Chapter XVII: Letter 47: ) (4)

I much fear that the Buriton expedition is necessary; but it has occurred to me, that if I _met_, instead of _accompanying_ you, it would save me a journey of above one hundred miles. That reflection led to another of a very impudent nature; _viz._ that if I did not accompany you, I certainly could be of no use to you or myself on the spot; that I had much rather, while you examined the premises, pass the time in a horse-pond; and that I had still rather pass it in my library with the 'decline and fall.' But that would be an effort of friendship worthy of Theseus or Perithous: modern times would hardly credit, much less imitate, such exalted virtue.

[Sidenote: SUMMER CAMPAIGN IN AMERICA.]

No news from America, yet there are people, large ones too, who talk of conquering it next summer with the help of 20,000 Russians. I fancy you are better satisfied with private than public War. The Lisbon Packet in coming home met about forty of our privateers. Adieu. I hardly know whether I direct right to you, but I think S. P. the surest.*

365.

_To his Stepmother._

Bentinck Street, Jan. 7th, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

You will pity rather than blame me when I tell you that all last week I have been a good deal indisposed. The changes of weather brought a severe cold, accompanied with some degree of fever. I was confined to my room several days, and the state of my spirits as well as that of my health would have rendered the effort of writing very painful to me. The effort would have been still more painful with regard to the subject of your two last letters. I feel your happiness so much connected with mine, that the account of your sentiments and situation must disturb the enjoyments and encrease the anxiety of my own life. I feel it the more deeply as I am sensible that it is not in my power to remove the two causes of your present uneasiness.

I know not how to offer advice, and I am incapable of giving any efficacious help. I have easily perceived in my successive visits to Bath that a dislike of the place, of public life, and of mixed Society was insensibly gaining ground in your mind: and as I know that our happiness must always depend on our opinions and habits, I never presumed to prescribe for the constitution of another. Business and pleasure, Society or no Society, town or country, have undoubtedly their respective merits, and every one must on those subjects think and judge and act for themselves. The gay hurry of Bath or the silent retirement of Mrs. Massey's in Essex may alike be enjoyed by the mind to which they are adapted, and the only advice which I could think of offering, would be, not to engage yourself rashly in a connection of which you might afterwards repent. I have always considered marriage as a very serious undertaking, and the agreement of any friends to live together in the same house is a sort of marriage. If they have passed several years in different modes of life, their manners, their opinions, their sentiments on almost every subject must have contracted a different colour, and every little circumstance of hours, &c., will prove the cause of mutual restraint or mutual dissatisfaction.

But I now find, what indeed I have sometimes feared, that your design of retiring from Bath is not entirely the effect of choice and inclination; that a stronger power, the power of necessity or at least of prudence, urges you to take that resolution, and that in a word you find the place too expensive. You do not explicitly say what income would support your present establishment, and I am not so stupid or so ungrateful as not to feel the generous delicacy of your behaviour. If my own circumstances were affluent, the obligations and friendship of twenty years would instantly prompt me to gratify my own inclinations in the performance of sacred duty. I am not insensible that in my present situation, you have a substantial and even legal claim upon me to a very considerable amount, and while I feel the value of your tenderness on this occasion, I must lament that it is not in my power to attain even the humble though indispensable virtue of Justice.

[Sidenote: LESS INCOME THAN EXPENSES.]

Without recurring to any recollections which would be painful to us both, I may appeal to the anxious regard which you have always felt and expressed for my interest. You know the distressed embarrassed situation in which my affairs were left, and though I have always been directed by the advice of Mr. H., I have hitherto been disappointed in every attempt to extricate myself by the sale of Lenborough Estate. The prospect of public affairs and the universal want of money forces me at present to suspend every idea of a sale, and all credit is so compleatly dead, that in the most pressing exigency I should be at a loss how to borrow a thousand pounds. In the mean time I have been paying five per Cent. interest on a Estate which hardly produced three per Cent.; and in the very moment when I could the least afford it, the madness of my Buriton tenant has involved me in new scenes of vexation and expence. My desires have always been moderate and my domestic economy has been conducted with tolerable prudence. Yet my income has never been quite adequate to my expences, and those expences, unless I retired from Parliament--from London and from England--it would be impossible for me to retrench. When I look back I cannot find much to censure or regret in my own conduct, but when I look forwards, I am sometimes alarmed and perplexed. I should indeed find room to despond, if my spirits were not supported by the resources which I derive from my litterary character, and by the well grounded hopes which I build on the assistance of a tried and powerful friend.

I cannot on _this_ head explain myself more particularly by letter, but I have the strongest reasons to believe that the year which we have just begun will not end without producing a material improvement in my situation. If you have not already taken any decisive steps about leaving Bath, I could wish that you would suspend them till I can have the pleasure of conversing with you in the Easter holidays. If you still persist in your design, why should you bury yourself at Mrs. Massey's? Some pleasant village retirement at a moderate distance from London, where I could frequently visit you, might be consistent with your plan of expence, and you might there find yourself at once delivered from the costly and tasteless vanities of a fashionable life. Whatever resolution you adopt, let me hear from you soon, and always believe me with the most unalterable affection,

Ever yours,
E. G.

