Chapter II: Introduction: By the Earl of Sheffield (2)

I am settled at last in a very good lodging; I say at last because I lived a day and a half at Mrs. Porten's in the middle of hurry and noise and meazels. My aunt desires her compliments to you and Mrs. Gibbon. We eat the levret together. Pray did you not send her a hare some time ago? I know not what happened, but she never received it. I saw at her house Dr. Maty's son,[17] a little odd cur, and by an unexampled generosity I tipped the boy with a crown and the father with a coal of fire. Last night I was at the King's Scholars play, and, proper allowances being made, was very well entertained. All spoke justly enough and some (one or two) promised a good deal. Harry Courtenay was one of these, but he disappointed me before the end of the play. He came on with ease and entered well into his character (an old man in the Phormio), got safe over the dreadful first scene. From thence he sunk gradually tho' encouraged by repeated claps, dragged himself through the last scenes in the most dead and lifeless manner. My expectations were deceived more than they ever were in my whole life. I am just come from Madame Cilesia's.[18] She received me in a dirty white linnen gown, no rufles; in a word, _a negligé qui n'alloit pas le mieux du monde, à sa Majesté Corse_. She received me, however, like an old fellow-sufferer. Not that we talked at all of the M.....s, tho' on the brink of it several times, but neither of us broke the ice. I do not think her pretty, something sweet enough in her face, _mais enfin voilà tout_. I am to dine there to-morrow. To-day I dine in state at home, and after dinner shall go to Cleone,[19] though generally disliked.

I lodge in New Bond Street at a linnen draper's, a Mr. Steward, and I have a very good first floor, dining-room, bed-chamber and light closet with many conveniences for a guinea and half a week. I believe I shall keep to it. Lee is very serviceable to me, he has got me a very handsome chair for twenty-seven shillings.

I beg you would present my best compliments and true respects to Mrs. Gibbon.

I am, Dear Sir,
With the greatest regard,
Your most _faithful_, humble servant and son,
E. GIBBON, JUNIOR.

P.S.--I have not yet been able to do your commissions.

[16] The lottery began to be drawn November 14, 1758; the last
ticket was drawn December 12, when "No. 72,570 in the present
lottery was drawn a prize of £10,000."

[17] Matthew Maty, born near Utrecht in 1718, settled in
England as a physician in 1741; in 1756 he was appointed an
under-librarian at the British Museum, and in 1772 succeeded
Gowin Knight as chief librarian. His _Journal Britannique_
(1750-55), published in French at the Hague, contains a
bi-monthly review of English literature. He died in 1776. If the
son, whom Gibbon "tipped," resembled the father, this passage
may confirm Dr. Johnson's description of Maty as a "little black
dog." For Gibbon's relations with Maty, see note to Letter 15.

[18] Dorothea Mallet, Madame Celesia (1738-1790), a poet and
dramatist, eldest daughter, by his first wife, of David Mallet.
She married Pietro Paolo Celesia, a Genoese gentleman, who was
ambassador to this country from 1755 to 1759, and was afterwards
ambassador to Spain. Madame Celesia's drama of _Almida_, an
adaptation of Voltaire's _Tancrède_, was brought out at Drury
Lane in 1771, and published in the same year.

[19] Dodsley's tragedy of _Cleone_ was then being played at
Covent Garden.

14.

_To his Stepmother._

London, December, 1758.

DEAR MADAM,

How many thanks have I to return you! I shall wait upon Sir William Milner[20] as soon as he is in town, and do not doubt of liking that family, at least the lady: to say she is your friend is a sufficient enconium.

[Sidenote: WANT OF MONEY]

But, Madam, I am really concerned my father has not sent me a draught. I am really distressed for money. I have hardly a guinea left, and you know the unavoidable expences of London. I have tryed to borrow of Mrs. Porten and of Harvey, my father's lawyer. But without success. Could not you send me a bank-note by the Hastings Post of Monday? I would run all the risks of its being lost; for upon my word I shall hardly know what to do in three or four days.

Will you admit my excuse? I am just going to see Garrick, _alias_ Sir John Brute.[21] It will be a _vilaine bête_.

I am, Dear Madam,
Yours most sincerely,
E. GIBBON.

P.S.--The author of Eurydice[22] (who greeted me at the Smyrna Coffee-house) asked much after you and my father. What can you mean about Miss Allen?

[20] Sir William Milner, Bart. (1719-1774), for many years
receiver-general of the Excise, married Elizabeth, youngest
daughter of the Hon. and Rev. George Mordaunt, brother of the
third Earl of Peterborough. She died a year after her husband.

[21] Sir John Brute, the surly, drunken husband of Lady Brute in
Vanbrugh's play of _The Provoked Wife_.

[22] Mallet's tragedy _Eurydice_, written in 1731, was revived in
1759. The Smyrna Coffee-house in Pall Mall stood on the site now
occupied by Messrs. Harrison, the booksellers. It was famous in
the days of the _Tatler_ and the _Spectator_.

15.

_To his Father._

London, December the 21st, 1758.

DEAR SIR,

I am afraid you will be angry at seeing a letter instead of me, but indeed I knew not how disagreeable it was, travelling in this season. I am besides invited to Mrs. Wray's and Mr. Darrel's for next Monday and Wednesday. Do you think these reasons sufficient? (I beg you would tell it me freely.) If you do not I will endeavour to come down the latter end of next week; as I suppose my being there Christmas Day is of no consequence.

