Chapter XIV: Part 14

The flight failed through the King's departure a day later than he proposed. The attendance of a democratic woman on the Dauphin was to end on the day which had been fixed. The King had announced to Bouillè that it would be better to delay till the woman's time was out, but too late for him to give notice to the Person and Troops he had posted. Charles Damas and Choiseul[207] had advanced to meet the King. He not coming on the day he was expected, they supposed the enterprise had failed, and retired two hours only before the King arrived. He expected to find a relay of horses on the Paris side of Varrennes. The horses were waiting on the other side, of which the King had no information. The Postillions would not pass the stage. The King, not meeting those persons he expected, despaired. The Queen was impatient, got out of the carriage, enquired at different places for the relay. Thence suspicions arose. Damas and Choiseul finding they had caused some jealousy, had returned by a cross road, otherwise the King would have overtaken them. They came into Varrennes after the King was seized. Bouillè says the flight was entirely planned by the King, that the Emperor had pressed the attempt. He excuses his letter, &c., by saying "His object was to turn the thoughts of the people from the King on him." What a reverse for poor Bouillè! If the King had reached Montmedi, I have not a doubt of his having been joined by the Army and of his being now re-established at Paris. Bouillè would have been in the highest situation. Now he is a vagabond in Germany.

[Sidenote: THE HIDEOUS PLAGUE IN FRANCE.]

Letters from Paris represent Pitt as the vilest Machiavel in respect to French affairs. Perhaps France has no great right to complain. When lately in London I dined in company with the Duke of Richmond, and was sitting next him. I whispered that the Princes were very well satisfied with our King's friendly letter to them, which promised neutrality on the part of Britain. The Duke said, twice, with eagerness, "No, no. It promised nothing." If the plague, comparatively a trifling misfortune, had broke out in France, the neighbouring countries would have formed a cordon round it--but now, when the most hideous plague that can be imagined, rages there, which no cordon ever will be able to contain, if it should continue, but which inevitably will spread over and contaminate all Europe, it is treated as a matter of ordinary policy. I do not understand these precious Sovereigns. They deserve their fate, and their ministers to be hanged, but I object to the several countries being torn to pieces; at the same time I must say that I do not see that there is sufficient ground to believe our ministers are acting a double part as is supposed. Finally, it is obvious that there is not at present the possibility of an arrangement between the two parties of France, because neither party can govern or answer for the multitude. Lally talks with much satisfaction of the manner in which Lord Guilford expressed himself in respect to Necker, his honour, honesty, &c., &c. He is greatly struck with his candour, moderation and good sense. Remember me in an handsome manner to M. and Madame Necker when you see them.

As you talk of being restored to your pristine tranquility at Lausanne, and that Politicks are waved, I suppose Mr. Commissioner Fischer is gone. Rather than part with him, I should have been content with your alarms and your Politicks. I should even have regretted the whiskers and my Friend Meluner. Maria says the Commissioner is gone, because you presume to mention a Ball. I hope Wilhelm de Severy was not obliged to make verses. Remember us to his excellent Pere, Mere, & Sœur.

Luckily it is not necessary to reserve much space for your affairs. They are in good train. It is a satisfaction when I can observe in you a dawning of intelligence in such matters, and that you see there is an advantage of 15 per cent. in changing at this time from the Funds to a Mortgage, besides the security against depreciation. I have already written to desire that your Fund in Yorkshire may be increased if it should suit. I should have remembered the Dowager. However, the interest of Stock now due and the money you have at Lausanne will be enough for two months. Remember it will be little more before considerable payments will be made. You are a rich old fellow. I shall leave the India Bonds if the price should be bad. The Lawyers' bills paid are only those I showed to you. I apprehend the Madeira has begun its travels. I think I discovered when I saw Lord Auckland lately, that he had done nothing respecting the claret, but I believe I can provide for you by another channel.

I have an imperfect recollection of having mentioned in a late letter some instances of British prosperity, but I know not what. The gross produce of the permanent Revenue of the year ending 5^{th} Jan^y, 1791, including Land-Tax and Annual Malt, amounted to £20,355,380, exclusive of casual revenue, such as seizures, fines, taxes on Places & Pensions, First fruits, &c., amounting to £125,476, and exclusive also of the profits of the Lottery. The actual receipt of the

Excise for the same year was £9,054,850
Resting to be accounted for 194,245
----------
£9,249,096

Expense of management, £505,014. But allowances, Exports, Bounties, &c., reduced the nett payment into the Exchequer to £7,689,973; notwithstanding this ample amount, the net increase of the excise for the year ending 5^{th} Jan^y, 1792, will not be less than £1,200,000, of which £800,000 are old, and £400,000 are new duties. The general expence of collecting all the Taxes is £5 13_s._ 7_d._ per cent. I understand the expence of collecting the Revenue in France previous to the Revolution was £11 17_s._ 0_d._ per cent.

You recollect that we ought to have been ruined by the Independence of America--_selon tous les regles_, except mine and a few others--yet since 1773, when the troubles in America began, the export of British manufactures have gradually increased upwards of four millions annually. British built commercial tonnage has increased since that period 318,522 tons, which is more than three-fourths of the whole Commercial tonnage of France. Thanks to that illustrious writer the Lord Sheffield. The total of French commercial tonnage is 426,121. Total of English, 1,527,240, English coasting tonnage 3,711,135, French ditto 1,004,729. There is more Foreign than French shipping employed in the trade of France. When their silly and crazy patriots have ruined their West India trade, they will have little occasion for sailors. Such considerations are beneath such elevated minds.