I can say nothing of public affairs. Men of all parties--Ministers themselves--think them bad enough; but I do assure you that I have not any claims to the injurious epithet of 'a Patriot.' The apprehension of a Dutch War, though it is now blown over, was real and serious.

[Sidenote: PROSPECT OF A PLACE.]

366.

_To his Stepmother._

London, January the 26th, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

As we are mutually convinced of each other's sentiments, words, compliments, assurances would be as idle as they are useless: yet it would be incumbent on me to employ them, if they became either of us; since I am so unfortunate as to be reduced to those equivocal marks of regard, whilst I receive from you the most solid and substantial proofs of that friendship and real affection which I have invariably experienced above twenty years.--You ask me why I should wish you to wait till Easter, and you seem desirous of an explanation of the latter part of my letter. It is for that very purpose of an explanation that I desired that delay, as it includes a variety of circumstances which I ought not to trust to paper or to the post. I can only say in general that from the assistance of a very powerful friend I have room to hope that I may soon be placed in an honourable and advantageous post[424] either at home or abroad, which would enable me to satisfy my duty as well as inclination by making your residence at Bath easy and comfortable to you in the manner you yourself have calculated your expences. I am not of a sanguine temper, and I am very sensible that besides the usual grounds of doubt and distrust, there are many circumstances which it is impossible for me to explain, that may either forward or delay or entirely disappoint the most rational expectations. Last week things seemed to draw so very near a crisis that I suspended my letter in hopes of making it more satisfactory to you and to myself. At present they are rather thrown back, and for aught I know the present Session of Parliament may end in darkness and uncertainty. Yet, I think the chance is worth waiting for a few months, perhaps somewhat longer; the difference of your income and expence cannot be very important, and if you do not wish me to make a difficult effort, I cannot see any great mischief in your eating a little deeper into your principal. I am the more anxious that you should not hastily quit a place which upon the whole must suit you better than any other; not only because I hope it will not be necessary, but as I am sure in your indifferent state of health, the unpleasant removal would be attended with fatigue of body and anxiety of mind which might be very prejudicial to you.

I am much flattered by your approbation of my pamphlet.[425] It was a disagreeable but a necessary step, after which I take my absolute and final leave of controversy. My second volume advances, and I hope will be finished within the _ensuing_ year (1780). You were right as to the benefit I have derived from the first; under the pressure of various difficulties, it proved a seasonable and useful friend; but if it supported, it did not enrich its author. I did not send a copy of my vindication to Port Eliot, nor indeed to any person except to yourself. Eliot must be in town in a fortnight to a very severe call of the House. I have meditated a letter to him, or rather to Mrs. E., above three months without success.

I am, Dear Madam,
Ever yours,
E. GIBBON.

[424] Gibbon was on July 1, 1779, made a Lord Commissioner of
Trade and Plantations--a place which he retained until 1782,
when the Board was abolished, the work being transferred to
the Secretaries of State. He had at one time hoped to obtain
the Secretaryship to the Embassy at Paris (see Letter 476).
The following lines were written on his acceptance of the
Commissionership by, it is said, Charles Fox:--

"King George, in a fright
Lest Gibbon should write
The story of England's disgrace,
Thought no way so sure,
His pen to secure,
As to give the historian a place.

"But the caution is vain,--
'Tis the curse of his reign
That his projects should never succeed;
Though he wrote not a line,
Yet a course of decline
In the author's example we read.

"His book well describes
How corruption and bribes
O'erthrew the great empire of Rome;
And his ratings declare
A degeneracy there,
Which his conduct exhibits at home."

[425] In 1778 appeared _An Examination of the Fifteenth and
Sixteenth Chapters of Mr. Gibbon's History_, etc., by Henry
Edward Davis, M.A., of Balliol College, Oxford. The author
charged Gibbon with inaccuracy and plagiarism. He replied early
in 1779 with his _Vindication of some Passages in the Fifteenth
and Sixteenth Chapters of the History of the Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire_. Walpole calls it "the quintessence of
argument, wit, temper, spirit, and consequently of victory."

[Sidenote: COURT-MARTIAL ON KEPPEL.]

367.

_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._

February 6th, 1779.

*You are quiet and peaceable, and do not bark, as usual, at my silence. To reward you, I would send you some news; but we are asleep; no foreign intelligence, except the capture of a frigate; no certain account from the West Indies; and a dissolution of parliament, which seems to have taken place since Christmas. In the papers you will see negociations, changes of departments, &c. and I have _some_ reason to believe, that those reports are not entirely without foundation. Portsmouth is no longer an object of speculation; the whole stream of all men, and all parties, runs one way. Sir Hugh is disgraced, ruined, &c. &c.;[426] and as an old wound has broke out again, they say he must have his leg cut off as soon as he has time. In a night or two we shall be in a blaze of illumination, from the zeal of Naval Heroes, Land Patriots, and Tallow-Chandlers; the last are not the least sincere. I want to hear some details of your military and familiar proceedings. By your silence I suppose you admire Davis, and dislike my pamphlet; yet such is the public folly, that we have a second Edition in the press; the fashionable style of the Clergy, is to say they have not read it. If Maria does not take care, I shall write a much sharper invective against her, for _not_ answering my Diabolical book. My lady carried it down, with a solemn promise that I should receive an _unassisted_ French letter. Yet I embrace the little animal, as well as Mylady, and the _spes altera Romæ_. Adieu.

