_The North Briton_ was not of Mrs. Scott’s opinion with regard to Johnson’s merits. “I hope,” says Wilkes (No. 11, August 14th), “Johnson is a writer of reputation, because, as a writer, he has just got a pension of £300 per annum. I hope, too, that he has become a friend to this constitution and the family on the throne, now he is thus nobly provided for; but I know he has much to unwrite, more to unsay, before he will be forgiven by the true friends of the present illustrious family for what he has been writing and saying for many years.” In the last-named month, occurred that great event, the birth of “the first gentleman in Europe.” Mrs. Scott thus speaks of mother and child: _August 13, 1762._ Mrs. Scott to Mrs. Robinson, Rome.—“On Thursday, the queen was brought to bed of a son, and both, we are told, are well. Many rejoiced, but none more than those who have been detained during all this hot weather in town to be present at the ceremony. Among them, no one was more impatient than the Chancellor, who, not considering any part of the affair as a point of law, thought his presence very unnecessary. His lordship and the Archbishop must have had a fatiguing office; for, as she was brought to bed at 7 in the morning, they must have attended her labour all night, for fear they should be absent at the critical moment of delivery. I wish they were not too much out of humour before the prince was born, to be able to welcome it properly.... The lady’s person is not the only thing that displeased. There is a coarseness and vulgarity of manners that disgust much more. She does not seem to choose to fashion herself at all.... Ned Scott’s wife is to suckle the Prince of Wales—an employment which in all probability will prove as good nourishment to her own family as to the royal babe; for her numerous offspring can scarcely fail of being provided for after she has served in such an office. “... Peace is being much talked of, tho’ the terms are unknown. The Duke of Bedford is spoken of as the person who is to go to Paris to transact it. I hope much will not depend on secret articles; for I think he gave a proof, when old Bussy was here, that his old nurse could not be a greater blab!”