537.

_To Lord Sheffield._

Lausanne, Dec. 13, 1788.

[Sidenote: DEATH OF HUGONIN.]

Poor Hugonin! I can assure you that my thoughts, my first thoughts at

least when I read your letter, turned much more on himself. I knew

him from my youth: he was an honest useful friend, and though he

could never be much of a companion to me, I always loved and esteemed

him. His death is a loss if an auction at Petersfield was ever an

advisable measure. You have considered and must have determined

before this can reach you. But if it be not too late, revolve the

advantages and inconveniences of auctions.

Buriton is no elegant villa which may catch the eye and fancy of a

stranger; it is an heap of dirty acres which can only derive their

extraordinary value from local merit. Will any man give so much as

Mr. Bonham and Lord Stawell, and in that case would not a private

treaty with them be more easy and effectual? I again repeat that Mrs.

Gibbon must be perfectly satisfied. I hope you will not let it go

under £18,000. We once talked of twenty.

*Of public affairs I can only hear with curiosity and wonder:

careless as you may think me, I feel myself deeply interested. You

must now write often; make Miss Firth copy any curious fragments;

and stir up any of my well-informed acquaintance, Batt, Douglas,

Adam, perhaps Lord Loughborough, &c., to correspond with me; I _will_

answer them.

We are now cold and gay at Lausanne. The Severys came to town

Yesterday. I saw a good deal of Lords Malmsbury[130] and Beauchamp

and their Ladies; Ellis,[131] of the Rolliad, was with them; I like

him much: I gave them a great dinner.

Adieu for the present. Deyverdun is not worse.*

Will you direct Richard Andrews to collect and remitt my year's rent

which is now payable? I suppose he can be trusted, and that you can

authorize him. H.'s departure seems to be a new reason for disposing

of Buriton.

[130] James, first Earl of Malmesbury, the distinguished

diplomatist, married Harriet Mary, daughter of Sir G. Amyand,

Bart.

[131] George Ellis (1753-1815) is best known for his _Specimens

of the Early English Poets_ (1790) and his _Specimens of Early

English Romances in Metre_ (1805). He was, wrote Sir Walter

Scott, "the first converser I ever saw. His patience and good

breeding made me often ashamed of myself, going off at score upon

some favourite topic." To him Scott addresses the lines in the

fifth canto of _Marmion_, beginning--

"Thou who canst give to lightest lay

An unpedantic moral gay," etc.

He had been employed in diplomatic work by Lord Malmesbury at the

Hague in 1784, and accompanied him for the same purpose to the

Lille Conference in 1797. He was at this time travelling on the

Continent with Lord and Lady Malmesbury. The lines on Pitt in

Number ii. of the _Rolliad_ are attributed to him--

"Pert without fire, without experience sage,

Young, with more art than Shelburne glean'd from age,

Too proud from pilfer'd greatness to descend,

Too humble not to call Dundas his friend,

In solemn dignity and sullen state,

This new Octavius rises to debate!" etc., etc.

538.

_To Lord Sheffield._

December 31st, 1788.

[Sidenote: HUGONIN'S DISHONESTY.]

This moment I receive and answer your Epistle. We are in the

midst of the hardest winter I ever felt, and three English mails

are arrived at once this morning. A black prospect indeed of

public and private affairs, and such is my patriotism that I

must fairly own the latter are predominant in my thoughts. Is it

possible that my old friend poor Hugonin should turn out a rogue?

I thought him both an honest and a frugal man, but the facts you

mention are strongly against him. Is it possible that his landed

property, which was considerable, should be insufficient to

satisfy my demands and those of all his creditors? Is it possible

that, living retired in the Country, he should have deranged

his affairs? I still flatter myself that his executors must and

can repay any sums which he may have _borrowed_ in my name, and

though there should be some delay, I still hope that, with proper

steps on your side, there will not finally be much loss. If all

is indeed desperate down to Hugonin's strange receipt in full, it

is not a year but a year and a half's rent that I have miserably

lost, as I had been persuaded or compelled to allow six months'

grace, and to be satisfied with receiving before Christmas the

year's rent which had been due the preceding Lady-day. There is

besides some arrear of rent from the College farms which was due

at the time of the sale, and which Hugonin has never clearly

settled. Such a blow, at least of seven or eight hundred pounds,

will most essentially distress me, and derange those schemes of

comfort and order which I now thought most firmly established.

