Polignac (1749-1793), was the most intimate friend of Marie
Antoinette. To her and her royal mistress public opinion
attributed many of the worst evils of the monarchy. When the
daughter of the duchess married the Duc de Guiche (afterwards
Duc de Grammont), the king gave the bride a dower of 800,000
_livres_. "Mille écus," said Mirabeau, "à la famille d'Assas
pour avoir sauvé l'État, un million à la famille de Polignac
pour l'avoir perdu." (The Chevalier d'Assas lost his life in an
heroic action at Klostercamp, October 15-16, 1760. The Government
of Louis XV. allowed him to go unrewarded. Louis XVI., at the
instigation of Marie Antoinette, conferred on his family a
perpetual pension of 1000 _livres_.) The duchess emigrated with
her husband shortly after the taking of the Bastille. She died at
Vienna in December, 1793, her death being, it is said, hastened
by the murder of Marie Antoinette. Her second son, afterwards
Prince de Polignac, was the favourite minister of Charles X.
[140] Necker was dismissed July 11, 1789, and ordered to quit the
kingdom.
547.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, Sept. 25th, 1789.
*Alas! what perils do environ
The man who meddles with cold iron.
Alas! what delays and difficulties do attend the man who meddles
with legal and landed business! yet if it be only to disappoint
your expectation, I am not so very nervous at this new provoking
obstacle. I had totally forgotten the deed in question, which was
contrived by the two trustees to tye his hands and regulate the
disorder of his affairs (in the last year of my father's life); and
which might have been so easily cancelled by Sir Stanier, who had
not the smallest interest in it, either for himself or his family.
The amicable suit which is now become necessary must, I think, be
short and unambiguous, yet I cannot help dreading the crotchets that
lurk under the Chancellor's great wig; and, at all events, I foresee
some additional delay and expence. The golden pill of the £2800 has
soothed my discontent; and if it be safely lodged with the Goslings,
I agree with you in considering it as an unequivocal pledge of a fair
and willing purchaser. It is, indeed, chiefly in that light that
I now rejoyce in so large a deposit, which is no longer necessary
in its full extent. You are apprized by my last letter that I have
reduced myself to the life enjoyment of the house and garden, and,
in spite of my feelings, I am every day more convinced that I have
chosen the safer side. I believe my cause to have been good, but it
was doubtful: law in this country is not so expensive as in England,
but it is more troublesome. I must have gone to Bern, have solicited
my Judges in person--a vile custom! the event was doubtful, and
during at least two years, I should have been in a state of suspense
and anxiety: till the conclusion of which it would have been madness
to have attempted any alteration or improvement.
According to my present arrangement I shall want no more than eleven
hundred pounds of the £2000, and I suppose you will direct Gosling
to lay out the remainder in East India bonds, that it may not lye
quite dead, while I am accountable to Sainsbury for the interest.*
I presume that I am entitled till the consummation to the rents
of Buriton: a little drop of honey is collected from Lady-day to
Michaelmas, and Andrews is I hope instructed to squeeze the bag
without delay or mercy: the Tenant deserves none.
[Sidenote: THE AUTHORITY OF BLACKSTONE.]
*The elderly Lady in a male habit, who informed me that Yorkshire is
a register County, is a certain Judge, one Sir William Blackstone,
whose name you may possibly have heard. After stating the danger
of purchasers and creditors, with regard to the title of estates
on which they lay out or lend their money, he thus continues: "In
Scotland every act and event regarding the transmission of property
is regularly entered on record; And some of our own provincial
divisions, particularly the _extended county of York_ and the
populous county of Middlesex, have prevailed with the Legislature to
erect such registers in their respective districts." (Blackstone's
Commentaries, Vol. ii. p. 343, Edition of 1774, in quarto.) If I am
mistaken, it is in pretty good company; but I suspect that we are all
right, and that the register is confined to one or two Ridings. As we
have, alas! two or three months before us, I should hope that your
prudent sagacity will discover some sound land, in case you should
not have time to arrange your own Mortgage.
I now write in a hurry, as I am just setting out for Rolle, where I
shall be settled with cook and servants in a pleasant apartment till
the middle of November. The Severys have a house there, where they
pass the Autumn. I am not sorry to vary the scene for a few weeks,
and I wish to be absent while some alterations are making in my house
at Lausanne. I wish the change of air may be of service to Severy
the father, but we do not at all like his present state of health.
