My dear Lord, No. CCXVIII. M' Scrope to the Lord President; dated 10th Febry 1742. I HAVE had the honour of two of your Lrs by me for some time, wch has not a little grieved me; but in my old age I am so entangled with business, that I can't find leisure to be commonly civil to my friends who I love and honour. Your first, relating to the Tea, I communicated to my Lord Wilmington, and had a great deal of conversation ab' it with the M. of Tweedale & my L Advocate; but could [not] find any body inclineable to attempt to do any thing in it this Session of Parl'. As to what related to the Spirituous Liquors in that Bill, care is taken of the Lands of Farintosh I think, there being the same Clause in it wch you first brought into the former Bill. You have sent us up such wrong-headed fellows, that we were in much danger of being disappointed; & therefore I had the pleasure to represent the great merits of your family, and the private right granted to them soon after the Revolution, which has since been judicially confirmed to them. M' Waller, between jest and earnest, attempted to make some opposition; but no one regarded him. If you don't hear so often from me as you expect, it don't proceed from want of affection and esteem, but from being quite worn out. I am, My dear Lord, Your most faithful and Obedient humble Servant, No. CCXIX. Lord Morton to the Lord President. My Lord, dis London, Feb. 11th, 1742. AS your Lop was so very kind to write to the D. of Argyll in behalf of my Bill, I flatter myself it will not be disagreable to your Lon to hear y I meet with greater success in it than I cou'd even have hoped for. But last post brought me a very agreable paragraph in a Letter from my Wife, wch is as foilowa: "This morning a "friend of yours told me, that as he had a regard for you, he cou'd not conceal a thing wch had accidentaly come to his knowledge, and weh he was very certain of "the truth of, as it came from undoubted authority; but desired not to be named in "it; this was, yt L. Arniston had yesterday express'd himself very strongly against your Bill, and told the person who was your friend's informer, y' he wou'd use his " utmost endeavours to put a stop to it, and is actually to write this Night to his patriot "friends." This is what my Wife says; however, I have been beforehand w' L. Arniston, and have clinch'd all his patriot friends; for, since S Rob Walpole's dismission, I have been at M' Pultney & all y rest, who confirm'd their promises to me w great kindness; so that let his Lop do his worst, I shall get it pass'd; at the same time I wou'd be sorry a Man of his character shou'd appear against me; and I'm at a loss to conceive what motive can induce him to oppose me, unless it be y' his Broy' in law, Mr Gordon (who was one of my Ork. Knt" Lawyers) has given him a bad impression of me; if this be the case, I must beg of your Lop's friendship to remove it in so far as you find Ive met w' foul play. Some days ago S' Will" Gordon, who is my Lord's Father in Law, sent to desire I might come & speak w' him; wêh I did; when he told me he had a claim of £10,500. Ster. upon my estate, on acc1 of a Grant of the £500. few duty, obtained by him from the late King for 21 Years in ye year 1718; this affair I have now searched to ye bottom; and, to the conviction of his own friends, there appears not the least foundation. But if there were, the Saving Clause leaves him access to any just demand. The story is, yt my Father obtained a Grant, in name of John Ewing, for 21 Years, or during the Life of the King, of this few Duty, the Grant is dated the 9th of April 1717, and, of course, cou'd not pass our Exchequer till June following; during this intervall, the Ministry was changed, and L. Sunderland came into power; whereupon, as my Uncle's grant had not passed, S' WTM Gordon apply'd for a stop to it, in order to get a grant made out for himself; this stop was issued the 5th of June 1717; but upon my Father's geting access to the King, and representing the hardship it wou'd be upon our familly, His Maj" was pleased, by a Warrant of y 21 June, to order the stop to be taken off; in consequence of wch John Ewing's grant pass'd the Exchequer. All the Treasury Books of Scots grants have been look'd over from y late King's Accession to his death, & there is not a word of S Will. Gordon from one end to ye oy', however it is possible he may have asserted this as roundly to L. Arniston as he did to me. I have sent under your Lop's cover, a Letter from me to L. Arniston, wch I have left open; if, upon reading it, and trying him, your Lop thinks proper he shou'd have it, please seal it before delivery; or else don't deliver it at all, just as your Lop judges most fitting; for I must leave it intirely to your friendship and great knowledge of mankind. Your good advice once prevented me from sending a Letter wch was certainly much better let alone. Tho' I have troubled your Lop too long w' my own affairs, I can't finish w'out a word about our honest friend S' Rob' Walpole; for whom, I own to your Lop, I am in some fear. He this day went out to Richmond, never again to return to Court; the Letter of rank for his Daughter has rais'd such a torrent of wrath against him, y' God knows where it may end. They now talk of a strict parliamentary inquiry; your Lop knows how little any Man can stand such an ordeal tryal after 20 Years Administration; the last time I saw him, wch was on Sunday Evening, I told him