You are my only refuge. Could I hope (I may wish, I must not

ask) that you would get into your post-chaise in Downing Street

and run down to Petersfield? Your eagle-eye and active firmness

would see more and do more in eight and forty hours than all the

agents and letters in the World. If this be too much, a man of

confidence (is Purden fit for the commission?) might be sent to

make a full observation and report of the state of accounts, and

of the farm at Beriton with respect both to present arrangements

and final operations. Andrews has a fair character, but an

Attorney!

This unforeseen and unfortunate blow encreases my desire of

getting rid of such dangerous and ungovernable property; and

from the produce of any sum between 18 and 15,000 pounds I

could certainly draw a larger and safer income than I enjoy

at present. But how to proceed. Is Mrs. G. of Bath perfectly

satisfied? I have not heard from her nor do you mention her name.

Have you heard of the Northamptonshire Saint? You wait for my

instructions, I can send none. You are an able and active friend,

and I shall acquiesce in all you think right, even in the

auction, which does not thoroughly suit my taste. I should prefer

a fair Gentlemanlike private address to Bonham either by letter

or in person. For God's sake, or rather for friendship's sake,

comfort and extricate me. I am in low spirits. Adieu.

Ever yours,

E. G.

Write soon--I think the earliest and most vigorous steps should

be taken for making my demand on H.'s executors. Is there no

allusion between him and the Tenant? if there is would it not

invalidate his _unusual_ receipt?

539.

_To Lord Sheffield._

Lausanne, Feb. 4th, 1789.

If Hugonin's debt be desperate I must submit, but there is no

_imbecillity_ in saying that the loss will derange my plans,

since I must sell out of the funds to supply the deficiency.

The amount of my fruitless demand I cannot specify, but you

may easily make it out by comparing Hugonin's remittances to

the Goslings with the rent-roll of the Estate. Mrs. G. of Bath

must doubtless be satisfied and secured in any way and on any

fund which her prudence or fancy may prefer. You had once dropt

something of giving _her_ a security on your Estate. That method,

which could not be attended with any risk or inconvenience to

yourself, would perhaps be most agreable to all parties. I

most sincerely hope that the sale may be already dispatched by

private contract, before the decisive 18th of February. Why

should you confine yourself to so short a day, since the town is

equally full in March and April? and you are sensible how much

the failure of the auction would blast any other operations. Is

it yet too late for a delay? I mean only of some weeks, for I

am very desirous of terminating this winter, in the _present_

prosperous state of the Country: and indeed so desirous that I

could patiently submit to a much larger abatement, to be at last

possessed of a much better income free from those accidents and

deductions to which land is so woefully exposed. You talk of

£18,000, but if you could not get more than 17 or even 16, I

might afterwards repent your refusal. I would certainly vest part

in a mortgage, but I would rather chuse my man and my county, and

should like to have the security of a larger estate than that

of Buriton. While such an one was looking for, the part of the

purchase money not secured to Mrs. G. might lye safely in the

funds.

I have not heard from either of the old Ladies, and wish you

could inform yourself of the state of the Northamptonshire Saint.

If you will apply to my good friend Lord Spencer, he could easily

find you a correspondent in that neighbourhood who without noise

or scandal might send you regular and early notice of her decline

and fall.--On smaller matters you are too earnest and almost

angry: the continuance of the foreign papers I could not foresee

and will try to rectify. Jones's bill, a trifle of about ten

pounds, I will settle----

Had I the least idea of the 25 guineas of the Royal society, I

should not have solicited so useless a title: but the dye is

now cast, and I will write to Elmsley to satisfy that demand as

well as the Antiquarian and African. I certainly did not give

him any orders about newspapers, magazines, &c., as I cannot

devise any method of getting them in any reasonable time without

an extravagant expence. Your copiousness on my affairs makes

you concise on those of the public. The debates and the outside

transactions I can read in English and foreign papers, but from

you, as Cicero says to his friend Cœlius (ad familiares, L. ii.

Ep. 8) _nec præterita nec præsentia, sed ut ab homine longe in

posterum prospiciente futura exspecto, ut ex tuis litteris, cum

formam Rei publicæ viderim, quale ædificium futurum sit scire

possim_. Above all I wish to hear what part you are likely

yourself to act in the new regency, your hopes, your wishes, and

whether you intend next winter to breathe the free and pleasant

air of Lausanne or to tug at the parliamentary and official oar,

amid the fogs of London.