How compleatly, alas, how compleatly! could I now lodge you: but
your firm resolve of making me a visit seems to have vanished like
a dream. Next summer you will not find five hundred pounds for a
rational friendly expedition: and should parliament be dissolved, you
will perhaps find five thousand for ****. I cannot think of it with
patience. Pray take serious strenuous measures for sending me a pipe
of excellent Madeira in cask, with some dozens of Malmsey Madeira. It
should be consigned to Messrs. Romberg, Voituriers, at Ostend, and I
must have timely notice of its march. We have so much to say about
France, that I suppose we shall never say anything. That country is
now in a state of _dissolution_. Adieu.*
548.
_To his Stepmother._
Lausanne, December 5th, 1789.
MY DEAR MADAM,
I need not repeat what we have both so often felt and acknowledged,
that between us silence is never the effect of coldness or
forgetfulness, yet when I recollect that your second letter is
still unanswered, a conscious blush rises to my cheek. Our mutual
friendship we have no occasion to express, of our health and
situation we may have frequent accounts by the channel of Lord
Sheffield and Mrs. Holroyd; mere topics of Epistolary conversation
do not readily occur between distant friends, but you ask me some
questions of an interesting nature and your kind curiosity it is
incumbent on me to satisfy.
The disposal of Buriton I think you cannot disapprove. A distant
landed estate is the worst kind of property, and you will not be
surprized to hear that after the payment of every expence and every
deduction, the remainder of the clear income was little more than
sufficient for the annual supply, which I hope will be long, very
long, offered to the Belvidere at Bath. The neglect, I will not
give it an harsher name, of Hugonin cost me last year above seven
hundred pounds; yet after his death, where could I have found a more
creditable agent? At sixteen thousand pounds Lord Sheffield does not
think Buriton ill sold, especially as four or five thousand more
must be added which I had already received from the sale of Horn and
Harris's farms. Some forms of law have delayed the final conclusion,
but I expect to hear every post of the payment of the money, and
you will rejoyce to hear, what I assure on my honour is true, that
every shilling is my own, and that prudence, without any pressure of
distress or debt, is the sole motive of my conduct. The entire sum I
mean to divide between the stocks and a good mortgage, that at all
events I may have a sound leg to stand upon. I hope you are satisfied
with the arrangement of your jointure: Lord Sheffield cannot forget
the burthen of every one of my letters, "Unless Mrs. G. be safe and
easy, I cannot be so."
[Sidenote: IRREPARABLE LOSS OF A FRIEND.]
When I had the pleasure of seeing you at Bath two years ago, you may
remember the melancholy account which I gave you of poor Deyverdun.
On my return to Lausanne I found him much altered for the worse; he
was attacked by a succession of Apoplectic fits, and after a general
decay, he died last July, when his life could be no longer desirable
for himself or his friends. The loss of a friend of five and thirty
years is irreparable, and each day I feel the comfortless solitude
to which I am reduced. By his will he designed that I should possess
the delightful house and garden which I inhabit: and which have not,
I believe, their equal in Europe; by a subsequent arrangement with
his heir, in which both find their advantage, I have secured the
free and indisputable enjoyment for my life, and have already made
some agreable and useful alterations. I still like the people and
the country, and here I shall probably spend the latter season of
life, with the resolution however of visiting England every three or
four years. I have often regretted that your imperfect knowledge of
the French language never allowed me to seduce you to this place. I
am sure you would have pleased and been pleased in the circle of my
familiar acquaintance.
My health was never so good as it is at present, and since my
unseasonable attack at Bath I have not felt the slightest return
of the gout. You may possibly hear that Mr. Gibbon has undertaken
some new history; be persuaded, if I know his intentions, that
after six weighty quartos, he now reads and writes for his own
amusement, though I will not answer for what those amusements may
one day produce. You may likewise hear of tumults and rebellions in
Switzerland. Be persuaded, that the popular madness of France and
Flanders has not reached these tranquil regions, and that the Swiss
have sense enough to feel and maintain their own happiness, which is
endeared to them by the disorders of the neighbouring countries.
Adieu, Dear Madam; I grieve for you and for myself that we are now
entering into the cold and dreary season, but I sincerely hope that
you will find strength and spirits to lay this and many other winters
at your feet.
Ever yours,
E. G.
549.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, December 15th, 1789.