[Sidenote: MASSA KING WILBERFORCE.]

We are going to send 300 dismounted Light Dragoons to Jamaica and 600 foot from Nova Scotia. Hitherto all has been quiet there, but 3000 Negroes assembled in the parish of Westmoreland to celebrate Massa King Wilberforce's Birthday,[208] lately raised some alarm. Happily they were quietly dispersed. Have you observed that the estimated expence of France for the last year was about 26 millions sterling, and the Ways and Means about 24 millions? (It is rather awkward to set out with a deficit of 2 millions.) On the 31st October last, only about 2,700,000 had been received, and it was not even supposed then that more than 2,400,000 more would be paid before the end of the year. The Arrear of Taxes since the Revolution is about 70,000,000. The Land-tax however is not to be considered as all lost. The imperfect receipt of it arises from an incomplete arrangement, I understand, as to the mode of collection. About 12 millions of that tax are behind.

I have not thought so bad of your taste, since I heard the vile unmeaning masses are removed from your Terrace, and I hope most of the vulgar flower-pots. You have not given a tolerable reason for preferring a bed-chamber which cannot have a good approach, without indeed a very great expence. What I propose, may be done without spoiling your Library, and without disturbing you in that comfortable room.

I have not forgot your poultry, I could have done the needfull for £7, instead of £70. You did not want a menagerie. The alteration of the staircase would do away the most awkward entrance I ever saw into an House at a very small expense--but if the French Revolution is not checked, I must flatter myself your Books will be used for cartridges. As to the letters, I thought you expressed indifference about them before I left you. I shall examine, altho' I do not believe there are many except of a late Times. Assure the Duchess of Biron[209] (she is a great favourite here) that the parcel for Madame de Cambis was received safe.

[203] A commission presided over by M. Fischer, supported by
two or three thousand militia of the Canton of Berne, was sent
to inquire into the attempts to introduce the principles of the
French Revolution into the Pays de Vaud. Several persons were
arrested, and secretly examined. MM. Rosset and La Motte were
confined in the Castle of Chillon, and being afterwards condemned
to a long period of imprisonment for correspondence with the
French, were transferred to the Castle of Arbourg, whence they
escaped.

[204] Lally's tragedy of _Strafford_, in five acts and verse,
was printed at London in 1795. His _Essai sur la vie de Thomas
Wentworth, Comte de Strafford_, was published at London in the
same year. Madame d'Arblay, in February, 1792, speaks of Miss
Fanshawe having heard "the famous M. Lally Tolendahl read a
French tragedy upon an English subject written by himself! The
subject was the death of Strafford." Lally was probably attracted
to the subject by the circumstances of his own father's execution.

[205] Marie Antoinette was born November 2, 1755.

[206] Bouillé, warned by a messenger from Choiseul that the
king was detained at Varennes, rode from Dun-sur-Meuse, about
twenty-two miles from Montmédy, to within sight of the village,
but could not cross the Aire; thousands of the National Guard had
mustered, and the king was already on his return journey to Paris.

[207] The Comte de Damas, who was stationed on the Ste. Menehould
side of Varennes, joined the king at Clermont-en-Argonne, where
the road westward from Ste. Menehould strikes to the north to
Varennes and Montmédy. The Duc de Choiseul and his hussars, who
had been posted on the Montmédy side of Varennes, also joined the
king at Varennes. But their troops refused to act against the
National Guard. The relays were stationed at the further side of
the bridge over the Aire, which had been blocked by Postmaster
Drouet.

[208] In Westmoreland County, Jamaica, "particularly in the
parish of St. Elizabeth, there have been nightly meetings of the
Negroes, where they have not hesitated to call Wilberforce their
King, by the name (in their way) of _King Wilberforce_." (Extract
from a letter quoted in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for February,
1792, vol. 62, p. 174.)

[209] Amélie de Boufflers, only daughter of the Duc de Boufflers,
was born in 1751. J. J. Rousseau speaks enthusiastically of her,
when he saw her as a girl at the house of her grandmother, the
Maréchale de Luxembourg. She married, in 1766, Armand Louis de
Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun, who succeeded his uncle as Duc de Biron.
Dissolute and a spendthrift, the duke hated the king and queen
because he had not been appointed to succeed his uncle as Colonel
of the Guards (_Souvenirs et Portraits_, par le Duc de Lévis, pp.
191-201). He joined the extreme revolutionary party. His wife,
who had lived apart from him for many years, in 1791-2 passed
some months at Lausanne. She returned to France from England in
November, 1792, was arrested and released at the intercession of
her husband, whom she had not seen for fifteen years. In England
she lived with the Princesse d'Hénin till October, 1793, when she
again returned to France. She was arrested and guillotined in
1794. The Duc was executed in December, 1793.

586.

_To Lord Sheffield._

Lausanne, April 4th, 1792.