[Sidenote: DEYVERDUN'S SECOND ATTACK.]

Of my book I have not leisure or inclination to talk. Its genuine

reputation will rise or fall without any regard to the barking

critics who always attend the heels of any popular work. Two

translations are printing at Paris, and two English editions in

Germany. I embrace My lady, &c., and still hold my _intention_

of writing. Adieu. Severy tells his own story. I believe he is

a tolerable correspondent. Poor Deyverdun has had another, a

slighter, attack; he is now better, but I fear that his days will

be neither long nor happy. A melancholy theme. Once more Adieu.

E. G.

540.

_To his Stepmother._

Lausanne, February 28th, 1789.

DEAR MADAM,

Immediately on my return to this place, I wrote to inform you

of my safe arrival: but some months have now elapsed without

hearing from you. I should not have patiently acquiesced under

this silence, had I not in the mean time obtained, through the

channel of Mrs. Holroyd and Lord Sheffield, such frequent and

authentic information as gave me tolerable though not perfect

satisfaction on the very interesting subject of your health and

happiness. With regard to my own I have no reason to complain. I

have supported without inconvenience the short but severe cold of

this winter; the gout has not yet invaded my tranquillity, and I

again enjoy the life of society and study which renders Lausanne

so agreable to my taste. The heaviest drawback is the state of

poor Deyverdun. Besides a gradual and visible decline he has had

two strokes of an Apoplexy, and as these dreadful warnings cannot

teach him a lesson of temperance, his physicians do not allow me

to entertain a hope of his recovery.

My desire to get rid of Buriton is much confirmed by a very

disagreable proof of the danger of distant and landed property.

Hugonin is just dead, and dead insolvent: his real estate is

entailed on his brother, his personals will not satisfy his bond

creditors, and as he had given receipts to my tenants down to

Michaelmas last, I must lose without hopes of redress the rent

and arrears of a year and a half. An heavy and unseasonable loss!

Yet notwithstanding my ardour to shake off the incumbrance, I

have made it my first condition with Lord Sheffield that in

the progress of the business he shall obtain not only your

legal consent, but your free and chearful approbation. Since

you dislike a mortgage, the security of your jointure may be

transferred to an adequate part of the purchase money, vested in

the funds, or if you prefer land I am persuaded that Lord S. will

not refuse the broad basis of his Sussex estate. May you long

enjoy an income which I have often wished it were in my power to

enlarge to the full measure of my affection.

Let me hear from you soon; if writing be inconvenient, I am

persuaded that Mrs. or Miss Gould would discharge with pleasure

the office of secretary.

I am, Dear Madam,

Ever yours,

E. G.

541.

_To Lord Sheffield._

Lausanne, April 25, 1789.

[Sidenote: THE SALE OF BERITON.]

*Before your letter, which I received yesterday, I was in the

anxious situation of a King, who hourly expects a courier from

his general, with the news of a decisive engagement. I had

abstained from writing, for fear of dropping a word, or betraying

a feeling, which might render you too cautious or too bold. On

the famous 8th of April, between twelve and two, I reflected

that the business was determined; and each succeeding day I

computed the speedy approach of your messenger, with favourable

or melancholy tidings. When I broke the seal I expected to

read, "What a damned unlucky fellow you are! Nothing tolerable

was offered, and I indignantly withdrew the estate." I _did_

remember the fate of poor Lenborough, and I was afraid of your

magnanimity, &c.* Well, then, I have £16,000 pounds instead of

Buriton! upon the whole I rejoyce in the exchange, although the

sum has fallen short of our expectations, and I feel the weight

of the reasons which kept it down. But if Lord Stawell was the

only bidder, why in God's name could he not make the same offer

by private contract, and save me the expences of the Auction,

which I fear are considerable? Pray who pays the tax, the buyer

or the seller, and what deduction will occur on the gross sum?

