"I am sorry to inform you my little boy still continues in a very
precarious way, though somewhat better than when I had last the
honor to address you. My respects to Lady Impey. And believe me,
with great regard, my dear Sir Elijah, your faithful, obliged, and
most affectionate humble servant,

"NATHANIEL MIDDLETON."

My Lords, we produce this letter to your Lordships, because it is a
letter which begins with "_Dear Sir Elijah_," and alludes to some family
matters, and is therefore more likely to discover the real truth, the
true genius of a proceeding, than all the formal and official stuff that
ever was produced. You see the tenderness and affection in which they
proceed. You see it is his _dear Sir Elijah_. You see that he does not
tell the dear Sir Elijah, the Chief-Justice of India, the pillar of the
law, the great conservator of personal liberty and private property,--he
does not tell him that he has been able to convict these eunuchs of any
crime; he does not tell him he has the pleasure of informing him what
matter he has got upon which a decision at law may be grounded; he does
not tell him that he has got the least proof of the want of title in
those ladies: not a word of the kind. You cannot help observing the soft
language used in this tender billet-doux between Mr. Middleton and Sir
Elijah Impey. You would imagine that they were making love, and that you
heard the voice of the turtle in the land. You hear the soft cooing, the
gentle addresses,--"Oh, my hopes!" to-day, "My fears!" to-morrow,--all
the language of friendship, almost heightened into love; and it comes at
last to "_I have got at the secret hoards of these ladies_.--Let us
rejoice, my dear Sir Elijah; this is a day of rejoicing, a day of
triumph; and this triumph we have obtained by seizing upon the old