though he is poor, I believe him to be honest, and I should therefore
prefer his four and a half regularly paid at Gosling's, without
trouble or application, to a more doubtful five per cent. which might
perhaps be found on bond security."
But I had rather wait some weeks before I absolutely determine, as
*there is a chance of my drawing the greatest part of the sum into
this country, for an arrangement which you yourself must approve,
but which I have not time to explain at present. For the sake of
dispatching, by this evening's post, an answer to your letter which
arrived this morning, I confine myself to the _needful_, but in the
course of a few days I _will_ dictate to Severy a more familiar
Epistle. I embrace, &c. Adieu. Ever yours.*
543.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, July 14, 1789.
[Sidenote: DEATH OF DEYVERDUN.]
*Poor Deyverdun is no more: He expired Saturday the 4th instant:
and in his unfortunate situation, death could only be viewed by
himself, and his friend, in the light of a consummation devoutly to
be wished for. Since September he has had a dozen Apoplectic strokes,
more or less violent: in the intervals between them his strength
gradually decayed; every principle of life was exhausted; and had
he continued to drag a miserable existence, he must probably have
survived the loss of his faculties. Of all misfortunes this was what
he himself most apprehended: but his reason was clear and calm to the
last; he beheld his approaching dissolution with the firmness of a
philosopher. I fancied that time and reflection had prepared me for
the event; but the habits of three-and-thirty years' friendship are
not so easily broken. The first days, and more especially the first
nights, were indeed painful. Last Wednesday and Saturday it would
not have been in my power to write. I must now recollect myself,
since it is necessary for me not only to impart the news, but to ask
your opinion on a very serious and doubtful question, which must be
decided without loss of time. I shall state the facts, but as I am
on the spot and as new lights may occur, I do not promise implicit
obedience.
Had my poor friend died without a Will, a female _first_ cousin
settled somewhere in the north of Germany, and whom I believe he had
never seen, would have been his heir at law. In the next degree he
had several cousins; and one of these, an old companion, by name Mr.
de Montagny, he has chosen for his heir. As this house and garden
was the best and clearest part of poor Deyverdun's fortune; as there
is an heavy duty or fine (what they call _Lods_) on every change of
property out of the legal descent; as Montagny has a small estate
and a large family, it was necessary to make some provision in his
favour. The will therefore leaves me the option of enjoying this
place during my life, on paying the sum of £250 (I reckon in English
money) at present, and an annual rent of £30; or else of purchasing
the house and garden for a sum which, including the duty, will amount
to £2500. If I value the rent of £30 at twelve years' purchase, I
may acquire my enjoyment for life at about the rate of £600; and
the remaining £1900 will be the difference between that tenure and
absolute perpetual property. As you have never accused me of too
ardent a zeal for the interest of posterity, you will easily guess
which scale at first preponderated. I deeply felt the advantage of
acquiring, for the smaller sum, every possible enjoyment, as long as
I myself should be capable of enjoying: I rejected, with scorn, the
idea of giving £1900 for ideal posthumous property; and I deemed it
of little moment whose name, after my death, should be inscribed on
my house and garden at Lausanne. How often did I repeat to myself the
philosophical lines of Pope, which seem to determine the question:
Pray Heaven, cries Swift, it last as you go on;
I wish to God this house had been your own.
Pity to build without or son or wife:
Why, you'll enjoy it _only_ all your life.
Well, if the use be mine, does it concern one,
Whether the name belong to Pope or Vernon?
In this state of self-satisfaction I was not much disturbed by the
unanimous advice of all my real or nominal friends, who exhort me to
prefer the right of purchase: among such friends, some are careless
and some are ignorant; and the judgment of those, who are able
and willing to form an opinion, is often byassed by some selfish
or social affection, by some visible or invisible interest. But my
own reflections have gradually and forcibly driven me from my first
propensity; and those reflections I will now proceed to enumerate:
1. I can make this purchase with ease and prudence. As I have had the
pleasure of _not_ hearing from you very lately, I flatter myself that
you advance on a carpet-road, and that almost by the receipt of this
letter (July the 31st) the acres of Buriton will be transmuted into
Sixteen thousand pounds: If the payment be not absolutely compleated
by that day, Sainsbury will not scruple, I suppose, depositing the
£2500 at Gosling's, to meet my draught. Should he hesitate, I can
desire Darrel to sell off _quantum sufficit_ of my short annuities.