E. G.

There is a buz about a peace, and Spanish Mediation.*

[426] The court-martial held at Portsmouth entirely acquitted
Admiral Keppel on February 11. The news reached London that
night. It was treated as a triumph for the Opposition. Ladies
appeared at the opera in caps _à la Keppel_, and blue cockades
bearing the Admiral's name were worn. His "Head" became
a favourite alehouse sign. Houses were illuminated; guns
discharged; bells rung; the windows of the houses of Sir H.
Palliser, Lord North, Lord G. Germain, and Lord Sandwich were
broken. Sir H. Palliser resigned his seat for Scarborough as well
as all his employments, and asked for a court-martial, which
acquitted him from any charge of misconduct. He underwent the
operation to which Gibbon alludes. "Here are the exact, and all
the words which the King said to him, the first time he was at
Court afterwards--'Sir Hugh, how does your leg do?'" (Warner to
Selwyn, May, 1779).

368.

_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._

March 16th, 1779.

You use me very ill.--Will you never condescend to abuse, curse, damn me for not writing? There is no bearing such treatment. Yet I have not anything particular to write except to acquaint you with the _certain_ intelligence of the taking of Pondicherry, which arrived this day. You will soon hear the particulars, but the essential is that the French have not any place of arms in the East Indies. With regard to the West, there is a strong rumour of action in our favour: but at all events we are safe, and possibly successful. We have had and are like to have Parliamentary storms. There are no questions which my opposition friends think stronger, and which I think weaker than their Naval Operations.[427] I hardly know your opinion about them. I want to hear some account of your military state and progress, but much about my Lady, Maria, &c. &c., which interest me more nearly than the Grenadier or Light Infantry Companies. I was obliged to you about your friendly hint from Bath. I had not been deficient, but from a sort of delicacy, I had satisfied myself with corresponding with Mrs. Gould and Dr. Delacour, and desired that Mrs. G. might not be informed of it. However, since your letter she is in a less dangerous way, several letters have passed between us, and we are now come to a tolerable understanding. Do you recollect that you promised me a Visit of Inspection to my Aunt? She wrote to me some time ago, I promised an account, and by this time she may be grown impatient again.

E. G.

I expect you (without a blush) to write soon.

[427] The Opposition used every effort to make political capital
out of the dispute between Keppel and Palliser. Motions were
proposed by them on December 11, 1778, for the trial of Sir Hugh
Palliser; on February 19, 1779, for the dismissal of Sir H.
Palliser from the Navy; March 3, for a censure on the Admiralty
for sending out Admiral Keppel with too small a force; on April
19, for the removal of the Earl of Sandwich from the Admiralty.

369.

_To his Stepmother._

Bentinck Street, 21st March, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

If your former letters made me uneasy, your last note, which I received yesterday after the hour of the post, made me quite unhappy for many reasons; but most of all because I found that you were so yourself. The delay in my answer which has given you so much pain, was not occasioned by any avocations of business, for there could be no business which interested me half so much; nor by any carelessness or forgetfulness, for I can say with truth that there has not been any hour in the day and very few in the night in which the idea was not uppermost in my mind. Much less did it arise from any degree of resentment at any part of your behaviour. I had expressed myself with some warmth, I wrote from my feelings, and I was apprehensive of some alteration in your sentiments towards me. Had I been cold and indifferent myself, I should probably have been more cautious and respectful.

Yet unless I totally forget the language of my letter, I did not, I could not, disapprove of your consulting your own happiness, and of calling on me after so long a respite to fulfil some part of the most equitable obligation. The cause of my delay was a strong, an unjustifiable repugnance to write on a subject so foreign to our ordinary conversations. I dreaded and I delayed too long so painful an effort. As I am now sensible how uneasy that delay has made you, I have taken the shortest method of sending, that of the coach. Forgive this seeming inattention, and believe me when I say that the affectionate regard, the tender solicitude which you express, have made an essential part of the happiness, and will always contribute to the consolation of my life.

I find that I must have stated rather too strongly the difficulties of my situation so as to alarm and terrify you, both on your account and on my own. I will endeavour to represent them more clearly. I have never been extravagant; nor have I made as yet any _considerable_ addition to the load of debt contracted by my father: but I have not been able to discharge it. The unhappy accidents which retarded the sale of Lenborough, have been attended, from the general hardships of the times, with the most fatal consequences, as land cannot at present be sold even on the most disadvantageous terms. In the course of seven or eight years interest has been much higher than rent, my Expences (notwithstanding the supply of some hundred pounds from my book) have inevitably exceeded my income.

[Sidenote: HIS PLANS OF ECONOMY.]