I have seen Dr. Maty. _La La._ He made little or no excuse for having deferred writing, but has already criticised it with sense and severity. He finds it as I hoped; good, in general, but many faults in the detail.[23]

I have dined once with M. Cilesia, with whom I am extremely pleased; he has wit and learning, and speaks French like a Parisian. But pray have you heard the shocking pretensions of Mlle. de Vaucluse? A prior marriage with him, or at least a promise of Marriage with a vast forfeiture. I do not know the particulars, but she pushes the affair vigorously at Genoa, and disperses a Memoire, which I hope to see. If she is not an Imposture, how criminal it makes the husband and how unhappy the wife.

I believe it is needless to assure Mrs. Gibbon of my sincerest love and regard. Pray tell her Sir W. Milner is in town. I shall execute all her and your commissions.

I am, Dear Sir,
With the greatest regard,
Your most obedient and affectionate servant and son,
E. GIBBON.

[23] On his return from Lausanne Gibbon completed his _Essai
sur l'étude de la Littérature_, his first published work. The
manuscript was submitted to Dr. Maty in 1758, and by his advice
partly rewritten and wholly revised. It was published in French,
with a letter to the author from Dr. Maty, in 1761. The essay is
printed in _The Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon_ (ed. 1814),
vol. iv. pp. 1-93.

[Sidenote: HIS FIRST LITERARY VENTURE]

16.

_To his Father._

New Bond Street, December the 30th, 1758.

DEAR SIR,

Your illness really alarmed me. To be taken in so sudden and violent a manner. If you had not assured me that you was so much better, I would have set out immediately for Beriton. I hope you have had some advice better than Harvey's. I hope too that Mrs. Gibbon tries to hinder you from going out in the cold. I say tries, because I know that with regard to going out you are a most ungovernable patient.

At last Maty and I have downright quarrelled. He behaved so very contemptuously to me. Never made the least excuse for having eked out two weeks into two months, left two letters I wrote him since, without any answers, never came near me, that at last I desired him to send back my manuscript. He did so. I then wrote him a letter to explain my behaviour. He answered it by another politely bitter. So _tout est fini_!

I return you, Dear Sir, my sincerest thanks for telling me of my faults. I shall always consider it the truest proof of your affection for me. I hope you do not impute my not writing to Mrs. Gibbon to the least want of regard for her. I should be the most ungrateful of men, if I did not love and respect her like my own mother. But I really thought that in a union like yours, writing to one was writing to both. However, dear Sir, it is enough that you think it an omission, for me to repair it by the very next post.

I endeavour to see no company in town but such as you yourself would approve of. Mrs. Cilesia's and Mrs. Hayes's are the two houses I frequent the most. The former has promised to introduce me to Lady Harvey's[24] Assembly, where ('tis true though wonderful) there is no card-playing, but very good company and very good conversation. I am also to meet at Mrs. Cilesia's the great David Hume. I shall seek his acquaintance without being discouraged by Maty.

I have answered Bordot's letter. He desires a present relief, a quick release, and a good place in England. The first alone is in my power. I beg you would give him Five Guineas and deduct it upon the Christmas quarter of my Allowance. I do not doubt but you will do something for him, as I really think his situation deserves pity. This cessation of the prisoner's allowance shows, I think, better than fifty monitors to how low an ebb the French are reduced. I cannot help pitying them too. I do not think it necessary to have no compassion, in order to be a good Englishman. My unfashionable politicks are that a war can hardly be a good one, and a peace hardly a bad one. My sincerest love and regard wait upon Mrs. Gibbon.

I am, Dear Sir,
With the highest regard and best wishes for your health
Your most affectionate son and humble servant,
(E.) GIBBON.

P.S.--The Barometer was broke on the road. You will lay it upon me. I lay it upon François, and François upon Henry who packed up the things. Shall I buy another? Numbers 15553, 15554 Blanks.

[24] Lady Hervey, the beautiful "Molly Lepel," daughter of
Brigadier-General Nicholas Lepel, was the widow of John, Lord
Hervey, the "Sporus" of Pope's Prologue to the _Satires_,
and the Boswell of George II. and Queen Caroline. Married in
October, 1720, she was the mother of four sons, three of whom in
succession became Earl of Bristol. She died September 2, 1768.

17.

_To his Father._

1760.

DEAR SIR,

*An address in writing, from a person who has the pleasure of being with you every day, may appear singular. However, I have preferred this method, as upon paper I can speak without a blush, and be heard without interruption. If my letter displeases you, impute it, Dear Sir, only to yourself. You have treated me not like a son, but like a friend. Can you be surprized that I should communicate to a friend all my thoughts, and all my desires? Unless the friend approve them, let the father never know them; or, at least, let him know at the same time, that however reasonable, however eligible, my scheme may appear to me, I would rather forget it for ever, than cause him the slightest uneasiness.

[Sidenote: UNFITNESS FOR POLITICAL LIFE.]