*For fear you should abuse me, as usual, I will begin the attack, and scold at you, for not having yet sent me the long-expected intelligence of the completion of my mortgage. You had positively assured me that the second of February would terminate my worldly cares, by a consummation so devoutly to be wished. The news, therefore, might reach me about the 16th; and I argued with the gentle logic of lazyness, that it was perfectly idle to answer your letter, till I could chaunt a thanksgiving song of gratitude and praise. As every post disappointed my hopes, the same argument was repeated for the next; and twenty empty-handed postilions have blown their insignificant horns, till I am provoked at last to write by sheer impatience and vexation.

_Facit indignatio versum. Cospetto di Baccho_; for I must ease myself by swearing a little. What is the cause, the meaning, the pretence, of this delay? Are the Yorkshire Mortgagors inconstant in their wishes? are the London lawyers constant in their procrastination? Is a letter on the road, to inform that all is concluded, or to tell me that all is broke to pieces? In sober truth I am out of humour to think of all the dinners that the Goslings have given at my expence. Had the money been placed in the three per Cents last May, besides the annual interest, it would now have gained by the rise of stock nearly twenty per Cent. Your Lordship is a wise man, a successful writer, and a useful Senator; you understand America and Ireland, Corn and Slaves, but your prejudice against the funds, in which I am often tempted to joyn, makes you a little blind to their encreasing value in the hands of our virtuous and excellent minister. But our regret is vain; one pull more and we reach the shore; and our future correspondence will be no longer tainted with business. But shall I then be more diligent and regular? I hope and believe so; for now that I have got over this article of worldly interest, my letter seems to be almost finished.

A propos of letters, am I not a sad dog to forget My Lady and Maria? Alas! the dual number has been prejudicial to both. How happy could I be with either, were t'other dear charmer away. I am like the Ass of famous memory; I cannot tell which way to turn first, and there I stand mute and immoveable. The Baronial and maternal dignity of My Lady, supported by twenty years' friendship, may claim the preference. But the five incomparable letters of Maria!--Next week, however.--Am I not ashamed to talk of next Week?

[Sidenote: A MONTH WITH THE NECKERS.]

I have most successfully, and most agreeably, executed my plan of spending the month of March at Geneva, in the Necker house, and every circumstance that I had arranged turned out beyond my expectation; the freedom of the morning, the society of the table and drawing-room, from half an hour past two till six or seven; an evening assembly and card-party, in a round of the best company, and, except one day in the week, a private supper of free and friendly conversation. You would like Geneva better than Lausanne; there is much more information to be got among the men; but though I found some agreeable women, their manners and style of life are, upon the whole, less easy and pleasant than our own. I was much pleased with Necker's brother, Mr. de Germani,[210] a good-humoured, polite, sensible man, without the genius or fame of the statesman, but much more adapted for private and ordinary happiness.

Madame de Stael is expected in a few weeks at Copet, where they receive her, and where, "to dumb forgetfullness a prey," she will have leisure to regret the pleasing anxious being, which she enjoyed amidst the storms of Paris. But what can the poor creature do? her husband is in Sweden,[211] her lover is no longer Secretary of War,[212] and her father's house is the only place where she can reside with the least degree of prudence and decency. Of that father I have really a much higher idea than I ever had before; in our domestic intimacy he cast away his gloom and reserve; I saw a great deal of his mind, and all that I saw is fair and worthy. He was overwhelmed by the hurricane, he mistook his way in the fog, but in such a perilous situation, I much doubt whether any mortal could have seen or stood. In the meanwhile, he is abused by all parties, and none of the French in Geneva will set their foot in his house. He remembers Lord Sheffield with esteem. His health is good, and he would be tranquil in his private life, were not his spirits continually wounded by the arrival of every letter and every newspaper. His sympathy is deeply interested by the fatal consequences of a Revolution, in which he had acted so leading a part; and he feels as a friend for the danger of Mr. de Lessart,[213] who may be guilty in the eyes of the Jacobins, or even of his judges, by those very actions and dispatches which would be the most approved by all true Lovers of his Country.

[Sidenote: THE MARCH OF THE MARSEILLAIS.]

What a momentous event is the Emperor's death![214] In the forms of a new reign, and of the Imperial election, the Democrates have at least gained time, if they knew how to use it. But the new Monarch, though of a weak complexion, is of a martial temper; he loves the Soldiers, and is beloved by them; and the slow, fluctuating politics of his uncle may be succeeded by a direct line of march to the gates of Strasburgh and Paris. It is the opinion of the master-movers in France, (I know it most certainly,) that their troops will not fight, that the people have lost all sense of patriotism, and that on the first discharge of an Austrian cannon the game is up. But what occasion for Austrians or Spaniards? the French are themselves their greatest enemies; 4000 Marseillais are marched against Arles and Avignon, the _troupes de ligne_ are divided between the two parties, and the flame of civil war will soon extend over the southern provinces.[215] You have heard of the unworthy treatment of the Swiss regiment of Ernst. The canton of Bern has bravely recalled them, with a stout letter to the King of France, which must be inserted in all the papers.

I now come to the most unpleasant articles, our home politics. Rosset and La Motte are condemned to five and twenty years imprisonment in the fortress of Arbourg. We have not yet received their official sentence, nor is it believed that the proofs and proceedings against them will be published; an awkward circumstance, which it does not seem easy to justify. Some (though none of note) are taken up, several are fled, many more are suspected and suspicious. All are silent, but it is the silence of fear and discontent; and the secret hatred which rankled against Government begins to point against the few who are known to be well-affected.

