into the city with him; and we dined at the Chop-house with Will +Pate,[31] the learned woollen-draper: then we sauntered at China-shops[32] +and booksellers; went to the tavern, drank two pints of white wine, and never +parted till ten: and now I am come home, and must copy out some papers I +intend for Mr. Harley, whom I am to see, as I told you, to-morrow afternoon; +so that this night I shall say little to MD, but that I heartily wish myself +with them, and will come as soon as I either fail, or compass my business. We +now hear daily of elections; and, in a list I saw yesterday of about twenty, +there are seven or eight more Tories than in the last Parliament; so that I +believe they need not fear a majority, with the help of those who will vote as +the Court pleases. But I have been told that Mr. Harley himself would not let +the Tories be too numerous, for fear they should be insolent, and kick against +him; and for that reason they have kept several Whigs in employments, who +expected to be turned out every day; as Sir John Holland the Comptroller, and +many others. And so get you gone to your cards, and your claret and orange, +at the Dean's; and I'll go write. + +7. I wonder when this letter will be finished: it must go by Tuesday, that's +certain; and if I have one from MD before, I will not answer it, that's as +certain too. 'Tis now morning, and I did not finish my papers for Mr. Harley +last night; for you must understand Presto was sleepy, and made blunders and +blots. Very pretty that I must be writing to young women in a morning fresh +and fasting, faith. Well, good-morrow to you; and so I go to business, and +lay aside this paper till night, sirrahs.--At night. Jack How[33] told Harley +that if there were a lower place in hell than another, it was reserved for his +porter, who tells lies so gravely, and with so civil a manner. This porter I +have had to deal with, going this evening at four to visit Mr. Harley, by his +own appointment. But the fellow told me no lie, though I suspected every word +he said. He told me his master was just gone to dinner, with much company, +and desired I would come an hour hence: which I did, expecting to hear Mr. +Harley was gone out; but they had just done dinner. Mr. Harley came out to +me, brought me in, and presented to me his son-in-law Lord Doblane[34] (or +some such name) and his own son,[35] and, among others, Will Penn[36] the +Quaker: we sat two hours drinking as good wine as you do; and two hours more +he and I alone; where he heard me tell my business; entered into it with all +kindness; asked for my powers, and read them; and read likewise a memorial[37] +I had drawn up, and put it in his pocket to show the Queen; told me the +measures he would take; and, in short, said everything I could wish: told me, +he must bring Mr. St. John[38] (Secretary of State) and me acquainted; and +spoke so many things of personal kindness and esteem for me, that I am +inclined half to believe what some friends have told me, that he would do +everything to bring me over. He has desired to dine with me (what a comical +mistake was that!). I mean he has desired me to dine with him on Tuesday; and +after four hours being with him, set me down at St. James's Coffee-house in a +hackney-coach. All this is odd and comical, if you consider him and me. He +knew my Christian name very well. I could not forbear saying thus much upon +this matter, although you will think it tedious. But I'll tell you; you must +know, 'tis fatal[39] to me to be a scoundrel and a prince the same day: for, +being to see him at four, I could not engage myself to dine at any friend's; +so I went to Tooke,[40] to give him a ballad, and dine with him; but he was +not at home: so I was forced to go to a blind[41] chop-house, and dine for +tenpence upon gill-ale,[42] bad broth, and three chops of mutton; and then go +reeking from thence to the First Minister of State. And now I am going in +charity to send Steele a Tatler, who is very low of late. I think I am +civiller than I used to be; and have not used the expression of "you in +Ireland" and "we in England" as I did when I was here before, to your great +indignation.--They may talk of the you know what;[43] but, gad, if it had not +been for that, I should never have been able to get the access I have had; and +if that helps me to succeed, then that same thing will be serviceable to the +Church. But how far we must depend upon new friends, I have learnt by long +practice, though I think among great Ministers, they are just as good as old +ones. And so I think this important day has made a great hole in this side of +the paper; and the fiddle-faddles of tomorrow and Monday will make up the +rest; and, besides, I shall see Harley on Tuesday before this letter goes. + +8. I must tell you a great piece of refinement[44] of Harley. He charged me +to come to him often: I told him I was loth to trouble him in so much +business as he had, and desired I might have leave to come at his levee; which +he immediately refused, and said, that was not a place for friends to come to. +'Tis now but morning; and I have got a foolish trick, I must say something to +MD when I wake, and wish them a good-morrow; for this is not a shaving-day, +Sunday, so I have time enough: but get you gone, you rogues, I must go write: +Yes, 'twill vex me to the blood if any of these long letters +should miscarry: if they do, I will shrink to half-sheets again; but then +what will you do to make up the journal? there will be ten days of Presto's +life lost; and that will be a sad thing, faith and troth.--At night. I was at +a loss today for a dinner, unless I would have gone a great way, so I dined +with some friends that board hereabout,[45] as a spunger;[46] and this evening +Sir Andrew Fountaine would needs have me go to the tavern; where, for two +bottles of wine, Portugal and Florence, among three of us, we had sixteen +shillings to pay; but if ever he catches me so again, I'll spend as many +pounds: and therefore I have it among my extraordinaries but we had a neck of +mutton dressed a la Maintenon, that the dog could not eat: and it is now +twelve o'clock, and I must go sleep. I hope this letter will go before I have +MD's third. Do you believe me? and yet, faith, I long for MD's third too and +yet I would have it to say, that I writ five for two. I am not fond at all of +St. James's Coffee-house,[47] as I used to be. I hope it will mend in winter; +but now they are all out of town at elections, or not come from their country +houses. Yesterday I was going with Dr. Garth[48] to dine with Charles +Main,[49] near the Tower, who has an employment there: he is of Ireland; the +Bishop of Clogher knows him well: an honest, good-natured fellow, a thorough +hearty laugher, mightily beloved by the men of wit: his mistress is never +above a cook-maid. And so, good-night, etc. + +9. I dined to-day at Sir John Stanley's; my Lady Stanley[50] is one of my +favourites: I have as many here as the Bishop of Killala has in Ireland. I +am thinking what scurvy company I shall be to MD when I come back: they know +everything of me already: I will tell you no more, or I shall have nothing to +say, no story to tell, nor any kind of thing. I was very uneasy last night +with ugly, nasty, filthy wine, that turned sour on my stomach. I must go to +the tavern: oh, but I told you that before. To-morrow I dine at Harley's, +and will finish this letter at my return; but I can write no more now, because +of the Archbishop: faith, 'tis true; for I am going now to write to him an +account of what I have done in the business with Harley:[51] and, faith, young +women, I'll tell you what you must count upon, that I never will write one +word on the third side in these long letters. + +10. Poor MD's letter was lying so huddled up among papers, I could not find +it: I mean poor Presto's letter. Well, I dined with Mr. Harley to-day, and +hope some things will be done; but I must say no more: and this letter must +be sent to the post-house, and not by the bellman.[52] I am to dine again +there on Sunday next; I hope to some good issue. And so now, soon as ever I +can in bed, I must begin my 6th to MD as gravely as if I had not written a +word this month: fine doings, faith! Methinks I don't write as I should, +because I am not in bed: see the ugly wide lines. God Almighty ever bless +you, etc. + +Faith, this is a whole treatise; I'll go reckon the lines on the other sides. +I've reckoned them.[53] + + + +LETTER 6. + +LONDON, Oct. 10, 1710. + +So, as I told you just now in the letter I sent half an hour ago, I dined with +Mr. Harley to-day, who presented me to the Attorney-General, Sir Simon +Harcourt, with much compliment on all sides, etc. Harley told me he had shown +my memorial to the Queen, and seconded it very heartily; and he desires me to +dine with him again on Sunday, when he promises to settle it with Her Majesty, +before she names a Governor:[1] and I protest I am in hopes it will be done, +all but the forms, by that time; for he loves the Church. This is a popular +thing, and he would not have a Governor share in it; and, besides, I am told +by all hands, he has a mind to gain me over. But in the letter I writ last +post (yesterday) to the Archbishop, I did not tell him a syllable of what Mr. +Harley said to me last night, because he charged me to keep it secret; so I +would not tell it to you, but that, before this goes, I hope the secret will +be over. I am now writing my poetical "Description of a Shower in London," +and will send it to the Tatler.[2] This is the last sheet of a whole quire I +have written since I came to town. Pray, now it comes into my head, will you, +when you go to Mrs. Walls, contrive to know whether Mrs. Wesley[3] be in town, +and still at her brother's, and how she is in health, and whether she stays in +town. I writ to her from Chester, to know what I should do with her note; and +I believe the poor woman is afraid to write to me: so I must go to my +business, etc. + +11. To-day at last I dined with Lord Mountrath,[4] and carried Lord Mountjoy, +and Sir Andrew Fountaine with me; and was looking over them at ombre till +eleven this evening like a fool: they played running ombre half-crowns; and +Sir Andrew Fountaine won eight guineas of Mr. Coote;[5] so I am come home +late, and will say but little to MD this night. I have gotten half a bushel +of coals, and Patrick, the extravagant whelp, had a fire ready for me; but I +picked off the coals before I went to bed. It is a sign London is now an +empty place, when it will not furnish me with matter for above five or six +lines in a day. Did you smoke in my last how I told you the very day and the +place you were playing at ombre? But I interlined and altered a little, after +I had received a letter from Mr. Manley, that said you were at it in his +house, while he was writing to me; but without his help I guessed within one +day. Your town is certainly much more sociable than ours. I have not seen +your mother yet, etc. + +12. I dined to-day with Dr. Garth and Mr. Addison, at the Devil Tavern[6] by +Temple Bar, and Garth treated; and 'tis well I dine every day, else I should +be longer making out my letters: for we are yet in a very dull state, only +inquiring every day after new elections, where the Tories carry it among the +new members six to one. Mr. Addison's election[7] has passed easy and +undisputed; and I believe if he had a mind to be chosen king, he would hardly +be refused. An odd accident has happened at Colchester: one Captain +Lavallin,[8] coming from Flanders or Spain, found his wife with child by a +clerk of Doctors' Commons, whose trade, you know, it is to prevent +fornications: and this clerk was the very same fellow that made the discovery +of Dyot's[9] counterfeiting the stamp-paper. Lavallin has been this fortnight +hunting after the clerk, to kill him; but the fellow was constantly employed +at the Treasury, about the discovery he made: the wife had made a shift to +patch up the business, alleging that the clerk had told her her husband was +dead and other excuses; but t'other day somebody told Lavallin his wife had +intrigues before he married her: upon which he goes down in a rage, shoots +his wife through the head, then falls on his sword; and, to make the matter +sure, at the same time discharges a pistol through his own head, and died on +the spot, his wife surviving him about two hours, but in what circumstances of +mind and body is terrible to imagine. I have finished my poem on the +"Shower," all but the beginning; and am going on with my Tatler. They have +fixed about fifty things on me since I came: I have printed but three.[10] +One advantage I get by writing to you daily, or rather you get, is, that I +shall remember not to write the same things twice; and yet, I fear, I have +done it often already: but I will mind and confine myself to the accidents of +the day; and so get you gone to ombre, and be good girls, and save your money, +and be rich against Presto comes, and write to me now and then: I am thinking +it would be a pretty thing to hear sometimes from saucy MD; but do not hurt +your eyes, Stella, I charge you. + +13. O Lord, here is but a trifle of my letter written yet; what shall Presto +do for prattle-prattle, to entertain MD? The talk now grows fresher of the +Duke of Ormond for Ireland; though Mr. Addison says he hears it will be in +commission, and Lord Galway[11] one. These letters of mine are a sort of +journal, where matters open by degrees; and, as I tell true or false, you will +find by the event whether my intelligence be good; but I do not care twopence +whether it be or no.--At night. To-day I was all about St. Paul's, and up at +the top like a fool, with Sir Andrew Fountaine and two more; and spent seven +shillings for my dinner like a puppy: this is the second time he has served +me so; but I will never do it again, though all mankind should persuade me, +unconsidering puppies! There is a young fellow here in town we are all fond +of, and about a year or two come from the University, one Harrison,[12] a +little pretty fellow, with a great deal of wit, good sense, and good nature; +has written some mighty pretty things; that in your 6th Miscellanea,[13] about +the Sprig of an Orange, is his: he has nothing to live on but being governor +to one of the Duke of Queensberry's[14] sons for forty pounds a year. The +fine fellows are always inviting him to the tavern, and make him pay his club. +Henley[15] is a great crony of his: they are often at the tavern at six or +seven shillings reckoning, and he always makes the poor lad pay his full +share. A colonel and a lord were at him and me the same way to-night: I +absolutely refused, and made Harrison lag behind, and persuaded him not to go +to them. I tell you this, because I find all rich fellows have that humour of +using all people without any consideration of their fortunes; but I will see +them rot before they shall serve me so. Lord Halifax is always teasing me to +go down to his country house, which will cost me a guinea to his servants, and +twelve shillings coach-hire; and he shall be hanged first. Is not this a +plaguy silly story? But I am vexed at the heart; for I love the young fellow, +and am resolved to stir up people to do something for him: he is a Whig, and +I will put him upon some of my cast Whigs; for I have done with them; and they +have, I hope, done with this kingdom for our time. They were sure of the four +members for London above all places, and they have lost three in the four.[16] +Sir Richard Onslow,[17] we hear, has lost for Surrey; and they are overthrown +in most places. Lookee, gentlewomen, if I write long letters, I must write +you news and stuff, unless I send you my verses; and some I dare not; and +those on the "Shower in London" I have sent to the Tatler, and you may see +them in Ireland. I fancy you will smoke me in the Tatler I am going to write; +for I believe I have told you the hint. I had a letter sent me tonight from +Sir Matthew Dudley, and found it on my table when I came in. Because it is +extraordinary, I will transcribe it from beginning to end. It is as follows: +"Is the Devil in you? Oct. 13, 1710." I would have answered every particular +passage in it, only I wanted time. Here is enough for to-night, such as it +is, etc. + +14. Is that tobacco at the top of the paper,[18] or what? I do not remember +I slobbered. Lord, I dreamt of Stella, etc., so confusedly last night, and +that we saw Dean Bolton[19] and Sterne[20] go into a shop: and she bid me +call them to her, and they proved to be two parsons I know not; and I walked +without till she was shifting, and such stuff, mixed with much melancholy and +uneasiness, and things not as they should be, and I know not how: and it is +now an ugly gloomy morning.--At night. Mr. Addison and I dined with Ned +Southwell, and walked in the Park; and at the Coffee-house I found a letter +from the Bishop of Clogher, and a packet from MD. I opened the Bishop's +letter; but put up MD's, and visited a lady just come to town; and am now got +into bed, and going to open your little letter: and God send I may find MD +well, and happy, and merry, and that they love Presto as they do fires. Oh, I +will not open it yet! yes I will! no I will not! I am going; I cannot stay +till I turn over.[21] What shall I do? My fingers itch; and now I have it in +my left hand; and now I will open it this very moment.--I have just got it, +and am cracking the seal, and cannot imagine what is in it; I fear only some +letter from a bishop, and it comes too late; I shall employ nobody's credit +but my own. Well, I see though-- Pshaw, 'tis from Sir Andrew Fountaine. +What, another! I fancy that's from Mrs. Barton;[22] she told me she would +write to me; but she writes a better hand than this: I wish you would +inquire; it must be at Dawson's[23] office at the Castle. I fear this is from +Patty Rolt, by the scrawl. Well, I will read MD's letter. Ah, no; it is from +poor Lady Berkeley, to invite me to Berkeley Castle this winter; and now it +grieves my heart: she says, she hopes my lord is in a fair way of +recovery;[24] poor lady! Well, now I go to MD's letter: faith, it is all +right; I hoped it was wrong. Your letter, N.3, that I have now received, is +dated Sept. 26; and Manley's letter, that I had five days ago, was dated Oct. +3, that's a fortnight difference: I doubt it has lain in Steele's office, and +he forgot. Well, there's an end of that: he is turned out of his place;[25] +and you must desire those who send me packets, to enclose them in a paper +directed to Mr. Addison, at St. James's Coffee-house: not common letters, but +packets: the Bishop of Clogher may mention it to the Archbishop when he sees +him. As for your letter, it makes me mad: slidikins, I have been the best +boy in Christendom, and you come with your two eggs a penny.--Well; but stay, +I will look over my book: adad, I think there was a chasm between my N.2 and +N.3. Faith, I will not promise to write to you every week; but I will write +every night, and when it is full I will send it; that will be once in ten +days, and that will be often enough: and if you begin to take up the way of +writing to Presto, only because it is Tuesday, a Monday bedad it will grow a +task; but write when you have a mind.--No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no--Agad, +agad, agad, agad, agad, agad; no, poor Stellakins.[26] Slids, I would the +horse were in your--chamber! Have not I ordered Parvisol to obey your +directions about him? And han't I said in my former letters that you may +pickle him, and boil him, if you will? What do you trouble me about your +horses for? Have I anything to do with them?--Revolutions a hindrance to me +in my business? Revolutions to me in my business? If it were not for the +revolutions, I could do nothing at all; and now I have all hopes possible, +though one is certain of nothing; but to-morrow I am to have an answer, and am +promised an effectual one. I suppose I have said enough in this and a former +letter how I stand with new people; ten times better than ever I did with the +old; forty times more caressed. I am to dine to-morrow at Mr. Harley's; and +if he continues as he has begun, no man has been ever better treated by +another. What you say about Stella's mother, I have spoken enough to it +already. I believe she is not in town; for I have not yet seen her. My +lampoon is cried up to the skies; but nobody suspects me for it, except Sir +Andrew Fountaine: at least they say nothing of it to me. Did not I tell you +of a great man who received me very coldly?[27] That's he; but say nothing; +'twas only a little revenge. I will remember to bring it over. The Bishop of +Clogher has smoked my Tatler,[28] about shortening of words, etc. But, God +So![29] etc. + +15. I will write plainer if I can remember it; for Stella must not spoil her +eyes, and Dingley can't read my hand very well; and I am afraid my letters are +too long: then you must suppose one to be two, and read them at twice. I +dined to-day with Mr. Harley: Mr. Prior[30] dined with us. He has left my +memorial with the Queen, who has consented to give the First-Fruits and +Twentieth Parts,[31] and will, we hope, declare it to-morrow in the Cabinet. +But I beg you to tell it to no person alive; for so I am ordered, till in +public: and I hope to get something of greater value. After dinner came in +Lord Peterborow:[32] we renewed our acquaintance, and he grew mightily fond +of me. They began to talk of a paper of verses called "Sid Hamet." Mr. +Harley repeated part, and then pulled them out, and gave them to a gentleman +at the table to read, though they had all read them often. Lord Peterborow +would let nobody read them but himself: so he did; and Mr. Harley bobbed[33] +me at every line, to take notice of the beauties. Prior rallied Lord +Peterborow for author of them; and Lord Peterborow said he knew them to be +his; and Prior then turned it upon me, and I on him. I am not guessed at all +in town to be the author; yet so it is: but that is a secret only to you.[34] +Ten to one whether you see them in Ireland; yet here they run prodigiously. +Harley presented me to Lord President of Scotland,[35] and Mr. Benson,[36] +Lord of the Treasury. Prior and I came away at nine, and sat at the +Smyrna[37] till eleven, receiving acquaintance. + +16. This morning early I went in a chair, and Patrick before it, to Mr. +Harley, to give him another copy of my memorial, as he desired; but he was +full of business, going to the Queen, and I could not see him; but he desired +I would send up the paper, and excused himself upon his hurry. I was a little +baulked; but they tell me it is nothing. I shall judge by next visit. I +tipped his porter with half a crown; and so I am well there for a time at +least. I dined at Stratford's in the City, and had Burgundy and Tokay: came +back afoot like a scoundrel: then went with Mr. Addison and supped with Lord +Mountjoy, which made me sick all night. I forgot that I bought six pounds of +chocolate for Stella, and a little wooden box; and I have a great piece of +Brazil tobacco for Dingley,[38] and a bottle of palsy-water[39] for Stella: +all which, with the two handkerchiefs that Mr. Sterne has bought, and you must +pay him for, will be put in the box, directed to Mrs. Curry's, and sent by Dr. +Hawkshaw,[40] whom I have not seen; but Sterne has undertaken it. The +chocolate is a present, madam, for Stella. Don't read this, you little rogue, +with your little eyes; but give it to Dingley, pray now; and I will write as +plain as the skies: and let Dingley write Stella's part, and Stella dictate +to her, when she apprehends her eyes, etc. + +17. This letter should have gone this post, if I had not been taken up with +business, and two nights being late out; so it must stay till Thursday. I +dined to-day with your Mr. Sterne,[41] by invitation, and drank Irish +wine;[42] but, before we parted, there came in the prince of puppies, Colonel +Edgworth;[43] so I went away. This day came out the Tatler, made up wholly of +my "Shower," and a preface to it. They say it is the best thing I ever writ, +and I think so too. I suppose the Bishop of Clogher will show it you. Pray +tell me how you like it. Tooke is going on with my Miscellany.[44] I'd give a +penny the letter to the Bishop of Killaloe[45] was in it: 'twould do him +honour. Could not you contrive to say, you hear they are printing my things +together; and that you with the bookseller had that letter among the rest: +but don't say anything of it as from me. I forget whether it was good or no; +but only having heard it much commended, perhaps it may deserve it. Well, I +have to-morrow to finish this letter in, and then I will send it next day. I +am so vexed that you should write your third to me, when you had but my +second, and I had written five, which now I hope you have all: and so I tell +you, you are saucy, little, pretty, dear rogues, etc. + +18. To-day I dined, by invitation, with Stratford and others, at a young +merchant's in the City, with Hermitage and Tokay, and stayed till nine, and am +now come home. And that dog Patrick is abroad, and drinking, and I cannot I +get my night-gown. I have a mind to turn that puppy away: he has been drunk +ten times in three weeks. But I han't time to say more; so good-night, etc. + +19. I am come home from dining in the city with Mr. Addison, at a merchant's; +and just now, at the Coffee-house, we have notice that the Duke of Ormond was +this day declared Lord Lieutenant at Hampton Court, in Council. I have not +seen Mr. Harley since; but hope the affair is done about First-Fruits. I will +see him, if possible, to-morrow morning; but this goes to-night. I have sent +a box to Mr. Sterne, to send to you by some friend: I have directed it for +Mr. Curry, at his house; so you have warning when it comes, as I hope it will +soon. The handkerchiefs will be put in some friend's pocket, not to pay +custom. And so here ends my sixth, sent when I had but three of MD's: now I +am beforehand, and will keep so; and God Almighty bless dearest MD, etc. + + + +LETTER 7. + +LONDON, Oct. 19, 1710. + +Faith, I am undone! this paper is larger than the other, and yet I am +condemned to a sheet; but, since it is MD, I did not value though I were +condemned to a pair. I told you in my letter to-day where I had been, and how +the day passed; and so, etc. + +20. To-day I went to Mr. Lewis, at the Secretary's office, to know when I +might see Mr. Harley; and by and by comes up Mr. Harley himself, and appoints +me to dine with him to-morrow. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh,[1] and went to +wait on the two Lady Butlers;[2] but the porter answered they were not at +home: the meaning was, the youngest, Lady Mary, is to be married to-morrow to +Lord Ashburnham,[3] the best match now in England, twelve thousand pounds a +year, and abundance of money. Tell me how my "Shower" is liked in Ireland: I +never knew anything pass better here. I spent the evening with Wortley +Montagu[4] and Mr. Addison, over a bottle of Irish wine. Do they know +anything in Ireland of my greatness among the Tories? Everybody reproaches me +of it here; but I value them not. Have you heard of the verses about the "Rod +of Sid Hamet"? Say nothing of them for your life. Hardly anybody suspects me +for them; only they think nobody but Prior or I could write them. But I doubt +they have not reached you. There is likewise a ballad full of puns on the +Westminster Election,[5] that cost me half an hour: it runs, though it be +good for nothing. But this is likewise a secret to all but MD. If you have +them not, I will bring them over. + +21. I got MD's fourth to-day at the Coffee-house. God Almighty bless poor, +dear Stella, and her eyes and head! What shall we do to cure them? poor, dear +life! Your disorders are a pull-back for your good qualities. Would to +Heaven I were this minute shaving your poor, dear head, either here or there! +Pray do not write, nor read this letter, nor anything else; and I will write +plainer for Dingley to read from henceforward, though my pen is apt to ramble +when I think whom I am writing to. I will not answer your letter until I tell +you that I dined this day with Mr. Harley, who presented me to the Earl of +Stirling,[6] a Scotch lord; and in the evening came in Lord Peterborow. I +stayed till nine before Mr. Harley would let me go, or tell me anything of my +affair. He says the Queen has now granted the First-Fruits and Twentieth +Parts; but he will not give me leave to write to the Archbishop, because the +Queen designs to signify it to the Bishops in Ireland in form; and to take +notice, that it was done upon a memorial from me; which, Mr. Harley tells me +he does to make it look more respectful to me, etc.; and I am to see him on +Tuesday. I know not whether I told you that, in my memorial which was given +to the Queen, I begged for two thousand pounds a year more, though it was not +in my commission; but that, Mr. Harley says, cannot yet be done, and that he +and I must talk of it further: however, I have started it, and it may follow +in time. Pray say nothing of the First-Fruits being granted, unless I give +leave at the bottom of this. I believe never anything was compassed so soon, +and purely done by my personal credit with Mr. Harley, who is so excessively +obliging, that I know not what to make of it, unless to show the rascals of +the other party that they used a man unworthily who had deserved better. The +memorial given to the Queen from me speaks with great plainness of Lord +Wharton. I believe this business is as important to you as the Convocation +disputes from Tisdall.[7] I hope in a month or two all the forms of settling +this matter will be over; and then I shall have nothing to do here. I will +only add one foolish thing more, because it is just come into my head. When +this thing is made known, tell me impartially whether they give any of the +merit to me, or no; for I am sure I have so much, that I will never take it +upon me.--Insolent sluts! because I say Dublin, Ireland, therefore you must +say London, England: that is Stella's malice.--Well, for that I will not +answer your letter till to-morrow-day, and so and so: I will go write +something else, and it will not be much; for 'tis late. + +22. I was this morning with Mr. Lewis, the under-secretary to Lord Dartmouth, +two hours, talking politics, and contriving to keep Steele in his office of +stamped paper: he has lost his place of Gazetteer, three hundred pounds a +year, for writing a Tatler,[8] some months ago, against Mr. Harley, who gave +it him at first, and raised the salary from sixty to three hundred pounds. +This was devilish ungrateful; and Lewis was telling me the particulars: but I +had a hint given me, that I might save him in the other employment: and leave +was given me to clear matters with Steele. Well, I dined with Sir Matthew +Dudley, and in the evening went to sit with Mr. Addison, and offer the matter +at distance to him, as the discreeter person; but found party had so possessed +him, that he talked as if he suspected me, and would not fall in with anything +I said. So I stopped short in my overture, and we parted very drily; and I +shall say nothing to Steele, and let them do as they will; but, if things +stand as they are, he will certainly lose it, unless I save him; and therefore +I will not speak to him, that I may not report to his disadvantage. Is not +this vexatious? and is there so much in the proverb of proffered service? +When shall I grow wise? I endeavour to act in the most exact points of honour +and conscience; and my nearest friends will not understand it so. What must a +man expect from his enemies? This would vex me, but it shall not; and so I +bid you good-night, etc. + +23. I know 'tis neither wit nor diversion to tell you every day where I dine; +neither do I write it to fill my letter; but I fancy I shall, some time or +other, have the curiosity of seeing some particulars how I passed my life when +I was absent from MD this time; and so I tell you now that I dined to-day at +Molesworth's, the Florence Envoy, then went to the Coffee-house, where I +behaved myself coldly enough to Mr. Addison, and so came home to scribble. We +dine together to-morrow and next day by invitation; but I shall alter my +behaviour to him, till he begs my pardon, or else we shall grow bare +acquaintance. I am weary of friends; and friendships are all monsters, but +MD's. + +24. I forgot to tell you, that last night I went to Mr. Harley's, hoping-- +faith, I am blundering, for it was this very night at six; and I hoped he +would have told me all things were done and granted: but he was abroad, and +came home ill, and was gone to bed, much out of order, unless the porter lied. +I dined to-day at Sir Matthew Dudley's, with Mr. Addison, etc. + +25. I was to-day to see the Duke of Ormond; and, coming out, met Lord +Berkeley of Stratton,[9] who told me that Mrs. Temple,[10] the widow, died +last Saturday, which, I suppose, is much to the outward grief and inward joy +of the family. I dined to-day with Addison and Steele, and a sister of Mr. +Addison, who is married to one Mons. Sartre,[11] a Frenchman, prebendary of +Westminster, who has a delicious house and garden; yet I thought it was a sort +of monastic life in those cloisters, and I liked Laracor better. Addison's +sister is a sort of a wit, very like him. I am not fond of her, etc. + +26. I was to-day to see Mr. Congreve,[12] who is almost blind with cataracts +growing on his eyes; and his case is, that he must wait two or three years, +until the cataracts are riper, and till he is quite blind, and then he must +have them couched; and, besides, he is never rid of the gout, yet he looks +young and fresh, and is as cheerful as ever. He is younger by three years or +more than I; and I am twenty years younger than he. He gave me a pain in the +great toe, by mentioning the gout. I find such suspicions frequently, but +they go off again. I had a second letter from Mr. Morgan,[13] for which I +thank you: I wish you were whipped, for forgetting to send him that answer I +desired you in one of my former, that I could do nothing for him of what he +desired, having no credit at all, etc. Go, be far enough, you negligent +baggages. I have had also a letter from Parvisol, with an account how my +livings are set; and that they are fallen, since last year, sixty pounds. A +comfortable piece of news! He tells me plainly that he finds you have no mind +to part with the horse, because you sent for him at the same time you sent him +my letter; so that I know not what must be done. It is a sad thing that +Stella must have her own horse, whether Parvisol will or no. So now to answer +your letter that I had three or four days ago. I am not now in bed, but am +come home by eight; and, it being warm, I write up. I never writ to the +Bishop of Killala, which, I suppose, was the reason he had not my letter. I +have not time, there is the short of it.--As fond as the Dean[14] is of my +letter, he has not written to me. I would only know whether Dean Bolton[15] +paid him the twenty pounds; and for the rest, he may kiss--And that you may +ask him, because I am in pain about it, that Dean Bolton is such a whipster. +'Tis the most obliging thing in the world in Dean Sterne to be so kind to you. +I believe he knows it will please me, and makes up, that way, his other +usage.[16] No, we have had none of your snow, but a little one morning; yet I +think it was great snow for an hour or so, but no longer. I had heard of Will +Crowe's[17] death before, but not the foolish circumstance that hastened his +end. No, I have taken care that Captain Pratt[18] shall not suffer by Lord +Anglesea's death.[19] I will try some contrivance to get a copy of my picture +from Jervas. I will make Sir Andrew Fountaine buy one as for himself, and I +will pay him again, and take it, that is, provided I have money to spare when +I leave this.--Poor John! is he gone? and Madam Parvisol[20] has been in town! +Humm. Why, Tighe[21] and I, when he comes, shall not take any notice of each +other; I would not do it much in this town, though we had not fallen out.--I +was to-day at Mr. Sterne's lodging: he was not within; and Mr. Leigh is not +come to town; but I will do Dingley's errand when I see him. What do I know +whether china be dear or no? I once took a fancy of resolving to grow mad for +it, but now it is off; I suppose I told you in some former letter. And so you +only want some salad-dishes, and plates, and etc. Yes, yes, you shall. I +suppose you have named as much as will cost five pounds.--Now to Stella's +little postscript; and I am almost crazed that you vex yourself for not +writing. Cannot you dictate to Dingley, and not strain your little, dear +eyes? I am sure it is the grief of my soul to think you are out of order. +Pray be quiet; and, if you will write, shut your eyes, and write just a line, +and no more, thus, "How do you do, Mrs. Stella?" That was written with my +eyes shut. Faith, I think it is better than when they are open: and then +Dingley may stand by, and tell you when you go too high or too low.--My +letters of business, with packets, if there be any more occasion for such, +must be enclosed to Mr. Addison, at St. James's Coffee-house: but I hope to +hear, as soon as I see Mr. Harley, that the main difficulties are over, and +that the rest will be but form.--Take two or three nutgalls, take two or three +---galls, stop your receipt in your--I have no need on't. Here is a clutter! +Well, so much for your letter, which I will now put up in my letter-partition +in my cabinet, as I always do every letter as soon as I answer it. Method is +good in all things. Order governs the world. The Devil is the author of +confusion. A general of an army, a minister of state; to descend lower, a +gardener, a weaver, etc. That may make a fine observation, if you think it +worth finishing; but I have not time. Is not this a terrible long piece for +one evening? I dined to-day with Patty Rolt at my cousin Leach's,[22] with a +pox, in the City: he is a printer, and prints the Postman, oh hoo, and is my +cousin, God knows how, and he married Mrs. Baby Aires of Leicester; and my +cousin Thomson was with us: and my cousin Leach offers to bring me acquainted +with the author of the Postman;[23] and says he does not doubt but the +gentleman will be glad of my acquaintance; and that he is a very ingenious +man, and a great scholar, and has been beyond sea. But I was modest and said, +may be the gentleman was shy, and not fond of new acquaintance; and so put it +off: and I wish you could hear me repeating all I have said of this in its +proper tone, just as I am writing it. It is all with the same cadence with +"Oh hoo," or as when little girls say, "I have got an apple, miss, and I won't +give you some." It is plaguy twelvepenny weather this last week, and has cost +me ten shillings in coach and chair hire. If the fellow that has your money +will pay it, let me beg you to buy Bank Stock with it, which is fallen near +thirty per cent. and pays eight pounds per cent. and you have the principal +when you please: it will certainly soon rise. I would to God Lady Giffard +would put in the four hundred pounds she owes you,[24] and take the five per +cent. common interest, and give you the remainder. I will speak to your +mother about it when I see her. I am resolved to buy three hundred pounds of +it for myself, and take up what I have in Ireland; and I have a contrivance +for it, that I hope will do, by making a friend of mine buy it as for himself, +and I will pay him when I can get in my money. I hope Stratford will do me +that kindness. I'll ask him tomorrow or next day. + +27. Mr. Rowe[25] the poet desired me to dine with him to-day. I went to his +office (he is under-secretary in Mr. Addison's place that he had in England), +and there was Mr. Prior; and they both fell commending my "Shower" beyond +anything that has been written of the kind: there never was such a "Shower" +since Danae's, etc. You must tell me how it is liked among you. I dined with +Rowe; Prior could not come: and after dinner we went to a blind tavern,[26] +where Congreve, Sir Richard Temple,[27] Estcourt,[28] and Charles Main,[29] +were over a bowl of bad punch. The knight sent for six flasks of his own wine +for me, and we stayed till twelve. But now my head continues pretty well; I +have left off my drinking, and only take a spoonful mixed with water, for fear +of the gout, or some ugly distemper; and now, because it is late, I will, etc. + +28. Garth and Addison and I dined to-day at a hedge[30] tavern; then I went +to Mr. Harley, but he was denied, or not at home: so I fear I shall not hear +my business is done before this goes. Then I visited Lord Pembroke,[31] who +is just come to town; and we were very merry talking of old things; and I hit +him with one pun. Then I went to see the Ladies Butler, and the son of a +whore of a porter denied them: so I sent them a threatening message by +another lady, for not excepting me always to the porter. I was weary of the +Coffee-house, and Ford[32] desired me to sit with him at next door; which I +did, like a fool, chatting till twelve, and now am got into bed. I am afraid +the new Ministry is at a terrible loss about money: the Whigs talk so, it +would give one the spleen; and I am afraid of meeting Mr. Harley out of +humour. They think he will never carry through this undertaking. God knows +what will come of it. I should be terribly vexed to see things come round +again: it will ruin the Church and clergy for ever; but I hope for better. I +will send this on Tuesday, whether I hear any further news of my affair or +not. + +29. Mr. Addison and I dined to-day with Lord Mountjoy; which is all the +adventures of this day.--I chatted a while to-night in the Coffee-house, this +being a full night; and now am come home, to write some business. + +30. I dined to-day at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and sent a letter to poor Mrs. +Long,[33] who writes to us, but is God knows where, and will not tell anybody +the place of her residence. I came home early, and must go write. + +31. The month ends with a fine day; and I have been walking, and visiting +Lewis, and concerting where to see Mr. Harley. I have no news to send you. +Aire,[34] they say, is taken, though the Whitehall letters this morning say +quite the contrary: 'tis good, if it be true. I dined with Mr. Addison and +Dick Stewart, Lord Mountjoy's brother;[35] a treat of Addison's. They were +half-fuddled, but not I; for I mixed water with my wine, and left them +together between nine and ten; and I must send this by the bellman, which +vexes me, but I will put it off no longer. Pray God it does not miscarry. I +seldom do so; but I can put off little MD no longer. Pray give the under note +to Mrs. Brent. + +I am a pretty gentleman; and you lose all your money at cards, sirrah Stella. +I found you out; I did so. + +I am staying before I can fold up this letter, till that ugly D is dry in the +last line but one. Do not you see it? O Lord, I am loth to leave you, faith- +-but it must be so, till the next time. Pox take that D; I will blot it, to +dry it. + + + +LETTER 8. + +LONDON, Oct. 31, 1710. + +So, now I have sent my seventh to your fourth, young women; and now I will +tell you what I would not in my last, that this morning, sitting in my bed, I +had a fit of giddiness: the room turned round for about a minute, and then it +went off, leaving me sickish, but not very: and so I passed the day as I told +you; but I would not end a letter with telling you this, because it might vex +you: and I hope in God I shall have no more of it. I saw Dr. Cockburn[1] to- +day, and he promises to send me the pills that did me good last year; and +likewise has promised me an oil for my ear, that he has been making for that +ailment for somebody else. + +Nov. 1. I wish MD a merry new year. You know this is the first day of it +with us.[2] I had no giddiness to-day; but I drank brandy, and have bought a +pint for two shillings. I sat up the night before my giddiness pretty late, +and writ very much; so I will impute it to that. But I never eat fruit, nor +drink ale; but drink better wine than you do, as I did to-day with Mr. Addison +at Lord Mountjoy's: then went at five to see Mr. Harley, who could not see me +for much company; but sent me his excuse, and desired I would dine with him on +Friday; and then I expect some answer to this business, which must either be +soon done, or begun again; and then the Duke of Ormond and his people will +interfere for their honour, and do nothing. I came home at six, and spent my +time in my chamber, without going to the Coffee-house, which I grow weary of; +and I studied at leisure, writ not above forty lines, some inventions of my +own, and some hints, and read not at all, and this because I would take care +of Presto, for fear little MD should be angry. + +2. I took my four pills last night, and they lay an hour in my throat, and so +they will do to-night. I suppose I could swallow four affronts as easily. I +dined with Dr. Cockburn to-day, and came home at seven; but Mr. Ford has been +with me till just now, and it is near eleven. I have had no giddiness to-day. +Mr. Dopping[3] I have seen; and he tells me coldly, my "Shower" is liked well +enough; there's your Irish judgment! I writ this post to the Bishop of +Clogher. It is now just a fortnight since I heard from you. I must have you +write once a fortnight, and then I will allow for wind and weather. How goes +ombre? Does Mrs. Walls[4] win constantly, as she used to do? And Mrs. +Stoyte;[5] I have not thought of her this long time: how does she? I find we +have a cargo of Irish coming for London: I am sorry for it; but I never go +near them. And Tighe is landed; but Mrs. Wesley,[6] they say, is going home +to her husband, like a fool. Well, little monkeys mine, I must go write; and +so goodnight. + +3. I ought to read these letters I write, after I have done; for, looking +over thus much, I found two or three literal mistakes, which should not be +when the hand is so bad. But I hope it does not puzzle little Dingley to +read, for I think I mend: but methinks, when I write plain, I do not know +how, but we are not alone, all the world can see us. A bad scrawl is so snug, +it looks like a PMD.[7] We have scurvy Tatlers of late: so pray do not +suspect me. I have one or two hints I design to send him, and never any more: +he does not deserve it. He is governed by his wife most abominably,[8] as bad +as ----. I never saw her since I came; nor has he ever made me an invitation: +either he dares not, or is such a thoughtless Tisdall[9] fellow, that he never +minds[10] it. So what care I for his wit? for he is the worst company in the +world, till he has a bottle of wine in his head. I cannot write straighter in +bed, so you must be content.--At night in bed. Stay, let me see where's this +letter to MD among these papers? Oh! here. Well, I will go on now; but I am +very busy (smoke the new pen.) I dined with Mr. Harley to-day, and am invited +there again on Sunday. I have now leave to write to the Primate and +Archbishop of Dublin, that the Queen has granted the First-Fruits; but they +are to take no notice of it, till a letter is sent them by the Queen's orders +from Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State, to signify it. The bishops are to be +made a corporation, to dispose of the revenue, etc.; and I shall write to the +Archbishop of Dublin to-morrow (I have had no giddiness to-day). I know not +whether they will have any occasion for me longer to be here; nor can I judge +till I see what letter the Queen sends to the bishops, and what they will do +upon it. If despatch be used, it may be done in six weeks; but I cannot +judge. They sent me to-day a new Commission, signed by the Primate and +Archbishop of Dublin,[11] and promise me letters to the two archbishops here; +but mine a ---- for it all. The thing is done, and has been so these ten +days; though I had only leave to tell it to-day. I had this day likewise a +letter from the Bishop of Clogher, who complains of my not writing; and, what +vexes me, says he knows you have long letters from me every week. Why do you +tell him so? 'Tis not right, faith: but I won't be angry with MD at +distance. I writ to him last post, before I had his; and will write again +soon, since I see he expects it, and that Lord and Lady Mountjoy[12] put him +off upon me, to give themselves ease. Lastly, I had this day a letter from a +certain naughty rogue called MD, and it was N. 5; which I shall not answer to- +night, I thank you. No, faith, I have other fish to fry; but to-morrow or +next day will be time enough. I have put MD's commissions in a memorandum +paper. I think I have done all before, and remember nothing but this to-day +about glasses and spectacles and spectacle cases. I have no commission from +Stella, but the chocolate and handkerchiefs; and those are bought, and I +expect they will be soon sent. I have been with, and sent to, Mr. Sterne, two +or three times to know; but he was not within. Odds my life, what am I doing? +I must go write and do business. + +4. I dined to-day at Kensington, with Addison, Steele, etc., came home, and +writ a short letter to the Archbishop of Dublin, to let him know the Queen has +granted the thing, etc. I writ in the Coffee-house, for I stayed at +Kensington till nine, and am plaguy weary; for Colonel Proud[13] was very ill +company, and I will never be of a party with him again; and I drank punch, and +that and ill company has made me hot. + +5. I was with Mr. Harley from dinner to seven this night, and went to the +Coffee-house, where Dr. Davenant[14] would fain have had me gone and drink a +bottle of wine at his house hard by, with Dr. Chamberlen,[15] but the puppy +used so many words, that I was afraid of his company; and though we promised +to come at eight, I sent a messenger to him, that Chamberlen was going to a +patient, and therefore we would put it off till another time: so he, and the +Comptroller,[16] and I, were prevailed on by Sir Matthew Dudley to go to his +house, where I stayed till twelve, and left them. Davenant has been teasing +me to look over some of his writings that he is going to publish; but the +rogue is so fond of his own productions, that I hear he will not part with a +syllable; and he has lately put out a foolish pamphlet, called The Third Part +of Tom Double; to make his court to the Tories, whom he had left. + +6. I was to-day gambling[17] in the City to see Patty Rolt, who is going to +Kingston, where she lodges; but, to say the truth, I had a mind for a walk to +exercise myself, and happened to be disengaged: for dinners are ten times +more plentiful with me here than ever, or than in Dublin. I won't answer your +letter yet, because I am busy. I hope to send this before I have another from +MD: it would be a sad thing to answer two letters together, as MD does from +Presto. But when the two sides are full, away the letter shall go, that is +certain, like it or not like it; and that will be about three days hence, for +the answering-night will be a long one. + +7. I dined to-day at Sir Richard Temple's, with Congreve, Vanbrugh, +Lieutenant-General Farrington,[18] etc. Vanbrugh, I believe I told you, had a +long quarrel with me about those verses on his house;[19] but we were very +civil and cold. Lady Marlborough used to tease him with them, which had made +him angry, though he be a good-natured fellow. It was a Thanksgiving-day,[20] +and I was at Court, where the Queen passed us by with all Tories about her; +not one Whig: Buckingham,[21] Rochester,[22] Leeds,[23] Shrewsbury, Berkeley +of Stratton, Lord Keeper Harcourt, Mr. Harley, Lord Pembroke, etc.; and I have +seen her without one Tory. The Queen made me a curtsey, and said, in a sort +of familiar way to Presto, "How does MD?" I considered she was a Queen, and +so excused her.[24] I do not miss the Whigs at Court; but have as many +acquaintance there as formerly. + +8. Here's ado and a clutter! I must now answer MD's fifth; but first you +must know I dined at the Portugal Envoy's[25] to-day, with Addison, Vanbrugh, +Admiral Wager,[26] Sir Richard Temple,[27] Methuen,[28] etc. I was weary of +their company, and stole away at five, and came home like a good boy, and +studied till ten, and had a fire, O ho! and now am in bed. I have no +fireplace in my bed-chamber; but 'tis very warm weather when one's in bed. +Your fine cap,[29] Madam Dingley, is too little, and too hot: I will have +that fur taken off; I wish it were far enough; and my old velvet cap is good +for nothing. Is it velvet under the fur? I was feeling, but cannot find: if +it be, 'twill do without it else I will face it; but then I must buy new +velvet: but may be I may beg a piece. What shall I do? Well, now to rogue +MD's letter. God be thanked for Stella's eyes mending; and God send it holds; +but faith you writ too much at a time: better write less, or write it at ten +times. Yes, faith, a long letter in a morning from a dear friend is a dear +thing. I smoke a compliment, little mischievous girls, I do so. But who are +those WIGGS that think I am turned Tory? Do you mean Whigs? Which WIGGS and +WAT do you mean? I know nothing of Raymond, and only had one letter from him +a little after I came here.[Pray remember Morgan.) Raymond is indeed like to +have much influence over me in London, and to share much of my conversation. +I shall, no doubt, introduce him to Harley, and Lord Keeper, and the Secretary +of State. The Tatler upon Ithuriel's spear[30] is not mine, madam. What a +puzzle there is betwixt you and your judgment! In general you may be +sometimes sure of things, as that about STYLE,[31] because it is what I have +frequently spoken of; but guessing is mine a----, and I defy mankind, if I +please. Why, I writ a pamphlet when I was last in London, that you and a +thousand have seen, and never guessed it to be mine. Could you have guessed +the "Shower in Town" to be mine? How chance you did not see that before your +last letter went? but I suppose you in Ireland did not think it worth +mentioning. Nor am I suspected for the lampoon; only Harley said he smoked +me; (have I told you so before?) and some others knew it. 'Tis called "The +Rod of Sid Hamet." And I have written several other things that I hear +commended, and nobody suspects me for them; nor you shall not know till I see +you again. What do you mean, "That boards near me, that I dine with now and +then?" I know no such person: I do not dine with boarders. What the pox! +You know whom I have dined with every day since I left you, better than I do. +What do you mean, sirrah? Slids, my ailment has been over these two months +almost. Impudence, if you vex me, I will give ten shillings a week for my +lodging; for I am almost st--k out of this with the sink, and it helps me to +verses in my "Shower."[32] Well, Madam Dingley, what say you to the world to +come? What ballad? Why go look, it was not good for much: have patience +till I come back: patience is a gay thing as, etc. I hear nothing of Lord +Mountjoy's coming for Ireland. When is Stella's birthday? in March? Lord +bless me, my turn at Christ Church;[33] it is so natural to hear you write +about that, I believe you have done it a hundred times; it is as fresh in my +mind, the verger coming to you; and why to you? Would he have you preach for +me? O, pox on your spelling of Latin, Johnsonibus atque, that is the way. +How did the Dean get that name by the end? 'Twas you betrayed me: not I, +faith; I'll not break his head. Your mother is still in the country, I +suppose; for she promised to see me when she came to town. I writ to her four +days ago, to desire her to break it to Lady Giffard, to put some money for you +in the Bank, which was then fallen thirty per cent. Would to God mine had +been here, I should have gained one hundred pounds, and got as good interest +as in Ireland, and much securer. I would fain have borrowed three hundred +pounds; but money is so scarce here, there is no borrowing, by this fall of +stocks. 'Tis rising now, and I knew it would: it fell from one hundred and +twenty-nine to ninety-six. I have not heard since from your mother. Do you +think I would be so unkind not to see her, that you desire me in a style so +melancholy? Mrs. Raymond,[34] you say, is with child: I am sorry for it; and +so is, I believe, her husband. Mr. Harley speaks all the kind things to me in +the world; and, I believe, would serve me, if I were to stay here; but I +reckon in time the Duke of Ormond may give me some addition to Laracor. Why +should the Whigs think I came to England to leave them? Sure my journey was +no secret. I protest sincerely, I did all I could to hinder it, as the Dean +can tell you, although now I do not repent it. But who the Devil cares what +they think? Am I under obligations in the least to any of them all? Rot 'em, +for ungrateful dogs; I will make them repent their usage before I leave this +place. They say here the same thing of my leaving the Whigs; but they own +they cannot blame me, considering the treatment I have had. I will take care +of your spectacles, as I told you before, and of the Bishop of Killala's; but +I will not write to him, I have not time. What do you mean by my fourth, +Madam Dinglibus? Does not Stella say you have had my fifth, Goody Blunder? +You frighted me till I looked back. Well, this is enough for one night. Pray +give my humble service to Mrs. Stoyte and her sister, Kate is it, or +Sarah?[35] I have forgot her name, faith. I think I will even (and to Mrs. +Walls and the Archdeacon) send this to-morrow: no, faith, that will be in ten +days from the last. I will keep it till Saturday, though I write no more. +But what if a letter from MD should come in the meantime? Why then I would +only say, "Madam, I have received your sixth letter; your most humble servant +to command, Presto"; and so conclude. Well, now I will write and think a +little, and so to bed, and dream of MD. + +9. I have my mouth full of water, and was going to spit it out, because I +reasoned with myself, how could I write when my mouth was full? Han't you +done things like that, reasoned wrong at first thinking? Well, I was to see +Mr. Lewis this morning, and am to dine a few days hence, as he tells me, with +Mr. Secretary St. John; and I must contrive to see Harley soon again, to +hasten this business from the Queen. I dined to-day at Lord Mountrath's,[36] +with Lord Mountjoy,[37] etc.; but the wine was not good, so I came away, +stayed at the Coffee-house till seven, then came home to my fire, the +maidenhead of my second half-bushel, and am now in bed at eleven, as usual. +'Tis mighty warm; yet I fear I should catch cold this wet weather, if I sat an +evening in my room after coming from warm places: and I must make much of +myself, because MD is not here to take care of Presto; and I am full of +business, writing, etc., and do not care for the Coffee-house; and so this +serves for all together, not to tell it you over and over, as silly people do; +but Presto is a wiser man, faith, than so, let me tell you, gentlewomen. See, +I am got to the third side; but, faith, I will not do that often; but I must +say something early to-day, till the letter is done, and on Saturday it shall +go; so I must leave something till to-morrow, till to-morrow and next day. + +10. O Lord, I would this letter was with you with all my heart! If it should +miscarry, what a deal would be lost! I forgot to leave a gap in the last line +but one for the seal, like a puppy; but I should have allowed for night, +goodnight; but when I am taking leave, I cannot leave a bit, faith; but I +fancy the seal will not come there. I dined to-day at Lady Lucy's, where they +ran down my "Shower"; and said, "Sid Hamet" was the silliest poem they ever +read; and told Prior so, whom they thought to be author of it. Don't you +wonder I never dined there before? But I am too busy, and they live too far +off; and, besides, I do not like women so much as I did. (MD, you must know, +are not women.) I supped to-night at Addison's, with Garth, Steele, and Mr. +Dopping; and am come home late. Lewis has sent to me to desire I will dine +with some company I shall like. I suppose it is Mr. Secretary St. John's +appointment. I had a letter just now from Raymond, who is at Bristol, and +says he will be at London in a fortnight, and leave his wife behind him; and +desires any lodging in the house where I am: but that must not be. I shall +not know what to do with him in town: to be sure, I will not present him to +any acquaintance of mine; and he will live a delicate life, a parson and a +perfect stranger! Paaast twelvvve o'clock,[38] and so good-night, etc. Oh! +but I forgot, Jemmy Leigh is come to town; says he has brought Dingley's +things, and will send them with the first convenience. My parcel, I hear, is +not sent yet. He thinks of going for Ireland in a month, etc. I cannot write +tomorrow, because--what, because of the Archbishop; because I will seal my +letter early; because I am engaged from noon till night; because of many kind +of things; and yet I will write one or two words to-morrow morning, to keep up +my journal constant, and at night I will begin my ninth. + +11. Morning by candlelight. You must know that I am in my nightgown every +morning between six and seven, and Patrick is forced to ply me fifty times +before I can get on my nightgown; and so now I will take my leave of my own +dear MD for this letter, and begin my next when I come home at night. God +Almighty bless and protect dearest MD. Farewell, etc. + +This letter's as long as a sermon, faith. + + + +LETTER 9. + +LONDON, Nov. 11, 1710. + +I dined to-day, by invitation, with the Secretary of State, Mr. St. John. Mr. +Harley came in to us before dinner, and made me his excuses for not dining +with us, because he was to receive people who came to propose advancing money +to the Government: there dined with us only Mr. Lewis, and Dr. Freind[1] +(that writ "Lord Peterborow's Actions in Spain"). I stayed with them till +just now between ten and eleven, and was forced again to give my eighth to the +bellman, which I did with my own hands, rather than keep it till next post. +The Secretary used me with all the kindness in the world. Prior came in after +dinner; and, upon an occasion, he (the Secretary) said, "The best thing I ever +read is not yours, but Dr. Swift's on Vanbrugh"; which I do not reckon so very +good neither.[2] But Prior was damped, until I stuffed him with two or three +compliments. I am thinking what a veneration we used to have for Sir William +Temple, because he might have been Secretary of State at fifty; and here is a +young fellow, hardly thirty, in that employment.[3] His father is a man of +pleasure,[4] that walks the Mall, and frequents St. James's Coffee-house, and +the chocolate-houses; and the young son is principal Secretary of State. Is +there not something very odd in that? He told me, among other things, that +Mr. Harley complained he could keep nothing from me, I had the way so much of +getting into him. I knew that was a refinement; and so I told him, and it was +so: indeed, it is hard to see these great men use me like one who was their +betters, and the puppies with you in Ireland hardly regarding me: but there +are some reasons for all this, which I will tell you when we meet. At coming +home, I saw a letter from your mother, in answer to one I sent her two days +ago. It seems she is in town; but cannot come out in a morning, just as you +said; and God knows when I shall be at leisure in an afternoon: for if I +should send her a penny-post letter, and afterwards not be able to meet her, +it would vex me; and, besides, the days are short, and why she cannot come +early in a morning, before she is wanted, I cannot imagine. I will desire her +to let Lady Giffard know that she hears I am in town; and that she would go to +see me, to inquire after you. I wonder she will confine herself so much to +that old beast's humour. You know I cannot in honour see Lady Giffard, and +consequently not go into her house. This I think is enough for the first +time. + +12. And how could you write with such thin paper? (I forgot to say this in +my former.) Cannot you get thicker? Why, that's a common caution that +writing-masters give their scholars; you must have heard it a hundred times. +'Tis this: + + "If paper be thin, + Ink will slip in; + But, if it be thick, + You may write with a stick."[5] + +I had a letter to-day from poor Mrs. Long,[6] giving me an account of her +present life, obscure in a remote country town, and how easy she is under it. +Poor creature! 'tis just such an alteration in life, as if Presto should be +banished from MD, and condemned to converse with Mrs. Raymond. I dined to-day +with Ford, Sir Richard Levinge,[7] etc., at a place where they board, hard by. +I was lazy, and not very well, sitting so long with company yesterday. I have +been very busy writing this evening at home, and had a fire: I am spending my +second half-bushel of coals; and now am in bed, and 'tis late. + +13. I dined to-day in the City, and then went to christen Will Frankland's[8] +child; and Lady Falconbridge[9] was one of the godmothers: this is a daughter +of Oliver Cromwell, and extremely like him by his pictures that I have seen. +I stayed till almost eleven, and am now come home and gone to bed. My +business in the City was, to thank Stratford for a kindness he has done me, +which now I will tell you. I found Bank Stock was fallen thirty-four in the +hundred, and was mighty desirous to buy it; but I was a little too late for +the cheapest time, being hindered by business here; for I was so wise to guess +to a day when it would fall. My project was this: I had three hundred pounds +in Ireland; and so I writ to Mr. Stratford in the City, to desire he would buy +me three hundred pounds in Bank Stock, and that he should keep the papers, and +that I would be bound to pay him for them; and, if it should rise or fall, I +would take my chance, and pay him interest in the meantime. I showed my +letter to one or two people who understand those things; and they said money +was so hard to be got here, that no man would do it for me. However, +Stratford, who is the most generous man alive, has done it: but it costs one +hundred pounds and a half, that is, ten shillings; so that three hundred +pounds cost me three hundred pounds and thirty shillings. This was done about +a week ago, and I can have five pounds for my bargain already. Before it +fell, it was one hundred and thirty pounds; and we are sure it will be the +same again. I told you I writ to your mother, to desire that Lady Giffard +would do the same with what she owes you; but she tells your mother she has no +money. I would to God all you had in the world was there. Whenever you lend +money, take this rule, to have two people bound, who have both visible +fortunes; for they will hardly die together; and, when one dies, you fall upon +the other, and make him add another security: and if Rathburn (now I have his +name) pays you in your money, let me know, and I will direct Parvisol +accordingly: however, he shall wait on you and know. So, ladies, enough of +business for one night. Paaaaast twelvvve o'clock. I must only add, that, +after a long fit of rainy weather, it has been fair two or three days, and is +this day grown cold and frosty; so that you must give poor little Presto leave +to have a fire in his chamber morning and evening too; and he will do as much +for you. + +14. What, has your Chancellor[10] lost his senses, like Will Crowe?[11] I +forgot to tell Dingley that I was yesterday at Ludgate, bespeaking the +spectacles at the great shop there, and shall have them in a day or two. This +has been an insipid day. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and came gravely home, +after just visiting the Coffee-house. Sir Richard Cox,[12] they say, is sure +of going over Lord Chancellor, who is as arrant a puppy as ever ate bread: +but the Duke of Ormond has a natural affection to puppies; which is a thousand +pities, being none himself. I have been amusing myself at home till now, and +in bed bid you good-night. + +15. I have been visiting this morning, but nobody was at home, Secretary St. +John, Sir Thomas Hanmer,[13] Sir Chancellor Cox-comb, etc. I attended the +Duke of Ormond with about fifty other Irish gentlemen at Skinners' Hall, where +the Londonderry Society laid out three hundred pounds to treat us and his +Grace with a dinner. Three great tables with the dessert laid in mighty +figure. Sir Richard Levinge and I got discreetly to the head of the second +table, to avoid the crowd at the first: but it was so cold, and so confounded +a noise with the trumpets and hautboys, that I grew weary, and stole away +before the second course came on; so I can give you no account of it, which is +a thousand pities. I called at Ludgate for Dingley's glasses, and shall have +them in a day or two; and I doubt it will cost me thirty shillings for a +microscope, but not without Stella's permission; for I remember she is a +virtuoso. Shall I buy it or no? 'Tis not the great bulky ones, nor the +common little ones, to impale a louse (saving your presence) upon a needle's +point; but of a more exact sort, and clearer to the sight, with all its +equipage in a little trunk that you may carry in your pocket. Tell me, +sirrah, shall I buy it or not for you? I came home straight, etc. + +16. I dined to-day in the city with Mr. Manley,[14] who invited Mr. Addison +and me, and some other friends, to his lodging, and entertained us very +handsomely. I returned with Mr. Addison, and loitered till nine in the +Coffee-house, where I am hardly known, by going so seldom. I am here +soliciting for Trounce; you know him: he was gunner in the former yacht, and +would fain be so in the present one if you remember him, a good, lusty, fresh- +coloured fellow. Shall I stay till I get another letter from MD before I +close up this? Mr. Addison and I meet a little seldomer than formerly, +although we are still at bottom as good friends as ever, but differ a little +about party. + +17. To-day I went to Lewis at the Secretary's office; where I saw and spoke +to Mr. Harley, who promised, in a few days, to finish the rest of my business. +I reproached him for putting me on the necessity of minding him of it, and +rallied him, etc., which he took very well. I dined to-day with one Mr. Gore, +elder brother to a young merchant of my acquaintance; and Stratford and my +other friend merchants dined with us, where I stayed late, drinking claret and +burgundy; and am just got to bed, and will say no more, but that it now begins +to be time to have a letter from my own little MD; for the last I had above a +fortnight ago, and the date was old too. + +18. To-day I dined with Lewis and Prior at an eating-house, but with Lewis's +wine. Lewis went away, and Prior and I sat on, where we complimented one +another for an hour or two upon our mutual wit and poetry. Coming home at +seven, a gentleman unknown stopped me in the Pall Mall, and asked my advice; +said he had been to see the Queen (who was just come to town, and the people +in waiting would not let him see her; that he had two hundred thousand men +ready to serve her in the war; that he knew the Queen perfectly well, and had +an apartment at Court, and if she heard he was there, she would send for him +immediately; that she owed him two hundred thousand pounds, etc., and he +desired my opinion, whether he should go try again whether he could see her; +or because, perhaps, she was weary after her journey, whether he had not +better stay till to-morrow. I had a mind to get rid of my companion, and +begged him of all love to go and wait on her immediately; for that, to my +knowledge, the Queen would admit him; that this was an affair of great +importance, and required despatch: and I instructed him to let me know the +success of his business, and come to the Smyrna Coffee-house, where I would +wait for him till midnight; and so ended this adventure. I would have fain +given the man half a crown; but was afraid to offer it him, lest he should be +offended; for, beside his money, he said he had a thousand pounds a year. I +came home not early; and so, madams both, goodnight, etc. + +19. I dined to-day with poor Lord Mountjoy, who is ill of the gout; and this +evening I christened our coffee-man Elliot's[15] child, where the rogue had a +most noble supper, and Steele and I sat among some scurvy company over a bowl +of punch; so that I am come home late, young women, and can't stay to write to +little rogues. + +2O. I loitered at home, and dined with Sir Andrew Fountaine at his lodging, +and then came home: a silly day. + +21. I was visiting all this morning, and then went to the Secretary's office, +and found Mr. Harley, with whom I dined; and Secretary St. John, etc., and +Harley promised in a very few days to finish what remains of my business. +Prior was of the company, and we all dine at the Secretary's to-morrow. I saw +Stella's mother this morning: she came early, and we talked an hour. I wish +you would propose to Lady Giffard to take the three hundred pounds out of her +hands, and give her common interest for life, and security that you will pay +her: the Bishop of Clogher, or any friend, would be security for you, if you +gave them counter-security; and it may be argued that it will pass better to +be in your hands than hers, in case of mortality, etc. Your mother says, if +you write, she will second it; and you may write to your mother, and then it +will come from her. She tells me Lady Giffard has a mind to see me, by her +discourse; but I told her what to say, with a vengeance. She told Lady +Giffard she was going to see me: she looks extremely well. I am writing[16] +in my bed like a tiger; and so good-night, etc. + +22. I dined with Secretary St. John; and Lord Dartmouth, who is t'other +Secretary, dined with us, and Lord Orrery[17] and Prior, etc. Harley called, +but could not dine with us, and would have had me away while I was at dinner; +but I did not like the company he was to have. We stayed till eight, and I +called at the Coffee-house, and looked where the letters lie; but no letter +directed for Mr. Presto: at last I saw a letter to Mr. Addison, and it looked +like a rogue's hand; so I made the fellow give it me, and opened it before +him, and saw three letters all for myself: so, truly, I put them in my +pocket, and came home to my lodging. Well, and so you shall hear: well, and +so I found one of them in Dingley's hand, and t'other in Stella's, and the +third in Domville's.[18] Well, so you shall hear; so, said I to myself, What +now, two letters from MD together? But I thought there was something in the +wind; so I opened one, and I opened t'other; and so you shall hear, one was +from Walls. Well, but t'other was from our own dear MD; yes it was. O faith, +have you received my seventh, young women, already? Then I must send this +to-morrow, else there will be old[19] doings at our house, faith.--Well, I +won't answer your letter in this: no, faith, catch me at that, and I never +saw the like. Well; but as to Walls, tell him (with service to him and wife, +etc.) that I have no imagination of Mr. Pratt's[20] losing his place: and +while Pratt continues, Clements is in no danger; and I have already engaged +Lord Hyde[21] he speaks of, for Pratt and twenty others; but, if such a thing +should happen, I will do what I can. I have above ten businesses of other +people's now on my hands, and, I believe, shall miscarry in half. It is your +sixth I now have received. I writ last post to the Bishop of Clogher again. +Shall I send this to-morrow? Well, I will, to oblige MD. Which would you +rather, a short letter every week, or a long one every fortnight? A long +one; well, it shall be done, and so good-night. Well, but is this a long one? +No, I warrant you: too long for naughty girls. + +23. I only ask, have you got both the ten pounds, or only the first; I hope +you mean both. Pray be good housewives; and I beg you to walk when you can, +for health. Have you the horse in town? and do you ever ride him? how often? +Confess. Ahhh, sirrah, have I caught you? Can you contrive to let Mrs. +Fenton[22] know, that the request she has made me in her letter I will use +what credit I have to bring about, although I hear it is very difficult, and I +doubt I shall not succeed? Cox is not to be your Chancellor: all joined +against him. I have been supping with Lord Peterborow at his house, with +Prior, Lewis, and Dr. Freind. 'Tis the ramblingest lying rogue on earth. Dr. +Raymond is come to town: 'tis late, and so I bid you good-night. + +24. I tell you, pretty management! Ned Southwell told me the other day he +had a letter from the bishops of Ireland, with an address to the Duke of +Ormond, to intercede with the Queen to take off the First-Fruits. I dined +with him to-day, and saw it, with another letter to him from the Bishop of +Kildare,[23] to call upon me for the papers, etc.; and I had last post one +from the Archbishop of Dublin, telling me the reason of this proceeding; that, +upon hearing the Duke of Ormond was declared Lord Lieutenant, they met; and +the bishops were for this project, and talked coldly of my being solicitor, as +one that was favoured by t'other party, etc., but desired that I would still +solicit.[24] Now the wisdom of this is admirable; for I had given the +Archbishop an account of my reception from Mr. Harley, and how he had spoken +to the Queen, and promised it should be done; but Mr. Harley ordered me to +tell no person alive. Some time after, he gave me leave to let the Primate +and Archbishop know that the Queen had remitted the First-Fruits; and that in +a short time they should have an account of it in form from Lord Dartmouth, +Secretary of State. So while their letter was on the road to the Duke of +Ormond and Southwell, mine was going to them with an account of the thing +being done. I writ a very warm answer[25] to the Archbishop immediately; and +showed my resentments, as I ought, against the bishops; only, in good manners, +excepting himself. I wonder what they will say when they hear the thing is +done. I was yesterday forced to tell Southwell so, that the Queen had done +it, etc.; for he said, my Lord Duke would think of it some months hence, when +he was going for Ireland; and he had it three years in doing formerly, without +any success. I give you free leave to say, on occasion, that it is done; and +that Mr. Harley prevailed on the Queen to do it, etc., as you please. As I +hope to live, I despise the credit of it, out of an excess of pride; and +desire you will not give me the least merit when you talk of it; but I would +vex the bishops, and have it spread that Mr. Harley had done it: pray do so. +Your mother sent me last night a parcel of wax candles, and a bandbox full of +small plumcakes. I thought it had been something for you; and, without +opening them, sent answer by the maid that brought them, that I would take +care to send the things, etc.; but I will write her thanks. Is this a long +letter, sirrahs? Now, are you satisfied? I have had no fit since the +first: I drink brandy every morning, and take pills every night. Never fear, +I an't vexed at this puppy business of the bishops, although I was a little at +first. I will tell you my reward: Mr. Harley will think he has done me a +favour; the Duke of Ormond, perhaps, that I have put a neglect on him; and the +bishops in Ireland, that I have done nothing at all. So goes the world. But +I have got above all this, and, perhaps, I have better reason for it than they +know: and so you shall hear no more of First-Fruits, dukes, Harleys, +archbishops, and Southwells. + +I have slipped off Raymond upon some of his countrymen, to show him the town, +etc., and I lend him Patrick. He desires to sit with me in the evenings; upon +which I have given Patrick positive orders that I am not within at evenings. + + + +LETTER 10. + +LONDON, Nov. 25, 1710. + +I will tell you something that's plaguy silly: I had forgot to say on the 23d +in my last, where I dined; and because I had done it constantly, I thought it +was a great omission, and was going to interline it; but at last the silliness +of it made me cry, Pshah, and I let it alone. I was to-day to see the +Parliament meet; but only saw a great crowd; and Ford and I went to see the +tombs at Westminster, and sauntered so long I was forced to go to an eating- +house for my dinner. Bromley[1] is chosen Speaker, nemine contradicente: Do +you understand those two words? And Pompey, Colonel Hill's[2] black, designs +to stand Speaker for the footmen.[3] I am engaged to use my interest for him, +and have spoken to Patrick to get him some votes. We are now all impatient +for the Queen's speech, what she will say about removing the Ministry, etc. I +have got a cold, and I don't know how; but got it I have, and am hoarse: I +don't know whether it will grow better or worse. What's that to you? I +won't answer your letter to-night. I'll keep you a little longer in suspense: +I can't send it. Your mother's cakes are very good, and one of them serves me +for a breakfast, and so I'll go sleep like a good boy. + +26. I have got a cruel cold, and stayed within all this day in my nightgown, +and dined on sixpennyworth of victuals, and read and writ, and was denied to +everybody. Dr. Raymond[4] called often, and I was denied; and at last, when I +was weary, I let him come up, and asked him, without consequence, how Patrick +denied me, and whether he had the art of it? So by this means he shall be +used to have me denied to him; otherwise he would be a plaguy trouble and +hindrance to me: he has sat with me two hours, and drank a pint of ale cost +me fivepence, and smoked his pipe, and it is now past eleven that he is just +gone. Well, my eighth is with you now, young women; and your seventh to me is +somewhere in a post-boy's bag; and so go to your gang of deans, and Stoytes, +and Walls, and lose your money; go, sauceboxes: and so good-night, and be +happy, dear rogues. Oh, but your box was sent to Dr. Hawkshaw by Sterne, and +you will have it with Hawkshaw, and spectacles, etc., etc. + +27. To-day Mr. Harley met me in the Court of Requests,[5] and whispered me to +dine with him. At dinner I told him what those bishops had done, and the +difficulty I was under. He bid me never trouble myself; he would tell the +Duke of Ormond the business was done, and that he need not concern himself +about it. So now I am easy, and they may hang themselves for a parcel of +insolent, ungrateful rascals. I suppose I told you in my last, how they sent +an address to the Duke of Ormond, and a letter to Southwell, to call on me for +the papers, after the thing was over; but they had not received my letter, +though the Archbishop might, by what I writ to him, have expected it would be +done. Well, there is an end of that; and in a little time the Queen will send +them notice, etc. And so the methods will be settled; and then I shall think +of returning, although the baseness of those bishops makes me love Ireland +less than I did. + +28. Lord Halifax sent to invite me to dinner; where I stayed till six, and +crossed him in all his Whig talk, and made him often come over to me. I know +he makes court to the new men, although he affects to talk like a Whig. I had +a letter to-day from the Bishop of Clogher; but I writ to him lately, that I +would obey his commands to the Duke of Ormond. He says I bid him read the +London "Shaver," and that you both swore it was "Shaver," and not "Shower."[6] +You all lie, and you are puppies, and can't read Presto's hand. The Bishop is +out entirely in his conjectures of my share in the Tatlers.--I have other +things to mind, and of much greater importance;[7] else I have little to do to +be acquainted with a new Ministry, who consider me a little more than Irish +bishops do. + +29. Now for your saucy, good dear letter: let me see, what does it say? come +then. I dined to-day with Ford, and went home early; he debauched[8] me to +his chamber again with a bottle of wine till twelve: so good-night. I cannot +write an answer now, you rogues. + +30. To-day I have been visiting, which I had long neglected; and I dined with +Mrs. Barton alone; and sauntered at the Coffee-house till past eight, and have +been busy till eleven, and now I'll answer your letter, saucebox. Well, let +me see now again. My wax candle's almost out, but however I'll begin. Well +then, do not be so tedious, Mr. Presto; what can you say to MD's letter? Make +haste, have done with your preambles--Why, I say I am glad you are so often +abroad; your mother thinks it is want of exercise hurts you, and so do I. +(She called here to-night, but I was not within, that's by the bye.) Sure you +do not deceive me, Stella, when you say you are in better health than you were +these three weeks; for Dr. Raymond told me yesterday, that Smyth of the Blind +Quay had been telling Mr. Leigh that he left you extremely ill; and in short, +spoke so, that he almost put poor Leigh into tears, and would have made me run +distracted; though your letter is dated the 11th instant, and I saw Smyth in +the city above a fortnight ago, as I passed by in a coach. Pray, pray, don't +write, Stella, until you are mighty, mighty, mighty, mighty well in your eyes, +and are sure it won't do you the least hurt. Or come, I'll tell you what; +you, Mistress Stella, shall write your share at five or six sittings, one +sitting a day; and then comes Dingley all together, and then Stella a little +crumb towards the end, to let us see she remembers Presto; and then conclude +with something handsome and genteel, as your most humblecumdumble, or, etc. O +Lord! does Patrick write word of my not coming till spring? Insolent man! he +know my secrets? No; as my Lord Mayor said, No; if I thought my shirt knew, +etc. Faith, I will come as soon as it is any way proper for me to come; but, +to say the truth, I am at present a little involved with the present Ministry +in some certain things (which I tell you as a secret); and soon as ever I can +clear my hands, I will stay no longer; for I hope the First-Fruit business +will be soon over in all its forms. But, to say the truth, the present +Ministry have a difficult task, and want me, etc. Perhaps they may be just as +grateful as others: but, according to the best judgment I have, they are +pursuing the true interest of the public; and therefore I am glad to +contribute what is in my power. For God's sake, not a word of this to any +alive.--Your Chancellor?[9] Why, madam, I can tell you he has been dead this +fortnight. Faith, I could hardly forbear our little language about a nasty +dead Chancellor, as you may see by the blot.[10] Ploughing? A pox plough +them; they'll plough me to nothing. But have you got your money, both the ten +pounds? How durst he pay you the second so soon? Pray be good huswifes. +Ay, well, and Joe, why, I had a letter lately from Joe, desiring I would take +some care of their poor town,[11] who, he says, will lose their liberties. To +which I desired Dr. Raymond would return answer, that the town had behaved +themselves so ill to me, so little regarded the advice I gave them, and +disagreed so much among themselves, that I was resolved never to have more to +do with them; but that whatever personal kindness I could do to Joe, should be +done. Pray, when you happen to see Joe, tell him this, lest Raymond should +have blundered or forgotten--Poor Mrs. Wesley!--Why these poligyes[12] for +being abroad? Why should you be at home at all, until Stella is quite well?-- +So, here is Mistress Stella again, with her two eggs, etc. My "Shower" +admired with you; why, the Bishop of Clogher says, he has seen something of +mine of the same sort, better than the "Shower." I suppose he means "The +Morning";[13] but it is not half so good. I want your judgment of things, and +not your country's. How does MD like it? and do they taste it ALL? etc. I am +glad Dean Bolton[14] has paid the twenty pounds. Why should not I chide the +Bishop of Clogher for writing to the Archbishop of Cashel,[15] without sending +the letter first to me? It does not signify a ----; for he has no credit at +Court. Stuff--they are all puppies. I will break your head in good earnest, +young woman, for your nasty jest about Mrs. Barton.[16] Unlucky sluttikin, +what a word is there! Faith, I was thinking yesterday, when I was with her, +whether she could break them or no, and it quite spoilt my imagination. "Mrs. +Walls, does Stella win as she pretends?" "No indeed, Doctor; she loses +always, and will play so VENTERSOMELY, how can she win?" See here now; an't +you an impudent lying slut? Do, open Domville's letter; what does it signify, +if you have a mind? Yes, faith, you write smartly with your eyes shut; all +was well but the _n_. See how I can do it; MADAM STELLA, YOUR HUMBLE +SERVANT.[17] O, but one may look whether one goes crooked or no, and so write +on. I will tell you what you may do; you may write with your eyes half shut, +just as when one is going to sleep: I have done so for two or three lines +now; it is but just seeing enough to go straight.--Now, Madam Dingley, I think +I bid you tell Mr. Walls that, in case there be occasion, I will serve his +friend as far as I can; but I hope there will be none. Yet I believe you will +have a new Parliament; but I care not whether you have or no a better. You +are mistaken in all your conjectures about the Tatlers. I have given him one +or two hints, and you have heard me talk about the Shilling.[18] Faith, these +answering letters are very long ones: you have taken up almost the room of a +week in journals; and I will tell you what, I saw fellows wearing crosses to- +day,[19] and I wondered what was the matter; but just this minute I recollect +it is little Presto's birthday; and I was resolved these three days to +remember it when it came, but could not. Pray, drink my health to-day at +dinner; do, you rogues. Do you like "Sid Hamet's Rod"? Do you understand it +all? Well, now at last I have done with your letter, and so I will lay me +down to sleep, and about, fair maids; and I hope merry maids all. + +Dec. 1. Morning. I wish Smyth were hanged. I was dreaming the most +melancholy things in the world of poor Stella, and was grieving and crying all +night.--Pshah, it is foolish: I will rise and divert myself; so good-morrow; +and God of His infinite mercy keep and protect you! The Bishop of Clogher's +letter is dated Nov. 21. He says you thought of going with him to Clogher. I +am heartily glad of it, and wish you would ride there, and Dingley go in a +coach. I have had no fit since my first, although sometimes my head is not +quite in good order.--At night. I was this morning to visit Mr. Pratt, who is +come over with poor, sick Lord Shelburne: they made me dine with them; and +there I stayed, like a booby, till eight, looking over them at ombre, and then +came home. Lord Shelburne's giddiness is turned into a colic, and he looks +miserably. + +2. Steele, the rogue, has done the imprudentest thing in the world: he said +something in a Tatler,[20] that we ought to use the word Great Britain, and +not England, in common conversation, as, "The finest lady in Great Britain," +etc. Upon this, Rowe, Prior, and I sent him a letter, turning this into +ridicule. He has to-day printed the letter,[21] and signed it J.S., M.P., and +N.R., the first letters of all our names. Congreve told me to-day, he smoked +it immediately. Congreve and I, and Sir Charles Wager, dined to-day at +Delaval's, the Portugal Envoy; and I stayed there till eight, and came home, +and am now writing to you before I do business, because that dog Patrick is +not at home, and the fire is not made, and I am not in my gear. Pox take +him!--I was looking by chance at the top of this side, and find I make plaguy +mistakes in words; so that you must fence against that as well as bad writing. +Faith, I can't nor won't read what I have written. (Pox of this puppy!) Well, +I'll leave you till I am got to bed, and then I will say a word or two.--Well, +'tis now almost twelve, and I have been busy ever since, by a fire too (I have +my coals by half a bushel at a time, I'll assure you), and now I am got to +bed. Well, and what have you to say to Presto now he is abed? Come now, let +us hear your speeches. No, 'tis a lie; I an't sleepy yet. Let us sit up a +little longer, and talk. Well, where have you been to-day, that you are but +just this minute come home in a coach? What have you lost? Pay the coachman, +Stella. No, faith, not I, he'll grumble.--What new acquaintance have you got? +come, let us hear. I have made Delaval promise to send me some Brazil tobacco +from Portugal for you, Madam Dingley. I hope you will have your chocolate and +spectacles before this comes to you. + +3. Pshaw, I must be writing to these dear saucy brats every night, whether I +will or no, let me have what business I will, or come home ever so late, or be +ever so sleepy; but an old saying, and a true one, + + "Be you lords, or be you earls, + You must write to naughty girls." + +I was to-day at Court, and saw Raymond among the Beefeaters, staying to see +the Queen: so I put him in a better station, made two or three dozen of bows, +and went to church, and then to Court again, to pick up a dinner, as I did +with Sir John Stanley; and then we went to visit Lord Mountjoy, and just now +left him; and 'tis near eleven at night, young women; and methinks this letter +comes pretty near to the bottom, and 'tis but eight days since the date, and +don't think I'll write on the other side, I thank you for nothing. Faith, if +I would use you to letters on sheets as broad as this room, you would always +expect them from me. O, faith, I know you well enough; but an old saying, +etc., + + "Two sides in a sheet, + And one in a street." + +I think that's but a silly old saying; and so I'll go to sleep, and do you so +too. + +4. I dined to-day with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and then came home, and studied till +eleven. No adventure at all to-day. + +5. So I went to the Court of Requests (we have had the Devil and all of rain +by the bye) to pick up a dinner; and Henley made me go dine with him and one +Colonel Bragg[22] at a tavern; cost me money, faith. Congreve was to be +there, but came not. I came with Henley to the Coffee-house, where Lord +Salisbury[23] seemed mighty desirous to talk with me; and, while he was +wriggling himself into my favour, that dog Henley asked me aloud, whether I +would go to see Lord Somers as I had promised (which was a lie); and all to +vex poor Lord Salisbury, who is a high Tory. He played two or three other +such tricks; and I was forced to leave my lord, and I came home at seven, and +have been writing ever since, and will now go to bed. The other day I saw +Jack Temple[24] in the Court of Requests: it was the first time of seeing +him; so we talked two or three careless words, and parted. Is it true that +your Recorder and Mayor, and fanatic aldermen, a month or two ago, at a solemn +feast, drank Mr. Harley's, Lord Rochester's,[25] and other Tory healths? Let +me know; it was confidently said here.--The scoundrels! It shan't do, Tom. + +6. When is this letter to go, I wonder? harkee, young women, tell me that. +Saturday next for certain, and not before: then it will be just a fortnight; +time enough for naughty girls, and long enough for two letters, faith. +Congreve and Delaval have at last prevailed on Sir Godfrey Kneller to entreat +me to let him draw my picture for nothing; but I know not yet when I shall +sit.[26]--It is such monstrous rainy weather, that there is no doing with it. +Secretary St. John sent to me this morning, that my dining with him to-day was +put off till to-morrow; so I peaceably sat with my neighbour Ford, dined with +him, and came home at six, and am now in bed as usual; and now it is time to +have another letter from MD, yet I would not have it till this goes; for that +would look like two letters for one. Is it not whimsical that the Dean has +never once written to me? And I find the Archbishop very silent to that +letter I sent him with an account that the business was done. I believe he +knows not what to write or say; and I have since written twice to him, both +times with a vengeance.[27] Well, go to bed, sirrahs, and so will I. But +have you lost to-day? Three shillings! O fie, O fie! + +7. No, I won't send this letter to-day, nor till Saturday, faith; and I am so +afraid of one from MD between this and that; if it comes, I will just say I +received a letter, and that is all. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. +John, where were Lord Anglesea,[28] Sir Thomas Hanmer, Prior, Freind, etc., +and then made a debauch after nine at Prior's house, and have eaten cold pie, +and I hate the thoughts of it, and I am full, and I don't like it, and I will +go to bed, and it is late, and so good-night. + +8. To-day I dined with Mr. Harley and Prior; but Mr. St. John did not come, +though he promised: he chid me for not seeing him oftener. Here is a damned, +libellous pamphlet come out against Lord Wharton, giving the character first, +and then telling some of his actions: the character is very well, but the +facts indifferent.[29] It has been sent by dozens to several gentlemen's +lodgings, and I had one or two of them; but nobody knows the author or +printer. We are terribly afraid of the plague; they say it is at +Newcastle.[30] I begged Mr. Harley for the love of God to take some care +about it, or we are all ruined. There have been orders for all ships from the +Baltic to pass their quarantine before they land; but they neglect it. You +remember I have been afraid these two years. + +9. O, faith, you are a saucy rogue. I have had your sixth letter just now, +before this is gone; but I will not answer a word of it, only that I never was +giddy since my first fit; but I have had a cold just a fortnight, and cough +with it still morning and evening; but it will go off. It is, however, such +abominable weather that no creature can walk. They say here three of your +Commissioners will be turned out, Ogle, South, and St. Quintin;[31] and that +Dick Stewart[32] and Ludlow will be two of the new ones. I am a little +soliciting for another: it is poor Lord Abercorn,[33] but that is a secret; I +mean, that I befriend him is a secret; but I believe it is too late, by his +own fault and ill fortune. I dined with him to-day. I am heartily sorry you +do not go to Clogher, faith, I am; and so God Almighty protect poor, dear, +dear, dear, dearest MD. Farewell till to-night. I'll begin my eleventh to- +night; so I am always writing to little MD. + + + +LETTER 11. + +LONDON, Dec. 9, 1710. + +So, young women, I have just sent my tenth to the post-office, and, as I told +you, have received your seventh (faith, I am afraid I mistook, and said your +sixth, and then we shall be all in confusion this month.) Well, I told you I +dined with Lord Abercorn to-day; and that is enough till by and bye; for I +must go write idle things, and twittle twattle.[1] What's here to do with +your little MD's? and so I put this by for a while. 'Tis now late, and I can +only say MD is a dear, saucy rogue, and what then? Presto loves them the +better. + +10. This son of a b---- Patrick is out of the way, and I can do nothing; am +forced to borrow coals: 'tis now six o'clock, and I am come home after a pure +walk in the park; delicate weather, begun only to-day. A terrible storm last +night: we hear one of your packet-boats is cast away, and young Beau Swift[2] +in it, and General Sankey:[3] I know not the truth; you will before me. +Raymond talks of leaving the town in a few days, and going in a month to +Ireland, for fear his wife should be too far gone, and forced to be brought to +bed here. I think he is in the right; but perhaps this packet-boat will +fright him. He has no relish for London; and I do not wonder at it. He has +got some Templars from Ireland that show him the town. I do not let him see +me above twice a week, and that only while I am dressing in the morning.--So, +now the puppy's come in, and I have got my own ink, but a new pen; and so now +you are rogues and sauceboxes till I go to bed; for I must go study, sirrahs. +Now I think of it, tell the Bishop of Clogher, he shall not cheat me of one +inch of my bell metal. You know it is nothing but to save the town money; and +Enniskillen can afford it better than Laracor: he shall have but one thousand +five hundred weight. I have been reading, etc., as usual, and am now going to +bed; and I find this day's article is long enough: so get you gone till to- +morrow, and then. I dined with Sir Matthew Dudley. + +11. I am come home again as yesterday, and the puppy had again locked up my +ink, notwithstanding all I said to him yesterday; but he came home a little +after me, so all is well: they are lighting my fire, and I'll go study. The +fair weather is gone again, and it has rained all day. I do not like this +open weather, though some say it is healthy. They say it is a false report +about the plague at Newcastle.[4] I have no news to-day: I dined with Mrs. +Vanhomrigh, to desire them to buy me a scarf; and Lady Abercorn[5] is to buy +me another, to see who does best: mine is all in rags. I saw the Duke of +Richmond[6] yesterday at Court again, but would not speak to him: I believe +we are fallen out. I am now in bed; and it has rained all this evening, like +wildfire: have you so much rain in your town? Raymond was in a fright, as I +expected, upon the news of this shipwreck; but I persuaded him, and he leaves +this town in a week. I got him acquainted with Sir Robert Raymond,[7] the +Solicitor-General, who owns him to be of his family; and I believe it may do +him a kindness, by being recommended to your new Lord Chancellor.--I had a +letter from Mrs. Long, that has quite turned my stomach against her: no less +than two nasty jests in it, with dashes to suppose them. She is corrupted in +that country town[8] with vile conversation.--I will not answer your letter +till I have leisure: so let this go on as it will, what care I? what cares +saucy Presto? + +12. I was to-day at the Secretary's office with Lewis, and in came Lord +Rivers;[9] who took Lewis out and whispered him; and then came up to me to +desire my acquaintance, etc., so we bowed and complimented a while, and parted +and I dined with Phil. Savage[10] and his Irish Club, at their boarding-place; +and, passing an evening scurvily enough, did not come home till eight. Mr. +Addison and I hardly meet once a fortnight; his Parliament and my different +friendships keep us asunder. Sir Matthew Dudley turned away his butler +yesterday morning; and at night the poor fellow died suddenly in the streets: +was not it an odd event? But what care you? But then I knew the butler.-- +Why, it seems your packet-boat is not lost: psha, how silly that is, when I +had already gone through the forms, and said it was a sad thing, and that I +was sorry for it! But when must I answer this letter of our MD's? Here it +is, it lies between this paper on t'other side of the leaf: one of these odd- +come-shortly's I'll consider, and so good-night. + +13. Morning. I am to go trapesing with Lady Kerry[11] and Mrs. Pratt[12] to +see sights all this day: they engaged me yesterday morning at tea. You hear +the havoc making in the army: Meredith, Maccartney, and Colonel Honeywood[13] +are obliged to sell their commands at half-value, and leave the army, for +drinking destruction to the present Ministry, and dressing up a hat on a +stick, and calling it Harley; then drinking a glass with one hand, and +discharging a pistol with the other at the maukin,[14] wishing it were Harley +himself; and a hundred other such pretty tricks, as inflaming their soldiers, +and foreign Ministers, against the late changes at Court. Cadogan[15] has had +a little paring: his mother[16] told me yesterday he had lost the place of +Envoy; but I hope they will go no further with him, for he was not at those +mutinous meetings.--Well, these saucy jades take up so much of my time with +writing to them in a morning; but, faith, I am glad to see you whenever I can: +a little snap and away; and so hold your tongue, for I must rise: not a word, +for your life. How nowww? So, very well; stay till I come home, and then, +perhaps, you may hear further from me. And where will you go to-day, for I +can't be with you for these ladies? It is a rainy, ugly day. I'd have you +send for Walls, and go to the Dean's; but don't play small games when you +lose. You'll be ruined by Manilio, Basto, the queen, and two small trumps, in +red.[17] I confess 'tis a good hand against the player: but then there are +Spadilio, Punto, the king, strong trumps, against you, which, with one trump +more, are three tricks ten ace: for, suppose you play your Manilio--Oh, +silly, how I prate, and can't get away from this MD in a morning! Go, get you +gone, dear naughty girls, and let me rise. There, Patrick locked up my ink +again the third time last night: the rogue gets the better of me; but I will +rise in spite of you, sirrahs.--At night. Lady Kerry, Mrs. Pratt, Mrs. +Cadogan,[18] and I, in one coach; Lady Kerry's son[19] and his governor, and +two gentlemen, in another; maids, and misses and little master (Lord +Shelburne's[20] children, in a third, all hackneys, set out at ten o'clock +this morning from Lord Shelburne's house in Piccadilly to the Tower, and saw +all the sights, lions,[21] etc.; then to Bedlam;[22] then dined at the chop- +house behind the Exchange; then to Gresham College[23] (but the keeper was not +at home); and concluded the night at the Puppet-show,[24] whence we came home +safe at eight, and I left them. The ladies were all in mobs[25] (how do you +call it?), undrest; and it was the rainiest day that ever dripped; and I am +weary; and it is now past eleven. + +14. Stay, I'll answer some of your letter this morning in bed: let me see; +come and appear, little letter. Here I am, says he: and what say you to Mrs. +MD this morning fresh and fasting? Who dares think MD negligent? I allow +them a fortnight; and they give it me. I could fill a letter in a week; but +it is longer every day; and so I keep it a fortnight, and then 'tis cheaper by +one half. I have never been giddy, dear Stella, since that morning: I have +taken a whole box of pills, and kecked[26] at them every night, and drank a +pint of brandy at mornings.--Oh then, you kept Presto's little birthday:[27] +would to God I had been with you! I forgot it, as I told you before. +REdiculous, madam? I suppose you mean rIdiculous: let me have no more of +that; 'tis the author of the Atalantis's[28] spelling. I have mended it in +your letter. And can Stella read this writing without hurting her dear eyes? +O, faith, I am afraid not. Have a care of those eyes, pray, pray, pretty +Stella.--'Tis well enough what you observe, that, if I writ better, perhaps +you would not read so well, being used to this manner; 'tis an alphabet you +are used to: you know such a pot-hook makes a letter; and you know what +letter, and so and so.--I'll swear he told me so, and that they were long +letters too; but I told him it was a gasconnade of yours, etc. I am talking +of the Bishop of Clogher, how he forgot. Turn over.[29] I had not room on +t'other side to say that, so I did it on this: I fancy that's a good Irish +blunder. Ah, why do not you go down to Clogher, nautinautinautideargirls; I +dare not say nauti without dear: O, faith, you govern me. But, seriously, +I'm sorry you don't go, as far as I can judge at this distance. No, we would +get you another horse; I will make Parvisol get you one. I always doubted +that horse of yours: prythee sell him, and let it be a present to me. My +heart aches when I think you ride him. Order Parvisol to sell him, and that +you are to return me the money: I shall never be easy until he is out of your +hands. Faith, I have dreamt five or six times of horses stumbling since I had +your letter. If he can't sell him, let him run this winter. Faith, if I was +near you, I would whip your ---- to some tune, for your grave, saucy answer +about the Dean and Johnsonibus; I would, young women. And did the Dean preach +for me?[30] Very well. Why, would they have me stand here and preach to +them? No, the Tatler of the Shilling[31] was not mine, more than the hint, +and two or three general heads for it. I have much more important business on +my hands; and, besides, the Ministry hate to think that I should help him, and +have made reproaches on it; and I frankly told them I would do it no more. +This is a secret though, Madam Stella. You win eight shillings? you win eight +fiddlesticks. Faith, you say nothing of what you lose, young women.--I hope +Manley is in no great danger; for Ned Southwell is his friend, and so is Sir +Thomas Frankland; and his brother John Manley stands up heartily for him. On +t'other side, all the gentlemen of Ireland here are furiously against him. +Now, Mistress Dingley, an't you an impudent slut, to expect a letter next +packet from Presto, when you confess yourself that you had so lately two +letters in four days? Unreasonable baggage! No, little Dingley, I am always +in bed by twelve; I mean my candle is out by twelve, and I take great care of +myself. Pray let everybody know, upon occasion, that Mr. Harley got the +First-Fruits from the Queen for the clergy of Ireland, and that nothing +remains but the forms, etc. So you say the Dean and you dined at Stoyte's, +and Mrs. Stoyte was in raptures that I remembered her. I must do it but +seldom, or it will take off her rapture. But what now, you saucy sluts? all +this written in a morning, and I must rise and go abroad. Pray stay till +night: do not think I will squander mornings upon you, pray, good madam. +Faith, if I go on longer in this trick of writing in the morning, I shall be +afraid of leaving it off, and think you expect it, and be in awe. Good- +morrow, sirrahs, I will rise.--At night. I went to-day to the Court of +Requests (I will not answer the rest of your letter yet, that by the way, in +hopes to dine with Mr. Harley: but Lord Dupplin,[32] his son-in-law, told me +he did not dine at home; so I was at a loss, until I met with Mr. Secretary +St. John, and went home and dined with him, where he told me of a good +bite.[33] Lord Rivers told me two days ago, that he was resolved to come +Sunday fortnight next to hear me preach before the Queen. I assured him the +day was not yet fixed, and I knew nothing of it. To-day the Secretary told me +that his father, Sir Harry St. John,[34] and Lord Rivers were to be at St. +James's Church, to hear me preach there; and were assured I was to preach: so +there will be another bite; for I know nothing of the matter, but that Mr. +Harley and St. John are resolved I must preach before the Queen; and the +Secretary of State has told me he will give me three weeks' warning; but I +desired to be excused, which he will not. St. John, "You shall not be +excused": however, I hope they will forget it; for if it should happen, all +the puppies hereabouts will throng to hear me, and expect something wonderful, +and be plaguily baulked; for I shall preach plain honest stuff. I stayed with +St. John till eight, and then came home; and Patrick desired leave to go +abroad, and by and by comes up the girl to tell me, a gentleman was below in a +coach, who had a bill to pay me; so I let him come up, and who should it be +but Mr. Addison and Sam Dopping, to haul me out to supper, where I stayed till +twelve. If Patrick had been at home, I should have 'scaped this; for I have +taught him to deny me almost as well as Mr. Harley's porter.--Where did I +leave off in MD's letter? let me see. So, now I have it. You are pleased to +say, Madam Dingley, that those who go for England can never tell when to come +back. Do you mean this as a reflection upon Presto, madam? Sauceboxes, I +will come back as soon as I can, as hope saved,[35] and I hope with some +advantage, unless all Ministries be alike, as perhaps they may. I hope +Hawkshaw is in Dublin before now, and that you have your things, and like your +spectacles: if you do not, you shall have better. I hope Dingley's tobacco +did not spoil Stella's chocolate, and that all is safe: pray let me know. +Mr. Addison and I are different as black and white, and I believe our +friendship will go off, by this damned business of party: he cannot bear +seeing me fall in so with this Ministry: but I love him still as well as +ever, though we seldom meet.--Hussy, Stella, you jest about poor Congreve's +eyes;[36] you do so, hussy; but I'll bang your bones, faith.--Yes, Steele was +a little while in prison, or at least in a spunging-house, some time before I +came, but not since.[37]--Pox on your convocations, and your Lamberts;[38] +they write with a vengeance! I suppose you think it a piece of affectation in +me to wish your Irish folks would not like my "Shower,"; but you are mistaken. +I should be glad to have the general applause there as I have here (though I +say it); but I have only that of one or two, and therefore I would have none +at all, but let you all be in the wrong. I don't know, this is not what I +would say; but I am so tosticated with supper and stuff, that I can't express +myself.--What you say of "Sid Hamet" is well enough; that an enemy should like +it, and a friend not; and that telling the author would make both change their +opinions. Why did you not tell Griffyth[39] that you fancied there was +something in it of my manner; but first spur up his commendation to the +height, as we served my poor uncle about the sconce that I mended? Well, I +desired you to give what I intended for an answer to Mrs. Fenton,[40] to save +her postage, and myself trouble; and I hope I have done it, if you han't. + +15. Lord, what a long day's writing was yesterday's answer to your letter, +sirrahs! I dined to-day with Lewis and Ford, whom I have brought acquainted. +Lewis told me a pure thing. I had been hankering with Mr. Harley to save +Steele his other employment, and have a little mercy on him; and I had been +saying the same thing to Lewis, who is Mr. Harley's chief favourite. Lewis +tells Mr. Harley how kindly I should take it, if he would be reconciled to +Steele, etc. Mr. Harley, on my account, falls in with it, and appoints Steele +a time to let him attend him, which Steele accepts with great submission, but +never comes, nor sends any excuse. Whether it was blundering, sullenness, +insolence, or rancour of party, I cannot tell; but I shall trouble myself no +more about him. I believe Addison hindered him out of mere spite, being +grated[41] to the soul to think he should ever want my help to save his +friend; yet now he is soliciting me to make another of his friends Queen's +Secretary at Geneva; and I'll do it if I can; it is poor Pastoral Philips.[42] + +16. O, why did you leave my picture behind you at t'other lodgings? Forgot +it? Well; but pray remember it now, and don't roll it up, d'ye hear; but hang +it carefully in some part of your room, where chairs and candles and mop- +sticks won't spoil it, sirrahs. No, truly, I will not be godfather to Goody +Walls this bout, and I hope she will have no more. There will be no quiet nor +cards for this child. I hope it will die the day after the christening. Mr. +Harley gave me a paper, with an account of the sentence you speak of against +the lads that defaced the statue,[43] and that Ingoldsby[44] reprieved that +part of it of standing before the statue. I hope it was never executed. We +have got your Broderick out;[45] Doyne[46] is to succeed him, and Cox[47] +Doyne. And so there's an end of your letter; 'tis all answered; and now I +must go on upon my own stock. Go on, did I say? Why, I have written enough; +but this is too soon to send it yet, young women; faith, I dare not use you to +it, you'll always expect it; what remains shall be only short journals of a +day, and so I'll rise for this morning.--At night. I dined with my opposite +neighbour, Darteneuf; and I was soliciting this day to present the Bishop of +Clogher Vice-Chancellor;[48] but it won't do; they are all set against him, +and the Duke of Ormond, they say, has resolved to dispose of it somewhere +else. Well; little saucy rogues, do not stay out too late to-night, because +it is Saturday night, and young women should come home soon then. + +17. I went to Court to seek a dinner: but the Queen was not at church, she +has got a touch of the gout; so the Court was thin, and I went to the Coffee- +house; and Sir Thomas Frankland and his eldest son and I went and dined with +his son William.[49] I talked a great deal to Sir Thomas about Manley; and +find he is his good friend, and so has Ned Southwell been, and I hope he will +be safe, though all the Irish folks here are his mortal enemies. There was a +devilish bite to-day. They had it, I know not how, that I was to preach this +morning at St. James's Church; an abundance went, among the rest Lord Radnor, +who never is abroad till three in the afternoon. I walked all the way home +from Hatton Garden at six, by moonlight, a delicate night. Raymond called at +nine, but I was denied; and now I am in bed between eleven and twelve, just +going to sleep, and dream of my own dear roguish impudent pretty MD. + +18. You will now have short days' works, just a few lines to tell you where I +am, and what I am doing; only I will keep room for the last day to tell you +news, if there be any worth sending. I have been sometimes like to do it at +the top of my letter, until I remark it would be old before it reached you. I +was hunting to dine with Mr. Harley to-day, but could not find him; and so I +dined with honest Dr. Cockburn, and came home at six, and was taken out to +next door by Dopping and Ford, to drink bad claret and oranges; and we let +Raymond come to us, who talks of leaving the town to-morrow, but I believe +will stay a day or two longer. It is now late, and I will say no more, but +end this line with bidding my own dear saucy MD goodnight, etc. + +19. I am come down proud stomach in one instance, for I went to-day to see +the Duke of Buckingham,[50] but came too late: then I visited Mrs. +Barton,[51] and thought to have dined with some of the Ministry; but it +rained, and Mrs. Vanhomrigh was nigh, and I took the opportunity of paying her +for a scarf she bought me, and dined there; at four I went to congratulate +with Lord Shelburne, for the death of poor Lady Shelburne dowager;[52] he was +at his country house, and returned while I was there, and had not heard of it, +and he took it very well. I am now come home before six, and find a packet +from the Bishop of Clogher, with one enclosed to the Duke of Ormond, which is +ten days earlier dated than another I had from Parvisol; however, 'tis no +matter, for the Duke has already disposed of the Vice-Chancellorship to the +Archbishop of Tuam,[53] and I could not help it, for it is a thing wholly you +know in the Duke's power; and I find the Bishop has enemies about the Duke. I +write this while Patrick is folding up my scarf, and doing up the fire (for I +keep a fire, it costs me twelvepence a week); and so be quiet till I am gone +to bed, and then sit down by me a little, and we will talk a few words more. +Well; now MD is at my bedside; and now what shall we say? How does Mrs. +Stoyte? What had the Dean for supper? How much did Mrs. Walls win? Poor +Lady Shelburne: well, go get you to bed, sirrahs. + +20. Morning. I was up this morning early, and shaved by candlelight, and +write this by the fireside. Poor Raymond just came in and took his leave of +me; he is summoned by high order from his wife, but pretends he has had enough +of London. I was a little melancholy to part with him; he goes to Bristol, +where they are to be with his merchant brother, and now thinks of staying till +May; so she must be brought to bed in England. He was so easy and manageable, +that I almost repent I suffered him to see me so seldom. But he is gone, and +will save Patrick some lies in a week: Patrick is grown admirable at it, and +will make his fortune. How now, sirrah, must I write in a morning to your +impudence? + + Stay till night, + And then I'll write, + In black and white, + By candlelight, + Of wax so bright, + It helps the sight-- + A bite, a bite! + +Marry come up, Mistress Boldface.--At night. Dr. Raymond came back, and goes +to-morrow. I did not come home till eleven, and found him here to take leave +of me. I went to the Court of Requests, thinking to find Mr. Harley and dine +with him, and refused Henley, and everybody, and at last knew not where to go, +and met Jemmy Leigh by chance, and he was just in the same way, so I dined at +his lodgings on a beef-steak, and drank your health; then left him and went to +the tavern with Ben Tooke and Portlack, the Duke of Ormond's secretary, +drinking nasty white wine till eleven. I am sick, and ashamed of it, etc. + +21. I met that beast Ferris, Lord Berkeley's[54] steward formerly; I walked +with him a turn in the Park, and that scoundrel dog is as happy as an emperor, +has married a wife with a considerable estate in land and houses about this +town, and lives at his ease at Hammersmith. See your confounded sect![55] +Well; I had the same luck to-day with Mr. Harley; 'twas a lovely day, and went +by water into the City, and dined with Stratford at a merchant's house, and +walked home with as great a dunce as Ferris, I mean honest Colonel +Caulfeild,[56] and came home by eight, and now am in bed, and going to sleep +for a wager, and will send this letter on Saturday, and so; but first I will +wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and pray God we may never +keep them asunder again. + +22. Morning. I am going now to Mr. Harley's levee on purpose to vex him; I +will say I had no other way of seeing him, etc. Patrick says it is a dark +morning, and that the Duke of Argyle[57] is to be knighted to-day; the booby +means installed at Windsor. But I must rise, for this is a shaving-day, and +Patrick says there is a good fire; I wish MD were by it, or I by MD's.--At +night. I forgot to tell you, Madam Dingley, that I paid nine shillings for +your glass and spectacles, of which three were for the Bishop's case: I am +sorry I did not buy you such another case; but if you like it, I will bring +one over with me; pray tell me: the glass to read was four shillings, the +spectacles two. And have you had your chocolate? Leigh says he sent the +petticoat by one Mr. Spencer. Pray have you no further commissions for me? I +paid the glass-man but last night, and he would have made me a present of the +microscope worth thirty shillings, and would have sent it home along with me; +I thought the deuce was in the man: he said I could do him more service than +that was worth, etc. I refused his present, but promised him all service I +could do him; and so now I am obliged in honour to recommend him to +everybody.--At night. I went to Mr. Harley's levee; he came and asked me what +I had to do there, and bid me come and dine with him on a family dinner; which +I did, and it was the first time I ever saw his lady[58] and daughter;[59] at +five my Lord Keeper[60] came in: I told Mr. Harley, he had formerly presented +me to Sir Simon Harcourt, but now must to my Lord Keeper; so he laughed, etc. + +23. Morning. This letter goes to-night without fail; I hope there is none +from you yet at the Coffee-house; I will send and see by and by, and let you +know, and so and so. Patrick goes to see for a letter: what will you lay, is +there one from MD or no? No, I say; done for sixpence. Why has the Dean +never once written to me? I won sixpence; I won sixpence; there is not one +letter to Presto. Good-morrow, dear sirrahs: Stratford and I dine to-day +with Lord Mountjoy. God Almighty preserve and bless you; farewell, etc. + +I have been dining at Lord Mountjoy's; and am come to study; our news from +Spain this post takes off some of our fears. The Parliament is prorogued to- +day, or adjourned rather till after the holidays. Bank Stock is 105, so I may +get 12 shillings for my bargain already. Patrick, the puppy, is abroad, and +how shall I send this letter? Good-night, little dears both, and be happy; +and remember your poor Presto, that wants you sadly, as hope saved. Let me go +study, naughty girls, and don't keep me at the bottom of the paper. O, faith, +if you knew what lies on my hands constantly, you would wonder to see how I +could write such long letters; but we'll talk of that some other time. Good- +night again, and God bless dear MD with His best blessings, yes, yes, and +Dingley and Stella and me too, etc. + +Ask the Bishop of Clogher about the pun I sent him of Lord Stawel's +brother;[61] it will be a pure bite. This letter has 199 lines in it, beside +all postscripts; I had a curiosity to reckon. + +There is a long letter for you. + +It is longer than a sermon, faith. + +I had another letter from Mrs. Fenton, who says you were with her; I hope you +did not go on purpose. I will answer her letter soon; it is about some money +in Lady Giffard's hands. + +They say you have had eight packets due to you; so pray, madams, do not blame +Presto, but the wind. + +My humble service to Mrs. Walls and Mrs. Stoyte; I missed the former a good +while. + + + +LETTER 12. + +LONDON, Dec. 23, 1710. + +I have sent my 11th to-night as usual, and begin the dozenth, and I told you I +dined with Stratford at Lord Mountjoy's, and I will tell you no more at +present, guess for why; because I am going to mind things, and mighty affairs, +not your nasty First-Fruits--I let them alone till Mr. Harley gets the Queen's +letter--but other things of greater moment, that you shall know one day, when +the ducks have eaten up all the dirt. So sit still a while just by me, while +I am studying, and don't say a word, I charge you, and when I am going to bed, +I will take you along, and talk with you a little while, so there, sit there.- +-Come then, let us see what we have to say to these saucy brats, that will not +let us go sleep at past eleven. Why, I am a little impatient to know how you +do; but that I take it for a standing maxim, that when you are silent, all is +pretty well, because that is the way I will deal with you; and if there was +anything you ought to know now, I would write by the first post, although I +had written but the day before. Remember this, young women; and God Almighty +preserve you both, and make us happy together; and tell me how accompts stand +between us, that you may be paid long before it is due, not to want. I will +return no more money while I stay, so that you need not be in pain to be paid; +but let me know at least a month before you can want. Observe this, d'ye +hear, little dear sirrahs, and love Presto, as Presto loves MD, etc. + +24. You will have a merrier Christmas Eve than we here. I went up to Court +before church; and in one of the rooms, there being but little company, a +fellow in a red coat without a sword came up to me, and, after words of +course, asked me how the ladies did? I asked, "What ladies?" He said, "Mrs. +Dingley and Mrs. Johnson." "Very well," said I, "when I heard from them last: +and pray when came you from thence, sir?" He said, "I never was in Ireland"; +and just at that word Lord Winchelsea[1] comes up to me, and the man went off: +as I went out I saw him again, and recollected him, it was Vedeau[2] with a +pox: I then went and made my apologies, that my head was full of something I +had to say to Lord Winchelsea, etc., and I asked after his wife, and so all +was well; and he inquired after my lodging, because he had some favour to +desire of me in Ireland, to recommend somebody to somebody, I know not what it +is. When I came from church, I went up to Court again, where Sir Edmond +Bacon[3] told me the bad news from Spain,[4] which you will hear before this +reaches you; as we have it now, we are undone there, and it was odd to see the +whole countenances of the Court changed so in two hours. Lady Mountjoy[5] +carried me home to dinner, where I stayed not long after, and came home early, +and now am got into bed, for you must always write to your MD's in bed, that +is a maxim. + + Mr. White and Mr. Red, + Write to MD when abed; + Mr. Black and Mr. Brown, + Write to MD when you're down; + Mr. Oak and Mr. Willow, + Write to MD on your pillow.-- + +What is this? faith, I smell fire; what can it be? this house has a thousand +stinks in it. I think to leave it on Thursday, and lodge over the way. +Faith, I must rise, and look at my chimney, for the smell grows stronger, +stay--I have been up, and in my room, and found all safe, only a mouse within +the fender to warm himself, which I could not catch. I smelt nothing there, +but now in my bed-chamber I smell it again; I believe I have singed the +woollen curtain, and that is all, though I cannot smoke it. Presto is plaguy +silly to-night, an't he? Yes, and so he be. Ay, but if I should wake and see +fire. Well; I will venture; so good-night, etc. + +25. Pray, young women, if I write so much as this every day, how will this +paper hold a fortnight's work, and answer one of yours into the bargain? You +never think of this, but let me go on like a simpleton. I wish you a merry +Christmas, and many, many a one with poor Presto at some pretty place. I was +at church to-day by eight, and received the Sacrament, and came home by ten; +then went to Court at two: it was a Collar-day, that is, when the Knights of +the Garter wear their collars; but the Queen stayed so late at Sacrament, that +I came back, and dined with my neighbour Ford, because all people dine at home +on this day. This is likewise a Collar-day all over England in every house, +at least where there is BRAWN: that's very well.--I tell you a good pun; a +fellow hard by pretends to cure agues, and has set out a sign, and spells it +EGOES; a gentleman and I observing it, he said, "How does that fellow pretend +to cure AGUES?" I said I did not know; but I was sure it was not by a SPELL. +That is admirable. And so you asked the Bishop about that pun of Lord +Stawel's brother. Bite! Have I caught you, young women? Must you pretend to +ask after roguish puns, and Latin ones too? Oh but you smoked me, and did not +ask the Bishop. Oh but you are a fool, and you did. I met Vedeau again at +Court to-day, and I observed he had a sword on; I fancy he was broke, and has +got a commission, but I never asked him. Vedeau I think his name is, yet +Parvisol's man is Vedel, that is true. Bank Stock will fall like stock-fish +by this bad news, and two days ago I could have got twelve pounds by my +bargain; but I do not intend to sell, and in time it will rise. It is odd +that my Lord Peterborow foretold this loss two months ago, one night at Mr. +Harley's, when I was there; he bid us count upon it, that Stanhope would lose +Spain before Christmas; that he would venture his head upon it, and gave us +reasons; and though Mr. Harley argued the contrary, he still held to his +opinion. I was telling my Lord Angelsea this at Court this morning; and a +gentleman by said he had heard my Lord Peterborow affirm the same thing. I +have heard wise folks say, "An ill tongue may do much." And 'tis an odd +saying, + + "Once I guessed right, + And I got credit by't; + Thrice I guessed wrong, + And I kept my credit on." + +No, it is you are sorry, not I. + +26. By the Lord Harry, I shall be undone here with Christmas boxes. The +rogues of the Coffee-house have raised their tax, everyone giving a crown; and +I gave mine for shame, besides a great many half-crowns to great men's +porters, etc. I went to-day by water into the city, and dined with no less a +man than the City Printer.[6] There is an intimacy between us, built upon +reasons that you shall know when I see you; but the rain caught me within +twelvepenny length of home. I called at Mr. Harley's, who was not within, +dropped my half-crown with his porter, drove to the Coffee-house, where the +rain kept me till nine. I had letters to-day from the Archbishop of Dublin +and Mr. Bernage;[7] the latter sends me a melancholy account of Lady +Shelburne's[8] death, and his own disappointments, and would gladly be a +captain; if I can help him, I will. + +27. Morning. I bespoke a lodging over the way for tomorrow, and the dog let +it yesterday to another; I gave him no earnest, so it seems he could do it; +Patrick would have had me give him earnest to bind him; but I would not. So I +must go saunter to-day for a lodging somewhere else. Did you ever see so open +a winter in England? We have not had two frosty days; but it pays it off in +rain: we have not had three fair days these six weeks. O, faith, I dreamt +mightily of MD last night; but so confused, I cannot tell a word. I have made +Ford acquainted with Lewis; and to-day we dined together: in the evening I +called at one or two neighbours, hoping to spend a Christmas evening; but none +were at home, they were all gone to be merry with others. I have often +observed this, that in merry times everybody is abroad; where the deuce are +they? So I went to the Coffee-house, and talked with Mr. Addison an hour, who +at last remembered to give me two letters, which I cannot answer to-night, nor +to-morrow neither, I can assure you, young women, count upon that. I have +other things to do than to answer naughty girls, an old saying and true, + + Letters from MD's + Must not be answered in ten days: + +it is but bad rhyme, etc. + +28. To-day I had a message from Sir Thomas Hanmer, to dine with him; the +famous Dr. Smalridge[9] was of the company, and we sat till six; and I came +home to my new lodgings in St. Albans Street,[10] where I pay the same rent +(eight shillings a week) for an apartment two pair of stairs; but I have the +use of the parlour to receive persons of quality, and I am got into my new +bed, etc. + +29. Sir Andrew Fountaine has been very ill this week; and sent to me early +this morning to have prayers, which you know is the last thing. I found the +doctors and all in despair about him. I read prayers to him, found he had +settled all things; and, when I came out, the nurse asked me whether I thought +it possible he could live; for the doctors thought not. I said, I believed he +would live; for I found the seeds of life in him, which I observe seldom fail +(and I found them in poor, dearest Stella, when she was ill many years ago); +and to-night I was with him again, and he was mightily recovered, and I hope +he will do well, and the doctor approved my reasons; but, if he should die, I +should come off scurvily. The Secretary of State (Mr. St. John) sent to me to +dine with him; Mr. Harley and Lord Peterborow dined there too; and at night +came Lord Rivers. Lord Peterborow goes to Vienna in a day or two: he has +promised to make me write to him. Mr. Harley went away at six; but we stayed +till seven. I took the Secretary aside, and complained to him of Mr. Harley, +that he had got the Queen to grant the First-Fruits, promised to bring me to +her, and get her letter to the bishops of Ireland; but the last part he had +not done in six weeks, and I was in danger to lose reputation, etc. He took +the matter right, desired me to be with him on Sunday morning, and promises me +to finish the affair in four days; so I shall know in a little time what I +have to trust to.--It is nine o'clock, and I must go study, you little rogues; +and so good-night, etc. + +30. Morning. The weather grows cold, you sauceboxes. Sir Andrew Fountaine, +they bring me word, is better. I will go rise, for my hands are starving +while I write in bed. Night. Now Sir Andrew Fountaine is recovering, he +desires to be at ease; for I called in the morning to read prayers, but he had +given orders not to be disturbed. I have lost a legacy by his living; for he +told me he had left me a picture and some books, etc. I called to see my +quondam neighbour Ford (do you know what quondam is, though?), and he engaged +me to dine with him; for he always dines at home on Opera-days. I came home +at six, writ to the Archbishop, then studied till past eleven, and stole to +bed, to write to MD these few lines, to let you know I am in good health at +the present writing hereof, and hope in God MD is so too. I wonder I never +write politics to you: I could make you the profoundest politician in all the +lane.--Well, but when shall we answer this letter, No. 8 of MD's? Not till +next year, faith. O Lord--bo--but that will be a Monday next. Cod's-so, is +it? and so it is: never saw the like.--I made a pun t'other day to Ben +Portlack[11] about a pair of drawers. Poh, said he, that's mine a--- all +over. Pray, pray, Dingley, let me go sleep; pray, pray, Stella, let me go +slumber; and put out my wax-candle. + +31. Morning. It is now seven, and I have got a fire, but am writing abed in +my bed-chamber. 'Tis not shaving-day, so I shall be ready early to go before +church to Mr. St. John; and to-morrow I will answer our MD's letter. + + Would you answer MD's letter, + On New Year's Day you'll do it better; + For, when the year with MD 'gins, + It without MD never lins. + +(These proverbs have always old words in them; lins is leave off.) + + But, if on New Year you write nones, + MD then will bang your bones. + +But Patrick says I must rise.--Night. I was early this morning with Secretary +St. John, and gave him a memorial to get the Queen's letter for the First- +Fruits, who has promised to do it in a very few days. He told me he had been +with the Duke of Marlborough, who was lamenting his former wrong steps in +joining with the Whigs, and said he was worn out with age, fatigues, and +misfortunes. I swear it pitied me; and I really think they will not do well +in too much mortifying that man, although indeed it is his own fault. He is +covetous as hell, and ambitious as the Prince of it: he would fain have been +General for life, and has broken all endeavours for peace, to keep his +greatness and get money. He told the Queen he was neither covetous nor +ambitious. She said if she could have conveniently turned about, she would +have laughed, and could hardly forbear it in his face. He fell in with all +the abominable measures of the late Ministry, because they gratified him for +their own designs. Yet he has been a successful General, and I hope he will +continue his command. O Lord, smoke the politics to MD! Well; but, if you +like them, I will scatter a little now and then, and mine are all fresh from +the chief hands. Well, I dined with Mr. Harley, and came away at six: there +was much company, and I was not merry at all. Mr. Harley made me read a paper +of verses of Prior's. I read them plain, without any fine manner; and Prior +swore, I should never read any of his again; but he would be revenged, and +read some of mine as bad. I excused myself, and said I was famous for reading +verses the worst in the world; and that everybody snatched them from me when I +offered to begin. So we laughed.--Sir Andrew Fountaine still continues ill. +He is plagued with some sort of bile. + +Jan. 1. Morning. I wish my dearest, pretty Dingley and Stella a happy New +Year, and health, and mirth, and good stomachs, and Fr's company. Faith, I +did not know how to write Fr. I wondered what was the matter; but now I +remember I always write Pdfr. Patrick wishes me a happy New Year, and desires +I would rise, for it is a good fire, and faith 'tis cold. I was so politic +last night with MD, never saw the like. Get the Examiners, and read them; the +last nine or ten are full of the reasons for the late change, and of the +abuses of the last Ministry; and the great men assure me they are all true. +They are written by their encouragement and direction. I must rise and go see +Sir Andrew Fountaine; but perhaps to-night I may answer MD's letter: so good- +morrow, my mistresses all, good-morrow. + + I wish you both a merry New Year, + Roast beef, minced pies, and good strong beer, + And me a share of your good cheer, + That I was there, or you were here; + And you're a little saucy dear. + +Good-morrow again, dear sirrahs; one cannot rise for your play.--At night. I +went this morning to visit Lady Kerry and Lord Shelburne; and they made me +dine with them. Sir Andrew Fountaine is better. And now let us come and see +what this saucy, dear letter of MD says. Come out, letter, come out from +between the sheets; here it is underneath, and it will not come out. Come out +again, I say: so there. Here it is. What says Presto to me, pray? says it. +Come, and let me answer for you to your ladies. Hold up your head then, like +a good letter. There. Pray, how have you got up with Presto, Madam Stella? +You write your eighth when you receive mine: now I write my twelfth when I +receive your eighth. Do not you allow for what are upon the road, simpleton? +What say you to that? And so you kept Presto's little birthday, I warrant: +would to God I had been at the health rather than here, where I have no manner +of pleasure, nothing but eternal business upon my hands. I shall grow wise in +time; but no more of that: only I say Amen with my heart and vitals, that we +may never be asunder again ten days together while poor Presto lives. -------- +------------------------------------------------ I can't be merry so near any +splenetic talk; so I made that long line, and now all's well again. Yes, you +are a pretending slut, indeed, with your fourth and fifth in the margin, and +your journal, and everything. Wind--we saw no wind here, nothing at all +extraordinary at any time. We had it once when you had it not. But an old +saying and a true: + + "I hate all wind, + Before and behind, + From cheeks with eyes, + Or from blind.----" + +Your chimney fall down! God preserve you. I suppose you only mean a brick or +two: but that's a d--ned lie of your chimney being carried to the next house +with the wind. Don't put such things upon us; those matters will not pass +here: keep a little to possibilities. My Lord Hertford[12] would have been +ashamed of such a stretch. You should take care of what company you converse +with: when one gets that faculty, 'tis hard to break one's self of it. Jemmy +Leigh talks of going over; but quando? I do not know when he will go. Oh, +now you have had my ninth, now you are come up with me; marry come up with +you, indeed. I know all that business of Lady S----.[13] Will nobody cut +that D--y's throat? Five hundred pounds do you call poor pay for living three +months the life of a king? They say she died with grief, partly, being forced +to appear as a witness in court about some squabble among their servants.--The +Bishop of Clogher showed you a pamphlet.[14] Well, but you must not give your +mind to believe those things; people will say anything. The Character is here +reckoned admirable, but most of the facts are trifles. It was first printed +privately here; and then some bold cur ventured to do it publicly, and sold +two thousand in two days: who the author is must remain uncertain. Do you +pretend to know, impudence? How durst you think so? Pox on your Parliaments: +the Archbishop has told me of it; but we do not vouchsafe to know anything of +it here. No, no, no more of your giddiness yet; thank you, Stella, for asking +after it; thank you; God Almighty bless you for your kindness to poor Presto. +You write to Lady Giffard and your mother upon what I advise when it is too +late. But yet I fancy this bad news will bring down stocks so low, that one +might buy to great advantage. I design to venture going to see your mother +some day when Lady Giffard is abroad. Well, keep your Rathburn[15] and stuff. +I thought he was to pay in your money upon his houses to be flung down about +the what do you call it.--Well, Madam Dingley, I sent your enclosed to +Bristol, but have not heard from Raymond since he went. Come, come, young +women, I keep a good fire; it costs me twelvepence a week, and I fear +something more; vex me, and I will have one in my bed-chamber too. No, did +not I tell you but just now, we have no high winds here? Have you forgot +already?--Now you're at it again, silly Stella; why does your mother say my +candles are scandalous? They are good sixes in the pound, and she said I was +extravagant enough to burn them by daylight. I never burn fewer at a time +than one. What would people have? The D---- burst Hawkshaw. He told me he +had not the box; and the next day Sterne told me he had sent it a fortnight +ago. Patrick could not find him t'other day, but he shall to-morrow. Dear +life and heart, do you tease me? does Stella tease Presto? That palsy-water +was in the box; it was too big for a packet, and I was afraid of its breaking. +Leigh was not in town then; or I would not have trusted it to Sterne, whom yet +I have befriended enough to do me more kindness than that. I'll never rest +till you have it, or till it is in a way for you to have it. Poor dear rogue, +naughty to think it teases me; how could I ever forgive myself for neglecting +anything that related to your health? Sure I were a Devil if I did. --------- +--------------------------------------------- See how far I am forced to stand +from Stella, because I am afraid she thinks poor Presto has not been careful +about her little things; I am sure I bought them immediately according to +order, and packed them up with my own hands, and sent them to Sterne, and was +six times with him about sending them away. I am glad you are pleased with +your glasses. I have got another velvet cap; a new one Lord Herbert[16] +bought and presented me one morning I was at breakfast with him, where he was +as merry and easy as ever I saw him, yet had received a challenge half an hour +before, and half an hour after fought a duel. It was about ten days ago. You +are mistaken in your guesses about Tatlers: I did neither write that on Noses +nor Religion,[17] nor do I send him of late any hints at all.--Indeed, Stella, +when I read your letter, I was not uneasy at all; but when I came to answer +the particulars, and found that you had not received your box, it grated me to +the heart, because I thought, through your little words, that you imagined I +had not taken the care I ought. But there has been some blunder in this +matter, which I will know to-morrow, and write to Sterne, for fear he should +not be within.--And pray, pray, Presto, pray now do.--No, Raymond was not +above four times with me while he stayed, and then only while I was dressing. +Mrs. Fenton has written me another letter about some money of hers in Lady +Giffard's hands, that is entrusted to me by my mother, not to come to her +husband. I send my letters constantly every fortnight, and, if you will have +them oftener, you may, but then they will be the shorter. Pray, let Parvisol +sell the horse. I think I spoke to you of it in a former letter: I am glad +you are rid of him, and was in pain while I thought you rode him; but, if he +would buy you another, or anybody else, and that you could be often able to +ride, why do not you do it? + +2. I went this morning early to the Secretary of State, Mr. St. John; and he +told me from Mr. Harley that the warrant was now drawn, in order for a patent +for the First-Fruits: it must pass through several offices, and take up some +time, because in things the Queen gives they are always considerate; but that, +he assures me, 'tis granted and done, and past all dispute, and desires I will +not be in any pain at all. I will write again to the Archbishop to-morrow, +and tell him this, and I desire you will say it on occasion. From the +Secretary I went to Mr. Sterne, who said he would write to you to-night; and +that the box must be at Chester; and that some friend of his goes very soon, +and will carry it over. I dined with Mr. Secretary St. John, and at six went +to Darteneufs house to drink punch with him, and Mr. Addison, and little +Harrison,[18] a young poet, whose fortune I am making. Steele was to have +been there, but came not, nor never did twice, since I knew him, to any +appointment. I stayed till past eleven, and am now in bed. Steele's last +Tatler came out to-day. You will see it before this comes to you, and how he +takes leave of the world. He never told so much as Mr. Addison of it, who was +surprised as much as I; but, to say the truth, it was time, for he grew cruel +dull and dry. To my knowledge he had several good hints to go upon; but he +was so lazy and weary of the work that he would not improve them. I think I +will send this after[19] to-morrow: shall I before 'tis full, Dingley? + +3. Lord Peterborow yesterday called me into a barber's shop, and there we +talked deep politics: he desired me to dine with him to-day at the Globe in +the Strand; he said he would show me so clearly how to get Spain, that I could +not possibly doubt it. I went to-day accordingly, and saw him among half a +dozen lawyers and attorneys and hang-dogs, signing of deeds and stuff before +his journey; for he goes to-morrow to Vienna. I sat among that scurvy company +till after four, but heard nothing of Spain; only I find, by what he told me +before, that he fears he shall do no good in his present journey.