observed my orders, which were to remove nothing but what is usual, and called by all people furniture. Upon this the housekeeper took with him the servant I sent with the letter, and after he had gone through all the lodgings, he sent me word that they were in very good order, and that the report of my having taken anything out of them that did not belong to me, was false and scandalous. Having received this account, I desired Mr. Craggs, who had been with me at St. Albans, where I then was, to go to the Lord Chamberlain, who was the proper officer to apply to upon such occasions, and to give him an account of what had been reported, and to desire that he would send somebody to examine the lodgings; but my Lord Chamberlain not being in town, Mr. Craggs went of himself to my Lord Oxford, and told him what misrepresentations had been made to her Majesty about the lodgings; to which he answered, that there could be none, since the Queen had viewed them herself, and had been much displeased at the taking away the brass locks, which she believed _were mostly her own_; but as to the message by Mrs. Cowper, he knew nothing of it, only he understood it was something that had disturbed her Majesty. Mr. Craggs told him there was no message from me to the Queen, but only a discourse, that was very natural with Mrs. Cowper, and necessary to her getting some lodgings for herself, since those she had were in my grant, as her Majesty was pleased to say she knew they were; who made a very civil answer upon the subject of my conversation with Mrs. Cowper. It was some comfort, however, to find that all the outcry that was made about the chymnies and getting the lodgings were let fall, and ended only in her Majesty being angry at my taking away brass locks, which she only _thought were mostly her own_, and therefore was in some doubt whether they were not mine; but when so much disagreeable noise had been made about this matter, I thought it would be right to have the housekeeper of St. James’s sign a paper to the same effect with what he had said; upon which I sent him such a one, which I desired him to sign for the justification of my servants, who had orders to remove nothing but furniture, and if he had any difficulty in doing it, I desired him to ask my Lord Chamberlain if he might not sign to what was the truth; and if it were not true, then he had but to show where my servants had done wrong, and I would punish them for it. The housekeeper at first was unwilling to give anything under his hand, notwithstanding what he had declared by word of mouth, and the message he had sent to me; but he was afraid, I suppose, of being put out of his place: yet upon my sending him the paper I mentioned just now, which was all true, and nothing but the fact, he signed it at last, though it was directly contrary to what my Lord of Oxford reported from the Queen, in which he said, _there could not possibly be any mistake, since her Majesty had been in the