short, the whole is a picture of confusion and desolation. We slept at Montelimart, in the full resolution of visiting the Chateau de Grignau next morning. How did you get hither? on the outside of a horse? They told us the roads were so bad that our carriages would be broke to pieces, that it would require five hours, and that we must come back the next day, with our bones broken, in their cursed machines; all this damped our courage. I know you will despise us, but we set forward on our journey; and contented ourselves with buying Hermitage upon the spot at Tein, and got hither like incurious Vandals as we were. I expect my son here to-morrow; and, after passing a few days with him, shall set forward to the great city, where I shall hope for some of your letters. I have written to Cowper to persuade you to accept again the representation of the ancient Borough* in case of a dissolution, which I take for granted will take place after the rising of Parliament. He writes to me full of gratitude to you for your zeal in his son's business; it has broken his heart, and his letters almost break mine.

"Give the inclosed to some of the learned book-worms of the British Museum; it is a publication by a famous Abbé Rives, the Bentley of the age, who was librarian to the Duke de la Valiere. Vale."

34.

'Paris, May 22, 1789. "I always knew I was a better lawyer than any of you. The Chancellor is a wise man, and is of my opinion; as Madame de Sevigne used to say, M. de Turenne est dans l'armée de mon fils. He may change you say, and leave the side of common sense to reconcile himself with Westminster-hall. I do not believe he will; and I trust we shall have gagné de cause, and be never the worse off for not having played the knave, which, however, will, I confess, be a prodigy of the times worthy to be recorded among the extraordinaries of Westminster-hall. Well! be it as it may, we are prepared for the best and for the worst that can befall. I am surprised at what you tell me of the summons to the Members; and yet am so satisfied of the perfect rectitude and inte. grity of the summonert, that, whatever appearance it may have at the first sight, I am persuaded you will be convinced, when he comes to explain it, that if he has not acted in it with his usual judgment, he has at least preserved the consistency of his character, which he has kept untainted when there was every temptation to warp him, and now there is none. Burke is a fiend, as you call him, who scruples at no means that can contribute to the blind fanatical enthusiasm of the moment. the dignity of both Houses, for the credit of the Nation, he ought to be humbled, and never more than in this instance. As to Hastings, I cannot reconcile any marks of ostentation with his good sense and the system he had adopted. I say nothing of

* Old Sarum.

Mr. Pitt, the Prime Minister.

For

his wife and her diamonds; she is, I conclude, a vain silly woman, with her head turned by her elevation. But as for him, he has cautiously avoided, at the first setting out, all display of riches; and it would seem strange he should alter his plan just at the time that he is complaining that he is ruined by his persecutions.

"I have this instant a letter to tell me the Chancellor is to be President of the Council, and Lord Kenyon Chancellor *. What will become of me? Will Lord Kenyon adopt the opinions of Lord Thurlow, or shall we be all turned head over heels?

"I sincerely wish the waters of Spa, and the amusement of new things, may complete the recovery of your fair moitié; if she winters abroad, we will give her the best advice we can from our experience, but that goes no further than negative. As to the South of France, there is no mild situation but Hieres; all the rest of Provence and Languedoc is subject to the sudden vicissitudes of burning sun and dry piercing cold, which is certainly the reverse of what a delicate habit requires. They send all persons who have the least tendency of that kind to Lyons, pour nourrir la poitrine; but they had better send them to London, for all the winter long it is a thick cold fog, as dark as it would be with us, and as damp as in November. Upon the whole, there is nothing for her but Hieres or Nice, which is one degree less sheltered than Carnoles, but has the resources of amusement; and particularly the English colony, which to those who are not much used to foreigners and their ways, is a desirable thing, as it gives society upon easier terms. "What a charming account you give of your audience at Windsor +; and how I envy you the pleasure it must have afforded you! There are ill-natured reports circulated here on purpose to plant thorns in the pillow of every one who loves good and eschews evil; but they are dissipated as soon as traced to their authors. I enter into all your feelings upon the junction at St. Paul's; what a moment! The sun should have accompanied the ceremony in all its splendour; and not a breath of air have presumed to disturb the decorations of such an evening. We got here three days ago; and find all minds in all classes in the fermentation of politics, animated with every sentiment of private interest and public enthusiasm. The first man nained upon the committee of the tiers état, is the Huguenot Minister of Nismes, son of the famous Paul Rabot, who was the persecuted apostle of the times, and is still living to enjoy the triumphs of his son. What an important and imposing epocha for this country, when the whole assembly is met together without tumult, without arins, for the purpose of framing a constitution and establishing a legislation !

"I find Paris very much improved, and very inconveniently * It need scarcely be remarked, that no such change took place.

† See Mr. Hardinge's own account of this interview in vol. III. of this

Work,

increased; it is a wonderful city. Every thing is ridiculously English. We are now near enough to correspond with a quick return. You will remember letters are opened on both sides the water."

"Paris, June 3, 1789.

"There are persons on this side the water as well as on your side the water that make it their business to spread disagreable reports of our good King's health; though I am convinced they are groundless and malicious, I cannot help, whilst I contradict them, feeling at my heart a sort of unpleasant sensation that my reason disapproves. Lord Tichfield, who is just come to us; and the Devonshires that are expected, as well as the Spencers, me rassurent, as they certainly would not be absent if they foresaw a change. Write, however, and give me comfort, that I may speak positively when I hear what is disagreable

"Poor General Cowper regrets extremely the loss of his neighbour Moses Franks*, who was one of the few he cultivated. It is a charming possession for those who acquire it; I do not wonder you lick your lips at it. I feel as you do about abolishing the trade of kidnapping; but I am not able to judge how far, in such a question of public and private interest, I ought to give way to feeling.