[20] We are +to be mighty constant correspondents. So I took my leave of him, and called +at Sir Andrew Fountaine's, who mends much. I came home, an't please you, at +six, and have been studying till now past eleven. + +4. Morning. Morrow, little dears. O, faith, I have been dreaming; I was to +be put in prison. I do not know why, and I was so afraid of a black dungeon; +and then all I had been inquiring yesterday of Sir Andrew Fountaine's sickness +I thought was of poor Stella. The worst of dreams is, that one wakes just in +the humour they leave one. Shall I send this to-day? With all my heart: it +is two days within the fortnight; but may be MD are in haste to have a round +dozen: and then how are you come up to me with your eighth, young women? But +you indeed ought to write twice slower than I, because there are two of you; I +own that. Well then, I will seal up this letter by my morning candle, and +carry it into the city with me, where I go to dine, and put it into the post- +office with my own fair hands. So, let me see whether I have any news to tell +MD. They say they will very soon make some inquiries into the corruptions of +the late Ministry; and they must do it, to justify their turning them out. +Atterbury,[21] we think, is to be Dean of Christ Church in Oxford; but the +College would rather have Smalridge--What's all this to you? What care you +for Atterburys and Smalridges? No, you care for nothing but Presto, faith. +So I will rise, and bid you farewell; yet I am loth to do so, because there is +a great bit of paper yet to talk upon; but Dingley will have it so: "Yes," +says she, "make your journals shorter, and send them oftener;" and so I will. +And I have cheated you another way too; for this is clipped paper, and holds +at least six lines less than the former ones. I will tell you a good thing I +said to my Lord Carteret.[22] "So," says he, "my Lord came up to me, and +asked me," etc. "No," said I, "my Lord never did, nor ever can come up to +you." We all pun here sometimes. Lord Carteret set down Prior t'other day in +his chariot; and Prior thanked him for his CHARITY; that was fit for +Dilly.[23] I do not remember I heard one good one from the Ministry; which is +really a shame. Henley is gone to the country for Christmas. The puppy comes +here without his wife,[24] and keeps no house, and would have me dine with him +at eating-houses; but I have only done it once, and will do it no more. He +had not seen me for some time in the Coffee-house, and asking after me, +desired Lord Herbert to tell me I was a beast for ever, after the order of +Melchisedec. Did you ever read the Scripture?[25] It is only changing the +word priest to beast.--I think I am bewitched, to write so much in a morning +to you, little MD. Let me go, will you? and I'll come again to-night in a +fine clean sheet of paper; but I can nor will stay no longer now; no, I won't, +for all your wheedling: no, no, look off, do not smile at me, and say, "Pray, +pray, Presto, write a little more." Ah! you are a wheedling slut, you be so. +Nay, but prithee turn about, and let me go, do; 'tis a good girl, and do. O, +faith, my morning candle is just out, and I must go now in spite of my teeth; +for my bed-chamber is dark with curtains, and I am at the wrong side. So +farewell, etc. etc. + +I am in the dark almost: I must have another candle, when I am up, to seal +this; but I will fold it up in the dark, and make what you can of this, for I +can only see this paper I am writing upon. Service to Mrs. Walls and Mrs. +Stoyte. + +God Almighty bless you, etc. What I am doing I can't see; but I will fold it +up, and not look on it again. + + + +LETTER 13. + +LONDON, Jan. 4, 1710-11. + +I was going into the City (where I dined and put my 12th, with my own fair +hands, into the post-office as I came back, which was not till nine this +night. I dined with people that you never heard of, nor is it worth your +while to know; an authoress and a printer.[1] I walked home for exercise, and +at eleven got to bed; and, all the while I was undressing myself, there was I +speaking monkey things in air, just as if MD had been by, and did not +recollect myself till I got into bed. I writ last night to the Archbishop, +and told him the warrant was drawn for the First-Fruits; and I told him Lord +Peterborow was set out for his journey to Vienna; but it seems the Lords have +addressed to have him stay, to be examined about Spanish affairs, upon this +defeat there, and to know where the fault lay, etc. So I writ to the +Archbishop a lie; but I think it was not a sin. + +5. Mr. Secretary St. John sent for me this morning so early, that I was +forced to go without shaving, which put me quite out of method. I called at +Mr. Ford's, and desired him to lend me a shaving; and so made a shift to get +into order again. Lord! here is an impertinence: Sir Andrew Fountaine's +mother and sister[2] are come above a hundred miles, from Worcester, to see +him before he died. They got here but yesterday; and he must have been past +hopes, or past fears, before they could reach him. I fell a scolding when I +heard they were coming; and the people about him wondered at me, and said what +a mighty content it would be on both sides to die when they were with him! I +knew the mother; she is the greatest Overdo[3] upon earth; and the sister, +they say, is worse; the poor man will relapse again among them. Here was the +scoundrel brother always crying in the outer room till Sir Andrew was in +danger; and the dog was to have all his estate if he died; and it is an +ignorant, worthless, scoundrel-rake: and the nurses were comforting him, and +desiring he would not take on so. I dined to-day the first time with Ophy +Butler[4] and his wife; and you supped with the Dean, and lost two-and-twenty +pence at cards. And so Mrs. Walls is brought to bed of a girl, who died two +days after it was christened; and, betwixt you and me, she is not very sorry: +she loves her ease and diversions too well to be troubled with children. I +will go to bed. + +6. Morning. I went last night to put some coals on my fire after Patrick was +gone to bed; and there I saw in a closet a poor linnet he has bought to bring +over to Dingley: it cost him sixpence, and is as tame as a dormouse. I +believe he does not know he is a bird: where you put him, there he stands, +and seems to have neither hope nor fear; I suppose in a week he will die of +the spleen. Patrick advised with me before he bought him. I laid fairly +before him the greatness of the sum, and the rashness of the attempt; showed +how impossible it was to carry him safe over the salt sea: but he would not +take my counsel; and he will repent it. 'Tis very cold this morning in bed; +and I hear there is a good fire in the room without (what do you call it?), +the dining-room. I hope it will be good weather, and so let me rise, sirrahs, +do so.--At night. I was this morning to visit the Dean,[5] or Mr. Prolocutor, +I think you call him, don't you? Why should not I go to the Dean's as well as +you? A little, black man, of pretty near fifty? Ay, the same. A good, +pleasant man? Ay, the same. Cunning enough? Yes. One that understands his +own interests? As well as anybody. How comes it MD and I don't meet there +sometimes? A very good face, and abundance of wit? Do you know his lady? O +Lord! whom do you mean?[6] I mean Dr. Atterbury, Dean of Carlisle and +Prolocutor. Pshaw, Presto, you are a fool: I thought you had meant our Dean +of St. Patrick's.--Silly, silly, silly, you are silly, both are silly, every +kind of thing is silly. As I walked into the city I was stopped with clusters +of boys and wenches buzzing about the cake-shops like flies.[7] There had the +fools let out their shops two yards forward into the streets, all spread with +great cakes frothed with sugar, and stuck with streamers of tinsel. And then +I went to Bateman's the bookseller, and laid out eight-and-forty shillings for +books. I bought three little volumes of Lucian in French for our Stella, and +so and so. Then I went to Garraway's[8] to meet Stratford and dine with him; +but it was an idle day with the merchants, and he was gone to our end of the +town: so I dined with Sir Thomas Frankland at the Post Office, and we drank +your Manley's health. It was in a newspaper that he was turned out; but +Secretary St. John told me it was false: only that newswriter is a plaguy +Tory. I have not seen one bit of Christmas merriment. + +7. Morning. Your new Lord Chancellor[9] sets out to-morrow for Ireland: I +never saw him. He carries over one Trapp[10] a parson as his chaplain, a sort +of pretender to wit, a second-rate pamphleteer for the cause, whom they pay by +sending him to Ireland. I never saw Trapp neither. I met Tighe[11] and your +Smyth of Lovet's yesterday by the Exchange. Tighe and I took no notice of +each other; but I stopped Smyth, and told him of the box that lies for you at +Chester, because he says he goes very soon to Ireland, I think this week: and +I will send this morning to Sterne, to take measures with Smyth; so good- +morrow, sirrahs, and let me rise, pray. I took up this paper when I came in +at evening, I mean this minute, and then said I, "No, no, indeed, MD, you must +stay"; and then was laying it aside, but could not for my heart, though I am +very busy, till I just ask you how you do since morning; by and by we shall +talk more, so let me leave you: softly down, little paper, till then; so +there--now to business; there, I say, get you gone; no, I will not push you +neither, but hand you on one side--So--Now I am got into bed, I'll talk with +you. Mr. Secretary St. John sent for me this morning in all haste; but I +would not lose my shaving, for fear of missing church. I went to Court, which +is of late always very full; and young Manley and I dined at Sir Matthew +Dudley's.--I must talk politics. I protest I am afraid we shall all be +embroiled with parties. The Whigs, now they are fallen, are the most +malicious toads in the world. We have had now a second misfortune, the loss +of several Virginia ships. I fear people will begin to think that nothing +thrives under this Ministry: and if the Ministry can once be rendered odious +to the people, the Parliament may be chosen Whig or Tory as the Queen pleases. +Then I think our friends press a little too hard on the Duke of Marlborough. +The country members[12] are violent to have past faults inquired into, and +they have reason; but I do not observe the Ministry to be very fond of it. In +my opinion we have nothing to save us but a Peace; and I am sure we cannot +have such a one as we hoped; and then the Whigs will bawl what they would have +done had they continued in power. I tell the Ministry this as much as I dare; +and shall venture to say a little more to them, especially about the Duke of +Marlborough, who, as the Whigs give out, will lay down his command; and I +question whether ever any wise State laid aside a general who had been +successful nine years together, whom the enemy so much dread, and his own +soldiers cannot but believe must always conquer; and you know that in war +opinion is nine parts in ten. The Ministry hear me always with appearance of +regard, and much kindness; but I doubt they let personal quarrels mingle too +much with their proceedings. Meantime, they seem to value all this as +nothing, and are as easy and merry as if they had nothing in their hearts or +upon their shoulders; like physicians, who endeavour to cure, but feel no +grief, whatever the patient suffers.--Pshaw, what is all this? Do you know +one thing, that I find I can write politics to you much easier than to anybody +alive? But I swear my head is full; and I wish I were at Laracor, with dear, +charming MD, etc. + +8. Morning. Methinks, young women, I have made a great progress in four +days, at the bottom of this side already, and no letter yet come from MD (that +word interlined is morning). I find I have been writing State affairs to MD. +How do they relish it? Why, anything that comes from Presto is welcome; +though really, to confess the truth, if they had their choice, not to disguise +the matter, they had rather, etc. Now, Presto, I must tell you, you grow +silly, says Stella. That is but one body's opinion, madam. I promised to be +with Mr. Secretary St. John this morning; but I am lazy, and will not go, +because I had a letter from him yesterday, to desire I would dine there to- +day. I shall be chid; but what care I?--Here has been Mrs. South with me, +just come from Sir Andrew Fountaine, and going to market. He is still in a +fever, and may live or die. His mother and sister are now come up, and in the +house; so there is a lurry.[13] I gave Mrs. South half a pistole for a New +Year's gift. So good-morrow, dears both, till anon.--At night. Lord! I have +been with Mr. Secretary from dinner till eight; and, though I drank wine and +water, I am so hot! Lady Stanley[14] came to visit Mrs. St. John,[15] and +sent up for me to make up a quarrel with Mrs. St. John, whom I never yet saw; +and do you think that devil of a Secretary would let me go, but kept me by +main force, though I told him I was in love with his lady, and it was a shame +to keep back a lover, etc.? But all would not do; so at last I was forced to +break away, but never went up, it was then too late; and here I am, and have a +great deal to do to-night, though it be nine o'clock; but one must say +something to these naughty MD's, else there will be no quiet. + +9. To-day Ford and I set apart to go into the City to buy books; but we only +had a scurvy dinner at an alehouse; and he made me go to the tavern and drink +Florence, four and sixpence a flask; damned wine! so I spent my money, which I +seldom do, and passed an insipid day, and saw nobody, and it is now ten +o'clock, and I have nothing to say, but that 'tis a fortnight to-morrow since +I had a letter from MD; but if I have it time enough to answer here, 'tis well +enough, otherwise woe betide you, faith. I will go to the toyman's, here just +in Pall Mall, and he sells great hugeous battoons;[16] yes, faith, and so he +does. Does not he, Dingley? Yes, faith. Don't lose your money this +Christmas. + +10. I must go this morning to Mr. Secretary St. John. I promised yesterday, +but failed, so can't write any more till night to poor, dear MD.--At night. +O, faith, Dingley. I had company in the morning, and could not go where I +designed; and I had a basket from Raymond at Bristol, with six bottles of wine +and a pound of chocolate, and some tobacco to snuff; and he writ under, the +carriage was paid; but he lied, or I am cheated, or there is a mistake; and he +has written to me so confusedly about some things, that Lucifer could not +understand him. This wine is to be drunk with Harley's brother[17] and Sir +Robert Raymond, Solicitor-General, in order to recommend the Doctor to your +new Lord Chancellor, who left this place on Monday; and Raymond says he is +hasting to Chester, to go with him.--I suppose he leaves his wife behind; for +when he left London he had no thoughts of stirring till summer. So I suppose +he will be with you before this. Ford came and desired I would dine with him, +because it was Opera-day; which I did, and sent excuses to Lord Shelburne, who +had invited me. + +11. I am setting up a new Tatler, little Harrison,[18] whom I have mentioned +to you. Others have put him on it, and I encourage him; and he was with me +this morning and evening, showing me his first, which comes out on Saturday. +I doubt he will not succeed, for I do not much approve his manner; but the +scheme is Mr. Secretary St. John's and mine, and would have done well enough +in good hands. I recommended him to a printer,[19] whom I sent for, and +settled the matter between them this evening. Harrison has just left me, and +I am tired with correcting his trash. + +12. I was this morning upon some business with Mr. Secretary St. John, and he +made me promise to dine with him; which otherwise I would have done with Mr. +Harley, whom I have not been with these ten days. I cannot but think they +have mighty difficulties upon them; yet I always find them as easy and +disengaged as schoolboys on a holiday. Harley has the procuring of five or +six millions on his shoulders, and the Whigs will not lend a groat;[20] which +is the only reason of the fall of stocks: for they are like Quakers and +fanatics, that will only deal among themselves, while all others deal +indifferently with them. Lady Marlborough offers, if they will let her keep +her employments, never to come into the Queen's presence. The Whigs say the +Duke of Marlborough will serve no more; but I hope and think otherwise. I +would to Heaven I were this minute with MD at Dublin; for I am weary of +politics, that give me such melancholy prospects. + +13. O, faith, I had an ugly giddy fit last night in my chamber, and I have +got a new box of pills to take, and hope I shall have no more this good while. +I would not tell you before, because it would vex you, little rogues; but now +it is over. I dined to-day with Lord Shelburne; and to-day little Harrison's +new Tatler came out: there is not much in it, but I hope he will mend. You +must understand that, upon Steele's leaving off, there were two or three scrub +Tatlers[21] came out, and one of them holds on still, and to-day it advertised +against Harrison's; and so there must be disputes which are genuine, like the +strops for razors.[22] I am afraid the little toad has not the true vein for +it. I will tell you a copy of verses. When Mr. St. John was turned out from +being Secretary at War, three years ago, he retired to the country: there he +was talking of something he would have written over his summer-house, and a +gentleman gave him these verses-- + + From business and the noisy world retired, + Nor vexed by love, nor by ambition fired; + Gently I wait the call of Charon's boat, + Still drinking like a fish, and ------- like a stoat. + +He swore to me he could hardly bear the jest; for he pretended to retire like +a philosopher, though he was but twenty-eight years old: and I believe the +thing was true: for he had been a thorough rake. I think the three grave +lines do introduce the last well enough. Od so, but I will go sleep; I sleep +early now. + +14. O, faith, young women, I want a letter from MD; 'tis now nineteen days +since I had the last: and where have I room to answer it, pray? I hope I +shall send this away without any answer at all; for I'll hasten it, and away +it goes on Tuesday, by which time this side will be full. I will send it two +days sooner on purpose out of spite; and the very next day after, you must +know, your letter will come, and then 'tis too late, and I will so laugh, +never saw the like! 'Tis spring with us already. I ate asparagus t'other +day. Did you ever see such a frostless winter? Sir Andrew Fountaine lies +still extremely ill; it costs him ten guineas a day to doctors, surgeons, and +apothecaries, and has done so these three weeks. I dined to-day with Mr. +Ford; he sometimes chooses to dine at home, and I am content to dine with him; +and at night I called at the Coffee-house, where I had not been in a week, and +talked coldly a while with Mr. Addison. All our friendship and dearness are +off: we are civil acquaintance, talk words of course, of when we shall meet, +and that is all. I have not been at any house with him these six weeks: +t'other day we were to have dined together at the Comptroller's;[23] but I +sent my excuses, being engaged to the Secretary of State. Is not it odd? +But I think he has used me ill; and I have used him too well, at least his +friend Steele. + +15. It has cost me three guineas to-day for a periwig.[24] I am undone! It +was made by a Leicester lad, who married Mr. Worrall's daughter, where my +mother lodged;[25] so I thought it would be cheap, and especially since he +lives in the city. Well, London lickpenny:[26] I find it true. I have given +Harrison hints for another Tatler to-morrow. The jackanapes wants a right +taste: I doubt he won't do. I dined with my friend Lewis of the Secretary's +office, and am got home early, because I have much business to do; but before +I begin, I must needs say something to MD, faith--No, faith, I lie, it is but +nineteen days to-day since my last from MD. I have got Mr. Harley to promise +that whatever changes are made in the Council, the Bishop of Clogher shall not +be removed, and he has got a memorial accordingly. I will let the Bishop know +so much in a post or two. This is a secret; but I know he has enemies, and +they shall not be gratified, if they designed any such thing, which perhaps +they might; for some changes there will be made. So drink up your claret, and +be quiet, and do not lose your money. + +16. Morning. Faith, I will send this letter to-day to shame you, if I han't +one from MD before night, that's certain. Won't you grumble for want of the +third side, pray now? Yes, I warrant you; yes, yes, you shall have the third, +you shall so, when you can catch it, some other time; when you be writing +girls.--O, faith, I think I won't stay till night, but seal up this just now, +and carry it in my pocket, and whip it into the post-office as I come home at +evening. I am going out early this morning.--Patrick's bills for coals and +candles, etc., come sometimes to three shillings a week; I keep very good +fires, though the weather be warm. Ireland will never be happy till you get +small coal[27] likewise; nothing so easy, so convenient, so cheap, so pretty, +for lighting a fire. My service to Mrs. Stoyte and Walls; has she a boy or a +girl? A girl, hum; and died in a week, humm; and was poor Stella forced to +stand for godmother?--Let me know how accompts stand, that you may have your +money betimes. There's four months for my lodging, that must be thought on +too: and so go dine with Manley, and lose your money, do, extravagant +sluttikin, but don't fret.--It will be just three weeks when I have the next +letter, that's to-morrow. Farewell, dearest beloved MD; and love poor, poor +Presto, who has not had one happy day since he left you, as hope saved.--It is +the last sally I will ever make, but I hope it will turn to some account. I +have done more for these,[28] and I think they are more honest than the last; +however, I will not be disappointed. I would make MD and me easy; and I never +desired more.--Farewell, etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 14. + +LONDON, Jan. 16, 171O-11. + +O faith, young women, I have sent my letter N.13 without one crumb of an +answer to any of MD's, there's for you now; and yet Presto ben't angry, faith, +not a bit, only he will begin to be in pain next Irish post, except he sees +MD's little handwriting in the glass-frame at the bar of St. James's Coffee- +house, where Presto would never go but for that purpose. Presto is at home, +God help him, every night from six till bed-time, and has as little enjoyment +or pleasure in life at present as anybody in the world, although in full +favour with all the Ministry. As hope saved, nothing gives Presto any sort of +dream of happiness but a letter now and then from his own dearest MD. I love +the expectation of it; and when it does not come, I comfort myself that I have +it yet to be happy with. Yes, faith, and when I write to MD, I am happy too; +it is just as if methinks you were here, and I prating to you, and telling you +where I have been: "Well," says you, "Presto, come, where have you been to- +day? come, let's hear now." And so then I answer: "Ford and I were visiting +Mr. Lewis and Mr. Prior; and Prior has given me a fine Plautus; and then Ford +would have had me dine at his lodgings, and so I would not; and so I dined +with him at an eating-house, which I have not done five times since I came +here; and so I came home, after visiting Sir Andrew Fountaine's mother and +sister, and Sir Andrew Fountaine is mending, though slowly." + +17. I was making, this morning, some general visits, and at twelve I called +at the Coffee-house for a letter from MD; so the man said he had given it to +Patrick. Then I went to the Court of Requests and Treasury, to find Mr. +Harley, and, after some time spent in mutual reproaches, I promised to dine +with him. I stayed there till seven, then called at Sterne's and Leigh's to +talk about your box, and to have it sent by Smyth. Sterne says he has been +making inquiries, and will set things right as soon as possible. I suppose it +lies at Chester, at least I hope so, and only wants a lift over to you. Here +has little Harrison been to complain that the printer I recommended to him for +his Tatler is a coxcomb; and yet to see how things will happen; for this very +printer is my cousin, his name is Dryden Leach;[1] did you never hear of +Dryden Leach, he that prints the Postman? He acted Oroonoko;[2] he's in love +with Miss Cross.[3]--Well, so I came home to read my letter from Stella, but +the dog Patrick was abroad; at last he came, and I got my letter. I found +another hand had superscribed it; when I opened it, I found it written all in +French, and subscribed Bernage:[4] faith, I was ready to fling it at +Patrick's head. Bernage tells me he had been to desire your recommendation to +me, to make him a captain; and your cautious answer, that he had as much power +with me as you, was a notable one; if you were here, I would present you to +the Ministry as a person of ability. Bernage should let me know where to +write to him; this is the second letter I have had without any direction; +however, I beg I may not have a third, but that you will ask him, and send me +how I shall direct to him. In the meantime, tell him that if regiments are to +be raised here, as he says, I will speak to George Granville,[5] Secretary at +War, to make him a captain; and use what other interest I conveniently can. I +think that is enough, and so tell him, and do not trouble me with his letters, +when I expect them from MD; do you hear, young women? write to Presto. + +18. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary St. John, and we were to dine at +Mr. Harley's alone, about some business of importance; but there were two or +three gentlemen there. Mr. Secretary and I went together from his office to +Mr. Harley's, and thought to have been very wise; but the deuce a bit, the +company stayed, and more came, and Harley went away at seven, and the +Secretary and I stayed with the rest of the company till eleven; I would then +have had him come away; but he was in for't; and though he swore he would come +away at that flask, there I left him. I wonder at the civility of these +people; when he saw I would drink no more, he would always pass the bottle by +me, and yet I could not keep the toad from drinking himself, nor he would not +let me go neither, nor Masham,[6] who was with us. When I got home, I found a +parcel directed to me; and opening it, I found a pamphlet written entirely +against myself, not by name, but against something I writ:[7] it is pretty +civil, and affects to be so, and I think I will take no notice of it; 'tis +against something written very lately; and indeed I know not what to say, nor +do I care. And so you are a saucy rogue for losing your money to-day at +Stoyte's; to let that bungler beat you, fie, Stella, an't you ashamed? Well, +I forgive you this once, never do so again; no, noooo. Kiss and be friends, +sirrah.--Come, let me go sleep, I go earlier to bed than formerly; and have +not been out so late these two months; but the Secretary was in a drinking +humour. So good-night, myownlittledearsaucyinsolentrogues. + +19. Then you read that long word in the last line; no,[8] faith, han't you. +Well, when will this letter come from our MD? to-morrow or next day without +fail; yes, faith, and so it is coming. This was an insipid snowy day, no +walking day, and I dined gravely with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and came home, and am +now got to bed a little after ten; I remember old Culpepper's maxim: + + "Would you have a settled head, + You must early go to bed: + I tell you, and I tell't again, + You must be in bed at ten." + +2O. And so I went to-day with my new wig, o hoao, to visit Lady Worsley,[9] +whom I had not seen before, although she was near a month in town. Then I +walked in the Park to find Mr. Ford, whom I had promised to meet; and coming +down the Mall, who should come towards me but Patrick, and gives me five +letters out of his pocket. I read the superscription of the first, "Pshoh," +said I; of the second, "Pshoh" again; of the third, "Pshah, pshah, pshah"; of +the fourth, "A gad, a gad, a gad, I'm in a rage"; of the fifth and last, "O +hoooa; ay marry this is something, this is our MD"; so truly we opened it, I +think immediately, and it began the most impudently in the world, thus: "Dear +Presto, We are even thus far." "Now we are even," quoth Stephen, when he gave +his wife six blows for one. I received your ninth four days after I had sent +my thirteenth. But I'll reckon with you anon about that, young women. Why +did not you recant at the end of your letter, when you got my eleventh, tell +me that, huzzies base? were we even then, were we, sirrah? But I won't answer +your letter now, I'll keep it for another time. We had a great deal of snow +to-day, and 'tis terrible cold. I dined with Ford, because it was his Opera- +day and snowed, so I did not care to stir farther. I will send tomorrow to +Smyth. + +21. Morning. It has snowed terribly all night, and is vengeance cold. I am +not yet up, but cannot write long; my hands will freeze. "Is there a good +fire, Patrick?" "Yes, sir." "Then I will rise; come, take away the candle." +You must know I write on the dark side of my bed-chamber, and am forced to +have a candle till I rise, for the bed stands between me and the window, and I +keep the curtains shut this cold weather. So pray let me rise; and Patrick, +here, take away the candle.--At night. We are now here in high frost and +snow, the largest fire can hardly keep us warm. It is very ugly walking; a +baker's boy broke his thigh yesterday. I walk slow, make short steps, and +never tread on my heel. 'Tis a good proverb the Devonshire people have: + + "Walk fast in snow, + In frost walk slow; + And still as you go, + Tread on your toe. + When frost and snow are both together, + Sit by the fire, and spare shoe-leather." + +I dined to-day with Dr. Cockburn,[10] but will not do so again in haste, he +has generally such a parcel of Scots with him. + +22. Morning. Starving, starving, uth, uth, uth, uth, uth.--Don't you +remember I used to come into your chamber, and turn Stella out of her chair, +and rake up the fire in a cold morning, and cry Uth, uth, uth? etc. O, faith, +I must rise, my hand is so cold I can write no more. So good-morrow, +sirrahs.--At night. I went this morning to Lady Giffard's house, and saw your +mother, and made her give me a pint bottle of palsy-water,[11] which I brought +home in my pocket; and sealed and tied up in a paper, and sent it to Mr. +Smyth, who goes to-morrow for Ireland, and sent a letter to him to desire his +care of it, and that he would inquire at Chester about the box. He was not +within: so the bottle and letter were left for him at his lodgings, with +strict orders to give them to him; and I will send Patrick in a day or two, to +know whether it was given, etc. Dr. Stratford[12] and I dined to-day with Mr. +Stratford[13] in the City, by appointment; but I chose to walk there, for +exercise in the frost. But the weather had given a little, as you women call +it, so it was something slobbery. I did not get home till nine. + + And now I'm in bed, + To break your head. + +23. Morning. They tell me it freezes again, but it is not so cold as +yesterday: so now I will answer a bit of your letter.--At night. O, faith, I +was just going to answer some of our MD's letter this morning, when a printer +came in about some business, and stayed an hour; so I rose, and then came in +Ben Tooke, and then I shaved and scribbled; and it was such a terrible day, I +could not stir out till one, and then I called at Mrs. Barton's, and we went +to Lady Worsley's, where we were to dine by appointment. The Earl of +Berkeley[14] is going to be married to Lady Louisa Lennox, the Duke of +Richmond's daughter. I writ this night to Dean Sterne, and bid him tell you +all about the bottle of palsy-water by Smyth; and to-morrow morning I will say +something to your letter. + +24. Morning. Come now to your letter. As for your being even with me, I +have spoken to that already. So now, my dearly beloved, let us proceed to the +next. You are always grumbling that you han't letters fast enough; "surely we +shall have your tenth;" and yet, before you end your letter, you own you have +my eleventh.--And why did not MD go into the country with the Bishop of +Clogher? faith, such a journey would have done you good; Stella should have +rode, and Dingley gone in the coach. The Bishop of Kilmore[15] I know nothing +of; he is old, and may die; he lives in some obscure corner, for I never heard +of him. As for my old friends, if you mean the Whigs, I never see them, as +you may find by my journals, except Lord Halifax, and him very seldom; Lord +Somers never since the first visit, for he has been a false, deceitful +rascal.[16] My new friends are very kind, and I have promises enough, but I +do not count upon them, and besides my pretences are very young to them. +However, we will see what may be done; and if nothing at all, I shall not be +disappointed; although perhaps poor MD may, and then I shall be sorrier for +their sakes than my own.--Talk of a merry Christmas (why do you write it so +then, young women? sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander), I have wished +you all that two or three letters ago. Good lack; and your news, that Mr. St. +John is going to Holland; he has no such thoughts, to quit the great station +he is in; nor, if he had, could I be spared to go with him. So, faith, +politic Madam Stella, you come with your two eggs a penny, etc. Well, Madam +Dingley, and so Mrs. Stoyte invites you, and so you stay at Donnybrook, and so +you could not write. You are plaguy exact in your journals, from Dec. 25 to +Jan. 4. Well, Smyth and the palsy-water I have handled already, and he does +not lodge (or rather did not, for, poor man, now he is gone) at Mr. Jesse's, +and all that stuff; but we found his lodging, and I went to Stella's mother on +my own head, for I never remembered it was in the letter to desire another +bottle; but I was so fretted, so tosticated, and so impatient that Stella +should have her water (I mean decently, do not be rogues), and so vexed with +Sterne's carelessness.--Pray God, Stella's illness may not return! If they +come seldom, they begin to be weary; I judge by myself; for when I seldom +visit, I grow weary of my acquaintance.--Leave a good deal of my tenth +unanswered! Impudent slut, when did you ever answer my tenth, or ninth, or +any other number? or who desires you to answer, provided you write? I defy +the D---- to answer my letters: sometimes there may be one or two things I +should be glad you would answer; but I forget them, and you never think of +them. I shall never love answering letters again, if you talk of answering. +Answering, quotha! pretty answerers truly.--As for the pamphlet you speak of, +and call it scandalous, and that one Mr. Presto is said to write it, hear my +answer. Fie, child, you must not mind what every idle body tells you--I +believe you lie, and that the dogs were not crying it when you said so; come, +tell truth. I am sorry you go to St. Mary's[17] so soon, you will be as poor +as rats; that place will drain you with a vengeance: besides, I would have +you think of being in the country in summer. Indeed, Stella, pippins produced +plentifully; Parvisol could not send from Laracor: there were about half a +score, I would be glad to know whether they were good for anything.--Mrs. +Walls at Donnybrook with you; why is not she brought to bed? Well, well, +well, Dingley, pray be satisfied; you talk as if you were angry about the +Bishop's not offering you conveniences for the journey; and so he should.-- +What sort of Christmas? Why, I have had no Christmas at all; and has it +really been Christmas of late? I never once thought of it. My service to +Mrs. Stoyte, and Catherine; and let Catherine get the coffee ready against I +come, and not have so much care on her countenance; for all will go well.--Mr. +Bernage, Mr. Bernage, Mr. Fiddlenage, I have had three letters from him now +successively; he sends no directions, and how the D---- shall I write to him? +I would have burnt his last, if I had not seen Stella's hand at the bottom: +his request is all nonsense. How can I assist him in buying? and if he be +ordered to go to Spain, go he must, or else sell, and I believe one can hardly +sell in such a juncture. If he had stayed, and new regiments raised, I would +have used my endeavour to have had him removed; although I have no credit that +way, or very little: but, if the regiment goes, he ought to go too; he has +had great indulgence, and opportunities of saving; and I have urged him to it +a hundred times. What can I do? whenever it lies in my power to do him a good +office, I will do it. Pray draw up this into a handsome speech, and represent +it to him from me, and that I would write, if I knew where to direct to him; +and so I have told you, and desired you would tell him, fifty times. Yes, +Madam Stella, I think I can read your long concluding word, but you can't read +mine after bidding you good-night. And yet methinks, I mend extremely in my +writing; but when Stella's eyes are well, I hope to write as bad as ever.--So +now I have answered your letter, and mine is an answer; for I lay yours before +me, and I look and write, and write and look, and look and write again.--So +good-morrow, madams both, and I will go rise, for I must rise; for I take +pills at night, and so I must rise early, I don't know why. + +25. Morning. I did not tell you how I passed my time yesterday, nor bid you +good-night, and there was good reason. I went in the morning to Secretary St. +John about some business; he had got a great Whig with him; a creature of the +Duke of Marlborough, who is a go-between to make peace between the Duke and +the Ministry: so he came out of his closet, and, after a few words, desired I +would dine with him at three; but Mr. Lewis stayed till six before he came; +and there we sat talking, and the time slipped so, that at last, when I was +positive to go, it was past two o'clock; so I came home, and went straight to +bed. He would never let me look at his watch, and I could not imagine it +above twelve when we went away. So I bid you good-night for last night, and +now I bid you good-morrow, and I am still in bed, though it be near ten, but I +must rise. + +26, 27, 28, 29, 3O. I have been so lazy and negligent these last four days +that I could not write to MD. My head is not in order, and yet is not +absolutely ill, but giddyish, and makes me listless; I walk every day, and +take drops of Dr. Cockburn, and I have just done a box of pills; and to-day +Lady Kerry sent me some of her bitter drink, which I design to take twice a +day, and hope I shall grow better. I wish I were with MD; I long for spring +and good weather, and then I will come over. My riding in Ireland keeps me +well. I am very temperate, and eat of the easiest meats as I am directed, and +hope the malignity will go off; but one fit shakes me a long time. I dined +to-day with Lord Mountjoy, yesterday at Mr. Stone's, in the City, on Sunday at +Vanhomrigh's, Saturday with Ford, and Friday I think at Vanhomrigh's; and that +is all the journal I can send MD, for I was so lazy while I was well, that I +could not write. I thought to have sent this to-night, but 'tis ten, and I'll +go to bed, and write on t'other side to Parvisol to-morrow, and send it on +Thursday; and so good-night, my dears; and love Presto, and be healthy, and +Presto will be so too, etc. + +Cut off these notes handsomely, d'ye hear, sirrahs, and give Mrs. Brent hers, +and keep yours till you see Parvisol, and then make up the letter to him, and +send it him by the first opportunity; and so God Almighty bless you both, here +and ever, and poor Presto. + +What, I warrant you thought at first that these last lines were another +letter. + +Dingley, Pray pay Stella six fishes, and place them to the account of your +humble servant, Presto. + +Stella, Pray pay Dingley six fishes, and place them to the account of your +humble servant, Presto. + +There are bills of exchange for you. + + + +LETTER 15. + +LONDON, Jan. 31, 1710-11. + +I am to send you my fourteenth to-morrow; but my head, having some little +disorders, confounds all my journals. I was early this morning with Mr. +Secretary St. John about some business, so I could not scribble my morning +lines to MD. They are here intending to tax all little printed penny papers a +halfpenny every half-sheet, which will utterly ruin Grub Street, and I am +endeavouring to prevent it.[1] Besides, I was forwarding an impeachment +against a certain great person; that was two of my businesses with the +Secretary, were they not worthy ones? It was Ford's birthday, and I refused +the Secretary, and dined with Ford. We are here in as smart a frost for the +time as I have seen; delicate walking weather, and the Canal and Rosamond's +Pond[2] full of the rabble sliding and with skates, if you know what those +are. Patrick's bird's water freezes in the gallipot, and my hands in bed. + +Feb. 1. I was this morning with poor Lady Kerry, who is much worse in her +head than I. She sends me bottles of her bitter; and we are so fond of one +another, because our ailments are the same; don't you know that, Madam Stella? +Han't I seen you conning ailments with Joe's wife,[3] and some others, sirrah? +I walked into the City to dine, because of the walk, for we must take care of +Presto's health, you know, because of poor little MD. But I walked plaguy +carefully, for fear of sliding against my will; but I am very busy. + +2. This morning Mr. Ford came to me to walk into the City, where he had +business, and then to buy books at Bateman's; and I laid out one pound five +shillings for a Strabo and Aristophanes, and I have now got books enough to +make me another shelf, and I will have more, or it shall cost me a fall; and +so as we came back, we drank a flask of right French wine at Ben Tooke's +chamber; and when I got home, Mrs. Vanhomrigh sent me word her eldest +daughter[4] was taken suddenly very ill, and desired I would come and see her. +I went, and found it was a silly trick of Mrs. Armstrong,[5] Lady Lucy's +sister, who, with Moll Stanhope, was visiting there: however, I rattled off +the daughter. + +3. To-day I went and dined at Lady Lucy's, where you know I have not been +this long time. They are plaguy Whigs, especially the sister Armstrong, the +most insupportable of all women, pretending to wit, without any taste. She +was running down the last Examiner,[6] the prettiest I had read, with a +character of the present Ministry.--I left them at five, and came home. But I +forgot to tell you, that this morning my cousin Dryden Leach, the printer, +came to me with a heavy complaint, that Harrison the new Tatler had turned him +off, and taken the last Tatler's printers again. He vowed revenge; I answered +gravely, and so he left me, and I have ordered Patrick to deny me to him from +henceforth: and at night comes a letter from Harrison, telling me the same +thing, and excused his doing it without my notice, because he would bear all +the blame; and in his Tatler of this day[7] he tells you the story, how he has +taken his old officers, and there is a most humble letter from Morphew and +Lillie to beg his pardon, etc.[8] And lastly, this morning Ford sent me two +letters from the Coffee-house (where I hardly ever go), one from the +Archbishop of Dublin, and t'other from--Who do you think t'other was from?-- +I'll tell you, because you are friends; why, then it was, faith, it was from +my own dear little MD, N.10. Oh, but will not answer it now, no, noooooh, +I'll keep it between the two sheets; here it is, just under; oh, I lifted up +the sheet and saw it there: lie still, you shan't be answered yet, little +letter; for I must go to bed, and take care of my head. + +4. I avoid going to church yet, for fear of my head, though it has been much +better these last five or six days, since I have taken Lady Kerry's bitter. +Our frost holds like a dragon. I went to Mr. Addison's, and dined with him at +his lodgings; I had not seen him these three weeks, we are grown common +acquaintance; yet what have not I done for his friend Steele? Mr. Harley +reproached me the last time I saw him, that to please me he would be +reconciled to Steele, and had promised and appointed to see him, and that +Steele never came. Harrison, whom Mr. Addison recommended to me, I have +introduced to the Secretary of State, who has promised me to take care of him; +and I have represented Addison himself so to the Ministry, that they think and +talk in his favour, though they hated him before.--Well, he is now in my debt, +and there's an end; and I never had the least obligation to him, and there's +another end. This evening I had a message from Mr. Harley, desiring to know +whether I was alive, and that I would dine with him to-morrow. They dine so +late, that since my head has been wrong I have avoided being with them.-- +Patrick has been out of favour these ten days; I talk dry and cross to him, +and have called him "friend" three or four times. But, sirrahs, get you gone. + +5. Morning. I am going this morning to see Prior, who dines with me at Mr. +Harley's; so I can't stay fiddling and talking with dear little brats in a +morning, and 'tis still terribly cold.--I wish my cold hand was in the warmest +place about you, young women, I'd give ten guineas upon that account with all +my heart, faith; oh, it starves my thigh; so I'll rise and bid you good- +morrow, my ladies both, good-morrow. Come, stand away, let me rise: Patrick, +take away the candle. Is there a good fire?--So--up-a-dazy.--At night. Mr. +Harley did not sit down till six, and I stayed till eleven; henceforth I will +choose to visit him in the evenings, and dine with him no more if I can help +it. It breaks all my measures, and hurts my health; my head is disorderly, +but not ill, and I hope it will mend. + +6. Here has been such a hurry with the Queen's Birthday, so much fine +clothes, and the Court so crowded that I did not go there. All the frost is +gone. It thawed on Sunday, and so continues, yet ice is still on the Canal (I +did not mean that of Laracor, but St. James's Park) and boys sliding on it. +Mr. Ford pressed me to dine with him in his chamber.--Did not I tell you +Patrick has got a bird, a linnet, to carry over to Dingley? It was very tame +at first, and 'tis now the wildest I ever saw. He keeps it in a closet, where +it makes a terrible litter; but I say nothing: I am as tame as a clout. When +must we answer our MD's letter? One of these odd-come-shortlies. This is a +week old, you see, and no farther yet. Mr. Harley desired I would dine with +him again to-day; but I refused him, for I fell out with him yesterday,[9] and +will not see him again till he makes me amends: and so I go to bed. + +7. I was this morning early with Mr. Lewis of the Secretary's office, and saw +a letter Mr. Harley had sent to him, desiring to be reconciled; but I was deaf +to all entreaties, and have desired Lewis to go to him, and let him know I +expect further satisfaction. If we let these great Ministers pretend too +much, there will be no governing them. He promises to make me easy, if I will +but come and see him; but I won't, and he shall do it by message, or I will +cast him off. I'll tell you the cause of our quarrel when I see you, and +refer it to yourselves. In that he did something, which he intended for a +favour; and I have taken it quite otherwise, disliking both the thing and the +manner, and it has heartily vexed me, and all I have said is truth, though it +looks like jest; and I absolutely refused to submit to his intended favour, +and expect further satisfaction. Mr. Ford and I dined with Mr. Lewis. We +have a monstrous deal of snow, and it has cost me two shillings to-day in +chair and coach, and walked till I was dirty besides. I know not what it is +now to read or write after I am in bed. The last thing I do up is to write +something to our MD, and then get into bed, and put out my candle, and so go +sleep as fast as ever I can. But in the mornings I do write sometimes in bed, +as you know. + +8. Morning. I HAVE DESIRED APRONIA TO BE ALWAYS CAREFUL, ESPECIALLY ABOUT +THE LEGS. Pray, do you see any such great wit in that sentence? I must +freely own that I do not. But party carries everything nowadays, and what a +splutter have I heard about the wit of that saying, repeated with admiration +above a hundred times in half an hour! Pray read it over again this moment, +and consider it. I think the word is ADVISED, and not DESIRED. I should not +have remembered it if I had not heard it so often. Why--ay--You must know I +dreamed it just now, and waked with it in my mouth. Are you bit, or are you +not, sirrahs? I met Mr. Harley in the Court of Requests, and he asked me how +long I had learnt the trick of writing to myself? He had seen your letter +through the glass case at the Coffee-house, and would swear it was my hand; +and Mr. Ford, who took and sent it me, was of the same mind. I remember +others have formerly said so too. I think I was little MD's writing- +master.[10]--But come, what is here to do, writing to young women in a +morning? I have other fish to fry; so good-morrow, my ladies all, good- +morrow. Perhaps I'll answer your letter to-night, perhaps I won't; that's as +saucy little Presto takes the humour.--At night. I walked in the Park to-day +in spite of the weather, as I do always when it does not actually rain. Do +you know what it has gone and done? We had a thaw for three days, then a +monstrous dirt and snow, and now it freezes, like a pot-lid, upon our snow. I +dined with Lady Betty Germaine, the first time since I came for England; and +there did I sit, like a booby, till eight, looking over her and another lady +at piquet, when I had other business enough to do. It was the coldest day I +felt this year. + +9. Morning. After I had been abed an hour last night, I was forced to rise +and call to the landlady and maid to have the fire removed in a chimney below +stairs, which made my bed-chamber smoke, though I had no fire in it. I have +been twice served so. I never lay so miserable an hour in my life. Is it not +plaguy vexatious?--It has snowed all night, and rains this morning.--Come, +where's MD's letter? Come, Mrs. Letter, make your appearance. Here am I, +says she, answer me to my face.--O, faith, I am sorry you had my twelfth so +soon; I doubt you will stay longer for the rest. I'm so 'fraid you have got +my fourteenth while I am writing this; and I would always have one letter from +Presto reading, one travelling, and one writing. As for the box, I now +believe it lost. It is directed for Mr. Curry, at his house in Capel Street, +etc. I had a letter yesterday from Dr. Raymond in Chester, who says he sent +his man everywhere, and cannot find it; and God knows whether Mr. Smyth will +have better success. Sterne spoke to him, and I writ to him with the bottle +of palsy-water; that bottle, I hope, will not miscarry: I long to hear you +have it. O, faith, you have too good an opinion of Presto's care. I am +negligent enough of everything but MD, and I should not have trusted Sterne.-- +But it shall not go so: I will have one more tug for it.--As to what you say +of Goodman Peasly and Isaac,[11] I answer as I did before. Fie, child, you +must not give yourself the way to believe any such thing: and afterwards, +only for curiosity, you may tell me how these things are approved, and how you +like them; and whether they instruct you in the present course of affairs, and +whether they are printed in your town, or only sent from hence.--Sir Andrew +Fountaine is recovered; so take your sorrow again, but don't keep it, fling it +to the dogs. And does little MD walk indeed?--I'm glad of it at heart.--Yes, +we have done with the plague here: it was very saucy in you to pretend to +have it before your betters. Your intelligence that the story is false about +the officers forced to sell,[12] is admirable. You may see them all three +here every day, no more in the army than you. Twelve shillings for mending +the strong box; that is, for putting a farthing's worth of iron on a hinge, +and gilding it; give him six shillings, and I'll pay it, and never employ him +or his again.--No indeed, I put off preaching as much as I can. I am upon +another foot: nobody doubts here whether I can preach, and you are fools.-- +The account you give of that weekly paper[13] agrees with us here. Mr. Prior +was like to be insulted in the street for being supposed the author of it; but +one of the last papers cleared him. Nobody knows who it is, but those few in +the secret, I suppose the Ministry and the printer.--Poor Stella's eyes! God +bless them, and send them better. Pray spare them, and write not above two +lines a day in broad daylight. How does Stella look, Madam Dingley? Pretty +well, a handsome young woman still. Will she pass in a crowd? Will she make +a figure in a country church?--Stay a little, fair ladies. I this minute sent +Patrick to Sterne: he brings back word that your box is very safe with one +Mr. Earl's sister in Chester, and that Colonel Edgworth's widow[14] goes for +Ireland on Monday next, and will receive the box at Chester, and deliver it +you safe: so there are some hopes now.--Well, let us go on to your letter.-- +The warrant is passed for the First-Fruits. The Queen does not send a letter; +but a patent will be drawn here, and that will take up time. Mr. Harley of +late has said nothing of presenting me to the Queen: I was overseen[15] when +I mentioned it to you. He has such a weight of affairs on him, that he cannot +mind all; but he talked of it three or four times to me, long before I dropped +it to you. What, is not Mrs. Walls' business over yet? I had hopes she was +up and well, and the child dead before this time.--You did right, at last, to +send me your accompts; but I did not stay for them, I thank you. I hope you +have your bill sent in my last, and there will be eight pounds' interest soon +due from Hawkshaw: pray look at his bond. I hope you are good managers; and +that, when I say so, Stella won't think I intend she should grudge herself +wine. But going to those expensive lodgings requires some fund. I wish you +had stayed till I came over, for some reasons. That Frenchwoman[16] will be +grumbling again in a little time: and if you are invited anywhere to the +country, it will vex you to pay in absence; and the country may be necessary +for poor Stella's health: but do as you like, and do not blame Presto.--Oh, +but you are telling your reasons.--Well, I have read them; do as you please.-- +Yes, Raymond says he must stay longer than he thought, because he cannot +settle his affairs. M---- is in the country at some friend's, comes to town +in spring, and then goes to settle in Herefordshire. Her husband is a surly, +ill-natured brute, and cares not she should see anybody. O Lord, see how I +blundered, and left two lines short; it was that ugly score in the paper[17] +that made me mistake.--I believe you lie about the story of the fire, only to +make it more odd. Bernage must go to Spain; and I will see to recommend him +to the Duke of Argyle, his General, when I see the Duke next: but the +officers tell me it would be dishonourable in the last degree for him to sell +now, and he would never be preferred in the army; so that, unless he designs +to leave it for good and all, he must go. Tell him so, and that I would write +if I knew where to direct to him; which I have said fourscore times already. +I had rather anything almost than that you should strain yourselves to send a +letter when it is inconvenient; we have settled that matter already. I'll +write when I can, and so shall MD; and upon occasions extraordinary I will +write, though it be a line; and when we have not letters soon, we agree that +all things are well; and so that's settled for ever, and so hold your tongue.- +-Well, you shall have your pins; but for candles' ends, I cannot promise, +because I burn them to the stumps; besides, I remember what Stella told +Dingley about them many years ago, and she may think the same thing of me.-- +And Dingley shall have her hinged spectacles.--Poor dear Stella, how durst you +write those two lines by candlelight? bang your bones! Faith, this letter +shall go to-morrow, I think, and that will be in ten days from the last, young +women; that's too soon of all conscience: but answering yours has filled it +up so quick, and I do not design to use you to three pages in folio, no, +nooooh. All this is one morning's work in bed;--and so good-morrow, little +sirrahs; that's for the rhyme.[18] You want politics: faith, I can't think +of any; but may be at night I may tell you a passage. Come, sit off the bed, +and let me rise, will you?--At night. I dined to-day with my neighbour +Vanhomrigh; it was such dismal weather I could not stir further. I have had +some threatenings with my head, but no fits. I still drink Dr. +Radcliffe's[19] bitter, and will continue it. + +10. I was this morning to see the Secretary of State, and have engaged him to +give a memorial from me to the Duke of Argyle in behalf of Bernage. The Duke +is a man that distinguishes people of merit, and I will speak to him myself; +but the Secretary backing it will be very effectual, and I will take care to +have it done to purpose. Pray tell Bernage so, and that I think nothing can +be luckier for him, and that I would have him go by all means. I will order +it that the Duke shall send for him when they are in Spain; or, if he fails, +that he shall receive him kindly when he goes to wait on him. Can I do more? +Is not this a great deal?--I now send away this letter, that you may not +stay.--I dined with Ford upon his Opera-day, and am now come home, and am +going to study; do not you presume to guess, sirrahs, impudent saucy dear +boxes. Towards the end of a letter I could not say saucy boxes without +putting dear between. An't that right now? Farewell. THIS should BE longer, +BUT that _I_ send IT to-night.[20] + +O silly, silly loggerhead! + +I send a letter this post to one Mr. Staunton, and I direct it to Mr. Acton's +in St. Michael's Lane. He formerly lodged there, but he has not told me where +to direct. Pray send to that Acton, whether[21] the letter is come there, and +whether he has sent it to Staunton. + +If Bernage designs to sell his commission and stay at home, pray let him tell +me so, that my recommendation to the Duke of Argyle may not be in vain. + + + +LETTER 16. + +LONDON, Feb. 10, 1710-11. + +I have just despatched my fifteenth to the post; I tell you how things will +be, after I have got a letter from MD. I am in furious haste to finish mine, +for fear of having two of MD's to answer in one of Presto's, which would be +such a disgrace, never saw the like; but, before you write to me, I write at +my leisure, like a gentleman, a little every day, just to let you know how +matters go, and so and so; and I hope before this comes to you, you'll have +got your box and chocolate, and Presto will take more care another time. + +11. Morning. I must rise and go see my Lord Keeper,[1] which will cost me +two shillings in coach-hire. Don't you call them two thirteens?[2]--At night. +It has rained all day, and there was no walking. I read prayers to Sir Andrew +Fountaine in the forenoon, and I dined with three Irishmen, at one Mr. +Cope's[3] lodgings; the other two were one Morris an archdeacon,[4] and Mr. +Ford. When I came home this evening, I expected that little jackanapes +Harrison would have come to get help about his Tatler for Tuesday: I have +fixed two evenings in the week which I allow him to come. The toad never +came, and I expecting him fell a reading, and left off other business.--Come, +what are you doing? How do you pass your time this ugly weather? Gaming and +drinking, I suppose: fine diversions for young ladies, truly! I wish you had +some of our Seville oranges, and we some of your wine. We have the finest +oranges for twopence apiece, and the basest wine for six shillings a bottle. +They tell me wine grows cheap with you. I am resolved to have half a hogshead +when I get to Ireland, if it be good and cheap, as it used to be; and I will +treat MD at my table in an evening, oh hoa, and laugh at great Ministers of +State. + +12. The days are grown fine and long, ----- be thanked. O, faith, you forget +all our little sayings, and I am angry. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. +John: I went to the Court of Requests at noon, and sent Mr. Harley into the +House to call the Secretary, to let him know I would not dine with him if he +dined late. By good luck the Duke of Argyle was at the lobby of the House +too, and I kept him in talk till the Secretary came out; then told them I was +glad to meet them together, and that I had a request to the Duke, which the +Secretary must second, and his Grace must grant. The Duke said he was sure it +was something insignificant, and wished it was ten times greater. At the +Secretary's house I writ a memorial, and gave it to the Secretary to give the +Duke, and shall see that he does it. It is, that his Grace will please to +take Mr. Bernage into his protection; and if he finds Bernage answers my +character, to give him all encouragement. Colonel Masham[5] and Colonel +Hill[6] (Mrs. Masham's[7] brother tell me my request is reasonable, and they +will second it heartily to the Duke too: so I reckon Bernage is on a very +good foot when he goes to Spain. Pray tell him this, though perhaps I will +write to him before he goes; yet where shall I direct? for I suppose he has +left Connolly's.[8] + +13. I have left off Lady Kerry's bitter, and got another box of pills. I +have no fits of giddiness, but only some little disorders towards it; and I +walk as much as I can. Lady Kerry is just as I am, only a great deal worse: +I dined to-day at Lord Shelburne's, where she is, and we con ailments, which +makes us very fond of each other. I have taken Mr. Harley into favour again, +and called to see him, but he was not within; I will use to visit him after +dinner, for he dines too late for my head: then I went to visit poor +Congreve, who is just getting out of a severe fit of the gout; and I sat with +him till near nine o'clock. He gave me a Tatler[9] he had written out, as +blind as he is, for little Harrison. It is about a scoundrel that was grown +rich, and went and bought a coat of arms at the Herald's, and a set of +ancestors at Fleet Ditch; 'tis well enough, and shall be printed in two or +three days, and if you read those kind of things, this will divert you. It is +now between ten and eleven, and I am going to bed. + +14. This was Mrs. Vanhomrigh's daughter's[10] birthday, and Mr. Ford and I +were invited to dinner to keep it, and we spent the evening there, drinking +punch. That was our way of beginning Lent; and in the morning Lord Shelburne, +Lady Kerry, Mrs. Pratt, and I, went to Hyde Park, instead of going to church; +for, till my head is a little settled, I think it better not to go; it would +be so silly and troublesome to go out sick. Dr. Duke[11] died suddenly two or +three nights ago; he was one of the wits when we were children, but turned +parson, and left it, and never writ farther than a prologue or recommendatory +copy of verses. He had a fine living given him by the Bishop of +Winchester[12] about three months ago; he got his living suddenly, and he got +his dying so too. + +15. I walked purely to-day about the Park, the rain being just over, of which +we have had a great deal, mixed with little short frosts. I went to the Court +of Requests, thinking, if Mr. Harley dined early, to go with him. But meeting +Leigh and Sterne, they invited me to dine with them, and away we went. When +we got into his room, one H----, a worthless Irish fellow, was there, ready to +dine with us; so I stepped out, and whispered them, that I would not dine with +that fellow: they made excuses, and begged me to stay; but away I went to Mr. +Harley's, and he did not dine at home; and at last I dined at Sir John +Germaine's,[13] and found Lady Betty but just recovered of a miscarriage. I +am writing an inscription for Lord Berkeley's[14] tomb; you know the young +rake his son, the new Earl, is married to the Duke of Richmond's daughter,[15] +at the Duke's country house, and are now coming to town. She will be fluxed +in two months, and they'll be parted in a year. You ladies are brave, bold, +venturesome folks; and the chit is but seventeen, and is ill-natured, +covetous, vicious, and proud in extremes. And so get you gone to Stoyte to- +morrow. + +16. Faith, this letter goes on but slow; 'tis a week old, and the first side +not written. I went to-day into the City for a walk, but the person I +designed to dine with was not at home; so I came back, and called at +Congreve's, and dined with him and Estcourt,[16] and laughed till six; then +went to Mr. Harley's, who was not gone to dinner; there I stayed till nine, +and we made up our quarrel, and he has invited me to dinner to-morrow, which +is the day of the week (Saturday) that Lord Keeper and Secretary St. John dine +with him privately, and at last they have consented to let me among them on +that day. Atterbury and Prior went to bury poor Dr. Duke. Congreve's nasty +white wine has given me the heart-burn. + +17. I took some good walks in the Park to-day, and then went to Mr. Harley. +Lord Rivers was got there before me, and I chid him for presuming to come on a +day when only Lord Keeper and the Secretary and I were to be there; but he +regarded me not; so we all dined together, and sat down at four; and the +Secretary has invited me to dine with him to-morrow. I told them I had no +hopes they could ever keep in, but that I saw they loved one another so well, +as indeed they seem to do. They call me nothing but Jonathan; and I said I +believed they would leave me Jonathan as they found me; and that I never knew +a Ministry do anything for those whom they make companions of their pleasures; +and I believe you will find it so; but I care not. I am upon a project of +getting five hundred pounds,[17] without being obliged to anybody; but that is +a secret, till I see my dearest MD; and so hold your tongue, and do not talk, +sirrahs, for I am now about it. + +18. My head has no fits, but a little disordered before dinner; yet I walk +stoutly, and take pills, and hope to mend. Secretary St. John would needs +have me dine with him to-day; and there I found three persons I never saw, two +I had no acquaintance with, and one I did not care for: so I left them early +and came home, it being no day to walk, but scurvy rain and wind. The +Secretary tells me he has put a cheat on me; for Lord Peterborow sent him +twelve dozen flasks of burgundy, on condition that I should have my share; but +he never was quiet till they were all gone, so I reckon he owes me thirty-six +pounds. Lord Peterborow is now got to Vienna, and I must write to him to- +morrow. I begin now to be towards looking for a letter from some certain +ladies of Presto's acquaintance, that live at St. Mary's,[18] and are called +in a certain language, our little MD. No, stay, I don't expect one these six +days, that will be just three weeks; an't I a reasonable creature? We are +plagued here with an October Club, that is, a set of above a hundred +Parliament men of the country, who drink October beer at home, and meet every +evening at a tavern near the Parliament to consult affairs, and drive things +on to extremes against the Whigs, to call the old Ministry to account, and get +off five or six heads.[19] The Ministry seem not to regard them; yet one of +them in confidence told me that there must be something thought on, to settle +things better. I'll tell you one great State secret: the Queen, sensible how +much she was governed by the late Ministry, runs a little into t'other +extreme, and is jealous in that point, even of those who got her out of the +others' hands. The Ministry is for gentler measures, and the other Tories for +more violent. Lord Rivers, talking to me the other day, cursed the paper +called the Examiner, for speaking civilly of the Duke of Marlborough; this I +happened to talk of to the Secretary, who blamed the warmth of that lord and +some others, and swore that if their advice were followed they would be blown +up in twenty-four hours. And I have reason to think that they will endeavour +to prevail on the Queen to put her affairs more in the hands of a Ministry +than she does at present; and there are, I believe, two men thought on, one of +them you have often met the name of in my letters. But so much for politics. + +19. This proved a terrible rainy day, which prevented my walk into the City, +and I was only able to run and dine with my neighbour Vanhomrigh, where Sir +Andrew Fountaine dined too, who has just began to sally out, and has shipped +his mother and sister, who were his nurses, back to the country. This evening +was fair, and I walked a little in the Park, till Prior made me go with him to +the Smyrna Coffee-house, where I sat a while, and saw four or five Irish +persons, who are very handsome, genteel fellows; but I know not their names. +I came away at seven, and got home. Two days ago I writ to Bernage, and told +him what I had done, and directed the letter to Mr. Curry's, to be left with +Dingley. Brigadiers Hill and Masham, brother and husband to Mrs. Masham, the +Queen's favourite, Colonel Disney,[20] and I, have recommended Bernage to the +Duke of Argyle; and Secretary St. John has given the Duke my memorial; and, +besides, Hill tells me, that Bernage's colonel, Fielding,[21] designs to make +him his captain-lieutenant: but I believe I said this to you before, and in +this letter; but I will not look. + +20. Morning. It snows terribly again; and 'tis mistaken, for I now want a +little good weather. I bid you good-morrow; and, if it clear up, get you gone +to poor Mrs. Walls, who has had a hard time of it, but is now pretty well +again. I am sorry it is a girl: the poor Archdeacon too, see how simply he +looked when they told him: what did it cost Stella to be gossip? I'll rise; +so, d'ye hear, let me see you at night; and do not stay late out, and catch +cold, sirrahs.--At night. It grew good weather, and I got a good walk, and +dined with Ford upon his Opera-day; but, now all his wine is gone, I shall +dine with him no more. I hope to send this letter before I hear from MD, +methinks there is--something great in doing so, only I can't express where it +lies; and, faith, this shall go by Saturday, as sure as you're a rogue. Mrs. +Edgworth was to set out but last Monday; so you won't have your box so soon +perhaps as this letter; but Sterne told me since that it is safe at Chester, +and that she will take care of it. I'd give a guinea you had it. + +21. Morning. Faith, I hope it will be fair for me to walk into the City; for +I take all occasions of walking.--I should be plaguy busy at Laracor if I were +there now, cutting down willows, planting others, scouring my canal, and every +kind of thing. If Raymond goes over this summer, you must submit, and make +them a visit, that we may have another eel and trout fishing; and that Stella +may ride by, and see Presto in his morning-gown in the garden, and so go up +with Joe to the Hill of Bree, and round by Scurlock's Town. O Lord, how I +remember names! faith, it gives me short sighs; therefore no more of that, if +you love me. Good-morrow, I will go rise like a gentleman; my pills say I +must.--At night. Lady Kerry sent to desire me to engage some lords about an +affair she has in their house here: I called to see her, but found she had +already engaged every lord I knew, and that there was no great difficulty in +the matter; and it rained like a dog; so I took coach, for want of better +exercise, and dined privately with a hang-dog in the City, and walked back in +the evening. The days are now long enough to walk in the Park after dinner; +and so I do whenever it is fair. This walking is a strange remedy: Mr. Prior +walks, to make himself fat, and I to bring myself down; he has generally a +cough, which he only calls a cold; we often walk round the Park together. So +I'll go sleep. + +22. It snowed all this morning prodigiously, and was some inches thick in +three or four hours. I dined with Mr. Lewis of the Secretary's office at his +lodgings: the chairmen that carried me squeezed a great fellow against a +wall, who wisely turned his back, and broke one of the side-glasses in a +thousand pieces. I fell a scolding, pretended I was like to be cut to pieces, +and made them set down the chair in the Park, while they picked out the bits +of glasses; and, when I paid them, I quarrelled still; so they dared not +grumble, and I came off for my fare; but I was plaguily afraid they would have +said, "God bless your honour, won't you give us something for our glass?" +Lewis and I were forming a project how I might get three or four hundred +pounds,[22] which I suppose may come to nothing. I hope Smyth has brought you +your palsy-drops. How does Stella do? I begin more and more to desire to +know. The three weeks since I had your last is over within two days, and I +will allow three for accidents. + +23. The snow is gone every bit, except the remainder of some great balls made +by the boys. Mr. Sterne was with me this morning about an affair he has +before the Treasury. That drab Mrs. Edgworth is not yet set out, but will +infallibly next Monday: and this is the third infallible Monday, and pox take +her! So you will have this letter first; and this shall go to-morrow; and, if +I have one from MD in that time, I will not answer it till my next; only I +will say, "Madam, I received your letter, and so, and so." I dined to-day +with my Mistress Butler,[23] who grows very disagreeable. + +24. Morning. This letter certainly goes this evening, sure as you're alive, +young women, and then you will be so shamed that I have had none from you; +and, if I was to reckon like you, I would say, I were six letters before you, +for this is N.16, and I have had your N.10. But I reckon you have received +but fourteen, and have sent eleven. I think to go to-day a Minister-of-State- +hunting in the Court of Requests; for I have something to say to Mr. Harley. +And it is fine, cold, sunshiny weather; I wish dear MD would walk this morning +in your Stephen's Green; 'tis as good as our Park, but not so large.[24] +Faith, this summer we'll take a coach for sixpence[25] to the Green Well, the +two walks, and thence all the way to Stoyte's.[26] My hearty service to Goody +Stoyte and Catherine; and I hope Mrs. Walls had a good time. How inconstant I +am! I can't imagine I was ever in love with her. Well, I'm going; what have +you to say? I DO NOT CARE HOW I WRITE NOW.[27] I don't design to write on +this side; these few lines are but so much more than your due; so I will write +LARGE or small as I please. O, faith, my hands are starving in bed; I believe +it is a hard frost. I must rise, and bid you good-bye, for I'll seal this +letter immediately, and carry it in my pocket, and put it into the post-office +with my own fair hands. Farewell. + +This letter is just a fortnight's journal to-day. Yes, and so it is, I'm +sure, says you, with your two eggs a penny. + +Lele, lele, lele.[28] + +O Lord, I am saying lele, lele, to myself, in all our little keys: and, now +you talk of keys, that dog Patrick broke the key-general of the chest of +drawers with six locks, and I have been so plagued to get a new one, besides +my good two shillings! + + + +LETTER 17. + +LONDON, Feb. 24, 1710-11. + +Now, young women, I gave in my sixteenth this evening. I dined with Ford (it +was his Opera-day) as usual; it is very convenient to me to do so, for coming +home early after a walk in the Park, which now the days will allow. I called +on the Secretary at his office, and he had forgot to give the memorial about +Bernage to the Duke of Argyle; but, two days ago, I met the Duke, who desired +I would give it him myself, which should have more power with him than all the +Ministry together, as he protested solemnly, repeated it two or three times, +and bid me count upon it. So that I verily believe Bernage will be in a very +good way to establish himself. I think I can do no more for him at present, +and there's an end of that; and so get you gone to bed, for it is late. + +25. The three weeks are out yesterday since I had your last, and so now I +will be expecting every day a pretty dear letter from my own MD, and hope to +hear that Stella has been much better in her head and eyes: my head continues +as it was, no fits, but a little disorder every day, which I can easily bear, +if it will not grow worse. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. John, on +condition I might choose my company, which were Lord Rivers, Lord Carteret, +Sir Thomas Mansel,[1] and Mr. Lewis; I invited Masham, Hill, Sir John Stanley, +and George Granville, but they were engaged; and I did it in revenge of his +having such bad company when I dined with him before; so we laughed, etc. And +I ventured to go to church to-day, which I have not done this month before. +Can you send me such a good account of Stella's health, pray now? Yes, I +hope, and better too. We dined (says you) at the Dean's, and played at cards +till twelve, and there came in Mr. French, and Dr. Travors, and Dr. +Whittingham, and Mr. (I forget his name, that I always tell Mrs. Walls of) the +banker's son, a pox on him. And we were so merry; I vow they are pure good +company. But I lost a crown; for you must know I had always hands tempting me +to go out, but never took in anything, and often two black aces without a +manilio; was not that hard, Presto? Hold your tongue, etc. + +26. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary about some business, and he tells +me that Colonel Fielding is now going to make Bernage his captain-lieutenant, +that is, a captain by commission, and the perquisites of the company; but not +captain's pay, only the first step to it. I suppose he will like it; and the +recommendation to the Duke of Argyle goes on. And so trouble me no more about +your Bernage; the jackanapes understands what fair solicitors he has got, I +warrant you. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined, by invitation, with Mrs. +Vanhomrigh. You say they are of no consequence: why, they keep as good +female company as I do male; I see all the drabs of quality at this end of the +town with them: I saw two Lady Bettys[2] there this afternoon; the beauty of +one, the good-breeding and nature of t'other, and the wit of neither, would +have made a fine woman. Rare walking in the Park now: why don't you walk in +the Green of St. Stephen? The walks there are finer gravelled than the Mall. +What beasts the Irish women are, never to walk! + +27. Darteneuf and I, and little Harrison the new Tatler, and Jervas the +painter, dined to-day with James,[3] I know not his other name, but it is one +of Darteneuf's dining-places, who is a true epicure. James is clerk of the +kitchen to the Queen, and has a little snug house at St. James's; and we had +the Queen's wine, and such very fine victuals that I could not eat it. Three +weeks and three days since my last letter from MD; rare doings! why, truly we +were so busy with poor Mrs. Walls, that indeed, Presto, we could not write, we +were afraid the poor woman would have died; and it pitied us to see the +Archdeacon, how concerned he was. The Dean never came to see her but once; +but now she is up again, and we go and sit with her in the evenings. The +child died the next day after it was born; and I believe, between friends, she +is not very sorry for it.--Indeed, Presto, you are plaguy silly tonight, and +han't guessed one word right; for she and the child are both well, and it is a +fine girl, likely to live; and the Dean was godfather, and Mrs. Catherine and +I were godmothers; I was going to say Stoyte, but I think I have heard they +don't put maids and married women together; though I know not why I think so, +nor I don't care; what care I? but I must prate, etc. + +28. I walked to-day into the City for my health, and there dined; which I +always do when the weather is fair, and business permits, that I may be under +a necessity of taking a good walk, which is the best thing I can do at present +for my health. Some bookseller has raked up everything I writ, and published +it t'other day in one volume; but I know nothing of it, 'twas without my +knowledge or consent: it makes a four-shilling book, and is called +Miscellanies in Prose and Verse.[4] Tooke pretends he knows nothing of it; +but I doubt he is at the bottom. One must have patience with these things; +the best of it is, I shall be plagued no more. However, I will bring a couple +of them over with me for MD; perhaps you may desire to see them. I hear they +sell mightily. + +March 1. Morning. I have been calling to Patrick to look in his almanac for +the day of the month; I did not know but it might be leap-year. The almanac +says 'tis the third after leap-year; and I always thought till now, that every +third year was leap-year. I am glad they come so seldom; but I'm sure 'twas +otherwise when I was a young man; I see times are mightily changed since +then.--Write to me, sirrahs; be sure do by the time this side is done, and +I'll keep t'other side for the answer: so I'll go write to the Bishop of +Clogher; good-morrow, sirrahs.--Night. I dined to-day at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, +being a rainy day; and Lady Betty Butler, knowing it, sent to let me know she +expected my company in the evening, where the Vans (so we call them) were to +be. The Duchess[5] and they do not go over this summer with the Duke; so I go +to bed. + +2. This rainy weather undoes me in coaches and chairs. I was traipsing to- +day with your Mr. Sterne, to go along with them to Moore,[6] and recommend his +business to the Treasury. Sterne tells me his dependence is wholly on me; but +I have absolutely refused to recommend it to Mr. Harley, because I have +troubled him lately so much with other folks' affairs; and besides, to tell +the truth, Mr. Harley told me he did not like Sterne's business: however, I +will serve him, because I suppose MD would have me. But, in saying his +dependence lies wholly on me, he lies, and is a fool. I dined with Lord +Abercorn, whose son Peasley[7] will be married at Easter to ten thousand +pounds. + +3. I forgot to tell you that yesterday morning I was at Mr. Harley's levee: +he swore I came in spite, to see him among a parcel of fools. My business was +to desire I might let the Duke of Ormond know how the affair stood of the +First-Fruits. He promised to let him know it, and engaged me to dine with him +to-day. Every Saturday, Lord Keeper, Secretary St. John, and I dine with him, +and sometimes Lord Rivers; and they let in none else. Patrick brought me some +letters into the Park; among which one was from Walls; and t'other, yes, +faith, t'other was from our little MD, N.11. I read the rest in the Park, and +MD's in a chair as I went from St. James's to Mr. Harley; and glad enough I +was, faith, to read it, and see all right. Oh, but I won't answer it these +three or four days at least, or may be sooner. An't I silly? faith, your +letters would make a dog silly, if I had a dog to be silly, but it must be a +little dog.--I stayed with Mr. Harley till past nine, where we had much +discourse together after the rest were gone; and I gave him very truly my +opinion where he desired it. He complained he was not very well, and has +engaged me to dine with him again on Monday. So I came home afoot, like a +fine gentleman, to tell you all this. + +4. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. John; and after dinner he had a note +from Mr. Harley, that he was much out of order.[8] Pray God preserve his +health! everything depends upon it. The Parliament at present cannot go a +step without him, nor the Queen neither. I long to be in Ireland; but the +Ministry beg me to stay: however, when this Parliament lurry[9] is over, I +will endeavour to steal away; by which time I hope the First-Fruit business +will be done. This kingdom is certainly ruined as much as was ever any +bankrupt merchant. We must have peace, let it be a bad or a good one, though +nobody dares talk of it. The nearer I look upon things, the worse I like +them. I believe the confederacy will soon break to pieces, and our factions +at home increase. The Ministry is upon a very narrow bottom, and stand like +an isthmus, between the Whigs on one side, and violent Tories on the other. +They are able seamen; but the tempest is too great, the ship too rotten, and +the crew all against them. Lord Somers has been twice in the Queen's closet, +once very lately; and your Duchess of Somerset,[10] who now has the key, is a +most insinuating woman; and I believe they will endeavour to play the same +game that has been played against them.--I have told them of all this, which +they know already, but they cannot help it. They have cautioned the Queen so +much against being governed, that she observes it too much. I could talk till +to-morrow upon these things, but they make me melancholy. I could not but +observe that lately, after much conversation with Mr. Harley, though he is the +most fearless man alive, and the least apt to despond, he confessed to me that +uttering his mind to me gave him ease. + +5. Mr. Harley continues out of order, yet his affairs force him abroad: he +is subject to a sore throat, and was cupped last night: I sent and called two +or three times. I hear he is better this evening. I dined to-day in the City +with Dr. Freind at a third body's house, where I was to pass for somebody +else; and there was a plaguy silly jest carried on, that made me sick of it. +Our weather grows fine, and I will walk like camomile. And pray walk you to +your Dean's, or your Stoyte's, or your Manley's, or your Walls'. But your new +lodgings make you so proud, you will walk less than ever. Come, let me go to +bed, sirrahs. + +6. Mr. Harley's going out yesterday has put him a little backwards. I called +twice, and sent, for I am in pain for him. Ford caught me, and made me dine +with him on his Opera-day; so I brought Mr. Lewis with me, and sat with him +till six. I have not seen Mr. Addison these three weeks; all our friendship +is over. I go to no Coffee-house. I presented a parson of the Bishop of +Clogher's, one Richardson,[11] to the Duke of Ormond to-day: he is +translating prayers and sermons into Irish, and has a project about +instructing the Irish in the Protestant religion. + +7. Morning. Faith, a little would make me, I could find in my heart, if it +were not for one thing, I have a good mind, if I had not something else to do, +I would answer your dear saucy letter. O, Lord, I am going awry with writing +in bed. O, faith, but I must answer it, or I shan't have room, for it must go +on Saturday; and don't think I will fill the third side, I an't come to that +yet, young women. Well then, as for your Bernage, I have said enough: I writ +to him last week.--Turn over that leaf. Now, what says MD to the world to +come? I tell you, Madam Stella, my head is a great deal better, and I hope +will keep so. How came yours to be fifteen days coming, and you had my +fifteenth in seven? Answer me that, rogues. Your being with Goody Walls is +excuse enough: I find I was mistaken in the sex, 'tis a boy.[12] Yes, I +understand your cypher, and Stella guesses right, as she always does. He[13] +gave me al bsadnuk lboinlpl dfaonr ufainf btoy dpionufnad,[14] which I sent +him again by Mr. Lewis, to whom I writ a very complaining letter that was +showed him; and so the matter ended. He told me he had a quarrel with me; I +said I had another with him, and we returned to our friendship, and I should +think he loves me as well as a great Minister can love a man in so short a +time. Did not I do right? I am glad at heart you have got your palsy- +water;[15] pray God Almighty it may do my dearest little Stella good! I +suppose Mrs. Edgworth set out last Monday se'ennight. Yes, I do read the +Examiners, and they are written very finely, as you judge. I do not think +they are too severe on the Duke;[16] they only tax him of avarice, and his +avarice has ruined us. You may count upon all things in them to be true. The +author has said it is not Prior, but perhaps it may be Atterbury.--Now, Madam +Dingley, says she, 'tis fine weather, says she; yes, says she, and we have got +to our new lodgings. I compute you ought to save eight pounds by being in the +others five months; and you have no more done it than eight thousand. I am +glad you are rid of that squinting, blinking Frenchman. I will give you a +bill on Parvisol for five pounds for the half-year. And must I go on at four +shillings a week, and neither eat nor drink for it? Who the Devil said +Atterbury and your Dean were alike? I never saw your Chancellor, nor his +chaplain. The latter has a good deal of learning, and is a well-wisher to be +an author: your Chancellor is an excellent man. As for Patrick's bird, he +bought him for his tameness, and is grown the wildest I ever saw. His wings +have been quilled thrice, and are now up again: he will be able to fly after +us to Ireland, if he be willing.--Yes, Mrs. Stella, Dingley writes more like +Presto than you; for all you superscribed the letter, as who should say, Why +should not I write like our Presto as well as Dingley? You with your awkward +SS;[17] cannot you write them thus, SS? No, but always SSS. Spiteful sluts, +to affront Presto's writing; as that when you shut your eyes you write most +like Presto. I know the time when I did not write to you half so plain as I +do now; but I take pity on you both. I am very much concerned for Mrs. +Walls's eyes. Walls says nothing of it to me in his letter dated after yours. +You say, "If she recovers, she may lose her sight." I hope she is in no +danger of her life. Yes, Ford is as sober as I please: I use him to walk +with me as an easy companion, always ready for what I please, when I am weary +of business and Ministers. I don't go to a Coffee-house twice a month. I am +very regular in going to sleep before eleven.--And so you say that Stella is a +pretty girl; and so she be, and methinks I see her just now as handsome as the +day is long. Do you know what? when I am writing in our language, I make up +my mouth just as if I was speaking it. I caught myself at it just now. And I +suppose Dingley is so fair and so fresh as a lass in May, and has her health, +and no spleen.--In your account you sent do you reckon as usual from the 1st +of November[18] was twelvemonth? Poor Stella, will not Dingley leave her a +little daylight to write to Presto? Well, well, we'll have daylight shortly, +spite of her teeth; and zoo[19] must cly Lele and Hele, and Hele aden. Must +loo mimitate Pdfr, pay? Iss, and so la shall. And so lele's fol ee rettle. +Dood-mollow.--At night. Mrs. Barton sent this morning to invite me to dinner; +and there I dined, just in that genteel manner that MD used when they would +treat some better sort of body than usual. + +8. O dear MD, my heart is almost broken. You will hear the thing before this +comes to you. I writ a full account of it this night to the Archbishop of +Dublin; and the Dean may tell you the particulars from the Archbishop. I was +in a sorry way to write, but thought it might be proper to send a true account +of the fact; for you will hear a thousand lying circumstances. It is of Mr. +Harley's being stabbed this afternoon, at three o'clock, at a Committee of the +Council. I was playing Lady Catharine Morris's[20] cards, where I dined, when +young Arundel[21] came in with the story. I ran away immediately to the +Secretary, which was in my way: no one was at home. I met Mrs. St. John in +her chair; she had heard it imperfectly. I took a chair to Mr. Harley, who +was asleep, and they hope in no danger; but he has been out of order, and was +so when he came abroad to-day, and it may put him in a fever: I am in mortal +pain for him. That desperate French villain, Marquis de Guiscard,[22] stabbed +Mr. Harley. Guiscard was taken up by Mr. Secretary St. John's warrant for +high treason, and brought before the Lords to be examined; there he stabbed +Mr. Harley. I have told all the particulars already to the Archbishop. I +have now, at nine, sent again, and they tell me he is in a fair way. Pray +pardon my distraction; I now think of all his kindness to me.--The poor +creature now lies stabbed in his bed by a desperate French Popish villain. +Good-night, and God preserve you both, and pity me; I want it. + +9. Morning; seven, in bed. Patrick is just come from Mr. Harley's. He slept +well till four; the surgeon sat[23] up with him: he is asleep again: he felt +a pain in his wound when he waked: they apprehend him in no danger. This +account the surgeon left with the porter, to tell people that send. Pray God +preserve him. I am rising, and going to Mr. Secretary St. John. They say +Guiscard will die with the wounds Mr. St. John and the rest gave him. I shall +tell you more at night.--Night. Mr. Harley still continues on the mending +hand; but he rested ill last night, and felt pain. I was early with the +Secretary this morning, and I dined with him, and he told me several +particularities of this accident, too long to relate now. Mr. Harley is still +mending this evening, but not at all out of danger; and till then I can have +no peace. Good-night, etc., and pity Presto. + +10. Mr. Harley was restless last night; but he has no fever, and the hopes of +his mending increase. I had a letter from Mr. Walls, and one from Mr. +Bernage. I will answer them here, not having time to write. Mr. Walls +writes about three things. First, about a hundred pounds from Dr. Raymond, of +which I hear nothing, and it is now too late. Secondly, about Mr. +Clements:[24] I can do nothing in it, because I am not to mention Mr. Pratt; +and I cannot recommend without knowing Mr. Pratt's objections, whose relation +Clements is, and who brought him into the place. The third is about my being +godfather to the child:[25] that is in my power, and (since there is no +remedy) will submit. I wish you could hinder it; but if it can't be helped, +pay what you think proper, and get the Provost to stand for me, and let his +Christian name be Harley, in honour of my friend, now lying stabbed and +doubtful of his life. As for Bernage, he writes me word that his colonel has +offered to make him captain-lieutenant for a hundred pounds. He was such a +fool to offer him money without writing to me till it was done, though I have +had a dozen letters from him; and then he desires I would say nothing of this, +for fear his colonel should be angry. People are mad. What can I do? I +engaged Colonel Disney, who was one of his solicitors to the Secretary, and +then told him the story. He assured me that Fielding (Bernage's colonel) said +he might have got that sum; but, on account of those great recommendations he +had, would give it him for nothing: and I would have Bernage write him a +letter of thanks, as of a thing given him for nothing, upon recommendations, +etc. Disney tells me he will again speak to Fielding, and clear up this +matter; then I will write to Bernage. A pox on him for promising money till I +had it promised to me; and then making it such a ticklish point, that one +cannot expostulate with the colonel upon it: but let him do as I say, and +there is an end. I engaged the Secretary of State in it; and am sure it was +meant a kindness to me, and that no money should be given, and a hundred +pounds is too much in a Smithfield bargain,[26] as a major-general told me, +whose opinion I asked. I am now hurried, and can say no more. Farewell, etc. +etc. + +How shall I superscribe to your new lodgings, pray, madams? Tell me but that, +impudence and saucy-face. + +Are not you sauceboxes to write "lele"[27] like Presto? O poor Presto! + +Mr. Harley is better to-night, that makes me so pert, you saucy Gog and Magog. + + + +LETTER 18. + +LONDON, March 10, 1710-11. + +Pretty little MD must expect little from me till Mr. Harley is out of danger. +We hope he is so now; but I am subject to fear for my friends. He has a head +full of the whole business of the nation, was out of order when the villain +stabbed him, and had a cruel contusion by the second blow. But all goes on +well yet. Mr. Ford and I dined with Mr. Lewis, and we hope the best. + +11. This morning Mr. Secretary and I met at Court, where he went to the +Queen, who is out of order, and aguish: I doubt the worse for this accident +to Mr. Harley. We went together to his house, and his wound looks well, and +he is not feverish at all, and I think it is foolish in me to be so much in +pain as I am. I had the penknife in my hand, which is broken within a quarter +of an inch of the handle. I have a mind to write and publish an account of +all the particularities of this fact:[1] it will be very curious, and I would +do it when Mr. Harley is past danger. + +12. We have been in terrible pain to-day about Mr. Harley, who never slept +last night, and has been very feverish. But this evening I called there; and +young Mr. Harley (his only son) tells me he is now much better, and was then +asleep. They let nobody see him, and that is perfectly right. The Parliament +cannot go on till he is well, and are forced to adjourn their money +businesses, which none but he can help them in. Pray God preserve him. + +13. Mr. Harley is better to-day, slept well all night, and we are a little +out of our fears. I send and call three or four times every day. I went into +the City for a walk, and dined there with a private man; and coming home this +evening, broke my shin in the Strand over a tub of sand left just in the way. +I got home dirty enough, and went straight to bed, where I have been cooking +it with gold-beater's skin, and have been peevish enough with Patrick, who was +near an hour bringing a rag from next door. It is my right shin, where never +any humour fell when t'other used to swell; so I apprehend it less: however, +I shall not stir till 'tis well, which I reckon will be in a week. I am very +careful in these sort of things; but I wish I had Mrs. J----'s water:[2] she +is out of town, and I must make a shift with alum. I will dine with Mrs. +Vanhomrigh till I am well, who lives but five doors off; and that I may +venture. + +14. My journals are like to be very diverting, now I cannot stir abroad, +between accounts of Mr. Harley's mending, and of my broken shin. I just +walked to my neighbour Vanhomrigh at two, and came away at six, when little +Harrison the Tatler came to me, and begged me to dictate a paper to him, which +I was forced in charity to do. Mr. Harley still mends; and I hope in a day or +two to trouble you no more with him, nor with my shin. Go to bed and sleep, +sirrahs, that you may rise to-morrow and walk to Donnybrook, and lose your +money with Stoyte and the Dean; do so, dear little rogues, and drink Presto's +health. O pray, don't you drink Presto's health sometimes with your deans, +and your Stoytes, and your Walls, and your Manleys, and your everybodies, pray +now? I drink MD's to myself a hundred thousand times. + +15. I was this morning at Mr. Secretary St. John's for all my shin; and he +has given me for young Harrison the Tatler the prettiest employment in Europe; +secretary to my Lord Raby,[3] who is to be Ambassador Extraordinary at the +Hague, where all the great affairs will be concerted; so we shall lose the +Tatlers in a fortnight. I will send Harrison to-morrow morning to thank the +Secretary. Poor Biddy Floyd[4] has got the smallpox. I called this morning +to see Lady Betty Germaine, and when she told me so, I fairly took my leave. +I have the luck of it;[5] for about ten days ago I was to see Lord +Carteret;[6] and my lady was entertaining me with telling of a young lady, a +cousin, who was then ill in the house of the smallpox, and is since dead: it +was near Lady Betty's, and I fancy Biddy took the fright by it. I dined with +Mr. Secretary; and a physician came in just from Guiscard, who tells us he is +dying of his wounds, and can hardly live till to-morrow. A poor wench that +Guiscard kept, sent him a bottle of sack; but the keeper would not let him +touch it, for fear it was poison. He had two quarts of old clotted blood come +out of his side to-day, and is delirious. I am sorry he is dying; for they +had found out a way to hang him. He certainly had an intention to murder the +Queen. + +16. I have made but little progress in this letter for so many days, thanks +to Guiscard and Mr. Harley; and it would be endless to tell you all the +particulars of that odious fact. I do not yet hear that Guiscard is dead, but +they say 'tis impossible he should recover. I walked too much yesterday for a +man with a broken shin; to-day I rested, and went no farther than Mrs. +Vanhomrigh's, where I dined; and Lady Betty Butler coming in about six, I was +forced in good manners to sit with her till nine; then I came home, and Mr. +Ford came in to visit my shin, and sat with me till eleven: so I have been +very idle and naughty. It vexes me to the pluck[7] that I should lose walking +this delicious day. Have you seen the Spectator[8] yet, a paper that comes +out every day? 'Tis written by Mr. Steele, who seems to have gathered new +life, and have a new fund of wit; it is in the same nature as his Tatlers, and +they have all of them had something pretty. I believe Addison and he club. I +never see them; and I plainly told Mr. Harley and Mr. St. John, ten days ago, +before my Lord Keeper and Lord Rivers, that I had been foolish enough to spend +my credit with them in favour of Addison and Steele; but that I would engage +and promise never to say one word in their behalf, having been used so ill for +what I had already done.--So, now I am got into the way of prating again, +there will be no quiet for me. + + When Presto begins to prate, + Give him a rap upon the pate. + +O Lord, how I blot! it is time to leave off, etc. + +17. Guiscard died this morning at two; and the coroner's inquest have found +that he was killed by bruises received from a messenger, so to clear the +Cabinet Councillors from whom he received his wounds. I had a letter from +Raymond, who cannot hear of your box; but I hope you have it before this comes +to your hands. I dined to-day with Mr. Lewis of the Secretary's office. Mr. +Harley has abundance of extravasated blood comes from his breast out of his +wound, and will not be well so soon as we expected. I had something to say, +but cannot call it to mind. (What was it?) + +18. I was to-day at Court to look for the Duke of Argyle, and gave him the +memorial about Bernage. The Duke goes with the first fair wind. I could not +find him, but I have given the memorial to another to give him; and, however, +it shall be sent after him. Bernage has made a blunder in offering money to +his colonel without my advice; however, he is made captain-lieutenant, only he +must recruit the company, which will cost him forty pounds, and that is +cheaper than an hundred. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. John, and +stayed till seven, but would not drink his champagne and burgundy, for fear of +the gout. My shin mends, but is not well. I hope it will by the time I send +this letter, next Saturday. + +19. I went to-day into the City, but in a coach, and sossed[9] up my leg on +the seat; and as I came home, I went to see poor Charles Barnard's[10] books, +which are to be sold by auction, and I itch to lay out nine or ten pounds for +some fine editions of fine authors. But 'tis too far, and I shall let it +slip, as I usually do all such opportunities. I dined in a coffee-house with +Stratford upon chops and some of his wine. Where did MD dine? Why, poor MD +dined at home to-day, because of the Archbishop, and they could not go abroad, +and had a breast of mutton and a pint of wine. I hope Mrs. Walls mends; and +pray give me an account what sort of godfather I made, and whether I behaved +myself handsomely. The Duke of Argyle is gone; and whether he has my +memorial, I know not, till I see Dr. Arbuthnot,[11] to whom I gave it. That +hard name belongs to a Scotch doctor, an acquaintance of the Duke's and me; +Stella can't pronounce it. Oh that we were at Laracor this fine day! the +willows begin to peep, and the quicks to bud. My dream is out: I was a- +dreamed last night that I ate ripe cherries.--And now they begin to catch the +pikes, and will shortly the trouts (pox on these Ministers!)--and I would fain +know whether the floods were ever so high as to get over the holly bank or the +river walk; if so, then all my pikes are gone; but I hope not. Why don't you +ask Parvisol these things, sirrahs? And then my canal, and trouts, and +whether the bottom be fine and clear? But harkee, ought not Parvisol to pay +in my last year's rents and arrears out of his hands? I am thinking, if +either of you have heads to take his accounts, it should be paid in to you; +otherwise to Mr. Walls. I will write an order on t'other side; and do as you +will. Here's a world of business; but I must go sleep, I'm drowsy; and so +goodnight, etc. + +20. This sore shin ruins me in coach-hire; no less than two shillings to-day +going and coming from the City, where I dined with one you never heard of, and +passed an insipid day. I writ this post to Bernage, with the account I told +you above. I hope he will like it; 'tis his own fault, or it would have been +better. I reckon your next letter will be full of Mr. Harley's stabbing. He +still mends, but abundance of extravasated blood has come out of the wound: +he keeps his bed, and sees nobody. The Speaker's eldest son[12] is just dead +of the smallpox, and the House is adjourned a week, to give him time to wipe +off his tears. I think it very handsomely done; but I believe one reason is, +that they want Mr. Harley so much. Biddy Floyd is like to do well: and so go +to your Dean's, and roast his oranges, and lose your money, do so, you saucy +sluts. Stella, you lost three shillings and fourpence t'other night at +Stoyte's, yes, you did, and Presto stood in a corner, and saw you all the +while, and then stole away. I dream very often I am in Ireland, and that I +have left my clothes and things behind me, and have not taken leave of +anybody; and that the Ministry expect me tomorrow, and such nonsense. + +21. I would not for a guinea have a letter from you till this goes; and go it +shall on Saturday, faith. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, to save my shin, and +then went on some business to the Secretary, and he was not at home. + +22. Yesterday was a short day's journal: but what care I? what cares saucy +Presto? Darteneuf[13] invited me to dinner to-day. Do not you know +Darteneuf? That's the man that knows everything, and that everybody knows; +and that knows where a knot of rabble are going on a holiday, and when they +were there last: and then I went to the Coffee-house. My shin mends, but is +not quite healed: I ought to keep it up, but I don't; I e'en let it go as it +comes. Pox take Parvisol and his watch! If I do not receive the ten-pound +bill I am to get towards it, I will neither receive watch nor chain; so let +Parvisol know. + +23. I this day appointed the Duke of Ormond to meet him at Ned Southwell's, +about an affair of printing Irish Prayer-Books, etc.,[14] but the Duke never +came. There Southwell had letters that two packets are taken; so if MD writ +then, the letters are gone; for they are packets coming hither. Mr. Harley is +not yet well, but his extravasated blood continues, and I doubt he will not be +quite well in a good while: I find you have heard of the fact by Southwell's +letters from Ireland: what do you think of it? I dined with Sir John +Perceval,[15] and saw his lady sitting in the bed, in the forms of a lying-in +woman; and coming home my sore shin itched, and I forgot what it was, and +rubbed off the scab, and blood came; but I am now got into bed, and have put +on alum curd, and it is almost well. Lord Rivers told me yesterday a piece of +bad news, as a secret, that the Pretender is going to be married to the Duke +of Savoy's daughter.[16] 'Tis very bad if it be true. We were walking in the +Mall with some Scotch lords, and he could not tell it until they were gone, +and he bade me tell it to none but the Secretary of State and MD. This goes +tomorrow, and I have no room but to bid my dearest little MD good-night. +24. I will now seal up this letter, and send it; for I reckon to have none +from you ('tis morning now) between this and night; and I will put it in the +post with my own hands. I am going out in great haste; so farewell, etc. + + + +LETTER 19. + +LONDON, March 24, 1710-11. + +It was a little cross in Presto not to send to-day to the Coffee-house to see +whether there was a letter from MD before I sent away mine; but, faith, I did +it on purpose, because I would scorn to answer two letters of yours +successively. This way of journal is the worst in the world for writing of +news, unless one does it the last day; and so I will observe henceforward, if +there be any politics or stuff worth sending. My shin mends in spite of the +scratching last night. I dined to-day at Ned Southwell's with the Bishop of +Ossory[1] and a parcel of Irish gentlemen. Have you yet seen any of the +Spectators? Just three weeks to-day since I had your last, N.11. I am afraid +I have lost one by the packet that was taken; that will vex me, considering +the pains MD take to write, especially poor pretty Stella, and her weak eyes. +God bless them and the owner, and send them well, and little me together, I +hope ere long. This illness of Mr. Harley puts everything backwards, and he +is still down, and like to be so, by that extravasated blood which comes from +his breast to the wound: it was by the second blow Guiscard gave him after +the penknife was broken. I am shocked at that villainy whenever I think of +it. Biddy Floyd is past danger, but will lose all her beauty: she had them +mighty thick, especially about her nose. + +25. Morning. I wish you a merry New Year; this is the first day of the year, +you know, with us, and 'tis Lady-day. I must rise and go to my Lord Keeper: +it is not shaving-day to-day, so I shall be early. I am to dine with Mr. +Secretary St. John. Good-morrow, my mistresses both, good-morrow. Stella +will be peeping out of her room at Mrs. De Caudres'[2] down upon the folks as +they come from church; and there comes Mrs. Proby,[3] and that is my Lady +Southwell,[4] and there is Lady Betty Rochfort.[5] I long to hear how you are +settled in your new lodgings. I wish I were rid of my old ones, and that Mrs. +Brent could contrive to put up my books in boxes, and lodge them in some safe +place, and you keep my papers of importance. But I must rise, I tell you.--At +night. So I visited and dined as I told you, and what of that? We have let +Guiscard be buried at last, after showing him pickled in a trough this +fortnight for twopence apiece: and the fellow that showed would point to his +body, and, "See, gentlemen, this is the wound that was given him by his Grace +the Duke of Ormond; and this is the wound," etc., and then the show was over, +and another set of rabble came in. 'Tis hard our laws would not suffer us to +hang his body in chains, because he was not tried; and in the eye of our law +every man is innocent till then.--Mr. Harley is still very weak, and never out +of bed. + +26. This was a most delicious day; and my shin being past danger, I walked +like lightning above two hours in the Park. We have generally one fair day, +and then a great deal of rain for three or four days together. All things are +at a stop in Parliament for want of Mr. Harley; they cannot stir an inch +without him in their most material affairs: and we fear, by the caprice of +Radcliffe, who will admit none but his own surgeon,[6] he has not been well +looked after. I dined at an alehouse with Mr. Lewis, but had his wine. Don't +you begin to see the flowers and blossoms of the field? How busy should I be +now at Laracor! No news of your box? I hope you have it, and are this minute +drinking the chocolate, and that the smell of the Brazil tobacco has not +affected it. I would be glad to know whether you like it, because I would +send you more by people that are now every day thinking of going to Ireland; +therefore pray tell me, and tell me soon: and I will have the strong box. + +27. A rainy, wretched, scurvy day from morning till night: and my neighbour +Vanhomrigh invited me to dine with them and this evening I passed at Mr. +Prior's with Dr. Freind; and 'tis now past twelve, so I must go sleep. + +28. Morning. O, faith, you're an impudent saucy couple of sluttikins for +presuming to write so soon, said I to myself this morning; who knows but there +may be a letter from MD at the Coffee-house? Well, you must know, and so, I +just now sent Patrick, and he brought me three letters, but not one from MD, +no indeed, for I read all the superscriptions; and not one from MD. One I +opened, it was from the Archbishop;[7] t'other I opened, it was from +Staunton;[8] the third I took, and looked at the hand. Whose hand is this? +says I; yes, says I, whose hand is this? Then there was wax between the +folds; then I began to suspect; then I peeped; faith, it was Walls's hand +after all: then I opened it in a rage, and then it was little MD's hand, +dear, little, pretty, charming MD's sweet hand again. O Lord, an't here a +clutter and a stir, and a bustle? never saw the like. Faith, I believe yours +lay some days at the post-office, and that it came before my eighteenth went, +but that I did not expect it, and I hardly ever go there. Well, and so you +think I'll answer this letter now; no, faith, and so I won't. I'll make you +wait, young women; but I'll inquire immediately about poor Dingley's exchequer +trangum.[9] What, is that Vedel again a soldier? was he broke? I'll put it +in Ben Tooke's hand. I hope Vedel could not sell it.--At night. Vedel, +Vedel, poh, pox, I think it is Vedeau;[10] ay, Vedeau, now I have it; let me +see, do you name him in yours? Yes, Mr. John Vedeau is the brother; but where +does this brother live? I'll inquire. This was a fast-day for the public; so +I dined late with Sir Matthew Dudley, whom I have not been with a great while. +He is one of those that must lose his employment whenever the great shake +comes; and I can't contribute to keep him in, though I have dropped words in +his favour to the Ministry; but he is too violent a Whig, and friend to the +Lord Treasurer,[11] to stay in. 'Tis odd to think how long they let those +people keep their places; but the reason is, they have not enough to satisfy +all expecters, and so they keep them all in hopes, that they may be good boys +in the meantime; and thus the old ones hold in still. The Comptroller[12] +told me that there are eight people expect his staff. I walked after dinner +to-day round the Park. What, do I write politics to little young women? Hold +your tongue, and go to your Dean's. + +29. Morning. If this be a fine day, I will walk into the City, and see +Charles Barnard's library. What care I for your letter, saucy N.12? I will +say nothing to it yet: faith, I believe this will be full before its time, +and then go it must. I will always write once a fortnight; and if it goes +sooner by filling sooner, why, then there is so much clear gain. Morrow, +morrow, rogues and lasses both, I can't lie scribbling here in bed for your +play; I must rise, and so morrow again.--At night. Your friend Montgomery and +his sister are here, as I am told by Patrick. I have seen him often, but take +no notice of him: he is grown very ugly and pimpled. They tell me he is a +gamester, and wins money.--How could I help it, pray? Patrick snuffed the +candle too short, and the grease ran down upon the paper.[13] It an't my +fault, 'tis Patrick's fault; pray now don't blame Presto. I walked today in +the City, and dined at a private house, and went to see the auction of poor +Charles Barnard's books; they were in the middle of the physic books, so I +bought none; and they are so dear, I believe I shall buy none, and there is an +end; and go to Stoyte's, and I'll go sleep. + +30. Morning. This is Good Friday, you must know; and I must rise and go to +Mr. Secretary about some business, and Mrs. Vanhomrigh desires me to breakfast +with her, because she is to intercede for Patrick, who is so often drunk and +quarrelsome in the house, that I was resolved to send him over; but he knows +all the places where I send, and is so used to my ways, that it would be +inconvenient to me; but when I come to Ireland, I will discharge him.[14] Sir +Thomas Mansel,[15] one of the Lords of the Treasury, setting me down at my +door to-day, saw Patrick, and swore he was a Teague-lander.[16] I am so used +to his face, I never observed it, but thought him a pretty fellow. Sir Andrew +Fountaine and I supped this fast-day with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. We were afraid Mr. +Harley's wound would turn to a fistula; but we think the danger is now past. +He rises every day, and walks about his room, and we hope he will be out in a +fortnight. Prior showed me a handsome paper of verses he has writ on Mr. +Harley's accident:[17] they are not out; I will send them to you, if he will +give me a copy. + +31. Morning. What shall we do to make April fools this year, now it happens +on Sunday? Patrick brings word that Mr. Harley still mends, and is up every +day. I design to see him in a few days: and he brings me word too that he +has found out Vedeau's brother's shop: I shall call there in a day or two. +It seems the wife lodges next door to the brother. I doubt the scoundrel was +broke, and got a commission, or perhaps is a volunteer gentleman, and expects +to get one by his valour. Morrow, sirrahs, let me rise.--At night. I dined +to-day with Sir Thomas Mansel. We were walking in the Park, and Mr. Lewis +came to us. Mansel asked where we dined. We said, "Together." He said, we +should dine with him, only his wife[18] desired him to bring nobody, because +she had only a leg of mutton. I said I would dine with him to choose; but he +would send a servant to order a plate or two: yet this man has ten thousand +pounds a year in land, and is a Lord of the Treasury, and is not covetous +neither, but runs out merely by slattering[19] and negligence. The worst +dinner I ever saw at the Dean's was better: but so it is with abundance of +people here. I called at night at Mr. Harley's, who begins to walk in his +room with a stick, but is mighty weak.--See how much I have lost with that +ugly grease.[20] 'Tis your fault, pray; and I'll go to bed. + +April 1. The Duke of Buckingham's house fell down last night with an +earthquake, and is half swallowed up; won't you go and see it?--An April fool, +an April fool, oh ho, young women. Well, don't be angry. I will make you an +April fool no more till the next time; we had no sport here, because it is +Sunday, and Easter Sunday. I dined with the Secretary, who seemed terribly +down and melancholy, which Mr. Prior and Lewis observed as well as I: perhaps +something is gone wrong; perhaps there is nothing in it. God bless my own +dearest MD, and all is well. + +2. We have such windy weather, 'tis troublesome walking, yet all the rabble +have got into our Park these Easter holidays. I am plagued with one +Richardson, an Irish parson, and his project of printing Irish Bibles, etc., +to make you Christians in that country: I befriend him what I can, on account +of the Archbishop and Bishop of Clogher.--But what business have I to meddle, +etc. Do not you remember that, sirrah Stella? what was that about, when you +thought I was meddling with something that was not my business? O, faith, you +are an impudent slut, I remember your doings, I'll never forget you as long as +I live. Lewis and I dined together at his lodgings. But where's the answer +to this letter of MD's? O, faith, Presto, you must think of that. Time +enough, says saucy Presto. + +3. I was this morning to see Mrs. Barton: I love her better than anybody +here, and see her seldomer. Why, really now, so it often happens in the +world, that where one loves a body best--pshah, pshah, you are so silly with +your moral observations. Well, but she told me a very good story. An old +gentlewoman died here two months ago, and left in her will, to have eight men +and eight maids bearers, who should have two guineas apiece, ten guineas to +the parson for a sermon, and two guineas to the clerk. But bearers, parson, +and clerk must be all true virgins; and not to be admitted till they took +their oaths of virginity: so the poor woman still lies unburied, and so must +do till the general resurrection.--I called at Mr. Secretary's, to see what +the D---- ailed him on Sunday. I made him a very proper speech; told him I +observed he was much out of temper; that I did not expect he would tell me the +cause, but would be glad to see he was in better; and one thing I warned him +of, never to appear cold to me, for I would not be treated like a schoolboy; +that I had felt too much of that in my life already (meaning from Sir William +Temple); that I expected every great Minister who honoured me with his +acquaintance, if he heard or saw anything to my disadvantage, would let me +know it in plain words, and not put me in pain to guess by the change or +coldness of his countenance or behaviour; for it was what I would hardly bear +from a crowned head, and I thought no subject's favour was worth it; and that +I designed to let my Lord Keeper[21] and Mr. Harley know the same thing, that +they might use me accordingly. He took all right; said I had reason; vowed +nothing ailed him but sitting up whole nights at business, and one night at +drinking; would have had me dine with him and Mrs. Masham's brother, to make +up matters; but I would not. I don't know, but I would not. But indeed I was +engaged with my old friend Rollinson;[22] you never heard of him before. + +4. I sometimes look a line or two back, and see plaguy mistakes of the pen; +how do you get over them? You are puzzled sometimes. Why, I think what I +said to Mr. Secretary was right. Don't you remember how I used to be in pain +when Sir William Temple would look cold and out of humour for three or four +days, and I used to suspect a hundred reasons? I have plucked up my spirit +since then, faith; he spoilt a fine gentleman. I dined with my neighbour +Vanhomrigh, and MD, poor MD, at home on a loin of mutton and half a pint of +wine, and the mutton was raw, poor Stella could not eat, poor dear rogue, and +Dingley was so vexed; but we will dine at Stoyte's to-morrow. Mr. Harley +promised to see me in a day or two, so I called this evening; but his son and +others were abroad, and he asleep, so I came away, and found out Mrs. Vedeau. +She drew out a letter from Dingley, and said she would get a friend to receive +the money. I told her I would employ Mr. Tooke in it henceforward. Her +husband bought a lieutenancy of foot, and is gone to Portugal. He sold his +share of the shop to his brother, and put out the money to maintain her, all +but what bought the commission. She lodges within two doors of her brother. +She told me it made her very melancholy to change her manner of life thus, but +trade was dead, etc. She says she will write to you soon. I design to engage +Ben Tooke, and then receive the parchment from her.--I gave Mr. Dopping a copy +of Prior's verses on Mr. Harley; he sent them yesterday to Ireland, so go look +for them, for I won't be at the trouble to transcribe them here. They will be +printed in a day or two. Give my hearty service to Stoyte and Catherine: +upon my word I love them dearly, and desire you will tell them so: pray +desire Goody Stoyte not to let Mrs. Walls and Mrs. Johnson cheat her of her +money at ombre, but assure her from me that she is a bungler. Dine with her +to-day, and tell her so, and drink my health, and good voyage, and speedy +return, and so you're a rogue. + +5. Morning. Now let us proceed to examine a saucy letter from one Madam MD.- +-God Almighty bless poor dear Stella, and send her a great many birthdays, all +happy, and healthy, and wealthy, and with me ever together, and never asunder +again, unless by chance. When I find you are happy or merry there, it makes +me so here, and I can hardly imagine you absent when I am reading your letter, +or writing to you. No, faith, you are just here upon this little paper, and +therefore I see and talk with you every evening constantly, and sometimes in +the morning, but not always in the morning, because that is not so modest to +young ladies.--What, you would fain palm a letter on me more than you sent: +and I, like a fool, must look over all yours, to see whether this was really +N.12, or more. [Patrick has this moment brought me letters from the Bishop of +Clogher and Parvisol; my heart was at my mouth for fear of one from MD; what a +disgrace would it be to have two of yours to answer together! But, faith, +this shall go to-night, for fear; and then come when it will, I defy it.] No, +you are not naughty at all, write when you are disposed. And so the Dean told +you the story of Mr. Harley from the Archbishop; I warrant it never spoiled +your supper, or broke off your game. Nor yet, have not you the box? I wish +Mrs. Edgworth had the -----. But you have it now, I suppose; and is the +chocolate good, or has the tobacco spoilt it? Leigh stays till Sterne has +done his business, no longer; and when that will be, God knows: I befriend +him as much as I can, but Harley's accident stops that as well as all things +else. You guess, Madam Dingley, that I shall stay a round twelvemonth; as +hope saved, I would come over, if I could, this minute; but we will talk of +that by and by. Your affair of Vedeau I have told you of already; now to the +next, turn over the leaf. Mrs. Dobbins lies, I have no more provision here or +in Ireland than I had. I am pleased that Stella the conjurer approves what I +did with Mr. Harley;[23] but your generosity makes me mad; I know you repine +inwardly at Presto's absence; you think he has broken his word of coming in +three months, and that this is always his trick; and now Stella says she does +not see possibly how I can come away in haste, and that MD is satisfied, etc. +An't you a rogue to overpower me thus? I did not expect to find such friends +as I have done. They may indeed deceive me too. But there are important +reasons[Pox on this grease, this candle tallow!] why they should not.[24] I +have been used barbarously by the late Ministry; I am a little piqued in +honour to let people see I am not to be despised. The assurances they give +me, without any scruple or provocation, are such as are usually believed in +the world; they may come to nothing, but the first opportunity that offers, +and is neglected, I shall depend no more, but come away. I could say a +thousand things on this head, if I were with you. I am thinking why Stella +should not go to the Bath, if she be told it will do her good. I will make +Parvisol get up fifty pounds, and pay it you; and you may be good housewives, +and live cheap there some months, and return in autumn, or visit London, as +you please: pray think of it. I writ to Bernage, directed to Curry's; I wish +he had the letter. I will send the bohea tea, if I can. The Bishop of +Kilmore,[25] I don't keep such company; an old dying fool whom I never was +with in my life. So I am no godfather;[26] all the better. Pray, Stella, +explain those two words of yours to me, what you mean by VILLIAN and +DAINGER;[27] and you, Madam Dingley, what is CHRISTIANING?--Lay your letter +THIS WAY, THIS WAY, and the devil a bit of difference between this way and the +other way. No; I will show you, lay them THIS WAY, THIS WAY, and not THAT +WAY, THAT WAY.[28]--You shall have your aprons; and I will put all your +commissions as they come, in a paper together, and do not think I will forget +MD's orders, because they are friends; I will be as careful as if they were +strangers. I knew not what to do about this Clements.[29] Walls will not let +me say anything as if Mr. Pratt was against him; and now the Bishop of Clogher +has written to me in his behalf. This thing does not rightly fall in my way, +and that people never consider: I always give my good offices where they are +proper, and that I am judge of; however, I will do what I can. But, if he has +the name of a Whig, it will be hard, considering my Lord Anglesea and Hyde[30] +are very much otherwise, and you know they have the employment of Deputy +Treasurer. If the frolic should take you of going to the Bath, I here send +you a note on Parvisol; if not, you may tear it, and there's an end. +Farewell. + +If you have an imagination that the Bath will do you good, I say again, I +would have you go; if not, or it be inconvenient, burn this note. Or, if you +would go, and not take so much money, take thirty pounds, and I will return +you twenty from hence. Do as you please, sirrahs. I suppose it will not be +too late for the first season; if it be, I would have you resolve however to +go the second season, if the doctors say it will do you good, and you fancy +so. + + + +LETTER 20. + +LONDON, April 5, 1711. + +I put my nineteenth in the post-office just now myself, as I came out of the +City, where I dined. This rain ruins me in coach-hire; I walked away +sixpennyworth, and came within a shilling length, and then took a coach,[1] +and got a lift back for nothing; and am now busy. + +6. Mr. Secretary desired I would see him this morning; said he had several +things to say to me, and said not one; and the Duke of Ormond sent to desire I +would meet him at Mr. Southwell's by ten this morning too, which I did, +thinking it was some particular matter. All the Irish in town were there, to +consult upon preventing a Bill for laying a duty on Irish yarn; so we talked a +while, and then all went to the lobby of the House of Commons, to solicit our +friends, and the Duke came among the rest; and Lord Anglesea solicited +admirably, and I did wonders. But, after all, the matter was put off till +Monday, and then we are to be at it again. I dined with Lord Mountjoy, and +looked over him at chess, which put me in mind of Stella and Griffyth.[2] I +came home, and that dog Patrick was not within; so I fretted, and fretted, and +what good did that do me? + + And so get you gone to your deans, + You couple of queans. + +I cannot find rhyme to Walls and Stoyte.--Yes, yes, + + You expect Mrs. Walls, + Be dressed when she calls, + To carry you to Stoyte, + Or else HONI SOIT. + +Henley told me that the Tories were insup-port-able people, because they are +for bringing in French claret, and will not SUP-PORT. Mr. Harley will hardly +get abroad this week or ten days yet. I reckon, when I send away this letter, +he will be just got into the House of Commons. My last letter went in twelve +days, and so perhaps may this. No it won't, for those letters that go under a +fortnight are answers to one of yours, otherwise you must take the days as +they happen, some dry, some wet, some barren, some fruitful, some merry, some +insipid; some, etc.--I will write you word exactly the first day I see young +gooseberries, and pray observe how much later you are. We have not had five +fine days this five weeks, but rain or wind. 'Tis a late spring they say +here.--Go to bed, you two dear saucy brats, and don't keep me up all night. + +7. Ford has been at Epsom, to avoid Good Friday and Easter Sunday. He forced +me to-day to dine with him; and tells me there are letters from Ireland, +giving an account of a great indiscretion in the Archbishop of Dublin, who +applied a story out of Tacitus very reflectingly on Mr. Harley, and that +twenty people have written of it; I do not believe it yet.[3] I called this +evening to see Mr. Secretary, who has been very ill with the gravel and pain +in his back, by burgundy and champagne, added to the sitting up all night at +business; I found him drinking tea while the rest were at champagne, and was +very glad of it. I have chid him so severely that I hardly knew whether he +would take it well: then I went and sat an hour with Mrs. St. John, who is +growing a great favourite of mine; she goes to the Bath on Wednesday, for she +is much out of health, and has begged me to take care of the Secretary. + +8. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary St. John; he gave me a letter to read, +which was from the publisher of the newspaper called the Postboy;[4] in it +there was a long copy of a letter from Dublin, giving an account of what the +Whigs said upon Mr. Harley's being stabbed, and how much they abuse him and +Mr. Secretary St. John; and at the end there were half a dozen lines, telling +the story of the Archbishop of Dublin, and abusing him horribly; this was to +be printed on Tuesday. I told the Secretary I would not suffer that about the +Archbishop to be printed, and so I crossed it out; and afterwards, to prevent +all danger, I made him give me the letter, and, upon further thought, would +let none of it be published: and I sent for the printer, and told him so, and +ordered him, in the Secretary's name, to print nothing reflecting on anybody +in Ireland till he had showed it me. Thus I have prevented a terrible scandal +to the Archbishop, by a piece of perfect good fortune. I will let him know it +by next post; and pray, if you pick it out, let me know, and whether he is +thankful for it; but say nothing. + +9. I was to-day at the House of Commons again about their yarn, at Lord +Anglesea's desire; but the business is again put off till Monday. I dined +with Sir John Stanley, by an assignation I had made with Mr. St. John, and +George Granville, the Secretary at War; but they let in other company, some +ladies, and so we were not so easy as I intended. My head is pretty +tolerable, but every day I feel some little disorders; I have left off snuff +since Sunday, finding myself much worse after taking a good deal at the +Secretary's. I would not let him drink one drop of champagne or burgundy +without water, and in compliment I did so myself. He is much better; but when +he is well, he is like Stella, and will not be governed. So go to your +Stoyte's, and I'll go sleep. + +10. I have been visiting Lady Worsley and Mrs. Barton today, and dined +soberly with my friend Lewis. The Dauphin is dead of an apoplexy; I wish he +had lived till the finishing of this letter, that it might be news to you. +Duncombe,[5] the rich alderman, died to-day, and I hear has left the Duke of +Argyle, who married his niece, two hundred thousand pounds; I hope it is true, +for I love that Duke mightily. I writ this evening to the Archbishop of +Dublin, about what I told you; and then went to take leave of poor Mrs. St. +John, who gave me strict charge to take care of the Secretary in her absence; +said she had none to trust but me; and the poor creature's tears came fresh in +her eyes. Before we took leave, I was drawn in by the other ladies and Sir +John Stanley to raffle for a fan, with a pox; it was four guineas, and we put +in seven shillings apiece, several raffling for absent people; but I lost, and +so missed an opportunity of showing my gallantry to Mrs. St. John, whom I +designed to have presented it to if I had won. Is Dilly[6] gone to the Bath? +His face will whizz in the water; I suppose he will write to us from thence, +and will take London in his way back.--The rabble will say, "There goes a +drunken parson"; and, which is worse, they will say true. Oh, but you must +know I carried Ford to dine with Mr. St. John last Sunday, that he may brag, +when he goes back, of dining with a Secretary of State. The Secretary and I +went away early, and left him drinking with the rest, and he told me that two +or three of them were drunk. They talk of great promotions to be made; that +Mr. Harley is to be Lord Treasurer, and Lord Poulett[7] Master of the Horse, +etc., but they are only conjecture. The Speaker is to make Mr. Harley a +compliment the first time he comes into the House, which I hope will be in a +week. He has had an ill surgeon, by the caprice of that puppy Dr. Radcliffe, +which has kept him back so long; and yesterday he got a cold, but is better +to-day.--What! I think I am stark mad, to write so much in one day to little +saucy MD; here is a deal of stuff, indeed! can't you bid those little dear +rogues good-night, and let them go sleep, Mr. Presto? When your tongue runs +there's no ho with you, pray. + +11. Again at the lobby (like a lobcock)[8] of the House of Commons, about +your Irish yarn, and again put off till Friday; and I and Patrick went into +the City by water, where I dined, and then I went to the auction of Charles +Barnard's books; but the good ones were so monstrous dear, I could not reach +them, so I laid out one pound seven shillings but very indifferently, and came +away, and will go there no more. Henley would fain engage me to go with +Steele and Rowe, etc., to an invitation at Sir William Read's.[9] Surely you +have heard of him. He has been a mountebank, and is the Queen's oculist; he +makes admirable punch, and treats you in gold vessels. But I am engaged, and +will not go, neither indeed am I fond of the jaunt. So good-night, and go +sleep. + +12. I went about noon to the Secretary, who is very ill with a cold, and +sometimes of the gravel, with his champagne, etc. I scolded him like a dog, +and he promises faithfully more care for the future. To-day my Lord Anglesea, +and Sir Thomas Hammer, and Prior, and I dined, by appointment, with +Lieutenant-General Webb.[10] My lord and I stayed till ten o'clock; but we +drank soberly, and I always with water. There was with us one Mr. +Campain,[11] one of the October Club, if you know what that is; a Club of +country members, who think the Ministers are too backward in punishing and +turning out the Whigs. I found my lord and the rest thought I had more credit +with the Ministry than I pretend to have, and would have engaged me to put +them upon something that would satisfy their desires, and indeed I think they +have some reason to complain; however, I will not burn my fingers. I will +remember Stella's chiding, "What had you to do with what did not belong to +you?" etc. However, you will give me leave to tell the Ministry my thoughts +when they ask them, and other people's thoughts sometimes when they do not +ask; so thinks Dingley. + +13. I called this morning at Mrs. Vedeau's again, who has employed a friend +to get the money; it will be done in a fortnight, and then she will deliver me +up the parchment. I went then to see Mr. Harley, who I hope will be out in a +few days; he was in excellent good humour, only complained to me of the +neglect of Guiscard's cure, how glad he would have been to have had him live. +Mr. Secretary came in to us, and we were very merry till Lord Chamberlain +(Duke of Shrewsbury)[12] came up; then Colonel Masham and I went off, after I +had been presented to the Duke, and that we made two or three silly +compliments suitable to the occasion. Then I attended at the House of Commons +about your yarn, and it is again put off. Then Ford drew me to dine at a +tavern; it happened to be the day and the house where the October Club dine. +After we had dined, coming down we called to inquire whether our yarn business +had been over that day, and I sent into the room for Sir George Beaumont.[13] +But I had like to be drawn into a difficulty; for in two minutes out comes Mr. +Finch,[14] Lord Guernsey's son, to let me know that my Lord Compton,[15] the +steward of this feast, desired, in the name of the Club, that I would do them +the honour to dine with them. I sent my excuses, adorned with about thirty +compliments, and got off as fast as I could. It would have been a most +improper thing for me to dine there, considering my friendship with the +Ministry. The Club is about a hundred and fifty, and near eighty of them were +then going to dinner at two long tables in a great ground-room. At evening I +went to the auction of Barnard's books, and laid out three pounds three +shillings, but I'll go there no more; and so I said once before, but now I'll +keep to it. I forgot to tell that when I dined at Webb's with Lord Anglesea, +I spoke to him of Clements, as one recommended for a very honest gentleman and +good officer, and hoped he would keep him. He said he had not thought +otherwise, and that he should certainly hold his place while he continued to +deserve it; and I could not find there had been any intentions from his +lordship against him. But I tell you, hunny, the impropriety of this. A +great man will do a favour for me, or for my friend; but why should he do it +for my friend's friend? Recommendations should stop before they come to that. +Let any friend of mine recommend one of his to me for a thing in my power, I +will do it for his sake; but to speak to another for my friend's friend is +against all reason; and I desire you will understand this, and discourage any +such troubles given me.--I hope this may do some good to Clements, it can do +him no hurt; and I find by Mrs. Pratt,[16] that her husband is his friend; and +the Bishop of Clogher says Clements's danger is not from Pratt, but from some +other enemies, that think him a Whig. + +14. I was so busy this morning that I did not go out till late. I writ to- +day to the Duke of Argyle, but said nothing of Bernage, who, I believe, will +not see him till Spain is conquered, and that is, not at all. I was to-day at +Lord Shelburne's, and spoke to Mrs. Pratt again about Clements; her husband +himself wants some good offices, and I have done him very good ones lately, +and told Mrs. Pratt I expected her husband should stand by Clements in return. +Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined with neighbour Vanhomrigh; he is mighty ill +of an asthma, and apprehends himself in much danger; 'tis his own fault, that +will rake and drink, when he is but just crawled out of his grave. I will +send this letter just now, because I think my half-year is out for my lodging; +and, if you please, I would be glad it were paid off, and some deal boxes made +for my books, and kept in some safe place. I would give something for their +keeping: but I doubt that lodging will not serve me when I come back; I would +have a larger place for books, and a stable, if possible. So pray be so kind +to pay the lodging, and all accounts about it; and get Mrs. Brent to put up my +things. I would have no books put in that trunk where my papers are. If you +do not think of going to the Bath, I here send you a bill on Parvisol for +twenty pounds Irish, out of which you will pay for the lodging, and score the +rest to me. Do as you please, and love poor Presto, that loves MD better than +his life a thousand millions of times. Farewell, MD, etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 21. + +LONDON, April 14, 1711. + +Remember, sirrahs, that there are but nine days between the dates of my two +former letters. I sent away my twentieth this moment, and now am writing on +like a fish, as if nothing was done. But there was a cause for my hasting +away the last, for fear it should not come time enough before a new quarter +began. I told you where I dined to-day; but forgot to tell you what I +believe, that Mr. Harley will be Lord Treasurer in a short time, and other +great removes and promotions made. This is my thought, etc. + +15. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary, and he is grown pretty well. I +dined with him to-day, and drank some of that wine which the Duke of Tuscany +used to send to Sir William Temple:[1] he always sends some to the chief +Ministers. I liked it mightily, but he does not; and he ordered his butler to +send me a chest of it to-morrow. Would to God MD had it! The Queen is well +again, and was at chapel to-day, etc. + +16. I went with Ford into the City to-day, and dined with Stratford, and +drank Tokay, and then we went to the auction; but I did not lay out above +twelve shillings. My head is a little out of order to-night, though no formal +fit. My Lord Keeper has sent to invite me to dinner to-morrow, and you'll +dine better with the Dean; and God bless you. I forgot to tell you that +yesterday was sent me a Narrative printed, with all the circumstances of Mr. +Harley's stabbing. I had not time to do it myself; so I sent my hints to the +author of the Atalantis,[2] and she has cooked it into a sixpenny pamphlet, in +her own style, only the first page is left as I was beginning it. But I was +afraid of disobliging Mr. Harley or Mr. St. John in one critical point about +it, and so would not do it myself. It is worth your reading, for the +circumstances are all true. My chest of Florence was sent me this morning, +and cost me seven and sixpence to two servants. I would give two guineas you +had it, etc. + +17. I was so out of order with my head this morning, that I was going to send +my excuses to my Lord Keeper; but however I got up at eleven, and walked there +after two, and stayed till eight. There was Sir Thomas Mansel, Prior, George +Granville, and Mr. Caesar,[3] and we were very merry. My head is still wrong, +but I have had no formal fit, only I totter a little. I have left off snuff +altogether. I have a noble roll of tobacco for grating, very good. Shall I +send it to MD, if she likes that sort? My Lord Keeper and our this day's +company are to dine on Saturday with George Granville, and to-morrow I dine +with Lord Anglesea. + +18. Did you ever see such a blundering goosecap as Presto? I saw the number +21 at top, and so I went on as if it were the day of the month, whereas this +is but Wednesday the 18th. How shall I do to blot and alter them? I have +made a shift to do it behind, but it is a great botch. I dined with Lord +Anglesea to-day, but did not go to the House of Commons about the yarn; my +head was not well enough. I know not what is the matter; it has never been +thus before: two days together giddy from morning till night, but not with +any violence or pain; and I totter a little, but can make shift to walk. I +doubt I must fall to my pills again: I think of going into the country a +little way. I tell you what you must do henceforward: you must enclose your +letter in a fair half-sheet of paper, and direct the outside "To Erasmus +Lewis, Esquire, at my Lord Dartmouth's office at Whitehall": for I never go +to the Coffee-house, and they will grudge to take in my letters. I forgot to +tell you that your mother was to see me this morning, and brought me a flask +of sweet-water for a present, admirable for my head; but I shall not smell to +it. She is going to Sheen, with Lady Giffard: she would fain send your +papers over to you, or give them to me. Say what you would have done, and it +shall be done; because I love Stella, and she is a good daughter, they say, +and so is Dingley. + +19. This morning General Webb was to give me a visit: he goes with a crutch +and stick, yet was forced to come up two pair of stairs. I promised to dine +with him, but afterwards sent my excuses, and dined privately in my friend +Lewis's lodgings at Whitehall, with whom I had much business to talk of, +relating to the public and myself. Little Harrison the Tatler goes to-morrow +to the secretaryship I got him at the Hague, and Mr. St. John has made him a +present of fifty guineas to bear his charges. An't I a good friend? Why are +not you a young fellow, that I might prefer you? I had a letter from Bernage +from Kinsale: he tells me his commission for captain-lieutenant was ready for +him at his arrival: so there are two jackanapeses I have done with. My head +is something better this evening, though not well. + +20. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary, whose packets were just come in, +and among them a letter from Lord Peterborow to me: he writes so well, I have +no mind to answer him, and so kind, that I must answer him. The Emperor's[4] +death must, I think, cause great alterations in Europe, and, I believe, will +hasten a peace. We reckon our King Charles will be chosen Emperor, and the +Duke of Savoy set up for Spain; but I believe he will make nothing of it. Dr. +Freind and I dined in the City at a printer's, and it has cost me two +shillings in coach-hire, and a great deal more this week and month, which has +been almost all rain, with now and then sunshine, and is the truest April that +I have known these many years. The lime-trees in the Park are all out in +leaves, though not large leaves yet. Wise people are going into the country; +but many think the Parliament can hardly be up these six weeks. Mr. Harley +was with the Queen on Tuesday. I believe certainly he will be Lord Treasurer: +I have not seen him this week. + +21. Morning. Lord Keeper, and I, and Prior, and Sir Thomas Mansel, have +appointed to dine this day with George Granville. My head, I thank God, is +better; but to be giddyish three or four days together mortified me. I take +no snuff, and I will be very regular in eating little and the gentlest meats. +How does poor Stella just now, with her deans and her Stoytes? Do they give +you health for the money you lose at ombre, sirrah? What say you to that? +Poor Dingley frets to see Stella lose that four and elevenpence, the other +night. Let us rise. Morrow, sirrahs. I will rise, spite of your little +teeth; good-morrow.--At night. O, faith, you are little dear saucyboxes. I +was just going in the morning to tell you that I began to want a letter from +MD, and in four minutes after Mr. Ford sends me one that he had picked up at +St. James's Coffee-house; for I go to no coffee-house at all. And, faith, I +was glad at heart to see it, and to see Stella so brisk. O Lord, what +pretending? Well, but I will not answer it yet; I'll keep it for t'other +side. Well, we dined to-day according to appointment: Lord Keeper went away +at near eight, I at eight, and I believe the rest will be fairly fuddled; for +young Harcourt,[5] Lord Keeper's son, began to prattle before I came away. It +will not do with Prior's lean carcass. I drink little, miss my glass often, +put water in my wine, and go away before the rest, which I take to be a good +receipt for sobriety. Let us put it into rhyme, and so make a proverb-- + + Drink little at a time; + Put water with your wine; + Miss your glass when you can; + And go off the first man. + +God be thanked, I am much better than I was, though something of a totterer. +I ate but little to-day, and of the gentlest meat. I refused ham and pigeons, +pease-soup, stewed beef, cold salmon, because they were too strong. I take no +snuff at all, but some herb snuff prescribed by Dr. Radcliffe. + + Go to your deans, + You couple of queans. + +I believe I said that already. What care I? what cares Presto? + +22. Morning. I must rise and go to the Secretary's. Mr. Harley has been out +of town this week to refresh himself before he comes into Parliament. Oh, but +I must rise, so there is no more to be said; and so morrow, sirrahs both.-- +Night. I dined to-day with the Secretary, who has engaged me for every +Sunday; and I was an hour with him this morning deep in politics, where I told +him the objections of the October Club, and he answered all except one, that +no inquiries are made into past mismanagement. But indeed I believe they are +not yet able to make any: the late Ministry were too cunning in their +rogueries, and fenced themselves with an Act of general pardon. I believe Mr. +Harley must be Lord Treasurer; yet he makes one difficulty which is hard to +answer: he must be made a lord, and his estate is not large enough, and he is +too generous to make it larger; and if the Ministry should change soon by any +accident, he will be left in the suds. Another difficulty is, that if he be +made a peer, they will want him prodigiously in the House of Commons, of which +he is the great mover, and after him the Secretary, and hardly any else of +weight. Two shillings more to-day for coach and chair. I shall be ruined. + +23. So you expect an answer to your letter, do you so? Yes, yes, you shall +have an answer, you shall, young women. I made a good pun on Saturday to my +Lord Keeper. After dinner we had coarse Doiley napkins,[6] fringed at each +end, upon the table, to drink with: my Lord Keeper spread one of them between +him and Mr. Prior; I told him I was glad to see there was such a fringeship +[friendship] between Mr. Prior and his lordship. Prior swore it was the worst +he ever heard: I said I thought so too; but at the same time I thought it was +most like one of Stella's that ever I heard. I dined to-day with Lord +Mountjoy, and this evening saw the Venetian Ambassador[7] coming from his +first public audience. His coach was the most monstrous, huge, fine, rich +gilt thing that ever I saw. I loitered this evening, and came home late. + +24. I was this morning to visit the Duchess of Ormond,[8] who has long +desired it, or threatened she would not let me visit her daughters. I sat an +hour with her, and we were good company, when in came the Countess of +Bellamont,[9] with a pox. I went out, and we did not know one another; yet +hearing me named, she asked, "What, is that Dr. Swift?" said she and I were +very well acquainted, and fell a railing at me without mercy, as a lady told +me that was there; yet I never was but once in the company of that drab of a +Countess. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined with my neighbour Van. I design +in two days, if possible, to go lodge at Chelsea for the air, and put myself +under a necessity of walking to and from London every day. I writ this post +to the Bishop of Clogher a long politic letter, to entertain him. I am to buy +statues and harnese[10] for them, with a vengeance. I have packed and sealed +up MD's twelve letters against I go to Chelsea. I have put the last +commissions of MD in my account-book; but if there be any former ones, I have +forgot them. I have Dingley's pocket-book down, and Stella's green silk +apron, and the pound of tea; pray send me word if you have any other, and down +they shall go. I will not answer your letter yet, saucy boxes. You are with +the Dean just now, Madam Stella, losing your money. Why do not you name what +number you have received? You say you have received my letters, but do not +tell the number. + +25. I was this day dining in the City with very insignificant, low, and +scurvy company. I had a letter from the Archbishop of Dublin, with a long +denial of the report raised on him,[11] which yet has been since assured to me +from those who say they have it from the first hand; but I cannot believe +them. I will show it to the Secretary to-morrow. I will not answer yours +till I get to Chelsea. + +26. Chelsea. I have sent two boxes of lumber to my friend Darteneuf's house, +and my chest of Florence and other things to Mrs. Vanhomrigb, where I dined +to-day. I was this morning with the Secretary, and showed him the +Archbishop's letter, and convinced him of his Grace's innocence, and I will do +the same to Mr. Harley. I got here in the stage-coach with Patrick and my +portmanteau for sixpence, and pay six shillings a week for one silly room with +confounded coarse sheets.[12] We have had such a horrible deal of rain, that +there is no walking to London, and I must go as I came until it mends; and +besides the whelp has taken my lodging as far from London as this town could +afford, at least half a mile farther than he need; but I must be content. The +best is, I lodge just over against Dr. Atterbury's house, and yet perhaps I +shall not like the place the better for that. Well, I will stay till to- +morrow before I answer your letter; and you must suppose me always writing at +Chelsea from henceforward, till I alter, and say London. This letter goes on +Saturday, which will be just a fortnight; so go and cheat Goody Stoyte, etc. + +27. Do you know that I fear my whole chest of Florence is turned sour, at +least the two first flasks were so, and hardly drinkable. How plaguy +unfortunate am I! and the Secretary's own is the best I ever tasted; and I +must not tell him, but be as thankful as if it were the best in Christendom. +I went to town in the sixpenny stage to-day; and hearing Mr. Harley was not at +home, I went to see him, because I knew by the message of his lying porter +that he was at home. He was very well, and just going out, but made me +promise to dine with him; and betwixt that and indeed strolling about, I lost +four pound seven shillings at play--with a--a--a--bookseller, and got but +about half a dozen books.[13] I will buy no more books now, that's certain. +Well, I dined at Mr. Harley's, came away at six, shifted my gown, cassock, and +periwig, and walked hither to Chelsea, as I always design to do when it is +fair. I am heartily sorry to find my friend the Secretary stand a little +ticklish with the rest of the Ministry; there have been one or two disobliging +things that have happened, too long to tell: and t'other day in Parliament, +upon a debate of about thirty-five millions that have not been duly accounted +for, Mr. Secretary, in his warmth of speech, and zeal for his friend Mr. +Brydges,[14] on whom part of the blame was falling, said he did not know that +either Mr. Brydges or the late Ministry were at all to blame in this matter; +which was very desperately spoken, and giving up the whole cause: for the +chief quarrel against the late Ministry was the ill management of the +treasure, and was more than all the rest together. I had heard of this +matter: but Mr. Foley[15] beginning to discourse to-day at table, without +naming Mr. St. John, I turned to Mr. Harley, and said if the late Ministry +were not to blame in that article, he (Mr. Harley) ought to lose his head for +putting the Queen upon changing them. He made it a jest; but by some words +dropped, I easily saw that they take things ill of Mr. St. John; and by some +hints given me from another hand that I deal with, I am afraid the Secretary +will not stand long. This is the fate of Courts. I will, if I meet Mr. St. +John alone on Sunday, tell him my opinion, and beg him to set himself right, +else the consequences may be very bad; for I see not how they can well want +him neither, and he would make a troublesome enemy. But enough of politics. + +28. Morning. I forgot to tell you that Mr. Harley asked me yesterday how he +came to disoblige the Archbishop of Dublin. Upon which (having not his letter +about me) I told him what the Bishop had written to me on that subject,[16] +and desired I might read him the letter some other time. But after all, from +what I have heard from other hands, I am afraid the Archbishop is a little +guilty. Here is one Brent Spencer, a brother of Mr. Proby's,[17] who affirms +it, and says he has leave to do so from Charles Dering,[18] who heard the +words; and that Ingoldsby,[19] abused the Archbishop, etc. Well, but now for +your saucy letter: I have no room to answer it; O yes, enough on t'other +side. Are you no sicker? Stella jeers Presto for not coming over by +Christmas; but indeed Stella does not jeer, but reproach, poor poor Presto. +And how can I come away and the First-Fruits not finished? I am of opinion +the Duke of Ormond will do nothing in them before he goes, which will be in a +fortnight, they say; and then they must fall to me to be done in his absence. +No, indeed, I have nothing to print: you know they have printed the +Miscellanies[20] already. Are they on your side yet? If you have my snuff +box, I will have your strong box. Hi, does Stella take snuff again? or is it +only because it is a fine box? Not the Meddle, but the Medley,[21] you fool. +Yes, yes, a wretched thing, because it is against you Tories: now I think it +very fine, and the Examiner a wretched thing.--Twist your mouth, sirrah. +Guiscard, and what you will read in the Narrative,[22] I ordered to be +written, and nothing else. The Spectator is written by Steele, with Addison's +help: it is often very pretty. Yesterday it was made of a noble hint I gave +him long ago for his Tatlers, about an Indian supposed to write his Travels +into England.[23] I repent he ever had it. I intended to have written a book +on that subject. I believe he has spent it all in one paper, and all the +under-hints there are mine too; but I never see him or Addison. The Queen is +well, but I fear will be no long liver; for I am told she has sometimes the +gout in her bowels (I hate the word bowels). My ears have been, these three +months past, much better than any time these two years; but now they begin to +be a little out of order again. My head is better, though not right; but I +trust to air and walking. You have got my letter, but what number? I suppose +18. Well, my shin has been well this month. No, Mrs. Westley[24] came away +without her husband's knowledge, while she was in the country: she has +written to me for some tea. They lie; Mr. Harley's wound was very terrible: +he had convulsions, and very narrowly escaped. The bruise was nine times +worse than the wound: he is weak still. Well, Brooks married; I know all +that. I am sorry for Mrs. Walls's eye: I hope 'tis better. O yes, you are +great walkers: but I have heard them say, "Much talkers, little walkers": +and I believe I may apply the old proverb to you-- + + If you talked no more than you walked, + Those that think you wits would be baulked. + +Yes, Stella shall have a large printed Bible: I have put it down among my +commissions for MD. I am glad to hear you have taken the fancy of intending +to read the Bible. Pox take the box; is not it come yet? This is trusting to +your young fellows, young women; 'tis your fault: I thought you had such +power with Sterne that he would fly over Mount Atlas to serve you. You say +you are not splenetic; but if you be, faith, you will break poor Presto's--I +will not say the rest; but I vow to God, if I could decently come over now, I +would, and leave all schemes of politics and ambition for ever. I have not +the opportunities here of preserving my health by riding, etc., that I have in +Ireland; and the want of health is a great cooler of making one's court. You +guess right about my being bit with a direction from Walls, and the letter +from MD: I believe I described it in one of my last. This goes to-night; and +I must now rise and walk to town, and walk back in the evening. God Almighty +bless and preserve poor MD. Farewell. + +O, faith, don't think, saucy noses, that I'll fill this third side: I can't +stay a letter above a fortnight: it must go then; and you would rather see a +short one like this, than want it a week longer. + +My humble service to the Dean, and Mrs. Walls, and good, kind, hearty Mrs. +Stoyte, and honest Catherine. + + +LETTER 22. + +CHELSEA, April 28, 1711. + +At night. I say at night, because I finished my twenty-first this morning +here, and put it into the post-office my own self, like a good boy. I think I +am a little before you now, young women: I am writing my twenty-second, and +have received your thirteenth. I got to town between twelve and one, and put +on my new gown and periwig, and dined with Lord Abercorn, where I had not been +since the marriage of his son Lord Peasley,[1] who has got ten thousand pounds +with a wife. I am now a country gentleman. I walked home as I went, and am a +little weary, and am got into bed: I hope in God the air and exercise will do +me a little good. I have been inquiring about statues for Mrs. Ashe: I made +Lady Abercorn[2] go with me; and will send them word next post to Clogher. I +hate to buy for her: I am sure she will maunder. I am going to study. + +29. I had a charming walk to and from town to-day: I washed, shaved and all, +and changed gown and periwig, by half an hour after nine, and went to the +Secretary, who told me how he had differed with his friends in Parliament: I +apprehended this division, and told him a great deal of it. I went to Court, +and there several mentioned it to me as what they much disliked. I dined with +the Secretary; and we proposed doing some business of importance in the +afternoon, which he broke to me first, and said how he and Mr. Harley were +convinced of the necessity of it; yet he suffered one of his under-secretaries +to come upon us after dinner, who stayed till six, and so nothing was done: +and what care I? he shall send to me the next time, and ask twice. To-morrow +I go to the election at Westminster School, where lads are chosen for the +University: they say it is a sight, and a great trial of wits. Our +Expedition Fleet is but just sailed: I believe it will come to nothing. Mr. +Secretary frets at their tediousness, but hopes great things from it, though +he owns four or five princes are in the secret; and, for that reason, I fear +it is no secret to France. There are eight regiments; and the Admiral[3] is +your Walker's brother the midwife. + +30. Morn. I am here in a pretty pickle: it rains hard; and the cunning +natives of Chelsea have outwitted me, and taken up all the three stage +coaches. What shall I do? I must go to town: this is your fault. I cannot +walk: I will borrow a coat. This is the blind side of my lodging out of +town; I must expect such inconveniences as these. Faith, I'll walk in the +rain. Morrow.--At night. I got a gentleman's chaise by chance, and so went +to town for a shilling, and lie this night in town. I was at the election of +lads at Westminster to-day, and a very silly thing it is; but they say there +will be fine doings to-morrow. I dined with Dr. Freind,[4] the second master +of the school, with a dozen parsons and others: Prior would make me stay. +Mr. Harley is to hear the election to-morrow; and we are all to dine with +tickets, and hear fine speeches. 'Tis terrible rainy weather again: I lie at +a friend's in the City. + +May 1. I wish you a merry May Day, and a thousand more. I was baulked at +Westminster; I came too late: I heard no speeches nor verses. They would not +let me in to their dining-place for want of a ticket; and I would not send in +for one, because Mr. Harley excused his coming, and Atterbury was not there; +and I cared not for the rest: and so my friend Lewis and I dined with Kitt +Musgrave,[5] if you know such a man: and, the weather mending, I walked +gravely home this evening; and so I design to walk and walk till I am well: I +fancy myself a little better already. How does poor Stella? Dingley is well +enough. Go, get you gone, naughty girl, you are well enough. O dear MD, +contrive to have some share of the country this spring: go to Finglas, or +Donnybrook, or Clogher, or Killala, or Lowth. Have you got your box yet? +Yes, yes. Do not write to me again till this letter goes: I must make haste, +that I may write two for one. Go to the Bath: I hope you are now at the +Bath, if you had a mind to go; or go to Wexford: do something for your +living. Have you given up my lodging, according to order? I have had just +now a compliment from Dean Atterbury's lady,[6] to command the garden and +library, and whatever the house affords. I lodge just over against them; but +the Dean is in town with his Convocation: so I have my Dean and Prolocutor as +well as you, young women, though he has not so good wine, nor so much meat. + +2. A fine day, but begins to grow a little warm; and that makes your little +fat Presto sweat in the forehead. Pray, are not the fine buns sold here in +our town; was it not Rrrrrrrrrare Chelsea buns?[7] I bought one to-day in my +walk; it cost me a penny; it was stale, and I did not like it, as the man +said, etc. Sir Andrew Fountaine and I dined at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and had a +flask of my Florence, which lies in their cellar; and so I came home gravely, +and saw nobody of consequence to-day. I am very easy here, nobody plaguing me +in a morning; and Patrick saves many a score lies. I sent over to Mrs +Atterbury to know whether I might wait on her; but she is gone a visiting: we +have exchanged some compliments, but I have not seen her yet. We have no news +in our town. + +3. I did not go to town to-day, it was so terrible rainy; nor have I stirred +out of my room till eight this evening, when I crossed the way to see Mrs. +Atterbury, and thank her for her civilities. She would needs send me some +veal, and small beer, and ale, to-day at dinner; and I have lived a scurvy, +dull, splenetic day, for want of MD: I often thought how happy I could have +been, had it rained eight thousand times more, if MD had been with a body. My +Lord Rochester[8] is dead this morning; they say at one o'clock; and I hear he +died suddenly. To-morrow I shall know more. He is a great loss to us: I +cannot think who will succeed him as Lord President. I have been writing a +long letter to Lord Peterborow, and am dull. + +4. I dined to-day at Lord Shelburne's, where Lady Kerry[9] made me a present +of four India handkerchiefs, which I have a mind to keep for little MD, only +that I had rather, etc. I have been a mighty handkerchief-monger, and have +bought abundance of snuff ones since I have left off taking snuff. And I am +resolved, when I come over, MD shall be acquainted with Lady Kerry: we have +struck up a mighty friendship; and she has much better sense than any other +lady of your country. We are almost in love with one another: but she is +most egregiously ugly; but perfectly well-bred, and governable as I please. I +am resolved, when I come, to keep no company but MD: you know I kept my +resolution last time; and, except Mr. Addison, conversed with none but you and +your club of deans and Stoytes. 'Tis three weeks, young women, since I had a +letter from you; and yet, methinks, I would not have another for five pounds +till this is gone; and yet I send every day to the Coffee-house, and I would +fain have a letter, and not have a letter: and I do not know what, nor I do +not know how, and this goes on very slow; it is a week to-morrow since I began +it. I am a poor country gentleman, and do not know how the world passes. Do +you know that every syllable I write I hold my lips just for all the world as +if I were talking in our own little language to MD? Faith, I am very silly; +but I cannot help it for my life. I got home early to-night. My solicitors, +that used to ply me every morning, knew not where to find me; and I am so +happy not to hear "Patrick, Patrick," called a hundred times every morning. +But I looked backward, and find I have said this before. What care I? Go to +the Dean, and roast the oranges. + +5. I dined to-day with my friend Lewis, and we were deep in politics how to +save the present Ministry; for I am afraid of Mr. Secretary, as I believe I +told you. I went in the evening to see Mr. Harley; and, upon my word, I was +in perfect joy. Mr. Secretary was just going out of the door; but I made him +come back, and there was the old Saturday Club, Lord Keeper, Lord Rivers, Mr. +Secretary, Mr. Harley, and I; the first time since his stabbing. Mr. +Secretary went away; but I stayed till nine, and made Mr. Harley show me his +breast, and tell all the story; and I showed him the Archbishop of Dublin's +letter, and defended him effectually. We were all in mighty good humour. +Lord Keeper and I left them together, and I walked here after nine two miles, +and I found a parson drunk fighting with a seaman, and Patrick and I were so +wise to part them, but the seaman followed him to Chelsea, cursing at him, and +the parson slipped into a house, and I know no more. It mortified me to see a +man in my coat so overtaken. A pretty scene for one that just came from +sitting with the Prime Ministers! I had no money in my pocket, and so could +not be robbed. However, nothing but Mr. Harley shall make me take such a +journey again. We don't yet know who will be President in Lord Rochester's +room. I measured, and found that the penknife would have killed Mr. Harley if +it had gone but half the breadth of my thumb-nail lower, so near was he to +death. I was so curious as to ask him what were his thoughts while they were +carrying him home in the chair. He said he concluded himself a dead man. He +will not allow that Guiscard gave him the second stab; though my Lord Keeper, +who is blind, and I that was not there, are positive in it. He wears a +plaster still as broad as half a crown. Smoke how wide the lines are, but, +faith, I don't do it on purpose: but I have changed my side in this new +Chelsea bed, and I do not know how, methinks, but it is so unfit, and so +awkward, never saw the like. + +6. You must remember to enclose your letters in a fair paper, and direct the +outside thus: "To Erasmus Lewis, Esq.; at my Lord Dartmouth's office at +Whitehall." I said so before, but it may miscarry, you know, yet I think none +of my letters did ever miscarry; faith, I think never one; among all the +privateers and the storms. O, faith, my letters are too good to be lost. +MD's letters may tarry, but never miscarry, as the old woman used to say. And +indeed, how should they miscarry, when they never come before their time? It +was a terrible rainy day; yet I made a shift to steal fair weather overhead +enough to go and come in. I was early with the Secretary, and dined with him +afterwards. In the morning I began to chide him, and tell him my fears of his +proceedings. But Arthur Moore[10] came up and relieved him. But I forgot, +for you never heard of Arthur Moore. But when I get Mr. Harley alone, I will +know the bottom. You will have Dr. Raymond over before this letter, and what +care you? + +7. I hope and believe my walks every day do me good. I was busy at home, and +set out late this morning, and dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, at whose lodgings I +always change my gown and periwig. I visited this afternoon, and among +others, poor Biddy Floyd,[11] who is very red, but I believe won't be much +marked. As I was coming home, I met Sir George Beaumont[12] in the Pall Mall, +who would needs walk with me as far as Buckingham House. I was telling him of +my head; he said he had been ill of the same disorder, and by all means forbid +me bohea tea, which, he said, always gave it him; and that Dr. Radcliffe said +it was very bad. Now I had observed the same thing, and have left it off this +month, having found myself ill after it several times; and I mention it that +Stella may consider it for her own poor little head: a pound lies ready +packed up and directed for Mrs. Walls, to be sent by the first convenience. +Mr. Secretary told me yesterday that Mr. Harley would this week be Lord +Treasurer and a peer; so I expect it every day; yet perhaps it may not be till +Parliament is up, which will be in a fortnight. + +8. I was to-day with the Duke of Ormond, and recommended to him the care of +poor Joe Beaumont, who promises me to do him all justice and favour, and give +him encouragement; and desired I would give a memorial to Ned Southwell about +it, which I will, and so tell Joe when you see him, though he knows it already +by a letter I writ to Mr. Warburton.[13] It was bloody hot walking to-day. I +dined in the City, and went and came by water; and it rained so this evening +again, that I thought I should hardly be able to get a dry hour to walk home +in. I will send to-morrow to the Coffee-house for a letter from MD; but I +would not have one methinks till this is gone, as it shall on Saturday. I +visited the Duchess of Ormond this morning; she does not go over with the +Duke. I spoke to her to get a lad touched for the evil,[14] the son of a +grocer in Capel Street, one Bell; the ladies have bought sugar and plums of +him. Mrs. Mary used to go there often. This is Patrick's account; and the +poor fellow has been here some months with his boy. But the Queen has not +been able to touch, and it now grows so warm, I fear she will not at all. Go, +go, go to the Dean's, and let him carry you to Donnybrook, and cut asparagus. +Has Parvisol sent you any this year? I cannot sleep in the beginnings of the +nights, the heat or something hinders me, and I am drowsy in the mornings. + +9. Dr. Freind came this morning to visit Atterbury's lady and children as +physician, and persuaded me to go with him to town in his chariot. He told me +he had been an hour before with Sir Cholmley Dering, Charles Dering's nephew, +and head of that family in Kent, for which he is Knight of the shire. He said +he left him dying of a pistol-shot quite through the body, by one Mr. +Thornhill.[15] They fought at sword and pistol this morning in Tuttle +Fields,[16] their pistols so near that the muzzles touched. Thornhill +discharged first; and Dering, having received the shot, discharged his pistol +as he was falling, so it went into the air. The story of this quarrel is +long. Thornhill had lost seven teeth by a kick in the mouth from Dering, who +had first knocked him down; this was above a fortnight ago. Dering was next +week to be married to a fine young lady. This makes a noise here, but you +will not value it. Well, Mr. Harley, Lord Keeper, and one or two more, are to +be made lords immediately; their patents are now passing, and I read the +preamble to Mr. Harley's, full of his praises. Lewis and I dined with Ford: +I found the wine; two flasks of my Florence, and two bottles of six that Dr. +Raymond sent me of French wine; he sent it to me to drink with Sir Robert +Raymond and Mr. Harley's brother,[17] whom I had introduced him to; but they +never could find time to come; and now I have left the town, and it is too +late. Raymond will think it a cheat. What care I, sirrah? + +10. Pshaw, pshaw. Patrick brought me four letters to-day: from Dilly at +Bath; Joe; Parvisol; and what was the fourth, who can tell? Stand away, +who'll guess? Who can it be? You old man with a stick, can you tell who the +fourth is from? Iss, an please your honour, it is from one Madam MD, Number +Fourteen. Well; but I can't send this away now, because it was here, and I +was in town; but it shall go on Saturday, and this is Thursday night, and it +will be time enough for Wexford. Take my method: I write here to Parvisol to +lend Stella twenty pounds, and to take her note promissory to pay it in half a +year, etc. You shall see, and if you want more, let me know afterwards; and +be sure my money shall be always paid constantly too. Have you been good or +ill housewives, pray? + +11. Joe has written me to get him a collector's place, nothing less; he says +all the world knows of my great intimacy with Mr. Harley, and that the +smallest word to him will do. This is the constant cant of puppies who are at +a distance, and strangers to Courts and Ministers. My answer is this, which +pray send: that I am ready to serve Joe as far as I can; that I have spoken +to the Duke of Ormond about his money, as I writ to Warburton; that for the +particular he mentions, it is a work of time, which I cannot think of at +present; but, if accidents and opportunities should happen hereafter, I would +not be wanting; that I know best how far my credit goes; that he is at a +distance, and cannot judge; that I would be glad to do him good, and if +fortune throws an opportunity in my way I shall not be wanting. This is my +answer, which you may send or read to him. Pray contrive that Parvisol may +not run away with my two hundred pounds; but get Burton's[18] note, and let +the money be returned me by bill. Don't laugh, for I will be suspicious. +Teach Parvisol to enclose, and direct the outside to Mr. Lewis. I will answer +your letter in my next, only what I take notice of here excepted. I forgot to +tell you that at the Court of Requests to-day I could not find a dinner I +liked, and it grew late, and I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, etc. + +12. Morning. I will finish this letter before I go to town, because I shall +be busy, and have neither time nor place there. Farewell, etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 23. + +CHELSEA, May 12, 1711. + +I sent you my twenty-second this afternoon in town. I dined with Mr. Harley +and the old Club, Lord Rivers, Lord Keeper, and Mr. Secretary. They rallied +me last week, and said I must have Mr. St. John's leave; so I writ to him +yesterday, that foreseeing I should never dine again with Sir Simon Harcourt, +Knight, and Robert Harley, Esq., I was resolved to do it to-day. The jest is, +that before Saturday[1] next we expect they will be lords; for Mr. Harley's +patent is drawing, to be Earl of Oxford. Mr. Secretary and I came away at +seven, and he brought me to our town's end in his coach; so I lost my walk. +St. John read my letter to the company, which was all raillery, and passed +purely. + +13. It rained all last night and this morning as heavy as lead; but I just +got fair weather to walk to town before church. The roads are all over in +deep puddle. The hay of our town is almost fit to be mowed. I went to Court +after church (as I always do on Sundays, and then dined with Mr. Secretary, +who has engaged me for every Sunday; and poor MD dined at home upon a bit of +veal and a pint of wine. Is it not plaguy insipid to tell you every day where +I dine? yet now I have got into the way of it, I cannot forbear it neither. +Indeed, Mr. Presto, you had better go answer MD's letter, N.14. I will answer +it when I please, Mr. Doctor. What is that you say? The Court was very full +this morning, expecting Mr. Harley would be declared Earl of Oxford and have +the Treasurer's staff. Mr. Harley never comes to Court at all; somebody there +asked me the reason. "Why," said I, "the Lord of Oxford knows." He always +goes to the Queen by the back stairs. I was told for certain, you jackanapes, +Lord Santry[2] was dead, Captain Cammock[3] assured me so; and now he's alive +again, they say; but that shan't do: he shall be dead to me as long as he +lives. Dick Tighe[4] and I meet, and never stir our hats. I am resolved to +mistake him for Witherington, the little nasty lawyer that came up to me so +sternly at the Castle the day I left Ireland. I'll ask the gentleman I saw +walking with him how long Witherington has been in town. + +14. I went to town to-day by water. The hail quite discouraged me from +walking, and there is no shade in the greatest part of the way. I took the +first boat, and had a footman my companion; then I went again by water, and +dined in the City with a printer, to whom I carried a pamphlet in manuscript, +that Mr. Secretary gave me. The printer sent it to the Secretary for his +approbation, and he desired me to look it over, which I did, and found it a +very scurvy piece. The reason I tell you so, is because it was done by your +parson Slap, Scrap, Flap (what d'ye call him), Trapp,[5] your Chancellor's +chaplain. 'Tis called A Character of the Present Set of Whigs, and is going +to be printed, and no doubt the author will take care to produce it in +Ireland. Dr. Freind was with me, and pulled out a twopenny pamphlet just +published, called The State of Wit,[6] giving a character of all the papers +that have come out of late. The author seems to be a Whig, yet he speaks very +highly of a paper called the Examiner, and says the supposed author of it is +Dr. Swift. But above all things he praises the Tatlers and Spectators; and I +believe Steele and Addison were privy to the printing of it. Thus is one +treated by these impudent dogs. And that villain Curll[7] has scraped up some +trash, and calls it Dr. Swift's Miscellanies, with the name at large: and I +can get no satisfaction of him. Nay, Mr. Harley told me he had read it, and +only laughed at me before Lord Keeper and the rest. Since I came home, I have +been sitting with the Prolocutor, Dean Atterbury, who is my neighbour over the +way, but generally keeps in town with his Convocation. 'Tis late, etc. + +15. My walk to town to-day was after ten, and prodigiously hot. I dined with +Lord Shelburne, and have desired Mrs. Pratt, who lodges there, to carry over +Mrs. Walls's tea; I hope she will do it, and they talk of going in a +fortnight. My way is this: I leave my best gown and periwig at Mrs. +Vanhomrigh's, then walk up the Pall Mall, through the Park, out at Buckingham +House, and so to Chelsea a little beyond the church: I set out about sunset, +and get here in something less than an hour; it is two good miles, and just +five thousand seven hundred and forty-eight steps; so there is four miles a +day walking, without reckoning what I walk while I stay in town. When I pass +the Mall in the evening, it is prodigious to see the number of ladies walking +there; and I always cry shame at the ladies of Ireland, who never walk at all, +as if their legs were of no use, but to be laid aside. I have been now almost +three weeks here, and I thank God, am much better in my head, if it does but +continue. I tell you what, if I was with you, when we went to Stoyte at +Donnybrook, we would only take a coach to the hither end of Stephen's Green, +and from thence go every step on foot, yes, faith, every step; it would do +DD[8] good as well as Presto.[9] Everybody tells me I look better already; +for, faith, I looked sadly, that is certain. My breakfast is milk porridge: +I do not love it; faith, I hate it, but it is cheap and wholesome; and I hate +to be obliged to either of those qualities for anything.[10] + +16. I wonder why Presto will be so tedious in answering MD's letters; because +he would keep the best to the last, I suppose. Well, Presto must be humoured, +it must be as he will have it, or there will be an old to do.[11] Dead with +heat; are not you very hot? My walks make my forehead sweat rarely; sometimes +my morning journey is by water, as it was to-day with one Parson +Richardson,[12] who came to see me, on his going to Ireland; and with him I +send Mrs. Walls's tea, and three books[13] I got from the Lords of the +Treasury for the College. I dined with Lord Shelburne to-day; Lady Kerry and +Mrs. Pratt are going likewise for Ireland.--Lord! I forgot, I dined with Mr. +Prior to-day, at his house, with Dean Atterbury and others; and came home +pretty late, and I think I'm in a fuzz, and don't know what I say, never saw +the like. + +17. Sterne came here by water to see me this morning, and I went back with +him to his boat. He tells me that Mrs. Edgworth[14] married a fellow in her +journey to Chester; so I believe she little thought of anybody's box but her +own. I desired Sterne to give me directions where to get the box in Chester, +which he says he will to-morrow; and I will write to Richardson to get it up +there as he goes by, and whip it over. It is directed to Mrs. Curry: you +must caution her of it, and desire her to send it you when it comes. Sterne +says Jemmy Leigh loves London mightily; that makes him stay so long, I +believe, and not Sterne's business, which Mr. Harley's accident has put much +backward. We expect now every day that he will be Earl of Oxford and Lord +Treasurer. His patent is passing; but, they say, Lord Keeper's not yet; at +least his son, young Harcourt, told me so t'other day. I dined to-day +privately with my friend Lewis at his lodgings at Whitehall. T'other day at +Whitehall I met a lady of my acquaintance, whom I had not seen before since I +came to England; we were mighty glad to see each other, and she has engaged me +to visit her, as I design to do. It is one Mrs. Colledge: she has lodgings +at Whitehall, having been seamstress to King William, worth three hundred a +year. Her father was a fanatic joiner,[15] hanged for treason in +Shaftesbury's plot. This noble person and I were brought acquainted, some +years ago, by Lady Berkeley.[16] I love good creditable acquaintance: I love +to be the worst of the company: I am not of those that say, "For want of +company, welcome trumpery." I was this evening with Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt +at Vauxhall, to hear the nightingales; but they are almost past singing. + +18. I was hunting the Secretary to-day in vain about some business, and dined +with Colonel Crowe, late Governor of Barbados,[17] and your friend Sterne was +the third: he is very kind to Sterne, and helps him in his business, which +lies asleep till Mr. Harley is Lord Treasurer, because nothing of moment is +now done in the Treasury, the change being expected every day. I sat with +Dean Atterbury till one o'clock after I came home; so 'tis late, etc. + +19. Do you know that about our town we are mowing already and making hay, and +it smells so sweet as we walk through the flowery meads; but the hay-making +nymphs are perfect drabs, nothing so clean and pretty as farther in the +country. There is a mighty increase of dirty wenches in straw hats since I +knew London. I stayed at home till five o'clock, and dined with Dean +Atterbury; then went by water to Mr. Harley's, where the Saturday Club was +met, with the addition of the Duke of Shrewsbury. I whispered Lord Rivers +that I did not like to see a stranger among us; and the rogue told it aloud: +but Mr. Secretary said the Duke writ to have leave; so I appeared satisfied, +and so we laughed. Mr. Secretary told me the Duke of Buckingham[18] had been +talking to him much about me, and desired my acquaintance. I answered it +could not be, for he had not made sufficient advances. Then the Duke of +Shrewsbury said he thought that Duke was not used to make advances. I said I +could not help that; for I always expected advances in proportion to men's +quality, and more from a duke than any other man. The Duke replied that he +did not mean anything of his quality; which was handsomely said enough; for he +meant his pride: and I have invented a notion to believe that nobody is +proud. At ten all the company went away; and from ten to twelve Mr. Harley +and I sat together, where we talked through a great deal of matters I had a +mind to settle with him; and then walked in a fine moonshine night to Chelsea, +where I got by one. Lord Rivers conjured me not to walk so late; but I would, +because I had no other way; but I had no money to lose. + +20. By what the Lord Keeper told me last night, I find he will not be made a +peer so soon; but Mr. Harley's patent for Earl of Oxford is now drawing, and +will be done in three days. We made him own it, which he did scurvily, and +then talked of it like the rest. Mr. Secretary had too much company with him +to-day; so I came away soon after dinner. I give no man liberty to swear or +talk b---dy, and I found some of them were in constraint, so I left them to +themselves. I wish you a merry Whitsuntide, and pray tell me how you pass +away your time; but, faith, you are going to Wexford, and I fear this letter +is too late; it shall go on Thursday, and sooner it cannot, I have so much +business to hinder me answering yours. Where must I direct in your absence? +Do you quit your lodgings? + +21. Going to town this morning, I met in the Pall Mall a clergyman of +Ireland, whom I love very well and was glad to see, and with him a little +jackanapes, of Ireland too, who married Nanny Swift, Uncle Adam's[19] +daughter, one Perry; perhaps you may have heard of him. His wife has sent him +here, to get a place from Lowndes;[20] because my uncle and Lowndes married +two sisters, and Lowndes is a great man here in the Treasury; but by good luck +I have no acquaintance with him: however, he expected I should be his friend +to Lowndes, and one word of mine, etc., the old cant. But I will not go two +yards to help him. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, where I keep my best gown +and periwig, to put on when I come to town and be a spark. + +22. I dined to-day in the City, and coming home this evening, I met Sir +Thomas Mansel and Mr. Lewis in the Park. Lewis whispered me that Mr. Harley's +patent for the Earl of Oxford was passed in Mr. Secretary St. John's office; +so to-morrow or next day, I suppose, he will be declared Earl of Oxford, and +have the staff.[21] This man has grown by persecutions, turnings out, and +stabbing. What waiting, and crowding, and bowing will be at his levee! yet, +if human nature be capable of so much constancy, I should believe he will be +the same man still, bating the necessary forms of grandeur he must keep up. +'Tis late, sirrahs, and I'll go sleep. + +23. Morning. I sat up late last night, and waked late to-day; but will now +answer your letter in bed before I go to town, and I will send it to-morrow; +for perhaps you mayn't go so soon to Wexford.--No, you are not out in your +number; the last was Number 14, and so I told you twice or thrice; will you +never be satisfied? What shall we do for poor Stella? Go to Wexford, for +God's sake: I wish you were to walk there by three miles a day, with a good +lodging at every mile's end. Walking has done me so much good, that I cannot +but prescribe it often to poor Stella. Parvisol has sent me a bill for fifty +pounds, which I am sorry for, having not written to him for it, only mentioned +it two months ago; but I hope he will be able to pay you what I have drawn +upon him for: he never sent me any sum before, but one bill of twenty pounds +half a year ago. You are welcome as my blood to every farthing I have in the +world; and all that grieves me is, I am not richer, for MD's sake, as hope +saved.[22] I suppose you give up your lodgings when you go to Wexford; yet +that will be inconvenient too: yet I wish again you were under a necessity of +rambling the country until Michaelmas, faith. No, let them keep the shelves, +with a pox; yet they are exacting people about those four weeks; or Mrs. Brent +may have the shelves, if she please. I am obliged to your Dean for his kind +offer of lending me money. Will that be enough to say? A hundred people +would lend me money, or to any man who has not the reputation of a squanderer. +O, faith, I should be glad to be in the same kingdom with MD, however, +although you are at Wexford. But I am kept here by a most capricious fate, +which I would break through, if I could do it with decency or honour.--To +return without some mark of distinction would look extremely little; and I +would likewise gladly be somewhat richer than I am. I will say no more, but +beg you to be easy till Fortune take her course, and to believe that MD's +felicity is the great end I aim at in all my pursuits. And so let us talk no +more on this subject, which makes me melancholy, and that I would fain divert. +Believe me, no man breathing at present has less share of happiness in life +than I: I do not say I am unhappy at all, but that everything here is +tasteless to me for want of being as I would be. And so, a short sigh, and no +more of this. Well, come and let's see what's next, young women. Pox take +Mrs. Edgworth and Sterne! I will take some methods about that box. What +orders would you have me give about the picture? Can't you do with it as if +it were your own? No, I hope Manley will keep his place; for I hear nothing +of Sir Thomas Frankland's losing his. Send nothing under cover to Mr. +Addison, but "To Erasmus Lewis, Esq.; at my Lord Dartmouth's office at +Whitehall." Direct your outside so.--Poor dear Stella, don't write in the +dark, nor in the light neither, but dictate to Dingley; she is a naughty, +healthy girl, and may drudge for both. Are you good company together? and +don't you quarrel too often? Pray love one another, and kiss one another just +now, as Dingley is reading this; for you quarrelled this morning just after +Mrs. Marget[23] had poured water on Stella's head: I heard the little bird +say so. Well, I have answered everything in your letter that required it, and +yet the second side is not full. I'll come home at night, and say more; and +to-morrow this goes for certain. Go, get you gone to your own chambers, and +let Presto rise like a modest gentleman, and walk to town. I fancy I begin to +sweat less in the forehead by constant walking than I used to do; but then I +shall be so sunburnt, the ladies will not like me. Come, let me rise, +sirrahs. Morrow.--At night. I dined with Ford to-day at his lodgings, and I +found wine out of my own cellar, some of my own chest of the great Duke's +wine: it begins to turn. They say wine with you in Ireland is half a crown a +bottle. 'Tis as Stella says; nothing that once grows dear in Ireland ever +grows cheap again, except corn, with a pox, to ruin the parson. I had a +letter to-day from the Archbishop of Dublin, giving me further thanks about +vindicating him to Mr. Harley and Mr. St. John, and telling me a long story +about your Mayor's election,[24] wherein I find he has had a finger, and given +way to further talk about him; but we know nothing of it here yet. This +walking to and fro, and dressing myself, takes up so much of my time that I +cannot go among company so much as formerly; yet what must a body do? I thank +God I yet continue much better since I left the town; I know not how long it +may last. I am sure it has done me some good for the present. I do not +totter as I did, but walk firm as a cock, only once or twice for a minute, I +do not know how; but it went off, and I never followed it. Does Dingley read +my hand as well as ever? do you, sirrah? Poor Stella must not read Presto's +ugly small hand. + + Preserve your eyes, + If you be wise. + +Your friend Walls's tea will go in a day or two towards Chester by one Parson +Richardson. My humble service to her, and to good Mrs. Stoyte, and Catherine; +and pray walk while you continue in Dublin. I expect your next but one will +be from Wexford. God bless dearest MD. + +24. Morning. Mr. Secretary has sent his groom hither, to invite me to dinner +to-day, etc. God Almighty for ever bless and preserve you both, and give you +health, etc. Amen. Farewell, etc. + +Do not I often say the same thing two or three times in the same letter, +sirrah? + +Great wits, they say, have but short memories; that's good vile conversation. + + + +LETTER 24. + +CHELSEA, May 24, 1711. + +Morning. Once in my life the number of my letters and of the day of the month +is the same; that's lucky, boys; that's a sign that things will meet, and that +we shall make a figure together. What, will you still have the impudence to +say London, England, because I say Dublin, Ireland? Is there no difference +between London and Dublin, saucyboxes? I have sealed up my letter, and am +going to town. Morrow, sirrahs.--At night. I dined with the Secretary to- +day; we sat down between five and six. Mr. Harley's patent passed this +morning: he is now Earl of Oxford, Earl Mortimer, and Lord Harley of Wigmore +Castle. My letter was sealed, or I would have told you this yesterday; but +the public news may tell it you. The Queen, for all her favour, has kept a +rod[1] for him in her closet this week; I suppose he will take it from her, +though, in a day or two. At eight o'clock this evening it rained +prodigiously, as it did from five; however, I set out, and in half-way the +rain lessened, and I got home, but tolerably wet; and this is the first wet +walk I have had in a month's time that I am here but, however, I got to bed, +after a short visit to Atterbury. + +25. It rained this morning, and I went to town by water; and Ford and I dined +with Mr. Lewis by appointment. I ordered Patrick to bring my gown and periwig +to Mr. Lewis, because I designed to go to see Lord Oxford, and so I told the +dog; but he never came, though I stayed an hour longer than I appointed; so I +went in my old gown, and sat with him two hours, but could not talk over some +business I had with him; so he has desired me to dine with him on Sunday, and +I must disappoint the Secretary. My lord set me down at a coffee-house, where +I waited for the Dean of Carlisle's chariot to bring me to Chelsea; for it has +rained prodigiously all this afternoon. The Dean did not come himself, but +sent me his chariot, which has cost me two shillings to the coachman; and so I +am got home, and Lord knows what is become of Patrick. I think I must send +him over to you; for he is an intolerable rascal. If I had come without a +gown, he would have served me so, though my life and preferment should have +lain upon it: and I am making a livery for him will cost me four pounds; but +I will order the tailor to-morrow to stop till further orders. My Lord Oxford +can't yet abide to be called "my lord"; and when I called him "my lord," he +called me "Dr. Thomas Swift,"[2] which he always does when he has a mind to +tease me. By a second hand, he proposed my being his chaplain, which I by a +second hand excused; but we had no talk of it to-day: but I will be no man's +chaplain alive. But I must go and be busy. + +26. I never saw Patrick till this morning, and that only once, for I dressed +myself without him; and when I went to town he was out of the way. I +immediately sent for the tailor, and ordered him to stop his hand in Patrick's +clothes till further orders. Oh, if it were in Ireland, I should have turned +him off ten times ago; and it is no regard to him, but myself, that has made +me keep him so long. Now I am afraid to give the rogue his clothes. What +shall I do? I wish MD were here to entreat for him, just here at the bed's +side. Lady Ashburnham[3] has been engaging me this long time to dine with +her, and I set to-day apart for it; and whatever was the mistake, she sent me +word she was at dinner and undressed, but would be glad to see me in the +afternoon: so I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and would not go to see her at +all, in a huff. My fine Florence is turning sour with a vengeance, and I have +not drunk half of it. As I was coming home to-night, Sir Thomas Mansel and +Tom Harley[4] met me in the Park, and made me walk with them till nine, like +unreasonable whelps; so I got not here till ten: but it was a fine evening, +and the foot-path clean enough already after this hard rain. + +27. Going this morning to town, I saw two old lame fellows, walking to a +brandy-shop, and when they got to the door, stood a long time complimenting +who should go in first. Though this be no jest to tell, it was an admirable +one to see. I dined to-day with my Lord Oxford and the ladies, the new +Countess, and Lady Betty,[5] who has been these three days a lady born. My +lord left us at seven, and I had no time to speak to him about some affairs; +but he promises in a day or two we shall dine alone; which is mighty likely, +considering we expect every moment that the Queen will give him the staff, and +then he will be so crowded he will be good for nothing: for aught I know he +may have it to-night at Council. + +28. I had a petition sent me t'other day from one Stephen Gernon, setting +forth that he formerly lived with Harry Tenison,[6] who gave him an employment +of gauger, and that he was turned out after Harry's death, and came for +England, and is now starving, or, as he expresses it, THAT THE STAFF OF LIFE +HAS BEEN OF LATE A STRANGER TO HIS APPETITE. Today the poor fellow called, +and I knew him very well, a young slender fellow with freckles in his face: +you must remember him; he waited at table as a better sort of servant. I gave +him a crown, and promised to do what I could to help him to a service, which I +did for Harry Tenison's memory. It was bloody hot walking to-day, and I was +so lazy I dined where my new gown was, at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and came back +like a fool, and the Dean of Carlisle has sat with me till eleven. Lord +Oxford has not the staff yet. + +29. I was this morning in town by ten, though it was shaving-day, and went to +the Secretary about some affairs, then visited the Duke and Duchess of Ormond; +but the latter was dressing to go out, and I could not see her. My Lord +Oxford had the staff given him this morning; so now I must call him Lord +Oxford no more, but Lord Treasurer: I hope he will stick there: this is +twice he has changed his name this week; and I heard to-day in the City (where +I dined) that he will very soon have the Garter.--Pr'ythee, do not you observe +how strangely I have changed my company and manner of living? I never go to a +coffee-house; you hear no more of Addison, Steele, Henley, Lady Lucy, Mrs. +Finch,[7] Lord Somers, Lord Halifax, etc. I think I have altered for the +better. Did I tell you the Archbishop of Dublin has writ me a long letter of +a squabble in your town about choosing a Mayor, and that he apprehended some +censure for the share he had in it?[8] I have not heard anything of it here; +but I shall not be always able to defend him. We hear your Bishop Hickman is +dead;[9] but nobody here will do anything for me in Ireland; so they may die +as fast or slow as they please.--Well, you are constant to your deans, and +your Stoyte, and your Walls. Walls will have her tea soon; Parson Richardson +is either going or gone to Ireland, and has it with him. I hear Mr. Lewis has +two letters for me: I could not call for them to-day, but will to-morrow; and +perhaps one of them may be from our little MD, who knows, man? who can tell? +Many a more unlikely thing has happened.--Pshaw, I write so plaguy little, I +can hardly see it myself. WRITE BIGGER, SIRRAH[10] Presto. No, but I won't. +Oh, you are a saucy rogue, Mr. Presto, you are so impudent. Come, dear +rogues, let Presto go to sleep; I have been with the Dean, and 'tis near +twelve. + +30. I am so hot and lazy after my morning's walk, that I loitered at Mrs. +Vanhomrigh's, where my best gown and periwig are, and out of mere listlessness +dine there very often; so I did to-day; but I got little MD's letter, N.15 +(you see, sirrahs, I remember to tell the number), from Mr. Lewis, and I read +it in a closet they lend me at Mrs. Van's; and I find Stella is a saucy rogue +and a great writer, and can write finely still when her hand is in, and her +pen good. When I came here to-night, I had a mighty mind to go swim after I +was cool, for my lodging is just by the river; and I went down with only my +nightgown and slippers on at eleven, but came up again; however, one of these +nights I will venture. + +31. I was so hot this morning with my walk, that I resolve to do so no more +during this violent burning weather. It is comical that now we happen to have +such heat to ripen the fruit there has been the greatest blast that was ever +known, and almost all the fruit is despaired of. I dined with Lord Shelburne: +Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt are going to Ireland. I went this evening to Lord +Treasurer, and sat about two hours with him in mixed company; he left us, and +went to Court, and carried two staves with him, so I suppose we shall have a +new Lord Steward or Comptroller to-morrow; I smoked that State secret out by +that accident. I will not answer your letter yet, sirrahs; no I won't, madam. + +June 1. I wish you a merry month of June. I dined again with the Vans and +Sir Andrew Fountaine. I always give them a flask of my Florence, which now +begins to spoil, but it is near an end. I went this afternoon to Mrs. +Vedeau's, and brought away Madam Dingley's parchment and letter of attorney. +Mrs. Vedeau tells me she has sent the bill a fortnight ago. I will give the +parchment to Ben Tooke, and you shall send him a letter of attorney at your +leisure, enclosed to Mr. Presto. Yes, I now think your mackerel is full as +good as ours, which I did not think formerly. I was bit about two staves, for +there is no new officer made to-day. This letter will find you still in +Dublin, I suppose, or at Donnybrook, or losing your money at Walls' (how does +she do?). + +2. I missed this day by a blunder and dining in the City.[11] + +3. No boats on Sunday, never: so I was forced to walk, and so hot by the +time I got to Ford's lodging that I was quite spent; I think the weather is +mad. I could not go to church. I dined with the Secretary as usual, and old +Colonel Graham[12] that lived at Bagshot Heath, and they said it was Colonel +Graham's house. Pshaw, I remember it very well, when I used to go for a walk +to London from Moor Park. What, I warrant you do not remember the Golden +Farmer[13] neither, figgarkick soley?[14] + +4. When must we answer this letter, this N.15 of our little MD? Heat and +laziness, and Sir Andrew Fountaine, made me dine to-day again at Mrs. Van's; +and, in short, this weather is unsupportable: how is it with you? Lady Betty +Butler and Lady Ashburnham sat with me two or three hours this evening in my +closet at Mrs. Van's. They are very good girls; and if Lady Betty went to +Ireland, you should let her be acquainted with you. How does Dingley do this +hot weather? Stella, I think, never complains of it; she loves hot weather. +There has not been a drop of rain since Friday se'ennight. Yes, you do love +hot weather, naughty Stella, you do so; and Presto can't abide it. Be a good +girl then, and I will love you; and love one another, and don't be quarrelling +girls. + +5. I dined in the City to-day, and went from hence early to town, and visited +the Duke of Ormond and Mr. Secretary. They say my Lord Treasurer has a dead +warrant in his pocket; they mean a list of those who are to be turned out of +employment; and we every day now expect those changes. I passed by the +Treasury to-day, and saw vast crowds waiting to give Lord Treasurer petitions +as he passes by. He is now at the top of power and favour: he keeps no +levees yet. I am cruel thirsty this hot weather.--I am just this minute going +to swim. I take Patrick down with me, to hold my nightgown, shirt, and +slippers, and borrow a napkin of my landlady for a cap. So farewell till I +come up; but there is no danger, don't be frighted.--I have been swimming this +half-hour and more; and when I was coming out I dived, to make my head and all +through wet, like a cold bath; but, as I dived, the napkin fell off and is +lost, and I have that to pay for. O, faith, the great stones were so sharp, I +could hardly set my feet on them as I came out. It was pure and warm. I got +to bed, and will now go sleep. + +6. Morning. This letter shall go to-morrow; so I will answer yours when I +come home to-night. I feel no hurt from last night's swimming. I lie with +nothing but the sheet over me, and my feet quite bare. I must rise and go to +town before the tide is against me. Morrow, sirrahs; dear sirrahs, morrow.-- +At night. I never felt so hot a day as this since I was born. I dined with +Lady Betty Germaine, and there was the young Earl of Berkeley[15] and his fine +lady. I never saw her before, nor think her near so handsome as she passes +for.--After dinner, Mr. Bertue[16] would not let me put ice in my wine, but +said my Lord Dorchester[17] got the bloody flux with it, and that it was the +worst thing in the world. Thus are we plagued, thus are we plagued; yet I +have done it five or six times this summer, and was but the drier and the +hotter for it. Nothing makes me so excessively peevish as hot weather. Lady +Berkeley after dinner clapped my hat on another lady's head, and she in +roguery put it upon the rails. I minded them not; but in two minutes they +called me to the window, and Lady Carteret[18] showed me my hat out of her +window five doors off, where I was forced to walk to it, and pay her and old +Lady Weymouth[19] a visit, with some more beldames. Then I went and drank +coffee, and made one or two puns, with Lord Pembroke,[20] and designed to go +to Lord Treasurer; but it was too late, and beside I was half broiled, and +broiled without butter; for I never sweat after dinner, if I drink any wine. +Then I sat an hour with Lady Betty Butler at tea, and everything made me +hotter and drier. Then I walked home, and was here by ten, so miserably hot, +that I was in as perfect a passion as ever I was in my life at the greatest +affront or provocation. Then I sat an hour, till I was quite dry and cool +enough to go swim; which I did, but with so much vexation that I think I have +given it over: for I was every moment disturbed by boats, rot them; and that +puppy Patrick, standing ashore, would let them come within a yard or two, and +then call sneakingly to them. The only comfort I proposed here in hot weather +is gone; for there is no jesting with those boats after it is dark: I had +none last night. I dived to dip my head, and held my cap on with both my +hands, for fear of losing it. Pox take the boats! Amen. 'Tis near twelve, +and so I'll answer your letter (it strikes twelve now) to-morrow morning. + +7. Morning. Well, now let us answer MD's letter, N.15, 15, 15, 15. Now have +I told you the number? 15, 15; there, impudence, to call names in the +beginning of your letter, before you say, How do you do, Mr. Presto? There is +your breeding! Where is your manners, sirrah, to a gentleman? Get you gone, +you couple of jades.--No, I never sit up late now; but this abominable hot +weather will force me to eat or drink something that will do me hurt. I do +venture to eat a few strawberries.--Why then, do you know in Ireland that Mr. +St. John talked so in Parliament?[21] Your Whigs are plaguily bit; for he is +entirely for their being all out.--And are you as vicious in snuff as ever? I +believe, as you say, it does neither hurt nor good; but I have left it off, +and when anybody offers me their box, I take about a tenth part of what I used +to do, and then just smell to it, and privately fling the rest away. I keep +to my tobacco still,[22] as you say; but even much less of that than formerly, +only mornings and evenings, and very seldom in the day.--As for Joe,[23] I +have recommended his case heartily to my Lord Lieutenant; and, by his +direction, given a memorial of it to Mr. Southwell, to whom I have recommended +it likewise. I can do no more, if he were my brother. His business will be +to apply himself to Southwell. And you must desire Raymond, if Price of +Galway comes to town, to desire him to wait on Mr. Southwell, as recommended +by me for one of the Duke's chaplains, which was all I could do for him; and +he must be presented to the Duke, and make his court, and ply about, and find +out some vacancy, and solicit early for it. The bustle about your Mayor I had +before, as I told you, from the Archbishop of Dublin. Was Raymond not come +till May 18? So he says fine things of me? Certainly he lies. I am sure I +used him indifferently enough; and we never once dined together, or walked, or +were in any third place; only he came sometimes to my lodgings, and even there +was oftener denied than admitted.--What an odd bill is that you sent of +Raymond's! A bill upon one Murry in Chester, which depends entirely not only +upon Raymond's honesty, but his discretion; and in money matters he is the +last man I would depend on. Why should Sir Alexander Cairnes[24] in London +pay me a bill, drawn by God knows who, upon Murry in Chester? I was at +Cairnes's, and they can do no such thing. I went among some friends, who are +merchants, and I find the bill must be sent to Murry, accepted by him, and +then returned back, and then Cairnes may accept or refuse it as he pleases. +Accordingly I gave Sir Thomas Frankland the bill, who has sent it to Chester, +and ordered the postmaster there to get it accepted, and then send it back, +and in a day or two I shall have an answer; and therefore this letter must +stay a day or two longer than I intended, and see what answer I get. Raymond +should have written to Murry at the same time, to desire Sir Alexander Cairnes +to have answered such a bill, if it come. But Cairnes's clerks (himself was +not at home) said they had received no notice of it, and could do nothing; and +advised me to send to Murry.--I have been six weeks to-day at Chelsea, and you +know it but just now. And so Dean ------ thinks I write the Medley. Pox of +his judgment! It is equal to his honesty. Then you han't seen the Miscellany +yet?[25] Why, 'tis a four-shilling book: has nobody carried it over?--No, I +believe Manley[26] will not lose his place; for his friend[27] in England is +so far from being out that he has taken a new patent since the Post Office +Act; and his brother Jack Manley[28] here takes his part firmly; and I have +often spoken to Southwell in his behalf, and he seems very well inclined to +him. But the Irish folks here in general are horribly violent against him. +Besides, he must consider he could not send Stella wine if he were put out. +And so he is very kind, and sends you a dozen bottles of wine AT A TIME, and +you win eight shillings AT A TIME; and how much do you lose? No, no, never +one syllable about that, I warrant you.--Why, this same Stella is so +unmerciful a writer, she has hardly left any room for Dingley. If you have +such summer there as here, sure the Wexford waters are good by this time. I +forgot what weather we had May 6th; go look in my journal. We had terrible +rain the 24th and 25th, and never a drop since. Yes, yes, I remember +Berested's bridge; the coach sosses up and down as one goes that way, just as +at Hockley-in-the-Hole.[29] I never impute any illness or health I have to +good or ill weather, but to want of exercise, or ill air, or something I have +eaten, or hard study, or sitting up; and so I fence against those as well as I +can: but who a deuce can help the weather? Will Seymour,[30] the General, +was excessively hot with the sun shining full upon him; so he turns to the +sun, and says, "Harkee, friend, you had better go and ripen cucumbers than +plague me at this rate," etc. Another time, fretting at the heat, a gentleman +by said it was such weather as pleased God: Seymour said, "Perhaps it may; +but I am sure it pleases nobody else." Why, Madam Dingley, the First-Fruits +are done. Southwell told me they went to inquire about them, and Lord +Treasurer said they were done, and had been done long ago. And I'll tell you +a secret you must not mention, that the Duke of Ormond is ordered to take +notice of them in his speech in your Parliament: and I desire you will take +care to say on occasion that my Lord Treasurer Harley did it many months ago, +before the Duke was Lord Lieutenant. And yet I cannot possibly come over yet: +so get you gone to Wexford, and make Stella well. Yes, yes, I take care not to +walk late; I never did but once, and there are five hundred people on the way +as I walk. Tisdall is a puppy, and I will excuse him the half-hour he would +talk with me. As for the Examiner, I have heard a whisper that after that of +this day,[31] which tells us what this Parliament has done, you will hardly +find them so good. I prophesy they will be trash for the future; and methinks +in this day's Examiner the author talks doubtfully, as if he would write no +more.[32] Observe whether the change be discovered in Dublin, only for your +own curiosity, that's all. Make a mouth there. Mrs. Vedeau's business I have +answered, and I hope the bill is not lost. Morrow. 'Tis stewing hot, but I +must rise and go to town between fire and water. Morrow, sirrahs both, +morrow.--At night. I dined to-day with Colonel Crowe, Governor of Jamaica, +and your friend Sterne. I presented Sterne to my Lord Treasurer's +brother,[33] and gave him his case, and engaged him in his favour. At dinner +there fell the swingingest long shower, and the most grateful to me, that ever +I saw: it thundered fifty times at least, and the air is so cool that a body +is able to live; and I walked home to-night with comfort, and without dirt. I +went this evening to Lord Treasurer, and sat with him two hours, and we were +in very good humour, and he abused me, and called me Dr. Thomas Swift fifty +times: I have told you he does that when he has mind to make me mad.[34] Sir +Thomas Frankland gave me to-day a letter from Murry, accepting my bill; so all +is well: only, by a letter from Parvisol, I find there are some +perplexities.--Joe has likewise written to me, to thank me for what I have +done for him; and desires I would write to the Bishop of Clogher, that Tom +Ashe[35] may not hinder his father[36] from being portreve. I have written +and sent to Joe several times, that I will not trouble myself at all about +Trim. I wish them their liberty, but they do not deserve it: so tell Joe, +and send to him. I am mighty happy with this rain: I was at the end of my +patience, but now I live again. This cannot go till Saturday; and perhaps I +may go out of town with Lord Shelburne and Lady Kerry to-morrow for two or +three days. Lady Kerry has written to desire it; but tomorrow I shall know +farther.--O this dear rain, I cannot forbear praising it: I never felt myself +to be revived so in my life. It lasted from three till five, hard as a horn, +and mixed with hail. + +8. Morning. I am going to town, and will just finish this there, if I go +into the country with Lady Kerry and Lord Shelburne: so morrow, till an hour +or two hence.--In town. I met Cairnes, who, I suppose, will pay me the money; +though he says I must send him the bill first, and I will get it done in +absence. Farewell, etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 25. + +CHELSEA, June 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. + +I have been all this time at Wycombe, between Oxford and London, with Lord +Shelburne, who has the squire's house at the town's end, and an estate there +in a delicious country. Lady Kerry and Mrs. Pratt were with us, and we passed +our time well enough; and there I wholly disengaged myself from all public +thoughts, and everything but MD, who had the impudence to send me a letter +there; but I'll be revenged: I will answer it. This day, the 20th, I came +from Wycombe with Lady Kerry after dinner, lighted at Hyde Park Corner, and +walked: it was twenty-seven miles, and we came it in about five hours. + +21. I went at noon to see Mr. Secretary at his office, and there was Lord +Treasurer: so I killed two birds, etc., and we were glad to see one another, +and so forth. And the Secretary and I dined at Sir William Wyndham's,[1] who +married Lady Catharine Seymour, your acquaintance, I suppose. There were ten +of us at dinner. It seems, in my absence, they had erected a Club,[2] and +made me one; and we made some laws to-day, which I am to digest and add to, +against next meeting. Our meetings are to be every Thursday. We are yet but +twelve: Lord Keeper and Lord Treasurer were proposed; but I was against them, +and so was Mr. Secretary, though their sons are of it, and so they are +excluded; but we design to admit the Duke of Shrewsbury. The end of our Club +is, to advance conversation and friendship, and to reward deserving persons +with our interest and recommendation. We take in none but men of wit or men +of interest; and if we go on as we begin, no other Club in this town will be +worth talking of. The Solicitor-General, Sir Robert Raymond, is one of our +Club; and I ordered him immediately to write to your Lord Chancellor in favour +of Dr. Raymond: so tell Raymond, if you see him; but I believe this will find +you at Wexford. This letter will come three weeks after the last, so there is +a week lost; but that is owing to my being out of town; yet I think it is +right, because it goes enclosed to Mr. Reading:[3] and why should he know how +often Presto writes to MD, pray?--I sat this evening with Lady Betty Butler +and Lady Ashburnham, and then came home by eleven, and had a good cool walk; +for we have had no extreme hot weather this fortnight, but a great deal of +rain at times, and a body can live and breathe. I hope it will hold so. We +had peaches to-day. + +22. I went late to-day to town, and dined with my friend Lewis. I saw Will +Congreve attending at the Treasury, by order, with his brethren, the +Commissioners of the Wine Licences. I had often mentioned him with kindness +to Lord Treasurer; and Congreve told me that, after they had answered to what +they were sent for, my lord called him privately, and spoke to him with great +kindness, promising his protection, etc. The poor man said he had been used +so ill of late years that he was quite astonished at my lord's goodness, etc., +and desired me to tell my lord so; which I did this evening, and recommended +him heartily. My lord assured me he esteemed him very much, and would be +always kind to him; that what he said was to make Congreve easy, because he +knew people talked as if his lordship designed to turn everybody out, and +particularly Congreve: which indeed was true, for the poor man told me he +apprehended it. As I left my Lord Treasurer, I called on Congreve (knowing +where he dined), and told him what had passed between my lord and me; so I +have made a worthy man easy, and that is a good day's work.[4] I am proposing +to my lord to erect a society or academy for correcting and settling our +language, that we may not perpetually be changing as we do. He enters +mightily into it, so does the Dean of Carlisle;[5] and I design to write a +letter to Lord Treasurer with the proposals of it, and publish it;[6] and so I +told my lord, and he approves it. Yesterday's[7] was a sad Examiner, and last +week was very indifferent, though some little scraps of the old spirit, as if +he had given some hints; but yesterday's is all trash. It is plain the hand +is changed. + +23. I have not been in London to-day: for Dr. Gastrell[8] and I dined, by +invitation, with the Dean of Carlisle, my neighbour; so I know not what they +are doing in the world, a mere country gentleman. And are not you ashamed +both to go into the country just when I did, and stay ten days, just as I did, +saucy monkeys? But I never rode; I had no horses, and our coach was out of +order, and we went and came in a hired one. Do you keep your lodgings when +you go to Wexford? I suppose you do; for you will hardly stay above two +months. I have been walking about our town to-night, and it is a very scurvy +place for walking. I am thinking to leave it, and return to town, now the +Irish folks are gone. Ford goes in three days. How does Dingley divert +herself while Stella is riding? work, or read, or walk? Does Dingley ever +read to you? Had you ever a book with you in the country? Is all that left +off? Confess. Well, I'll go sleep; 'tis past eleven, and I go early to +sleep: I write nothing at night but to MD. + +24. Stratford and I, and Pastoral Philips (just come from Denmark) dined at +Ford's to-day, who paid his way, and goes for Ireland on Tuesday. The Earl of +Peterborow is returned from Vienna without one servant: he left them +scattered in several towns of Germany. I had a letter from him, four days +ago, from Hanover, where he desires I would immediately send him an answer to +his house at Parson's Green,[9] about five miles off. I wondered what he +meant, till I heard he was come. He sent expresses, and got here before them. +He is above fifty, and as active as one of five-and-twenty. I have not seen +him yet, nor know when I shall, or where to find him. + +25. Poor Duke of Shrewsbury has been very ill of a fever: we were all in a +fright about him: I thank God, he is better. I dined to-day at Lord +Ashburnham's, with his lady, for he was not at home: she is a very good girl, +and always a great favourite of mine. Sterne tells me he has desired a friend +to receive your box in Chester, and carry it over. I fear he will miscarry in +his business, which was sent to the Treasury before he was recommended; for I +was positive only to second his recommendations, and all his other friends +failed him. However, on your account I will do what I can for him to-morrow +with the secretary of the Treasury. + +26. We had much company to-day at dinner at Lord Treasurer's. Prior never +fails: he is a much better courtier than I; and we expect every day that he +will be a Commissioner of the Customs, and that in a short time a great many +more will be turned out. They blame Lord Treasurer for his slowness in +turning people out; but I suppose he has his reasons. They still keep my +neighbour Atterbury in suspense about the deanery of Christ Church,[10] which +has been above six months vacant, and he is heartily angry. I reckon you are +now preparing for your Wexford expedition; and poor Dingley is full of carking +and caring, scolding. How long will you stay? Shall I be in Dublin before +you return? Don't fall and hurt yourselves, nor overturn the coach. Love one +another, and be good girls; and drink Presto's health in water, Madam Stella; +and in good ale, Madam Dingley. + +27. The Secretary appointed me to dine with him to-day, and we were to do a +world of business: he came at four, and brought Prior with him, and had +forgot the appointment, and no business was done. I left him at eight, and +went to change my gown at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's; and there was Sir Andrew +Fountaine at ombre with Lady Ashburnham and Lady Frederic Schomberg, and Lady +Mary Schomberg,[11] and Lady Betty Butler, and others, talking; and it put me +in mind of the Dean and Stoyte, and Walls, and Stella at play, and Dingley and +I looking on. I stayed with them till ten, like a fool. Lady Ashburnham is +something like Stella; so I helped her, and wished her good cards. It is +late, etc. + +28. Well, but I must answer this letter of our MD's. Saturday approaches, +and I han't written down this side. O, faith, Presto has been a sort of a +lazy fellow: but Presto will remove to town this day se'ennight; the +Secretary has commanded me to do so; and I believe he and I shall go for some +days to Windsor, where he will have leisure to mind some business we have +together. To-day, our Society (it must not be called a Club) dined at Mr. +Secretary's: we were but eight; the rest sent excuses, or were out of town. +We sat till eight, and made some laws and settlements; and then I went to take +leave of Lady Ashburnham, who goes out of town to-morrow, as a great many of +my acquaintance are already, and left the town very thin. I shall make but +short journeys this summer, and not be long out of London. The days are grown +sensibly short already, all our fruit blasted. Your Duke of Ormond is still +at Chester; and perhaps this letter will be with you as soon as he. Sterne's +business is quite blown up: they stand to it to send him back to the +Commissioners of the Revenue in Ireland for a reference, and all my credit +could not alter it, though I almost fell out with the secretary of the +Treasury,[12] who is my Lord Treasurer's cousin-germain, and my very good +friend. It seems every step he has hitherto taken hath been wrong; at least +they say so, and that is the same thing. I am heartily sorry for it; and I +really think they are in the wrong, and use him hardly; but I can do no more. + +29. Steele has had the assurance to write to me that I would engage my Lord +Treasurer to keep a friend of his in an employment: I believe I told you how +he and Addison served me for my good offices in Steele's behalf; and I +promised Lord Treasurer never to speak for either of them again. Sir Andrew +Fountaine and I dined to-day at Mrs. Vanhomrigh's. Dilly Ashe has been in +town this fortnight: I saw him twice; he was four days at Lord Pembroke's in +the country, punning with him; his face is very well. I was this evening two +or three hours at Lord Treasurer's, who called me Dr. Thomas Swift twenty +times; that's his way of teasing. I left him at nine, and got home here by +ten, like a gentleman; and to-morrow morning I'll answer your little letter, +sirrahs. + +30. Morning. I am terribly sleepy always in a morning; I believe it is my +walk over-night that disposes me to sleep: faith, 'tis now striking eight, +and I am but just awake. Patrick comes early, and wakes me five or six times; +but I have excuses, though I am three parts asleep. I tell him I sat up late, +or slept ill in the night, and often it is a lie. I have now got little MD's +letter before me, N.16, no more, nor no less, no mistake. Dingley says, "This +letter won't be above six lines"; and I was afraid it was true, though I saw +it filled on both sides. The Bishop of Clogher writ me word you were in the +country, and that he heard you were well: I am glad at heart MD rides, and +rides, and rides. Our hot weather ended in May, and all this month has been +moderate: it was then so hot I was not able to endure it; I was miserable +every moment, and found myself disposed to be peevish and quarrelsome: I +believe a very hot country would make me stark mad.--Yes, my head continues +pretty tolerable, and I impute it all to walking. Does Stella eat fruit? I +eat a little; but I always repent, and resolve against it. No, in very hot +weather I always go to town by water; but I constantly walk back, for then the +sun is down. And so Mrs. Proby[13] goes with you to Wexford: she's admirable +company; you'll grow plaguy wise with those you frequent. Mrs. Taylor and +Mrs. Proby! take care of infection. I believe my two hundred pounds will be +paid, but that Sir Alexander Cairnes is a scrupulous puppy: I left the bill +with Mr. Stratford, who is to have the money. Now, Madam Stella, what say +you? you ride every day; I know that already, sirrah; and, if you rid every +day for a twelvemonth, you would be still better and better. No, I hope +Parvisol will not have the impudence to make you stay an hour for the money; +if he does, I'll UN-PARVISOL him; pray let me know. O Lord, how hasty we are! +Stella can't stay writing and writing; she must write and go a cock-horse, +pray now. Well, but the horses are not come to the door; the fellow can't +find the bridle; your stirrup is broken; where did you put the whips, Dingley? +Marget, where have you laid Mrs. Johnson's ribbon to tie about her? reach me +my mask: sup up this before you go. So, so, a gallop, a gallop: sit fast, +sirrah, and don't ride hard upon the stones.--Well, now Stella is gone, tell +me, Dingley, is she a good girl? and what news is that you are to tell me?-- +No, I believe the box is not lost: Sterne says it is not.--No, faith, you +must go to Wexford without seeing your Duke of Ormond, unless you stay on +purpose; perhaps you may be so wise.--I tell you this is your sixteenth +letter; will you never be satisfied? No, no, I will walk late no more; I +ought less to venture it than other people, and so I was told: but I will +return to lodge in town next Thursday. When you come from Wexford, I would +have you send a letter of attorney to Mr. Benjamin Tooke, bookseller, in +London, directed to me; and he shall manage your affair. I have your +parchment safely locked up in London.--O, Madam Stella, welcome home; was it +pleasant riding? did your horse stumble? how often did the man light to settle +your stirrup? ride nine miles! faith, you have galloped indeed. Well, but +where is the fine thing you promised me? I have been a good boy, ask Dingley +else. I believe you did not meet the fine-thing-man: faith, you are a cheat. +So you will see Raymond and his wife in town. Faith, that riding to Laracor +gives me short sighs, as well as you. All the days I have passed here have +been dirt to those. I have been gaining enemies by the scores, and friends by +the couples; which is against the rules of wisdom, because they say one enemy +can do more hurt than ten friends can do good. But I have had my revenge at +least, if I get nothing else. And so let Fate govern.--Now I think your +letter is answered; and mine will be shorter than ordinary, because it must go +to-day. We have had a great deal of scattering rain for some days past, yet +it hardly keeps down the dust.--We have plays acted in our town; and Patrick +was at one of them, oh oh. He was damnably mauled one day when he was drunk; +he was at cuffs with a brother-footman, who dragged him along the floor upon +his face, which looked for a week after as if he had the leprosy; and I was +glad enough to see it. I have been ten times sending him over to you; yet now +he has new clothes, and a laced hat, which the hatter brought by his orders, +and he offered to pay for the lace out of his wages.--I am to dine to-day with +Dilly at Sir Andrew Fountaine's, who has bought a new house, and will be weary +of it in half a year. I must rise and shave, and walk to town, unless I go +with the Dean in his chariot at twelve, which is too late: and I have not +seen that Lord Peterborow yet. The Duke of Shrewsbury is almost well again, +and will be abroad in a day or two: what care you? There it is now: you do +not care for my friends. Farewell, my dearest lives and delights; I love you +better than ever, if possible, as hope saved, I do, and ever will. God +Almighty bless you ever, and make us happy together! I pray for this twice +every day; and I hope God will hear my poor hearty prayers.--Remember, if I am +used ill and ungratefully, as I have formerly been, 'tis what I am prepared +for, and shall not wonder at it. Yet I am now envied, and thought in high +favour, and have every day numbers of considerable men teasing me to solicit +for them. And the Ministry all use me perfectly well; and all that know them +say they love me. Yet I can count upon nothing, nor will, but upon MD's love +and kindness.--They think me useful; they pretended they were afraid of none +but me, and that they resolved to have me; they have often confessed this: +yet all makes little impression on me.--Pox of these speculations! they give +me the spleen; and that is a disease I was not born to. Let me alone, +sirrahs, and be satisfied: I am, as long as MD and Presto are well. + + Little wealth, + And much health, + And a life by stealth: + +that is all we want; and so farewell, dearest MD; Stella, Dingley, Presto, all +together, now and for ever all together. Farewell again and again. + + + +LETTER 26. + +CHELSEA, June 30, 1711. + +See what large paper I am forced to take, to write to MD; Patrick has brought +me none clipped; but, faith, the next shall be smaller. I dined to-day, as I +told you, with Dilly at Sir Andrew Fountaine's: there were we wretchedly +punning, and writing together to Lord Pembroke. Dilly is just such a puppy as +ever; and it is so uncouth, after so long an intermission. My twenty-fifth is +gone this evening to the post. I think I will direct my next (which is this) +to Mr. Curry's, and let them send it to Wexford; and then the next enclosed to +Reading. Instruct me how I shall do. I long to hear from you from Wexford, +and what sort of place it is. The town grows very empty and dull. This +evening I have had a letter from Mr. Philips, the pastoral poet, to get him a +certain employment from Lord Treasurer. I have now had almost all the Whig +poets my solicitors; and I have been useful to Congreve, Steele, and Harrison: +but I will do nothing for Philips; I find he is more a puppy than ever, so +don't solicit for him. Besides, I will not trouble Lord Treasurer, unless +upon some very extraordinary occasion. + +July 1. Dilly lies conveniently for me when I come to town from Chelsea of a +Sunday, and go to the Secretary's; so I called at his lodgings this morning, +and sent for my gown, and dressed myself there. He had a letter from the +Bishop, with an account that you were set out for Wexford the morning he writ, +which was June 26, and he had the letter the 30th; that was very quick: the +Bishop says you design to stay there two months or more. Dilly had also a +letter from Tom Ashe, full of Irish news; that your Lady Lyndon[1] is dead, +and I know not what besides of Dr. Coghill[2] losing his drab, etc. The +Secretary was gone to Windsor, and I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. Lord +Treasurer is at Windsor too; they will be going and coming all summer, while +the Queen is there, and the town is empty, and I fear I shall be sometimes +forced to stoop beneath my dignity, and send to the ale-house for a dinner. +Well, sirrahs, had you a good journey to Wexford? did you drink ale by the +way? were you never overturned? how many things did you forget? do you lie on +straw in your new town where you are? Cudshoe,[3] the next letter to Presto +will be dated from Wexford. What fine company have you there? what new +acquaintance have you got? You are to write constantly to Mrs. Walls and Mrs. +Stoyte: and the Dean said, "Shall we never hear from you?" "Yes, Mr. Dean, +we'll make bold to trouble you with a letter." Then at Wexford; when you meet +a lady, "Did your waters pass well this morning, madam?" Will Dingley drink +them too? Yes, I warrant; to get her a stomach. I suppose you are all +gamesters at Wexford. Do not lose your money, sirrah, far from home. I +believe I shall go to Windsor in a few days; at least, the Secretary tells me +so. He has a small house there, with just room enough for him and me; and I +would be satisfied to pass a few days there sometimes. Sirrahs, let me go to +sleep, it is past twelve in our town. + +2. Sterne came to me this morning, and tells me he has yet some hopes of +compassing his business: he was with Tom Harley, the secretary of the +Treasury, and made him doubt a little he was in the wrong; the poor man tells +me it will almost undo him if he fails. I called this morning to see Will +Congreve, who lives much by himself, is forced to read for amusement, and +cannot do it without a magnifying-glass. I have set him very well with the +Ministry, and I hope he is in no danger of losing his place. I dined in the +City with Dr. Freind, not among my merchants, but with a scrub instrument of +mischief of mine, whom I never mentioned to you, nor am like to do. You two +little saucy Wexfordians, you are now drinking waters. You drink waters! you +go fiddlestick. Pray God send them to do you good; if not, faith, next summer +you shall come to the Bath. + +3. Lord Peterborow desired to see me this morning at nine; I had not seen him +before since he came home. I met Mrs. Manley[4] there, who was soliciting him +to get some pension or reward for her service in the cause, by writing her +Atalantis, and prosecution, etc., upon it. I seconded her, and hope they will +do something for the poor woman. My lord kept me two hours upon politics: he +comes home very sanguine; he has certainly done great things at Savoy and +Vienna, by his negotiations: he is violent against a peace, and finds true +what I writ to him, that the Ministry seems for it. He reasons well; yet I am +for a peace. I took leave of Lady Kerry, who goes to-morrow for Ireland; she +picks up Lord Shelburne and Mrs. Pratt at Lord Shelburne's house. I was this +evening with Lord Treasurer: Tom Harley was there, and whispered me that he +began to doubt about Sterne's business; I told him he would find he was in the +wrong. I sat two or three hours at Lord Treasurer's; he rallied me +sufficiently upon my refusing to take him into our Club, and told a judge who +was with us that my name was Thomas Swift. I had a mind to prevent Sir H. +Belasyse[5] going to Spain, who is a most covetous cur, and I fell a railing +against avarice, and turned it so that he smoked me, and named Belasyse. I +went on, and said it was a shame to send him; to which he agreed, but desired +I would name some who understood business, and do not love money, for he could +not find them. I said there was something in a Treasurer different from other +men; that we ought not to make a man a Bishop who does not love divinity, or a +General who does not love war; and I wondered why the Queen would make a man +Lord Treasurer who does not love money. He was mightily pleased with what I +said. He was talking of the First-Fruits of England, and I took occasion to +tell him that I would not for a thousand pounds anybody but he had got them +for Ireland, who got them for England too. He bid me consider what a thousand +pounds was; I said I would have him to know I valued a thousand pounds as +little as he valued a million.--Is it not silly to write all this? but it +gives you an idea what our conversation is with mixed company. I have taken a +lodging in Suffolk Street, and go to it on Thursday; and design to walk the +Park and the town, to supply my walking here: yet I will walk here sometimes +too, in a visit now and then to the Dean.[6] When I was almost at home, +Patrick told me he had two letters for me, and gave them to me in the dark, +yet I could see one of them was from saucy MD. I went to visit the Dean for +half an hour; and then came home, and first read the other letter, which was +from the Bishop of Clogher, who tells me the Archbishop of Dublin mentioned in +a full assembly of the clergy the Queen's granting the First-Fruits, said it +was done by the Lord Treasurer, and talked much of my merit in it: but +reading yours I find nothing of that: perhaps the Bishop lies, out of a +desire to please me. I dined with Mrs. Vanhomrigh. Well, sirrahs, you are +gone to Wexford; but I'll follow you. + +4. Sterne came to me again this morning, to advise about reasons and +memorials he is drawing up; and we went to town by water together; and having +nothing to do, I stole into the City to an instrument of mine, and then went +to see poor Patty Rolt,[7] who has been in town these two months with a cousin +of hers. Her life passes with boarding in some country town as cheap as she +can, and, when she runs out, shifting to some cheaper place, or coming to town +for a month. If I were rich, I would ease her, which a little thing would do. +Some months ago I sent her a guinea, and it patched up twenty circumstances. +She is now going to Berkhamstead in Hertfordshire. It has rained and hailed +prodigiously to-day, with some thunder. This is the last night I lie at +Chelsea; and I got home early, and sat two hours with the Dean, and ate +victuals, having had a very scurvy dinner. I'll answer your letter when I +come to live in town. You shall have a fine London answer: but first I will +go sleep, and dream of MD. + +London, July 5. This day I left Chelsea for good (that's a genteel phrase), +and am got into Suffolk Street. I dined to-day at our Society, and we are +adjourned for a month, because most of us go into the country: we dined at +Lord Keeper's with young Harcourt, and Lord Keeper was forced to sneak off, +and dine with Lord Treasurer, who had invited the Secretary and me to dine +with him; but we scorned to leave our company, as George Granville did, whom +we have threatened to expel: however, in the evening I went to Lord +Treasurer, and, among other company, found a couple of judges with him; one of +them, Judge Powell,[8] an old fellow with grey hairs, was the merriest old +gentleman I ever saw, spoke pleasant things, and laughed and chuckled till he +cried again. I stayed till eleven, because I was not now to walk to Chelsea. + +6. An ugly rainy day. I was to visit Mrs. Barton, then called at Mrs. +Vanhomrigh's, where Sir Andrew Fountaine and the rain kept me to dinner; and +there did I loiter all the afternoon, like a fool, out of perfect laziness, +and the weather not permitting me to walk: but I'll do so no more. Are your +waters at Wexford good in this rain? I long to hear how you are established +there, how and whom you visit, what is your lodging, what are your +entertainments. You are got far southwards; but I think you must eat no fruit +while you drink the waters. I ate some Kentish cherries t'other day, and I +repent it already; I have felt my head a little disordered. We had not a hot +day all June, or since, which I reckon a mighty happiness. Have you left a +direction with Reading for Wexford? I will, as I said, direct this to +Curry's, and the next to Reading; or suppose I send this at a venture straight +to Wexford? It would vex me to have it miscarry. I had a letter to-night +from Parvisol, that White has paid me most of my remaining money; and another +from Joe, that they have had their election at Trim, but not a word of who is +chosen portreeve.[9] Poor Joe is full of complaints, says he has enemies, and +fears he will never get his two hundred pounds; and I fear so too, although I +have done what I could.--I'll answer your letter when I think fit, when saucy +Presto thinks fit, sirrahs. I am not at leisure yet; when I have nothing to +do, perhaps I may vouchsafe.--O Lord, the two Wexford ladies; I'll go dream of +you both. + +7. It was the dismallest rainy day I ever saw: I went to the Secretary in +the morning, and he was gone to Windsor. Then it began raining, and I struck +in to Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and dined, and stayed till night very dull and +insipid. I hate this town in summer; I'll leave it for a while, if I can have +time. + +8. I have a fellow of your town, one Tisdall,[10] lodges in the same house +with me. Patrick told me Squire Tisdall and his lady lodged here. I +pretended I never heard of him; but I knew his ugly face, and saw him at +church in the next pew to me, and he often looked for a bow, but it would not +do. I think he lives in Capel Street, and has an ugly fine wife in a fine +coach. Dr. Freind and I dined in the City by invitation, and I drank punch, +very good, but it makes me hot. People here are troubled with agues by this +continuance of wet, cold weather; but I am glad to find the season so +temperate. I was this evening to see Will Congreve, who is a very agreeable +companion. + +9. I was to-day in the City, and dined with Mr. Stratford, who tells me Sir +Alexander Cairnes makes difficulties about paying my bill; so that I cannot +give order yet to Parvisol to deliver up the bond to Dr. Raymond. To-morrow I +shall have a positive answer: that Cairnes is a shuffling scoundrel; and +several merchants have told me so: what can one expect from a Scot and a +fanatic? I was at Bateman's the bookseller's, to see a fine old library he +has bought; and my fingers itched, as yours would do at a china-shop; but I +resisted, and found everything too dear, and I have fooled away too much money +that way already. So go and drink your waters, saucy rogue, and make yourself +well; and pray walk while you are there: I have a notion there is never a +good walk in Ireland.[11] Do you find all places without trees? Pray observe +the inhabitants about Wexford; they are old English; see what they have +particular in their manners, names, and language: magpies have been always +there, and nowhere else in Ireland, till of late years. They say the cocks +and dogs go to sleep at noon, and so do the people. Write your travels, and +bring home good eyes and health. + +10. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer: we did not sit down till four. I +despatched three businesses with him, and forgot a fourth. I think I have got +a friend an employment; and besides I made him consent to let me bring +Congreve to dine with him. You must understand I have a mind to do a small +thing, only turn out all the Queen's physicians; for in my conscience they +will soon kill her among them. And I must talk over that matter with some +people. My Lord Treasurer told me the Queen and he between them have lost the +paper about the First-Fruits, but desires I will let the bishops know it shall +be done with the first opportunity. + +11. I dined to-day with neighbour Van, and walked pretty well in the Park +this evening. Stella, hussy, don't you remember, sirrah, you used to reproach +me about meddling in other folk's affairs? I have enough of it now: two +people came to me to-night in the Park to engage to speak to Lord Treasurer in +their behalf, and I believe they make up fifty who have asked me the same +favour. I am hardened, and resolve to trouble him, or any other Minister, +less than ever. And I observe those who have ten times more credit than I +will not speak a word for anybody. I met yesterday the poor lad I told you +of, who lived with Mr. Tenison,[12] who has been ill of an ague ever since I +saw him. He looked wretchedly, and was exceeding thankful for half a crown I +gave him. He had a crown from me before. + +12. I dined to-day with young Manley[13] in the City, who is to get me out a +box of books and a hamper of wine from Hamburg. I inquired of Mr. Stratford, +who tells me that Cairnes has not yet paid my two hundred pounds, but shams +and delays from day to day. Young Manley's wife is a very indifferent person +of a young woman, goggle-eyed, and looks like a fool: yet he is a handsome +fellow, and married her for love after long courtship, and she refused him +until he got his last employment.--I believe I shall not be so good a boy for +writing as I was during your stay at Wexford, unless I may send my letters +every second time to Curry's; pray let me know. This, I think, shall go +there: or why not to Wexford itself? That is right, and so it shall this +next Tuesday, although it costs you tenpence. What care I? + +13. This toad of a Secretary is come from Windsor, and I cannot find him; and +he goes back on Sunday, and I can't see him to-morrow. I dined scurvily to- +day with Mr. Lewis and a parson; and then went to see Lord Treasurer, and met +him coming from his house in his coach: he smiled, and I shrugged, and we +smoked each other; and so my visit is paid. I now confine myself to see him +only twice a week: he has invited me to Windsor, and betwixt two stools, etc. +I will go live at Windsor, if possible, that's pozzz. I have always the luck +to pass my summer in London. I called this evening to see poor Sir Matthew +Dudley, a Commissioner of the Customs; I know he is to be out for certain: he +is in hopes of continuing: I would not tell him bad news, but advised him to +prepare for the worst. Dilly was with me this morning, to invite me to dine +at Kensington on Sunday with Lord Mountjoy, who goes soon for Ireland. Your +late Chief-Justice Broderick[14] is here, and they say violent as a tiger. +How is party among you at Wexford? Are the majority of ladies for the late or +present Ministry? Write me Wexford news, and love Presto, because he is a +good boy. + +14. Although it was shaving-day, I walked to Chelsea, and was there by nine +this morning; and the Dean of Carlisle and I crossed the water to Battersea, +and went in his chariot to Greenwich, where we dined at Dr. Gastrell's, and +passed the afternoon at Lewisham, at the Dean of Canterbury's;[15] and there I +saw Moll Stanhope,[16] who is grown monstrously tall, but not so handsome as +formerly. It is the first little rambling journey I have had this summer +about London, and they are the agreeablest pastimes one can have, in a +friend's coach, and to good company. Bank Stock is fallen three or four per +cent. by the whispers about the town of the Queen's being ill, who is however +very well. + +15. How many books have you carried with you to Wexford? What, not one +single book? Oh, but your time will be so taken up; and you can borrow of the +parson. I dined to-day with Sir Andrew Fountaine and Dilly at Kensington with +Lord Mountjoy; and in the afternoon Stratford came there, and told me my two +hundred pounds were paid at last; so that business is over, and I am at ease +about it; and I wish all your money was in the Bank too. I will have my other +hundred pounds there, that is in Hawkshaw's hands. Have you had the interest +of it paid yet? I ordered Parvisol to do it. What makes Presto write so +crooked? I will answer your letter to-morrow, and send it on Tuesday. Here's +hot weather come again, yesterday and to-day: fine drinking waters now. We +had a sad pert dull parson at Kensington to-day. I almost repent my coming to +town; I want the walks I had. + +16. I dined in the City to-day with a hedge[17] acquaintance, and the day +passed without any consequence. I will answer your letter to-morrow. + +17. Morning. I have put your letter before me, and am going to answer it. +Hold your tongue: stand by. Your weather and ours were not alike; we had not +a bit of hot weather in June, yet you complain of it on the 19th day. What, +you used to love hot weather then? I could never endure it: I detest and +abominate it. I would not live in a hot country, to be king of it. What a +splutter you keep about my bonds with Raymond, and all to affront Presto! +Presto will be suspicious of everything but MD, in spite of your little nose. +Soft and fair, Madam Stella, how you gallop away, in your spleen and your +rage, about repenting my journey, and preferment here, and sixpence a dozen, +and nasty England, and Laracor all my life. Hey-dazy, will you never have +done? I had no offers of any living. Lord Keeper told me some months ago he +would give me one when I pleased; but I told him I would not take any from +him; and the Secretary told me t'other day he had refused a very good one for +me, but it was in a place he did not like; and I know nothing of getting +anything here, and, if they would give me leave, I would come over just now. +Addison, I hear, has changed his mind about going over; but I have not seen +him these four months.--Oh ay, that's true, Dingley; that's like herself: +millions of businesses to do before she goes. Yes, my head has been pretty +well, but threatening within these two or three days, which I impute to some +fruit I ate; but I will eat no more: not a bit of any sort. I suppose you +had a journey without dust, and that was happy. I long for a Wexford letter, +but must not think of it yet: your last was finished but three weeks ago. It +is d----d news you tell me of Mrs. F----; it makes me love England less a +great deal. I know nothing of the trunk being left or taken; so 'tis odd +enough, if the things in it were mine; and I think I was told that there are +some things for me that my mother left particularly to me. I am really sorry +for -----; that scoundrel ----- will have his estate after his mother's death. +Let me know if Mrs. Walls has got her tea: I hope Richardson[18] stayed in +Dublin till it came. Mrs. Walls needed not have that blemish in her eye; for +I am not in love with her at all. No, I do not like anything in the Examiner +after the 45th, except the first part of the 46th;[19] all the rest is trash; +and if you like them, especially the 47th, your judgment is spoiled by ill +company and want of reading, which I am more sorry for than you think: and I +have spent fourteen years in improving you to little purpose. (Mr. Tooke is +come here, and I must stop.)--At night. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, +and he kept me till nine; so I cannot send this to-night, as I intended, nor +write some other letters. Green,[20] his surgeon, was there, and dressed his +breast; that is, put on a plaster, which is still requisite: and I took an +opportunity to speak to him of the Queen; but he cut me short with this +saying, "Laissez faire a Don Antoine," which is a French proverb, expressing, +"Leave that to me." I find he is against her taking much physic; and I doubt +he cannot persuade her to take Dr. Radcliffe. However, she is very well now, +and all the story of her illness, except the first day or two, was a lie. We +had some business, that company hindered us from doing, though he is earnest +for it, yet would not appoint me a certain day, but bids me come at all times +till we can have leisure. This takes up a great deal of my time, and I can do +nothing I would do for them. I was with the Secretary this morning, and we +both think to go to Windsor for some days, to despatch an affair, if we can +have leisure. Sterne met me just now in the street by his lodgings, and I +went in for an hour to Jemmy Leigh, who loves London dearly: he asked after +you with great respect and friendship.--To return to your letter. Your Bishop +Mills[21] hates me mortally: I wonder he should speak well of me, having +abused me in all places where he went. So you pay your way. Cudsho: you had +a fine supper, I warrant; two pullets, and a bottle of wine, and some +currants.--It is just three weeks to-day since you set out to Wexford; you +were three days going, and I do not expect a letter these ten days yet, or +rather this fortnight. I got a grant of the Gazette[22] for Ben Tooke this +morning from Mr. Secretary: it will be worth to him a hundred pounds a year. + +18. To-day I took leave of Mrs. Barton, who is going into the country; and I +dined with Sir John Stanley,[23] where I have not been this great while. +There dined with us Lord Rochester, and his fine daughter, Lady Jane,[24] just +growing a top-toast. I have been endeavouring to save Sir Matthew Dudley,[25] +but fear I cannot. I walked the Mall six times to-night for exercise, and +would have done more; but, as empty as the town is, a fool got hold of me, and +so I came home, to tell you this shall go to-morrow, without fail, and follow +you to Wexford, like a dog. + +19. Dean Atterbury sent to me to dine with him at Chelsea. I refused his +coach, and walked, and am come back by seven, because I would finish this +letter, and some others I am writing. Patrick tells me the maid says one Mr. +Walls, a clergyman, a tall man, was here to visit me. Is it your Irish +Archdeacon? I shall be sorry for it; but I shall make shift to see him seldom +enough, as I do Dilly. What can he do here? or is it somebody else? The Duke +of Newcastle[26] is dead by the fall he had from his horse. God send poor +Stella her health, and keep MD happy! Farewell, and love Presto, who loves MD +above all things ten million of times. God bless the dear Wexford girls. +Farewell again, etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 27. + +LONDON, July 19, 1711. + +I have just sent my 26th, and have nothing to say, because I have other +letters to write (pshaw, I began too high); but I must lay the beginning like +a nest-egg: to-morrow I will say more, and fetch up this line to be straight. +This is enough at present for two dear saucy naughty girls. + +20. Have I told you that Walls has been with me, and leaves the town in three +days? He has brought no gown with him. Dilly carried him to a play. He has +come upon a foolish errand, and goes back as he comes. I was this day with +Lord Peterborow, who is going another ramble: I believe I told you so. I +dined with Lord Treasurer, but cannot get him to do his own business with me; +he has put me off till to-morrow. + +21, 22. I dined yesterday with Lord Treasurer, who would needs take me along +with him to Windsor, although I refused him several times, having no linen, +etc. I had just time to desire Lord Forbes[1] to call at my lodging and order +my man to send my things to-day to Windsor by his servant. I lay last night +at the Secretary's lodgings at Windsor, and borrowed one of his shirts to go +to Court in. The Queen is very well. I dined with Mr. Masham; and not +hearing anything of my things, I got Lord Winchelsea to bring me to town. +Here I found that Patrick had broke open the closet to get my linen and +nightgown, and sent them to Windsor, and there they are; and he, not thinking +I would return so soon, is gone upon his rambles: so here I am left +destitute, and forced to borrow a nightgown of my landlady, and have not a rag +to put on to-morrow: faith, it gives me the spleen. + +23. Morning. It is a terrible rainy day, and rained prodigiously on Saturday +night. Patrick lay out last night, and is not yet returned: faith, poor +Presto is a desolate creature; neither servant, nor linen, nor anything.-- +Night. Lord Forbes's man has brought back my portmantua, and Patrick is come; +so I am in Christian circumstances: I shall hardly commit such a frolic +again. I just crept out to Mrs. Van's, and dined, and stayed there the +afternoon: it has rained all this day. Windsor is a delicious place: I +never saw it before, except for an hour about seventeen years ago. Walls has +been here in my absence, I suppose, to take his leave; for he designed not to +stay above five days in London. He says he and his wife will come here for +some months next year; and, in short, he dares not stay now for fear of her. + +24. I dined to-day with a hedge[2] friend in the City; and Walls overtook me +in the street, and told me he was just getting on horseback for Chester. He +has as much curiosity as a cow: he lodged with his horse in Aldersgate +Street: he has bought his wife a silk gown, and himself a hat. And what are +you doing? what is poor MD doing now? how do you pass your time at Wexford? +how do the waters agree with you? Let Presto know soon; for Presto longs to +know, and must know. Is not Madam Proby curious company? I am afraid this +rainy weather will spoil your waters. We have had a great deal of wet these +three days. Tell me all the particulars of Wexford: the place, the company, +the diversions, the victuals, the wants, the vexations. Poor Dingley never +saw such a place in her life; sent all over the town for a little parsley to a +boiled chicken, and it was not to be had; the butter is stark naught, except +an old English woman's; and it is such a favour to get a pound from her now +and then! I am glad you carried down your sheets with you, else you must have +lain in sackcloth. O Lord! + +25. I was this forenoon with Mr. Secretary at his office, and helped to +hinder a man of his pardon, who is condemned for a rape. The Under Secretary +was willing to save him, upon an old notion that a woman cannot be ravished; +but I told the Secretary he could not pardon him without a favourable report +from the judge; besides, he was a fiddler, and consequently a rogue, and +deserved hanging for some thing else; and so he shall swing. What, I must +stand up for the honour of the fair sex! 'Tis true the fellow had lain with +her a hundred times before, but what care I for that! What, must a woman be +ravished because she is a whore?--The Secretary and I go on Saturday to +Windsor for a week. I dined with Lord Treasurer, and stayed with him till +past ten. I was to-day at his levee, where I went against my custom, because +I had a mind to do a good office for a gentleman: so I talked with him before +my lord, that he might see me, and then found occasion to recommend him this +afternoon. I was forced to excuse my coming to the levee, that I did it to +see the sight; for he was going to chide me away: I had never been there but +once, and that was long before he was Treasurer. The rooms were all full, and +as many Whigs as Tories. He whispered me a jest or two, and bid me come to +dinner. I left him but just now; and 'tis late. + +26. Mr. Addison and I have at last met again. I dined with him and Steele +to-day at young Jacob Tonson's. The two Jacobs[3] think it is I who have made +the Secretary take from them the printing of the Gazette, which they are going +to lose, and Ben Tooke and another[4] are to have it. Jacob came to me the +other day, to make his court; but I told him it was too late, and that it was +not my doing. I reckon they will lose it in a week or two. Mr. Addison and I +talked as usual, and as if we had seen one another yesterday; and Steele and I +were very easy, though I writ him lately a biting letter, in answer to one of +his, where he desired me to recommend a friend of his to Lord Treasurer. Go, +get you gone to your waters, sirrah. Do they give you a stomach? Do you eat +heartily?--We have had much rain to-day and yesterday. + +27. I dined to-day in the City, and saw poor Patty Rolt, and gave her a +pistole to help her a little forward against she goes to board in the country. +She has but eighteen pounds a year to live on, and is forced to seek out for +cheap places. Sometimes they raise their price, and sometimes they starve +her, and then she is forced to shift. Patrick the puppy put too much ink in +my standish,[5] and, carrying too many things together, I spilled it on my +paper and floor. The town is dull, wet, and empty; Wexford is worth two of +it; I hope so at least, and that poor little MD finds it so. I reckon upon +going to Windsor to-morrow with Mr. Secretary, unless he changes his mind, or +some other business prevents him. I shall stay there a week, I hope. + +28. Morning. Mr. Secretary sent me word he will call at my lodgings by two +this afternoon, to take me to Windsor; so I must dine nowhere; and I promised +Lord Treasurer to dine with him to-day; but I suppose we shall dine at Windsor +at five, for we make but three hours there.[6] I am going abroad, but have +left Patrick to put up my things, and to be sure to be at home half an hour +before two.--Windsor, at night. We did not leave London till three, and dined +here between six and seven; at nine I left the company, and went to see Lord +Treasurer, who is just come. I chid him for coming so late; he chid me for +not dining with him; said he stayed an hour for me. Then I went and sat with +Mr. Lewis till just now, and it is past eleven. I lie in the same house with +the Secretary, one of the Prebendary's houses. The Secretary is not come from +his apartment in the Castle. Do you think that abominable dog Patrick was out +after two to-day, and I in a fright every moment, for fear the chariot should +come; and when he came in, he had not put up one rag of my things! I never +was in a greater passion, and would certainly have cropped one of his ears, if +I had not looked every moment for the Secretary, who sent his equipage to my +lodging before, and came in a chair from Whitehall to me, and happened to stay +half an hour later than he intended. One of Lord Treasurer's servants gave me +a letter to-night: I found it was from ----, with an offer of fifty pounds, +to be paid me in what manner I pleased; because, he said, he desired to be +well with me. I was in a rage;[7] but my friend Lewis cooled me, and said it +is what the best men sometimes meet with; and I have been not seldom served in +the like manner, although not so grossly. In these cases I never demur a +moment, nor ever found the least inclination to take anything. Well, I will +go try to sleep in my new bed, and to dream of poor Wexford MD, and Stella +that drinks water, and Dingley that drinks ale. + +29. I was at Court and church to-day, as I was this day se'ennight: I +generally am acquainted with about thirty in the drawing-room, and I am so +proud I make all the lords come up to me: one passes half an hour pleasant +enough. We had a dunce to preach before the Queen to-day, which often +happens. Windsor is a delicious situation, but the town is scoundrel. I have +this morning got the Gazette for Ben Tooke and one Barber a printer; it will +be about three hundred pounds a year between them. The other fellow was +printer of the Examiner, which is now laid down.[8] I dined with the +Secretary: we were a dozen in all, three Scotch lords, and Lord Peterborow. +The Duke of Hamilton[9] would needs be witty, and hold up my train as I walked +upstairs. It is an ill circumstance that on Sundays much company always meet +at the great tables. Lord Treasurer told at Court what I said to Mr. +Secretary on this occasion. The Secretary showed me his bill of fare, to +encourage me to dine with him. "Poh," said I, "show me a bill of company, for +I value not your dinner." See how this is all blotted,[10] I can write no +more here, but to tell you I love MD dearly, and God bless them. + +30. In my conscience, I fear I shall have the gout. I sometimes feel pains +about my feet and toes: I never drank till within these two years, and I did +it to cure my head. I often sit evenings with some of these people, and drink +in my turn; but I am now resolved to drink ten times less than before; but +they advise me to let what I drink be all wine, and not to put water to it. +Tooke and the printer stayed to-day to finish their affair, and treated me and +two of the Under Secretaries upon their getting the Gazette. Then I went to +see Lord Treasurer, and chid him for not taking notice of me at Windsor. He +said he kept a place for me yesterday at dinner, and expected me there; but I +was glad I did not go, because the Duke of Buckingham was there, and that +would have made us acquainted; which I have no mind to. However, we appointed +to sup at Mr. Masham's, and there stayed till past one o'clock; and that is +late, sirrahs: and I have much business. + +31. I have sent a noble haunch of venison this afternoon to Mrs. Vanhomrigh: +I wish you had it, sirrahs. I dined gravely with my landlord the Secretary. +The Queen was abroad to-day in order to hunt; but, finding it disposed to +rain, she kept in her coach; she hunts in a chaise with one horse, which she +drives herself, and drives furiously, like Jehu, and is a mighty hunter, like +Nimrod. Dingley has heard of Nimrod, but not Stella, for it is in the Bible. +I was to-day at Eton, which is but just cross the bridge, to see my Lord +Kerry's son,[11] who is at school there. Mr. Secretary has given me a warrant +for a buck; I can't send it to MD. It is a sad thing, faith, considering how +Presto loves MD, and how MD would love Presto's venison for Presto's sake. +God bless the two dear Wexford girls! + +Aug. 1. We had for dinner the fellow of that haunch of venison I sent to +London; 'twas mighty fat and good, and eight people at dinner; that was bad. +The Queen and I were going to take the air this afternoon, but not together; +and were both hindered by a sudden rain. Her coaches and chaises all went +back, and the guards too; and I scoured into the market-place for shelter. I +intended to have walked up the finest avenue I ever saw, two miles long, with +two rows of elms on each side. I walked in the evening a little upon the +terrace, and came home at eight: Mr. Secretary came soon after, and we were +engaging in deep discourse, and I was endeavouring to settle some points of +the greatest consequence, and had wormed myself pretty well into him, when his +Under Secretary came in (who lodges in the same house with us) and interrupted +all my scheme. I have just left him: it is late, etc. + +2. I have been now five days at Windsor, and Patrick has been drunk three +times that I have seen, and oftener I believe. He has lately had clothes that +have cost me five pounds, and the dog thinks he has the whip-hand of me: he +begins to master me; so now I am resolved to part with him, and will use him +without the least pity. The Secretary and I have been walking three or four +hours to-day. The Duchess of Shrewsbury[12] asked him, was not that Dr.--Dr.- +-and she could not say my name in English, but said Dr. Presto, which is +Italian for Swift. Whimsical enough, as Billy Swift[13] says. I go to-morrow +with the Secretary to his house at Bucklebury, twenty-five miles from hence, +and return early on Sunday morning. I will leave this letter behind me locked +up, and give you an account of my journey when I return. I had a letter +yesterday from the Bishop of Clogher, who is coming up to his Parliament. +Have you any correspondence with him to Wexford? Methinks, I now long for a +letter from you, dated Wexford, July 24, etc. O Lord, that would be so +pretending;[14] and then, says you, Stella can't write much, because it is bad +to write when one drinks the waters; and I think, says you, I find myself +better already, but I cannot tell yet whether it be the journey or the waters. +Presto is so silly to-night; yes he be; but Presto loves MD dearly, as hope +saved. + +3. Morning. I am to go this day at noon, as I told you, to Bucklebury: we +dine at twelve, and expect to be there in four hours. I cannot bid you good- +night now, because I shall be twenty-five miles from this paper to-night, and +so my journal must have a break; so good-morrow, etc. + +4, 5. I dined yesterday at Bucklebury, where we lay two nights, and set out +this morning at eight, and were here at twelve; in four hours we went twenty- +six miles. Mr. Secretary was a perfect country gentleman at Bucklebury: he +smoked tobacco with one or two neighbours; he inquired after the wheat in such +a field; he went to visit his hounds, and knew all their names; he and his +lady saw me to my chamber just in the country fashion. His house is in the +midst of near three thousand pounds a year he had by his lady,[15] who is +descended from Jack Newbury, of whom books and ballads are written; and there +is an old picture of him in the house. She is a great favourite of mine. I +lost church to-day; but I dressed and shaved, and went to Court, and would not +dine with the Secretary, but engaged myself to a private dinner with Mr. +Lewis, and one friend more. We go to London to-morrow; for Lord Dartmouth, +the other Secretary, is come, and they are here their weeks by turns. + +6. Lord Treasurer comes every Saturday to Windsor, and goes away on Monday or +Tuesday. I was with him this morning at his levee, for one cannot see him +otherwise here, he is so hurried: we had some talk; and I told him I would +stay this week at Windsor by myself, where I can have more leisure to do some +business that concerns them. Lord Treasurer and the Secretary thought to +mortify me; for they told me they had been talking a great deal of me to-day +to the Queen, and she said she had never heard of me. I told them that was +their fault, and not hers, etc., and so we laughed. I dined with the +Secretary, and let him go to London at five without me; and here am I alone in +the Prebendary's house, which Mr. Secretary has taken; only Mr. Lewis is in my +neighbourhood, and we shall be good company. The Vice-Chamberlain,[16] and +Mr. Masham, and the Green Cloth,[17] have promised me dinners. I shall want +but four till Mr. Secretary returns. We have a music-meeting in our town to- +night. I went to the rehearsal of it, and there was Margarita,[18] and her +sister, and another drab, and a parcel of fiddlers: I was weary, and would +not go to the meeting, which I am sorry for, because I heard it was a great +assembly. Mr. Lewis came from it, and sat with me till just now; and 'tis +late. + +7. I can do no business, I fear, because Mr. Lewis, who has nothing or little +to do here, sticks close to me. I dined today with the gentlemen ushers, +among scurvy company; but the Queen was hunting the stag till four this +afternoon, and she drove in her chaise above forty miles, and it was five +before we went to dinner. Here are fine walks about this town. I sometimes +walk up the avenue. + +8. There was a Drawing-room to-day at Court; but so few company, that the +Queen sent for us into her bed-chamber, where we made our bows, and stood +about twenty of us round the room, while she looked at us round with her fan +in her mouth, and once a minute said about three words to some that were +nearest her, and then she was told dinner was ready, and went out. I dined at +the Green Cloth, by Mr. Scarborow's[19] invitation, who is in waiting. It is +much the best table in England, and costs the Queen a thousand pounds a month +while she is at Windsor or Hampton Court, and is the only mark of magnificence +or hospitality I can see in the Queen's family: it is designed to entertain +foreign Ministers, and people of quality, who come to see the Queen, and have +no place to dine at. + +9. Mr. Coke, the Vice-Chamberlain, made me a long visit this morning, and +invited me to dinner; but the toast, his lady,[20] was unfortunately engaged +to Lady Sunderland.[21] Lord Treasurer stole here last night, but did not lie +at his lodgings in the Castle; and, after seeing the Queen, went back again. +I just drank a dish of chocolate with him. I fancy I shall have reason to be +angry with him very soon; but what care I? I believe I shall die with +Ministries in my debt.--This night I received a certain letter from a place +called Wexford, from two dear naughty girls of my acquaintance; but, faith, I +will not answer it here, no in troth. I will send this to Mr. Reading, +supposing it will find you returned; and I hope better for the waters. + +10. Mr. Vice-Chamberlain lent me his horses to ride about and see the country +this morning. Dr. Arbuthnot, the Queen's physician and favourite, went out +with me to show me the places: we went a little after the Queen, and overtook +Miss Forester,[22] a maid of honour, on her palfrey, taking the air; we made +her go along with us. We saw a place they have made for a famous horse-race +to-morrow, where the Queen will come. We met the Queen coming back, and Miss +Forester stood, like us, with her hat off while the Queen went by. The Doctor +and I left the lady where we found her, but under other conductors; and we +dined at a little place he has taken, about a mile off.--When I came back I +found Mr. Scarborow had sent all about to invite me to the Green Cloth, and +lessened his company on purpose to make me easy. It is very obliging, and +will cost me thanks. Much company is come to town this evening, to see to- +morrow's race. I was tired with riding a trotting mettlesome horse a dozen +miles, having not been on horseback this twelvemonth. And Miss Forester did +not make it easier; she is a silly true maid of honour, and I did not like +her, although she be a toast, and was dressed like a man.[23] + +11. I will send this letter to-day. I expect the Secretary by noon. I will +not go to the race unless I can get room in some coach. It is now morning. I +must rise, and fold up and seal my letter. Farewell, and God preserve dearest +MD. + +I believe I shall leave this town on Monday. + + + +LETTER 28. + +WINDSOR, Aug. 11, 1711. + +I sent away my twenty-seventh this morning in an express to London, and +directed to Mr. Reading: this shall go to your lodgings, where I reckon you +will be returned before it reaches you. I intended to go to the race[1] to- +day, but was hindered by a visit: I believe I told you so in my last. I +dined to-day at the Green Cloth, where everybody had been at the race but +myself, and we were twenty in all, and very noisy company; but I made the +Vice-Chamberlain and two friends more sit at a side table, to be a little +quiet. At six I went to see the Secretary, who is returned; but Lord Keeper +sent to desire I would sup with him, where I stayed till just now: Lord +Treasurer and Secretary were to come to us, but both failed. 'Tis late, etc. + +12. I was this morning to visit Lord Keeper, who made me reproaches that I +had never visited him at Windsor. He had a present sent him of delicious +peaches, and he was champing and champing, but I durst not eat one; I wished +Dingley had some of them, for poor Stella can no more eat fruit than Presto. +Dilly Ashe is come to Windsor; and after church I carried him up to the +drawing-room, and talked to the Keeper and Treasurer, on purpose to show them +to him; and he saw the Queen and several great lords, and the Duchess of +Montagu;[2] he was mighty happy, and resolves to fill a letter to the +Bishop.[3] My friend Lewis and I dined soberly with Dr. Adams,[4] the only +neighbour prebendary. One of the prebendaries here is lately a peer, by the +death of his father. He is now Lord Willoughby of Broke,[5] and will sit in +the House of Lords with his gown. I supped to-night at Masham's with Lord +Treasurer, Mr. Secretary, and Prior. The Treasurer made us stay till twelve, +before he came from the Queen, and 'tis now past two. + +13. I reckoned upon going to London to-day; but by an accident the Cabinet +Council did not sit last night, and sat to-day, so we go to-morrow at six in +the morning. I missed the race to-day by coming out too late, when +everybody's coach was gone, and ride I would not: I felt my last riding three +days after. We had a dinner to-day at the Secretary's lodgings without him: +Mr. Hare,[6] his Under Secretary, Mr. Lewis, Brigadier Sutton,[7] and I, dined +together; and I made the Vice-Chamberlain take a snap with us, rather than +stay till five for his lady, who was gone to the race. The reason why the +Cabinet Council was not held last night was because Mr. Secretary St. John +would not sit with your Duke of Somerset.[8] So to-day the Duke was forced to +go to the race while the Cabinet was held. We have music-meetings in our +town, and I was at the rehearsal t'other day; but I did not value it, nor +would go to the meeting. Did I tell you this before? + +London, 14. We came to town this day in two hours and forty minutes: twenty +miles are nothing here. I found a letter from the Archbishop of Dublin, sent +me the Lord knows how. He says some of the bishops will hardly believe that +Lord Treasurer got the Queen to remit the First-Fruits before the Duke of +Ormond was declared Lord Lieutenant, and that the bishops have written a +letter to Lord Treasurer to thank him. He has sent me the address of the +Convocation, ascribing, in good part, that affair to the Duke, who had less +share in it than MD; for if it had not been for MD, I should not have been so +good a solicitor. I dined to-day in the City, about a little bit of mischief, +with a printer.--I found Mrs. Vanhomrigh all in combustion, squabbling with +her rogue of a landlord; she has left her house, and gone out of our +neighbourhood a good way. Her eldest daughter is come of age, and going to +Ireland to look after her fortune, and get it in her own hands.[9] + +15. I dined to-day with Mrs. Van, who goes to-night to her new lodgings. I +went at six to see Lord Treasurer; but his company was gone, contrary to +custom, and he was busy, and I was forced to stay some time before I could see +him. We were together hardly an hour, and he went away, being in haste. He +desired me to dine with him on Friday, because there would be a friend of his +that I must see: my Lord Harley told me, when he was gone, that it was Mrs. +Masham his father meant, who is come to town to lie-in, and whom I never saw, +though her husband is one of our Society. God send her a good time! her death +would be a terrible thing.[10]--Do you know that I have ventured all my credit +with these great Ministers, to clear some misunderstandings betwixt them; and +if there be no breach, I ought to have the merit of it. 'Tis a plaguy +ticklish piece of work, and a man hazards losing both sides. It is a pity the +world does not know my virtue.--I thought the clergy in Convocation in Ireland +would have given me thanks for being their solicitor; but I hear of no such +thing. Pray talk occasionally on that subject, and let me know what you hear. +Do you know the greatness of my spirit, that I value their thanks not a rush, +but at my return shall freely let all people know that it was my Lord +Treasurer's action, wherein the Duke of Ormond had no more share than a cat? +And so they may go whistle, and I'll go sleep. + +16. I was this day in the City, and dined at Pontack's[11] with Stratford, +and two other merchants. Pontack told us, although his wine was so good, he +sold it cheaper than others; he took but seven shillings a flask. Are not +these pretty rates? The books he sent for from Hamburg are come, but not yet +got out of the custom-house. My library will be at least double when I come +back. I shall go to Windsor again on Saturday, to meet our Society, who are +to sup at Mr. Secretary's; but I believe I shall return on Monday, and then I +will answer your letter, that lies here safe underneath;--I see it; lie still: +I will answer you when the ducks have eaten up the dirt. + +17. I dined to-day at Lord Treasurer's with Mrs. Masham, and she is extremely +like one Mrs. Malolly, that was once my landlady in Trim. She was used with +mighty kindness and respect, like a favourite. It signifies nothing going to +this Lord Treasurer about business, although it be his own. He was in haste, +and desires I will come again, and dine with him to-morrow. His famous lying +porter is fallen sick, and they think he will die: I wish I had all my half- +crowns again. I believe I have told you he is an old Scotch fanatic, and the +damn'dest liar in his office alive.[12] I have a mind to recommend Patrick to +succeed him: I have trained him up pretty well. I reckon for certain you are +now in town. The weather now begins to alter to rain. + +Windsor, 18. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, and he would make me go with +him to Windsor, although I was engaged to the Secretary, to whom I made my +excuses: we had in the coach besides, his son and son-in-law, Lord Harley and +Lord Dupplin, who are two of our Society, and seven of us met by appointment, +and supped this night with the Secretary. It was past nine before we got +here, but a fine moonshiny night. I shall go back, I believe, on Monday. +'Tis very late. + +19. The Queen did not stir out to-day, she is in a little fit of the gout. I +dined at Mr. Masham's; we had none but our Society members, six in all, and I +supped with Lord Treasurer. The Queen has ordered twenty thousand pounds to +go on with the building at Blenheim, which has been starved till now, since +the change of the Ministry.[13] I suppose it is to reward his last action of +getting into the French lines.[14] Lord Treasurer kept me till past twelve. + +London, 20. It rained terribly every step of our journey to-day: I returned +with the Secretary after a dinner of cold meat, and went to Mrs. Van's, where +I sat the evening. I grow very idle, because I have a great deal of business. +Tell me how you passed your time at Wexford; and are not you glad at heart you +have got home safe to your lodgings at St. Mary's, pray? And so your friends +come to visit you; and Mrs. Walls is much better of her eye; and the Dean is +just as he used to be: and what does Walls say of London? 'tis a reasoning +coxcomb. And Goody Stoyte, and Hannah what d'ye call her; no, her name an't +Hannah, Catherine I mean; they were so glad to see the ladies again! and Mrs. +Manley wanted a companion at ombre. + +21. I writ to-day to the Archbishop of Dublin, and enclosed a long politic +paper by itself. You know the bishops are all angry (smoke the wax-candle +drop at the bottom of this paper) I have let the world know the First-Fruits +were got by Lord Treasurer before the Duke of Ormond was Governor. I told +Lord Treasurer all this, and he is very angry; but I pacified him again by +telling him they were fools, and knew nothing of what passed here; but thought +all was well enough if they complimented the Duke of Ormond. Lord Treasurer +gave me t'other day a letter of thanks he received from the bishops of +Ireland, signed by seventeen; and says he will write them an answer. The Dean +of Carlisle sat with me to-day till three; and I went to dine with Lord +Treasurer, who dined abroad, so did the Secretary, and I was left in the suds. +'Twas almost four, and I got to Sir Matthew Dudley, who had half dined. +Thornhill, who killed Sir Cholmley Dering,[15] was murdered by two men, on +Turnham Green, last Monday night: as they stabbed him, they bid him remember +Sir Cholmley Dering. They had quarrelled at Hampton Court, and followed and +stabbed him on horseback. We have only a Grub Street paper of it, but I +believe it is true. I went myself through Turnham Green the same night, which +was yesterday. + +22. We have had terrible rains these two or three days. I intended to dine +at Lord Treasurer's, but went to see Lady Abercorn, who is come to town, and +my lord; and I dined with them, and visited Lord Treasurer this evening. His +porter is mending. I sat with my lord about three hours, and am come home +early to be busy. Passing by White's Chocolate-house,[16] my brother Masham +called me, and told me his wife was brought to bed of a boy, and both very +well. (Our Society, you must know, are all brothers.) Dr. Garth told us that +Mr. Henley[17] is dead of an apoplexy. His brother-in-law, Earl Poulett, is +gone down to the Grange, to take care of his funeral. The Earl of Danby,[18] +the Duke of Leeds's eldest grandson, a very hopeful young man of about twenty, +is dead at Utrecht of the smallpox.--I long to know whether you begin to have +any good effect by your waters.--Methinks this letter goes on slowly; 'twill +be a fortnight next Saturday since it was begun, and one side not filled. O +fie for shame, Presto! Faith, I'm so tosticated to and from Windsor, that I +know not what to say; but, faith, I'll go to Windsor again on Saturday, if +they ask me, not else. So lose your money again, now you are come home; do, +sirrah. + +Take your magnifying-glass, Madam Dingley. + +You shan't read this, sirrah Stella; don't read it for your life, for fear of +your dearest eyes. + +There's enough for this side; these Ministers hinder me. Pretty, dear, +little, naughty, saucy MD. + +Silly, impudent, loggerhead Presto. + +23. Dilly and I dined to-day with Lord Abercorn, and had a fine fat haunch of +venison, that smelt rarely on one side: and after dinner Dilly won half a +crown of me at backgammon at his lodgings, to his great content. It is a +scurvy empty town this melancholy season of the year; but I think our weather +begins to mend. The roads are as deep as in winter. The grapes are sad +things; but the peaches are pretty good, and there are some figs. I sometimes +venture to eat one, but always repent it. You say nothing of the box sent +half a year ago. I wish you would pay me for Mrs. Walls's tea. Your mother +is in the country, I suppose. Pray send me the account of MD, Madam Dingley, +as it stands since November,[19] that is to say, for this year (excluding the +twenty pounds lent Stella for Wexford), for I cannot look in your letters. I +think I ordered that Hawkshaw's interest should be paid to you. When you +think proper, I will let Parvisol know you have paid that twenty pounds, or +part of it; and so go play with the Dean, and I will answer your letter to- +morrow. Good-night, sirrahs, and love Presto, and be good girls. + +24. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for not dining with him +yesterday, for it seems I did not understand his invitation; and their Club of +the Ministry dined together, and expected me. Lord Radnor[20] and I were +walking the Mall this evening; and Mr. Secretary met us, and took a turn or +two, and then stole away, and we both believed it was to pick up some wench; +and to-morrow he will be at the Cabinet with the Queen: so goes the world! +Prior has been out of town these two months, nobody knows where, and is lately +returned. People confidently affirm he has been in France, and I half believe +it. It is said he was sent by the Ministry, and for some overtures towards a +peace. The Secretary pretends he knows nothing of it. I believe your +Parliament will be dissolved. I have been talking about the quarrel between +your Lords and Commons with Lord Treasurer, and did, at the request of some +people, desire that the Queen's answer to the Commons' address might express a +dislike of some principles, etc.; but was answered dubiously.--And so now to +your letter, fair ladies. I know drinking is bad; I mean writing is bad in +drinking the waters; and was angry to see so much in Stella's hand. But why +Dingley drinks them, I cannot imagine; but truly she'll drink waters as well +as Stella: why not? I hope you now find the benefit of them since you are +returned; pray let me know particularly. I am glad you are forced upon +exercise, which, I believe, is as good as the waters for the heart of them. +'Tis now past the middle of August; so by your reckoning you are in Dublin. +It would vex me to the dogs that letters should miscarry between Dublin and +Wexford, after 'scaping the salt seas. I will write no more to that nasty +town in haste again, I warrant you. I have been four Sundays together at +Windsor, of which a fortnight together; but I believe I shall not go to- +morrow, for I will not, unless the Secretary asks me. I know all your news +about the Mayor: it makes no noise here at all, but the quarrel of your +Parliament does; it is so very extraordinary, and the language of the Commons +so very pretty. The Examiner has been down this month, and was very silly the +five or six last papers; but there is a pamphlet come out, in answer to a +letter to the seven Lords who examined Gregg.[21] The Answer[22] is by the +real author of the Examiner, as I believe; for it is very well written. We +had Trapp's poem on the Duke of Ormond[23] printed here, and the printer sold +just eleven of them. 