which I could not excuse although she had fifty kingdoms to govern. I have but room to conclude with my sincere professions of being, with true respect, Madam, Your most obedient humble servant. FROM MR GAY. JON. SWIFT. Amesbury, Dec. 6, 1730. DEAR SIR, BOTH your letters, to my great satisfaction, I have received. You were mistaken as to my being in town; for I have been here ever since the beginning of May. But the best way is to direct your letters always to the duke's house in London; and they are sent hither by his porter. We shall stay here till after the holidays. You say we deserve envy: I think we do; for I envy' no man, either in town or out of it. We have had some few visitors, and every one of them such as one would desire to visit. The duchess is a more severe check upon my finances than ever you were; and I submit, as I did to you, to comply to my own good. I was a long time before I could prevail with her to let me allow myself a pair of shoes with two heels; for I had lost one, and the shoes were so decayed that they were not worth mending. You see by this, that those, who are the most generous of their own, can be the most covetous for others. I hope you will be so good to me, as to use your interest with her, (for, whatever she says, you seem to have some), to indulge me with the extravagance suitable to my fortune. The lady you mention, that dislikes you, has no discernment. I really think, you may safely venture to Amesbury, though indeed the lady here likes to have her own way as well as you; which may sometimes occasion disputes: and I tell you beforehand, that I cannot take your part. I think her so often in the right, that you will have great difficulty to persuade me she is in the wrong. Then, there is another thing, that I ought to tell you, to deter you from this place; which is, that the lady of the house is not given to show civility to those she does not like. She speaks her mind, and loves truth. For the uncommonness of the thing, I fancy your curiosity will prevail over your fear; and you will like to see such a woman. But I say no more till I know whether her grace will fill up the rest of the paper. FROM THE DUCHESS OF QUEENSBERRY. WRITE I must, particularly now, as I have an opportunity to indulge my predominant passion, contradiction. I do, in the first place, contradict most things Mr Gay says of me, to deter you from coming here; which if you ever do, I hereby assure you, that unless I like my own way better, you shall have yours; and in all disputes you shall convince me if you can. But, by what I see of you, this is not a misfortune that will always happen; for I find you are a great mistaker. For example, you take prudence for imperiousness: it is from this first, that I determined not to like one who is too giddy-headed for me to be certain whether or not I shall ever be acquainted with. I have known people take great delight in building castles in the air; but I should choose to build friends upon a more solid foundation. I would fain know you; for I often hear more good likeable things than it is possible any one can deserve. Pray come, that I may find out something wrong; for I, and I believe most women, have an inconceivable pleasure to find out any faults except their own. Mr Cibber is made poet-laureat. I am, Sir, as much your humble servant as I can be to any person I do not know. C. Q. Mr Gay is very peevish that I spell and write ill; but I do not care: for neither the pen nor I can do better. Besides, I think you have flattered me, and such people ought to be put to trouble. MR GAY'S POSTSCRIPT. Now I hope you are pleased, and that you will allow, for so small a sum as two hundred pounds, you have a lumping pennyworth. FROM LORD CHESTERFIELD. Hague, Dec. 15, 1730. SIR, You need not have made any excuses to me for your solicitation: on the contrary, I am proud of being the first person to whom you have thought it worth your while to apply, since those changes, which, you say, drove you into distance and obscurity. I very well know the person you recommend to me, having lodged at his house a whole summer at Richmond. I have always heard a very good character of him, which alone would incline me to serve him: but your recommendation, I can assure you, will make me impatient to do it. How ever, that he may not again meet with the common fate of court suitors, nor I lie under the imputation of making court promises, I will exactly explain to you how far it is likely I may be able to serve him, When first I had this office, † I took the resolution of turning out nobody; so that I shall only have the disposal of those places, that the death of the present possessors will procure me. Some old servants, that have served me long and faithfully, have obtained the promises of the first four or five vacancies; and the early solicitations of some of my particular friends have tied me down for about as many more. But, after having satisfied those engagements, I do assure you, Mr Launcelot shall be my first care. I confess his prospect is more remote than I could have wished it, but as it is so remote he will not have the uneasiness of a disappointment, if he gets nothing; and if he gets something, we shall both be pleased. * Mr Lancelot, whom the Dean, in a preceding letter, had recommended to Lord Chesterfield for a place in the royal household. His lordship evades the request with characteristic politeness. Upon the 5th January following, the Dean returns his lordship a most admirable answer in his own manner. + Of lord-steward of the king's household, in which he succeeded the Duke of Dorset, appointed lord-lieutenant of Ire land. As for his political principles, I am in no manner of pain about them. Were he a tory, I would venture to serve him in the just expectation, that should I ever be charged with having preferred a tory, the person who was the author of my crime would likewise be the author of my vindication. I am, with real esteem, Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, FROM LADY ELIZABETH GERMAIN. Dec. 24, 1730. SINCE you, with a modest assurance, affirm you understand and practise good manners better than any other person in either kingdom, I wish you would therefore put into very handsome terms my excuse to Dean Swift, that I have not answered his letter I received before the last: for even Prebendary Head assured my brother Harry, that he, in all form and justice, took place of a colonel, as being a major-general in the church; and therefore you need not have called a council to know whether you or I were to write last; because, as being but a poor courtesy lady, I can pretend to no place but what other people's goodness gives me. This being settled, I certainly ought not to have writ again; but however, I fear I should have been wrong enough to have desired the correspondence to be kept up, but that I have been ill this fortnight, and of course lazy, and not in a writing mood. First, as to Mrs Barber; as I told you before, |