You are sensible from your own experience that any plan of economy must be regulated by place and circumstances. As long as I am in London and in Parliament, a house in Bentinck Street, a coach, such a proportion of servants, clothes, living, &c., are almost necessaries. But they are only necessaries in that situation, and I am not ignorant that a prudent man should adapt his arrangements to his fortune. Other countries of a less expensive cost, France, Switzerland, or perhaps Scotland, may afford an humble Philosophical retreat to a man of letters, nor should I suffer any accidental change of fortune, any fall in the World to affect my spirits or ruffle my tranquility. I have more than once balanced in my own mind the propriety, or indeed the necessity of such a resolution. The reason which induces me to suspend such an important and decisive measure arises from a hope which I could only insinuate and which I can at present only imperfectly explain. I can only mention that I am particularly connected with the present Attorney General, that he solicited my friendship, and offered me his services; and that if some arrangement should take place which would raise him to a much higher station, I may depend on a seat at one of the boards with an additional income of £1000 a year, which would remove every difficulty and supply every want. Without building on a doubtful foundation, inclination and even prudence recommend that I should wait some time for the event of this hope: and my only request is that you would on your side suspend any resolution of leaving Bath for some months, perhaps for a year. The difference of the expence in a year would not exceed £100, which you may command whenever (with a few days' notice) you will draw upon me.

If my expectations should deceive me (and I am never sanguine) my party is taken. I feel with gratitude and confusion your kind offer of retiring for my sake: but independent of every other consideration, it is far more proper that the unpleasant circumstances of such a removal should fall on the person who has health and youth and spirits to support them. With regard to any further _security_, I should have imagined that in the ordinary course of credit, my Bond was a very good security to the amount of the sum: but I am ready to consent to any act which you may consider as conducive to your interest or happiness.--I much fear that the agitation of mind may have injured your health before its perfect recovery from your late accident, and if a single word which I have written has tended to produce that effect, I shall not easily forgive myself. Though I cannot bear the thought of your quitting Bath against your inclinations, I should imagine that in the summer months, the air of the country would be beneficial to you. Whether you choose Port Eliot, Sheffield, Essex or any other place, I will, if my company can be any pleasure or relief to you, lay aside every other occupation to accompany you.

I am, Dear Madam,
Most truly and affectionately yours,
E. GIBBON.

370.

_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._

Wednesday night, April, 1779.

I am glad you have exerted some diligence about Mrs. G.'s Estate, but I wish you could have prevented a letter which I have just received, and which like a true coward I send you unopened. I fear it contains sharp or dry reproach for my neglect and silence. On this occasion you must step in to my assistance and in a proper letter exculpate me, and take the _whole_ of the blame upon yourself. Whatever _you_ do, you are always entitled to her gratitude, and cannot be afraid of her displeasure. No time should be lost, therefore return her Epistle with the aforesaid ostensible letter. I do not go to Bath this Easter; and Mrs. Gibbon is now satisfied with my conduct and correspondence. Some journey or arrangement to see her must be thought of in the course of the summer, but at present it would be highly inconvenient, our respite is little more than a week, and besides the approaching hurry of Parliamentary business, of which there is a large provision, I am now deeply and not unsuccessfully engaged in the decline and fall; and I _do not totally despair_ of bringing out the second Volume next Winter. So that upon the whole (as you do not interfere either with History or Parliament) I am ready to receive you when you please: but had much rather you would bring My Lady with you, as I very much like that sort of taste of Matrimonial life. I am not perfectly well. So--Adieu.

E. GIBBON.

[Sidenote: PARLIAMENT AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE.]

371.

_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._

Friday Evening, 1779.

When do you come to town? You gave me hopes of a visit, and I want to talk over things in general with you, before you march to the extremities of the West, where the Sun goes to sleep in the Sea. Mrs. Trevor told me your destination was Exeter;[428] and I suppose nothing but truth can proceed from a pretty mouth. I have been, and am still very diligent; and, though it is a huge beast, (the Roman Empire,) yet, if I am not mistaken, I see it move a little. You seem surprized that I was able to get off Bath: very easily, the extreme shortness of our Holydays was a fair excuse; her recovery of health, spirits, &c. made it less necessary, and she accepted my Apology, which was however accompanied with an offer, if she chose it, in the prettiest manner possible. A load of business in this house, (I write from it,) will be the amusement of the Spring; Motions, Enquiries, taxes, &c. &c. We are now engaged in Lord Pigot's affair, brought on by a motion from the Admiral,[429] that the Attorney General should prosecute Mr. Stratton[430] and Council;[431] all the Masters, Charles, Burke, Wedderburne, are of the same side, for it; Lord North seems to make a feeble stand, for the pleasure of being in a Minority. The day is hot and dull; will be long: some curious Evidence; one Man who refused three Lacks of Rupees, (£37,500,) merely not to go to Council; our mouths watered at such Royal corruption; how pitiful is our Insular bribery! A letter from aunt Hester. Adieu.

[428] The Sussex Militia were ordered to Exeter.

[429] Admiral Pigot, M.P. for Bridgnorth, brother of Lord Pigot.
See Letter 311.

[430] Mr. Stratton was a member of the Madras Council, by which
Lord Pigot was arrested.

[431] The House resolved on an address to the Crown for the
prosecution of Stratton and other members of the Council.
The case was tried in the Court of King's Bench, before Lord
Mansfield, Wedderburn being for the prosecution and Dunning
for the defence. The jury convicted (December 20, 21), and on
February 10, 1780, Messrs. Stratton, Brooke, Floyer, and Mackay
were fined £1000 apiece.

