war against the nation. His retreat to the
north saved England from this great calamity, and probably saved himself,
and his adherents in both countries, from a more summary fate than that
which drove his miserable and bigoted father from the throne.

One of the chief contributors to this correspondence is George James
Williams, familiarly styled Gilly Williams; a man of high life, uncle by
marriage to the minister Lord North, and lucky in the possession of an
opulent office--that of receiver-general of the excise. He, with George
Selwyn and Dick Edgecumbe, who met at Strawberry Hill at certain seasons,
formed what Walpole termed his out-of-town party. Life seems to have
glided smoothly with him, for he lived till 1785, dying at the ripe age of
eighty-six.

He thus begins:--

"Dear George--I congratulate you on the near approach of Parliament, and
figure you before a glass at your rehearsals. I must intimate to you not
to forget to begin closing your periods with a significant stroke of the
breast, and recommend Mr Barry as a pattern, (the actor.)

"You must observe, in letters from the country, every sentence begins with
being either sorry or glad. Apropos, I am glad to hear B. Bertie (son of
the Duke of Ancaster) is returned from Scarborough, having laid in such a
stock of health and spirits by the waters, as to dedicate the rest of his
days altogether to wine."

In another letter he says--"I had almost forgot to tell you, that I rode
near ten miles on my way home with the ordinary of Gloucester, and have
several anecdotes of the late burnings and hangings, which I reserve for
your own private ear. I do not know whether he was sensible you had a
partiality for his profession; but he expressed the greatest regard for
you, and I am sure you may command his services."

Gilly writes from Crome, Lord Coventry's seat in Worcestershire--

"Our life here for a while would not displease you, for we eat and drink
well, and the Earl (Coventry) holds a faro-bank every night to us, which
we have as yet plundered considerably.

"I want to know where to find you, and how long you stay at your
mansion-house; for it would not be pleasant to ride so far only to see
squinting Jenny and the gardener at the end of my journey. I suppose we
shall see you here, where you will find the Countess of Coventry in high
spirits and in great beauty."

We now come to a brief mention of two women, the most remarkable of their
day for popular