14 Presumptuous: claiming much.
15 See Letter 13, note 15. John Winchcombe, a weaver of Newbury, marched with a hundred of his workmen, at his own expenses, against the Scots in 1513.
16 Thomas c.o.ke, M.P., of Derbyshire, was appointed a Teller of the Exchequer in 1704, and Vice-Chamberlain to the Queen in 1706. In 1706 he married--as his second wife--Mrs. Hale, one of the maids of honour (Luttrell, v. 411, 423; vi. 113, 462; Lady Cowper"s Diary, 15, 16), a lady whose "piercing" beauty it was, apparently, that Steele described under the name of Chloe, in No. 4 of the Tatler. Jervas painted her as a country girl, "with a liveliness that shows she is conscious, but not affected, of her perfections." c.o.ke was the Sir Plume of Pope"s Rape of the Lock.
17 The committee of management of the Royal household.
18 Francesca Margherita de l"Epine, the famous singer, and princ.i.p.al rival of Mrs. Tofts, came to England in 1692, and constantly sang in opera until her retirement in 1718, when she married Dr. Pepusch. She died in 1746. Her sister, Maria Gallia, also a singer, did not attain the same popularity.
19 Charles Scarborow and Sir William Foster were the Clerks of the Board of Green Cloth.
20 See Letter 27, note 16 on Thomas c.o.ke.
21 The Earl of Sunderland"s second wife, Lady Anne Churchill, who died in 1716, aged twenty-eight. She was the favourite daughter of the Duke of Marlborough, and was called "the little Whig." Verses were written in honour of her beauty and talent by Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, Dr.
Watts and others, and her portrait was painted by Lely and Kneller.
22 Mary, daughter of Sir William Forester, of Dothill, Shropshire.
In 1700, at the age of thirteen, she had been secretly married to her cousin, George Downing, a lad of fifteen. Three years later, Downing, on his return from abroad, refused to acknowledge his wife, and in 1715 both parties pet.i.tioned the House of Lords for leave to bring in a Bill declaring the marriage to be void; but leave was refused (Lords"
Journals, xx. 41, 45). Downing had become Sir George Downing, Bart., in 1711, and had been elected M.P. for Dunwich; he died without issue in 1749, and was the founder of Downing College, Cambridge.
23 In a discussion upon what would be the result if beards became the fashion, Budgell (Spectator, No. 331) says, "Besides, we are not certain that the ladies would not come into the mode, when they take the air on horseback. They already appear in hats and feathers, coats and periwigs."
LETTER 28.
1 Horse-racing was much encouraged by Charles II., who, as Strutt tells us, appointed races to be made in Datchet Mead, when he was residing at Windsor. By Queen Anne"s time horse-racing was becoming a regular inst.i.tution: see Spectator, No. 173.
2 John Montagu, second Duke of Montagu, married Lady Mary Churchill, youngest daughter of the Duke of Marlborough.
3 Of Clogher.
4 John Adams, Prebendary of Canterbury and Canon of Windsor. He was made Provost of King"s College, Cambridge, in 1712, and died in 1720.
5 The Hon. and Rev. George Verney, Canon of Windsor (died 1728), became fourth Lord Willoughby de Broke on the death of his father (Sir Richard Verney, the third Baron), in July 1711. Lord Willoughby became Dean of Windsor in 1713.
6 Thomas Hare, Under Secretary of State in Bolingbroke"s office.
7 Richard Sutton was the second son of Robert Sutton, the nephew of the Robert Sutton who was created Viscount Lexington by Charles I. Sutton served under William III. and Marlborough in Flanders, and was made a Brigadier-General in 1710, in which year also he was elected M.P.
for Newark. In 1711 he was appointed Governor of Hull, and he died, a Lieutenant-General, in 1737 (Dalton"s Army Lists, iii. 153)
8 Charles Seymour, sixth Duke of Somerset (1662-1748), known as "the proud Duke of Somerset." Through the influence which his wife--afterwards Mistress of the Robes (see Letter 17, note 10)--had obtained over the Queen, he bore no small part in bringing about the changes of 1710. His intrigues during this period were, however, mainly actuated by jealousy of Marlborough, and he had really no sympathies with the Tories. His intrigues with the Whigs caused the utmost alarm to St. John and to Swift.
9 The third and last reference to Vanessa in the Journal.
10 "Pray G.o.d preserve her life, which is of great importance" (Swift to Archbishop King, Aug. 15, 1711). St. John was at this moment very anxious to conciliate Mrs. Masham, as he felt that she was the only person capable of counteracting the intrigues of the d.u.c.h.ess of Somerset with the Queen.