I never knew any place so much changed as Lausanne, even since last year; and though you will not be much obliged to me for the motive, I begin very seriously to think of visiting Sheffield-place by the month of September next. Yet here again I am frightened, by the dangers of a French, and the difficulties of a German, route. You must send me an account of the passage from Brighton, with an itinerary of the Rhine, distances, expences, &c. As usual, I just save the post, nor have I time to read my letter, which, after wasting the morning in deliberation, has been struck off in a heat since dinner. No news of the Madeira. The views of Sh.-pl. are just received; they are admired, and shall be framed. Severy has spent the Carnival at Turin. Trevor is only the best man in the World.*

[210] Louis Necker (1730-1801), elder brother of Jacques Necker
the statesman, assumed the name of de Germanie on succeeding to
an estate of that name which he inherited from his father. He had
made a fortune as a banker at Marseilles.

[211] The Baron de Staël-Holstein was Swedish Ambassador at Paris
from 1783 to 1792.

[212] M. de Narbonne-Lara was Minister of War from December,
1791, to March, 1792. Born in 1755, he is said to have been
the son of Madame Adelaide and the Comte de Narbonne, her
chamberlain. He was one of the few persons who, according to
Talleyrand, were completely in the confidence of Mirabeau. "Le
Comte Louis de Narbonne est enfin ministre de la guerre, d'hier,"
wrote Marie Antoinette to Count Fersen. "Quelle gloire pour
M^{me} de Stael, et quel plaisir pour elle d'avoir toute l'armée
... à elle!" (Klinckowström, _Le Comte de Fersen et la Cour de
France_, i. 269). After the insurrection of August 10, 1792,
Narbonne was saved by Madame de Staël and M. Bollmann, and took
refuge in England.

[213] Antoine de Lessart, Minister of the Interior and of Foreign
Affairs (1791-2), was accused of corresponding with the _émigrés_
and the emperor, tried before the High Court of Orleans for
treason, and murdered in the September massacres of 1792.

[214] The Emperor Leopold II. died March 1, 1792, and was
succeeded by his son Francis Joseph, who, pending his election as
emperor, took the title of King of Bohemia and Hungary.

[215] Taine traces to the action of Marseilles in the autumn
of 1791 the first crop of the "arbre révolutionnaire" (_La
Révolution_, vol. ii. c. vi.). Marseilles, in fact, became a
Republic which undertook the conquest of southern provinces.
In February, 1792, four thousand Marseillais marched upon Aix,
and disarmed and pillaged the Swiss Regiment of Ernest. In
the following March, they made themselves masters of Arles.
Their troops, "vraie Sodome errante," pillaged the country,
and plundered, outraged, or massacred peaceful inhabitants.
Avignon, which with the Comtat Venaissin was united to France
in September, 1791, was the next object of their attack. It had
been, in October, 1791, the scene of the horrible massacres of La
Glacière perpetrated by Jourdan _Coupe-Tête_ and the "Brigands
of Avignon." Jourdan's cruelties had produced a reaction. But in
April, 1792, he was carried in triumph by the Marseillais through
the streets of the city, and restored to his usurped position as
governor and commander-in-chief. Jourdan, it may be added, was
guillotined in May, 1794.

587.

_Lord Sheffield to Edward Gibbon._

Downing Street, 18th April, 1792.

You will readily guess that I do not write to you because the Mortgage was not finished, but I cannot readily guess the cause of your not answering my letter, which according to the best of my recollection was long and amiable. Be assured that you are a worthless fellow.

When the Yorkshire business is finished you will have £20,000 as well placed as can be. N.B. The Buriton interest is not yet paid, but I suppose will in a few days. I have been at Sheffield Place near a fortnight during Easter.

I am engaged in numberless matters before the Commons, British business is not slack. I have been all night at a Ball. I am just returned from a Congress with Mr. Secretary Dundas on the subject of his Slave Bill.[216] He and I are likely to agree. The innocence of Captain Kimber[217] will be made as clear as will the extreme rascality of his surgeon who accuses. Louisa settled at Bath with Aunt about the middle of Febry. It was the best that could be done. Mrs. Moss set out this day for the neighbourhood of Geneva, where she is to pass the summer. She carries a letter to you in case she should pass thro' Lausanne, that you might show such attention to her as you can by selfe, Levade, or De Severy. She carries also 14 of your letters of the years 77, 78, 79.

[216] In April, 1792, Wilberforce brought forward his annual
motion for the abolition of the slave trade. Pitt made one of
his most eloquent speeches in its support. Dundas moved as
an amendment a gradual measure of abolition. His amendment,
though opposed by Fox, was carried (April 2) by 193 to 125. He
subsequently (April 23) moved a series of resolutions to effect
a gradual abolition. These were taken up by Pitt, and, with some
amendments, carried. In the Lords a proposal to receive evidence
on the subject was carried (May 8), and there for the time
proceedings stopped. The Bill for the general abolition of the
slave trade received the royal assent in March, 1807.

[217] On June 7, 1792, Captain John Kimber was tried at the Old
Bailey for the murder of a negro girl on board the _Recovery_. He
was acquitted, and two of the witnesses for the prosecution were
committed for trial for perjury. On February 19, 1793, Surgeon
Dowling, the principal witness against Kimber, was convicted of
perjury. The charge against Kimber was urged by Wilberforce in
his speech of April 2, 1792.

