her out of this expression of the feelings of Hayes. She desires her compliments to your Lordship and Lady Mayoress.

THE LORD MAYOR TO THE EARL OF CHATHAM.

MY DEAR LORD,

Soho Square, May 25, 1770.

YOUR Lordship's partiality to an old friend has been often experienced, but on no occasion more so than the present. (1) What I spoke in the King's presence was uttered in the language of truth, and with that humility and submission, which becomes a subject speaking to his lawful king: at least I endeavoured to behave properly and decently; but I am inclined to believe I was mistaken, for the language of the court is, that my deportment was impudent, insolent, and unprecedented. God forgive them all! Their wickedness and folly will ruin this country.

The common council have this day approved of my conduct in an exemplary manner. We go

up

to St. James's with a congratulatory address on Wednesday: I trust it will be found to contain no words that are offensive or reproachable. Townshend has just now reported to me the very gracious manner the King was pleased to receive the two

(1) This able, fearless, and patriotic magistrate survived the grateful eulogium little more than three weeks. In a note to Mr. Calcraft, of the 15th of June, Lord Chatham writes, "I hear a very alarming account of lord mayor, and am just going to send to London to inquire." He died on the 21st.

sheriffs. I am, my dear Lord, and ever shall con

tinue,

Your ever faithful and affectionate friend,

and very obedient servant,

WILL. BECKFORD. (')

(1) On the 14th of May, at a meeting of the common council of London, held in Guildhall, it was resolved, "That the grateful thanks of this court be presented to the right hon. William Earl of Chatham, for the zeal he has shown in support of those most valuable and sacred privileges, the right of election, and the right of petition; and for his wishes and declaration, that his endeavours shall hereafter be used, that parliaments may be restored to their original purity, by shortening their duration, and introducing a more full and equal representation; an act which will render his name more honoured by posterity, than the memorable successes of the glorious war he conducted." On the 1st of June, a deputation of the corporation waited upon Lord Chatham with the said resolution; to whom his Lordship immediately delivered the following reply:

"Gentlemen,

"It is not easy for me to give expression to all I feel, on the extraordinary honour done to my public conduct by the City of London: a body so highly respectable on every account; but above all, for their constant assertions of the birthrights of Englishmen, in every great crisis of the constitution.

"In our present unhappy situation, my duty shall be, on all proper occasions, to add the zealous endeavours of an individual to those legal exertions of constitutional rights, which, to their everlasting honour, the City of London has made in defence of freedom of election, and freedom of petition, and for obtaining effectual reparation to the electors of Great Britain.

"As to one point among the declarations which I am understood to have made, of my wishes for the public, permit me to say there has been some misapprehension; for with all my deference to the sentiments of the City, I am bound to declare, that I cannot recommend triennial parliaments as a remedy against that canker in the constitution, venality in elections; ready to submit my opinion to better judgment, if the wish for that measure shall become prevalent in the kingdom.

Purity of parliament is the corner-stone in the commonwealth : and as one obvious means towards this necessary end is to strengthen and extend the natural relation between the constituents and the elected, I have, in this view, publicly expressed my earnest wishes for a more full and equal representation, by the addition of one knight of

THE HONOURABLE COLONEL SIMON FRASER
TO THE EARL OF CHATHAM.

MY LORD,

Oporto, June 20, 1770.

HAVING heard that Mr. Whitehead, consul at this place, had orders to send your Lordship a pipe of port wine, I have used the freedom to take the commission out of his hands; in which he would not have acquiesced, if he were not assured, that I have it in my power at present to execute it better. He would have sent exceeding good wine, but I have happily got a pipe of the vintage of 1765, made with particular care and without any addition of brandy, which I am assured is singular in its kind, and very happy I shall be if it proves so much so as to vindicate its destination.

I beg leave to assure your Lordship, that it is the pride of my life to have been distinguished by

the shire in a county, as a farther balance to the mercenary boroughs. I have thrown out this idea with the just diffidence of a private man, when he presumes to suggest any thing new on a high matter. Animated by your approbation, I shall with better hope continue humbly to submit it to the public wisdom, as an object to be most deliberately weighed, accurately examined, and maturely digested.

Having many times, when in the service of the Crown, and when retired from it, experienced, with gratitude, the favour of my fellow citizens, I am now particularly fortunate that, with their good liking, I can offer any thing towards upholding this wisely-combined frame of mixed Government against the decays of time, and the deviations incident to all human institutions; and I shall esteem my life honoured indeed, if the City of London can vouchsafe to think that my endeavours have not been wanting to maintain the national honour, to defend the colonies, and extend the commercial greatness of my country, as well as to preserve from violation the law of the land, and the essential rights of the constitution."

you, and that whilst it lasts I shall join to the veneration due to you from the public, that sincere gratitude with which I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's much obliged

and very faithful servant,

SIMON FRASER. (1)

THE EARL OF CHATHAM TO THE HONOURABLE COLONEL SIMON FRASER.

SIR,

Hayes, July 28, 1770.

I was honoured with your most obliging letter from Oporto, of the 20th of June, and I receive the flattering mark of those very favourable sentiments it contains on my subject, with a sensibility not easy to express. A pipe of true port is a matter of no common consequence to a gouty sexagénaire; but wine of the best growth, welcome as it is, must bear a small proportion in my feelings, com

(1) Eldest son of Simon, twelfth Lord Lovat, executed on Tower Hill in 1747. At the breaking out of the rebellion he was at the university of St. Andrews, and was sent from thence by his father to head his clan in support of the rebels. He surrendered himself in 1746, and was confined for some time in the castle of Edinburgh; but, receiving in 1751 a full pardon, he entered into the British army, and in 1757 raised a regiment of eighteen hundred men, of which he was constituted colonel, went out at their head to America, and distinguished himself at Louisburgh and Quebec. In 1762, he acted as brigadiergeneral in the forces sent to Portugal to. He sat in four parliaments for the county of Inverness; and having given numerous proofs of his loyalty, he was in 1774 restored to the lands and estates of his father, and died in 1782, without issue.

pared with the consideration of the sender, and the motives to such an attention.

Accept, Sir, abundance of sincere acknowledgments for all your favour, and allow me to add, in answer to the obliging expressions with which you honour me, that if I dare admit the hope that I may deserve any thing from my country, it is in nothing so much as in having earnestly endeavoured during the war, that true merit should be allowed to display itself, and, to use the words I have somewhere seen, "that willing valour should not want a sword." You, dear Sir, and those you led, have sufficiently made my panegyric in the fields of America, and I shall ever be proud and happy to bear a just testimony to such honourable services. I am, with truest esteem and consideration, Sir, Your most obedient

and obliged humble servant,

CHATHAM.

JOHN CALCRAFT, ESQ. TO THE EARL OF CHATHAM.

MY DEAR Lord,

Ingress, July 15, 1770.

SHOULD the contents of the enclosed (1) not have fallen into your Lordship's way, you will find by

(1) The enclosure referred to was a copy of an order in council, of the 6th of July, directing, "that the rendezvous of his Majesty's ships, stationed in North America, should be in the harbour of Boston, and that the fortress should be put into a respectable state of defence, and garrisoned by the King's regular troops."