The reason I have delayed (besides the usual one) was the real
scarcity of news either of a publick or a private nature. As to
myself I got safe to town, and have lived there in my usual manner;
the Romans,[107] Boodle's,[108] the Theatre and some acquaintances
whom you already know. In all these places nothing new or interesting
has occurred. Ranelagh[109] is indeed opened. I was there last
night for the first time. Notwithstanding the brilliancy of the
first moment, I must own I think it very soon grows insipid to a
by-stander, or by-walker if you like it better. I acknowledge it
indeed the most convenient place for courtships of every kind. It is
certainly the best market we have in England. Lord Abingdon[110] is
just going to make a pretty considerable purchase; of Miss Warren,
Mrs. Fitzroy's sister. The Lord wants money, the Lady a title, so
that as the bargain seems advantageous to both parties we apprehend
it will speedily be concluded.
[Sidenote: VOLTAIRE'S RUIN.]
I will not trouble you with election news, as it is both dull
and uncertain. I must however mention that I have seen Serjeant
Glynn,[111] who is encouraged by the Sollicitor General[112] to
pursue his petition, and who flatters himself that the Duke of B.
will lend his weight, and that the D. of G. will stand neuter. He
is strongly of opinion that Sir Thomas should be in town to make
interest, and _has intended for some time past_ to write to the
Baronet who sleeps at Pilewell. The opponents (_without intending
anything_) have already canvassed most of the members. Indeed there
seems to be a general dislike to petitions (of which there never was
known so great a number), and I think most of the returned members
have a very good chance unless they are attacked by formidable men.
Such is the case of Preston[113] fought by Lord Strange, and such
I fear will be the case of Yarmouth; many people at least have a
bad opinion both of our cause and of our interest.[114] I do not
think this can be called carrying the three boroughs in the isle
of Wight. Northampton will be attacked and defended with great
vigour and expence.[115] That will be the second act of Lord H.'s
Tragi-Comi-farce. As Osborn & Rodney have exactly all the same
votes, if Howe succeeds, there must be a new election of a second
member, and in that case the two Noble Lords may probably quarrel
about the man, which may compleat the third act of the said farce.
I shall say nothing of Wilkes;[116] every man has his story and his
opinion, which mutually destroy each other. Wednesday will decide
most of these disputes, and you may depend on my immediately writing
some particulars of that great day. Lord B.'s tryal[117] is not
yet come out. I will take care to send it with _La Princesse de
Babylone_,[118] a new Romance of Voltaire which is a very agreable
absurd trifle. A propos, poor Voltaire is almost ruined. He had
intrusted most of his money to that expensive scoundrel the Duke of
Wirtenbergh,[119] who paid him a much greater interest for it than
anybody else would give. The Duke is ruined, the security worth
nothing and the money vanished. Voltaire has dismissed several
dependants who lived in his house, and even his niece Madam Denys,
all with handsome presents; and keeps only a man and three maids,
with Père Adam an old Jesuit that plays at chess with him from
morning to night. I am really sorry for the poor old man; as he spent
his fortune much better than he acquired it.
I hear Sir Simeon[120] is confined with the gout to Hartley. The
reputation of his new Physician is quite ruined by it.
I am, Dear Madam,
Most truly your's & my father's,
E. GIBBON.
[107] A convivial club, meeting once a week, established by
Gibbon and other travellers.
[108] Gibbon was a member of Boodle's Club, known as the _Savoir
vivre_.
[109] Ranelagh Gardens, now part of Chelsea Hospital Gardens,
stood on the site of a villa belonging to Lord Ranelagh, the
Jones of Grammont's _Memoirs_. The Rotunda, an amphitheatre,
with an orchestra in the centre, surrounded by "balconies full
of little alehouses," was opened to the public May 24, 1742. The
last entertainment given there was the installation ball of the
Knights of the Bath in 1802. The gardens were closed in 1803. A
staple, fixed in one of the trees of the avenue, preserved, till
a few years ago, the traditions of the glories of Ranelagh when
the gardens were lighted by a thousand lamps.
[110] The Earl of Abingdon married, on June 7, 1768, the daughter
of Admiral Sir Peter Warren.
[111] Serjeant Glynn, well known as the advocate of Wilkes,
was afterwards elected as second member for Middlesex at a
by-election. He married a daughter of Sir J. Oglander, of
Nunwell, in the Isle of Wight, and had been an unsuccessful
candidate for one of the Isle of Wight constituencies at the
general election of 1768.
[112] John Dunning, afterwards Lord Ashburton.
[113] Sir Peter Leycester and Sir Frank Standish were found,
November 29, 1768, not duly elected.
[114] The return for Yarmouth, I.W., was amended by order of the
House of Commons, dated January 19th, 1769, by erasing the names
of Jervoise Clarke and William Strode, and substituting those of
George Lane Parker and Thomas Lee Dummer.
[115] On February 14, 1769, Sir George Osborne was found not duly
elected, and Thomas Howe was declared duly elected. The return of
Sir George Rodney was held to be valid. A note by Sir Denis le
Marchant, appended to Lord Orford's _Memoirs_, states that the
expenses of the contest and petition cost Lord Spencer £70,000.
[116] John Wilkes was expelled from the House of Commons in
January, 1764, and outlawed in the following August. He returned
to England in February, 1768, and was at the bottom of the poll
for the City (March 23). He headed the poll for Middlesex, March
28, 1768. His outlawry was reversed as technically illegal by the
Court of King's Bench in the same year; but his two convictions
for republishing No. 45 of the _North Briton_, and the _Essay
on Woman_, were affirmed, and he was sentenced to two years'
imprisonment. He was expelled the House February 3, 1769;
re-elected February 16 and expelled February 27; re-elected March
16 and expelled March 17. At the election on April 13 he polled
1147 votes to the 296 of Colonel Luttrell; but the House resolved
(April 15) that the election of Wilkes was void, and Luttrell
duly elected. He was discharged from his imprisonment in 1770.
[117] Lord Baltimore was charged with decoying to his house a
young milliner named Sarah Woodcock, and with rape. On February
12, 1768, he was committed for trial at the spring assizes at
Kingston, and acquitted in the following March.
[118] "Il y a," writes Madame du Deffand to Walpole, speaking
of _La Princesse de Babylon_ (April 3, 1768), "quelques traits
plaisants, mais c'est un mauvais ouvrage, et, contre son
ordinaire, fort ennuyeux."
[119] During Gibbon's stay at Lausanne in 1763, the duke, brother
of the reigning duke, occupied a villa called La Chablière, a
short distance from the town.
[120] Sir Simeon Stuart, Bart., M.P. for the county of
Southampton, died in November, 1779.
53.
_To James Scott, Esq._[121]
Beriton, December the 20th, 1768.