"Things are now in the way of being soon in the extremes of well or ill: I hope and believe the first. Lord Wharton is gone out of town in a rage; and curses himself and friends for ruining themselves in defending lord Marlborough and Godolphin, and taking Nottingham into their favour. He swears he will meddle no more during this reign; a pretty speech at sixty-six; and the queen is near twenty years younger, and now in very good health! Read the Letter to a Whig Lord[1]."
"To day there will be another Grub: A Letter from the Pretender to a Whig Lord. Grub street has but ten days to live; then an act of parliament takes place that ruins it, by taxing every halfsheet at a halfpenny."
- ↑ Dr. Birch, in a note on this passage, supposes it to allude to the Letter from the Pretender, which however is not dated till July 8. It evidently relates to the larger letter.
It is not very clear whether this letter was addressed to any particular lord, or to a whig lord in general. By what is said p. 123, it seems intended for the earl of Nottingham; but there are some other particulars in it which contradict that supposition. If it was really addressed to an individual, it was probably to Richard Lumley, earl of Scarborough, with whom the circumstances of being of a very ancient family and of not having had any office under the queen will agree.