372.

_To his Stepmother._

House of Commons, April 16th, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

We are now, after a very short recess, engaged in a great hurry of business, which will probably last a great while. I find however time, and a good deal of time (without fatiguing myself too much), for the occupation which after all is the pleasure, and I hope, the honour of my life. In your last letter you ask whether your remaining at Bath is necessary to my tranquility. I can answer that question in the clearest manner, and, while I answer it, I must feel with gratitude how kindly it is proposed. It _is_ necessary for my happiness that you should not be _forced_ to leave Bath by any difficulties which it would be my duty to remove: nor could I enjoy the comfort of any situation which was purchased at the expence of your ease and happiness. But if your retiring from Bath was the effect of your own inclination, it is impossible that I could be hurt at your leaving a place which I should never visit but on your account; and I should visit you with at least as much pleasure in a country retirement as in that scene of (what has always appeared to me) very awkward gaiety. But surely it is better to suspend any decisive resolution for the present. I was happy to hear from General Frazer, a very favourable account of your health & spirits.

I am, Dear Madam,
Ever yours,
E. G.

373.

_To Mrs. Holroyd._

April 30th, 1779.

You easily conceive my reasons for not answering your Epistle. The Major is with me as I believe; I say--as I believe, because the House of Commons takes me up so entirely that we have scarcely seen each other. He is as usual hurried, flurried, taken up with innumerable business and wishing to be quiet. He looks better than I expected, but he complains of heat, and want of sleep, and I have persuaded him to consult Heberden.--What does your Ladyship mean by preferring the Regiment to Bentinck Street? It is my intention before you march into the West, you should take a moderate taste of the amusements of the Civilized World. I am glad to hear a favourable account of the Infants: but am much at a loss to understand how Maria can so far forget her I. S. as to break her engagement of sending me a French letter. Yet I embrace her as well as her Mama. Adieu.

[Sidenote: THE MINISTRY CRESTFALLEN.]

374.

_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._

Saturday night, May, 1779.

*Alas! alas! fourteen Ships of the line:[432] you understand by this time that you have not got a single long-boat. Ministry are more crestfallen than I ever knew them, with the last intelligence; and I am sorry to say, that I see a smile of triumph on some opposition faces. Though the business of the West Indies may still produce something, I am much afraid that we shall [have] a campaign of immense expence, and little or no action. The most busy scene is at present in the House of C.; and we shall be involved, during a great [part] of next month, in tedious, fruitless, but, in my opinion, proper Enquiries.

You see how difficult it would be for me to visit Brighton; and I fancy I must content myself with receiving you on your passage to Ireland. Indeed, I much want to have a _very serious_ conversation with you. Another reason, which must in a great measure pin me to Bentinck-street, is the decline and fall. I have resolved to bring out the _suite_ in the course of next year; and, though I have been tolerably diligent, so much remains to be done, that I can hardly spare a single day from the Shop. I can guess but one reason which should prevent you from supposing that the picture of Leicester Fields was intended for Sheffield library;[433] _viz._ my having told you some time ago that I was under a formal engagement to Mr. Walpole. Probably I should not have been in any great hurry to execute my promise, if Mr. Cadell had not strenuously urged the curiosity of [the] public, who may be willing to repay the exorbitant price of _fifty_ Guineas. It is now finished, and my friends say, that, in every sense of the word, it is a good head. Next week it will be given to Hall the Engraver, and I promise you a first Impression. If I were a rich man you should have a similar picture. Adieu. I embrace my lady, and infants.*

E. G.

[432] In the daily papers of May 15, 1779, it was announced that
"fourteen ships of the line" had sailed from Brest to attack
Admiral Arbuthnot, who lay with a much smaller force at Torbay.
Orders were sent to Portsmouth to fit out every available ship
for his support.

[433] Sir Joshua Reynolds, in May to July, 1779, painted a
portrait of Gibbon. But the picture here referred to is probably
that by Wharton.

[Sidenote: AT WORK ON HIS SECOND VOLUME.]

375.

_To his Stepmother._

May 31st, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

It is almost ridiculous for so hardened a sinner as myself to assign any particular reason for his silence and negligence: Yet I can say with truth that I do not remember the time when I have been more fully engaged. The attendance of the House of Commons on our fruitless, hopeless enquiries is really severe at this unseasonable time of year, and my literary business, though much more pleasing, engrosses a still larger share of my time and attention. On every account both of fame and interest, it will be highly expedient that the continuation of my history should appear about this time twelvemonth; much is already done, much remains to do; I am well satisfied that by a course of steady temperate diligence, the object may be accomplished; but I shall not be able to lose a week, and hardly a day.