'Tis a dull piece, not half so good as Stella's; and she +is very modest to compare herself with such a poetaster. I am heartily sorry +for poor Mrs. Parnell's[24] death; she seemed to be an excellent good-natured +young woman, and I believe the poor lad is much afflicted; they appeared to +live perfectly well together. Dilly is not tired at all with England, but +intends to continue here a good while: he is mighty easy to be at distance +from his two sisters-in-law. He finds some sort of scrub acquaintance; goes +now and then in disguise to a play; smokes his pipe; reads now and then a +little trash, and what else the Lord knows. I see him now and then; for he +calls here, and the town being thin, I am less pestered with company than +usual. I have got rid of many of my solicitors, by doing nothing for them: I +have not above eight or nine left, and I'll be as kind to them. Did I tell +you of a knight who desired me to speak to Lord Treasurer to give him two +thousand pounds, or five hundred pounds a year, until he could get something +better? I honestly delivered my message to the Treasurer, adding, the knight +was a puppy, whom I would not give a groat to save from the gallows. Cole +Reading's father-in-law has been two or three times at me, to recommend his +lights to the Ministry, assuring me that a word of mine would, etc. Did not +that dog use to speak ill of me, and profess to hate me? He knows not where I +lodge, for I told him I lived in the country; and I have ordered Patrick to +deny me constantly to him.--Did the Bishop of London[25] die in Wexford? poor +gentleman! Did he drink the waters? were you at his burial? was it a great +funeral? so far from his friends! But he was very old: we shall all follow. +And yet it was a pity, if God pleased. He was a good man; not very learned: +I believe he died but poor. Did he leave any charity legacies? who held up +his pall? was there a great sight of clergy? do they design a tomb for him?-- +Are you sure it was the Bishop of London? because there is an elderly +gentleman here that we give the same title to: or did you fancy all this in +your water, as others do strange things in their wine? They say these waters +trouble the head, and make people imagine what never came to pass. Do you +make no more of killing a Bishop? are these your Whiggish tricks?--Yes, yes, I +see you are in a fret. O, faith, says you, saucy Presto, I'll break your +head; what, can't one report what one hears, without being made a jest and a +laughing-stock? Are these your English tricks, with a murrain? And +Sacheverell will be the next Bishop? He would be glad of an addition of two +hundred pounds a year to what he has, and that is more than they will give +him, for aught I see. He hates the new Ministry mortally, and they hate him, +and pretend to despise him too. They will not allow him to have been the +occasion of the late change; at least some of them will not: but my Lord +Keeper owned it to me the other day. No, Mr. Addison does not go to Ireland +this year: he pretended he would; but he is gone to Bath with Pastoral +Philips, for his eyes.--So now I have run over your letter; and I think this +shall go to-morrow, which will be just a fortnight from the last, and bring +things to the old form again, after your rambles to Wexford, and mine to +Windsor. Are there not many literal faults in my letters? I never read them +over, and I fancy there are. What do you do then? do you guess my meaning, or +are you acquainted with my manner of mistaking? I lost my handkerchief in the +Mall to-night with Lord Radnor; but I made him walk with me to find it, and +find it I did not. Tisdall[26] (that lodges with me) and I have had no +conversation, nor do we pull off our hats in the streets. There is a cousin +of his (I suppose,) a young parson, that lodges in the house too; a handsome, +genteel fellow. Dick Tighe[27] and his wife lodged over against us; and he +has been seen, out of our upper windows, beating her two or three times: they +are both gone to Ireland, but not together; and he solemnly vows never to live +with her. Neighbours do not stick to say that she has a tongue: in short, I +am told she is the most urging, provoking devil that ever was born; and he a +hot, whiffling[28] puppy, very apt to resent. I'll keep this bottom till to- +morrow: I'm sleepy. + +25. I was with the Secretary this morning, who was in a mighty hurry, and +went to Windsor in a chariot with Lord Keeper; so I was not invited, and am +forced to stay at home, but not at all against my will; for I could have gone, +and would not. I dined in the City with one of my printers, for whom I got +the Gazette, and am come home early; and have nothing to say to you more, but +finish this letter, and not send it by the bellman. Days grow short, and the +weather grows bad, and the town is splenetic, and things are so oddly +contrived that I cannot be absent; otherwise I would go for a few days to +Oxford, as I promised.--They say it is certain that Prior has been in +France,[29] nobody doubts it: I had not time to ask the Secretary, he was in +such haste. Well, I will take my leave of dearest MD for a while; for I must +begin my next letter to-night: consider that, young women; and pray be merry, +and good girls, and love Presto. There is now but one business the Ministry +want me for, and when that is done, I will take my leave of them. I never got +a penny from them, nor expect it. In my opinion, some things stand very +ticklish; I dare say nothing at this distance. Farewell, dear sirrahs, +dearest lives: there is peace and quiet with MD, and nowhere else. They have +not leisure here to think of small things, which may ruin them; and I have +been forward enough. Farewell again, dearest rogues; I am never happy but +when I write or think of MD. I have enough of Courts and Ministries, and wish +I were at Laracor; and if I could with honour come away this moment, I would. +Bernage[30] came to see me to-day; he is just landed from Portugal, and come +to raise recruits; he looks very well, and seems pleased with his station and +manner of life. He never saw London nor England before; he is ravished with +Kent, which was his first prospect when he landed. Farewell again, etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 29. + +LONDON, Aug. 25, 1711. + +I have got a pretty small gilt sheet of paper, to write to MD. I have this +moment sent my 28th by Patrick, who tells me he has put it in the post-office; +'tis directed to your lodgings: if it wants more particular direction, you +must set me right. It is now a solar month and two days since the date of +your last, N.18; and I reckon you are now quiet at home, and thinking to begin +your 19th, which will be full of your quarrel between the two Houses, all +which I know already. Where shall I dine to-morrow? can you tell? Mrs. +Vanhomrigh boards now, and cannot invite one; and there I used to dine when I +was at a loss: and all my friends are gone out of town, and your town is now +at the fullest, with your Parliament and Convocation. But let me alone, +sirrahs; for Presto is going to be very busy; not Presto, but the other I. + +26. People have so left the town that I am at a loss for a dinner. It is a +long time since I have been at London upon a Sunday; and the Ministers are all +at Windsor. It cost me eighteenpence in coach-hire before I could find a +place to dine in. I went to Frankland's,[1] and he was abroad, and the drab +his wife looked out at window, and bowed to me without inviting me up: so I +dined with Mr. Coote,[2] my Lord Mountrath's brother; my lord is with you in +Ireland. This morning at five my Lord Jersey[3] died of the gout in his +stomach, or apoplexy, or both: he was abroad yesterday, and his death was +sudden. He was Chamberlain to King William, and a great favourite, turned out +by the Queen as a Tory, and stood now fair to be Privy Seal; and by his death +will, I suppose, make that matter easier, which has been a very stubborn +business at Court, as I have been informed. I never remember so many people +of quality to have died in so short a time. + +27. I went to-day into the City, to thank Stratford for my books, and dine +with him, and settle my affairs of my money in the Bank, and receive a bill +for Mrs. Wesley for some things I am to buy for her; and the d---- a one of +all these could I do. The merchants were all out of town, and I was forced to +go to a little hedge place for my dinner. May my enemies live here in summer! +and yet I am so unlucky that I cannot possibly be out of the way at this +juncture. People leave the town so late in summer, and return so late in +winter, that they have almost inverted the seasons. It is autumn this good +while in St. James's Park; the limes have been losing their leaves, and those +remaining on the trees are all parched: I hate this season, where everything +grows worse and worse. The only good thing of it is the fruit, and that I +dare not eat. Had you any fruit at Wexford? A few cherries, and durst not +eat them. I do not hear we have yet got a new Privy Seal. The Whigs whisper +that our new Ministry differ among themselves, and they begin to talk out Mr. +Secretary: they have some reasons for their whispers, although I thought it +was a greater secret. I do not much like the posture of things; I always +apprehended that any falling out would ruin them, and so I have told them +several times. The Whigs are mighty full of hopes at present; and whatever is +the matter, all kind of stocks fall. I have not yet talked with the Secretary +about Prior's journey. I should be apt to think it may foretell a peace, and +that is all we have to preserve us. The Secretary is not come from Windsor, +but I expect him to-morrow. Burn all politics! + +28. We begin to have fine weather, and I walked to-day to Chelsea, and dined +with the Dean of Carlisle, who is laid up with the gout. It is now fixed that +he is to be Dean of Christ Church in Oxford. I was advising him to use his +interest to prevent any misunderstanding between our Ministers; but he is too +wise to meddle, though he fears the thing and the consequences as much as I. +He will get into his own warm, quiet deanery, and leave them to themselves; +and he is in the right.--When I came home to-night, I found a letter from Mr. +Lewis, who is now at Windsor; and in it, forsooth, another which looked like +Presto's hand; and what should it be but a 19th from MD? O, faith, I 'scaped +narrowly, for I sent my 28th but on Saturday; and what should I have done if I +had two letters to answer at once? I did not expect another from Wexford, +that is certain. Well, I must be contented; but you are dear saucy girls, for +all that, to write so soon again, faith; an't you? + +29. I dined to-day with Lord Abercorn, and took my leave of them: they set +out to-morrow for Chester, and, I believe, will now fix in Ireland. They have +made a pretty good journey of it: his eldest son[4] is married to a lady with +ten thousand pounds; and his second son[5] has, t'other day, got a prize in +the lottery of four thousand pounds, beside two small ones of two hundred +pounds each: nay, the family was so fortunate, that my lord bestowing one +ticket, which is a hundred pounds, to one of his servants, who had been his +page, the young fellow got a prize, which has made it another hundred. I went +in the evening to Lord Treasurer, who desires I will dine with him to-morrow, +when he will show me the answer he designs to return to the letter of thanks +from your bishops in Ireland. The Archbishop of Dublin desired me to get +myself mentioned in the answer which my lord would send; but I sent him word I +would not open my lips to my lord upon it. He says it would convince the +bishops of what I have affirmed, that the First-Fruits were granted before the +Duke of Ormond was declared Governor; and I writ to him that I would not give +a farthing to convince them. My Lord Treasurer began a health to my Lord +Privy Seal: Prior punned, and said it was so privy, he knew not who it was; +but I fancy they have fixed it all, and we shall know to-morrow. But what +care you who is Privy Seal, saucy sluttikins? + +30. When I went out this morning, I was surprised with the news that the +Bishop of Bristol is made Lord Privy Seal. You know his name is Robinson,[6] +and that he was many years Envoy in Sweden. All the friends of the present +Ministry are extremely glad, and the clergy above the rest. The Whigs will +fret to death to see a civil employment given to a clergyman. It was a very +handsome thing in my Lord Treasurer, and will bind the Church to him for ever. +I dined with him to-day, but he had not written his letter;[see above, 29th +Aug.] but told me he would not offer to send it without showing it to me: he +thought that would not be just, since I was so deeply concerned in the affair. +We had much company: Lord Rivers, Mar,[7] and Kinnoull,[8] Mr. Secretary, +George Granville, and Masham: the last has invited me to the christening of +his son to-morrow se'ennight; and on Saturday I go to Windsor with Mr. +Secretary. + +31. Dilly and I walked to-day to Kensington to Lady Mountjoy, who invited us +to dinner. He returned soon, to go to a play, it being the last that will be +acted for some time: he dresses himself like a beau, and no doubt makes a +fine figure. I went to visit some people at Kensington: Ophy Butler's +wife[9] there lies very ill of an ague, which is a very common disease here, +and little known in Ireland. I am apt to think we shall soon have a peace, by +the little words I hear thrown out by the Ministry. I have just thought of a +project to bite the town. I have told you that it is now known that Mr. Prior +has been lately in France. I will make a printer of my own sit by me one day, +and I will dictate to him a formal relation of Prior's journey,[10] with +several particulars, all pure invention; and I doubt not but it will take. + +Sept. 1. Morning. I go to-day to Windsor with Mr. Secretary; and Lord +Treasurer has promised to bring me back. The weather has been fine for some +time, and I believe we shall have a great deal of dust.--At night. Windsor. +The Secretary and I dined to-day at Parson's Green, at my Lord Peterborow's +house, who has left it and his gardens to the Secretary during his absence. +It is the finest garden I have ever seen about this town; and abundance of hot +walls for grapes, where they are in great plenty, and ripening fast. I durst +not eat any fruit but one fig; but I brought a basket full to my friend Lewis +here at Windsor. Does Stella never eat any? what, no apricots at Donnybrook! +nothing but claret and ombre! I envy people maunching and maunching peaches +and grapes, and I not daring to eat a bit. My head is pretty well, only a +sudden turn any time makes me giddy for a moment, and sometimes it feels very +stuffed; but if it grows no worse, I can bear it very well. I take all +opportunities of walking; and we have a delicious park here just joining to +the Castle, and an avenue in the great park very wide and two miles long, set +with a double row of elms on each side. Were you ever at Windsor? I was +once, a great while ago; but had quite forgotten it. + +2. The Queen has the gout, and did not come to chapel, nor stir out from her +chamber, but received the sacrament there, as she always does the first Sunday +in the month. Yet we had a great Court; and, among others, I saw your +Ingoldsby,[11] who, seeing me talk very familiarly with the Keeper, Treasurer, +etc., came up and saluted me, and began a very impertinent discourse about the +siege of Bouchain. I told him I could not answer his questions, but I would +bring him one that should; so I went and fetched Sutton (who brought over the +express about a month ago), and delivered him to the General, and bid him +answer his questions; and so I left them together. Sutton after some time +comes back in a rage, finds me with Lord Rivers and Masham, and there +complains of the trick I had played him, and swore he had been plagued to +death with Ingoldsby's talk. But he told me Ingoldsby asked him what I meant +by bringing him; so, I suppose, he smoked me a little. So we laughed, etc. +My Lord Willoughby,[12] who is one of the chaplains, and Prebendary of +Windsor, read prayers last night to the family; and the Bishop of Bristol, who +is Dean of Windsor, officiated last night at the Cathedral. This they do to +be popular; and it pleases mightily. I dined with Mr. Masham, because he lets +me have a select company: for the Court here have got by the end a good thing +I said to the Secretary some weeks ago. He showed me his bill of fare, to +tempt me to dine with him. "Poh," said I, "I value not your bill of fare; +give me your bill of company." Lord Treasurer was mightily pleased, and told +it everybody as a notable thing. I reckon upon returning to-morrow: they say +the Bishop will then have the Privy Seal delivered him at a great Council. + +3. Windsor still. The Council was held so late to-day that I do not go back +to town till to-morrow. The Bishop was sworn Privy Councillor, and had the +Privy Seal given him: and now the patents are passed for those who were this +long time to be made lords or earls. Lord Raby,[13] who is Earl of Strafford, +is on Thursday to marry a namesake of Stella's; the daughter of Sir H. Johnson +in the City; he has three-score thousand pounds with her, ready money; besides +the rest at the father's death. I have got my friend Stratford to be one of +the directors of the South Sea Company, who were named to-day. My Lord +Treasurer did it for me a month ago; and one of those whom I got to be printer +of the Gazette I am recommending to be printer to the same company. He +treated Mr. Lewis and me to-day at dinner. I supped last night and this with +Lord Treasurer, Keeper, etc., and took occasion to mention the printer. I +said it was the same printer whom my Lord Treasurer has appointed to print for +the South Sea Company. He denied, and I insisted on it; and I got the laugh +on my side. + +London, 4. I came as far as Brentford in Lord Rivers's chariot, who had +business with Lord Treasurer; then I went into Lord Treasurer's. We stopped +at Kensington, where Lord Treasurer went to see Mrs. Masham, who is now what +they call in the straw. We got to town by three, and I lighted at Lord +Treasurer's, who commanded me not to stir: but I was not well; and when he +went up, I begged the young lord to excuse me, and so went into the City by +water, where I could be easier, and dined with the printer, and dictated to +him some part of Prior's Journey to France. I walked from the City, for I +take all occasions of exercise. Our journey was horridly dusty. + +5. When I went out to-day, I found it had rained mightily in the night, and +the streets were as dirty as winter: it is very refreshing after ten days +dry.--I went into the City, and dined with Stratford, thanked him for his +books, gave him joy of his being director, of which he had the first notice by +a letter from me. I ate sturgeon, and it lies on my stomach. I almost +finished Prior's Journey at the printer's; and came home pretty late, with +Patrick at my heels. + +7. Morning. But what shall we do about this letter of MD's, N.19? Not a +word answered yet, and so much paper spent! I cannot do anything in it, +sweethearts, till night.--At night. O Lord, O Lord! the greatest disgrace +that ever was has happened to Presto. What do you think? but, when I was +going out this forenoon a letter came from MD, N.20, dated Dublin. O dear, O +dear! O sad, O sad!--Now I have two letters together to answer: here they +are, lying together. But I will only answer the first; for I came in late. I +dined with my friend Lewis at his lodgings, and walked at six to Kensington to +Mrs. Masham's son's christening. It was very private; nobody there but my +Lord Treasurer, his son and son-in-law, that is to say, Lord Harley and Lord +Dupplin, and Lord Rivers and I. The Dean of Rochester[14] christened the +child, but soon went away. Lord Treasurer and Lord Rivers were godfathers; +and Mrs. Hill,[15] Mrs. Masham's sister, godmother. The child roared like a +bull, and I gave Mrs. Masham joy of it; and she charged me to take care of my +nephew, because, Mr. Masham being a brother of our Society, his son, you know, +is consequently a nephew. Mrs. Masham sat up dressed in bed, but not, as they +do in Ireland, with all smooth about her, as if she was cut off in the middle; +for you might see the counterpane (what d'ye call it?) rise about her hips and +body. There is another name of the counterpane; and you will laugh now, +sirrahs. George Granville came in at supper, and we stayed till eleven; and +Lord Treasurer set me down at my lodging in Suffolk Street. Did I ever tell +you that Lord Treasurer hears ill with the left ear, just as I do? He always +turns the right, and his servants whisper him at that only. I dare not tell +him that I am so too, for fear he should think I counterfeited, to make my +court. + +6. You must read this before the other; for I mistook, and forgot to write +yesterday's journal, it was so insignificant. I dined with Dr. Cockburn, and +sat the evening with Lord Treasurer till ten o'clock. On Thursdays he has +always a large select company, and expects me. So good-night for last night, +etc. + +8. Morning. I go to Windsor with Lord Treasurer to-day, and will leave this +behind me, to be sent to the post. And now let us hear what says the first +letter, N.19. You are still at Wexford, as you say, Madam Dingley. I think +no letter from me ever yet miscarried. And so Inish-Corthy,[16] and the river +Slainy; fine words those in a lady's mouth. Your hand like Dingley's, you +scambling,[17] scattering sluttikin! YES, MIGHTY LIKE INDEED, IS NOT IT?[18] +Pisshh, do not talk of writing or reading till your eyes are well, and long +well; only I would have Dingley read sometimes to you, that you may not lose +the desire of it. God be thanked, that the ugly numbing is gone! Pray use +exercise when you go to town. What game is that ombra which Dr. Elwood[19] +and you play at? is it the Spanish game ombre? Your card-purse? you a card- +purse! you a fiddlestick. You have luck indeed; and luck in a bag. What a +devil! is that eight-shilling tea-kettle copper, or tin japanned? It is like +your Irish politeness, raffling for tea-kettles. What a splutter you keep, to +convince me that Walls has no taste! My head continues pretty well. Why do +you write, dear sirrah Stella, when you find your eyes so weak that you cannot +see? what comfort is there in reading what you write, when one knows that? So +Dingley cannot write, because of the clutter of new company come to Wexford! +I suppose the noise of their hundred horses disturbs you; or do you lie in one +gallery, as in an hospital? What! you are afraid of losing in Dublin the +acquaintance you have got in Wexford, and chiefly the Bishop of Raphoe,[20] an +old, doting, perverse coxcomb? Twenty at a time at breakfast. That is like +five pounds at a time, when it was never but once. I doubt, Madam Dingley, +you are apt to lie in your travels, though not so bad as Stella; she tells +thumpers, as I shall prove in my next, if I find this receives encouragement.- +-So Dr. Elwood says there are a world of pretty things in my works. A pox on +his praises! an enemy here would say more. The Duke of Buckingham would say +as much, though he and I are terribly fallen out; and the great men are +perpetually inflaming me against him: they bring me all he says of me, and, I +believe, make it worse out of roguery.--No, 'tis not your pen is bewitched, +Madam Stella, but your old SCRAWLING, SPLAY-FOOT POT-HOOKS, S, S,[21] ay +that's it: there the s, s, s, there, there, that's exact. Farewell, etc. + +Our fine weather is gone; and I doubt we shall have a rainy journey to-day. +Faith, 'tis shaving-day, and I have much to do. When Stella says her pen was +bewitched, it was only because there was a hair in it. You know, the fellow +they call God-help-it had the same thoughts of his wife, and for the same +reason. I think this is very well observed, and I unfolded the letter to tell +you it. + +Cut off those two notes above; and see the nine pounds indorsed, and receive +the other; and send me word how my accounts stand, that they may be adjusted +by Nov. 1.[22] Pray be very particular; but the twenty pounds I lend you is +not to be included: so make no blunder. I won't wrong you, nor you shan't +wrong me; that is the short. O Lord, how stout Presto is of late! But he +loves MD more than his life a thousand times, for all his stoutness; tell them +that; and that I'll swear it, as hope saved, ten millions of times, etc. etc. + +I open my letter once more, to tell Stella that if she does not use exercise +after her waters, it will lose all the effects of them: I should not live if +I did not take all opportunities of walking. Pray, pray, do this, to oblige +poor Presto. + + + +LETTER 30. + +WINDSOR, Sept. 8, 1711. + +I made the coachman stop, and put in my twenty-ninth at the post-office at two +o'clock to-day, as I was going to Lord Treasurer, with whom I dined, and came +here by a quarter-past eight; but the moon shone, and so we were not in much +danger of overturning; which, however, he values not a straw, and only laughs +when I chide at him for it. There was nobody but he and I, and we supped +together, with Mr. Masham, and Dr. Arbuthnot, the Queen's favourite physician, +a Scotchman. I could not keep myself awake after supper, but did all I was +able to disguise it, and thought I came off clear; but, at parting, he told me +I had got my nap already. It is now one o'clock; but he loves sitting up +late. + +9. The Queen is still in the gout, but recovering: she saw company in her +bed-chamber after church; but the crowd was so great, I could not see her. I +dined with my brother Sir William Wyndham,[1] and some others of our Society, +to avoid the great tables on Sunday at Windsor, which I hate. The usual +company supped to-night at Lord Treasurer's, which was Lord Keeper, Mr. +Secretary, George Granville, Masham, Arbuthnot, and I. But showers have +hindered me from walking to-day, and that I do not love.--Noble fruit, and I +dare not eat a bit. I ate one fig to-day, and sometimes a few mulberries, +because it is said they are wholesome, and you know a good name does much. I +shall return to town to-morrow, though I thought to have stayed a week, to be +at leisure for something I am doing. But I have put it off till next; for I +shall come here again on Saturday, when our Society are to meet at supper at +Mr. Secretary's. My life is very regular here: on Sunday morning I +constantly visit Lord Keeper, and sup at Lord Treasurer's with the same set of +company. I was not sleepy to-night; I resolved I would not; yet it is past +midnight at this present writing. + +London, 10. Lord Treasurer and Masham and I left Windsor at three this +afternoon: we dropped Masham at Kensington with his lady, and got home by +six. It was seven before we sat down to dinner, and I stayed till past +eleven. Patrick came home with the Secretary: I am more plagued with Patrick +and my portmantua than with myself. I forgot to tell you that when I went to +Windsor on Saturday I overtook Lady Giffard and Mrs. Fenton[2] in a chariot, +going, I suppose, to Sheen. I was then in a chariot too, of Lord Treasurer's +brother, who had business with the Treasurer; and my lord came after, and +overtook me at Turnham Green, four miles from London; and then the brother +went back, and I went in the coach with Lord Treasurer: so it happened that +those people saw me, and not with Lord Treasurer. Mrs. F. was to see me about +a week ago; and desired I would get her son into the Charter-house. + +11. This morning the printer sent me an account of Prior's Journey;[3] it +makes a twopenny pamphlet. I suppose you will see it, for I dare engage it +will run; 'tis a formal, grave lie, from the beginning to the end. I writ all +but about the last page; that I dictated, and the printer writ. Mr. Secretary +sent to me to dine where he did; it was at Prior's: when I came in, Prior +showed me the pamphlet, seemed to be angry, and said, "Here is our English +liberty!" I read some of it, and said I liked it mightily, and envied the +rogue the thought; for, had it come into my head, I should have certainly done +it myself. We stayed at Prior's till past ten; and then the Secretary +received a packet with the news of Bouchain being taken, for which the guns +will go off to-morrow. Prior owned his having been in France, for it was past +denying: it seems he was discovered by a rascal at Dover, who had positive +orders to let him pass. I believe we shall have a peace. + +12. It is terrible rainy weather, and has cost me three shillings in coaches +and chairs to-day, yet I was dirty into the bargain. I was three hours this +morning with the Secretary about some business of moment, and then went into +the City to dine. The printer tells me he sold yesterday a thousand of +Prior's Journey, and had printed five hundred more. It will do rarely, I +believe, and is a pure bite. And what is MD doing all this while? got again +to their cards, their Walls, their deans, their Stoytes, and their claret? +Pray present my service to Mr. Stoyte and Catherine. Tell Goody Stoyte she +owes me a world of dinners, and I will shortly come over and demand them.--Did +I tell you of the Archbishop of Dublin's last letter? He had been saying, in +several of his former, that he would shortly write to me something about +myself; and it looked as if he intended something for me: at last out it +comes, and consists of two parts. First, he advises me to strike in for some +preferment now I have friends; and secondly, he advises me, since I have +parts, and learning, and a happy pen, to think of some new subject in divinity +not handled by others, which I should manage better than anybody. A rare +spark this, with a pox! but I shall answer him as rarely. Methinks he should +have invited me over, and given me some hopes or promises. But hang him! and +so good-night, etc. + +13. It rained most furiously all this morning till about twelve, and +sometimes thundered; I trembled for my shillings, but it cleared up, and I +made a shift to get a walk in the Park, and then went with the Secretary to +dine with Lord Treasurer. Upon Thursdays there is always a select company: +we had the Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Rivers, the two Secretaries, Mr. +Granville, and Mr. Prior. Half of them went to Council at six; but Rivers, +Granville, Prior, and I, stayed till eight. Prior was often affecting to be +angry at the account of his journey to Paris; and indeed the two last pages, +which the printer got somebody to add,[4] are so romantic, they spoil all the +rest. Dilly Ashe pretended to me that he was only going to Oxford and +Cambridge for a fortnight, and then would come back. I could not see him as I +appointed t'other day; but some of his friends tell me he took leave of them +as going to Ireland; and so they say at his lodging. I believe the rogue was +ashamed to tell me so, because I advised him to stay the winter, and he said +he would. I find he had got into a good set of scrub acquaintance, and I +thought passed his time very merrily; but I suppose he languished after +Balderig, and the claret of Dublin; and, after all, I think he is in the +right; for he can eat, drink, and converse better there than here. Bernage +was with me this morning: he calls now and then; he is in terrible fear of a +peace. He said he never had his health so well as in Portugal. He is a +favourite of his Colonel. + +14. I was mortified enough to-day, not knowing where in the world to dine, +the town is so empty. I met H. Coote,[5] and thought he would invite me, but +he did not: Sir John Stanley did not come into my head; so I took up with +Mrs. Van, and dined with her and her damned landlady, who, I believe, by her +eyebrows, is a bawd. This evening I met Addison and Pastoral Philips in the +Park, and supped with them at Addison's lodgings: we were very good company, +and I yet know no man half so agreeable to me as he is. I sat with them till +twelve, so you may think it is late, young women; however, I would have some +little conversation with MD before your Presto goes to bed, because it makes +me sleep, and dream, and so forth. Faith, this letter goes on slowly enough, +sirrahs; but I cannot write much at a time till you are quite settled after +your journey, you know, and have gone all your visits, and lost your money at +ombre. You never play at chess now, Stella. That puts me in mind of Dick +Tighe; I fancy I told you he used to beat his wife here; and she deserved it; +and he resolves to part with her; and they went to Ireland in different +coaches. O Lord, I said all this before, I am sure. Go to bed, sirrahs. + +Windsor, 15. I made the Secretary stop at Brentford, because we set out at +two this afternoon, and fasting would not agree with me. I only designed to +eat a bit of bread-and-butter; but he would light, and we ate roast beef like +dragons. And he made me treat him and two more gentlemen; faith, it cost me a +guinea. I do not like such jesting, yet I was mightily pleased with it too. +To-night our Society met at the Secretary's: there were nine of us; and we +have chosen a new member, the Earl of Jersey,[6] whose father died lately. +'Tis past one, and I have stolen away. + +16. I design to stay here this week by myself, about some business that lies +on my hands, and will take up a great deal of time. Dr. Adams,[7] one of the +canons, invited me to-day to dinner. The tables are so full here on Sunday +that it is hard to dine with a few, and Dr. Adams knows I love to do so; which +is very obliging. The Queen saw company in her bed-chamber; she looks very +well, but she sat down. I supped with Lord Treasurer as usual, and stayed +till past one as usual, and with our usual company, except Lord Keeper, who +did not come this time to Windsor. I hate these suppers mortally, but I +seldom eat anything. + +17. Lord Treasurer and Mr. Secretary stay here till tomorrow; some business +keeps them, and I am sorry for it, for they hinder me a day. Mr. Lewis and I +were going to dine soberly with a little Court friend at one. But Lord Harley +and Lord Dupplin kept me by force, and said we should dine at Lord +Treasurer's, who intended to go at four to London. I stayed like a fool, and +went with the two young lords to Lord Treasurer, who very fairly turned us all +three out of doors. They both were invited to the Duke of Somerset, but he +was gone to a horse-race, and would not come till five; so we were forced to +go to a tavern, and sent for wine from Lord Treasurer's, who at last, we were +told, did not go to town till the morrow, and at Lord Treasurer's we supped +again; and I desired him to let me add four shillings to the bill I gave him. +We sat up till two, yet I must write to little MD. + +18. They are all gone early this morning, and I am alone to seek my fortune; +but Dr. Arbuthnot engages me for my dinners; and he yesterday gave me my +choice of place, person, and victuals for to-day. So I chose to dine with +Mrs. Hill, who is one of the dressers, and Mrs. Masham's sister, no company +but us three, and to have a shoulder of mutton, a small one; which was +exactly, only there was too much victuals besides; and the Doctor's wife[8] +was of the company. And to-morrow Mrs. Hill and I are to dine with the +Doctor. I have seen a fellow often about Court whom I thought I knew. I +asked who he was, and they told me it was the gentleman porter; then I called +him to mind; he was Killy's acquaintance (I won't say yours); I think his name +is Lovet,[9] or Lovel, or something like it. I believe he does not know me, +and in my present posture I shall not be fond of renewing old acquaintance; I +believe I used to see him with the Bradleys; and, by the way, I have not seen +Mrs. Bradley since I came to England. I left your letter in London, like a +fool; and cannot answer it till I go back, which will not be until Monday +next; so this will be above a fortnight from my last; but I will fetch it up +in my next; so go and walk to the Dean's for your health this fine weather. + +19. The Queen designs to have cards and dancing here next week, which makes +us think she will stay here longer than we believed. Mrs. Masham is not well +after her lying-in: I doubt she got some cold; she is lame in one of her legs +with a rheumatic pain. Dr. Arbuthnot and Mrs. Hill go tomorrow to Kensington +to see her, and return the same night. Mrs. Hill and I dined with the Doctor +to-day. I rode out this morning with the Doctor to see Cranburn, a house of +Lord Ranelagh's,[10] and the Duchess of Marlborough's lodge, and the Park; the +finest places they are, for nature and plantations, that ever I saw; and the +finest riding upon artificial roads, made on purpose for the Queen. Arbuthnot +made me draw up a sham subscription for a book, called A History of the Maids +of Honour since Harry the Eighth, showing they make the best wives, with a +list of all the maids of honour since, etc.; to pay a crown in hand, and the +other crown upon delivery of the book; and all in common forms of those +things. We got a gentleman to write it fair, because my hand is known; and we +sent it to the maids of honour, when they came to supper. If they bite at it, +it will be a very good Court jest; and the Queen will certainly have it: we +did not tell Mrs. Hill. + +20. To-day I was invited to the Green Cloth by Colonel Godfrey, who married +the Duke of Marlborough's sister,[11] mother to the Duke of Berwick by King +James: I must tell you those things that happened before you were born. But +I made my excuses, and young Harcourt (Lord Keeper's son) and I dined with my +next neighbour, Dr Adams.[12] Mrs. Masham is better, and will be here in +three or four days. She had need; for the Duchess of Somerset is thought to +gain ground daily.--We have not sent you over all your bills; and I think we +have altered your money-bill. The Duke of Ormond is censured here, by those +in power, for very wrong management in the affair of the mayoralty.[13] He is +governed by fools, and has usually much more sense than his advisers, but +never proceeds by it. I must know how your health continues after Wexford. +Walk and use exercise, sirrahs both; and get somebody to play at shuttlecock +with you, Madam Stella, and walk to the Dean's and Donnybrook. + +21. Colonel Godfrey sent to me again to-day; so I dined at the Green Cloth, +and we had but eleven at dinner, which is a small number there, the Court +being always thin of company till Saturday night.--This new ink and pen make a +strange figure; I MUST WRITE LARGER, YES I MUST, OR STELLA WILL NOT BE ABLE TO +READ THIS.[14] S. S. S., there is your S's for you, Stella. The maids of +honour are bit, and have all contributed their crowns, and are teasing others +to subscribe for the book. I will tell Lord Keeper and Lord Treasurer to- +morrow; and I believe the Queen will have it. After a little walk this +evening, I squandered away the rest of it in sitting at Lewis's lodging, while +he and Dr. Arbuthnot played at picquet. I have that foolish pleasure, which I +believe nobody has beside me, except old Lady Berkeley.[15] But I fretted +when I came away: I will loiter so no more, for I have a plaguy deal of +business upon my hands, and very little time to do it. The pamphleteers begin +to be very busy against the Ministry: I have begged Mr. Secretary to make +examples of one or two of them, and he assures me he will. They are very bold +and abusive. + +22. This being the day the Ministry come to Windsor, I ate a bit or two at +Mr. Lewis's lodgings, because I must sup with Lord Treasurer; and at half an +hour after one, I led Mr. Lewis a walk up the avenue, which is two miles long. +We walked in all about five miles; but I was so tired with his slow walking, +that I left him here, and walked two miles towards London, hoping to meet Lord +Treasurer, and return with him; but it grew darkish, and I was forced to walk +back, so I walked nine miles in all; and Lord Treasurer did not come till +after eight; which is very wrong, for there was no moon, and I often tell him +how ill he does to expose himself so; but he only makes a jest of it. I +supped with him, and stayed till now, when it is half an hour after two. He +is as merry and careless and disengaged as a young heir at one-and-twenty. +'Tis late indeed. + +23. The Secretary did not come last night, but at three this afternoon. I +have not seen him yet, but I verily think they are contriving a peace as fast +as they can, without which it will be impossible to subsist. The Queen was at +church to-day, but was carried in a chair. I and Mr. Lewis dined privately +with Mr. Lowman,[16] Clerk of the Kitchen. I was to see Lord Keeper this +morning, and told him the jest of the maids of honour; and Lord Treasurer had +it last night. That rogue Arbuthnot puts it all upon me. The Court was very +full to-day. I expected Lord Treasurer would have invited me to supper; but +he only bowed to me; and we had no discourse in the drawing-room. It is now +seven at night, and I am at home; and I hope Lord Treasurer will not send for +me to supper: if he does not, I will reproach him; and he will pretend to +chide me for not coming.--So farewell till I go to bed, for I am going to be +busy.--It is now past ten, and I went down to ask the servants about Mr. +Secretary: they tell me the Queen is yet at Council, and that she went to +supper, and came out to the Council afterwards. It is certain they are +managing a peace. I will go to bed, and there is an end.--It is now eleven, +and a messenger is come from Lord Treasurer to sup with them; but I have +excused myself, and am glad I am in bed; for else I should sit up till two, +and drink till I was hot. Now I'll go sleep. + +London, 24. I came to town by six with Lord Treasurer, and have stayed till +ten. That of the Queen's going out to sup, and coming in again, is a lie, as +the Secretary told me this morning; but I find the Ministry are very busy with +Mr. Prior, and I believe he will go again to France. I am told so much, that +we shall certainly have a peace very soon. I had charming weather all last +week at Windsor; but we have had a little rain to-day, and yesterday was +windy. Prior's Journey sells still; they have sold two thousand, although the +town is empty. I found a letter from Mrs. Fenton here, desiring me, in Lady +Giffard's name, to come and pass a week at Sheen, while she is at Moor Park. +I will answer it with a vengeance: and now you talk of answering, there is +MD's N.20 is yet to be answered: I had put it up so safe, I could hardly find +it; but here it is, faith, and I am afraid I cannot send this till Thursday; +for I must see the Secretary to-morrow morning, and be in some other place in +the evening. + +25. Stella writes like an emperor, and gives such an account of her journey, +never saw the like. Let me see; stand away, let us compute; you stayed four +days at Inish-Corthy, two nights at Mrs. Proby's mother's, and yet was but six +days in journey; for your words are, "We left Wexford this day se'ennight, and +came here last night." I have heard them say that "travellers may lie by +authority." Make up this, if you can. How far is it from Wexford to Dublin? +how many miles did you travel in a day?[17] Let me see--thirty pounds in two +months is nine score pounds a year; a matter of nothing in Stella's purse! I +dreamed Billy Swift was alive, and that I told him you writ me word he was +dead, and that you had been at his funeral; and I admired at your impudence, +and was in mighty haste to run and let you know what lying rogues you were. +Poor lad! he is dead of his mother's former folly and fondness; and yet now I +believe, as you say, that her grief will soon wear off.--O yes, Madam Dingley, +mightily tired of the company, no doubt of it, at Wexford! And your +description of it is excellent; clean sheets, but bare walls; I suppose then +you lay upon the walls.--Mrs. Walls has got her tea; but who pays me the +money? Come, I shall never get it; so I make a present of it, to stop some +gaps, etc. Where's the thanks of the house? So, that's well; why, it cost +four-and-thirty shillings English--you must adjust that with Mrs. Walls; I +think that is so many pence more with you.--No, Leigh and Sterne, I suppose, +were not at the water-side: I fear Sterne's business will not be done; I have +not seen him this good while. I hate him, for the management of that box; and +I was the greatest fool in nature for trusting to such a young jackanapes; I +will speak to him once more about it, when I see him. Mr. Addison and I met +once more since, and I supped with him; I believe I told you so somewhere in +this letter. The Archbishop chose an admirable messenger in Walls, to send to +me; yet I think him fitter for a messenger than anything.--The D---- she has! +I did not observe her looks. Will she rot out of modesty with Lady Giffard? +I pity poor Jenny[18]--but her husband is a dunce, and with respect to him she +loses little by her deafness. I believe, Madam Stella, in your accounts you +mistook one liquor for another, and it was an hundred and forty quarts of +wine, and thirty-two of water.--This is all written in the morning before I go +to the Secretary, as I am now doing. I have answered your letter a little +shorter than ordinary; but I have a mind it should go to-day, and I will give +you my journal at night in my next; for I'm so afraid of another letter before +this goes: I will never have two together again unanswered.--What care I for +Dr. Tisdall and Dr. Raymond, or how many children they have! I wish they had +a hundred apiece.--Lord Treasurer promises me to answer the bishops' letter +to-morrow, and show it me; and I believe it will confirm all I said, and +mortify those that threw the merit on the Duke of Ormond; for I have made him +jealous of it; and t'other day, talking of the matter, he said, "I am your +witness, you got it for them before the Duke was Lord Lieutenant." My humble +service to Mrs. Walls, Mrs. Stoyte, and Catherine. Farewell, etc. + +What do you do when you see any literal mistakes in my letters? how do you set +them right? for I never read them over to correct them. Farewell, again. + +Pray send this note to Mrs. Brent, to get the money when Parvisol comes to +town, or she can send to him. + + + +LETTER 31. + +LONDON, Sept. 25, 1711. + +I dined in the City to-day, and at my return I put my 30th into the post- +office; and when I got home I found for me one of the noblest letters I ever +read: it was from ----, three sides and a half in folio, on a large sheet of +paper; the two first pages made up of satire upon London, and crowds and +hurry, stolen from some of his own schoolboy's exercises: the side and a half +remaining is spent in desiring me to recommend Mrs. South, your Commissioner's +widow,[1] to my Lord Treasurer for a pension. He is the prettiest, +discreetest fellow that ever my eyes beheld, or that ever dipped pen into ink. +I know not what to say to him. A pox on him, I have too many such customers +on this side already. I think I will send him word that I never saw my Lord +Treasurer in my life: I am sure I industriously avoided the name of any great +person when I saw him, for fear of his reporting it in Ireland. And this +recommendation must be a secret too, for fear the Duke of Bolton[2] should +know it, and think it was too mean. I never read so d----d a letter in my +life: a little would make me send it over to you.--I must send you a pattern, +the first place I cast my eyes on, I will not pick and choose. IN THIS PLACE +(meaning the Exchange in London), WHICH IS THE COMPENDIUM OF OLD TROYNOVANT, +AS THAT IS OF THE WHOLE BUSY WORLD, I GOT SUCH A SURFEIT, THAT I GREW SICK OF +MANKIND, AND RESOLVED FOR EVER AFTER TO BURY MYSELF IN THE SHADY RETREAT OF -- +---. You must know that London has been called by some Troynovant, or New +Troy. Will you have any more? Yes, one little bit for Stella, because she'll +be fond of it. This wondrous theatre (meaning London) was no more to me than +a desert, and I should less complain of solitude in a Connaught shipwreck, or +even the great bog of Allen. A little scrap for Mrs. Marget,[3] and then I +have done. THEIR ROYAL FANUM, WHEREIN THE IDOL PECUNIA IS DAILY WORSHIPPED, +SEEMED TO ME TO BE JUST LIKE A HIVE OF BEES WORKING AND LABOURING UNDER HUGE +WEIGHTS OF CARES. Fanum is a temple, but he means the Exchange; and Pecunia +is money: so now Mrs. Marget will understand her part. One more paragraph, +and I-- Well, come, don't be in such a rage, you shall have no more. Pray, +Stella, be satisfied; 'tis very pretty: and that I must be acquainted with +such a dog as this!--Our peace goes on fast. Prior was with the Secretary two +hours this morning: I was there a little after he went away, and was told it. +I believe he will soon be despatched again to France; and I will put somebody +to write an account of his second journey: I hope you have seen the other. +This latter has taken up my time with storming at it. + +26. Bernage has been with me these two days; yesterday I sent for him to let +him know that Dr. Arbuthnot is putting in strongly to have his brother made a +captain over Bernage's[4] head. Arbuthnot's brother is but an ensign, but the +Doctor has great power with the Queen: yet he told me he would not do +anything hard to a gentleman who is my friend; and I have engaged the +Secretary and his Colonel[5] for him. To-day he told me very melancholy, that +the other had written from Windsor (where he went to solicit) that he has got +the company; and Bernage is full of the spleen. I made the Secretary write +yesterday a letter to the Colonel in Bernage's behalf. I hope it will do yet; +and I have written to Dr. Arbuthnot to Windsor, not to insist on doing such a +hardship. I dined in the City at Pontack's, with Stratford; it cost me seven +shillings: he would have treated, but I did not let him. I have removed my +money from the Bank to another fund. I desire Parvisol may speak to Hawkshaw +to pay in my money when he can, for I will put it in the funds; and, in the +meantime, borrow so much of Mr. Secretary, who offers to lend it me. Go to +the Dean's, sirrahs. + +27. Bernage was with me again to-day, and is in great fear, and so was I; but +this afternoon, at Lord Treasurer's, where I dined, my brother, George +Granville, Secretary at War, after keeping me a while in suspense, told me +that Dr. Arbuthnot had waived the business, because he would not wrong a +friend of mine; that his brother is to be a lieutenant, and Bernage is made a +captain. I called at his lodging, and the soldier's coffee-house, to put him +out of pain, but cannot find him; so I have left word, and shall see him to- +morrow morning, I suppose. Bernage is now easy; he has ten shillings a day, +beside lawful cheating. However, he gives a private sum to his Colonel, but +it is very cheap: his Colonel loves him well, but is surprised to see him +have so many friends. So he is now quite off my hands. I left the company +early to-night, at Lord Treasurer's; but the Secretary followed me, to desire +I would go with him to W--. Mr. Lewis's man came in before I could finish +that word beginning with a W, which ought to be Windsor, and brought me a very +handsome rallying letter from Dr. Arbuthnot, to tell me he had, in compliance +to me, given up his brother's pretensions in favour of Bernage, this very +morning; that the Queen had spoken to Mr. Granville to make the company easy +in the other's having the captainship. Whether they have done it to oblige me +or no, I must own it so. He says he this very morning begged Her Majesty to +give Mr. Bernage the company. I am mighty well pleased to have succeeded so +well; but you will think me tedious, although you like the man, as I think. + +Windsor, 28. I came here a day sooner than ordinary, at Mr. Secretary's +desire, and supped with him and Prior, and two private Ministers from France, +and a French priest.[6] I know not the two Ministers' names; but they are +come about the peace. The names the Secretary called them, I suppose, were +feigned; they were good rational men. We have already settled all things with +France, and very much to the honour and advantage of England; and the Queen is +in mighty good humour. All this news is a mighty secret; the people in +general know that a peace is forwarding. The Earl of Strafford[7] is to go +soon to Holland, and let them know what we have been doing: and then there +will be the devil and all to pay; but we'll make them swallow it with a pox. +The French Ministers stayed with us till one, and the Secretary and I sat up +talking till two; so you will own 'tis late, sirrahs, and time for your little +saucy Presto to go to bed and sleep adazy; and God bless poor little MD: I +hope they are now fast asleep, and dreaming of Presto. + +29. Lord Treasurer came to-night, as usual, at half an hour after eight, as +dark as pitch. I am weary of chiding him; so I commended him for observing +his friend's advice, and coming so early, etc. I was two hours with Lady +Oglethorpe[8] to-night, and then supped with Lord Treasurer, after dining at +the Green Cloth: I stayed till two; this is the effect of Lord Treasurer's +being here; I must sup with him; and he keeps cursed hours. Lord Keeper and +the Secretary were absent; they cannot sit up with him. This long sitting up +makes the periods in my letters so short. I design to stay here all the next +week, to be at leisure by myself, to finish something of weight I have upon my +hands, and which must soon be done. I shall then think of returning to +Ireland, if these people will let me; and I know nothing else they have for me +to do. I gave Dr. Arbuthnot my thanks for his kindness to Bernage, whose +commission is now signed. Methinks I long to know something of Stella's +health, how it continues after Wexford waters. + +30. The Queen was not at chapel to-day, and all for the better, for we had a +dunce to preach: she has a little of the gout. I dined with my brother +Masham, and a moderate company, and would not go to Lord Treasurer's till +after supper at eleven o'clock, and pretended I had mistaken the hour; so I +ate nothing: and a little after twelve the company broke up, the Keeper and +Secretary refusing to stay; so I saved this night's debauch. Prior went away +yesterday with his Frenchmen, and a thousand reports are raised in this town. +Some said they knew one to be the Abbe de Polignac: others swore it was the +Abbe du Bois. The Whigs are in a rage about the peace; but we'll wherret[9] +them, I warrant, boys. Go, go, go to the Dean's and don't mind politics, +young women, they are not good after the waters; they are stark naught: they +strike up into the head. Go, get two black aces, and fish for a manilio. + +Oct. 1. Sir John Walter,[10] an honest drunken fellow, is now in waiting, and +invited me to the Green Cloth to-day, that he might not be behindhand with +Colonel Godfrey, who is a Whig. I was engaged to the Mayor's feast with Mr. +Masham; but waiting to take leave of Lord Treasurer, I came too late, and so +returned sneaking to the Green Cloth, and did not see my Lord Treasurer +neither; but was resolved not to lose two dinners for him. I took leave to- +day of my friend and solicitor Lord Rivers, who is commanded by the Queen to +set out for Hanover on Thursday. The Secretary does not go to town till to- +morrow; he and I, and two friends more, drank a sober bottle of wine here at +home, and parted at twelve; he goes by seven to-morrow morning, so I shall not +see him. I have power over his cellar in his absence, and make little use of +it. Lord Dartmouth and my friend Lewis stay here this week; but I can never +work out a dinner from Dartmouth. Masham has promised to provide for me: I +squired his lady out of her chaise to-day, and must visit her in a day or two. +So you have had a long fit of the finest weather in the world; but I am every +day in pain that it will go off. I have done no business to-day; I am very +idle. + +2. My friend Lewis and I, to avoid over much eating and great tables, dined +with honest Jemmy Eckershall,[11] Clerk of the Kitchen, now in waiting, and I +bespoke my dinner: but the cur had your acquaintance Lovet, the gentleman +porter, to be our company. Lovet, towards the end of dinner, after twenty +wrigglings, said he had the honour to see me formerly at Moor Park, and +thought he remembered my face. I said I thought I remembered him, and was +glad to see him, etc., and I escaped for that much, for he was very pert. It +has rained all this day, and I doubt our good weather is gone. I have been +very idle this afternoon, playing at twelvepenny picquet with Lewis: I won +seven shillings, which is the only money I won this year: I have not played +above four times, and I think always at Windsor. Cards are very dear: there +is a duty on them of sixpence a pack, which spoils small gamesters. + +3. Mr. Masham sent this morning to desire I would ride out with him, the +weather growing again very fine. I was very busy, and sent my excuses; but +desired he would provide me a dinner. I dined with him, his lady, and her +sister, Mrs. Hill, who invites us to-morrow to dine with her, and we are to +ride out in the morning. I sat with Lady Oglethorpe till eight this evening, +then was going home to write; looked about for the woman that keeps the key of +the house: she told me Patrick had it. I cooled my heels in the cloisters +till nine, then went in to the music-meeting, where I had been often desired +to go; but was weary in half an hour of their fine stuff, and stole out so +privately that everybody saw me; and cooled my heels in the cloisters again +till after ten: then came in Patrick. I went up, shut the chamber door, and +gave him two or three swinging cuffs on the ear, and I have strained the thumb +of my left hand with pulling him, which I did not feel until he was gone. He +was plaguily afraid and humbled. + +4. It was the finest day in the world, and we got out before eleven, a noble +caravan of us. The Duchess of Shrewsbury in her own chaise with one horse, +and Miss Touchet[12] with her, Mrs. Masham and Mrs. Scarborow, one of the +dressers, in one of the Queen's chaises; Miss Forester and Miss Scarborow,[13] +two maids of honour, and Mrs. Hill on horseback. The Duke of Shrewsbury, Mr. +Masham, George Fielding,[14] Arbuthnot, and I, on horseback too. Mrs. Hill's +horse was hired for Miss Scarborow, but she took it in civility; her own horse +was galled and could not be rid, but kicked and winced: the hired horse was +not worth eighteenpence. I borrowed coat, boots, and horse, and in short we +had all the difficulties, and more than we used to have in making a party from +Trim to Longfield's.[15] My coat was light camlet, faced with red velvet, and +silver buttons. We rode in the great park and the forest about a dozen miles, +and the Duchess and I had much conversation: we got home by two, and Mr. +Masham, his lady, Arbuthnot and I, dined with Mrs. Hill. Arbuthnot made us +all melancholy, by some symptoms of bloody u---e: he expects a cruel fit of +the stone in twelve hours; he says he is never mistaken, and he appears like a +man that was to be racked to-morrow. I cannot but hope it will not be so bad; +he is a perfectly honest man, and one I have much obligation to. It rained a +little this afternoon, and grew fair again. Lady Oglethorpe sent to speak to +me, and it was to let me know that Lady Rochester[16] desires she and I may be +better acquainted. 'Tis a little too late; for I am not now in love with Lady +Rochester: they shame me out of her, because she is old. Arbuthnot says he +hopes my strained thumb is not the gout; for he has often found people so +mistaken. I do not remember the particular thing that gave it me, only I had +it just after beating Patrick, and now it is better; so I believe he is +mistaken. + +5. The Duchess of Shrewsbury sent to invite me to dinner; but I was abroad +last night when her servant came, and this morning I sent my excuses, because +I was engaged, which I was sorry for. Mrs. Forester taxed me yesterday about +the History of the Maids of Honour;[17] but I told her fairly it was no jest +of mine; for I found they did not relish it altogether well; and I have enough +already of a quarrel with that brute Sir John Walter, who has been railing at +me in all companies ever since I dined with him; that I abused the Queen's +meat and drink, and said nothing at the table was good, and all a d----d lie; +for after dinner, commending the wine, I said I thought it was something +small. You would wonder how all my friends laugh at this quarrel. It will be +such a jest for the Keeper, Treasurer, and Secretary.--I dined with honest +Colonel Godfrey, took a good walk of an hour on the terrace, and then came up +to study; but it grows bloody cold, and I have no waistcoat here. + +6. I never dined with the chaplains till to-day; but my friend Gastrell and +the Dean of Rochester[18] had often invited me, and I happened to be +disengaged: it is the worst provided table at Court. We ate on pewter: +every chaplain, when he is made a dean, gives a piece of plate, and so they +have got a little, some of it very old. One who was made Dean of Peterborough +(a small deanery) said he would give no plate; he was only Dean of +Pewterborough. The news of Mr. Hill's miscarriage in his expedition[19] came +to-day, and I went to visit Mrs. Masham and Mrs. Hill, his two sisters, to +condole with them. I advised them by all means to go to the music-meeting to- +night, to show they were not cast down, etc., and they thought my advice was +right, and went. I doubt Mr. Hill and his admiral made wrong steps; however, +we lay it all to a storm, etc. I sat with the Secretary at supper; then we +both went to Lord Treasurer's supper, and sat till twelve. The Secretary is +much mortified about Hill, because this expedition was of his contriving, and +he counted much upon it; but Lord Treasurer was just as merry as usual, and +old laughing at Sir John Walter and me falling out. I said nothing grieved me +but that they would take example, and perhaps presume upon it, and get out of +my government; but that I thought I was not obliged to govern bears, though I +governed men. They promise to be as obedient as ever, and so we laughed; and +so I go to bed; for it is colder still, and you have a fire now, and are at +cards at home. + +7. Lord Harley and I dined privately to-day with Mrs. Masham and Mrs. Hill, +and my brother Masham. I saw Lord Halifax at Court, and we joined and talked; +and the Duchess of Shrewsbury came up and reproached me for not dining with +her. I said that was not so soon done, for I expected more advances from +ladies, especially duchesses: she promised to comply with any demands I +pleased; and I agreed to dine with her to-morrow, if I did not go to London +too soon, as I believe I shall before dinner. Lady Oglethorpe brought me and +the Duchess of Hamilton[20] together to-day in the drawing-room, and I have +given her some encouragement, but not much. Everybody has been teasing +Walter. He told Lord Treasurer that he took his company from him that were to +dine with him: my lord said, "I will send you Dr. Swift:" Lord Keeper bid +him take care what he did; "for," said he, "Dr. Swift is not only all our +favourite, but our governor." The old company supped with Lord Treasurer, and +got away by twelve. + +London, 8. I believe I shall go no more to Windsor, for we expect the Queen +will come in ten days to Hampton Court. It was frost last night, and cruel +cold to-day. I could not dine with the Duchess, for I left Windsor half an +hour after one with Lord Treasurer, and we called at Kensington, where Mrs. +Masham was got to see her children for two days. I dined, or rather supped, +with Lord Treasurer, and stayed till after ten. Tisdall[21] and his family +are gone from hence, upon some wrangle with the family. Yesterday I had two +letters brought me to Mr. Masham's; one from Ford, and t'other from our little +MD, N.21. I would not tell you till to-day, because I would not. I won't +answer it till the next, because I have slipped two days by being at Windsor, +which I must recover here. Well, sirrahs, I must go to sleep. The roads were +as dry as at midsummer to-day. This letter shall go to-morrow. + +9. Morning. It rains hard this morning. I suppose our fair weather is now +at an end. I think I'll put on my waistcoat to-day: shall I? Well, I will +then, to please MD. I think of dining at home to-day upon a chop and a pot. +The town continues yet very thin. Lord Strafford is gone to Holland, to tell +them what we have done here toward a peace. We shall soon hear what the Dutch +say, and how they take it. My humble service to Mrs. Walls, Mrs. Stoyte, and +Catherine.--Morrow, dearest sirrahs, and farewell; and God Almighty bless MD, +poor little dear MD, for so I mean, and Presto too. I'll write to you again +to-night, that is, I'll begin my next letter. Farewell, etc. + +This little bit belongs to MD; we must always write on the margin:[22] you +are saucy rogues. + + + +LETTER 32. + +LONDON, Oct. 9, 1711. + +I was forced to lie down at twelve to-day, and mend my night's sleep: I slept +till after two, and then sent for a bit of mutton and pot of ale from the next +cook's shop, and had no stomach. I went out at four, and called to see Biddy +Floyd, which I had not done these three months: she is something marked, but +has recovered her complexion quite, and looks very well. Then I sat the +evening with Mrs. Vanhomrigh, and drank coffee, and ate an egg. I likewise +took a new lodging to-day, not liking a ground-floor, nor the ill smell, and +other circumstances. I lodge, or shall lodge, by Leicester Fields, and pay +ten shillings a week; that won't hold out long, faith. I shall lie here but +one night more. It rained terribly till one o'clock to-day. I lie, for I +shall lie here two nights, till Thursday, and then remove. Did I tell you +that my friend Mrs. Barton has a brother[1] drowned, that went on the +expedition with Jack Hill? He was a lieutenant-colonel, and a coxcomb; and +she keeps her chamber in form, and the servants say she receives no messages.- +-Answer MD's letter, Presto, d'ye hear? No, says Presto, I won't yet, I'm +busy; you're a saucy rogue. Who talks? + +10. It cost me two shillings in coach-hire to dine in the City with a +printer. I have sent, and caused to be sent, three pamphlets out in a +fortnight. I will ply the rogues warm; and whenever anything of theirs makes +a noise, it shall have an answer. I have instructed an under spur-leather to +write so, that it is taken for mine. A rogue that writes a newspaper, called +The Protestant Postboy, has reflected on me in one of his papers; but the +Secretary has taken him up, and he shall have a squeeze extraordinary. He +says that an ambitious tantivy,[2] missing of his towering hopes of preferment +in Ireland, is come over to vent his spleen on the late Ministry, etc. I'll +tantivy him with a vengeance. I sat the evening at home, and am very busy, +and can hardly find time to write, unless it were to MD. I am in furious +haste. + +11. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer. Thursdays are now his days when his +choice company comes, but we are too much multiplied. George Granville sent +his excuses upon being ill; I hear he apprehends the apoplexy, which would +grieve me much. Lord Treasurer calls Prior nothing but Monsieur Baudrier, +which was the feigned name of the Frenchman that writ his Journey to Paris.[3] +They pretend to suspect me, so I talk freely of it, and put them out of their +play. Lord Treasurer calls me now Dr. Martin, because martin[4] is a sort of +a swallow, and so is a swift. When he and I came last Monday from Windsor, we +were reading all the signs on the road.[5] He is a pure trifler; tell the +Bishop of Clogher so. I made him make two lines in verse for the Bell and +Dragon, and they were rare bad ones. I suppose Dilly is with you by this +time: what could his reason be of leaving London, and not owning it? 'Twas +plaguy silly. I believe his natural inconstancy made him weary. I think he +is the king of inconstancy. I stayed with Lord Treasurer till ten; we had +five lords and three commoners. Go to ombre, sirrahs. + +12. Mrs. Vanhomrigh has changed her lodging as well as I. She found she had +got with a bawd, and removed. I dined with her to-day; for though she boards, +her landlady does not dine with her. I am grown a mighty lover of herrings; +but they are much smaller here than with you. In the afternoon I visited an +old major-general, and ate six oysters; then sat an hour with Mrs. +Colledge,[6] the joiner's daughter that was hanged; it was the joiner was +hanged, and not his daughter; with Thompson's wife, a magistrate. There was +the famous Mrs. Floyd of Chester, who, I think, is the handsomest woman +(except MD) that ever I saw. She told me that twenty people had sent her the +verses upon Biddy,[7] as meant to her: and, indeed, in point of handsomeness, +she deserves them much better. I will not go to Windsor to-morrow, and so I +told the Secretary to-day. I hate the thoughts of Saturday and Sunday suppers +with Lord Treasurer. Jack Hill is come home from his unfortunate expedition, +and is, I think, now at Windsor: I have not yet seen him. He is privately +blamed by his own friends for want of conduct. He called a council of war, +and therein it was determined to come back. But they say a general should not +do that, because the officers will always give their opinion for returning, +since the blame will not lie upon them, but the general. I pity him heartily. +Bernage received his commission to-day. + +13. I dined to-day with Colonel Crowe,[8] late Governor of Barbadoes; he is a +great acquaintance of your friend Sterne, to whom I trusted the box. Lord +Treasurer has refused Sterne's business, and I doubt he is a rake; Jemmy Leigh +stays for him, and nobody knows where to find him. I am so busy now I have +hardly time to spare to write to our little MD, but in a fortnight I hope it +will be over. I am going now to be busy, etc. + +14. I was going to dine with Dr. Cockburn, but Sir Andrew Fountaine met me, +and carried me to Mrs. Van's, where I drank the last bottle of Raymond's wine, +admirable good, better than any I get among the Ministry. I must pick up time +to answer this letter of MD's; I'll do it in a day or two for certain.--I am +glad I am not at Windsor, for it is very cold, and I won't have a fire till +November. I am contriving how to stop up my grate with bricks. Patrick was +drunk last night; but did not come to me, else I should have given him t'other +cuff. I sat this evening with Mrs. Barton; it is the first day of her seeing +company; but I made her merry enough, and we were three hours disputing upon +Whig and Tory. She grieved for her brother only for form, and he was a sad +dog. Is Stella well enough to go to church, pray? no numbings left? no +darkness in your eyes? do you walk and exercise? Your exercise is ombre.-- +People are coming up to town: the Queen will be at Hampton Court in a week. +Lady Betty Germaine, I hear, is come; and Lord Pembroke is coming: his +wife[9] is as big with child as she can tumble. + +15. I sat at home till four this afternoon to-day writing, and ate a roll and +butter; then visited Will Congreve an hour or two, and supped with Lord +Treasurer, who came from Windsor to-day, and brought Prior with him. The +Queen has thanked Prior for his good service in France, and promised to make +him a Commissioner of the Customs. Several of that Commission are to be out; +among the rest, my friend Sir Matthew Dudley. I can do nothing for him, he is +so hated by the Ministry. Lord Treasurer kept me till twelve, so I need not +tell you it is now late. + +16. I dined to-day with Mr. Secretary at Dr. Coatesworth's,[10] where he now +lodges till his house be got ready in Golden Square. One Boyer,[11] a French +dog, has abused me in a pamphlet, and I have got him up in a messenger's +hands: the Secretary promises me to swinge him. Lord Treasurer told me last +night that he had the honour to be abused with me in a pamphlet. I must make +that rogue an example, for warning to others. I was to see Jack Hill this +morning, who made that unfortunate expedition; and there is still more +misfortune; for that ship, which was admiral of his fleet,[12] is blown up in +the Thames, by an accident and carelessness of some rogue, who was going, as +they think, to steal some gunpowder: five hundred men are lost. We don't yet +know the particulars. I am got home by seven, and am going to be busy, and +you are going to play and supper; you live ten times happier than I; but I +should live ten times happier than you if I were with MD. I saw Jemmy Leigh +to-day in the street, who tells me that Sterne has not lain above once these +three weeks in his lodgings, and he doubts he takes ill courses; he stays only +till he can find Sterne to go along with him, and he cannot hear of him. I +begged him to inquire about the box when he comes to Chester, which he +promises. + +17. The Secretary and I dined to-day with Brigadier Britton,[13] a great +friend of his. The lady of the house is very gallant, about thirty-five; she +is said to have a great deal of wit; but I see nothing among any of them that +equals MD by a bar's length, as hope saved. My Lord Treasurer is much out of +order; he has a sore throat, and the gravel, and a pain in his breast where +the wound was: pray God preserve him. The Queen comes to Hampton Court on +Tuesday next; people are coming fast to town, and I must answer MD's letter, +which I can hardly find time to do, though I am at home the greatest part of +the day. Lady Betty Germaine and I were disputing Whig and Tory to death this +morning. She is grown very fat, and looks mighty well. Biddy Floyd was +there, and she is, I think, very much spoiled with the smallpox. + +18. Lord Treasurer is still out of order, and that breaks our method of +dining there to-day. He is often subject to a sore throat, and some time or +other it will kill him, unless he takes more care than he is apt to do. It +was said about the town that poor Lord Peterborow was dead at Frankfort; but +he is something better, and the Queen is sending him to Italy, where I hope +the warm climate will recover him: he has abundance of excellent qualities, +and we love one another mightily. I was this afternoon in the City, ate a bit +of meat, and settled some things with a printer. I will answer your letter on +Saturday, if possible, and then send away this; so to fetch up the odd days I +lost at Windsor, and keep constant to my fortnight. Ombre time is now coming +on, and we shall have nothing but Manley, and Walls, and Stoytes, and the +Dean. Have you got no new acquaintance? Poor girls; nobody knows MD's good +qualities.--'Tis very cold; but I will not have a fire till November, that's +pozz.--Well, but coming home to-night, I found on my table a letter from MD; +faith, I was angry, that is, with myself; and I was afraid too to see MD's +hand so soon, for fear of something, I don't know what: at last I opened it, +and it was over well, and a bill for the two hundred guineas. However, 'tis a +sad thing that this letter is not gone, nor your twenty-first answered yet. + +19. I was invited to-day to dine with Mrs. Van, with some company who did not +come; but I ate nothing but herrings; you must know I hardly ever eat of above +one thing, and that the plainest ordinary meat at table; I love it best, and +believe it wholesomest. You love rarities; yes you do; I wish you had all +that I ever see where I go. I was coming home early, and met the Secretary in +his chair, who persuaded me to go with him to Britton's; for he said he had +been all day at business, and had eaten nothing. So I went, and the time +passed so, that we stayed till two, so you may believe 'tis late enough. + +20. This day has gone all wrong, by sitting up so late last night. Lord +Treasurer is not yet well, and can't go to Windsor. I dined with Sir Matthew +Dudley, and took occasion to hint to him that he would lose his employment, +for which I am very sorry. Lord Pembroke and his family are all come to town. +I was kept so long at a friend's this evening that I cannot send this to- +night. When I knocked at my lodgings, a fellow asked me where lodged Dr. +Swift? I told him I was the person: he gave me a letter he brought from the +Secretary's office, and I gave him a shilling: when I came up, I saw +Dingley's hand: faith, I was afraid, I do not know what. At last it was a +formal letter, from Dingley about her exchequer business. Well, I'll do it on +Monday, and settle it with Tooke. And now, boys, for your letter, I mean the +first, N.21. Let's see; come out, little letter. I never had the letter from +the Bishop that Raymond mentions; but I have written to Ned Southwell, to +desire the Duke of Ormond to speak to his reverence, that he may leave off his +impertinence. What a pox can they think I am doing for the Archbishop here? +You have a pretty notion of me in Ireland, to make me an agent for the +Archbishop of Dublin.--Why! do you think I value your people's ingratitude +about my part in serving them? I remit them their first-fruits of +ingratitude, as freely as I got the other remitted to them. The Lord +Treasurer defers writing his letter to them, or else they would be plaguily +confounded by this time. For he designs to give the merit of it wholly to the +Queen and me, and to let them know it was done before the Duke of Ormond was +Lord Lieutenant. You visit, you dine abroad, you see friends; you +pilgarlick;[14] you walk from Finglas, you a cat's foot. O Lord--Lady +Gore[15] hung her child by the WAIST; what is that waist?[16] I don't +understand that word; he must hang on till you explain or spell it.--I don't +believe he was pretty, that's a liiii.--Pish! burn your First-Fruits; again at +it. Stella has made twenty false spellings in her writing; I'll send them to +you all back again on the other side of this letter, to mend them; I won't +miss one. Why, I think there were seventeen bishops' names to the letter Lord +Oxford received.--I will send you some pamphlets by Leigh; put me in mind of +it on Monday, for I shall go then to the printer; yes, and the Miscellany. I +am mightily obliged to Walls, but I don't deserve it by any usage of him here, +having seen him but twice, and once en passant. Mrs. Manley forsworn ombre! +What! and no blazing star appear? no monsters born? no whale thrown up? have +you not found out some evasion for her? She had no such regard to oaths in +her younger days. I got the books for nothing, Madam Dingley; but the wine I +got not; it was but a promise.--Yes, my head is pretty well in the main, only +now and then a little threatening or so.--You talk of my reconciling some +great folks. I tell you what. The Secretary told me last night that he had +found the reason why the Queen was cold to him for some months past; that a +friend had told it him yesterday; and it was, that they suspected he was at +the bottom with the Duke of Marlborough. Then he said he had reflected upon +all I had spoken to him long ago, but he thought it had only been my +suspicion, and my zeal and kindness for him. I said I had reason to take that +very ill, to imagine I knew so little of the world as to talk at a venture to +a great Minister; that I had gone between him and Lord Treasurer often, and +told each of them what I had said to the other, and that I had informed him so +before. He said all that you may imagine to excuse himself, and approve my +conduct. I told him I knew all along that this proceeding of mine was the +surest way to send me back to my willows in Ireland, but that I regarded it +not, provided I could do the kingdom service in keeping them well together. I +minded him how often I had told Lord Treasurer, Lord Keeper, and him together, +that all things depended on their union, and that my comfort was to see them +love one another; and I had told them all singly that I had not said this by +chance, etc. He was in a rage to be thus suspected; swears he will be upon a +better foot, or none at all; and I do not see how they can well want him in +this juncture. I hope to find a way of settling this matter. I act an honest +part, that will bring me neither honour nor praise. MD must think the better +of me for it: nobody else shall ever know of it. Here's politics enough for +once; but Madam DD gave me occasion for it. I think I told you I have got +into lodgings that don't smell ill--O Lord! the spectacles: well, I'll do +that on Monday too; although it goes against me to be employed for folks that +neither you nor I care a groat for. Is the eight pounds from Hawkshaw +included in the thirty-nine pounds five shillings and twopence? How do I know +by this how my account stands? Can't you write five or six lines to cast it +up? Mine is forty-four pounds per annum, and eight pounds from Hawkshaw makes +fifty-two pounds. Pray set it right, and let me know; you had best.--And so +now I have answered N.21, and 'tis late, and I will answer N.22 in my next: +this cannot go to-night, but shall on Tuesday: and so go to your play, and +lose your money, with your two eggs a penny; silly jade; you witty? very +pretty. + +21. Mrs. Van would have me dine with her again to-day, and so I did, though +Lady Mountjoy has sent two or three times to have me see and dine with her, +and she is a little body I love very well. My head has ached a little in the +evenings these three or four days, but it is not of the giddy sort, so I do +not much value it. I was to see Lord Harley to-day, but Lord Treasurer took +physic; and I could not see him. He has voided much gravel, and is better, +but not well: he talks of going on Tuesday to see the Queen at Hampton Court; +I wish he may be able. I never saw so fine a summer day as this was: how is +it with you, pray? and can't you remember, naughty packs? I han't seen Lord +Pembroke yet. He will be sorry to miss Dilly: I wonder you say nothing of +Dilly's being got to Ireland; if he be not there soon, I shall have some +certain odd thoughts: guess them if you can. + +22. I dined in the City to-day with Dr. Freind, at one of my printers: I +inquired for Leigh, but could not find him: I have forgot what sort of apron +you want. I must rout among your letters, a needle in a bottle of hay. I +gave Sterne directions, but where to find him Lord knows. I have bespoken the +spectacles; got a set of Examiners, and five pamphlets, which I have either +written or contributed to, except the best, which is the vindication of the +Duke of Marlborough, and is entirely of the author of the Atalantis.[17] I +have settled Dingley's affair with Tooke, who has undertaken it, and +understands it. I have bespoken a Miscellany: what would you have me do +more? It cost me a shilling coming home; it rains terribly, and did so in the +morning. Lord Treasurer has had an ill day, in much pain. He writes and does +business in his chamber now he is ill: the man is bewitched: he desires to +see me, and I'll maul him, but he will not value it a rush. I am half weary +of them all. I often burst out into these thoughts, and will certainly steal +away as soon as I decently can. I have many friends, and many enemies; and +the last are more constant in their nature. I have no shuddering at all to +think of retiring to my old circumstances, if you can be easy; but I will +always live in Ireland as I did the last time; I will not hunt for dinners +there, nor converse with more than a very few. + +23. Morning. This goes to-day, and shall be sealed by and by. Lord +Treasurer takes physic again to-day: I believe I shall dine with Lord +Dupplin. Mr. Tooke brought me a letter directed for me at Morphew's the +bookseller. I suppose, by the postage, it came from Ireland. It is a woman's +hand, and seems false spelt on purpose: it is in such sort of verse as +Harris's petition;[18] rallies me for writing merry things, and not upon +divinity; and is like the subject of the Archbishop's last letter, as I told +you. Can you guess whom it came from? It is not ill written; pray find it +out. There is a Latin verse at the end of it all rightly spelt; yet the +English, as I think, affectedly wrong in many places. My plaguing time is +coming. A young fellow brought me a letter from Judge Coote,[19] with +recommendation to be lieutenant of a man-of-war. He is the son of one +Echlin,[20] who was minister of Belfast before Tisdall, and I have got some +other new customers; but I shall trouble my friends as little as possible. +Saucy Stella used to jeer me for meddling with other folks' affairs; but now I +am punished for it.--Patrick has brought the candle, and I have no more room. +Farewell, etc. etc. + +Here is a full and true account of Stella's new spelling:--[21] + +Plaguely, Plaguily. Dineing, Dining. +Straingers, Strangers. Chais, Chase. +Waist, Wast. Houer, Hour. +Immagin, Imagine. A bout, About. +Intellegence, Intelligence. Merrit, Merit. +Aboundance, Abundance. Secreet, Secret. +Phamphlets, Pamphlets. Bussiness, Business. + +Tell me truly, sirrah, how many of these are mistakes of the pen, and how many +are you to answer for as real ill spelling? There are but fourteen; I said +twenty by guess. You must not be angry, for I will have you spell right, let +the world go how it will. Though, after all, there is but a mistake of one +letter in any of these words. I allow you henceforth but six false spellings +in every letter you send me. + + + +LETTER 33. + +LONDON, Oct. 23, 1711. + +I dined with Lord Dupplin as I told you I would, and put my thirty-second into +the post-office my own self; and I believe there has not been one moment since +we parted wherein a letter was not upon the road going or coming to or from +PMD. If the Queen knew it, she would give us a pension; for it is we bring +good luck to their post-boys and their packets; else they would break their +necks and sink. But, an old saying and a true one: + + Be it snow, or storm, or hail, + PMD's letters never fail; + Cross winds may sometimes make them tarry, + But PMD's letters can't miscarry. + +Terrible rain to-day, but it cleared up at night enough to save my twelvepence +coming home. Lord Treasurer is much better this evening. I hate to have him +ill, he is so confoundedly careless. I won't answer your letter yet, so be +satisfied. + +24. I called at Lord Treasurer's to-day at noon: he was eating some broth in +his bed-chamber, undressed, with a thousand papers about him. He has a little +fever upon him, and his eye terribly bloodshot; yet he dressed himself and +went out to the Treasury. He told me he had a letter from a lady with a +complaint against me; it was from Mrs. Cutts, a sister of Lord Cutts, who writ +to him that I had abused her brother:[1] you remember the "Salamander," it is +printed in the Miscellany. I told my lord that I would never regard +complaints, and that I expected, whenever he received any against me, he would +immediately put them into the fire, and forget them, else I should have no +quiet. I had a little turn in my head this morning; which, though it did not +last above a moment, yet being of the true sort, has made me as weak as a dog +all this day. 'Tis the first I have had this half-year. I shall take my +pills if I hear of it again. I dined at Lady Mountjoy's with Harry Coote,[2] +and went to see Lord Pembroke upon his coming to town.--The Whig party are +furious against a peace, and every day some ballad comes out reflecting on the +Ministry on that account. The Secretary St. John has seized on a dozen +booksellers and publishers into his messengers' hands.[3] Some of the foreign +Ministers have published the preliminaries agreed on here between France and +England; and people rail at them as insufficient to treat a peace upon; but +the secret is, that the French have agreed to articles much more important, +which our Ministers have not communicated, and the people, who think they know +all, are discontented that there is no more. This was an inconvenience I +foretold to the Secretary, but we could contrive no way to fence against it. +So there's politics for you. + +25. The Queen is at Hampton Court: she went on Tuesday in that terrible +rain. I dined with Lewis at his lodgings, to despatch some business we had. +I sent this morning and evening to Lord Treasurer, and he is much worse by +going out; I am in pain about evening. He has sent for Dr. Radcliffe; pray +God preserve him. The Chancellor of the Exchequer[4] showed me to-day a +ballad[5] in manuscript against Lord Treasurer and his South Sea project; it +is very sharply written: if it be not printed, I will send it you. If it be, +it shall go in your packet of pamphlets.--I found out your letter about +directions for the apron, and have ordered to be bought a cheap green silk +work apron; I have it by heart. I sat this evening with Mrs. Barton, who is +my near neighbour. It was a delicious day, and I got my walk, and was +thinking whether MD was walking too just at that time that Presto was. This +paper does not cost me a farthing, I have it from the Secretary's office. I +long till to-morrow to know how my Lord Treasurer sleeps this night, and to +hear he mends: we are all undone without him; so pray for him, sirrahs, and +don't stay too late at the Dean's. + +26. I dined with Mrs. Van; for the weather is so bad, and I am so busy, that +I can't dine with great folks: and besides I dare eat but little, to keep my +head in order, which is better. Lord Treasurer is very ill, but I hope in no +danger. We have no quiet with the Whigs, they are so violent against a peace; +but I'll cool them, with a vengeance, very soon. I have not heard from the +Bishop of Clogher, whether he has got his statues.[6] I writ to him six weeks +ago; he's so busy with his Parliament. I won't answer your letter yet, say +what you will, saucy girls. + +27. I forgot to go about some business this morning, which cost me double the +time; and I was forced to be at the Secretary's office till four, and lose my +dinner; so I went to Mrs. Van's, and made them get me three herrings, which I +am very fond of, and they are a light victuals: besides, I was to have supped +at Lady Ashburnham's; but the drab did not call for us in her coach, as she +promised, but sent for us, and so I sent my excuses. It has been a terrible +rainy day, but so flattering in the morning, that I would needs go out in my +new hat. I met Leigh and Sterne as I was going into the Park. Leigh says he +will go to Ireland in ten days, if he can get Sterne to go with him; so I will +send him the things for MD, and I have desired him to inquire about the box. +I hate that Sterne for his carelessness about it; but it was my fault. + +29. I was all this terrible rainy day with my friend Lewis upon business of +importance; and I dined with him, and came home about seven, and thought I +would amuse myself a little, after the pains I had taken. I saw a volume of +Congreve's plays in my room, that Patrick had taken to read; and I looked into +it, and in mere loitering read in it till twelve, like an owl and a fool: if +ever I do so again; never saw the like. Count Gallas,[7] the Emperor's Envoy, +you will hear, is in disgrace with us: the Queen has ordered her Ministers to +have no more commerce with him; the reason is, the fool writ a rude letter to +Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State, complaining of our proceedings about a +peace; and he is always in close confidence with Lord Wharton and Sunderland, +and others of the late Ministry. I believe you begin to think there will be +no peace; the Whigs here are sure it cannot be, and stocks are fallen again. +But I am confident there will, unless France plays us tricks; and you may +venture a wager with any of your Whig acquaintance that we shall not have +another campaign. You will get more by it than by ombre, sirrah.--I let slip +telling you yesterday's journal, which I thought to have done this morning, +but blundered. I dined yesterday at Harry Coote's, with Lord Hatton,[8] Mr. +Finch, a son of Lord Nottingham, and Sir Andrew Fountaine. I left them soon, +but hear they stayed till two in the morning, and were all drunk: and so +good-night for last night, and good-night for to-night. You blundering +goosecap, an't you ashamed to blunder to young ladies? I shall have a fire in +three or four days now, oh ho. + +30. I was to-day in the City concerting some things with a printer, and am to +be to-morrow all day busy with Mr. Secretary about the same. I won't tell you +now; but the Ministers reckon it will do abundance of good, and open the eyes +of the nation, who are half bewitched against a peace. Few of this generation +can remember anything but war and taxes, and they think it is as it should be; +whereas 'tis certain we are the most undone people in Europe, as I am afraid I +shall make appear beyond all contradiction. But I forgot; I won't tell you +what I will do, nor what I will not do: so let me alone, and go to Stoyte, +and give Goody Stoyte and Catherine my humble service; I love Goody Stoyte +better than Goody Walls. Who'll pay me for this green apron? I will have the +money; it cost ten shillings and sixpence. I think it plaguy dear for a cheap +thing; but they said that English silk would cockle,[9] and I know not what. +You have the making into the bargain. 'Tis right Italian: I have sent it and +the pamphlets to Leigh, and will send the Miscellanies and spectacles in a day +or two. I would send more; but, faith, I'm plaguy poor at present. + +31. The devil's in this Secretary: when I went this morning he had people +with him; but says he, "we are to dine with Prior to-day, and then will do all +our business in the afternoon": at two, Prior sends word he is otherwise +engaged; then the Secretary and I go and dine with Brigadier Britton, sit till +eight, grow merry, no business done; he is in haste to see Lady Jersey;[10] we +part, and appoint no time to meet again. This is the fault of all the present +Ministers, teasing me to death for my assistance, laying the whole weight of +their affairs upon it, yet slipping opportunities. Lord Treasurer mends every +day, though slowly: I hope he will take care of himself. Pray, will you send +to Parvisol to send me a bill of twenty pounds as soon as he can, for I want +money. I must have money; I will have money, sirrahs. + +Nov. 1. I went to-day into the City to settle some business with Stratford, +and to dine with him; but he was engaged, and I was so angry I would not dine +with any other merchant, but went to my printer, and ate a bit, and did +business of mischief with him, and I shall have the spectacles and Miscellany +to-morrow, and leave them with Leigh. A fine day always makes me go into the +City, if I can spare time, because it is exercise; and that does me more good +than anything. I have heard nothing since of my head, but a little, I don't +know how, sometimes: but I am very temperate, especially now the Treasurer is +ill, and the Ministers often at Hampton Court, and the Secretary not yet fixed +in his house, and I hate dining with many of my old acquaintance. Here has +been a fellow discovered going out of the East India House with sixteen +thousand pounds in money and bills; he would have escaped, if he had not been +so uneasy with thirst, that he stole out before his time, and was caught. But +what is that to MD? I wish we had the money, provided the East India Company +was never the worse; you know we must not covet, etc. Our weather, for this +fortnight past, is chequered, a fair and a rainy day: this was very fine, and +I have walked four miles; wish MD would do so, lazy sluttikins. + +2. It has rained all day with a continuendo, and I went in a chair to dine +with Mrs. Van; always there in a very rainy day. But I made a shift to come +back afoot. I live a very retired life, pay very few visits, and keep but +very little company; I read no newspapers. I am sorry I sent you the +Examiner, for the printer is going to print them in a small volume: it seems +the author is too proud to have them printed by subscription, though his +friends offered, they say, to make it worth five hundred pounds to him. The +Spectators are likewise printing in a larger and a smaller volume, so I +believe they are going to leave them off, and indeed people grow weary of +them, though they are often prettily written. We have had no news for me to +send you now towards the end of my letter. The Queen has the gout a little: +I hoped the Lord Treasurer would have had it too, but Radcliffe told me +yesterday it was the rheumatism in his knee and foot; however, he mends, and I +hope will be abroad in a short time. I am told they design giving away +several employments before the Parliament sits, which will be the thirteenth +instant. I either do not like, or not understand this policy; and if Lord +Treasurer does not mend soon, they must give them just before the session. +But he is the greatest procrastinator in the world. + +3. A fine day this, and I walked a pretty deal. I stuffed the Secretary's +pockets with papers, which he must read and settle at Hampton Court, where he +went to-day, and stays some time. They have no lodgings for me there, so I +can't go, for the town is small, chargeable, and inconvenient. Lord Treasurer +had a very ill night last night, with much pain in his knee and foot, but is +easier to-day.--And so I went to visit Prior about some business, and so he +was not within, and so Sir Andrew Fountaine made me dine to-day again with +Mrs. Van, and I came home soon, remembering this must go to-night, and that I +had a letter of MD's to answer. O Lord, where is it? let me see; so, so, here +it is. You grudge writing so soon. Pox on that bill! the woman would have me +manage that money for her. I do not know what to do with it now I have it: I +am like the unprofitable steward in the Gospel: I laid it up in a napkin; +there thou hast what is thine own, etc. Well, well, I know of your new Mayor. +(I'll tell you a pun: a fishmonger owed a man two crowns; so he sent him a +piece of bad ling and a tench, and then said he was paid: how is that now? +find it out; for I won't tell it you: which of you finds it out?) Well, but +as I was saying, what care I for your Mayor? I fancy Ford may tell Forbes +right about my returning to Ireland before Christmas, or soon after. I'm +sorry you did not go on with your story about Pray God you be John; I never +heard it in my life, and wonder what it can be.--Ah, Stella, faith, you leaned +upon your Bible to think what to say when you writ that. Yes, that story of +the Secretary's making me an example is true; "never heard it before;" why, +how could you hear it? is it possible to tell you the hundredth part of what +passes in our companies here? The Secretary is as easy with me as Mr. Addison +was. I have often thought what a splutter Sir William Temple makes about +being Secretary of State:[11] I think Mr. St. John the greatest young man I +ever knew; wit, capacity, beauty, quickness of apprehension, good learning, +and an excellent taste; the best orator in the House of Commons, admirable +conversation, good nature, and good manners; generous, and a despiser of +money. His only fault is talking to his friends in way of complaint of too +great a load of business, which looks a little like affectation; and he +endeavours too much to mix the fine gentleman and man of pleasure with the man +of business. What truth and sincerity he may have I know not: he is now but +thirty-two, and has been Secretary above a year. Is not all this +extraordinary? how he stands with the Queen and Lord Treasurer I have told you +before. This is his character; and I believe you will be diverted by knowing +it. I writ to the Archbishop of Dublin, Bishop of Cloyne[12] and of Clogher +together, five weeks ago from Windsor: I hope they had my letters; pray know +if Clogher had his.--Fig for your physician and his advice, Madam Dingley: if +I grow worse, I will; otherwise I will trust to temperance and exercise: your +fall of the leaf; what care I when the leaves fall? I am sorry to see them +fall with all my heart; but why should I take physic because leaves fall off +from trees? that won't hinder them from falling. If a man falls from a horse, +must I take physic for that?--This arguing makes you mad; but it is true right +reason, not to be disproved.--I am glad at heart to hear poor Stella is +better; use exercise and walk, spend pattens and spare potions, wear out clogs +and waste claret. Have you found out my pun of the fishmonger? don't read a +word more till you have got it. And Stella is handsome again, you say? and is +she fat? I have sent to Leigh the set of Examiners: the first thirteen were +written by several hands, some good, some bad; the next three-and-thirty were +all by one hand, that makes forty-six: then that author,[13] whoever he was, +laid it down on purpose to confound guessers; and the last six were written by +a woman.[14] Then there is an account of Guiscard by the same woman, but the +facts sent by Presto. Then an answer to the letter to the Lords about Gregg +by Presto; Prior's Journey by Presto; Vindication of the Duke of Marlborough, +entirely by the same woman; Comment on Hare's Sermon by the same woman, only +hints sent to the printer from Presto to give her.[15] Then there's the +Miscellany, an apron for Stella, a pound of chocolate, without sugar, for +Stella, a fine snuff-rasp of ivory, given me by Mrs. St. John for Dingley, and +a large roll of tobacco, which she must hide or cut shorter out of modesty, +and four pair of spectacles for the Lord knows who. There's the cargo, I hope +it will come safe. Oh, Mrs. Masham and I are very well; we write to one +another, but it is upon business; I believe I told you so before: pray pardon +my forgetfulness in these cases; poor Presto can't help it. MD shall have the +money as soon as Tooke gets it. And so I think I have answered all, and the +paper is out, and now I have fetched up my week, and will send you another +this day fortnight.--Why, you rogues, two crowns make TENCH-ILL-LING:[16] you +are so dull you could never have found it out. Farewell, etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 34. + +LONDON, Nov. 3, 1711. + +My thirty-third lies now before me just finished, and I am going to seal and +send it, so let me know whether you would have me add anything: I gave you my +journal of this day; and it is now nine at night, and I am going to be busy +for an hour or two. + +4. I left a friend's house to-day where I was invited, just when dinner was +setting on, and pretended I was engaged, because I saw some fellows I did not +know; and went to Sir Matthew Dudley's, where I had the same inconvenience, +but he would not let me go; otherwise I would have gone home, and sent for a +slice of mutton and a pot of ale, rather than dine with persons unknown, as +bad, for aught I know, as your deans, parsons, and curates. Bad slabby +weather to-day.--Now methinks I write at ease, when I have no letter of MD's +to answer. But I mistook, and have got the large paper. The Queen is laid up +with the gout at Hampton Court: she is now seldom without it any long time +together; I fear it will wear her out in a very few years. I plainly find I +have less twitchings about my toes since these Ministers are sick and out of +town, and that I don't dine with them. I would compound for a light easy gout +to be perfectly well in my head.--Pray walk when the frost comes, young ladies +go a frost-biting. It comes into my head, that, from the very time you first +went to Ireland, I have been always plying you to walk and read. The young +fellows here have begun a kind of fashion to walk, and many of them have got +swingeing strong shoes on purpose; it has got as far as several young lords; +if it hold, it would be a very good thing. Lady Lucy[1] and I are fallen out; +she rails at me, and I have left visiting her. + +5. MD was very troublesome to me last night in my sleep; I was a dreamed, +methought, that Stella was here. I asked her after Dingley, and she said she +had left her in Ireland, because she designed her stay to be short, and such +stuff.--Monsieur Pontchartain, the Secretary of State in France, and Monsieur +Fontenelle, the Secretary of the Royal Academy there (who writ the Dialogues +des Morts, etc.), have sent letters to Lord Pembroke that the Academy have, +with the King's consent, chosen him one of their members in the room of one +who is lately dead. But the cautious gentleman has given me the letters to +show my Lord Dartmouth and Mr. St. John, our two Secretaries, and let them see +there is no treason in them; which I will do on Wednesday, when they come from +Hampton Court. The letters are very handsome, and it is a very great mark of +honour and distinction to Lord Pembroke. I hear the two French Ministers are +come over again about the peace; but I have seen nobody of consequence to know +the truth. I dined to-day with a lady of my acquaintance, who was sick, in +her bed-chamber, upon three herrings and a chicken: the dinner was my +bespeaking. We begin now to have chestnuts and Seville oranges; have you the +latter yet? 'Twas a terrible windy day, and we had processions in carts of +the Pope and the Devil, and the butchers rang their cleavers. You know this +is the Fifth of November, Popery and gunpowder. + +6. Since I am used to this way of writing, I fancy I could hardly make out a +long letter to MD without it. I think I ought to allow for every line taken +up by telling you where I dined; but that will not be above seven lines in +all, half a line to a dinner. Your Ingoldsby[2] is going over, and they say +here he is to be made a lord.--Here was I staying in my room till two this +afternoon for that puppy Sir Andrew Fountaine, who was to go with me into the +City, and never came; and if I had not shot a dinner flying, with one Mr. +Murray, I might have fasted, or gone to an alehouse.--You never said one word +of Goody Stoyte in your letter; but I suppose these winter nights we shall +hear more of her. Does the Provost[3] laugh as much as he used to do? We +reckon him here a good-for-nothing fellow.--I design to write to your Dean one +of these days, but I can never find time, nor what to say.--I will think of +something: but if DD[4] were not in Ireland I believe seriously I should not +think of the place twice a year. Nothing there ever makes the subject of talk +in any company where I am. + +7. I went to-day to the City on business; but stopped at a printer's, and +stayed there: it was a most delicious day. I hear the Parliament is to be +prorogued for a fortnight longer; I suppose, either because the Queen has the +gout, or that Lord Treasurer is not well, or that they would do something more +towards a peace. I called at Lord Treasurer's at noon, and sat a while with +Lord Harley, but his father was asleep. A bookseller has reprinted or new- +titled a sermon of Tom Swift's,[5] printed last year, and publishes an +advertisement calling it Dr. Swift's Sermon. Some friend of Lord Galway[6] +has, by his directions, published a four-shilling book about his conduct in +Spain, to defend him; I have but just seen it. But what care you for books, +except Presto's Miscellanies? Leigh promised to call and see me, but has not +yet; I hope he will take care of his cargo, and get your Chester box. A +murrain take that box! everything is spoiled that is in it. How does the +strong box do? You say nothing of Raymond: is his wife brought to bed again; +or how? has he finished his house; paid his debts; and put out the rest of the +money to use? I am glad to hear poor Joe is like to get his two hundred +pounds. I suppose Trim is now reduced to slavery again. I am glad of it; the +people were as great rascals as the gentlemen. But I must go to bed, sirrahs: +the Secretary is still at Hampton Court with my papers, or is come only to- +night. They plague me with attending them. + +8. I was with the Secretary this morning, and we dined with Prior, and did +business this afternoon till about eight; and I must alter and undo, and a +clutter. I am glad the Parliament is prorogued. I stayed with Prior till +eleven; the Secretary left us at eight. Prior, I believe, will be one of +those employed to make the peace, when a Congress is opened. Lord Ashburnham +told to-day at the Coffee-house that Lord Harley[7] was yesterday morning +married to the Duke of Newcastle's daughter, the great heiress, and it got +about all the town. But I saw Lord Harley yesterday at noon in his nightgown, +and he dined in the City with Prior and others; so it is not true; but I hope +it will be so; for I know it has been privately managing this long time:[8] +the lady will not have half her father's estate; for the Duke left Lord +Pelham's son his heir.[9] The widow Duchess will not stand to the will, and +she is now at law with Pelham. However, at worst, the girl will have about +ten thousand pounds a year to support the honour; for Lord Treasurer will +never save a groat for himself. Lord Harley is a very valuable young +gentleman; and they say the girl is handsome, and has good sense, but red +hair. + +9. I designed a jaunt into the City to-day to be merry, but was disappointed; +so one always is in this life; and I could not see Lord Dartmouth to-day, with +whom I had some business. Business and pleasure both disappointed. You can +go to your Dean, and for want of him, Goody Stoyte, or Walls, or Manley, and +meet everywhere with cards and claret. I dined privately with a friend on a +herring and chicken, and half a flask of bad Florence. I begin to have fires +now, when the mornings are cold. I have got some loose bricks at the back of +my grate for good husbandry. Fine weather. Patrick tells me my caps are +wearing out. I know not how to get others. I want a necessary woman +strangely. I am as helpless as an elephant.--I had three packets from the +Archbishop of Dublin, cost me four shillings, all about Higgins,[10] printed +stuff, and two long letters. His people forgot to enclose them to Lewis; and +they were only directed to Doctor Swift, without naming London or anything +else. I wonder how they reached me, unless the postmaster directed them. I +have read all the trash, and am weary. + +10. Why, if you must have it out, something is to be published of great +moment,[11] and three or four great people are to see there are no mistakes in +point of fact: and 'tis so troublesome to send it among them, and get their +corrections, that I am weary as a dog. I dined to-day with the printer, and +was there all the afternoon; and it plagues me, and there's an end, and what +would you have? Lady Dupplin, Lord Treasurer's daughter,[12] is brought to +bed of a son. Lord Treasurer has had an ugly return of his gravel. 'Tis good +for us to live in gravel pits,[13] but not for gravel pits to live in us; a +man in this case should leave no stone unturned. Lord Treasurer's sickness, +the Queen's gout, the forwarding the peace, occasion putting off the +Parliament a fortnight longer. My head has had no ill returns. I had good +walking to-day in the City, and take all opportunities of it on purpose for my +health; but I can't walk in the Park, because that is only for walking's sake, +and loses time, so I mix it with business. I wish MD walked half as much as +Presto. If I was with you, I'd make you walk; I would walk behind or before +you, and you should have masks on, and be tucked up like anything; and Stella +is naturally a stout walker, and carries herself firm; methinks I see her +strut, and step clever over a kennel; and Dingley would do well enough if her +petticoats were pinned up; but she is so embroiled, and so fearful, and then +Stella scolds, and Dingley stumbles, and is so daggled.[14] Have you got the +whalebone petticoats among you yet? I hate them; a woman here may hide a +moderate gallant under them. Pshaw, what's all this I'm saying? Methinks I +am talking to MD face to face. + +11. Did I tell you that old Frowde,[15] the old fool, is selling his estate +at Pepperhara, and is skulking about the town nobody knows where? and who do +you think manages all this for him, but that rogue Child,[16] the double +squire of Farnham? I have put Mrs. Masham, the Queen's favourite, upon buying +it, but that is yet a great secret; and I have employed Lady Oglethorpe to +inquire about it. I was with Lady Oglethorpe to-day, who is come to town for +a week or two, and to-morrow I will see to hunt out the old fool: he is +utterly ruined, and at this present in some blind alley with some dirty wench. +He has two sons that must starve, and he never gives them a farthing. If Mrs. +Masham buys the land, I will desire her to get the Queen to give some pension +to the old fool, to keep him from absolutely starving. What do you meddle +with other people's affairs for? says Stella. Oh, but Mr. Masham and his wife +are very urgent with me, since I first put them in the head of it. I dined +with Sir Matthew Dudley, who, I doubt, will soon lose his employment. + +12. Morning. I am going to hunt out old Frowde, and to do some business in +the City. I have not yet called to Patrick to know whether it be fair.--It +has been past dropping these two days. Rainy weather hurts my pate and my +purse. He tells me 'tis very windy, and begins to look dark; woe be to my +shillings! an old saying and a true, + + Few fillings, + Many shillings. + +If the day be dark, my purse will be light. + + To my enemies be this curse, + A dark day and a light purse. + +And so I'll rise, and go to my fire, for Patrick tells me I have a fire; yet +it is not shaving-day, nor is the weather cold; this is too extravagant. What +is become of Dilly? I suppose you have him with you. Stella is just now +showing a white leg, and putting it into the slipper. Present my service to +her, and tell her I am engaged to the Dean, and desire she will come too: or, +Dingley, can't you write a note? This is Stella's morning dialogue, no, +morning speech I mean.--Morrow, sirrahs, and let me rise as well as you; but I +promise you Walls can't dine with the Dean to-day, for she is to be at Mrs. +Proby's just after dinner, and to go with Gracy Spencer[17] to the shops to +buy a yard of muslin, and a silver lace for an under petticoat. Morrow again, +sirrahs.--At night. I dined with Stratford in the City, but could not finish +my affairs with him; but now I am resolved to buy five hundred pounds South +Sea Stock, which will cost me three hundred and eighty ready money; and I will +make use of the bill of a hundred pounds you sent me, and transfer Mrs. Walls +over to Hawkshaw; or if she dislikes it, I will borrow a hundred pounds of the +Secretary, and repay her. Three shillings coach-hire to-day. I have spoken +to Frowde's brother to get me the lowest price of the estate, to tell Mrs. +Masham. + +13. I dined privately with a friend to-day in the neighbourhood. Last +Saturday night I came home, and the drab had just washed my room, and my bed- +chamber was all wet, and I was forced to go to bed in my own defence, and no +fire: I was sick on Sunday, and now have got a swingeing cold. I scolded +like a dog at Patrick, although he was out with me: I detest washing of +rooms; can't they wash them in a morning, and make a fire, and leave open the +windows? I slept not a wink last night for hawking[18] and spitting: and now +everybody has colds. Here's a clutter: I'll go to bed and sleep if I can. + +14. Lady Mountjoy sent to me two days ago, so I dined with her to-day, and in +the evening went to see Lord Treasurer. I found Patrick had been just there +with a how d'ye,[19] and my lord had returned answer that he desired to see +me. Mrs. Masham was with him when I came, and they are never disturbed: 'tis +well she is not very handsome; they sit alone together settling the nation. I +sat with Lady Oxford, and stopped Mrs. Masham as she came out, and told her +what progress I had made, etc., and then went to Lord Treasurer: he is very +well, only uneasy at rising or sitting, with some rheumatic pain in his thigh, +and a foot weak. He showed me a small paper, sent by an unknown hand to one +Mr. Cook, who sent it to my lord: it was written in plain large letters thus + + "Though G---d's knife did not succeed, + A F---n's yet may do the deed." + +And a little below: "BURN THIS, YOU DOG." My lord has frequently such +letters as these: once he showed me one, which was a vision describing a +certain man, his dress, his sword, and his countenance, who was to murder my +lord. And he told me he saw a fellow in the chapel at Windsor with a dress +very like it. They often send him letters signed, "Your humble servant, The +Devil," and such stuff. I sat with him till after ten, and have business to +do. + +15. The Secretary came yesterday to town from Hampton Court, so I went to him +early this morning; but he went back last night again: and coming home to- +night I found a letter from him to tell me that he was just come from Hampton +Court, and just returning, and will not be here till Saturday night. A pox +take him! he stops all my business. I'll beg leave to come back when I have +got over this, and hope to see MD in Ireland soon after Christmas.--I'm weary +of Courts, and want my journeys to Laracor; they did me more good than all the +Ministries these twenty years. I dined to-day in the City, but did no +business as I designed. Lady Mountjoy tells me that Dilly is got to Ireland, +and that the Archbishop of Dublin was the cause of his returning so soon. The +Parliament was prorogued two days ago for a fortnight, which, with the Queen's +absence, makes the town very dull and empty. They tell me the Duke of Ormond +brings all the world away with him from Ireland. London has nothing so bad in +it in winter as your knots of Irish folks; but I go to no coffee-house, and so +I seldom see them. This letter shall go on Saturday; and then I am even with +the world again. I have lent money, and cannot get it, and am forced to +borrow for myself. + +16. My man made a blunder this morning, and let up a visitor, when I had +ordered to see nobody; so I was forced to hurry a hang-dog instrument of mine +into my bed-chamber, and keep him cooling his heels there above an hour.--I am +going on fairly in the common forms of a great cold; I believe it will last me +about ten days in all.--I should have told you, that in those two verses sent +to Lord Treasurer, G---d stands for Guiscard; that is easy; but we differed +about F---n; I thought it was for Frenchman, because he hates them, and they +him: and so it would be, That although Guiscard's knife missed its design, +the knife of a Frenchman might yet do it. My lord thinks it stands for +Felton, the name of him that stabbed the first Duke of Buckingham. Sir Andrew +Fountaine and I dined with the Vans to-day, and my cold made me loiter all the +evening. Stay, young women, don't you begin to owe me a letter? just a month +to-day since I had your N.22. I'll stay a week longer, and then, I'll expect +like agog; till then you may play at ombre, and so forth, as you please. The +Whigs are still crying down our peace, but we will have it, I hope, in spite +of them: the Emperor comes now with his two eggs a penny, and promises +wonders to continue the war; but it is too late; only I hope the fear of it +will serve to spur on the French to be easy and sincere: Night, sirrahs; +I'll go early to bed. + +17. Morning. This goes to-night; I will put it myself in the post-office. I +had just now a long letter from the Archbishop of Dublin, giving me an account +of the ending your session, how it ended in a storm; which storm, by the time +it arrives here, will be only half nature. I can't help it, I won't hide. I +often advised the dissolution of that Parliament, although I did not think the +scoundrels had so much courage; but they have it only in the wrong, like a +bully that will fight for a whore, and run away in an army. I believe, by +several things the Archbishop says, he is not very well either with the +Government or clergy.--See how luckily my paper ends with a fortnight.--God +Almighty bless and preserve dearest little MD.--I suppose your Lord Lieutenant +is now setting out for England. I wonder the Bishop of Clogher does not write +to me, or let me know of his statues, and how he likes them: I will write to +him again, as soon as I have leisure. Farewell, dearest MD, and love Presto, +who loves MD infinitely above all earthly things, and who will.--My service to +Mrs. Stoyte and Catherine. I'm sitting in my bed, but will rise to seal this. +Morrow, dear rogues: Farewell again, dearest MD, etc. + + + +LETTER 35. + +LONDON, NOV. 17, 1711. + +I put my last this evening in the post-office. I dined with Dr. Cockburn. +This being Queen Elizabeth's birthday, we have the D---- and all to do among +us. I just heard of the stir as my letter was sealed this morning, and was so +cross I would not open it to tell you. I have been visiting Lady +Oglethorpe[1] and Lady Worsley;[2] the latter is lately come to town for the +winter, and with child, and what care you? This is Queen Elizabeth's +birthday, usually kept in this town by apprentices, etc.; but the Whigs +designed a mighty procession by midnight, and had laid out a thousand pounds +to dress up the Pope, Devil, cardinals, Sacheverell, etc., and carry them with +torches about, and burn them. They did it by contribution. Garth gave five +guineas; Dr. Garth I mean, if ever you heard of him. But they were seized +last night, by order from the Secretary: you will have an account of it, for +they bawl it about the streets already.[3] They had some very foolish and +mischievous designs; and it was thought they would have put the rabble upon +assaulting my Lord Treasurer's house and the Secretary's, and other violences. +The militia was raised to prevent it, and now, I suppose, all will be quiet. +The figures are now at the Secretary's office at Whitehall. I design to see +them if I can. + +18. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary, who just came from Hampton Court. +He was telling me more particulars about this business of burning the Pope. +It cost a great deal of money, and had it gone on, would have cost three times +as much; but the town is full of it, and half a dozen Grub Street papers +already. The Secretary and I dined at Brigadier Britton's, but I left them at +six, upon an appointment with some sober company of men and ladies, to drink +punch at Sir Andrew Fountaine's. We were not very merry; and I don't love +rack punch, I love it better with brandy; are you of my opinion? Why then, +twelvepenny weather; sirrahs, why don't you play at shuttlecock? I have +thought of it a hundred times; faith, Presto will come over after Christmas, +and will play with Stella before the cold weather is gone. Do you read the +Spectators? I never do; they never come in my way; I go to no coffee-houses. +They say abundance of them are very pretty; they are going to be printed in +small volumes; I'll bring them over with me. I shall be out of my hurry in a +week, and if Leigh be not gone over, I will send you by him what I am now +finishing. I don't know where Leigh is; I have not seen him this good while, +though he promised to call: I shall send to him. The Queen comes to town on +Thursday for good and all. + +19. I was this morning at Lord Dartmouth's office, and sent out for him from +the Committee of Council, about some business. I was asking him more +concerning this bustle about the figures in wax-work of the Pope, and Devil, +etc. He was not at leisure, or he would have seen them. I hear the owners +are so impudent, that they design to replevin them by law. I am assured that +the figure of the Devil is made as like Lord Treasurer as they could. Why, I +dined with a friend in St. James's Street. Lord Treasurer, I am told, was +abroad to-day; I will know to-morrow how he does after it. The Duke of +Marlborough is come, and was yesterday at Hampton Court with the Queen; no, it +was t'other day; no, it was yesterday; for to-day I remember Mr. Secretary was +going to see him, when I was there, not at the Duke of Marlborough's, but at +the Secretary's; the Duke is not so fond of me. What care I? I won seven +shillings to-night at picquet: I play twice a year or so. + +20. I have been so teased with Whiggish discourse by Mrs. Barton and Lady +Betty Germaine, never saw the like. They turn all this affair of the Pope- +burning into ridicule; and, indeed, they have made too great a clutter about +it, if they had no real reason to apprehend some tumults. I dined with Lady +Betty. I hear Prior's commission is passed to be Ambassador Extraordinary and +Plenipotentiary for the peace; my Lord Privy Seal, who you know is Bishop of +Bristol, is the other; and Lord Strafford, already Ambassador at The Hague, +the third: I am forced to tell you, ignorant sluts, who is who. I was +punning scurvily with Sir Andrew Fountaine and Lord Pembroke this evening: do +you ever pun now? Sometimes with the Dean, or Tom Leigh.[4] Prior puns very +well. Odso, I must go see His Excellency, 'tis a noble advancement: but they +could do no less, after sending him to France. Lord Strafford is as proud as +Hell, and how he will bear one of Prior's mean birth on an equal character +with him, I know not. And so I go to my business, and bid you good-night. + +21. I was this morning busy with my printer: I gave him the fifth sheet,[5] +and then I went and dined with him in the City, to correct something, and +alter, etc., and I walked home in the dusk, and the rain overtook me: and I +found a letter here from Mr. Lewis; well, and so I opened it; and he says the +peace is past danger, etc. Well, and so there was another letter enclosed in +his: well, and so I looked on the outside of this t'other letter. Well, and +so who do you think this t'other letter was from? Well, and so I'll tell you; +it was from little MD, N.23, 23, 23, 23. I tell you it is no more, I have +told you so before: but I just looked again to satisfy you. Hie, Stella, you +write like an emperor, a great deal together; a very good hand, and but four +false spellings in all. Shall I send them to you? I am glad you did not take +my correction ill. Well, but I won't answer your letter now, sirrah +saucyboxes, no, no; not yet; just a month and three days from the last, which +is just five weeks: you see it comes just when I begin to grumble. + +22. Morning. Tooke has just brought me Dingley's money. I will give you a +note for it at the end of this letter. There was half a crown for entering +the letter of attorney; but I swore to stop that. I'll spend your money +bravely here. Morrow, dear sirrahs.--At night. I dined to-day with Sir +Thomas Hanmer; his wife, the Duchess of Grafton,[6] dined with us: she wears +a great high head-dress, such as was in fashion fifteen years ago, and looks +like a mad woman in it; yet she has great remains of beauty. I was this +evening to see Lord Harley, and thought to have sat with Lord Treasurer, but +he was taken up with the Dutch Envoy and such folks; and I would not stay. +One particular in life here, different from what I have in Dublin, is, that +whenever I come home I expect to find some letter for me, and seldom miss; and +never any worth a farthing, but often to vex me. The Queen does not come to +town till Saturday. Prior is not yet declared; but these Ministers being at +Hampton Court, I know nothing; and if I write news from common hands, it is +always lies. You will think it affectation; but nothing has vexed me more for +some months past, than people I never saw pretending to be acquainted with me, +and yet speak ill of me too; at least some of them. An old crooked Scotch +countess, whom I never heard of in my life, told the Duchess of Hamilton[7] +t'other day that I often visited her. People of worth never do that; so that +a man only gets the scandal of having scurvy acquaintance. Three ladies were +railing against me some time ago, and said they were very well acquainted with +me; two of which I had never heard of, and the third I had only seen twice +where I happened to visit. A man who has once seen me in a coffee-house will +ask me how I do, when he sees me talking at Court with a Minister of State; +who is sure to ask me how I came acquainted with that scoundrel. But come, +sirrahs, this is all stuff to you, so I'll say no more on this side the paper, +but turn over. + +23. My printer invited Mr. Lewis and me to dine at a tavern to-day, which I +have not done five times since I came to England; I never will call it +Britain, pray don't call it Britain. My week is not out, and one side of this +paper is out, and I have a letter to answer of MD's into the bargain: must I +write on the third side? faith, that will give you an ill habit. I saw Leigh +last night: he gives a terrible account of Sterne; he reckons he is seduced +by some wench; he is over head and ears in debt, and has pawned several +things. Leigh says he goes on Monday next for Ireland, but believes Sterne +will not go with him; Sterne has kept him these three months. Leigh has got +the apron and things, and promises to call for the box at Chester; but I +despair of it. Good-night, sirrahs; I have been late abroad. + +24. I have finished my pamphlet[8] to-day, which has cost me so much time and +trouble: it will be published in three or four days, when the Parliament +begins sitting. I suppose the Queen is come to town, but know nothing, having +been in the City finishing and correcting with the printer. When I came home, +I found letters on my table as usual, and one from your mother, to tell me +that you desire your writings and a picture should be sent to me, to be sent +over to you. I have just answered her letter, and promised to take care of +them if they be sent to me. She is at Farnham: it is too late to send them +by Leigh; besides, I will wait your orders, Madam Stella. I am going to +finish a letter to Lord Treasurer about reforming our language;[9] but first I +must put an end to a ballad; and go you to your cards, sirrahs, this is card +season. + +25. I was early with the Secretary to-day, but he was gone to his devotions, +and to receive the sacrament: several rakes did the same; it was not for +piety, but employments; according to Act of Parliament. I dined with Lady +Mary Dudley;[10] and passed my time since insipidly, only I was at Court at +noon, and saw fifty acquaintance I had not met this long time: that is the +advantage of a Court, and I fancy I am better known than any man that goes +there. Sir John Walter's[11] quarrel with me has entertained the town ever +since; and yet we never had a word, only he railed at me behind my back. The +Parliament is again to be prorogued for eight or nine days, for the Whigs are +too strong in the House of Lords: other reasons are pretended, but that is +the truth. The prorogation is not yet known, but will be to-morrow. + +26. Mr. Lewis and I dined with a friend of his, and unexpectedly there dined +with us an Irish knight, one Sir John St. Leger,[12] who follows the law here, +but at a great distance: he was so pert, I was forced to take him down more +than once. I saw to-day the Pope, and Devil, and the other figures of +cardinals, etc., fifteen in all, which have made such a noise. I have put an +under-strapper upon writing a twopenny pamphlet[13] to give an account of the +whole design. My large pamphlet[14] will be published to-morrow; copies are +sent to the great men this night. Domville[15] is come home from his travels; +I am vexed at it: I have not seen him yet; I design to present him to all the +great men. + +27. Domville came to me this morning, and we dined at Pontack's, and were all +day together, till six this evening: he is perfectly as fine a gentleman as I +know; he set me down at Lord Treasurer's, with whom I stayed about an hour, +till Monsieur Buys, the Dutch Envoy, came to him about business. My Lord +Treasurer is pretty well, but stiff in the hips with the remains of the +rheumatism. I am to bring Domville to my Lord Harley in a day or two. It was +the dirtiest rainy day that ever I saw. The pamphlet is published; Lord +Treasurer had it by him on the table, and was asking me about the mottoes in +the title-page; he gave me one of them himself.[16] I must send you the +pamphlet, if I can. + +28. Mrs. Van sent to me to dine with her to-day, because some ladies of my +acquaintance were to be there; and there I dined. I was this morning to +return Domville his visit, and went to visit Mrs. Masham, who was not within. +I am turned out of my lodging by my landlady: it seems her husband and her +son are coming home; but I have taken another lodging hard by, in Leicester +Fields. I presented Mr. Domville to Mr. Lewis and Mr. Prior this morning. +Prior and I are called the two Sosias,[17] in a Whig newspaper. Sosias, can +you read it? The pamphlet begins to make a noise: I was asked by several +whether I had seen it, and they advised me to read it, for it was something +very extraordinary. I shall be suspected; and it will have several paltry +answers. It must take its fate, as Savage[18] said of his sermon that he +preached at Farnham on Sir William Temple's death. Domville saw Savage in +Italy, and says he is a coxcomb, and half mad: he goes in red, and with +yellow waistcoats, and was at ceremony kneeling to the Pope on a Palm Sunday, +which is much more than kissing his toe; and I believe it will ruin him here +when 'tis told. I'll answer your letter in my new lodgings: I have hardly +room; I must borrow from the other side. + +29. New lodgings. My printer came this morning to tell me he must +immediately print a second edition,[19] and Lord Treasurer made one or two +small additions: they must work day and night to have it out on Saturday; +they sold a thousand in two days. Our Society met to-day; nine of us were +present: we dined at our brother Bathurst's.[20] We made several +regulations, and have chosen three new members, Lord Orrery,[21] Jack Hill, +who is Mrs. Masham's brother, he that lately miscarried in the expedition to +Quebec, and one Colonel Disney.[22]--We have taken a room in a house near St. +James's to meet in. I left them early about correcting the pamphlet, etc., +and am now got home, etc. + +30. This morning I carried Domville to see my Lord Harley, and I did some +business with Lord Treasurer, and have been all this afternoon with the +printer, adding something to the second edition. I dined with the printer: +the pamphlet makes a world of noise, and will do a great deal of good; it +tells abundance of most important facts which were not at all known. I'll +answer your letter to-morrow morning; or suppose I answer it just now, though +it is pretty late. Come then.--You say you are busy with Parliaments, etc.; +that's more than ever I will be when I come back; but you will have none these +two years. Lord Santry, etc., yes, I have had enough on't.[23] I am glad +Dilly is mended; does not he thank me for showing him the Court and the great +people's faces? He had his glass out at the Queen and the rest. 'Tis right +what Dilly says: I depend upon nothing from my friends, but to go back as I +came. Never fear Laracor, 'twill mend with a peace, or surely they'll give me +the Dublin parish. Stella is in the right: the Bishop of Ossory[24] is the +silliest, best-natured wretch breathing, of as little consequence as an egg- +shell. Well, the spelling I have mentioned before; only the next time say AT +LEAST, and not AT LEST. Pox on your Newbury![25] what can I do for him? I'll +give his case (I am glad it is not a woman's) to what members I know; that's +all I can do. Lord Treasurer's lameness goes off daily. Pray God preserve +poor good Mrs. Stoyte; she would be a great loss to us all: pray give her my +service, and tell her she has my heartiest prayers. I pity poor Mrs. Manley; +but I think the child is happy to die, considering how little provision it +would have had.--Poh, every pamphlet abuses me, and for things that I never +writ. Joe[26] should have written me thanks for his two hundred pounds: I +reckon he got it by my means; and I must thank the Duke of Ormond, who I dare +swear will say he did it on my account. Are they golden pippins, those seven +apples? We have had much rain every day as well as you. 7 pounds, 17 +shillings, 8 pence, old blunderer, not 18 shillings: I have reckoned it +eighteen times. Hawkshaw's eight pounds is not reckoned and if it be secure, +it may lie where it is, unless they desire to pay it: so Parvisol may let it +drop till further orders; for I have put Mrs. Wesley's money into the Bank, +and will pay her with Hawkshaw's.--I mean that Hawkshaw's money goes for an +addition to MD, you know; but be good housewives. Bernage never comes now to +see me; he has no more to ask; but I hear he has been ill.--A pox on Mrs. +South's[27] affair; I can do nothing in it, but by way of assisting anybody +else that solicits it, by dropping a favourable word, if it comes in my way. +Tell Walls I do no more for anybody with my Lord Treasurer, especially a thing +of this kind. Tell him I have spent all my discretion, and have no more to +use.--And so I have answered your letter fully and plainly.--And so I have got +to the third side of my paper, which is more than belongs to you, young women. + + It goes to-morrow, + To nobody's sorrow. + +You are silly, not I; I'm a poet, if I had but, etc.--Who's silly now? rogues +and lasses, tinderboxes and buzzards. O Lord, I am in a high vein of +silliness; methought I was speaking to dearest little MD face to face. There; +so, lads, enough for to-night; to cards with the blackguards. Goodnight, my +delight, etc. + +Dec. 1. Pish, sirrahs, put a date always at the bottom of your letter, as +well as the top, that I may know when you send it; your last is of November 3, +yet I had others at the same time, written a fortnight after. Whenever you +would have any money, send me word three weeks before, and in that time you +will certainly have an answer, with a bill on Parvisol: pray do this; for my +head is full, and it will ease my memory. Why, I think I quoted to you some +of ----'s letter, so you may imagine how witty the rest was; for it was all of +a bunch, as Goodman Peesley[28] says. Pray let us have no more bussiness, but +busyness: the deuce take me if I know how to spell it; your wrong spelling, +Madam Stella, has put me out: it does not look right; let me see, bussiness, +busyness, business, bisyness, bisness, bysness; faith, I know not which is +right, I think the second; I believe I never writ the word in my life before; +yes, sure I must, though; business, busyness, bisyness.--I have perplexed +myself, and can't do it. Prithee ask Walls. Business, I fancy that's right. +Yes it is; I looked in my own pamphlet, and found it twice in ten lines, to +convince you that I never writ it before. Oh, now I see it as plain as can +be; so yours is only an _s_ too much. The Parliament will certainly meet on +Friday next: the Whigs will have a great majority in the House of Lords, no +care is taken to prevent it; there is too much neglect; they are warned of it, +and that signifies nothing: it was feared there would be some peevish address +from the Lords against a peace. 'Tis said about the town that several of the +Allies begin now to be content that a peace should be treated. This is all +the news I have. The Queen is pretty well: and so now I bid poor dearest MD +farewell till to-night; then I will talk with them again. + +The fifteen images that I saw were not worth forty pounds, so I stretched a +little when I said a thousand. The Grub Street account of that tumult is +published. The Devil is not like Lord Treasurer: they were all in your odd +antic masks, bought in common shops.[29] I fear Prior will not be one of the +plenipotentiaries. + +I was looking over this letter, and find I make many mistakes of leaving out +words; so 'tis impossible to find my meaning, unless you be conjurers. I will +take more care for the future, and read over every day just what I have +written that day, which will take up no time to speak of. + + + +LETTER 36. + +LONDON, Dec. 1, 1711. + +My last was put in this evening. I intended to dine with Mr. Masham to-day, +and called at White's chocolate house to see if he was there. Lord Wharton +saw me at the door, and I saw him, but took no notice, and was going away, but +he came through the crowd, called after me, and asked me how I did, etc. This +was pretty; and I believe he wished every word he spoke was a halter to hang +me. Masham did not dine at home, so I ate with a friend in the neighbourhood. +The printer has not sent me the second edition; I know not the reason, for it +certainly came out to-day; perhaps they are glutted with it already. I found +a letter from Lord Harley on my table, to tell me that his father desires I +would make two small alterations. I am going to be busy, etc. + +2. Morning. See the blunder; I was making it the 37th day of the month, from +the number above. Well, but I am staying here for old Frowde, who appointed +to call this morning: I am ready dressed to go to church: I suppose he dare +not stir out but on Sundays.[1] The printer called early this morning, told +me the second edition went off yesterday in five hours, and he must have a +third ready to-morrow, for they might have sold half another: his men are all +at work with it, though it be Sunday. This old fool will not come, and I +shall miss church. Morrow, sirrahs.--At night. I was at Court to-day: the +Queen is well, and walked through part of the rooms. I dined with the +Secretary, and despatched some business. He tells me the Dutch Envoy designs +to complain of that pamphlet. The noise it makes is extraordinary. It is fit +it should answer the pains I have been at about it. I suppose it will be +printed in Ireland. Some lay it to Prior, others to Mr. Secretary St. John, +but I am always the first they lay everything to. I'll go sleep, etc. + +3. I have ordered Patrick not to let any odd fellow come up to me; and a +fellow would needs speak with me from Sir George Pretyman.[2] I had never +heard of him, and would not see the messenger: but at last it proved that +this Sir George has sold his estate, and is a beggar. Smithers, the Farnham +carrier, brought me this morning a letter from your mother, with three papers +enclosed of Lady Giffard's writing; one owning some exchequer business of 100 +pounds to be Stella's;[3] another for 100 pounds that she has of yours, which +I made over to you for Mariston; and a third for 300 pounds; the last is on +stamped paper. I think they had better lie in England in some good hand till +Lady Giffard dies; and I will think of some such hand before I come over. I +was asking Smithers about all the people of Farnham. Mrs. White[4] has left +off dressing, is troubled with lameness and swelled legs, and seldom stirs +out; but her old hang-dog husband as hearty as ever. I was this morning with +Lord Treasurer, about something he would have altered in the pamphlet;[5] but +it can't be till the fourth edition, which I believe will be soon; for I dined +with the printer, and he tells me they have sold off half the third. Mrs. +Perceval[6] and her daughter have been in town these three weeks, which I +never heard till to-day; and Mrs. Wesley[7] is come to town too, to consult +Dr. Radcliffe. The Whigs are resolved to bring that pamphlet into the House +of Lords to have it condemned, so I hear. But the printer will stand to it, +and not own the author; he must say he had it from the penny-post. Some +people talk as if the House of Lords would do some peevish thing, for the +Whigs are now a great majority in it; our Ministers are too negligent of such +things: I have never slipped giving them warning; some of them are sensible +of it; but Lord Treasurer stands too much upon his own legs. I fancy his good +fortune will bear him out in everything; but in reason I should think this +Ministry to stand very unsteady; if they can carry a peace, they may hold; I +believe not else. + +4. Mr. Secretary sent to me to-day to dine with him alone; but we had two +more with us, which hindered me doing some business. I was this morning with +young Harcourt, secretary to our Society, to take a room for our weekly +meetings; and the fellow asked us five guineas a week only to have leave to +dine once a week; was not that pretty? so we broke off with him, and are to +dine next Thursday at Harcourt's (he is Lord Keeper's son). They have sold +off above half the third edition, and answers are coming out: the Dutch Envoy +refused dining with Dr. Davenant,[8] because he was suspected to write it: I +have made some alterations in every edition, and it has cost me more trouble, +for the time, since the printing, than before. 'Tis sent over to Ireland, and +I suppose you will have it reprinted. + +5. They are now printing the fourth edition, which is reckoned very +extraordinary, considering 'tis a dear twelvepenny book, and not bought up in +numbers by the party to give away, as the Whigs do, but purely upon its own +strength. I have got an under spur-leather to write an Examiner again,[9] and +the Secretary and I will now and then send hints; but we would have it a +little upon the Grub Street, to be a match for their writers. I dined with +Lord Treasurer to-day at five: he dined by himself after his family, and +drinks no claret yet, for fear of his rheumatism, of which he is almost well. +He was very pleasant, as he is always: yet I fancied he was a little touched +with the present posture of affairs. The Elector of Hanover's Minister here +has given in a violent memorial against the peace, and caused it to be +printed. The Whig lords are doing their utmost for a majority against Friday, +and design, if they can, to address the Queen against the peace. Lord +Nottingham,[10] a famous Tory and speech-maker, is gone over to the Whig side: +they toast him daily, and Lord Wharton says, It is Dismal (so they call him +from his looks) will save England at last. Lord Treasurer was hinting as if +he wished a ballad was made on him, and I will get up one against to- +morrow.