"When you are tired of representing Old Sarum, you may come here and represent either of the three orders; and be a bishop, a noble, or plebeian, as the Baliage or Senechaussée can settle it. The style is here avowedly to create a new Constitution, and to put the noblesse fairly out of the question. If Franklin is still alive, that great Solon, who lays out a plan for a government as easily as I should do for a seat in a garden, he is the only person to preside at their assembly; in the mean time there is somebody in London, a name that sounds like Bentham, that is kind enough, I hear t, to give them his ideas upon the subject. I dread the dissolution of their Assembly; and cannot conceive how it can be avoided. It is curious, indeed, to see how this nation is changed. I have not yet heard of a duel between one of the Royal party, however, with a Prince of the Blood. I will find you a keep-sake like that the Duchess of Kingston drew from the bottom of her capotte for the Consul at Genoa, who had lodged her, and cloathed her I believe, and caressed her for any thing I know. 'How do you like this diamond ring? Very fine, my Lady.' This ruby?' Beautiful!' This snuff-box?' Superb!' &c. &c. &c. &c. 'Well, Mr. Consul, you see these spectacles (and here she sighed); these spectacles were worn twenty years by my dear Duke (here she

Moses Franks, Esq. died at Teddington, April 2, 1789. + The since well-known Jeremy Bentham, Esq.

I

opened the etui and dropped a tear), take them, Mr. Consul, wear them for his sake and mine; I could not give you a stronger proof of my infinite regard for you.' Sir Joshua was willing to give as much of the natural as possible to his story.

"Our poor General is better in health at present, because he is better in hope and spirits. Your extracts from the Patrician Shakspeare are delightful. There is a quarto volume here that I have but just begun that has great vogue; it is called Anacharsis; it is light pleasant reading for the ladies, and yet full of Greek lore. It is a Scythian Coxe travelling through Greece in the time of Philip; and relating in letters to his friend every thing he meets with; I think it will entertain you. It is now out of print, but will soon be re-printed.

35.

"Vale."

"Paris, June 10, 1789. "In this country we have nothing but mourning in our dress and the dæmon of faction in our hearts, whilst the weather is complete winter; voilà où nous en sommes. I went through the ceremony of the presentation at Versailles yesterday, and was trained along wet passages and open galleries up stairs and down stairs to no less than ten Royalties, not one of whom uttered a syllable or cast a look upon me, as is their custom ; but we have no such pleasant episodes as you mention in our Court, I assure you.

"I never had the smallest doubt that the Opposition would have cut their fetters with a new Parliament, if they could have brought them up to it, but of that I have my doubts.

"You complain of want of common attentions; do you know any body to whom he has shewn them? I hear such stories of him here as make me hang my head. I do not like the thoughts of his being out-voted upon the abolition of slavery; not that I am enough master of the question to decide whether it ought or not to pass, but because I wish all his ideas to be so popular as to carry all the world with him. Perhaps, however, it is the best that could happen, if it displays the generosity of his character without hurting the public.

"The Parisian frolics, if they do not take a different turn very soon, look like a civil war. It is astonishing comme les tetes sont montées de part et d'autres, and the language they use. The tiers seem determined to put the noblesse under their feet; and if they suffer them to get up again, to let it be upon the condition of an Eton boy, who says, I yield. The noblesse are equally determined, whatever sacrifices they may be inclined to make, to let them be voluntary, as the deliberation of their order according to the established usages since the time of Charlemagne; and

* Mr. Pitt.

have sworn to obey the them at their election. army with the noblesse.

instructions which were imposed upon The numbers are with the tiers and the In the mean time all the pleasure of society is destroyed, and their pleasing amiable manners degenerate into those of our Westminster elections.

"I do not know whether I can bring the two Annes to execute your commission of the little barbett, unless an opportunity occurs of sending it away instantly to England. We are a good deal of Madame de Grignan's opinion as to those machines that are not montées a la propreté, and who are quite as troublesome, though not quite so interesting as children. Adieu!"

"Paris, July 5, 1789.

"I see at the top of your letter, When do you come to Eng land?' My answer is,

When the hurly-burly's done,

When the battle 's lost and won.'

I shall not come till Smith and I have settled accounts, till Burnham is sold, till I know what I have to trust to; that will hardly be till next spring. At present I amuse myself with French politics, where the fine ladies pass their time in trying to parfiler the old constitution as out of fashion; and where the beardless Solons in gillets and buck-skin breeches take upon them to weave new ones. There is a little pamphlet I send you that will give you some idea of the style of our society. In England we go on slowly; but here I have seen, in less than a week, the transition made from the situation of the beginning of our Long Parliament to its Rump. Before the Assemblée des Etats, we were living in an absolute monarchy, under every abuse of monarchial power; we are now under a democracy, the most complete that exists, without a King, without a nobility or clergy, without an army, a government, or police.

"It is the most curious and interesting moment that a foreigner could have chosen to have seen not only the humour of the nation, but to contemplate the follies of the creature man. I see no issue out of the difficulties they are involved in, but that which ends all disputes, the decision of le plus fort, which I cannot conceive to be at a great distance.

"They have here a perfect Abercorn *, called M. d'Escars, as

The Earl of Abercorn, who died in the October of the year in which this letter was written, was remarkable for the stiffness and austerity of his manners. He is said to have made the tour of Europe in so perpendicular a style as never to have touched the back of his carriage. Though at one part of his life he was much about Court, he never booed. When Queen Charlotte landed from Germany, Lord Abercorn had the honour of receiving her at his house, where she and her suite slept. Soon after his Lordship went to St. James's, when his Majesty thanked him for his attention to the Queen, saying, he was afraid her visit had given him a