I
conclude with assuring your Grace that I have acted in this Affair, as
I shall on all Occasions, with the most dutiful Regard to your
Commands, and that if my Life had been at Stake, as many know, I
could have done no more. I am, with the highest Respect,
'My Lord Duke,
'Yr. Grace's most obedient
and most humble Servant,
'HENRY FIELDING.
'Ealing; April 27, 1753.
'His Grace the Duke of Newcastle.'
_Endorsed_: 'Ealing: April 27th, 1753.
Mr. Fielding.'
[Footnote 3: My italics. Did Fielding abandon his belief in
Elizabeth?]
II
_THE MURDER OF ESCOVEDO_
'Many a man,' says De Quincey, 'can trace his ruin to a murder, of
which, perhaps, he thought little enough at the time.' This remark
applies with peculiar force to Philip II. of Spain, to his secretary,
Antonio Perez, to the steward of Perez, to his page, and to a number
of professional ruffians. All of these, from the King to his own
scullion, were concerned in the slaying of Juan de Escovedo, secretary
of Philip's famous natural brother, Don John of Austria. All of them,
in different degrees, had bitter reason to regret a deed which, at the
moment, seemed a commonplace political incident.
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