either (which I am most clear it cannot), that I am persuaded the parliament would indemnify any man living who could allege such a reason for his omission. At all events, your Lordship will be most perfectly secure till the time is elapsed.

Now, my dear Lord, if you can be satisfied for the present that you run no hazard, there is no other difficulty remaining but the oath of office, which may be administered to your Lordship by the Duke of Grafton, Lord Shelburne, and myself, at Hayes. Is this such an invincible obstacle as to deprive the King, the public, and your friends, of your assistance? The consequence may be fatal! I have the honour to be, with the utmost respect and attachment,

Your most obliged

friend and servant,

CAMDEN.

THE COUNTESS OF CHATHAM TO LORD CAMDEN.

Hayes, February 18, 1768.

MY LORD, LORD CHATHAM trusts he shall be forgiven by your Lordship for employing my hand to answer the honour of your Lordship's letter. He commissions me to say, that having considered the very great difficulties relating to the privy seal, he thinks that if your Lordship continues, as yesterday, to be

of opinion that the precedents of the Bishop of Bristol and the Duke of Bedford may be relied on, it may be best, upon the whole, to rest the matter there. He is grieved to occasion so much trouble to his friends, and wishes he could think that he might ever be of the smallest use to his Majesty's service.

LORD CAMDEN TO THE EARL OF CHATHAM.

Lincoln's Inn Fields, March 20, 1768. (')

MY DEAR LORD,

I HAVE dispatched a messenger to-night to inform your Lordship that I shall have the honour to attend you to-morrow with the proper number of privy counsellors, and, the better to prepare your Lordship for our reception, send you their names: Lord Shelburne, Mr. J. Grenville, Lord Chief Justice Wilmot, Lord Bristol, Lord Berkeley of Stratton, and myself.

(1) At this time, all England was agitated by the tumults incident to a general election, but particularly London and Middlesex, on account of the re-appearance of John Wilkes. "He quitted England, says Mr. Adolphus, under circumstances so disgraceful, that his offer to represent the metropolis, or the county which includes the metropolis, was an incalculable effort of impudence, while the support he received seems to have flowed from an unprecedented source of popular delusion. He declared himself a candidate for the city, and as the outlawry was still in full force, to prevent his being apprehended, he wrote to the solicitor of the treasury, pledging his honour as a gentleman, that he would personally appear in the court of

My dear Lord, I shall not eat, drink, or sleep in comfort, till I see your Lordship in full repos

King's Bench on the first day of the ensuing term. He was not chosen for London; but the populace, sympathising in his disappointment, and anxious to show their zeal in his cause, took the horses from his carriage, and drew it through the city. He immediately presented himself a candidate for Middlesex, and was returned by a large majority. The mob testified not only their joy, but their resentment, by breaking the windows of Lord Bute's house, and of the Mansion House; the air resounded with the ery of Wilkes and liberty,' and those who refused to join in it were beaten and insulted." In a letter to Mr. Calcraft, of the 10th of April, Mr. Gerard Hamilton writes:—

The language of those who live with ministers is bitter against Wilkes; and it seems as if no concession of any sort would be made on the part of the crown. There was a council last night at Lord Weymouth's, and there is to be another to-night, at which Lord Mansfield is expected to assist. The King's friends are certainly ordered to circulate in all companies, that government is at an end unless Mr. Grenville is put at the head of it: and if Lord Mansfield really goes to council, I shall begin to think that will be the case. I have seen those who were at court to-day. In appearance, the present ministers are in favour: you know how much that is to be relied on." Again, on the 2d of May, —“At the meeting about which we conversed when I saw you last, Rigby and the Bedfords gave their opinion for immediate expulsion; who, to their surprise, were opposed by Dunning. He stated the impossibility of finding any legal grounds for the support of such a measure, Wilkes having been convicted not as the author, but the publisher only, of the blasphemous poem. In consequence of this disagreement, there was another meeting at Lord North's last night, to which the Bedfords were not summoned. From the best intelligence I have been able to procure, the intention of the ministry is not to take any step in relation to Wilkes, upon our meeting on the 10th of May; and though the court of King's Bench will hear the errors brought against the outlawry argued in the course of this week, they will nevertheless postpone giving their judgment till parliament adjourns; at least, this is the opinion of all the lawyers."