*You have often reason to accuse my strange silence and neglect in
the most important of _my own_ affairs; for I will presume to assert,
that in a business of yours of equal consequence, you should not
find me cold or careless. But on the present occasion my silence
is, perhaps, the highest compliment I ever paid you. You remember
the answer of Philip of Macedon: "Philip may sleep, while he knows
that Parmenio is awake." I expected, and, to say the truth, I wished
that my Parmenio would have decided and acted, without expecting my
dilatory answer, and in his decision I should have acquiesced with
implicit confidence. But since you will have my opinion, let us
consider the present state of my affairs. In the course of my life
I have often known, and sometimes felt, the difficulty of getting
money, but I now find myself involved in a much more singular
distress, the difficulty of placing it, and if it continues much
longer, I shall almost wish for my land again.
I perfectly agree with you, that it is bad management to purchase
in the funds when they do not yield four per cent.,* and I incline
every day more and more to the encrease of the mortgage. I am much
mistaken if in my last letter I did not extend the sum as £10,000
pounds, which would make, as I remember to have said, about an
equal partition of my property. Can that sum be called, even in
your wealthy island, so very inconsiderable? I would even give
somewhat larger latitude (even as far as £12,000 if I preserve a
right of calling in a fourth or a moiety on reasonable notice). Is
it possible that in seven or eight months no good and clear security
can be found, especially if I am forced to be content with the
scanty interest of four per cent.? Yet I approve your diffidence and
caution: in the concerns of our friends even cowardice is a virtue.
The doubtful title of a mortgage might distress and perplex me for
the remainder of my life, and you would not easily forgive yourself
for having been the innocent author of my calamities. Rather than
expose myself to such a risk, I would try whether some _great_ banker
would not be disposed to give low interest and firm security for my
money till it should be called for, or at all events I would deposit
it in the Bank for six months or a year, and live on the principal
till you could find an unquestionable opportunity of placing it
on landed property. *Some of this money I can place safely and
advantageously by means of my banker here; and I shall possess, what
I have always desired, a command of cash, which I cannot abuse to
my prejudice, since I have it in my power to supply by my pen any
extraordinary or fanciful indulgence of expence. And so much--much,
indeed--for pecuniary matters.
[Sidenote: GLORIOUS OPPORTUNITY OF FRANCE.]
What would you have me say of the affairs of France? we are too
near, and too remote, to form an accurate judgment of that wonderful
scene. The abuses of the court and government called aloud for
reformation; and it has happened, as it will always happen, that an
innocent, well-disposed prince has paid the forfeits of the sins
of his predecessors; of the ambition of the Lewis XIV., of the
profusion of Lewis XV. The French nation had a glorious opportunity,
but they have abused, and may lose their advantages. If they had
been content with a liberal translation of our system, if they had
respected the prerogatives of the crown, and the privileges of the
Nobles, they might have raised a solid fabric, on the only true
foundation, the natural Aristocracy of a great Country. How different
is the prospect! Their King brought a captive to Paris, after his
palace had been stained with the blood of his guards; the Nobles
in exile; the Clergy plundered in a way which strikes at the root
of all property; the capital an independent Republic; the union of
the provinces dissolved; the flames of discord kindled by the worst
of men; (in that light I consider Mirabeau;) and the honestest of
the Assembly a set of wild Visionaries, (like our Dr. Price,[141])
who gravely debate, and dream about the establishment of a pure
and perfect democracy of five-and-twenty millions, the virtues of
the golden age, and the primitive rights and equality of mankind,
which would lead, in fair reasoning, to an equal partition of lands
and money. How many years must elapse before France can recover
any vigour, or resume her station among the powers of Europe! As
yet, there is no symptom of a great man, a Richelieu or a Cromwell,
arising, either to restore the Monarchy, or to lead the Commonwealth.
The weight of Paris, more deeply engaged in the funds than _all_ the
rest of the Kingdom, will long delay a bankrupcy; and if it should
happen, it will be, both in the cause and effect, a measure of
weakness, rather than of strength.
[Sidenote: FRENCH EXILES AT LAUSANNE.]
