POPE AND THE DUCHESS 35 



than her Twickenham admirer, thousrh I shall not 

 stop to dilate on their warblings. The last named, 

 Gay, found kind and beneficent patrons in the Duke 

 and Duchess of Queensberry. As, however, to cite a 

 person as either witty or curious, without giving proof 

 of his idiosyncrasies, is very much like an ex j^arte 

 application to the Court of Reason without adducing 

 proofs or citing the opposite party, public opinion, 

 I lay before my readers two letters.^ The first is a 

 dual production of the pens of the Duchess and her 

 protegS, John Gay, addressed to Mrs. Howard,^ and 

 shows not only wit but fertility of resource, by 

 making a letter out of little or no news. The in- 

 cident of the ' blot ' or ' blots ' is very clever, and the 

 byplay between patroness and protege full of polite 

 sarcasm. 



The second letter, to the same person, is wholly 

 in her grace's hand, and excels, probably, the former 

 one. Indeed, the critical references and inferences 

 stamp the Duchess, in spite of her alleged madness,^ 

 as a keen observer of ' men and things.' 



^ Appendices AA and BB. 



2 Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk — mistress to George the 

 Second. 



^ It is recorded by Chambers that she had been confined in a 

 'strait- jacket.' Doubtless insanity is traceable in her composition, 

 and it was inherited by both her sons. 



