The death of Miss C––r, and the disappointment of receiving the 20,000l. which our heroine expected the Captain should pocket with her, were severe strokes both to her pride and political views. Lord Halifax, notwithstanding his high and lucrative employments, was in the most embarrassed circumstances; nor was it an uncommon thing to see an execution, with a parcel of ruffian bailiffs, lodged in his house, and his plate and furniture on the very point of a public sale. The greatest part of the 20,000l. was therefore intended to be lent his Lordship at interest. The  disappointment fell heavy; for many of his Lordship's creditors, who were to have been silenced out of this sinking fund, became clamorous; and the pay of a captain was by no means equal to the appearance and expensive plan of life, which the brother was necessarily obliged to support during his courtship; and now that he was involved in a suit in Chancery, he was once more become an absolute dependant on the generosity and courtesy of his sister and Lord Halifax. The latter never much liked him, though he saw and received him, in compliment to his adored Miss Faulkner; but this lady, being still resolved to force his fortunes in the world, shared the Irish pension with him for some time, and supported his cause in Chancery, which rendered his circumstances tolerably easy.

            Hitherto Miss Faulkner had acted with much caution and discretion in the course of Lord Halifax's administration; that is, she was not very exorbitant in the prices or conditions, on which she granted and procured several valuable and lucrative employments; but whether from necessity or avarice, we cannot determine (though inclined to think she was influenced by the former) she now played both an open and a desperate game. Her former generosity and prudence at once forsook her. There was no office, no employment in any one department, to be disposed of, but through her means and procurement; and on these she fixed her own price. Enormous sums were raised through this channel of negotiation, and where money was not to be had, bonds, annuities, and dividends of the profits and income of each employ were daily executed and secured, till at length her office became a public exchange, and her brokers were as well known as those at Jonathan's or Lloyd's.

            During this noble administration, Mr Donaldson heard of the power and riches of his lady, and though in possession of a very genteel income abroad, he was resolved to share some of the spoils at home; and accordingly arrived in England, at a time when his presence was neither expected nor desired. After he had spent a few days in London, consulting with his friends, and inquiring into the real situation of his wife's finances and prerogative, he made her a formal visit at Lord Halifax's house in Great G–– Street. It is but reasonable to suppose, that his sudden appearance before his lady and Lord Halifax must have strangely alarmed and disconcerted them. His Lordship expressed both the greatest surprise and resentment, and demanded his reason for quitting his employ, without his knowledge and permission: to which Mr Donaldson replied, that the salary of his office was scarcely sufficient to support him, and that he could not reconcile it to himself to be banished from his native country, and all the other pleasures of life, for a bare maintenance; that he was well assured, Miss Faulkner had it in her power to bestow something considerable upon him, without hurting herself; and that his Lordship had it also in his power to promote him to a more agreeable and profitable station than that which he then enjoyed; and he concluded with some disagreeable insinuations, in case his terms were not immediately complied with.

            Mr Donaldson was not only peremptory but exorbitant in his demands. Several stratagems were made use of to evade his pretensions, but he had sagacity enough to escape every trap that was laid for him; and as Lord Halifax now dreaded a separation from Miss Faulkner more than any other earthly curse, Mr Donaldson's demands were, at length, complied with. He received a considerable sum of money in hand, and a much more advantageous and honourable employ, than he was formerly possessed of, and immediately returned to the West Indies, where he has ever since remained, without interrupting the happiness of his lady and Lord Halifax.

            If we were at liberty to urge, that the favourable or unfavourable events, that happen to us in this life, are proportioned to our virtues or vices, it might be concluded, that these fashionable lovers were adequately mortified and punished for the mutual indulgence of criminal connection, by the sudden alteration both of their circumstances and reputation. Lord Halifax had been always esteemed a man of great abilities, integrity, and honour; and had formerly filled several considerable departments of the state, with the highest applause. But he had now near finished his political career. The rapaciousness of his mistress, and his indulgence, or connivance at the bare-faced depredations she daily committed, drew upon him the just and severe censures of the public; insomuch that he became both despised and detested, and his former reputation was now enveloped in the deep shade of his follies and vices. His necessities obliged him to act, in one of the most consequential employments under the crown, not agreeable to his own good sense and extensive abilities, but as the tool and slave of a person, the most obnoxious to the whole kingdom. He had no will, no power, but what he received from an odious favourite, who has since abandoned him to the public resentment, and the persecution of almost the whole nation; the consequence of which is likely to reduce him to beggary[see note *], as well as infamy. His distresses have forced him to take from his mistress all her ill-gotten treasures, and he now lives with her in the country, in obscurity, where they indulge their mutual passion, and their sole ambition is to provide some fortune for a daughter, the only pledge of their shameful connection. His Lordship is, however, under the strongest engagements to make Miss Faulkner Countess of Halifax, as soon as the death of Mr Donaldson can render such a union practicable.

            *Note: The reader will perceive that the above paragraph was written before the decision of the cause between Mr Wilkes and the Earl of Halifax, where the damages awarded by the jury, fell so much short of public expectation, and where it appeared, that these damages, though so unconscionably small, were to be paid, not out of his Lordship's pocket, but out of the national treasure.

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