Whenever you have desired an immediate answer you have not found
me very negligent; it is therefore incumbent on me to explain my
_apparent_ tardiness which was occasioned by a visit to Tunbridge.
Your letter was sent there the day after I left it, and by some delay
and some circuits it did not reach my hands till Monday last, and I
had firmly resolved before I received your second Epistle to write by
to-night's post.
The officious intelligence which was communicated, I suppose, from
Sheffield Place to Bath, alarmed your tenderness much more than was
necessary about the state of my health. A Derangement in my stomach
which seemed of the bilious kind determined me to return to town in
search of advice. Turton was divided for two or three days between
the probability of Jaundice and Gout, but either Nature or his
skill preserved me from both; and I am now perfectly free from all
complaints and apprehensions whatsoever. It will be an addition to my
happiness if you are able to make the same declaration.
[Sidenote: HIS "MÉMOIRE JUSTIFICATIF."]
I hope you are perfectly satisfied that I had no hand in the History
of the Opposition, but you will receive by the Coach (directed for
fear of a mistake to Dr. Delacour's) a French pamphlet which I have
not the same right to disclaim.[444] In the summer the Chancellor and
Lord Weymouth were desirous of answering a very weak Manifesto of
the Court of Versailles, and very politely requested me to undertake
the task. Though I will never make myself the Champion of a party, I
thought there was no disgrace in becoming the Advocate of my Country
against a foreign enemy, and the _memoire Justificatif_ which you may
read was the result of that opinion. The publication was delayed for
various reasons; but it has now been communicated as a State paper
and in the King's [name] to all the Ministers and Courts in Europe,
and as far as I can understand it has been received with some degree
of approbation. Elmsley the bookseller desired to print a new Edition
which he has swelled by the addition of the French Manifesto. You
will easily suppose that I rather expect by such a work to _procure
friends_ than fame: but it may very possibly be abused in some shape
or other in the approaching Session of Parliament, which will be loud
and turbulent.[445]
I am, Dear Madam,
Most affectionately yours,
E. GIBBON.
[444] In 1779 a _Mémoire Justificatif_ was put forth both at
Paris and Madrid to explain the zeal of two despotic monarchies
for the new-born republic of the United States. Gibbon was
requested by the Lord Chancellor and Lord Weymouth, then
Secretary of State, to vindicate, against the French manifesto,
the justice of the British arms. His _Mémoire_, written in
French, was approved by the Cabinet, and delivered as a State
Paper to the courts of Europe. The _Mémoire_ is published
in English in the Annual Register for 1779 (pp. 397-412),
preceded by translations of the Spanish and French manifestoes.
Beaumarchais wrote a reply to the _Mémoire_, which he attributes
to Lord Stormont (_Observations sur le Mémoire Justificatif de la
cour de Londres. Œuvres de Beaumarchais._ Edition 1809, vol. v.
pp. 1-50).
[445] Parliament met November 25, 1779.
382.
_To his Stepmother._
London, Oct. 29th, 1779.