588.

_Lord Sheffield to Edward Gibbon._

Downing Street, 14 May, 1792.

[Sidenote: AN ASYLUM AT BERNE.]

The Plot thickens. Some information induces me to think that Switzerland, till lately the happy and peaceful, may be disquieted, especially the countries bordering on France. I can conceive it possible that the insane discontents of the Pais de Vaud may render Lausanne not altogether an eligible and comfortable residence to you. We hear that the National Guards have assembled on the borders towards Geneva and are trying to perform some manœuvres. I can suppose it reasonable for you to think of this Isle sooner than you intended,--that the border may be disquieted and travelling for such an unweildy creature neither commodious nor delightful. It is possible the Borders may be less tempting for Travellers at present than some time hence. In such case, if anything like turbulence should exist at Lausanne, Berne may afford you the best Asylum till the journey to old England may be safe and sure, that is void of embarrassments which might annoy you, altho' they might appear only curious events and agreeable Episodes to me and some others. I apprehend that a journey by Germany, unless you make a great detour, would be troublesome.

When we joked last Autumn about whiskers and Jacobins and the great utility of books for making cartridges, I did not think you so near disturbance as you possibly may be. The annihilation of your books might be a proper judgement upon you for the damned, parson-minded, inglorious idea of leaving books to be sold. A trumpery fellow, that after having made a good collection had not the idea of keeping them together by leaving them to Sheffield Place, where they would involve the books already there, and the whole be handed down _seris nepotibus_ as the Gibbonian Library! I could hardly contain my indignation when you mentioned your sniverling notion. I have often fully and duly anathematized you since, but I do not flatter myself that barbarism is as yet arrived at the trouble of attacking the Library of an Aristocrate.

You will discover that I want to hear of you. At such a time a few lines might have been expected even from you--or anything ten times worse than you. How are the De Severy's? I should have attempted to make amends for my Lady's neglect of writing, if I had not been bothered in the extreme. I wish also to write to Levade. Is Mrs. Moss arrived? Altho' the new French art of War tends to enable to fight another day, yet it is to be hoped the execrable troops will not take that trouble. After I left you and had seen those warriors in Alsace, &c., I transmitted my opinion that they would take the very first opportunity of running away and murdering their officers. Our Associations here have now received a good brush. Your idea of signing Declarations would be adopted by many, if there was not an apprehension that Democrates would represent it as an Aristocrate Association against the People. Your Yorkshire Mortgage draws towards a conclusion. I have had an excellent letter of many pages from Lally at Paris which I must forthwith answer.

589.

_To Lord Sheffield._

Lausanne, May 30th, 1792.

[Sidenote: DEMOCRATIC PROCESS IN ENGLAND.]

*After the receipt of your _penultimate_, eight days ago, I expected with much impatience, the arrival of your next-promised Epistle. It arrived this morning, but has not compleatly answered my expectations. I wanted, and I hoped for a full and fair picture of the present and probable aspect of your political World, with which, at this distance, I seem every day less satisfied. In the slave question you triumphed last session; in this you have been defeated. What is the cause of this alteration? If it proceeded only from an impulse of humanity, I cannot be displeased, even with an error; since it is very likely that my own vote (had I possessed one) would have been added to the Majority. But in this rage against slavery, in the numerous petitions against the Slave trade, was there no leaven of new democratical principles? no wild ideas of the rights and natural equality of man? It is these I fear. Some articles in newspapers, some pamphlets of the year, the Jockey Club,[218]--have fallen into my hands. I do not infer much from such publications; yet I have never known them of so black and malignant a cast. I shuddered at Grey's motion,[219] disliked the half-support of Fox, admired the firmness of Pitt's declaration, and excused the usual intemperance of Burke. Surely such men as* Grey, Sheridan, Erskine, *have talents for mischief.

I see a Club of reform[220] which contains some respectable names. Inform me of the professions, the principles, the plans, the resources of these reformers. Will they heat the minds of the people? Does the French democracy gain no ground? Will the bulk of your party stand firm to their own interest, and that of their country? Will you not take some active measures to declare your sound opinions, and separate yourselves from your rotten members? or if you allow them to perplex government, if you trifle with this solemn business, if you do not resist the spirit of innovation in the first attempt, if you admit the smallest and most specious change in our parliamentary system, you are lost. You will be driven from one step to another; from principles just in theory, to consequences most pernicious in practice; and your first concessions will be productive of every subsequent mischief, for which you will be answerable to your country and to posterity. Do not suffer yourselves to be lulled into a false security; remember the proud fabric of the French Monarchy. Not four years ago it stood founded, as it might seem, on the rock of time, force, and opinion, supported by the triple Aristocracy of the Church, the Nobility, and the Parliaments. They are crumbled into dust; they are vanished from the earth. If this tremendous warning has no effect on the men of property in England; if it does not open every eye, and raise every arm, you will deserve your fate. If I am too precipitate, enlighten; if I am too desponding, encourage me.

My pen has run into this argument; for, as much a foreigner as you think me, on this momentous subject I feel myself an Englishman.