session of the privy seal. Indeed, my dear Lord, our seals ought to go together. "Dixi sacramentum: ibimus, ibimus, utcunque præcedes." I am, with the most perfect attachment, zeal, and gratitude,

Your most obliged friend and servant,

CAMDEN.

SIR WILLIAM DRAPER(') TO THE EARL OF CHATHAM.

MY LORD,

Manilla Hall, near Bristol, June 11, 1768.

I BEG leave to send you the enclosed Inscription designed for a triumphal pillar in my garden. As

(1) Sir William Draper was born at Bristol in 1721, and educated at Eton and King's college, Cambridge. After having proceeded to the degree of B. A. in 1744, and to that of M.A. in 1749, he quitted the university, and, joining the British troops in the East Indies, signalised himself at the capture of Fort St. George. On his return to England in 1760, with the rank of colonel, he was made governor of Yarmouth, and, in the following year acted as brigadier-general in the expedition against Belleisle. In 1762 he commanded the troops who conquered Manilla; which place was saved from plunder by the agreement of the captors to accept bills on Madrid for one million sterling; which were never honoured, the Spanish government peremptorily refusing to abide by the treaty. His first appearance as a writer was in his able pamphlet entitled, "An Answer to the Spanish Arguments for refusing the Payment of the Ransom Bills." His services were rewarded with a red riband, and the colonelcy of the sixteenth foot; which he resigned to Colonel Gisborne, for his half pay of 2007. Irish annuities. This common transaction furnished Junius with many a sarcasm. Having, in 1769, had the misfortune to lose his wife, he proceeded to America; where, in the following

My dear Lord, I shall not eat, drink, or sleep in comfort, till I see your Lordship in full in full repos

He was

King's Bench on the first day of the ensuing term. not chosen for London; but the populace, sympathising in his disappointment, and anxious to show their zeal in his cause, took the horses from his carriage, and drew it through the city. He immediately presented himself a candidate for Middlesex, and was returned by a large majority. The mob testified not only their joy, but their resentment, by breaking the windows of Lord Bute's house, and of the Mansion House; the air resounded with the cry of Wilkes and liberty,' and those who refused to join in it were beaten and insulted." In a letter to Mr. Cal

craft, of the 10th of April, Mr. Gerard Hamilton writes: "The language of those who live with ministers is bitter against Wilkes; and it seems as if no concession of any sort would be made on the part of the crown. There was a council last night at Lord Weymouth's, and there is to be another to-night, at which Lord Mansfield is expected to assist. The King's friends are certainly ordered to circulate in all companies, that government is at an end unless Mr. Grenville is put at the head of it: and if Lord Mansfield really goes to council, I shall begin to think that will be the case. I have seen those who were at court to-day. In appearance, the present ministers are in favour: you know how much that is to be relied on." Again, on the 2d of May, "At the meeting about which we conversed when I saw you last, Rigby and the Bedfords gave their opinion for immediate expulsion; who, to their surprise, were opposed by Dunning. He stated the impossibility of finding any legal grounds for the support of such a measure, Wilkes having been convicted not as the author, but the publisher only, of the blasphemous poem. In consequence of this disagreement, there was another meeting at Lord North's last night, to which the Bedfords were not summoned. From the best intelligence I have been able to procure, the intention of the ministry is not to take any step in relation to Wilkes, upon our meeting on the 10th of May; and though the court of King's Bench will hear the errors brought against the outlawry argued in the course of this week, they will nevertheless postpone giving their judgment till parliament adjourns; at least, this is the opinion of all the lawyers."