Papers of Edmund Burke and of his literary executor Walker King, the archive comprising:
(i) Burke (Edmund) Autograph letter signed ("EB"), to Walker King ("My dr Walker"), urging publication in the face of obstructions raised by committees ("...a thousand times better it had been that the Paper had gone to press with a thousand Errours than be Delayed so long from the Press. You see another Committee has started up. God send they may not knock their heads together, or at least distract & dissipate the Efforts, & particularly disorder the distribution. Ought not somebody wait on Sr George Thomas [chairman of a committee for the relief of French refugees] thanking him & wishing to unite the Committees..."), and hoping that [Thomas] Hussey will be in town "with our Ideas, and Lord Buckinghams [later a trustee of Burke's émigré school at Penn] name & subscription", one page, 4to, "Friday" [?early 1796]
(ii) Burke (Edmund and Jane) Joint autograph letter signed, the first half by Mrs Burke ("Jane Burke"), the second by her husband ("Edm Burke"), to Walker King (Jane addressing him as "My Dear Doctor", Edmund as "My dear Walker"), Jane congratulating Mrs King on the birth of "your little stranger" and pressing their claims to serve as godparents; Edmund also congratulating him on the birth, but grumbling at the slow progress of his own affairs [i.e. the pension from Pitt, which King was handling for him] ("...the unpleasant account of my miserable affairs of which Mr Pitt is not yet brought to bed. I fear it will be but too literally a Changeling at last... But I must submit to the Will of God - My Letter to you [dated 30 June] will be ostensible - if in prudence you think it right it should be so - At any rate I see no objection to your shewing it to the Chancellor..."); autograph address panel (the name written by Jane, the address by Edmund), postmarked, 3 pages, 4to, 1 July 1795
(iii) Burke (Jane) Autograph letter signed ("J - B"), to Walker King, summoning him to her husband's side ("...My Dr Sir, I am commanded to tell you that your advice assistance Company - &c &c &c is so necessary to Your friend at Beaconsfield, that until he sees you, he will not have a Moments ease: I can tell you, that knowing at an important Moment that you are at his Elbow, will give quiet to his Mind, and make his labours ten times easier to him, though he were not to open his mouth to you on business the whole time of his being in the Country..."), 2 pages, 4to, docketed "Mrs Burke", integral leaf removed and torn at folds, no place or date
(iv) Burke (Richard, Senior) Draft for the opening of a letter, beginning: "My Lord/ It is very possible that the subject on which I venture to write, may give your Lordship some trouble..."; the letter seeking to remedy "some coolness that has grown upon the part of Sir G[eorge] S[avile] to your Lordship", prompted by "his affection to Mr Hartley" [David Hartley MP being Savile's protégé], and offering to resign his seat as Secretary to the Treasury, 2 pages, folio, split at folds and dust-stained, [the context of this letter suggests that it was written by Edmund's brother, Richard, to the Marquess of Rockingham, when serving as Secretary to the Treasury between April and July 1782, at which time Savile's relations with Rockingham were strained] [April-July 1782]
(v) Burke (Thomas) Autograph letter signed ("Thomas Burke"), to his kinsman [Edmund Burke], sending his pedigree which he obtained from family papers in Munster ("...There I got Hold of some Family-Manuscripts, particularly that of Dr Browne of Emly, whose Grandmother was the 7th Daughter of Theobald Bourke, your Great-grandfather, whom in the Pedigree you see married to Baggot of Baggotstown. So this Pedigree is as accurate & authentic as the Nature of such Affairs in this Kingdom can bear... Your father more than once told me, that it was Counsr Gerald Burke prevailed upon him to write his Name Burke & not Bourke..."); congratulating him on his latest election success [as MP for Bristol, having been offered Rockingham's pocket borough of Malton] ("...I wish you and the Nation Joy for the Honours done You at Bristol & at Malton. All the Thanks I expect is, that you'l furthermore get our Name honoured with a new Peerage. Bob Nugent while representative of Bristol was created Lord Clare, and why would not Mun Burke be created Lord Brittas, or Lord Ballinagard?..."); and sending regards to his wife, his son ('Master Richard'), William Burke, his father-in-law Dr Nugent and Mrs Ozier [Nugent's sister], one page, integral leaf docketed "Edmund Burke's Pedigree", Kilkenny, 23 December 1774 [we can find no trace of Thomas Burke in the Correspondence or other works consulted; he clearly had not been in close contact with the family for some time, since Jane Burke's aunt Mrs Ozier, or Augier, had been dead since 1771]
