a great kindness between Best and these wicked agents; but they say Best is able to pay, and I will write to him myself about it. As you have taken some pains to examine the estate at Strixton, and like it so much, I should be very glad to buy it; therefore I desire you would do what you can to find out the real truth of it, for I am confident it must be sold to some new bidder, my Lady Oxenden having left her money to several people. My money is as good as anybody's else, and I would give for it what you will advise me to give, and pay the money down as soon as the title is made out. There is nothing more certain than that there must be soon a war, or we must be swallowed up by France, which I should think is so bad a prospect as not to make land go at an extravagant price. I am very sincerely your friend and humble servant, S. MARLBOROUGH. THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO THE My Lord, August 1st, 1735. I am sensible that your Grace's time should not be taken up with trifles, but I cannot avoid doing it upon a conversation which I understand you have lately had with the Duke of Marlborough touching a dispute between the Duke of St. Alban's and me, which occasions your Grace this trouble. The Duke of St. Alban's pretends to claim a right of coming into Windsor Little Park with coaches and chaises whenever he pleases. I have forbid it; he urges a necessity for it on account of his supervising the fortifications, a term in my mind extremely odd and ridiculous, if he means by it the ditch that is round the castle, two sides of which are out of the park. I do not apprehend it to be of any great importance to the place, but however, I am so far from desiring to prevent the constable from doing his duty in his military capacity and putting the place into a proper condition of defence, that I promise, whenever he shall please to give me notice, I will order my keepers from time to time to attend him or any other engineer that may be thought necessary for the purpose, though I confess I do not see any immediate probability of an attack. But to be serious with your Grace, I do assure you that I never knew anybody whatever pretend to the least right of this kind, nor was any one ever admitted into the House Park in coaches or chaises but the Royal Family or the ranger, on account of his going to his house; of the truth of this, I am sorry to say it, I am a witness for full fifty years, and if a right cannot be claimed, I am sure the Duke, of all men living, is the least entitled to receive any favour from me; he has often been most remarkably uncivil to me, to give his treatment no worse a name. I will not trouble you with an account of the particulars, but if I might make use of a military expression in my turn, I could say, that he has besieged me in both parks, and been willing to forage in them at pleasure. He once got the fences pulled down which cost a good deal to put up again, which if it had not been done, my grant had been useless to me. When he got Cranborn Lodge, he broke open a door which I had in friendship to Lord Ranelagh suffered him to make, and which upon his death was made up, and this he did not only without my leave, but without giving me the least notice of it. I got the better of him in these points, and now he pursues me to the Little Park, and I wish he may not have persuaded your Grace that the best way to compromise this affair is to let him have a key; but I hope what I have said here will convince you to the contrary, and of the reasonableness of my opposition to his ill-grounded pretensions, and I make no question but your Grace will represent this in such a manner to her Majesty, that I may not only not suffer in my right, but what is still worse, in her good opinion, as if I claimed more than really was so. I must once more ask your pardon for the liberty I have taken, before I assure you that I am, my Lord, your Grace's Most obedient, and most humble servant, S. MARLBOROUGH. LORD GODOLPHIN TO THE DUCHESS OF Madam, MARLBOROUGH. St. James's, 22d July, 1736. Since Sir Robert Walpole's return to town, I have reported to him what I had in command from your Grace, the last time I had the hononr of waiting on you, and in a second conference I have had with him on the subject, he told me that the terms mentioned by your Grace were very readily agreed, viz. the depositing such a sum of money as should be thought reasonable, in proper hands for the benefit of the poor of the parish. That in consequence of this, he hoped your Grace would direct either Mr. Green, or whom else you thought fit, to meet Mr. Selwyn and such counsel as should be appointed on her Majesty's behalf, in order to their considering the most proper means for reducing to practice, and for empowering the Queen to make such a road as has been desired. Whatever directions of this kind your Grace shall think fit to give, you will please to send to Mr. Green, because I am going for ten days into Gloucestershire, and the summer (which is the only time for works of this kind) is pretty far advanced. I am, Madam, your Grace's Most humble and obedient servant, GODOLPHIN. THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH TO MR. WALLER, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. Sir, 14 of 1738. I believe the grant for the ground in St. James's Park was made before Mr. Travers was land surveyor. This grant was made to trustees for me, and some years after, (I do not know how long,) upon the Queen's granting a lease to Mr. Henry Boyle, for what they called the Queen's Garden, she added a small piece of ground for making more room to build my house. This is a great many years since, and perhaps this might be after Mr. Travers was in that office. But let that be as it will, I am very sure that in those few grants I had, which were only the lodges in Windsor Park, and ground for Marlborough House, I never failed paying the persons who passed those grants the moment they passed them, and it is very probable if I had time to look for papers of such a standing, I might find them. So that the memorandum Mr. Holditch talks of is ridiculous. As to my speaking to him, he is a man of a general ill character, and therefore I don't see that can be of any use but to give me trouble, for I am sure he will give me nothing after his proceedings that the law will not give. I shall be ready whenever you please to pay Mr. Peck the money on account of Chillworth. I have seen Mr. Hughes this morning; he tells me all things will be |