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. {351b} 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. {352a} 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 to be Stella’s; {352b} another for £100
that she has of yours, which I made over to you for Mariston; and a third
for £300; 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 {352c} 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; {352d}
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 {352e} and her daughter have been in town these
three weeks, which I never heard till to-day; and Mrs. Wesley {353a} 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, {353b}
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, {354a} 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, {354b} 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.
{354c} 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 {355} 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 {356}
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, {357a} the Duke and
Duchess of Somerset, and Lord Cholmondeley, {357b} 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.” {357c} 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, {360a}
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, {360b} 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 {361} 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.