January 7, 1710. — "In my opinion we have nothing to save us but a peace, and I am sure we cannot have such a one as we hoped; and then the whigs will bawl what they would have done, had they continued in power. I tell the ministry this as much as I dare, and shall venture to say a little more to them."
Afterward, he gave her an account of the danger they were in, from the more violent members of their own party.
"We are plagued with an October club, that is, a set of above a hundred parliament men of the country, who drink October beer at home, and meet every evening at a tavern near the parliament, to consult on affairs, and drive things to extremes against the whigs; to call the old ministry to account, and get off five or six heads. The ministry seem not to regard them; yet one of them in confidence told me, that there must be something thought on to settle things better. I'll tell you one great secret: the queen, sensible how much she was governed by the late ministry, runs a little into the other extreme; and is jealous in that point, even of those who got her out of the other's hands. The ministry is for gentler measures, and the other tories for more violent. Lord Rivers, talking to me the other day, cursed the paper called The Examiner, for speaking civilly of the duke of Marlborough. This I happened to talk of to the secretary, who blamed the warmth of that lord, and some others; and swore, if their advice were followed, they would be blown up in twenty-four hours. And I have rea-