(vi) Burke (Thomas) Three pedigrees, evidently prepared for his kinsman Edmund Burke and enclosed with the letter above, namely: "Ancestors of the Lord Castleconnel, the Lord Brittas, & other Families of the Bourks, or Burkes" ("...Edmund Galda (i.e. Anglicus) because he had an English-Wife, from whom the Burkes of Ballingard (of which Branch is Edmund Burke Esqr, a Member of the British Parliament, as will appear hereafter)... Sir Walter was Grandfather of Edmund Burke Esqr Member of the British Parliament, as above-mentioned..."); "The Genealogy of the Lords Castleconnel, & Brittas"; and "A Succinct Pedigree of William Burke Esqr Member of the British Parliament", with some revisions, 20 pages, folio, [between 1766 and 1774]
(vii) Burke (William) Autograph letter signed, evidently by William Burke ("WB"), to his friend, political ally and putative cousin Edmund Burke ("My dear Edmund"), paying him affectionate tribute ("...My Edmund I don't apologise, I am sure you will do what is right, but your greatest folly is to be afraid to do what is right, if you are to get any thing by it..."), nevertheless offering him the Supervisorship of the East India Company's Commission of Enquiry of 1772 [declined by Burke and the Commission later abandoned, to be replaced by Burgoyne's parliamentary commission] ("...I learnt that Sir G. Colebro[o]ke had been with Ld Rockingham & intimated the persons thought of for Supervisors vid. G. Monckton & Mr A. Steward [Stuart] & he mentioned you as one who was more particularly looked up to... Sir George... wishes you to be of the Commission, He feels nevertheless, I think not unjustly something more than an awkwardness, that an express offer should be made from the Company, which by possibility might not be accepted... He has therefore authorised a common friend to sound you, with this Latitude, that if he finds you would accept an offer if made, then, He has the power to assure you, the offer will be made from the Company...") and trusting that his high principles will not deter him, 3 pages, 4to, [?September 1772]
(viii) Burke Circle. Speech attributed to "R.B." [?Richard Burke Senior], attacking Fox's conduct towards revolutionary France, as revealed in his letter to his constituents [Letter... to the Worthy and Independent Electors of... Westminster, 1793], written in a scribal hand with revisions in a drafting hand, added in the margin and interlineated, opening: "The Circumstances which constitute the strength & weakness of a Nation are undoubtedly Considerations which belong to a Question of Peace & War. Mr Fox in one of his Speeches of this Session, treated the unfavorable side of the Question. But, in the Inventory which he was pleased to make of the National Weakness & Inaptitude for War, tho' tolerably copious, his Ennumeration was defective..."; docketed "Observations on Mr Fox's Letter to his Constituents" and in a different hand below "R.B.", and marked in pencil as examined,26 pages, folio, [Fox's letter to his constituents was also of course the subject of Edmund's Observations on the Conduct of the Minority] [winter of 1793/4]
(ix) Burke Circle. Draft for a speech to the House of Commons docketed "Mem: respecting some motion on War between Russia & Turkey", discussing parliamentary prerogative, opening: "We touch upon a Topic which I hope no circumstance will ever render delicate - namely the Prerogative of peace & war./ It is a prerogative which requires the greatest Caution in the case; & the greatest Vigilance to prevent the Abuse of it./ According to our constitution it is vested (long may it be so) in the Crown. But in the very Nature of the same constitution, it is but imperfectly vested in the Crown; for the means of carrying it on being wholly in this House, any thing which amounts to a previous pledging is most critical for every party..."; and going on the discuss subjects such as the balance of power; the inner revising column beginning with the apercu "My Views are long since gone - My passions daily follow them", 2 pages, folio, plus integral leaf, paper watermarked with Britannia and 'Coles'
