Duke of Portland; at that time
put was a most fashionable game; but games are like garments, as they
become old they are cast off, and handed down to the servants. The
outside of the despatch was marked "To Lord Albemarle's own hands.
Immediate and most important." It appeared, however, as if the two noble
lords considered the game of put as more important and immediate, for
they finished it without looking at the packet in question, and it was
midnight before they threw up the cards. After which, Lord Albemarle
went to a side table, apart from the rest of the company, and broke the
seals. It was a letter with enclosures, and ran as follows:

"MY LORD ALBEMARLE,

"Although your political enemy, I do justice to your merits,
and to prove my opinion of you, address to you this letter,
the object of which is to save your government from the
disgrace of injuring a worthy man, and a staunch supporter,
to expose the villany of a coward and a scoundrel. When I
state that my name is Ramsay, you may at once be satisfied
that, before this comes to your hands, I am out of your
reach. I came here in the king's cutter, commanded by Mr
Vanslyperken, with letters of recommendation to Mynheer
Krause, which represented me as a staunch adherent of William
of Orange and a Protestant, and, with that impression, I was
well received, and took up my abode in his house. My object
you may imagine, but fortune favoured me still more, in
having in my power Lieutenant Vanslyperken. I opened the
government despatches in his presence, and supplied him with
false seals to enable him to do the same, and give me the
extracts which were of importance, for which I hardly need
say he was most liberally rewarded; this has been carried on
for some time, but it appears, that in showing him how to
obtain your secrets, I also showed him how to possess himself
of ours, and the consequence has been that he has turned
double traitor, and I have now narrowly escaped.

"The information possessed by Mynheer Krause was given by
me, to win his favour for one simple reason, that I fell in
love with his daughter, who has now quitted the country with
me. He never was undeceived as to my real position, nor is he
even now. Let me do an honest man justice. I enclose you the
extracts from your duplicates made by Mr Vanslyperken,