done such great services to his country, cannot live quietly in it, by reason of the malice of his enemies. I have helped to patch up these people together once more. God knows how long it may last. I was to-day at a trial between Lord Lansdown and Lord Carteret, two friends of mine. It was in the Queen's Bench, for about six thousand a-year (or nine, I think.) I sat under Lord chief justice Parker, and his pen falling down I reached it up. He made me a low bow; and I was going to whisper him, that I had done good for evil; for he would have taken mine from me. * I told it lord-treasurer and Bolingbroke. Parker would not have known me, if several lords on the bench, and in the court, bowing, had not turned every body's eyes, and set them a whispering. I owe the dog a spite, and will pay him in two months at farthest, if I can. So much for that. But you must have chat, and I must say every sorry thing that comes into my head. They say the queen will stay a month longer at Windsor. These devils of Grub-street rogues, that write the Flying Post and Medley in one paper, will not be quiet. They are always mauling lord-treasurer, Lord Bolingbroke, and me. We have the dog under prosecution, but Bolingbroke is not active enough; but I hope to swinge him. He is a Scotch rogue, one Ridpath. † They get out upon bail, and *Lord Chief-justice Parker, upon the prospect of the Whigs returning to power in the end of the preceding year, sent for Morphew, the publisher of the Conduct of the Allies, threatened him, demanded the name of the author, and bound him over to appear next term. See Journal, 13 December, 1711. + Celebrated in the Dunciad with Abel Roper, a news-writer of the opposite faction often mentioned in this Journal. There Redpath, Roper cudgell'd you might view, * write on. We take them again, and get fresh bail; so it goes round. They say some learned Dutchman has wrote a book, proving by civil law, that we do them wrong by this peace; but I shall show, by plain reason, that we have suffered the wrong, and not they. I toil like a horse, and have hundreds of letters still to read and squeeze a line out of each, or at least the seeds of a line. Strafford goes back to Holland in a day or two, and I hope our peace is very near. I have about thirty pages : more to write, (that is to be extracted,) which will be sixty in print. It is the most troublesome part of all, and I cannot keep myself private, though I stole into a room up two pair of stairs, when I came from Windsor; but my present man has not yet learned his lesson of denying me discreetly. 30. The Duchess of Ormond found me out to-day, and made me dine with her. Lady Masham is still expecting. She has had a cruel cold. I could not finish my letter last post for the soul of me. Lord Bolingbroke has had my papers these six weeks, and done nothing to them. Is Tisdall yet in the world? I propose writing controversies, to get a name with posterity. The Duke of Ormond will not be over these three or four days. I design to make him join with me in settling all right among our people. I have ordered the Duchess to let me have an hour with the Duke at his first coming, to give him a true state of persons and things. I believe the Duke of Shrewsbury will hardly be declared your governor yet; at least, I think so now; but resolutions alter very often. Duke Hamilton gave me a pound of *From this and other passages it would seem, that Swift wanted the equanimity which became a disputant. He could not allow for, or despise, the virulence of the antagonists whom he had provoked, or defied. snuff to-day, admirable good. I wish DD had it, and Ppt too, if she likes it. It cost me a quarter of an hour of his politics, which I was forced to hear. Lady Orkney is making me a writing-table of her own contrivance, and a bed nightgown. She is perfectly kind, like a mother. I think the devil was in it the other day, that I should talk to her of an ugly squinting cousin of hers, and the poor lady herself, you know, squints like a dragon. The other day we had a long discourse with her about love; and she told us a saying of her sister Fitzharding, which I thought excellent, that in men, desire begets love, and in women, love begets desire. We have abundance of our old criers still hereabouts. I hear every morning your women with the old satin and taffata, &c. the fellow with old coats, suits or cloaks. Our weather is abominable of late. We have not two tolerable days in twenty. I have lost money again at ombre, with Lord Orkney and others; yet, after all, this year I have lost but threeand-twenty shillings; so that considering card money, I am no loser. Our society hath not yet renewed their meetings. I hope we shall continue to do some good this winter; and lord-treasurer promises the academy for reforming our language shall soon go forward. I must now go hunt those dry letters for materials. You will see something very notable, I hope. So much for that. God Almighty bless you. LETTER LV. London, Nov. 15, 1712. BEFORE this comes to your hands, you will havé heard of the most terrible accident that hath almost ever happened. This morning at eight, my man brought me word that Duke Hamilton had fought with Lord Mohun, and killed him, and was brought home wounded. I immediately sent him to the Duke's house, in St James's-square; but the porter could hardly answer for tears, and a great rabble was about the house. In short, they fought at seven this morning. The dog Mohun was killed on the spot; and, while the Duke was over him, Mohun shortened his sword, stabbed him in at the shoulder to the heart. The Duke was helped toward the cake-house by the ring in Hyde Park, (where they fought,) and died on the grass, before he could reach the house; and was brought home in his coach by eight, while the poor Duchess was asleep. Macartney, and one Hamilton, were the seconds, who fought likewise, and are both fled. I am told, that a footman of Lord Mohun's stabbed Duke Hamilton; and some say Macartney did so too. † Mohun gave the affront, and yet sent the *Endorsed," Received Nov. 26, just come from Portraine.” + Various accounts were given of this affair. The quarrel seemed to be forced on the Duke, but there is great room to doubt the prevailing report, that he received foul play. Both the report of the coroner's inquest, and the surgeon's examination, tend to prove, that he died by the wound received from Lord Mohun. And although Colonel Hamilton deposed, that as he went challenge. * I am infinitely concerned for the poor Duke, who was a frank, honest, good-natured inan. I loved him very well, and I think he loved me better. He had the greatest mind in the world to have me go with him to France, but durst not tell it me; and those he did tell, said I could not be spared, which was true. † They have removed the poor Duchess to a lodging in the neighbourhood, where I have been with her two hours, and am just come away. I never saw so melancholy a scene; for indeed all reasons for real grief belong to her; nor is it possible for any body to be a greater loser in all regards. She has moved my very soul. The lodging was inconvenient, and they would have removed her to another; but I would not suffer it, because it had no room backward, and she must have been tortured with the noise of the Grub-street screamers mentioning her husband's murder in her ears. to raise the Duke from the ground, he saw Macartney make a thrust at him, yet, as he neither mentioned this at the time, nor endeavoured to detain Macartney, his testimony did not receive general credit. See Colonel Hamilton's trial in the State Trials. The Tories insisted, that this was a party duel; the Whigs, that it was entirely a private quarrel. It probably partook of the nature of both. * At a meeting concerning a law-suit which had long depended between them, the Duke, speaking of one of Lord Mohun's witnesses, said, "He had neither truth nor justice in him;" to which Lord Mohun replied, "He had as much truth and justice as his Grace." Now, although upon these words there might have been some ground for the Duke challenging Mohun, it is certainly difficult to conceive why the challenge should have come as it did from the other side. + The Duke of Hamilton was about to be sent ambassador to France; hence Parnel's beautiful lines on his death: Half peopled Gaul, whom num'rous ills destroy, |