of them, he cannot be said to suffer any privation. It is not then surprising that the diversions of children should be an amusement to the Emperor in his old age.' The author seems to discredit the reputed number of Chinese troops, which were stated to him by a person who had belonged to the English embassy, to be 1,800,000. In the appendix to Sir G. Staunton's account, Number IV. we meet with the same statement. It is impossible for us to divine whether or not the Chinese army amounts to a number which, indeed, staggers belief: but Sir G. S. (vol. iii. p. 392-93.) mentions the above calculation as resting on the testimony of a distinguished military officer; and he adduces some circumstances which render it less incredible yet he candidly adds: "if the number mentioned really do exist, a great proportion of them must be in Tartary, or on some service distant from the route of the embassy." We here see nothing like credulity or wilful exaggeration; and the apparent tendency of M. Van Braam's observation will most probably be defeated. [To be continued.] Butt.r .... ART. II. Letters and Correspondence, Public and Private, of the Right W When Mr. St. John made his first public appearance, the Whig and Tory parties were strongly opposed to each other, and their interests were nearly balanced. Though he had been educated among the Dissenters, and had imbibed such political sentiments as should have attached him to the cause of freedom, he united himself with Harley, and was in 1704 ap * Perhaps it is requisite to go to Tartary to see them.' p. 264. pointed pointed Secretary at War, and of the marines.-While he retained this appointment, he manifested himself so far unin fluenced by petty motives of jealousy, that he supplied the Duke of Marlborough, who might be considered as the head of the opposite party, with all the necessaries for carrying on the war with vigour; and several of the most glorious and remarkable events of the war (viz. the battles of Blenheim and Ramillies, &c.) happened during his administration *. In the year 1708, he experienced a change of fortune; and on the election of a new parliament, he was not returned. This period he dedicated to the severest study, and he declared that he considered it as the most serviceable of his whole life. Even in his youth, and when his thoughts and his time appeared to be devoted to extravagant and disgraceful pleasures, he had his lucid intervals, and observed that "The love of study and desire of knowlege were what I felt all my life; and though my genius, unlike the dæmon of Socrates, whispered so softly, that very often I heard him not in the hurry of those passions with which I was transported, yet some calmer hours there were, and in them I hearkened to him," With such feelings in the midst of his dissipation, it is not wonderful that, when arrived at a maturer age, and having in some degree realized his ambitious prospects, (though still with much to hope,) he should devote himself to incessant study. The fruits of that application soon became apparent, and in the year 1710 he was appointed Secretary of State. At this time, the correspondence contained in the present work commenced ;-and here we cannot but lament that the period, to which these volumes are confined, seems to have precluded the insertion of some letters addressed by Lord Bolingbroke to Sir William Wyndham, now in the possession of the Earl of Egremont, with a perusal of which we were some time since favoured and much gratified. We shall transcribe, for the satisfaction of our readers, the account given by the editor of the manner in which the letters here printed came into his possession. [Vol. I. p. vii, and p. x.] When Bolingbroke was dismissed from his office, and fled to France, his Under-secretary, Thomas Hare, Esq. who is often mentioned in his Lordship's Letters, secured these Papers. At that time, Mr. Hare resided in London, and being a younger brother, was possessed of a very small fortune, beside the place of Chief Clerk, Sole Examiner and Register in Chancery, and Clerk of the * He was always a sincere admirer of that great General, and on every occasion avowed his opinion of his exalted merits, and boasted of being instrumental in giving effect and lustre to those triumphs by which his own power was eventually overthrown. Crown Crown and Peace in Barbadoes, which offices he held, but whether for life, or during pleasure, is not quite certain; one copy of the appointment, in the hands of the Editor, specifying for life, the other during pleasure; the latter is dated June 18, 1714, the former has no date, and, perhaps, was never executed, as the Queen died on the 1st of August following, and it was not probable that the friend of the proscribed Secretary would experience any favour from the succeeding administration. Independent of this place, whatever fortune he possessed was lost in the general calamity originating in the SouthSea Scheme. His elder brother dying unmarried, he, in 1732, succeeded to the noble estate and seat of his family at Stow-Hall, in Norfolk, and to the Baronetage granted to Sir Ralph Hare, in 1641. Thither he then retired, and the Bolingbroke manuscripts were deposited in the Evidence-house belonging to the estate, where they remained; and, from the time of his death, in 1760, were little known or noticed. To the present worthy possessor of the estate, Thomas Hare, Esq. and the descendant of the Under-secretary, the Editor, then residing in the neighbourhood of Stow, expressed his wishes to peruse the Papers, and upon stating his inclination to publish them, Mr. Hare, in the most liberal and polite manner, sent him the whole of the Bolingbroke Papers in his possession.' Upon an examination of the Manuscripts, many appeared to be autographs, and the remainder in the hand-writing of Sir Thomas Hare, or of his colleagues in office. They consisted of four volumes of Letters, and very many detached Papers. The first volume contained the Public Dispatches to the Earl of Strafford; the second, the Public and Private Letters to the Marquis de Torcy, with those to and from Mr. Prior; the other two, his Public and Private Letters to Correspondents in general. The detached Papers consisted of the Letters from the Marquis de Torcy, and the entire Correspondence with the Duke of Shrewsbury, together with Memorials, &c. A The Editor has endeavoured to arrange all these in a regular series, and to supply such explanatory Notes as seemed necessary to render characters and occurences more familiar to the Reader. Translation of the Foreign