When I first returned to England, attentive to my future interest, you were so good as to give me hopes of a seat in Parliament. This seat, according to the Custom of our venal country, was to be bought, and fifteen hundred pounds were mentioned as the price of the purchase. This design flattered my vanity, as it might enable me to shine in so august an assembly. It flattered a nobler passion; I promised myself that by the means of this seat I might be one day the instrument of some good to my country. But I soon perceived how little a mere virtuous inclination, unasisted by talents, could contribute towards that great end; and a very short examination discovered to me, that those talents were not fallen to my lot. Do not, Dear Sir, impute this declaration to a false modesty, the meanest species of pride. Whatever else I may be ignorant of, I think I know myself, and shall always endeavour to mention my good qualities without vanity, and my defects without repugnance. I shall say nothing of the most intimate acquaintance with his country and language, so absolutely necessary to every Senator. Since they may be acquired, to alledge my deficiency in them, would seem only the plea of laziness. But I shall say with great truth, that I never possessed that gift of speach, the first requisite of an Orator, which use and labour may improve, but which nature can alone bestow. That my temper, quiet, retired, somewhat reserved, could neither acquire popularity, bear up against opposition, nor mix with ease in the crowds of public life. That even my genius (if you will allow me any) is better qualified for the deliberate compositions of the Closet, than for the extemporary discourses of the Parliament. An unexpected objection would disconcert me; and as I am incapable of explaining to others what I do not thoroughly understand myself, I should be meditating, while I ought to be answering. I even want necessary prejudices of party, and of nation. In popular assemblies, it is often necessary to inspire them; and never Orator inspired well a passion, which he did not feel himself. Suppose me even mistaken in my own Character; to set out with the repugnance such an opinion must produce, offers but an indifferent prospect. But I hear you say It is not necessary that every man should enter into Parliament with such exalted hopes. It is to acquire a title the most glorious of any in a free country, and to employ the weight and consideration It gives in the service of one's friends. Such motifs, tho' not glorious, yet are not dishonourable; and if we had a borough in our command, if you could bring me in without any great expence, or if our fortune enabled us to dispise that expence, then indeed I should think them of the greatest strength. But with our private fortune is it worth while to purchase at so high a rate, a title, honourable in itself, but which I must share with every fellow that can lay out Fifteen hundred pounds? Besides, Dear Sir, a merchandize is of little value to the owner, when he is resolved not to sell it.

I should affront your penetration, did I not suppose you now see the drift of this letter. It is to appropriate to another use the sum you destined to bring me into Parliament; to employ it, not in making me great, but in rendering me happy. I have often heard you say yourself, that the allowance you had been so indulgent as to grant me, tho' very liberal in regard to your estate, was yet but small, when compared with the almost necessary extravagances of the age. I have indeed found it so, notwithstanding a good deal of œconomy, and an exemption from many of the common expences of youth. This, Dear Sir, would be a way of supplying these deficiencies, without any additional expence to you.--But I forbear.--If you think my proposals reasonable, you want no entreaties to engage you to comply with them; if otherwise, all will be without effect.

All that I am afraid of, Dear Sir, is, that I should seem not so much asking a favour, as this really is, as exacting a debt. After all I can say, you will still remain the best judge of my good, and your own circumstances. Perhaps, like most Landed Gentlemen, an addition to my annuity would suit you better than a sum of money given at once. Perhaps the sum itself may be too considerable. Whatever you shall think proper to bestow upon me, or in whatever manner, will be received with equal gratitude.

I intended to stop here; but as I abhor the least appearance of art, I think it will be better to lay open my whole scheme at once. The unhappy War which now desolates Europe, will oblige me to defer seeing France till a peace. But that reason can have no influence upon Italy, a country which every Scholar must long to see; should you grant my request, and not disaprove of my manner of employing your bounty, I would leave England this autumn, and pass the winter at Lausanne, with M. de Voltaire and my old friends. The armies no longer obstruct my passage, and it must be indifferent to you, whether I am at Lausanne or at London during the winter, since I shall not be at Beriton. In the spring I would cross the Alps, and after some stay in Italy, as the war must then be terminated, return home thro' France, to live happily with you and my dear Mother. I am now two or three and twenty; a tour must take up a considerable time, and tho' I believe you have no thoughts of settling me soon, (and I am sure I have not) yet so many things may intervene, that the man who does not travel early, runs a great risk of not travelling at all. But this part of my scheme, as well as the whole, I submit entirely to you.

Permit me, Dear Sir, to add, that I do not know whether the compleat compliance with my wishes could encrease my love and gratitude; but that I am very sure, no refusal could minish those sentiments with which I shall always remain, Dear Sir, your most dutiful and obedient son and servant,*

E. GIBBON, JUNIOR.

[Sidenote: A CAPTAIN OF MILITIA.]

18.

_To his Stepmother._

Winchester Camp,[25] Monday Morning,
[in pencil] '61?

DEAR MADAM,

I have got four dozen of Franks for you from Sir Gerard Napier, which I shall send you by return of the waggon. In return I must beg the favor of a book. It is Greek, but don't be frightened; you may easily find it. It is a short but very thick folio, bound in parchment, the title on the back in large letters, either Strabo, or Strabonis Geographia, printed in two columns, one Greek, the other Latin. I am pretty sure it is upon the couch. I hope you like the Devizes; the place is good, & I think the neighbourhood to Bath no objection. I hope soon to meet you there, and am,

Dear Madam,
Yours most affectionately,
E. GIBBON, JUNIOR.

[25] In June, 1759, Gibbon and his father joined the Hampshire
regiment of militia as respectively captain and major. The
South battalion, to which they belonged, was kept "under arms,
in constant pay and duty," from the date of its enrolment till
December 23, 1762, when it was disbanded as a permanent force.
The battalion was at Winchester Camp from June 25 to October 23,
1761, and from the latter date to February 28, 1762, at "the
populous and disorderly town of Devizes" (see next letter). His
_Autobiography_ shows that Gibbon found that "a camp," as Johnson
wrote to Mrs. Thrale in October, 1778, "however familiarly we
may speak of it, is one of the great scenes of human life," and
that, partially at least, he agreed with Lord Chesterfield, that
"courts and camps are the only places to learn the world in."

