226. TO MRS. STEELE. DEAR PRUE, JUNE 10, 1713. his I SEND herewith the copy of the settlement, which lay at Froden's; but cannot find my deed among papers which relates to Barbados. light-headed. Your affectionate, obedient, He himself is RICH. STEELE. 227. TO MRS. STEELÈ. DEAR PRUE, To keep JUNE 20, 1713. keep things in order from that quarter, I am gone to Highgate to dinner; have been pretty successful this morning. Send for Queer-ones to keep you company. At night we will talk over all. Your faithful, affectionate husband, RICH. STEELE. Since the above, I have received a message from Mr. Addison, who put off the meeting with Mr. Ashurst, and has engaged me to meet some Whig Lords. In the evening, at six, you shall know where I am. 228. TO 228. TO MRS. STEELE. IF DEAR PRUE, JULY 1, 1713. you please to be in readiness about one o'clock, I will send you word where I shall be, to go with you to Mr. Hoole's * to see the Entry †. I have discharged Hugh, and have his receipt. Your most affectionate, faithful, husband, RICH. STEELE. I have given his black cloaths; for I will never strip a servant. 229. TO MRS. STEELE. DEAR PRUE, JULY 1, 1713. IF you will please to come to Mr. Hoole's, a sta tioner's, next door to Ludgate church, you will there find your ever obliged husband, * A stationer, in Ludgate-street. RICH. STEELE. This was the public entry of the Duke D'Aumont, the French Ambassador, who came on this day in state from Greenwich to the Tower by water, and afterwards paraded, in a style of great splendour, through the City, to Somerset-house; where he was magnificently entertained till the day of his public audience, the 4th of July, when he proceeded to St. James's in the same form as was observed at his entry. A full and curious account of the whole solemnity may be seen in the "Political State" for 1713, vol. VI. p. 34. The mourning, probably, for his mother. 230. TO 230. TO MRS. STEELE. DEAR PRUE, JULY 2, 1713. I WISH you a good journey; take care of yourself, and expect to find me at home to receive you to-morrow evening. Your most humble servant, RICH. STEELE, 231. TO MRS. STEELE. DEAR PRUE, JULY 10, 1713. THIS is only to acquaint you that I have almost finished my vexations; and I shall, from to-morrow, be in a regular and methodical way. You are my pride, my pleasure, my ambition, and all that is agreeable to Your affectionate and faithful husband, RICH. STEELE. 232. TO SIR, 232. TO MR. METHUEN *. [1713.] It is with great pleasure I take an opportunity of publishing the gratitude I owe you for the place. you allow me in your friendship and familiarity I will not acknowledge to you that I have often had you in my thoughts, when I have endeavoured to draw, in some parts of these discourses, the character of a good-natured, honest, and accomplished gentleman. But such representations give my reader an idea of a person blameless only, or only laudable for such perfections as extend no farther than to his own private advantage and reputation. But when I speak of you, I celebrate one who has had the happiness of possessing also those qualities which make a man useful to society, and of having had opportunities of exerting them in the most conspicuous manner. * Afterward Sir Paul Methuen, Knight of the Bath. This very ingenious gentleman, whilst Ambassador at the Court of Portugal, concluded the famous commercial treaty which bears his name; and, in the same capacity at the Court of Savoy, exerted himself nobly as a military hero. On his return, he was successively appointed to several important offices in the State; a Commissioner of the Admiralty, Nov. 8, 1709; of the Treasury, Oct. 13, 1714; Comptroller of the Household, June 4, 1720; Treasurer of the Household, 1725; and a Commissioner for inspecting the Law, Sept. 15, 1732. He represented the borough of Brackley in the several parliaments which met in 1713, 1714, 1722, 1727, and 1734; and died April 11, 1757, aged 86. + This was prefixed to the seventh volume of "The Spectator." The U The great part you had, as British Ambassador, in procuring and cultivating the advantageous commerce between the Courts of England and Portugal, has purchased you the lasting esteem of all who understand the interest of either Nation. Those personal excellencies which are over-rated by the ordinary world, and too much neglected by wise men, you have applied with the justest skill and judgment. The most graceful address in horsemanship, in the use of the sword, and in dancing, has been employed by you as lower arts; and as they have occasionally served to cover, or introduce the talents of a skilful Minister. But your abilities have not appeared only in one Nation. When it was your province to act as her Majesty's Minister at the Court of Savoy, at that time incamped, you accompanied that gallant Prince through all the vicissitudes of his fortune, and shared by his side the dangers of that glorious day in which he recovered his capital. As far as it regards personal qualities, you attained, in that one hour, the highest military reputation. The behaviour of our Minister in the action, and the good offices done the vanquished in the name of the Queen of England, gave both the conqueror and the captive the most lively examples of the courage and generosity of the Nation he represented. Your friends and companions, in your absence, frequently talk these things of you; and you cannot hide from us (by the most discreet silence in any thing which regards yourself) that the frank entertainment we have at your table, your easy condescension in little incidents of mirth and diver |