As soon as the new settlement of my affairs is made, I shall be able,
after deducting this sum, to square my expence to my income.* The
decay of the Belvidere[133] _must_ place me in easy, and the bounty
of the Cliffe[134] _may_ establish me in affluent circumstance. If
this Lausanne purchase should seem a violent measure, at the worst
I can make Cadell repay me the money in three or four years. I am
revolving the means. I am beginning to be a rich man.
*2. On mature consideration, I am perhaps less selfish or less
philosophical than I appear at first sight: Indeed, were I not so,
it would now be in my power to turn my fortune into life-annuities,
and let the Devil take the hindmost. I feel, (perhaps it is foolish,)
but I feel that this little paradise will please me still more
when it is absolutely my own; and that I shall be encouraged in
every improvement of use or beauty, by the prospect that, after my
departure, it will be enjoyed by some person of my own choice. I
sometimes reflect with pleasure that my writings will survive me: and
that idea is at least as vain and chimerical.
[Sidenote: "FIERCE AND ERECT, A FREE MASTER."]
3. The heir, Mr. de Montagny, is an old acquaintance* of mine. I
_believe_ him to be a man of honour: but I _know_ him to be a man
of a passionate quarrelsome disputatious temper. *My situation of a
life-holder is rather new and singular in this country: the laws have
not provided for many nice cases which may arise between the Landlord
and tenant: some I can foresee, others have been suggested, many
more I might feel when it would be too late. His right of property
might plague and confine me: he might forbid my lending to a friend,
inspect my conduct, check my improvements, call for securities,
repairs, &c. But if I purchase, I walk on my own terrace, fierce and
erect, the free master of one of the most delicious spots on the
Globe.*
4. You will perhaps think £2500 a very smart price for a moderate
house and three or four acres of land (I fancy that is about the
measure). You will be much more surprized to hear that poor Deyverdun
has valued it in my favour at least £1000 below the real value and
market price. Of this I must inform myself more correctly, but I
am much inclined to believe it, from the general opinion, from the
comparison of other sales and purchases, from the peculiar merits of
the situation, and from the scarcity of ground. If it were divided
into three houses and gardens and sold to builders, I know not what
it would produce.
*Should I ever migrate homewards, (You stare, but such an event is
less improbable than I could have thought it two years ago,) this
place would be disputed by strangers and natives, and the difference
would perhaps clear the expences of my removal.
Weigh these reasons, and send me without delay a rational, explicit
opinion, to which I shall pay such regard as the nature of
circumstances will allow. But, alas! when all is determined, I shall
possess this house, by whatsoever tenure, without friendship or
domestic society. I did not imagine, six years ago, that a plan of
life so congenial to my wishes, would so speedily vanish. I cannot
write upon any other subject. Adieu, yours ever.*
[133] His stepmother, Mrs. Gibbon.
[134] His aunt, Miss Hester Gibbon.
544.
_To Lord Sheffield._
July 22nd, 1789.
Am I not an exact man! The power is executed, attested, and
dispatched the same day (July 22) on which it was received. The
appearance of liberality confirms my belief that we are transacting
with a fair willing purchaser, and inclines me to hope that the small
defects of deeds will be supplied or excused. Surely a great part of
our strict formalities is calculated for the emolument of the lawyers
rather than the security of the parties. In this simple country
we are far less rigid, and a quiet possession of some years (all
mortgages are registered) is admitted as a sufficient title. But at
all events, as this letter will not reach you before the third or
fourth of next month, I see that the day of payment will be postponed
beyond the 31st of July. Before this time you will have received,
weighed and answered my important missive of the 15th. I am still in
a state of doubt and suspense from which your opinion may possibly
relieve me, but I must know whether, in case of farther delay,
Sainsbury will advance the £2500, or rather £2800, and whether I may
draw on the Goslings, from whom I must never expect any favour.
