so many courtesies. I do not know whether you may not even be permitted to go occasionally to Marly, which you must not neglect to do. I suppose you have written to me by way of Holland, but, in consequence of the contrary wind, two mails are due at present. I do not doubt that I shall likewise have letters from you by the Duke of St. Albans, who has not yet arrived. I am very curious to know what you think of the manners and bustle of the country where you now are, and which must be so different from those where you are accustomed to live. I dare say you will soon follow the chase, and visit the gardens, of both of which you know I am very fond. It is surprising, that in a country so liable to changes, as you well know, there is nothing new to communicate to you. Business in Parliament makes no progress, and till this inquiry into exchequer bills is finished there will be no other of import * "The false endorsement of exchequer bills was such a scandalous practice, that it took up much of the Commons' time to inquire into it and reform it. These exchequer bills were of mighty use in the nation, by supplying the scarcity of money during the recoining of the silver species. Now, because there was an interest of 71. 12s. per annum allowed upon the second issuing the said bills out of the exchequer, after they had been paid in on any of the King's taxes,-whereas at their first issuing out of the exchequer they bore no interest ;-this encouraged several of the King's officers, both in the exchequer, the customs, and the excise, to contrive together to get great sums of money by false endorsements on the exchequer bills, before they had circulated about and been brought into any branch of his Majesty's revenue. The most considerable persons that had carried on ance, though they resolved yesterday to devote four days in the week to the supply and the ways and means; but you know how such resolutions are carried into execution. We hear no more of Lord Sunderland than if he were not in the world, though there are persons who build many castles in the air, of which more hereafter. P. S.-I do not know whether the worthy Gourville is still in a state to be seen. If he is, I wish * this unwarrantable practice were, Mr. Charles Duncombe, receiver-general of the excise; Mr. John Knight, treasurer of the customs; Mr. Bartholomew Burton, who had a place in the excise office; and Mr. Reginald Marryot, one of the deputy-tellers of the exchequer; which last, to get his pardon, compounded to accuse the rest. Upon a full proof of the matter, Duncombe and Knight, who were members of the House of Commons, were first expelled the house, and committed prisoners to the Tower; Burton was sent to Newgate, and bills were ordered to be brought in to punish them. The bill against Duncombe, whereby a fine of nearly half his estate (which was judged to be worth 400,0007.) was set upon him, did quickly pass the Commons, notwithstanding the opposition that was made to it, particularly by the attorney-general (sir Thomas Trevor); but being sent up to the Lords, and their lordships being equally divided, the Duke of Leeds gave his casting vote for the rejecting of the bill. Mr. Duncombe being set at liberty by the order of the House of Lords, without the consent of the Commons, the latter resented it to that degree, that they caused him to be remanded to the Tower, where he continued to the end of the session. The bills against Knight and Burton had the same fate; and so all those threatening clouds, that seemed ready to crush the false endorsers, spent themselves in vapour and noise.”—Parl. Hist., vol. v. * For some curious particulars regarding this remarkable personage and his relation to King William III., see the Appendix. you would visit him, and give my compliments to him, as he is one of my oldest acquaintances. THE EARL OF PORTLAND TO WILLIAM III.* Since the letter which I had the honour to write to your Majesty by the Duke of St. Albans, the * As the preceding letters of Portland have been probably lost, we supply their contents by the following extracts of a manuscript of the Royal Library in Paris (Suppl. fr. No. 490.) : Journal de l'ambassade extraordinaire de son Excellence Mylord Comte de Portland par rapport au cérémonial. "On the 20th of January, 1698, his Excellency the Earl of Portland, Ambassador Extraordinary of his Britannic Majesty at the Court of France, left Whitehall, and having crossed the Thames and found his carriages at Lambeth, went to Rochester, where he dined, and slept at Sittingbourne. On the 21st, his Excellency having passed through Canterbury without stopping, arrived at Dover at four o'clock in the afternoon. His Excellency remained at Dover during the 22d on account of the contrary wind, and embarked on the 23rd. There being very little wind, they made no progress except by means of the tide, so that his Excellency did not arrive at Calais till nine o'clock in the evening. He landed by moonlight, and on quitting the