19.

_To his Stepmother._

Devizes, February the 14th, 1762.

DEAR MADAM,

Knowing you as I do I can easily judge of the effect my father's accident must have produced upon you. Besides, I can guess at it by the impression it made upon me, though I heard of the danger and the escape at the same time. I thank God it was no worse. I hope my father is now thoroughly recovered. I shall remember the Arquebusade this week.

Of myself and my situation at the Devizes I have little to say, and that little not very agreeable. A great deal of noise and no conversation, a great many people and no society, a most excessive familiarity and no friendship; in a word, the usual scene, only I think we are not so quarrelsome as we used to be.

I wrote to my father who by this time must have received my letter. However I must just mention to him two or three things relative to the battalion. He will see by the enclosed return, our strength and what we have done, which is nothing to what we might do had we money. The Blacks[26] now grow so numerous that I think they must drive us out of town, they desire it so strongly, & Lord Shelbourne[27] has such powerful interest. I believe Sharrock[28] will get an ensign, one Hall,[29] near this place, a very pretty lad of sixteen with a good qualification, though not in our county. He expects an answer from Durnford, who, by the bye, has not yet wrote either to Harrison[30] or me.

How does your pupil go on? I hope soon to have an account of him, as William is very clamourous for a new livery.

You say nothing of your brother. I hope he is sailed. Surely it must by this time be determined. I beg you would present my love and duty to my father, and believe me,

Dear Madam,
Most affectionately yours,
E. GIBBON, JUNIOR.

[26] The Black Musqueteers of Colonel Barré were raised in 1761-2
as the 106th Regiment of Foot (or Black Musqueteers.) See List of
General and Field Officers for 1763, p. 175.

[27] William, Lord Fitzmaurice, M.P. for Chipping Wycombe,
afterwards Prime Minister (1782), and first Marquess of
Lansdowne, succeeded his father as second Earl of Shelburne
in the spring of 1761. He acted as the go-between in the
negotiations between Bute and Fox, which led to the cessation of
the Seven Years' War and the Treaty of Paris.

[28] Robert Sharrock was a captain in the South Battalion of the
Hampshire Militia.

[29] James Hall received his commission as ensign in February,
1762.

[30] John Butler Harrison, lieutenant in the South Battalion,
was Gibbon's chief friend in the regiment. In his journal Gibbon
speaks of the disagreeable society in which he was compelled
to live. "No manners, no conversation, they were only a set
of fellows, all whose behaviour was low, and most of whose
characters were despicable. I must, however, except Sir Thomas
and Harrison out of this society. Harrison is a young man of
honour, spirit, and good nature. The virtues of his heart make
amends for his having none of the head."

[Sidenote: FOREIGN TOUR.]

20.

_To his Father._

Boulogne, January the 25th, 1763.

DEAR SIR,

*You see by the date of my letter where I am. I arrived here in company with the Duke of Bridgewater,[31] the Marquis of Tavistock,[32] Lord Ossory[33] and a Mr. Leigh, about three in the afternoon, after a tedious but pleasant passage of about nine hours. We were forced to come in here, not being able to make Calais. I have hired a chaise, & propose setting out to-morrow, but alone, as the road will not supply horses for our number. I hope to be at Paris either Thursday or Friday. Writing in the midst of noise and hurry & being just ready to go to supper, you will excuse my ending abruptly.*

I am, Dear Sir,
Yours most affectionately,
E. GIBBON.

[31] Francis Egerton, third and last Duke of Bridgewater
(1736-1803), with the assistance of Brindley, developed the canal
system of the north of England.

[32] The Marquis of Tavistock, who married, in June, 1764, Lady
E. Keppel, was killed in the hunting-field in 1767.

[33] John, second and last Earl of Ossory, married, in 1769, the
Duchess of Grafton. Anne Liddell, daughter of Lord Ravensworth,
married to the Duke of Grafton in January, 1756, was separated
from her husband in 1765. Her daughter by Lord Ossory was born
in 1768; her divorce from the duke, and her marriage with Lord
Ossory, took place in March, 1769.

21.

_To his Stepmother._

Paris, February the 12th, 1763.

DEAR MADAM,

You remember our agreement; short and frequent letters. The first part of the treaty you have no doubt of my observing: I think I ought not to leave you any of the second. _À propos_ of treaty,[34] our definitive one was signed here yesterday, and this morning the Duke of Bridgewater and Mr. Neville[35] went for London with the news of it. The plenipotentiaries sat up till ten o'Clock in the morning at the ambassador of Spain's ball, and then went to sign this treaty which regulates the fate of Europe.

[Sidenote: PARISIAN SOCIETY.]

Paris in most respects, has fully answered my expectations. I have a number of very good acquaintances which encrease every day, for nothing is so easy as the making them here. Instead of complaining of the want of them, I begin already to think of making a choice. Next Sunday for instance I have only three invitations to Dinner. Either in the houses you are already acquainted, you meet with people who ask you to come and see them, or some of your friends offer themselves to introduce you. When I speak of these connections, I mean chiefly for dinner & the evening. Suppers, as yet I am pretty much a stranger to, and I fancy shall continue so: for Paris is divided into two Species who have but little communication with each other. The one who is chiefly connected with the men of letters dine very much at home, are glad to see their friends, and pass the evenings till about nine in agreable and rational conversation. The others are the most fashionable, sup in numerous parties, and always play or rather game both before and after supper. You may easily guess which sort suits me best. Indeed, Madam, we may say what we please of the frivolity of the French, but I do assure you that in a fortnight passed at Paris I have heard more conversation worth remembering, and seen more men of letters among the people of fashion, than I had done in two or three winters in London.

