LETTER XLIII.
I CARRIED my forty-second letter in my pocket till evening, and then put it in the general post. I went in the morning to see lord treasurer, who had taken physick, and was drinking his broth. I had been with the secretary before, to recommend a friend, one Dr. Freind, to be physician general; and the secretary promised to mention it to the queen. I can serve every body but myself[1]. Then I went to court, and carried lord keeper and the secretary to dine with lord Masham, when we drank the queen and lord treasurer with every health, because this was the day of his stabbing. Then I went and played pools at picquet with lady Masham and Mrs. Hill; won ten shillings, gave a crown to the box and came home. I met at my lodgings a letter from Jo, with a bit annexed from Ppt. What Jo asks is entirely out of my way; and I take it for a foolish whim in him. Besides, I know not who is to give a patent: if the duke of Ormond, I would speak to him; but good security is all; and to think that I would speak to lord treasurer for any such matter at random, is a jest. Did I tell you of a race of rakes, called the
- ↑ Dr. Swift was at this period in expectation of the deanery of Wells, which had been void from Feb. 4, when Dr. William Graham, dean of Wells, prebendary of Durham, and clerk of the closet to the queen, died at Hampton court. The deanery was given to Dr. Matthew Brailsford, chaplain to the duke of Newcastle.