Letters was not intended, when the book was ready for the press, from a fear of swelling the work to an inordinate size; but, at the suggestion of a friend, whose judgment the Editor has ever respected, he was induced to alter his plan; and, by printing the work in a smaller letter than that used in the other volumes of Bolingbroke, and by extending the page of letter-press, to give room at the end of each volume for the Translation of the preceding Letters. Extracts from the public Letters of the Secretary appeared in the Report of the Secret Committee of the House of Commons in 1715, which formed the ground-work of the impeachment of Oxford, Bolingbroke, Strafford, and Ormond. But these seem to be of no farther use than as they served the purpose of one party in effecting the overthrow of another; in their mutilated tate they are of little service service to the history of our country, and remain only to record the violence and the prejudice of faction. The late Earl of Hardwicke inserted in his State Papers four of the official Letters of Lord Bolingbroke and Mr. Prior: these, so far as the Editor has been able to learn, are all the Papers in the following Collection that have hitherto appeared in print. The present Publication consists not only of official, but of private Letters of the Secretary; the general business of that Administration, and his particular sentiments on that business; the orders and instructions of the Minister, and the confidential communication of the motives for them. In a word, it seems to record the political occurrences and history of Great Britain, from the time Bolingbroke came into office until his supercession by the Regents; and the reader is not to learn the importance of that period.' There can be little doubt that at this period Mr. St. John's friendship for Harley was warm and sincere: but, unhappily for themselves, and unluckily for their party, this intimacy soon declined, and coldness and suspicion assumed its place. In a letter addressed to the Earl of Orrery so early as May 1711, we observe the following passage, from which it is evident that the writer was dissatisfied with his colleague's reserve : [Vol. I. p. 216.] Do you not remember, my Lord, a certain time last summer, when for several weeks I avoided writing to you, although I knew how uneasy the pangs of expectation were to the Duke of Argyle and yourself, in that crisis of domestic affairs? We are now in a state not very unlike to that which we were then in. Mr. Harley, since his recovery, has not appeared at the Council, or at the Trea sury at all, and very seldom in the House of Commons. We, who are reputed to be in his intimacy, have few opportunities of seeing him, and none of talking freely with him. As he is the only true channel through which the Queen's pleasure is conveyed; so there is, and must be a perfect stagnation till he is pleased to open himself, and set the water flowing.' In another letter to this Nobleman, written in the same year, he speaks of Harley with more kindness, but still alludes to his want of openness and candour. Here also he gives an account of a club just then established: [Vol. I. p. 244.] Our friend, Mr. Harley, is now Earl of Oxford, and High Treasurer. This great advancement is, what the labour he has gone through, the danger he has run, and the services he has performed, seem to deserve. But he stands on slippery ground, and envy is always near the great, to fling up their heels on the least trip which they make. The companions of his evil fortune are most likely to be the supporters of his good; and I dare say he makes this a maxim to him. self; for though he often wants that grace and openness which en gages gages the affection, yet I must own, I never knew that he wanted either the constancy or the friendship which engages the esteem. The Peerage which you expect, will be declared; and you will have a companion, whom I am confident you cannot but like, my Lord Keeper Harcourt. Many changes have been made at the rising of the parliament, which was this day prorogued to the 10th of July; and although they are such as ought to satisfy our friends, yet the number of the discontented must always exceed that of the contented, as the num. ber of pretenders does that of employments. I confess to you, my Lord, that it made me melancholy to observe the eagerness with which places were solicited for; and though interest has at all times been the principal spring of action, yet I never saw men so openly claim their hire, or offer themselves to sale. You see the effects of frequent parliaments, and of long wars, of departing from our old constitution, and from our true interest. I must, before I send this letter, give your Lordship an account of a club which I am forming; and which, as light as the design may seem to be, I believe will prove of real service t. We shall begin to meet in a small number, and that will be composed of some who have wit and learning to recommend them; of others who, from their own situations, or from their relations, have power and influence, and of others who, from accidental reasons, may properly be taken in. The first regulation proposed, and that which must be inviolably kept, is decency. None of the extravagance of the kit-cat, none of the drunkenness of the beef-steak is to be endured. The improvement of friendship, and the encouragement of letters, are to be the two great ends of our society. A number of valuable people will be kept in the same mind, and others will be made converts to their opinions. Mr. Fenton, and those who, like him, have genius, will have a corporation of patrons to protect and advance them in the world. The folly of our party will be ridiculed and checked; the opposition of another will be better resisted; a multitude of other good uses will follow, which I am sure do not escape you; and I hope in the winter to ballot for the honour of your company amongst us. I am ever, my dear Lord, &c.' * Baron Boyle, of Marston, in the county of Somerset.' The members were, Earl of Arran, Lord Harley, Duke of Ormond, Swift, Sir Robert Raymond, Arbuthnot, Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Duplin, Sir William Wyndham, George Granville, Masham, Earl of Jersey, Bathurst, Orrery, Colonel Hill, Colonel Desney, Bolingbroke, Duke of Beaufort, Prior, Dr. Friend, &c. Their meetings were first at their several houses, but afterwards they hired a room near St. James's.' This kit-cat was instituted in 1699. Congreve, Prior, Sir John Vanburgh, the Earl of Orrery, and Lord Somers were members.' |