What I am specially pleased with is the character of the

purchaser, or rather of his agent, whom I still suppose to be my

old acquaintance, Mr. Sainsbury, a man of sense, experience, and

a fair reputation. He was bred an Attorney at Petersfield, knows

every inch of the estate, and would not have suffered his Lord

to purchase without having the money, or to give a price above

the real value. From him we shall have no captious difficulties

or evasive delays--he will be content with a fair title, and I

flatter myself that the whole business will be terminated with

ease and despatch. But as many things fall out between the cup

and the lip, your friendship I am sure will not be asleep, you

will goad the slow-paced lawyers, and settle Mrs. G.'s security

for her jointure in the manner most convenient and agreable for

herself. By what time do you probably suppose that I may have the

money in my pocket? It would be generous, too generous perhaps,

in Lord S. and his agent, if they would make the payment and

take possession of the estate on your act and guarantee without

waiting for the return of the writings from Lausanne. I have

sketched a short paper which you may shew them if you think it

will be of any use.

*It is whimsical enough, but it is in human nature, that I now

begin to think of the deep-rooted foundations of land, and the

airy fabrick of the funds. I not only consent, but even wish,

to have eight or ten thousand pounds on a good mortgage; but I

think the whole of that sum too large for Buriton, and conceive

that Lord Stawell should reinforce it by some collateral

security.* How often have I regretted my dear New-river share

which the Goslings so rudely tore from me. I should not be

unwilling to repurchase it for the same money, I mean instead of

the mortgage.--I forgot to say, indeed it is needless, that I

suppose all proper care has been taken about a deposit, and to

secure my receipt of the rents till the payment of the money. A

propos of the rents, half a year is now due since that worthy

general discharge of last Michaelmas, and I desire that Andrews

may instantly exact it, it will be a seasonable supply, and if

Heartfee suffers any inconvenience it will be no more than a just

punishment for his scandalous and manifest collusion with poor

Hugonin, whose merits I am more inclined to remember than his

faults.

Mrs. G[ibbon] of Cliffe has not answered my letters, and I am

anxious to learn the state of her health. Her correspondent in

town is Mr. Law, I know not of what trade, in Sun Court, Cornhill

or Cheapside: if you call on him in one of your morning walks

you may gain and transmit some information.--When you see your

Madeira friends (is not his name Millighan?) of John Street, pray

thank him in my name; the wine proves excellent, it is a credit

to my table, and a comfort to my health. I want a pipe that he

can answer for, and as bottles almost double the expence, I

think it should be packed carefully in a double cask, and sent

with all convenient speed to Messieurs Romberg at Ostend, the

greatest voituriers in Europe: they must be instructed to forward

it with all proper precaution to their correspondent at Basil or

Basle in Switzerland, who must keep it safe till he has received

from me a permit for its admission into the Canton of Berne,

which I shall be able to send beforehand if Messieurs Romberg

inform me of his name and direction. For want of such a permit my

former wine *was seized, and would have been confiscated, if the

Government of Berne had not treated me with the most flattering

and distinguished civility: they not only released the wine, but

they paid out of their own pocket the shares to which the Bailiff

and the informer were entitled by law. I should not forget that

the Bailiff refused to accept of his part.

Poor Deyverdun's constitution is quite broken; he has had two or

three attacks, not so violent as the first: every time the door

is hastily opened, I expect to hear of some fatal accident: the

best or worst hopes of the Physicians are only that he may linger

some time longer; but, if he lives till the summer, they propose

sending him to some mineral waters at Aix, in Savoy. You will

be glad to hear that I am now assured of possessing, during my

life, this delightful house and garden. The act has been _lately_

executed in the best form, and the handsomest manner.

[Sidenote: RECOVERY OF GEORGE III.]

I know not what to say of your miracles at home: we rejoyce in

the king's recovery, and its ministerial consequences; and I

cannot be insensible to the hope, at least the chance, of seeing

in this Country a first Lord of trade, or Secretary at War. In

your answer, which I shall impatiently expect, you will give me

a full and true account of your designs, which by this time must

have droppt, or be determined at least, for the present year. If

you come, it is high time that we should look out for a house--a

task much less easy than you may possibly imagine.*

I embrace My Lady with warm affection, and still cherish the

firm intention of writing to her soon. But the Dame pays more

attention to the Epistles which she does not, than to those

which she does, receive. At her request Madame de Severy wrote

her a long letter about the two _Tufts_ and many other important

matters, and Mademoiselle at my desire added a scrap for

Mademoiselle. They begin to wonder at her silence, and accuse

the negligence of the post. By her correspondence with Severy I

rejoyce to find that the clouds are dispelled, and hope that she

leads Maria into the winter pleasures of the World.