You say nothing of the Belvidere. Have you her legal acquiescence?
What security has she chosen? I think she cannot last very long,
but I should be hurt if her last days were embittered by any fears
or scruples. As to the money destined for the funds you had better
consult with David. He is friendly and knowing.
I embrace my lady, but no longer dare talk of writing to her. Maria
must now be in all the glories of Lewes races. At Severy's we often
talk of the _famille_. I rejoyce in the Douglas match: it is just
such a wife as I should chuse,[135] but I hope she will still live
with her father.--Is your picture on the road? Mine shall set out
whenever you please. Are you not amazed at the French revolution?
They have the power, will they have the moderation to establish a
good constitution? Adieu.
Ever yours,
E. G.
[135] It may be mentioned that Lord Sheffield married, in
January, 1798, as his third wife, Lady Anne North, daughter of
the Earl of Guilford, and sister of Lady Catherine Douglas.
545.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, July 25th, 1789.
[Sidenote: DEFECTIVE TITLE TO BERITON.]
*After receiving and dispatching the power of attorney, last
Wednesday, I opened, with some palpitation, the unexpected missive
which arrived this morning. The perusal of the contents spoiled my
breakfast: they are disagreeable in themselves, alarming in their
consequences, and peculiarly unpleasant at the present moment, when
I hoped to have formed and secured the arrangements of my future
life. I do not perfectly understand what are these deeds which are
so inflexibly required; the wills and marriage-settlements I have
sufficiently answered. But your arguments do not convince Sainsbury,
and I have very little hope from the Lenborough search. What will
be the event? If his objections are only the result of legal
scrupulosity, surely they might be removed, and every chink might be
filled, by a general bond of indemnity, in which I boldly ask you
to joyn, as it will be a substantial important act of friendship,
without any possible risk to yourself or your successors. Should
he still remain obdurate, I must believe what I already suspect,
that Lord Stawell repents of his purchase, and wishes to elude the
conclusion. Our case would be then hopeless, _Ibi omnis effusus
labor_, and the Estate would be returned on our hands with the taint
of a bad title. The refusal of mortgage does not please me; but
surely our offer shows some confidence in the goodness of my title.
If he will not take £8000 at _four per cent._ we must look out
elsewhere; new doubts and delays will arise, and I am persuaded that
you will not place an implicit confidence in Woodcock or any other
Attorney. I know not as yet your opinion about my Lausanne purchase.
If you are against it, the present posture of affairs gives you
great advantage, &c., &c.* The purchase money of Buriton will not be
paid in time. Sainsbury, if false, will not advance a shilling, and
with the prospect of living or rather starving on a landed estate,
I cannot afford to sell out £2500 of my short annuities. For my own
part I hang in suspense, but if the money could be easily found I
rather incline to the _property_ as simple and beneficial.
I am ignorant of your picture: mine shall depart by the first proper
occasion: but should not some precautions be taken with regard to
duties? the importation of foreign pictures is heavily taxed, but a
work of Sir Joshua's may surely return home.
*The Severys are all well; an uncommon circumstance for the four
persons of the family at once. They are now at Mex (pronounce May), a
country-house six miles from hence, which I visit to-morrow for two
or three days: they often come to town, and we shall contrive to pass
a part of the Autumn together at Rolle. I want to change the scene;
and beautiful as the garden and prospect must appear to every eye,
I feel that the state of my own mind casts a gloom over them; every
spot, every walk, every bench, recalls the memory of those hours,
of those conversations, which will return no more. But I tear myself
from the subject. I could not help writing to-day, though I do not
find I have said any thing very material. As you must be conscious
that you have agitated me, you will not postpone any agreeable, or
even _decisive_ intelligence. I almost hesitate, whether I shall not
run over to England, to consult with you on the spot, and to fly
from poor Deyverdun's shade, which meets me at every turn. I did not
expect to have felt it so sharply. But six hundred miles! why are we
so far off?