of the clamour y' was rais'd upon the subject of his Daughter; but the thing was then pass'd the Offices, and cou'd not be recal'd (tho' she had not been presented), else I believe he wou'd have stop'd it; I wou'd fain hope, after he is fairly away, that the fury may subside; at present it is very violent; happy had it been for him, had he but your Lop now here; last Week there pass'd a scene between him & me, by ourselves, y affected me more y" any thing I ever met w' in my life; but it is too long to trouble your Lop wit; he has been sore hurt by flatterers, but has a great and an undaunted spirit, and a tranquility something more y human. I beg pardon once more for this tedious Letter; and that health & happiness may long attend your Lop, is the most sincere wish of, My Lord, My Dr Lord, Your ever oblig'd, and faithfull humble Serv', No. CCXX. The Marquis of Tweeddale to the Lord President. MORTON. Dated Whitehall, 23 Febry 1741-2. HIS Majesty having been pleased to make an alteration in his Councills, and to call me to an office of great trust and dignity*, it appears necessary some general plan or scheme for the Government of Scotland should be immediately concerted. *Secretary of State. In this view, it soon occurred that your great experience and abilities, joined with that disinterested love you have ever shewn to your Country, render you a fit person to be advised with on this occasion; and therefore I hope, for the sake of His Majesty's service, you will not decline coming to London immediately, now that the proper business of your Station will dispence with your attendance at Edinburgh; since it is by your advice and assistance, jointly with your Brother Lord Arnistoun's, to whom I have also wrote a Letter in the same strain, that I expect to be able to lay before his Majesty such matters as may tend to create a confidence in and give more universall content to the people. As these are my only views, I call for your Lordship's aid; being, at the same time, well assured that your Opinion must be of great weight with those who have now the honor to be employed by his Majesty; as the whole tenor of your life has shown an inviolable atachment to His Majesty's Person and Government, and a warm zeal for the publick weal. I have a great many Compliments to make you from your friends here; particularly My Lord Carteret and M' Poultney, who both join with me in the same request; and I flatter myself, you will add this further instance of your friendship to the many I have formerly received of you. I am, with the greatest esteem, Your Lop's most Obedient humble Servant, No. CCXXI. TWEEDDALE. LE. The Lord President to The Marq' of Tweeddale. No date; but supposed to be written about the middle of March 1742. My Lord, LAST Sunday I received the Letter your Lop did me the honour to write to me of the 23d of February, signifying your Lop's desire, & that of some others of your friends, that my Brother Arnistoun & I shou'd wait upon you at London, to assist by our advice in settling what may be thought proper to be proposed with respect to this part of the Island. The honour your Lop does me is very great; but not greater than the desire that has possest me, since first I had the good fortune of knowing & being known to your Lop, of haveing and deserveing your good opinion; and therefore you will readiely believe it was a sensible satisfaction to me to find in what your Lop proposes so strong a proof of your good will & confidence. The opinion I have of my own abilitys is so far short of what your Lop seems to entertain concerning them, that were it not for the respect I have for your Judgment, I should, without more words, decline a journey which, so far as I perceive, cannot possibly be of any use to your Lop or the Publick. But such is the authority that your Lop & the two eminent friends you are pleased to name have over me, that if you still persist in your wish of seeing me, when the situation of my health may permitt me to travell, the other inconveniencys that attend so long a journey will not weigh in the scale. Your Lop has probably been informed, that a short fever, occasioned by Cold, confined me to the House for many weeks this last winter; and tho' I got so far the better of it, as to be able to attend the Court for the three last weeks of the Session, yet as I have not hitherto exposed myself much to the cold, or taken sufficient exercise, I dare not venture soon upon a long Journey, especially while the Weather is so severe as it now now is; but, as it is to be hoped that the Season will soon mend, and that two or 3 weeks' exercise about the Doors, as we say, may sett me up, if your Lop shall continue of Opinion, that my presence where you are may be of any use, and will give me notice, I shall do what lyes in my power to attend you. What I say of my own disposition to conform to your Lop's desire, I can vouch, & you will readily believe, concerning my Brother Arnistoun. And I am sorry to be able further to vouch, that the State of his health makes a journey less practicable for him than it is for me; but as his complaint is much owing to the rigour of the Weather, it is to be hoped a small time will wear it off; and that in the like space as I have mentioned with respect to myself, he will be able to undertake the journey, if it shall be judged necessary. This day we mett together. I believe he will give your Lop much such ane account of his case and of his resolution