Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/276

 222 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 S.VTII.MABCH w, 1921. - of the Primitive Church ' (cf. Campbell, edition, vol. vi. p. 59, and 'Diary of Vis- count Percival,' Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1920, vol. i. p. 112), while Whatley, on the evidence of a letter of July 22 and of Oct. 27, 1720 f'N. & Q.,' 12 S. viii. 44-45, 63-65), and elsewhere (e.g., 'Friendly Admonition,' p. 135), was also inclined that way. On June 13, 1714, Whatley was called to the Bar ('A Calendar of the Inner Temple Records,' ed. F. A. Inderwick, vol. iii. p. 437) by King's favour, before his "stand- ing " or "abilities" allowed ('Short His- tory,' p. 2), and left the Temple (op. cit., ibidem). His disinclination for the prosecu- tion of a legal career, or other influences, now directed him to seek employment in the public service ('Three Letters,' p. 48), but his activities for the next five years are not disclosed. It was, however, in 1715 that he intervened in the Impeachment controversy with ' A Letter to Thomas Burnett, Esq ; Occasion 'd by his to the Earl of Halifax,'* and followed it with a sequel entitled 'Mr. Burnet's Defence : or, More Reasons for an Impeachment. In Remarks on an In- famous and Trayterous Libel, lately pub- lished, entitled, A Letter to a Merry Young Gentleman. In a Second Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl cf Halifax.'f He is next heard of in 1720, when he com- mences a tour abroad which lasts urtil 1723. After a considerable stay in the Low Countries (from June to October) he pro- ceeded to Hanover ( ' N. & Q.,' 12 S. viii.43-45 and 63-66). The rest of his time was spent in Northern Germany, in the course of which he stayed at, among other places, Hamburg, Berlin, Wolfenbuttel, Dresden and Celle ('Short History,' p. 2, 'Three Letters,' Bodleian catalogue. The pamphlet is anonymous but " By M r Whatley " has been inscribed on it in a perhaps later hand. f Anonymous, the text having the initials " W. R." at the end (p. 45). The attribution to Whatley is based on the advertisement on p. [66] of A Letter to the L. & C.' (1742). As it is there stated to be out of print, it is hardly likely that the publisher would have any interest in the false ascription of the product of a dead controversy. It appeared about a fortnight (** Mr. Burnet's Defence,' p. [i]) after the publi-, cation of ' A letter To a Merry Young Gentleman Intituled Tho. Burnet, Esq. ..*.." a reply to the latter's ' The Necessity of Impeaching the late Ministry. In a Letter to the Earl of Hallifax.' Burnet himself was the later knight and justice of the Common Pleas. pp. xlvii-lix), knowing the best people* and* being offered employment in the Prussian service. This he, relying on his patron,, refused ('Judgment Signed,' p. 11, 'Short History,' p. 3 and note, 'Friendly Ad- monition,' p. 79, 'Letters and Applica- tions,' p. 31). At the "beginning of " 1723 he returned, well equipped with foreign tongues (King to Newcastle, Ockham, Apr. 3, 1724, KM., Add. MSS. 32,687, folio 19), to his native land ('Short History,' p. 5), fell ill and spent the remainder of the year convalescing (op. cit., ibidem). Meanwhile, however, his small fortune, the capital of which he had expended on his education and his travels, had dwindled away and it was becoming a matter of urgency for him to obtain adequate employ- ment. His illness, we are told ('Short History,' p. 5), prevented him from pro- secuting his search for the time being. It was probably about this time or perhaps on his return from Bath the next year that he established himself in lodgings near King's seat at Ockham in Surrey ('Short History,' p. 9): these were doubtless at Shepperton, from which he dated the two editions of his 'A Letter to the Right Honourable The Lord Chief Justice King, on his Lordship's being Design 'd a Peer/ for it is only some six miles away. It is also likely that he was in receipt of financial assistance from this source ('Short JEistory,' p. 45). A visit to the Hotwells near Bristol', and also to Bath begat his ' Characters at the Hot-Well, Bristol, in September, and at Bath, in October, 1723,' which he dedicated to Beau Nash "From my Lodgings in the Grove at Bath, Nov. 1, 1723," a slight, rather pedestrian pamphlet, well meaning but not witty, f This he published the next year, most likely on his return in February ('Short History, 'p. 5). An attempt made by King to place his protege with Newcastle, the new Secretary of State, came to no result (letter from King to Newcastle, Ockham, Apr. 3, 1724, B.M., Add. MSS. 32,687, folio 19, printed on p. 6 of the ' Short History,' ibid, p. 29) but "be- fore the end " of the same year rumours of King's further promotion from the Chief Justiceship rf the Common Pleas spread "... .1 never was drunk in my Life, no, not tho' I have, in the Course of my Life, liv'd in the best of Company 20 Months in Germany " (' Friendly Admonition,' p. 67). t In the second copy of this work preserved in the British Museum the conventional typo- graphical name-blanks are filled in by hand.
 * Lives of the Lord Chancellors,' 4th
 * That is, if we accept the attribution of the