[11] He gave me a scurrilous printed paper of bad verses on himself, +under the name of the English Catiline, and made me read them to the company. +It was his birthday, which he would not tell us, but Lord Harley whispered it +to me. + +6. I was this morning making the ballad, two degrees above Grub Street: at +noon I paid a visit to Mrs. Masham, and then went to dine with our Society. +Poor Lord Keeper dined below stairs, I suppose, on a bit of mutton. We chose +two members: we were eleven met, the greatest meeting we ever had: I am next +week to introduce Lord Orrery. The printer came before we parted, and brought +the ballad, which made them laugh very heartily a dozen times. He is going to +print the pamphlet[12] in small, a fifth edition, to be taken off by friends, +and sent into the country. A sixpenny answer is come out, good for nothing, +but guessing me, among others, for the author. To-morrow is the fatal day for +the Parliament meeting, and we are full of hopes and fears. We reckon we have +a majority of ten on our side in the House of Lords; yet I observed Mrs. +Masham a little uneasy: she assures me the Queen is stout. The Duke of +Marlborough has not seen the Queen for some days past; Mrs. Masham is glad of +it, because she says he tells a hundred lies to his friends of what she says +to him: he is one day humble, and the next day on the high ropes. The Duke +of Ormond, they say, will be in town to-night by twelve. + +7. This being the day the Parliament was to meet, and the great question to +be determined, I went with Dr. Freind to dine in the City, on purpose to be +out of the way, and we sent our printer to see what was our fate; but he gave +us a most melancholy account of things. The Earl of Nottingham began, and +spoke against a peace, and desired that in their address they might put in a +clause to advise the Queen not to make a peace without Spain; which was +debated, and carried by the Whigs by about six voices: and this has happened +entirely by my Lord Treasurer's neglect, who did not take timely care to make +up all his strength, although every one of us gave him caution enough. +Nottingham has certainly been bribed. The question is yet only carried in the +Committee of the whole House, and we hope when it is reported to the House to- +morrow, we shall have a majority, by some Scotch lords coming to town. +However, it is a mighty blow and loss of reputation to Lord Treasurer, and may +end in his ruin. I hear the thing only as the printer brought it, who was at +the debate; but how the Ministry take it, or what their hopes and fears are, I +cannot tell until I see them. I shall be early with the Secretary to-morrow, +and then I will tell you more, and shall write a full account to the Bishop of +Clogher to-morrow, and to the Archbishop of Dublin, if I have time. I am +horribly down at present. I long to know how Lord Treasurer bears this, and +what remedy he has. The Duke of Ormond came this day to town, and was there. + +8. I was early this morning with the Secretary, and talked over this matter. +He hoped that when it was reported this day in the House of Lords, they would +disagree with their Committee, and so the matter would go off, only with a +little loss of reputation to the Lord Treasurer. I dined with Mr. Cockburn, +and after, a Scotch member came in, and told us that the clause was carried +against the Court in the House of Lords almost two to one. I went immediately +to Mrs. Masham, and meeting Dr. Arbuthnot (the Queen's favourite physician), +we went together. She was just come from waiting at the Queen's dinner, and +going to her own. She had heard nothing of the thing being gone against us. +It seems Lord Treasurer had been so negligent that he was with the Queen while +the question was put in the House: I immediately told Mrs. Masham that either +she and Lord Treasurer had joined with the Queen to betray us, or that they +two were betrayed by the Queen: she protested solemnly it was not the former, +and I believed her; but she gave me some lights to suspect the Queen is +changed. For yesterday, when the Queen was going from the House, where she +sat to hear the debate, the Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Chamberlain, asked her +whether he or the Great Chamberlain Lindsey[13] ought to lead her out; she +answered short, "Neither of you," and gave her hand to the Duke of Somerset, +who was louder than any in the House for the clause against peace. She gave +me one or two more instances of this sort, which convince me that the Queen is +false, or at least very much wavering. Mr. Masham begged us to stay, because +Lord Treasurer would call, and we were resolved to fall on him about his +negligence in securing a majority. He came, and appeared in good humour as +usual, but I thought his countenance was much cast down. I rallied him, and +desired him to give me his staff, which he did: I told him, if he would +secure it me a week, I would set all right: he asked how; I said I would +immediately turn Lord Marlborough, his two daughters,[14] the Duke and Duchess +of Somerset, and Lord Cholmondeley,[15] out of all their employments; and I +believe he had not a friend but was of my opinion. Arbuthnot asked how he +came not to secure a majority. He could answer nothing but that he could not +help it, if people would lie and forswear. A poor answer for a great +Minister. There fell from him a Scripture expression, that "the hearts of +kings are unsearchable."[16] I told him it was what I feared, and was from +him the worst news he could tell me. I begged him to know what he had to +trust to: he stuck a little; but at last bid me not fear, for all would be +well yet. We would fain have had him eat a bit where he was, but he would go +home, it was past six: he made me go home with him. There we found his +brother and Mr. Secretary. He made his son take a list of all in the House of +Commons who had places, and yet voted against the Court, in such a manner as +if they should lose their places: I doubt he is not able to compass it. Lord +Keeper came in an hour, and they were going upon business. So I left him, and +returned to Mrs. Masham; but she had company with her, and I would not stay.-- +This is a long journal, and of a day that may produce great alterations, and +hazard the ruin of England. The Whigs are all in triumph; they foretold how +all this would be, but we thought it boasting. Nay, they said the Parliament +should be dissolved before Christmas, and perhaps it may: this is all your d- +---d Duchess of Somerset's doings. I warned them of it nine months ago, and a +hundred times since: the Secretary always dreaded it. I told Lord Treasurer +I should have the advantage of him; for he would lose his head, and I should +only be hanged, and so carry my body entire to the grave. + +9. I was this morning with Mr. Secretary: we are both of opinion that the +Queen is false. I told him what I heard, and he confirmed it by other +circumstances. I then went to my friend Lewis, who had sent to see me. He +talks of nothing but retiring to his estate in Wales. He gave me reasons to +believe the whole matter is settled between the Queen and the Whigs; he hears +that Lord Somers is to be Treasurer, and believes that, sooner than turn out +the Duchess of Somerset, she will dissolve the Parliament, and get a Whiggish +one, which may be done by managing elections. Things are now in the crisis, +and a day or two will determine. I have desired him to engage Lord Treasurer +that as soon as he finds the change is resolved on, he will send me abroad as +Queen's Secretary somewhere or other, where I may remain till the new +Ministers recall me; and then I will be sick for five or six months, till the +storm has spent itself. I hope he will grant me this; for I should hardly +trust myself to the mercy of my enemies while their anger is fresh. I dined +to-day with the Secretary, who affects mirth, and seems to hope all will yet +be well. I took him aside after dinner, told him how I had served them, and +had asked no reward, but thought I might ask security; and then desired the +same thing of him, to send me abroad before a change. He embraced me, and +swore he would take the same care of me as himself, etc., but bid me have +courage, for that in two days my Lord Treasurer's wisdom would appear greater +than ever; that he suffered all that had happened on purpose, and had taken +measures to turn it to advantage. I said, "God send it"; but I do not believe +a syllable; and, as far as I can judge, the game is lost. I shall know more +soon, and my letters will at least be a good history to show you the steps of +this change. + +10. I was this morning with Lewis, who thinks they will let the Parliament +sit till they have given the money, and then dissolve them in spring, and +break the Ministry. He spoke to Lord Treasurer about what I desired him. My +lord desired him with great earnestness to assure me that all would be well, +and that I should fear nothing. I dined in the City with a friend. This day +the Commons went to the Queen with their address, and all the Lords who were +for the peace went with them, to show their zeal. I have now some further +conviction that the Queen is false, and it begins to be known. + +11. I went between two and three to see Mrs. Masham; while I was there she +went to her bed-chamber to try a petticoat. Lord Treasurer came in to see +her, and seeing me in the outer room, fell a rallying me: says he, "You had +better keep company with me, than with such a fellow as Lewis, who has not the +soul of a chicken, nor the heart of a mite." Then he went in to Mrs. Masham, +and as he came back desired her leave to let me go home with him to dinner. +He asked whether I was not afraid to be seen with him. I said I never valued +my Lord Treasurer in my life, and therefore should have always the same esteem +for Mr. Harley and Lord Oxford. He seemed to talk confidently, as if he +reckoned that all this would turn to advantage. I could not forbear hinting +that he was not sure of the Queen, and that those scoundrel, starving lords +would never have dared to vote against the Court, if Somerset had not assured +them that it would please the Queen. He said that was true, and Somerset did +so. I stayed till six; then De Buys, the Dutch Envoy, came to him, and I left +him. Prior was with us a while after dinner. I see him and all of them cast +down, though they make the best of it. + +12. Ford is come to town; I saw him last night: he is in no fear, but +sanguine, although I have told him the state of things. This change so +resembles the last, that I wonder they do not observe it. The Secretary sent +for me yesterday to dine with him, but I was abroad; I hope he had something +to say to me. This is morning, and I write in bed. I am going to the Duke of +Ormond, whom I have not yet seen. Morrow, sirrahs.--At night. I was to see +the Duke of Ormond this morning: he asked me two or three questions after his +civil way, and they related to Ireland: at last I told him that, from the +time I had seen him, I never once thought of Irish affairs. He whispered me +that he hoped I had done some good things here: I said, if everybody else had +done half as much, we should not be as we are: then we went aside, and talked +over affairs. I told him how all things stood, and advised him what was to be +done. I then went and sat an hour with the Duchess; then as long with Lady +Oglethorpe,[17] who is so cunning a devil that I believe she could yet find a +remedy, if they would take her advice. I dined with a friend at Court. + +13. I was this morning with the Secretary: he will needs pretend to talk as +if things would be well: "Will you believe it," said he, "if you see these +people turned out?" I said, yes, if I saw the Duke and Duchess of Somerset +out: he swore if they were not, he would give up his place. Our Society +dined to-day at Sir William Wyndham's; we were thirteen present. Lord Orrery +and two other members were introduced: I left them at seven. I forgot to +tell you that the printer told me yesterday that Morphew, the publisher, was +sent for by that Lord Chief-Justice, who was a manager against Sacheverell; he +showed him two or three papers and pamphlets; among the rest mine of the +Conduct of the Allies, threatened him, asked who was the author, and has bound +him over to appear next term. He would not have the impudence to do this, if +he did not foresee what was coming at Court. + +14. Lord Shelburne was with me this morning, to be informed of the state of +affairs, and desired I would answer all his objections against a peace, which +was soon done, for he would not give me room to put in a word. He is a man of +good sense enough; but argues so violently, that he will some day or other put +himself into a consumption. He desires that he may not be denied when he +comes to see me, which I promised, but will not perform. Leigh and Sterne set +out for Ireland on Monday se'nnight: I suppose they will be with you long +before this.--I was to-night drinking very good wine in scurvy company, at +least some of them; I was drawn in, but will be more cautious for the future; +'tis late, etc. + +15. Morning. They say the Occasional Bill[19] is brought to-day into the +House of Lords; but I know not. I will now put an end to my letter, and give +it into the post-house myself. This will be a memorable letter, and I shall +sigh to see it some years hence. Here are the first steps toward the ruin of +an excellent Ministry; for I look upon them as certainly ruined; and God knows +what may be the consequences.--I now bid my dearest MD farewell; for company +is coming, and I must be at Lord Dartmouth's office by noon. Farewell, +dearest MD; I wish you a merry Christmas; I believe you will have this about +that time. Love Presto, who loves MD above all things a thousand times. +Farewell again, dearest MD, etc. + + + +LETTER 37. + +LONDON, Dec. 15, 1711. + +I put in my letter this evening myself. I was to-day inquiring at the +Secretary's office of Mr. Lewis how things went: I there met Prior, who told +me he gave all for gone, etc., and was of opinion the whole Ministry would +give up their places next week: Lewis thinks they will not till spring, when +the session is over; both of them entirely despair. I went to see Mrs. +Masham, who invited me to dinner; but I was engaged to Lewis. At four I went +to Masham's. He came and whispered me that he had it from a very good hand +that all would be well, and I found them both very cheerful. The company was +going to the opera, but desired I would come and sup with them. I did so at +ten, and Lord Treasurer was there, and sat with us till past twelve, and was +more cheerful than I have seen him these ten days. Mrs. Masham told me he was +mightily cast down some days ago, and he could not indeed hide it from me. +Arbuthnot is in good hopes that the Queen has not betrayed us, but only has +been frightened, and flattered, etc. But I cannot yet be of his opinion, +whether my reasons are better, or that my fears are greater. I do resolve, if +they give up, or are turned out soon, to retire for some months, and I have +pitched upon the place already: but I will take methods for hearing from MD, +and writing to them. But I would be out of the way upon the first of the +ferment; for they lay all things on me, even some I have never read. + +16. I took courage to-day, and went to Court with a very cheerful +countenance. It was mightily crowded; both parties coming to observe each +other's faces. I have avoided Lord Halifax's bow till he forced it on me; but +we did not talk together. I could not make less than fourscore bows, of which +about twenty might be to Whigs. The Duke of Somerset is gone to Petworth, +and, I hear, the Duchess too, of which I shall be very glad. Prince +Eugene,[1] who was expected here some days ago, we are now told, will not come +at all. The Whigs designed to have met him with forty thousand horse. Lord +Treasurer told me some days ago of his discourse with the Emperor's Resident, +that puppy Hoffman, about Prince Eugene's coming; by which I found my lord +would hinder it, if he could; and we shall be all glad if he does not come, +and think it a good point gained. Sir Andrew Fountaine, Ford, and I dined to- +day with Mrs. Van, by invitation. + +17. I have mistaken the day of the month, and been forced to mend it thrice. +I dined to-day with Mr. Masham and his lady, by invitation. Lord Treasurer +was to be there, but came not. It was to entertain Buys, the Dutch Envoy, who +speaks English well enough: he was plaguily politic, telling a thousand lies, +of which none passed upon any of us. We are still in the condition of +suspense, and I think have little hopes. The Duchess of Somerset is not gone +to Petworth; only the Duke, and that is a poor sacrifice. I believe the Queen +certainly designs to change the Ministry, but perhaps may put it off till the +session is over: and I think they had better give up now, if she will not +deal openly; and then they need not answer for the consequences of a peace, +when it is in other hands, and may yet be broken. They say my Lord Privy Seal +sets out for Holland this week: so the peace goes on. + +18. It has rained hard from morning till night, and cost me three shillings +in coach-hire. We have had abundance of wet weather. I dined in the City, +and was with the printer, who has now a fifth edition of the Conduct, etc.: +it is in small, and sold for sixpence; they have printed as many as three +editions, because they are to be sent in numbers into the country by great +men, etc., who subscribe for hundreds. It has been sent a fortnight ago to +Ireland: I suppose you will print it there. The Tory Lords and Commons in +Parliament argue all from it; and all agree that never anything of that kind +was of so great consequence, or made so many converts. By the time I have +sent this letter, I expect to hear from little MD: it will be a month, two +days hence, since I had your last, and I will allow ten days for accidents. I +cannot get rid of the leavings of a cold I got a month ago, or else it is a +new one. I have been writing letters all this evening till I am weary, and I +am sending out another little thing, which I hope to finish this week, and +design to send to the printer in an unknown hand. There was printed a Grub +Street speech of Lord Nottingham;[2] and he was such an owl to complain of it +in the House of Lords, who have taken up the printer for it. I heard at Court +that Walpole[3] (a great Whig member) said that I and my whimsical Club writ +it at one of our meetings, and that I should pay for it. He will find he +lies: and I shall let him know by a third hand my thoughts of him. He is to +be Secretary of State, if the Ministry changes; but he has lately had a bribe +proved against him in Parliament, while he was Secretary at War. He is one of +the Whigs' chief speakers. + +19. Sad dismal weather. I went to the Secretary's office, and Lewis made me +dine with him. I intended to have dined with Lord Treasurer. I have not seen +the Secretary this week. Things do not mend at all. Lord Dartmouth despairs, +and is for giving up; Lewis is of the same mind; but Lord Treasurer only says, +"Poh, poh, all will be well." I am come home early to finish something I am +doing; but I find I want heart and humour, and would read any idle book that +came in my way. I have just sent away a penny paper to make a little +mischief. Patrick is gone to the burial of an Irish footman, who was Dr. +King's[4] servant; he died of a consumption, a fit death for a poor starving +wit's footman. The Irish servants always club to bury a countryman. + +20. I was with the Secretary this morning, and, for aught I can see, we shall +have a languishing death: I can know nothing, nor themselves neither. I +dined, you know, with our Society, and that odious Secretary would make me +President next week; so I must entertain them this day se'nnight at the +Thatched House Tavern,[5] where we dined to-day: it will cost me five or six +pounds; yet the Secretary says he will give me wine. I found a letter when I +came home from the Bishop of Clogher. + +21. This is the first time I ever got a new cold before the old one was +going: it came yesterday, and appeared in all due forms, eyes and nose +running, etc., and is now very bad; and I cannot tell how I got it. Sir +Andrew Fountaine and I were invited to dine with Mrs. Van. I was this morning +with the Duke of Ormond; and neither he nor I can think of anything to comfort +us in present affairs. We must certainly fall, if the Duchess of Somerset be +not turned out; and nobody believes the Queen will ever part with her. The +Duke and I were settling when Mr. Secretary and I should dine with him, and he +fixes upon Tuesday; and when I came away I remembered it was Christmas Day. I +was to see Lady ----, who is just up after lying-in; and the ugliest sight I +have seen, pale, dead, old and yellow, for want of her paint. She has turned +my stomach. But she will soon be painted, and a beauty again. + +22. I find myself disordered with a pain all round the small of my back, +which I imputed to champagne I had drunk; but find it to have been only my new +cold. It was a fine frosty day, and I resolved to walk into the City. I +called at Lord Treasurer's at eleven, and stayed some time with him.--He +showed me a letter from a great Presbyterian parson[6] to him, complaining how +their friends had betrayed them by passing this Conformity Bill; and he showed +me the answer he had written, which his friends would not let him send; but +was a very good one. He is very cheerful; but gives one no hopes, nor has any +to give. I went into the City, and there I dined. + +23. Morning. As I was dressing to go to church, a friend that was to see me +advised me not to stir out; so I shall keep at home to-day, and only eat some +broth, if I can get it. It is a terrible cold frost, and snow fell yesterday, +which still remains: look there, you may see it from the penthouses. The +Lords made yesterday two or three votes about peace, and Hanover, of a very +angry kind to vex the Ministry, and they will meet sooner by a fortnight than +the Commons; and they say, are preparing some knocking addresses. Morrow, +sirrahs. I'll sit at home, and when I go to bed I will tell you how I am.--I +have sat at home all day, and eaten only a mess of broth and a roll. I have +written a Prophecy,[7] which I design to print; I did it to-day, and some +other verses. + +24. I went into the City to-day in a coach, and dined there. My cold is +going. It is now bitter hard frost, and has been so these three or four days. +My Prophecy is printed, and will be published after Christmas Day; I like it +mightily: I don't know how it will pass. You will never understand it at +your distance, without help. I believe everybody will guess it to be mine, +because it is somewhat in the same manner with that of "Merlin"[8] in the +Miscellanies. My Lord Privy Seal set out this day for Holland: he'll have a +cold journey. I gave Patrick half a crown for his Christmas box, on condition +he would be good, and he came home drunk at midnight. I have taken a +memorandum of it, because I never design to give him a groat more. 'Tis cruel +cold. + +25. I wish MD a merry Christmas, and many a one; but mine is melancholy: I +durst not go to church to-day, finding myself a little out of order, and it +snowing prodigiously, and freezing. At noon I went to Mrs. Van, who had this +week engaged me to dine there to-day: and there I received the news that poor +Mrs. Long[9] died at Lynn in Norfolk on Saturday last, at four in the morning: +she was sick but four hours. We suppose it was the asthma, which she was +subject to as well as the dropsy, as she sent me word in her last letter, +written about five weeks ago; but then said she was recovered. I never was +more afflicted at any death. The poor creature had retired to Lynn two years +ago, to live cheap, and pay her debts. In her last letter she told me she +hoped to be easy by Christmas; and she kept her word, although she meant it +otherwise. She had all sorts of amiable qualities, and no ill ones, but the +indiscretion of too much neglecting her own affairs. She had two thousand +pounds left her by an old grandmother,[10] with which she intended to pay her +debts, and live on an annuity she had of one hundred pounds a year, and +Newburg House, which would be about sixty pounds more. That odious +grandmother living so long, forced her to retire; for the two thousand pounds +was settled on her after the old woman's death, yet her brute of a brother, +Sir James Long,[11] would not advance it for her; else she might have paid her +debts, and continued here, and lived still: I believe melancholy helped her +on to her grave. I have ordered a paragraph to be put in the Postboy,[12] +giving an account of her death, and making honourable mention of her; which is +all I can do to serve her memory: but one reason was spite; for her brother +would fain have her death a secret, to save the charge of bringing her up here +to bury her, or going into mourning. Pardon all this, for the sake of a poor +creature I had so much friendship for. + +26. I went to Mr. Secretary this morning, and he would have me dine with him. +I called at noon at Mrs. Masham's, who desired me not to let the Prophecy be +published, for fear of angering the Queen about the Duchess of Somerset; so I +writ to the printer to stop them. They have been printed and given about, but +not sold. I saw Lord Treasurer there, who had been two hours with the Queen; +and Mrs. Masham is in hopes things will do well again. I went at night again, +and supped at Mr. Masham's, and Lord Treasurer sat with us till one o'clock. +So 'tis late, etc. + +27. I entertained our Society at the Thatched House Tavern to-day at dinner; +but brother Bathurst sent for wine, the house affording none. The printer had +not received my letter, and so he brought up dozens apiece of the Prophecy; +but I ordered him to part with no more. 'Tis an admirable good one, and +people are mad for it. The frost still continues violently cold. Mrs. Masham +invited me to come to-night and play at cards; but our Society did not part +till nine. But I supped with Mrs. Hill, her sister, and there was Mrs. Masham +and Lord Treasurer, and we stayed till twelve. He is endeavouring to get a +majority against next Wednesday, when the House of Lords is to meet, and the +Whigs intend to make some violent addresses against a peace, if not prevented. +God knows what will become of us.--It is still prodigiously cold; but so I +told you already. We have eggs on the spit, I wish they may not be addled. +When I came home tonight I found, forsooth, a letter from MD, N.24, 24, 24, +24; there, do you know the numbers now? and at the same time one from Joe,[13] +full of thanks: let him know I have received it, and am glad of his success, +but won't put him to the charge of a letter. I had a letter some time ago +from Mr. Warburton,[14] and I beg one of you will copy out what I shall tell +you, and send it by some opportunity to Warburton. 'Tis as follows: The +Doctor has received Mr. Warburton's letter, and desires he will let the Doctor +know where[15] that accident he mentions is like soon to happen, and he will +do what he can in it.--And pray, madam, let them know that I do this to save +myself the trouble, and them the expense of a letter. And I think that this +is enough for one that comes home at twelve from a Lord Treasurer and Mrs. +Masham. Oh, I could tell you ten thousand things of our mad politics, upon +what small circumstances great affairs have turned. But I will go rest my +busy head. + +28. I was this morning with brother Bathurst to see the Duke of Ormond. We +have given his Grace some hopes to be one of our Society. The Secretary and I +and Bathurst are to dine with him on Sunday next. The Duke is not in much +hopes, but has been very busy in endeavouring to bring over some lords against +next Wednesday. The Duchess caught me as I was going out; she is sadly in +fear about things, and blames me for not mending them by my credit with Lord +Treasurer; and I blame her. She met me in the street at noon, and engaged me +to dine with her, which I did; and we talked an hour after dinner in her +closet. If we miscarry on Wednesday, I believe it will be by some strange +sort of neglect. They talk of making eight new lords by calling up some +peers' eldest sons; but they delay strangely. I saw Judge Coote[16] to-day at +the Duke of Ormond's: he desires to come and see me, to justify his +principles. + +29. Morning. This goes to-day. I will not answer yours, your 24th, till +next, which shall begin to-night, as usual. Lord Shelburne has sent to invite +me to dinner, but I am engaged with Lewis at Ned Southwell's. Lord +Northampton and Lord Aylesbury's sons[17] are both made peers; but we shall +want more. I write this post to your Dean. I owe the Archbishop a letter +this long time. All people that come from Ireland complain of him, and scold +me for protecting him. Pray, Madam Dingley, let me know what Presto has +received for this year, or whether anything is due to him for last: I cannot +look over your former letters now. As for Dingley's own account of her +exchequer money, I will give it on t'other side. Farewell, my own dearest MD, +and love Presto; and God ever bless dearest MD, etc. etc. I wish you many +happy Christmases and new years. + +I have owned to the Dean a letter I just had from you, but that I had not one +this great while before. + +DINGLEY'S ACCOUNT + +Received of Mr. Tooke . . 6 17 6 +Deducted for entering the letter of attorney . 0 2 6 +For the three half-crowns it used to cost you, +I don't know why nor wherefore . . 0 7 6 +For exchange to Ireland . . 0 10 0 +For coach-hire. . 0 2 6 + -------- + In all, just 8 0 0 + +So there's your money, and we are both even: for I'll pay you no more than +that eight pounds Irish, and pray be satisfied. + +Churchwarden's accounts, boys. + +Saturday night. I have broke open my letter, and tore it into the bargain, to +let you know that we are all safe: the Queen has made no less than twelve +lords,[18] to have a majority; nine new ones, the other three peers' sons; and +has turned out the Duke of Somerset. She is awaked at last, and so is Lord +Treasurer: I want nothing now but to see the Duchess out. But we shall do +without her. We are all extremely happy. Give me joy, sirrahs. This is +written in a coffee-house. Three of the new lords are of our Society. + + + +LETTER 38. + +LONDON, Dec. 29, 1711. + +I put my letter in this evening, after coming from dinner at Ned Southwell's, +where I drank very good Irish wine, and we are in great joy at this happy turn +of affairs. The Queen has been at last persuaded to her own interest and +security, and I freely think she must have made both herself and kingdom very +unhappy, if she had done otherwise. It is still a mighty secret that Masham +is to be one of the new lords; they say he does not yet know it himself; but +the Queen is to surprise him with it. Mr. Secretary will be a lord at the end +of the session; but they want him still in Parliament. After all, it is a +strange unhappy necessity of making so many peers together; but the Queen has +drawn it upon herself, by her confounded trimming and moderation. Three, as I +told you, are of our Society. + +30. I writ the Dean and you a lie yesterday; for the Duke of Somerset is not +yet turned out. I was to-day at Court, and resolved to be very civil to the +Whigs; but saw few there. When I was in the bed-chamber talking to Lord +Rochester, he went up to Lady Burlington,[1] who asked him who I was; and Lady +Sunderland and she whispered about me: I desired Lord Rochester to tell Lady +Sunderland I doubted she was not as much in love with me as I was with her; +but he would not deliver my message. The Duchess of Shrewsbury came running +up to me, and clapped her fan up to hide us from the company, and we gave one +another joy of this change; but sighed when we reflected on the Somerset +family not being out. The Secretary and I, and brother Bathurst, and Lord +Windsor, dined with the Duke of Ormond. Bathurst and Windsor[2] are to be two +of the new lords. I desired my Lord Radnor's brother,[3] at Court to-day, to +let my lord know I would call on him at six, which I did, and was arguing with +him three hours to bring him over to us, and I spoke so closely that I believe +he will be tractable; but he is a scoundrel, and though I said I only talked +for my love to him, I told a lie; for I did not care if he were hanged: but +everyone gained over is of consequence. The Duke of Marlborough was at Court +today, and nobody hardly took notice of him. Masham's being a lord begins to +take wind: nothing at Court can be kept a secret. Wednesday will be a great +day: you shall know more. + +31. Our frost is broken since yesterday, and it is very slabbery;[4] yet I +walked to the City and dined, and ordered some things with the printer. I +have settled Dr. King in the Gazette; it will be worth two hundred pounds a +year to him. Our new lords' patents are passed: I don't like the expedient, +if we could have found any other. I see I have said this before. I hear the +Duke of Marlborough is turned out of all his employments: I shall know to- +morrow when I am to carry Dr. King to dine with the Secretary.--These are +strong remedies; pray God the patient is able to bear them. The last Ministry +people are utterly desperate. + +Jan. 1. Now I wish my dearest little MD many happy new years; yes, both +Dingley and Stella, ay and Presto too, many happy new years. I dined with the +Secretary, and it is true that the Duke of Marlborough is turned out of all. +The Duke of Ormond has got his regiment of foot-guards, I know not who has the +rest. If the Ministry be not sure of a peace, I shall wonder at this step, and +do not approve it at best. The Queen and Lord Treasurer mortally hate the Duke +of Marlborough, and to that he owes his fall, more than to his other faults: +unless he has been tampering too far with his party, of which I have not heard +any particulars; however it be, the world abroad will blame us. I confess my +belief that he has not one good quality in the world beside that of a general, +and even that I have heard denied by several great soldiers. But we have had +constant success in arms while he commanded. Opinion is a mighty matter in +war, and I doubt the French think it impossible to conquer an army that he +leads, and our soldiers think the same; and how far even this step may +encourage the French to play tricks with us, no man knows. I do not love to +see personal resentment mix with public affairs. + +2. This being the day the Lords meet, and the new peers to be introduced, I +went to Westminster to see the sight; but the crowd was too great in the +house. So I only went into the robing-room, to give my four brothers joy, and +Sir Thomas Mansel,[5] and Lord Windsor; the other six I am not acquainted +with. It was apprehended the Whigs would have raised some difficulties, but +nothing happened. I went to see Lady Masham at noon, and wish her joy of her +new honour, and a happy new year. I found her very well pleased; for peerage +will be some sort of protection to her upon any turn of affairs. She engaged +me to come at night, and sup with her and Lord Treasurer: I went at nine, and +she was not at home, so I would not stay.--No, no, I won't answer your letter +yet, young women. I dined with a friend in the neighbourhood. I see nothing +here like Christmas, except brawn or mince-pies in places where I dine, and +giving away my half-crowns like farthings to great men's porters and butlers. +Yesterday I paid seven good guineas to the fellow at the tavern where I +treated the Society. I have a great mind to send you the bill. I think I +told you some articles. I have not heard whether anything was done in the +House of Lords after introducing the new ones. Ford has been sitting with me +till peeast tweeleve a clock. + +3. This was our Society day: Lord Dupplin was President; we choose every +week; the last President treats and chooses his successor. I believe our +dinner cost fifteen pounds beside wine. The Secretary grew brisk, and would +not let me go, nor Lord Lansdowne,[6] who would fain have gone home to his +lady, being newly married to Lady Mary Thynne. It was near one when we +parted, so you must think I cannot write much to-night. The adjourning of the +House of Lords yesterday, as the Queen desired, was just carried by the twelve +new lords, and one more. Lord Radnor was not there: I hope I have cured him. +Did I tell you that I have brought Dr. King in to be Gazetteer? It will be +worth above two hundred pounds a year to him: I believe I told you so before, +but I am forgetful. Go, get you gone to ombre, and claret, and toasted +oranges. I'll go sleep. + +4. I cannot get rid of the leavings of my cold. I was in the City to-day, +and dined with my printer, and gave him a ballad made by several hands, I know +not whom. I believe Lord Treasurer had a finger in it; I added three stanzas; +I suppose Dr. Arbuthnot had the greatest share. I had been overseeing some +other little prints, and a pamphlet made by one of my under-strappers. +Somerset is not out yet. I doubt not but you will have the Prophecy in +Ireland, although it is not published here, only printed copies given to +friends. Tell me, do you understand it? No, faith, not without help. Tell +me what you stick at, and I'll explain. We turned out a member of our Society +yesterday for gross neglect and non-attendance. I writ to him by order to +give him notice of it. It is Tom Harley,[7] secretary to the Treasurer, and +cousin-german to Lord Treasurer. He is going to Hanover from the Queen. I am +to give the Duke of Ormond notice of his election as soon as I can see him. + +5. I went this morning with a parishioner of mine, one Nuttal, who came over +here for a legacy of one hundred pounds, and a roguish lawyer had refused to +pay him, and would not believe he was the man. I writ to the lawyer a sharp +letter, that I had taken Nuttal into my protection, and was resolved to stand +by him, and the next news was, that the lawyer desired I would meet him, and +attest he was the man, which I did, and his money was paid upon the spot. I +then visited Lord Treasurer, who is now right again, and all well, only that +the Somerset family is not out yet. I hate that; I don't like it, as the man +said, by, etc. Then I went and visited poor Will Congreve, who had a French +fellow tampering with one of his eyes; he is almost blind of both. I dined +with some merchants in the City, but could not see Stratford, with whom I had +business. Presto, leave off your impertinence, and answer our letter, saith +MD. Yes, yes, one of these days, when I have nothing else to do. O, faith, +this letter is a week written, and not one side done yet. These ugly spots are +not tobacco, but this is the last gilt sheet I have of large paper, therefore +hold your tongue. Nuttal was surprised when they gave him bits of paper +instead of money, but I made Ben Tooke put him in his geers:[8] he could not +reckon ten pounds, but was puzzled with the Irish way. Ben Tooke and my +printer have desired me to make them stationers to the Ordnance, of which Lord +Rivers is Master, instead of the Duke of Marlborough. It will be a hundred +pounds a year apiece to them, if I can get it. I will try to-morrow. + +6. I went this morning to Earl Rivers, gave him joy of his new employment, +and desired him to prefer my printer and bookseller to be stationers to his +office. He immediately granted it me; but, like an old courtier, told me it +was wholly on my account, but that he heard I had intended to engage Mr. +Secretary to speak to him, and desired I would engage him to do so, but that, +however, he did it only for my sake. This is a Court trick, to oblige as many +as you can at once. I read prayers to poor Mrs. Wesley, who is very much out +of order, instead of going to church; and then I went to Court, which I found +very full, in expectation of seeing Prince Eugene, who landed last night, and +lies at Leicester House; he was not to see the Queen till six this evening. I +hope and believe he comes too late to do the Whigs any good. I refused dining +with the Secretary, and was like to lose my dinner, which was at a private +acquaintance's. I went at six to see the Prince at Court, but he was gone in +to the Queen; and when he came out, Mr. Secretary, who introduced him, walked +so near him that he quite screened me from him with his great periwig. I'll +tell you a good passage: as Prince Eugene was going with Mr. Secretary to +Court, he told the Secretary that Hoffman, the Emperor's Resident, said to His +Highness that it was not proper to go to Court without a long wig, and his was +a tied-up one: "Now," says the Prince, "I knew not what to do, for I never +had a long periwig in my life; and I have sent to all my valets and footmen, +to see whether any of them have one, that I might borrow it, but none of them +has any."--Was not this spoken very greatly with some sort of contempt? But +the Secretary said it was a thing of no consequence, and only observed by +gentlemen ushers. I supped with Lord Masham, where Lord Treasurer and Mr. +Secretary supped with us: the first left us at twelve, but the rest did not +part till two, yet I have written all this, because it is fresh: and now I'll +go sleep if I can; that is, I believe I shall, because I have drank a little. + +7. I was this morning to give the Duke of Ormond notice of the honour done +him to make him one of our Society, and to invite him on Thursday next to the +Thatched House: he has accepted it with the gratitude and humility such a +preferment deserves, but cannot come till the next meeting, because Prince +Eugene is to dine with him that day, which I allowed for: a good excuse, and +will report accordingly. I dined with Lord Masham, and sat there till eight +this evening, and came home, because I was not very well, but a little griped; +but now I am well again, I will not go, at least but very seldom, to Lord +Masham's suppers. Lord Treasurer is generally there, and that tempts me, but +late sitting up does not agree with me: there's the short and the long, and I +won't do it; so take your answer, dear little young women; and I have no more +to say to you to-night, because of the Archbishop, for I am going to write a +long letter to him, but not so politely as formerly: I won't trust him. + +8. Well, then, come, let us see this letter; if I must answer it, I must. +What's here now? yes, faith, I lamented my birthday[9] two days after, and +that's all: and you rhyme, Madam Stella; were those verses made upon my +birthday? faith, when I read them, I had them running in my head all the day, +and said them over a thousand times; they drank your health in all their +glasses, and wished, etc. I could not get them out of my head. What? no, I +believe it was not; what do I say upon the eighth of December? Compare, and +see whether I say so. I am glad of Mrs. Stoyte's recovery, heartily glad; +your Dolly Manley's and Bishop of Cloyne's[10] child I have no concern about: +I am sorry in a civil way, that's all. Yes, yes, Sir George St. George +dead.[11]--Go, cry, Madam Dingley; I have written to the Dean. Raymond will +be rich, for he has the building itch. I wish all he has got may put him out +of debt. Poh, I have fires like lightning; they cost me twelvepence a week, +beside small coal. I have got four new caps, madam, very fine and convenient, +with striped cambric, instead of muslin; so Patrick need not mend them, but +take the old ones. Stella snatched Dingley's word out of her pen; Presto a +cold? Why, all the world here is dead with them: I never had anything like +it in my life; 'tis not gone in five weeks. I hope Leigh is with you before +this, and has brought your box. How do you like the ivory rasp? Stella is +angry; but I'll have a finer thing for her. Is not the apron as good? I'm +sure I shall never be paid it; so all's well again.--What? the quarrel with +Sir John Walter?[12] Why, we had not one word of quarrel; only he railed at +me when I was gone: and Lord Keeper and Treasurer teased me for a week. It +was nuts to them; a serious thing with a vengeance.--The Whigs may sell their +estates then, or hang themselves, as they are disposed; for a peace there will +be. Lord Treasurer told me that Connolly[13] was going to Hanover. Your +Provost[14] is a coxcomb. Stella is a good girl for not being angry when I +tell her of spelling; I see none wrong in this. God Almighty be praised that +your disorder lessens; it increases my hopes mightily that they will go off. +And have you been plagued with the fear of the plague? never mind those +reports; I have heard them five hundred times. Replevi? Replevin, simpleton, +'tis Dingley I mean; but it is a hard word, and so I'll excuse it. I stated +Dingley's accounts in my last. I forgot Catherine's sevenpenny dinner. I hope +it was the beef-steaks; I'll call and eat them in spring; but Goody Stoyte +must give me coffee, or green tea, for I drink no bohea. Well, ay, the +pamphlet; but there are some additions to the fourth edition; the fifth +edition was of four thousand, in a smaller print, sold for sixpence. Yes, I +had the twenty-pound bill from Parvisol: and what then? Pray now eat the +Laracor apples; I beg you not to keep them, but tell me what they are. You +have had Tooke's bill in my last. And so there now, your whole letter is +answered. I tell you what I do; I lay your letter before me, and take it in +order, and answer what is necessary; and so and so. Well, when I expected we +were all undone, I designed to retire for six months, and then steal over to +Laracor; and I had in my mouth a thousand times two lines of Shakespeare, +where Cardinal Wolsey says, + + "A weak old man, battered with storms of state, + Is come to lay his weary bones among you."[15] + +I beg your pardon; I have cheated you all this margin, I did not perceive it; +and I went on wider and wider like Stella; awkward sluts; SHE WRITES SO SO, +THERE:[16] that's as like as two eggs a penny.--"A weak old man," now I am +saying it, and shall till to-morrow.--The Duke of Marlborough says there is +nothing he now desires so much as to contrive some way how to soften Dr. +Swift. He is mistaken; for those things that have been hardest against him +were not written by me. Mr. Secretary told me this from a friend of the +Duke's; and I'm sure now he is down, I shall not trample on him; although I +love him not, I dislike his being out.--Bernage was to see me this morning, +and gave some very indifferent excuses for not calling here so long. I care +not twopence. Prince Eugene did not dine with the Duke of Marlborough on +Sunday, but was last night at Lady Betty Germaine's assemblee, and a vast +number of ladies to see him. Mr. Lewis and I dined with a private friend. I +was this morning to see the Duke of Ormond, who appointed me to meet him at +the Cockpit at one, but never came. I sat too some time with the Duchess. We +don't like things very well yet. I am come home early, and going to be busy. +I'll go write. + +9. I could not go sleep last night till past two, and was waked before three +by a noise of people endeavouring to break open my window. For a while I +would not stir, thinking it might be my imagination; but hearing the noise +continued, I rose and went to the window, and then it ceased. I went to bed +again, and heard it repeated more violently; then I rose and called up the +house, and got a candle: the rogues had lifted up the sash a yard; there are +great sheds before my windows, although my lodgings be a storey high; and if +they get upon the sheds they are almost even with my window. We observed +their track, and panes of glass fresh broken. The watchmen told us to-day +they saw them, but could not catch them. They attacked others in the +neighbourhood about the same time, and actually robbed a house in Suffolk +Street, which is the next street but one to us. It is said they are seamen +discharged from service. I went up to call my man, and found his bed empty; +it seems he often lies abroad. I challenged him this morning as one of the +robbers. He is a sad dog; and the minute I come to Ireland I will discard +him. I have this day got double iron bars to every window in my dining-room +and bed-chamber; and I hide my purse in my thread stocking between the bed's +head and the wainscot. Lewis and I dined with an old Scotch friend, who +brought the Duke of Douglas[17] and three or four more Scots upon us. + +10. This was our Society day, you know; but the Duke of Ormond could not be +with us, because he dined with Prince Eugene. It cost me a guinea +contribution to a poet, who had made a copy of verses upon monkeys, applying +the story to the Duke of Marlborough; the rest gave two guineas, except the +two physicians,[18] who followed my example. I don't like this custom: the +next time I will give nothing. I sat this evening at Lord Masham's with Lord +Treasurer: I don't like his countenance; nor I don't like the posture of +things well. + + We cannot be stout, + Till Somerset's out: + +as the old saying is. + +11. Mr. Lewis and I dined with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who eats the +most elegantly of any man I know in town. I walked lustily in the Park by +moonshine till eight, to shake off my dinner and wine; and then went to sup at +Mr. Domville's with Ford, and stayed till twelve. It is told me to-day as a +great secret that the Duke of Somerset will be out soon, that the thing is +fixed; but what shall we do with the Duchess? They say the Duke will make her +leave the Queen out of spite, if he be out. It has stuck upon that fear a +good while already. Well, but Lewis gave me a letter from MD, N.25. O Lord, +I did not expect one this fortnight, faith. You are mighty good, that's +certain: but I won't answer it, because this goes to-morrow, only what you +say of the printer being taken up; I value it not; all's safe there; nor do I +fear anything, unless the Ministry be changed: I hope that danger is over. +However, I shall be in Ireland before such a change; which could not be, I +think, till the end of the session, if the Whigs' designs had gone on.--Have +not you an apron by Leigh, Madam Stella? have you all I mentioned in a former +letter? + +12. Morning. This goes to-day as usual. I think of going into the City; but +of that at night. 'Tis fine moderate weather these two or three days last. +Farewell, etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 39. + +LONDON, Jan. 12,1711-12. + +When I sealed up my letter this morning, I looked upon myself to be not worth +a groat in the world. Last night, after Mr. Ford and I left Domville, Ford +desired me to go with him for a minute upon earnest business, and then told me +that both he and I were ruined; for he had trusted Stratford with five hundred +pounds for tickets for the lottery, and he had been with Stratford, who +confessed he had lost fifteen thousand pounds by Sir Stephen Evans,[1] who +broke last week; that he concluded Stratford must break too; that he could not +get his tickets, but Stratford made him several excuses, which seemed very +blind ones, etc. And Stratford had near four hundred pounds of mine, to buy +me five hundred pounds in the South Sea Company. I came home reflecting a +little; nothing concerned me but MD. I called all my philosophy and religion +up; and, I thank God, it did not keep me awake beyond my usual time above a +quarter of an hour. This morning I sent for Tooke, whom I had employed to buy +the stock of Stratford, and settle things with him. He told me I was secure; +for Stratford had transferred it to me in form in the South Sea House, and he +had accepted it for me, and all was done on stamped parchment. However, he +would be further informed; and at night sent me a note to confirm me. +However, I am not yet secure; and, besides, am in pain for Ford, whom I first +brought acquainted with Stratford. I dined in the City. + +13. Domville and I dined with Ford to-day by appointment: the Lord Mansel +told me at Court to-day that I was engaged to him; but Stratford had promised +Ford to meet him and me to-night at Ford's lodgings. He did so; said he had +hopes to save himself in his affair with Evans. Ford asked him for his +tickets: he said he would send them tomorrow; but looking in his pocket-book, +said he believed he had some of them about him, and gave him as many as came +to two hundred pounds, which rejoiced us much; besides, he talked so frankly, +that we might think there is no danger. I asked him, Was there any more to be +settled between us in my affair? He said, No; and answered my questions just +as Tooke had got them from others; so I hope I am safe. This has been a +scurvy affair. I believe Stella would have half laughed at me, to see a +suspicious fellow like me overreached. I saw Prince Eugene to-day at Court: +I don't think him an ugly-faced fellow, but well enough, and a good shape. + +14. The Parliament was to sit to-day, and met; but were adjourned by the +Queen's directions till Thursday. She designs to make some important speech +then. She pretended illness; but I believe they were not ready, and they +expect some opposition: and the Scotch lords are angry,[2] and must be +pacified. I was this morning to invite the Duke of Ormond to our Society on +Thursday, where he is then to be introduced. He has appointed me at twelve +to-morrow about some business: I would fain have his help to impeach a +certain lord; but I doubt we shall make nothing of it. I intended to have +dined with Lord Treasurer, but I was told he would be busy: so I dined with +Mrs. Van; and at night I sat with Lord Masham till one. Lord Treasurer was +there, and chid me for not dining with him: he was in very good humour. I +brought home two flasks of burgundy in my chair: I wish MD had them. You see +it is very late; so I'll go to bed, and bid MD good night. + +15. This morning I presented my printer and bookseller to Lord Rivers, to be +stationers to the Ordnance; stationers, that's the word; I did not write it +plain at first. I believe it will be worth three hundred pounds a year between +them. This is the third employment I have got for them. Rivers told them the +Doctor commanded him, and he durst not refuse it. I would have dined with +Lord Treasurer to-day again, but Lord Mansel would not let me, and forced me +home with him. I was very deep with the Duke of Ormond to-day at the Cockpit, +where we met to be private; but I doubt I cannot do the mischief I intended. +My friend Penn came there, Will Penn the Quaker, at the head of his brethren, +to thank the Duke for his kindness to their people in Ireland. To see a dozen +scoundrels with their hats on, and the Duke complimenting with his off, was a +good sight enough. I sat this evening with Sir William Robinson,[3] who has +mighty often invited me to a bottle of wine: and it is past twelve. + +16. This being fast-day, Dr. Freind and I went into the City to dine late, +like good fasters. My printer and bookseller want me to hook in another +employment for them in the Tower, because it was enjoyed before by a +stationer, although it be to serve the Ordnance with oil, tallow, etc., and is +worth four hundred pounds per annum more: I will try what I can do. They are +resolved to ask several other employments of the same nature to other offices; +and I will then grease fat sows, and see whether it be possible to satisfy +them. Why am not I a stationer? The Parliament sits to-morrow, and Walpole, +late Secretary at War, is to be swinged for bribery, and the Queen is to +communicate something of great importance to the two Houses, at least they say +so. But I must think of answering your letter in a day or two. + +17. I went this morning to the Duke of Ormond about some business, and he +told me he could not dine with us today, being to dine with Prince Eugene. +Those of our Society of the House of Commons could not be with us, the House +sitting late on Walpole. I left them at nine, and they were not come. We +kept some dinner for them. I hope Walpole will be sent to the Tower, and +expelled the House; but this afternoon the members I spoke with in the Court +of Requests talked dubiously of it. It will be a leading card to maul the +Duke of Marlborough for the same crime, or at least to censure him. The +Queen's message was only to give them notice of the peace she is treating, and +to desire they will make some law to prevent libels against the Government; so +farewell to Grub Street. + +18. I heard to-day that the commoners of our Society did not leave the +Parliament till eleven at night, then went to those I left, and stayed till +three in the morning. Walpole is expelled, and sent to the Tower. I was this +morning again with Lord Rivers, and have made him give the other employment to +my printer and bookseller; 'tis worth a great deal. I dined with my friend +Lewis privately, to talk over affairs. We want to have this Duke of Somerset +out, and he apprehends it will not be, but I hope better. They are going now +at last to change the Commissioners of the Customs; my friend Sir Matthew +Dudley will be out, and three more, and Prior will be in. I have made Ford +copy out a small pamphlet, and sent it to the press, that I might not be known +for author; 'tis A Letter to the October Club,[4] if ever you heard of such a +thing.--Methinks this letter goes on but slowly for almost a week: I want +some little conversation with MD, and to know what they are doing just now. I +am sick of politics. I have not dined with Lord Treasurer these three weeks: +he chides me, but I don't care: I don't. + +19. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer: this is his day of choice company, +where they sometimes admit me, but pretend to grumble. And to-day they met on +some extraordinary business; the Keeper, Steward, both Secretaries, Lord +Rivers, and Lord Anglesea: I left them at seven, and came away, and have been +writing to the Bishop of Clogher. I forgot to know where to direct to him +since Sir George St. George's death,[5] but I have directed to the same house: +you must tell me better, for the letter is sent by the bellman. Don't write +to me again till this is gone, I charge you, for I won't answer two letters +together. The Duke of Somerset is out, and was with his yellow liveries at +Parliament to-day. You know he had the same with the Queen, when he was +Master of the Horse: we hope the Duchess will follow, or that he will take +her away in spite. Lord Treasurer, I hope, has now saved his head. Has the +Dean received my letter? ask him at cards to-night. + +20. There was a world of people to-day at Court to see Prince Eugene, but all +bit, for he did not come. I saw the Duchess of Somerset talking with the Duke +of Buckingham; she looked a little down, but was extremely courteous. The +Queen has the gout, but is not in much pain. Must I fill this line too?[6] +well then, so let it be. The Duke of Beaufort[7] has a mighty mind to come +into our Society; shall we let him? I spoke to the Duke of Ormond about it, +and he doubts a little whether to let him in or no. They say the Duke of +Somerset is advised by his friends to let his wife stay with the Queen; I am +sorry for it. I dined with the Secretary to-day, with mixed company; I don't +love it. Our Society does not meet till Friday, because Thursday will be a +busy day in the House of Commons, for then the Duke of Marlborough's bribery +is to be examined into about the pension paid him by those that furnished +bread to the army. + +21. I have been five times with the Duke of Ormond about a perfect trifle, +and he forgets it: I used him like a dog this morning for it. I was asked +to-day by several in the Court of Requests whether it was true that the author +of the Examiner was taken up in an action of twenty thousand pounds by the +Duke of Marlborough?[8] I dined in the City, where my printer showed me a +pamphlet, called Advice to the October Club, which he said was sent him by an +unknown hand: I commended it mightily; he never suspected me; 'tis a twopenny +pamphlet. I came home and got timely to bed; but about eleven one of the +Secretary's servants came to me to let me know that Lord Treasurer would +immediately speak to me at Lord Masham's upon earnest business, and that, if I +was abed, I should rise and come. I did so: Lord Treasurer was above with +the Queen; and when he came down he laughed, and said it was not he that sent +for me: the business was of no great importance, only to give me a paper, +which might have been done to-morrow. I stayed with them till past one, and +then got to bed again. Pize[9] take their frolics. I thought to have +answered your letter. + +22. Dr. Gastrell was to see me this morning: he is an eminent divine, one of +the canons of Christ Church, and one I love very well: he said he was glad to +find I was not with James Broad. I asked what he meant. "Why," says he, +"have you not seen the Grub Street paper, that says Dr. Swift was taken up as +author of the Examiner, on an action of twenty thousand pounds, and was now at +James Broad's?" who, I suppose, is some bailiff. I knew of this; but at the +Court of Requests twenty people told me they heard I had been taken up. Lord +Lansdowne observed to the Secretary and me that the Whigs spread three lies +yesterday; that about me; and another, that Maccartney, who was turned out +last summer,[10] is again restored to his places in the army; and the third, +that Jack Hill's commission for Lieutenant of the Tower is stopped, and that +Cadogan is to continue. Lansdowne thinks they have some design by these +reports; I cannot guess it. Did I tell you that Sacheverell has desired +mightily to come and see me? but I have put it off: he has heard that I have +spoken to the Secretary in behalf of a brother whom he maintains, and who +desires an employment.[11] T'other day at the Court of Requests Dr. +Yalden[12] saluted me by name: Sacheverell, who was just by, came up to me, +and made me many acknowledgment and compliments. Last night I desired Lord +Treasurer to do something for that brother of Sacheverell's: he said he never +knew he had a brother, but thanked me for telling him, and immediately put his +name in his table-book.[13] I will let Sacheverell know this, that he may +take his measures accordingly, but he shall be none of my acquaintance. I +dined to-day privately with the Secretary, left him at six, paid a visit or +two, and came home. + +23. I dined again to-day with the Secretary, but could not despatch some +business I had with him, he has so much besides upon his hands at this +juncture, and preparing against the great business to-morrow, which we are top +full of. The Minister's design is that the Duke of Marlborough shall be +censured as gently as possible, provided his friends will not make head to +defend him, but if they do, it may end in some severer votes. A gentleman, +who was just now with him, tells me he is much cast down, and fallen away; but +he is positive, if he has but ten friends in the House, that they shall defend +him to the utmost, and endeavour to prevent the least censure upon him, which +I think cannot be, since the bribery is manifest. Sir Solomon Medina[14] paid +him six thousand pounds a year to have the employment of providing bread for +the army, and the Duke owns it in his letter to the Commissioners of Accounts. +I was to-night at Lord Masham's: Lord Dupplin took out my new little +pamphlet, and the Secretary read a great deal of it to Lord Treasurer: they +all commended it to the skies, and so did I, and they began a health to the +author. But I doubt Lord Treasurer suspected; for he said, "This is Mr. +Davenant's style," which is his cant when he suspects me.[15] But I carried +the matter very well. Lord Treasurer put the pamphlet in his pocket to read +at home. I'll answer your letter to-morrow. + +24. The Secretary made me promise to dine with him today, after the +Parliament was up: I said I would come; but I dined at my usual time, knowing +the House would sit late on this great affair. I dined at a tavern with Mr. +Domville and another gentleman; I have not done so before these many months. +At ten this evening I went to the Secretary, but he was not come home: I sat +with his lady till twelve, then came away; and he just came as I was gone, and +he sent to my lodgings, but I would not go back; and so I know not how things +have passed, but hope all is well; and I will tell you to-morrow day. It is +late, etc. + +25. The Secretary sent to me this morning to know whether we should dine +together. I went to him, and there I learned that the question went against +the Duke of Marlborough, by a majority of a hundred; so the Ministry is mighty +well satisfied, and the Duke will now be able to do no hurt. The Secretary +and I, and Lord Masham, etc., dined with Lieutenant-General Withers,[16] who +is just going to look after the army in Flanders: the Secretary and I left +them a little after seven, and I am come home, and will now answer your +letter, because this goes to-morrow: let me see--The box at Chester; oh, burn +that box, and hang that Sterne; I have desired one to inquire for it who went +toward Ireland last Monday, but I am in utter despair of it. No, I was not +splenetic; you see what plunges the Court has been at to set all right again. +And that Duchess is not out yet, and may one day cause more mischief. +Somerset shows all about a letter from the Queen, desiring him to let his wife +continue with her. Is not that rare! I find Dingley smelled a rat; because +the Whigs are UPISH; but if ever I hear that word again, I'll UPPISH you. I +am glad you got your rasp safe and sound; does Stella like her apron? Your +critics about guarantees of succession are puppies; that's an answer to the +objection. The answerers here made the same objection, but it is wholly +wrong. I am of your opinion that Lord Marlborough is used too hardly: I have +often scratched out passages from papers and pamphlets sent me, before they +were printed, because I thought them too severe. But he is certainly a vile +man, and has no sort of merit beside the military. The Examiners are good for +little: I would fain have hindered the severity of the two or three last, but +could not. I will either bring your papers over, or leave them with Tooke, +for whose honesty I will engage. And I think it is best not to venture them +with me at sea. Stella is a prophet, by foretelling so very positively that +all would be well. Duke of Ormond speak against peace? No, simpleton, he is +one of the staunchest we have for the Ministry. Neither trouble yourself +about the printer: he appeared the first day of the term, and is to appear +when summoned again; but nothing else will come of it. Lord Chief-Justice[17] +is cooled since this new settlement. No; I will not split my journals in +half; I will write but once a fortnight: but you may do as you will; which +is, read only half at once, and t'other half next week. So now your letter is +answered. (P--- on these blots.) What must I say more? I will set out in +March, if there be a fit of fine weather; unless the Ministry desire me to +stay till the end of the session, which may be a month longer; but I believe +they will not: for I suppose the peace will be made, and they will have no +further service for me. I must make my canal fine this summer, as fine as I +can. I am afraid I shall see great neglects among my quicksets. I hope the +cherry-trees on the river walk are fine things now. But no more of this. + +26. I forgot to finish this letter this morning, and am come home so late I +must give it to the bellman; but I would have it go to-night, lest you should +think there is anything in the story of my being arrested in an action of +twenty thousand pounds by Lord Marlborough, which I hear is in Dyer's +Letter,[18] and, consequently, I suppose, gone to Ireland. Farewell, dearest +MD, etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 40. + +LONDON, Jan. 26, 1711-12. + +I have no gilt paper left of this size, so you must be content with plain. +Our Society dined together today, for it was put off, as I told you, upon Lord +Marlborough's business on Thursday. The Duke of Ormond dined with us to-day, +the first time: we were thirteen at table; and Lord Lansdowne came in after +dinner, so that we wanted but three. The Secretary proposed the Duke of +Beaufort, who desires to be one of our Society; but I stopped it, because the +Duke of Ormond doubts a little about it; and he was gone before it was +proposed. I left them at seven, and sat this evening with poor Mrs. Wesley, +who has been mightily ill to-day with a fainting fit; she has often +convulsions, too: she takes a mixture with asafoetida, which I have now in my +nose, and everything smells of it. I never smelt it before; 'tis abominable. +We have eight packets, they say, due from Ireland. + +27. I could not see Prince Eugene at Court to-day, the crowd was so great. +The Whigs contrive to have a crowd always about him, and employ the rabble to +give the word, when he sets out from any place. When the Duchess of Hamilton +came from the Queen after church, she whispered me that she was going to pay +me a visit. I went to Lady Oglethorpe's, the place appointed; for ladies +always visit me in third places; and she kept me till near four: she talks +too much, is a plaguy detractor, and I believe I shall not much like her. I +was engaged to dine with Lord Masham: they stayed as long as they could, yet +had almost dined, and were going in anger to pull down the brass peg for my +hat, but Lady Masham saved it. At eight I went again to Lord Masham's; Lord +Treasurer is generally there at night: we sat up till almost two. Lord +Treasurer has engaged me to contrive some way to keep the Archbishop of +York[1] from being seduced by Lord Nottingham. I will do what I can in it to- +morrow. 'Tis very late, so I must go sleep. + +28. Poor Mrs. Manley, the author, is very ill of a dropsy and sore leg: the +printer tells me he is afraid she cannot live long. I am heartily sorry for +her: she has very generous principles for one of her sort, and a great deal +of good sense and invention: she is about forty, very homely, and very fat. +Mrs. Van made me dine with her to-day. I was this morning with the Duke of +Ormond and the Prolocutor about what Lord Treasurer spoke to me yesterday; I +know not what will be the issue. There is but a slender majority in the House +of Lords, and we want more. We are sadly mortified at the news of the French +taking the town in Brazil from the Portuguese. The sixth edition of three +thousand of the Conduct of the Allies is sold, and the printer talks of a +seventh: eleven thousand of them have been sold, which is a most prodigious +run. The little twopenny Letter of Advice to the October Club does not sell: +I know not the reason, for it is finely written, I assure you; and, like a +true author, I grow fond of it, because it does not sell: you know that it is +usual to writers to condemn the judgment of the world: if I had hinted it to +be mine, everybody would have bought it, but it is a great secret. + +29. I borrowed one or two idle books of Contes des Fees,[2] and have been +reading them these two days, although I have much business upon my hands. I +loitered till one at home; then went to Mr. Lewis at his office; and the Vice- +Chamberlain told me that Lady Rialton[3] had yesterday resigned her employment +of lady of the bed-chamber, and that Lady Jane Hyde,[4] Lord Rochester's +daughter, a mighty pretty girl, is to succeed. He said, too, that Lady +Sunderland would resign in a day or two. I dined with Lewis, and then went to +see Mrs. Wesley, who is better to-day. But you must know that Mr. Lewis gave +me two letters, one from the Bishop of Cloyne, with an enclosed from Lord +Inchiquin[5] to Lord Treasurer, which he desires I would deliver and +recommend. I am told that lord was much in with Lord Wharton, and I remember +he was to have been one of the Lords Justices by his recommendation; yet the +Bishop recommends him as a great friend to the Church, etc. I'll do what I +think proper. T'other letter was from little saucy MD, N.26. O Lord, never +saw the like, under a cover, too, and by way of journal; we shall never have +done. Sirrahs, how durst you write so soon, sirrahs? I won't answer it yet. + +30. I was this morning with the Secretary, who was sick, and out of humour: +he would needs drink champagne some days ago, on purpose to spite me, because +I advised him against it, and now he pays for it. Stella used to do such +tricks formerly; he put me in mind of her. Lady Sunderland has resigned her +place too. It is Lady Catherine Hyde[6] that succeeds Lady Rialton, and not +Lady Jane. Lady Catherine is the late Earl of Rochester's daughter. I dined +with the Secretary, then visited his lady; and sat this evening with Lady +Masham: the Secretary came to us; but Lord Treasurer did not; he dined with +the Master of the Rolls,[7] and stayed late with him. Our Society does not +meet till to-morrow se'nnight, because we think the Parliament will be very +busy to-morrow upon the state of the war, and the Secretary, who is to treat +as President, must be in the House. I fancy my talking of persons and things +here must be very tedious to you, because you know nothing of them, and I talk +as if you did. You know Kevin's Street, and Werburgh Street, and (what do you +call the street where Mrs. Walls lives?) and Ingoldsby,[8] and Higgins,[9] and +Lord Santry;[10] but what care you for Lady Catherine Hyde? Why do you say +nothing of your health, sirrah? I hope it is well. + +31. Trimnel, Bishop of Norwich,[11] who was with this Lord Sunderland at Moor +Park in their travels, preached yesterday before the House of Lords; and to- +day the question was put to thank him, and print his sermon; but passed +against him; for it was a terrible Whig sermon. The Bill to repeal the Act +for naturalising Protestant foreigners passed the House of Lords to-day by a +majority of twenty, though the Scotch lords went out, and would vote neither +way, in discontent about the Duke of Hamilton's patent, if you know anything +of it. A poem is come out to-day inscribed to me, by way of a flirt;[12] for +it is a Whiggish poem, and good for nothing. They plagued me with it in the +Court of Requests. I dined with Lord Treasurer at five alone, only with one +Dutchman. Prior is now a Commissioner of the Customs. I told you so before, +I suppose. When I came home to-night, I found a letter from Dr. Sacheverell, +thanking me for recommending his brother to Lord Treasurer and Mr. Secretary +for a place. Lord Treasurer sent to him about it: so good a solicitor was I, +although I once hardly thought I should be a solicitor for Sacheverell. + +Feb. 1. Has not your Dean of St. Patrick received my letter? you say nothing +of it, although I writ above a month ago. My printer has got the gout, and I +was forced to go to him to-day, and there I dined. It was a most delicious +day: why don't you observe whether the same days be fine with you? To-night, +at six, Dr. Atterbury, and Prior, and I, and Dr. Freind, met at Dr. Robert +Freind's[13] house at Westminster, who is master of the school: there we sat +till one, and were good enough company. I here take leave to tell politic +Dingley that the passage in the Conduct of the Allies is so far from being +blamable that the Secretary designs to insist upon it in the House of Commons, +when the Treaty of Barrier[14] is debated there, as it now shortly will, for +they have ordered it to be laid before them. The pamphlet of Advice to the +October Club begins now to sell; but I believe its fame will hardly reach +Ireland: 'tis finely written, I assure you. I long to answer your letter, +but won't yet; you know, 'tis late, etc. + +2. This ends Christmas,[15] and what care I? I have neither seen, nor felt, +nor heard any Christmas this year. I passed a lazy dull day. I was this +morning with Lord Treasurer, to get some papers from him, which he will +remember as much as a cat, although it be his own business. It threatened +rain, but did not much; and Prior and I walked an hour in the Park, which +quite put me out of my measures. I dined with a friend hard by; and in the +evening sat with Lord Masham till twelve. Lord Treasurer did not come; this +is an idle dining-day usually with him. We want to hear from Holland how our +peace goes on; for we are afraid of those scoundrels the Dutch, lest they +should play us tricks. Lord Mar,[16] a Scotch earl, was with us at Lord +Masham's: I was arguing with him about the stubbornness and folly of his +countrymen; they are so angry about the affair of the Duke of Hamilton, whom +the Queen has made a duke of England, and the House of Lords will not admit +him. He swears he would vote for us, but dare not, because all Scotland would +detest him if he did: he should never be chosen again, nor be able to live +there. + +3. I was at Court to-day to look for a dinner, but did not like any that were +offered me; and I dined with Lord Mountjoy. The Queen has the gout in her +knee, and was not at chapel. I hear we have a Dutch mail, but I know not what +news, although I was with the Secretary this morning. He showed me a letter +from the Hanover Envoy, Mr. Bothmar, complaining that the Barrier Treaty is +laid before the House of Commons; and desiring that no infringement may be +made in the guarantee of the succession; but the Secretary has written him a +peppering answer. I fancy you understand all this, and are able states-girls, +since you have read the Conduct of the Allies. We are all preparing against +the Birthday; I think it is Wednesday next. If the Queen's gout increases, it +will spoil sport. Prince Eugene has two fine suits made against it; and the +Queen is to give him a sword worth four thousand pounds, the diamonds set +transparent. + +4. I was this morning soliciting at the House of Commons' door for Mr. Vesey, +a son of the Archbishop of Tuam,[17] who has petitioned for a Bill to relieve +him in some difficulty about his estate: I secured him above fifty members. +I dined with Lady Masham. We have no packet from Holland, as I was told +yesterday: and this wind will hinder many people from appearing at the +Birthday, who expected clothes from Holland. I appointed to meet a gentleman +at the Secretary's to-night, and they both failed. The House of Commons have +this day made many severe votes about our being abused by our Allies. Those +who spoke drew all their arguments from my book, and their votes confirm all I +writ; the Court had a majority of a hundred and fifty: all agree that it was +my book that spirited them to these resolutions; I long to see them in print. +My head has not been as well as I could wish it for some days past, but I have +not had any giddy fit, and I hope it will go over. + +5. The Secretary turned me out of his room this morning, and showed me fifty +guineas rolled up, which he was going to give some French spy. I dined with +four Irishmen at a tavern to-day: I thought I had resolved against it before, +but I broke it. I played at cards this evening at Lady Masham's, but I only +played for her while she was waiting; and I won her a pool, and supped there. +Lord Treasurer was with us, but went away before twelve. The ladies and lords +have all their clothes ready against to-morrow: I saw several mighty fine, +and I hope there will be a great appearance, in spite of that spiteful French +fashion of the Whiggish ladies not to come, which they have all resolved to a +woman; and I hope it will more spirit the Queen against them for ever. + +6. I went to dine at Lord Masham's at three, and met all the company just +coming out of Court; a mighty crowd: they stayed long for their coaches: I +had an opportunity of seeing several lords and ladies of my acquaintance in +their fineries. Lady Ashburnham[18] looked the best in my eyes. They say the +Court was never fuller nor finer. Lord Treasurer, his lady, and two daughters +and Mrs. Hill, dined with Lord and Lady Masham; the five ladies were monstrous +fine. The Queen gave Prince Eugene the diamond sword to-day; but nobody was +by when she gave it except my Lord Chamberlain. There was an entertainment of +opera songs at night, and the Queen was at all the entertainment, and is very +well after it. I saw Lady Wharton,[19] as ugly as the devil, coming out in +the crowd all in an undress; she has been with the Marlborough daughters[20] +and Lady Bridgewater[21] in St. James's, looking out of the window all +undressed to see the sight. I do not hear that one Whig lady was there, +except those of the bed-chamber. Nothing has made so great a noise as one +Kelson's chariot, that cost nine hundred and thirty pounds, the finest was +ever seen. The rabble huzzaed him as much as they did Prince Eugene. This is +Birthday chat. + +7. Our Society met to-day: the Duke of Ormond was not with us; we have +lessened our dinners, which were grown so extravagant that Lord Treasurer and +everybody else cried shame. I left them at seven, visited for an hour, and +then came home, like a good boy. The Queen is much better after yesterday's +exercise: her friends wish she would use a little more. I opposed Lord +Jersey's[22] election into our Society, and he is refused: I likewise opposed +the Duke of Beaufort; but I believe he will be chosen in spite of me: I don't +much care; I shall not be with them above two months; for I resolve to set out +for Ireland the beginning of April next (before I treat them again), and see +my willows. + +8. I dined to-day in the City. This morning a scoundrel dog, one of the +Queen's music, a German, whom I had never seen, got access to me in my chamber +by Patrick's folly, and gravely desired me to get an employment in the Customs +for a friend of his, who would be very grateful; and likewise to forward a +project of his own, for raising ten thousand pounds a year upon operas: I +used him civiller than he deserved; but it vexed me to the pluck.[23] He was +told I had a mighty interest with Lord Treasurer, and one word of mine, etc. +Well; I got home early on purpose to answer MD's letter, N.26; for this goes +to-morrow.--Well; I never saw such a letter in all my life; so saucy, so +journalish, so sanguine, so pretending, so everything. I satisfied all your +fears in my last: all is gone well, as you say; yet you are an impudent slut +to be so positive; you will swagger so upon your sagacity that we shall never +have done. Pray don't mislay your reply; I would certainly print it, if I had +it here: how long is it? I suppose half a sheet: was the answer written in +Ireland? Yes, yes, you shall have a letter when you come from Ballygall. I +need not tell you again who's out and who's in: we can never get out the +Duchess of Somerset.--So, they say Presto writ the Conduct, etc. Do they like +it? I don't care whether they do or no; but the resolutions printed t'other +day in the Votes are almost quotations from it, and would never have passed if +that book had not been written. I will not meddle with the Spectator, let him +fair-sex it to the world's end. My disorder is over, but blood was not from +the p-les.--Well, Madam Dingley, the frost; why, we had a great frost, but I +forget how long ago; it lasted above a week or ten days: I believe about six +weeks ago; but it did not break so soon with us, I think, as December 29; yet +I think it was about that time, on second thoughts. MD can have no letter +from Presto, says you; and yet four days before you own you had my thirty- +seventh, unreasonable sluts! The Bishop of Gloucester is not dead,[24] and I +am as likely to succeed the Duke of Marlborough as him if he were; there's +enough for that now. It is not unlikely that the Duke of Shrewsbury will be +your Governor; at least I believe the Duke of Ormond will not return.--Well, +Stella again: why, really three editions of the Conduct, etc., is very much +for Ireland; it is a sign you have some honest among you. Well; I will do Mr. +Manley[25] all the service I can; but he will ruin himself. What business had +he to engage at all about the City? Can't he wish his cause well, and be +quiet, when he finds that stirring will do it no good, and himself a great +deal of hurt? I cannot imagine who should open my letter: it must be done at +your side.--If I hear of any thoughts of turning out Mr. Manley, I will +endeavour to prevent it. I have already had all the gentlemen of Ireland here +upon my back often, for defending him. So now I have answered your saucy +letter. My humble service to Goody Stoyte and Catherine; I will come soon for +my dinner. + +9. Morning. My cold goes off at last; but I think I have got a small new +one. I have no news since last. They say we hear by the way of Calais, that +peace is very near concluding. I hope it may be true. I'll go and seal up my +letter, and give it myself to-night into the post-office; and so I bid my +dearest MD farewell till to-night. I heartily wish myself with them, as hope +saved. My willows, and quicksets, and trees, will be finely improved, I hope, +this year. It has been fine hard frosty weather yesterday and to-day. +Farewell, etc. etc. etc. + + + +LETTER 41.[1] + +LONDON, Feb. 9, 1711-12. + +When my letter is gone, and I have none of yours to answer, my conscience is +so clear, and my shoulder so light, and I go on with such courage to prate +upon nothing to deerichar MD, oo would wonder. I dined with Sir Matthew +Dudley, who is newly turned out of Commission of the Customs. He affects a +good heart, and talks in the extremity of Whiggery, which was always his +principle, though he was gentle a little, while he kept in employment. We can +yet get no packets from Holland. I have not been with any of the Ministry +these two or three days. I keep out of their way on purpose, for a certain +reason, for some time, though I must dine with the Secretary to-morrow, the +choosing of the company being left to me. I have engaged Lord Anglesea[2] and +Lord Carteret,[3] and have promised to get three more; but I have a mind that +none else should be admitted: however, if I like anybody at Court to-morrow, +I may perhaps invite them. I have got another cold, but not very bad. Nite. +. . MD. + +10. I saw Prince Eugene at Court to-day very plain; he's plaguy yellow, and +tolerably ugly besides. The Court was very full, and people had their +Birthday clothes. I dined with the Secretary to-day. I was to invite five, +but I only invited two, Lord Anglesea and Lord Carteret. Pshaw, I told you +this but yesterday. We have no packets from Holland yet. Here are a parcel +of drunken Whiggish lords, like your Lord Santry,[4] who come into chocolate- +houses and rail aloud at the Tories, and have challenges sent them, and the +next morning come and beg pardon. General Ross[5] was like to swinge the +Marquis of Winchester[6] for this trick t'other day; and we have nothing else +now to talk of till the Parliament has had another bout with the state of the +war, as they intended in a few days. They have ordered the Barrier Treaty to +be laid before them; and it was talked some time ago, as if there was a design +to impeach Lord Townshend, who made it. I have no more politics now. Nite +dee MD. + +11. I dined with Lord Anglesea to-day, who had seven Irishmen to be my +companions, of which two only were coxcombs; one I did not know, and t'other +was young Blith,[7] who is a puppy of figure here, with a fine chariot. He +asked me one day at Court, when I had been just talking with some lords who +stood near me, "Doctor, when shall we see you in the county of Meath?" I +whispered him to take care what he said, for the people would think he was +some barbarian. He never would speak to me since, till we met to-day. I went +to Lady Masham's to-night, and sat with Lord Treasurer and the Secretary there +till past two o'clock; and when I came home, found some letters from Ireland, +which I read, but can say nothing of them till to-morrow, 'tis so very late; +but I[8] must always be. . .,[9] late or early. Nite deelest sollahs.[10] + +12. One letter was from the Bishop of Clogher last night, and t'other from +Walls, about Mrs. South's[11] salary, and his own pension of 18 pounds for his +tithe of the park. I will do nothing in either; the first I cannot serve in, +and the other is a trifle; only you may tell him I had his letter, and will +speak to Ned Southwell about what he desires me. You say nothing of your +Dean's receiving my letter. I find Clements,[12] whom I recommended to Lord +Anglesea last year, at Walls's desire, or rather the Bishop of Clogher's, is +mightily in Lord Anglesea's favour. You may tell the Bishop and Walls so; I +said to Lord Anglesea that I was [glad] I had the good luck to recommend him, +etc. I dined in the City with my printer, to consult with him about some +papers Lord Treasurer gave me last night, as he always does, too late; +however, I will do something with them. My third cold is a little better; I +never had anything like it before, three colds successively; I hope I shall +have the fourth.[13] Those messengers come from Holland to-day, and they +brought over the six packets that were due. I know not the particulars yet, +for when I was with the Secretary at noon they were just opening; but one +thing I find, that the Dutch are playing us tricks, and tampering with the +French; they are dogs; I shall know more tomollow. . . MD.[14] + +13. I dined to-day privately with my friend Lewis, at his lodgings, to +consult about some observations on the Barrier Treaty. Our news from Holland +is not good. The French raise difficulties, and make such offers to the +Allies as cannot be accepted. And the Dutch are uneasy that we are likely to +get anything for ourselves; and the Whigs are glad at all this. I came home +early, and have been very busy three or four hours. I had a letter from Dr. +Pratt[15] to-day by a private hand, recommending the bearer to me, for +something that I shall not trouble myself about. Wesley[16] writ to recommend +the same fellow to me. His expression is that, hearing I am acquainted with +my Lord Treasurer, he desires I would do so and so: a matter of nothing. +What puppies are mankind! I hope I shall be wiser when I have once done with +Courts. I think you han't troubled me much with your recommendations. I +would do you all the saavis[17] I could. + +Pray have you got your aplon,[18] maram Ppt? I paid for it but yesterday; +that puts me in mind of it. I writ an inventory of what things I sent by +Leigh in one of my letters; did you compare it with what you got? I hear +nothing of your cards now; do you never play? Yes, at Ballygall. Go to bed. +Nite, deelest MD.[19] + +14. Our Society dined to-day at Mr. Secretary's house. I went there at four; +but hearing the House of Commons would sit late upon the Barrier Treaty, I +went for an hour to Kensington, to see Lord Masham's children. My young +nephew,[20] his son of six months old, has got a swelling in his neck; I fear +it is the evil. We did not go to dinner till eight at night, and I left them +at ten. The Commons have been very severe on the Barrier Treaty, as you will +find by their votes. A Whig member took out the Conduct of the Allies, and +read that passage about the succession with great resentment; but none +seconded him. The Church party carried every vote by a great majority. The +A.B.[21] Dublin is so railed at by all who come from Ireland that I can defend +him no longer. Lord Anglesea assured me that the story of applying Piso out +of Tacitus[22] to Lord Treasurer's being wounded is true. I believe the Duke +of Beaufort will be admitted to our Society next meeting. To-day I published +the Fable of Midas,[23] a poem, printed in a loose half-sheet of paper. I +know not how it will sell; but it passed wonderfully at our Society to-night; +and Mr. Secretary read it before me the other night to Lord Treasurer, at Lord +Masham's, where they equally approved of it. Tell me how it passes with you. +I think this paper is larger than ordinary; for here is six days' journal, and +no nearer the bottom. I fear these journals are very dull. Nite my deelest +lives. + +15. Mr. Lewis and I dined by invitation with a Scotch acquaintance, after I +had been very busy in my chamber till two afternoon. My third cold is now +very troublesome on my breast, especially in the morning. This is a great +revolution in my health; colds never used to return so soon with me, or last +so long. 'Tis very surprising this news to-day of the Dauphin and Dauphiness +both dying within six days. They say the old King is almost heart-broke. He +has had prodigious mortifications in his family. The Dauphin has left two +little sons, of four and two years old; the eldest is sick. There is a +foolish story got about the town that Lord Strafford, one of our +Plenipotentiaries, is in the interests of France; and it has been a good while +said that Lord Privy Seal[24] and he do not agree very well. They are both +long practised in business, but neither of them of much parts. Strafford has +some life and spirit, but is infinitely proud, and wholly illiterate. Nite, +MD. + +16. I dined to-day in the City with my printer, to finish something I am +doing about the Barrier Treaty;[25] but it is not quite done. I went this +evening to Lord Masham's, where Lord Treasurer sat with us till past twelve. +The Lords have voted an Address to the Queen, to tell her they are not +satisfied with the King of France's offers. The Whigs brought it in of a +sudden; and the Court could not prevent it, and therefore did not oppose it. +The House of Lords is too strong in Whigs, notwithstanding the new creations; +for they are very diligent, and the Tories as lazy: the side that is down has +always most industry. The Whigs intended to have made a vote that would +reflect on Lord Treasurer; but their project was not ripe. I hit my face such +a rap by calling the coach to stop to-night, that it is plaguy sore, the bone +beneath the eye. Nite dee logues. + +17. The Court was mighty full to-day, and has been these many Sundays; but +the Queen was not at chapel. She has got a little fit of the gout in her +foot. The good of going to Court is that one sees all one's acquaintance, +whom otherwise I should hardly meet twice a year. Prince Eugene dines with +the Secretary to-day, with about seven or eight General Officers, or foreign +Ministers. They will be all drunk, I am sure. I never was in company with +this Prince: I have proposed to some lords that we should have a sober meal +with him; but I can't compass it. It is come over in the Dutch news prints +that I was arrested on an action of twenty thousand pounds by the Duke of +Marlborough. I did not like my Court invitation to-day; so Sir Andrew +Fountaine and I went and dined with Mrs. Van. I came home at six, and have +been very busy till this minute, and it is past twelve. So I got into bed to +write to MD. . . MD.[26] We reckon the Dauphin's death will put forward the +peace a good deal. Pray is Dr. Griffith[27] reconciled to me yet? Have I +done enough to soften him? . . . [28] Nite deelest logues. + +18. Lewis had Guiscard's picture: he bought it, and offered it to Lord +Treasurer, who promised to send for it, but never did; so I made Lewis give it +me, and I have it in my room; and now Lord Treasurer says he will take it from +me: is that fair? He designs to have it at length in the clothes he was when +he did the action, and a penknife in his hand; and Kneller is to copy it from +this that I have. I intended to dine with Lord Treasurer to-day, but he has +put me off till to-morrow; so I dined with Lord Dupplin. You know Lord +Dupplin very well; he is a brother of the Society. Well, but I have received +a letter from the Bishop of Cloyne, to solicit an affair for him with Lord +Treasurer, and with the Parliament, which I will do as soon as fly. I am not +near so keen about other people's affairs as. . . [29] Ppt used to reproach me +about; it was a judgment on me. Harkee, idle dearees both, meetinks I begin +to want a rettle flom[30] MD: faith, and so I do. I doubt you have been in +pain about the report of my being arrested. The pamphleteers have let me +alone this month, which is a great wonder: only the third part of the Answer +to the Conduct, which is lately come out. (Did I tell you of it already?) +The House of Commons goes on in mauling the late Ministry and their +proceedings. Nite deelest MD.[31] + +19. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, and sat with him till ten, in spite +of my teeth, though my printer waited for me to correct a sheet. I told him +of four lines I writ extempore with my pencil, on a bit of paper in his house, +while he lay wounded. Some of the servants, I suppose, made waste-paper of +them, and he never had heard of them. Shall I tell them you? They were +inscribed to Mr. Harley's physician. Thus + + On Britain Europe's safety lies;[32] + Britain is lost, if Harley dies. + Harley depends upon your skill: + Think what you save, or what you kill. + +Are not they well enough to be done off-hand; for that is the meaning of the +word extempore, which you did not know, did you? I proposed that some company +should dine with him on the 8th of March, which was the day he was wounded, +but he says he designs that the Lords of the Cabinet, who then sat with him, +should dine that day with him:[33] however, he has invited me too. I am not +got rid of my cold; it plagues me in the morning chiefly. Nite, MD, + +20. After waiting to catch the Secretary coming out from Sir Thomas Hanmer, +for two hours, in vain, about some business, I went into the City to my +printer, to correct some sheets of the Barrier Treaty and Remarks, which must +be finished to-morrow: I have been horrible busy for some days past, with +this and some other things; and I wanted some very necessary papers, which the +Secretary was to give me, and the pamphlet must now be published without them. +But they are all busy too. Sir Thomas Hanmer is Chairman of the Committee for +drawing up a Representation of the state of the nation[34] to the Queen, where +all the wrong steps of the Allies and late Ministry about the war will be +mentioned. The Secretary, I suppose, was helping him about it to-day; I +believe it will be a pepperer. Nite, deel MD. + +21. I have been six hours to-day morning writing nineteen pages of a letter +to Lord Treasurer, about forming a Society or Academy to correct and fix the +English language.[35] (Is English a speech or a language?) It will not be +above five or six more. I will send it to him to-morrow, and will print it, +if he desires me. I dined, you know, with our Society to-day: Thursday is +our day. We had a new member admitted; it was the Duke of Beaufort. We had +thirteen met: brother Ormond was not there, but sent his excuse that Prince +Eugene dined with him. I left them at seven, being engaged to go to Sir +Thomas Hanmer, who desired I would see him at that hour. His business was +that I would hoenlbp ihainm itavoi dsroanws ubpl tohne +sroegporaensiepnotlastoigobn,[36] which I consented to do; but know not +whether I shall succeed, because it is a little out of my way. However, I +have taken my share. Nite, MD. + +22. I finished the rest of my letter to Lord Treasurer today, and sent it to +him about one o'clock; and then dined privately with my friend Mr. Lewis, to +talk over some affairs of moment. I had gotten the thirteenth volume of +Rymer's Collection of the Records of the Tower for the University of +Dublin.[37] I have two volumes now. I will write to the Provost, to know how +I shall send them to him; no, I won't, for I will bring them myself among my +own books. I was with Hanmer this morning, and there were the Secretary and +Chancellor of the Exchequer[38] very busy with him, laying their heads +together about the representation. I went to Lord Masham's to-night, and Lady +Masham made me read to her a pretty twopenny pamphlet, called The St. Albans +Ghost.[39] I thought I had writ it myself; so did they; but I did not. Lord +Treasurer came down to us from the Queen, and we stayed till two o'clock. +That is the best night-place I have. The usual[40] company are Lord and Lady +Masham, Lord Treasurer, Dr. Arbuthnot, and I; sometimes the Secretary, and +sometimes Mrs. Hill of the bed-chamber, Lady Masham's sister. I assure oo, it +im vely rate now; but zis goes to-morrow: and I must have time to converse +with own richar MD. Nite, deelest sollahs.[41] + +23. I have no news to tell you this last day, nor do I know where I shall +dine. I hear the Secretary is a little out of order; perhaps I may dine +there, perhaps not. I sent Hanmer what he wanted from me, I know not how he +will approve of it. I was to do more of the same sort; I am going out, and +must carry zis in my pottick to give it at some general post-house. I will +talk further with oo at night. I suppose in my next I shall answer a letter +from MD that will be sent me. On Tuesday it will be four weeks since I had +your last, N.26. This day se'nnight I expect one, for that will be something +more than a full month. Farewell, MD. . . deelest. . . MD MD MD. . . ME ME +ME. . . logues. . . lele.[42] + + + +LETTER 42.[1] + +LONDON, Feb. 23, 1711-12. + +After having disposed my last letter in the post-office, I am now to begin +this with telling MD that I dined with the Secretary to-day, who is much out +of order with a cold, and feverish; yet he went to the Cabinet Council tonight +at six, against my will. The Secretary is much the greatest commoner in +England, and turns the whole Parliament, who can do nothing without him; and +if he lives and has his health, will, I believe, be one day at the head of +affairs. I have told him sometimes that, if I were a dozen years younger, I +would cultivate his favour, and trust my fortune with his. But what care oo +for all this? I am sorry when I came first acquainted with this Ministry that +I did not send you their names and characters, and then you would have +relished what[2] I would have writ, especially if I had let you into the +particulars of affairs: but enough of this. Nite, deelest logues. + +24. I went early this morning to the Secretary, who is not yet well. Sir +Thomas Hanmer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer came while I was there, and +he would not let me stir; so I did not go to church, but was busy with them +till noon, about the affair I told you in my last. The other two went away; +and I dined with the Secretary, and found my head very much out of order, but +no absolute fit; and I have not been well all this day. It has shook me a +little. I sometimes sit up very late at Lord Masham's, and have writ much for +several days past: but I will amend both; for I have now very little +business, and hope I shall have no more, and I am resolved to be a great rider +this summer in Ireland. I was to see Mrs. Wesley this evening, who has been +somewhat better for this month past, and talks of returning to the Bath in a +few weeks. Our peace goes on but slowly; the Dutch are playing tricks, and we +do not push it strongly as we ought. The fault of our Court is delay, of +which the Queen has a great deal; and Lord Treasurer is not without his share. +But pay richar MD ret us know a little of your life and tonvelsasens.[3] Do +you play at ombre, or visit the Dean, and Goody Walls and Stoytes and Manleys, +as usual? I must have a letter from oo, to fill the other side of this sheet. +Let me know what you do. Is my aunt alive yet? + +Oh, pray, now I think of it, be so kind to step to my aunt, and take notice of +my great-grandfather's picture; you know he has a ring on his finger, with a +seal of an anchor and dolphin about it; but I think there is besides, at the +bottom of the picture, the same coat of arms quartered with another, which I +suppose was my great-grandmother's. If this be so, it is a stronger argument +than the seal. And pray see whether you think that coat of arms was drawn at +the same time with the picture, or whether it be of a later hand; and ask my +aunt what she knows about it. But perhaps there is no such coat of arms on +the picture, and I only dreamed it. My reason is, because I would ask some +herald here, whether I should choose that coat, or one in Guillim's large +folio of heraldry,[4] where my uncle Godwin is named with another coat of arms +of three stags. This is sad stuff to rite; so nite, MD. + +25. I was this morning again with the Secretary, and we were two hours busy; +and then went together to the Park, Hyde Park, I mean; and he walked to cure +his cold, and we were looking at two Arabian horses sent some time ago to Lord +Treasurer.[5] The Duke of Marlborough's coach overtook us, with his Grace and +Lord Godolphin in it; but they did not see us, to our great satisfaction; for +neither of us desired that either of those two lords should see us together. +There was half a dozen ladies riding like cavaliers to take the air. My head +is better to-day. I dined with the Secretary; but we did no business after +dinner, and at six I walked into the fields; the days are grown pure and long; +then I went to visit Perceval[6] and his family, whom I had seen but twice +since they came to town. They too are going to the Bath next month. Countess +Doll of Meath[7] is such an owl that, wherever I visit, people are asking me +whether I know such an Irish lady, and her figure and her foppery? I came +home early, and have been amusing myself with looking into one of Rymer's +volumes of the Records of the Tower, and am mighty easy to think I have no +urgent business upon my hands. My third cold is not yet off; I sometimes +cough, and am not right with it in the morning. Did I tell you that I believe +it is Lady Masham's hot room that gives it me? I never knew such a stove; and +in my conscience I believe both my lord and she, my Lord Treasurer, Mr. +Secretary, and myself have all suffered by it. We have all had colds +together, but I walk home on foot. Nite dee logues. + +26. I was again busy with the Secretary.[8] We read over some papers, and +did a good deal of business; and I dined with him, and we were to do more +business after dinner; but after dinner is after dinner--an old saying and a +true, "much drinking, little thinking." We had company with us, and nothing +could be done, and I am to go there again to-morrow. I have now nothing to +do; and the Parliament, by the Queen's recommendation, is to take some method +for preventing libels, etc., which will include pamphlets, I suppose. I don't +know what method they will take, but it comes on in a day or two. To-day in +the morning I visited upwards: first I saw the Duke of Ormond below stairs, +and gave him joy of his being declared General in Flanders; then I went up one +pair of stairs, and sat with the Duchess; then I went up another pair of +stairs, and paid a visit to Lady Betty; and desired her woman to go up to the +garret, that I might pass half an hour with her, but she was young and +handsome, and would not. The Duke is our President this week, and I have +bespoke a small dinner on purpose, for good example. Nite mi deelest logues. + +27. I was again with the Secretary this morning; but we only read over some +papers with Sir Thomas Hanmer; then I called at Lord Treasurer's; it was his +levee-day, but I went up to his bed-chamber, and said what I had to say. I +came down and peeped in at the chamber, where a hundred fools were waiting, +and two streets were full of coaches. I dined in the City with my printer,[9] +and came back at six to Lord Treasurer, who had invited me to dinner, but I +refused him. I sat there an hour or two, and then went to Lord Masham's. +They were all abroad: so truly I came, and read whatever stuff was next me. +I can sit and be idle now, which I have not been above a year past. However, +I will stay out the session, to see if they have any further commands for me, +and that, I suppose, will end in April. But I may go somewhat before, for I +hope all will be ended by then, and we shall have either a certain peace, or +certain war. The Ministry is contriving new funds for money by lotteries, and +we go on as if the war were to continue, but I believe it will not. 'Tis +pretty late now, ung oomens; so I bid oo nite, own dee dallars. + +28. I have been packing up some books in a great box I have bought, and must +buy another for clothes and luggage. This is a beginning towards a removal. +I have sent to Holland for a dozen shirts, and design to buy another new gown +and hat. I will come over like a zinkerman,[10] and lay out nothing in +clothes in Ireland this good while. I have writ this night to the Provost. +Our Society met to-day as usual, and we were fourteen, beside the Earl of +Arran,[11] whom his brother, the Duke of Ormond, brought among us against all +order. We were mightily shocked; but, after some whispers, it ended in +choosing Lord Arran one of our Society, which I opposed to his face, but it +was carried by all the rest against me. + +29. This is leap year, and this is leap day. Prince George was born on this +day. People are mistaken; and some here think it is St. David's Day; but they +do not understand the virtue of leap year. I have nothing to do now, boys, +and have been reading all this day like Gumdragon; and yet I was dictating +some trifles this morning to a printer. I dined with a friend hard by, and +the weather was so discouraging I could not walk. I came home early, and have +read two hundred pages of Arran. Alexander the Great is just dead: I do not +think he was poisoned; betwixt you and me, all those are but idle stories: it +is certain that neither Ptolemy nor Aristobulus thought so, and they were both +with him when he[12] died. It is a pity we have not their histories. The +Bill for limiting Members of Parliament to have but so many places passed the +House of Commons, and will pass the House of Lords, in spite of the Ministry, +which you know is a great lessening of the Queen's power. Four of the new +lords voted against the Court in this point. It is certainly a good Bill in +the reign of an ill prince, but I think things are not settled enough for it +at present. And the Court may want a majority upon a pinch. Nite deelest +logues. Rove Pdfr. + +March 1. I went into the City to inquire after poor Stratford,[13] who has +put himself a prisoner into the Queen's Bench, for which his friends blame him +much, because his creditors designed to be very easy with him. He grasped at +too many things together, and that was his ruin. There is one circumstance +relative to Lieutenant-General Meredith[14] that is very melancholy: Meredith +was turned out of all his employments last year, and had about 10,000 pounds +left to live on. Stratford, upon friendship, desired he might have the +management of it for Meredith, to put it into the stocks and funds for the +best advantage, and now he has lost it all. You have heard me often talk of +Stratford; we were class-fellows at school and university. I dined with some +merchants, his friends, to-day, and they said they expected his breaking this +good while. I gave him notice of a treaty of peace, while it was a secret, of +which he might have made good use, but that helped to ruin him; for he gave +money, reckoning there would be actually a peace by this time, and +consequently stocks rise high. Ford narrowly 'scaped losing 500 pounds by +him, and so did I too. Nite, my two deelest rives MD. + +2. Morning. I was wakened at three this morning, my man and the people of +the house telling me of a great fire in the Haymarket. I slept again, and two +hours after my man came in again, and told me it was my poor brother Sir +William Wyndham's[15] house burnt, and that two maids, leaping out of an upper +room to avoid the fire, both fell on their heads, one of them upon the iron +spikes before the door, and both lay dead in the streets. It is supposed to +have been some carelessness of one or both those maids. The Duke of Ormond +was there helping to put out the fire. Brother Wyndham gave 6,000 pounds but +a few months ago for that house, as he told me, and it was very richly +furnished. I shall know more particulars at night. He married Lady Catherine +Seymour, the Duke of Somerset's daughter; you know her, I believe.--At night. +Wyndham's young child escaped very narrowly; Lady Catherine escaped barefoot; +they all went to Northumberland House. Mr. Brydges's[16] house, at next door, +is damaged much, and was like to be burnt. Wyndham has lost above 10,000 +pounds by this accident; his lady above a thousand pounds worth of clothes. +It was a terrible accident. He was not at Court to-day. I dined with Lord +Masham. The Queen was not at church. Nite, MD. + +3. Pray tell Walls that I spoke to the Duke of Ormond and Mr. Southwell about +his friend's affair, who, I find, needed not me for a solicitor, for they both +told me the thing would be done. I likewise mentioned his own affair to Mr. +Southwell, and I hope that will be done too, for Southwell seems to think it +reasonable, and I will mind him of it again. Tell him this nakedly. You need +not know the particulars. They are secrets: one of them is about Mrs. South +having a pension; the other about his salary from the Government for the +tithes of the park that lie in his parish, to be put upon the establishment, +but oo must not know zees sings, zey are secrets; and we must keep them flom +nauty dallars. I dined in the City with my printer, with whom I had some +small affair; but I have no large work on my hands now. I was with Lord +Treasurer this morning, and hat[17] care oo for zat? Oo dined with the Dean +to-day. Monday is parson's holiday, and oo lost oo money at cards and dice; +ze Givars[18] device. So I'll go to bed. Nite, my two deelest logues. + +4. I sat to-day with poor Mrs. Wesley, who made me dine with her. She is +much better than she was. I heartily pray for her health, out of the entire +love I bear to her worthy husband. This day has passed very insignificantly. +But it is a great comfort to me now that I can come home and read, and have +nothing upon my hands to write. I was at Lord Masham's to-night, and stayed +there till one. Lord Treasurer was there; but I thought, I thought he looked +melancholy, just as he did at the beginning of the session, and he was not so +merry as usual. In short, the majority in the House of Lords is a very weak +one: and he has much ado to keep it up; and he is not able to make those +removes he would, and oblige his friends; and I doubt too[19] he does not take +care enough about it, or rather cannot do all himself, and will not employ +others: which is his great fault, as I have often told you. 'Tis late. +Nite, MD. + +5. I wish you a merry Lent. I hate Lent; I hate different diets, and furmity +and butter, and herb porridge; and sour devout faces of people who only put on +religion for seven weeks. I was at the Secretary's office this morning; and +there a gentleman brought me two letters, dated last October; one from the +Bishop of Clogher, t'other from Walls. The gentleman is called Colonel +Newburgh.[20] I think you mentioned him to me some time ago; he has business +in the House of Lords. I will do him what service I can. The Representation +of the House of Commons is printed:[21] I have not seen it yet; it is plaguy +severe, they say. I dined with Dr. Arbuthnot, and had a true Lenten dinner, +not in point of victuals, but spleen; for his wife and a child or two were +sick in the house, and that was full as mortifying as fish. We have had fine +mighty cold frosty weather for some days past. I hope you take the advantage +of it, and walk now and then. You never answer that part of my letters where +I desire you to walk. I must keep my breath to cool my Lenten porridge. Tell +Jemmy Leigh that his boy that robbed him now appears about the town: Patrick +has seen him once or twice. I knew nothing of his being robbed till Patrick +told me he had seen the boy. I wish it had been Sterne that had been robbed, +to be revenged for the box that he lost,[22] and be p-xed to him. Nite, MD. + +6. I hear Mr. Prior has suffered by Stratford's breaking. I was yesterday to +see Prior, who is not well, and I thought he looked melancholy. He can ill +afford to lose money. I walked before dinner in the Mall a good while with +Lord Arran and Lord Dupplin, two of my brothers, and then we went to dinner, +where the Duke of Beaufort was our President. We were but eleven to-day. We +are now in all nine lords and ten commoners. The Duke of Beaufort had the +confidence to propose his brother-in-law, the Earl of Danby,[23] to be a +member; but I opposed it so warmly that it was waived. Danby is not above +twenty, and we will have no more boys, and we want but two to make up our +number. I stayed till eight, and then we all went away soberly. The Duke of +Ormond's treat last week cost 20 pounds, though it was only four dishes and +four, without a dessert; and I bespoke it in order to be cheap. Yet I could +not prevail to change the house. Lord Treasurer is in a rage with us for +being so extravagant: and the wine was not reckoned neither; for that is +always brought by him that is President. Lord Orrery[24] is to be President +next week; and I will see whether it cannot be cheaper; or else we will leave +the house. . .[25] Lord Masham made me go home with him to-night to eat +boiled oysters. Take oysters, wash them clean; that is, wash their shells +clean; then put your oysters into an earthen pot, with their hollow sides +down, then put this pot into a great kettle with water, and so let them boil. +Your oysters are boiled in their own liquor, and not mixed water. Lord +Treasurer was not with us; he was very ill to-day with a swimming in the head, +and is gone home to be cupped, and sent to desire Lady Masham to excuse him to +the Queen. Nite, dee MD. + +7. I was to-day at the House of Lords about a friend's Bill. Then I crossed +the water at Westminster Stairs to Southwark, went through St. George's Fields +to the Mint, which is the dominion of the King's[26] Bench Prison, where +Stratford lodges in a blind alley, and writ to me to come to him; but he was +gone to the 'Change. I thought he had something to say to me about his own +affairs. I found him at his usual coffee-house, and went to his own lodgings, +and dined with him and his wife, and other company. His business was only to +desire I would intercede with the Ministry about his brother-in-law, Ben +Burton,[27] of Dublin, the banker, who is likely to come into trouble, as we +hear, about spreading false Whiggish news. I hate Burton, and told Stratford +so; and I will advise the Duke of Ormond to make use of it, to keep the rogue +in awe. Mrs. Stratford tells me her husband's creditors have consented to +give him liberty to get up his debts abroad; and she hopes he will pay them +all. He was cheerfuller than I have seen him this great while. I have walked +much today.--Night, deelest logues. + +8. This day twelvemonth Mr. Harley was stabbed; but he is ill, and takes +physic to-day, I hear ('tis now morning), and cannot have the Cabinet Council +with him, as he intended, nor me to say grace. I am going to see him. Pray +read the Representation; 'tis the finest that ever was writ. Some of it is +Pdfr's style, but not very much. This is the day of the Queen's accession to +the Crown; so it is a great day. I am going to Court, and will dine with Lord +Masham; but I must go this moment to see the Secretary about some businesses; +so I will seal up this, and put it in the post my own self. Farewell, deelest +hearts and souls, MD. Farewell MD MD MD FW FW FW ME ME Lele Lele Lele Sollahs +lele. + + + +LETTER 43.[1] + +LONDON, March 8, 1711-12. + +I carried my forty-second letter in my pocket till evening, and then put it in +the general post.--I went in the morning to see Lord Treasurer, who had taken +physic, and was drinking his broth. I had been with the Secretary before, to +recommend a friend, one Dr. Freind,[2] to be Physician-General; and the +Secretary promised to mention it to the Queen. I can serve everybody but +myself. Then I went to Court, and carried Lord Keeper and the Secretary to +dine with Lord Masham, when we drank the Queen and Lord Treasurer with every +health, because this was the day of his stabbing.--Then I went and played +pools at picquet with Lady Masham and Mrs. Hill; won ten shillings, gave a +crown to the box, and came home. I met at my lodgings a letter from Joe, with +a bit annexed from Ppt. What Joe asks is entirely out of my way, and I take +it for a foolish whim in him. Besides, I know not who is to give a patent: +if the Duke of Ormond, I would speak to him; and if it come in my head I will +mention it to Ned Southwell. They have no patents that I know of for such +things here, but good security is all; and to think that I would speak to Lord +Treasurer for any such matter at random is a jest. Did I tell you of a race +of rakes, called the Mohocks,[3] that play the devil about this town every +night, slit people's noses, and beat them, etc.? Nite, sollahs, and rove +Pdfr. Nite, MD. + +9. I was at Court to-day, and nobody invited me to dinner, except one or two, +whom I did not care to dine with; so I dined with Mrs. Van. Young Davenant[4] +was telling us at Court how he was set upon by the Mohocks, and how they ran +his chair through with a sword. It is not safe being in the streets at night +for them. The Bishop of Salisbury's son[5] is said to be of the gang. They +are all Whigs; and a great lady sent to me, to speak to her father and to Lord +Treasurer, to have a care of them, and to be careful likewise of myself; for +she heard they had malicious intentions against the Ministers and their +friends. I know not whether there be anything in this, though others are of +the same opinion. The weather still continues very fine and frosty. I walked +in the Park this evening, and came home early to avoid the Mohocks. Lord +Treasurer is better. Nite, my own two deelest MD. + +10. I went this morning again to the Lord Treasurer, who is quite recovered; +and I stayed till he went out. I dined with a friend in the City, about a +little business of printing; but not my own. You must buy a small twopenny +pamphlet, called Law is a Bottomless Pit.[6] 'Tis very prettily written, and +there will be a Second Part. The Commons are very slow in bringing in their +Bill to limit the press, and the pamphleteers make good use of their time; for +there come out three or four every day. Well, but is not it time, methinks, +to have a letter from MD? 'Tis now six weeks since I had your Number 26. I +can assure oo I expect one before this goes; and I'll make shorter day's +journals than usual, 'cause I hope to fill up a good deal of t'other side with +my answer. Our fine weather lasts yet, but grows a little windy. We shall +have rain soon, I dispose. Go to cards, sollahs, and I to seep. Nite, MD. + +11. Lord Treasurer has lent the long letter I writ him[7] to Prior, and I +can't get Prior to return it. I want to have it printed, and to make up this +Academy for the improvement of our language. Faith, we never shall improve it +so much as FW has done; sall we? No, faith, ourrichar gangridge.[8] I dined +privately with my friend Lewis, and then went to see Ned Southwell, and talk +with him about Walls's business, and Mrs. South's. The latter will be done; +but his own not. Southwell tells me that it must be laid before Lord +Treasurer, and the nature of it explained, and a great deal of clutter, which +is not worth the while; and maybe Lord Treasurer won't do it [at] last; and it +is, as Walls says himself, not above forty shillings a year difference. You +must tell Walls this, unless he would have the business a secret from you: in +that case only say I did all I could with Ned Southwell, and it can't be done; +for it must be laid before Lord Treasurer, etc., who will not do it; and +besides, it is not worth troubling his lordship. So nite, my two deelest +nuntyes nine MD.[9] + +12. Here is the D---- and all to do with these Mohocks. Grub Street papers +about them fly like lightning, and a list printed of near eighty put into +several prisons, and all a lie; and I begin almost to think there is no truth, +or very little, in the whole story. He that abused Davenant was a drunken +gentleman; none of that gang. My man tells me that one of the lodgers heard +in a coffee-house, publicly, that one design of the Mohocks was upon me, if +they could catch me; and though I believe nothing of it, I forbear walking +late, and they have put me to the charge of some shillings already. I dined +to-day with Lord Treasurer and two gentlemen of the Highlands of Scotland, yet +very polite men. I sat there till nine, and then went to Lord Masham's, where +Lord Treasurer followed me, and we sat till twelve; and I came home in a chair +for fear of the Mohocks, and I have given him warning of it too. Little +Harrison,[10] whom I sent to Holland, is now actually made Queen's Secretary +at The Hague. It will be in the Gazette to-morrow. 'Tis worth twelve hundred +pounds a year. Here is a young fellow has writ some Sea Eclogues, poems of +Mermen, resembling pastorals of shepherds, and they are very pretty, and the +thought is new. Mermen are he-mermaids; Tritons, natives of the sea. Do you +understand me? I think to recommend him to our Society to-morrow. His name +is Diaper.[11] P-- on him, I must do something for him, and get him out of +the way. I hate to have any new wits rise, but when they do rise I would +encourage them; but they tread on our heels and thrust us off the stage. Nite +deelest MD. + +13. You would laugh to see our printer constantly attending our Society after +dinner, and bringing us whatever new thing he has printed, which he seldom +fails to do. Yet he had nothing to-day. Lord Lansdowne, one of our Society, +was offended at a passage in this day's Examiner, which he thinks reflects on +him, as I believe it does, though in a mighty civil way. 'Tis only that his +underlings cheat; but that he is a very fine gentleman every way, etc.[12] +Lord Orrery was President to-day; but both our dukes were absent. Brother +Wyndham recommended Diaper to the Society. I believe we shall make a +contribution among ourselves, which I don't like. Lord Treasurer has yet done +nothing for us, but we shall try him soon. The company parted early, but +Freind, and Prior, and I, sat a while longer and reformed the State, and found +fault with the Ministry. Prior hates his Commission of the Customs, because +it spoils his wit. He says he dreams of nothing but cockets,[13] and dockets, +and drawbacks, and other jargon words of the custom-house. Our good weather +went away yesterday, and the nights are now dark, and I came home before ten. +Night nown. . . deelest sollahs. + +14. I have been plagued this morning with solicitors, and with nobody more +than my brother, Dr. Freind, who must needs have to get old Dr. Lawrence,[14] +the Physician-General, turned out and himself in. He has argued with me so +long upon the reasonableness of it, that I am fully convinced it is very +unreasonable; and so I would tell the Secretary, if I had not already made him +speak to the Queen. Besides, I know not but my friend Dr. Arbuthnot would be +content to have it himself, and I love him ten times better than Freind. +What's all this to you? but I must talk of things as they happen in the day, +whether you know anything of them or no. I dined in the City, and, coming +back, one Parson Richardson[15] of Ireland overtook me. He was here last +summer upon a project of converting the Irish and printing Bibles, etc., in +that language, and is now returned to pursue it on. He tells me Dr. +Coghill[16] came last night [to] town. I will send to see how he does to- +morrow. He gave me a letter from Walls about his old business. Nite, deelest +MD. + +15. I had intended to be early with the Secretary this morning, when my man +admitted upstairs one Mr. Newcomb,[17] an officer, who brought me a letter +from the Bishop of Clogher, with four lines added by Mrs. Ashe, all about that +Newcomb. I think, indeed, his case is hard, but God knows whether I shall be +able to do him any service. People will not understand: I am a very good +second, but I care not to begin a recommendation, unless it be for an intimate +friend. However, I will do what I can. I missed the Secretary, and then +walked to Chelsea to dine with the Dean of Christ Church,[18] who was engaged +to Lord Orrery with some other Christ Church men. He made me go with him +whether I would or not, for they have this long time admitted me a Christ +Church man. Lord Orrery, generally every winter, gives his old acquaintance +of that college a dinner. There were nine clergymen at table, and four +laymen. The Dean and I soon left them, and after a visit or two, I went to +Lord Masham's, and Lord Treasurer, Arbuthnot and I sat till twelve. And now I +am come home and got to bed. I came afoot, but had my man with me. Lord +Treasurer advised me not to go in a chair, because the Mohocks insult chairs +more than they do those on foot. They think there is some mischievous design +in those villains. Several of them, Lord Treasurer told me, are actually +taken up. I heard at dinner that one of them was killed last night. We shall +know more in a little time. I don't like them, as the men said.[19] Nite MD. + +16. This morning, at the Secretary's, I met General Ross,[20] and recommended +Newcomb's case to him, who promises to join with me in working up the Duke of +Ormond to do something for him. Lord Winchelsea[21] told me to-day at Court +that two of the Mohocks caught a maid of old Lady Winchelsea's,[22] at the +door of their house in the Park, where she was with a candle, and had just +lighted out somebody. They cut all her face, and beat her without any +provocation. I hear my friend Lewis has got a Mohock in one of the +messenger's hands. The Queen was at church to-day, but was carried in an open +chair. She has got an ugly cough, Arbuthnot, her physician, says. I dined +with Crowe,[23] late Governor of Barbados; an acquaintance of Sterne's.[24] +After dinner I asked him whether he had heard of Sterne. "Here he is," said +he, "at the door in a coach:" and in came Sterne. He has been here this week. +He is buying a captainship in his cousin Sterne's[25] regiment. He told me he +left Jemmy Leigh playing at cards with you. He is to give 800 guineas for his +commission. I suppose you know all this better than I. How shall I have room +to answer oo rettle[26] hen I get it, I have gone so far already? Nite, +deelest logues MD. + +17. Dr. Sacheverell came this morning to give me thanks for getting his +brother an employment. It was but six or seven weeks since I spoke to Lord +Treasurer for him. Sacheverell brought Trapp[27] along with him. We dined +together at my printer's, and I sat with them till seven. I little thought, +and I believe so did he, that ever I should be his solicitor to the present +Ministry, when I left Ireland. This is the seventh I have now provided for +since I came, and can do nothing for myself. I don't care; I shall have +Ministries and other people obliged to me. Trapp is a coxcomb, and the +t'other is not very deep; and their judgment in things of wit or sense is +miraculous. The Second Part of Law is a Bottomless Pit[28] is just now +printed, and better, I think, than the first. Night, my two deel saucy +dallars. + +18. There is a proclamation out against the Mohocks. One of those that are +taken is a baronet. I dined with poor Mrs. Wesley, who is returning to the +Bath. Mrs. Perceval's[29] young daughter has got the smallpox, but will do +well. I walked this evening in the Park, and met Prior, who made me go home +with him, where I stayed till past twelve, and could not get a coach, and was +alone, and was afraid enough of the Mohocks. I will do so no more, though I +got home safe. Prior and I were talking discontentedly of some managements, +that no more people are turned out, which get Lord Treasurer many enemies: +but whether the fault be in him, or the Queen, I know not; I doubt, in both. +Ung omens, it is now seven weeks since I received your last; but I expect one +next Irish packet, to fill the rest of this paper; but if it don't come, I'll +do without it: so I wish oo good luck at ombre with the Dean. Nite, nuntyes +nine.[30] + +19. Newcomb came to me this morning, and I went to the Duke of Ormond to +speak for him; but the Duke was just going out to take the oaths for General. +The Duke of Shrewsbury is to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. I walked with +Domville and Ford to Kensington, where we dined, and it cost me above a crown. +I don't like it, as the man said.[31] It was very windy walking. I saw there +Lord Masham's children. The youngest, my nephew, I fear, has got the king's +evil; the other two are daughters of three and four years old. 'Twas very +windy walking. The gardens there are mighty fine. I passed the evening at +Lord Masham's with Lord Treasurer and Arbuthnot, as usual, and we stayed till +past one; but I had my man to come with me, and at home I found three letters; +one from one Fetherston, a parson, with a postscript of Tisdall's to recommend +him: and Fetherston, whom I never saw, has been so kind to give me a letter +of attorney to recover a debt for him. Another from Lord Abercorn, to get him +the dukedom of Chatelherault[32] from the King of France; in which I will do +what I can, for his pretensions are very just. The third, I warrant you, from +our MD. 'Tis a great stir this, of getting a dukedom from the King of France: +but it is only to speak to the Secretary, and get the Duke of Ormond to engage +in it, and mention the case to Lord Treasurer, etc., and this I shall do. +Nite deelest richar MD. + +20. I was with the Duke of Ormond this morning, about Lord Abercorn, Dr. +Freind, and Newcomb. Some will do, and some will not do; that's wise, +marams.[33] The Duke of Shrewsbury is certainly to be your Governor. I will +go in a day or two, and give the Duchess joy, and recommend the Archbishop of +Dublin to her. I writ to the Archbishop, some months ago, that it would be +so, and told him I would speak a good word for him to the Duchess; and he says +he has a great respect for her, etc. I made our Society change their house, +and we met to-day at the Star and Garter in the Pall Mall. Lord Arran was +President. The other dog was so extravagant in his bills, that for four +dishes and four, first and second course, without wine or dessert, he charged +twenty-one pounds, six shillings, and eightpence, to the Duke of Ormond. We +design, when all have been Presidents this turn, to turn it into a reckoning +of so much a head; but we shall break up when the session ends. Nite deelest +MD. + +21. Morning. Now I will answer MD's rettle, N.27; you that are adding to +your number and grumbling, had made it 26, and then altered[34] it to 27. I +believe it is above a month since your last; yes, it is above seven weeks +since I had your last: but I ought to consider that this was twelve days +right,[35] so that makes it pretty even. O, the sirry zade,[36] with her +excuses of a fortnight at Ballygall, seeing their friends, and landlord +running away. O Rold, hot a cruttle[37] and a bustle!--No--if you will have +it--I am not Dean of Wells,[38] nor know anything of being so; nor is there +anything in the story; and that's enough. It was not Roper[39] sent that +news: Roper is my humble slave.--Yes, I heard of your resolves, and that +Burton was embroiled. Stratford spoke to me in his behalf; but I said I hated +the rascal. Poor Catherine gone to Wales? But she will come back again, I +hope. I would see her in my journey, if she were near the road; and bring her +over. Joe[40] is a fool; that sort of business is not at all in my way, pray +put him off it. People laugh when I mention it. Bed ee paadon, Maram; I'm +drad oo rike ee aplon:[41] no harm, I hope. And so. . . DD wonders she has +not a letter at the day; oo'll have it soon. . . . The D---- he is! married +to that vengeance! Men are not to be believed. I don't think her a fool. +Who would have her? Dilly will be governed like an ass; and she will govern +like a lion. Is not that true, Ppt? Why, Sterne told me he left you at ombre +with Leigh; and yet you never saw him. I know nothing of his wife being here: +it may cost her a c---[42] (I don't care to write that word plain). He is a +little in doubt about buying his commission. Yes, I will bring oo over all +the little papers I can think on. I thought I sent you, by Leigh, all that +were good at that time. The author of the Sea Eclogues sent books to the +Society yesterday, and we gave him guineas apiece; and, maybe, will do further +from him (for him, I mean). So the Bishop of Clogher, and lady, were your +guests for a night or two. Why, Ppt, you are grown a great gamester and +company keeper. I did say to myself, when I read those names, just what you +guess; and you clear up the matter wonderfully. You may converse with those +two nymphs if you please, but the ----- take me if ever I do. Iss, fais, it +is delightful to hear that Ppt is every way Ppt now, in health, and looks, and +all. Pray God keep her so, many, many, many years. I doubt the session will +not be over till the end of April; however, I shall not wait for it, if the +Ministry will let me go sooner. I wish I were just now in my garden at +Laracor. I would set out for Dublin early on Monday, and bring you an account +of my young trees, which you are better acquainted with than the Ministry, and +so am I. Oh, now you have got Number 41, have you so? Why, perhaps, I +forgot, and kept it to next post in my pocket: I have done such tricks. My +cold is better, but not gone. I want air and riding. Hold ee tongue, oo Ppt, +about colds at Moor Park! the case is quite different. I will do what you +desire me for Tisdall, when I next see Lord Anglesea. Pray give him my +service. The weather is warm these three or four days, and rainy. I am to +dine to-day with Lewis and Darteneuf at Somers's,[43] the Clerk of the Kitchen +at Court. Darteneuf loves good bits and good sups. Good mollows richar +sollohs.--At night. I dined, as I said; and it cost me a shilling for a +chair. It has rained all day, and is very warm. Lady Masham's young son, my +nephew, is very ill; and she is out of mind[44] with grief. I pity her +mightily. I am got home early, and going to write to the Bishop of Clogher, +but have no politics to send him. Nite my own two deelest saucy d[ear] ones. + +22. I am going into the City this morning with a friend about some business; +so I will immediately seal up this, and keep it in my pottick till evening, +and zen put it in the post. The weather continues warm and gloomy. I have +heard no news since I went to bed, so can say no more. Pray send. . . that I +may have time to write to. . .[45] about it. I have here underneath given +order for forty shillings to Mrs. Brent, which you will send to Parvisol. +Farewell, deelest deel MD, and rove Pdfr dearly dearly. Farewell, MD, MD, FW, +FW, FW, ME, ME, ME, Lele lele lele lele lele lele, and lele aden. + + + +LETTER 44.[1] + +LONDON, March 22, 1711-12. + +Ugly, nasty weather. I was in the City to-day with Mrs. Wesley and Mrs. +Perceval, to get money from a banker for Mrs. Wesley, who goes to Bath on +Thursday. I left them there, and dined with a friend, and went to see Lord +Treasurer; but he had people with him I did not know: so I went to Lady +Masham's, and lost a crown with her at picquet, and then sat with Lord Masham +and Lord Treasurer, etc., there till past one; but I had my man with me, to +come home. I gave in my forty-third, and one for the Bishop of Clogher, to +the post-office, as I came from the City; and so oo know 'tis late now, and I +have nothing to say for this day. Our Mohocks are all vanished; however, I +shall take care of my person. Nite my own two deelest nuntyes MD. + +23. I was this morning, before church, with the Secretary, about Lord +Abercorn's business, and some others. My soliciting season is come, and will +last as long as the session. I went late to Court, and the company was almost +gone. The Court serves me for a coffee-house; once a week I meet acquaintance +there, that I should not otherwise see in a quarter. There is a flying report +that the French have offered a cessation of arms, and to give us Dunkirk, and +the Dutch Namur, for security, till the peace is made. The Duke of Ormond, +they say, goes in a week. Abundance of his equipage is already gone. His[2] +friends are afraid the expense of this employment will ruin him, since he must +lose the government of Ireland. I dined privately with a friend, and refused +all dinners offered me at Court; which, however, were but two, and I did not +like either. Did I tell you of a scoundrel about the Court that sells +employments to ignorant people, and cheats them of their money? He lately +made a bargain for the Vice-Chamberlain's place, for seven thousand pounds, +and had received some guineas earnest; but the whole thing was discovered +t'other day, and examination taken of it by Lord Dartmouth, and I hope he will +be swinged. The Vice-Chamberlain told me several particulars of it last night +at Lord Masham's. Can DD play at ombre yet, enough to hold the cards while +Ppt steps into the next room? Nite deelest sollahs.[3] + +24. This morning I recommended Newcomb again to the Duke of Ormond, and left +Dick Stewart[4] to do it further. Then I went to visit the Duchess of +Hamilton, who was not awake. So I went to the Duchess of Shrewsbury, and sat +an hour at her toilet. I talked to her about the Duke's being Lord +Lieutenant. She said she knew nothing of it; but I rallied her out of that, +and she resolves not to stay behind the Duke. I intend to recommend the +Bishop of Clogher to her for an acquaintance. He will like her very well: +she is, indeed, a most agreeable woman, and a great favourite of mine. I know +not whether the ladies in Ireland will like her. I was at the Court of +Requests, to get some lords to be at a committee to-morrow, about a friend's +Bill: and then the Duke of Beaufort gave me a poem, finely bound in folio, +printed at Stamford, and writ by a country squire. Lord Exeter[5] desired the +Duke to give it the Queen, because the author is his friend; but the Duke +desired I would let him know whether it was good for anything. I brought it +home, and will return it to-morrow, as the dullest thing I ever read; and +advise the Duke not to present it. I dined with Domville at his lodgings, by +invitation; for he goes in a few days for Ireland. Nite dee MD. + +25. There is a mighty feast at a Tory sheriff's to-day in the City: twelve +hundred dishes of meat.--Above five lords, and several hundred gentlemen, will +be there, and give four or five guineas apiece, according to custom. Dr. +Coghill and I dined, by invitation, at Mrs. Van's. It has rained or mizzled +all day, as my pockets feel. There are two new answers come out to the +Conduct of the Allies. The last year's Examiners, printed together in a small +volume, go off but slowly. The printer over-printed himself by at least a +thousand; so soon out of fashion are party papers, however so well writ. The +Medleys are coming out in the same volume, and perhaps may sell better. Our +news about a cessation of arms begins to flag, and I have not these three days +seen anybody in business to ask them about it. We had a terrible fire last +night in Drury Lane, or thereabouts, and three or four people destroyed. One +of the maids of honour has the smallpox; but the best is, she can lose no +beauty; and we have one new handsome maid of honour. Nite MD. + +26. I forgot to tell you that on Sunday last, about seven at night, it +lightened above fifty times as I walked the Mall, which I think is +extraordinary at this time of the year, and the weather was very hot. Had you +anything of this in Dublin? I intended to dine with Lord Treasurer to-day; +but Lord Mansel and Mr. Lewis made me dine with them at Kit Musgrave's.[6] I +sat the evening with Mrs. Wesley, who goes to-morrow morning to the Bath. She +is much better than she was. The news of the French desiring a cessation of +arms, etc., was but town talk. We shall know in a few days, as I am told, +whether there will be a peace or not. The Duke of Ormond will go in a week +for Flanders, they say. Our Mohocks go on still, and cut people's faces every +night; fais, they shan't cut mine, I like it better as it is. The dogs will +cost me at least a crown a week in chairs. I believe the souls of your +houghers of cattle have got into them, and now they don't distinguish between +a cow and a Christian. I forgot to wish you yesterday a happy New Year. You +know the twenty-fifth of March is the first day of the year, and now you must +leave off cards, and put out your fire. I'll put out mine the first of April, +cold or not cold. I believe I shall lose credit with you by not coming over +at the beginning of April; but I hoped the session would be ended, and I must +stay till then; yet I would fain be at the beginning of my willows growing. +Perceval tells me that the quicksets upon the flat in the garden do not grow +so well as those famous ones on the ditch. They want digging about them. The +cherry-trees, by the river-side, my heart is set upon. Nite MD. + +27. Society day. You know that, I suppose. Dr. Arthburnett[7] was +President. His dinner was dressed in the Queen's kitchen, and was mighty +fine. We ate it at Ozinda's Chocolate-house,[8] just by St. James's. We were +never merrier, nor better company, and did not part till after eleven. I did +not summon Lord Lansdowne: he and I are fallen out. There was something in +an Examiner a fortnight ago that he thought reflected on the abuses in his +office (he is Secretary at War), and he writ to the Secretary that he heard I +had inserted that paragraph. This I resented highly, that he should complain +of me before he spoke to me. I sent him a peppering letter, and would not +summon him by a note, as I did the rest; nor ever will have anything to say to +him, till he begs my pardon. I met Lord Treasurer to-day at Lady Masham's. +He would fain have carried me home to dinner, but I begged his pardon. What! +upon a Society day! No, no. 'Tis rate, sollahs. I an't dlunk. Nite MD. + +28. I was with my friend Lewis to-day, getting materials for a little +mischief; and I dined with Lord Treasurer, and three or four fellows I never +saw before. I left them at seven, and came home, and have been writing to the +Archbishop of Dublin, and cousin Deane,[9] in answer to one of his of four +months old, that I spied by chance, routing among my papers. I have a pain +these two days exactly upon the top of my left shoulder. I fear it is +something rheumatic; it winches[10] now and then. Shall I put flannel to it? +Domville is going to Ireland; he came here this morning to take leave of me, +but I shall dine with him to-morrow. Does the Bishop of Clogher talk of +coming for England this summer? I think Lord Molesworth told me so about two +months ago. The weather is bad again; rainy and very cold this evening. Do +you know what the longitude is? A projector[11] has been applying himself to +me, to recommend him to the Ministry, because he pretends to have found out +the longitude. I believe he has no more found it out than he has found out +mine. . .[12] However, I will gravely hear what he says, and discover him a +knave or fool. Nite MD. + +29. I am plagued with these pains in my shoulder; I believe it is rheumatic; +I will do something for it to-night. Mr. Lewis and I dined with Mr. Domville, +to take our leave of him. I drank three or four glasses of champagne by +perfect teasing, though it is bad for my pain; but if it continue, I will not +drink any wine without water till I am well. The weather is abominably cold +and wet. I am got into bed, and have put some old flannel, for want of new, +to my shoulder, and rubbed it with Hungary water.[13] It is plaguy hard. I +never would drink any wine, if it were not for my head, and drinking has given +me this pain. I will try abstemiousness for a while. How does MD do now; how +does DD and Ppt? You must know I hate pain, as the old woman said. But I'll +try to go seep. My flesh sucks up Hungary water rarely. My man is an awkward +rascal, and makes me peevish. Do you know that t'other day he was forced to +beg my pardon, that he could not shave my head, his hand shook so? He is +drunk every day, and I design to turn him off soon as ever I get to Ireland. +I'll write no more now, but go to sleep, and see whether sleep and flannel +will cure my shoulder. Nite deelest MD. + +30. I was not able to go to church or Court to-day for my shoulder. The pain +has left my shoulder, and crept to my neck and collar-bone. It makes me think +of poo Ppt's bladebone. Urge, urge, urge; dogs gnawing. I went in a chair at +two, and dined with Mrs. Van, where I could be easy, and came back at seven. +My Hungary water is gone; and to-night I use spirits of wine, which my +landlady tells me is very good. It has rained terribly all day long, and is +extremely cold. I am very uneasy, and such cruel twinges every moment! Nite +deelest MD. + +31. April 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. All these days I have been extremely ill, +though I twice crawled out a week ago; but am now recovering, though very +weak. The violence of my pain abated the night before last: I will just tell +you how I was, and then send away this letter, which ought to have gone +Saturday last. The pain increased with mighty violence in my left shoulder +and collar-bone, and that side my neck. On Thursday morning appeared great +red spots in all those places where my pain was, and the violence of the pain +was confined to my neck behind, a little on the left side; which was so +violent that I had not a minute's ease, nor hardly a minute's sleep in three +days and nights. The spots increased every day, and bred little pimples, +which are now grown white, and full of corruption, though small. The red +still continues too, and most prodigious hot and inflamed. The disease is the +shingles. I eat nothing but water-gruel; am very weak; but out of all violent +pain. The doctors say it would have ended in some violent disease if it had +not come out thus. I shall now recover fast. I have been in no danger of +life, but miserable torture. I must not write too much. So adieu, deelest MD +MD MD FW FW, ME ME ME, Lele. I can say lele yet, oo see. Fais, I don't +conceal a bit, as hope saved.