I most sincerely rejoice at the visible improvement in your health and spirits, and am convinced amusement and change of air will produce the most salutary effects. I conceive and I wish I could partake the happiness you enjoy with Mrs. Eliot and her sons: I beg you would communicate to them the expression of my most sincere and lively regard. Has Mrs. Eliot totally renounced London? She herself may be happy in a Solitude, but she might diffuse happiness among a larger circle of her friends. For myself I cannot say anything very positive or indeed very pleasing on the subject of my hopes: but I have weighed every circumstance and am prepared for every possible event. I only beg you to have patience a few months longer, and I give you _my honour_ that I will make such arrangements as shall enable you to reside at Bath. I will likewise add, what I know is material to your feelings, that I shall enjoy myself a very comfortable if not desirable plan of life. I should be glad to provide for Will Budd, but the sort of place which you described to me some time ago, hardly exists in any family. However I shall not forget him.

I am, Dear Madam,
Ever yours,
E. G.

376.

_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._

Friday evening, July, 1779.

*The inclosed will inform you of an event, not the most disagreeable of those which I have lately experienced. I have only to add, that it was effected by the firm and sincere friendship of the A[ttorney] G[eneral]. So many incidents have happened, that I hardly know how to talk of news. You will learn that the Lords have strangely castrated the new Militia Bill.[434] The Ferrol Squadron, 8 or 9 ships, have joined the French. The numbers stand on our side 32, on their's 37; but our force is at least equal, and the general consternation much dispelled. If you do not Hibernize, you might at least Bentinckize. I embrace, &c. Parliament will be prorogued to-morrow.*

[434] On June 21 Lord North proposed a Bill for doubling the
militia. The Bill was read a third time on June 24. The Lords
(June 30) threw out the second clause, which empowered his
Majesty "to direct the number of private men to serve in the
militia to be doubled." On recommitment to the Commons, it was
argued that the amendment was a breach of privilege, as the Bill
was a Money Bill. Eventually the amendment was accepted, and the
Bill, as amended, received the royal assent on July 3.

377.

_To his Stepmother._

Bentinck Street, July the 3rd, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

I have the pleasure of acquainting you, that I am now appointed one of the Lords of Trade in the room of Bamber Gascoyne;[435] Andrew Stuart[436] has succeeded at the same time to the place of Jolliffe, and our new Colleagues[437] do us the honour of saying that in both instances they have gained by the exchange. As the salary of this place will secure and improve my own situation, so I really set much more value upon it, as it will enable me to discharge a small part of my debt of duty and gratitude towards you. For the future you may depend on receiving the interest of the Bond (at 5 per cent.) which will make the two half yearly payments £150 instead of £100 each; and will I hope be sufficient to support your establishment at Bath in a manner more agreeable to you. I have only to beg a short respite, and that you would be satisfied with the usual draught at present and the double (£200) at next Christmas. At the moment my increase of fortune encreases my actual poverty. Sir Francis Wronghead[438] was perfectly in the right when he said, "Mayhap I may not receive the first quarter of my salary this halfe yeare:" he might have added that the heavy fees of offices eat up the greatest part of it, and that a space of some months must elapse before the stream begins to flow regularly and beneficially. I am not insensible that this addition of income is of a very precarious nature, and that the event of an hour or the caprice of a man may throw me back into my former anxiety, but the alteration shall never affect your happiness or situation, and the plan of retirement into Switzerland with my friend d'Eyverdun which I had perfectly considered and digested will be a resource not unworthy of a Philosopher, which I shall always have it in my power to command.

[Sidenote: A LORD OF TRADE.]

I am now going to resume my literary employments, which have suffered a short interruption, and I shall resume them, if not with more tranquility at least with more cheerfulness of mind. I find myself however under a difficulty of reconciling two plans for this year, each of which is equally recommended by my interest, my duty and my inclination. On the one hand I anxiously desire to publish the continuation of my history about this time twelvemonth. Though much is already done, much still remains to do, and I should almost despair of being able to finish so large a task, unless I steadily proceed without losing a day, or unless I compensate any intervals of negligence by extraordinary and improper efforts of industry. This important object seems to confine me to Bentinck Street and my Library: but on the other hand I am desirous and even impatient to visit you at Bath; to carry you down to Port Eliot, where I am sure the air and society would be your best Physician, to see Mrs. Eliot, and to convince _him_ of the grateful sense that I entertain of his behaviour in consenting to my re-election,[439] which I know was highly unpleasant to him. I shall endeavour to concert measures in such a manner as to reconcile those opposite views: but I foresee that the execution of such a scheme can only become practicable towards the Autumn.

I ought to make some apology for leaving some days in anxious suspence. I can only say, that I was myself in the same condition. Every morning I expected the event of the evening, and every evening the return of the morning. Till the business was absolutely finished, a hundred accidents might have dashed the cup from my lips, and I was afraid of raising your hopes only to embitter the melancholy news which might have followed.

I am, Dear Madam,
Ever yours,
E. G.

[435] Bamber Gascoyne, M.P. for Truro, was made a Commissioner of
the Admiralty.

[436] M.P. for Lanarkshire.

[437] His colleagues were Soame Jenyns, Lord R. Spencer, Hon.
Charles Greville, William Eden, and Thomas de Grey.

[438] Sir Francis Wronghead, of Bumper Hall, M.P. for Guzzledown,
in _The Provoked Husband; or, A Journey to London_ (Vanbrugh and
Cibber).

[439] _I.e._ as a Commissioner of Trade.

