_8th May._--D. of Bedford, who is just returned to town, dined here; Ld. H. was detained at the H. of Lds. Fortunately I had Francis, and the day went off pleasantly. We talked of Mr. Fox’s history, to which he has written the introduction. It was lamented that instead of taking the period of which he could say so much from personal knowledge, he should go to one distant and well known. The Duke said his reason was extreme indignation against Hume, whom he had been reading last autumn; who very artfully pleads the cause of the House of Stuart, and in a way to interest his reader about the private virtues of Charles I., ‘Who, by-the-bye,’ added he, ‘is a most amiable man when viewed in his domestic capacity.’ Upon this Francis, with his usual impetuous vivacity, burst forth against him, denying him every qualification that constitutes a gentleman or a man of feeling. He quoted two stories out of Carte’s _Life of ye D. of Ormond_, a writer who is allowed to have a strong bias to the Stuarts. One was, that in the Palace at Whitehall there were etiquettes, ‘similar to those established by that _fop Louis XIV._,’ about certain apartments, which could only be entered by men of distinguished quality. Hampden, by accident, and through ignorance of these courtly rules, got into one. Suddenly a noise announced the entrance of the King; to conceal himself he sculked behind a screen. His friends with whom he was conversing were in a bustle; the King upon entering perceived their disorder, and insisted upon knowing the cause. He explored behind the screen, and upon finding Hampden, he shook his cane over his head, and threatened to beat him and worse, if he ever broke through bounds again. The other was, his receiving a petition on horseback, which was presented to him by Sir T. Fairfax and a deputation kneeling; he made his horse curvet, kicked the knight, and endangered his life. Clarendon’s style, he said, was _grave and slow_. He told Dr. Parr here at dinner the other day that Swift’s style was _clear and shallow, perfectly pellucid_. The fact is he admires no style but his own, and that is worthy of admiration, as it is much the best now. [Sidenote: NEW BILLS] D. of B. means to go down about this new Divorce Bill; he is very eager against it. He says it will reverse the present system, for if a circumstance of the sort occurs to a husband who is high-spirited, he generally fights the lover, whereas the lover will now threaten the husband by saying, ‘If you make an _éclat_ and get me whipped at the cart’s tail, by G----, I will kill you.’ A Bill is to be brought forward in the H. of Commons by Sir H. Mildmay to check the increase of Catholicism, by preventing the nuns at Winchester from giving the veil. An attempt to make a proselyte will become penal. Mr. Fox, when he heard of these Bills, the one against celibacy and the other, said, ‘Aye, the poor women, they will not let them do one thing or the other.’