(x) Fox (Charles James) Autograph letter signed ("C.J.F."), to the Marquess of Rockingham, reporting on negotiations with [?William] Eden ("...Eden has made just such a figure as you could wish; & every thing seemed to go on very well. But, as he at last & after much pressing seemed to say that he would give information as to facts though no opinions, May it not possibly be right to send for him to night?..."); franked autograph address panel, one page, 4to, "Brooks's 1/2 past seven" [seemingly dating from the period when when Fox was Foreign Secretary in Rockingham's second administration, March to July 1782]
(xi) King (James) Autograph letter signed ("Jas King"), written at the outset of King's naval career [that was to see him serve under Cook on the third voyage and succeed to the command, editing the official account], to his brother Walker, grumbling about their brother Tom ("...I hope you will avoid the Errors your brother is guilty of, the only end it answers of enumerating such disagreeable circumstances, how he contrives to keep the Esteem of the Burkes I know not, or whether he has not lost it..."), 3 pages, folio, paper-losses on second leaf with the loss of a dozen or so words, address panel, postmarked, "Ferret at the Nore", 31 August 1771
(xii) King (Walker) Autograph drafts for a letter to "Madam" [the Marchioness of Rockingham], thanking her for the gift of a seal engraved with Keppel's portrait ("...The seal I shall expect with great impatience from Mr Burke in whose hands I understand it still remains..."), 4 pages, 4to, no place or date [but see the published letter by Jane and Edmund Burke to King, 4 July 1779: "I inclose Lady Rockinghams letter, and keep I her present for you, which is a Seal of the Admirals head. I opened it, in order to inable you to thanks her, as I have not an opertunity of sending it"] [early July 1779]
(xiii) King (Walker) Extensively revised draft and fair copy of a speech to be delivered to the House of Lords, on petitions being submitted to Parliament, opening "I confess myself to have been one of those, who were absurd enough to imagine, that the Petitions, which have been lately agreed to in most of the principal Counties of England, could not possibly do any harm"; with a fair copy, marked with a few further revisions, each on a bifolium, 7 pages, folio [comparison with King's draft thank-you letter to Lady Rockingham indicates that this was prepared by him, possibly for use by for Rockingham when serving as his Private Secretary in 1782, or some other patron]
(xiv) King (Walker) Autograph draft of a letter to the political hostess Frances Anne Crewe, concerning her committee to help French émigrés and Burke's school at Penn ("...I had frequent conversations with Mr Burke while he was here about your plan & your future proceedings. He entirely approved of the Plan. And with respect to the management of your money concerns we agreed that the Female School deserved to be the first object of your bounty..."), the letter submitted to an (as yet) unidentified third party and returned to King with revisions ("...we cannot be too careful against coarse Jokes - & shall have Enemies enough..."), with appropriate alterations made to the draft, [possibly late February or March 1796, later King papers relating to Mrs Crewe and the school are in the British Library, Add. MS 45723]
(xv) O'Hara (Charles) Six autograph letters (two unsigned) to his long-standing and intimate correspondent Edmund Burke (one with the salutation "My dear Edmund", another with address panel, two sending regards to Mrs Burke), furnishing him with news and gossip from Dublin, and reflecting on the times in which they live ("...I have a vast deal to say to you, but yours is a name to excite curiosity at the Post Office. We were affected by a general principal, which does not seem to have succeeded in America, and might therefore be suppos'd to discourage further extension of it, but we propose to try it here; and to see how far we can drive. Was it not Caligula who said He would make his Horse Emperour, and that He shoud be obey'd? Wilkes and liberty will do mischief..."), 18 pages, 4to, one address panel ("To/ Edmund Burke Esq.re/ The Broad Sanctuary/ Westminster", postmarked), some tears with small paper-losses affecting a few words, Dublin and Nymphsfield, 9 October 1765, otherwise dated by month only