shallop was received by M. de la Tour, Commandant of Calais, who took him in his carriage to his house, where he was to lodge. On the 24th, his Excellency hired the requisite carriages and horses, for the great number of persons who accompanied him. He himself travelled in the chariot in which he had come from London to Dover, and which had crossed the sea at the same time with us. At Calais his Excellency was met by one of his equerries, with several carriages and saddle horses that had been sent from Holland. On quitting the residence. Marshal Boufflers has taken an opportunity of speaking to me of the surprise and indignation which I of the Commandant, his Excellency found the garrison under arms, lining the streets through which he was to pass. About two hundred paces from the town, opposite Fort Nieulet, a regiment of cavalry was drawn up in battle array; all the guns of the fort were fired, and the infantry who garrisoned it lined the ramparts on the side which we passed: the officers saluted his Lordship by taking off their hats. His Excellency slept that night at Boulogne. On the 25th, his Excellency went to sleep at Montreuil. The guns were fired at his entrance, and the wine of the country was presented to his Lordship. On the 26th he stopped at Montreuil, because it was Sunday; his Excellency heard a sermon preached by Dr. Fall, one of his chaplains. On the 27th, his Excellency slept at Abbeville. On entering the city, he found some cavalry assembled before the gate, and a guard of 100 foot was given him. On the 28th, he slept at Amiens. At the distance of a quarter of a league from the city, he met two squadrons of cavalry in battle array, headed by the King's lieutenant, who alighted from his horse to pay his respects to his Excellency, as he descended for a moment from his carriage. When the carriage proceeded, one of the squadrons placed itself in front, and the other behind it. Thus they advanced to the gate of the city, where the Intendant, M. Bigon, was awaiting the arrival of his Excellency in his carriage; he alighted from it on the approach of my Lord, who likewise alighted, descended from his chariot, and embraced the Intendant. His Excellency immediately re-entered his carriage, and found a double file of Swiss infantry drawn up from the gate of the city to the residence of the Intendant, which is at a great distance. He entered the city amid a salute from the guns of the citadel. On the 29th, his Excellency left Amiens amid the roar of cannon, between the two files of Swiss soldiers which were drawn up from the residence of the Intendant to the gate of the city, and, at the distance of 300 paces, squadrons were drawn up in battle array. His Lordship dined that day at Breteuil and slept at St. Just. had expressed, rather publicly, at seeing the Duke of Berwick, &c. at Versailles; on which occasion I On the 30th his Excellency dined at Creil, and slept at Lusarche, where he met his son (Lord Woodstock), who had come from Holland to Paris a few days before. His Excellency likewise met, at Lusarche, M. d'Allonne, whom he had sent to Paris a month before our departure, to make several arrangements. Lastly his Excellency found at Lusarche an equerry of Marshal Boufflers, with a carriage drawn by eight horses, and several footmen belonging to the same Marshal. On the 31st, his Excellency, seated in the carriage of Marshal Boufflers, went to dine at St. Denis, when he saw the church and the treasury, and at four o'clock in the afternoon he went to Paris, to the Hôtel d'Auvergne, in the Rue de la Planche, which had been prepared for him. The Prince being then at Berghem-op-Zoom, had offered this palace to the King, completely furnished, as a residence for his Excellency; but as it was not sufficiently spacious, it was found necessary to erect a large dining room in the garden, which was finished in three weeks time. All the nobles and gentlemen were accommodated in furnished lodgings, as near the hotel as was possible. There was not room in the stables of the Hôtel d'Auvergne for more than ten or twelve horses, and as his Excellency had about ninety carriage and saddle horses, stables were hired for the remainder in the immediate vicinity. On the evening of his arrival, his Lordship was visited by Marshal Boufflers and the Duke de Gramont. On the 1st of February, my Lord dined with Marshal Boufflers. On the same day his Excellency sent Mr. Prior, Secretary to the Embassy, to Versailles, to pay his respects to M. de Torcy, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and to announce his arrival. His Lordship at the same time informed him that, as the ice prevented the vessel which had on board his state equipage and three of his carriages, from ascending the Seine, it was impossible for him to make his public entry so soon as he had intended; and he therefore requested M. de Torcy to procure him a private audience of his Most Christian Majesty. Mr. Prior at the same time delivered a copy of his Lordship's |