TROOPS SENT TO AMERICA.
*I am not damned, according to your charitable wishes, because I have not acted; there was such an inundation of speakers, young Speakers in every sense of the word, both on Thursday in the Grand Committee, and Monday on the report to the house, that neither Lord George Germaine nor myself could find room for a single word. The principal men both days were Fox and Wedderburne, on the opposite sides; the latter displayed his usual talents. The former taking the vast compass of the question before us, discovered powers for regular debate, which neither his friends hoped, nor his Enemies dreaded. We voted an address (304 to 105), of lives and fortunes, declaring Massachusets Bay in a state of rebellion. More troops, but I fear not enough, go to America, to make an army of 10,000 men at Boston; three Generals, Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton. In a few days we stopthe ports of New England.[282]I cannot write Volumes: but I am more and more convinced, that with firmness all may go well; yet I sometimes doubt Lord N[orth]. I am now writing with Ladies (Sir S. Porten and his Bride), and two card tables, in the Library. As to my silence, judge of my situation by last Monday. I am on the Grenvillian Committee of Downton.[283]We always sit from ten to three and a half; after which, that day, I went into the House, and sat till three in the morning.* I will shew your letter to Caplin as well for Porter as footman. I do not understand your new scheme.Your drawing-room will never do!Write soon about Gilbert.
E. G.
I will write soon again.
Wednesday Eve, 15th February, 1775.
A letter to-day from Mrs. G.: she has heard of the Tythes-man being found, wishes to buy by private Contract, fears the price, distrusts Gil[bert]; and wishes to hear from you through me. I shall use your hints to-morrow. I have found you a Servant—George Barton, a Native of Cheshire. Sir Harbord,[284]whom he last lived with, gives him (to me) a very good character; he is a middle-aged, sober, well-looking man, loves the country, takes care of horses, and likes your terms so well that, if you chuse it by return of post, he will attend you. The post this instant rings, d'Eyverdun exists. Next week I think the fishery Bill. There is some reason to think (Barrè told me just now) that the New York Assembly has dissented from the Congress.[285]Adieu.
Saturday Evening, February 25th, 1775.
NORTH'S CONCILIATORY SCHEME.
Enclosed I send you Aunt's power of Attorney. It is not legal, owing I suppose to her ignorance of forms, butstill it expresses her sentiments, and will, I think, relative to her, authorize you to take any measures that may be expedient for the general good, and they must be taken without delay. I think if wecould get a tolerable leaseof the Tythes for a good term of years, it would be a stop-gap in our favour till at better leisure we could purchase them.
*We go on with regard to America, if we can be said to go on; for on last Monday a conciliatory Motion of allowing the Colonies to tax themselves was introduced by Lord North, in the midst of lives and fortunes, War and famine.[286]We went into the House in Confusion, every moment expecting that the Bedfords would fly into Rebellion against those measures. Lord North rose six times to appease the storm; all in vain; till at length Sir Gilbert [Elliot] declared for Administration, and the Troops all rallied under their proper standards. On Wednesday we had the Middlesex Election.[287]I was a Patriot; sat by the Lord Mayor,[288]who spoke well, and with temper, but before the end of the debate fell fast asleep. I am still a Mute; it is more tremendous than I imagined; the great speakers fill me with despair, the bad ones with terror.
When do you move? My Lady answered like a woman of sense, spirit, and good nature. "Neither she nor I could bear it." She was right, and the Dutchess of Braganza[289]would have made the same answer.* How do you like your footman? Sir H. only parted with him because the Man wanted to set up his Trade in his own Country. Adieu.
Tuesday Evening, February 28th, 1775.
The Bell rings——I like the intended Journey of Sunday. For sundry reasons think you had better auspicate by Twickenham, and reserve Bentinck Street, for thebonne boucheweek. Still dumb: but see, hear, laugh sometimes, am oftener serious, but upon the whole very well amused. Adieu.
March the 30th, 1775.
Dear Madam,
A SILENT MEMBER.