[14] + +I[15] must purge and clyster after this; and my next letter will not be in the +old order of journal, till I have done with physic. An't oo surprised to see +a letter want half a side? + + + +LETTER 45.[1] + +LONDON, April 24, 1712. + +I had your twenty-eighth two or three days ago. I can hardly answer it now. +Since my last I have been extremely ill. 'Tis this day just a month since I +felt a small pain on the tip of my left shoulder, which grew worse, and spread +for six days; then broke all out by my collar and left side of my neck in +monstrous red spots inflamed, and these grew to small pimples. For four days +I had no rest, nor nights, for a pain in my neck; then I grew a little better; +afterward, where my pains were, a cruel itching seized me, beyond whatever I +could imagine, and kept me awake several nights. I rubbed it vehemently, but +did not scratch it: then it grew into three or four great sores like +blisters, and run; at last I advised the doctor to use it like a blister, so I +did with melilot[2] plasters, which still run: and am now in pain enough, but +am daily mending. I kept my chamber a fortnight, then went out a day or two, +but then confined myself again. Two days ago I went to a neighbour to dine, +but yesterday again kept at home. To-day I will venture abroad a little, and +hope to be well in a week or ten days. I never suffered so much in my life. +I have taken my breeches in above two inches, so I am leaner, which answers +one question in your letter. The weather is mighty fine. I write in the +morning, because I am better then. I will go and try to walk a little. I +will give DD's certificate to Tooke to-morrow. Farewell, MD MD MD, ME ME, FW +FW ME ME. + + + +LETTER 46.[1] + +LONDON, May 10, 1712. + +I have not yet ease or humour enough to go on in my journal method, though I +have left my chamber these ten days. My pain continues still in my shoulder +and collar: I keep flannel on it, and rub it with brandy, and take a nasty +diet drink. I still itch terribly, and have some few pimples; I am weak, and +sweat; and then the flannel makes me mad with itching; but I think my pain +lessens. A journal, while I was sick, would have been a noble thing, made up +of pain and physic, visits, and messages; the two last were almost as +troublesome as the two first. One good circumstance is that I am grown much +leaner. I believe I told you that I have taken in my breeches two inches. I +had your N.29 last night. In answer to your good opinion of my disease, the +doctors said they never saw anything so odd of the kind; they were not +properly shingles, but herpes miliaris, and twenty other hard names. I can +never be sick like other people, but always something out of the common way; +and as for your notion of its coming without pain, it neither came, nor +stayed, nor went without pain, and the most pain I ever bore in my life. +Medemeris[2] is retired in the country, with the beast her husband, long ago. +I thank the Bishop of Clogher for his proxy; I will write to him soon. Here +is Dilly's wife in town; but I have not seen her yet. No, sinkerton:[3] 'tis +not a sign of health, but a sign that, if it had not come out, some terrible +fit of sickness would have followed. I was at our Society last Thursday, to +receive a new member, the Chancellor of the Exchequer;[4] but I drink nothing +above wine and water. We shall have a peace, I hope, soon, or at least +entirely broke; but I believe the first. My Letter to Lord Treasurer, about +the English tongue,[5] is now printing; and I suffer my name to be put at the +end of it, which I never did before in my life. The Appendix to the Third +Part of John Bull[6] was published yesterday; it is equal to the rest. I hope +you read John Bull. It was a Scotch gentleman,[7] a friend of mine, that writ +it; but they put it upon me. The Parliament will hardly be up till June. We +were like to be undone some days ago with a tack; but we carried it bravely, +and the Whigs came in to help us. Poor Lady Masham, I am afraid, will lose +her only son, about a twelvemonth old, with the king's evil. I never would +let Mrs. Fenton see me during my illness, though she often came; but she has +been once here since I recovered. Bernage has been twice to see me of late. +His regiment will be broke, and he only upon half-pay; so perhaps he thinks he +will want me again. I am told here the Bishop of Clogher and family are +coming over, but he says nothing of it himself. I have been returning the +visits of those that sent howdees[8] in my sickness; particularly the Duchess +of Hamilton, who came and sat with me two hours. I make bargains with all +people that I dine with, to let me scrub my back against a chair; and the +Duchess of Ormond[9] was forced to bear it the other day. Many of my friends +are gone to Kensington, where the Queen has been removed for some time. This +is a long letter for a kick[10] body. I will begin the next in the journal +way, though my journals will be sorry ones. My left hand is very weak, and +trembles; but my right side has not been touched. + + This is a pitiful letter + For want of a better; + But plagued with a tetter, + My fancy does fetter. + +Ah! my poor willows and quicksets! Well, but you must read John Bull. Do you +understand it all? Did I tell you that young Parson Gery[11] is going to be +married, and asked my advice when it was too late to break off? He tells me +Elwick has purchased forty pounds a year in land adjoining to his living. Ppt +does not say one word of her own little health. I am angry almost; but I +won't, 'cause see im a dood dallar in odle sings;[12] iss, and so im DD too. +God bless MD, and FW, and ME, ay and Pdfr too. Farewell, MD, MD, MD, FW, FW, +FW. ME, ME Lele. I can say lele it, ung oomens, iss I tan, well as oo. + + + +LETTER 47.[1] + +LONDON, May 31, 1712. + +I cannot yet arrive to my journal letters, my pains continuing still, though +with less violence; but I don't love to write journals while I am in pain; and +above all, not journals to MD. But, however, I am so much mended, that I +intend my next shall be in the old way; and yet I shall, perhaps, break my +resolution when I feel pain. I believe I have lost credit with you, in +relation to my coming over; but I protest it is impossible for one who has +anything to do with this Ministry to be certain when he fixes any time. There +is a business which, till it take some turn or other, I cannot leave this +place in prudence or honour. And I never wished so much as now that I had +stayed in Ireland; but the die is cast, and is now a spinning, and till it +settles, I cannot tell whether it be an ace or a sise.[2] I am confident by +what you know yourselves, that you will justify me in all this. The moment I +am used ill, I will leave them; but know not how to do it while things are in +suspense. The session will soon be over (I believe in a fortnight), and the +peace, we hope, will be made in a short time; and there will be no further +occasion for me; nor have I anything to trust to but Court gratitude, so that +I expect to see my willows[3] a month after the Parliament is up: but I will +take MD in my way, and not go to Laracor like an unmannerly spraenekich +ferrow.[4] Have you seen my Letter to Lord Treasurer? There are two answers +come out to it already;[5] though it is no politics, but a harmless proposal +about the improvement of the English Tongue. I believe if I writ an essay +upon a straw some fool would answer it. About ten days hence I expect a +letter from MD; N.30.--You are now writing it, near the end, as I guess.--I +have not received DD's money; but I will give you a note for it on Parvisol, +and bed oo paadon[6] I have not done it before. I am just now thinking to go +lodge at Kensington for the air. Lady Masham has teased me to do it, but +business has hindered me; but now Lord Treasurer has removed thither. Fifteen +of our Society dined together under a canopy in an arbour at Parson's Green[7] +last Thursday: I never saw anything so fine and romantic. We got a great +victory last Wednesday in the House of Lords by a majority, I think, of +twenty-eight; and the Whigs had desired their friends to bespeak places to see +Lord Treasurer carried to the Tower.[8] I met your Higgins[9] here yesterday: +he roars at the insolence of the Whigs in Ireland, talks much of his own +sufferings and expenses in asserting the cause of the Church; and I find he +would fain plead merit enough to desire that his fortune should be mended. I +believe he designs to make as much noise as he can in order to preferment. +Pray let the Provost, when he sees you, give you ten English shillings, and I +will give as much here to the man who delivered me Rymer's books:[10] he +knows the meaning. Tell him I will not trust him, but that you can order it +to be paid me here; and I will trust you till I see you. Have I told you that +the rogue Patrick has left me these two months, to my great satisfaction? I +have got another, who seems to be much better, if he continues it. I am +printing a threepenny pamphlet,[11] and shall print another in a fortnight, +and then I have done, unless some new occasion starts. Is my curate Warburton +married to Mrs. Melthrop in my parish? so I hear. Or is it a lie? Has +Raymond got to his new house? Do you see Joe now and then? What luck have +you at ombre? How stands it with the Dean? . . .[12] My service to Mrs. +Stoyte, and Catherine, if she be come from Wales. I have not yet seen Dilly +Ashe's wife. I called once, but she was not at home: I think she is under +the doctor's hand. . . .[13] I believe the news of the Duke of Ormond +producing letters in the council of war, with orders not to fight, will +surprise you in Ireland. Lord Treasurer said in the House of Lords that in a +few days the treaty of peace should be laid before them; and our Court thought +it wrong to hazard a battle, and sacrifice many lives in such a juncture. If +the peace holds, all will do well, otherwise I know not how we shall weather +it. And it was reckoned as a wrong step in politics for Lord Treasurer to +open himself so much. The Secretary would not go so far to satisfy the Whigs +in the House of Commons; but there all went swimmingly. I'll say no more to +oo to-nite, sellohs, because I must send away the letter, not by the bell,[14] +but early: and besides, I have not much more to say at zis plesent +liting.[15] Does MD never read at all now, pee?[16] But oo walk +plodigiousry, I suppose; oo make nothing of walking to, to, to, ay, to +Donnybrook. I walk too as much as I can, because sweating is good; but I'll +walk more if I go to Kensington. I suppose I shall have no apples this year +neither, for I dined t'other day with Lord Rivers, who is sick at his country- +house, and he showed me all his cherries blasted. Nite deelest sollahs; +farewell deelest rives; rove poo poo Pdfr. Farewell deelest richar MD, MD, +MD, FW, FW, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, Lele, ME, Lele, Lele, richar MD. + + + +LETTER 48.[1] + +KENSINGTON, June 17, 1712. + +I have been so tosticated about since my last, that I could not go on in my +journal manner, though my shoulder is a great deal better; however, I feel +constant pain in it, but I think it diminishes, and I have cut off some slices +from my flannel. I have lodged here near a fortnight, partly for the air and +exercise, partly to be near the Court, where dinners are to be found. I +generally get a lift in a coach to town, and in the evening I walk back. On +Saturday I dined with the Duchess of Ormond at her lodge near Sheen, and +thought to get a boat back as usual. I walked by the bank to Cue [Kew], but +no boat, then to Mortlake, but no boat, and it was nine o'clock. At last a +little sculler called, full of nasty people. I made him set me down at +Hammersmith, so walked two miles to this place, and got here by eleven. Last +night I had another such difficulty. I was in the City till past ten at +night; it rained hard, but no coach to be had. It gave over a little, and I +walked all the way here, and got home by twelve. I love these shabby +difficulties when they are over; but I hate them, because they arise from not +having a thousand pound a year. I had your N.30 about three days ago, which I +will now answer. And first, I did not relapse, but found[2] I came out before +I ought; and so, and so, as I have told you in some of my last. The first +coming abroad made people think I was quite recovered, and I had no more +messages afterwards. Well, but John Bull is not writ by the person you +imagine, as hope![3] It is too good for another to own. Had it been Grub +Street, I would have let people think as they please; and I think that's +right: is not it now? so flap ee hand, and make wry mouth oo-self, sauci +doxi. Now comes DD. Why sollah, I did write in a fortnight my 47th; and if +it did not come in due time, can I help wind and weather? am I a Laplander? am +I a witch? can I work miracles? can I make easterly winds? Now I am against +Dr. Smith. I drink little water with my wine, yet I believe he is right. Yet +Dr. Cockburn told me a little wine would not hurt me; but it is so hot and +dry, and water is so dangerous. The worst thing here is my evenings at Lord +Masham's, where Lord Treasurer comes, and we sit till after twelve. But it is +convenient I should be among them for a while as much as possible. I need not +tell oo why. But I hope that will be at an end in a month or two, one way or +other, and I am resolved it shall. But I can't go to Tunbridge, or anywhere +else out of the way, in this juncture. So Ppt designs for Templeoag (what a +name is that!). Whereabouts is that place? I hope not very far from Dublin. +Higgins is here, roaring that all is wrong in Ireland, and would have me get +him an audience of Lord Treasurer to tell him so; but I will have nothing to +do in it, no, not I, faith. We have had no thunder till last night, and till +then we were dead for want of rain; but there fell a great deal: no field +looked green. I reckon the Queen will go to Windsor in three or four weeks: +and if the Secretary takes a house there, I shall be sometimes with him. But +how affectedly Ppt talks of my being here all the summer; which I do not +intend: nor to stay one minute longer in England than becomes the +circumstances I am in. I wish you would go soon into the country, and take a +good deal of it; and where better than Trim? Joe will be your humble servant, +Parvisol your slave, and Raymond at your command, for he piques himself on +good manners. I have seen Dilly's wife--and I have seen once or twice old +Bradley[4] here. He is very well, very old, and very wise: I believe I must +go see his wife, when I have leisure. I should be glad to see Goody Stoyte +and her husband; pray give them my humble service, and to Catherine, and to +Mrs. Walls--I am not the least bit in love with Mrs. Walls--I suppose the +cares of the husband increase with the fruitfulness of the wife. I am grad at +halt[5] to hear of Ppt's good health: pray let her finish it by drinking +waters. I hope DD had her bill, and has her money. Remember to write a due +time before ME money is wanted, and be good galls, dood dallars, I mean, and +no crying dallars. I heard somebody coming upstairs, and forgot I was in the +country; and I was afraid of a visitor: that is one advantage of being here, +that I am not teased with solicitors. Molt, the chemist, is my acquaintance. +My service to Dr. Smith. I sent the question to him about Sir Walter +Raleigh's cordial, and the answer he returned is in these words: "It is +directly after Mr. Boyle's receipt." That commission is performed; if he +wants any of it, Molt shall use him fairly. I suppose Smith is one of your +physicians. So, now your letter is fully and impartially answered; not as +rascals answer me: I believe, if I writ an essay upon a straw, I should have +a shoal of answerers: but no matter for that; you see I can answer without +making any reflections, as becomes men of learning. Well, but now for the +peace: why, we expect it daily; but the French have the staff in their own +hands, and we trust to their honesty. I wish it were otherwise. Things are +now in the way of being soon in the extremes of well or ill. I hope and +believe the first. Lord Wharton is gone out of town in a rage, and curses +himself and friends for ruining themselves in defending Lord Marlborough and +Godolphin, and taking Nottingham into their favour. He swears he will meddle +no more during this reign; a pretty speech at sixty-six, and the Queen is near +twenty years younger, and now in very good health; for you must know her +health is fixed by a certain reason, that she has done with braces (I must use +the expression), and nothing ill is happened to her since; so she has a new +lease of her life. Read the Letter to a Whig Lord.[6] Do you ever read? Why +don't you say so? I mean does DD read to Ppt? Do you walk? I think Ppt +should walk to[7] DD; as DD reads to Ppt, for Ppt oo must know is a good +walker; but not so good as Pdfr. I intend to dine to-day with Mr. Lewis, but +it threatens rain; and I shall be too late to get a lift; and I must write to +the Bishop of Clogher. 'Tis now ten in the morning; and this is all writ at a +heat. Farewell deelest. . . deelest MD, MD, MD, MD, MD, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, +ME, Lele, ME, Lele, ME, Lele, ME, Lele, Lele, Lele, ME. + + + +LETTER 49.[1] + +KENSINGTON, July 1, 1712. + +I never was in a worse station for writing letters than this, especially for +writing to MD, since I left off my journals. For I go to town early; and when +I come home at night, I generally go to Lord Masham, where Lord Treasurer +comes, and we stay till past twelve. But I am now resolved to write journals +again, though my shoulder is not yet well; for I have still a few itching +pimples, and a little pain now and then. It is now high cherry-time with us; +take notice, is it so soon with you? And we have early apricots, and +gooseberries are ripe. On Sunday Archdeacon Parnell came here to see me. It +seems he has been ill for grief of his wife's death,[2] and has been two +months at the Bath. He has a mind to go to Dunkirk with Jack Hill,[3] and I +persuade him to it, and have spoke to Hill to receive him; but I doubt he +won't have spirit to go. I have made Ford[4] Gazetteer, and got two hundred +pounds a year settled on the employment by the Secretary of State, beside the +perquisites. It is the prettiest employment in England of its bigness; yet +the puppy does not seem satisfied with it. I think people keep some follies +to themselves, till they have occasion to produce them. He thinks it not +genteel enough, and makes twenty difficulties. 'Tis impossible to make any +man easy. His salary is paid him every week, if he pleases, without taxes or +abatements. He has little to do for it. He has a pretty office, with coals, +candles, papers, etc.; can frank what letters he will; and his perquisites, if +he takes care, may be worth one hundred pounds more. I hear the Bishop of +Clogher is landing, or landed, in England; and I hope to see him in a few +days. I was to see Mrs. Bradley[5] on Sunday night. Her youngest son is +married to somebody worth nothing, and her daughter was forced to leave Lady +Giffard, because she was striking up an intrigue with a footman, who played +well upon the flute. This is the mother's account of it. Yesterday the old +Bishop of Worcester,[6] who pretends to be a prophet, went to the Queen, by +appointment, to prove to Her Majesty, out of Daniel and the Revelations, that +four years hence there would be a war of religion; that the King of France +would be a Protestant, and fight on their side; that the Popedom would be +destroyed, etc.; and declared that he would be content to give up his +bishopric if it were not true. Lord Treasurer, who told it me, was by, and +some others; and I am told Lord Treasurer confounded him sadly in his own +learning, which made the old fool very quarrelsome. He is near ninety years +old. Old Bradley is fat and lusty, and has lost his palsy. Have you seen +Toland's Invitation to Dismal?[7] How do you like it? But it is an imitation +of Horace, and perhaps you don't understand Horace. Here has been a great +sweep of employments, and we expect still more removals. The Court seems +resolved to make thorough work. Mr. Hill intended to set out to-morrow for +Dunkirk, of which he is appointed Governor; but he tells me to-day that he +cannot go till Thursday or Friday. I wish it were over. Mr. Secretary tells +me he is [in] no fear at all that France will play tricks with us. If we have +Dunkirk once, all is safe. We rail now all against the Dutch, who, indeed, +have acted like knaves, fools, and madmen. Mr. Secretary is soon to be made a +viscount. He desired I would draw the preamble of his patent; but I excused +myself from a work that might lose me a great deal of reputation, and get me +very little. We would fain have the Court make him an earl, but it would not +be; and therefore he will not take the title of Bullenbrook,[8] which is +lately extinct in the elder branch of his family. I have advised him to be +called Lord Pomfret; but he thinks that title is already in some other +family;[9] and, besides, he objects that it is in Yorkshire, where he has no +estate; but there is nothing in that, and I love Pomfret. Don't you love +Pomfret? Why? 'Tis in all our histories; they are full of Pomfret Castle. +But what's all this to you? You don't care for this. Is Goody Stoyte come to +London? I have not heard of her yet. The Dean of St. Patrick's never had the +manners to answer my letter. I was t'other day to see Sterne[10] and his +wife. She is not half so handsome as when I saw her with you at Dublin. They +design to pass the summer at a house near Lord Somers's, about a dozen miles +off. You never told me how my "Letter to Lord Treasurer" passes in Ireland. +I suppose you are drinking at this time Temple-something's[11] waters. Steele +was arrested the other day for making a lottery directly against an Act of +Parliament. He is now under prosecution; but they think it will be dropped +out of pity.[12] I believe he will very soon lose his employment, for he has +been mighty impertinent of late in his Spectators; and I will never offer a +word in his behalf. Raymond writes me word that the Bishop of Meath[13] was +going to summon me, in order to suspension, for absence, if the Provost had +not prevented him. I am prettily rewarded for getting them their First- +Fruits, with a p--. We have had very little hot weather during the whole +month of June; and for a week past we have had a great deal of rain, though +not every day. I am just now told that the Governor of Dunkirk has not orders +yet to deliver up the town to Jack Hill and his forces, but expects them +daily. This must put off Hill's journey a while, and I don't like these +stoppings in such an affair. Go, get oo gone, and drink oo waters, if this +rain has not spoiled them, sauci doxi. I have no more to say to oo at +plesent; but rove Pdfr, and MD, and ME. And Podefr will rove Pdfr, and MD and +ME. I wish you had taken any account when I sent money to Mrs. Brent. I +believe I han't done it a great while. And pray send me notice when ME . . . +to have it when it is due.[14] Farewell, dearest MD FW FW FW ME ME ME. + + + +LETTER 50.[1] + +KENSINGTON, July 17, 1712. + +I am weary of living in this place, and glad to leave it soon. The Queen goes +on Tuesday to Windsor, and I shall follow in three or four days after. I can +do nothing here, going early to London, and coming late from it, and supping +at Lady Masham's. I dined to-day with the Duke of Argyle at Cue [Kew], and +would not go to the Court to-night, because of writing to MD. The Bishop of +Clogher has been here this fortnight: I see him as often as I can. Poor +Master Ashe has a sad redness in his face; it is St. Anthony's fire; his face +all swelled, and will break in his cheek, but no danger. Since Dunkirk has +been in our hands, Grub Street has been very fruitful. Pdfr has writ five or +six Grub Street papers this last week. Have you seen Toland's Invitation to +Dismal, or Hue and Cry after Dismal, or Ballad on Dunkirk, or Argument that +Dunkirk is not in our Hands? Poh! you have seen nothing. I am dead here with +the hot weather; yet I walk every night home, and believe it does me good: +but my shoulder is not yet right; itchings, and scratchings, and small +achings. Did I tell you I had made Ford Gazetteer, with two hundred pounds a +year salary, beside perquisites? I had a letter lately from Parvisol, who +says my canal looks very finely; I long to see it; but no apples; all blasted +again. He tells me there will be a triennial visitation in August. I must +send Raymond another proxy. So now I will answer oo rettle N.33,[2] dated +June 17. Ppt writes as well as ever, for all her waters. I wish I had never +come here, as often and as heartily as Ppt. What had I to do here? I have +heard of the Bishop's making me uneasy, but I did not think it was because I +never writ to him. A little would make me write to him, but I don't know what +to say. I find I am obliged to the Provost for keeping the Bishop[3] from +being impertinent. Yes, Maram DD, but oo would not be content with letters +flom Pdfr of six lines, or twelve either, fais. I hope Ppt will have done +with the waters soon, and find benefit by them. I believe, if they were as +far off as Wexford, they would do as much good; for I take the journey to +contribute as much as anything. I can assure you the Bishop of Clogher's +being here does not in the least affect my staying or going. I never talked +to Higgins but once in my life in the street, and I believe he and I shall +hardly meet but by chance. What care I whether my Letter to Lord Treasurer be +commended there or no? Why does not somebody among you answer it, as three or +four have done here? (I am now sitting with nothing but my nightgown, for +heat.) Ppt shall have a great Bible. I have put it down in my memlandums[4] +just now. And DD shall be repaid her t'other book; but patience, all in good +time: you are so hasty, a dog would, etc. So Ppt has neither won nor lost. +Why, mun, I play sometimes too at picket, that is picquet, I mean; but very +seldom.--Out late? why, 'tis only at Lady Masham's, and that is in our town; +but I never come late here from London, except once in rain, when I could not +get a coach. We have had very little thunder here; none these two months. +Why, pray, madam philosopher, how did the rain hinder the thunder from doing +any harm? I suppose it ssquenched it. So here comes Ppt aden[5] with her +little watery postscript. O Rold, dlunken srut![6] drink Pdfr's health ten +times in a morning! you are a whetter, fais; I sup MD's fifteen times evly +molning in milk porridge. Lele's fol oo now--and lele's fol oo rettle, and +evly kind of sing[7]--and now I must say something else. You hear Secretary +St. John is made Viscount Bullinbrook.[8] I can hardly persuade him to take +that title, because the eldest branch of his family had it in an earldom, and +it was last year extinct. If he did not take it, I advised him to be Lord +Pomfret, which I think is a noble title. You hear of it often in the +Chronicles, Pomfret Castle: but we believed it was among the titles of some +other lord. Jack Hill sent his sister a pattern of a head-dress from Dunkirk; +it was like our fashion twenty years ago, only not quite so high, and looked +very ugly. I have made Trapp[9] chaplain to Lord Bullinbroke, and he is +mighty happy and thankful for it. Mr. Addison returned me my visit this +morning. He lives in our town. I shall be mighty retired, and mighty busy +for a while at Windsor. Pray why don't MD go to Trim, and see Laracor, and +give me an account of the garden, and the river, and the holly and the cherry- +trees on the river-walk? + +19. I could not send this letter last post, being called away before I could +fold or finish it. I dined yesterday with Lord Treasurer; sat with him till +ten at night; yet could not find a minute for some business I had with him. +He brought me to Kensington, and Lord Bulingbrook would not let me go away +till two; and I am now in bed, very lazy and sleepy at nine. I must shave +head and face, and meet Lord Bullinbrook at eleven, and dine again with Lord +Treasurer. To-day there will be another Grub,[10] A Letter from the Pretender +to a Whig Lord. Grub Street has but ten days to live; then an Act of +Parliament takes place that ruins it, by taxing every half-sheet at a +halfpenny. We have news just come, but not the particulars, that the Earl of +Albemarle,[11] at the head of eight thousand Dutch, is beaten, lost the +greatest part of his men, and himself a prisoner. This perhaps may cool their +courage, and make them think of a peace. The Duke of Ormond has got abundance +of credit by his good conduct of affairs in Flanders. We had a good deal of +rain last night, very refreshing. 'Tis late, and I must rise. Don't play at +ombre in your waters, sollah. Farewell, deelest MD, MD MD MD FW FW ME ME ME +Lele Lele Lele. + + + +LETTER 51.[1] + +LONDON, Aug. 7, 1712. + +I had your N.32 at Windsor: I just read it, and immediately sealed it up +again, and shall read it no more this twelvemonth at least. The reason of my +resentment at it is, because you talk as glibly of a thing as if it were done, +which, for aught I know, is farther from being done than ever, since I hear +not a word of it, though the town is full of it, and the Court always giving +me joy and vexation. You might be sure I would have let you know as soon as +it was done; but I believe you fancied I would affect not to tell it you, but +let you learn it from newspapers and reports. I remember only there was +something in your letter about ME's money, and that shall be taken care of on +the other side. I left Windsor on Monday last, upon Lord Bolingbroke's being +gone to France, and somebody's being here that I ought often to consult with +in an affair I am upon: but that person talks of returning to Windsor again, +and I believe I shall follow him. I am now in a hedge-lodging very busy, as I +am every day till noon: so that this letter is like to be short, and you are +not to blame me these two months; for I protest, if I study ever so hard, I +cannot in that time compass what I am upon. We have a fever both here and at +Windsor, which hardly anybody misses; but it lasts not above three or four +days, and kills nobody.[2] The Queen has forty servants down of it at once. +I dined yesterday with Treasurer, but could do no business, though he sent for +me, I thought, on purpose; but he desires I will dine with him again to-day. +Windsor is a most delightful place, and at this time abounds in dinners. My +lodgings there look upon Eton and the Thames. I wish I was owner of them; +they belong to a prebend. God knows what was in your letter; and if it be not +answered, whose fault is it, sauci dallars?--Do you know that Grub Street is +dead and gone last week? No more ghosts or murders now for love or money. I +plied it pretty close the last fortnight, and published at least seven penny +papers of my own, besides some of other people's: but now every single half- +sheet pays a halfpenny to the Queen.[3] The Observator is fallen; the Medleys +are jumbled together with the Flying Post; the Examiner is deadly sick; the +Spectator keeps up, and doubles its price; I know not how long it will hold. +Have you seen the red stamp the papers are marked with? Methinks it is worth +a halfpenny, the stamping it. Lord Bolingbroke and Prior set out for France +last Saturday. My lord's business is to hasten the peace before the Dutch are +too much mauled, and hinder France from carrying the jest of beating them too +far. Have you seen the Fourth Part of John Bull?[4] It is equal to the rest, +and extremely good. The Bishop of Clogher's son has been ill of St. Anthony's +fire, but is now quite well. I was afraid his face would be spoiled, but it +is not. Dilly is just as he used to be, and puns as plentifully and as bad. +The two brothers see one another; but I think not the two sisters. Raymond +writ to me that he intended to invite you to Trim. Are you, have you, will +you be there? Won't oo see pool Laratol?[5] Parvisol says I shall have no +fruit. Blasts have taken away all. Pray observe the cherry-trees on the +river-walk; but oo are too lazy to take such a journey. If you have not your +letters in due time for two months hence, impute it to my being tosticated +between this and Windsor. And pray send me again the state of ME's money; for +I will not look into your letter for it. Poor Lord Winchelsea[6] is dead, to +my great grief. He was a worthy honest gentleman, and particular friend of +mine: and, what is yet worse, my old acquaintance, Mrs. Finch,[7] is now +Countess of Winchelsea, the title being fallen to her husband, but without +much estate. I have been poring my eyes all this morning, and it is now past +two afternoon, so I shall take a little walk in the Park. Do you play at +ombre still? Or is that off by Mr. Stoyte's absence, and Mrs. Manley's grief? +Somebody was telling me of a strange sister that Mrs. Manley has got in +Ireland, who disappointed you all about her being handsome. My service to +Mrs. Walls. Farewell, deelest MD MD MD, FW FW FW, ME ME ME ME ME. Lele, +logues both; rove poo Pdfr. + + + +LETTER 52.[1] + +WINDSOR, Sept. 15, 1712. + +I never was so long without writing to MD as now, since I left them, nor ever +will again while I am able to write. I have expected from one week to another +that something would be done in my own affairs; but nothing at all is, nor I +don't know when anything will, or whether ever at all, so slow are people at +doing favours. I have been much out of order of late with the old giddiness +in my head. I took a vomit for it two days ago, and will take another about a +day or two hence. I have eat mighty little fruit; yet I impute my disorder to +that little, and shall henceforth wholly forbear it. I am engaged in a long +work, and have done all I can of it, and wait for some papers from the +Ministry for materials for the rest; and they delay me, as if it were a favour +I asked of them; so that I have been idle here this good while, and it +happened in a right time, when I was too much out of order to study. One is +kept constantly out of humour by a thousand unaccountable things in public +proceedings; and when I reason with some friends, we cannot conceive how +affairs can last as they are. God only knows, but it is a very melancholy +subject for those who have any near concern in it. I am again endeavouring, +as I was last year, to keep people[2] from breaking to pieces upon a hundred +misunderstandings. One cannot withhold them from drawing different ways, +while the enemy is watching to destroy both. See how my style is altered, by +living and thinking and talking among these people, instead of my canal and +river-walk and willows. I lose all my money here among the ladies;[3] so that +I never play when I can help it, being sure to lose. I have lost five pounds +the five weeks I have been here. I hope Ppt is luckier at picquet with the +Dean and Mrs. Walls. The Dean never answered my letter, though. I have +clearly forgot whether I sent a bill for ME in any of my last letters. I +think I did; pray let me know, and always give me timely notice. I wait here +but to see what they will do for me; and whenever preferments are given from +me, as hope saved, I will come over. + +18. I have taken a vomit to-day, and hope I shall be better. I have been +very giddy since I writ what is before, yet not as I used to be: more +frequent, but not so violent. Yesterday we were alarmed with the Queen's +being ill: she had an aguish and feverish fit; and you never saw such +countenances as we all had, such dismal melancholy. Her physicians from town +were sent for, but towards night she grew better; to-day she missed her fit, +and was up: we are not now in any fear; it will be at worst but an ague, and +we hope even that will not return. Lord Treasurer would not come here from +London, because it would make a noise if he came before his usual time, which +is Saturday, and he goes away on Mondays. The Whigs have lost a great support +in the Earl of Godolphin.[4] It is a good jest to hear the Ministers talk of +him now with humanity and pity, because he is dead, and can do them no more +hurt. Lady Orkney,[5] the late King's mistress (who lives at a fine place, +five miles from hence, called Cliffden[6]), and I, are grown mighty +acquaintance. She is the wisest woman I ever saw; and Lord Treasurer made +great use of her advice in the late change of affairs. I heard Lord +Marlborough is growing ill of his diabetes; which, if it be true, may soon +carry him off; and then the Ministry will be something more at ease. MD has +been a long time without writing to Pdfr, though they have not the same cause: +it is seven weeks since your last came to my hands, which was N.32, that you +may not be mistaken. I hope Ppt has not wanted her health. You were then +drinking waters. The doctor tells me I must go into a course of steel, though +I have not the spleen; for that they can never give me, though I have as much +provocation to it as any man alive. Bernage's[7] regiment is broke; but he is +upon half-pay. I have not seen him this long time; but I suppose he is +overrun with melancholy. My Lord Shrewsbury is certainly designed to be +Governor of Ireland; and I believe the Duchess will please the people there +mightily. The Irish Whig leaders promise great things to themselves from his +government; but care shall be taken, if possible, to prevent them. Mrs. +Fenton[8] has writ to me that she has been forced to leave Lady Giffard, and +come to town, for a rheumatism: that lady does not love to be troubled with +sick people. Mrs. Fenton writes to me as one dying, and desires I would think +of her son: I have not answered her letter. She is retired[9] to Mrs. +Povey's. Is my aunt alive yet? and do you ever see her? I suppose she has +forgot the loss of her son. Is Raymond's new house quite finished? and does +he squander as he used to do? Has he yet spent all his wife's fortune? I +hear there are five or six people putting strongly in for my livings; God help +them! But if ever the Court should give me anything, I would recommend +Raymond to the Duke of Ormond; not for any particular friendship to him, but +because it would be proper for the minister of Trim to have Laracor. You may +keep the gold-studded snuff-box now; for my brother Hill, Governor of Dunkirk, +has sent me the finest that ever you saw.[10] It is allowed at Court that +none in England comes near it, though it did not cost above twenty pounds. +And the Duchess of Hamilton has made me pockets for [it] like a woman's, with +a belt and buckle (for, you know, I wear no waistcoat in summer), and there +are several divisions, and one on purpose for my box, oh ho!--We have had most +delightful weather this whole week; but illness and vomiting have hindered me +from sharing in a great part of it. Lady Masham made the Queen send to +Kensington for some of her preserved ginger for me, which I take in the +morning, and hope it will do me good. Mrs. Brent[11] sent me a letter by a +young fellow, a printer, desiring I would recommend him here, which you may +tell her I have done: but I cannot promise what will come of it, for it is +necessary they should be made free here[12] before they can be employed. I +remember I put the boy prentice to Brent. I hope Parvisol has set my tithes +well this year: he has writ nothing to me about it; pray talk to him of it +when you see him, and let him give me an account how things are. I suppose +the corn is now off the ground. I hope he has sold that great ugly horse. +Why don't you sell to him? He keeps me at charges for horses that I never +ride: yours is lame, and will never be good for anything. The Queen will +stay here about a month longer, I suppose; but Lady Masham will go in ten days +to lie in at Kensington. Poor creature, she fell down in the court here +t'other day. She would needs walk across it upon some displeasure with her +chairmen, and was likely to be spoiled so near her time; but we hope all is +over for a black eye and a sore side: though I shall not be at ease till she +is brought to bed. I find I can fill up a letter, some way or other, without +a journal. If I had not a spirit naturally cheerful, I should be very much +discontented at a thousand things. Pray God preserve MD's health, and Pdfr's, +and that I may live far from the envy and discontent that attends those who +are thought to have more favour at Courts than they really possess. Love +Pdfr, who loves MD above all things. Farewell, deelest, ten thousand times +deelest, MD MD MD, FW FW, ME ME ME ME. Lele, Lele, Lele, Lele. + + + +LETTER 53.[1] + +LONDON, Oct. 9, 1712. + +I have left Windsor these ten days, and am deep in pills with asafoetida, and +a steel bitter drink; and I find my head much better than it was. I was very +much discouraged; for I used to be ill for three or four days together, ready +to totter as I walked. I take eight pills a day, and have taken, I believe, a +hundred and fifty already. The Queen, Lord Treasurer, Lady Masham, and I, +were all ill together, but are now all better; only Lady Masham expects every +day to lie in at Kensington. There was never such a lump of lies spread about +the town together as now. I doubt not but you will have them in Dublin before +this comes to you, and all without the least grounds of truth. I have been +mightily put backward in something I am writing by my illness, but hope to +fetch it up, so as to be ready when the Parliament meets. Lord Treasurer has +had an ugly fit of the rheumatism, but is now near quite well. I was playing +at one-and-thirty with him and his family t'other night. He gave us all +twelvepence apiece to begin with: it put me in mind of Sir William Temple.[2] +I asked both him and Lady Masham seriously whether the Queen were at all +inclined to a dropsy, and they positively assured me she was not: so did her +physician Arbuthnot, who always attends her. Yet these devils have spread +that she has holes in her legs, and runs at her navel, and I know not what. +Arbuthnot has sent me from Windsor a pretty Discourse upon Lying, and I have +ordered the printer to come for it. It is a proposal for publishing a curious +piece, called The Art of Political Lying, in two volumes, etc. And then there +is an abstract of the first volume, just like those pamphlets which they call +The Works of the Learned.[3] Pray get it when it comes out. The Queen has a +little of the gout in one of her hands. I believe she will stay a month still +at Windsor. Lord Treasurer showed me the kindest letter from her in the +world, by which I picked out one secret, that there will be soon made some +Knights of the Garter. You know another is fallen by Lord Godolphin's death: +he will be buried in a day or two at Westminster Abbey. I saw Tom Leigh[4] in +town once. The Bishop of Clogher has taken his lodging for the winter; they +are all well. I hear there are in town abundance of people from Ireland; half +a dozen bishops at least. The poor old Bishop of London,[5] at past fourscore, +fell down backward going upstairs, and I think broke or cracked his skull; yet +is now recovering. The town is as empty as at midsummer; and if I had not +occasion for physic, I would be at Windsor still. Did I tell you of Lord +Rivers's will? He has left legacies to about twenty paltry old whores by +name, and not a farthing to any friend, dependent, or relation: he has left +from his only child, Lady Barrymore,[6] her mother's estate, and given the +whole to his heir-male, a popish priest, a second cousin, who is now Earl +Rivers, and whom he used in his life like a footman. After him it goes to his +chief wench and bastard. Lord Treasurer and Lord Chamberlain are executors of +this hopeful will. I loved the man, and detest his memory. We hear nothing +of peace yet: I believe verily the Dutch are so wilful, because they are told +the Queen cannot live. I had poor MD's letter, N.3,[7] at Windsor: but I +could not answer it then; poor Pdfr was vely kick[8] then: and, besides, it +was a very inconvenient place to send letters from. Oo thought to come home +the same day, and stayed a month: that was a sign the place was agreeable.[9] +I should love such a sort of jaunt. Is that lad Swanton[10] a little more +fixed than he used to be? I think you like the girl very well. She has left +off her grave airs, I suppose. I am now told Lord Godolphin was buried last +night.--O poo Ppt! lay down oo head aden, fais I. . . ; I always reckon if oo +are ill I shall hear it, and therefore hen oo are silent I reckon all is +well.[11] I believe I 'scaped the new fever[12] for the same reason that Ppt +did, because I am not well; but why should DD 'scape it, pray? She is +melthigal, oo know, and ought to have the fever; but I hope it is now too +late, and she won't have it at all. Some physicians here talk very +melancholy, and think it foreruns the plague, which is actually at Hamburg. I +hoped Ppt would have done with her illness; but I think we both have that +faculty never to part with a disorder for ever; we are very constant. I have +had my giddiness twenty-three years by fits. Will Mrs. Raymond never have +done lying-in? He intends to leave beggars enough; for I daresay he has +squandered away the best part of his fortune already, and is not out of debt. +I had a letter from him lately. + +Oct. 11. Lord Treasurer sent for me yesterday and the day before to sit with +him, because he is not yet quite well enough to go abroad; and I could not +finish my letter. How the deuce come I to be so exact in ME money? Just +seventeen shillings and eightpence more than due; I believe you cheat me. If +Hawkshaw does not pay the interest I will have the principal; pray speak to +Parvisol and have his advice what I should do about it. Service to Mrs. +Stoyte and Catherine and Mrs. Walls. Ppt makes a petition with many +apologies. John Danvers, you know, is Lady Giffard's friend. The rest I +never heard of. I tell you what, as things are at present, I cannot possibly +speak to Lord Treasurer for anybody. I need tell you no more. Something or +nothing will be done in my own affairs: if the former, I will be a solicitor +for your sister;[13] if the latter, I have done with Courts for ever. +Opportunities will often fall in my way, if I am used well, and I will then +make it my business. It is my delight to do good offices for people who want +and deserve, and a tenfold delight to do it to a relation of Ppt, whose +affairs she has so at heart.[14] I have taken down his name and his case (not +HER case), and whenever a proper time comes, I will do all I can; zat's enough +to say when I can do no more; and I beg oo pardon a sousand times,[15] that I +cannot do better. I hope the Dean of St. P[atrick's] is well of his fever: +he has never writ to me: I am glad of it; pray don't desire him to write. I +have dated your bill late, because it must not commence, ung oomens, till the +first of November[16] next. O, fais, I must be ise;[17] iss, fais, must I; +else ME will cheat Pdfr. Are you good housewives and readers? Are you +walkers? I know you are gamesters. Are you drinkers? Are you-- O Rold, I +must go no further, for fear of abusing fine radies.[18] Parvisol has never +sent me one word how he set this year's tithes. Pray ask whether tithes set +well or ill this year. The Bishop of Killaloe[19] tells me wool bears a good +rate in Ireland: but how is corn? I dined yesterday with Lady Orkney, and we +sat alone from two till eleven at night.--You have heard of her, I suppose. I +have twenty letters upon my hands, and am so lazy and so busy, I cannot answer +them, and they grow upon me for several months. Have I any apples at Laracor? +It is strange every year should blast them, when I took so much care for +shelter. Lord Bolingbroke has been idle at his country-house this fortnight, +which puts me backward in a business I have. I am got into an ordinary room +two pair of stairs, and see nobody, if I can help it; yet some puppies have +found me out, and my man is not such an artist as Patrick at denying me. +Patrick has been soliciting to come to me again, but in vain. The printer has +been here with some of the new whims printed, and has taken up my time. I am +just going out, and can only bid oo farewell. Farewell, deelest ickle MD, MD +MD MD FW FW FW FW ME ME ME ME. Lele deel ME. Lele lele lele sollahs +bose.[20] + + + +LETTER 54.[1] + +LONDON, Oct. 28, 1712. + +I have been in physic this month, and have been better these three weeks. I +stop my physic, by the doctor's orders, till he sends me further directions. +DD grows politician, and longs to hear the peace is proclaimed. I hope we +shall have it soon, for the Dutch are fully humbled; and Prior is just come +over from France for a few days; I suppose upon some important affair. I saw +him last night, but had no private talk with him. Stocks rise upon his +coming. As for my stay in England, it cannot be long now, so tell my friends. +The Parliament will not meet till after Christmas, and by that time the work I +am doing will be over, and then nothing shall keep me. I am very much +discontented at Parvisol, about neglecting to sell my horses, etc. + +Lady Masham is not yet brought to bed; but we expect it daily. I dined with +her to-day. Lord Bolingbroke returned about two months ago, and Prior about a +week; and goes back (Prior I mean) in a few days. Who told you of my snuff- +box and pocket? Did I? I had a letter to-day from Dr. Coghill,[2] desiring +me to get Raphoe for Dean Sterne, and the deanery for myself. I shall indeed, +I have such obligations to Sterne. But however, if I am asked who will make a +good bishop, I shall name him before anybody. Then comes another letter, +desiring I would recommend a Provost,[3] supposing that Pratt (who has been +here about a week) will certainly be promoted; but I believe he will not. I +presented Pratt to Lord Treasurer, and truly young Molyneux[4] would have had +me present him too; but I directly answered him I would not, unless he had +business with him. He is the son of one Mr. Molyneux of Ireland. His father +wrote a book;[5] I suppose you know it. Here is the Duke of Marlborough going +out of England (Lord knows why), which causes many speculations. Some say he +is conscious of guilt, and dare not stand it. Others think he has a mind to +fling an odium on the Government, as who should say that one who has done such +great services to his country cannot live quietly in it, by reason of the +malice of his enemies. I have helped to patch up these people[6] together +once more. God knows how long it may last. I was to-day at a trial between +Lord Lansdowne and Lord Carteret, two friends of mine. It was in the Queen's +Bench, for about six thousand a year (or nine, I think). I sat under Lord +Chief-Justice Parker, and his pen falling down I reached it up. He made me a +low bow; and I was going to whisper him that I HAD DONE GOOD FOR EVIL; FOR HE +WOULD HAVE TAKEN MINE FROM ME.[7] I told it Lord Treasurer and Bolingbroke. +Parker would not have known me, if several lords on the bench, and in the +court, bowing, had not turned everybody's eyes, and set them a whispering. I +owe the dog a spite, and will pay him in two months at furthest, if I can. So +much for that. But you must have chat, and I must say every sorry thing that +comes into my head. They say the Queen will stay a month longer at Windsor. +These devils of Grub Street rogues, that write the Flying Post and Medley in +one paper,[8] will not be quiet. They are always mauling Lord Treasurer, Lord +Bolingbroke, and me. We have the dog under prosecution, but Bolingbroke is +not active enough; but I hope to swinge him. He is a Scotch rogue, one +Ridpath.[9] They get out upon bail, and write on. We take them again, and +get fresh bail; so it goes round. They say some learned Dutchman has wrote a +book, proving by civil law that we do them wrong by this peace; but I shall +show by plain reason that we have suffered the wrong, and not they. I toil +like a horse, and have hundreds of letters still to read and squeeze a line +out of each, or at least the seeds of a line. Strafford goes back to Holland +in a day or two, and I hope our peace is very near. I have about thirty pages +more to write (that is, to be extracted), which will be sixty in print. It is +the most troublesome part of all, and I cannot keep myself private, though I +stole into a room up two pair of stairs, when I came from Windsor; but my +present man has not yet learned his lesson of denying me discreetly. + +30. The Duchess of Ormond found me out to-day, and made me dine with her. +Lady Masham is still expecting. She has had a cruel cold. I could not finish +my letter last post for the soul of me. Lord Bolingbroke has had my papers +these six weeks, and done nothing to them. Is Tisdall yet in the world? I +propose writing controversies, to get a name with posterity. The Duke of +Ormond will not be over these three or four days. I desire to make him join +with me in settling all right among our people. I have ordered the Duchess to +let me have an hour with the Duke at his first coming, to give him a true +state of persons and things. I believe the Duke of Shrewsbury will hardly be +declared your Governor yet; at least, I think so now; but resolutions alter +very often. The Duke of Hamilton gave me a pound of snuff to-day, admirable +good. I wish DD had it, and Ppt too, if she likes it. It cost me a quarter +of an hour +of his politics, which I was forced to hear. Lady Orkney[10] is making me a +writing-table of her own contrivance, and a bed nightgown. She is perfectly +kind, like a mother. I think the devil was in it the other day, that I should +talk to her of an ugly squinting cousin of hers, and the poor lady herself, +you know, squints like a dragon. The other day we had a long discourse with +her about love; and she told us a saying of her sister Fitz-Hardinge,[11] +which I thought excellent, that in men, desire begets love, and in women, love +begets desire. We have abundance of our old criers[12] still hereabouts. I +hear every morning your women with the old satin and taffeta, etc., the fellow +with old coats, suits or cloaks. Our weather is abominable of late. We have +not two tolerable days in twenty. I have lost money again at ombre, with Lord +Orkney and others; yet, after all, this year I have lost but three-and-twenty +shillings; so that, considering card money, I am no loser. + +Our Society hath not yet renewed their meetings. I hope we shall continue to +do some good this winter; and Lord Treasurer promises the Academy for +reforming our language shall soon go forward. I must now go hunt those dry +letter for materials. You will see something very notable, I hope. So much +for that. God Almighty bless you. + + + +LETTER 55.[1] + +LONDON, Nov. 15, 1712. + +Before this comes to your hands, you will have heard of the most terrible +accident that hath almost ever happened. This morning, at eight, my man +brought me word that the Duke of Hamilton had fought with Lord Mohun,[2] and +killed him, and was brought home wounded.[3] I immediately sent him to the +Duke's house, in St. James's Square; but the porter could hardly answer for +tears, and a great rabble was about the house. In short, they fought at seven +this morning. The dog Mohun was killed on the spot; and while[4] the Duke was +over him, Mohun, shortening his sword, stabbed him in at the shoulder to the +heart. The Duke was helped toward the cake-house by the Ring in Hyde Park +(where they fought), and died on the grass, before he could reach the house; +and was brought home in his coach by eight, while the poor Duchess[5] was +asleep. Maccartney,[6] and one Hamilton,[7] were the seconds, who fought +likewise, and are both fled. I am told that a footman of Lord Mohun's stabbed +the Duke of Hamilton; and some say Maccartney did so too. Mohun gave the +affront, and yet sent the challenge. I am infinitely concerned for the poor +Duke, who was a frank, honest, good-natured man. I loved him very well, and I +think he loved me better. He had[8] the greatest mind in the world to have me +go with him to France, but durst not tell it me; and those he did, said I +could not be spared, which was true. They have removed the poor Duchess to a +lodging in the neighbourhood, where I have been with her two hours, and am +just come away. I never saw so melancholy a scene; for indeed all reasons for +real grief belong to her; nor is it possible for anybody to be a greater loser +in all regards. She has moved my very soul. The lodging was inconvenient, +and they would have removed her to another; but I would not suffer it, because +it had no room backward, and she must have been tortured with the noise of the +Grub Street screamers mention[ing] her husband's murder to her ears. + +I believe you have heard the story of my escape, in opening the bandbox sent +to Lord Treasurer.[9] The prints have told a thousand lies of it; but at last +we gave them a true account of it at length, printed in the evening;[10] only +I would not suffer them to name me, having been so often named before, and +teased to death with questions. I wonder how I came to have so much presence +of mind, which is usually not my talent; but so it pleased God, and I saved +myself and him; for there was a bullet apiece. A gentleman told me that if I +had been killed, the Whigs would have called it a judgment, because the +barrels were of inkhorns, with which I had done them so much mischief. There +was a pure Grub Street of it, full of lies and inconsistencies.[11] I do not +like these things at all, and I wish myself more and more among my +willows.[12] There is a devilish spirit among people, and the Ministry must +exert themselves, or sink. Nite dee sollahs, I'll go seep.[13] + +16. I thought to have finished this yesterday; but was too much disturbed. I +sent a letter early this morning to Lady Masham, to beg her to write some +comforting words to the poor Duchess. I dined to-[day] with Lady Masham at +Kensington, where she is expecting these two months to lie in. She has +promised me to get the Queen to write to the Duchess kindly on this occasion; +and to-morrow I will beg Lord Treasurer to visit and comfort her. I have been +with her two hours again, and find her worse: her violences not so frequent, +but her melancholy more formal and settled. She has abundance of wit and +spirit; about thirty-three years old; handsome and airy, and seldom spared +anybody that gave her the least provocation; by which she had many enemies and +few friends. Lady Orkney, her sister-in-law, is come to town on this +occasion, and has been to see her, and behaved herself with great humanity. +They have been always very ill together, and the poor Duchess could not have +patience when people told her I went often to Lady Orkney's. But I am +resolved to make them friends; for the Duchess is now no more the object of +envy, and must learn humility from the severest master, Affliction. I design +to make the Ministry put out a proclamation (if it can be found proper) +against that villain Maccartney. What shall we do with these murderers? I +cannot end this letter to-night, and there is no occasion; for I cannot send +it till Tuesday, and the crowner's inquest on the Duke's body is to be to- +morrow, and I shall know more. But what care oo for all this? Iss, poo MD im +sorry for poo Pdfr's[14] friends; and this is a very surprising event. 'Tis +late, and I'll go to bed. This looks like journals. Nite. + +17. I was to-day at noon with the Duchess of Hamilton again, after I had been +with Lady Orkney, and charged her to be kind to her sister in her affliction. +The Duchess told me Lady Orkney had been with her, and that she did not treat +her as gently as she ought. They hate one another, but I will try to patch it +up. I have been drawing up a paragraph for the Postboy, to be out to-morrow, +and as malicious as possible, and very proper for Abel Roper,[15] the printer +of it. I dined at Lord Treasurer's at six in the evening, which is his usual +hour of returning from Windsor: he promises to visit the Duchess to-morrow, +and says he has a message to her from the Queen. Thank God. I have stayed +till past one with him. So nite deelest MD.[16] + +18. The Committee of Council is to sit this afternoon upon the affair of the +Duke of Hamilton's murder, and I hope a proclamation will be out against +Maccartney. I was just now ('tis now noon) with the Duchess, to let her know +Lord Treasurer will see her. She is mightily out of order. The jury have not +yet brought in their verdict upon the crowner's inquest. We suspect Maccartney +stabbed the Duke while he was fighting. The Queen and Lord Treasurer are in +great concern at this event. I dine to-day again with Lord Treasurer; but +must send this to the post-office before, because else I shall not have time; +he usually keeping me so late. Ben Tooke bid me write to DD to send her +certificate, for it is high time it should be sent, he says. Pray make +Parvisol write to me, and send me a general account of my affairs; and let him +know I shall be over in spring, and that by all means he sells the horses. +Prior has kissed the Queen's hand, and will return to France in a few days, +and Lord Strafford to Holland; and now the King of Spain has renounced his +pretensions to France, the peace must follow very soon unavoidably. You must +no more call Philip, Duke of Anjou, for we now acknowledge him King of Spain. +Dr. Pratt tells me you are all mad in Ireland with your playhouse frolics and +prologues, and I know not what. The Bishop of Clogher and family are well: +they have heard from you, or you from them, lately, I have forgot which: I +dined there t'other day, but the Bishop came not till after dinner; and our +meat and drink was very so so. Mr. Vedeau[17] was with me yesterday, and +inquired after you. He was a lieutenant, and is now broke, and upon half-pay. +He asked me nothing for himself; but wanted an employment for a friend, who +would give a handsome pair of gloves. One Hales sent me up a letter t'other +day, which said you lodged in his house, and therefore desired I would get him +a civil employment. I would not be within, and have directed my man to give +him an answer, that I never open letters brought me by the writers, etc. I +was complaining to a lady that I wanted to mend an employment from forty to +sixty pounds a year, in the Salt Office, and thought it hard I could not do +it. She told me one Mr. Griffin[18] should do it. And afterward I met +Griffin at her lodgings; and he was, as I found, one I had been acquainted +with. I named Filby[19] to him, and his abode somewhere near Nantwich. He +said frankly he had formerly examined the man, and found he understood very +little of his business; but if he heard he mended, he would do what I desired. +I will let it rest a while, and then resume it; and if Ppt writes to Filby, +she may advise him to diligence, etc. I told Griffin positively I would have +it done, if the man mended. This is an account of poo Ppt's commission to her +most humble servant Pdfr. I have a world of writing to finish, and little +time; these toads of Ministers are so slow in their helps. This makes me +sometimes steal a week from the exactness I used to write to MD. Farewell, +dee logues, deelest MD MD MD,. . . FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele. + +Smoke the folding of my letters of late.[20] + + + +LETTER 56.[1] + +LONDON, Dec. 12, 1712. + +Here is now a stlange ting; a rettle flom MD unanswered: never was before. I +am slower, and MD is faster: but the last was owing to DD's certificate. Why +could it not be sent before, pay now? Is it so hard for DD to prove she is +alive? I protest solemnly I am not able to write to MD for other business, +but I will resume my journal method next time. I find it is easier, though it +contains nothing but where I dine, and the occurrences of the day. I will +write now but once in three weeks till this business is off my hands, which +must be in six, I think, at farthest. O Ppt, I remember your reprimanding me +for meddling in other people's affairs: I have enough of it now, with a +wanion.[2] Two women have been here six times apiece; I never saw them yet. +The first I have despatched with a letter; the other I must see, and tell her +I can do nothing for her: she is wife of one Connor,[3] an old college +acquaintance, and comes on a foolish errand, for some old pretensions, that +will succeed when I am Lord Treasurer. I am got [up] two pair of stairs, in a +private lodging, and have ordered all my friends not to discover where I am; +yet every morning two or three sots are plaguing me, and my present servant +has not yet his lesson perfect of denying me. I have written a hundred and +thirty pages in folio, to be printed, and must write thirty more, which will +make a large book of four shillings.[4] I wish I knew an opportunity of +sending you some snuff. I will watch who goes to Ireland, and do it if +possible. I had a letter from Parvisol, and find he has set my livings very +low. Colonel Hamilton, who was second to the Duke of Hamilton, is tried to- +day. I suppose he is come off, but have not heard.[5] I dined with Lord +Treasurer, but left him by nine, and visited some people. Lady Betty,[6] +his[7] daughter, will be married on Monday next (as I suppose) to the Marquis +of Caermarthen. I did not know your country place had been Portraine, till +you told me so in your last. Has Swanton taken it of Wallis? That Wallis was +a grave, wise coxcomb. God be thanked that Ppt im better of her disoddles.[8] +Pray God keep her so. The pamphlet of Political Lying is written by Dr. +Arbuthnot, the author of John Bull; 'tis very pretty, but not so obvious to be +understood. Higgins,[9] first chaplain to the Duke of Hamilton? Why, the +Duke of Hamilton never dreamt of a chaplain, nor I believe ever heard of +Higgins. You are glorious newsmongers in Ireland--Dean Francis,[10] Sir R. +Levinge,[11] stuff stuff: and Pratt, more stuff. We have lost our fine frost +here; and Abel Roper tells as you have had floods in Dublin; ho, brave[12] +you! Oh ho! Swanton seized Portraine, now I understand oo. Ay, ay, now I see +Portraune at the top of your letter. I never minded it before. Now to your +second, N.36. So, you read one of the Grub Streets about the bandbox.[13] +The Whig papers have abused me about the bandbox. God help me, what could I +do? I fairly ventured my life. There is a particular account of it in the +Postboy, and Evening Post of that day. Lord Treasurer has had the seal sent +him that sealed the box, and directions where to find the other pistol in a +tree in St. James's Park, which Lord Bolingbroke's messenger found +accordingly; but who sent the present is not yet known. The Duke of Hamilton +avoided the quarrel as much as possible, according to the foppish rules of +honour in practice. What signified your writing angry to Filby? I hope you +said nothing of hearing anything from me. Heigh! do oo write by sandlelight! +nauti, nauti, nauti dallar, a hundred times, fol doing so. O, fais, DD, I'll +take care of myself! The Queen is in town, and Lady Masham's month of lying- +in is within two days of being out. I was at the christening on Monday. I +could not get the child named Robin, after Lord Treasurer; it is Samuel, after +the father. My brother Ormond sent me some chocolate to-day. I wish you had +share of it: but they say 'tis good for me, and I design to drink some in a +morning. Our Society meets next Thursday, now the Queen is in town; and Lord +Treasurer assures me that the Society for reforming the language shall soon be +established. I have given away ten shillings to-day to servants; 'tan't be +help if one should cry one's eyes out.[14] Hot a stir is here about your +company and visits! Charming company, no doubt; now I keep no company at all, +nor have I any desire to keep any. I never go to a coffee-house nor a tavern, +nor have touched a card since I left Windsor. I make few visits, nor go to +levees; my only debauching is sitting late where I dine, if I like the +company. I have almost dropped the Duchesses of Shrewsbury and Hamilton, and +several others. Lord Treasurer, the Duke of Ormond, and Lady Orkney are all +that I see very often. Oh yes, and Lady Masham and Lord Bolingbroke, and one +or two private friends. I make no figure but at Court, where I affect to turn +from a lord to the meanest of my acquaintance, and I love to go there on +Sundays to see the world. But, to say the truth, I am growing weary of it. I +dislike a million of things in the course of public affairs; and if I were to +stay here much longer, I am sure I should ruin myself with endeavouring to +mend them. I am every day invited into schemes of doing this, but I cannot +find any that will probably succeed. It is impossible to save people against +their own will; and I have been too much engaged in patchwork already. Do you +understand all this stuff? No. Well zen, you are now returned to ombre and +the Dean, and Christmas; I wish oo a very merry one; and pray don't lose oo +money, nor play upon Watt Welch's game. Nite, sollahs, 'tis rate I'll go to +seep; I don't seep well, and therefore never dare to drink coffee or tea after +dinner: but I am very seepy in a molning. This is the effect of time and +years. Nite deelest MD. + +18. Morn. I am so very seepy in the morning that my man wakens me above ten +times; and now I can tell oo no news of this day. (Here is a restless dog, +crying cabbages and savoys, plagues me every morning about this time; he is +now at it. I wish his largest cabbage were sticking in his throat.) I lodge +over against the house in Little Rider Street, where DD lodged. Don't oo +lememble, maram? To-night I must see the Abbe Gaultier,[15] to get some +particulars for my History. It was he who was first employed by France in the +overtures of peace, and I have not had time this month to see him; he is but a +puppy too. Lady Orkney has just sent to invite me to dinner; she has not +given me the bed-nightgown;[16] besides, I am come very much off from writing +in bed, though I am doing it this minute; but I stay till my fire is burnt up. +My grate is very large; two bushels of coals in a week: but I save it in +lodgings. Lord Abercorn is come to London, and will plague me, and I can do +him no service. The Duke of Shrewsbury goes in a day or two for France, +perhaps to-day. We shall have a peace very soon; the Dutch are almost +entirely agreed, and if they stop we shall make it without them; that has been +long resolved. One Squire Jones,[17] a scoundrel in my parish, has writ to me +to desire I would engage Joe Beaumont to give him his interest for Parliament- +man for Trim: pray tell Joe this; and if he designed to vote for him already, +then he may tell Jones that I received his letter, and that I writ to Joe to +do it. If Joe be engaged for any other, then he may do what he will: and +Parvisol may say he spoke to Joe, but Joe's engaged, etc. I received three +pair of fine thread stockings from Joe lately. Pray thank him when you see +him, and that I say they are very fine and good. (I never looked at them yet, +but that's no matter.) This is a fine day. I am ruined with coaches and +chairs this twelvepenny weather. I must see my brother Ormond at eleven, and +then the Duchess of Hamilton, with whom I doubt I am in disgrace, not having +seen her these ten days. I send this to-day, and must finish it now; and +perhaps some people may come and hinder me; for it im ten o'clock (but not +shaving-day), and I must be abroad at eleven. Abbe Gaultier sends me word I +can't see him to-night; pots cake him! I don't value anything but one letter +he has of Petecum's,[18] showing the roguery of the Dutch. Did not the +Conduct of the Allies make you great politicians? Fais, I believe you are not +quite so ignorant as I thought you. I am glad to hear oo walked so much in +the country. Does DD ever read to you, ung ooman? O, fais! I shall find +strange doings hen I tum ole![19] Here is somebody coming that I must see +that wants a little place; the son of cousin Rooke's eldest daughter, that +died many years ago. He's here. Farewell, deelest MD MD MD ME ME ME FW FW +FW, Lele. + + + +LETTER 57.[1] + +LONDON, Dec. 18, 1712. + +Our Society was to meet to-day; but Lord Harley, who was President this week, +could not attend, being gone to Wimbledon with his new brother-in-law, the +young Marquis of Caermarthen, who married Lady Betty Harley on Monday last; +and Lord Treasurer is at Wimbledon too. However, half a dozen of us met, and +I propose our meetings should be once a fortnight; for, between you and me, we +do no good. It cost me nineteen shillings to-day for my Club at dinner; I +don't like it, fais. We have terrible snowy slobbery weather. Lord Abercorn +is come to town, and will see me, whether I will or no. You know he has a +pretence to a dukedom in France, which the Duke of Hamilton was soliciting +for; but Abercorn resolves to spoil their title, if they will not allow him a +fourth part; and I have advised the Duchess to compound with him, and have +made the Ministry of my opinion. Night, dee sollahs, MD, MD. + +19. Ay mally zis is sumsing rike,[2] for Pdfr to write journals again! 'Tis +as natural as mother's milk, now I am got into it. Lord Treasurer is returned +from Wimbledon ('tis not above eight miles off), and sent for me to dine with +him at five; but I had the grace to be abroad, and dined with some others, +with honest Ben Tooke, by invitation. The Duchess of Ormond promised me her +picture, and coming home tonight, I found hers and the Duke's both in my +chamber. Was not that a pretty civil surprise? Yes, and they are in fine +gilded frames, too. I am writing a letter to thank her, which I will send to- +morrow morning. I'll tell her she is such a prude that she will not let so +much as her picture be alone in a room with a man, unless the Duke's be with +it; and so forth.[3] We are full of snow, and dabbling. Lady Masham has come +abroad these three days, and seen the Queen. I dined with her t'other day at +her sister Hill's. I hope she will remove in a few days to her new lodgings +at St. James's from Kensington. Nite, dee logues MD. + +20. I lodge [up] two pair of stairs, have but one room, and deny myself to +everybody almost, yet I cannot be quiet; and all my mornings are lost with +people, who will not take answers below stairs; such as Dilly, and the Bishop, +and Provost, etc. Lady Orkney invited me to dinner to-day, which hindered me +from dining with Lord Treasurer. This is his day that his chief friends in +the Ministry dine with him. However, I went there about six, and sat with +them till past nine, when they all went off; but he kept me back, and told me +the circumstances of Lady Betty's match. The young fellow has 60,000 pounds +ready money, three great houses furnished, 7,000 pounds a year at present, and +about five more after his father and mother die. I think Lady Betty's portion +is not above 8,000 pounds. I remember either Tisdall writ to me in somebody's +letter, or you did it for him, that I should mention him on occasion to Lord +Anglesea, with whom, he said, he had some little acquaintance. Lord Anglesea +was with me to-night at Lord Treasurer's; and then I asked him about Tisdall, +and described him. He said he never saw him, but that he had sent him his +book.[4] See what it is to be a puppy. Pray tell Mr. Walls that Lord +Anglesea thanked me for recommending Clements[5] to him; that he says he is +20,000 pounds the better for knowing Clements. But pray don't let Clements go +and write a letter of thanks, and tell my lord that he hears so and so, etc. +Why, 'tis but like an Irish understanding to do so. Sad weather; two +shillings in coaches to-day, and yet I am dirty. I am now going to read over +something and correct it. So, nite. + +21. Puppies have got a new way of plaguing me. I find letters directed for +me at Lord Treasurer's, sometimes with enclosed ones to him, and sometimes +with projects, and some times with libels. I usually keep them three or four +days without opening. I was at Court to-day, as I always am on Sundays, +instead of a coffee-house, to see my acquaintance. This day se'nnight, after +I had been talking at Court with Sir William Wyndham, the Spanish +Ambassador[6] came to him and said he heard that was Dr. Swift, and desired +him to tell me that his master, and the King of France, and the Queen, were +more obliged to me than any man in Europe; so we bowed, and shook hands, etc. +I took it very well of him. I dined with Lord Treasurer, and must again to- +morrow, though I had rather not (as DD says); but now the Queen is in town, he +does not keep me so late. I have not had time to see Fanny Manley since she +came, but intend it one of these days. Her uncle, Jack Manley,[7] I hear, +cannot live a month, which will be a great loss to her father in Ireland, for +I believe he is one of his chief supports. Our peace now will soon be +determined; for Lord Bolingbroke tells me this morning that four provinces of +Holland[8] have complied with the Queen, and we expect the rest will do so +immediately. Nite MD. + +22. Lord Keeper promised me yesterday the first convenient living to poor Mr. +Gery,[9] who is married, and wants some addition to what he has. He is a very +worthy creature. I had a letter some weeks ago from Elwick,[10] who married +Betty Gery. It seems the poor woman died some time last summer. Elwick grows +rich, and purchases lands. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, who has +engaged me to come again to-morrow. I gave Lord Bolingbroke a poem of +Parnell's.[11] I made Parnell insert some compliments in it to his lordship. +He is extremely pleased with it, and read some parts of it to-day to Lord +Treasurer, who liked it as much. And indeed he outdoes all our poets here a +bar's length. Lord Bolingbroke has ordered me to bring him to dinner on +Christmas Day, and I made Lord Treasurer promise to see him; and it may one +day do Parnell a kindness. You know Parnell. I believe I have told you of +that poem. Nite, deel MD. + +23. This morning I presented one Diaper,[12] a poet, to Lord Bolingbroke, +with a new poem, which is a very good one; and I am to give him a sum of money +from my lord; and I have contrived to make a parson of him, for he is half one +already, being in deacon's orders, and serves a small cure in the country; but +has a sword at his a--- here in town. 'Tis a poor little short wretch, but +will do best in a gown, and we will make Lord Keeper give him a living. Lord +Bolingbroke writ to Lord Treasurer to excuse me to-day; so I dined with the +former, and Monteleon, the Spanish Ambassador, who made me many compliments. +I stayed till nine, and now it is past ten, and my man has locked me up, and I +have just called to mind that I shall be in disgrace with Tom Leigh.[13] That +coxcomb had got into acquaintance with one Eckershall,[14] Clerk of the +Kitchen to the Queen, who was civil to him at Windsor on my account; for I had +done some service to Eckershall. Leigh teases me to pass an evening at his +lodgings with Eckershall. I put it off several times, but was forced at last +to promise I would come to-night; and it never was in my head till I was +locked up, and I have called and called, but my man is gone to bed; so I will +write an excuse to-morrow. I detest that Tom Leigh, and am as formal to him +as I can when I happen to meet him in the Park. The rogue frets me, if he +knew it. He asked me why I did not wait on the Bishop of Dromore.[15] I +answered I had not the honour to be acquainted with him, and would not +presume, etc. He takes me seriously, and says the Bishop is no proud man, +etc. He tells me of a judge in Ireland that has done ill things. I ask why +he is not out? Says he, "I think the bishops, and you, and I, and the rest of +the clergy, should meet and consult about it." I beg his pardon, and say, "I +cannot be serviceable that way." He answers, "Yes, everybody may help +something."--Don't you see how curiously he contrives to vex me; for the dog +knows that with half a word I could do more than all of them together. But he +only does it from the pride and envy of his own heart, and not out of a +humorous design of teasing. He is one of those that would rather a service +should not be done, than done by a private man, and of his own country. You +take all this, don't you? Nite dee sollahs, I'll go seep a dozey. + +24. I dined to-day with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in order to look +over some of my papers; but nothing was done. I have been also mediating +between the Hamilton family and Lord Abercorn, to have them compound with him; +and I believe they will do it. Lord Selkirk,[16] the late Duke's brother, is +to be in town, in order to go to France, to make the demands; and the Ministry +are of opinion they will get some satisfaction, and they empowered me to +advise the Hamilton side to agree with Abercorn, who asks a fourth part, and +will go to France and spoil all if they won't yield it. Nite sollahs. + +25. All melly Titmasses--melly Titmasses--I said it first--I wish it a +souzand [times] zoth with halt[17] and soul.[18] I carried Parnell to dine at +Lord Bolingbroke's, and he behaved himself very well; and Lord Bolingbroke is +mightily pleased with him. I was at St. James's Chapel by eight this morning; +and church and sacrament were done by ten. The Queen has the gout in her +hand, and did not come to church today; and I stayed so long in my chamber +that I missed going to Court. Did I tell you that the Queen designs to have a +Drawing-room and company every day? Nite dee logues. + +26. I was to wish the Duke of Ormond a happy Christmas, and give half a crown +to his porter. It will cost me a dozen half-crowns among such fellows. I +dined with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for being absent three days. Mighty +kind, with a p--; less of civility, and more of his interest! We hear +Maccartney is gone over to Ireland. Was it not comical for a gentleman to be +set upon by highwaymen, and to tell them he was Maccartney? Upon which they +brought him to a justice of peace, in hopes of the reward,[19] and the rogues +were sent to gaol. Was it not great presence of mind? But maybe you heard +this already; for there was a Grub Street of it. Lord Bolingbroke told me I +must walk away to-day when dinner was done, because Lord Treasurer, and he, +and another, were to enter upon business; but I said it was as fit I should +know their business as anybody, for I was to justify [it].[20] So the rest +went, and I stayed, and it was so important, I was like to sleep over it. I +left them at nine, and it is now twelve. Nite, MD. + +27. I dined to-day with General Hill, Governor of Dunkirk. Lady Masham and +Mrs. Hill, his two sisters, were of the company, and there have I been sitting +this evening till eleven, looking over others at play; for I have left off +loving play myself; and I think Ppt is now a great gamester. I have a great +cold on me, not quite at its height. I have them seldom, and therefore ought +to be patient. I met Mr. Addison and Pastoral Philips on the Mall to-day, and +took a turn with them; but they both looked terrible dry and cold. A curse of +party! And do you know I have taken more pains to recommend the Whig wits to +the favour and mercy of the Ministers than any other people. Steele I have +kept in his place. Congreve I have got to be used kindly, and secured. Rowe +I have recommended, and got a promise of a place. Philips I could certainly +have provided for, if he had not run party mad, and made me withdraw my +recommendation; and I set Addison so right at first that he might have been +employed, and have partly secured him the place he has; yet I am worse used by +that faction than any man. Well, go to cards, sollah Ppt, and dress the wine +and olange, sollah MD, and I'll go seep. 'Tis rate. Nite MD. + +28. My cold is so bad that I could not go to church today, nor to Court; but +I was engaged to Lord Orkney's with the Duke of Ormond, at dinner; and +ventured, because I could cough and spit there as I pleased. The Duke and +Lord Arran left us, and I have been sitting ever since with Lord and Lady +Orkney till past eleven: and my cold is worse, and makes me giddy. I hope it +is only my cold. Oh, says Ppt, everybody is giddy with a cold; I hope it is +no more; but I'll go to bed, for the fellow has bawled "Past twelve." Night, +deels. + +29. I got out early to-day, and escaped all my duns. I went to see Lord +Bolingbroke about some business, and truly he was gone out too. I dined in +the City upon the broiled leg of a goose and a bit of brawn, with my printer. +Did I tell you that I forbear printing what I have in hand, till the Court +decides something about me? I will contract no more enemies, at least I will +not embitter worse those I have already, till I have got under shelter; and +the Ministers know my resolution, so that you may be disappointed in seeing +this thing as soon as you expected. I hear Lord Treasurer is out of order. +My cold is very bad. Every[body] has one. Nite two dee logues. + +30. I suppose this will be full by Saturday; zen[21] it sall go. Duke of +Ormond, Lord Arran, and I, dined privately to-day at an old servant's house of +his. The Council made us part at six. One Mrs. Ramsay dined with us; an old +lady of about fifty-five, that we are all very fond of. I called this evening +at Lord Treasurer's, and sat with him two hours. He has been cupped for a +cold, and has been very ill. He cannot dine with Parnell and me at Lord +Bolingbroke's to-morrow, but says he will see Parnell some other time. I +hoise[22] up Parnell partly to spite the envious Irish folks here, +particularly Tom Leigh. I saw the Bishop of Clogher's family to-day; Miss is +mighty ill of a cold, coughs incessantly.[23] Nite MD. + +31. To-day Parnell and I dined with Lord Bolingbroke, to correct Parnell's +poem. I made him show all the places he disliked; and when Parnell has +corrected it fully he shall print it. I went this evening to sit with Lord +Treasurer. He is better, and will be out in a day or two. I sat with him +while the young folks went to supper; and then went down, and there were the +young folks merry together, having turned Lady Oxford up to my lord, and I +stayed with them till twelve. There was the young couple, Lord and Lady +Caermarthen, and Lord and Lady Dupplin, and Lord Harley and I; and the old +folks were together above. It looked like what I have formerly done so often; +stealing together from the old folks, though indeed it was not from poor Lord +Treasurer, who is as young a fellow as any of us: but Lady Oxford is a silly +mere old woman.[24] My cold is still so bad that I have not the least +smelling. I am just got home, and 'tis past twelve; and I'll go to bed, and +settle my head, heavy as lead. Nite MD. + +Jan. 1, 1712-13. A sousand melly new eels[25] to deelest richar MD. Pray God +Almighty bless you, and send you ever happy! I forgot to tell you that +yesterday Lord Abercorn was here, teasing me about his French duchy, and +suspecting my partiality to the Hamilton family in such a whimsical manner +that Dr. Pratt, who was by, thought he was mad. He was no sooner gone but +Lord Orkney sent to know whether he might come and sit with me half an hour +upon some business. I returned answer that I would wait on him; which I did. +We discoursed a while, and he left me with Lady Orkney; and in came the Earl +of Selkirk, whom I had never seen before. He is another brother of the Duke +of Hamilton, and is going to France, by a power from his mother, the old +Duchess,[26] to negotiate their pretensions to the duchy of Chatelherault. He +teased me for two hours in spite of my teeth, and held my hand when I offered +to stir; would have had me engage the Ministry to favour him against Lord +Abercorn, and to convince them that Lord Abercorn had no pretensions; and +desired I would also convince Lord Abercorn himself so; and concluded he was +sorry I was a greater friend to Abercorn than Hamilton. I had no patience, +and used him with some plainness. Am not I purely handled between a couple of +puppies? Ay, says Ppt, you must be meddling in other folks' affairs. I +appeal to the Bishop of Clogher whether Abercorn did not complain that I would +not let him see me last year, and that he swore he would take no denial from +my servant when he came again. The Ministers gave me leave to tell the +Hamilton family it was their opinion that they ought to agree with Abercorn. +Lord Anglesea was then by, and told Abercorn; upon which he gravely tells me I +was commissioned by the Ministers, and ought to perform my commission, etc.-- +But I'll have done with them. I have warned Lord Treasurer and Lord +Bolingbroke to beware of Selkirk's teasing,; --x on him! Yet Abercorn vexes +me more. The whelp owes to me all the kind receptions he has had from the +Ministry. I dined to-day at Lord Treasurer's with the young folks, and sat +with Lord Treasurer till nine, and then was forced to Lady Masham's, and sat +there till twelve, talking of affairs, till I am out of humour, as everyone +must that knows them inwardly. A thousand things wrong, most of them easy to +mend; yet our schemes availing at best but little, and sometimes nothing at +all. One evil, which I twice patched up with the hazard of all the credit I +had, is now spread more than ever.[27] But burn politics, and send me from +Courts and Ministers! Nite deelest richar MD. + +2. I sauntered about this morning, and went with Dr. Pratt to a picture +auction, where I had like to be drawn in to buy a picture that I was fond of, +but, it seems, was good for nothing. Pratt was there to buy some pictures for +the Bishop of Clogher, who resolves to lay out ten pounds to furnish his house +with curious pieces. We dined with the Bishop, I being by chance disengaged. +And this evening I sat with the Bishop of Ossory,[28] who is laid up with the +gout. The French Ambassador, Duke d'Aumont,[29] came to town to-night; and +the rabble conducted him home with shouts. I cannot smell yet, though my cold +begins to break. It continues cruel hard frosty weather. Go and be melly,. . +. sollahs.[30] + +3. Lord Dupplin and I went with Lord and Lady Orkney this morning at ten to +Wimbledon, six miles off, to see Lord and Lady Caermarthen. It is much the +finest place about this town. Did oo never see it? I was once there before, +about five years ago. You know Lady Caermarthen is Lord Treasurer's daughter, +married about three weeks ago. I hope the young fellow will be a good +husband.--I must send this away now. I came back just by nightfall, cruel +cold weather; I have no smell yet, but my cold something better. Nite (?) +sollahs; I'll take my reeve. I forget how MD's accounts are. Pray let me +know always timely before MD wants; and pray give the bill on t'other side to +Mrs. Brent as usual. I believe I have not paid her this great while. Go, +play cards, and. . . rove Pdfr. Nite richar MD. . . roves Pdfr. FW lele. . +. MD MD MD MD MD FW FW FW FW MD MD Lele. . .[31] + +The six odd shillings, tell Mrs. Brent, are for her new year's gift. + + + +I[32] am just now told that poor dear Lady Ashburnham,[33] the Duke of +Ormond's daughter, died yesterday at her country house. The poor creature was +with child. She was my greatest favourite, and I am in excessive concern for +her loss. I hardly knew a more valuable person on all accounts. You must +have heard me talk of her. I am afraid to see the Duke and Duchess. She was +naturally very healthy; I am afraid she has been thrown away for want of care. +Pray condole with me. 'Tis extremely moving. Her lord's a puppy; and I shall +never think it worth my while to be troubled with him, now he has lost all +that was valuable in his possession; yet I think he used her pretty well. I +hate life when I think it exposed to such accidents; and to see so many +thousand wretches burdening the earth, while such as her die, makes me think +God did never intend life for a blessing. Farewell. + + + +LETTER 58.[1] + +LONDON, Jan. 4, 1712-13. + +I ended my last with the melancholy news of poor Lady Ashburnham's death. The +Bishop of Clogher and Dr. Pratt made me dine with them to-day at Lord +Mountjoy's, pursuant to an engagement, which I had forgot. Lady Mountjoy told +me that Maccartney was got safe out of our clutches, for she had spoke with +one who had a letter from him from Holland. Others say the same thing. 'Tis +hard such a dog should escape.--As I left Lord Mountjoy's I saw the Duke +d'Aumont, the French Ambassador, going from Lord Bolingbroke's, where he +dined, to have a private audience of the Queen. I followed, and went up to +Court, where there was a great crowd. I was talking with the Duke of Argyle +by the fireside in the bed-chamber, when the Ambassador came out from the +Queen. Argyle presented me to him, and Lord Bolingbroke and we talked +together a while. He is a fine gentleman, something like the Duke of Ormond, +and just such an expensive man. After church to-day I showed the Bishop of +Clogher, at Court, who was who. Nite my two dee logues, and. . .[2] + +5. Our frost is broke, but it is bloody cold. Lord Treasurer is recovered, +and went out this evening to the Queen. I dined with Lady Oxford, and then +sat with Lord Treasurer while he went out. He gave me a letter from an +unknown hand, relating to Dr. Brown,[3] Bishop of Cork, recommending him to a +better bishopric, as a person who opposed Lord Wharton, and was made a bishop +on that account, celebrating him for a great politician, etc.: in short, all +directly contrary to his character, which I made bold to explain. What dogs +there are in the world! I was to see the poor Duke and Duchess of Ormond this +morning. The Duke was in his public room, with Mr. Southwell[4] and two more +gentlemen. When Southwell and I were alone with him, he talked something of +Lord Ashburnham, that he was afraid the Whigs would get him again. He bore up +as well as he could, but something falling accidentally in discourse, the +tears were just falling out of his eyes, and I looked off to give him an +opportunity (which he took) of wiping them with his handkerchief. I never saw +anything so moving, nor such a mixture of greatness of mind, and tenderness, +and discretion. Nite MD. + +6. Lord Bolingbroke and Parnell and I dined, by invitation, with my friend +Darteneuf,[5] whom you have heard me talk of. Lord Bolingbroke likes Parnell +mightily; and it is pleasant to see that one who hardly passed for anything in +Ireland makes his way here with a little friendly forwarding. It is scurvy +rainy weather, and I have hardly been abroad to-day, nor know anything that +passes.--Lord Treasurer is quite recovered, and I hope will be careful to keep +himself well. The Duchess of Marlborough is leaving England to go to her +Duke, and makes presents of rings to several friends, they say worth two +hundred pounds apiece. I am sure she ought to give me one, though the Duke +pretended to think me his greatest enemy, and got people to tell me so, and +very mildly to let me know how gladly he would have me softened toward him. I +bid a lady of his acquaintance and mine let him know that I had hindered many +a bitter thing against him; not for his own sake, but because I thought it +looked base; and I desired everything should be left him, except power. Nite +MD. + +7. I dined with Lord and Lady Masham to-day, and this evening played at ombre +with Mrs. Vanhom, merely for amusement. The Ministers have got my papers, and +will neither read them nor give them to me; and I can hardly do anything. +Very warm slabby weather, but I made a shift to get a walk; yet I lost half of +it, by shaking off Lord Rochester,[6] who is a good, civil, simple man. The +Bishop of Ossory will not be Bishop of Hereford,[7] to the great grief of +himself and his wife. And hat is MD doing now, I wonder? Playing at cards +with the Dean and Mrs. Walls? I think it is not certain yet that Maccartney +is escaped. I am plagued with bad authors, verse and prose, who send me their +books and poems, the vilest trash I ever saw; but I have given their names to +my man, never to let them see me. I have got new ink, and 'tis very white; +and I don't see that it turns black at all. I'll go to seep; 'tis past +twelve.--Nite, MD. + +8. Oo must understand that I am in my geers, and have got a chocolate-pot, a +present from Mrs. Ashe of Clogher, and some chocolate from my brother Ormond, +and I treat folks sometimes. I dined with Lord Treasurer at five o'clock to- +day, and was by while he and Lord Bolingbroke were at business; for it is fit +I should know all that passes now, because, etc. The Duke of Ormond employed +me to speak to Lord Treasurer to-day about an affair, and I did so; and the +Duke had spoke himself two hours before, which vexed me, and I will chide the +Duke about it. I'll tell you a good thing; there is not one of the Ministry +but what will employ me as gravely to speak for them to Lord Treasurer as if I +were their brother or his; and I do it as gravely: though I know they do it +only because they will not make themselves uneasy, or had rather I should be +denied than they. I believe our peace will not be finished these two months; +for I think we must have a return from Spain by a messenger, who will not go +till Sunday next. Lord Treasurer has invited me to dine with him again to- +morrow. Your Commissioner, Keatley,[8] is to be there. Nite dee richar +MD.[9] + +9. Dr. Pratt drank chocolate with me this morning, and then we walked. I was +yesterday with him to see Lady Betty Butler, grieving for her sister +Ashburnham. The jade was in bed in form, and she did so cant, she made me +sick. I meet Tom Leigh every day in the Park, to preserve his health. He is +as ruddy as a rose, and tells me his Bishop of Dromore[10] recovers very much. +That Bishop has been very near dying. This day's Examiner talks of the play +of "What is it like?"[11] and you will think it to be mine, and be bit; for I +have no hand in these papers at all. I dined with Lord Treasurer, and shall +again to-morrow, which is his day when all the Ministers dine with him. He +calls it whipping-day. It is always on Saturday, and we do indeed usually +rally him about his faults on that day. I was of the original Club, when only +poor Lord Rivers, Lord Keeper, and Lord Bolingbroke came; but now Ormond, +Anglesea, Lord Steward,[12] Dartmouth, and other rabble intrude, and I scold +at it; but now they pretend as good a title as I; and, indeed, many Saturdays +I am not there. The company being too many, I don't love it. Nite MD. + +10. At seven this evening, as we sat after dinner at Lord Treasurer's, a +servant said Lord Peterborow was at the door. Lord Treasurer and Lord +Bolingbroke went out to meet him, and brought him in. He was just returned +from abroad, where he has been above a year. Soon as he saw me, he left the +Duke of Ormond and other lords, and ran and kissed me before he spoke to them; +but chid me terribly for not writing to him, which I never did this last time +he was abroad, not knowing where he was; and he changed places so often, it +was impossible a letter should overtake him. He left England with a bruise, +by his coach overturning, that made him spit blood, and was so ill, we +expected every post to hear of his death; but he outrode it or outdrank it, or +something, and is come home lustier than ever. He is at least sixty, and has +more spirits than any young fellow I know in England. He has got the old +Oxford regiment of horse, and I believe will have a Garter. I love the hang- +dog dearly. Nite dee MD. + +11. The Court was crammed to-day to see[13] the French Ambassador; but he did +not come. Did I never tell you that I go to Court on Sundays as to a coffee- +house, to see acquaintance, whom I should otherwise not see twice a year? The +Provost[14] and I dined with Ned Southwell, by appointment, in order to settle +your kingdom, if my scheme can be followed; but I doubt our Ministry will be +too tedious. You must certainly have a new Parliament; but they would have +that a secret yet. Our Parliament here will be prorogued for three weeks. +Those puppies the Dutch will not yet come in, though they pretend to submit to +the Queen in everything; but they would fain try first how our session begins, +in hopes to embroil us in the House of Lords: and if my advice had been +taken, the session should have begun, and we would have trusted the Parliament +to approve the steps already made toward the peace, and had an Address perhaps +from them to conclude without the Dutch, if they would not agree.--Others are +of my mind, but it is not reckoned so safe, it seems; yet I doubt whether the +peace will be ready so soon as three weeks, but that is a secret. Nite MD. + +12. Pratt and I walked into the City to one Bateman's,[15] a famous +bookseller, for old books. There I laid out four pounds like a fool, and we +dined at a hedge ale-house, for two shillings and twopence, like emperors. +Let me see, I bought Plutarch, two volumes, for thirty shillings, etc. Well, +I'll tell you no more; oo don't understand Greek.[16] We have no news, and I +have nothing more to say to-day, and I can't finish my work. These Ministers +will not find time to do what I would have them. So nite, nown dee dallars. + +13. I was to have dined to-day with Lord Keeper, but would not, because that +brute Sir John Walter[17] was to be one of the company. You may remember he +railed at me last summer was twelvemonth at Windsor, and has never begged my +pardon, though he promised to do it; and Lord Mansel, who was one of the +company, would certainly have set us together by the ears, out of pure roguish +mischief. So I dined with Lord Treasurer, where there was none but Lord +Bolingbroke. I stayed till eight, and then went to Lady Orkney's, who has +been sick, and sat with her till twelve, from whence you may consider it is +late, sollahs. The Parliament was prorogued to-day, as I told you, for three +weeks. Our weather is very bad and slobbery, and I shall spoil my new hat (I +have bought a new hat), or empty my pockets. Does Hawkshaw pay the interest +he owes? Lord Abercorn plagues me to death. I have now not above six people +to provide for, and about as many to do good offices to; and thrice as many +that I will do nothing for; nor can I if I would. Nite dee MD. + +14. To-day I took the circle of morning visits. I went to the Duchess of +Ormond, and there was she, and Lady Betty, and Lord Ashburnham together: this +was the first time the mother and daughter saw each other since Lady +Ashburnham's death. They were both in tears, and I chid them for being +together, and made Lady Betty go to her own chamber; then sat a while with the +Duchess, and went after Lady Betty, and all was well. There is something of +farce in all these mournings, let them be ever so serious. People will +pretend to grieve more than they really do, and that takes off from their true +grief. I then went to the Duchess of Hamilton, who never grieved, but raged, +and stormed, and railed.[18] She is pretty quiet now, but has a diabolical +temper. Lord Keeper and his son, and their two ladies, and I, dined to-day +with Mr. Caesar,[19] Treasurer of the Navy, at his house in the City, where he +keeps his office. We happened to talk of Brutus, and I said something in his +praise, when it struck me immediately that I had made a blunder in doing so; +and, therefore, I recollected myself, and said, "Mr. Caesar, I beg your +pardon." So we laughed, etc. Nite, my own deelest richar logues, MD. + +15. I forgot to tell you that last night I had a present sent me (I found it, +when I came home, in my chamber) of the finest wild fowl I ever saw, with the +vilest letter, and from the vilest poet in the world, who sent it me as a +bribe to get him an employment. I knew not where the scoundrel lived, so I +could not send them back, and therefore I gave them away as freely as I got +them, and have ordered my man never to let up the poet when he comes. The +rogue should have kept the wings at least for his muse. One of his fowls was +a large capon pheasant, as fat as a pullet. I ate share of it to-day with a +friend. We have now a Drawing-room every Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at +one o'clock. The Queen does not come out; but all her Ministers, foreigners, +and persons of quality are at it. I was there to-day; and as Lord Treasurer +came towards me, I avoided him, and he hunted me thrice about the room. I +affect never to take notice of him at church or Court. He knows it, for I +have told him so; and to-night, at Lord Masham's, he gave an account of it to +the company; but my reasons are, that people seeing me speak to him causes a +great deal of teasing. I tell you what comes into my head, that I never knew +whether MD were Whigs or Tories, and I value our conversation the more that it +never turned on that subject. I have a fancy that Ppt is a Tory, and a +violent one. I don't know why; but methinks she looks like one, and DD a sort +of a Trimmer. Am I right? I gave the Examiner a hint about this prorogation, +and to praise the Queen for her tenderness to the Dutch in giving them still +more time to submit.[20] It fitted the occasions at present. Nite MD. + +16. I was busy to-day at the Secretary's office, and stayed till past three. +The Duke of Ormond and I were to dine at Lord Orkney's. The Duke was at the +Committee, so I thought all was safe. When I went there, they had almost +dined; for the Duke had sent to excuse himself, which I never knew. I came +home at seven, and began a little whim, which just came into my head; and will +make a threepenny pamphlet.[21] It shall be finished and out in a week; and +if it succeeds, you shall know what it is; otherwise, not. I cannot send this +to-morrow, and will put it off till next Saturday, because I have much +business. So my journals shall be short, and Ppt must have patience. So +nite, dee sollahs. + +17. This rogue Parnell has not yet corrected his poem, and I would fain have +it out. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, and his Saturday company, nine of +us in all. They went away at seven, and Lord Treasurer and I sat talking an +hour after. After dinner he was talking to the lords about the speech the +Queen must make when the Parliament meets. He asked me how I would make it. +I was going to be serious, because it was seriously put; but I turned it to a +jest. And because they had been speaking of the Duchess of Marlborough going +to Flanders after the Duke, I said the speech should begin thus: "My Lords +and Gentlemen, In order to my own quiet, and that of my subjects, I have +thought fit to send the Duchess of Marlborough abroad after the Duke." This +took well, and turned off the discourse. I must tell you I do not at all like +the present situation of affairs, and remember I tell you so. Things must be +on another foot, or we are all undone. I hate this driving always to an inch. +Nite MD. + +18. We had a mighty full Court to-day. Dilly was with me at the French +church, and edified mightily. The Duke of Ormond and I dined at Lord +Orkney's; but I left them at seven, and came home to my whim. I have made a +great progress. My large Treatise[22] stands stock still. Some think it too +dangerous to publish, and would have me print only what relates to the peace. +I cannot tell what I shall do.--The Bishop of Dromore is dying. They thought +yesterday he could not live two hours; yet he is still alive, but is utterly +past all hopes. Go to cards, sollahs, and nite. + +19. I was this morning to see the Duke and Duchess of Ormond. The Duke +d'Aumont came in while I was with the Duke of Ormond, and we complimented each +other like dragons. A poor fellow called at the door where I lodge, with a +parcel of oranges for a present for me. I bid my man know what his name was, +and whence he came. He sent word his name was Bun, and that I knew him very +well. I bid my man tell him I was busy, and he could not speak to me; and not +to let him leave his oranges. I know no more of it, but I am sure I never +heard the name, and I shall take no such presents from strangers. Perhaps he +might be only some beggar, who wanted a little money. Perhaps it might be +something worse. Let them keep their poison for their rats. I don't love +it.[23] That blot is a blunder. Nite dee MD. . . . + +20. A Committee of our Society dined to-day with the Chancellor of the +Exchequer. Our Society does not meet now as usual, for which I am blamed: +but till Lord Treasurer will agree to give us money and employments to bestow, +I am averse to it; and he gives us nothing but promises. The Bishop of +Dromore is still alive, and that is all. We expect every day he will die, and +then Tom Leigh must go back, which is one good thing to the town. I believe +Pratt will drive at one of these bishoprics. Our English bishopric[24] is not +yet disposed of. I believe the peace will not be ready by the session. Nite +MD. + +21. I was to-day with my printer, to give him a little pamphlet I have +written, but not politics. It will be out by Monday. If it succeeds, I will +tell you of it; otherwise, not. We had a prodigious thaw to-day, as bad as +rain; yet I walked like a good boy all the way. The Bishop of Dromore still +draws breath, but cannot live two days longer. My large book lies flat. Some +people think a great part of it ought not to be now printed. I believe I told +you so before. This letter shall not go till Saturday, which makes up the +three weeks exactly; and I allow MD six weeks, which are now almost out; so oo +must know I expect a rettle vely soon, and that MD is vely werr;[25] and so +nite, dee MD. + +22. This is one of our Court days, and I was there. I told you there is a +Drawing-room, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The Hamiltons and Abercorns +have done teasing me. The latter, I hear, is actually going to France. Lord +Treasurer quarrelled with me at Court for being four days without dining with +him; so I dined there to-day, and he has at last fallen in with my project (as +he calls it) of coining halfpence and farthings, with devices, like medals, in +honour of the Queen, every year changing the device. I wish it may be done. +Nite MD. + +23. The Duke of Ormond and I appointed to dine with Ned Southwell to-day, to +talk of settling your affairs of Parliament in Ireland, but there was a +mixture of company, and the Duke of Ormond was in haste, and nothing was done. +If your Parliament meets this summer, it must be a new one; but I find some +are of opinion there should be none at all these two years. I will trouble +myself no more about it. My design was to serve the Duke of Ormond. Dr. +Pratt and I sat this evening with the Bishop of Clogher, and played at ombre +for threepences. That, I suppose, is but low with you. I found, at coming +home, a letter from MD, N.37. I shall not answer it zis bout, but will the +next. I am sorry for poo poo Ppt. Pray walk hen oo can. I have got a +terrible new cold before my old one was quite gone, and don't know how. Pay. +. . . [26] I shall have DD's money soon from the Exchequer. The Bishop of +Dromore is dead now at last. Nite, dee MD. + +24. I was at Court to-day, and it was comical to see Lord Abercorn bowing to +me, but not speaking, and Lord Selkirk the same.[27] I dined with Lord +Treasurer and his Saturday Club, and sat with him two hours after the rest +were gone, and spoke freer to him of affairs than I am afraid others do, who +might do more good. All his friends repine, and shrug their shoulders; but +will not deal with him so freely as they ought. It is an odd business; the +Parliament just going to sit, and no employments given. They say they will +give them in a few days. There is a new bishop made of Hereford;[28] so +Ossory[29] is disappointed. I hinted so to his friends two months ago, to +make him leave off deluding himself, and being indiscreet, as he was. I have +just time to send this, without giving to the bellman. Nite deelest richar +MD. . . . dee MD MD MD FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele Lele Lele. + +My second cold is better now. Lele lele lele lele. + + + +LETTER 59.[1] + +LONDON, Jan. 25, 1712-1713. + +We had such a terrible storm to-day, that, going to Lord Bolingbroke's, I saw +a hundred tiles fallen down; and one swinger fell about forty yards before me, +that would have killed a horse: so, after church and Court, I walked through +the Park, and took a chair to Lord Treasurer's. Next door to his house, a tin +chimneytop had fallen down, with a hundred bricks. It is grown calm this +evening. I wonder had you such a wind to-day? I hate it as much as any hog +does. Lord Treasurer has engaged me to dine again with him to-morrow. He has +those tricks sometimes of inviting me from day to day, which I am forced to +break through. My little pamphlet[2] is out: 'tis not politics. If it +takes, I say again you shall hear of it. Nite dee logues. + +26. This morning I felt a little touch of giddiness, which has disordered and +weakened me with its ugly remains all this day. Pity Pdfr. After dinner at +Lord Treasurer's, the French Ambassador, Duke d'Aumont, sent Lord Treasurer +word that his house was burnt down to the ground. It took fire in the upper +rooms, while he was at dinner with Monteleon, the Spanish Ambassador, and +other persons; and soon after Lord Bolingbroke came to us with the same story. +We are full of speculations upon it, but I believe it was the carelessness of +his French rascally servants. 'Tis odd that this very day Lord Somers, +Wharton, Sunderland, Halifax, and the whole club of Whig lords, dined at +Pontack's[3] in the City, as I received private notice. They have some damned +design. I tell you another odd thing; I was observing it to Lord Treasurer, +that he was stabbed on the day King William died; and the day I saved his +life, by opening the bandbox,[4] was King William's birthday. My friend Mr. +Lewis has had a lie spread on him by the mistake of a man, who went to another +of his name, to give him thanks for passing his Privy Seal to come from +France.[5] That other Lewis spread about that the man brought him thanks from +Lord Perth and Lord Melfort (two lords with the Pretender), for his great +services, etc. The Lords will examine that t'other Lewis to-morrow in +council; and I believe you will hear of it in the prints, for I will make Abel +Roper give a relation of it. Pray tell me if it be necessary to write a +little plainer; for I looked over a bit of my last letter, and could hardly +read it. I'll mend my hand, if oo please: but you are more used to it nor I, +as Mr. Raymond says. Nite MD. + +27. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer: this makes four days together; and +he has invited me again to-morrow, but I absolutely refused him. I was this +evening at a christening with him of Lord Dupplin's[6] daughter. He went away +at ten; but they kept me and some others till past twelve; so you may be sure +'tis late, as they say. We have now stronger suspicions that the Duke +d'Aumont's house was set on fire by malice. I was to-day to see Lord Keeper, +who has quite lost his voice with a cold. There Dr. Radcliffe told me that it +was the Ambassador's confectioner set the house on fire by boiling sugar, and +going down and letting it boil over. Yet others still think differently; so I +know not what to judge. Nite my own deelest MD, rove Pdfr. + +28. I was to-day at Court, where the Spanish Ambassador talked to me as if he +did not suspect any design in burning d'Aumont's house: but Abbe Gaultier, +Secretary for France here, said quite otherwise; and that d'Aumont had a +letter the very same day to let him know his house should be burnt, and they +tell several other circumstances too tedious to write. One is, that a fellow +mending the tiles just when the fire broke out, saw a pot with wildfire[7] in +the room. I dined with Lord Orkney. Neither Lord Abercorn nor Selkirk will +now speak with me. I have disobliged both sides. Nite dear MD. + +29. Our Society met to-day, fourteen of us, and at a tavern. We now resolve +to meet but once a fortnight, and have a Committee every other week of six or +seven, to consult about doing some good. I proposed another message to Lord +Treasurer by three principal members, to give a hundred guineas to a certain +person, and they are to urge it as well as they can. We also raised sixty +guineas upon our own Society; but I made them do it by sessors,[8] and I was +one of them, and we fitted our tax to the several estates. The Duke of Ormond +pays ten guineas, and I the third part of a guinea; at that rate, they may tax +as often as they please. Well, but I must answer oor rettle, ung oomens: not +yet; 'tis rate now, and I can't tind it. Nite deelest MD. + +30. I have drank Spa waters this two or three days; but they do not pass, and +make me very giddy. I an't well; faith, I'll take them no more. I sauntered +after church with the Provost to-day to see a library to be sold, and dined at +five with Lord Orkney. We still think there was malice in burning d'Aumont's +house. I hear little Harrison[9] is come over; it was he I sent to Utrecht. +He is now Queen's Secretary to the Embassy, and has brought with him the +Barrier Treaty, as it is now corrected by us, and yielded to by the Dutch, +which was the greatest difficulty to retard the peace. I hope he will bring +over the peace a month hence, for we will send him back as soon as possible. +I long to see the little brat, my own creature. His pay is in all a thousand +pounds a year, and they have never paid him a groat, though I have teased +their hearts out. He must be three or four hundred pounds in debt at least, +the brat! Let me go to bed, sollahs.--Nite dee richar MD. + +31. Harrison was with me this morning: we talked three hours, and then I +carried him to Court. When we went down to the door of my lodging, I found a +coach waited for him. I chid him for it; but he whispered me it was +impossible to do otherwise; and in the coach he told me he had not one +farthing in his pocket to pay it; and therefore took the coach for the whole +day, and intended to borrow money somewhere or other. So there was the +Queen's Minister entrusted in affairs of the greatest importance, without a +shilling in his pocket to pay a coach! I paid him while he was with me seven +guineas, in part of a dozen of shirts he bought me in Holland. I presented +him to the Duke of Ormond, and several lords at Court; and I contrived it so +that Lord Treasurer came to me and asked (I had Parnell by me) whether that +was Dr. Parnell, and came up and spoke to him with great kindness, and invited +him to his house. I value myself upon making the Ministry desire to be +acquainted with Parnell, and not Parnell with the Ministry. His poem is +almost fully corrected, and shall soon be out. Here's enough for to-day: +only to tell you that I was in the City with my printer to alter an Examiner +about my friend Lewis's story,[10] which will be told with remarks. Nite MD. + +Feb. 1. I could do nothing till to-day about the Examiner, but the printer +came this morning, and I dictated to him what was fit to be said, and then Mr. +Lewis came, and corrected it as he would have it; so I was neither at church +nor Court. The Duke of Ormond and I dined at Lord Orkney's. I left them at +seven, and sat with Sir Andrew Fountaine, who has a very bad sore leg, for +which he designs to go to France. Fais, here's a week gone, and one side of +this letter not finished. Oh, but I write now but once in three weeks; iss, +fais, this shall go sooner. The Parliament is to sit on the third, but will +adjourn for three or four days; for the Queen is laid up with the gout, and +both Speakers out of order, though one of them, the Lord Keeper, is almost +well. I spoke to the Duke of Ormond a good deal about Ireland. We do not +altogether agree, nor am I judge enough of Irish affairs; but I will speak to +Lord Treasurer to-morrow, that we three may settle them some way or other. +Nite sollahs both, rove Pdfr. + +2. I had a letter some days ago from Moll Gery;[11] her name is now Wigmore, +and her husband has turned parson. She desires nothing but that I would get +Lord Keeper to give him a living; but I will send her no answer, though she +desires it much. She still makes mantuas at Farnham. It rained all this day, +and Dilly came to me, and was coaching it into the City; so I went with him +for a shaking, because it would not cost me a farthing. There I met my friend +Stratford,[12] the merchant, who is going abroad to gather up his debts, and +be clear in the world. He begged that I would dine with some merchant friends +of ours there, because it was the last time I should see him: so I did, and +thought to have seen Lord Treasurer in the evening, but he happened to go out +at five; so I visited some friends, and came home. And now I have the +greatest part of your letter to answer; and yet I will not do it to-night, say +what oo please. The Parliament meets to-morrow, but will be prorogued for a +fortnight; which disappointment will, I believe, vex abundance of them, though +they are not Whigs; for they are forced to be in town at expense for nothing: +but we want an answer from Spain, before we are sure of everything being right +for the peace; and God knows whether we can have that answer this month. It +is a most ticklish juncture of affairs; we are always driving to an inch: I +am weary of it. Nite MD. + +3. The Parliament met, and was prorogued, as I said, and I found some cloudy +faces, and heard some grumbling. We have got over all our difficulties with +France, I think. They have now settled all the articles of commerce between +us and them, wherein they were very much disposed to play the rogue if we had +not held them to [it]; and this business we wait from Spain is to prevent some +other rogueries of the French, who are finding an evasion to trade to the +Spanish West Indies; but I hope we shall prevent it. I dined with Lord +Treasurer, and he was in good humour enough. I gave him that part of my book +in manuscript to read where his character was, and drawn pretty freely. He +was reading and correcting it with his pencil, when the Bishop of St. +David's[13] (now removing to Hereford) came in and interrupted us. I left him +at eight, and sat till twelve with the Provost and Bishop of Clogher at the +Provost's. Nite MD. + +4. I was to-day at Court, but kept out of Lord Treasurer's way, because I was +engaged to the Duke of Ormond, where I dined, and, I think, ate and drank too +much. I sat this evening with Lady Masham, and then with Lord Masham and Lord +Treasurer at Lord Masham's. It was last year, you may remember, my constant +evening place. I saw Lady Jersey[14] with Lady Masham, who has been laying +out for my acquaintance, and has forced a promise for me to drink chocolate +with her in a day or two, which I know not whether I shall perform (I have +just mended my pen, you see), for I do not much like her character; but she is +very malicious, and therefore I think I must keep fair with her. I cannot +send this letter till Saturday next, I find; so I will answer oors now. I see +no different days of the month; yet it is dated January 3: so it was long a +coming. I did not write to Dr. Coghill that I would have nothing in Ireland, +but that I was soliciting nothing anywhere, and that is true. I have named +Dr. Sterne to Lord Treasurer, Lord Bolingbroke, and the Duke of Ormond, for a +bishopric, and I did it heartily. I know not what will come of it; but I tell +you as a great secret that I have made the Duke of Ormond promise me to +recommend nobody till he tells me, and this for some reasons too long to +mention. My head is still in no good order. I am heartily sorry for poo Ppt, +I'm sure. Her head is good for. . .[15] I'll answer more to-mollow. Nite, +dearest MD; nite dee sollahs, MD.[16] + +5. I must go on with oo letter. I dined to-day with Sir Andrew Fountaine and +the Provost, and I played at ombre with him all the afternoon. I won, yet Sir +Andrew is an admirable player. Lord Pembroke[17] came in, and I gave him +three or four scurvy Dilly puns, that begin with an IF. Well, but oor letter, +well, ret me see.--No; I believe I shall write no more this good while, nor +publish what I have done. Nauty (?) Ppt, oo are vely tempegant. I did not +suspect oo would tell Filby.[18] Oo are so. . . [19] Turns and visitations-- +what are these? I'll preach and visit as much for Mr. Walls. Pray God mend +poopt's[20] health; mine is but very indifferent. I have left off Spa water; +it makes my leg swell. Nite deelest MD. + +6. This is the Queen's Birthday, and I never saw it celebrated with so much +luxury and fine clothes. I went to Court to see them, and I dined with Lord +Keeper, where the ladies were fine to admiration. I passed the evening at +Mrs. Vanhomrigh's, and came home pretty early, to answer oo rettle again. +Pray God keep the Queen. She was very ill about ten days ago, and had the +gout in her stomach. When I came from Lord Keeper's, I called at Lord +Treasurer's, because I heard he was very fine, and that was a new thing; and +it was true, for his coat and waistcoat were embroidered. I have seen the +Provost often since, and never spoke to him to speak to the Temples about +Daniel Carr, nor will; I don't care to do it. I have writ lately to Parvisol. +Oo did well to let him make up his accounts. All things grow dear in Ireland, +but corn to the parsons; for my livings are fallen much this year by +Parvisol's account. Nite dee logues, MD. + + 7.(8) I was at Court to-day, but saw no Birthday clothes; the great folks +never wear them above once or twice. I dined with Lord Orkney, and sat the +evening with Sir Andrew Fountaine, whose leg is in a very dubious condition. +Pray let me know when DD's money is near due: always let me know it +beforehand. This, I believe, will hardly go till Saturday; for I tell you +what, being not very well, I dare not study much: so I let company come in a +morning, and the afternoon pass in dining and sitting somewhere. Lord +Treasurer is angry if I don't dine with him every second day, and I cannot +part with him till late: he kept me last night till near twelve. Our weather +is constant rain above these two months, which hinders walking, so that our +spring is not like yours. I have not seen Fanny Manley[21] yet; I cannot find +time. I am in rebellion with all my acquaintance, but I will mend with my +health and the weather. Clogher make a figure! Clogher make a ----. Colds! +why, we have been all dying with colds; but now they are a little over, and my +second is almost off. I can do nothing for Swanton indeed. It is a thing +impossible, and wholly out of my way. If he buys, he must buy. So now I have +answered oo rettle; and there's an end of that now; and I'll say no more, but +bid oo nite, dee MD. + +8.(9) It was terrible rainy to-day from morning till night. I intended to +have dined with Lord Treasurer, but went to see Sir Andrew Fountaine, and he +kept me to dinner, which saved coach-hire; and I stayed with him all the +afternoon, and lost thirteen shillings and sixpence at ombre. There was +management! and Lord Treasurer will chide; but I'll dine with him to-morrow. +The Bishop of Clogher's daughter has been ill some days,[22] and it proves the +smallpox. She is very full; but it comes out well, and they apprehend no +danger. Lady Orkney has given me her picture; a very fine original of Sir +Godfrey Kneller's; it is now a mending. He has favoured her squint admirably; +and you know I love a cast in the eye. I was to see Lady Worsley[23] to-day, +who is just come to town; she is full of rheumatic pains. All my acquaintance +grow old and sickly. She lodges in the very house in King Street, between St. +James's Street and St. James's Square, where DD's brother bought the +sweetbread, when I lodged there, and MD came to see me. Short sighs.[24] +Nite MD. + +9.(10) I thought to have dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, but he dined abroad +at Tom Harley's; so I dined at Lord Masham's, and was winning all I had lost +playing with Lady Masham at crown picquet, when we went to pools, and I lost +it again. Lord Treasurer came in to us, and chid me for not following him to +Tom Harley's. Miss Ashe is still the same, and they think her not in danger; +my man calls there daily after I am gone out, and tells me at night. I was +this morning to see Lady Jersey, and we have made twenty parties about dining +together, and I shall hardly keep one of them. She is reduced after all her +greatness to seven servants, and a small house, and no coach.[25] I like her +tolerably as yet. Nite MD. + +10.(11) I made visits this morning to the Duke and Duchess of Ormond, and Lady +Betty, and the Duchess of Hamilton. (When I was writing this near twelve +o'clock, the Duchess of Hamilton sent to have me dine with her to-morrow. I +am forced to give my answer through the door, for my man has got the key, and +is gone to bed; but I cannot obey her, for our Society meets to-morrow.) I +stole away from Lord Treasurer by eight, and intended to have passed the +evening with Sir Thomas Clarges[26] and his lady; but met them in another +place, and have there sat till now. My head has not been ill to-day. I was +at Court, and made Lord Mansel walk with me in the Park before we went to +dinner.--Yesterday and to-day have been fair, but yet it rained all last +night. I saw Sterne staring at Court to-day. He has been often to see me, he +says: but my man has not yet let him up. He is in deep mourning; I hope it +is not for his wife.[27] I did not ask him. Nite MD. + +12.[28] I have reckoned days wrong all this while; for this is the twelfth. I +do not know when I lost it. I dined to-day with our Society, the greatest +dinner I have ever seen. It was at Jack Hill's, the Governor of Dunkirk. I +gave an account of sixty guineas I had collected, and am to give them away to +two authors to-morrow; and Lord Treasurer has promised us a hundred pounds to +reward some others. I found a letter on my table last night to tell me that +poor little Harrison, the Queen's Secretary, that came lately from Utrecht +with the Barrier Treaty, was ill, and desired to see me at night; but it was +late, and I could not go till to-day. I have often mentioned him in my +letters, you may remember. . . . I went in the morning, and found him mighty +ill, and got thirty guineas for him from Lord Bolingbroke, and an order for a +hundred pounds from the Treasury to be paid him to-morrow; and I have got him +removed to Knightsbridge for air. He has a fever and inflammation on his +lungs; but I hope will do well. Nite. + +13. I was to see a poor poet, one Mr. Diaper,[29] in a nasty garret, very +sick. I gave him twenty guineas from Lord Bolingbroke, and disposed the other +sixty to two other authors, and desired a friend to receive the hundred pounds +for poor Harrison, and will carry it to him to-morrow morning. I sent to see +how he did, and he is extremely ill; and I very much afflicted for him, for he +is my own creature, and in a very honourable post, and very worthy of it. I +dined in the City. I am in much concern for this poor lad. His mother and +sister attend him, and he wants nothing. Nite poo dee MD. + +14. I took Parnell this morning, and we walked to see poor Harrison. I had +the hundred pounds in my pocket. I told Parnell I was afraid to knock at the +door; my mind misgave me. I knocked, and his man in tears told me his master +was dead an hour before. Think what grief this is to me! I went to his +mother, and have been ordering things for his funeral with as little cost as +possible, to-morrow at ten at night. Lord Treasurer was much concerned when I +told him. I could not dine with Lord Treasurer, nor anywhere else; but got a +bit of meat toward evening. No loss ever grieved me so much: poor creature! +Pray God Almighty bless poor MD. Adieu. + +I send this away to-night, and am sorry it must go while I am in so much +grief. + + + +LETTER 60.[1] + +LONDON, Feb. 15 [1712-13]. + +I dined to-day with Mr. Rowe[2] and a projector, who has been teasing me with +twenty schemes to get grants; and I don't like one of them; and, besides, I +was out of humour for the loss of poor Harrison. At ten this night I was at +his funeral, which I ordered to be as private as possible. We had but one +coach with four of us; and when it was carrying us home after the funeral, the +braces broke; and we were forced to sit in it, and have it held up, till my +man went for chairs,[3] at eleven at night in terrible rain. I am come home +very melancholy, and will go to bed. Nite. . . MD.[4] + +16. I dined to-day with Lord Dupplin and some company to divert me; but left +them early, and have been reading a foolish book for amusement. I shall never +have courage again to care for making anybody's fortune. The Parliament meets +to-morrow, and will be prorogued another fortnight, at which several of both +parties were angry; but it cannot be helped, though everything about the peace +is past all danger. I never saw such a continuance of rainy weather. We have +not had two fair days together these ten weeks. I have not dined with Lord +Treasurer these four days, nor can I till Saturday; for I have several +engagements till then, and he will chide me to some purpose. I am perplexed +with this hundred pounds of poor Harrison's, what to do with it. I cannot pay +his relations till they administer, for he is much in debt;[5] but I will have +the staff in my own hands, and venture nothing. Nite poo dee MD. + +17. Lady Jersey and I dined by appointment to-day with Lord Bolingbroke. He +is sending his brother[6] to succeed Mr.[7] Harrison. It is the prettiest +post in Europe for a young gentleman. I lose my money at ombre sadly; I make +a thousand blunders. I play but[8] threepenny ombre; but it is what you call +running ombre. Lady Clarges,[9] and a drab I hate, won a dozen shillings of +me last night. The Parliament was prorogued to-day; and people grumble; and +the good of it is the peace cannot be finished by the time they meet, there +are so many fiddling things to do. Is Ppt an ombre lady yet? You know all +the tricks of it now, I suppose. I reckon you have all your cards from +France, for ours pay sixpence a pack taxes, which goes deep to the box. I +have given away all my Spa water, and take some nasty steel drops, and my head +has been better this week past. I send every day to see how Miss Ashe does: +she is very full, they say, but in no danger. I fear she will lose some of +her beauty. The son lies out of the house. I wish he had them too, while he +is so young.--Nite MD. + +18. The Earl of Abingdon[10] has been teasing me these three months to dine +with him; and this day was appointed about a week ago, and I named my company; +Lord Stawel,[11] Colonel Disney,[12] and Dr. Arbuthnot; but the two last +slipped out their necks, and left Stawell and me to dine there. We did not +dine till seven, because it is Ash Wednesday. We had nothing but fish, which +Lord Stawell could not eat, and got a broiled leg of a turkey. Our wine was +poison; yet the puppy has twelve thousand pound a year. His carps were raw, +and his candles tallow. He[13] shall not catch me in haste again, and +everybody has laughed at me for dining with him. I was to-day to let +Harrison's mother know I could not pay till she administers; which she will +do. I believe she is an old bawd,[14] and her daughter a -----. There were +more Whigs to-day at Court than Tories. I believe they think the peace must +be made, and so come to please the Queen. She is still lame with the gout. +Nite MD. + +19. I was at Court to-day, to speak to Lord Bolingbroke to look over +Parnell's poem since it is corrected; and Parnell and I dined with him, and he +has shown him three or four more places to alter a little. Lady Bolingbroke +came down to us while we were at dinner, and Parnell stared at her as if she +were a goddess. I thought she was like Parnell's wife, and he thought so too. +Parnell is much pleased with Lord Bolingbroke's favour to him, and I hope it +may one day turn to his advantage. His poem will be printed in a few days. +Our weather continues as fresh raining as if it had not rained at all. I sat +to-night at Lady Masham's, where Lord Treasurer came and scolded me for not +dining with him. I told him I could not till Saturday. I have stayed there +till past twelve. So nite dee sollahs, nite. + +20. Lady Jersey, Lady Catherine Hyde,[15] the Spanish Ambassador, the Duke +d'Atree,[16] another Spaniard, and I, dined to-day by appointment with Lord +Bolingbroke; but they fell a drinking so many Spanish healths in champagne +that I stole away to the ladies, and drank tea till eight; and then went and +lost my money at ombre with Sir Andrew Fountaine, who has a very bad leg. +Miss Ashe is past all danger; and her eye, which was lately bad (I suppose one +effect of her distemper), is now better. I do not let the Bishop see me, nor +shall this good while. Good luck! when I came home, I warrant, I found a +letter from MD, No.38; and oo write so small nowadays, I hope oo poor eyes are +better. Well, this shall go to-morrow se'nnight, with a bill for MD. I will +speak to Mr. Griffin[17] to-morrow about Ppt's brother Filby, and desire, +whether he deserves or no, that his employment may be mended; that is to say, +if I can see Griffin; otherwise not; and I'll answer oo rettle hen I Pdfr +think fit. Nite MD. + +21. Methinks I writ a little saucy last night. I mean the last. . . [18] I +saw Griffin at Court. He says he knows nothing of a salt-work at Recton; but +that he will give Filby a better employment, and desires Filby will write to +him. If I knew how to write to Filby, I would; but pray do you. Bid him make +no mention of you; but only let Mr. Griffin know that he has the honour to be +recommended by Dr. S----, etc.; that he will endeavour to deserve, etc.; and +if you dictated a whole letter for him, it would be better; I hope he can +write and spell well. I'll inquire for a direction to Griffin before I finish +this. I dined with Lord Treasurer and seven lords to-day. You know Saturday +is his great day, but I sat with them alone till eight, and then came home, +and have been writing a letter to Mrs. Davis, at York. She took care to have +a letter delivered for me at Lord Treasurer's; for I would not own one she +sent by post. She reproaches me for not writing to her these four years; and +I have honestly told her it was my way never to write to those whom I am never +likely to see, unless I can serve them, which I cannot her, etc. Davis the +schoolmaster's widow. Nite MD. + +22. I dined to-day at Lord Orkney's, with the Duke of Ormond and Sir Thomas +Hanmer.[19] Have you ever heard of the latter? He married the Duchess of +Grafton in his youth (she dined with us too). He is the most considerable man +in the House of Commons. He went last spring to Flanders, with the Duke of +Ormond; from thence to France, and was going to Italy; but the Ministry sent +for him, and he has been come over about ten days. He is much out of humour +with things: he thinks the peace is kept off too long, and is full of fears +and doubts. It is thought he is designed for Secretary of State, instead of +Lord Dartmouth. We have been acquainted these two years; and I intend, in a +day or two, to have an hour's talk with him on affairs. I saw the Bishop of +Clogher at Court; Miss is recovering. I know not how much she will be marked. +The Queen is slowly mending of her gout, and intends to be brought in a chair +to Parliament when it meets, which will be March 3; for I suppose they will +prorogue no more; yet the peace will not be signed then, and we apprehend the +Tories themselves will many of them be discontented. Nite dee MD. + +23. It was ill weather to-day, and I dined with Sir Andrew Fountaine, and in +the evening played at ombre with him and the Provost, and won twenty-five +shillings; so I have recovered myself pretty well. Dilly has been dunning me +to see Fanny Manley; but I have not yet been able to do it. Miss Ashe is now +quite out of danger; and hope will not be much marked. I cannot tell how to +direct to Griffin; and think he lives in Bury Street, near St. James's Street, +hard by me; but I suppose your brother may direct to him to the Salt Office, +and, as I remember, he knows his Christian name, because he sent it me in the +list of the Commissioners. Nite dee MD. + +24. I walked this morning to Chelsea, to see Dr. Atterbury, Dean of Christ +Church. I had business with him about entering Mr. Fitzmaurice,[20] my Lord +Kerry's son, into his College; and Lady Kerry[21] is a great favourite of +mine. Lord Harley, Lord Dupplin, young Bromley[22] the Speaker's son, and I, +dined with Dr. Stratford[23] and some other clergymen; but I left them at +seven to go to Lady Jersey, to see Monteleon the Spanish Ambassador play at +ombre. Lady Jersey was abroad, and I chid the servants, and made a rattle; +but since I came home she sent me a message that I was mistaken, and that the +meeting is to be to-morrow. I have a worse memory than when I left you, and +every day forget appointments; but here my memory was by chance too good. But +I'll go to-morrow; for Lady Catherine Hyde and Lady Bolingbroke are to be +there by appointment, and I listed[24] up my periwig, and all, to make a +figure. Well, who can help it? Not I, vow to. . . ![25] Nite MD. + +25. Lord Treasurer met me last night at Lord Masham's, and thanked me for my +company in a jeer, because I had not dined with him in three days. He chides +me if I stay away but two days together. What will this come to? Nothing. +My grandmother used to say, "More of your lining, and less of your dining." +However, I dined with him, and could hardly leave him at eight, to go to Lady +Jersey's, where five or six foreign Ministers were, and as many ladies. +Monteleon played like the English, and cried "gacco," and knocked his knuckles +for trump, and played at small games like Ppt. Lady Jersey whispered me to +stay and sup with the ladies when the fellows were gone; but they played till +eleven, and I would not stay. I think this letter must go on Saturday; that's +certain; and it is not half full yet. Lady Catherine Hyde had a mighty mind I +should be acquainted with Lady Dalkeith,[26] her sister, the Duke of +Monmouth's eldest son's widow, who was of the company to-night; but I did not +like her; she paints too much. Nite MD. + +26. This day our Society met at the Duke of Ormond's, but I had business that +called me another way; so I sent my excuses, and dined privately with a +friend. Besides, Sir Thomas Hanmer whispered me last night at Lady Jersey's +that I must attend Lord Treasurer and Duke of Ormond at supper at his house +to-night; which I did at eleven, and stayed till one, so oo may be sure 'tis +late enough. There was the Duchess of Grafton, and the Duke her son; nine of +us in all. The Duke of Ormond chid me for not being at the Society to-day, +and said sixteen were there. I said I never knew sixteen people good company +in my life; no, fais, nor eight either. We have no news in this town at all. +I wonder why I don't write you news. I know less of what passes than anybody, +because I go to[27] no coffee-house, nor see any but Ministers, and such +people; and Ministers never talk politics in conversation. The Whigs are +forming great schemes against the meeting of Parliament, which will be next +Tuesday, I still think, without fail; and we hope to hear by then that the +peace is ready to sign. The Queen's gout mends daily. Nite MD. + +27. I passed a very insipid day, and dined privately with a friend in the +neighbourhood. Did I tell you that I have a very fine picture of Lady +Orkney,[28] an original, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, three-quarters length? I +have it now at home, with a fine frame. Lord Bolingbroke and Lady Masham have +promised to sit for me; but I despair of Lord Treasurer; only I hope he will +give me a copy, and then I shall have all the pictures of those I really love +here; just half a dozen; only I'll make Lord Keeper give me his print in a +frame. This letter must go to-morrow, because of sending ME a bill; else it +should not till next week, I assure oo. I have little to do now with my pen; +for my grand business stops till they are more pressing, and till something or +other happens; and I believe I shall return with disgust to finish it, it is +so very laborious. Sir Thomas Hanmer has my papers now. And hat is MD doing +now? Oh, at ombre with the Dean always on Friday night, with Mrs. Walls. +Pray don't play at small games. I stood by, t'other night, while the Duke +d'Atree[29] lost six times with manilio, basto, and three small trumps; and +Lady Jersey won above twenty pounds. Nite dee richar[30] MD. + +28. I was at Court to-day, when the Abbe Gaultier whispered me that a courier +was just come with an account that the French King had consented to all the +Queen's demands, and his consent was carried to Utrecht, and the peace will be +signed in a few days. I suppose the general peace cannot be so soon ready; +but that is no matter. The news presently ran about the Court. I saw the +Queen carried out in her chair, to take the air in the garden. I met Griffin +at Court, and he told me that orders were sent to examine Filby; and, if he be +fit, to make him (I think he called it) an assistant; I don't know what, +Supervisor, I think; but it is some employment a good deal better than his +own. The Parliament will have another short prorogation, though it is not +known yet. I dined with Lord Treasurer and his Saturday company, and left him +at eight to put this in the post-office time enough. And now I must bid oo +farewell, deelest richar Ppt. God bless oo ever, and rove Pdfr. Farewell MD +MD MD FW FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele Lele. + + + +LETTER 61.