The pleasure of residing at Sheffield-place is, after all, the first and the ultimate object of my visit to my native country. But when or how will that visit be effected? Clouds and whirlwinds, Austrian Croats, and Gallic cannibals, seem on every side to impede my passage. You appear to apprehend the perils or difficulties of the German road, and French peace is more sanguinary than civilized War. I must pass through, perhaps, a thousand Republics or municipalities, which neither obey nor are obeyed. The strictness of passports, and the popular ferment, are much encreased since last summer: Aristocrate is in every mouth, Lanterns hang in every street, and an hasty word or a casual resemblance, may be fatal. Yet, on the other hand, it is probable that many English, men, women, and children, will traverse the country without any accident before next September; and I am sensible that many things appear more formidable at a distance than on a nearer approach. Without any absolute determination, we must see what the events of the next three or four months will produce. In the mean while, I shall expect with impatience your next letter: let it be speedy; my answer shall be prompt.

[Sidenote: GALLIC WOLVES PROWL ROUND GENEVA.]

You will be glad, or sorry, to learn that my gloomy apprehensions are much abated, and that my departure, whenever it takes place, will be an act of choice, rather than of necessity. I do not pretend to affirm, that secret discontent, dark suspicion, private animosity, are very materially asswaged; but we have not experienced, nor do we now apprehend, any dangerous acts of violence, which may compell me to seek a refuge among the friendly Bears,[221] and to abandon my library to the mercy of the Democrates. The firmness and vigour of Government have crushed, at least for a time, the spirit of innovation; and I do not believe that the body of the people, especially the Peasants, are disposed for a revolution. From France, praised be the Demon of Anarchy! the insurgents of the pays de Vaud could not at present have much to hope; and should the _Gardes nationales_, of which there is little appearance, attempt an incursion, the country is armed and prepared, and they would be resisted with equal numbers and superior discipline. The Gallic wolves that prowled round Geneva are drawn away, some to the south and some to the north, and the late events in Flanders seem to have diffused a general contempt, as well as abhorrence, for the lawless savages, who fly before the enemy, hang their prisoners, and murder their officers.[222] The brave and patient regiment of Ernest is expected home every day, and as Bern will take them into present pay, that veteran and regular corps will add to the security of our frontier.

I rejoyce that we have so little to say on that subject of Worldly affairs.* Since the interest of the Yorkshire is due from the mouth of February my complaints are silenced, but I am desirous of the consummation of the business. You seem to applaud your good fortune in finding an excellent settlement for £3000, with which you have purchased three unexceptionable Debentures, but you forget to mention who are my Creditors and in what part of the Globe my landed security is placed. I must confess some fears of Ireland or the West Indies, with neither of which I would willingly have any connection. As my property is now divided, I should much wish that you would draw up and sign a regular statement of the several objects, stating in whose hands and where the respective title deeds are deposited. With regard to those which are entrusted ----[223] it could not surely be offensive to ask him for a written acknowledgment. I have no evidence whatsoever to produce to his Executors; this thought sometimes makes me rather uneasy. I thank you for the offer of supporting my Credit at Gosling's; but the stream now begins to flow faster than I draw, and they have been instructed to keep £500 India bonds from your talons. Notwithstanding the Darrel's caution, I wish you had seized the propitious moment when stocks were so ridiculously high. I am much surprized to have no account whatsoever of the approach of my Madeira, which has been so injudiciously paid for beforehand; enquiries must be made. Will you likewise inform yourself of the Wedgewood, why I have not been able to obtain their old account which was solicited by letter, a strong measure from me, when I paid Severy's bill two or three years ago? If they have waited scandalously for their money, it is not my fault; but I do not like it myself, as it is the only debt I have in the World. Mrs. Moss saw my house and garden in a rainy day, and her passage was so rapid that I could not even give her a dish of tea: she seems pleased with her situation at Geneva.

*This summer we are threatened with an inundation, besides many nameless English and Irish; the Dowager Lady Spencer is arrived, the Dutchess of Ancaster is expected, but I am less anxious about those matrons, than for the good Dutchess of Devonshire and the wicked Lady Elizabeth Foster, who are on their march. Lord Malmsbury, the _audacieux_ Harris,[224] will inform you that he has seen me: _him_ I would have consented to keep.*

[Sidenote: THE DESTINY OF HIS LIBRARY.]

Before I absolutely conclude, I must animadvert on the whimsical peroration of your last Epistle concerning the future fate of my library,[225] about which you are so indignant. I am a friend to the circulation of property of every kind, and besides the pecuniary advantage of my poor heirs, I consider a public sale as the most laudable method of disposing of it. From such sales my books were chiefly collected, and when I can no longer use them they will be again culled by various buyers according to the measure of their wants and means. If indeed a true liberal public library existed in London, I might be tempted to enrich the catalogue and encourage the institution: but to bury my treasure in a _country_ mansion under the key of a jealous master! I am not flattered by the Gibbonian collection, and shall own my presumptuous belief that six quarto Volumes may be sufficient for the preservation of that name. If however your unknown successor should be a man of learning, if I should live to see the love of litterature dawning in your grandson---- In the meanwhile I admire the firm confidence of our friendship that you can insist, and I can demur, on a legacy of fifteen hundred or two thousand pounds without the smallest fear of offence.