Once more, what is the difficulty of the title? Will men of sense,
in a sensible Country, never get rid of the tyranny of lawyers? more
oppressive and ridiculous than even the old yoke of the Clergy. Is
not a term of seventy or eighty years, near twenty in my own person,
sufficient to prove our legal possession? Will not the record of
fines and recoveries attest that _I_ am free from any bar of entails
and settlements? Consult some Sage of the Law, whether their present
demand be necessary and legal. If our ground be firm, force them to
execute the agreement or forfeit the deposit. But if, as I much fear,
they have a right, and a wish, to elude the consummation, would it
not be better to release them at once, than to be hung up five years,
as in the case of Lovegrove, which cost me in the end four or five
thousand pounds? You are bold, you are wise; consult, resolve, act.
In my penultimate letter I dropped a strange hint, that a migration
homeward was not impossible. I know not what to say; my mind is all
afloat; yet you will not reproach me with caprice or inconstancy.
How many years did you damn my scheme of retiring to Lausanne! I
executed that plan; I found as much happiness as is compatible with
human nature, and during four years (1783-1787) I never breathed a
sigh of repentance. On my return from England the scene was changed:
I found only a faint semblance of Deyverdun, and that semblance was
each day fading from my sight. I have passed an anxious year, but my
anxiety is now at an end, and the prospect before me is a melancholy
solitude. I am still deeply rooted in this country; the possession
of this paradise, the friendship of the Severys, a mode of society
suited to my taste, and the enormous trouble and _expence_ of a
migration. Yet in England (when the present clouds are dispelled) I
could form a very comfortable establishment in London, or rather at
Bath; and I have a very noble country-seat about ten miles from East
Grinstead in Sussex.[136] That spot is dearer to me than the rest of
the three kingdoms; and I have sometimes wondered how two men, so
opposite in their tempers and pursuits, should have imbibed so long
and lively a propensity for each other.
[Sidenote: IDEA OF ADOPTING CHARLOTTE PORTEN.]
Sir Stanier Porten[137] is just dead. He has left his widow with a
small pension, and two children, my nearest relations: the eldest,
Charlotte, is about Louisa's age, and one of the most amiable,
sensible young creatures I ever saw. I have conceived a romantic idea
of educating and adopting her; as we descend into the vale of years,
our infirmities require some domestic female society: Charlotte would
be the comfort of my age, and I could reward her care and tenderness
with a decent fortune. A thousand difficulties oppose the execution
of this plan, which I have never opened but to you; yet it would
be less impracticable in England than in Switzerland. Adieu. I am
wounded, pour some oil into my wounds: Yet I am less unhappy since I
have thrown my mind upon paper. Adieu, ever yours.*
[136] Alluding to Sheffield Place.
[137] Sir S. Porten died June 7, 1789.
546.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, Sept. 9, 1789.
*Within an hour after the reception of your last, I drew my pen for
the purpose of a reply, and my exordium ran in the following words:
"I find by experience, that it is much more rational, as well as
easy, to answer a letter of real business by the return of the post."
This important truth is again verified by my own example. After
writing three pages I was called away by a very rational motive,
and the post departed before I could return to the conclusion. A
second delay was coloured by some decent pretence: three weeks have
slipped away, and I now force myself on a task, which I should have
dispatched without an effort on the first summons. My only excuse
is, that I had little to write about English business, and that I
could write nothing definitive about my Swiss affairs. And first, as
Aristotle says, of the first,
1. I was indeed in low spirits when I sent what you so justly
style my dismal letter; but I do assure you, that my own feelings
contributed much more to sink me, than any events or terrors relative
to the sale of Buriton. But I again hope and trust, from your
consolatory epistle, that* the purchasers are willing and honest,
that the deeds have been produced or excused, and that on or before
the reception of this despatch (alas, it will be the 23rd perhaps of
September) the money has been paid. In all this I must be passive,
but with regard to Mrs. Gibbon's, before it is again vested, I am
sure she will be satisfied with your security, as mine on the stock
which I already hold would require new powers of Attorney, and must
be productive of fresh delay. But it is a whimsical circumstance in
my fate, that I happen to receive the largest sum which can ever fall
to my lot at the time, when money is the most plenty and consequently
bears the lowest value, when good mortgages are so difficult to be
found, and when the funds scarcely yield four per cent. interest. I
wish Lord Stawell would take the £8000 on Buriton even at four per
cent., perhaps his proud stomach may be come down. Should he still
disdain it, I listen with pleasure and gratitude to the proposal of
your Yorkshire mortgage on the same terms, though in general it is
more advisable for friends to abstain from any pecuniary concerns
with each other. If you no longer adhere to that idea, some sound
good mortgage, if possible in a register county, must be found, and
I would even stretch the loan to £10,000, in which case my property
would be nearly divided between landed and monied security without
reckoning my copper share or my poor annuity in the French funds. In
the meanwhile, that the portion destined to the mortgage may not lye
dead, I suppose with you that there is nothing more commodious than
India-bonds. Will you consult Darrel?