Amongst my acquaintance I cannot help mentioning M. Helvetius,[36] the author of the famous book _de l'Esprit_. I met him at dinner at Madame Geoffrin's,[37] where he took great notice of me, made me a visit next day, & has ever since treated me not in a polite but a friendly manner. Besides being a sensible man an agreable companion, & the worthiest creature in the world He has a very pretty wife, a hundred thousand Livres a year and one of the best tables in Paris. The only thing I dislike in him is his great attachment to and admiration for Stanley,[38] whose character is indeed at Paris beyond any thing you can conceive. To the great civility of this foreigner, who was not obliged to take the least notice of me, I must just contrast the behaviour of the D. of B.[39] I could not see him (on account of his gout) till last Sunday. I was then introduced to him & presented my letter from the D[uke] of R[ichmond].[40] He received me civilly, desired I would apply to him whenever I wanted his assistance, and thus dismissed me. I have not heard of him since. Indeed I have often blushed for him, for I find his stateliness and avarice make him the joke of Paris. Instead of keeping any thing of a publick table, he hardly ever asks any body; while the Spaniard[41] gives balls every week, the magnificence of which is only exceeded by their politeness & elegance. Neville who is exactly Mr. W. Patton[42] received me very well, but seemed to laugh both at Mallet & his letter of recommendation.

I beg my duty to my father to whom I propose writing next week, and my most sincere compliments to the two Gentlemen.

I am, Dear Madam,
Most affectionately yours,
E. GIBBON, JUNIOR, _alias_ DE GUIBON.

[34] The Treaty of Paris was signed February 10, 1763.

[35] Mr. Neville arrived in London with the Definitive Treaty,
February 15, and at once had an audience of the king, which he
describes in a letter printed in the _Bedford Correspondence_,
vol. iii. p. 199.

[36] Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715-1771) published his
materialistic book, _De l'Esprit_, in 1758. He married
Mademoiselle de Ligneville, who survived him more than a quarter
of a century.

[37] Madame Geoffrin (1699-1777), a woman of humble origin,
the widow of a wealthy ice-merchant, opened her _salon_ to
philosophers and men of letters. Madame du Deffand called her
_la mère des philosophes_, also _la reine mère de Pologne_ for
her intimacy with Stanislas Poniatowski. She affected to despise
the influence of Madame Geoffrin. When some friend spoke to her
of her rival's _salon_, she exclaimed, "Voilà bien du bruit pour
une omelette au lard." Gibbon owed his introduction to Madame
Geoffrin to Lady Hervey. Writing to Lady Hervey in October, 1765,
Horace Walpole says of Madame Geoffrin, "she has one of the best
understandings I ever met, and more knowledge of the world."
Yet his account of her, on the whole, confirms Lord Carlisle's
opinion that she was "the most impertinent old brimstone" (Lord
Carlisle to George Selwyn, December 26, 1767). Gibbon speaks in
his _Autobiography_ of her "capricious tyranny." In a letter to
Gray (January 25, 1766) Walpole paints an elaborate portrait of
her and her rival, Madame du Deffand.

[38] The Right Hon. Hans Stanley, of Paultons in the New Forest,
was a grandson of Sir Hans Sloane. He was a distinguished
diplomatist, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Trustee of the
British Museum, Cofferer of the Royal Household, and M.P. for
Southampton. Walpole speaks of him as "deep in the secrets of the
peace of Paris." He committed suicide at Althorpe on January 13,
1780. Gibbon knew him through Stanley's connection with Hampshire
and the Isle of Wight. Stanley was twice Captain and Governor of
the Island, 1764-66 and 1770-80.

[39] John, fourth Duke of Bedford (1710-1771), to whom Gibbon
had a letter of introduction from the Duke of Richmond, was in
1756 appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Keeper of the Privy
Seal in 1761, and in 1762 ambassador to France, where he signed
the preliminaries of peace with France and Spain. "The Duke of
Bedford," writes Horace Walpole in September, 1762, "is gone in a
fury to make peace, for he cannot be even pacific with temper."

[40] Charles, third Duke of Richmond, born 1735; ambassador at
Paris, 1765; Secretary of State, 1766; Master of the Ordnance,
1783; died 1806.

[41] The Marquis Jeronymo Grimaldi, a member of an illustrious
Genoese family, was at this time the Spanish ambassador. He
negotiated the family compact of 1761 between France and Spain.

[42] Mrs. Gibbon's youngest brother.

22.

_To his Stepmother._

Paris, March the 25th, 1763.

DEAR MADAM,

I am afraid (as dates are stubborn things) that I have been rather too lazy. As you love truth, and know me, I will not attempt an awkward apology, but shall only say, that I will endeavor such a delay shall not happen a second time. My father has more extensive priviledges, and indeed he seems to be very well acquainted with them.