[1] + +LONDON, March 1, 1712-13. + +'Tis out of my head whether I answered all your letter in my last yesterday or +no. I think I was in haste, and could not: but now I see I answered a good +deal of it; no, only about your brother, and ME's bill. I dined with Lady +Orkney, and we talked politics till eleven at night; and, as usual, found +everything wrong, and put ourselves out of humour. Yes, I have Lady Giffard's +picture sent me by your mother. It is boxed up at a place where my other +things are. I have goods in two or three places; and when I leave a lodging, +I box up the books I get (for I always get some), and come naked into a new +lodging; and so on. Talk not to me of deaneries; I know less of that than +ever by much. Nite MD. + +2. I went to-day into the City to see Pat Rolt,[2] who lodges with a City +cousin, a daughter of coz Cleve; (you are much the wiser). I had never been +at her house before. My he-coz Thompson the butcher is dead, or dying. I +dined with my printer, and walked home, and went to sit with Lady Clarges. I +found four of them at whist; Lady Godolphin[3] was one. I sat by her, and +talked of her cards, etc., but she would not give me one look, nor say a word +to me. She refused some time ago to be acquainted with me. You know she is +Lord Marlborough's eldest daughter. She is a fool for her pains, and I'll +pull her down. What can I do for Dr. Smith's daughter's husband? I have no +personal credit with any of the Commissioners. I'll speak to Keatley;[4] but +I believe it will signify nothing. In the Customs people must rise by +degrees, and he must at first take what is very low, if he be qualified for +that. Ppt mistakes me; I am not angry at your recommending anyone to me, +provided you will take my answer. Some things are in my way, and then I serve +those I can. But people will not distinguish, but take things ill, when I +have no power; but Ppt is wiser. And employments in general are very hard to +be got. Nite MD. + +3. I dined to-day with Lord Treasurer, who chid me for my absence, which was +only from Saturday last. The Parliament was again prorogued for a week, and I +suppose the peace will be ready by then, and the Queen will be able to be +brought to the House, and make her speech. I saw Dr. Griffith[5] two or three +months ago, at a Latin play at Westminster; but did not speak to him. I hope +he will not die; I should be sorry for Ppt's sake; he is very tender of her. +I have long lost all my colds, and the weather mends a little. I take some +steel drops, and my head is pretty well. I walk when I can, but am grown very +idle; and, not finishing my thing, I gamble[6] abroad and play at ombre. I +shall be more careful in my physic than Mrs. Price: 'tis not a farthing +matter her death, I think; and so I say no more to-night, but will read a dull +book, and go sleep. Nite dee MD. + +4. Mr. Ford has been this half-year inviting me to dine at his lodgings: so +I did to-day, and brought the Provost and Dr. Parnell with me, and my friend +Lewis was there. Parnell went away, and the other three played at ombre, and +I looked on; which I love, and would not play. Tisdall is a pretty fellow, as +you say; and when I come back to Ireland with nothing, he will condole with me +with abundance of secret pleasure. I believe I told you what he wrote to me, +that I have saved England, and he Ireland;[7] but I can bear that. I have +learned to hear and see, and say nothing. I was to see the Duchess of +Hamilton to-day, and met Blith[8] of Ireland just going out of her house into +his coach. I asked her how she came to receive young fellows. It seems he +had a ball in the Duke of Hamilton's house when the Duke died; and the Duchess +got an advertisement put in the Postboy,[9] reflecting on the ball, because +the Marlborough daughters[10] were there; and Blith came to beg the Duchess's +pardon, and clear himself. He's a sad dog. Nite poo dee deelest MD. + +5. Lady Masham has miscarried; but is well almost again. I have many visits +to-day. I met Blith at the Duke of Ormond's; and he begged me to carry him to +the Duchess of Hamilton, to beg her pardon again. I did on purpose to see how +the blunderbuss behaved himself; but I begged the Duchess to use him +mercifully, for she is the devil of a teaser. The good of it is, she ought to +beg his pardon, for he meant no harm; yet she would not allow him to put in an +advertisement to clear himself from hers, though hers was all a lie. He +appealed to me, and I gravely gave it against him. I was at Court to-day, and +the foreign Ministers have got a trick of employing me to speak for them to +Lord Treasurer and Lord Bolingbroke; which I do when the case is reasonable. +The College[11] need not fear; I will not be their Governor. I dined with Sir +Thomas Hanmer and his Duchess.[12] The Duke of Ormond was there, but we +parted soon, and I went to visit Lord Pembroke for the first time; but it was +to see some curious books. Lord Cholmondeley[13] came in; but I would not +talk to him, though he made many advances. I hate the scoundrel for all he is +your Griffith's friend.--Yes, yes, I am abused enough, if that be all. Nite +sollahs. + +6. I was to-day at an auction of pictures with Pratt,[14] and laid out two +pound five shillings for a picture of Titian, and if it were a Titian it would +be worth twice as many pounds. If I am cheated, I'll part with it to Lord +Masham: if it be a bargain, I'll keep it to myself. That's my conscience. +But I made Pratt buy several pictures for Lord Masham. Pratt is a great +virtuoso that way. I dined with Lord Treasurer, but made him go to Court at +eight. I always tease him to be gone. I thought to have made Parnell dine +with him, but he was ill; his head is out of order like mine, but more +constant, poor boy!--I was at Lord Treasurer's levee with the Provost, to ask +a book for the College.--I never go to his levee, unless to present somebody. +For all oor rallying, saucy[15] Ppt, as hope saved, I expected they would have +decided about me long ago; and as hope saved, as soon as ever things are given +away and I not provided for, I will be gone with the very first opportunity, +and put up bag and baggage. But people are slower than can be thought. Nite +MD. + +7. Yes, I hope Leigh will soon be gone, a p-- on him! I met him once, and he +talked gravely to me of not seeing the Irish bishops here, and the Irish +gentlemen; but I believe my answers fretted him enough. I would not dine with +Lord Treasurer to-day, though it was Saturday (for he has engaged me for to- +morrow), but went and dined with Lord Masham, and played at ombre, sixpenny +running ombre, for three hours. There were three voles[16] against me, and I +was once a great loser, but came off for three shillings and sixpence. One +may easily lose five guineas at it. Lady Orkney is gone out of town to-day, +and I could not see her for laziness, but writ to her. She has left me some +physic. Fais, I never knew MD's politics before, and I think it pretty +extraordinary, and a great compliment to you, and I believe never three people +conversed so much with so little politics. I avoid all conversation with the +other party; it is not to be borne, and I am sorry for it. O yes, things +[are] very dear. DD must come in at last with DD's two eggs a penny. There +the proverb was well applied. Parvisol has sent me a bill of fifty pounds, as +I ordered him, which, I hope, will serve me, and bring me over. Pray God MD +does not be delayed for it; but I have had very little from him this long +time. I was not at Court to-day; a wonder! Nite sollahs. . . Pdfr. + +8. Oo must know, I give chocolate almost every day to two or three people +that I suffer to come to see me in a morning. My man begins to lie pretty +well. 'Tis nothing for people to be denied ten times. My man knows all I +will see, and denies me to everybody else. This is the day of the Queen's +coming to the Crown, and the day Lord Treasurer was stabbed by Guiscard. I +was at Court, where everybody had their Birthday clothes on, and I dined with +Lord Treasurer, who was very fine. He showed me some of the Queen's speech, +which I corrected in several places, and penned the vote of address of thanks +for the speech; but I was of opinion the House should not sit on Tuesday next, +unless they hear the peace is signed; that is, provided they are sure it will +be signed the week after, and so have one scolding for all. Nite MD. + +9. Lord Treasurer would have had me dine with him to-day; he desired me last +night, but I refused, because he would not keep the day of his stabbing with +all the Cabinet, as he intended: so I dined with my friend Lewis; and the +Provost and Parnell, and Ford, was with us. I lost sixteen shillings at +ombre; I don't like it, as etc. At night Lewis brought us word that the +Parliament does not sit to-morrow. I hope they are sure of the peace by next +week, and then they are right in my opinion: otherwise I think they have done +wrong, and might have sat three weeks ago. People will grumble; but Lord +Treasurer cares not a rush. Lord Keeper is suddenly taken ill of a quinsy, +and some lords are commissioned, I think Lord Trevor,[17] to prorogue the +Parliament in his stead. You never saw a town so full of ferment and +expectation. Mr. Pope has published a fine poem, called Windsor Forest.[18] +Read it. Nite. + +10. I was early this morning to see Lord Bolingbroke. I find he was of +opinion the Parliament should sit; and says they are not sure the peace will +be signed next week. The prorogation is to this day se'nnight. I went to +look on a library I am going to buy, if we can agree. I have offered a +hundred and twenty pounds, and will give ten more. Lord Bolingbroke will lend +me the money. I was two hours poring on the books. I will sell some of them, +and keep the rest; but I doubt they won't take the money. I dined in the +City, and sat an hour in the evening with Lord Treasurer, who was in very good +humour; but reproached me for not dining with him yesterday and to-day. What +will all this come to? Lord Keeper had a pretty good night, and is better. I +was in pain for him. How do oo do sollahs?. . . Nite MD.[19] + +11. I was this morning to visit the Duke and Duchess of Ormond, and the +Duchess of Hamilton, and went with the Provost to an auction of pictures, and +laid out fourteen shillings. I am in for it, if I had money; but I doubt I +shall be undone; for Sir Andrew Fountaine invited the Provost and me to dine +with him, and play at ombre, when I fairly lost fourteen shillings. Fais, it +won't do; and I shall be out of conceit with play this good while. I am come +home; and it is late, and my puppy let out my fire, and I am gone to bed and +writing there, and it is past twelve a good while. Went out four matadores +and a trump in black, and was bested. Vely bad, fais! Nite my deelest logues +MD. + +12. I was at another auction of pictures to-day, and a great auction it was. +I made Lord Masham lay out forty pounds. There were pictures sold of twice as +much value apiece. Our Society met to-day at the Duke of Beaufort's: a +prodigious fine dinner, which I hate; but we did some business. Our printer +was to attend us, as usual; and the Chancellor of the Exchequer sent the +author of the Examiner[20] twenty guineas. He is an ingenious fellow, but the +most confounded vain coxcomb in the world, so that I dare not let him see me, +nor am acquainted with him. I had much discourse with the Duke of Ormond this +morning, and am driving some points to secure us all in case of accidents, +etc.[21] I left the Society at seven. I can't drink now at all with any +pleasure. I love white Portugal wine better than claret, champagne, or +burgundy. I have a sad vulgar appetite. I remember Ppt used to maunder, when +I came from a great dinner, and DD had but a bit of mutton. I cannot endure +above one dish; nor ever could since I was a boy, and loved stuffing. It was +a fine day, which is a rarity with us, I assure [you]. Never fair two days +together. Nite dee MD. + +13. I had a rabble of Irish parsons this morning drinking my chocolate. I +cannot remember appointments. I was to have supped last night with the +Swedish Envoy at his house, and some other company, but forgot it; and he +rallied me to-day at Lord Bolingbroke's, who excused me, saying, the Envoy +ought not to be angry, because I serve Lord Treasurer and him the same way. +For that reason, I very seldom promise to go anywhere. I dined with Lord +Treasurer, who chid me for being absent so long, as he always does if I miss a +day. I sat three hours this evening with Lady Jersey; but the first two hours +she was at ombre with some company. I left Lord Treasurer at eight: I +fancied he was a little thoughtful, for he was playing with an orange by fits, +which, I told him, among common men looked like the spleen. This letter shall +not go to-morrow; no haste, ung oomens; nothing that presses. I promised but +once in three weeks, and I am better than my word. I wish the peace may be +ready, I mean that we have notice it is signed, before Tuesday; otherwise the +grumbling will much increase. Nite logues. + +14. It was a lovely day this, and I took the advantage of walking a good deal +in the Park, before I went to Court. Colonel Disney, one of our Society, is +ill of a fever, and, we fear, in great danger. We all love him mightily, and +he would be a great loss. I doubt I shall not buy the library; for a roguey +bookseller has offered sixty pounds more than I designed to give; so you see I +meant to have a good bargain. I dined with Lord Treasurer and his Saturday +company; but there were but seven at table. Lord Peterborrow is ill, and +spits blood, with a bruise he got before he left England; but, I believe, an +Italian lady he has brought over is the cause that his illness returns. You +know old Lady Bellasis[22] is dead at last? She has left Lord Berkeley of +Stratton[23] one of her executors, and it will be of great advantage to him; +they say above ten thousand pounds. I stayed with Lord Treasurer upon +business, after the company was gone; but I dare not tell you upon what. My +letters would be good memoirs, if I durst venture to say a thousand things +that pass; but I hear so much of letters opening at your post-office that I am +fearful, etc., and so good-nite, sollahs, rove Pdfr, MD. + +15. Lord Treasurer engaged me to dine with him again to-day, and I had ready +what he wanted; but he would not see it, but put me off till to-morrow. The +Queen goes to chapel now. She is carried in an open chair, and will be well +enough to go to Parliament on Tuesday, if the Houses meet, which is not yet +certain; neither, indeed, can the Ministers themselves tell; for it depends on +winds and weather, and circumstances of negotiation. However, we go on as if +it was certainly to meet; and I am to be at Lord Treasurer's to-morrow, upon +that supposition, to settle some things relating that way. Ppt[24] may +understand me. The doctors tell me that if poor Colonel Disney does not get +some sleep to-night, he must die. What care you? Ah! but I do care. He is +one of our Society; a fellow of abundance of humour; an old battered rake, but +very honest, not an old man, but an old rake. It was he that said of Jenny +Kingdom,[25] the maid of honour, who is a little old, that, since she could +not get a husband, the Queen should give her a brevet to act as a married +woman. You don't understand this. They give brevets to majors and captains +to act as colonels in the army. Brevets are commissions. Ask soldiers, dull +sollahs. Nite MD. + +16. I was at Lord Treasurer's before he came; and, as he entered, he told me +the Parliament was prorogued till Thursday se'nnight. They have had some +expresses, by which they count that the peace may be signed by that time; at +least, that France, Holland, and we, will sign some articles, by which we +shall engage to sign the peace when it is ready: but Spain has no Minister +there; for Monteleon, who is to be their Ambassador at Utrecht, is not yet +gone from hence; and till he is there, the Spaniards can sign no peace: and +[of] one thing take notice, that a general peace can hardly be finished these +two months, so as to be proclaimed here; for, after signing, it must be +ratified; that is, confirmed by the several princes at their Courts, which to +Spain will cost a month; for we must have notice that it is ratified in all +Courts before we can proclaim it. So be not in too much haste. Nite MD. + +17. The Irish folks were disappointed that the Parliament did not meet to- +day, because it was St. Patrick's Day; and the Mall was so full of crosses +that I thought all the world was Irish. Miss Ashe is almost quite well, and I +see the Bishop, but shall not yet go to his house. I dined again with Lord +Treasurer; but the Parliament being prorogued, I must keep what I have till +next week: for I believe he will not see it till just the evening before the +session. He has engaged me to dine with him again to-morrow, though I did all +I could to put it off; but I don't care to disoblige him. Nite dee sollahs +'tis late. Nite MD. + +18. I have now dined six days successively with Lord Treasurer; but to-night +I stole away while he was talking with somebody else, and so am at liberty to- +morrow. There was a flying report of a general cessation of arms: everybody +had it at Court; but, I believe, there is nothing in it. I asked a certain +French Minister how things went. And he whispered me in French, "Your +Plenipotentiaries and ours play the fool." None of us, indeed, approve of the +conduct of either at this time; but Lord Treasurer was in full good-humour for +all that. He had invited a good many of his relations; and, of a dozen at +table, they were all of the Harley family but myself. Disney is recovering, +though you don't care a straw. Dilly murders us with his IF puns. You know +them. . . . [26] Nite MD. + +19. The Bishop of Clogher has made an IF pun that he is mighty proud of, and +designs to send it over to his brother Tom. But Sir Andrew Fountaine has +wrote to Tom Ashe last post, and told him the pun, and desired him to send it +over to the Bishop as his own; and, if it succeeds, 'twill be a pure bite. +The Bishop will tell it us as a wonder that he and his brother should jump so +exactly. I'll tell you the pun:--If there was a hackney coach at Mr. +Pooley's[27] door, what town in Egypt would it be? Why, it would be +Hecatompolis; Hack at Tom Pooley's. "Sillly," says Ppt. I dined with a +private friend to-day; for our Society, I told you, meet but once a fortnight. +I have not seen Fanny Manley yet; I can't help it. Lady Orkney is come to +town: why, she was at her country house; hat[28] care you? Nite darling (?) +dee MD. + +20. Dilly read me a letter to-day from Ppt. She seems to have scratched her +head when she writ it. 'Tis a sad thing to write to people without tact. +There you say, you hear I was going to Bath. No such thing; I am pretty well, +I thank God. The town is now sending me to Savoy.[29] Forty people have +given me joy of it, yet there is not the least truth that I know in it. I was +at an auction of pictures, but bought none. I was so glad of my liberty, that +I would dine nowhere; but, the weather being fine, I sauntered into the City, +and ate a bit about five, and then supped at Mr. Burke's[30] your Accountant- +General, who had been engaging me this month. The Bishop of Clogher was to +have been there, but was hindered by Lord Paget's[31] funeral. The Provost +and I sat till one o'clock; and, if that be not late, I don't know what is +late. Parnell's poem will be published on Monday, and to-morrow I design he +shall present it to Lord Treasurer and Lord Bolingbroke at Court. The poor +lad is almost always out of order with his head. Burke's wife is his sister. +She has a little of the pert Irish way. Nite MD. + +21. Morning. I will now finish my letter; for company will come, and a stir, +and a clutter; and I'll keep the letter in my pottick,[32] and give it into +the post myself. I must go to Court, and you know on Saturdays I dine with +Lord Treasurer, of course. Farewell, deelest MD MD MD, FW FW FW, MD ME ME ME +Lele sollahs.[33] + + + +LETTER 62.[1] + +LONDON, March 21, 1712-13. + +I gave your letter in this night. I dined with Lord Treasurer to-day, and +find he has been at a meeting at Lord Halifax's house, with four principal +Whigs; but he is resolved to begin a speech against them when the Parliament +sits; and I have begged that the Ministers may have a meeting on purpose to +settle that matter, and let us be the attackers; and I believe it will come to +something, for the Whigs intend to attack the Ministers: and if, instead of +that, the Ministers attack the Whigs, it will be better: and farther, I +believe we shall attack them on those very points they intend to attack us. +The Parliament will be again prorogued for a fortnight, because of Passion +Week. I forgot to tell you that Mr. Griffin has given Ppt's brother[2] a new +employment, about ten pounds a year better than his former; but more remote, +and consequently cheaper. I wish I could have done better, and hope oo will +take what can be done in good part, and that oo brother will not dislike it.-- +Nite own dear. . . MD. + +22. I dined to-day with Lord Steward.[3] There Frank Annesley[4] (a +Parliament-man) told me he had heard that I had wrote to my friends in Ireland +to keep firm to the Whig interest; for that Lord Treasurer would certainly +declare for it after the peace. Annesley said twenty people had told him +this. You must know this is what they endeavour to report of Lord Treasurer, +that he designs to declare for the Whigs; and a Scotch fellow has wrote the +same to Scotland; and his meeting with those lords gives occasion to such +reports. Let me henceforth call Lord Treasurer Eltee, because possibly my +letters may be opened. Pray remember Eltee. You know the reason; L.T. and +Eltee pronounced the same way. Stay, 'tis five weeks since I had a letter +from MD. I allow you six. You see why I cannot come over the beginning of +April; whoever has to do with this Ministry can fix no time: but as[5] hope +saved, it is not Pdfr's fault. Pay don't blame poo Pdfr. Nite deelest logues +MD.[6] + +23. I dined to-day at Sir Thomas Hanmer's, by an old appointment: there was +the Duke of Ormond, and Lord and Lady Orkney. I left them at six. Everybody +is as sour as vinegar. I endeavour to keep a firm friendship between the Duke +of Ormond and Eltee. (Oo know who Eltee is, or have oo fordot already?) I +have great designs, if I can compass them; but delay is rooted in Eltee's +heart; yet the fault is not altogether there, that things are no better. Here +is the cursedest libel in verse come out that ever was seen, called The +Ambassadress;[7] it is very dull, too; it has been printed three or four +different ways, and is handed about, but not sold. It abuses the Queen +horribly. The Examiner has cleared me to-day of being author of his paper, +and done it with great civilities to me.[8] I hope it will stop people's +mouths; if not, they must go on and be hanged, I care not. 'Tis terribly +rainy weather, I'll go sleep. Nite deelest MD. + +24. It rained all this day, and ruined me in coach-hire. I went to Colonel +Disney, who is past danger. Then I visited Lord Keeper, who was at dinner; +but I would not dine with him, but drove to Lord Treasurer (Eltee I mean), +paid the coachman, and went in; but he dined abroad: so I was forced to call +the coachman again, and went to Lord Bolingbroke's. He dined abroad too; and +at Lord Dupplin's I alighted, and by good luck got a dinner there, and then +went to the Latin play at Westminster School, acted by the boys; and Lord +Treasurer (Eltee I mean again) honoured them with his presence. Lady Masham's +eldest son, about two years old, is ill, and I am afraid will not live: she +is full of grief, and I pity and am angry with her. Four shillings to-day in +coach-hire; fais, it won't do. Our peace will certainly be ready by Thursday +fortnight; but our Plenipotentiaries were to blame that it was not done +already. They thought their powers were not full enough to sign the peace, +unless every Prince was ready, which cannot yet be; for Spain has no Minister +yet at Utrecht; but now ours have new orders. Nite MD. + +25. Weather worse than ever; terrible rain all day, but I was resolved I +would spend no more money. I went to an auction of pictures with Dr. Pratt, +and there met the Duke of Beaufort, who promised to come with me to Court, but +did not. So a coach I got, and went to Court, and did some little business +there, but was forced to go home; for oo must understand I take a little +physic over-night, which works me next day. Lady Orkney is my physician. It +is hiera picra,[9] two spoonfuls, devilish stuff! I thought to have dined +with Eltee, but would not, merely to save a shilling; but I dined privately +with a friend, and played at ombre, and won six shillings. Here are several +people of quality lately dead of the smallpox. I have not yet seen Miss Ashe, +but hear she is well. The Bishop of Clogher has bought abundance of pictures, +and Dr. Pratt has got him very good pennyworths.[10] I can get no walks, the +weather is so bad. Is it so with oo, sollahs?. . . [11] + +26. Though it was shaving-day, head and beard, yet I was out early to see +Lord Bolingbroke, and talk over affairs with him; and then I went to the Duke +of Ormond's, and so to Court, where the Ministers did not come, because the +Parliament was prorogued till this day fortnight. We had terrible rain and +hail to-day. Our Society met this day, but I left them before seven, and went +to Sir A[ndrew] F[ountaine], and played at ombre with him and Sir Thomas +Clarges, till ten, and then went to Sir Thomas Hanmer. His wife, the Duchess +of Grafton, left us after a little while, and I stayed with him about an hour, +upon some affairs, etc. Lord Bolingbroke left us at the Society before I +went; for there is an express from Utrecht, but I know not yet what it +contains; only I know the Ministers expect the peace will be signed in a week, +which is a week before the session. Nite, MD. + +27. Parnell's poem is mightily esteemed; but poetry sells ill. I am plagued +with that. . . [12] poor Harrison's mother; you would laugh to see how +cautious I am of paying her the 100 pounds I received for her son from the +Treasury. I have asked every creature I know whether I may do it safely, yet +durst not venture, till my Lord Keeper assured me there was no danger. I have +not paid her, but will in a day or two: though I have a great mind to stay +till Ppt sends me her opinion, because Ppt is a great lawyer. I dined to-day +with a mixture of people at a Scotchman's, who made the invitation to Mr. +Lewis and me, and has some design upon us, which we know very well. I went +afterwards to see a famous moving picture,[13] and I never saw anything so +pretty. You see a sea ten miles wide, a town on t'other end, and ships +sailing in the sea, and discharging their cannon. You see a great sky, with +moon and stars, etc. I'm a fool. Nite, dee MD. + +28. I had a mighty levee to-day. I deny myself to everybody, except about +half a dozen, and they were all here, and Mr. Addison was one, and I had +chocolate twice, which I don't like. Our rainy weather continues. Coach-hire +goes deep. I dined with Eltee and his Saturday company, as usual, and could +not get away till nine. Lord Peterborow was making long harangues, and Eltee +kept me in spite. Then I went to see the Bishop of Ossory, who had engaged me +in the morning; he is going to Ireland. The Bishop of Killaloe[14] and Tom +Leigh was with us. The latter had wholly changed his style, by seeing how the +bishops behaved themselves, and he seemed to think me one of more importance +than I really am. I put the ill conduct of the bishops about the First- +Fruits, with relation to Eltee and me, strongly upon Killaloe, and showed how +it had hindered me from getting a better thing for them, called the Crown +rents, which the Queen had promised. He had nothing to say, but was humble, +and desired my interest in that and some other things. This letter is half +done in a week: I believe oo will have it next. Nite MD. + +29. I have been employed in endeavouring to save one of your junior +Fellows,[15] who came over here for a dispensation from taking orders, and, in +soliciting it, has run out his time, and now his fellowship is void, if the +College pleases, unless the Queen suspends the execution, and gives him time +to take orders. I spoke to all the Ministers yesterday about it; but they say +the Queen is angry, and thought it was a trick to deceive her; and she is +positive, and so the man must be ruined, for I cannot help him. I never saw +him in my life; but the case was so hard, I could not forbear interposing. +Your Government recommended him to the Duke of Ormond, and he thought they +would grant it; and by the time it was refused, the fellowship by rigour is +forfeited. I dined with Dr. Arbuthnot (one of my brothers) at his lodgings in +Chelsea, and was there at chapel; and the altar put me in mind of Tisdall's +outlandish would[16] at your hospital for the soldiers. I was not at Court +to-day, and I hear the Queen was not at church. Perhaps the gout has seized +her again. Terrible rain all day. Have oo such weather? Nite MD. + +30. Morning. I was naming some time ago, to a certain person, another +certain person, that was very deserving, and poor and sickly; and t'other, +that first certain person, gave me a hundred pounds to give the other, which I +have not yet done. The person who is to have it never saw the giver, nor +expects one farthing, nor has the least knowledge or imagination of it; so I +believe it will be a very agreeable surprise; for I think it is a handsome +present enough. At night I dined in the City, at Pontack's,[17] with Lord +Dupplin, and some others. We were treated by one Colonel Cleland,[18] who has +a mind to be Governor of Barbados, and is laying these long traps for me and +others, to engage our interests for him. He is a true Scotchman. I paid the +hundred pounds this evening, and it was an agreeable surprise to the receiver. +We reckon the peace is now signed, and that we shall have it in three days. I +believe it is pretty sure. Nite MD. + +31. I thought to-day on Ppt when she told me she suppose[d] I was acquainted +with the steward, when I was giving myself airs of being at some lord's house. +Sir Andrew Fountaine invited the Bishop of Clogher and me, and some others, to +dine where he did; and he carried us to the Duke of Kent's,[19] who was gone +out of town; but the steward treated us nobly, and showed us the fine +pictures, etc. I have not yet seen Miss Ashe. I wait till she has been +abroad, and taken the air. This evening Lady Masham, Dr. Arbuthnot, and I, +were contriving a lie for to-morrow, that Mr. Noble,[20] who was hanged last +Saturday, was recovered by his friends, and then seized again by the sheriff, +and is now in a messenger's hands at the Black Swan in Holborn. We are all to +send to our friends, to know whether they have heard anything of it, and so we +hope it will spread. However, we shall do our endeavours; nothing shall be +wanting on our parts, and leave the rest to fortune. Nite MD. + +April 1. We had no success in our story, though I sent my man to several +houses, to inquire among the footmen, without letting him into the secret; but +I doubt my colleagues did not contribute as they ought. Parnell and I dined +with Darteneuf[21] to-day. You have heard of Darteneuf: I have told you of +Darteneuf. After dinner we all went to Lord Bolingbroke's, who had desired me +to dine with him; but I would not, because I heard it was to look over a dull +poem of one parson Trapp[22] upon the peace. The Swedish Envoy told me to-day +at Court that he was in great apprehensions about his master;[23] and indeed +we are afraid that prince has[24] died among those Turkish dogs. I prevailed +on Lord Bolingbroke to invite Mr. Addison to dine with him on Good Friday. I +suppose we shall be mighty mannerly. Addison is to have a play of his acted +on Friday in Easter Week: 'tis a tragedy, called Cato; I saw it unfinished +some years ago.[25] Did I tell you that Steele has begun a new daily paper, +called the Guardian?[26] they say good for nothing. I have not seen it. Nite +dee MD. + +2. I was this morning with Lord Bolingbroke, and he tells me a Spanish +courier is just come, with the news that the King of Spain has agreed to +everything that the Queen desires; and the Duke d'Ossuna has left Paris in +order to his journey to Utrecht. I was prevailed on to come home with Trapp, +and read his poem and correct it; but it was good for nothing. While I was +thus employed, Sir Thomas Hanmer came up to my chamber, and balked me of a +journey he and I intended this week to Lord Orkney's at Cliffden;[27] but he +is not well, and his physician will not let him undertake such a journey. I +intended to dine with Lord Treasurer; but going to see Colonel Disney, who +lives with General Withers,[28] I liked the General's little dinner so well, +that I stayed and took share of it, and did not go to Lord Treasurer till six, +where I found Dr. Sacheverell, who told us that the bookseller had given him +100 pounds for his sermon,[29] preached last Sunday, and intended to print +30,000: I believe he will be confoundedly bit, and will hardly sell above +half. I have fires still, though April has begun, against my old maxim; but +the weather is wet and cold. I never saw such a long run of ill weather in my +life. Nite dee logues MD. + +3. I was at the Queen's chapel to-day, but she was not there. Mr. St. John, +Lord Bolingbroke's brother, came this day at noon with an express from +Utrecht, that the peace is signed by all the Ministers there, but those of the +Emperor, who will likewise sign in a few days; so that now the great work is +in effect done, and I believe it will appear a most excellent peace for +Europe, particularly for England. Addison and I, and some others, dined with +Lord Bolingbroke, and sat with him till twelve. We were very civil, but yet +when we grew warm, we talked in a friendly manner of party. Addison raised +his objections, and Lord Bolingbroke answered them with great complaisance. +Addison began Lord Somers's health, which went about; but I bid him not name +Lord Wharton's, for I would not pledge it; and I told Lord Bolingbroke frankly +that Addison loved Lord Wharton as little as I did: so we laughed, etc. +Well, but you are glad of the peace, you Ppt the Trimmer, are not you? As for +DD I don't doubt her. Why, now, if I did not think Ppt had been a violent +Tory, and DD the greater Whig of the two! 'Tis late. Nite MD. + +4. This Passion Week, people are so demure, especially this last day, that I +told Dilly, who called here, that I would dine with him, and so I did, faith; +and had a small shoulder of mutton of my own bespeaking. It rained all day. +I came home at seven, and have never stirred out, but have been reading +Sacheverell's long dull sermon, which he sent me. It is the first sermon +since his suspension is expired; but not a word in it upon the occasion, +except two or three remote hints. The Bishop of Clogher has been sadly bit by +Tom Ashe, who sent him a pun, which the Bishop had made, and designed to send +to him, but delayed it; and Lord Pembroke and I made Sir Andrew Fountaine +write it to Tom. I believe I told you of it in my last; it succeeded right, +and the Bishop was wondering to Lord Pembroke how he and his brother could hit +on the same thing. I'll go to bed soon, for I must be at church by eight to- +morrow, Easter Day. Nite dee MD. + +5. Warburton[30] wrote to me two letters about a living of one Foulkes, who +is lately dead in the county of Meath. My answer is, that before I received +the first letter, General Gorges[31] had recommended a friend of his to the +Duke of Ormond, which was the first time I heard of its vacancy, and it was +the Provost told me of it. I believe verily that Foulkes was not dead when +Gorges recommended the other: for Warburton's last letter said that Foulkes +was dead the day before the date.--This has prevented me from serving +Warburton, as I would have done, if I had received early notice enough. Pray +say or write this to Warburton, to justify me to him. I was at church at +eight this morning, and dressed and shaved after I came back, but was too late +at Court; and Lord Abingdon[32] was like to have snapped me for dinner, and I +believe will fall out with me for refusing him; but I hate dining with them, +and I dined with a private friend, and took two or three good walks; for it +was a very fine day, the first we have had a great while. Remember, was +Easter Day a fine day with you? I have sat with Lady Worsley till now. Nite +dee MD. + +6. I was this morning at ten at the rehearsal of Mr. Addison's play, called +Cato, which is to be acted on Friday. There were not above half a score of us +to see it. We stood on the stage, and it was foolish enough to see the actors +prompted every moment, and the poet directing them; and the drab that acts +Cato's daughter,[33] out in the midst of a passionate part, and then calling +out, "What's next?" The Bishop of Clogher was there too; but he stood +privately in a gallery. I went to dine with Lord Treasurer, but he was gone +to Wimbledon, his daughter Caermarthen's[34] country seat, seven miles off. +So I went back, and dined privately with Mr. Addison, whom I had left to go to +Lord Treasurer. I keep fires yet; I am very extravagant. I sat this evening +with Sir A. Fountaine, and we amused ourselves with making IFS for Dilly. It +is rainy weather again; nevle saw ze rike.[35] This letter shall go to- +morrow; remember, ung oomens, it is seven weeks since oor last, and I allow oo +but five weeks; but oo have been galloping into the country to Swanton's.[36] +O pray tell Swanton I had his letter, but cannot contrive how to serve him. +If a Governor were to go over, I would recommend him as far as lay in my +power, but I can do no more: and you know all employments in Ireland, at +least almost all, are engaged in reversions. If I were on the spot, and had +credit with a Lord Lieutenant, I would very heartily recommend him; but +employments here are no more in my power than the monarchy itself. Nite, dee +MD. + +7. Morning. I have had a visitor here, that has taken up my time. I have +not been abroad, oo may be sure; so I can say nothing to-day, but that I rove +MD bettle zan ever, if possibbere. I will put this in the post-office; so I +say no more. I write by this post to the Dean, but it is not above two lines; +and one enclosed to you, but that enclosed to you is not above three lines; +and then one enclosed to the Dean, which he must not have but upon condition +of burning it immediately after reading, and that before your eyes; for there +are some things in it I would not have liable to accident. You shall only +know in general that it is an account of what I have done to serve him in his +pretensions on these vacancies, etc. But he must not know that you know so +much.[37] Does this perplex you? Hat care I? But rove Pdfr, saucy Pdfr. +Farewell, deelest MD MD MD FW FW FW,. . . ME, MD Lele. + + + +LETTER 63.[1] + +LONDON, April 7, 1713. + +I fancy I marked my last, which I sent this day, wrong; only 61, and it ought +to be 62. I dined with Lord Treasurer, and though the business I had with him +is something against Thursday, when the Parliament is to meet, and this is +Tuesday, yet he put it off till to-morrow. I dare not tell you what it is, +lest this letter should miscarry or be opened; but I never saw his fellow for +delays. The Parliament will now certainly sit, and everybody's expectations +are ready to burst. At a Council to-night the Lord Chief-Justice Parker, a +Whig, spoke against the peace; so did Lord Chomley,[2] another Whig, who is +Treasurer of the Household. My Lord Keeper[3] was this night made Lord +Chancellor. We hope there will soon be some removes. Nite, dee sollahs; +Late. Rove Pdfr.[4] + +8. Lord Chomley (the right name is Cholmondeley) is this day removed from his +employment, for his last night's speech; and Sir Richard Temple,[5] +Lieutenant-General, the greatest Whig in the army, is turned out; and +Lieutenant-General Palmes[6] will be obliged to sell his regiment. This is +the first-fruits of a friendship I have established between two great men. I +dined with Lord Treasurer, and did the business I had for him to his +satisfaction. I won't tell MD what it was. . . . [7] for zat. The +Parliament sits to-morrow for certain. Here is a letter printed in +Maccartney's name, vindicating himself from the murder of the Duke of +Hamilton. I must give some hints to have it answered; 'tis full of lies, and +will give an opportunity of exposing that party. To morrow will be a very +important day. All the world will be at Westminster. Lord Treasurer is as +easy as a lamb. They are mustering up the proxies of the absent lords; but +they are not in any fear of wanting a majority, which death and accidents have +increased this year. Nite MD. + +9. I was this morning with Lord Treasurer, to present to him a young son[8] +of the late Earl of Jersey, at the desire of the widow. There I saw the mace +and great coach ready for Lord Treasurer, who was going to Parliament. Our +Society met to-day; but I expected the Houses would sit longer than I cared to +fast; so I dined with a friend, and never inquired how matters went till eight +this evening, when I went to Lord Orkney's, where I found Sir Thomas Hanmer. +The Queen delivered her speech very well, but a little weaker in her voice. +The crowd was vast. The order for the Address[9] was moved, and opposed by +Lord Nottingham, Halifax, and Cowper. Lord Treasurer spoke with great spirit +and resolution; Lord Peterborow flirted[10] against the Duke of Marlborough +(who is in Germany, you know), but it was in answer to one of Halifax's +impertinences. The order for an Address passed by a majority of thirty-three, +and the Houses rose before six. This is the account I heard at Lord Orkney's. +The Bishop of Chester,[11] a high Tory, was against the Court. The Duchess of +Marlborough sent for him some months ago, to justify herself to him in +relation to the Queen, and showed him letters, and told him stories, which the +weak man believed, and was perverted. Nite MD. + +10. I dined with a cousin in the City, and poor Pat Rolt was there. I have +got her rogue of a husband leave to come to England from Port-Mahon. The +Whigs are much down; but I reckon they have some scheme in agitation. This +Parliament-time hinders our Court meetings on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and +Saturdays. I had a great deal of business to-night, which gave me a +temptation to be idle, and I lost a dozen shillings at ombre, with Dr. Pratt +and another. I have been to see t'other day the Bishop of Clogher and lady, +but did not see Miss. It rains every day, and yet we are all over dust. Lady +Masham's eldest boy is very ill: I doubt he will not live, and she stays at +Kensington to nurse him, which vexes us all. She is so excessively fond, it +makes me mad. She should never leave the Queen, but leave everything, to +stick to what is so much the interest of the public, as well as her own. This +I tell her; but talk to the winds. Nite MD. + +11. I dined at Lord Treasurer's, with his Saturday company. We had ten at +table, all lords but myself and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Argyle went +off at six, and was in very indifferent humour as usual. Duke of Ormond and +Lord Bolingbroke were absent. I stayed till near ten. Lord Treasurer showed +us a small picture, enamelled work, and set in gold, worth about twenty +pounds; a picture, I mean, of the Queen, which she gave to the Duchess of +Marlborough, set in diamonds. When the Duchess was leaving England, she took +off all the diamonds, and gave the picture to one Mrs. Higgins (an old +intriguing woman, whom everybody knows), bidding her make the best of it she +could. Lord Treasurer sent to Mrs. Higgins for this picture, and gave her a +hundred pounds for it. Was ever such an ungrateful beast as that Duchess? or +did you ever hear such a story? I suppose the Whigs will not believe it. +Pray, try them. Takes off the diamonds, and gives away the picture to an +insignificant woman, as a thing of no consequence: and gives it to her to +sell, like a piece of old-fashioned plate. Is she not a detestable slut? +Nite deelest MD. + +12. I went to Court to-day, on purpose to present Mr. Berkeley,[12] one of +your Fellows of Dublin College, to Lord Berkeley of Stratton. That Mr. +Berkeley is a very ingenious man, and great philosopher, and I have mentioned +him to all the Ministers, and given them some of his writings; and I will +favour him as much as I can. This I think I am bound to, in honour and +conscience, to use all my little credit toward helping forward men of worth in +the world. The Queen was at chapel to-day, and looks well. I dined at Lord +Orkney's with the Duke of Ormond, Lord Arran, and Sir Thomas Hanmer. Mr. St. +John, Secretary at Utrecht, expects every moment to return there with the +ratification of the peace. Did I tell you in my last of Addison's play called +Cato, and that I was at the rehearsal of it? Nite MD. + +13. This morning my friend, Mr. Lewis, came to me, and showed me an order for +a warrant for the three vacant deaneries; but none of them to me. This was +what I always foresaw, and received the notice of it better, I believe, than +he expected. I bid Mr. Lewis tell Lord Treasurer that I took nothing ill of +him but his not giving me timely notice, as he promised to do, if he found the +Queen would do nothing for me. At noon, Lord Treasurer hearing I was in Mr. +Lewis's office, came to me, and said many things too long to repeat. I told +him I had nothing to do but go to Ireland immediately; for I could not, with +any reputation, stay longer here, unless I had something honourable +immediately given to me. We dined together at the Duke of Ormond's. He there +told me he had stopped the warrants for the deans, that what was done for me +might be at the same time, and he hoped to compass it to-night; but I believe +him not. I told the Duke of Ormond my intentions. He is content Sterne +should be a bishop, and I have St. Patrick's; but I believe nothing will come +of it, for stay I will not; and so I believe for all oo. . . [13] oo may see +me in Dublin before April ends. I am less out of humour than you would +imagine: and if it were not that impertinent people will condole with me, as +they used to give me joy, I would value it less. But I will avoid company, +and muster up my baggage, and send them next Monday by the carrier to Chester, +and come and see my willows, against the expectation of all the world.--Hat +care I? Nite deelest logues, MD. + +14. I dined in the City to-day, and ordered a lodging to be got ready for me +against I came to pack up my things; for I will leave this end of the town as +soon as ever the warrants for the deaneries are out, which are yet stopped. +Lord Treasurer told Mr. Lewis that it should be determined to-night: and so +he will for[14] a hundred nights. So he said yesterday, but I value it not. +My daily journals shall be but short till I get into the City, and then I will +send away this, and follow it myself; and design to walk it all the way to +Chester, my man and I, by ten miles a day. It will do my health a great deal +of good. I shall do it in fourteen days. Nite dee MD. + +15. Lord Bolingbroke made me dine with him to-day; he[15] was as good company +as ever; and told me the Queen would determine something for me to-night. The +dispute is, Windsor or St. Patrick's. I told him I would not stay for their +disputes, and he thought I was in the right. Lord Masham told me that Lady +Masham is angry I have not been to see her since this business, and desires I +will come to-morrow. Nite deelest MD. + +16. I was this noon at Lady Masham's, who was just come from Kensington, +where her eldest son is sick. She said much to me of what she had talked to +the Queen and Lord Treasurer. The poor lady fell a shedding tears openly. +She could not bear to think of my having St. Patrick's, etc. I was never more +moved than to see so much friendship. I would not stay with her, but went and +dined with Dr. Arbuthnot, with Mr. Berkeley, one of your Fellows, whom I have +recommended to the Doctor, and to Lord Berkeley of Stratton. Mr. Lewis tells +me that the Duke of Ormond has been to-day with the Queen; and she was content +that Dr. Sterne should be Bishop of Dromore, and I Dean of St. Patrick's; but +then out came Lord Treasurer, and said he would not be satisfied but that I +must be Prebend[ary] of Windsor. Thus he perplexes things. I expect neither; +but I confess, as much as I love England, I am so angry at this treatment +that, if I had my choice, I would rather have St. Patrick's. Lady Masham says +she will speak to purpose to the Queen to-morrow. Nite, . . . dee MD. + +17. I went to dine at Lady Masham's to-day, and she was taken ill of a sore +throat, and aguish. She spoke to the Queen last night, but had not much time. +The Queen says she will determine to-morrow with Lord Treasurer. The warrants +for the deaneries are still stopped, for fear I should be gone. Do you think +anything will be done? I don't care whether it is or no. In the meantime, I +prepare for my journey, and see no great people, nor will see Lord Treasurer +any more, if I go. Lord Treasurer told Mr. Lewis it should be done to-night; +so he said five nights ago. Nite MD. + +18. This morning Mr. Lewis sent me word that Lord Treasurer told him the +Queen would determine at noon. At three Lord Treasurer sent to me to come to +his lodgings at St. James's, and told me the Queen was at last resolved that +Dr. Sterne should be Bishop of Dromore, and I Dean of St. Patrick's; and that +Sterne's warrant should be drawn immediately. You know the deanery is in the +Duke of Ormond's gift; but this is concerted between the Queen, Lord +Treasurer, and the Duke of Ormond, to make room for me. I do not know whether +it will yet be done; some unlucky accident may yet come. Neither can I feel +joy at passing my days in Ireland; and I confess I thought the Ministry would +not let me go; but perhaps they can't help it. Nite MD. + +19. I forgot to tell you that Lord Treasurer forced me to dine with him +yesterday as usual, with his Saturday company; which I did after frequent +refusals. To-day I dined with a private friend, and was not at Court. After +dinner Mr. Lewis sent me a note, that the Queen stayed till she knew whether +the Duke of Ormond approved of Sterne for Bishop. I went this evening, and +found the Duke of Ormond at the Cock-pit, and told him, and desired he would +go to the Queen, and approve of Sterne. He made objections, desired I would +name any other deanery, for he did not like Sterne; that Sterne never went to +see him; that he was influenced by the Archbishop of Dublin, etc.; so all now +is broken again. I sent out for Lord Treasurer, and told him this. He says +all will do well; but I value not what he says. This suspense vexes me worse +than anything else. Nite MD. + +20. I went to-day, by appointment, to the Cock-pit, to talk with the Duke of +Ormond. He repeated the same proposals of any other deanery, etc. I desired +he would put me out of the case, and do as he pleased. Then, with great +kindness, he said he would consent; but would do it for no man alive but me, +etc. And he will speak to the Queen today or to-morrow; so, perhaps, +something will come of it. I can't tell. Nite dee dee logues, MD. + +21. The Duke of Ormond has told the Queen he is satisfied that Sterne should +be Bishop, and she consents I shall be Dean; and I suppose the warrants will +be drawn in a day or two. I dined at an ale-house with Parnell and Berkeley; +for I am not in humour to go among the Ministers, though Lord Dartmouth +invited me to dine with him to-day, and Lord Treasurer was to be there. I +said I would, if I were out of suspense. Nite deelest MD. + +22. The Queen says warrants shall be drawn, but she will dispose of all in +England and Ireland at once, to be teased no more. This will delay it some +time; and, while it is delayed, I am not sure of the Queen, my enemies being +busy. I hate this suspense. Nite deelest MD.[16] + +23. I dined yesterday with General Hamilton.[17] I forgot to tell oo. I +write short journals now. I have eggs on the spit. This night the Queen has +signed all the warrants, among which Sterne is Bishop of Dromore, and the Duke +of Ormond is to send over an order for making me Dean of St. Patrick's. I +have no doubt of him at all. I think 'tis now passed. And I suppose MD is +malicious enough to be glad, and rather have it than Wells.[18] But you see +what a condition I am in. I thought I was to pay but six hundred pounds for +the house; but the Bishop of Clogher says eight hundred pounds; first-fruits +one hundred and fifty pounds, and so, with patent, a thousand pounds in all; +so that I shall not be the better for the deanery these three years. I hope +in some time they will be persuaded here to give me some money to pay off +these debts. I must finish the book I am writing,[19] before I can go over; +and they expect I shall pass next winter here, and then I will dun them to +give me a sum of money. However, I hope to pass four or five months with MD, +and whatever comes on it. MD's allowance must be increased, and shall be too, +fais. . . [20] I received oor rettle No. 39 to-night; just ten weeks since I +had your last. I shall write next post to Bishop Sterne. Never man had so +many enemies of Ireland[21] as he. I carried it with the strongest hand +possible. If he does not use me well and gently in what dealings I shall have +with him, he will be the most ungrateful of mankind. The Archbishop of +York,[22] my mortal enemy, has sent, by a third hand, that he would be glad to +see me. Shall I see him, or not? I hope to be over in a month, and that MD, +with their raillery, will be mistaken, that I shall make it three years. I +will answer oo rettle soon; but no more journals. I shall be very busy. +Short letters from hence forward. I shall not part with Laracor. That is all +I have to live on, except the deanery be worth more than four hundred pounds a +year. Is it? If it be, the overplus shall be divided between MD and FW +beside usual allowance of MD. . . . [23] Pray write to me a good-humoured +letter immediately, let it be ever so short. This affair was carried with +great difficulty, which vexes me. But they say here 'tis much to my +reputation that I have made a bishop, in spite of all the world, to get the +best deanery in Ireland. Nite dee sollahs. + +24. I forgot to tell you I had Sterne's letter yesterday, in answer to mine. +Oo performed oor commission well, dood dallars both.[24] I made mistakes the +three last days, and am forced to alter the number.[25] I dined in the City +to-day with my printer, and came home early, and am going to [be] busy with my +work. I will send this to-morrow, and I suppose the warrants will go then. I +wrote to Dr. Coghill, to take care of passing my patent; and to Parvisol, to +attend him with money, if he has any, or to borrow some where he can. Nite +MD. + +25. Morning. I know not whether my warrant be yet ready from the Duke of +Ormond. I suppose it will by tonight. I am going abroad, and will keep this +unsealed, till I know whether all be finished. Mollow,[26] sollahs. + +I had this letter all day in my pocket, waiting till I heard the warrants were +gone over. Mr. Lewis sent to Southwell's clerk at ten; and he said the Bishop +of Killaloe[27] had desired they should be stopped till next post. He sent +again, that the Bishop of Killaloe's business had nothing to do with ours. +Then I went myself, but it was past eleven, and asked the reason. Killaloe is +removed to Raphoe, and he has a mind to have an order for the rents of Raphoe, +that have fallen due since the vacancy, and he would have all stop till he has +gotten that. A pretty request! But the clerk, at Mr. Lewis's message, sent +the warrants for Sterne and me; but then it was too late to send this, which +frets me heartily, that MD should not have intelligence first from Pdfr. I +think to take a hundred pounds a year out of the deanery, and divide it +between MD and Pr,[28] and so be one year longer in paying the debt; but we'll +talk of zis hen I come over. So nite dear sollahs. Lele.[29] + +26. I was at Court to-day, and a thousand people gave me joy; so I ran out. +I dined with Lady Orkney. Yesterday I dined with Lord Treasurer and his +Saturday people as usual; and was so bedeaned! The Archbishop of York says he +will never more speak against me. Pray see that Parvisol stirs about getting +my patent. I have given Tooke DD's note to prove she is alive. I'll answer +oo rettle. . . . Nite. + +27. Nothing new to-day. I dined with Tom Harley, etc. I'll seal up this to- +night. Pray write soon. . . . MD MD MD FW FW FW ME ME ME Lele, lele. + + + +LETTER 64.[1] + +LONDON, May 16 [1713]. + +I had yours, No. 40, yesterday. Your new Bishop acts very ungratefully. I +cannot say so bad of it as he deserved. I begged at the same post his warrant +and mine went over, that he would leave those livings to my disposal. I shall +write this post to him to let him know how ill I take it. I have letters to +tell me that I ought to think of employing some body to set the tithes of the +deanery. I know not what to do at this distance. I cannot be in Ireland +under a month. I will write two orders; one to Parvisol, and t'other to +Parvisol, and a blank for whatever fellow it is whom the last Dean employed; +and I would desire you to advise with friends which to make use of: and if +the latter, let the fellow's name be inserted, and both act by commission. If +the former, then speak to Parvisol, and know whether he can undertake it. I +doubt it is hardly to be done by a perfect stranger alone, as Parvisol is. He +may perhaps venture at all, to keep up his interest with me; but that is +needless, for I am willing to do him any good, that will do me no harm. Pray +advise with Walls and Raymond, and a little with Bishop Sterne for form. Tell +Raymond I cannot succeed for him to get that living of Moimed. It is +represented here as a great sinecure. Several chaplains have solicited for +it; and it has vexed me so, that, if I live, I will make it my business to +serve him better in something else. I am heartily sorry for his illness, and +that of the other two. If it be not necessary to let the tithes till a month +hence, you may keep the two papers, and advise well in the meantime; and +whenever it is absolutely necessary, then give that paper which you are most +advised to. I thank Mr. Walls for his letter. Tell him that must serve for +an answer, with my service to him and her. I shall buy Bishop Sterne's hair +as soon as his household goods. I shall be ruined, or at least sadly cramped, +unless the Queen will give me a thousand pounds. I am sure she owes me a +great deal more. Lord Treasurer rallies me upon it, and I believe intends it; +but, quando? I am advised to hasten over as soon as possible, and so I will, +and hope to set out the beginning of June. Take no lodging for me. What? at +your old tricks again? I can lie somewhere after I land, and I care not +where, nor how. I will buy your eggs and bacon, DD. . . [2] your caps and +Bible; and pray think immediately, and give me some commissions, and I will +perform them as far as oo poo Pdfr can.[3] The letter I sent before this was +to have gone a post before; but an accident hindered it; and, I assure oo, I +wam very akkree[4] MD did not write to Dean Pdfr, and I think oo might have +had a Dean under your girdle for the superscription. I have just finished my +Treatise,[5] and must be ten days correcting it. Farewell, deelest MD, MD, +MD, FW, FW, FW, ME, ME, ME, Lele. + +You'll seal the two papers after my name. + + +"LONDON, May 16, 1713. + +"I appoint Mr. Isaiah Parvisol and Mr. to set and let the tithes of the +Deanery of St. Patrick's for this present year. In witness whereof, I +hereunto set my hand and seal, the day and year above written. + [JONAT. SWIFT."[6]] + + +"LONDON, May 16, 1713. + +"I do hereby appoint Mr. Isaiah Parvisol my proctor, to set and let the tithes +of the Deanery of St. Patrick's. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my +hand and seal, the day and year above written. + JONAT. SWIFT." + + + +LETTER 65.[1] + +CHESTER, June 6, 1713. + +I am come here after six days. I set out on Monday last, and got here to-day +about eleven in the morning. A noble rider, fais! and all the ships and +people went off yesterday with a rare wind. This was told me, to my comfort, +upon my arrival. Having not used riding these three years, made me terrible +weary; yet I resolve on Monday to set out for Holyhead, as weary as I am. +'Tis good for my health, mam. When I came here, I found MD's letter of the +26th of May sent down to me. Had you writ a post sooner I might have brought +some pins: but you were lazy, and would not write your orders immediately, as +I desired you. I will come when God pleases; perhaps I may be with you in a +week. I will be three days going to Holyhead; I cannot ride faster, say hat +oo will. I am upon Stay-behind's mare. I have the whole inn to myself. I +would fain 'scape this Holyhead journey; but I have no prospect of ships, and +it will be almost necessary I should be in Dublin before the 25th instant, to +take the oaths;[2] otherwise I must wait to a quarter sessions. I will lodge +as I can; therefore take no lodgings for me, to pay in my absence. The poor +Dean can't afford it. I spoke again to the Duke of Ormond about Moimed for +Raymond, and hope he may yet have it, for I laid it strongly to the Duke, and +gave him the Bishop of Meath's memorial. I am sorry for Raymond's fistula; +tell him so. I will speak to Lord Treasurer about Mrs. South[3] to-morrow. +Odso! I forgot; I thought I had been in London. Mrs. Tisdall[4] is very big, +ready to lie down. Her husband is a puppy. Do his feet stink still? The +letters to Ireland go at so uncertain an hour, that I am forced to conclude. +Farewell, MD, MD MD FW FW FW ME ME ME ME. + + Lele lele + lele logues and + Ladies bose fair + and slender. + +[On flyleaf.] + +I mightily approve Ppt's project of hanging the blind parson. When I read +that passage upon Chester walls, as I was coming into town, and just received +your letter, I said aloud--Agreeable B-tch. + + + +NOTES. + +These notes are referenced by 'Notes to the Introduction' or 'Letter +(number)', and the numbers in square brackets (thus -- [3]) in the body of the +Journal. + + + +Notes to the Introduction. + +1 Notes and Queries, Sixth Series, x. 287. + +2 See letter from Swift to John Temple, February 1737. She was then "quite +sunk with years and unwieldliness." + +3 Athenaeum, Aug. 8, 1891. + +4 Journal, May 4, 1711. + +5 Craik's Life of Swift, 269. + +6 Unpublished Letters of Dean Swift, pp. 189-96. + +7 In 1730 he wrote, "Those who have been married may form juster ideas of that +estate than I can pretend to do" (Dr. Birkbeck Hill's Unpublished Letters of +Dean Swift, p. 237). + +8 Scott added a new incident which has become incorporated in the popular +conception of Swift's story. Delany is said to have met Swift rushing out of +Archbishop King's study, with a countenance of distraction, immediately after +the wedding. King, who was in tears, said, "You have just met the most +unhappy man on earth; but on the subject of his wretchedness you must never +ask a question." Will it be believed that Scott--who rejects Delany's +inference from this alleged incident--had no better authority for it than "a +friend of his (Delany's) relict"? + +9 This incident, for which there is probably some foundation of fact--we +cannot say how much--has been greatly expanded by Mrs. Woods in her novel +Esther Vanhomrigh. Unfortunately most of her readers cannot, of course, judge +exactly how far her story is a work of imagination. + +10 In October Swift explained that he had been in the country "partly to see a +lady of my old acquaintance, who was extremely ill" (Unpublished Letters of +Dean Swift, p. 198). + +11 There is a story that shortly before her death Swift begged Stella to allow +herself to be publicly announced as his wife, but that she replied that it was +then too late. The versions given by Delany and Theophilus Swift differ +considerably, while Sheridan alters the whole thing by representing Swift as +brutally refusing to comply with Stella's last wishes. + +12 There has also been the absurd suggestion that the impediment was Swift's +knowledge that both he and Stella were the illegitimate children of Sir +William Temple--a theory which is absolutely disproved by known facts. + +13 It is curious to note the intimate knowledge of some of Swift's +peculiarities which was possessed by the hostile writer of a pamphlet called A +Hue and Cry after Dr. S---t, published in 1714. That piece consists, for the +most part, of extracts from a supposed Diary by Swift, and contains such +passages as these: "Friday. Go to the Club . . . Am treated. Expenses one +shilling." "Saturday. Bid my servant get all things ready for a journey to +the country: mend my breeches; hire a washerwoman, making her allow for old +shirts, socks, dabbs and markees, which she bought of me . . . Six coaches of +quality, and nine hacks, this day called at my lodgings." "Thursday. The +Earl looked queerly: left him in a huff. Bid him send for me when he was fit +for company. . . Spent ten shillings." + +14 The "little language" is marked chiefly by such changes of letters (e.g., +l for r, or r for l) as a child makes when learning to speak. The +combinations of letters in which Swift indulges are not so easy of +interpretation. For himself he uses Pdfr, and sometimes Podefar or FR +(perhaps Poor dear foolish rogue). Stella is Ppt (Poor pretty thing). MD (my +dears) usually stands for both Stella and Mrs. Dingley, but sometimes for +Stella alone. Mrs. Dingley is indicated by ME (Madam Elderly), D, or DD (Dear +Dingley). The letters FW may mean Farewell, or Foolish Wenches. Lele seems +sometimes to be There, there, and sometimes Truly. + + + +Letter 1. + +1. Addressed "To Mrs. Dingley, at Mr. Curry's house over against the Ram in +Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland," and endorsed by Esther Johnson, "Sept. 9. +Received." Afterwards Swift added, "MD received this Sept. 9," and "Letters +to Ireland from Sept.1710, begun soon after the change of Ministry. Nothing +in this." + +2. Beaumont is the "grey old fellow, poet Joe," of Swift's verses "On the +little house by the Churchyard at Castlenock." Joseph Beaumont, a linen- +merchant, is described as "a venerable, handsome, grey-headed man, of quick +and various natural abilities, but not improved by learning." His inventions +and mathematical speculations, relating to the longitude and other things, +brought on mental troubles, which were intensified by bankruptcy, about 1718. +He was afterwards removed from Dublin to his home at Trim, where he rallied; +but in a few years his madness returned, and he committed suicide. + +3. Vicar of Trim, and formerly a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. In +various places in his correspondence Swift criticises the failings of Dr. +Anthony Raymond, who was, says Scott, "a particular friend." His +unreliability in money matters, the improvidence of his large family, his +peculiarities in grammar, his pride in his good manners, all these points are +noticed in the journal and elsewhere. But when Dr. Raymond returned to +Ireland after a visit to London, Swift felt a little melancholy, and regretted +that he had not seen more of him. In July 1713 Raymond was presented to the +Crown living of Moyenet. + +4. A small township on the estuary of the Dee, between twelve and thirteen +miles north-west of Chester. In the early part of the eighteenth century +Parkgate was a rival of Holyhead as a station for the Dublin packets, which +started, on the Irish side, from off Kingsend. + +5. Dr. St. George Ashe, afterwards Bishop of Derry, who had been Swift's tutor +at Trinity College, Dublin. He died in 1718. It is this lifelong friend who +is said to have married Swift and Esther Johnson in 1716. + +6. The Commission to solicit for the remission of the First-Fruits and +twentieth parts, payable to the Crown by the Irish clergy, was signed by the +Archbishops of Armagh, Dublin, and Cashel, and the Bishops of Kildare, Meath, +and Killala. + +7. Dr. William Lloyd was appointed Bishop of Killala in 1690. He had +previously been Dean of Achonry. + +8. Dr. John Hough (1651-1743). In 1687 he had been elected President of +Magdalen College, Oxford, in place of the nominee of James II. Hough was +Bishop of Oxford, Lichfield, and Worcester successively, and declined the +primacy in 1715. + +9. Steele was at this time Gazetteer. The Cockpit, in Whitehall, looked upon +St. James's Palace, and was used for various Government purposes. + +10. This coffee-house, the resort of the Whig politicians, was kept by a man +named Elliot. It is often alluded to in the Tatler and Spectator. + +11. William Stewart, second Viscount Mountjoy, a friend and correspondent of +Swift's in Ireland. He was the son of one of William's generals, and was +himself a Lieutenant-General and Master-General of the Ordnance; he died in +1728. + +12. Catherine, daughter of Maurice Keating, of Narraghmore, Kildare, and wife +of Garret Wesley, of Dangan, M.P. for Meath. She died in 1745. On the death +of Garret Wesley without issue in 1728, the property passed to a cousin, +Richard Colley, who was afterwards created Baron Mornington, and was +grandfather to the Duke of Wellington. + +13. The landlady of Esther Johnson and Mrs. Dingley. + +14. Swift's housekeeper at Laracor. Elsewhere Swift speaks of his "old +Presbyterian housekeeper," "who has been my Walpole above thirty years, +whenever I lived in this kingdom." "Joe Beaumont is my oracle for public +affairs in the country, and an old Presbyterian woman in town." + +15. Isaiah Parvisol, Swift's tithe-agent and steward at Laracor, was an +Irishman of French extraction, who died in 1718 (Birkbeck's Unpublished +Letters of Dean Swift, 1899, p.85). + +Letter 2. + +1. In some MS. Accounts of Swift's, in the Forster Collection at South +Kensington there is the following entry:--"Set out for England Aug. 31st on +Thursday, 10 at night; landed at Parkgate Friday 1st at noon. Sept. 1, 171O, +came to London. Thursday at noon, Sept. 7th, with Lord Mountjoy, etc. Mem.: +Lord Mountjoy bore my expenses from Chester to London." + +2. In a letter to Archbishop King of the same date Swift says he was "equally +caressed by both parties; by one as a sort of bough for drowning men to lay +hold of, and by the other as one discontented with the late men in power." + +3. The Earl of Godolphin, who was severely satirised by Swift in his Sid +Hamet's Rod, 171O. He had been ordered to break his staff as Treasurer on +August 8. Swift told Archbishop King that Godolphin was "altogether short, +dry, and morose." + +4. Martha, widow of Sir Thomas Giffard, Bart., of County Kildare, the +favourite sister of Sir William Temple, had been described by Swift in early +pindaric verses as "wise and great." Afterwards he was to call her "an old +beast" (Journal, Nov. 11, 171O). Their quarrel arose, towards the close of +17O9, out of a difference with regard to the publication of Sir William +Temple's Works. On the appearance of vol. v. Lady Giffard charged Swift with +publishing portions of the writings from an unfaithful copy in lieu of the +originals in his possession, and in particular with printing laudatory notices +of Godolphin and Sunderland which Temple intended to omit, and with omitting +an unfavourable remark on Sunderland which Temple intended to print. Swift +replied that the corrections were all made by Temple himself. + +5. Lord Wharton's second wife, Lucy, daughter of Lord Lisburn. She died in +1716, a few months after her husband. See Lady M. W. Montagu's Letters. + +6. Mrs. Bridget Johnson, who married, as her second husband, Ralph Mose or +Moss, of Farnham, an agent for Sir William Temple's estate, was waiting-woman +or companion to Lady Giffard. In her will (1722) Lady Giffard left Mrs. Moss +2O pounds, "with my silver cup and cover." Mrs. Moss died in 1745, when +letters of administration were granted to a creditor of the deceased. + +7. Dr. William King (165O-1729), a Whig and High Churchman, had more than one +difference with Swift during the twenty years following Swift's first visit to +London in connection with the First-Fruits question. + +8. Swift's benefice, in the diocese of Meath, two miles from Trim. + +9. Steele, who had been issuing the Tatler thrice weekly since April 17O9. He +lost the Gazetteership in October. + +10. James, second Duke of Ormond (1665-1745) was appointed Lord Lieutenant on +the 26th of October. In the following year he became Captain-General and +Commander-in-Chief. He was impeached of high treason and attainted in 1715; +and he died in exile. + +11. "Presto," substituted by the original editor for "Pdfr," was suggested by +a passage in the Journal for Aug. 2, 1711, where Swift says that the Duchess +of Shrewsbury "could not say my name in English, but said Dr. Presto, which is +Italian for Swift." + +12. Charles Jervas, the popular portrait-painter, has left two portraits of +Swift, one of which is in the National Portrait Gallery, and the other in the +Bodleian Library. + +13. Sir William Temple's nephew, and son of Sir John Temple (died 17O4), +Solicitor and Attorney-General, and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. +"Jack" Temple acquired the estate of Moor Park, Surrey, by his marriage with +Elizabeth, granddaughter of Sir William Temple, and elder daughter of John +Temple, who committed suicide in 1689. As late as 17O6 Swift received an +invitation to visit Moor Park. + +14. Dr. Benjamin Pratt, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, was appointed Dean +of Down in 1717. Swift calls him "a person of wit and learning," and "a +gentleman of good birth and fortune,. . very much esteemed among us" (Short +Character of Thomas, Earl of Wharton). On his death in 1721 Swift wrote, "He +was one of the oldest acquaintance I had, and the last that I expected to die. +He has left a young widow, in very good circumstances. He had schemes of long +life. . . . What a ridiculous thing is man!" (Unpublished Letters of Dean +Swift, 1899, p. 106). + +15. A Westmeath landlord, whom Swift met from time to time in London. The +Leighs were well acquainted with Esther Johnson. + +16. Dr. Enoch Sterne, appointed Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, in 17O4. Swift +was his successor in the deanery on Dr. Sterne's appointment as Bishop of +Dromore in 1713. In 1717 Sterne was translated to the bishopric of Clogher. +He spent much money on the cathedrals, etc., with which he was connected. + +17. Archdeacon Walls was rector of Castle Knock, near Trim. Esther Johnson +was a frequent visitor at his house in Queen Street, Dublin. + +18. William Frankland, Comptroller of the Inland Office at the Post Office, +was the second son of the Postmaster-General, Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. +Luttrell (vi. 333) records that in 17O8 he was made Treasurer of the Stamp +Office, or, according to Chamberlayne's Mag. Brit. Notitia for 171O, Receiver- +General. + +19. Thomas Wharton, Earl and afterwards Marquis of Wharton, had been one of +Swift's fellow-travellers from Dublin. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under the +Whig Government, from 17O8 to 171O, Wharton was the most thorough-going party +man that had yet appeared in English politics; and his political enemies did +not fail to make the most of his well-known immorality. In his Notes to +Macky's Characters Swift described Wharton as "the most universal villain that +ever I knew." On his death in 1715 he was succeeded by his profligate son, +Philip, who was created Duke of Wharton in 1718. + +20. This money was a premium the Government had promised Beaumont for his +Mathematical Sleying Tables, calculated for the improvement of the linen +manufacture. + +21. The bellman was both town-crier and night-watchman. + +Letter 3. + +1. Dr. William Cockburn (1669-1739), Swift's physician, of a good Scottish +family, was educated at Leyden. He invented an electuary for the cure of +fluxes, and in 173O, in The Danger of Improving Physick, satirised the +academical physicians who envied him the fortune he had made by his secret +remedy. He was described in 1729 as "an old very rich quack." + +2. Sir Matthew Dudley, Bart., an old Whig friend, was M.P. for +Huntingdonshire, and Commissioner of the Customs from 17O6 to 1712, and again +under George I., until his death in 1721. + +3. Isaac Manley, who was appointed Postmaster-General in Ireland in 17O3 +(Luttrell, v. 333). He had previously been Comptroller of the English Letter +Office, a post in which he was succeeded by William Frankland, son of Sir +Thomas Frankland. Dunton calls Manley "loyal and acute." + +4. Sir Thomas Frankland was joint Postmaster-General from 1691 to 1715. He +succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father, Sir William Frankland, +in 1697, and he died in 1726. Macky describes Sir Thomas as "of a sweet and +easy disposition, zealous for the Constitution, yet not forward, and indulgent +to his dependants." On this Swift comments, "This is a fair character." + +5. Theophilus Butler, elected M.P. for Cavan, in the Irish Parliament, in +17O3, and for Belturbet (as "the Right Hon. Theophilus Butler") in 1713. On +May 3, 171O, Luttrell wrote (Brief Relation of State Affairs, vi. 577), "'Tis +said the Earl of Montrath, Lord Viscount Mountjoy. . . and Mr. Butler will be +made Privy Councillors of the Kingdom of Ireland." Butler--a contemporary of +Swift's at Trinity College, Dublin--was created Baron of Newtown-Butler in +1715, and his brother, who succeeded him in 1723, was made Viscount +Lanesborough. Butler's wife was Emilia, eldest daughter and co-heir of James +Stopford, of Tara, County Meath. + +6. No. 193 of the Tatler, for July 4, 1710, contained a letter from Downes the +Prompter--not by Steele himself--in ridicule of Harley and his proposed +Ministry. + +7. Charles Robartes, second Earl of Radnor, who died in 1723. In the Journal +for Dec. 3O, 1711, Swift calls him "a scoundrel." + +8. Benjamin Tooke, Swift's bookseller or publisher, lived at the Middle Temple +Gate. Dunton wrote of him, "He is truly honest, a man of refined sense, and +is unblemished in his reputation." Tooke died in 1723. + +9. Swift's servant, of whose misdeeds he makes frequent complaints in the +Journal. + +10. Deputy Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. In one place Swift calls him Captain +Pratt; and in all probability he is the John Pratt who, as we learn from +Dalton's English Army Lists, was appointed captain in General Erle's regiment +of foot in 1699, and was out of the regiment by 17O6. In 17O2 he obtained the +Queen's leave to be absent from the regiment when it was sent to the West +Indies. Pratt seems to have been introduced to Swift by Addison. + +11. Charles Ford, of Wood Park, near Dublin, was a great lover of the opera +and a friend of the Tory wits. He was appointed Gazetteer in 1712. Gay calls +him "joyous Ford," and he was given to over-indulgence in conviviality. See +Swift's poem on Stella at Wood Park. + +12. Lord Somers, to whom Swift had dedicated The Tale of a Tub, with high +praise of his public and private virtues. In later years Swift said that +Somers "possessed all excellent qualifications except virtue." + +13. At the foundation school of the Ormonds at Kilkenny. (see note 22.) + +14. A Whig haberdasher. + +15. Benjamin Hoadley, the Whig divine, had been engaged in controversy with +Sacheverell, Blackall, and Atterbury. After the accession of George I. he +became Bishop of Bangor, Hereford, Salisbury, and Winchester in success. + +16. Dr. Henry Sacheverell, whose impeachment and trial had led to the fall of +the Whig Government. + +17. Sir Berkeley Lucy, Bart., F.R.S., married Katherine, daughter of Charles +Cotton, of Beresford, Staffordshire, Isaac Walton's friend. Lady Lucy died in +174O, leaving an only surviving daughter, Mary, who married the youngest son +of the Earl of Northampton, and had two sons, who became successively seventh +and eighth Earls of Northampton. Forster and others assumed that "Lady Lucy" +was a Lady Lucy Stanhope, though they were not able to identify her. It was +reserved for Mr. Ryland to clear up this difficulty. As he points out, Lady +Lucy's elder sister, Olive, married George Stanhope, Dean of Canterbury, and +left a daughter Mary,--Swift's "Moll Stanhope,"--a beauty and a madcap, who +married, in 1712, William Burnet, son of Bishop Burnet, and +died in 1714. Mary, another sister of Lady Lucy's, married Augustine +Armstrong, of Great Ormond Street, and is the Mrs. Armstrong mentioned by +Swift on Feb. 3, 1711, as a pretender to wit, without taste. Sir Berkeley +Lucy's mother was a daughter of the first Earl of Berkeley, and it was +probably through the Berkeleys that Swift came to know the Lucys. + +18. Ann Long was sister to Sir James Long, and niece to Colonel Strangeways. +Once a beauty and toast of the Kit-Cat Club, she fell into narrow +circumstances through imprudence and the unkindness of her friends, and +retired under the name of Mrs. Smythe to Lynn, in Norfolk, where she died in +1711 (see Journal, December 25, 1711). Swift said, "She was the most +beautiful person of the age she lived in; of great honour and virtue, infinite +sweetness and generosity of temper, and true good sense" (Forster's Swift, +229). In a letter of December 1711, Swift wrote that she "had every valuable +quality of body and mind that could make a lady loved and esteemed." + +19. Said, I know not on what authority, to be Swift's friend, Mrs. Barton. +But Mrs. Barton is often mentioned by Swift as living in London in 1710-11. + +20. One of Swift's cousins, who was separated from her husband, a man of bad +character, living abroad. Her second husband, Lancelot, a servant of Lord +Sussex, lived in New Bond Street, and there Swift lodged in 1727. + +21. 100,000 pounds. + +22. Francis Stratford's name appears in the Dublin University Register for +1686 immediately before Swift's. Budgell is believed to have referred to the +friendship of Swift and Stratford in the Spectator, No. 353, where he +describes two schoolfellows, and says that the man of genius was buried in a +country parsonage of 160 pounds a year, while his friend, with the bare +abilities of a common scrivener, had gained an estate of above 100,000 pounds. + +23. William Cowper, afterwards Lord Cowper. + +24. Sir Simon Harcourt, afterwards Viscount Harcourt, had been counsel for +Sacheverell. On Sept. 19, 171O, he was appointed Attorney-General, and on +October 19 Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. In April 1713 he became Lord +Chancellor. + +25. This may be some relative of Dr. John Freind (see Letter 9), or, more +probably, as Sir Henry Craik suggests, a misprint for Colonel Frowde, +Addison's friend (see Journal, Nov. 4, 171O). No officer named Freind or +Friend is mentioned in Dalton's English Army Lists. + +26. See the Tatler, Nos. 124, 2O3. There are various allusions in the +"Wentworth Papers" to this, the first State Lottery of 171O; and two bluecoat +boys drawing out the tickets, and showing their hands to the crowd, as Swift +describes them, are shown in a reproduction of a picture in a contemporary +pamphlet given in Ashton's Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, i. 115. + +27. A few weeks later Swift wrote, "I took a fancy of resolving to grow mad +for it, but now it is off." + +28. Sir John Holland, Bart., was a leading manager for the Commons in the +impeachment of Sacheverell. He succeeded Sir Thomas Felton in the +Comptrollership in March 171O. + +29. Dryden Leach. (see Letter 7.) + +30. William Pate, "bel esprit and woollen-draper," as Swift called him, lived +opposite the Royal Exchange. He was Sheriff of London in 1734, and died in +1746. Arbuthnot, previous to matriculating at Oxford, lodged with Pate, who +gave him a letter of introduction to Dr. Charlett, Master of University +College; and Pate is supposed to have been the woollen-draper, "remarkable for +his learning and good-nature," who is mentioned by Steele in the Guardian, No. +141. + +31. James Brydges, son of Lord Chandos of Sudeley, was appointed Paymaster- +General of Forces Abroad in 17O7. He succeeded his father as Baron Chandos in +1714, and was created Duke of Chandos in 1729. The "princely Chandos" and his +house at Canons suggested to Pope the Timon's villa of the "Epistle to Lord +Burlington." The Duke died in 1744. + +32. Charles Talbot, created Duke of Shrewsbury in 1694, was held in great +esteem by William III., and was Lord Chamberlain under Anne. In 1713 he +became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and held various offices under George I., +until his death in 1718. "Before he was o. age," says Macaulay, "he was +allowed to be one of the finest gentlemen and finest scholars of his time." + +33. See No. 23O. + +34. William Cavendish, second Duke of Devonshire (1673-1729), who was Lord +Steward from 17O7 to 1710 and from 1714 to 1716. Afterwards he was Lord +President of the Council. Swift's comment on Macky's character of this Whig +nobleman was, "A very poor understanding." + +35. John Annesley, fourth Earl of Anglesea, a young nobleman of great promise, +had only recently been appointed joint Vice-Treasurer, Receiver-General, and +Paymaster of the Forces in Ireland, and sworn of the Privy Council. + +36. Nichols, followed by subsequent editors, suggested that "Durham" was a +mistake for "St. David's," because Dr. George Bull, Bishop of St. David's, +died in 1710. But Dr. Bull died on Feb. 17, 171O, though his successor, Dr. +Philip Bisse, was not appointed until November; and Swift was merely repeating +a false report of the death of Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, which was current +on the day on which he wrote. Luttrell says, on Sept. 19, "The Lord Crewe. . +. died lately"; but on the 23rd he adds, "The Bishop of Durham is not dead as +reported" (Brief Relation, vi. 63O, 633. + +37. Lady Elizabeth ("Betty") Butler, who died unmarried in 175O. + +38. Swift wrote in 1734, "Once every year I issued out an edict, commanding +that all ladies of wit, sense, merit, and quality, who had an ambition to be +acquainted with me, should make the first advances at their peril: which +edict, you may believe, was universally obeyed." + +39. Charles, second Earl of Berkeley (1649-171O), married Elizabeth, daughter +of Baptist Noel, Viscount Campden. The Earl died on Sept. 24, 171O, and his +widow in 1719. Swift, it will be remembered, had been chaplain to Lord +Berkeley in Ireland in 1699. + +40. Lady Betty and Lady Mary Butler. (see Letter 7, notes 2 and 3.) + +41. Henry Boyle, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 17O2 to 17O8, was Secretary +of State from 17O8 to 171O, when he was succeeded by St. John. In 1714 he was +created Baron Carleton, and he was Lord President from 1721 until his death in +1725. + +42. On Sept. 29 Swift wrote that his rooms consisted of the first floor, a +dining-room and bed-chamber, at eight shillings a week. On his last visit to +England, in 1726, he lodged "next door to the Royal Chair" in Bury Street. +Steele lived in the same street from 17O7 to 1712; and Mrs. Vanhomrigh was +Swift's next-door neighbour. + +43. In Exchange Alley. Cf. Spectator, No. 454: "I went afterwards to +Robin's, and saw people who had dined with me at the fivepenny ordinary just +before, give bills for the value of large estates." + +Letter 4. + +1 John Molesworth, Commissioner of the Stamp Office, was sent as Envoy to +Tuscany in 1710, and was afterwards Minister at Florence, Venice, Geneva, and +Turin. He became second Viscount Molesworth in 1725, and died in 1731. + +2 Misson says, "Every two hours you may write to any part of the city or +suburbs: he that receives it pays a penny, and you give nothing when you put +it into the Post; but when you write into the country both he that writes and +he that receives pay each a penny." The Penny Post system had been taken over +by the Government, but was worked separately from the general Post. + +3 The Countess of Berkeley's second daughter, who married, in 1706, Sir John +Germaine, Bart. (165O-1718), a soldier of fortune. Lady Betty Germaine is +said to have written a satire on Pope (Nichols' Literary Anecdotes, ii. 11), +and was a constant correspondent of Swift's. She was always a Whig, and +shortly before her death in 1769 she made a present of 100 pounds to John +Wilkes, then in prison in the Tower. Writing of Lady Betty Butler and Lady +Betty Germaine, Swift says elsewhere, "I saw two Lady Bettys this afternoon; +the beauty of one, the good breeding and nature of the other, and the wit of +either, would have made a fine woman." Germaine obtained the estate at +Drayton through his first wife, Lady Mary Mordaunt--Lord Peterborough's +sister--who had been divorced by her first husband, the Duke of Norfolk. Lady +Betty was thirty years younger than her husband, and after Sir John's death +she remained a widow for over fifty years. + +4 The letter in No. 28O of the Tatler. + +5 Discover, find out. Cf. Shakespeare's All's Well that Ends Well, iii. 6: +"He was first smoked by the old Lord Lafeu." + +6 A village near Dublin. + +7 Excellent. + +8 John Molesworth, and, probably, his brother Richard, afterwards third +Viscount Molesworth, who had saved the Duke of Marlborough's life at the +battle of Ramillies, and had been appointed, in 171O, colonel of a regiment of +foot. + +9 Presumably at Charles Ford's. + +10 The Virtues of Sid Hamet the Magician's Rod, published as a single folio +sheet, was a satire on Godolphin. + +11 Apparently Marcus Antonius Morgan, steward to the Bishop of Kildare +(Craik). Swift wrote to the Duke of Montagu on Aug. 12, 1713 (Buccleuch MSS., +1899, i. 359). "Mr. Morgan of Kingstrope is a friend, and was, I am informed, +put out of the Commission of justice for being so." + +12 Dr. Raymond is called Morgan's "father" because he warmly supported +Morgan's interests. + +13 The Rev. Thomas Warburton, Swift's curate at Laracor, whom Swift described +to the Archbishop as "a gentleman of very good learning and sense, who has +behaved himself altogether unblamably." + +14 The tobacco was to be used as snuff. About this time ladies much affected +the use of snuff, and Steele, in No. 344 of the Spectator, speaks of Flavilla +pulling out her box, "which is indeed full of good Brazil," in the middle of +the sermon. People often made their own snuff out of roll tobacco, by means +of rasps. On Nov. 3, 1711, Swift speaks of sending "a fine snuff rasp of +ivory, given me by Mrs. St. John for Dingley, and a large roll of tobacco." + +15 Katherine Barton, second daughter of Robert Barton, of Brigstock, +Northamptonshire, and niece of Sir Isaac Newton. She was a favourite among +the toasts of the Kit-Cat Club, and Lord Halifax, who left her a fortune, was +an intimate friend. In 1717 she married John Conduitt, afterwards Master of +the Mint. + +16 William Connolly, appointed a Commissioner of the Revenue in 1709, was +afterwards Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He died in 1729. Francis +Robarts, appointed a Commissioner of the Revenue in 1692, was made a Teller of +the Exchequer in England in 1704, and quitted that office, in September 171O, +on his reappointment, in Connolly's place, as Revenue Commissioner in Ireland. +In 1714 Robarts was removed, and Connolly again appointed Commissioner. + +17 Enoch Sterne, Collector of Wicklow and Clerk to the Irish House of Lords. +Writing to Dr. Sterne on Sept. 26, Swift said, "I saw Collector Sterne, who +desired me to present his service to you, and to tell you he would be glad to +hear from you, but not about business." + +18 In his "Character of Mrs. Johnson" Swift says, "She was never known to cry +out, or discover any fear, in a coach." The passage in the text is obscure. +Apparently Esther Johnson had boasted of saving money by walking, instead of +riding, like a coward. + +19 John Radcliffe (165O-1714), the well-known physician and wit, was often +denounced as a clever empiric. Early in 1711 he treated Swift for his +dizziness. By his will, Radcliffe left most of his property to the University +of Oxford. + +20 Charles Barnard, Sergeant-Surgeon to the Queen, and Master of the Barber +Surgeons' Company. His large and valuable library, to which Swift afterwards +refers, fetched great prices. Luttrell records Barnard's death in his diary +for Oct. 12, 171O. + +21 Robert Harley, afterwards Earl of Oxford, had been appointed Chancellor of +the Exchequer in August 1710. In May 1711 he was raised to the peerage and +made Lord High Treasurer; and he is constantly referred to in the Journal as +"Lord Treasurer." He was impeached in 1715, but was acquitted to 1717; he +died in 1724. + +22 The Right Hon. Thomas Bligh, M.P., of Rathmore, County Meath, died on Aug. +28, 1710. His son, mentioned later in the Journal, became Earl of Darnley. + +Letter 5. + +1 Penalty. + +2 Erasmus Lewis, Under Secretary of State under Lord Dartmouth, was a great +friend of Swift, Pope, and Arbuthnot. He had previously been one of Harley's +secretaries, and in his Horace Imitated, Book I. Ep. vii., Swift describes him +as "a cunning shaver, and very much in Harley's favour." Arbuthnot says that +under George I. Lewis kept company with the greatest, and was "principal +governor" in many families. Lewis was a witness to Arbuthnot's will. Pope +and Esther Vanhomrigh both left him money to buy rings. Lewis died in 1754, +aged eighty-three. + +3 Charles Darteneuf, or Dartiquenave, was a celebrated epicure, who is said to +have been a son of Charles II. Lord Lyttleton, in his Dialogues of the Dead, +recalling Pope's allusions to him, selects him to represent modern bon vivants +in the dialogue between Darteneuf and Apicius. See Tatler 252. Darteneuf was +Paymaster of the Royal Works and a member of the Kit-Cat Club. He died in +1737. + +4 No. 23O. + +5 Good, excellent. + +6 Captain George Delaval, appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the King of +Portugal in Oct, 171O, was with Lord Peterborough in Spain in 1706. In May +1707 he went to Lisbon with despatches for the Courts of Spain and Portugal, +from whence he was to proceed as Envoy to the Emperor of Morocco, with rich +presents (Luttrell, vi. 52, 174, 192). + +7 Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, as Ranger of Bushey Park and Hampton +Court, held many offices under William III., and was First Lord of the +Treasury under George I., until his death in 1715. He was great as financier +and as debater, and he was a liberal patron of literature. + +8 John Manley, M.P. for Bossiney, was made Surveyor-General on Sept. 3O, 1710, +and died in 1714. In 1706 he fought a duel with another Cornish member +(Luttrell, vi. 11, 535, 635). He seems to be the cousin whom Mrs. De la +Riviere Manley accuses of having drawn her into a false marriage. For Isaac +Manley and Sir Thomas Frankland, see Letter 3, notes 3 and 4. + +9 The Earl of Godolphin (see Letter 2, note 3). + +10 Sir John Stanley, Bart., of Northend, Commissioner of Customs, whom Swift +knew through his intimate friends the Pendarves. His wife, Anne, daughter of +Bernard Granville, and niece of John, Earl of Bath, was aunt to Mary +Granville, afterwards Mrs. Delany, who lived with the Stanleys at their house +in Whitehall. + +11 Henry, Viscount Hyde, eldest son of Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, +succeeded his father in the earldom in 1711, and afterwards became Earl of +Clarendon. His wife, Jane, younger daughter of Sir William Leveson Gower,-- +who married a daughter of John Granville, Earl of Bath,--was a beauty, and the +mother of two beauties--Jane, afterwards Countess of Essex (see journal, Jan. +29, 1712), and Catherine, afterwards Countess of Queensberry. Lady Hyde was +complimented by Prior, Pope, and her kinsman, Lord Lansdowne, and is said to +have been more handsome than either of her daughters. She died in 1725; her +husband in 1753. Lord Hyde became joint Vice-Treasurer for Ireland in 171O; +hence his interest with respect to Pratt's appointment. + +12 See Letter 3, note 10. + +13 Sir Paul Methuen (1672-1757), son of John Methuen, diplomatist and Lord +Chancellor of Ireland. Methuen was Envoy and Ambassador to Portugal from 1697 +to 1708, and was M.P. for Devizes from 1708 to 171O, and a Lord of the +Admiralty. Under George I. he was Ambassador to Spain, and held other +offices. Gay speaks of "Methuen of sincerest mind, as Arthur grave, as soft +as womankind," and Steele dedicated to him the seventh volume of the +Spectator. In his Notes on Macky's Characters, Swift calls him "a profligate +rogue. . . without abilities of any kind." + +14 Sir James Montagu was Attorney-General from 1708 to Sept. 171O, when he +resigned, and was succeeded by Sir Simon Harcourt. Under George I. Montagu +was raised to the Bench, and a few months before his death in 1723 became +Chief Baron of the Exchequer. + +15 The turnpike system had spread rapidly since the Restoration, and had +already effected an important reform in the English roads. Turnpike roads +were as yet unknown in Ireland. + +16 Ann Johnson, who afterwards married a baker named Filby. + +17 An infusion of which the main ingredient was cowslip or palsy-wort. + +18 William Legge, first Earl of Dartmouth (1672-175O), was St. John's fellow +Secretary of State. Lord Dartmouth seems to have been a plain, unpretending +man, whose ignorance of French helped to throw important matters into St. +John's hands. + +19 Richard Dyot was tried at the Old Bailey, on Jan. 13, 171O-11, for +counterfeiting stamps, and was acquitted, the crime being found not felony, +but only breach of trust. Two days afterwards a bill of indictment was found +against him for high misdemeanour. + +20 Sir Philip Meadows (1626-1718) was knighted in 1658, and was Ambassador to +Sweden under Cromwell. His son Philip (died 1757) was knighted in 170O, and +was sent on a special mission to the Emperor in 1707. A great-grandson of the +elder Sir Philip was created Earl Manvers in 1806. + +21 Her eyes were weak. + +22 The son of the Sir Robert Southwell to whom Temple had offered Swift as a +"servant" on his going as Secretary of State to Ireland in 1690. Edward +Southwell (1671-173O) succeeded his father as Secretary of State for Ireland +in 1702, and in 1708 was appointed Clerk to the Privy Council of Great +Britain. Southwell held various offices under George I. and George II., and +amassed a considerable fortune. + +23 Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), dramatist and poet laureate, and one of the +first editors of Shakespeare, was at this time under-secretary to the Duke of +Queensberry, Secretary of State for Scotland. + +24 No. 238 contains Swift's "Description of a Shower in London." + +25 This seems to be a vague allusion to the text, "Cast thy bread upon the +waters," etc. + +26 Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), the fashionable portrait-painter of the +period. + +27 At the General election of 171O the contest at Westminster excited much +interest. The number of constituents was large, and the franchise low, all +householders who paid scot and lot being voters. There were, too, many houses +of great Whig merchants, and a number of French Protestants. But the High +Church candidates, Cross and Medlicott, were returned by large majorities, +though the Whigs had chosen popular candidates--General Stanhope, fresh from +his successes in Spain, and Sir Henry Dutton Colt, a Herefordshire gentleman. + +28 Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676-1753), a distinguished antiquary, of an old +Norfolk family, was knighted by William III. in 1699, and inherited his +father's estate at Norfolk in 17O6. He succeeded Sir Isaac Newton as Warden +of the Mint in 1727, and was Vice-Chamberlain to Queen Caroline. He became +acquainted with Swift in Ireland in 1707, when he went over as Usher of the +Black Rod in Lord Pembroke's Court. + +29 See Letter 2, note 17. The Bishop was probably Dr. Moreton, Bishop of +Meath (see Journal, July 1, 1712). + +30 The game of ombre--of Spanish origin--is described in Pope's Rape of the +Lock. See also the Compleat Gamester, 1721, and Notes and Queries, April 8, +1871. The ace of spades, or Spadille, was always the first trump; the ace of +clubs (Basto) always the third. The second trump was the worst card of the +trump suit in its natural order, i.e. the seven in red and the deuce in black +suits, and was called Manille. If either of the red suits was trumps, the ace +of the suit was fourth trump (Punto). Spadille, Manille, and Basto were +"matadores," or murderers, as they never gave suit. + +31 See Letter 3, note 30, + +32 In the Spectator, No. 337, there is a complaint from "one of the top China +women about town," of the trouble given by ladies who turn over all the goods +in a shop without buying anything. Sometimes they cheapened tea, at others +examined screens or tea-dishes. + +33 The Right Hon. John Grubham Howe, M.P. for Gloucestershire, an extreme +Tory, had recently been appointed Paymaster of the Forces. He is mentioned +satirically as a patriot in sec. 9 of The Tale of a Tub. + +34 George Henry Hay, Viscount Dupplin, eldest son of the sixth Earl of +Kinnoull, was made a Teller of the Exchequer in August, and a peer of Great +Britain in December 1711, with the title of Baron Hay. He married, in 1709, +Abigail, Harley's younger daughter, and he succeeded his father in the earldom +of Kinnoull in 1719. + +35 Edward Harley, afterwards Lord Harley, who succeeded his father as Earl of +Oxford in 1724. He married Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, daughter of the +Duke of Newcastle, but died without male issue in 1741. His interest in +literature caused him to form the collection known as the Harleian Miscellany. + +36 William Penn (1644-1718), the celebrated founder of Pennsylvania. Swift +says that he "spoke very agreeably, and with much spirit." + +37 This "Memorial to Mr. Harley about the First-Fruits" is dated Oct. 7, 171O. + +38 Henry St. John, created Viscount Bolingbroke in July 1712. In the quarrel +between Oxford and Bolingbroke in 1714, Swift's sympathies were with Oxford. + +39 I.e., it is decreed by fate. So Tillotson says, "These things are fatal +and necessary." + +40 See Letter 3, note 8. + +41 Obscure. Hooker speaks of a "blind or secret corner." + +42 Ale served in a gill measure. + +43 Scott suggests that the allusion is to The Tale of a Tub. + +44 An extravagant compliment. + +45 See Letter 8. + +46 L'Estrange speaks of "trencher-flies and spungers." + +47 See Letter 1, note 10. + +48 Samuel Garth, physician and member of the Kit-Cat Club, was knighted in +1714. He is best known by his satirical poem, The Dispensary, 1699. + +49 Gay speaks of "Wondering Main, so fat, with laughing eyes" (Mr. Pope's +Welcome from Greece, st. xvii.). + +50 See Letter 5, note 10. + +51 See the letter of Oct. 10, 1710, to Archbishop King. + +52 See Letter 1. + +53 Seventy-three lines in folio upon one page, and in a very small hand." +(Deane Swift). + +Letter 6. + +1. I.e., Lord Lieutenant. + +2 Tatler, No. 238. + +3 See Letter 1, note 12. + +4 Charles Coote, fourth Earl of Mountrath, and M.P. for Knaresborough. He +died unmarried in 1715. + +5 Henry Coote, Lord Mountrath's brother. He succeeded to the earldom in 1715, +but died unmarried in 172O. + +6 The Devil Tavern was the meeting-place of Ben Jonson's Apollo Club. The +house was pulled down in 1787. + +7 Addison was re-elected M.P. for Malmesbury in Oct. 171O, and he kept that +seat until his death in 1719. + +8 Captain Charles Lavallee, who served in the Cadiz Expedition of 1702, and +was appointed a captain in Colonel Hans Hamilton's Regiment of Foot in 1706 +(Luttrell, v. 175, vi. 64O; Dalton's English Army Lists, iv. 126). + +9 See Letter 5. + +10 The Tatler, No. 23O, Sid Hamet's Rod, and the ballad (now lost) on the +Westminster Election. + +11 The Earl of Galway (1648-172O), who lost the battle of Almanza to the Duke +of Berwick in 1707. Originally the Marquis de Ruvigny, a French refugee, he +had been made Viscount Galway and Earl of Galway successively by William III. + +12 William Harrison, the son of a doctor at St. Cross, Winchester, had been +recommended to Swift by Addison, who obtained for him the post of governor to +the Duke of Queensberry's son. In Jan. 1711 Harrison began the issue of a +continuation of Steele's Tatler with Swift's assistance, but without success. +In May 1711, St. John gave Harrison the appointment of secretary to Lord Raby, +Ambassador Extraordinary at the Hague, and in Jan. 1713 Harrison brought the +Barrier Treaty to England. He died in the following month, at the age of +twenty-seven, and Lady Strafford says that "his brother poets buried him, as +Mr. Addison, Mr. Philips, and Dr. Swift." Tickell calls him "that much loved +youth," and Swift felt his death keenly. Harrison's best poem is Woodstock +Park, 1706. + +13 The last volume of Tonson's Miscellany, 1708. + +14 James Douglas, second Duke of Queensberry and Duke of Dover (1662-1711), +was appointed joint Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1708, and third Secretary of +State in 1709. Harrison must have been "governor" either to the third son, +Charles, Marquis of Beverley (born 1698), who succeeded to the dukedom in +1711, or to the fourth son, George, born in 1701. + +15 Anthony Henley, son of Sir Robert Henley, M.P. for Andover, was a favourite +with the wits in London. He was a strong Whig, and occasionally contributed +to the Tatler and Maynwaring's Medley. Garth dedicated The Dispensary to him. +Swift records Henley's death from apoplexy in August 1711. + +16 Sir William Ashurst, Sir Gilbert Heathcote, and Mr. John Ward were replaced +by Sir Richard Hoare, Sir George Newland, and Mr. John Cass at the election +for the City in 1710. Scott was wrong in saying that the Whigs lost also the +fourth seat, for Sir William Withers had been member for the City since 1707. + +17 Sir Richard Onslow, Bart., was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in +1708. Under George I. he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was elevated to +the peerage as Baron Onslow in 1716. He died in the following year. + +18 "The upper part of the letter was a little besmeared with some such stuff; +the mark is still on it" (Deane Swift). + +19 John Bolton, D.D., appointed a prebendary of St. Patrick's in 1691, became +Dean of Derry in 1699. He died in 1724. Like Swift, Bolton was chaplain to +Lord Berkeley, the Lord Lieutenant, and, according to Swift, he obtained the +deanery of Derry through Swift having declined to give a bribe of 1000 pounds +to Lord Berkeley's secretary. But Lord Orrery says that the Bishop of Derry +objected to Swift, fearing that he would be constantly flying backwards and +forwards between Ireland and England. + +20 See Letter 2, note 16. + +21 "That is, to the next page; for he is now within three lines of the bottom +of the first" (Deane Swift). + +22 See Letter 4, note 15. + +23 Joshua Dawson, secretary to the Lords Justices. He built a fine house in +Dawson Street, Dublin, and provided largely for his relatives by the aid of +the official patronage in his hands. + +24 He had been dead three weeks (see Letters 3 and 5). + +25 In The Importance of the Guardian Considered, Swift says that Steele, "to +avoid being discarded, thought fit to resign his place of Gazetteer." + +26 As Swift never used the name "Stella" in the Journal, this fragment of his +"little language" must have been altered by Deane Swift, the first editor. +Forster makes the excellent suggestion that the correct reading is +"sluttikins," a word used in the Journal on Nov. 28, 1710. Swift often calls +his correspondents "sluts." + +27 Godolphin, who was satirised in Sid Hamel's Rod (see Letter 2, note 3). + +28 No. 23O. + +29 "This appears to be an interjection of surprise at the length of his +journal" (Deane Swift). + +30 Matthew Prior, poet and diplomatist, had been deprived of his +Commissionership of Trade by the Whigs, but was rewarded for his Tory +principles in 1711 by a Commissionership of Customs. + +31 "The twentieth parts are 12 pence in the pound paid annually out of all +ecclesiastical benefices as they were valued at the Reformation. They amount +to about 500 pounds per annum; but are of little or no value to the Queen +after the offices and other charges are paid, though of much trouble and +vexation to the clergy" (Swift's "Memorial to Mr. Harley"). + +32 Charles Mordaunt, the brilliant but erratic Earl of Peterborough, had been +engaged for two years, after the unsatisfactory inquiry into his conduct in +Spain by the House of Lords in 17O8, in preparing an account of the money he +had received and expended. The change of Government brought him relief from +his troubles; in November he was made Captain-General of Marines, and in +December he was nominated Ambassador Extraordinary to Vienna. + +33 Tapped, nudged. + +34 I.e., told only to you. + +35 Sir Hew Dalrymple (1652-1737), Lord President of the Court of Session, and +son of the first Viscount Stair. + +36 Robert Benson, a moderate Tory, was made a Lord of the Treasury in August +1710, and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the following June, and was raised to +the peerage as Baron Bingley in 1713. He died in 1731. + +37 The Smyrna Coffee-house was on the north side of Pall Mall, opposite +Marlborough House. In the Tatler (Nos. 10, 78) Steele laughed at the "cluster +of wise heads" to be found every evening at the Smyrna; and Goldsmith says +that Beau Nash would wait a whole day at a window at the Smyrna, in order to +receive a bow from the Prince or the Duchess of Marlborough, and would then +look round upon the company for admiration and respect. + +38 See Letter 4, note 14. + +39 See Letter 5, note 17. + +40 An Irish doctor, with whom Swift invested money. + +41 Enoch Sterne, Collector of Wicklow and Clerk to the House of Lords in +Ireland. + +42 Claret. + +43 Colonel Ambrose Edgworth, a famous dandy, who is supposed to have been +referred to by Steele in No. 246 of the Tatler. Edgworth was the son of Sir +John Edgworth, who was made Colonel of a Regiment of Foot in 1689 (Dalton, +iii, 59). Ambrose Edgworth was a Captain in the same regiment, but father and +son were shortly afterwards turned out of the regiment for dishonest conduct +in connection with the soldiers' clothing. Ambrose was, however, reappointed +a Captain in General Eric's Regiment of Foot in 1691. He served in Spain as +Major in Brigadier Gorge's regiment; was taken prisoner in 1706; and was +appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of Colonel Thomas Allen's Regiment of Foot in +17O7. + +44 This volume of Miscellanies in Prose and Verse was published by Morphew in +1711. + +45 Dr. Thomas Lindsay, afterwards Bishop of Raphoe. + + +Letter 7. + +1 The first mention of the Vanhomrighs in the Journal. Swift had made their +acquaintance when he was in London in 1708. + +2 Lady Elizabeth and Lady Mary (see Letter 3, note 40 and below). + +3 John, third Lord Ashburnham, and afterwards Earl of Ashburnham (1687-1737), +married, on Oct. 21, 1710, Lady Mary Butler, younger daughter of the Duke of +Ormond. She died on Jan. 2, 1712-3, in her twenty-third year. She was +Swift's "greatest favourite," and he was much moved at her death. + +4 Edward Wortley Montagu, grandson of the first Earl of Sandwich, and M.P. for +Huntingdon. He was a great friend of Addison's, and the second volume of the +Tatler was dedicated to him. In 1712 he married the famous Lady Mary +Pierrepont, eldest daughter of the Duke of Kingston, and under George I. he +became Ambassador Extraordinary to the Porte. He died in 1761, aged eighty. + +5 See Letter 5, note 27. No copy of these verses is known. + +6 Henry Alexander, fifth Earl of Stirling, who died without issue in 1739. +His sister, Lady Judith Alexander, married Sir William Trumbull, Pope's +friend. + +7 "These words, notwithstanding their great obscurity at present, were very +clear and intelligible to Mrs. Johnson: they referred to conversations, which +passed between her and Dr. Tisdall seven or eight years before; when the +Doctor, who was not only a learned and faithful divine, but a zealous Church- +Tory, frequently entertained her with Convocation disputes. This gentleman, +in the year 17O4, paid his addresses to Mrs. Johnson" (Deane Swift). The Rev. +William Tisdall was made D.D. in 17O7. Swift never forgave Tisdall's proposal +to marry Esther Johnson in 17O4, and often gave expression to his contempt for +him. In 1706 Tisdall married, and was appointed Vicar of Kerry and Ruavon; in +1712 he became Vicar of Belfast. He published several controversial pieces, +directed against Presbyterians and other Dissenters. + +8 No. 193 of the Tatler, for July 4, 1710, contained a letter from Downes the +Prompter in ridicule of Harley's newly formed Ministry. This letter, the +authorship of which Steele disavowed, was probably by Anthony Henley. + +9 William Berkeley, fourth Baron Berkeley of Stratton, was sworn of the Privy +Council in September 1710, and was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of +Lancaster. He married Frances, youngest daughter of Sir John Temple, of East +Sheen, Surrey, and died in 174O. + +10 Probably the widow of Sir William Temple's son, John Temple (see Letter 2, +note 13). She was Mary Duplessis, daughter of Duplessis Rambouillet, a +Huguenot. + +11 The Rev. James Sartre, who married Addison's sister Dorothy, was Prebendary +and Archdeacon of Westminster. He had formerly been French pastor at +Montpelier. After his death in 1713 his widow married a Mr. Combe, and lived +until 175O. + +12 William Congreve's last play was produced in 1700. In 1710, when he was +forty, he published a collected edition of his works. Swift and Congreve had +been schoolfellows at Kilkenny, and they had both been pupils of St. George +Ashe--afterwards Bishop of Clogher--at Trinity College, Dublin. On Congreve's +death, in 1729, Swift wrote, "I loved him from my youth." + +13 See Letter 4, note 11. + +14 Dean Sterne. + +15 See Letter 6, note 19. + +16 When he became Dean he withheld from Swift the living of St. Nicholas +Without, promised in gratitude for the aid rendered by Swift in his election. + +17 Crowe was a Commissioner for Appeals from the Revenue Commissioners for a +short time in 17O6, and was Recorder of Blessington, Co. Wicklow. In his +Short Character of Thomas, Earl of Wharton, 1710, Swift speaks of Whartons +"barbarous injustice to. . . poor Will Crowe." + +18 See Letter 3, note 10. + +19 See Letter 3, note 35. + +20 See Letter 1, note 15. + +21 Richard Tighe, M.P. for Belturbet, was a Whig, much disliked by Swift. He +became a Privy Councillor under George I. + +22 Dryden Leach, of the Old Bailey, formerly an actor, was son of Francis +Leach. Swift recommended Harrison to employ Leach in printing the +continuation of the Tatler; but Harrison discarded him. (See Journal, Jan. +16, 1710-11, and Timperley's Literary Anecdotes, 600, 631). + +23 The Postman, which appeared three days in the week, written by M. Fonvive, +a French Protestant, whom Dunton calls "the glory and mirror of news writers, +a very grave, learned, orthodox man." Fonvive had a universal system of +intelligence, at home and abroad, and "as his news is early and good, so his +style is excellent." + +24 Sir William Temple left Esther Johnson the lease of some property in +Ireland. + +25 See Letter 5, note 23. + +26 An out-of-the-way or obscure house. So Pepys (Diary, Oct. 15, 1661) "To +St. Paul's Churchyard to a blind place where Mr. Goldsborough was to meet me." + +27 Sir Richard Temple, Bart., of Stowe, a Lieutenant-General who saw much +service in Flanders, was dismissed in 1713 owing to his Whig views, but on the +accession of George I. was raised to the peerage, and was created Viscount +Cobham in 1718. He died in 1749. Congreve wrote in praise of him, and he was +the "brave Cobham" of Pope's first Moral Essay. + +28 Richard Estcourt, the actor, died in August 1712, when his abilities on the +stage and as a talker were celebrated by Steele to No. 468 of the Spectator. +See also Tatler, Aug. 6, 17O9, and Spectator, May 5, 1712. Estcourt was +"providore" of the Beef-Steak Club, and a few months before his death opened +the Bumper Tavern in James Street, Covent Garden. + +29 See Letter 5, note 49. + +30 Poor, mean. Elsewhere Swift speaks of "the corrector of a hedge press in +Little Britain," and "a little hedge vicar." + +31 Thomas Herbert, eighth Earl of Pembroke, was Lord Lieutenant from April +17O7 to December 17O8. A nobleman of taste and learning, he was, like Swift, +very fond of punning, and they had been great friends in Ireland. + +32 See Letter 3, note 11. + +33 See Letter 3, note 18. + +34 A small town and fortress in what is now the Pas de Calais. + +35 Richard Stewart, third son of the first Lord Mountjoy (see Letter 1, note +11), was M.P. at various times for Castlebar, Strabane, and County Tyrone. He +died in 1728. + +Letter 8. + +1 See Letter 3, note 1. + +2 Swift, Esther Johnson, and Mrs. Dingley seem to have begun their financial +year on the 1st of November. Swift refers to "MD's allowance" in the Journal +for April 23, 1713. + +3 Samuel Dopping, an Irish friend of Stella's, who was probably related to +Anthony Dopping, Bishop of Meath (died 1697), and to his son Anthony (died +1743), who became Bishop of Ossory. + +4 See Letter 2, note 17. + +5 The wife of Alderman Stoyte, afterwards Lord Mayor of Dublin. Mrs. Stoyte +and her sister Catherine; the Walls; Isaac Manley and his wife; Dean Sterne, +Esther Johnson and Mrs. Dingley, and Swift, were the principal members of a +card club which met at each other's houses for a number of years. + +6 See Letter 1, note 12. + +7 "This cypher stands for Presto, Stella, and Dingley; as much as to say, it +looks like us three quite retired from all the rest of the world" (Deane +Swift). + +8 Steele's "dear Prue," Mary Scurlock, whom he married as his second wife in +17O7, was a lady of property and a "cried-up beauty." She was somewhat of a +prude, and did not hesitate to complain to her husband, in and out of season, +of his extravagance and other weaknesses. The other lady to whom Swift +alludes is probably the Duchess of Marlborough. + +9 See Letter 7, note 7. + +10 Remembers: an Irish expression. + +11 This new Commission, signed by Narcissus Marsh, Archbishop of Armagh, and +William King, was dated Oct. 24, 1710. In this document Swift was begged to +take the full management of the business of the First-Fruits into his hands, +the Bishops of Ossory and Killala--who were to have joined with him in the +negotiations--having left London before Swift arrived. But before this +commission was despatched the Queen had granted the First-Fruits and Twentieth +Parts to the Irish clergy. + +12 Lady Mountjoy, wife of the second Viscount Mountjoy (see Letter 1), was +Anne, youngest daughter of Murrough Boyle, first Viscount Blessington, by his +second wife, Anne, daughter of Charles Coote, second Earl of Mountrath. After +Lord Mountjoy's death she married John Farquharson, and she died in 1741. + +13 Forster suggests that Swift wrote "Frond " or "Frowde" and there is every +reason to believe that this was the case. No Colonel Proud appears in +Dalton's Army Lists. A Colonel William Frowde, apparently third son of Sir +Philip Frowde, Knight, by his third wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir John +Ashburnham, was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in Colonel Farrington's (see note +18) Regiment of Foot in 1694. He resigned his commission on his appointment +to the First Life Guards in 17O2, and he was in this latter regiment in 17O4. +In November and December 1711 Swift wrote of Philip Frowde the elder (Colonel +William Frowde's brother) as "an old fool," in monetary difficulties. It is +probable that Swift's Colonel Proud (? Frowde) was not Colonel William Frowde, +but his nephew, Philip Frowde, junior, who was Addison's friend at Oxford, and +the author of two tragedies and various poems. Nothing seems known of Philip +Frowde's connection with the army, but he is certainly called "Colonel" by +Swift, Addison, and Pope (see Forster's Swift, 159; Addison's Works, v. 324; +Pope's Works, v. 177, vi. 227). Swift wrote to Ambrose Philips in 17O5, "Col. +Frond is just as he was, very friendly and grand reveur et distrait. He has +brought his poems almost to perfection." It will be observed that when Swift +met Colonel "Proud" he was in company with Addison, as was also the case when +he was with Colonel "Freind" (see Letter 3, note 25). + +14 Charles Davenant, LL.D., educated at Balliol College, Oxford, was the +eldest son of Sir William Davenant, author of Gondibert. In Parliament he +attacked Ministerial abuses with great bitterness until, in 17O3, he was made +secretary to the Commissioners appointed to treat for a union with Scotland. +To this post was added, in 17O5, an Inspector-Generalship of Exports and +Imports, which he retained until his death in 1714. Tom Double, a satire on +his change of front after obtaining his place, was published in 17O4. In a +Note on Macky's character of Davenant, Swift says, "He ruined his estate, +which put him under a necessity to comply with the times." Davenant's True +Picture of a Modern Whig, in Two Parts, appeared in 17O1-2; in 17O7 he +published "The True Picture of a Modern Whig revived, set forth in a third +dialogue between Whiglove and Double," which seems to be the piece mentioned +in the text, though Swift speaks of the pamphlet as "lately put out." + +15 Hugh Chamberlen, the younger (1664-1728), was a Fellow of the College of +Physicians and Censor in 17O7, 1717, and 1721. Atterbury and the Duchess of +Buckingham and Normanby were among his fashionable patients. His father, Hugh +Chamberlen, M.D., was the author of the Land Bank Scheme of 1693-94. + +16 Sir John Holland (see Letter 3, note 28). + +17 Swift may mean either rambling or gambolling. + +18 Thomas Farrington was appointed Colonel of the newly raised 29th Regiment +of Foot in 17O2. He was a subscriber for a copy of the Tatler on royal paper +(Aitken, Life of Steele, i. 329, 33O). + +19 In The History of Vanbrugh's House, Swift described everyone as hunting for +it up and down the river banks, and unable to find it, until at length they-- + + "-- in the rubbish spy + A thing resembling a goose pie." + +Sir John Vanbrugh was more successful as a dramatist than as an architect, +though his work at Blenheim and elsewhere has many merits. + +20 For the successes of the last campaign. + +21 John Sheffield, third Earl of Mulgrave, was created Duke of Buckingham and +Normanby in 17O3, and died in 1721. On Queen Anne's accession he became Lord +Privy Seal, and on the return of the Tories to power in 1710 he was Lord +Steward, and afterward (June 1710) Lord President of the Council. The Duke +was a poet, as well as a soldier and statesman, his best known work being the +Essay on Poetry. He was Dryden's patron, and Pope prepared a collected +edition of his works. + +22 Laurence Hyde, created Earl of Rochester in 1682, died in 1711. He was the +Hushai of Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, "the friend of David in distress." +In 1684 he was made Lord President of the Council, and on the accession of +James II., Lord Treasurer; he was, however, dismissed in 1687. Under William +III. Rochester was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, an office he resigned in 17O3; +and in September 1710 he again became Lord President. His imperious temper +always stood in the way of popularity or real success. + +23 Sir Thomas Osborne, Charles II.'s famous Minister, was elevated to the +peerage in 1673, and afterwards was made successively Earl of Danby, Marquis +of Caermarthen, and Duke of Leeds. On Nov. 29, 1710, a few days after this +reference to him, the Duke was granted a pension of 3500 pounds a year out of +the Post Office revenues. He died in July 1712, aged eighty-one, and soon +afterwards his grandson married Lord Oxford's daughter. + +24 This is, of course, a joke; Swift was never introduced at Court. + +25 Captain Delaval (see Letter 5, note 6). + +26 Admiral Sir Charles Wager (1666-1743) served in the West Indies from 17O7 +to 17O9, and gained great wealth from the prizes he took. Under George I. he +was Comptroller of the Navy, and in 1733 he became First Lord of the +Admiralty, a post which he held until 1742. + +27 See Letter 7, note 27. + +28 See Letter 5, note 13. + +29 Isaac Bickerstaff's "valentine" sent him a nightcap, finely wrought by a +maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth (Tatler, No. 141). The "nightcap" was a +periwig with a short tie and small round head, and embroidered nightcaps were +worn chiefly by members of the graver professions. + +30 Tatler, No. 237. + +31 Tatler, No. 23O. + +32 "Returning home at night, you'll find the sink + Strike your offended sense with double stink." + ("Description of a City Shower, 11. 5, 6.) + +33 Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. + +34 See Letter 1, note 3. + +35 See Letter 8, note 5. + +36 See Letter 6, note 4. + +37 See Letter 1, note 11. + +38 The bellman's accents. Cf. Pepys' Diary, Jan. 16, 1659-60: "I staid up +till the bellman came by with his bell just under my window as I was writing +of this very line, and cried, 'Past one of the clock, and a cold, frosty, +windy morning.'" + + + +Letter 9. + +1 John Freind, M.D. (1675-1728), was a younger brother of the Robert Freind, +of Westminster School, mentioned elsewhere in the Journal. Educated under Dr. +Busby at Westminster, he was in 1694 elected a student of Christ Church, where +he made the acquaintance of Atterbury, and supported Boyle against Bentley in +the dispute as to the authorship of the letters of Phalaris. In 1705 he +attended the Earl of Peterborough to Spain, and in the following year wrote a +defence of that commander (Account of the Earl of Peterborough's Conduct in +Spain). A steady Tory, he took a share in the defence of Dr. Sacheverell; and +in 1723, when M.P. for Launceston, he fell under the suspicion of the +Government, and was sent to the Tower. On the accession of George II., +however, he came into favour with the Court, and died Physician to the Queen. + +2 See Letter 8, note 19. + +3 St. John was thirty-two in October 1710. He had been Secretary at War six +years before, resigning with Harley in 1707. Swift repeats this comparison +elsewhere. Temple was forty-six when he refused a Secretaryship of State in +1674. + +4 Sir Henry St. John seems to have continued a gay man to the end of his life. +In his youth he was tried and convicted for the murder of Sir William Estcourt +in a duel (Scott). In 1716, after his son had been attainted, he was made +Viscount St. John. He died in 1742, aged ninety. + +5 "Swift delighted to let his pen run into such rhymes as these, which he +generally passes off as old proverbs" (Scott). Many of the charming scraps of +"Old Ballads" and "Old Plays" at the head of Scott's own chapters are in +reality the result of his own imagination. + +6 See Letter 3, note 18. + +7 Sir Richard Levinge, Bart., had been Solicitor-General for Ireland from 1704 +to 1709, and was Attorney-General from 1711 to 1714. Afterwards he was +Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and Chief-Justice of the Common Pleas in +Ireland. + +8 See Letter 2, note 18. + +9 Thomas Belasyse, second Viscount Fauconberg, or Falconbridge (died 1700), a +nobleman of hereditary loyalty, married, in 1657, the Protector's youngest +daughter, Mary Cromwell, who is represented as a lady of high talent and +spirit. She died on March 14, 1712. Burnet describes her as "a wise and +worthy woman," who would have had a better prospect of maintaining her +father's post than either of her brothers. + +10 Richard Freeman, Chief Baron, was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1707 +until his death in November 1710. + +11 See Letter 7, note 17. + +12 Sir Richard Cox, Bart. (1650-1733), was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from +1703 to 1707. In 1711 he was appointed Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench, +but he was removed from office on the death of Queen Anne. His zealous +Protestantism sometimes caused his views to be warped, but he was honest and +well-principled. + +13 Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bart. (1676-1746), succeeded Bromley as Speaker in 1714. +In February 1713 Swift said, "He is the most considerable man in the House of +Commons." His edition of Shakespeare was published by the University of +Oxford in 1743-44. Pope called it "pompous," and sneered at Hanmer's +"superior air" (Dunciad, iv. 105). + +14 See Letter 5, note 8. + +15 Elliot was keeper of the St. James's Coffee-house (see Letter 1). + +16 Forster suggested that the true reading is "writhing." If so, it is not +necessary to suppose that Lady Giffard was the cause of it. Perhaps it is the +word "tiger" that is corrupt. + +17 The Hon. Charles Boyle (1676-1731), of the Boyle and Bentley controversy, +succeeded to the peerage as Lord Orrery in 1703. When he settled in London he +became the centre of a Christ Church set, a strong adherent of Harley's party, +and a member of Swift's "club." His son John, fifth Earl of Orrery, published +Remarks on the Life and Writings of Jonathan Swift in 1751. + +18 William Domville, a landed proprietor in County Dublin, whom Swift called +"perfectly as fine a gentleman as I know." + +19 On May 16, 1711, Swift wrote, "There will be an old to do." The word is +found in Elizabethan writers in the sense of "more than enough." Cf. Macbeth, +ii. 3: "If a man were porter of hell gate, he should have old turning the +key." + +20 See Letter 3, note 10. Clements was related to Pratt, the Deputy Vice- +Treasurer, and was probably the Robert Clements who became Deputy Vice- +Treasurer, and whose grandson Robert was created Earl of Leitrim in 1795. + +21 Letter 5, note 11. + +22 Swift's sister Jane, who had married a currier in Bride Street, named +Joseph Fenton, a match to which Swift strongly objected. Deane Swift says +that Swift never saw his sister again after the marriage; he had offered her +500 pounds if she would show a "proper disdain" of Fenton. On her husband's +dying bankrupt, however, Swift paid her an annuity until 1738, when she died +in the same lodging with Esther Johnson's mother, Mrs. Bridget Mose, at +Farnham (Forster's Swift, pp. 118-19). + +23 Welbore Ellis, appointed Bishop of Kildare in 1705. He was translated to +Meath in 1731, and died three years later. + +24 The expression of the Archbishop is, "I am not to conceal from you that +some expressed a little jealously, that you would not be acceptable to the +present courtiers; intimating that you were under the reputation of being a +favourite of the late party in power" (King to Swift, Nov. 2, 1710). + +25 This indignant letter is dated Nov. 23, 1710. It produced an apologetic +reply from the Archbishop (Nov. 30, 1710), who represented that the letter to +Southwell was a snare laid in his way, since if he declined signing it, it +might have been interpreted into disrespect to the Duke of Ormond. Of the +bishops King said, "You cannot do yourself a greater service than to bring +this to a good issue, to their shame and conviction." + + + +Letter 10. + +1 William Bromley (died 1732) was M.P. for the University of Oxford. A good +debater and a strong High Churchman, he was Secretary of State from August +1713 until the Queen's death in the following year. + +2 Colonel, afterwards Major-General, John Hill (died 1735) was younger brother +of Mrs. Masham, the Queen's favourite, and a poor relation of the Duchess of +Marlborough. He was wounded at Mons in 1709, and in 1711 was sent on an +unsuccessful expedition to attack the French settlements in North America. In +1713 he was appointed to command the troops at Dunkirk. + +3 "The footmen in attendance at the Houses of Parliament used at this time to +form themselves into a deliberative body, and usually debated the same points +with their masters. It was jocularly said that several questions were lost by +the Court party in the menial House of Lords which were carried triumphantly +in the real assembly; which was at length explained by a discovery that the +Scottish peers whose votes were sometimes decisive of a question had but few +representatives in the convocation of lacqueys. The sable attendant mentioned +by Swift, being an appendage of the brother of Mrs. Masham, the reigning +favourite, had a title to the chair, the Court and Tory interest being exerted +in his favour" (Scott). Steele alludes to the "Footmen's Parliament" in No. +88 of the Spectator. + +4 See Letter 1, note 3. + +5 A Court of Equity abolished in the reign of Charles I. It met in the Camera +Alba, or Whitehall, and the room appears to have retained the name of the old +Court. + +6 See Letter 6, note 2. + +7 Swift's first contribution to the Examiner (No. 13) is dated Nov. 2, 1710. + +8 Seduced, induced. Dryden (Spanish Friar) has "To debauch a king to break +his laws." + +9 Freeman (see Letter 9, note 10). + +10 "To make this intelligible, it is necessary to observe, that the words +'this fortnight', in the preceding sentence, were first written in what he +calls their little language, and afterwards scratched out and written plain. +It must be confessed this little language, which passed current between Swift +and Stella, has occasioned infinite trouble in the revisal of these papers" +(Deane Swift). + +11 Trim. An attack upon the liberties of this corporation is among the +political offences of Wharton's Lieutenancy of Ireland set forth in Swift's +Short Character of the Earl of Wharton. + +12 Apologies. + +13 "A Description of the Morning," in No. 9 of the Tatler. + +14 See Letter 6, note 19. + +15 William Palliser (died 1726). + +16 See Letter 4, note 15. + +17 "Here he writ with his eyes shut; and the writing is somewhat crooked, +although as well in other respects as if his eyes had been open" (Deane +Swift). + +18 Tatler, No. 249; cf. p. 93. During this visit to London Swift contributed +to only three Tatlers, viz. Nos. 230, 238, and 258. + +19 St. Andrew's Day. + +20 No. 241. + +21 Tatler, No. 258. + +22 Lieutenant-General Philip Bragg, Colonel of the 28th Regiment of Foot, and +M.P. for Armagh, died in 1759. + +23 James Cecil, fifth Earl of Salisbury, who died in 1728. + +24 See Letter 2, note 13. + +25 See Letter 8, note 22. + +26 Kneller seems never to have painted Swift's portrait. + +27 On Nov. 25 and 28. + +28 Arthur Annesley, M.P. for Cambridge University, had recently become fifth +Earl of Anglesea, on the death of his brother (see Letter 3, note 35). Under +George I. he was Joint Treasurer of Ireland, and Treasurer at War. + +29 A Short Character of the Earl of Wharton, by Swift himself, though the +authorship was not suspected at the time. "Archbishop King," says Scott, +"would have hardly otherwise ventured to mention it to Swift in his letter of +Jan. 9, 1710, as 'a wound given in the dark.'" Elsewhere, however, in a note, +Swift hints that Archbishop King was really aware of the authorship of the +pamphlet. + +30 A false report. (See Letter 11, note 4.) + +31 None of these Commissioners of Revenue lost their places at this time. +Samuel Ogle was Commissioner from 1699 to 1714; John South from 1696 until his +death in 1711; and Sir William St. Quintin, Bart., from 1706 to 1713. Stephen +Ludlow succeeded South in September 1711. + +32 See Letter 7, note 35. + +33 James Hamilton, sixth Earl of Abercorn (1656-1734), a Scotch peer who had +strongly supported the Union of 1706. + + + +Letter 11. + +1 L'Estrange speaks of "insipid twittle twattles." Johnson calls this "a vile +word." + +2 A cousin of Swift's; probably a son of William Swift. + +3 Nicholas Sankey (died 1722) succeeded Lord Lovelace as Colonel of a Regiment +of Foot in Ireland in 1689. He became Brigadier-General in 1704, Major- +General 1707, and Lieutenant-General 1710. He served in Spain, and was taken +prisoner at the battle of the Caya in 1709. + +4 See Letter 10, note 30. + +5 The Earl of Abercorn (see Letter 10, note 33) married, in 1686, Elizabeth, +only child of Sir Robert Reading, Bart., of Dublin, by Jane, Dowager Countess +of Mountrath. Lady Abercorn survived her husband twenty years, dying in 1754, +aged eighty-six. + +6 Charles Lennox, first Duke of Richmond and Gordon (1672-1723), was the +illegitimate son of Charles II. by Madame de Querouaille. + +7 Sir Robert Raymond, afterwards Lord Raymond (1673-1733), M.P. for Bishop's +Castle, Shropshire, was appointed Solicitor-General in May 1710, and was +knighted in October. He was removed from office on the accession of George +I., but was made Attorney-General in 1720, and in 1724 became a judge of the +King's Bench. In the following year he was made Lord Chief-Justice, and was +distinguished both for his learning and his impartiality. + +8 Lynn-Regis. + +9 Richard Savage, fourth Earl Rivers, the father of Richard Savage, the poet. +Under the Whigs Lord Rivers was Envoy to Hanover; and after his conversion by +Harley, he was Constable of the Tower under the Tories. He died in 1712. + +10 Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland from 1695 until his death in 1717. + +11 Lord Shelburne's clever sister, Anne, only daughter of Sir William Petty, +and wife of Thomas Fitzmaurice, Lord of Kerry, afterwards created first Earl +of Kerry. + +12 Mrs. Pratt, an Irish friend of Lady Kerry, lodged at Lord Shelburne's +during her visit to London. The reference to Clements (see Letter 9, note +20), Pratt's relative, in the Journal for April 14, 1711, makes it clear that +Mrs. Pratt was the wife of the Deputy Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, to whom Swift +often alludes (see Letter 3, note 10). + +13 Lieutenant-General Thomas Meredith, Major-General Maccartney, and Brigadier +Philip Honeywood. They alleged that their offence only amounted to drinking a +health to the Duke of Marlborough, and confusion to his enemies. But the +Government said that an example must be made, because various officers had +dropped dangerous expressions about standing by their General, Marlborough, +who was believed to be aiming at being made Captain General for life. For +Maccartney see the Journal for Nov. 15, 1712, seq. Meredith, who was +appointed Adjutant-General of the Forces in 1701, was made a Lieutenant- +General in 1708. He saw much service under William III., and Marlborough, and +was elected M.P. for Midhurst in 1709. He died in 1719 (Dalton's Army Lists, +III. 181). Honeywood entered the army in 1694; was at Namur; and was made a +Brigadier-General before 1711. After the accession of George I. he became +Colonel of a Regiment of Dragoons, and commanded a division at Dettingen. At +his death in 1752 he was acting as Governor of Portsmouth, with the rank of +General (Dalton, iv. 30). + +14 Or "malkin"; a counterfeit, or scarecrow. + +15 William Cadogan, Lieutenant-General and afterwards Earl Cadogan (1675- +1726), a great friend of Marlborough, was Envoy to the United Provinces and +Spanish Flanders. Cadogan retained the post of Lieutenant to the Tower until +1715. + +16 Earl Cadogan's father, Henry Cadogan, barrister, married Bridget, daughter +of Sir Hardresse Waller, and sister of Elizabeth, Baroness Shelburne in her +own right. + +17 See Letter 5, note 30. + +18 Cadogan married Margaretta, daughter of William Munter, Counsellor of the +Court of Holland. + +19 Presumably the eldest son, William, who succeeded his father as second Earl +of Kerry in 1741, and died in 1747. He was at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, +and was afterwards a Colonel in the Coldstream Guards. + +20 Henry Petty, third Lord Shelburne, who became Earl of Shelburne in 1719. +His son predeceased him, without issue, and on Lord Shelburne's death, in +1751, his honours became extinct. His daughter Anne also died without issue. + +21 The menagerie, which had been one of the sights of London, was removed from +the Tower in 1834. In his account of the Tory Fox Hunter in No. 47 of the +Freeholder, Addison says, "Our first visit was to the lions." + +22 Bethlehem Hospital, for lunatics, in Moorfields, was a popular "sight" in +the eighteenth century. Cf. the Tatler, No. 30: "On Tuesday last I took +three lads, who are under my guardianship, a rambling, in a hackney coach, to +show them the town: as the lions, the tombs, Bedlam." + +23 The Royal Society met at Gresham College from 1660 to 1710. The professors +of the College lectured on divinity, civil law, astronomy, music, geometry, +rhetoric, and physic. + +24 The most important of the puppet-shows was Powell's, in the Little Piazza, +Covent Garden, which is frequently mentioned in the Tatler. + +25 The precise nature this negligent costume is not known, but it is always +decried by popular writers of the time. + +26 Retched. Bacon has "Patients must not keck at them at the first." + +27 Swift was born on November 30. + +28 Mrs. De la Riviere Manley, daughter of Sir Roger Manley, and cousin of John +Manley, M.P., and Isaac Manley (see Letter 3, note 3), wrote poems and plays, +but is best known for her "Secret Memoirs and Manners of Several Persons of +Quality, of both sexes. From the New Atalantis, 1709," a book abounding in +scandalous references to her contemporaries. She was arrested in October, but +was discharged in Feb. 1710. In May 1710 she brought out a continuation of +the New Atalantis, called "Memoirs of Europe towards the Close of the Eighth +Century." In June 1711 she became editress of the Tory Examiner, and wrote +political pamphlets with Swift's assistance. Afterwards she lived with +Alderman Barber, the printer, at whose office she died in 1724. In her will +she mentioned her "much honoured friend, the Dean of St. Patrick, Dr. Swift." + +29 "He seems to have written these words in a whim; for the sake of what +follows" (Deane Swift). + +30 See Letter 8, note 33. + +31 No. 249 (see Letter 10, note 18). + +32 See Letter 5, note 34. + +33 In a letter to the Rev. Dr. Tisdall, of Dec. 16, 1703, Swift said: "I'll +teach you a way to outwit Mrs. Johnson: it is a new-fashioned way of being +witty, and they call it a bite. You must ask a bantering question, or tell +some damned lie in a serious manner, and then she will answer or speak as if +you were in earnest; and then cry you, 'Madam, there's a bite!' I would not +have you undervalue this, for it is the constant amusement in Court, and +everywhere else among the great people." See, too, the Tatler, No. 12, and +Spectator, Nos. 47, 504: "In a word, a Biter is one who thinks you a fool, +because you do not think him a knave." + +34 See Letter 9, note 4. + +35 "As I hope to be saved;" a favourite phrase in the Journal. + +36 See Letter 7, note 12. + +37 This statement receives some confirmation from a pamphlet published in +September 1710, called "A Condoling Letter to the Tatler: On Account of the +Misfortunes of Isaac Bickerstaf Esq., a Prisoner in the ---- on Suspicion of +Debt." + +38 Dr. Lambert, chaplain to Lord Wharton, was censured in Convocation for +being the author of a libellous letter. + +39 Probably the same person as Dr. Griffith, spoken of in the Journal for +March 3, 1713,--when he was ill,--as having been "very tender of" Stella. + +40 See Letter 9, note 22. + +41 Vexed, offended. Elsewhere Swift wrote, "I am apt to grate the ears of +more than I could wish." + +42 Ambrose Philips, whose Pastorals had been published in the same volume of +Tonson's Miscellany as Pope's. Two years later Swift wrote, "I should +certainly have provided for him had he not run party mad." In 1712 his play, +The Distrest Mother, received flattering notice in the Spectator, and in 1713, +to Pope's annoyance, Philips' Pastorals were praised in the Guardian. His +pretty poems to children led Henry Carey to nickname him "Namby Pamby." + +43 An equestrian statue of William III., in College Green, Dublin. It was +common, in the days of party, for students of the University of Dublin to play +tricks with this statue. + +44 Lieutenant-General Richard Ingoldsby (died 1712) was Commander of the +Forces in Ireland, and one of the Lords Justices in the absence of the Lord +Lieutenant. + +45 This seems to have been a mistake; cf. Journal for July 13, 1711, Alan +Brodrick, afterwards Viscount Midleton, a Whig politician and lawyer, was made +Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench in Ireland in 1709, but was removed from +office in June 1711, when Sir Richard Cox succeeded him. On the accession of +George I. he was appointed Lord Chancellor for Ireland. Afterwards he +declined to accept the dedication to him of Swift's Drapiers Letters, and +supported the prosecution of the author. He died in 1728. + +46 Robert Doyne was appointed Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland in 1695, +and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1703. This appointment was revoked +on the accession of George I. + +47 See Letter 9, note 12. + +48 Of the University of Dublin. + +49 See Letter 2, note 18 and Letter 3, note 4. Sir Thomas Frankland's eldest +son, Thomas, who afterwards succeeded to the baronetcy, acquired a fortune +with his first wife, Dinah, daughter of Francis Topham, of Agelthorpe, +Yorkshire. He died in 1747. + +50 See Letter 8, note 21. + +51 see Letter 4, note 15. + +52 Mary, daughter of Sir John Williams, Bart., and widow of Charles Petty, +second Lord Shelburne, who died in 1696. She had married, as her second +husband, Major-General Conyngham, and, as her third husband, Colonel Dallway. + +53 Dr. John Vesey became Bishop of Limerick in 1672, and Archbishop of Tuam in +1678. He died in 1716. + +54 See Letter 3, note 39. + +55 Sex. + +56 Toby Caulfeild, third son of the fifth Lord Charlemont. In 1689 he was +Colonel to the Earl of Drogheda's Regiment of Foot, and about 1705 he +succeeded to the command of Lord Skerrin's Regiment of Foot. After serving in +Spain his regiment was reduced, having lost most of its men (Luttrell, vi. +158). + +57 John Campbell, second Duke of Argyle (1680-1743), was installed a Knight of +the Garter in December 1710, after he had successfully opposed a vote of +thanks to Marlborough, with whom he had quarrelled. It was of this nobleman +that Pope wrote-- + "Argyle, the State's whole thunder born to wield, + And shake alike the senate and the field." +In a note to Macky's Memoirs, Swift describes the Duke as an "ambitious, +covetous, cunning Scot, who had no principle but his own interests and +greatness." + +58 Harley's second wife, Sarah, daughter of Simon Middleton, of Edmonton, and +sister of Sir Hugh Middleton, Bart. She died, without issue, in 1737. + +59 Elizabeth Harley, then unmarried, the daughter of Harley's first wife, +Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Foley, of Whitley Court, Worcestershire. She +subsequently married the Marquis of Caermarthen, afterwards Duke of Leeds. + +60 Harcourt (see Letter 3, note 24). + +61 William Stawel, the third baron, who succeeded to the title in 1692, was +half-brother to the second Baron Stawel. The brother here referred to was +Edward, who succeeded to the title as fourth baron in 1742. + + + +Letter 12. + +1 Charles Finch, third Earl of Winchelsea, son of Lord Maidstone, and grandson +of Heneage, second Earl of Winchelsea. On his death in 1712 Swift spoke of +him as "a worthy honest gentleman, and particular friend of mine." + +2 Vedeau was a shopkeeper, who abandoned his trade for the army (Journal, +March 28, April 4, 1711). Swift calls him "a lieutenant, who is now broke, +and upon half pay" (Journal, Nov. 18, 1712) + +3 Sir Edmund Bacon, Bart. (died 1721), of Herringflat, Suffolk, succeeded his +father in the baronetcy in 1686. + +4 The reverse at Brihuega. + +5 See Letter 8, note 12. + +6 John Barber, a printer, became Lord Mayor of London in 1732, and died in +1741. Mrs. Manley was his mistress, and died at his printing office. Swift +speaks of Barber as his "very good and old friend." + +7 Bernage was an officer serving under Colonel Fielding. In August 1710 a +difficulty arose through Arbuthnot trying to get his brother George made +Captain over Bernage's head; but ultimately Arbuthnot waived the business, +because he would not wrong a friend of Swift's. + +8 See Letter 1, note 52. + +9 George Smalridge (1663-1719), the High Church divine and popular preacher, +was made Dean of Carlisle in 1711, and Bishop of Bristol in 1714. Steele +spoke of him in the Tatler (Nos. 73, 114) as "abounding in that sort of virtue +and knowledge which makes religion beautiful." + +10 St. Albans Street, Pall Mall, was removed in 1815 to make way for Waterloo +Place. It was named after Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans. + +11 Ben Portlack, the Duke of Ormond's secretary. + +12 Algernon Seymour, Earl of Hertford (1684-1750), only son of Charles +Seymour, Duke of Somerset. Lord Hertford succeeded to the dukedom in 1748. +From 1708 to 1722 he was M.P. for Northumberland, and from 1708 to 1713 he +took an active part in the war in Flanders. + +13 See Letter 4. + +14 A Short Character of the Earl of Wharton (see Letter 10. note 29). + +15 See Letter 9. + +16 Henry Herbert, the last Baron Herbert of Cherbury, succeeded to the peerage +in 1709, and soon afterwards married a sister of the Earl of Portsmouth. A +ruined man, he committed suicide in 1738. + +17 Nos. 257, 260. + +18 See Letter 6, note 12. + +19 "AFTER is interlined" (Deane Swift). + +20 With this account may be compared what Pope says, as recorded in Spence's +Anecdotes, p. 223: "Lord Peterborough could dictate letters to nine +amanuenses together, as I was assured by a gentleman who saw him do it when +Ambassador at Turin. He walked round the room, and told each of them in his +turn what he was to write. One perhaps was a letter to the emperor, another +to an