You send me to Chamberry, to see a prince and an Archbishop. Alas!
we have exiles enough here, with the Marshal de Castries[142] and
the Duke de Guignes[143] at their head: and this inundation of
strangers, which used to be confined to the summer, will now stagnate
all the winter. The only ones whom I have seen with pleasure are
M. Mounier,[144] the late president of the National Assembly, and
the Count de Lally;[145] they have both dined with me. Mounier, who
is a serious dry politician, is returned to Dauphiné. Lally is an
amiable man of the World, and a poet: he passes the winter here with
his _female friend_ the Princess d'Hénin.[146] You know how much I
prefer a quiet select society to a crowd of names and titles, and
that I always seek conversation with a view to amusement rather than
information. What happy countries are England and Switzerland, if
they know and preserve their happiness.
I have a thousand things to say of My Lady, Maria, and Louisa, but I
can add only a short postscript about the Madeira and picture.
1. Good Madeira is now become essential to my health and reputation.
May your hogshead prove as good as the last; may it not be
intercepted by the rebels or the Austrians. What a scene again in
that country! Happy England! happy Switzerland!* I again repeat I
must have early notice of my wine's approach, that I may send a
permit to meet it at Basil.
2. To whom did you entrust the picture[147] and Rennel's[148] maps?
I have not heard of either. Was it to Elmsley? I have expected these
many months a box of books, &c., which he announced. Will you not
clear up the point? My picture expects a safe occasion. Adieu.
[141] Richard Price, D.D. (1723-1791), the celebrated
mathematician and economic writer (_Observations on Reversionary
Payments, Annuities_, etc., 1769; _Appeal on the Subject of the
National Debt_, 1772), the opponent of Dr. Priestley (_A Free
Discussion of the Doctrine of Materialism and Philosophical
Necessity_, 1778), was also a voluminous political writer, a
champion of the cause of American Independence, and an advocate
of principles then regarded as revolutionary. His _Observations
on the Nature of Civil Liberty_ (1776) procured him an invitation
from Congress to come and reside in America. In 1789 he published
his _Discourse on the Love of our Country_, severely criticized
by Burke in his _Reflections on the Revolution in France_. His
last work, _Britain's Happiness_, was published in 1791, the year
of his death.
[142] The Marquis de Castries (1727-1801), Marshal of France
(1783), had served in the Seven Years' War, was Ministre de la
Marine 1780-87, and in 1792 held a command in the Prussian army
of invasion. He died at Wolfenbuttel in 1801.
[143] Adrien Louis de Bonnières, Comte, afterwards Duc, de
Guines (1735-1806), had been ambassador in England, 1770-76.
As ambassador at Berlin he had been a favourite with Frederick
the Great, with whom he played the flute. He emigrated at the
beginning of the Revolution.
[144] J. Joseph Mounier (1758-1806), the author of
_Considérations sur le gouvernement qui convient à la France_
(1789), was a prominent champion of constitutional liberty in the
States-General and the National Assembly. He emigrated at the end
of 1789.
[145] Gérard, Marquis de Lally-Tollendal (1751-1830), the son
of the unfortunate governor of the French possessions in India,
emigrated after the events of October 5-6, 1789. Returning to
France in 1792, he was arrested after August 10, and imprisoned
in the Abbaye; he escaped and took refuge in England.
[146] Étiennette de Montconseil, daughter of the Marquis de
Montconseil, married, in 1766, Charles Alexandre Marc Marcellin
d'Alsace-Hénin-Liétard, Prince d'Hénin, brother of the Prince
de Chimay and Madame de Cambis, and nephew of the Maréchale de
Mirepoix and the Prince de Beauvau. The princess was appointed
in 1778 _dame du palais_ in the household of Marie Antoinette.
Her intimate relations with Lally-Tollendal were well known.
Madame D'Arblay, who knew her well, says of her, twenty years
later, that "Lally was her admiring and truly devoted friend, and
by many believed to be privately married to her. I am myself of
that opinion" (_Diary and Letters_, vii. 89). The Prince d'Hénin
was captain of the body-guard of the Comte d'Artois. He played a
conspicuous part in the _chronique scandaleuse_ of the day. His
affection for Sophie Arnould gave rise to the following verses of
the Marquis de Louvois:--
"Chez la doyenne des catins
Ta place est des plus minces.
Tu n'es plus le prince d'Hénin,
Mais bien le nain des princes."
[147] Probably Lord Sheffield's portrait, painted by Sir Joshua
Reynolds in March, 1788.
[148] Major James Rennell (1742-1832) had already published his
Maps of Bengal and of the Mogul Empire. His geographical work on
Africa and map appeared in 1790.
