Though I am always pleased to hear from you, I can assure you no
letter ever gave me so much satisfaction as your last. You have now
completely got over a very serious disorder, and without being a
prophet, I will venture to assure you, that you are armed against it
for the remainder of your life. I understand that your Doctor has
made a general confession of all his tricks; and indeed no Christian
ever lyed on a proper occasion with more zeal and humanity than that
honest Jew has done. At present he will, I hope, assure you with as
much regard but with more truth, that your constitution in the late
attack, has shewn its strength, thrown off the incumbrance and taken
a new and a long lease, of many, and I flatter myself, of happy
years. We must soon talk of your finishing your recovery by breathing
the pure and healthy air of Mary-le-Bone. In the meantime take care
of yourself, and present my most hearty thanks to Mrs. Gould for the
kind and friendly part she has acted in the whole course of this once
alarming but now agreeable transaction.
I am, Dear Madam,
Most truly yours,
E. G.
268.
_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._
31st October, 1775.
In the midst of Avocations, Litterary, Parliamentary and Social,
which now on all sides overwhelm me, you must not expect any regular
correspondence. Sayer's[313] business (you must know it by this
time) is foolish beyond description. _He_ was a fool! Richardson a
busy knave, and Lord R. acting Justice of the Peace who was obliged
to take the information. You will see by the numbers that last
Thursday we had an easy, but it was a languid, victory. We have a
warm Parliament but an indolent Cabinet. The _Conquest_ of America
is a _great_ Work: every part of that Continent is either lost or
useless. I do not understand that we have sufficient strength at
home: the German succours are insufficient, _and the Russians are
no longer hoped for_.[314] _When do you come up?_ I dined and lay
at Twickenham, Sunday. Batt was there--Govr. Lyttleton seconded the
Address,[315] matter good, manner ridiculous. Adieu. I delivered
yours to C.
[313] Mr. Stephen Sayer, a London banker, and one of the sheriffs
of the City, was accused by one Richardson, a young American
officer in the Guards, of a plot to seize the Tower, and attack
the king as he went to open Parliament. The guards were trebled,
and Sayer, brought before Lord Rochford, Secretary of State for
the Southern Department, was committed to the Tower. Another "mad
enthusiast for liberty" and "one or two dissenting Divines" were
also apprehended. The meeting of Parliament, however, passed off
quietly, and the temporary panic subsided. On October 28, 1775,
Sayer was brought before Lord Mansfield on a _Habeas Corpus_,
and admitted to bail. On December 13 he was discharged from his
recognizances.
[314] The negotiations with Russia failed. But the Landgrave of
Hesse, the Duke of Brunswick, and other petty German potentates
supplied seventeen thousand mercenaries.
[315] The address was moved on October 26, 1775, by Mr. Acland
(eldest son of Sir Thomas Acland), and seconded by the Hon.
William Lyttleton. M.P. for Bewdley, formerly Governor of
Jamaica, and minister at Lisbon, An amendment proposed by Lord
John Cavendish, demanding the fullest information on the subject
of America, was rejected by 278 to 108.
[Sidenote: AT WORK ON HIS HISTORY.]
269.
_To his Stepmother._
London, December 4th, 1775.