*I hardly know how to take up the pen. I talked in my last pen of two or three posts, and I am almost ashamed to calculate how many have elapsed. I will endeavour for the future to be less scandalous. Only believe that my heart isinnocent of the lazyness of my hand. I do not mean to have recourse to the stale and absurd excuse of business, though I have really had a very considerable hurry of new Parliamentary business: one day, for instance, of seventeen hours, from ten in the morning till between three and four the next morning. It is, upon the whole, an agreeable improvement in my life, and forms just the mixture of business, of study, and of society, which I always imagined I should, and now find I do, like. Whether the House of Commons may ever prove of benefit to myself or Country is another question. As yet I have been mute. In the course of our American affairs, I have sometimes had a wish to speak, but though I felt tolerably prepared as to the matter, I dreaded exposing myself in the manner, and remained in my seat safe, but inglorious. Upon the whole (though I still believe I shall try), I doubt whether Nature, not that in some instances I am ungrateful, has given me the talents of an Orator, and I feel that I come into Parliament much too late to exert them.*
The H.'s have passed a fortnight with me and went away yesterday. I regret them much. We often thought and talked of you, and the more so, as we stumbled on your friend Mrs. Ashby. She is an agreable Woman, though we cannot think her either handsome, or proper for your daughter-in-law. *Do you hear of Port Eliot coming to Bath? and, above all, do you hear of Charles Street[290]coming to Bentinck Street, in its way to Essex, &c. Adieu.
Dear Madam,I am most truly yours,E. Gibbon.*
Saturday Night, 8th April, 1775. Atwood's as usual.
A Letter from Aunt.She supposes me too much taken up with Public business to write. And yet, alas! throughout that public business I have remained silent, and notwithstanding all my efforts chained down to my place by some invisible—unknown invisible power. Now America and almost Parliament are at an end. I haveresumed my Historywith vigour andadjourned Politicks to next Winter. Deyverdun will render account of his own Commissions. Lord Stamford and Booth GrayhuntBrown for your service. He is difficult to catch. I embrace My Lady and Maria.She(I mean My Lady) is good and grateful. Adieu.
Lovegrove still shuffles: I know not what to do.
April 11th, 1775.
Dear Madam,
I am sorry to hear of your rheumatism, but the return of Spring is much in your favour. I wish you would follow Mrs. Porten's method, who is never out of order above four and twenty hours at a time, and is still, take her upon the whole, one of the youngest women I know about town. I am glad to find that Mr. Eliot is coming to Bath; he will be in town, I suppose, some days after the end of the Sessions. His friends continually ask me about him, and when his name is drawn upon a Ballot it is a standing joke in the House of Commons. It will certainly not be in my power to attend him and to visit you as I could have wished during the very short period of our Holidays. I never yet found myself more taken up with business: one part of it, though indeed the most trifling, you will not, I believe, be displeased at,a presentation at Court next week. I likewise have an engagement to meet Lord North at dinner, which will probably be followed by another at his own House (but this between ourselves). Besides all this, the melancholy duty which I am discharging to poor Clarke makes it impossible for me to move for some time, as my Colleague—Skipwith—takes the country business and leaves me that of town, which is much more perplexing and tedious than I expected. So you see, dear Madam, that you must return my visit, and I hope you will seriously think of it. Deyverdun kisses your hands, and will soon send you something in verse or prose.
I am, dear Madam,Most truly yours,E. G.
Be so good as to give me a line on Mr. E.'s arrival, with some idea of his intended motions, that I may epistolize him.
House of Commons, May the 2nd, 1775.
Dear Madam,
PRESENTATION AT COURT.
*I accept the Pomeranian Lady with gratitude and pleasure, and shall be impatient to form an acquaintance with her. My presentations passed graciously,* and I am glad that I can now walk about the Rooms on a footing with other people. Sir S. P. had no concern in the business which was transacted by the Lord of the Bed-chamber in one place, and the Chamberlain on the other. *My dinner at Twickenham was attended with less ceremony and more amusement. If they turned out Lord N. to-morrow, they would still leave him one of the best Companions in the Kingdom. By this time I suppose the Eliots with you. I am sure you will say every thing kind and proper on the occasion. I am glad to hear of the approbation of my Constituents for my vote on the Middlesex Election; on the subject of America, I have been something more of a Courtier. You know, I suppose, that Holroyd is just stept over to Ireland for a fortnight. He passed three days with me on his way.*
Adieu, Dear Madam. You have had but a disagreable Winter, I think, in point of health. A Journey to town, Essex, &c., would do you a great deal of good.
Ever yours,E. G.
15th May, 1775.
Since your departure a considerable event has happened with regard to Deyverdun, which disconcerts many of our schemes. Sir Abraham Hume[291]has proposed to him to go abroad with his younger brother for four years. Our friend was undetermined especially as the first year or eighteen months were to be passed in the uncomfortable University of Gottingen. But as he wasoffered in a very handsome way a Life annuity of £100 per annum which will secure him a Philosophic independence free from the odious necessity of riding post with young cubs, reason has compelled him to accept and me to acquiesce. He sets out soon, though he still hopes to see you. A fortune that would enable a Man to give him an Equivalent on less unpleasant terms would just now be a very desirable thing.
Returned this moment from an American debate. A Remonstrance and Representation from the Assembly of New York, presented and feebly introduced by Burke, but most forcibly supported by Fox.[292]They disapprove of the violence of their neighbours, acknowledge the necessity of some dependence on Parliament with regard to Commercial restraints and express some affection and moderation; but they claim internal taxation, state many grievances and formally object to the declaratory Act. On the last ground it was impossible to receive it. Division 186 to 67. The House tired and languid. In this season and on America, the Archangel Gabriel would not be heard. On Thursday an attempt to repeal the Quebec bill,[293]and then to the right about, and for myself, having supported the British, I must destroy the Roman Empire.
Are we not very popular in the Bog? Is your business done, and when do yousuperas condere ad auras? I frequently hear from the Heroine of Brighthelmstone, and in the brevity of my Rescripts treat her with the dignity of a Sultan. Adieu.
No news from Lovegrove. The affair begins to make me seriously unhappy.
London, May 16th, 1775.
Dear Madam,
To-day Deyverdun, myself, and another gentleman dined at home. After drinking coffee in the Library, we went down stairs again, and as we entered the Parlour, our ears were saluted with a very harmonious barking, and our eyes gratified by thesight of one of the prettiest animals I ever saw. Her figure and coat are perfect, her manners genteel and lively, and her teeth (as a pair of ruffles have already experienced) most remarkably sharp. She is not the least fatigued with her voyage, and compleatly at home in Bentinck Street. I call herBath. Gibbon would be ambiguous and Dorothea disrespectful. However it may still be changed. A thousand thanks, and if the E.'s are arrived, many compliments.
I am, dear Madam,Ever yours,E. G.
May 30th, 1775.
THE MARCH TO CONCORD.
You will probably see in the Papers, the Boston Gazette Extraordinary. I shall therefore mention a few circumstances which I have from Governor Hutchinson.
That Gazette is the only account arrived. As soon as the business was over the Provincial Congress dispatched a vessel with the news for the good people of England. The vessel was taken up to sail instantly at a considerable loss and expence, as she went without any lading but her ballast. No other letters were allowed to be put on board, nor did the crew know their destination till they were on the Banks of Newfoundland. The Master is a man of character and moderation, and from his mouth the following particulars have been drawn.Fides sit penes auctorem.
It cannot fairly be called a defeat of the King's troops; since they marched to Concord, destroyed or brought away the stores, and then returned back.[294]They were so much fatigued with their day's work (they had marched above thirty miles) that they encamped in the evening at some distance fromBoston without being attacked in the night. It can hardly be called an engagement, there never was any large body of Provincials. Our troops during the march and retreat were chiefly harrassed by flying parties from behind the stone walls along the road and by many shots from the windows as they passed through the villages. It was then they were guilty of setting fire to some of those hostile houses. Ensign Gould had been sent with only twelve men to repair a wooden bridge for the retreat; he was attacked by the Saints with a minister at their head, who killed two men and took the Ensign with the others prisoners. The next day the Country rose. When the Master came away he says that Boston was invested by a camp of about fifteen hundred tents. They have canon. Their General is a Colonel Ward, a member of the late Council, and who served with credit in the last War. His outposts are advanced so near the town, that they can talk to those of General Gage.
This looks serious, and is indeed so. But the Governor[295]observed to me that the month of May is the time for sowing Indian corn, the great sustenance of the Province, and that unless the Insurgents are determined to hasten a famine, they must have returned to their own habitations: especially as the restraining act (they had already heard of it) cuts off all foreign supply, which indeed generally become necessary to the Province before Winter. Adieu.
Bentinck Street, June 3rd, 1775.
The American news becomes every hour more problematical. Darby, the master of the Ship, has not condescended to show to any one the original of the Salem Gazette. He has refused to come to Lord Dartmouth, and what is still more extraordinary, though he says he left his ship at Southampton, a person of consequence sent down there by Government has not been able to learn the least news about it. Yet on the other hand a ship from New York is certainly arrived at Bristol with the report that a Skirmish at Boston was talked of. No news from Gage. Whatam I to do about Handkerchiefs? I thought the letter you sent me for Downs was an order for them. He sent them to me without my application, and they are already marked and used. On the other hand Mrs. B[enjamin] W[ay] is outrageous. It is all your fault and must be cleared up by you. I think I see some hopes about Lovegrove, though too faint as yet to be worth any detail. I rejoyce in My Lady's health. What is the name of her friend the Dutchess's Captain? Deyverdun is on the wing. I wish you would make and send me a cheese. I must eat two before I think of Sheffield. Bath, who desires his compliments, promises himself a very pleasant summer there.
E.G.
London, June 7th, 1775.
Dear Madam,
ENGAGED ON A HISTORICAL WORK.
The post after I received your last letter, I wrote to Eliot to know whether he had any intention of coming to town from Bath, but his Lazyness has not yet condescended to answer me. With the frankness that our friendship permits and requires, I will fairly tell you the state of the case. If he does not visit London, decency and perhaps gratitude call upon me to meet him at Bath; but if he relieves me from that necessity, the Autumn will be a much more convenient time for me to make my appearance in Charles Street. The season is more agreable, and I am just at present engaged in a great Historical Work, no less than a History of the Decline and fall of the Roman Empire, with the first Volume of which I may very possibly oppress the public next winter. It would require some pages to give a more particular idea of it: but I shall only say in general that the subject is curious, and never yet treated as it deserves, and that during some years it has been in my thoughts and even under my pen. Should the attempt fail, it must be by the fault of the execution. Adieu, Dear Madam; all Compliments, where they are due, and believe me,
Most truly yours,E. G.
June, 1775.
Though Darby's vessel cannot be found, it is pretty clear he is no impostor. He arrived in his boat at Southampton, and probably left his ship in some creek of the Isle of Wight. He has now left town, and is gone, it is said, on a trading voyage to purchase Ammunition in France and Spain. Do you not admire the lenity of Government? This day news came that a Ship arrived at Liverpool from Rhode Island. She sailed the 20th, the day after the Skirmish, and has brought a general confirmation of it. There was a report this evening of the arrival of the Sukey[296]from Gage, but it certainly is not true, and you know as much of the matter as Lord North.
London, June the 17th, 1775.
I have not courage to write about America. We talk familiarly of Civil War, Dissolutions of Parliament, Impeachments and Lord Chatham. The boldest tremble, the most vigorous talk of peace. And yet no more than sixty-five rank and file have been killed. Governor H[utchinson] assures me that Gage has plenty of provisions fresh and salted, flour, fish, vegetables, &c.:hopeshe is not in danger of being forced——
What can I know of the Tythes? Gilbert has done nothing. I acquainted Mrs. G. with it in a very polite Epistle, which she has answered by a very polite silence.
After calling twice on Sir Richard Sutton, I sent to know when I could have the honour, &c. He was gone for the summer that very morning.—My Lady has received Sevigné[297]that isone of the new volumes; instead of the other, a different book (I fancy Danville'sGeographie Ancienne) was sent; as it may be of more use to me than to her, the error should be mutually rectified. Deyverdun goes next week. Yesterday I gave a dinner on his account to the Humes, Sir Charles Thompson and Sir Richard Worsley. He is going to marry the youngest Miss Fleming:[298]love and £80,000.—This day I sent almost aCharte blancheto Lovegrove (do not be frightened) offering to warrant according to Duane's directions or wishing to know what he should expect as a compensation. The letter was settled between Newton and me, and if it does no good, will do no harm. Adieu.
E. G.
29th June, 1775.
HIS HISTORY GOING TO PRESS.
America is too great a subject—Tythes are best in your hands—Nothing satisfactory from Lovegrove, to whom I have offered Warranty secundum. Duane, Arbitration or a treaty about some compensation—Now Lord Stamford and his brother are out of town.I know not how to get at Brown.The Roman Empire will derange Sheffield;the Press is just set to work, and I shall be very busy the wholesummer in correctingand composing. Deyverdun wrote to me from Calais; he will not be fixed till his arrival at Gottingen. He has left me somewhat dull and melancholy. My respects to my Lady, Mama and thesweet Maria. Adieu. Batt dined with me yesterday, Thursday evening. You mistook me when I talked of his visiting Sheffield. It was not Lawyer Battbut Dog Bath, who sends you his compliments, and proposes to himself great amusement in Sussex. What does Foster (Mac) in England? He speaks of the Bog with great modesty.
July the 3rd, 1775.
Dear Madam,
I wish you would believe, what is really the case, that before I received your letter I intended to have written this very post. It is true that I had the same intention for many posts before, and that the glorious spirit of procrastination always told me that the next would do just as well: I do not mean as to your franks, for those I must confess I had absolutely and irrecoverably forgotten. *Deyverdun had left me just before your letter arrived, which I shall soon have an opportunity of conveying to him. Though, I flatter myself, he broke from me with some degree of uneasiness, the engagement could not be declined. At the end of the four years he has an annuity of £100 for Life, and may, for the remainder of his days, enjoy a decent independence in that Country, which a Philosopher would perhaps prefer to the rest of Europe. For my own part, after the hurry of the town and of Parliament, I am now retired to my Villa in Bentinck Street, which I begin to find a very pleasing Solitude, at least as well as if it were two hundred miles from London; because when I am tired of the Roman Empire, I can laugh away the Evening at Foote's Theatre, which I could not do in Hampshire or Cornwall.* You know I am not a writer of news, but I cannot forbear telling you that the Dutchess of Bedford made regular proposals of marriage to the young Earl Cholmondely, and was as regularly refused. Poor as he was (he replied to Mr. Fitzpatrick the Embassador) he was not quite poor enough to accept them.
I am, Dear Madam,Most truly Yours,E. Gibbon.
Boodle's, Thursday Evening, 13th July, 1775.
PRINTING THE HEAD BEFORE THE TAIL.
The parsimony of your spouse, who rather chuses to build Gateways than to buy books, has hithertodeprived you of Hume.Having just got the best Edition, I have sent you a good one. By this time you have probablyreceived Sevigné. Enclosed Mr. H. willfind Aunt's letter. I have not read it, as I never read more business than is absolutely necessary. You will please to inform him that a letter on his plan has been sent to Lovegrove.I write no news, 1st because there are none authentic, and 2dly because you will see dear MacFoster to-morrow.
How does sweet Maria?You have both used me ill in sending me no intelligence about her. I shall soon write again to the Baron and inform him of the reasonswhich may delay myJourney. Those that would hasten it you will know.
Your slave,E. G.
July 20th, 1775.
Do you believe that my inclination leads me to S. P.? If you do not, you are a D—— fool to give yourself the trouble of asking me. If you do, you may as well believe that I am giving you reasons and not pretences. I am just now in the most busy moment of my life, nor is it so small a work as you may imagine to destroy a great Empire. I do not merely mean correcting the sheets from the press: that might certainly be performed at S. P., as both Printer, Strahan,[299]and Author, an odd circumstance, are Senators. But from a natural impatience, as you well know, I have begun toprint the head before the tailwas quite finished; some parts must be composed, and, as I proceed in the reviewing, so many emendations and alterations occur, which require the neighbourhood of my Library, that in any other region of the Earth, I should find myself every day at a full stop. As well as I can see before me, I think that I may give you September:but I promise nothing. As soon as I find it within my power, I shall order my chaise. Therefore be silent and resigned.
General Frazer,[300]with whomI dined to-day atthe British, talks of visiting you next month.Do you remember my Aunt whom you invited, and who is much disposed to accompany me?I was thinking that your mother's illness might render thatless convenient.If it does you may give her a civil Epistle.You recollect de Salis; he is in town, and asked after you.—As to public affairs, we are in hourly expectation of a battle, and flying reports arrive but do not prevail. They are certainly premature. What do you think of £1700 a year for 31 years on poor Ireland to gain Flood, and to pay some of the C. F's debts without making a friend of him, but only to buy his place at an extravagant price?[301]My domestic affairs seem calm; the Wintons are quiet, and the other brute has graciously accepted the Arbitration of Palmer and will mention it to him in a few days. Booth Gray, to whom I wrote about Brown, is silent.Duane was so till this morning, when he sent me a note that he had been ill and could not visit the Tythes of Newhaven till September. Your projects are vast; but the essential thing seems to be apresentdecent increase of rent for Aunt Gibbon.
I approve of thefallrather thandeclineof the Sussex society.
E. G.
Bentinck Street, August 1st, 1775.
*Your apprehensions of a precipitate work, &c., are perfectly groundless. I should be much more addicted to a contrary extreme. Theheadis now printing? true, but it was wrote lastyear and the year before, the first Chapter has been composedde nouveauthree times; the secondtwice, and all the others have undergone reviews, corrections, &c. As to the tail, it is perfectly formed and digested (and were I so much given to self-content and haste), it is almost all written. The ecclesiastical part, for instance, is written out in fourteen sheets, which I mean torefondrefrom beginning to end. As to the friendly Critic, it is very difficult to find one who has leisure, candour, freedom, and knowledge sufficient. However, Batt and Deyverdun have read and observed. After all, the public is the best Critic. I print no more than 500 copies of the first Edition; and the second (as it happens frequently to my betters) may receive many improvements. So much for Rome.* Now for Ireland. I am desired to consult you about Lord Ely[302]who (between ourselves) pays his court to a niece of Eliot's. His fortune is very large, he is a widower, and as we hear behaved well in his first place; but we wish to get an impartial account of his general character, manners, inclinations, virtues and defects. Can you give or procure it?
NOTHING NEW FROM AMERICA
*We have nothing new from America. But I can venture to assure you, that administration is now as unanimous and decided as the occasion requires. Something will be done this year; but in the spring the force of the country will be exerted to the utmost. Scotch highlanders, Irish papists, Hanoverians, Canadians, Indians, &c. will all in various shapes be employed. Parliament meets the first week in November. I think his Catholic Majesty may be satisfied with his summer's amusement. The Spaniards fought with great bravery, and made a fine retreat; but our Algerine friends surpassed them as much in conduct as in number.[303]Adieu.
The Dutchess[304]has stopped Foote's piece. She sent for himto Kingston house and threatened, bribed, argued, and wept for about two hours. He assured her that if the Chamberlain was obstinate, he should publish it with a dedication to her Grace.*
Bentinck Street, August 4th, 1775.
Avue de pays, I should have reached S. P. the first week in September. If you visit Sir John [Russell] about that time, you and My Lady will of course lodge in Bentinck Street, and in your return I may condescend to accompany you.Gage is recalled.[305]Good men rejoice. Patriots murmur. Adieu.
E. G.
A quadrille party in the next room, Mrs. Bonfoy, Lady Ely,[306]&c.: we are impatient.
You have acted like yourself about Newhaven.
Bentinck Street, August 15th, 1775.
I have not time to hold a long conversation with you: but I want to settle theplan of our visit(Aunt and self) to S. P. According to our last it seemed that you were to go into Bucksthe first week in September, and that it would suit us all toattend your returninto Sussex. But as I was pacing along the Strand last week, the Baronet arrested me with a friendly laugh anda hearty shake, and told me, among other curious and interesting particulars, that your visit to him would nottake place before the 18th: an awkward period, as it intersects the time that we could bestow upon you. Suppose youwere to defer it till the first week in October. We could then give you the whole month of September, and come up with you.Siquid novisti rectius istis, candidus imperti, sinon——I have nothing to add about theenclosed. Palmer is out of town, and Lovegrove and Matthews appear wonderfully nonchalant. Eliot is stepped down into Gloucestershire. I shall communicate the Lord's portrait,[307]and I think it will please and suit them.
London, August 18th, 1775.
Dear Madam,
HIS DOG THE COMFORT OF HIS LIFE.
*Will you excuse my present litterary business as an excuse for my not writing? I think you will be in the wrong if you do; since I was just as idle before. At all events, however, it is better to say three words, than to be totally a dumb dog.A proposof dog, but not of dumb, Bath (a foolish name enough) is the comfort of my life; pretty, impertinent, fantastical, all that a young Lady of fashion ought to be; I flatter myself that our passion is reciprocal.* Have you seen Mr. Eliot very lately? He left us about ten days ago to make a visit in Glostershire, and perhaps may have looken upon you at Bath: we expect him again very soon, and shall live together as we did before in a very pleasant society for the time of year. Next month I believe Mrs. P. and myself shall pay a short visit to Sheffield place. Deyverdun, from whom I heard the other day, desires his Compliments and best wishes to you.
You will be surprized and concerned to hear, as I did last week by a letter from Mr. Dawkes at St. Omers, that poor Pitman is dead. I know no other particulars about it. Adieu.
Dear Madam,Ever yours,E. G.
Saturday Night, August 26th, 1775.
I think that, through the dark and doubtful mist of futurity, I can discern some faint probability that the Gibbon and his Aunt will arrive at S. P. before the Sun, or rather the Earth, hasaccomplished eight diurnal Revolutions. A Caledonian Hero, who commands the warriours of the Fraserian tribe, seemed likewise to threaten an invasion about the same period. Adieu.
Lord Ely has given great satisfaction. The business is concluded.
Saturday, ten o'clock in the Evening, Spinham lands, 1775.
MRS. GIBBON CATCHES SMALL-POX.
I arrived in town about one, and calling on the Eliots found they received yesterday a letter from their sister at Bath, that Mrs. G.'s small-pox is of a very bad confluent sort. I got out of town about half an hour after three (too much hurried to write), have travelled till the Moon failed me, propose being at Bath about noon to-morrow. Shall write to-morrow evening.
Bath, October 2nd, 1775.
To continue my journal, I departed from Spinham lands about five o'clock on Sunday morning, and arrived here at eleven. Caplin, whom I had sent on before, met me at the town's end, and agreeably surprised me with the most favourable account. Miss Eliot had too rashly taken the alarm, as Mrs. G.'s sort, though confluent, was a very good one. It has turned, in the best manner possible, the ninth day, and she has at present, but in the slightest degree, the secondary fever. Dr. Delacour assures me that she is perfectly out of all danger: but hesitates about acquainting her of my arrival these three or four days. He knows not the value of time when the fate of an Empire depends upon it. Without disclosing my motives, I urge business: and at all events talk of setting out Thursday. Even if I should not see her, the attention would be all the same. I ought to have acquired some merit at the expence of infinite hurry, twenty pounds (for I rattled with four horses and two servants for the sake of sending Caplin forwards), and above all of a week's loss of time. I am impatient on all accounts to get away; notwithstanding the agreeable society of Mrs. Cochran, Misses Sharp, MajorMatthews, and Bresboro the conjurer.——After separating them by a very long dash, I shall mention that I saw Breck Street last night; Sally looks very poorly, and Mr. H. made me melancholy by his desponding way of talking of himself. I have likewise seen Foster, the father of Harry, who inquired much after Jack Holroyd. Methinks he has something of the Brogue upon the tip of his tongue now. How do you relish solitude? Can you endure so many severe strokes which were inflicted in one day? My adorations wait on My Lady, nor do I forget the infant Spinny. Have you had any moreDesserts à la Francaise? Depend upon it you will always be properly opposed in such arbitrary measures.
E. G.
Bentinck Street, October 14th, 1775.
Yes, yes, I am safe enough in town, and so comfortably in mine own dear Library, and mine own dear Parlour, that I thought I might as well give myself a few Holydays from any Epistolary cares. Aunt Hester starts Monday or Tuesdaycertainly. It isneedless to say much of Bath, from whence you receive weekly folios. You have beeninformed how artfully the conspiracy was carried on, and how I arrived eight and forty hours after I came. Since my return (I will not tell you what day) I have had regular and favourable despatches from Mrs. Gould, and this day for the first time an Epistle from Mrs. Gibbon herself, full of health, good spirits, and expressions of gratitude. She is much concerned that I had the trouble of coming to Bath, but if I know her, would have been muchmore concerned if I hadnot come. So much for that business, which has proved no inconsiderable interruption.
As to my domestic War,Madox and the Solicitor-Generalare enlisted; they have each of them received a Guinea to drink my health. Newton wanted likewise the Attorney-General; I hesitated, and asked if it was necessary to employ three great Lawyers to puzzle our plain case. A peremptory message was sent at the same time to Matthews to demand his ultimate answer. He replied by the next post that he would write as soon as he hadseen Lovegrove, who was then from home. Unless they are at once subdued by the terror of my arms, I much fear that our dispute will last as long as the American Contest.