BLACKHEATH, May 18, O. S. 1758.
MY DEAR FRIEND: I have your letter of the 9th now before me, and condole
with you upon the present solitude and inaction of Hamburg. You are now
shrunk from the dignity and importance of a consummate minister, to be
but, as it were, a common man. But this has, at one time or another, been
the case of most great men; who have not always had equal opportunities
of exerting their talents. The greatest must submit to the capriciousness
of fortune; though they can, better than others, improve the favorable
moments. For instance, who could have thought, two years ago, that you
would have been the Atlas of the Northern Pole; but the Good Genius of
the North ordered it so; and now that you have set that part of the globe
right, you return to ‘otium cum dignitate’. But to be serious: now that
you cannot have much office business to do, I could tell you what to do,
that would employ you, I should think, both usefully and agreeably. I
mean, that you should write short memoirs of that busy scene, in which
you have been enough concerned, since your arrival at Hamburg, to be able
to put together authentic facts and anecdotes. I do not know whether you
will give yourself the trouble to do it or not; but I do know, that if
you will, ‘olim hcec meminisse juvabit’. I would have them short, but
correct as to facts and dates.
I have told Alt, in the strongest manner, your lamentations for the loss
of the House of Cassel, ‘et il en fera rapport a son Serenissime Maitre’.
When you are quite idle (as probably you may be, some time this summer),
why should you not ask leave to make a tour to Cassel for a week? which
would certainly be granted you from hence, and which would be looked upon
as a ‘bon procede’ at Cassel.
The King of Prussia is probably, by this time, at the gates of Vienna,
making the Queen of Hungary really do what Monsieur de Bellisle only
threatened; sign a peace upon the ramparts of her capital. If she is
obstinate, and will not, she must fly either to Presburg or to Inspruck,
and Vienna must fall. But I think he will offer her reasonable conditions
enough for herself; and I suppose, that, in that case, Caunitz will be
reasonable enough to advise her to accept of them. What turn would the
war take then? Would the French and Russians carry it on without her? The
King of Prussia, and the Prince of Brunswick, would soon sweep them out
of Germany. By this time, too, I believe, the French are entertained in
America with the loss of Cape Breton; and, in consequence of that,
Quebec; for we have a force there equal to both those undertakings, and
officers there, now, that will execute what Lord L------never would so
much as attempt. His appointments were too considerable to let him do
anything that might possibly put an end to the war. Lord Howe, upon
seeing plainly that he was resolved to do nothing, had asked leave to
return, as well as Lord Charles Hay.
We have a great expedition preparing, and which will soon be ready to
sail from the Isle of Wight; fifteen thousand good troops, eighty
battering cannons, besides mortars, and every other thing in abundance,
fit for either battle or siege. Lord Anson desired, and is appointed, to
command the fleet employed upon this expedition; a proof that it is not a
trifling one. Conjectures concerning its destination are infinite; and
the most ignorant are, as usual, the boldest conjecturers. If I form any
conjectures, I keep them to myself, not to be disproved by the event;
but, in truth, I form none: I might have known, but would not.
Everything seems to tend to a peace next winter: our success in America,
which is hardly doubtful, and the King of Prussia’s in Germany, which is
as little so, will make France (already sick of the expense of the war)
very tractable for a peace. I heartily wish it: for though people’s heads
are half turned with the King of Prussia’s success, and will be quite
turned, if we have any in America, or at sea, a moderate peace will suit
us better than this immoderate war of twelve millions a year.
Domestic affairs go just as they did; the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt
jog on like man and wife; that is, seldom agreeing, often quarreling; but
by mutual interest, upon the whole, not parting. The latter, I am told,
gains ground in the closet; though he still keeps his strength in the
House, and his popularity in the public; or, perhaps, because of that.
Do you hold your resolution of visiting your dominions of Bremen and
Lubeck this summer? If you do, pray take the trouble of informing
yourself correctly of the several constitutions and customs of those
places, and of the present state of the federal union of the Hanseatic
towns: it will do you no harm, nor cost you much trouble; and it is so
much clear gain on the side of useful knowledge.
I am now settled at Blackheath for the summer; where unseasonable frost
and snow, and hot and parching east winds, have destroyed all my fruit,
and almost my fruit-trees. I vegetate myself little better than they do;
I crawl about on foot and on horseback; read a great deal, and write a
little; and am very much yours.