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On the 15th they were conducted to the palace, to have an audience, and to know their fate, but they could have no audience that day, which, as it happened, was a favourable circumstance, for at night the viceroy's grandmother solicited their liberty, at a feast, to which she was invited on his safe return, and the viceroy promised that he would release them on the morrow.

On the morrow, about five in the morning, they were waked, and told that the viceroy would in a few minutes pass by to his palace of Mooteejeel. Upon this intelligence they got up, and when the viceroy came in sight, they paid him the usual homage, and uttered their benediction aloud. He looked at them with strong marks of compassion in his countenance, and ordering his litter to stop, he called them to him, and having heard a short extempore petition, which was spoken by Mr. Holwell, he made no reply, but ordered two of his officers to see their irons instantly struck off, and conduct them safely wherever they chose to go, giving them a strict charge to see that they suffered no injury or insult by the way.

This act of mercy, however late, or from whatever motive, was the more meritorious, as great pains were taken by some time-serving sycophants to prevent it. They told the viceroy, that Mr. Holwell, notwithstanding his losses, was still possessed of enough to pay a considerable sum for his freedom, to which the viceroy nobly replied, "If he has any thing left, let him keep it; his sufferings have been great, and he shall have his liberty."

Mr. Holwell and his friends being thus dismissed, immediately took boat, and soon after arrived safe at the Dutch settlement at Corcemabad, where he afterwards embarked for England.

1758, Feb.

XXVII. Account of threatening Letters sent to the Duke of Marlborough, and the Prosecution which his Grace carried on against William Barnard, supposing him

to have written them.

ON the 29th of November, his Grace the Duke of Marlborough received the following letter from an unknown hand.

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"To his Grace the Duke of Marlborough, with care and speed.

XXVIIII November.

MY LORD, As ceremony is an idle thing upon most occasions, more especially to persons in my state of mind, I shall proceed immediately to acquaint you with the motive and end of addressing this epistle to you, which is equally interesting to us both: you are to know then, that my present situation in life, is such, that I should prefer annihilation to a continu ance in it: desperate diseases require desperate remedies, and you are the man I have pitched upon, either to make me, or to unmake yourself. As I never had the honour to live among the great, the tenour of my proposals will not be very courtly, but let that be an argument to enforce a belief of what I am now going to write; it has employed my invention for some time, to find out a method to destroy another, without exposing my own life; that I have accomplished, and defy the law;-now for the application of it. I am desperate and must be provided for; you have it in your power; it is my business to make it your inclination to serve me; which you must determine to comply with, by procuring me a genteel support for my life; or your own will be at a period, before this session of parliament is over. I have more motives than one for singling you out first, upon this occasion and I give you this fair warning, because the means I shall make use of are too fatal to be eluded by the power of physie; if you think this of any consequence you will not fail to meet the author, on Sunday next at ten in the morning, or on Monday (if the weather should be rainy on Sunday) near the first tree beyond the stile in Hyde-park, in the foot walk to Kensington: secrecy compliance may preserve you from a double danger of this sort, as there is a certain part of the world, where your death has more than been wished for upon other motives; I know the world too well to trust this secret in any breast but my own; a few day's determine me your friend or enemy.

and

FELTON.

You will apprehend that I mean you should be alone, and 'depend upon it that a discovery of any artifice in this affair will be fatal to you: my safety is insured by my silence, for confession only can condemn me.

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In consequence of this letter, his Grace went to the place

appointed at 10 o'clock on the Sunday morning: he was on horseback, had pistols before him, and as he was without a great coat his star was easily to be seen. He was without any attendant, but had a friend in the park, who kept at such a distance as scarcely to be noticed. When he first came up to the tree he saw nobody either at it or near it, whom he could suspect to be the person: he continued some time about the same spot, but nobody appearing, he rode away. It happened, that when he came to Hyde-park corner, and turned his horse, he saw somebody stand loitering and looking at the water over the bridge, within twenty yards of the tree. This induced him to ride back, which he did very gently, and passing by the person expected him to speak to him, but was disappointed. He passed by him a second time, and the person still taking no notice, his Grace made him a bow and asked him if he had not something to say to him. He replied, No; I don't know you. His Grace then said, 'I am the Duke of Marlborough; now you know me I imagine you have something to say to me." He replied, No, I have not; and his Grace then rode away.

The next day, or the day after, the Duke received a second letter, as follows:

"To his Grace the Duke of Marlborough.