378.

_To his Stepmother._

Bentinck Street, September 17th, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

*I am well and happy; two words which you will accept as the substance of a very long letter; and even as a sufficient excuse for a very long silence. Yet I really do intend to behave better; and to prevent the abominable consequence of hours and days and posts stealing away, till the sum total amounts to a formidable account, I have a great mind to enter into an agreement, of sending you regularly every month, a _miniature_ picture of my actual state and condition on the first day of the aforesaid month.

I am happy to hear of the very beneficial effects you have derived from your recent friendship with the Goats;[440] and as I cannot discover in what respect this poor Country is more prosperous or secure than it was last year, I must consider your present confidence as a proof that you view the prospect through a purer medium, and a glass of a more chearful colour. I find myself so much more susceptible of private friendship than of public spirit, that I am very well satisfied with that conclusion. My summer has been passed in the town and neighbourhood, which I still maintain to be the best society, and the best retirement; the latter, however, has been sometimes interrupted by the Colonel of Dragoons[441] with a train of Serjeants, Trumpets, Recruits, &c. &c. My own time is much and agreeably employed in the prosecution of my business. After doing much more than I expected to have done within the time, I find myself much less advanced than I expected: yet I begin to reckon, and as well as I can calculate, I believe, that in twelve or fourteen months I shall be brought to bed, perhaps of twins. May they live, and prove as healthy as their eldest brother.

[Sidenote: DISCLAIMS THE "HISTORY OF OPPOSITION."]

With regard to the little foundling which so many friends or enemies chose to lay at my door, I am perfectly innocent, even of the knowledge of that production; and _all_ the faults or merits of the History of Opposition must, as I am informed, be imputed to Macpherson, the Author or translator of Fingal.* I am much at a loss what to say about Mr. Eliot; he is certainly very far from being in a good state of health or spirits, but I am not Physician enough to distinguish between the influence of the body and that of the mind: he feels for the public with the most exquisite sensibility, and all his sentiments are of the painful kind. He still loiters in town, which I dare say he will not leave till near the meeting of Parliament, and will go about the month of November to pass the _Summer_ in Cornwall. His delay has disconcerted my measures, as I had resolved (however inconvenient it might be) to make an Expedition this year to Port Eliot; and had proposed myself the pleasure of passing some days at Bath on my way. Cornwall must be deferred till next summer, which will arrange indeed much better with my litterary projects; but I cannot refuse myself the satisfaction of seeing you either before the meeting of Parliament or in the Christmas recess.

I am, Dear Madam,
Most truly Yours,
E. GIBBON.

[440] Mrs. Gibbon had recently paid a visit to Abergavenny.

[441] Major Holroyd had raised a regiment of horse, called the
Sussex, or 22nd Regiment of Light Dragoons, of which he was
colonel.

379.

_To Colonel Holroyd._

September, 1779.

I do not despair of passing some days at S. P. before the meeting of Parliament; but unless I should totally interrupt my business in a very Critical moment, it is impossible to fix any time which must undoubtedly be at a _considerable_ distance. No news of Sir John Ross; Lord Mackartney[442] has written to Lord George [Germain] from Rochelle; the insolence of d'Estaing's terms made him rather chuse to surrender at discretion, but he has since received assurance that private property will be respected.

Lady Spencer, Lady Harriet and D[uchess] of Devonshire behaved like heroines in the Engagement[443] which they saw very distinctly; the latter exposed herself to save them. I perfectly approve of Neville for eldest Captain, and think that Wedderburne cannot be offended. I am curious to see your Colonel's letter, but you must answer it. I embrace My Lady; did you scold her very much? She was, as on most occasions, quite in the right.

[442] Lord Macartney (1737-1806) was at that time Governor and
Captain-General of the Caribbee Islands, and was at his post at
Grenada in July, 1779, when that island was attacked, and, after
a gallant defence, was captured by the French. Macartney was
carried as prisoner of war to France, but was soon exchanged.
Count d'Estaing's terms were that he should hold Macartney
personally responsible for all the consequences of his refusal to
surrender. Such of the inhabitants as were taken in arms would
irrecoverably lose their estates and properties, and the free
coloured people would be reduced to slavery.

[443] The ladies, returning from Spa, embarked at Ostend on the
_Fly_ sloop for Calais. On the voyage the sloop was attacked
(September 17) by two French cutters. After a long engagement the
French were beaten off.

380.

_To Colonel Holroyd._

October 6th, 1779.

I am always in the right, I knew the journey would be of service to me, and I eat my Pheasant at dinner with a degree of appetite which I have not known for some days. As to the majestic complaint of the foot, the event will probably be decided by to-morrow morning, but as it seems to be better notwithstanding the jolting of the Chaise, I begin to hope that it may go off without further trouble. In spite of the Divine Billy Burrel it is certain that Dr. Turton _is_ in town, and that I shall see him to-morrow. If I am well enough to go out I must attend a board of trade for which I have found a summons. You think we are idle----Embrace my Lady in my name and respectfully salute Miss Cooke, Major Price, &c. By the enclosed you will see that there is not any authentic news.

381.