*One word more before we part; call upon Mr. John Nichols,[226] bookseller and printer, at Cicero's head, Red-Lion-passage, Fleet-street, and ask him whether he did not, about the beginning of March, receive a very polite letter[227] from Mr. Gibbon of Lausanne? To which, either as a man of business or a civil Gentleman, he should have returned an answer. My application related to a domestic article in the Gentleman's magazine of August, 1788, (p. 698,)[228] which had lately fallen into my hands, and concerning which I requested some farther lights. Mrs. Moss delivered the letters into my hands, but I doubt whether they will be of much service to me; the work appears far more difficult in the execution than in the idea, and as I am now taking my leave for some time of the library, I shall not make much progress in the memoirs of P. P. till I am on English ground. But is it indeed true, that I shall eat any Sussex pheasants this autumn? The event is in the book of Fate, and I cannot unroll the leaves of September and October. Should I reach Sheffield-place, I hope to find the whole family in a perfect state of existence, except a certain Maria Holroyd, my fair and _generous_ correspondent, whose annihilation on proper terms I most fervently desire. I must receive a copious answer before the end of next month, June, and again call upon you for a map of your political World. The Chancellor roars; does he break his chain? _Vale._*

[218] _The Jockey Club; or, A Sketch of the Manners of the
Age_ (Parts i., ii., iii.), by Charles Pigott, is an attack on
monarchy and aristocracy, a defence of the French Revolution, and
an appeal to Fox to use his influence in favour of France in a
war which is "the general cause of all human nature. It is the
cause of sovereigns and certain individuals enjoying exclusive
privileges to the injury of the rest, against the combined
immortal cause of the whole world."

[219] On April 30, 1792, Mr. Grey, in consequence of a resolution
adopted by the "Friends of the People," gave notice of his
intention to move for an inquiry into the representative system.
On this notice a debate followed. Grey was supported by Fox.
Pitt, on the other hand, declared that if ever there was a time
when such a question should not be raised, the present was
that time. Burke spoke in the same sense, attacking Paine's
_Rights of Man_, and all clubs and societies which recommended
the principles of that work. On May 6, 1792, Grey presented a
petition from the "Friends of the People," in which the abuses of
the electoral system were exposed, and moved that it be referred
to a committee. After a debate of two nights, he found only
forty-one supporters.

[220] Gibbon probably refers to the "Friends of the People," an
association for the reform of the representative system, to which
Lord Lauderdale, Grey, Sheridan, Erskine, and twenty-five other
members of Parliament belonged.

[221] Berne.

[222] Dumouriez, in April, 1792, despatched three armies to
invade Belgium. The column directed against Tournay dispersed,
and murdered Dillon, their commander. That which marched against
Mons fled as soon as they came in sight of the Austrians near
Jemappes.

[223] Name erased.

[224] "Cet audacieux et rusé Harris" is the phrase used by
Mirabeau of Lord Malmesbury (_Cour de Berlin_, _Lettre_ xxxvii.,
vol. ii. p. 13).

[225] Gibbon's library at Lausanne was bought, in 1796, from
Lord Sheffield by Beckford for £950. Beckford shut himself up in
it "for six weeks, from early in the morning until night, only
now and then taking a ride," and read himself "nearly blind"
(Cyrus Redding's "Recollections of the Author of Vathek," _New
Monthly Magazine_, vol. lxxi. p. 307). Growing tired of it, he
gave it to Dr. Scholl, a physician at Lausanne. Miss Berry, who
visited the library in July, 1803 (_Journals and Letters_, vol.
ii. p. 260), says, "It is, of all the libraries I ever saw, that
of which I should most covet the possession--that which seems
exactly everything that any gentleman or gentlewoman fond of
letters could wish." "Gibbon's library," says Henry Mathews in
1818 (_Diary of an Invalid_, p. 318), "still remains, but it is
buried and lost to the world. It is the property of Mr. Beckford,
and lies locked up in an uninhabited house at Lausanne." In 1830
the library was divided into two parts. Half was sold for £500
to an English gentleman; the other half went at the same price
to a bookseller at Geneva. The half which was sold to an English
purchaser was, in 1876 (_Notes and Queries_, 5th series, vol.
v. p. 425), still kept together in the possession of a Swiss
gentleman near Geneva.

[226] John Nichols, F.S.A. (1745-1826), the author of numerous
works of great literary and historical value, and from 1778 to
1826 printer, proprietor, and, from 1792, sole manager of the
_Gentleman's Magazine_, to which he constantly contributed.

[227] The letter is published in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for
January, 1794.

[228] The letter referred to in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ is
signed "N. S." It gives the Gibbon pedigree from 1596 down to the
historian. It no doubt at first attracted Gibbon's attention from
the circumstance of its immediately preceding a communication
entitled "Strictures on Some Passages in Mr. Gibbon's History."
The article in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ was by Sir Egerton
Brydges, whose grandmother was a Gibbon, the heiress of Edward
Gibbon of West Cliff, and first cousin to the South Sea director
who was the historian's grandfather. Gibbon's letter on the
subject to Sir Egerton Brydges is quoted by the latter in his
_Autobiography_ (vol. i. pp. 225-227).

590.