11 Pontack, of Abchurch Lane, son of Arnaud de Pontac, President of the Parliament of Bordeaux, was proprietor of the most fashionable eating-house in London. There the Royal Society met annually at dinner until 1746. Several writers speak of the dinners at a guinea a head and upwards served at Pontack"s, and Swift comments on the price of the wine.
12 "His name was Read" (Scott).
13 Up to the end of 1709 the warrants for the payment of the works at Blenheim had been regularly issued by G.o.dolphin and paid at the Treasury; over 200,000 pounds was expended in this manner. But after the dismissal of the Whigs the Queen drew tight the purse-strings. The 20,000 pounds mentioned by Swift was paid in 1711, but on June 1, 1712, Anne gave positive orders that nothing further should be allowed for Blenheim, though 12,000 pounds remained due to the contractors.
14 The piercing of the lines before Bouchain, which Villars had declared to be the non plus ultra of the Allies, one of the most striking proofs of Marlborough"s military genius.
15 See Letter 22, note 15.
16 A fashionable gaming-house in St. James"s Street.
17 See Letter 6, note 15. The Grange, near Alresford, Hampshire, was Henley"s seat. His wife (see Letter 12, note 24) was the daughter of Peregrine Bertie, son of Montagu Bertie, second Earl of Lindsey; and Earl Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7) married Bridget, an elder daughter of Bertie"s.
18 William Henry Hyde, Earl of Danby, grandson of the first Duke of Leeds (see Letter 8, note 22), and eldest son of Peregrine Osborne, Baron Osborne and Viscount Dunblane, who succeeded to the dukedom in 1712. Owing to this young man"s death (at the age of twenty-one), his brother, Peregrine Hyde, Marquis of Caermarthen, who married Harley"s daughter Elizabeth, afterwards became third Duke of Leeds.
19 See Letter 8, note 2.
20 See Letter 3, note 7.
21 William Gregg was a clerk in Harley"s office when the latter was Secretary of State under the Whig Administration. In 1707-8 he was in treasonable correspondence with M. de Chamillart, the French Secretary of State. When he was detected he was tried for high treason, and hanged on April 28. The Lords who examined Gregg did their utmost to establish Harley"s complicity, which Gregg, however, with his dying breath solemnly denied.
22 By Swift himself. The t.i.tle was, Some Remarks upon a Pamphlet ent.i.tled, A Letter to the Seven Lords of the Committee appointed to examine Gregg.
23 See Letter 13, note 10. There is no copy in the British Museum.
24 Thomas Parnell, the poet, married, in 1706, Anne, daughter of Thomas Minchin, of Tipperary. In 1711 Parnell was thirty-two years of age, and was Archdeacon of Clogher and Vicar of Clontibret. Swift took much trouble to obtain for Parnell the friendship of Bolingbroke and other persons of note, and Parnell became a member of the Scriblerus Club.
In 1716 he was made Vicar of Finglas, and after his death in 1718 Pope prepared an edition of his poems. The fits of depression to which Parnell was liable became more marked after his wife"s death, and he seems to have to some extent given way to drink. His sincerity and charm of manner made him welcome with men of both parties.
25 Dr. Henry Compton had been Bishop of London since 1675. He was dangerously ill early in 1711, but he lived until 1713, when he was eighty-one.
26 See Letter 26, note 10.
27 See Letter 7, note 21.
28 L"Estrange speaks of "a whiffling fop" and Swift says, "Every whiffler in a laced coat, who frequents the chocolate-house, shall talk of the Const.i.tution."
29 Prior"s first visit to France with a view to the secret negotiations with that country which the Ministers were now bent on carrying through, had been made in July, when he and Gaultier reached Calais in a fishing-boat and proceeded to Fontainbleau under a.s.sumed names. He returned to England in August, but was recognised at Dover, whence the news spread all over London, to the great annoyance of the Ministers.
The officer who recognised Prior was John Macky, reputed author of those Characters upon which Swift wrote comments. Formerly a secret service agent under William III., Macky had been given the direction of the Ostend mail packets by Marlborough, to whom he communicated the news of Prior"s journey. Bolingbroke threatened to hang Macky, and he was thrown into prison; but the accession of George I. again brought him favour and employment.
30 See Letter 12, note 7.
LETTER 29.
1 See Letter 3, note 4.
2 See Letter 6, note 4.