be able to avert, when your number lessens, as it certainly must; and when the expedient is put in practice, without a tack, of making those grants part of a supply. From whence it is plain that the zeal against that bill, arose in a great measure from some other cause, than a tenderness to those who were to suffer by it. I shall conclude, my lord, with putting you in mind, that you are a subject of the Queen, a peer of the realm, and a servant of your country; and in any of these capacities, you are not to consider what you dislike, in the persons of those who are in the administration, but the manner of conducting themselves while they are in. And then I do not despair, but your own good sense will fully convince you, that the prerogative of your prince, without which her government cannot subsist; the honour of your house, which hath been always the great assertor of that prerogative; and the welfare of your country, are too precious to be made a sacrifice to the malice, the interest, and the ambition of a few party leaders. A [SUPPOSED] LETTER FROM THE PRETENDER TO A WHIG LORD.' MY LORD WHARTON, S. Germain, July 8, 1712. 2 I THANK you heartily for your letter; and you may be firmly assured of my friendship. In answer to what you hint, that some of our friends suspect; I protest to you, upon the word of a king, and my Lord Middleton will be my witness, that I never held the least correspondence with any one person of the Tory party: I observe, as near as I can, the instructions of the king my father; among whose papers there is not one letter, as I remember, from any Tory, except two lords and a lady," who, as you know, have been for some years past devoted to me and the Whigs. I approve of the scheme you sent me, signed by our friends. I do not find 24's name to it: perhaps he In this letter Swift throws back on the Whigs the charge of favouring the return of the Pretender. In doing this, he seizes the opportunity to make a further attack on his old enemy, the Earl of Wharton. The letter is referred to in the "Journal to Stella": 28th May, 1712: "I was with my friend Lewis to-day, getting materials for a little mischief." 19th July, 1712 "To-day there will be another Grub: '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.' [T. S.] The second Earl of Middleton. In conjunction with the Earl of Moray he was, in 1682, one of the Secretaries of State for Scotland, and in 1684 succeeded Godolphin as one of the principal Secretaries of State for England. He died an exile in France, having allied himself to the cause of James II. [T. S.] The Duke of Marlborough, Lord Godolphin, and the Duchess of Marlborough, all of whom were suspected of strong Jacobite sympathies. [г. S.] 4 Probably the Earl of Sunderland. The suggestion of his being may be sick, or in the country. Middleton will be satisfied to be groom of the stole; and if you have Ireland, 11' may have the staff, provided 152 resigns his pretensions; in which case he shall have six thousand pounds a year for life, and a dukedom. I am content 13 should be secretary and a lord; and I will pay his debts when I am able. I confess, I am sorry your general pardon has so many exceptions; but you and my other friends are judges of that." It was with great difficulty I prevailed on the queen to let me sign that commission for life, though Her Majesty is entirely reconciled. If 25 will accept the privy seal, which you tell ine is what would please him, the salary should be doubled: I am obliged to his good intentions, how ill soever they may have succeeded. All other parts of your plan I entirely agree with; only as to the party that opposeth us, your proposal about Z may bring an odium' upon my government: he stands the first excepted; and we shall have enough against him in a legal way. I wish you would allow me twelve more domestics of my own religion; and I will give you what security you please, not to hinder any designs you have of altering the present established worship. Since I have so few employments left me to dispose of, and that most of our friends are to hold theirs for life; I hope you will all be satisfied with so great a share of power. I bid you heartily farewell; and am your assured friend. sick favours this lord. See note in previous "Letter to a Whig Lord." [T. S.] 1 Perhaps the Duke of Portland. [T. S.] 2 This may refer to Godolphin. [T. S.] 3 Probably this hits Walpole. [T. S.] A hit at Marlborough for demanding to be created Commander-inchief of the army for life. [T. S.] 5 Scott thinks this refers to Nottingham and his promise to bring over a body of High Churchmen to the Whig party. [T. S.] |