old friend, a third to a mistress, a fourth to a statesman, and so on: +yet he carried so many and so different connections in his head, all at the +same time." + +21 Francis Atterbury, Dean of Carlisle, had taken an active part in the +defence of Dr. Sacheverell. After a long period of suspense he received the +appointment of Dean of Christ Church, and in 1713 he was made Bishop of +Rochester and Dean of Westminster. Atterbury was on intimate terms with +Swift, Pope, and other writers on the Tory side, and Addison--at whose funeral +the Bishop officiated--described him as "one of the greatest geniuses of his +age." + +22 John Carteret, second Baron Carteret, afterwards to be well known as a +statesman, succeeded to the peerage in 1695, and became Earl Granville and +Viscount Carteret on the death of his brother in 1744. He died in 1763. In +October 1710, when twenty years of age, he had married Frances, only daughter +of Sir Robert Worsley, Bart., of Appuldurcombe, Isle of Wight. + +23 Dillon Ashe, D.D., Vicar of Finglas, and brother of the Bishop of Clogher. +In 1704 he was made Archdeacon of Clogher, and in 1706 Chancellor of Armagh. +He seems to have been too fond of drink. + +24 Henley (see Letter 6, note 15) married Mary, daughter of Peregrine Bertie, +the second son of Montagu, Earl of Lindsey, and with her obtained a fortune of +30,000 pounds. After Henley's death his widow married her relative, Henry +Bertie, third son of James, Earl of Abingdon. + +25 Hebrews v. 6. + + + +Letter 13. + +1 Probably Mrs. Manley and John Barber (see Letter 11, note 28 and Letter 12, +note 6). + +2 Sir Andrew Fountaine's (see Letter 5, note 28) father, Andrew Fountaine, +M.P., married Sarah, daughter of Sir Thomas Chicheley, Master of the Ordnance. +Sir Andrew's sister, Elizabeth, married Colonel Edward Clent. The "scoundrel +brother," Brig, died in 1746, aged sixty-four (Blomefield's Norfolk, vi. 233- +36). + +3 Dame Overdo, the justice's wife in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair. + +4 See Letter 3, note 5. + +5 Atterbury, who had recently been elected Prolocutor to the Lower House of +Convocation. + +6 Dr. Sterne, Dean of St. Patrick's, was not married. + +7 January 6 was Twelfth-night. + +8 Garraway's Coffee-house, in Change Alley, was founded by Thomas Garway, the +first coffee-man who sold and retailed tea. A room upstairs was used for +sales of wine "by the candle." + +9 Sir Constantine Phipps, who had taken an active part in Sacheverell's +defence. Phipps' interference in elections in the Tory interest made him very +unpopular in Dublin, and he was recalled on the death of Queen Anne. + +10 Joseph Trapp, one of the seven poets alluded to in the distich:-- + "Alma novem genuit celebres Rhedycina poetas, + Bubb, Stubb, Grubb, Crabb, Trapp, Young, Carey, Tickell, Evans." +Trapp wrote a tragedy in 1704, and in 1708 was chosen the first Professor of +Poetry at Oxford. In 1710 he published pamphlets on behalf of Sacheverell, +and in 1712 Swift secured for him the post of chaplain to Bolingbroke. During +his latter years he held several good livings. Elsewhere Swift calls him a +"coxcomb." + +11 See Letter 7, note 21. + +12 The extreme Tories, who afterwards formed the October Club. + +13 Crowd. A Jacobean writer speaks of "the lurry of lawyers," and "a lurry +and rabble of poor friars." + +14 See Letter 5, note 10. + +15 St. John's first wife was Frances, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry +Winchcombe, Bart., of Berkshire, and in her right St. John enjoyed the estates +of Bucklebury, which on her death in 1718 passed to her sister. In April 1711 +Swift said that "poor Mrs. St. John" was growing a great favourite of his; she +was going to Bath owing to ill-health, and begged him to take care of her +husband. She "said she had none to trust but me, and the poor creature's +tears came fresh in her eyes." Though the marriage was, naturally enough, +unhappy, she did not leave St. John's house until 1713, and she returned to +him when he fell from power. There are letters from her to Swift as late as +1716, not only doing her best to defend his honour, but speaking of him with +tenderness. + +16 "Battoon" means (1) a truncheon; (2) a staff of office. Luttrell, in 1704, +speaks of "a battoon set with diamonds sent him from the French king." + +17 Edward Harley, second son of Sir Edward Harley, was M.P. for Leominster and +Recorder of the same town. In 1702 he was appointed Auditor of the Imposts, a +post which he held until his death in 1735. His wife, Sarah, daughter of +Thomas Foley, was a sister of Robert Harley's wife, and his eldest son +eventually became third Earl of Oxford. Harley published several books on +biblical subjects. + +18 See Letter 6, note 12. The last number of Steele's Tatler appeared on Jan. +2, 1711; Harrison's paper reached to fifty-two numbers. + +19 Dryden Leach (see Letter 7, note 22). + +20 Cf. Letter 7, October 28th. + +21 Published by John Baker and John Morphew. See Aitken's Life of Steele, i. +299-301. + +22 In No. 224 of the Tatler, Addison, speaking of polemical advertisements, +says: "The inventors of Strops for Razors have written against one another +this way for several years, and that with great bitterness." See also +Spectator, Nos. 428, 509, and the Postman for March 23, 1703: "The so much +famed strops for setting razors, etc., are only to be had at Jacob's Coffee- +house. . . . Beware of counterfeits, for such are abroad." + +23 Sir John Holland (see Letter 3, note 28). + +24 Addison speaks of a fine flaxen long wig costing thirty guineas (Guardian, +No. 97), and Duumvir's fair wig, which Phillis threw into the fire, cost forty +guineas (Tatler, No. 54) + +25 Swift's mother, Abigail Erick, was of a Leicestershire family, and after +her husband's death she spent much of her time with her friends near her old +home. Mr. Worrall, vicar of St. Patrick's, with whom Swift was on terms of +intimacy in 1728-29, was evidently a relative of the Worralls where Mrs. Swift +had lodged, and we may reasonably suppose that he owed the living to Swift's +interest in the family. + +26 The title of a humorous poem by Lydgate. A "lickpenny" is a greedy or +grasping person. + +27 Small wooden blocks used for lighting fires. See Swift ("Description of +the Morning"), + "The small-coal man was heard with cadence deep, + Till drowned in shriller notes of chimney-sweep;" and Gay (Trivia, ii. +35), + "When small-coal murmurs in the hoarser throat, + From smutty dangers guard thy threatened coat." + +28 The Tory Ministers. + + + +Letter 14. + +1 See Letter 7, note 22. + +2 Thomas Southerne's play of Oroonoko, based on Mrs. Aphra Behn's novel of the +same name, was first acted in 1696. + +3 "Mrs." Cross created the part of Mrs. Clerimont in Steele's Tender Husband +in 1705. + +4 See Letter 12, note 7. + +5 George Granville, afterwards Lord Lansdowne, was M.P. for Cornwall, and +Secretary at War. In December 1711 he was raised to the peerage, and in 1712 +was appointed Comptroller of the Household. He died in 1735, when the title +became extinct. Granville wrote plays and poems, and was a patron of both +Dryden and Pope. Pope called him "Granville the polite." His Works in Verse +and Prose appeared in 1732. + +6 Samuel Masham, son of Sir Francis Masham, Bart., had been a page to the +Queen while Princess of Denmark, and an equerry and gentleman of the bed- +chamber to Prince George. He married Abigail Hill (see Letter 16, note 7), +daughter of Francis Hill, a Turkey merchant, and sister of General John Hill, +and through that lady's influence with the Queen he was raised to the peerage +as Baron Masham, in January 1712. Under George I. he was Remembrancer of the +Exchequer. He died in 1758. + +7 A roughly printed pamphlet, The Honourable Descent, Life, and True Character +of the . . . Earl of Wharton, appeared early in 1711, in reply to Swift's +Short Character; but that can hardly be the pamphlet referred to here, because +it is directed against libellers and backbiters, and cannot be described as +"pretty civil." + +8 "In that word (the seven last words of the sentence huddled into one) there +were some puzzling characters" (Deane Swift). + +9 Sir Robert Worsley, Bart., married, in 1690, Frances, only daughter of the +first Viscount Weymouth. Their daughter Frances married Lord Carteret (see +Letter 12, note 22) in 1710. In a letter to Colonel Hunter in March 1709 +Swift spoke of Lady (then Mrs.) Worsley as one of the principal beauties in +town. See, too, Swift's letter to her of April 19, 1730: "My Lady Carteret +has been the best queen we have known in Ireland these many years; yet is she +mortally hated by all the young girls, because (and it is your fault) she is +handsomer than all of them together." + +10 See Letter 3, note 1. + +11 See Letter 5, note 17. + +12 William Stratford, son of Nicholas Stratford, Bishop of Chester, was +Archdeacon of Richmond and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, until his death in +1729. + +13 See Letter 3, note 22. + +14 James, third Earl of Berkeley (168O-1736), whom Swift calls a "young rake" +(see Letter 16, note 15). The young Countess of Berkeley was only sixteen on +her marriage. In 1714 she was appointed a lady of the bed-chamber to +Caroline, Princess of Wales, and she died of smallpox in 1717, aged twenty- +two. The Earl was an Admiral, and saw much service between 1701 and 1710; +under George I. he was First Lord of the Admiralty. + +15 Edward Wettenhall was Bishop of Kilmore from 1699 to 1713. + +16 In the Dedication to The Tale of a Tub Swift had addressed Somers in very +different terms: "There is no virtue, either in public or private life, which +some circumstances of your own have not often produced upon the stage of the +world." + +17 Their lodgings, opposite to St. Mary's Church in Stafford Street, Dublin. + + + +Letter 15. + +1 The Stamp Act was not passed until June 1712: see the Journal for Aug. 7, +1712. + +2 Both in St. James's Park. The Canal was formed by Charles II. from several +small ponds, and Rosamond's Pond was a sheet of water in the south-west corner +of the Park, "long consecrated," as Warburton said, "to disastrous love and +elegiac poetry." It is often mentioned as a place of assignation in +Restoration plays. Evelyn (Diary, Dec. 1, 1662) describes the "scheets" used +on the Canal. + +3 Mrs. Beaumont. + +4 The first direct mention of Hester Vanhomrigh. She is referred to only in +two other places in the Journal (Feb. 14, 1710-11, and Aug, 14, 1711). + +5 See Letter 3, note 17. + +6 No. 27, by Swift himself. + +7 No. 7 of Harrison's series. + +8 The printers of the original Tatler. + +9 Harley had forwarded to Swift a banknote for fifty pounds (see Journal, +March 7, 1710-11). + +10 At Moor Park. + +11 Scott says that Swift here alludes to some unidentified pamphlet of which +he was the real or supposed author. + +12 See Letter 11, note 13. + +13 The Examiner. + +14 See Letter 6, note 43. + +15 Mistaken. + +16 Mrs. De Caudres, "over against St. Mary's Church, near Capel Street," +where Stella now lodged. + +17 "A crease in the sheet" (Deane Swift). + +18 "In the original it was, good mallows, little sollahs. But in these words, +and many others, he writes constantly ll for rr" (Deane Swift). + +19 See Letter 4, note 19. + +20 "Those letters which are in italics in the original are of a monstrous +size, which occasioned his calling himself a loggerhead" (Deane Swift). +[Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this etext.] + +21 I.e., to ask whether. + + + +Letter 16. + +1 Harcourt. + +2 "A shilling passes for thirteenpence in Ireland" (Deane Swift). + +3 Robert Cope, a gentleman of learning with whom Swift corresponded. + +4 Archdeacon Morris is not mentioned in Cotton's Fasti Ecclesiae Hiberniae. + +5 See Letter 14, note 6. + +6 See Letter 10, note 2. + +7 Abigail Hill, afterwards Lady Masham, had been introduced into the Queens +service as bed-chamber woman by the Duchess of Marlborough. Her High Church +and Tory views recommended her to Queen Anne, and in 17O7 she was privately +married to Mr. Samuel Masham, a gentleman in the service of Prince George (see +Letter 14, note 6). The Duchess of Marlborough discovered that Mrs. Masham's +cousin, Harley, was using her influence to further his own interests with the +Queen; and in spite of her violence the Duchess found herself gradually +supplanted. From 1710 Mrs. Masham's only rival in the royal favour was the +Duchess of Somerset. Afterwards she quarrelled with Harley and joined the +Bolingbroke faction. + +8 See Letter 4, note 16. + +9 No. 14 of Harrison's series. + +10 See Letter 15, note 4. + +11 Richard Duke, a minor poet and friend of Dryden's, entered the Church about +1685. In July 1710 he was presented by the Bishop of Winchester to the living +of Witney, Oxfordshire, which was worth 700 pounds a year. + +12 Sir Jonathan Trelawney, one of the seven bishops committed to the Tower in +1688, was translated to Winchester in 17O7, when he appointed Duke to be his +chaplain. + +13 See Letter 4, note 3. + +14 See Letter 3, note 39. + +15 See Letter 14, note 14. + +16 See Letter 7, note 28. + +17 Cf. Feb. 22, 1711. + +18 Esther Johnson lodged opposite St. Mary's in Dublin. + +19 This famous Tory club began with the meeting together of a few extreme +Tories at the Bell in Westminster. The password to the Club--"October"--was +one easy of remembrance to a country gentleman who loved his ale. + +20 "Duke" Disney, "not an old man, but an old rake," died in 1731. Gay calls +him "facetious Disney," and Swift says that all the members of the Club "love +him mightily." Lady M. W. Montagu speaks of his + "Broad plump face, pert eyes, and ruddy skin, + Which showed the stupid joke which lurked within." +Disney was a French Huguenot refugee, and his real name was Desaulnais. He +commanded an Irish regiment, and took part in General Hill's expedition to +Canada in 1711 (Kingsford's Canada, ii. 465). By his will (Wentworth papers, +109) he "left nothing to his poor relations, but very handsome to his bottle +companions." + +21 There were several Colonel Fieldings in the first half of the eighteenth +century, and it is not clear which is the one referred to by Swift. Possibly +he was the Edmund Fielding--grandson of the first Earl of Denbigh--who died a +Lieutenant-General in 1741, at the age of sixty-three, but is best known as +the father of Henry Fielding, the novelist. + +22 Cf. Feb. 17, 1711. + +23 See Letter 3, note 37. + +24 "It is a measured mile round the outer wall; and far beyond any the finest +square in London" (Deane Swift). + +25 "The common fare for a set-down in Dublin" (ib.). + +26 "Mrs. Stoyte lived at Donnybrook, the road to which from Stephen's Green +ran into the country about a mile from the south-east corner" (ib.). + +27 "Those words in italics are written in a very large hand, and so is the +word large" (ib.). [Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this +etext.] + +28 Deane Swift alters "lele" to "there," but in a note states how he here +altered Swift's "cypher way of writing." No doubt "lele" and other favourite +words occurred frequently in the MS., as they do in the later letters. + + + +Letter 17. + +1 Sir Thomas Mansel, Bart., Comptroller of the Household to Queen Anne, and a +Lord of the Treasury, was raised to the peerage in December 1711 as Baron +Mansel of Margam. He died in 1723. + +2 Lady Betty Butler and Lady Betty Germaine (see Letter 3, note 40 and Letter +4, note 3). + +3 James Eckershall, "second clerk of the Queen's Privy Kitchen." Chamberlayne +(Magnae Britanniae Notitia, 171O, p. 536) says that his wages were 11 pounds, +8 shillings and a penny-ha'penny, and board-wages 138 pounds, 11 shillings and +tenpence-ha'penny, making 150 pounds in all. Afterwards Eckershall was +gentleman usher to Queen Anne; he died at Drayton in 1753, aged seventy-four. +Pope was in correspondence with him in 172O on the subject of contemplated +speculations in South Sea and other stocks. + +4 In October 1710 (see Letter 6, note 44) Swift wrote as if he knew about the +preparation of these Miscellanies. The volume was published by Morphew +instead of Tooke, and it is frequently referred to in the Journal. + +5 In 1685 the Duke of Ormond (see Letter 2, note 10) married, as his second +wife, Lady Mary Somerset, eldest surviving daughter of Henry, first Duke of +Beaufort. + +6 Arthur Moore, M.P., was a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations from 1710 +until his death in 1730. Gay calls him "grave," and Pope ("Prologue to the +Satires," 23) says that Moore blamed him for the way in which his "giddy son," +James Moore Smythe, neglected the law. + +7 James, Lord Paisley, who succeeded his father (see Letter 10, note 33) as +seventh Earl of Abercorn in 1734, married, in 1711, Anne, eldest daughter of +Colonel John Plumer, of Blakesware, Herts. + +8 Harley's ill-health was partly due to his drinking habits. + +9 Crowd or confusion. + +10 The first wife of Charles Seymour, sixth Duke of Somerset, was Lady +Elizabeth Percy, only daughter of Joscelyn, eleventh Earl of Northumberland, +and heiress of the house of Percy. She married the Duke, her third husband, +at the age of eighteen. + +11 John Richardson, D.D., rector of Armagh, Cavan, and afterwards chaplain to +the Duke of Ormond. In 1711 he published a Proposal for the Conversion of the +Popish Natives of Ireland to the Established Religion, and in 1712 a Short +History of the Attempts to Convert the Popish Natives of Ireland. In 17O9 the +Lower House of Convocation in Ireland had passed resolutions for printing the +Bible and liturgy in Irish, providing Irish preachers, etc. In 1711 Thomas +Parnell, the poet, headed a deputation to the Queen on the subject, when an +address was presented; but nothing came of the proposals, owing to fears that +the English interest in Ireland might be injured. In 1731 Richardson was +given the small deanery of Kilmacluagh. + +12 See Feb. 27, 1711. + +13 Harley. + +14 "Bank bill for fifty pound," taking the alternate letters (see Letter 15, +note 9). + +15 See Letter 5, note 17. + +16 See Nos. 27 and 29, by Swift himself. + +17 "Print cannot do justice to whims of this kind, as they depend wholly upon +the awkward shape of the letters" (Deane Swift). + +18 See Letter 8, note 2. + +19 "Here is just one specimen given of his way of writing to Stella in these +journals. The reader, I hope, will excuse my omitting it in all other places +where it occurs. The meaning of this pretty language is: 'And you must cry +There, and Here, and Here again. Must you imitate Presto, pray? Yes, and so +you shall. And so there's for your letter. Good-morrow'" (Deane Swift). +What Swift really wrote was probably as follows: "Oo must cly Lele and Lele +and Lele aden. Must oo mimitate Pdfr, pay? Iss, and so oo sall. And so +lele's fol oo rettle. Dood-mallow." + +20 Lady Catherine Morice (died 1716) was the eldest daughter of Thomas +Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and wife of Sir Nicholas Morice, Bart., M.P. for +Newport. + +21 Perhaps Henry Arundell, who succeeded his father as fifth Baron Arundell of +Wardour in 1712, and died in 1726. + +22 Antoine, Abbe de Bourlie and Marquis de Guiscard, was a cadet of a +distinguished family of the south of France. He joined the Church, but having +been driven from France in consequence of his licentious excesses, he came to +England, after many adventures in Europe, with a recommendation from the Duke +of Savoy. Godolphin gave him the command of a regiment of refugees, and +employed him in projects for effecting a landing in France. These schemes +proving abortive, Guiscard's regiment was disbanded, and he was discharged +with a pension of 500 pounds a year. Soon after the Tories came to power +Guiscard came to the conclusion that there was no hope of employment for him, +and little chance of receiving his pension; and he began a treacherous +correspondence with the French. When this was detected he was brought before +the Privy Council, and finding that everything was known, and wishing a better +death than hanging, he stabbed Harley in the breast. Mrs. Manley, under +Swift's directions, wrote a Narrative of Guiscard's Examination, and the +incident greatly added to the security of Harley's position, and to the +strength of the Government. + +23 Harley's surgeon, Mr. Green. + +24 See Letter 9, note 20. + +25 Mrs. Walls' baby (see Feb 5, 1711). + +26 The phrase had its origin in the sharp practices in the horse and cattle +markets. Writing to Arbuthnot in 1727, Swift said that Gay "had made a pretty +good bargain (that is a Smithfield) for a little place in the Custom House." + +27 "There." + + + +Letter 18. + +1 See Swift's paper in the Examiner, No. 32, and Mrs. Manley's pamphlet, +already mentioned. + +2 Presumably Mrs. Johnson's palsy-water (see Letter 5, note 17). + +3 Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (1672-1739), was created Viscount Wentworth and +Earl of Strafford in June 1711. Lord Raby was Envoy and Ambassador at Berlin +for some years, and was appointed Ambassador at the Hague in March 1711. In +November he was nominated as joint Plenipotentiary with the Bishop of Bristol +to negotiate the terms of peace. He objected to Prior as a colleague; Swift +says he was "as proud as hell." In 1715 it was proposed to impeach Strafford, +but the proceedings were dropped. In his later years he was, according to +Lord Hervey, a loquacious and illiterate, but constant, speaker in the House +of Lords. + +4 A beauty, to whom Swift addressed verses in 17O8. During the frost of +January 17O9 Swift wrote: "Mrs. Floyd looked out with both her eyes, and we +had one day's thaw; but she drew in her head, and it now freezes as hard as +ever." She was a great friend of Lady Betty Germaine's. + +5 Swift never had the smallpox. + +6 See Letter 12, note 22. + +7 Heart. + +8 The first number of the Spectator appeared on March 1, 1711. + +9 In one of his poems Swift speaks of Stella "sossing in an easy-chair." + +10 See Letter 4, note 20. + +11 "It is reasonable to suppose that Swift's acquaintance with Arbuthnot +commenced just about this time; for in the original letter Swift misspells his +name, and writes it Arthbuthnet, in a clear large hand, that MD might not +mistake any of the letters" (Deane Swift). Dr. John Arbuthnot had been made +Physician in Ordinary to the Queen; he was one of Swift's dearest friends. + +12 Clobery Bromley, M.P. for Coventry, son of William Bromley, M.P. (see +Letter 10, note 1), died on March 2O, 1711, and Boyer (Political State, i. +255) says that the House, "out of respect to the father, and to give him time, +both to perform the funeral rites and to indulge his just affliction," +adjourned until the 26th. + +13 See Letter 5, note 4. + +14 See Letter 17, note 11. + +15 Sir John Perceval, Bart. (died 1748), was created Baron Perceval 1715, +Viscount Perceval 1722, and Earl of Egmont 1733, all in the Irish peerage. He +married, in 1710, Catherine, eldest daughter of Sir Philip Parker A'Morley, +Bart., of Erwarton, Suffolk; and his son (born Feb. 27, 1710-11) was made +Baron Perceval and Holland, in the English peerage, in 1762. + +16 This report was false. The Old Pretender did not marry until 1718, when he +was united to the Princess Clementina Maria, daughter of Prince James +Sobieski. + + +Letter 19. + +1 John Hartstonge, D.D. (died 1717), was Bishop of Ossory from 1693 to 1714, +when he was translated to Derry. + +2 See Letter 15, note 16. + +3 Thomas Proby was Chirurgeon-General in Ireland from 1699 until his death in +1761. In his Short Character of Thomas, Earl of Wharton, Swift speaks of him +as "a person universally esteemed," who had been badly treated by Lord +Wharton. In 1724 Proby's son, a captain in the army, was accused of popery, +and Swift wrote to Lord Carteret that the charge was generally believed to be +false: "The father is the most universally beloved of any man I ever knew in +his station. . . . You cannot do any personal thing more acceptable to the +people of Ireland than in inclining towards lenity to Mr. Proby and his +family." Proby was probably a near relative of Sir Thomas Proby, Bart., M.P., +of Elton, Hunts, at whose death in 1689 the baronetcy expired. Mrs. Proby +seems to have been a Miss Spencer. + +4 Meliora, daughter of Thomas Coningsby, Baron of Clanbrassil and Earl of +Coningsby, and wife of Sir Thomas Southwell, afterwards Baron Southwell, one +of the Commissioners of Revenue in Ireland, and a member of the Irish Privy +Council. Lady Southwell died in 1736. + +5 Lady Betty Rochfort was the daughter of Henry Moore, third Earl of Drogheda. +Her husband, George Rochfort, M.P. for Westmeath, was son of Robert Rochfort, +an Irish judge, and brother of Robert Rochford, M.P., to whose wife Swift +addressed his Advice to a very Young Lady on her Marriage. Lady Betty's son +Robert was created Earl of Belvedere in 1757. + +6 See Letter 17, note 23. Mr. Bussiere, of Suffolk Street, had been called in +directly after the outrage, but Radcliffe would not consult him. + +7 The letter from Dr. King dated March 17, 1711, commenting on Guiscard's +attack upon Harley. + +8 See Feb. 10, 1710-11. + +9 The word "trangram" or "tangram" ordinarily means a toy or gimcrack, or +trumpery article. Cf. Wycherley (Plain Dealer, iii. 1), "But go, thou +trangram, and carry back those trangrams which thou hast stolen or purloined." +Apparently "trangum" here means a tally. + +10 See Letter 12, note 2. + +11 Swift means Godolphin, the late Lord Treasurer. + +12 Sir John Holland (see Letter 3, note 28). + +13 "It caused a violent daub on the paper, which still continues much +discoloured in the original" (Deane Swift). + +14 "He forgot here to say, 'At night.' See what goes before" (Deane Swift). + +15 See Letter 17, note 1. + +16 Irishman. "Teague" was a term of contempt for an Irishman. + +17 To "Mr. Harley, wounded by Guiscard." In this piece Prior said, "Britain +with tears shall bathe thy glorious wound," a wound which could not have been +inflicted by any but a stranger to our land. + +18 Sir Thomas Mansel married Martha, daughter and heiress of Francis +Millington, a London merchant. + +19 Slatterning, consuming carelessly. + +20 "The candle grease mentioned before, which soaked through, deformed this +part of the paper on the second page" (Deane Swift). + +21 Harcourt. + +22 William Rollinson, formerly a wine merchant, settled afterwards in +Oxfordshire, where he died at a great age. He was a friend of Pope, +Bolingbroke, and Gay. + +23 In relation to the banknote (see Letter 17, note 14). + +24 "Swift was, at this time, their great support and champion" (Deane Swift). + +25 See Letter 14, note 15. + +26 See Letter 17, note 25. + +27 "Stella, with all her wit and good sense, spelled very ill; and Dr. Swift +insisted greatly upon women spelling well" (Deane Swift). + +28 "The slope of the letters in the words THIS WAY, THIS WAY, is to the left +hand, but the slope of the words THAT WAY, THAT WAY, is to the right hand" +(Deane Swift). + +29 See Letter 17, note 24. + +30 See Letter 5, note 11 and Letter 10, note 28. + + + +Letter 20. + +1 By the Act 9 Anne, cap. 23, the number of hackney coaches was increased to +800, and it was provided that they were to go a mile and a half for one +shilling, two miles for one shilling and sixpence, and so on. + +2 See Letter 11, note 39. + +3 In a letter to Swift, of March 17, 1711, King said that it might have been +thought that Guiscard's attack would have convinced the world that Harley was +not in the French interest; but it did not have that effect with all, for some +whispered the case of Fenius Rufus and Scevinus in the 15th book of Tacitus: +"Accensis indicibus ad prodendum Fenium Rufum, quem eundem conscium et +inquisitorem non tolerabant." Next month Swift told King that it was reported +that the Archbishop had applied this passage in a speech made to his clergy, +and explained at some length the steps he had taken to prevent the story being +published in the Postboy. King thanked Swift for this action, explaining that +he had been arguing on Harley's behalf when someone instanced the story of +Rufus. + +4 A Tory paper, published thrice weekly by Abel Roper. + +5 Sir Charles Duncombe, banker, died on April 9, 1711. The first wife of the +Duke of Argyle (see Letter 11, note 57) was Duncombe's niece, Mary Browne, +daughter of Ursula Duncombe and Thomas Browne, of St. Margaret's, Westminster. +Duncombe was elected Lord Mayor in 1700, and was the richest commoner in +England. + +6 The Rev. Dillon Ashe (see Letter 12, note 23). + +7 John, fourth Baron Poulett, was created Earl Poulett in 17O6, after serving +as one of the Commissioners for the Treaty of Union with Scotland. From +August 1710 to May 1711 he was First Lord of the Treasury, and from June 1711 +to August 1714 he was Lord Steward of the Household. + +8 Lost or stupid person. + +9 Sir William Read, a quack who advertised largely in the Tatler and other +papers. He was satirised in No. 547 of the Spectator. In 17O5 he was +knighted for his services in curing many seamen and soldiers of blindness +gratis, and he was appointed Oculist in Ordinary to the Queen. Read died in +1715, but his business was continued by his widow. + +10 General John Webb was not on good terms with Marlborough. He was a Tory, +and had gained distinction in the war at Wynendale (17O8), though the Duke's +secretary gave the credit, in the despatch, to Cadogan. There is a well-known +account of Webb in Thackeray's Esmond. He was severely wounded at Malplaquet +in 17O9, and in 1710 was given the governorship of the Isle of Wight. He died +in 1724. + +11 Henry Campion, M.P. for Penryn, is mentioned in the Political State for +February 1712 as one of the leading men of the October Club. Campion seems to +have been Member, not for Penryn, but for Bossiney. + +12 See Letter 3, note 32. + +13 Sir George Beaumont, Bart., M.P. for Leicester, and an acquaintance of +Swift's mother, was made a Commissioner of the Privy Seal in 1712, and one of +the Lords of the Admiralty in 1714. He died in 1737. + +14 Heneage Finch, afterwards second Earl of Aylesford, was the son of Heneage +Finch, the chief counsel for the seven bishops, who was created Baron Guernsey +in 1703, and Earl of Aylesford in 1714. + +15 James, Lord Compton, afterwards fifth Earl of Northampton, was the eldest +son of George, the fourth Earl. He was summoned to the House of Lords in +December 1711, and died in 1754. + +16 See Letter 11, note 12. + + + +Letter 21. + +1 In 1670 Temple thanked the Grand Duke of Tuscany for "an entire vintage of +the finest wines of Italy" (Temple's Works, 1814, ii. 155-56). + +2 Mrs. Manley (see Letter 17, note 22). + +3 Charles Caesar, M.P. for Hertford, was appointed Treasurer of the Navy in +June 1711, in the room of Robert Walpole. + +4 Joseph I. His successor was his brother Charles, the King of Spain +recognised by England. + +5 Simon Harcourt, M.P. for Wallingford. He married Elizabeth, sister of Sir +John Evelyn, Bart., and died in 1720, aged thirty-five, before his father. He +was secretary to the society of "Brothers," wrote verses, and was a friend of +the poets. His son Simon was created Earl Harcourt in 1749, and was Lord +Lieutenant of Ireland. + +6 Doiley, a seventeenth-century linen-draper,--probably "Thomas Doyley, at the +Nun, in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden,"--invented stuffs which "might at +once be cheap and genteel" (Spectator, No. 283). + +7 A special envoy. The Resident from Venice in 1710 was Signor Bianchi. + +8 See Letter 17, note 5. + +9 Nanfan Coote, second Earl of Bellamont, who died in 1708, married, in 1705, +Lucia Anna, daughter of Henry de Nassau, Lord of Auverquerque, and sister of +Henry, first Earl of Grantham. She died in 1744. + +10 "Farnese" (Deane Swift). + +11 See Letter 20, note 3. + +12 Swift's changes of residence during the period covered by the Journal were +numerous. On Sept. 20, 1710, he moved from Pall Mall to Bury Street, "where I +suppose I shall continue while in London." But on Dec. 28 he went to new +lodgings in St. Albans Street, Haymarket. On April 26, 1711, he moved to +Chelsea, and from there to Suffolk Street, to be near the Vanhomrighs. He +next moved to St. Martins Street, Leicester Fields; and a month later to +Panton Street, Haymarket. In 1712 he lodged for a time at Kensington Gravel +Pits. + +13 At raffling for books. + +14 James Brydges, Paymaster-General, and afterwards Duke of Chandos (see +Letter 3, note 31). + +15 Thomas Foley, M.P. for Worcestershire, was created Baron Foley in December +1711, and died in 1733. + +16 See 25th April, 1711 and Letter 20, note 3. + +17 See Letter 19, note 3. + +18 Charles Dering, second son of Sir Edward Dering, Bart., M.P. for Kent, was +Auditor of the Exchequer in Ireland, and M.P. for Carlingford. + +19 See Letter 11, note 44. + +20 See Letter 17, note 4. + +21 A Whig paper, for the most part by Mainwaring and Oldmixon, in opposition +to the Examiner. It appeared weekly from October 1710 to August 1711. + +22 See Letter 17, note 22. + +23 See Spectator, No. 50, by Addison. + +24 In all probability a mistake for "Wesley" (see Letter 1, note 12). + + + +Letter 22. + +1 Lord Paisley (see Letter 17, note 7). + +2 See Letter 11, note 5. + +3 Sir Hovenden Walker. The "man midwife" was Sir Chamberlen Walker, his +younger brother. The "secret expedition" against Quebec conveyed upwards of +5000 soldiers, under the command of General John Hill (see Letter 10, note 2), +but owing to the want of due preparations and the severe weather encountered, +the fleet was compelled to return to England without accomplishing anything. + +4 Robert Freind, elder brother of John Freind, M.D. (see Letter 9, note 1), +became headmaster of Westminster School in 1711, and held the appointment +until 1733. He was Rector of Witney, and afterwards Canon of Windsor, +Prebendary of Westminster, and Canon of Christ Church. He died in 1751, aged +eighty-four. + +5 Christopher Musgrave was Clerk of the Ordnance. + +6 Atterbury's wife, Katherine Osborn, has been described as "the inspiration +of his youth and the solace of his riper years." + +7 The original Chelsea Bun House, in Jew's Row, was pulled down in 1839. Sir +R. Philips, writing in 1817, said, "Those buns have afforded a competency, and +even wealth, to four generations of the same family; and it is singular that +their delicate flavour, lightness, and richness have never been successfully +imitated." + +8 See Letter 8, note 22. King wrote to Swift (May 15, 1711), "The death of +the Earl of Rochester is a great blow to all good men, and even his enemies +cannot but do justice to his character. What influence it will have on public +affairs God only knows." + +9 See Letter 11, note 11. + +10 See Letter 17, note 6. + +11 See Letter 18, note 4. + +12 See Letter 20, note 13. + +13 Swift's curate at Laracor. + +14 Queen Anne was the last sovereign who exercised the supposed royal gift of +healing by touch. Dr. Johnson was touched by her, but without effect. + +15 Richard Thornhill was tried at the Old Bailey on May 18, 1711, for the +murder of Sir Cholmley Dering, M.P. for Kent, and found guilty of manslaughter +only; but he was shortly afterwards assassinated (see Journal for Aug. 21, +1711; Spectator, No. 84). The quarrel began on April 27, when they fell to +blows, and Thornhill being knocked down, had some teeth struck out by Sir C. +Dering stamping on him. The spectators then interfered, and Dering expressed +himself as ready to beg pardon; but Thornhill not thinking this was sufficient +satisfaction, gave Dering the lie, and on May 9 sent him a challenge. + +16 Tothill Fields, Westminster, was a favourite place for duels in the +seventeenth century. + +17 See Letter 13, note 17. + +18 Benjamin Burton, a Dublin banker, and brother-in-law of Swift's friend +Stratford (see Letter 3, note 22). Swift says he hated this "rogue." + + + +Letter 23. + +1 The day on which the Club met. See letter from Swift to St. John, May 11, +1711. + +2 Henry Barry, fourth Lord Barry of Santry (1680-1734), was an Irish Privy +Councillor, and Governor of Derry. In 1702 he married Bridget, daughter of +Sir Thomas Domville, Bart., and in an undated letter (about 1735) to Lady +Santry Swift spoke of his esteem for her, "although I had hardly the least +acquaintance with your lord, nor was at all desirous to cultivate it, because +I did not at all approve of his conduct." Lord Santry's only son and heir, +who was born in 1710, was condemned to death for the murder of a footman in +1739, when the barony became extinct by forfeiture. See B. W. Adams's History +of Santry. + +3 Probably Captain Cammock, of the Speedwell, of 28 guns and 125 men +(Luttrell, vi. 331), who met on July 13, 1708, off Scotland, two French +privateers, one of 16, the other of 18 guns, and fought them several hours. +The first privateer got off, much shattered; the other was brought into +Carrickfergus. + +4 See Letter 7, note 21. + +5 See Letter 13, note 10. + +6 This valuable pamphlet is signed "J.G.," and is believed to be by John Gay. + +7 Edmund Curll's collection of Swift's Miscellanies, published in 1711, was an +expansion of a pamphlet of 1710, "A Meditation upon a Broomstick, and somewhat +beside, of the same Author's." + +8 "In this passage DD signifies both Dingley and Stella" (Deane Swift). + +9 Sir Henry Craik's reading. The old editions have, "It would do: DD goes +as well as Presto," which is obviously corrupt. + +10 Cf. Journal, June 17, 1712. + +11 Cf. "old doings" (see Letter 9, note 19.) + +12 See Letter 17, note 11. + +13 Rymer's Foedera, in three volumes, which Swift obtained for Trinity +College, Dublin. + +14 See Letter 6, note 43 and 9th Feb. 1710-11. + +15 Stephen Colledge, "the Protestant joiner," was hanged in 1681. He had +published attacks on the Roman Catholics, and had advocated resistance to +Charles II. + +16 See Letter 3, note 39. + +17 Mitford Crowe was appointed Governor of Barbados in 1706, and before his +departure for that island went to Spain, "to settle the accounts of our army +there, of which he is paymaster" (Luttrell, vi. 104). In 1710 charges of +bribery brought against him by merchants were inquired into by the Privy +Council, but he seems to have cleared himself, for in June 1711 Swift speaks +of him as Governor of Jamaica. He died in 1719. + +18 See Letter 8, note 21. + +19 Swift's uncle Adam "lived and died in Ireland," and left no son. Another +daughter of his became Mrs. Whiteway. + +20 William Lowndes, M.P., secretary to the Treasury, whom Walpole called "as +able and honest a servant as ever the Crown had." + +21 The Lord Treasurer's staff: since the dismissal of Godolphin, the +Treasurership had been held in commission. + +22 "As I hope to be saved." + +23 Stella's maid. + +24 See letter from King to Swift, May 15, 1711. Alderman Constantine, a High +Churchman, indignant at being passed over by a junior in the contest for the +mayoralty, brought the matter before the Council Board, and produced an old +by-law by which aldermen, according to their ancientry, were required to keep +their mayoralty. King took the side of the city, but the majority was for the +by-law, and disapproved of the election; whereupon the citizens repealed the +by-law and re-elected the same alderman as before. + + + +Letter 24. + +1 The Lord Treasurer's staff. + +2 Swift's "little parson cousin," the resident chaplain at Moor Park. He +pretended to have had some part in The Tale of a Tub, and Swift always +professed great contempt for him. Thomas Swift was son of an Oxford uncle of +Swift's, of the same name, and was at school and college with Swift. He +became Rector of Puttenham, Surrey, and died in 1752, aged eighty-seven. + +3 The Duke of Ormond's daughter, Lady Mary Butler (see Letter 7, notes 2 and +3.) + +4 Thomas Harley, the Lord Treasurer's cousin, was secretary to the Treasury. + +5 Lord Oxford's daughter Elizabeth married, in 1712, the Marquis of +Caermarthen. + +6 Henry Tenison, M.P. for County Louth, was one of the Commissioners of the +Revenue in Ireland from 1704 until his death in 1709 (Luttrell, v. 381, vi. +523). Probably he was related to Dr. Tenison, Bishop of Meath, who died in +1705. + +7 Anne Finch (died 1720), daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, and wife of +Heneage Finch, who became fourth Earl of Winchelsea in 1712. Lady Winchelsea +published a volume of poems in 1713, and was a friend of Pope and Rowe. +Wordsworth recognised the advance in the growth of attention to "external +nature" shown in her writings. + +8 See Letter 23, note 24 and Letter 30, note 13. + +9 This was a mistake. Charles Hickman, D.D., Bishop of Derry, died in +November 1713. + +10 "These words in italics are written in a large round hand" (Deane Swift). +[Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this etext.] + +11 "This entry is interlined in the original" (Deane Swift). + +12 Colonel James Graham (1649-1730) held various offices under James II., and +was granted a lease of a lodge in Bagshot Park. Like his brother, Viscount +Preston, he was suspected of treasonable practices in 1691, and he was +arrested in 1692 and 1696. Under Queen Anne and George I., Colonel Graham was +M.P. for Appleby and Westmorland. + +13 Mr. Leslie Stephen has pointed out that this is the name of an inn (now the +Jolly Farmer) near Frimley, on the hill between Bagshot and Farnborough. This +inn is still called the Golden Farmer on the Ordnance map. + +14 "Soley" is probably a misreading for "sollah," a form often used by Swift +for "sirrah," and "figgarkick" may be "pilgarlick" (a poor creature) in +Swift's "little language" (cf. 20th Oct. 1711). + +15 See Letter 14, note 14. + +16 Probably a misprint for "Bertie." This Mr. Bertie may have been the Hon. +James Bertie, second son of the first Earl of Abingdon, and M.P. for +Middlesex. + +17 Evelyn Pierrepont, fifth Earl of Kingston, was made Marquis of Dorchester +in 1706. He became Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1715, and died in 1726. +Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was his daughter. + +18 See Letter 12, note 22. + +19 Sir Thomas Thynne, first Viscount Weymouth, who died in 1714, aged seventy- +four, married Frances, daughter of Heneage Finch, second Earl of Winchelsea. + +20 See Letter 7, note 31. + +21 Swift is referring to St. John's defence of Brydges (see Letter 21, note +14.) + +22 "He does not mean smoking, which he never practised, but snuffing up cut- +and-dry tobacco, which sometimes was just coloured with Spanish snuff; and +this he used all his life, but would not own that he took snuff" (Deane +Swift). + +23 Beaumont (see Letter 1, note 2). + +24 Sir Alexander Cairnes, M.P. for Monaghan, a banker, was created a baronet +in 1706, and died in 1732. + +25 See Letter 6, note 44 and Letter 17, note 4. + +26 Isaac Manley (see Letter 3, note 3.) + +27 Sir Thomas Frankland. + +28 See Letter 5, note 8. + +29 Hockley-in-the-Hole, Clerkenwell, a place of public diversion, was famous +for its bear and bull baitings. + +30 Sir William Seymour, second son of Sir Edward Seymour, Bart., of Berry +Pomeroy, retired from the army in 1717, and died in 1728 (Dalton's Army +Lists). He was wounded at Landen and Vigo, and saw much service between his +appointment as a Captain of Fusiliers in 1686 and his promotion to the rank of +Lieutenant-General in 1707. + +31 No. 45. + +32 "And now I conceive the main design I had in writing these papers is fully +executed. A great majority of the nation is at length thoroughly convinced +that the Queen proceeded with the highest wisdom, in changing her Ministry and +Parliament" (Examiner, No. 45). + +33 Edward Harley (see Letter 13, note 17). + +34 See Letter 24, note 2. + +35 Tom Ashe was an elder brother of the Bishop of Clogher. He had an estate +of more than 1000 pounds a year in County Meath, and Nichols describes him as +of droll appearance, thick and short in person: "a facetious, pleasant +companion, but the most eternal unwearied punster that ever lived." + +36 "Even Joseph Beaumont, the son, was at this time an old man, whose grey +locks were venerable; yet his father lived until about 1719" (Deane Swift). + + +Letter 25. + +1 Sir William Wyndham, Bart. (1687-174O), was M.P. for Somerset. He was a +close partisan of Bolingbroke's, and in 1713 introduced the Schism Bill, which +drove Oxford from office. Wyndham became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was +afterwards a leading opponent of Walpole. His wife, Lady Catherine Seymour +(died 1713), was the second daughter of Charles, Duke of Somerset (see Letter +28, note 8). + +2 Swift was afterwards President of this Club, which is better known as "the +Society." + +3 Perhaps Daniel Reading, M.P. for Newcastle, Co. Dublin. + +4 Afterwards Congreve formed a friendship with the Whigs; or, as Swift put it, + "Took proper principles to thrive, + And so might every dunce alive." + +5 Atterbury. + +6 This pamphlet, published in February 1712, was called "A Proposal for +Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue, in a Letter to +the. . . Lord High Treasurer." + +7 No. 47 + +8 Francis Gastrell, Canon of Christ Church, was made Bishop of Chester in +1713. His valuable Notitia Cestriensis was published in 1845-50. + +9 Near Fulham. + +10 See Letter 12, note 21. + +11 The daughters of Meinhardt Schomberg, Duke of Leinster, in Ireland, and +third Duke of Schomberg. Lady Mary married Count Dagenfeldt, and Lady +Frederica married, first, the Earl of Holderness, and, secondly, Earl Fitz +Walter. + +12 Thomas Harley. + +13 See Letter 19, note 3. + + + +Letter 26. + +1 The widow of Sir John Lyndon, who was appointed a justice of the Court of +King's Bench in Ireland in 1682, and died in 1699. + +2 "Marmaduke Coghill, LL.D., was judge of the Prerogative Court in Ireland. +About this time he courted a lady, and was soon to have been married to her; +but unfortunately a cause was brought to trial before him, wherein a man was +sued for beating his wife. When the matter was agitated, the Doctor gave his +opinion, 'That although a man had no right to beat his wife unmercifully, yet +that, with such a little cane or switch as he then held in his hand, a husband +was at liberty, and was invested with a power, to give his wife moderate +correction'; which opinion determined the lady against having the Doctor. He +died an old man and a bachelor" (Deane Swift). See also Lascelles, Liber +Muner. Hibern., part ii. p. 80. + +3 This was a common exclamation of the time, but the spelling varies in +different writers. It seems to be a corruption of "God so," or "God ho," but +there may have been a confusion with "cat-so," derived from the Italian +"cazzo." + +4 See Letter 9, note 28. Mrs. Manley was now editing the Examiner. + +5 Sir Henry Belasyse was sent to Spain as Commissioner to inquire into the +state of the English forces in that country. The son of Sir Richard Belasyse, +Knight of Ludworth, Durham, Sir Henry finished a chequered career in 1717, +when he was buried in Westminster Abbey (Dalton's Army Lists, ii. 228). In +his earlier years he served under the United Provinces, and after the +accession of William was made a Brigadier-General in the English army, and in +1694, Lieutenant-General. In 1702 he was second in command of the expedition +to Cadiz, but he was dismissed the service in consequence of the looting of +Port St. Mary. Subsequently he was elected M.P. for Durham, and in 1713 was +appointed Governor of Berwick. + +6 Atterbury. + +7 See Letter 3, note 20. + +8 Sir John Powell, a Judge of the Queen's Bench, died in 1713, aged sixty- +eight. He was a kindly as well as able judge. + +9 See June 7th, 1711. + +10 This Tisdall has been described as a Dublin merchant; but in all +probability he was Richard Tisdall, Registrar of the Irish Court of Chancery, +and M.P. for Dundalk (1707-1713) and County Louth (1713-1727). He married +Marian, daughter of Richard Boyle, M.P., and died in 1742. Richard Tisdall +was a relative of Stella's suitor, the Rev. William Tisdall, and years +afterwards Swift took an interest in his son Philip, who became a Secretary of +State and Leader of the Irish House of Commons. + +11 "In Ireland there are not public paths from place to place, as in England" +(Deane Swift). + +12 See Letter 24, note 6. + +13 Probably a son of John Manley, M.P. (see Letter 5, note 8). + +14 See Letter 11, note 45. + +15 Dr. George Stanhope, who was Vicar of Lewisham as well as of Deptford. He +was a popular preacher and a translator of Thomas a Kempis and other religious +writers. + +16 See Letter 3, note 17. + +17 A favourite word with Swift, when he wished to indicate anything obscure or +humble. + +18 See Letter 17, note 11. + +19 See June 7th, 1711 and notes. + +20 See Letter 17, note 23. + +21 Thomas Mills (1671-174O) was made Bishop of Waterford and Lismore in 17O8. +A man of learning and a liberal contributor to the cost of church +restorations, he is charged by Archbishop King with giving all the valuable +livings in his gift to his non-resident relatives. + +22 Tooke was appointed printer of the London Gazette in 1711 (see Letter 3, +note 8). + +23 See Letter 5, note 10 + +24 Lady Jane Hyde, the elder daughter of Henry Hyde, Earl of Rochester (see +Letter 5, note 11), married William Capel, third Earl of Essex. Her daughter +Charlotte's husband, the son of the Earl of Jersey, was created Earl of +Clarendon in 1776. Lady Jane's younger sister, Catherine, who became the +famous Duchess of Queensberry, Gay's patroness, is represented by Prior, in +The Female Phaeton, as jealous, when a young girl, of her sister, "Lady +Jenny," who went to balls, and "brought home hearts by dozens." + +25 See Letter 3, note 2. + +26 John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, had held the Privy Seal from 17O5, and was +regarded by the Ministers as a possible plenipotentiary in the event of their +negotiations for a peace being successful. He married Lady Margaret +Cavendish, daughter and co-heiress of Henry Cavendish, second Duke of +Newcastle, and was one of the richest nobles in England. His death, on July +15, 1711, was the result of a fall while stag-hunting. The Duke's only +daughter married, in 1713, Edward, Lord Harley, the Earl of Oxford's son. + + + +Letter 27. + +1 Alexander Forbes, fourth Lord Forbes, who was afterwards attainted for his +share in the Rebellion of 1745. + +2 Obscure (cf. Letter 7, note 30). + +3 Jacob Tonson the elder, who died in 1736, outlived his nephew, Jacob Tonson +the younger, by a few months. The elder Tonson, the secretary of the Kit-Cat +Club, published many of Dryden's works, and the firm continued to be the chief +publishers of the time during the greater part of the eighteenth century. + +4 John Barber. + +5 By his will Swift left to Deane Swift his "large silver standish, consisting +of a large silver plate, an ink-pot, and a sand-box." + +6 I.e., we are only three hours in getting there. + +7 Cf. Letter 15, note 9. + +8 The Examiner was revived in December 1711, under Oldisworth's editorship, +and was continued by him until 1714. + +9 James Douglas, fourth Duke of Hamilton, was created Duke of Brandon in the +English peerage in September 1711, and was killed by Lord Mohun in a duel in +1712. Swift calls him "a worthy good-natured person, very generous, but of a +middle understanding." He married, in 1698, as his second wife, Elizabeth, +daughter and heiress of Digby, Lord Gerard, a lady to whom Swift often refers +in the Journal. She outlived the Duke thirty-two years. + +10 See August 27th, 1711. + +11 William Fitzmaurice (see Letter 11, note 19). + +12 The Duke of Shrewsbury (see Letter 3, note 32) married an Italian lady, +Adelhida, daughter of the Marquis of Paliotti, of Bologna, descended +maternally from Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Queen Elizabeth's favourite. +Lady Cowper (Diary, pp. 8, 9) says that the Duchess "had a wonderful art of +entertaining and diverting people, though she would sometimes exceed the +bounds of decency; . . . but then, with all her prate and noise, she was the +most cunning, designing woman alive, obliging to people in prosperity, and a +great party-woman." As regards the name "Presto," see Letter 2, note 11. + +13 Probably a cousin. + +14 Presumptuous: claiming much. + +15 See Letter 13, note 15. John Winchcombe, a weaver of Newbury, marched with +a hundred of his workmen, at his own expenses, against the Scots in 1513. + +16 Thomas Coke, M.P., of Derbyshire, was appointed a Teller of the Exchequer +in 1704, and Vice-Chamberlain to the Queen in 1706. In 1706 he married--as +his second wife--Mrs. Hale, one of the maids of honour (Luttrell, v. 411, 423; +vi. 113, 462; Lady Cowper's Diary, 15, 16), a lady whose "piercing" beauty it +was, apparently, that Steele described under the name of Chloe, in No. 4 of +the Tatler. Jervas painted her as a country girl, "with a liveliness that +shows she is conscious, but not affected, of her perfections." Coke was the +Sir Plume of Pope's Rape of the Lock. + +17 The committee of management of the Royal household. + +18 Francesca Margherita de l'Epine, the famous singer, and principal rival of +Mrs. Tofts, came to England in 1692, and constantly sang in opera until her +retirement in 1718, when she married Dr. Pepusch. She died in 1746. Her +sister, Maria Gallia, also a singer, did not attain the same popularity. + +19 Charles Scarborow and Sir William Foster were the Clerks of the Board of +Green Cloth. + +20 See Letter 27, note 16 on Thomas Coke. + +21 The Earl of Sunderland's second wife, Lady Anne Churchill, who died in +1716, aged twenty-eight. She was the favourite daughter of the Duke of +Marlborough, and was called "the little Whig." Verses were written in honour +of her beauty and talent by Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, Dr. Watts and +others, and her portrait was painted by Lely and Kneller. + +22 Mary, daughter of Sir William Forester, of Dothill, Shropshire. In 1700, +at the age of thirteen, she had been secretly married to her cousin, George +Downing, a lad of fifteen. Three years later, Downing, on his return from +abroad, refused to acknowledge his wife, and in 1715 both parties petitioned +the House of Lords for leave to bring in a Bill declaring the marriage to be +void; but leave was refused (Lords' Journals, xx. 41, 45). Downing had become +Sir George Downing, Bart., in 1711, and had been elected M.P. for Dunwich; he +died without issue in 1749, and was the founder of Downing College, Cambridge. + +23 In a discussion upon what would be the result if beards became the fashion, +Budgell (Spectator, No. 331) says, "Besides, we are not certain that the +ladies would not come into the mode, when they take the air on horseback. +They already appear in hats and feathers, coats and periwigs." + + + +Letter 28. + +1 Horse-racing was much encouraged by Charles II., who, as Strutt tells us, +appointed races to be made in Datchet Mead, when he was residing at Windsor. +By Queen Anne's time horse-racing was becoming a regular institution: see +Spectator, No. 173. + +2 John Montagu, second Duke of Montagu, married Lady Mary Churchill, youngest +daughter of the Duke of Marlborough. + +3 Of Clogher. + +4 John Adams, Prebendary of Canterbury and Canon of Windsor. He was made +Provost of King's College, Cambridge, in 1712, and died in 1720. + +5 The Hon. and Rev. George Verney, Canon of Windsor (died 1728), became fourth +Lord Willoughby de Broke on the death of his father (Sir Richard Verney, the +third Baron), in July 1711. Lord Willoughby became Dean of Windsor in 1713. + +6 Thomas Hare, Under Secretary of State in Bolingbroke's office. + +7 Richard Sutton was the second son of Robert Sutton, the nephew of the Robert +Sutton who was created Viscount Lexington by Charles I. Sutton served under +William III. and Marlborough in Flanders, and was made a Brigadier-General in +1710, in which year also he was elected M.P. for Newark. In 1711 he was +appointed Governor of Hull, and he died, a Lieutenant-General, in 1737 +(Dalton's Army Lists, iii. 153) + +8 Charles Seymour, sixth Duke of Somerset (1662-1748), known as "the proud +Duke of Somerset." Through the influence which his wife--afterwards Mistress +of the Robes (see Letter 17, note 10)--had obtained over the Queen, he bore no +small part in bringing about the changes of 1710. His intrigues during this +period were, however, mainly actuated by jealousy of Marlborough, and he had +really no sympathies with the Tories. His intrigues with the Whigs caused the +utmost alarm to St. John and to Swift. + +9 The third and last reference to Vanessa in the Journal. + +10 "Pray God preserve her life, which is of great importance" (Swift to +Archbishop King, Aug. 15, 1711). St. John was at this moment very anxious to +conciliate Mrs. Masham, as he felt that she was the only person capable of +counteracting the intrigues of the Duchess of Somerset with the Queen. + +11 Pontack, of Abchurch Lane, son of Arnaud de Pontac, President of the +Parliament of Bordeaux, was proprietor of the most fashionable eating-house in +London. There the Royal Society met annually at dinner until 1746. Several +writers speak of the dinners at a guinea a head and upwards served at +Pontack's, and Swift comments on the price of the wine. + +12 "His name was Read" (Scott). + +13 Up to the end of 1709 the warrants for the payment of the works at Blenheim +had been regularly issued by Godolphin and paid at the Treasury; over 200,000 +pounds was expended in this manner. But after the dismissal of the Whigs the +Queen drew tight the purse-strings. The 20,000 pounds mentioned by Swift was +paid in 1711, but on June 1, 1712, Anne gave positive orders that nothing +further should be allowed for Blenheim, though 12,000 pounds remained due to +the contractors. + +14 The piercing of the lines before Bouchain, which Villars had declared to be +the non plus ultra of the Allies, one of the most striking proofs of +Marlborough's military genius. + +15 See Letter 22, note 15. + +16 A fashionable gaming-house in St. James's Street. + +17 See Letter 6, note 15. The Grange, near Alresford, Hampshire, was Henley's +seat. His wife (see Letter 12, note 24) was the daughter of Peregrine Bertie, +son of Montagu Bertie, second Earl of Lindsey; and Earl Poulett (see Letter +20, note 7) married Bridget, an elder daughter of Bertie's. + +18 William Henry Hyde, Earl of Danby, grandson of the first Duke of Leeds (see +Letter 8, note 22), and eldest son of Peregrine Osborne, Baron Osborne and +Viscount Dunblane, who succeeded to the dukedom in 1712. Owing to this young +man's death (at the age of twenty-one), his brother, Peregrine Hyde, Marquis +of Caermarthen, who married Harley's daughter Elizabeth, afterwards became +third Duke of Leeds. + +19 See Letter 8, note 2. + +20 See Letter 3, note 7. + +21 William Gregg was a clerk in Harley's office when the latter was Secretary +of State under the Whig Administration. In 1707-8 he was in treasonable +correspondence with M. de Chamillart, the French Secretary of State. When he +was detected he was tried for high treason, and hanged on April 28. The Lords +who examined Gregg did their utmost to establish Harley's complicity, which +Gregg, however, with his dying breath solemnly denied. + +22 By Swift himself. The title was, Some Remarks upon a Pamphlet entitled, A +Letter to the Seven Lords of the Committee appointed to examine Gregg. + +23 See Letter 13, note 10. There is no copy in the British Museum. + +24 Thomas Parnell, the poet, married, in 1706, Anne, daughter of Thomas +Minchin, of Tipperary. In 1711 Parnell was thirty-two years of age, and was +Archdeacon of Clogher and Vicar of Clontibret. Swift took much trouble to +obtain for Parnell the friendship of Bolingbroke and other persons of note, +and Parnell became a member of the Scriblerus Club. In 1716 he was made Vicar +of Finglas, and after his death in 1718 Pope prepared an edition of his poems. +The fits of depression to which Parnell was liable became more marked after +his wife's death, and he seems to have to some extent given way to drink. His +sincerity and charm of manner made him welcome with men of both parties. + +25 Dr. Henry Compton had been Bishop of London since 1675. He was dangerously +ill early in 1711, but he lived until 1713, when he was eighty-one. + +26 See Letter 26, note 10. + +27 See Letter 7, note 21. + +28 L'Estrange speaks of "a whiffling fop" and Swift says, "Every whiffler in a +laced coat, who frequents the chocolate-house, shall talk of the +Constitution." + +29 Prior's first visit to France with a view to the secret negotiations with +that country which the Ministers were now bent on carrying through, had been +made in July, when he and Gaultier reached Calais in a fishing-boat and +proceeded to Fontainbleau under assumed names. He returned to England in +August, but was recognised at Dover, whence the news spread all over London, +to the great annoyance of the Ministers. The officer who recognised Prior was +John Macky, reputed author of those Characters upon which Swift wrote +comments. Formerly a secret service agent under William III., Macky had been +given the direction of the Ostend mail packets by Marlborough, to whom he +communicated the news of Prior's journey. Bolingbroke threatened to hang +Macky, and he was thrown into prison; but the accession of George I. again +brought him favour and employment. + +30 See Letter 12, note 7. + + + +Letter 29. + +1 See Letter 3, note 4. + +2 See Letter 6, note 4. + +3 Edward Villiers (1656-1711), created Viscount Villiers in 1691, was made +Earl of Jersey in 1697. Under William III. he was Lord Chamberlain and +Secretary of State, but he was dismissed from office in 1704. When he died he +had been nominated as a plenipotentiary at the Congress of Utrecht, and was +about to receive the appointment of Lord Privy Seal. Lord Jersey married, in +1681, when she was eighteen, Barbara, daughter of William Chiffinch, closet- +keeper to Charles II.; she died in 1735. + +4 Lord Paisley was the Earl of Abercorn's eldest surviving son (see Letter 17, +note 7). + +5 The Hon. John Hamilton, the Earl's second surviving son, died in 1714. + +6 Dr. John Robinson (1650-1723) had gone out as chaplain to the Embassy at the +Court of Sweden in 1682, and had returned in 1708 with the double reputation +of being a thorough Churchman and a sound diplomatist. He was soon made Dean +of Windsor, and afterwards Bishop of Bristol. He was now introduced to the +Council Board, and it was made known to those in the confidence of Ministers +that he would be one of the English plenipotentiaries at the coming Peace +Congress. In 1713 Dr. Robinson was made Bishop of London. + +7 John Erskine, Earl of Mar (1675-1732), who was attainted for his part in the +Rebellion of 1715. His first wife, Lady Margaret Hay, was a daughter of Lord +Kinnoull. + +8 Thomas Hay, sixth Earl of Kinnoull (died 1719), a Commissioner for the +Treaty of Union between England and Scotland, and one of the Scotch +representative peers in the first Parliament of Great Britain. His son and +heir, Viscount Dupplin, afterwards Baron Hay (see Letter 5, note 34), who +married Harley's daughter Abigail, is often mentioned in the Journal. + +9 See Letter 3, note 5. + +10 The title of the pamphlet was, "A New Journey to Paris, together with some +Secret Transactions between the French King and an English Gentleman. By the +Sieur du Baudrier. Translated from the French." + +11 See Letter 11, note 44. + +12 See Letter 28, note 6. + +13 The Earl of Strafford (see Letter 18, note 3) married, on Sept. 6, 1711, +Anne, only daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Johnson, of Bradenham, +Buckinghamshire, a wealthy shipbuilder. Many of Lady Strafford's letters to +her husband are given in the Wentworth Papers, 1883. + +14 Samuel Pratt, who was also Clerk of the Closet. + +15 Alice Hill, woman of the bed-chamber to the Queen, died in 1762. + +16 Enniscorthy, the name of a town in the county of Wexford. + +17 Scrambling. + +18 "These words in italics are written in strange, misshapen letters, +inclining to the right hand, in imitation of Stella's writing" (Deane Swift). +[Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this etext.] + +19 Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. + +20 John Pooley, appointed Bishop of Raphoe in 1702. + +21 "These words in italics are miserably scrawled, in imitation of Stella's +hand (Deane Swift). [Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of +this etext.] + +22 See Letter 8, note 2. + + + +Letter 30. + +1 See Letter 25, note 1. + +2 See Letter 9, note 22. + +3 See Letter 29, note 10. + +4 Cf. the entry on the 11th (note 3 above). + +5 See Letter 6, note 4. + +6 William, Lord Villiers, second Earl of Jersey (died 1721), a strong +Jacobite, had been M.P. for Kent before his father's death. He married, in +1704, Judith, only daughter of a City merchant, Frederick Herne, son of Sir +Nathaniel Herne, Alderman; she died in 1735. Lord Jersey, one of "the +prettiest young peers in England," was a companion of Bolingbroke, and stories +in the Wentworth Papers (pp. 149, 230, 395, 445), show that he had a bad +reputation. + +7 See Letter 28, note 4. + +8 The name of Arbuthnot's wife is not known: she died in 1730. + +9 James Lovet, one of the "Yeomen Porters" at Court. + +10 Richard Jones, Earl of Ranelagh, who died without male issue in January +1712. Writing to Archbishop King on Jan. 8, Swift said, "Lord Ranelagh died +on Sunday morning; he was very poor and needy, and could hardly support +himself for want of a pension which used to be paid him." + +11 Arabella Churchill, maid of honour to the Duchess of York, and mistress of +James II., afterwards married Colonel Charles Godfrey, Clerk Comptroller of +the Green Cloth and Master of the Jewel Office. Her second son by James II. +was created Duke of Albemarle. + +12 See Letter 28, note 4. + +13 The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of Dublin, elected in August 1711, "not being +approved of by the Government, the City was obliged to proceed to another +election, which occasioned a great ferment among the vulgar sort" (Boyer, +Political State, 1711, p. 500). After two other persons had been elected and +disapproved of, Alderman Gore was elected Lord Mayor, and approved (ib. pp. +612-17). + +14 "These words in italics are written enormously large" (Deane Swift). +[Italics replaced by capitals for the transcription of this etext.] + +15 See Letter 3, note 39. + +16 Henry Lowman, First Clerk of the Kitchen. + +17 "The Doctor was always a bad reckoner, either of money or anything else; +and this is one of his rapid computations. For, as Stella was seven days in +journey, although Dr. Swift says only six, she might well have spent four days +at Inish-Corthy, and two nights at Mrs. Proby's mother's, the distance from +Wexford to Dublin being but two easy days' journey" (Deane Swift). + +18 Mrs. Fenton. + + + +Letter 31. + +1 See Letter 10, note 31. + +2 Charles Paulet, second Duke of Bolton, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of +Ireland in 1717, and died in 1722. In a note on Macky's character of the +Duke, Swift calls him "a great booby"; and Lady Cowper (Diary, p. 154) says +that he was generally to be seen with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. + +3 Stella's maid. + +4 See Letter 12, note 7. + +5 Colonel Fielding (see Letter 16, note 21). + +6 The envoys were Menager and the Abbe du Bois; the priest was the Abbe +Gaultier. + +7 See Letter 18, note 3. + +8 Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, General, who died in 1702, married Eleanor, +daughter of Richard Wall, of Rogane, Tipperary. She died in 1732, and Swift +described her as so "cunning a devil that she had great influence as a +reconciler of the differences at Court." One of her sons was General James +Oglethorpe, the philanthropist, and friend of Dr. Johnson. + +9 "Worrit," trouble, tease. + +10 Sir John Walter, Bart. (died 1722), was M.P. for the city of Oxford. He +and Charles Godfrey (see Letter 30, note 11) were the Clerks Comptrollers of +the Green Cloth. + +11 See Letter 17, note 3. + +12 No doubt one of the daughters of Mervyn Tuchet, fourth Earl of Castlehaven, +who died in 1686. + +13 Henrietta Maria, daughter of Charles Scarborow (see Letter 27, note 19). +She married, in 1712, Sir Robert Jenkinson, Bart., M.P. for Oxfordshire, who +died without issue in 1717. See Wentworth Papers, 244. + +14 In July 1712 a Commission passed empowering Conyers Darcy and George +Fielding (an equerry to the Queen) to execute the office of Master of the +Horse. + +15 At Killibride, about four miles from Trim. + +16 Swift's "mistress," Lady Hyde (see Letter 5, note 11), whose husband had +become Earl of Rochester in May 1711. She was forty-one in 1711. + +17 See Sept. 19, 1711. + +18 See Letter 29, note 14. + +19 See Letter 22, note 3. + +20 See Letter 27, note 9. + +21 See Letter 26, note 10. + +22 "This happens to be the only single line written upon the margin of any of +his journals. By some accident there was a margin about as broad as the back +of a razor, and therefore he made this use of it" (Deane Swift). + + + +Letter 32. + +1 Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, of Colonel Kane's regiment. + +2 A nickname for the High Church party. + +3 See Letter 29, note 10. + +4 "From this pleasantry of my Lord Oxford, the appellative Martinus Scriblerus +took its rise" (Deane Swift). + +5 Cf. the Imitation of the Sixth Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 1714, +where Swift says that, during their drives together, Harley would + "gravely try to read the lines + Writ underneath the country signs." + +6 See Letter 23, note 15. + +7 See Letter 18, note 4. + +8 See Letter 23, note 17. + +9 Lord Pembroke (see Letter 7, note 31) married, in 1708, as his second wife, +Barbara, Dowager Baroness Arundell of Trerice, formerly widow of Sir Richard +Mauleverer, and daughter of Sir Thomas Slingsby. She died in 1722. + +10 Caleb Coatesworth, who died in 1741, leaving a large fortune. + +11 Abel Boyer, Whig journalist and historian, attacked Swift in his pamphlet, +An Account of the State and Progress of the Present Negotiations for Peace. +Boyer says that he was released from custody by Harley; and in the Political +State for 1711 (p. 646) he speaks of Swift as "a shameless and most +contemptible ecclesiastical turncoat, whose tongue is as swift to revile as +his mind is swift to change." The Postboy said that Boyer would "be +prosecuted with the utmost severity of the law" for this attack. + +12 The "Edgar." Four hundred men were killed. + +13 William Bretton, or Britton, was made Lieutenant-Colonel in 1702, Colonel +of a new Regiment of Foot 1705, Brigadier-General 1710, and Colonel of the +King's Own Borderers in April 1711 (Dalton, Army Lists, iii. 238). In +December 1711 he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the King of Prussia +(Postboy, Jan. 1, 1712), and he died in December 1714 or January 1715. + +14 See Letter 24, note 14. + +15 It is not clear which of several Lady Gores is here referred to. It may be +(1) the wife of Sir William Gore, Bart., of Manor Gore, and Custos Rotulorum, +County Leitrim, who married Hannah, eldest daughter and co-heir of James +Hamilton, Esq., son of Sir Frederick Hamilton, and niece of Gustavus Hamilton, +created Viscount Boyne. She died 1733. Or (2) the wife of Sir Ralph Gore, +Bart. (died 1732), M.P. for County Donegal, and afterwards Speaker of the +Irish House of Commons. He married Miss Colville, daughter of Sir Robert +Colville, of Newtown, Leitrim, and, as his second wife, Elizabeth, only +daughter of Dr. Ashe, Bishop of Clogher. Or (3) the wife of Sir Arthur Gore, +Bart. (died 1727), of Newtown Gore, Mayo, who married Eleanor, daughter of Sir +George St. George, Bart., of Carrick, Leitrim, and was ancestor of the Earls +of Arran. + +16 "Modern usage has sanctioned Stella's spelling" (Scott). Swift's spelling +was "wast." + +17 Mrs. Manley. + +18 Swift's own lines, "Mrs. Frances Harris's Petition." + +19 Thomas Coote was a justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, in Ireland, from +1692 until his removal in 1715. + +20 Probably a relative of Robert Echlin, Dean of Tuam, who was killed by some +of his own servants in April 1712, at the age of seventy-three. His son John +became Prebendary and Vicar-General of Tuam, and died in 1764, aged eighty- +three. In August 1731 Bolingbroke sent Swift a letter by the hands of "Mr. +Echlin," who would, he said, tell Swift of the general state of things in +England. + +21 "This column of words, as they are corrected, is in Stella's hand" (Deane +Swift). + + + +Letter 33. + +1 Swift's verses, "The Description of a Salamander," are a scurrilous attack +on John, Lord Cutts (died 1707), who was famous for his bravery. Joanna +Cutts, the sister who complained of Swift's abuse, died unmarried. + +2 See Letter 6, note 5. + +3 Fourteen printers or publishers were arrested, under warrants signed by St. +John, for publishing pamphlets directed against the Government. They appeared +at the Court of Queens Bench on Oct. 23, and were continued on their own +recognisances till the end of the term. + +4 Robert Benson (see Letter 6, note 36). + +5 "The South Sea Whim," printed in Scott's Swift, ii. 398. + +6 See Letter 21, Apr. 24, 1711, Letter 22, Apr. 28, 1711, and Letter 34, 17 +Nov. 1711. + +7 Count Gallas was dismissed with a message that he might depart from the +kingdom when he thought fit. He published the preliminaries of peace in the +Daily Courant. + +8 William, second Viscount Hatton, who died without issue in 1760. His half- +sister Anne married Daniel Finch, second Earl of Nottingham, and Lord Hatton +was therefore uncle to his fellow-guest, Mr. Finch. + +9 Crinkle or contract. Gay writes: "Showers soon drench the camblet's +cockled grain." + +10 The Countess of Jersey (see Letter 30, note 6), like her husband, was a +friend of Bolingbroke's. Lady Strafford speaks of her having lately (November +1711) "been in pickle for her sins," at which she was not surprised. Before +the Earl succeeded to the title, Lady Wentworth wrote to her son: "It's said +Lord Villors Lady was worth fower scoar thoussand pd; you might have got her, +as wel as Lord Villors. . . . He [Lord Jersey) has not don well by his son, +the young lady is not yoused well as I hear amongst them, which in my openion +is not well." Wentworth Papers (pp. 214, 234). + +11 Cf. Letter 9, Nov. 11, 1710, and Letter 9, note 3. + +12 Charles Crow, appointed Bishop of Cloyne in 1702. + +13 Swift. + +14 Mrs. Manley. + +15 The titles of these pamphlets are as follows: (1) A True Narrative of . . +. the Examination of the Marquis de Guiscard; (2) Some Remarks upon a Pamphlet +entitled, A Letter to the Seven Lords; (3) A New Journey to Paris; (4) The +Duke of Marlborough's Vindication; (5) A Learned Comment on Dr. Hare's Sermon. + +16 See the pun this day above. + + + +Letter 34. + +1 See Letter 3, note 17. + +2 See Letter 11, note 44. + +3 Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14). + +4 Stella and Dingley. + +5 "Noah's Dove, an Exhortation to Peace, set forth in a Sermon preached on the +Seventh of November, 1710, a Thanksgiving Day, by Thomas Swift, A.M., formerly +Chaplain to Sir William Temple, now Rector of Puttenham in Surrey." Thomas +Swift was Swift's "little parson cousin" (see Letter 24, note 2). + +6 See Letter 6, note 11. The book referred to is, apparently, An Impartial +Enquiry into the Management of the War in Spain, post-dated 1712. + +7 Lord Harley (afterwards second Earl of Oxford) (see Letter 5, note 35) +married, on Oct. 31, 1713, Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, only daughter of +John Holles, last Duke of Newcastle of that family (see Letter 26, note 26). + +8 Bolingbroke afterwards said that the great aim (at length accomplished) of +Harley's administration was to marry his son to this young lady. Swift wrote +a poetical address to Lord Harley on his marriage. + +9 Thomas Pelham, first Baron Pelham, married, as his second wife, Lady Grace +Holles, daughter of the Earl of Clare and sister of the Duke of Newcastle. +Their eldest son, Thomas, who succeeded to the barony in 1712, was afterwards +created Earl of Clare and Duke of Newcastle, + +10 Francis Higgins, Rector of Baldruddery, called "the Sacheverell of +Ireland," was an extreme High Churchman, who had been charged with sedition on +account of sermons preached in London in 1707. In 1711 he was again +prosecuted as "a disloyal subject and disturber of the public peace." At that +time he was Prebendary of Christ Church, Dublin; in 1725 he was made +Archdeacon of Cashel. + +11 Swift's pamphlet, The Conduct of the Allies. + +12 Lord Oxford's daughter Abigail married, in 1709, Viscount Dupplin, +afterwards seventh Earl of Kinnoull (see Letter 5, note 34). She died in +1750, and her husband in 1758, when the eldest son, Thomas, became Earl. The +second son, Robert, was made Archbishop of York in 1761. + +13 Kensington Gravel Pits was then a famous health resort. + +14 Draggled. Pope has, "A puppy, daggled through the town." + +15 Writing of Peperharrow, Manning and Bray state (Surrey, ii. 32, 47) that +Oxenford Grange was conveyed to Philip Froud (died 1736) in 1700, and was sold +by him in 1713 to Alan Broderick, afterwards Viscount Midleton. This Froud +(Swift's "old Frowde") had been Deputy Postmaster-General; he was son of Sir +Philip Frowde, who was knighted in 1665 (Le Neve's Knights, Harleian Society, +p. 190), and his son Philip was Addison's friend (see Letter 8, note 13). + +16 Probably the Charles Child, Esq., of Farnham, whose death is recorded in +the Gentleman's Magazine for 1754. + +17 Grace Spencer was probably Mrs. Proby's sister (see Letter 19, note 3). + +18 Cf. Shakespeare, As You Like It, v. 3: "Shall we clap into 't roundly, +without hawking or spitting, which are the only prologues to a bad voice?" + +19 In the "Verses on his own Death," 1731, Swift says + + "When daily howd'y's come of course, + And servants answer, 'Worse and worse!'" + +Cf. Steele (Tatler, No. 109), + +"After so many howdies, you proceed to visit or not, as you like the run of +each other's reputation or fortune," + +and (Spectator, No. 143), + + "the howd'ye servants of our women." + + + +Letter 35. + +1 See Letter 31, note 8. + +2 See Letter 14, note 9. + +3 The Tories alleged that the Duke of Marlborough, the Duke of Montagu, +Steele, etc., were to take part in the procession (cf. Spectator, No. 269). +Swift admits that the images seized were worth less than 40 pounds, and not +1000 pounds, as he had said, and that the Devil was not like Harley; yet he +employed someone to write a lying pamphlet, A True Relation of the Several +Facts and Circumstances of the Intended Riot and Tumult, etc. + +4 A brother of Jemmy Leigh (see Letter 2, note 16), and one of Stella's card- +playing acquaintances. + +5 Of The Conduct of the Allies (see Letter 34, Nov. 10, 1711, and Letter 35, +Nov. 24, 1711). + +6 Sir Thomas Hanmer (see Letter 9, note 13) married, in 1698, Isabella, widow +of the first Duke of Grafton, and only daughter and heiress of Henry, Earl of +Arlington. She died in 1723. + +7 James, Duke of Hamilton (see Letter 27, note 9), married, in 1698, as his +second wife, Elizabeth, daughter and sole heir of Digby, Lord Gerard. She +died in 1744. + +8 The Conduct of the Allies. + +9 See Letter 25, note 6. + +10 Sir Matthew Dudley (see Letter 3, note 2) married Lady Mary O'Bryen, +youngest daughter of Henry, Earl of Thomond. + +11 See Letter 31, note 10. + +12 Sir John St. Leger (died 1743) was M.P. for Doneraile and a Baron of the +Exchequer in Ireland from 1714 to 1741. His elder brother, Arthur, was +created Viscount Doneraile in 1703. + +13 "Relation of the Facts and Circumstances of the Intended Riot on Queen +Elizabeth's Birthday." + +14 The Conduct of the Allies. + +15 See Letter 9, note 18. + +16 The first motto was "Partem tibi Gallia nostri eripuit," etc. (Horace, 2 +Od. 17-24). + +17 See Plautus's Amphitrus, or Dryden's Amphitryon. + +18 It is not known whether or no this was Dr. William Savage, Master of +Emmanuel College, Cambridge. No copy of the sermon--if it was printed--has +been found. See Courtenay's Memoirs of Sir William Temple. + +19 Of The Conduct of the Allies, a pamphlet which had a very wide circulation. +See a paper by Edward Solly in the Antiquarian Magazine, March 1885. + +20 Allen Bathurst, M.P. (1684-1775), created Baron Bathurst in December 1711, +and Earl Bathurst in 1772. His second and eldest surviving son was appointed +Lord Chancellor in the year preceding the father's death. Writing to her son +in January 1711 (Wentworth Papers, 173), Lady Wentworth said of Bathurst, "He +is, next to you, the finest gentleman and the best young man I know; I love +him dearly." + +21 See Letter 9, note 17. + +22 See Letter 16, note 20. + +23 Swift is alluding to the quarrel between Lord Santry (see Letter 23, note +2) and Francis Higgins (see Letter 34, note 10), which led to Higgins's +prosecution. The matter is described at length in Boyer s Political State, +1711, pp. 617 seq. + +24 See Letter 19, note 1. + +25 No doubt the same as Colonel Newburgh (see Journal, March 5, 1711-12). + +26 Beaumont (see Letter 1, note 2 and Letter 26, Jul. 6, 1711). + +27 See Letter 31, note 1. + +28 Cf. Letter 15, Feb. 9, 1710-11. + +29 See Letter 35, note 3. + + + +Letter 36. + +1 See Letter 34, note 15. Debtors could not be arrested on Sunday. + +2 Sir George Pretyman, Bart., dissipated the fortune of the family. The title +became dormant in 1749. + +3 See the Introduction. + +4 For the Whites of Farnham, see Manning and Bray's Surrey, iii. 177. + +5 The Conduct of the Allies. + +6 The Percevals were among Swift's principal friends in the neighbourhood of +Laracor. In a letter to John Temple in 1706 (Forster's Life of Swift, 182) +Swift alludes to Perceval; in spite of different views in politics, "I always +loved him," says Swift, "very well as a man of very good understanding and +humour." Perceval was related to Sir John Perceval, afterwards Earl of Egmont +(see Letter 18, note 15). + +7 See Letter 1, note 12. + +8 See Letter 8, note 14. + +9 The Examiner was resumed on Dec. 6, 1711, under Oldisworth's editorship, and +was continued by him until July 1714. + +10 Daniel Finch, second Earl of Nottingham, a staunch Tory, had quarrelled +with the Government and the Court. On Dec. 7, 1711, he carried, by six votes, +an amendment to the Address, to the effect that no peace would be acceptable +which left Spain in the possession of the House of Bourbon. Harley's counter- +stroke was the creation of twelve new peers. The Whigs rewarded Nottingham by +withdrawing their opposition to the Occasional Conformity Bill: + +11 This "Song" begins: + + "An orator dismal of Nottinghamshire, + Who had forty years let out his conscience for hire." + +12 The Conduct of the Allies. + +13 Robert Bertie, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and fourth Earl of Lindsey, was +created Marquis of Lindsay in 1706, and Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven in 1715. +He died in 1723. + +14 Lady Sunderland (see Letter 27, note 21) and Lady Rialton, ladies of the +bed-chamber to the Queen. + +15 Hugh Cholmondeley (died 1724), the second Viscount, was created Viscount +Malpas and Earl of Cholmondeley in 1706, and in 1708 was appointed Treasurer +of Her Majesty's Household, an office which he held until 1713, in spite of +his Whig sympathies. "Good for nothing, so far as ever I knew," Swift wrote +of him. + +16 Prov. xxv. 3. + +17 See Letter 31, note 8. + +18 Thomas Parker, afterwards created Earl of Macclesfield, was appointed Lord +Chief-Justice in March 1710. In September 1711 he declined Harley's offer of +the Lord Chancellorship, a post which he accepted under a Whig Government in +the next reign. + +19 The Bill against Occasional Conformity. + + + +Letter 37. + +1 The proposed visit to London of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the renowned +General, and friend of Marlborough, was viewed by the Government with +considerable alarm. + +2 Swift's "An excellent new Song; being the intended Speech of a famous orator +against Peace," a ballad "two degrees above Grub Street" (see Letter 36, note +11). + +3 Robert Walpole was then M.P. for King's Lynn, and Leader of the Opposition +in the House of Commons. He had been Secretary at War from February 1708 to +September 1710, and the Commissioners of Public Accounts having reported, on +Dec. 21, 1711, that he had been guilty of venality and corruption, he was +expelled from the House of Commons, and taken to the Tower. + +4 William King, D.C.L., author of the Journey to London in 1698, Dialogues of +the Dead, The Art of Cookery, and other amusing works, was, at the end of the +month, appointed Gazetteer, in succession to Steele, on Swift's +recommendation. Writing earlier in the year, Gay said that King deserved +better than to "languish out the small remainder of his life in the Fleet +Prison." The duties of Gazetteer were too much for his easy-going nature and +failing health, and he resigned the post in July 1712. He died in the +following December. + +5 At the bottom of St. James's Street, on the west side. + +6 The Rev. John Shower, pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation at Curriers' +Hall, London Wall. + +7 The Windsor Prophecy, in which the Duchess of Somerset (see Letter 17, note +10) is attacked as "Carrots from Northumberland." + +8 Merlin's Prophecy, 1709, written in pseudo-mediaeval English. + +9 See Letter 3, note 18. + +10 Dorothy, daughter of Sir Edward Leach, of Shipley, Derbyshire. + +11 Sir James Long, Bart. (died 1729), was at this time M.P. for Chippenham. + +12 The number containing this paragraph is not in the British Museum. + +13 Joseph Beaumont (see Letter 1, note 2, Letter 26, Jul. 6, 1711 and Letter +35, note 26) + +14 See Letter 4, note 13. + +15 Apparently a misprint for "whether." + +16 See Letter 32, note 19. + +17 James Compton, afterwards fifth Earl of Northampton (died 1754), was +summoned to the House of Lords as Baron Compton in December 1711. Charles +Bruce, who succeeded his father as third Earl of Aylesbury in 1741, was +created Lord Bruce, of Whorlton, at the same time. + +18 James, Lord Compton, eldest son of the Earl of Northampton; Charles, Lord +Bruce, eldest son of the Earl of Aylesbury; Henry Paget, son of Lord Paget; +George Hay, Viscount Dupplin, the son-in-law of the Lord Treasurer, created +Baron Hay; Viscount Windsor, created Baron Montjoy; Sir Thomas Mansel, Baron +Mansel; Sir Thomas Willoughby, Baron Middleton; Sir Thomas Trevor, Baron +Trevor; George Granville, Baron Lansdowne; Samuel Masham, Baron Masham; Thomas +Foley, Baron Foley; and Allen Bathurst, Baron Bathurst. + + + +Letter 38. + +1 Juliana, widow of the second Earl of Burlington, and daughter of the Hon. +Henry Noel, was Mistress of the Robes to Queen Anne. She died in 1750, aged +seventy-eight. + +2 Thomas Windsor, Viscount Windsor (died 1738), an Irish peer, who had served +under William III. in Flanders, was created Baron Montjoy, of the Isle of +Wight, in December 1711. He married Charlotte, widow of John, Baron Jeffries, +of Wem, and daughter of Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. + +3 The Hon. Russell Robartes, brother of Lord Radnor (see Letter 3, note 7), +was Teller of the Exchequer, and M.P. for Bodmin. His son became third Earl +of Radnor in 1723. + +4 Gay (Trivia, ii. 92) speaks of "the slabby pavement." + +5 See Letter 17, note 1. + +6 George Granville (see Letter 14, note 5), now Baron Lansdowne, married Lady +Mary Thynne, widow of Thomas Thynne, and daughter of Edward, Earl of Jersey +(see Letter 29, note 3). In October 1710 Lady Wentworth wrote to her son, +"Pray, my dear, why will you let Lady Mary Thynne go? She is young, rich, and +not unhandsome, some say she is pretty; and a virtuous lady, and of the +nobility, and why will you not try to get her?" (Wentworth papers, 149). + +7 See Letter 24, note 4. + +8 Harness. + +9 On his birthday Swift read the third chapter of Job. + +10 See Letter 33, note 12. + +11 Sir George St. George of Dunmore, Co. Galway, M.P. for Co. Leitrim from +1661 to 1692, and afterwards for Co. Galway, died in December 1711. + +12 See Letter 35, note 11 and Letter 31, note 10. + +13 See Letter 4, note 16. + +14 Dr. Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14). + +15 King Henry VIII., act iv. sc. 2; "An old man broken with the storms," etc. + +16 "These words in the manuscript imitate Stella's writing, and are sloped the +wrong way" (Deane Swift), + +17 Archibald Douglas, third Marquis of Douglas, was created Duke of Douglas in +1703. He died, without issue, in 1761. + +18 Arbuthnot and Freind. + + + +Letter 39. + +1 Sir Stephen Evance, goldsmith, was knighted in 1690. + +2 Because of the refusal of the House of Lords to allow the Duke of Hamilton +(see Letter 27, note 9), a Scottish peer who had been raised to the peerage of +Great Britain as Duke of Brandon, to sit under that title. The Scottish peers +discontinued their attendance at the House until the resolution was partially +amended; and the Duke of Hamilton always sat as a representative Scottish +peer. + +3 Sir William Robinson (1655-1736), created a baronet in 1689, was M.P. for +York from 1697 to 1722. His descendants include the late Earl De Grey and the +Marquis of Ripon. + +4 See Letter 16, note 19. The full title was, Some Advice humbly offered to +the Members of the October Club, in a Letter from a Person of Honour. + +5 See Letter 38, note 11. + +6 "It is the last of the page, and written close to the edge of the paper" +(Deane Swift). + +7 Henry Somerset, second Duke of Beaufort. In September 1711 the Duke--who +was then only twenty-seven--married, as his third wife, Mary, youngest +daughter of the Duke of Leeds. In the following January Lady Strafford wrote, +"The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort are the fondest of one another in the world; +I fear 'tis too hot to hold. . . . I own I fancy people may love one another +as well without making so great a rout" (Wentworth Papers, 256). The Duke +died in 1714, at the age of thirty. + +8 "Upon the 10th and 17th of this month the Examiner was very severe upon the +Duke of Marlborough, and in consequence of this report pursued him with +greater virulence in the following course of his papers" (Deane Swift). + +9 A term of execration. Scott (Kenilworth) has, "A pize on it." + +10 See Letter 11, note 13. + +11 In a letter to Swift of Jan. 31, 1712, Sacheverell, after expressing his +indebtedness to St. John and Harley, said, "For yourself, good Doctor, who was +the first spring to move it, I can never sufficiently acknowledge the +obligation," and in a postscript he hinted that a place in the Custom House +which he heard was vacant might suit his brother. + +12 Thomas Yalden, D.D., (1671-1736), Addison's college friend, succeeded +Atterbury as preacher of Bridewell Hospital in 1713. In 1723 he was arrested +on suspicion of being involved in the Atterbury plot. + +13 Tablets. + +14 Sir Solomon de Medina, a Jew, was knighted in 1700. + +15 Davenant had been said to be the writer of papers which Swift contributed +to the Examiner. + +16 Henry Withers, a friend of "Duke" Disney (see Letter 16, note 20), was +appointed Lieutenant-General in 1707, and Major-General in 1712. On his death +in 1729 he was buried in Westminster Abbey. + +17 See Letter 36, note 18. + +18 Dyer's News Letter, the favourite reading of Sir Roger de Coverley +(Spectator, No. 127), was the work of John Dyer, a Jacobite journalist. In +the Tatler (No. 18) Addison says that Dyer was "justly looked upon by all the +fox-hunters in the nation as the greatest statesman our country has produced." +Lord Chief-Justice Holt referred to the News Letter as "a little scandalous +paper of a scandalous author" (Howell's State Trials, xiv. 1150). + + +Letter 40. + +1 Dr. John Sharp, made Archbishop of York in 1691, was called by Swift "the +harmless tool of others' hate." Swift believed that Sharp, owing to his +dislike of The Tale of a Tub, assisted in preventing the bishopric of Hereford +being offered to him. Sharp was an excellent preacher, with a taste for both +poetry and science. + +2 An edition of the Countess d'Aulnoy's Les Contes des Fees appeared in 1710, +in four volumes. + +3 Francis Godolphin, Viscount Rialton, the eldest son of Sidney, Earl of +Godolphin, succeeded his father as second Earl on Sept. 15, 1712. He held 3 +various offices, including that of Lord Privy Seal (1735-1740), and died in +1766, aged eighty-eight. He married, in 1698, Lady Henrietta Churchill, who +afterwards was Duchess of Marlborough in her own right. She died in 1733. + +4 See Letter 26, note 24. Ladies of the bed-chamber received 1000 pounds a +year. + +5 William O'Brien, third Earl of Inchiquin, succeeded his father in 1691, and +died in 1719. + +6 Lady Catherine Hyde was an unmarried daughter of Laurence Hyde, first Earl +of Rochester (see Letter 8, note 22). Notwithstanding Swift's express +statement that the lady to whom he here refers was the late Earl's daughter, +and the allusion to her sister, Lady Dalkeith, in Letter 60, note 26, she has +been confused by previous editors with her niece, Lady Catherine Hyde (see +Letter 26, note 24), daughter of the second Earl, and afterwards Duchess of +Queensberry. That lady, not long afterwards to be celebrated by Prior, was a +child under twelve when Swift wrote. + +7 Sir John Trevor (1637-1717), formerly Speaker of the House of Commons. + +8 See Letter 11, note 44. + +9 See Letter 34, note 10. + +10 See Letter 23, note 2. + +11 Charles Trimnel, made Bishop of Norwich in 1708, and Bishop of Winchester +in 1721, was strongly opposed to High Church doctrines. + +12 Jibe or jest. + +13 See Letter 22, note 4. + +14 The treaty concluded with Holland in 1711. + +15 Feb. 2 is the Purification of the Virgin Mary. + +16 See Letter 29, note 7. + +17 See Letter 11, note 53. + +18 Lady Mary Butler (see Letter 7, note 2 and Letter 3, note 40), daughter of +the Duke of Ormond, who married, in 1710, John, third Lord Ashburnham, +afterwards Earl of Ashburnham. + +19 See Letter 2, note 5. + +20 See Letter 36, note 14. + +21 Scroop Egerton, fifth Earl and first Duke of Bridgewater, married, in 1703, +Lady Elizabeth Churchill, third daughter of the Duke of Marlborough. She died +in 1714, aged twenty-six. + +22 See Letter 30, note 6. + +23 Heart. + +24 Edward Fowler, D.D., appointed Bishop of Gloucester in 1691, died in 1714. + +25 Isaac Manley (see Letter 3, note 3). + + + +Letter 41. + +1 This letter, the first of the series published by Hawkesworth, of which we +have the originals (see Preface), was addressed "To Mrs. Johnson at her +Lodgings over against St. Mary's Church, near Capell Street, Dublin, Ireland"; +and was endorsed by her "Recd. Mar. 1st." + +2 See Letter 10, note 28. + +3 See Letter 12, note 22. + +4 See Letter 23, note 2. + +5 Charles Ross, son of the eleventh Baron Ross, was Colonel of the Royal Irish +Dragoons from 1695 to 1705. He was a Lieutenant-General under the Duke of +Ormond in Flanders, and died in 1732 (Dalton, ii. 212, iii. 34). + +6 Charles Paulet, Marquis of Winchester, succeeded his father (see Letter 31, +note 2) as third Duke of Bolton in 1722. He married, as his second wife, +Lavinia Fenton, the actress who took the part of Polly Peacham in Gay's +Beggars Opera in 1728, and he died in 1754. + +7 John Blith, or Bligh, son of the Right Hon. Thomas Bligh, M.P. of Rathmore, +Co. Meath (see Letter 4, note 22). In August 1713 he married Lady Theodosia +Hyde, daughter of Edward, third Earl of Clarendon. Lord Berkeley of Stratton +wrote, "Lady Theodosia Hyde. . . is married to an Irish Mr. Blythe, of a good +estate, who will soon have enough of her, if I can give any guess" (Wentworth +Papers, 353). In 1715 Bligh was made Baron Clifton, of Rathmore, and Earl of +Darnley in 1725. He died in 1728. + +8 Obliterated. + +9 Word obliterated; probably "found." Forster reads "oors, dee MD." + +10 Words obliterated. + +11 See Letter 31, note 1 and Letter 10, note 31. + +12 See Letter 20, Apr. 13-14, 1711 and Letter 9, note 20. + +13 Words obliterated. Forster reads "fourth. Euge, euge, euge." + +14 Words obliterated; one illegible. + +15 See Letter 2, note 14. + +16 See Letter 1, note 12. + +17 Service. + +18 "Aplon"--if this is the right word--means, of course, apron--the apron +referred to on Letter 39, Jan. 25, 1711-12. + +19 Words obliterated. + +20 As the son of a "brother" of the Club. + +21 The Archbishop, Dr. King. + +22 See Tacitus, Annals, book ii. Cn. Calpurnius Piso, who was said to have +poisoned Germanicus, was found with his throat cut. + +23 This satire on Marlborough concludes-- + "And Midas now neglected stands, + With asses' ears and dirty hands." + +24 Dr. Robinson, Bishop of Bristol. + +25 Some Remarks on the Barrier Treaty. + +26 Several words are obliterated. Forster reads "MD MD, for we must always +write to MD MD MD, awake or asleep;" but the passage is illegible. + +27 See Letter 11, note 39 and Letter 61, note 5. + +28 A long erasure. Forster reads "Go to bed. Help pdfr. Rove pdfr. MD MD. +Nite darling rogues." + +29 Word obliterated. Forster reads "saucy." + +30 Letter from. + +31 Words partially obliterated. + +32 Swift wrote by mistake, "On Europe Britain's safety lies"; the slip was +pointed out by Hawkesworth. All the verse is written in the MSS. as prose. + +33 "Them" (MS.). + +34 See Wyons Queen Anne, ii. 366-7. + +35 A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue, +in a Letter to the Most Honourable Robert, Earl of Oxford, 1712. + +36 "Help him to draw up the representation" (omitting every other letter). + +37 See Letter 23, note 13. + +38 Robert Benson. + +39 The Story of the St. Albans Ghost, 1712. + +40 "Usually" (MS.). + +41 These words are partially obliterated. + +42 This sentence is obliterated. Forster reads, "Farewell, mine deelest rife +deelest char Ppt, MD MD MD Ppt, FW, Lele MD, ME ME ME ME aden FW MD Lazy ones +Lele Lele all a Lele." + + + +Letter 42. + +1 Endorsed by Stella "Recd. Mar. 19." + +2 "Would" (MS.). + +3 Conversation. + +4 John Guillim's Display of Heraldrie appeared first in 1610. The edition to +which Swift refers was probably that of 1679, which is wrongly described as +the "fifth edition," instead of the seventh. + +5 "One of the horses here mentioned may have been the celebrated Godolphin +Arabian from whom descends all the blue blood of the racecourse, and who was +the grandfather of Eclipse" (Larwood's Story of the London Parks, 99). + +6 See Letter 36, note 6. + +7 Dorothea, daughter of James Stopford, of New Hall, County Meath, and sister +of Lady Newtown-Butler, was the second wife of Edward, fourth Earl of Meath, +who died without issue in 1707. She afterwards married General Richard Gorges +(see Journal, April 5, 1713), of Kilbrue, County Meath, and Swift wrote an +epitaph on them--"Doll and Dickey." + +8 Here follow some obliterated words. + +9 Barber (see Letter 12, note 6). + +10 "The editors supposed Zinkerman (which they printed in capitals) to mean +some outlandish or foreign distinction; but it is the little language for +'gentleman'" (Forster). + +11 The Hon. Charles Butler, second son of Thomas, Earl of Ossory, eldest son +of James, Duke of Ormond, was elevated to the peerage of Ireland in 1693 as +Earl of Arran, and was also created a peer of England, as Baron Butler. He +held various offices under William III. and Queen Anne, and died without issue +in 1759. + +12 "They" (MS.). + +13 See Letter 31, Jan. 12, 1711-12 and Letter 3, note 22. + +14 See Letter 11, note 13. + +15 Sir William Wyndham, Bart., of Orchard Wyndham, married Lady Catherine +Seymour, daughter of the sixth Duke of Somerset (see Letter 25, note 1). +Their eldest son, Charles, succeeded his uncle, the Duke of Somerset, as Earl +of Egremont; and the second son, Percy, was afterwards created Earl of +Thomond. The Wyndhams' house was in Albemarle Street; the loss was over +20,000 pounds; but they were "much more concerned for their servants than for +all the other losses" (Wentworth Papers, 274). The Duke of Ormond "worked as +hard as any of the ordinary men, and gave many guineas about to encourage the +men to work hard." The Queen gave the Wyndhams temporary lodgings in "St. +James's house." + +16 See Letter 3, note 31. + +17 What. + +18 Devil's. + +19 "To" (MS.). + +20 See Letter 35, note 25. + +21 See Letter 41, note 34. + +22 See Letter 12, Jan. 1, 1710-11. + +23 Peregrine Hyde Osborne, Earl of Danby, afterwards Marquis of Caermarthen +and third Duke of Leeds (see Letter 56, note 6). His sister Mary was married +to the Duke of Beaufort (see Letter 39, note 7). + +24 See Letter 9, note 17. + +25 Several undecipherable words. Forster reads, "Pidy Pdfr, deelest Sollahs." + +26 "K" (MS.). It should, of course, be "Queen's." + +27 See Letter 22, note 18. + + + +Letter 43. + +1 Addressed "To Mrs. Johnson, at her lodgings over against St. Mary's Church, +near Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland." Endorsed "Mar. 30." + +2 See Letter 9, note 1. + +3 The Mohocks succeeded the Scowrers of William III.'s reign. Gay (Trivia, +iii. 325) says + "Who has not heard the Scowrers' midnight fame? + Who has not trembled at the Mohocks' name?" +Lady Wentworth (Wentworth Papers, 277) says: "They put an old woman into a +hogshead, and rolled her down a hill; they cut off some noses, others' hands, +and several barbarous tricks, without any provocation. They are said to be +young gentlemen; they never take any money from any." See also the Spectator, +Nos. 324, 332, and 347 (where Budgell alludes to "the late panic fear"), and +Defoe's Review for March 15, 1712. Swift was in considerable alarm about the +Mohocks throughout March, and said that they were all Whigs. The reports that +numbers of persons, including men of figure, had joined together to commit +assaults in the streets, made many fear to leave their houses at night. A +proclamation was issued for the suppressing of riots and the discovery of +those guilty of the late outrages; but it seems probable that the disorders +were not more frequent than might be expected from time to time in a great +city. + +4 Henry Davenant, son of Charles Davenant (see Letter 8, note 14), was +Resident at Frankfort. Macky described him as "very giddy-headed, with some +wit," to which Swift added, "He is not worth mentioning." + +5 Thomas Burnet, youngest son of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, was at +this time a young man about town of no good reputation. Afterwards he turned +his attention to the law, and was appointed a judge of the Court of Common +Pleas in 1741. He was knighted in 1745, and died in 1753. + +6 By Arbuthnot, written to recommend the peace proposals of the Government. +The full title was, Law is a Bottomless Pit. Exemplified in the case of the +Lord Strutt, John Bull, Nicholas Frog, and Lewis Baboon; who spent all they +had in a Law Suit. + +7 See Letter 25, note 6 and Letter 41, note 35. + +8 Our little language. + +9 Forster reads, "two deelest nauty nown MD." + +10 See Letter 6, note 12. + +11 William Diaper, son of Joseph Diaper of Bridgewater, was sent to Balliol +College, Oxford, in 1699, at the age of fourteen. He entered the Church, and +was curate at Brent, Somerset; but he died in 1717, aged twenty-nine. + +12 The Examiner (vol. ii. No. 15) complained of general bribery and oppression +on the part of officials and underlings in the public service, especially in +matters connected with the army; but the writer said that the head (Lord +Lansdowne) was just and liberal in his nature, and easy in his fortune, and a +man of honour and virtue. + +13 Sealed documents given to show that a merchant's goods are entered. + +14 Thomas Lawrence, First Physician to Queen Anne, and Physician-General to +the Army, died in 1714 (Gentleman's Magazine, 1815, ii. 17). His daughter +Elizabeth was second wife to Lord Mohun. + +15 See Letter 17, note 11. + +16 See Letter 26, note 2. + +17 No officer named Newcomb appears in Dalton's Army Lists; but the allusion +to General Ross, further on in Letter 43, adds to the probability that Swift +was referring to one of the sons of Sir Thomas Newcomen, Bart., who was killed +at the siege of Enniskillen. Beverley Newcomen (Dalton, iii. 52, iv. 60), who +was probably Swift's acquaintance, was described in a petition of 1706 as a +Lieutenant who had served at Killiecrankie, and had been in Major-General +Ross's regiment ever since 1695. + +18 Atterbury. + +19 Evidently a familiar quotation at the time. Forster reads, incorrectly, +"But the more I lite MD." + +20 See Letter 41, note 5. + +21 See Letter 12, note 1. + +22 In 1681, Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of John Ayres, of the City of +London, then aged about twenty, became the fourth and last wife of Heneage +Finch, Earl of Winchelsea, who died in 1689. She lived until 1745. + +23 See Letter 23, note 17. + +24 Enoch Sterne (see Letter 4, note 17). + +25 Lieut.-Col. Robert Sterne was in Col. Frederick Hamilton's Regiment in +1695. + +26 Letter. + +27 See Letter 13, note 10. + +28 The title was, John Bull in his Senses: being the Second Part of Law is a +Bottomless Pit. + +29 See Letter 36, note 6. + +30 Cf. note 9 above. Forster reads "nautyas," when the words would mean "as +naughty as nine," apparently. + +31 See note 19 above. + +32 In 1549, James, second Earl of Arran, was made Duke of Chatelherault by +Henry II. of France. His eldest son died without issue; the second, John, +became first Marquis of Hamilton, and was great-grandfather of Lady Anne +Hamilton (Duchess of Hamilton), mother of the Duke of Swift's Journal. The +Earl of Abercorn, on the other hand, was descended from Claud, third son of +the Earl of Arran, but in the male line; and his claim was therefore the +stronger, according to the French law of inheritance. + +33 Madams. + +34 This word is doubtful. Forster reads "cobbled." + +35 A mistake, apparently, for "writing." The letter was begun on March 8. + +36 Silly jade. + +37 O Lord, what a clutter. + +38 On the death of Dr. William Graham, Dean of Wells, it was reported that +Swift was to be his successor. Dr. Brailsford, however, received the +appointment. + +39 Abel Roper (1665-1726), a Tory journalist, published, thrice weekly, the +Postboy, to which Swift sometimes sent paragraphs. Boyer (Political State, +1711, p. 678) said that Roper was only the tool of a party; "there are men of +figure and distinction behind the curtain, who furnish him with such +scandalous reflections as they think proper to cast upon their antagonists." + +40 Joe Beaumont. + +41 Beg your pardon, Madams, I'm glad you like your apron (see Letter 41, note +18). + +42 This word was smudged by Swift. + +43 I cannot find Somers in contemporary lists of officials. Cf. Letter 30, +note 16 and Letter 17, note 3. + +44 Obliterated and doubtful. + +45 Words obliterated and illegible. Forster reads, conjecturally, "Pray send +Pdfr the ME account that I may have time to write to Parvisol." + + + +Letter 44. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Apr. 14." + +2 "Is" (MS.). + +3 The words after "yet" are partially obliterated. + +4 See Letter 7, note 35. + +5 John Cecil, sixth Earl of Exeter (died 1721). + +6 See Letter 22, note 5. + +7 Arbuthnot. + +8 A resort of the Tories. + +9 Deane Swift, a son of Swift's uncle Godwin, was a merchant in Lisbon. + +10 Winces. Lyly says, "Rubbe there no more, least I winch." + +11 Probably William Whiston, who was deprived of the Lucasian professorship at +Cambridge in 1710 for his heterodox views. Parliament having offered a reward +for the discovery of means of finding the longitude, Whiston made several +attempts (1714 and 1721). + +12 Word obliterated. + +13 Distilled water prepared with rosemary flowers. In Fielding's Joseph +Andrews, a lady gives up to a highway robber, in her fright, a silver bottle +which, the ruffian said, contained some of the best brandy he had ever tasted; +this she "afterwards assured the company was a mistake of her maid, for that +she had ordered her to fill the bottle with Hungary water." + +14 As I hope to be saved. + +15 Added on the fourth page, as the letter was folded. + + +Letter 45. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Johnson," etc. Endorsed "May 1st." + +2 A kind of clover, used for soothing purposes. + + + +Letter 46. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "May 15." + +2 Madam Ayris. + +3 Simpleton. + +4 Robert Benson (see Letter 6, note 36). + +5 See Letter 41, note 35 and Letter 43, note 7. + +6 The title was, An Appendix to John Bull still in his Senses: or, Law is a +Bottomless Pit. + +7 Arbuthnot. + +8 Enquiries by servants. + +9 See Letter 17, note 5. + +10 Sick. + +11 Afterwards Rector of Letcombe, Berks. It was to his house that Swift +repaired a few weeks before the Queen's death. On June 8, 1714, he wrote, "I +am at a clergyman's house, whom I love very well, but he is such a melancholy, +thoughtful man, partly from nature, and partly by a solitary life, that I +shall soon catch the spleen from him. His wife has been this month twenty +miles off at her father's, and will not return these ten days, and perhaps the +house will be worse when she comes." Swift spells the name "Geree"; later on +in the Journal he mentions two of Mr. Gery's sisters, Betty (Mrs. Elwick) and +Moll (Mrs. Wigmore); probably he made the acquaintance of the family when he +was living with the Temples at Moor Park (see Letter 59, note 11). + +12 Because she is a good girl in other things. + + + +Letter 47. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "June 5." + +2 Sice, the number six at dice. + +3 At Laracor Swift had "a canal and river-walk and willows." + +4 Splenetic fellow. + +5 One of them was by Oldmixon: Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to the Earl +of Oxford. + +6 Beg your pardon. + +7 See Letter 25, note 9. + +8 On May 28, Lord Halifax moved an Address to the Queen that the instructions +given to the Duke of Ormond might be laid before the House, and that further +orders might be issued to him to act offensively, in concert with the Allies. +Wharton and Nottingham supported the motion, but it was negatived by 68 votes +against 40. A similar motion in the House of Commons was defeated by 203 +against 73. + +9 See Letter 34, note 10. + +10 See Letter 23, note 13. + +11 "Some Reasons to prove that no Person is obliged by his Principles, as a +Whig, to oppose Her Majesty: in a Letter to a Whig Lord." + +12 Several words obliterated. + +13 Several words obliterated. + +14 The bellman. + +15 This present writing. + +16 Please. + + + +Letter 48. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Rebecca Dingley," etc. Endorsed "June 23d." + +2 Mr. Ryland reads "second." + +3 As I hope to be saved. + +4 See Letter 30, Sept. 18, 1711. + +5 Glad at heart. + +6 The threepenny pamphlet mentioned in Letter 47, note 11. + +7 I.e., for. + + + +Letter 49. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley." Endorsed "July 8." + +2 See Letter 28, note 24. + +3 See Letter 10, note 2. + +4 See Letter 3, note 11. + +5 See Letter 48, note 4. + +6 Dr. William Lloyd--one of the Seven Bishops of 1688--was eighty-four years +of age at this time; he died five years later. He was a strong antipapist, +and a great student of the Apocalypse, besides being a hard-working bishop. A +curious letter from him to Lord Oxford about a coming war of religion is given +in the Welbeck Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) v. 128. + +7 "Toland's Invitation to Dismal to dine with the Calf's Head Club." The Earl +of Nottingham (Dismal) had deserted the Tories, and Swift's imitation of +Horace (Epist. I. v.) is an invitation from Toland to dine with "his trusty +friends" in celebration of the execution of Charles I. The Calf's Head Club +was in the habit of toasting "confusion to the race of kings." + +8 Bolingbroke. + +9 George Fitzroy, Duke of Northumberland (died 1716), a natural son of Charles +II., was also Viscount Falmouth and Baron of Pontefract. See Notes and +Queries, viii. i. 135. + +10 Enoch Sterne. + +11 Templeoag (see Letter 48, Jun. 17, 1712). + +12 Swift probably was only repeating an inaccurate rumour, for there is no +evidence that Steele was arrested. His gambling scheme was withdrawn directly +an information was laid under the new Act of Parliament against gambling +(Aitken's Life of Steele, i. 347). + +13 Dr. William Moreton (1641-1715), Swift's diocesan, was translated from the +see of Kildare to that of Meath in 1705. + +14 Words obliterated. Forster reads conjecturally, "when ME wants me to send. +She ought to have it," etc. + + + +Letter 50. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "July 23." + +2 "N.33" seems a mistake. Letter No. 32 was received after Swift had left +Kensington and gone to Windsor; see Letter 51, Aug. 7, 1712 and Letter 52, +Sept. 18, 1712 (Ryland). + +3 Dr. Moreton (see Letter 49, note 13). + +4 Memoranda. + +5 Again. + +6 O Lord, drunken slut. + +7 There's for you now, and there's for your letter, and every kind of thing. + +8 Bolingbroke. + +9 See Letter 13, note 10. + +10 Grub Street pamphlet. The title was, A Supposed Letter from the Pretender +to another Whig Lord. + +11 Arnold Joost Van Keppel, created Earl of Albemarle in 1697. He died in +1718. The action referred to was at Denain, where the Dutch were defeated by +Villars. + + + +Letter 51. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Aug. 14." + +2 Perhaps this was influenza. + +3 By the Stamp Act passed on June 10, 1712--which was repealed in 1859--a duty +of one halfpenny was levied on all pamphlets and newspapers contained in half +a sheet or less, and a duty of one penny on those of more than half but not +exceeding a whole sheet. Swift opposed the idea in January 1711 (see Letter +15, note 1), and Defoe argued against the Bill in the Review for April 26, +1712, and following numbers. Addison, in the Spectator, No. 445, spoke of the +mortality among authors resulting from the Stamp Act as "the fall of the +leaf." + +4 The title is, "Lewis Baboon turned honest, and John Bull politician. Being +the Fourth Part of Law is a Bottomless Pit." This pamphlet--really the fifth +of the series--appeared on July 31, 1712. + +5 Poor Laracor. + +6 See Letter 12, note 1. + +7 On the death of the third Earl in 1712, the title of Earl of Winchelsea +passed to his uncle, Heneage Finch, who had married Anne, daughter of Sir +William Kingsmill (see Letter 24, note 7). + + + +Letter 52. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Oct. 1st. At Portraune" +[Portraine]. + +2 Oxford and Bolingbroke. + +3 Including Hester Vanhomrigh. + +4 He died on Sept. 15, 1712. + +5 Elizabeth Villiers, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, Knight Marischal +of England, and sister of the first Earl of Jersey. In 1695 she married Lord +George Hamilton (son of Lord William Douglas, afterwards Duke of Hamilton), +who was raised to the peerage of Scotland in 1696 as Earl of Orkney. William +III. gave her an Irish estate worth 26,000 pounds a year. Swift's opinion of +her wisdom is confirmed by Lord Lansdowne, who speaks, in his Progress of +Poetry, of + "Villiers, for wisdom and deep judgment famed, + Of a high race, victorious beauty brings + To grace our Courts, and captivate our Kings." +The "beauty" seems a poetic licence; Swift says the lady squinted "like a +dragon." + +6 Cliefden. + +7 See Letter 12, note 7. + +8 Swift's sister (see Letter 9, note 22). + +9 Forster reads "returned." + +10 See Swift's letter to General Hill of Aug. 12, 1712 + +11 Swift's housekeeper at Laracor. + +12 I.e., be made freemen of the City. + + + +Letter 53. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Octr. 18. At Portraune." + +2 "Sometimes, when better company was not to be had, he [Swift] was honoured +by being invited to play at cards with his patron; and on such occasions Sir +William was so generous as to give his antagonist a little silver to begin +with" (Macaulay, History of England, chap. xix.). + +3 The History of the Works of the Learned, a quarto periodical, was published +from 1699 to 1711. + +4 See Letter 35, note 4. + +5 See Letter 28, note 25. + +6 Lady Elizabeth Savage, daughter of Richard, fourth Earl Rivers (see Letter +11, note 9), was the second wife of James Barry, fourth Earl of Barrymore. Of +Earl Rivers' illegitimate children, one, Bessy, married (1) Frederick Nassau, +third Earl of Rochford, and (2) a clergyman named Carter; while another, +Richard Savage, was the poet. Earl Rivers' successor, John Savage, the fifth +Earl, was a Roman Catholic priest, the grandson of John, first Earl Rivers. +On his death in 1728 the title became extinct. + +7 No. 32. + +8 Very sick. + +9 From "but I" to "agreeable" is partially obliterated. + +10 Mrs. Swanton was the eldest daughter of Willoughby Swift, and therefore +Swift's second cousin. In her will Esther Johnson left to Swift "a bond of +thirty pounds, due to me by Dr. Russell, in trust for the use of Mrs. Honoria +Swanton." + +11 This sentence is partially obliterated. + +12 See Letter 51, note 2. + +13 See Letter 5, note 16. + +14 The latter half of this sentence is partially obliterated. + +15 Partly obliterated. + +16 See Letter 8, note 2. + +17 Wise. + +18 Partly obliterated. + +19 See Letter 6, note 45. + +20 This sentence is almost obliterated. + + + +Letter 54. + +1 The MS. of this letter has not been preserved. + +2 See Letter 26, note 2. + +3 Swift's friend, Dr. Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14), was then Provost of +Trinity College, Dublin. + +4 Samuel Molyneux, then aged twenty-three, was the son of William Molyneux +(1656-1698), M.P. for Dublin University, a writer on philosophical and +scientific subjects, and the friend of Locke. Samuel Molyneux took his M.A. +degree in Dublin in 1710, and in 1712 visited England. He was befriended by +the Duke of Marlborough at Antwerp, and in 1714 was sent by the Duke on a +mission to the Court of Hanover. He held office under George I., but devoted +most of his attention to astronomical research, until his death in 1728. + +5 Probably "The Case of Ireland's being bound by Acts of Parliament in England +stated" (1698). + +6 Oxford and Bolingbroke. + +7 See Letter 36, note 18. + +8 See Letter 51, Aug. 7, 1712. + +9 George Ridpath (died 1726), a Whig journalist, of whom Pope (Dunciad, i. +208) wrote-- + "To Dulness Ridpath is as dear as Mist." +He edited the Flying Post for some years, and also wrote for the Medley in +1712. In September William Hurt and Ridpath were arrested for libellous and +seditious articles, but were released on bail. On October 23 they appeared +before the Court of Queen's Bench, and were continued on their recognizances. +In February 1713 Ridpath was tried and, in spite of an able defence by leading +Whig lawyers, was convicted. Sentence was postponed, and when Ridpath failed +to appear, as ordered, in April, his recognizances were escheated, and a +reward offered for his discovery; but he had fled to Scotland, and from thence +to Holland. + +10 See Letter 52, note 5. + +11 Lady Orkney's sister, Barbara Villiers, who married John Berkeley, fourth +Viscount Fitz-Hardinge, had been governess to the Duke of Gloucester, Queen +Anne's son. She died in 1708, in her fifty-second year; and on her husband's +death four years later the peerage became extinct. + +12 For the street criers, see the Spectator, No. 251. + + + +Letter 55. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley." Endorsed "Nov. 26, just come from Portraine"; +and "The band-box plot--D: Hamilton's murther." + +2 Charles Mohun, fifth Baron Mohun, had been twice arraigned of murder, but +acquitted; and during his short but turbulent life he had taken part in many +duels. Even Burnet could say nothing in his favour. + +3 This duel between the Duke of Hamilton (see Letter 27, note 9) and Lord +Mohun, who had married nieces of Lord Macclesfield, had its origin in a +protracted dispute about some property. The challenge came from Lord Mohun, +and the combatants fought like "enraged lions." Tory writers suggested that +the duel was a Whig conspiracy to get rid of the Duke of Hamilton (Examiner, +Nov. 20, 1712). The whole subject is discussed from the Whig point of view in +Boyer's Political State for 1712, pp. 297-326. + +4 "Will" (MS.). + +5 See Letter 27, note 9. + +6 George Maccartney (see Letter 11, note 13 and Letter 39, Jan. 22, 1711-12 ) +fought at Almanza, Malplaquet, and Douay. After the duel, Maccartney escaped +to Holland, but on the accession of George I. he returned to England, and was +tried for murder (June 1716), when Colonel Hamilton gave evidence against him. +Hamilton's evidence was discredited, and he found it necessary to sell his +commission and leave the country. Maccartney was found guilty as an +accessory, and "burnt" in the hand. Within a month he was given an +appointment in the army; and promoted to be Lieutenant-General. He died in +1730. + +7 Colonel John Hamilton, of the Scots Guards. He surrendered himself, and was +tried at the Old Bailey on Dec. 12, 1712, when he was found guilty of +manslaughter, on two indictments; and on the following day he was "burnt" in +the hand. Hamilton died in October 1716, soon after Maccartney's trial, from +a sudden vomiting of blood. + +8 "That" (MS.). + +9 The story (as told in the Tory Postboy of Nov. 11 to 13) was that on Nov. 4 +a bandbox was sent to the Earl of Oxford by post. When he began to open it he +saw a pistol, whereupon a gentleman present [Swift] asked for the box, and +opening it, by the window, found powder, nails, etc., so arranged that, if +opened in the ordinary way, the whole would have been fired, and two barrels +discharged different ways. No doubt a box so packed was received, but whether +anything serious was intended, or whether it was a hoax, cannot be said with +any certainty. The Earl of Oxford is said to have met allusions to the +subject with a smile, and Swift seems to have been annoyed at the reports +which were put into circulation. + +10 "We have received a more particular account relating to the box sent to the +Lord Treasurer, as mentioned in our last, which is as follows," etc. (Evening +News, Nov. 11 to 13, 1712). + +11 Either "A Letter to the People, to be left for them at the Booksellers, +with a word or two of the Bandbox Plot" (by T. Burnet), 1712, or "An Account +of the Duel. . ., with Previous Reflections on Sham Plots" (by A. Boyer), +1712. Swift's connection with the Bandbox Plot was ridiculed in the Flying +Post for Nov. 20 to 22. + +12 Cf. Letter 16, Feb. 20, 1710-11. + +13 This sentence is partially obliterated. + +14 Part of this sentence has been obliterated. + +15 See Letter 43, note 39. I have not been able to find a copy of the paper +containing Swift's paragraph. + +16 This sentence is partially obliterated. + +17 See Letter 12, note 2. + +18 Apparently Humphrey Griffith, who was one of the Commissioners of Salt; but +Swift gives the name as "Griffin" throughout. + +19 See Letter 53, note 13 and Letter 5, note 16. + +20 For these shorter letters Swift folded the folio sheet before writing. + + + +Letter 56. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Decr. 18." + +2 Vengeance. + +3 Charles Connor, scholar of Trinity College, Dublin, who took his B.A. degree +in the same year as Swift (1686), and his M.A. degree in 1691. + +4 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +5 See Letter 55, note 7. + +6 Lord Oxford's daughter Elizabeth married, on Dec. 16, 1712, Peregrine Hyde, +Marquis of Caermarthen, afterwards third Duke of Leeds (see Letter 42, note 23 +and Letter 24, note 5). She died on Nov. 20, 1713, a few days after the birth +of a son. Swift called her "a friend I extremely loved." + +7 "Is" (MS.). + +8 Disorders. + +9 See Letter 34, note 10. + +10 John Francis, Rector of St. Mary's, Dublin, was made Dean of Leighlin in +1705. + +11 See Letter 9, note 7. + +12 Possibly "have." + +13 See Letter 55, notes 9, 10, 11. + +14 This clause is omitted by Mr. Ryland. + +15 See Letter 31, note 6. + +16 See Letter 54, Oct. 30, 1712. + +17 Thomas Jones, Esq., was M.P. for Trim in the Parliament of 1713-4. + +18 A Dutch agent employed in the negotiations with Lewis XIV. + +19 When I come home. + + + +Letter 57. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Jan. 13." + +2 "Ay, marry, this is something like." The earlier editions give, "How +agreeable it is in a morning." The words in the MS. are partially +obliterated. + +3 In this letter (Dec. 20, 1712) Swift paid many compliments to the Duchess of +Ormond (see Letter 17, note 5): "All the accomplishments of your mind and +person are so deeply printed in the heart, and represent you so lively to my +imagination, that I should take it for a high affront if you believed it in +the power of colours to refresh my memory." + +4 Tisdall's Conduct of the Dissenters in Ireland (see Letter 61, note 7). + +5 See Letter 9, note 20 and Letter 20, Apr. 13, 1711. + +6 Monteleon. + +7 See Letter 5, note 8 and Letter 3, note 3. + +8 Utrecht, North and South Holland, and West Frieseland. + +9 See Letter 46, note 11. + +10 See Letter 46, note 11. + +11 "On Queen Anne's Peace." + +12 See Letter 43, note 11. The poem was "Dryades, or the Nymph's Prophecy." + +13 See Letter 35, note 4. + +14 See Letter 17, note 3. + +15 Dr. Tobias Pullen (1648-1713) was made Bishop of Dromore in 1695. + +16 Lord Charles Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, died unmarried in 1739. When his +father, William, first Earl of Selkirk, married Anne, Duchess of Hamilton, the +Duchess obtained for her husband, in 1660, the title of Duke of Hamilton, for +life. James II. conferred the Earldom of Selkirk on his Grace's second and +younger sons, primogenitively; and the second son having died without issue, +the third, Charles, became Earl. The fifth son, George, was created Earl of +Orkney (see Letter 52, note 5). The difference between Lord Selkirk and the +Earl of Abercorn (see Letter 10, note 33) to which Swift alludes was in +connection with the claim to the Dukedom of Chatelherault (see Letter 43, note +32). + +17 Heart. + +18 This sentence is almost illegible. + +19 A reward of 500 pounds was offered by the Crown for Maccartney's +apprehension, and 200 pounds by the Duchess of Hamilton. + +20 In the proposed History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +21 Mr. Ryland's reading. Forster has "Iss." These words are obliterated. + +22 Hoist. Cf."Hoised up the mainsail" (Acts xxvii. 40). + +23 It was afterwards found that Miss Ashe was suffering from smallpox. + +24 We are told in the Wentworth Papers, p. 268, that the Duchess of +Shrewsbury remarked to Lady Oxford, "Madam, I and my Lord are so weary of +talking politics; what are you and your Lord?" whereupon Lady Oxford sighed +and said she knew no Lord but the Lord Jehovah. The Duchess rejoined, "Oh, +dear! Madam, who is that? I believe 'tis one of the new titles, for I never +heard of him before." + +25 A thousand merry new years. The words are much obliterated. + +26 Lady Anne Hamilton, daughter of James, first Duke of Hamilton, became +Duchess on the death of her uncle William, the second Duke, at the battle of +Worcester. + +27 The quarrel between Oxford and Bolingbroke. + +28 See Letter 19, note 1. + +29 Burnet (History, iv. 382) says that the Duc d'Aumont was "a goodnatured and +generous man, of profuse expense, throwing handfuls of money often out of his +coach as he went about the streets. He was not thought a man of business, and +seemed to employ himself chiefly in maintaining the dignity of his character +and making himself acceptable to the nation." + +30 Partially obliterated. + +31 For the most part illegible. Forster reads, "Go, play cards, and be melly, +deelest logues, and rove Pdfr. Nite richar MD, FW oo roves Pdfr. FW lele +lele ME ME MD MD MD MD MD MD. MD FW FW FW ME ME FW FW FW FW FW ME ME ME." + +32 On the third page of the paper. + +33 See Letter 7, note 3. + + + +Letter 58. + +1 To "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Feb. 4." + +2 This sentence is scribbled over. Forster reads the last word as "lastalls," +i.e. rascals, but it seems rather to be "ledles." + +3 Dr. Peter Brown was appointed Bishop of Cork in 1709. + +4 See Letter 5, note 22. + +5 See Letter 5, note 3. + +6 See Letter 5, note 11. + +7 Dr. H. Humphreys, Bishop of Hereford, died on Nov. 20, 1712. His successor +was Dr. Philip Bisse (1667-1721), Bishop of St. David's (see Letter 3, note +36). + +8 Thomas Keightley, a Commissioner of the Great Seal in Ireland. + +9 Nearly obliterated. Mr. Ryland reads, "deelest MD." + +10 See Letter 57, note 14. + +11 In the Examiner for Jan. 5 to 9, 1712[-13], there is an account of the game +of Similitudes. One person thinks of a subject, and the others, not knowing +what it is, name similitudes, and when the subject is proclaimed, must make +good the comparisons. On the occasion described, the subject chosen was +Faction. The prize was given to a Dutchman, who argued that Faction was like +butter, because too much fire spoiled its consistency. + +12 Earl Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7). + +13 "Say" (MS.). + +14 Dr. Pratt. + +15 See Letter 13, Jan. 6, 1710-11. + +16 This sentence is partially obliterated. + +17 See Letter 31, note 10 and, in the same letter, Oct. 5, 1711. + +18 Cf. the account of Beatrix's feelings on the death of the Duke in "Esmond", +book iii. chaps. 6 and 7. + +19 See Letter 21, note 3. + +20 "Her Majesty is all goodness and tenderness to her people and her Allies. +She has now prorogued the best Parliament that ever assembled in her reign and +respited her own glory, and the wishes, prayers, and wants of her people, only +to give some of her Allies an opportunity to think of the returns they owe +her, and try if there be such a thing as gratitude, justice, or humanity in +Europe. The conduct of Her Majesty is without parallel. Never was so great a +condescension made to the unreasonable clamours of an insolent faction now +dwindled to the most contemptible circumstances."--Examiner, Jan. 12-16, +1712[-13]. + +21 Mr. Collins's "Discourse of Freethinking, put into plain English by way of +Abstract, for the use of the Poor," an ironical pamphlet on Arthur Collins's +Discourse of Freethinking, 1713. + +22 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +23 A line here has been erased. Forster imagined that he read, "Nite dear MD, +drowsy drowsy dear." + +24 Hereford. + +25 Very well. + +26 Sentence obliterated. Forster professes to read, "Pay can oo walk oftener- +-oftener still?" + +27 See Letter 57, note 15. + +28 Dr. Bisse, translated from St. David's. + +29 See Letter 58, note 7 and Letter 19, note 1. + + + +Letter 59. + +1 To "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Febr. 26." + +2 See Letter 58, note 21. + +3 See Letter 28, note 11. + +4 See Letter 55, note 9. + +5 A result of confusion between Erasmus Lewis and Henry Lewis, a Hamburg +merchant. See Swift's paper in the Examiner of Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, reprinted +in his Works under the title, "A Complete Refutation of the Falsehoods alleged +against Erasmus Lewis, Esq." + +6 Lord Dupplin (see Letter 5, note 34) had been created Baron Hay in December +1711. + +7 A composition of inflammable materials. + +8 Assessors. + +9 See Letter 6, note 12. + +10 See Letter 59, note 5. + +11 See Letter 46, note 11. + +12 See Letter 3, notes 21 and 22, Letter 39, Jan. 12, 1711-12 and Letter 42, +Mar. 1, 1711-12. + +13 Dr. Bisse. + +14 See Letter 33, note 10. + +15 Forster reads, "something." + +16 Hardly legible. + +17 See Letter 7, note 31. + +18 Stella's brother-in-law (See Letter 53, note 13, Letter 5, note 16 and +Letter 55, Nov. 18, 1712). + +19 Forster guesses, "Oo are so 'recise; not to oor health." + +20 For "poo Ppt's." Mr. Ryland reads, "people's." + +21 See Letter 57, 21 Dec. 1712. + +22 See Letter 57, note 23. + +23 See Letter 14, note 9. + +24 Obliterated; Forster's reading. + +25 Writing in October 1713, Lord Berkeley of Stratton told Lord Strafford of +"a fine prank of the widow Lady Jersey" (see Letter 29, note 3). "It is well +known her lord died much in debt, and she, after taking upon her the +administration, sold everything and made what money she could, and is run away +into France without paying a farthing of the debts, with only one servant and +unknown to all her friends, and hath taken her youngest son, as 'tis supposed +to make herself a merit in breeding him a papist. My Lord Bolingbroke sent +after her, but too late, and they say the Queen hath writ a letter with her +own hand to the King of France to send back the boy" (Wentworth Papers, p. +357). See also Letter 63, note 8. I am not sure whether in the present +passage Swift is referring to the widow or the younger Lady Jersey (see Letter +33, note 10). + +26 Sir Thomas Clarges, Bart. (died 1759), M.P. for Lostwithiel, married +Barbara, youngest daughter of John Berkeley, fourth Viscount Fitz-Hardinge, +and of Barbara Villiers (see Letter 54, note 11), daughter of Sir Edward +Villiers. + +27 See Letter 43, Mar. 21, 1711-12 and Letter 49, Jul. 1, 1712. + +28 Altered from "11" in the MS. It is not certain where the error in the +dates began; but the entry of the 6th must be correctly dated, because the +Feb. 6 was the Queen's Birthday. + +29 See Letter 43, note 11 and Letter 57, note 12. + + +Letter 60. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Mar. 7." + +2 See Letter 5, note 23. + +3 Sedan chairs were then comparatively novel (see Gay's Trivia). + +4 Some words obliterated. Forster reads, "Nite MD, My own deelest MD." + +5 Peter Wentworth wrote to Lord Strafford, on Feb. 17, 1713, "Poor Mr. +Harrison is very much lamented; he died last Saturday. Dr. Swift told me that +he had told him. . . he owed about 300 pounds, and the Queen owed him 500 +pounds, and that if you or some of your people could send an account of his +debts, that I might give it to him, he would undertake to solicit Lord +Treasurer and get this 500 pounds, and give the remainder to his mother and +sister" (Wentworth Papers, 320). + +6 George St. John (eldest son of Sir Harry St. John by his second marriage) +was Secretary to the English Plenipotentiaries at Utrecht. He died at Venice +in 1716 (Lady Cowper's Diary, 65). + +7 Forster wrongly reads, "poor." + +8 "Putt" (MS.). + +9 See Letter 59, note 26. + +10 Montagu Bertie, second Earl of Abingdon (died 1743), was a strong Tory. + +11 See Letter 11, note 61. These friends were together again on an expedition +to Bath in 1715, when Jervas wrote to Pope (Aug. 12, 1715) that Arbuthnot, +Disney, and he were to meet at Hyde Park Corner, proceed to Mr. Hill's at +Egham, meet Pope next day, and then go to Lord Stawell's to lodge the night. +Lord Stawell's seat, Aldermaston, was seventeen miles from Binfield. + +12 See Letter 16, note 20. + +13 "I" (MS.). + +14 Obliterated. Forster reads, "devil," and Mr. Ryland, "bitch." + +15 See Letter 40, note 6. + +16 Victor Marie, duc d'Estrees, Marshal of France (died 1727). + +17 See Letter 55, note 18. + +18 Several words are obliterated. Forster reads, "the last word, God 'give +me"; but "'give me" is certainly wrong. + +19 See Letter 9, note 13. Sir Thomas Hanmer married, in 1698, at the age of +twenty-two, Isabella, Dowager Duchess of Grafton, daughter of Henry, Earl of +Arlington, and Countess of Arlington in her own right. Hanmer was not made +Secretary of State, but he succeeded Bromley as Speaker of the House of +Commons. + +20 William Fitzmaurice (see Letter 11, note 19 and Letter 27, note 11) entered +Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating on March 10, 1712-13, at the age of +eighteen. + +21 See Letter 11, note 11. + +22 William Bromley, second son of Bromley the Speaker (see Letter 10, note 1), +was a boy of fourteen at this time. In 1727 he was elected M.P. for Warwick, +and he died in 1737, shortly after being elected Member for Oxford University. + +23 See Letter 14, note 12. + +24 Sometimes "list" means to border or edge; at others, to sew together, so as +to make a variegated display, or to form a border. Probably it here means the +curling of the bottom of the wig. + +25 The last eight words have been much obliterated, and the reading is +doubtful. + +26 Lady Henrietta Hyde, second daughter of Laurence Hyde, first Earl of +Rochester (see Letter 8, note 22), married James Scott, Earl of Dalkeith, son +of the Duke of Monmouth. Lord Dalkeith died in 1705, leaving a son, who +succeeded his grandmother (Monmouth's widow) as second Duke of Buccleuch. +Lady Catherine Hyde (see Letter 40, note 6) was a younger sister of Lady +Dalkeith. + +27 Swift first wrote "I frequent." + +28 See Letter 52, note 5. + +29 D'Estrees. + +30 Little (almost illegible). + + + +Letter 61. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Mar. 27." + +2 See Letter 3, note 20. + +3 Formerly Lady Rialton (see Letter 40, note 3). + +4 See Letter 58, note 8. + +5 See Letter 11, note 39 and Letter 41, note 27. + +6 Pun on "gambol." + +7 See Letter 57, note 4. + +8 See Letter 41, note 7. + +9 "Upon Tuesday last, the house where His Grace the late Duke of Hamilton and +Brandon lived was hired for that day, where there was a fine ball and +entertainment; and it is reported in town, that a great lady, lately gone to +travel, left one hundred guineas, with orders that it should be spent in that +manner, and in that house" (Postboy, Feb. 26-28, 1712-13). The "great lady" +was, presumably, the Duchess of Marlborough. + +10 See Letter 36, note 14 and Letter 40, note 21. + +11 Trinity College, Dublin. + +12 See Letter 60, note 19. + +13 See Letter 36, note 15. + +14 Dr. Pratt, Provost of Trinity College. + +15 Obliterated, and doubtful. + +16 A deal at cards, that draws the whole tricks. + +17 Previous editors have misread "Trevor" as "Treasurer." Thomas Trevor, +Chief-Justice of the Common Pleas, was created Baron Trevor, of Bromham, in +January 1712. By commission of March 9, 1713, he occupied the woolsack during +the illness of the Lord Keeper, Harcourt. + +18 This is the only reference to Pope in the Journal. In his "Windsor Forest" +the young poet assisted the Tories by his reference to the peace of Utrecht, +then awaiting ratification. + +19 Several words have been obliterated. Forster reads, "Rove Pdfr, poo Pdfr, +Nite MD MD MD," but this is more than the space would contain. + +20 William Oldisworth (1680-1734), a Tory journalist and pamphleteer, who +published various works, including a translation of the Iliad. He died in a +debtors' prison. + +21 Some words obliterated. The reading is Forster's, and seems to be correct. + +22 Susan Armine, elder daughter of Sir William Armine, Bart., of Osgodby, +Lincolnshire, was created a life peeress in 1674, as Baroness Belasyse of +Osgodby. She died March 6, 1713. Her first husband was the Honourable Sir +Henry Belasyse, son and heir of John, Baron Belasyse, of Worlaby; and her +second, Mr. Fortney, of Chequers. + +23 See Letter 7, note 9. + +24 A word before "Ppt" is illegible. Forster's reading, "yes," does not seem +right. + +25 In November 1711 it was reported that Miss Kingdom was privately married to +Lord Conway (Wentworth Papers, 207), but this was not the case. Lord Conway +was a widower in 1713, but he married an Irish lady named Bowden. + +26 Forster reads, "Nite, my own dee sollahs. Pdfr roves MD"; but the last +three words, at least, do not seem to be in the MS. + +27 Probably the Bishop of Raphoe's son (see Letter 29, note 20). + +28 What. + +29 As Master of the Savoy. + +30 William Burgh was Comptroller and Accountant-General for Ireland from 1694 +to 1717, when his patent was revoked. He was succeeded by Eustace Budgell. + +31 William Paget, sixth Lord Paget, died in March 1713, aged seventy-six. He +spent a great part of his life as Ambassador at Vienna and Constantinople. + +32 Pocket. + +33 Forster reads, "Lele lele logues"; Mr. Ryland, "Lele lele. . . " + + + +Letter 62. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Apr. 13." + +2 Esther Johnson's brother-in-law, Filby (see Letter 55, note 19). + +3 Earl Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7). + +4 Francis Annesley, M.P. for Westbury. His colleague in the representation of +that borough was Henry Bertie (third son of James, Earl of Abingdon), who +married Earl Poulett's sister-in-law, Anthony Henley's widow (see Letter 12, +note 24). + +5 "Has" (MS.). + +6 A dozen words are erased. The reading is Forster's, and appears to be +correct. + +7 The British Ambassadress's Speech to the French King. The printer was sent +to the pillory and fined. + +8 The Examiner (vol. iii. No. 35) said that Swift--"a gentleman of the first +character for learning, good sense, wit, and more virtues than even they can +set off and illustrate"--was not the author of that periodical. "Out of pure +regard to justice, I strip myself of all the honour that lucky untruth did +this paper." + +9 A purgative electuary. + +10 Bargains. + +11 Three or four words illegible. Forster reads, "Nite, nite, own MD." + +12 Forster reads, "devil's brood "; probably the second word is "bawd:" Cf. +Letter 60, note 14 and Feb. 18, 1712-13. + +13 Several "moving pictures," mostly brought from Germany, were on view in +London at about this time. See Tatler, No. 129, and Gay's Fables, No. 6. + +14 See Letter 6, note 45. + +15 "Mr. Charles Grattan, afterwards master of a free school at Enniskillen" +(Scott). + +16 So given in the MS. Forster suggests that it is a mistake for "wood." + +17 See Letter 28, note 11. + +18 It is probable that this is Pope's friend, William Cleland, who died in +1741, aged sixty-seven. William Cleland served in Spain under Lord Rivers, +but was not a Colonel, though he seems to have been a Major. Afterwards he +was a Commissioner of Customs in Scotland and a Commissioner of the Land Tax +in England. Colonel Cleland cannot, as Scott suggested (Swift's Works, iii. +142, xviii. 137-39, xix. 8), have been the son of the Colonel William +Cleland, Covenanter and poet, who died in 1689, at the age of twenty-eight. +William Cleland allowed his name to be appended to a letter of Pope's prefixed +to the Dunciad, and Pope afterwards described him as "a person of universal +learning, and an enlarged conversation; no man had a warmer heart for his +friends, or a sincerer attachment to the constitution of his country." Swift, +referring to this letter, wrote to Pope, "Pray tell me whether your Colonel +(sic) Cleland be a tall Scots gentleman, walking perpetually in the Mall, and +fastening upon everybody he meets, as he has often done upon me?" (Pope's +Works, iv. 48, vii. 214). + +19 Henry Grey, Lord Lucas (died 1741), who became twelfth Earl of Kent in +1702, was made Duke of Kent in 1710. He held various offices under George I. +and George II. + +20 Forster found, among the MSS. at Narford, the "lie" thus prepared for All +Fools' Day. Richard Noble, an attorney, ran away with a lady who was the wife +of John Sayer and daughter of Admiral Nevill; and he killed Sayer on the +discovery of the intrigue. The incident was made use of by Hogarth in the +fifth scene of "Marriage a la Mode." + +21 See Letter 5, note 3. + +22 See Letter 13, note 10. + +23 Charles XII. + +24 "Is" (MS.). + +25 Cibber says that he saw four acts of Cato in 1703; the fifth act, according +to Steele, was written in less than a week. The famous first performance was +on April 14, 1713. + +26 The first number of the Guardian appeared on March 12, and the paper was +published daily until Oct. 1, 1713. Pope, Addison, and Berkeley were among +the contributors. + +27 See Letter 52, note 6. + +28 See Letter 39, note 16. + +29 The first preached after the period of his suspension by the House of +Lords. It was delivered at St. Saviour's, Southwark, before his installation +at St. Andrew's, and was published with the title, "The Christian's Triumph, +or the Duty of praying for our Enemies". + +30 Swift's curate at Laracor. + +31 Richard Gorges (died 1728) was eldest son and heir of Dr. Robert Gorges, of +Kilbrue, County Meath, by Jane, daughter of Sir Arthur Loftus, and sister of +Adam, Viscount Lisburne. He was appointed Adjutant-General of the Forces in +Ireland 1697, Colonel of a new Regiment of Foot 1703, Major-General of the +Forces 1707, and Lieutenant-General 1710 (Dalton's Army Lists, iii. 75). + +32 See Letter 60, note 10. + +33 Mrs. Oldfield. + +34 See Letter 56, note 6. + +35 Never saw the like. + +36 See Letter 53, note 10. + +37 The remainder has been partially obliterated. + + + +Letter 63. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "May 4." + +2 Lord Cholmondeley (see Letter 36, note 15). + +3 Harcourt. + +4 Forster's reading; the last two words are doubtful. + +5 See Letter 7, note 27. + +6 Francis Palmes, who was wounded at Blenheim, was made a Lieutenant-General +in 1709. In 1707 he was elected M.P. for West Loo; in 1708 he was sent as +Envoy Extraordinary to the Duke of Savoy, and in 1710 to Vienna. + +7 Apparently "so heed." + +8 Henry Villiers (died 1743), second son of the first Earl of Jersey and of +Barbara, daughter of William Chiffinch (see Letter 29, note 3 and Letter 59, +note 25). + +9 See Letter 61, Mar. 8, 1712-13. The Speech and Address are in the Commons' +Journals, xvii. 278, 28O. For the draft Address, in Swift's handwriting, see +the Portland Papers (1899), v. 276. + +10 Scoffed, jeered. + +11 Dr. Gastrell (see Letter 25, note 8). + +12 George Berkeley, afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, but then a young man of +twenty-eight, came to London in January 1713. He was already known by his +"New Theory of Vision" and "Treatise on the Principles of Human Knowledge", +and he brought with him his "Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous". +Steele was among the first to welcome him, and he soon made the acquaintance +of Addison, Pope, and Swift. On March 27, Berkeley wrote to Sir John Perceval +of the breach between Swift and the Whigs: "Dr. Swift's wit is admired by +both of them (Addison and Steele], and indeed by his greatest enemies, and. . +. I think him one of the best-matured and agreeable men in the world." In +November 1713 Swift procured for Berkeley the chaplaincy and secretaryship to +Lord Peterborough, the new Envoy to Sicily. + +13 Forster reads, "all oo sawcy Ppt can say oo may see me"; but the words are +illegible. + +14 Possibly "see," written in mistake for "say." + +15 "J" (MS.). + +16 Obliterated. Forster imagined that he read, "Nite dee logues. Poo Mr." + +17 There were two General Hamiltons at this time; probably Swift's +acquaintance was Gustavus Hamilton (1639-1723), who was created Viscount Boyne +in 1717. Hamilton distinguished himself at the battle of the Boyne and the +capture of Athlone, and was made Brigadier-General in 1696, and Major General +in 1703. He took part in the siege of Vigo, and was made a member of the +Privy Council in 1710. + +18 See Letter 43, note 38. + +19 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +20 This is Forster's reading, and appears to be correct. The last word, which +he gives as "iss truly," is illegible. + +21 Belonging to Ireland. + +22 See Letter 40, note 1. + +23 Another excellent reading of Forster's. I cannot decipher the last word, +which he gives as "dee rogues." + +24 Sentence obliterated. + +25 The number at the beginning of each entry in the Journal. + +26 Mr. Ryland's reading. Forster has "morning, dee." + +27 Dr. Thomas Lindsay (see Letter 6, note 45). + +28 I think the "MD" is right, though Forster gives "M." The "Pr" is probably +an abbreviation of "Pdfr." + +29 The last three lines have been obliterated. + + +Letter 64. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "May 22." + +2 Illegible. Forster reads, "and dee deelest Ppt." + +3 The last few words have been partially obliterated. + +4 Am very angry. The last word is scribbled over. + +5 The History of the Peace of Utrecht. + +6 The signature has been cut off. + + +Letter 65. + +1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Chester Letter." + +2 "Others" (MS.). + +3 See Letter 10, note 31 and Letter 31, note 1. + +4 See Letter 7, note 7. + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Journal to Stella +by Jonathan Swift + diff --git a/old/stlla10.zip b/old/stlla10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4eceec0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/stlla10.zip |