[Sidenote: FRIENDS IN PARIS]

I still continue to like Paris, as well as I expected. You know that is saying a great deal. In two months I am acquainted with more, (and more agreable) people, than I knew in London in two years. Indeed the way of life is quite different. Much less play, more conversation, and instead of our immense routs, agreable societies where you know and are known by almost every body you meet. I have added several families to those I have already mentioned to you, and I find my conquests multiply every day. With regard to Mrs. M.'s son,[43] I am glad to see that for once she has not exagerated; indeed she hardly could in speaking of him. We are now very intimate, & I think I begin to know his character. It is astonishing for a young French officer of the Guards. He is as reserved, as little a man of the world, and as awkward as I can be. But he has a fine natural understanding, improved upon almost every subject, a clear unprejudiced head, and a heart which seems to be full of the noblest sentiments of honor, probity and friendship. I will not decide too hastily, but I believe and hope that I am forming a connection which will last as long as my life. We see one another very often, and in most of my visits of curiosity he generally accompagnies me. These parties are of service to us both. I improve by the communication of his remarks, and he has occasion to see twenty places which he would perhaps not have seen for the too common reason, that they were in the place he had passed all his life in. The only unlucky circumstance is, that he has no women in his family. A Wife or a sister are, you know, most usefull and convenient things to bring friends together, whereas we are both single; he in his cousin's house, I in a lodging; and in this great town, are both obliged to get our living, which prevents our meeting so often as we could wish. Madame Bontems[44] is a very good sort of a woman, agreable and _sans pretensions_. She seems to have conceived a real motherly attachment for me. I generally sup there three or four times a week quite in a friendly way.

I have nothing new to say of his Excellency. I have not seen him since my last letter, and but once in all. Not a single invitation either general or particular, and tho' I have made it a rule to leave my name at the door, at proper intervalls, I have never been lett in. The behavior is so very singular (especially with _such a recommendation as mine_) that I am sometimes tempted to think, some ill offices must have been done me. Not that I am conscious of any thing wrong or even imprudent in my behaviour. On the contrary, whenever I have heard the D.'s manner of living here blamed and laughed at, I have always thought it right to try to justify him, even against my own conscience. Indeed I am sorry, for the honor of my country to see how contemptible a figure he makes amongst our late enemies and constant rivals. My only comfort is that the National character is as much revered as his is despised. What Cromwell wished is now litterally the case. The name of Englishman inspires as great an idea at Paris as that of Roman could at Carthage, after the defeat of Hannibal. Indeed the French are almost excessive. From being very unjustly esteemed a set of pirates and Barbarians, we are now, by a more agreable injustice, looked upon as a nation of Philosophers and Patriots. I wish we would consider this opinion as an encouragement to deserve a character, which I am afraid we have not yet attained. I could add many things (some curious enough) with regard to the reigning politicks and publick affairs; but I have no occasion to say _why_ it is much better to talk them over in your Dressing room some time hence. Perhaps I have even said too much already.

[Sidenote: PARIS AND LONDON CONTRASTED.]

With regard to Paris itself, I mean the houses and buildings, you know very well that their people of fashion are incomparably better lodged there than in London. Their vast Hotels, courts, stables, gardens, are very magnificent as well as convenient. A striking proof of the difference is the situation of our Embassador. He is full as well if not better lodged, in the Rue St. Dominique, than in Bloomsbury Square. However, his own house is reckoned one of the very best in London, and his hired one here is, both as to size, beauty and price, far inferior to a great many, even of that class, at Paris. Indeed I take the article of house rent to be much higher than in London, Did you ever hear of seven and eight hundred and even a thousand pounds a year being given for a house unfurnished. There are instances of it here. But as to the middling people, even those of fashion, I like a London house better. Without a regular porter to answer at the door, our little street-doors are more convenient. A fine large court is a very agreable thing, but a dark nasty gate-way is a very disagreable one. When you get up stairs you generally meet with two rooms. If we sat as much in our bed-chambers as they do, we have as many. They have indeed besides, an ante-chamber ill fitted up, and much littered, which the servants inhabit all day, except at noon and night that it serves for an eating parlour.

I have just seen here two families, the one my father's acquaintance, the other your's. The first was Mr. Prowse, who only passed thro' Paris, in his way for Tours, to which place he was going, with all his family, for his health. I dined with him at Mr. Foley's[45] & went about with him to several places the next day. In consequence of some little civilities of that kind, he asked me to dine with him the day after. He is a very agreable sensible man, but a strange being in France. The second is your good friend Mrs. Poyntz,[46] whom I met by accident. She talked of you, whom she adores, asked me a hundred questions in a breath, told me all her own affairs, her tradesmen, her house-rent, her daughter, Lord Spencer, &c. &c. &c. &c. &c. &c., and insisted upon my calling upon her.

My love and duty to my father. I shall write to him next post and hope to hear from him sometimes. I have been obliged to draw for another hundred pounds. I do assure you I study the œconomical art.

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

[43] M. d'Augny.

[44] Marie Jeanne de Chatillon, Madame Bontemps. Gibbon had
met her son, who was acting as private secretary to the Duc de
Nivernois in London, at Mallet's house in November, 1762. She
translated Thomson's _Seasons_ into French prose in 1759.

[45] The English banker at Paris.

[46] Mrs. Poyntz, wife of Stephen Poyntz, of Midgeham, Berkshire,
was mother of Lady Spencer and grandmother of Georgiana, the
beautiful Duchess of Devonshire.

23.

_To his Father._

Paris, April the 5th, 1763.