_Lord Sheffield to Edward Gibbon._

Your former letter said you should be very sure, very high & select. You now say you are not merchants, &c. General Bude[229] (a Genevois) recommended Dergueuse. The Duke of Leeds, hearing that he was known to me, desired Glover to enquire of me by letter. I advised Leigneur not to propose or trouble himself about terms, but to let General Bude do whatever was necessary of that kind. He has been at Moins sometime. He came from thence here, and is much pleased with his good fortune. Lord Carnarvon is older than we imagined. If there are the means at Lausanne of interesting Genl. Bude in favour of S[every], it might be usefull. I should make an agreement for S. or not according to the rank or character of the Principles; but I really do not know what salary should be thought of--you should give me some hint thereon. When I answered Glover, I told him if he should hear of any considerable Family who wished to have a friend to attend a son, that you and I could recommend one that would be very desireable. You are so awkward and careless about letters that I do not like to write to you except about matters that might be published at Charing-cross.

As to your £3000 debentures, I apprehend I have explained them to you before. Hammersley's Banking House has advanced £40,000 on Lord Barrymore's Estate in Ireland (£10,000 per annum at least); they have 6 per cent., and have raised the money by Debentures, giving the same security and £20,000 in the funds in addition. Their house and the £20,000 answerable for the interest. It is thought an _excellent thing_, and Pelham transferred it to me as a Friend. If you do not like it at any time you may have premium on selling. I wish you to indulge your own notions as to this matter and not to mind mine. I am not fond of being responsible as to other property than land. The Debentures are in the custody of Goslings, to enable them to receive at Hammersley's the interest half yearly.

[Sidenote: GIBBON'S TABBY APPREHENSIONS.]

Your Tabby apprehensions about your writings are silly enough--you have none except the mortgage on Buriton and Newhaven, and those being blended in your conveyance of the Estates, the Title of the purchaser and your security are the same, and if your counterpart were lost, the Title of the Purchaser would be your security. The Mortgage Deeds of Buriton are in my archive, very properly as Trustee. Instead of your curious notion of sending the writings in Batt's custody for the sake of safety to Lausanne, it will be better to send them in their Box to Gosling's Iron-room, to appease your fears. I had settled with Batt to examine the List when I go next to Town. Your Navigation Mortgage is in Gosling's hands. I had lately heard of a £3000 mortgage in this county that I thought would do, but they talked of only 3½ per Ct.

I have had a new care lately which has occupied me as much as possible. I mean the French clergy; above 1200 have landed in this country. I have exerted myself in their favour; I have succeeded pretty well in obviating prejudice in respect to the rise of provisions by the arrival of so many friends. There is little in respect to the arrival of so many popish priests.

Tell Lady Eliza I have written a very pretty letter long ago, & I am surprised she has not received it.

[229] Probably General Budé, who is mentioned by Madame d'Arblay
as holding an appointment about the court at Windsor (_Diary and
Letters_, iii. 40).

591.

_Lord Sheffield to Edward Gibbon._

Sheffield Place, 30 July, 1792.

If I had not been bothered in a superlative degree since my return from London with much company, Navigation and County Meetings, &c., I should have favoured you with my opinion on the state of things. Twice each week I intended so to do at some length, and now I begin just before I set out for the Camp at Bagshot.[230]

I have watched the origin, impression and progress of the French Revolution, both in France and in the other Governments in Europe, and I am fully convinced that if our Good Old Island had been drawn into the torrent of the new Philosophy, Holland, Germany, Spain, &c., would have followed her, and we should have seen all Europe involved in the extravagances of irreligion, immorality, anarchy, and barbarism. Our nature being at all times essentially the same, I presume that after a certain period of ferociousness and horrors, a resettlement of some sort, probably of the most despotic governments, would have taken place. The devastation of the Species might be repaired, and at the end of a couple of centuries it is possible that Science, the fine Arts, and the politeness and gentleness of Society, might again have been brought to the point at which they now are. Perhaps you may recollect that on the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire a greater number of centuries were necessary for restoration. I really believe there is nothing exaggerated in this speculation.

[Sidenote: OPPOSITION AND GOVERNMENT.]

Having these opinions, I highly approved and cordially promoted the conduct of Opposition at such a crisis. They have come to the Aid of Government fairly and unreservedly, and many, even zealously, particularly the Dukes of Portland, Devonshire, Lord Fitzwilliam, Guilford, Spencer, Egremont, Ashburnham, Stormont, Loughborough, Windham of Norfolk, Sir Gilbert Elliott, in short almost everybody except about a score who had committed themselves with Mr. Grey, many of whom are heartily sick of the business.[231] The attempt at an Association has in truth had an excellent effect. It has alarmed, roused and combined men in support of the Constitution and of good order. It will at last appear that there exists no great object or principle of party difference. It may lead to the formation of the strongest administration this country has ever known, and at a time when there should be no risk. It should be the first of all objects in these feverish times to guard against all possibility of phrenzy. At present there is very little amiss among men of property. The Dissenters however wait a good occasion for some change.[232] The great care should be to prevent the mass of the people from being inflamed and made the tools of those who would risk anything to gain certain points or situations. It is essential to engage, to occupy the best of those.

There never was such an opportunity as at present of forming a good administration. Several openings can be easily made in the Cabinet and elsewhere without essential derangement. Lord Thurlow is gone,[233] Lord Campden wishes to go, Marquis of Stafford is willing to go, and Dundas is only _locum tenens_.[234] The concurrence in favour of the Constitution has greatly softened the asperity of party. I never observed so great a change, and I am convinced a junction would be generally liked by the respectable men of all parties and descriptions.

[Sidenote: CAN PITT AND FOX COMBINE?]