Page:The Wentworth Papers 1715-1739.djvu/46

 30 THE WENTWORTH PAPERS.

for publication at the present time. Age will, however, add to the value of the unpublished portions, and what now appears tedious and commonplace in the domestic letters of Queen Anne's reign, will probably, a century or two hence, be read with supreme interest. The same remarks may, with equal justice, be applied to the still larger collection of letters of Lady Wentworth to her " dearest and best of children."

There is little more of personal interest to be recorded of Lord Strafford, besides what can be gathered from the cor- respondence succeeding this memoir. His connexion with the Treaty of Utrecht is a matter of European history, and it forms no part of the object of the present volume to deal with the difficult political questions suggested by the mention of that ill-starred negotiation. We may, however, here insert a letter from him to his old friend Lord Berkeley of Stratton, who, as we shall see afterwards, is for some years one of his most regular correspondents, which gives us a glimpse of the plenipotentiaries at work : —

"Utrecht, 2<^ Jafiuary, 1712. " My dear Lord

" Must excuse me if my Letter is short, and I refer you to a Circular for the Transactions here, in short we have open'd the General Conference with the French in spite of all opposition, and I must say they have behaved themselves with the utmost politeness. The old Marechall [d'Uxelles] spoke after Lord Privy Seal had done, and spoke, without many flourishes, to the point, but I was charmed to hear the Abby Polignac, who is, first, a tall graceful! handsome Man, and has the handsomest Delivery I ever heard a man, so much the more as that he was answered by that ivhifd Cream Buys, who has many words and little to the purpose. Menager said nothing, nor indeed is very much look'd upon by the other two, who value themselves upon their Quality, being of very great as he is of none. We have gain'd two points to day, I hope they will make them public ; on this the French has declared they look upon the General Points signed by Menager as binding only to themselves and not to

�� �