Holland, is now actually made
Queen's Secretary at The Hague. It will be in the Gazette to-morrow.
'Tis worth twelve hundred pounds a year. Here is a young fellow has writ
some Sea Eclogues, poems of Mermen, resembling pastorals of shepherds,
and they are very pretty, and the thought is new. Mermen are
he-mermaids; Tritons, natives of the sea. Do you understand me? I think
to recommend him to our Society to-morrow. His name is Diaper.(11) P--
on him, I must do something for him, and get him out of the way. I hate
to have any new wits rise, but when they do rise I would encourage them;
but they tread on our heels and thrust us off the stage. Nite deelest
MD.

13. You would laugh to see our printer constantly attending our Society
after dinner, and bringing us whatever new thing he has printed, which
he seldom fails to do. Yet he had nothing to-day. Lord Lansdowne, one of
our Society, was offended at a passage in this day's Examiner, which he
thinks reflects on him, as I believe it does, though in a mighty civil
way. 'Tis only that his underlings cheat; but that he is a very fine
gentleman every way, etc.(12) Lord Orrery was President to-day; but
both our dukes were absent. Brother Wyndham recommended Diaper to the
Society. I believe we shall make a contribution among ourselves, which I
don't like. Lord Treasurer has yet done nothing for us, but we shall try
him soon. The company parted early, but Freind, and Prior, and I, sat a
while longer and reformed the State, and found fault with the Ministry.
Prior hates his Commission of the Customs, because it spoils his wit. He
says he dreams of nothing but cockets,(13) and dockets, and drawbacks,
and other jargon words of the custom-house. Our good weather went away
yesterday, and the nights are now dark, and I came home before ten.
Night nown... deelest sollahs.

14. I have been plagued this morning with solicitors, and with nobody
more than my brother, Dr. Freind, who must needs have to get old Dr.
Lawrence,(14) the Physician-General, turned out and himself in. He has
argued with me so long upon the reasonableness of it, that I am fully
convinced it is very unreasonable; and so I would tell the Secretary, if
I had not already made him speak to the Queen. Besides, I know not but
my friend Dr. Arbuthnot would be content to have it himself, and I love
him ten times better than Freind. What's all this to you? but I must
talk of things as they happen in the day, whether you know