as I do. say I abstain from makeing complements upon your Lop's promotion, because I cannot what I think, without saying too much for you to hear, and perhaps too much for one who, of all other Characters, detastes that of a flatterer the most, to express. What I am going to conclude with is, I believe, not fashionable, but then it is true, that I am sincerely, but not now one bitt more than I have been for many years, Your Lop's most faithful & most Obedient humble Servant, No. CCXXII. DUN. FORBES. The Marquis of Tweeddale to the Lord President; dated Whitehall, 16th March 1741-2. My Lord, IT gives me real concern, that Lord Arniston and you have, from the bad state of your health, desired to be excused from coming to London. I am, however, glad you are so well recovered, as to have been able to attend the Session; which makes me flatter myself a London journey may be of great advantage to confirm and establish your health. The friends I mentioned to you, who joined with me in asking you to come, are as desirous of seeing you as I am; and we all agree, that your presence here might be of the greatest use to your Country, and much for the advantage of His Majesty's service. As I hope Lord Arniston is by this time in a better state of health, I have also wrote to him; and I know your persuation will have great influence with him. I am, with the greatest truth & esteem, No. CCXXIII. TWEEDDALE. M' P. Murdoch to Mr. Andrew Mitchel; dated Paris, 27th March, N. S., 1742. Dear M., ACCORDING to the Orders you were pleased to give me, I have bought a Summer Wastcoat of the newest fashion for 4 Louis; and have pitched on a pattern for the other, which at London will be thought even excellent. It is to be executed on a Stuff they call Velours de la Reine. Your other Commissions shall not be forgot. I cannot exactly say what they will amount to; but have drawn of this date upon M' And. Millar for 25; what is over or under, I shall ΛΑ keep keep accompt of. Literary News I have none, having much neglected my Philosophical acquaintances, as you may guess by what I am now to impart to you. You know how unsuccessful I have been in my Amours in England. I have been more happy where I could least have expected it. Upon my arrival here, I was introduced to the acquaintance of a widow Lady, a British subject, and her Daughter, who have lived at Paris a considerable time. By frequently visiting and conversing with them, I became acquainted with all their Schemes, one of which was to return to England. This encouraged me to make my Addresses to the young Lady, with whose person and character I had been long charmed; and I have now obtained her consent, and that of her nearest Relations. Our fortunes are so well suited, that they cannot much hurt or improve each other for the present; but she has rich Relations, who in all likelihood may make her's very considerable. You may judge, dear M., what tyes this generous usage lays me under to endeavour to make her happy; and tho' she has the goodness to assure me, that there is no fortune so narrow that she could not share with me, yet these tyes are for that very reason so much the more binding. M' V., who knows and congratulates me upon all that is past, assures me, that nothing shall be wanting on his and his family's part; and to you and Forbes I need say nothing; your friendship has always prevented my wants, and even my wishes. What will make me now the more anxious to better my circumstances is this: her Relations, with their wealth, have all the pride that naturally attends it; and, by that odd vanity of rich people, would be just so much the more liberal of their favours, as they were the less wanted. In the mean time, without founding upon uncertaintys, or flattering ourselves with imaginary views, we propose to go down to Suffolk, and live frugally on what we have. A little reparation and furniture will make the house tolerably convenient. I shall leave Paris in three weeks, and they will follow in Summer, or the beginning of Autumn. These things, dear M., I wanted a thousand times to consult you about; but durst not venture them in writing, letters having of late been lookt into at the Post Offices (one of your's, you know, was detained). Besides, it is but a few weeks since I declared myself otherways than by something of a more than ordinary assiduity. However, I do assure you, I have done nothing but what you must cordially approve of. I have used all the deliberation and caution imaginable, and set aside every prejudice that my passion might give me. What will surprise you most of all is, that she has not yet compleated her 17th year. But, having been always under the of a virtuous and prudent Mother, in the very centre of folly, expence, and vanity, she most heartily despised them; longs only for an independent retired Life; and, innocent as a Child of all artifice and affectation, professes to rate a husband only by the warmth and sincerity of his affection. I desire you may communicate this to my kind friend Millar, & to Forbes if in Town. If not, you will be so good as inclose it to him. Paris, 27 Mar. 1742. I am, Dear M., Your own eye P. M.* I could wish to have a Scarf. Has the D. of Montrose no vacancy? I did not know how to direct for you en forme. Mr. Murdoch wrote the Life of Thomson, and several Mathematical works. Probably, it was most lucky for him that this match did not take place : Yet how does Love blind the wifest! No. CCXXIV. |