550.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, January 27th, 1790.
*Your two last epistles, of the 7th and 11th instant, were somewhat
delayed on the road; they arrived within two days of each other, the
last this morning, (the 27th); so that I answer by the first, or at
least by the second post. Upon the whole, your French method, though
sometimes more rapid, appears to me less sure and steady than the old
German highway.*
I will not deny (for it was probably too visible) that your proposal,
which arose from the kindest motives, of your Yorkshire mortgage
embarrassed me from the beginning, and whatever faint signs of
acquiescence I may have given, they proceeded from the apprehension
of wounding your honourable feelings by anything that might bear
the appearance of doubt and distrust. I could not reconcile the
two characters of debtor and friend, and I was shocked by the
idea, however distant or unlikely, that in a serious concern our
interests might possibly become opposite to each other. Your first
letter relieved me from that weight, and I viewed with much less
horror the chance of leaving the purchase money for some time idle
and unproductive in the bank: yet I could not entirely subscribe
to your charge that I had changed my _principles_. Eight thousand
pounds had been always designed for the mortgage: you object (to my
great surprize) that good landed security cannot easily be found
for so _small_ a sum; I agree to enlarge it; where is the change or
contradiction? I confess however that the very high price of the
Stocks has rendered me less eager for an investment which at present
will not even produce the four per cent., and which rather affords
the danger of a fall than the hopes of a rise. You are likewise
inaccurate when you accuse me of having already drawn near £2000 of
the purchase money.
But enough of these altercations. *A new and brighter prospect seems
to be breaking upon us, and few events of _that kind_ have ever given
me more pleasure than your successful negotiation and Sainsbury's
satisfactory answer. The agreement is, indeed, equally convenient for
both parties: no time or expence will be wasted in scrutinizing the
title of the estate; the interest will be secured by the clause of
five per cent., and I lament with you, that no larger sum than £8000
can be placed on Beriton, without asking (what might be somewhat
impudent) a collateral security, &c., &c.* As I do not mean to entrap
them, the allowance of a month is perfectly right and in truth
immaterial. As the purchase money is by this arrangement very much
reduced, they will now pay it, I suppose, whenever you please, and
perhaps (you will judge) it may be as well to consummate on Lady Day,
that I may be entitled to another half year's rent from the Tenant.
The power of calling in the Mortgage, I only meant as a superfluous
precaution, but I suppose there will be some restraint on their
paying it off whenever they please, perhaps at a time inconvenient to
the creditor. After Lord Stawell has paid or secured £10,800 there
will still remain (subject to I know not what charges) £5200. While
the stocks are so very high as not to yield four per cent., might it
not be expedient to trust it in two or three loans in good personal
bond security at four and a half? Would not the Goslings for the
consideration of the half per cent. bind themselves to answer for
the interest and principal. In their business they have always a
command of money, and if the security be such as I ought to accept,
the risk for themselves must be very inconsiderable. *But I wish you
to chuse and execute one or the other of these arrangements with sage
discretion and absolute power.
[Sidenote: DIRTY LAND AND VILE MONEY.]
I shorten my letter, that I may dispatch it by this post. I see the
time, and I shall rejoyce to see it at the end of twenty years,
when my cares will be at an end, and our friendly pages will be no
longer sullied with the repetition of dirty land and vile money;
when we may expatiate on the politics of the World and our personal
sentiments. Without expecting your answer of business, I mean to
write soon in a purer style, and I wish to lay open to my friend the
state of my mind, which (exclusive of all worldly concerns) is not
perfectly at ease. In the mean while, I must add two or three short
articles. 1. I am astonished at Elmsly's silence, and the immobility
of your picture. Mine should have departed long since, could I have
found a sure opportunity.* It had almost started last week had I not
been afraid of rolling it, but I think that a person on whom we may
depend will undertake the journey and commission about the middle
of next month. 2. I shall expect the Madeira with impatience if it
is remarkable. I have not any objection to the _two_ hogsheads, but
perhaps one may suffice, as I have a promise from Sir Ralph Payne,
with whom you may confabulate on the subject if you excurse to
London. 3. Give me some account of the two old Ladies. I no longer
write to Cliffe, as I suppose her (perhaps erroneously) incapable
of correspondence. I embrace My Lady, &c. When shall I see them at
Lausanne or Sheffield Place? the one must take place if the other
does not. Adieu.
Yours,
E. G.