pposition to Mr. Addison's
opinion, who strongly persuaded him to suppress it; as the publication,
Mr. Addison said, could neither serve his interest, or reputation. Hence
many discontents arose between them, 'till at length the lord
lieutenant, in support of his secretary, superseded Mr. Budgell, and
very soon after got him removed from the place of accomptant-general.
However, upon the first of these removals taking place, and upon some
hints being given by his private secretary, captain Guy Dickens (now our
minister at Stockholm) that it would not probably be safe for him to
remain any longer in Ireland, he immediately entrusted his papers and
private concerns to the hands of his brother William, then a clerk in
his office, and set out for England. Soon after his arrival he published
a pamphlet representing his case, intituled, A Letter to the Lord----
from Eustace Budgell, Esq; Accomptant General of Ireland, and late
Secretary to their Excellencies the Lords Justices of that Kingdom;
eleven hundred copies of which were sold off in one day, so great was
the curiosity of the public in that particular. Afterwards too in the
Post-Boy of January 17, 1718-19, he published an Advertisement to
justify his character against a report that had been spread to his
disadvantage: and he did not scruple to declare in all companies that
his life was attempted by his enemies, or otherwise he should have
attended his feat in the Irish Parliament. His behaviour, about this
time, made many of his friends judge he was become delirious; his
passions were certainly exceeding strong, nor were his vanity and
jealousy less. Upon his coming to England he had lost no time in waiting
upon Mr. Addison, who had resigned the seals, and was retired into the
country for the sake of his health; but Mr. Addison found it impossible
to stem the tide of opposition, which was every where running against
his kinsman, through the influence and power of the duke of Bolton. He
therefore disswaded him in the strongest manner from publishing his
case, but to no manner of purpose, which made him tell a friend in great
anxiety, 'Mr. Budgell was wiser than any man he ever knew, and yet he
supposed the world would hardly believe he acted contrary to his
advice.' Our author's great and noble friend the lord Hallifax was dead,
and my lord Orrery, who held him in the highest esteem, had it not in
his power to procure him any redress. However, Mr. Addison had got a
promi