of which, not one was a relation. I have neither followers, nor fosterers, nor dependers; so that if I lived now among the great, they might be sure I would never be a solicitor, out of any regard but merit and virtue; and in that case, I would reckon I was doing them the best service in my power: and if they were good for any thing, I would expect their thanks; for they want nothing so much as an honest judicious recommender, which in perfect modesty, I take myself to be. Dr. Sheridan is gone to his school in the country, and was only delayed so long on account of some very unnecessary forms, contrived by his grace's most cautious deputies.
My letter is but just begun; the larger half remains[1]: and your ladyship is to make a fresh use of your secretary's employment. The countess of Kerry, my long friend and mistress, commanded me to attend her yesterday: she told me, that Mr. Deering, late deputy clerk of the council, being dead, she had thoughts of soliciting the same office for her younger son, Mr. John Fitzmaurice. Her eldest son, lord Fitzmaurice, has for some years been plagued with a wife and no wife[2]. The case has been tried in both
- ↑ This is ludicrously said, as being a common blundering expresssion of the Irish.
- ↑ When the woman died, who claimed a marriage with this young nobleman, he married lady Gertrude Lambert, eldest daughter to Richard, earl of Cavan, June 29, 1758, by whom he had the present earl of Kerry. The honourable John Fitzmaurice, here recommended by Dr. Swift for small employments, afterward succeeded his uncle, Henry, earl of Shelburne, in an immense estate, both real and personal, in England and Ireland; and was created earl of Shelburne, in Ireland, in 1753; and baron Wycombe in England, May 20, 1760. He died in May 1761. The present marquis of Lansdown is his son.