[Sidenote: LIFE-INTEREST IN DEYVERDUN'S HOUSE.]
*2. My Swiss transaction has suffered a great alteration. I shall
not become the proprietor of my house and garden at Lausanne, and
I relinquish the fantom with more regret than you could easily
imagine. But I have been determined by a difficulty, which at first
appeared of little moment, but which has gradually swelled to an
alarming magnitude. There is a law in this country, as well as in
some provinces of France, which is styled "_le droit de retrait, le
retrait lignager_" (Lord Loughborough must have heard of it), by
which the relations of the deceased are entitled to redeem an house
or estate at the price for which it has been sold; and as the sum
fixed by poor Deyverdun is much below its known value, a crowd of
competitors are beginning to start. The best opinions (for they are
divided) are in my favour, that I am not subject to "_the droit de
retrait_," since I take not as a purchaser, but as a legatee. But
the words of the Will are somewhat ambiguous, the event of law is
always uncertain, the administration of justice at Berne (the last
appeal) depends too much on favour and intrigue; and it is very
doubtful whether I could revert to the life-holding, after having
chosen and lost the property. These considerations engaged me to open
a negotiation with Mr. de Montagny, through the medium of my friend
the Judge; and as he most ardently wishes to keep the house, he
consented, though with some reluctance, to my proposals. Yesterday he
signed a covenant in the most regular and binding form, by which he
allows my power of transferring my interest, interprets in the most
ample sense my right of making alterations, and expressly renounces
all claim, as landlord, of visiting or inspecting the premisses. I
have promised to lend him 12,000 Livres, (between seven and eight
hundred pounds), secured on the house and land. The mortgage is four
times its value; the interest at four per cent. will be annually
discharged by the rent of thirty guineas, and I shall have an
additional hold on his good behaviour. So that I am now tranquil
on that score for the remainder of my days. I hope that time will
gradually reconcile me to the place which I have inhabited with
my poor friend; for in spite of the _cream_ of London, I am still
persuaded that no other residence is so well adapted to my taste and
habits of studious and social life.
Far from delighting in the whirl of a Metropolis, my only complaint
against Lausanne is the great number of strangers, always of
English, and now of French, by whom we are infested in summer. Yet
we have escaped the _damned_ great ones, the Count d'Artois,[138]
the Polignacs,[139] &c. who slip by us to Turin. What a scene is
France! While the assembly is voting abstract propositions, Paris is
an independent Republic; the provinces have neither authority nor
freedom, and poor Necker[140] declares that credit is no more, and
that the people refuse to pay taxes. Yet I think you must be seduced
by the abolition of tythes. If Eden goes to Paris you may have some
curious _confidential_ information. Give me some account of Mr. and
Mrs. Douglas; do they live with Lord North? I hope they do. When will
parliament be dissolved? Are you still Coventry mad? I embrace My
Lady, the stately Maria, and the smiling Louisa. Alas! Alas! you will
never come to Switzerland. Adieu, ever yours.*
[138] The Comte d'Artois (1757-1836), brother of Louis XVI., and
afterwards Charles X., was one of the earliest _émigrés_.