(xvi) Portland (William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of) Three autograph letters signed ("Portland"), to Walker King, the first written when Home Secretary, the second as Prime Minister, the third after his resignation, largely concerning the considerable pains expended in securing King a bishopric, 4 pages, 4to, two from Bulstrode, 1797-1808; together with a retained draft of a letter by King to Portland on the same subject
(xvii) Richmond (Charles, third Duke of) Three autograph letters signed ("Richmond. &c:"), to Walker King, concerning his tutelage of his nephew and heir Lennox, apologizing for his delay in writing ("...I must confess I could then have Hit upon the same Expedient I shall now follow of making my Porter enquire at Mr Burke's or the Speaker's where to send this to You..."), assuring him of his esteem ("...I feel much interested in whatever concerns You..."), and inviting him for Easter, one page, 4to, Goodwood, Shoreham and Whitehall, 1775-1779 [King coached the Duke in Classics during May, June and July 1774 and at about the same time was entrusted with the care of his nephew and heir Charles Lennox, later fourth Duke, a post he was again offered in 1779 but declined to take on for an extended period; see a further letter by Richmond to King, dated 31 August 1775, National Library of Scotland, MS 3418, fols.88-9]
(xviii) Rockingham (Mary Watson-Wentworth, Duchess of) Two autograph letters signed ("M: Rockingham"), to Walker King, written six months after the death of her husband, the Prime Minister, in whose service he had been: the first being a touching letter explaining an unusual present ("...I should not have taken the liberty of enclosing the Note in the Toothpick Case, but a very expensive Present is of no more use than one that is more simple, & yet the more simple one, did not satisfy My gratitude for your affectionate attention to the Valuable Friend you lost, nor for your kind assiduity towards myself, when under the most afflictive & distressing of all Trials: Now these were my feelings & my Motives..."), the second attempting to secure him the deanery of Peterborough, 7 pages, 4to, Stratton Street, 6 January and 26 February 1783 [King has served as private secretary to Rockingham in 1782, a post formerly held by Burke himself]
(xix) Windham (William) Autograph letter signed ("WWindham"), to "My Dear Sir" [probably his friend Edmund Burke], discussing a finely nuanced political business ("...I have just received the Inclosed from Hughes - It seems clear, that nothing can be done; & therefore perhaps that nothing shd be attempted: at least nor more, than may be necessary to give to this nothing the character of something... I shall write some of the letters, which we talked of, merely upon that principle - & perhaps such letters as you obligingly talked of writing, may be fashioned much upon the same idea: though with you the management need not be quite so careful..."), nevertheless assuring him that he need not defer his journey [home] to Beaconsfield, 2 pages, 4to, "Tuesday Morng./ March. 10th"
(xx) Other miscellaneous material, including sundry drafts concerning King's ecclesiastical career, a letter to W. Fenton, agent to the Earl of Fitzwilliam [Rockingham's heir], concerning a land purchase, 1785, a letter by Lord Loughborough ("...I gave Walker King his living as a mark of respect to the Memory of Ld Rockingham..."), a letter docketed "To the People" addressed to the editor of a periodical ("...French government in England! How dreadful and abhorred the thought! How base and ignoble the condition of such Servitude!..."), notes on Burke's pedigree (on the reverse of a frank addressed to King as Bishop, 1816), a letter to Walker from his brother E. King ("...I shall be glad to see another Volume of Mr Burkes Works - Is there any way to get at a moderate expence these Works..."), etc.; plus three deeds: an Exemplification of a Patent annexing the prebendary to the archdeanery of Rochester [a post held by Walker King's son and namesake], 1729, a settlement of land by Colonel Straubenzee of land in Spennithorne, NR, to Walker King, 1794, a Deed of Family Arrangement for Bishop King of Rochester's widow and children, 1827
