brothers, at the second of which, on the evening of the 17th, she was
herself present, is naturally much more highly coloured. Charles Yorke
was evidently terribly discomposed by it, speaking of Lord Hardwicke's
language as 'exceeding all bounds of temper, reason, and even common
civility.' 'I hope,' he said to his wife, 'he will in cooler moments
think better of it, and my brother John also, for if I lose the support
of my family, I shall be undone.'

I need not pursue the subject of this distressing difference between the
brothers, which no doubt assumed an altogether exaggerated importance in
the sensitive and affectionate, but self-centred, mind of poor Charles
Yorke, shaken as he was by the strain and struggle of these days, but
which was probably the immediate cause of his fatal illness.

'We returned home' (from St. James's Square), writes Mrs. Yorke, 'and
Mr. Woodcock followed in the chariot with the Great Seal. The King had
given it in his closet, and at the same time Mr. Yorke kissed his
Majesty's hand on being made Baron of Morden in the county of Cambridge.
Not once did Mr. Yorke close his eyes, though at my entreaty he took
composing medicines.... Before morning he was determined to return the
Great Seal, for he said if he kept it he could not live. I know not what
I said, for I was terrified almost to death. At six o'clock I found him
so ill that I sent for Dr. Watson, who ought immediately to have bled
him, instead of which he contented himself with talking to him. He
ordered him some medicine and was to see him again in the evening. In
the meantime Mr. Yorke was obliged to rise to receive the different
people who would crowd to him on this occasion, but before he left me,
he assured me that when the Duke of Grafton came to him at night, he
would resign the seals. When his company had left him, he came up to me,
and even then, death was upon his face. He said he had settled all his