*Among new books, I recommend to you the Count de Mirabeau's

great work, _sur la Monarchie Prussienne_;[132] it is in your own

way, and gives a very just and compleat idea of that wonderful

machine. His _Correspondence secrette_ is diabolically good.

Adieu. Ever yours.*

[132] _De la monarchie Prussienne sous Frédéric le Grand_

(1788, 4^o); and _Histoire Secrète de la Cour de Berlin, ou

Correspondance d'un voyageur Français_ (1789, 8^o). Both books

were by Honoré Gabriel Riquetti, Comte de Mirabeau.

542.

_To Lord Sheffield._

Lausanne, June 13, 1789.

*You are in truth a wise, active, indefatigable, and inestimable

friend; and as our virtues are often connected with our faults, if

you were more tame and placid, you would be perhaps of less use

and value. A very important and difficult transaction seems to be

nearly terminated with success and mutual satisfaction: we seem to

run before the wind with a prosperous gale; and, unless we should

strike on some secret rocks, which I do not foresee, we shall, on or

before the 31st July, enter the harbour of content; though I cannot

pursue the metaphor by adding we shall _land_, since our operation

is of the very opposite tendency. I could not easily forgive myself

for shutting you up in a dark room with parchments and attornies,

did I not reflect that this probably is the last material trouble

that you will ever have on my account; and that, after the labours

and delays of near twenty years, I shall at last attain what I have

always sighed for, a clear and competent income, above my wants, and

equal to my wishes. In this contemplation you will be sufficiently

rewarded. I hope Sainsbury will be content with our title-deeds, for

I cannot furnish another shred of parchment.*

[Sidenote: ANXIETY FOR HIS STEPMOTHER.]

What difficulty can arise about our family Wills? My father made

none, and I took out letters of administration as heir at law: my

grandfather's may be found at the Commons for a shilling: but it is

not worth that shilling, since I joyned on coming of age with my

father to cut off the entail. Our fine and recovery (in the year

1758) are doubtless registered in the proper courts. I as little

understand the want of my father's marriage settlement. With his

first wife? she has been dead above forty years, and I am her sole

representative. With his second, the present Mrs. Gibbon? From her it

may be easily procured, and you are not ignorant that *her jointure

of £200 a year is secured on the Buriton estate, and that her legal

consent is requisite for the sale. Again and again I must repeat my

hope that she is perfectly satisfied, and that the close of her life

may not be embittered by suspicion, or fear, or discontent. What new

security does she prefer,--the funds, the mortgage, or your land?

At all events she must be made easy. I wrote to her again some time

ago, and begged that if she were too weak to write, she would desire

Mrs. Gould or Mrs. Holroyd to give me a line concerning her state of

health. To this no answer; I am afraid she is displeased.* By the

channel of Mrs. H. you might convey some idea of my _real_ anxiety.

The Saint seems ripe for heaven: could you not learn from Law,

what people are about her, and what measures can be taken to have

the earliest intelligence of her departure to prevent a Will being

secreted, &c.? Yet I am her heir-at-law.

*Now for the disposal of the money: I approve of the £8000 mortgage

on Buriton; and honour your prudence in not showing them, by the

comparison of the rent and interest, how foolish it is to purchase

land.* If you can obtain from Lord S[tawell] the four and a half,

_tant mieux_. In case you cannot, I will suggest an odd but I think

a rational scheme. Let four and a half, or rather five per cent.

be stipulated in the mortgage deed, with a proviso in a separate

act that, as long as the interest shall be paid on or before the

day appointed, I will be satisfied with four per cent. As long as

Lord S. is punctual (and this will be a stimulus) he will pay no

more; and should I ever be forced by his neglect to transfer the

mortgage, which will, I suppose, be in my power, I shall easily find

a substitute at the advanced interest. For how many years do I lend?

Do I reserve a right of putting in my own receiver? Six thousand more

will be vested in the three per cents, and if Mrs. G. chuses them,

that sum will not be too large a basis for her jointure of £200 a

year. The additional hundred which I pay her is a separate account.

The remainder, between two and three thousand, may be trusted to

private security.

Did you wish for the whole, or part, or more? it is perfectly at your

service; but as you are indifferent, I write to you in the third

person.