and make him add another security.  So, ladies, enough of business for one night.  Paaaaast twelve o’clock; nite, nite deelest MD.  I must only add, that, after a long fit of rainy weather, it has been fair two or three days, and is this day grown cold and frosty; so you must give poor little Presto leave to have a fire in his chamber morning and evening too; and he will do as much for you.  Shall I send this to-morrow?  Well I will, to oblige MD.  ’Tis late, so I bid you good-night.

CHELSEA, June, 1711.

I went at noon to see Mr. Secretary at his office, and there was Lord Treasurer; so I killed two birds, etc., and we were glad to see one another and so forth.  And the Secretary and I dined at Sir William Wyndam’s, who married Lady Catherine Seymour, your acquaintance, I suppose.  There were ten of us at dinner.  It seems, in my absence, they had erected a Club, and made me one; and we made some laws to-day, which I am to digest and add to, against next meeting.  Our meetings are to be every Thursday.  We are yet but twelve; Lord Keeper and Lord Treasurer were proposed; but I was against them, and so was Mr. Secretary, though their sons are of it, and so they are excluded; but we design to admit the Duke of Shrewsbury.  The end of our Club is to advance conversation and friendship, and to reward deserving persons with our interest and recommendation.  We take in none but men of wit or men of interest; and if we go on as we begin, no other Club in this town will be worth talking of.  This letter will come three weeks after the last, so there is a week lost; but that is owing to my being out of town.

Well, but I must answer this letter of our MD’s.  Saturday approaches, and I han’t written down this side.  Oh, faith, Presto has been a sort of lazy fellow:  but Presto will remove to town this day se’night:  the Secretary has commanded me to do so:  and I believe he and I shall go some days to Windsor, where he will have leisure to mind some business we have together.  To-day our Society (it must not be called a Club) dined at Mr. Secretary’s:  we were but eight.  We made some laws, and then I went to take my leave of Lady Ashburnham, who goes out of town to-morrow.

Steele has had the assurance to write to me that I would engage my Lord Treasurer to keep a friend of his in an employment.  I believe I told you how he and Addison served me for my good offices in Steele’s behalf; and I promised Lord Treasurer never to speak for either of them again.

We have plays acted in our town; and Patrick was at one of them, oh, oh.  He was damnably mauled one day when he was drunk, by a brother-footman, who dragged him along the floor on his face, which looked for a week after as if he had the leprosy, and I was glad enough to see it.  I have been ten times sending him back to you; yet now he has new clothes and a laced hat, which the hatter brought by his orders, and he offered to pay for the lace out of his wages.