PARIS, October 18, 1787.
I now have the honor, Madam, to send you the Memoire of M. de Calonnes.
Do not injure yourself by hurrying its perusal. Only, when you shall
have read it at your ease, be so good as to send it back, that it may
be returned to the Duke of Dorset. You will read it with pleasure. It
has carried comfort to my heart, because it must do the same to the
King and the nation. Though it does not prove M. de Calonnes to be more
innocent than his predecessors, it shows him not to have been that
exaggerated scoundrel, which the calculations and the clamors of the
public have supposed. It shows that the public treasures have not been
so inconceivably squandered, as the parliaments of Grenoble, Thoulouse,
etc., had affirmed. In fine, it shows him less wicked, and France less
badly governed, than I had feared. In examining my little collection of
books, to see what it could furnish you on the subject of Poland; I
find a small piece which may serve as a supplement to the history I had
sent you. It contains a mixture of history and politics, which I think
you will like.
How do you do this morning? I have feared you exerted and exposed
yourself too much yesterday. I ask you the question, though I shall not
await its answer. The sky is clearing, and I shall away to my
hermitage. God bless you, my dear Madam, now and always. Adieu.