_To his Stepmother._

Bentinck Street, October the 27th, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

Whenever you have desired an immediate answer you have not found me very negligent; it is therefore incumbent on me to explain my _apparent_ tardiness which was occasioned by a visit to Tunbridge. Your letter was sent there the day after I left it, and by some delay and some circuits it did not reach my hands till Monday last, and I had firmly resolved before I received your second Epistle to write by to-night's post.

The officious intelligence which was communicated, I suppose, from Sheffield Place to Bath, alarmed your tenderness much more than was necessary about the state of my health. A Derangement in my stomach which seemed of the bilious kind determined me to return to town in search of advice. Turton was divided for two or three days between the probability of Jaundice and Gout, but either Nature or his skill preserved me from both; and I am now perfectly free from all complaints and apprehensions whatsoever. It will be an addition to my happiness if you are able to make the same declaration.

[Sidenote: HIS "MÉMOIRE JUSTIFICATIF."]

I hope you are perfectly satisfied that I had no hand in the History of the Opposition, but you will receive by the Coach (directed for fear of a mistake to Dr. Delacour's) a French pamphlet which I have not the same right to disclaim.[444] In the summer the Chancellor and Lord Weymouth were desirous of answering a very weak Manifesto of the Court of Versailles, and very politely requested me to undertake the task. Though I will never make myself the Champion of a party, I thought there was no disgrace in becoming the Advocate of my Country against a foreign enemy, and the _memoire Justificatif_ which you may read was the result of that opinion. The publication was delayed for various reasons; but it has now been communicated as a State paper and in the King's [name] to all the Ministers and Courts in Europe, and as far as I can understand it has been received with some degree of approbation. Elmsley the bookseller desired to print a new Edition which he has swelled by the addition of the French Manifesto. You will easily suppose that I rather expect by such a work to _procure friends_ than fame: but it may very possibly be abused in some shape or other in the approaching Session of Parliament, which will be loud and turbulent.[445]

I am, Dear Madam,
Most affectionately yours,
E. GIBBON.

[444] In 1779 a _Mémoire Justificatif_ was put forth both at
Paris and Madrid to explain the zeal of two despotic monarchies
for the new-born republic of the United States. Gibbon was
requested by the Lord Chancellor and Lord Weymouth, then
Secretary of State, to vindicate, against the French manifesto,
the justice of the British arms. His _Mémoire_, written in
French, was approved by the Cabinet, and delivered as a State
Paper to the courts of Europe. The _Mémoire_ is published
in English in the Annual Register for 1779 (pp. 397-412),
preceded by translations of the Spanish and French manifestoes.
Beaumarchais wrote a reply to the _Mémoire_, which he attributes
to Lord Stormont (_Observations sur le Mémoire Justificatif de la
cour de Londres. Œuvres de Beaumarchais._ Edition 1809, vol. v.
pp. 1-50).

[445] Parliament met November 25, 1779.

382.

_To his Stepmother._

London, Oct. 29th, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

This day I dined in Conduit Street, a well-furnished house, good table, proper attendance, &c. Thus far you will say there was nothing very extraordinary. But the Lady of the house was Mrs. Williams, alias Bell Mallet. Her aunt Elstob is just dead, and has left her that house, furniture, plate, &c., with a fortune (as Mr. Scott tells me) of £14,000 chargeable only with an Annuity of £100 a year to her sister during her mother's life. She is in high spirits, as she well may be, very French, but really agreeable and even handsome. She talks of settling her affairs and returning to France. Her husband is at New York much esteemed in his profession, and she may be very happy if he does not _now_ recollect his wife, though Mrs. Elstob, by appointing Trustees, George Scott and Mr. Waller, has taken every possible measure to secure her fortune from him. I thought you would not be sorry to hear something of that little animal, who came to town only Saturday and sent to me only last night.

I am,
Most truly yours,
E. GIBBON.

[Sidenote: HIS OFFICIAL DUTIES.]

383.

_To his Stepmother._

Bentinck Street, Dec. 10th, 1779.

DEAR MADAM,

Nothing has given me for a long while more real uneasiness than the doubt, which I am now obliged to express, whether it will be in my power to pass my Holydays at Bath. After so long a delay and such repeated disappointments, I had promised myself much pleasure, I may say happiness, in spending some few days with you at a time when every disagreeable circumstance was removed and our domestic prospect was become more cheerful. But the advantages of office must be accepted with some inconveniences. You know how much the Irish business engages our attention and fears at this moment, and you will see by the papers that Lord North has proposed some very important alterations with regard to the commerce of that country.[446] The bills for that purpose will pass in Parliament, but there still remains a great number of subordinate circumstances, though highly essential to be regulated, and which in some form will be referred to the Board of Trade. We shall be forced to sit almost every day during the Recess, and the absence of a _new Lord_ on the occasion would be thought peculiarly improper.

There is even another motive which I cannot explain, which will I hope make my attention to this business of some future benefit to the public or at least to myself. These reasons will satisfy the delicacy of your friendship, but I beg you would keep them to yourself, as I abhor and despise above all things the seeming affectation of official importance. Only be persuaded that I feel the delay (as I fear it must prove) of my visit, not less disagreeably than you do yourself.