ed nobleman associated
with the latter portion of Burke's life, from whom they descended to his
son, the late Earl Fitzwilliam, who, in conjunction with Sir Richard
Bourke, published, in 1844, the four volumes of correspondence, with a
few notes of unpublished speeches.

We have personal reason to know that there are yet other unpublished
manuscripts of Burke in the hands of Lord Fitzwilliam, some of which it
was our fortune many years ago to inspect. Mr. Macknight, it appears,
applied to the present Earl for permission to publish some of those
which are preserved in the archives of Wentworth House, but, "out of
obedience to the expressed wish of his father, who published all he
thought necessary, he declined to sanction any further publication of
these documents."[A]

[Footnote A: Macknight's _Life of Burke_, Vol. III. p. 737.]

There are also letters of Burke which from time to time have seen the
light, as they were communicated by their possessors. Among these none
equals in interest that addressed to Pitt with regard to his pension,
which has been printed recently by Lord Stanhope, in his small, but rich
and rare collection, entitled "Miscellanies." This important letter came
to light among the papers of Pitt, and has been described by Macaulay as
"interesting and very characteristic."

The manuscripts now before us are none of these. They have a history of
their own.

They constitute a thin volume in folio, neatly bound, having a
book-mark, and arms with the name of _Fillingham_. Here are four
familiar autograph-letters from Burke to his amanuensis, Swift, all of
them written from Margate, on the sea-shore, and bearing Burke's frank
as a member of Parliament. According to habit with us, the frank of a
member of Congress is written in the right-hand upper corner of the
superscription, while the old English frank is in the left-hand lower
corner. But English law, while the privilege of franking existed,
required also that the name of the place where the letter was pasted,
and the day on which it was posted, written at length, should appear in
the superscription. Take, for instance, the following frank of Burke in
this collection:--

"Margate July seventeenth, 1791
"Mr Swift,
"Mr Burke's Chambers
"4 Stone Buildings
"Lincoln's Inn
"London.

"Edm. Burke."

These letters have been recently published by Mr. Macknight, who says of
them that "they show how kind and familiar Burke was to the humbl