DEAR SIR,

I received your last letter with pleasure, because every thing that comes from you gives me pleasure; but I must own it afflicted me very much, as I see there are several things in which I have had the misfortune to displease either you or some other of my friends. I must endeavour to justify myself, and I think I can easily do it upon most of those heads.

Lord Litchfield[47] is angry at my writing to him. I am sorry for it and surprized at it at the same time. I could discover many reasons why he might not serve me, none that He could be angry at my application to him, especially as that application was made with all the decency and moderation, I could put into my letter. I should with pleasure have communicated it to you, and known your sentiments, but as we imagined here that the D. of B. would go away very soon, I was afraid that delay might destroy the very small hopes I had. Indeed I thought it the less necessary as I knew already your opinion both as to the eligibility of the thing, and the propriety of an application to the Noble Lord. I own the giving him no direction was not a happy specimen of my Secretarial acuracy.

As to my friends, Mallets, Worsleys,[48] Portens, &c. &c. &c. &c., I must plead guilty, very guilty indeed to the indictment. I will not take up my time and yours in vain excuses, my best and only excuse ought to be and shall be, more exactness for the future. Notwithstanding Mrs. M.'s outrageousness she is the person I trouble my head the least about. However I propose writing to her to-night tho' with great repugnance and difficulty. I neither chuse to go to the Bastille for sending her observations upon the French government, nor to fill my letter full of romantick protestations of attachment and friendship, which I do not feel for her, and which she feels for nobody. As to La Motte I cannot forgive him his complaints, when I have so much juster ones to make of him. Follow his advice I most certainly did not, since he never would give me any, tho' I asked him several times in as intelligible terms as I could properly make use of. I was forced to have recourse to my other friends, to Madame Bontems, to M. d'Augney and to M. de Mirabeau,[49] and their directions have been very usefull to me. La Motte always shewed me such a dryness, such an unwillingness to connect himself at all with me, that I have been at last obliged to drop him almost entirely.

[Sidenote: CONDUCT OF THE DUKE OF BEDFORD.]

Do you think, dear Sir, that I would have stood upon the formality of a visit with the great Duke? Besides I had no occasion to do it. He returned mine the very next day. Since that time I have presented myself at his door once every week or ten days without being ever let in or hearing a syllable from him. What can I do more than sit down quiet and wonder at his behavior?

I have enquired into Mr. Thos. Bradley's affair. Mr. Taaffe is no longer at Mr. George Woolfe's. He is in a much safer place, in the Châtelet, a prison of Paris for debt. He has settled with his English Creditors and given up his estate at Jamaica for the payment of his debts. He wants to compromise with his other Creditors who are very numerous, (but as they are convinced he wants to cheat them and that he only offers the same estate after the other debts are cleared, which cannot be in less than ten or fifteen years) they will hear of no compromise. All that Mr. Bradley could do, would be to join with those Creditors in case they should at last agree to his proposals. Mr. Taaffe's scheme is to keep another estate at Jamaica clear of his creditors. They on their side want to starve him into giving up that likewise. If Mr. Bradley thinks it worth his while to push the affair, it will be attended with some trouble and expence. He must impower somebody at Paris to act in his name, and in order to do so a journey to London will be necessary where he must find out Mr. Benjamin Bobbin an Attorney beyond the Royal Exchange, who does all that kind of business, and who will draw up a letter of attorney in French for him, and get it certified by the French ambassador; a formality absolutely necessary to give it weight in this country. As to his Attorney at Paris, the necessary delays of the Law will render it proper to have a man who is established at * * *

I cannot therefore offer myself, (which I should otherwise do with great pleasure,) and I should hope Mr. Foley would be willing as he is certainly able to undertake it. I wish I could give Mr. Bradley a better account, but this seems to be the true state of the case.

My losses at Play have not been very considerable since I have been here, they amount to seven Livres lost one night at Picquet. It is indeed rather my good luck than my prudence that saves me. All my Societies are houses where I never see a card, so that I do not fall because I have no temptation. I find Paris however very expensive. One article which, tho' it encreases my draughts at present, will diminish them hereafter is cloathes, ruffles, silk stockings, &c., which after serious deliberation, I thought I had better make a provision of at this Capital of the Fashionable world. However as I begin to have pretty well seen Paris, I propose (if you have no objection) setting out about the eighth of next month, & going thro' Dijon and Besançon to Lausanne to pass two or three quiet and cheap months with my old friends there on my way to Italy. Adieu, Dear Sir, my paper fails me and I would avoid a cover.

I am, Dear Sir,
Yours most affectionately,
E. G.

[47] George Henry Lee (1718-1772), who succeeded his father as
third Earl of Lichfield in 1743, was one of the leaders of the
Jacobites. He came to court, however, on the accession of George
III. "Lord Lichfield and several other Jacobites have kissed
hands; George Selwyn says, 'They go to St. James's, because now
there are so many _Stuarts_ there'" (Walpole to Montagu, November
13, 1760). Lord Lichfield became in 1762 Chancellor of the
University of Oxford, which may explain his reception of Gibbon's
letter.

[48] Sir Thomas Worsley, Bart., Lieut.-Colonel of Gibbon's
battalion of the Hampshire regiment, succeeded his father, Sir
James Worsley, of Pilewell in Hampshire, and Appuldurcombe in
the Isle of Wight. He married the eldest daughter of the Earl
of Cork, by whom he had a son and a daughter. He continued a
collection of notes on the Isle of Wight, commenced by his father
and completed by his son, Sir Richard Worsley, the author of the
_History of the Isle of Wight (1781)_. He died September 23, 1768.

