300 THE WENTWORTH PAPERS
body that they ought to do it — generously, all at once. Upon this incouragement I spoke to my Lord Treasurer at night,
and met with this odd answere " Mr. W you need not
give you self any trouble about my Lord S for the
Queen is determined what to do for him." All that I can tell you from this business that the Duke of Shrewsbury and the Duke of Argile are your sincere friends : his Grace of Argile has been with me just now to tell me my Lord Rivers did dye Munday morning at nine o'clock and the Queen knows it, so as soon as I have din'd I'll be with the Duke of Shrewsbury and if he advise me I'll go to morrow to my
Lord T . I fear to loose this post, so wou'd not venture
to keep this letter till I can inform you what farther success I shall have in my sollicitations for you.*
��[Lord Berkeley of Stratton.]
London, September y>^ 1712.
When I last writ to your Lordship I thought it quite as sure that you were to succeed My Lord Rivers in his regi- ment, as I wisht you in all his other imployments ; it was soe positively reported for some days, and I did not find my mistake till I heard from Mr. Wentworth at Windsor how it was. Your Lordship knows the world soe well in general, and soe particularly in courts, that it is not possible to tell you anything upon that subject that you have not thought of over and over, but nothing provokes me more then to see how often those that are least lov'd are best serv'd. However I hope it needed not be doubted, but you will have the Admiralty with the same advantage that My Lord Orford had it, to make you some amends for missing of the other aims. I have two reasons for being very sory for the
- From another letter written about this time we gather that Lord
Rivers left his mistress, Mrs. Colliton, 2,500/. a year for life, his natural daughter 10,000/., and 500/. a year to " Mrs. Oldfield the Player." Swift makes some forcible remarks on this will in his Journal to Stella, and adds, " I loved the man, but detest his memory." Savage, the poet, was the son of Lord Rivers, by Lady Macclesfield.
�� �
