declared that, even if loss of friends were the consequence,
he would still, with his latest breath, exclaim, "Fly from the
French Constitution!" "There is no loss of friends," said Fox.
"Yes, there is," retorted Burke. "I know the price of my conduct!
I have indeed made a great sacrifice: I have done my duty, though
I have lost my friend." Burke's speech was made on the Quebec
Bill, and Lord Sheffield moved, and was supported by Fox, that
dissertations on the French Constitution were not pertinent to
the question before the House. Fox's panegyric on the French
Revolution, to which Burke's speech was a reply, was delivered on
the treaty between Russia and the Porte.
564.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, May 18th, 1791.
[Sidenote: DANGER OF RUSSIAN WAR.]
*I write a short letter, on small paper, to inform you, that the
various deeds, which arrived safe and in good condition, have
this morning been sealed, signed, and delivered, in the presence
of respectable and well known English witnesses,* though out of
compliment to you I inserted one Irish evidence, a protégé of
Sarah's, and considering all things a very pretty gentleman. I
am very well behaved to him. *To have read the aforesaid acts,
would have been difficult; to have understood them, impracticable.
I therefore signed them with my eyes shut, and in that implicit
confidence, which we freemen and Britons are humbly content to yield
to our lawyers and ministers. I hope, however, most seriously hope,
that every thing has been carefully examined, and that I am not
totally ruined. It is not without much impatience that I expect an
account of the payment and investment of the purchase-money,* and am
somewhat afraid of the high charges of auctioneers and attornies.
The writings well secured are delivered to a trusty carrier, who
promises to begin his Journey Monday next, the 23rd instant, and to
deposit them in Downing Street about a fortnight afterwards. *It was
my intention to have added a new edition of my Will: but I have an
unexpected call to go to Geneva to-morrow with the Severys, and must
defer that business a few days, till after my return. On my return
I may possibly find a letter from you, and will write more fully in
answer: my posthumous work, contained in a single sheet, will not
ruin you in postage. In the meanwhile, let me desire you either never
to talk of Lausanne, or to execute the journey this summer; after
the dispatch of public and _private_ business, there can be no real
obstacle but in yourself, and if you deceive me I shall insist on
the additional year's purchase for Newhaven, which I had given up in
consideration of the visit. Pray do not go to War with Russia:[164]
it is very foolish: I am quite angry with Pitt. Adieu.* Pray inform
Mrs. G. of our conclusion and her security. I write to her this post
after a long pause. I am a sad dog.
[164] In the spring of 1791 war with Russia seemed probable.
Catharine had in the preceding year concluded peace with Sweden,
and the winter campaign of 1790-91 placed the Ottoman Porte
at her mercy. Great Britain endeavoured to secure favourable
terms for Turkey, and made active preparations to enforce her
efforts. The king's message to the House of Commons (March
28, 1791) asked for an increase to the navy in order to bring
pressure to bear on Russia. But Great Britain was without allies.
Prussia was irresolute, Sweden exhausted, Denmark unwilling to
quarrel with Russia, Austria intent on recovering the Austrian
Netherlands. Her protest was, however, not without effect.
Catharine refused to recognize Great Britain as a mediator or to
recede from her demands. But she made peace with Turkey at Galacz
in August, 1791, restoring all her conquests except Otchakov
and the surrounding territory between the Bug and the Dniester.
The strong opposition to war with Russia doubtless influenced
Pitt. But it is said that the opinion of the Dutch Admiral,
Kingsbergen, that Sebastopol, not Otchakov, was the real danger
to Turkey, finally changed his view. The Duke of Leeds resigned
the Secretaryship of State on the question, and was succeeded by
H. Dundas.
565.
_To his Stepmother._
Lausanne, May 18th, 1791.
DEAR MADAM,
*As much as I am accustomed to my own sins, I am shocked, really
shocked, when I think of my long and most inexcusable silence; nor do
I dare to compute how many months I have suffered to elapse without
sending a single line--(Oh shame! shame!)--to the best and dearest
of my friends, who indeed has been very seldom out of my thoughts.
I have sometimes imagined, that if the opportunities of writing
occurred less frequently, they would be seized with more diligence;
but the unfortunate departure of the post twice every week encourages
procrastination, and each short successive delay is indulged without
scruple, till the whole has swelled to a tremendous account. I will
try, alas! to reform; and although I am afraid that writing grows
painful to you, I have the confidence to solicit a _speedy line_,
to say that you love and forgive me. After a long experience of the
unfeeling doubts and delays of the law, you will probably soon hear
from Lord S. that the Buriton transaction is at last concluded, and
I hope you will be satisfied with the full and firm security of your
annuity. That you may long continue to enjoy it is the first and most
sincere wish of my heart.
[Sidenote: LIKE ADAM ALONE IN PARADISE.]
In the placid course of our lives, at Lausanne and Bath, we have
few events to relate, and fewer changes to describe; but I indulge
myself in the pleasing belief that we are both as well and as happy
as the common order of Nature will allow us to expect. I should
be satisfied, had I received from time to time some indirect, but
agreeable information of the general state of your health. For
myself, I have no complaint, except the Gout; and though the visits
of my old enemy are longer, and more enfeebling, they are confined
to my feet and knees; the pain is moderate, and my imprisonment to
my chamber, or my chair, is much alleviated by the daily kindness of
my friends. I wish it were in my power to give you an adequate idea
of the conveniency of my house, and the beauty of my garden: both of
which I have improved at a considerable expence since the death of
poor Deyverdun. But the loss of a friend is indeed irreparable, and
I sometimes feel, that like Adam I am alone in Paradise. Were I ten
years younger, I might possibly think of a female companion; but the
choice is difficult, the success doubtful, the engagement perpetual,
and at fifty-four a man should never think of altering the whole
System of his life and habits. The disposal of Buriton, and the death
of my aunt Hester, who has left me a small estate in Sussex, makes me
very easy in my worldly affairs; my income is equal to my expence,
and my expence is adequate to my wishes. You may possibly have heard
of litterary projects which are ascribed to me by the public without
my knowledge: but it is much more probable that I have closed the
account: and though I shall never lay aside the pleasing occupations
of study, you may be assured that I have no serious settled thoughts
of a new work. Next year I shall meditate, and I trust shall execute,
a visit to England, in which the Belvidere is one of my powerful
loadstones. I often reflect, with a painful emotion, on the imperious
circumstances which have thrown us at such a distance from each other.
In the moving picture of the World, you cannot be indifferent to the
strange Revolution which has humbled all that was high, and exalted
all that was low, in France. The irregular and lively spirit of the
Nation has disgraced their liberty, and instead of building a free
constitution, they have only exchanged Despotism for Anarchy. This
town and country are crowded with noble Exiles; and we sometimes
count in an assembly a dozen princesses and dutchesses. Burke, if I
remember right, is no favourite of yours; but there is surely much
eloquence and much sense in his book. The prosperity of England forms
a proud contrast with the disorders of France; but I hope we shall
avoid the folly of a Russian War. Pitt, in this instance, seems too
like his father.*
I am, My Dearest Madam,
Ever most affectionately Yours,
E. GIBBON.
566.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, May 31st, 1791.
*At length I see a ray of sunshine breaking from a dark cloud. Your
Epistle of the 13th arrived this morning, the 25th instant, the day
after my return from Geneva; it has been communicated to Severy; we
now believe that you intend a visit to Lausanne this summer, and
we hope that you will execute that intention. If you are a man of
honour, you shall find me one; and, on the day of your arrival at
Lausanne, I will ratify my engagement of visiting the British isle
before the end of the year 1792, excepting only the fair and foul
exception of the Gout. You rejoyce me by proposing the addition
of dear Louisa; it was not without a bitter pang that I threw her
overboard, to lighten the vessel and secure the Voyage: I was fearful
of Mrs. Moss, a second carriage, and a long train of difficulty
and expence, which might have ended in blowing up the whole scheme.
But if you can bodkin the sweet creature in the coach, she will
find an easy welcome at Lausanne. The first arrangements which I
must make before your arrival, may be altered by your own taste,
on a survey of the premises, and you will all be commodiously and
pleasantly lodged. You have heard a great deal of the beauty of my
house, garden, and situation; but such are their intrinsic value,
that, unless I am much deceived, they will bear the test even of
exagerated praise. From my knowledge of your Lordship, I have always
entertained some doubt how you would get through the _French_
society of a Lausanne winter: but I am satisfied that, exclusive of
friendship, your summer visits to the banks of the Leman Lake will
long be remembered as one of the most agreeable periods of your life;
and that you will scarcely regret the amusement of a Sussex Committee
of Navigation in the dog days. You ask for details: what details?
a map of France and a post-book are easy and infallible guides. If
the Ladies are not afraid of the Ocean, you are not ignorant of the
passage from Brighton to Dieppe: Paris will then be in your direct
road; and even allowing you to look at the Pandæmonium, the ruins of
Versailles, &c., a fortnight diligently employed will clear you from
Sheffield-place to Gibbon Castle. What can I say more?
As little have I to say on the subject of my worldly matters,
which seems now, Jupiter be praised, to be drawing towards a final
conclusion; since, when people part with their money, they are indeed
serious. I do not perfectly understand the ratio of the precise
sum which you have poured into Gosling's reservoir, but suppose
it will be explained in a general account;* as that reservoir is
unproductive, I hope the Yorkshire mortgage will soon be in motion. I
had not a doubt of the Law's (in either sense of the word) delaying
to the last moment the payment of Hester's paltry legacy, but I
conceive that you are in possession of Newhaven, and that you have
obtained for me the year's or at least the nine months' rent to
which I must have been entitled last Lady-day. I do not perfectly
understand whether my share of Hug, or to what amount, has actually
been paid. By this time you must have received the Deeds.--_Act._
[Sidenote: BURKE A RATIONAL MADMAN.]
*You have been very dutiful in sending me, what I have always
desired, a cut Woodfall on a remarkable debate; a debate, indeed,
most remarkable! Poor Burke is the most eloquent and rational madman
that I ever knew. I love Fox's feelings, but I detest the political
principles of the man, and of the party. Formerly you detested them
more strongly, during the American War, than myself. I am half afraid
that you are corrupted by your unfortunate connections. Should you
admire the National assembly, we shall have many an altercation,
for I am as high an Aristocrate as Burke himself; and he has truly
observed, that it is impossible to debate with temper on the
subject of that cursed Revolution. In my last excursion to Geneva I
frequently saw the Neckers, who by this time are returned to their
Summer residence of Copet. He is much restored in health and spirits,
especially since the publication of his last book,[165] which has
probably reached England. Both parties who agree in abusing him,
agree likewise that he is a man of virtue and Genius: but I much fear
that the purest intentions have been productive of the most baneful
consequences. Our military men, I mean the French, are leaving us
every day for the camp of the princes at Worms, and support what is
called ----[166] representation. Their hopes are sanguine; I will
not answer for their being well grounded: it is _certain_, however,
that the emperor had an interview the 19th instant with the Count of
Artois at Mantua; and the Aristocrates talk in mysterious language
of Spain, Sardinia, the empire, four or five armies, &c. They will
doubtless strike a blow this summer: May it not recoil on their own
heads! Adieu. Embrace our female travellers. A short delay.*
[165] Probably his treatise _De l'administration de M. Necker,
par lui-même_.
[166] The words in the original letter are torn out by the seal.
567.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, June 12th, 1791.
*I now begin to see you all in real motion, swimming from Brighton
to Dieppe, according to my scheme, and afterwards threading the
direct road which you cannot well avoid, to the turbulent capital
of the late Kingdom of France. I know not what more to say, or what
further instructions to send; they would indeed be useless, as you
are travelling through a country which has been sometimes visited
by Englishmen: only this let me say, that, in the midst of Anarchy,
the roads were never more secure than at present. As you will wish
to assist at the national assembly, you will act prudently in
obtaining from the French in London a good recommendation to some
leading member; Cazalès,[167] for instance, or the Abbé Maury.[168]
I soon expect from Elmsly a cargo of books; but you may bring me
any new pamphlets of exquisite flavour, particularly the last works
of John Lord Sheffield, which the dog has always neglected to send.
You will have time to write once more, and you must endeavour, as
nearly as possible, to mark the day of your arrival. You may come
either by Lyons and Geneva, by Dijon and Les Rousses, or by Dole and
Pontarlière. The post will fail you on the edge of Switzerland, and
must be supplied by hired horses. I wish you to make your last day's
journey easy, so as to dine upon the road, and arrive by tea-time.*
I rejoyce in the approaching conclusion of my affairs, though the
residue of the purchase money has suffered and will suffer most heavy
evacuations.
*The pulse of the contre-Revolution beats high, but I cannot send you
any certain facts. Adieu. I want to _hear_ My lady abusing me for
never writing. _All_ the Severys are very impatient.
Notwithstanding the high premium, I do not absolutely wish you
drowned. Besides all other cares, I must marry and propagate, which
would give me a great deal of trouble.*
[167] Jacques Marie de Cazalès (1752-1805), whom Madame Roland
called, for his ability, the "astonishing" Cazalès, was an
eloquent defender of the Monarchy. Suspected of conniving at the
king's escape from Paris in June, 1791, he was arrested, and was
possibly in prison at the time when Gibbon's letter reached Lord
Sheffield. After the capture of Louis XVI. at Varennes, he left
France, and, as an _émigré_, took part in the campaign of 1792.
[168] The Abbé Maury (1746-1817), one of the supporters of the
Church and the Monarchy in the States-General, left France
in September, 1791, after the dissolution of the Constituent
Assembly. Made by Napoleon Archbishop of Paris (1810-14), he was
deprived of episcopal authority by the Pope, who had previously
given him a cardinal's hat. At the fall of the Empire he was
summoned to Rome, and confined for some months in the Castle of
St. Angelo.
568.
_Lord Sheffield to Edward Gibbon._
Downing Street, Tuesday, 14th June, 1791.
Your letter of May 31 was received last Friday. As soon as this
letter is finished the Family is to set out for Sheffield Place,
and from thence we shall move as soon as we can towards Lausanne.
We are pressed to pass through France before the Confederation or
Commemoration of the 14th July, and if possible we shall be with you
before that day. I have much to do in Sussex, but I shall hasten.
I shall wish to pass one day at Rouen and three or four at Paris.
I hope to quit Sheffield Place about the 28th instant. We expect
the Borders of France to be troubled, perhaps Besançon may not be
perfectly tranquil. Take care to send a few lines to meet me at the
Post Office, Paris.
Louisa is delighted with your _empressement_ to see her. All My
Lady's sagacious friends have assured her that it is absolutely
necessary to have two men servants on our Travels. Etienne was
dismissed six months ago on account of his indecorous conduct towards
My Lady's woman. A Swiss was hired in his place, in Livery, another
is now hired out of Livery, both of them of the neighbourhood of
Lausanne. One may be dismissed when we arrive there, if we can get a
place for him.
The chief disagrement I experience is a disappointment about your
£4000 mortgage in Yorkshire. The owner sold the Estate. However I
insist on compensation, he having engaged the money. I am in treaty
about a mortgage near my Yorkshire Estate for £3000. I must do the
best I can with the other £1000. It will be extravagant to buy into
the Stocks. They never will be higher, and are likely to be lower. If
I could get £1000 Subscriptions in the Lewes Navigation at 5 pr. Ct.,
it would be well secured and well paid, but money is too plentiful; I
fear I shall not be able to get it.
[Sidenote: LORD SHEFFIELD AN ANTI-DEMOCRAT.]
You exceedingly mistake my Politicks. I am as great an Anti-Democrat
as Mr. Burke, and so are most of the party; but you are deceived by
Burke's speeches. I hold the French proceedings in such abhorrence
and dislike as an English Politician, that I shall be in danger of
the Lantern.
Remember us with many thanks to de Severy.
Yours ever,
S.
The Ladies are impatient for their voyage. The writings were not
received till three days ago, and it is impossible for the greatest
Philosopher to have signed them with a greater degree of ignorance,
&c. Especially those relating to Buriton I must carry to you again.
569.
_Lord Sheffield to Edward Gibbon._
Sheffield House, 27th June, 1791.
Your letter of the 12th June was graciously received two days ago,
and notwithstanding the intelligence we received yesterday morning
of the Royal Escape,[169] and notwithstanding the probable confusion
and warfare that will take place in France, the ardour of the Ladies
to go to you is redoubled. My Lady seems scared lest prudence should
induce me to halt for intelligence, and cannot endure a delay even
for the packet, which will sail on Saturday. No, we must set out
after dinner for Brighton, and sail from thence to-morrow for Dieppe.
This I should not have undertaken if I had not received a letter from
Pelham dated Paris, two days after the elopement, which mentioned
that on the second day all was quiet, the National Assembly cool
and united, but that he should take care a letter should meet me at
Rouen, which would inform me whether it would be advisable to pass
thro' Paris. He thinks it may not be easy to get from thence. It is
probable I shall be glad to avoid Paris, if so, I may be at Lausanne
in a very short time, especially if I find a tolerable road from
Rouen to Fontainebleau. From thence I have travelled to Dijon and
Besançon to Lausanne. I think there is most danger of difficulty in
passing thro' a considerable garrison such as Besançon. If we can
approach you we shall wish to arrive in the evening at the time you
mention.
Finally, such an undertaking just at this moment will not allow us to
be deemed by our acquaintance _compos mentis_, but we are going to
you and may arrive sooner than this letter. I shall write from Rouen
however, where I shall stop one day at least.
Yours ever,
S.
Alas! just after I had finished I heard the King and Queen are
captives. I must go to Rouen before I determine, but I incline to a
rapid pass thro' France.
[169] On Saturday, June 25, news reached London that Louis XVI.,
his wife and children, had on the previous Tuesday escaped from
Paris. They travelled with a passport made out for the Baroness
de Korff, obtained at the request of M. Simolin, the Russian
Ambassador, who was ignorant of the use to which it was to be
put. The king intended to reach Montmédy, and there place himself
under the protection of the Marquis de Bouillé, who commanded the
army of the Meuse and Moselle. At Ste. Menehould the fugitives
were recognized by the Postmaster Drouet, arrested at Varennes,
and brought back to Paris.
570.
_To Lord Sheffield._
Lausanne, July 1st, 1791.
[Sidenote: FLIGHT AND ARREST OF LOUIS XVI.]
*In obedience to your orders, I direct a flying shot to Paris,
though I have not any thing particular to add, excepting that our
impatience is increased in the _inverse ratio_ of time and space.
Yet I almost doubt whether you have passed the sea. The news of the
King of France's escape must have reached you before the 28th, the
day of your departure, and the prospect of strange unknown disorder
may well have suspended your firmest resolves. The Royal animal is
again caught, and all may probably be quiet. I was just going to
exhort you to pass through Brussels and the confines of Germany; a
fair Irishism, since if you read this, you are already at Paris. The
only reasonable advice which now remains, is to obtain, by means of
Lord Gower,[170] a sufficiency, or even superfluity, of forcible
passports, such as leave no room for cavil on a jealous frontier. The
frequent intercourse with Paris has proved that the best and shortest
road, instead of Besançon, is by Dijon, Dole, Les Rousses, and Nyon.*
As my larder cannot always be furnished for the doubtful day of your
arrival, I must desire that you would make your first appearance, not
at dinner time, but at the hour of tea; you may dine at Rolle or
Morges. *Adieu. I warmly embrace the ladies. It would be idle now to
talk of business.*
[170] The ambassador at Paris.
571.
_Lord Sheffield to Edward Gibbon._
Paris, Tuesday, 5th July, 1791.
[Sidenote: THE CRISIS IN PARIS.]