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sion! and she could not get rid of him till Tuesday last. * I must put you in mind of one passage in your letter to me, which is, " I pray God send you wise and faithful friends to advise you at this time, when there are so great difficulties to struggle with." That is very plain and true; therefore will you, who have gone through so much, and taken more pains than any body, and given wise advice (if that wretched man had had sense enough and honesty to have taken it) I say, will you leave us and go into Ireland? No, it is impossible; your goodness is still the same, your charity and compassion for this poor lady, who has been barbarously used, would not let you do it. I know you take delight to help the distressed; and there cannot be a greater object than this good lady, who deserves pity. Pray, dear friend, stay here; and do not believe us all alike to throw away good advice, and despise every body's understanding but their own. I could say a

great deal upon the subject, but I must go to her, for she is not well. This comes to you by a safe hand, so that neither of us need be in any pain about it.

My lord and brother are in the country. My sister and girls are your humble servants.

FROM ERASMUS LEWIS, ESQ.

SIR,

July 29, 1714.

I HAVE yours of the 27th. I write this in the

* July 27.-N.

*

morning, for I go in the evening to Kensington. If I am well received, I will continue my homage, if not, they shall hear of me no more. Where shall I write to you again? for I cannot stir from hence, till the 16th of August at soonest. Nothing could please me more than to pass a few months with you at Abercothy; but I am yet uncertain whether I shall go there at all. All I am sure of is, that I will go out of town to some place for some time; first to the Bath, for I cannot bear staying in this room. I want physic to help my digestion of these things, though the 'squire † is kinder to me than before. I am not mortified at what you tell me of Mercurialis only I would know, whether any disrespectful conduct of mine has brought it upon me; or whether it is only a general dislike of me, because I am not a man of parts, or because I am in other interests? They would not give the dragon the least quarter, excepting only a pension, if he will work journeywork by the quarter. I have long thought his parts decayed, and am more of that opinion than ever. The new commission is not yet named. Would not the world have roared against the dragon for such a thing? Mercurialis entertained Stanhope, Craggs, Pulteney, and Walpole. What if the dragon had done so? The Duke

* In Caermarthenshire, of which county Mr Lewis was a native.-B.

+ William Bromely, Esq. secretary of state.-B.

On the very day on which Lord Oxford resigned, his rival gave an entertainment, attended by the great persons in the whig interest named in the text, and also by Generals Cadogan and Palmes. What was Bolingbroke's purpose can hardly be con jectured, but his guests probably attended to inflame the divi sions by which they profited.

of Somerset dines to-day with the fraternity at Greenwich, with Withers. Nobody goes out with the dragon; but many will sit very loose. loose. Some say the new men will be Lexington, Wyndham, Strangeways, Sir John Stonehouse, and Campion.

FROM MR BARBER.

DEAR SIR,

July 31, 1714. Six at night.

I AM heartily sorry I should be the messenger of SO ill news, as to tell you the queen is dead, or dying if alive, it is said, she cannot live till morning. You may easily imagine the confusion we are all in on this sad occasion. I had set out yesterday to wait on you, but for this sad accident, and should have brought letters from Lord Bolingbroke and Lady Masham, to have prevented your going. Pray do not go, for I will come to you when I see how things stand. My Lord Shrewsbury is made lord-treasurer, and every thing is ready for the proclaiming the Duke of Brunswick King of England. The parliament will sit to-morrow, and choose a new speaker; for Sir Thomas † is in Wales.

For God's sake do not go; but either come to London, or stay till I come to you.

* Upon the queen's sudden illness the council, which was attend by the Dukes of Somerset and Argyll, though unsummoned, recommended the Duke of Shrewsbury to the appointment of treasurer, and the queen gave him the staff with her dying hand, bidding him use it for the good of her people. Thus the duke was at once lord-treasurer, lord-chamberlain, and lordlieutenant of Ireland. This was a severe blow to Bolingbroke, for the duke was devotedly attached to the Hanover succession. + Hanmer.-H.

FROM ERASMUS LEWIS, ESQ.

SIR,

Kensington, Saturday, July 31, 1714,
Six in the Evening.

At the same time I am writing, the breath is said to be in the queen's nostrils; but that is all. No hope left of her recovery. Lord Oxford is in council; so are the whigs. We expect the demise to-night. There is a prospect that the elector will meet with no opposition, the French having no fleet, nor being able to put one out soon. Lady Masham did receive me kindly. Poor woman, I heartily pity her. Now, is not the dragon born under a happy planet, to be out of the scrape? Dr Arbuthnot thinks you should come up. You will not wonder if all my country resolutions are in suspense. Pray come up, to see how things go.

FROM CHARLES FORD, ESQ.

London, July 31, 1714. Three in the Afternoon.

I Do not doubt but you have heard the queer is dead, and perhaps we may be so unfortunate before this comes to you; but at present she is alive, and much better than could have been expected. I am just come from Kensington, where I have almost spent these two whole days. I am in great haste: but, till dinner comes up, I will write to you, and give you as full an account as I can of her illness.

Her disorder began between eight and nine yes

terday morning.

The doctors ordered her head to be shaved; and while it was doing, she fell into a fit of convulsion, or as they thought an apoplexy. This lasted near two hours, and she was speechless, and shewed little sign of life during that time; but came to herself upon being blooded.

She

As soon as she recovered, my Lord Bolingbroke went to her, and told her the privy-council was of opinion, it would be for the public service to have the Duke of Shrewsbury made lord-treasurer. immediately consented, and gave the staff into the duke's hands. The great seal was put to the patent by four o'clock. She continued ill the whole day. In the evening I spoke to Dr Arbuthnot, and he told me he did not think her distemper was desperate. Radcliffe was sent for to Carshalton about noon, by order of council; but said he had taken physic, and could not come. In all probability he had saved her life; for I am told the late Lord Gower had been often in the same condition with the gout in his head; and Radcliffe kept him alive many years after.* This morning, when I went

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In the account that is given of Dr Radcliffe, in the Biographia Britannica, it is said that the queen was struck with death the 28th of July: that Dr Radcliffe's name was not once mentioned, either by the queen or any lord of the council; only that Lady Masham sent to him without their knowledge, two hours before the queen's death." In this letter from Mr Ford to Dr Swift, which is dated the 31st of July, it is said, that the queen's disorder began between eight and nine the morning before, which was the 30th; and that about noon, the same day, Radcliffe was sent for by an order of council. These accounts being contradictory, the reader will probably want some assistance to determine what were the facts. As to the time when the queen was taken ill, Mr Ford's account is most likely to be true, as he was upon the spot, and in a situation which insured

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