[79] Horace Walpole tells us that Sir Robert Walpole, against the earnest representations of his family and most intimate friends, had consented to the recall of Bolingbroke ("that intriguing Proteus") from banishment, excepting only his re-admission to the House of Lords. "Bolingbroke, at his return [1723], could not avoid waiting on Sir Robert to thank him, and was invited to dine with him at Chelsea; but whether tortured at witnessing Walpole's serene frankness and felicity, or suffocated with indignation and confusion at being forced to be obliged to one whom he hated and envied, the first morsel he put into his mouth was near choking him, and he was reduced to rise from table and leave the room for some minutes. I never heard of their meeting more."--Walpole's _Reminiscences_.
[80] It is also said to have been lined with cedar.--See _ante_, p. 345.
[81] The upper part of the mill was taken down; the lower part is still used for grinding corn. The situation of the old mansion is indicated by the names of Bolingbroke-gardens and Bolingbroke-terrace.
[82] Mallet did not fail to publish, after Bolingbroke's death, his writings disclosing his opposition to revealed religion, which drew from Johnson the severe remark, that Bolingbroke, "having loaded a blunderbuss, and pointed it against Christianity, had not the courage to discharge it himself, but left half-a-crown to a hungry Scotchman to pull the trigger after his death."
[83] Communication to _Notes and Queries_, Second Series, No. 212, by the Author of the present volume.
[84] _Historical Sketches of Statesmen._ Third Series, vol. ii. corrected Edition.
In the twelfth edition of _The Ambulator_, edited nearly half a century ago by that trustworthy topographer, Mr. E. W. Brayley, under "Epping Forest," we read "a plan for the inclosure of the Forest has been recently projected." And this plan has been slowly but surely put into execution; the inclosures having been so numerous that little remains of this charming forest district, with its verdant glades, secluded dells, thickets, majestic oaks, and sinking vistas of enchanting wilderness and cheerful landscape, to gladden the hearts of the toilers in the vast metropolis.