MY LORD,

YOU receive this as an acknowledgement of your punctuality as to the time and place of meeting on Sunday last, though it was owing to you, that it answered no purpose. The pageantry of being armed, and the ensign of your order, were useless, and too conspicuous; you needed no attendant, the place was not calculated for mischief, nor was any intended; if you walk in the west aisle of Westminster-abbey, towards 11 o'clock on Sunday next, your sagacity will point out the person, whom you will address, by asking his company to take a turn or two with you; you will not fail on inquiry, to be acquainted with the name, and place of abode, according to which directions, you will please to send two or three hundred pound bank notes the next day by the penny post. Exert not your curiosity too early it is in your power to make me grateful on certain terms. I have friends who are faithful, but they do not bark before they bite.

I am, &c.

F."

The Duke was pleased to attend a second time at the place and hour appointed, and walked five or six minutes in the Abbey before he saw any body that he suspected; he then saw the same person whom he had seen before in Hydepark. He came in with a good-looking man, who had the appearance of a substantial tradesman, and they went about looking on the monuments. After some time the stranger went into the choir, and the person whom he had seen before turned back and came towards the Duke. The Duke then asked him, if he had any thing to say to him, or any commands for him? and he replied, No, my Lord, I have not the Duke then said, "Sure you have;" but he replied again with the same words, No, my Lord. The Duke then left him, and as he continued to walk up and down one side of the aisle, his Grace walked up and down the other, to give him a little more time, but he did not speak. The Duke had then several persons disguised in the Abbey, who were to have taken up the person he was to meet, if the signal had been given; but the Duke did not give it, because, though he was very sure the person he had spoken to was the same he had seen in the Park, yet he chose rather to run a farther risk himself, than to take up an innocent man.

Very soon after this his Grace received a third letter, aş follows:

"To his Grace the Duke of Marlborough.

MY LORD,

I AM fully convinced you had a companion on Sunday; I interpret it as owing to the weakness of human nature; but such proceeding is far from being ingenuous, and may produce bad effects, whilst it is impossible to answer the end proposed: you will see me again soon, as it were by accident, and may easily find where I go to, in consequence of which, by being sent to, I shall wait on your Grace; but expect to be quite alone, and to converse in whispers; you will likewise give your honour upon meeting, that no part of the conversation shall transpire; these and the former terms complied with, ensure your safety: my revenge in case of non-compliance, (or any scheme to expose me) will be slower, but not less sure; and strong suspicion, the utmost that can possibly ensue upon it, while the chances would be ten-fold against you. You will possibly be in doubt after the meeting, but it is quite necessary the outside should be a mask to the in. The family of the Bloods is not extinct, though they are not in my scheme."

This letter, by the expression "You will see me again 'soon, as it were by accident," seems to intimate, that the writer had not only seen the Duke, but that the Duke had seen the writer, so as to know and remember him; for how else could his Grace see him as it were by accident, so as to note him, and find out whither he went?

His Grace, however, did not see either the person he had seen before, or any other person, whom he had the least reason to suppose to be the writer of the letters; but about two months afterwards he received the following letter, as from another hand.

To his Grace the Duke of Marlborough.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR GRACE,

I HAVE reason to believe that the son of one Barnard, a surveyor in Abingdon Buildings, Westminster, is acquainted with some secrets that nearly concern your safety; his father is now out of town, which will give you an opportunity of questioning him more privately. It would be useless to your Grace, as well as dangerous to me, to appear more publicly in this affair.

Your sincere friend,

ANONYMOUS.

He frequently goes to Storey's-gate coffee-house."

About ten days after the receipt of this letter, the Duke sent a person, whose name is Merrick, to Storey's-gate coffee-house, to tell Mr. Barnard, that the Duke desired to speak with him. The message was delivered to Mr. Barnard on Tuesday the 25th of April in the evening, and he sent word by the messenger, Mr. Merrick, that he would wait upon his Grace on the Thursday morning following, at half an hour after ten.

On Thursday morning, at the time appointed, he went, and the Duke, who instantly knew him to be the person he had seen before in the Park and the Abbey, took him into a room, and shut the door. He then asked him, as he had done at their former meetings, whether he had any thing to say to him? and he said he had nothing to say. The Duke then recapitulated all the letters, beginning with the first, and Barnard listened with attention and surprise, but without any appearance of fear. The Duke observed, that it seemed to

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