[49] The Marquis de Mirabeau (1715-1789), father of the
famous orator and political leader, belonged to the school of
Economists. In 1760 his _Théorie de l'Impôt_ had lodged him in
the Bastille, and made him the fashion in Paris. Gibbon speaks of
him in his Journal (February 24, 1763): "Il a assez d'imagination
pour dix autres, et pas assez de sens rassis pour lui seul." He
met him at a supper-party in the house of Madame Bontemps.

24.

_To his Stepmother._

Besançon, May the 18th, 1763.

DEAR MADAM,

You will give me leave according to an article of our treaty, to write you only three lines, just to tell that I am well and where I am.

Upon my arrival at Besançon I saw Mr. Acton[50] directly. He has received me with a degree not only of civility but of friendship which astonished me, insisted upon my taking an appartment in his house, and since my seeing him, himself and his three sons (our Southampton friend is one) have been only taken up in procuring me every kind of amusement, in carrying me to all my father's friends here who have all enquired much after him, in seeing publick places, and in parties at home and abroad. The only inconvenience is that I have not an instant to myself and that I am forced to write this scrawl at half an hour after one in the morning. The day after to-morrow I set out for Lausanne, where I shall be a little quieter. The Acton family desire to be remembered to my father.

I am, Dear Madam,
Yours and my father's with the truest affection,
E. G., JUNIOR.

[50] Dr. Acton was a cousin of Gibbon. He married, "renounced his
country, and settled at Besançon, and became the father of three
sons, the eldest of whom, General (afterwards Sir John Francis
Edward) Acton, is conspicuous in Europe as the principal minister
of the King of the Two Sicilies." He was the grandfather of the
present Lord Acton.

[Sidenote: BESANÇON.]

25.

_To his Father._

Lausanne, May the 31st, 1763.

DEAR SIR,

I staid four or five days at Besançon longer than I intended, so that I got here only the 25th. It was even with some difficulty that I could disengage myself so soon from Mr. Acton's civilities. Indeed nothing could exceed them. Not only they insisted upon my lodging in the house, but during the time I passed in it, the sole business of the family seemed to be finding out amusements for me. They carried me to the best houses in the place, showed me whatever was worth seeing, and made several parties for me in the country. What I saw of Besançon pleased me so much, that, could I have stayed there without being an inconvenience to them, I should have liked to have stayed a few days or even weeks longer. Mr. Acton is the best sort of man in the world, and is bent on doing everything most agreable. He has a great deal of business, many friends and a very high reputation. He has indeed unluckily been too long out of England to remember his own language, and not long enough in France, to have learnt that of the country. He talked a vast deal of you, and tho' it is so long since you have been there, I have found your memory very fresh & many people who have enquired after you. The two sisters in particular of your _écuyer_ (I have forgot their names) talked to me by the hour of their old friend Monsieur de Guibon. As to Acton's wife, you know the character Mrs. Darrel gives of her, and I was sorry to find it is pretty well established at Besançon; but she is certainly a very agreable and sensible woman, and I should have taken her for a very good-natured one. If she is a termagant I never saw such a Wolf in sheep's cloathing.

At last, Dear Sir, I am got to Lausanne and established very agreably among my old acquaintance, and in a way of life I like extremely, a moderate mixture of society and study. News from a place so very quiet and obscure you cannot expect. I have however seen an old friend of ours who has just left us; Sir Willoughby Aston.[51] He had been here about a twelfmonth with Lady Aston and his numerous [family], and are just gone to Tours in France. Nobody could guess why. They lived very cheap here; Lady Aston had as many rubbers of Whist, and Sir Willoughby as many bottles of wine every day as they wanted. What could they have more? Sir Willoughby asked much after you, and was glad to see me to talk over Winchester camp and Reading court martial.

A propos of our militia, I have seen that of Switzerland. Their General review (of the Lausanne Battalion) was last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I attended all three from beginning to end, and making all proper allowances saw them with great pleasure. They are only exercised twelve days in the year, and tho' many of them have been in foreign services, yet you know, Dear Sir, how very easy it is for a soldier to forget. They went through the manual, fired by divisions and platoons, formed the column, and square, a General discharge and charge: all very decently, and some (especially the Grenadiers) very prettily. I do not compare them to our militia. As we were embodied two or three years, the comparaison would be an affront.

[Sidenote: LAUSANNE]

I took credit from Mr. Foley upon a Lausanne banker, who is likewise a brother captain of Grenadiers. I have not made use of it yet, and when I do, it shall be as sparing as possible. I have got a few books together, and am busy upon the ancient Geography of Italy and the reviewing my Roman history and antiquities. If you have no objection to leaving me here till the spring, I should like it very much and think it might be of use to me. But I submit the thing entirely to you.

You will be so good, Dear Sir, as to present my sincerest love and duty to Mrs. Gibbon, and my most affectionate compliments to her brothers, and to believe me

Most truly yours,
E. GIBBON, JUNIOR.

[51] Sir Willoughby Aston was returned M.P. for Nottingham in
1754, and was appointed Colonel of the Berkshire Militia in 1759.
Lady Aston was a Miss Pye, of Farringdon, Berks. His "numerous"
family consisted of his only son and successor, and of six
daughters. He died August 24, 1772.

26.

_To his Stepmother._

Lausanne, June the 18th, 1763.

DEAR MADAM,