that I staid and took share of it, and did not go to lordtreasurer till six, where I found Dr Sacheverel, who told us that the bookseller had given him L. 100 for his sermon, 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 is 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. Night, dear 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 sate with him till Come in, my friends! here shall ye dine and lie, And sup and breakfast on, (if ye comply,) He waves his hand to bring us back in vain ; * The original sermon of Dr Henry Sacheverel made so much noise, that it cannot be wondered the bookseller should have had great hopes from this second discourse. It was entitled, "The Christian Triumph, or the Duty of Praying for our Enemies," the first which he preached after the three years silence imposed upon him by the House of Peers as a part of his sentence. Still less could it be expected, that the poor doctor himself should be able to estimate the change which lapse of time had made in the popularity of one, whose sole merit was that of a fiery and forward tool. 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, &c. 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! It is late. Night, 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 Sacheverel's long dull sermon, which he sent me. It is his 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. Night, dear MD. 5. Warburton 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 Gorge 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 Gorge 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 had like to have snapped me for dinner, and I believe will fall out for refusing him; but I hate dining with him, 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. Night, 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* 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 Mrs Oldfield. It is singular, that Swift makes no remark on the piece itself. But he was now on cold terms with Addison, and never seems to have been interested in the Drama. with lord-treasurer, but he was gone to Wimbledon, his daughter Caermarthen's 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 sate this evening with Sir Andrew Fountaine, and we amused ourselves with making ifs for Dilly. It is rainy weather again; never saw the like. This letter shall go to-morrow; remember, young women, it is seven weeks since your last, and I allow you but five weeks; but you have been galloping in the country to Swanton's. 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. Night, dear MD. 7. Morning. I have had a visitor here, that has taken up my time. I have not been abroad, you may be sure; so I can say nothing to-day, but that I love MD better than ever, if possible. 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 va cancies, &c. But he must not know that you know so much. Don't this perplex you? What care I? But love Pdfr. Farewell, dearest MD, FW, Me, Lele. LETTER LXIII. 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 tomorrow. 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 every body's expectations are ready to burst. a council to-night, the Lord Chief Justice Parker, a Whig, spoke against the peace; so did Lord Cholmondeley, another Whig, who is treasurer of the household. My lord-keeper was this night made lord-chancellor. We hope there will soon be some removes. Night, dearest little MD. * At 8. Lord Cholmondeley is this day removed from his employment, for his last night's speech; and Sir Richard Temple, lieutenant-general, the greatest Whig in the army, is turned out; and lieutenant-general Palmes will be obliged to sell his regiment. This is the first fruits of a friendship I have established between two great *Lord Harcourt. |