The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford Volume II Part 64

431 Letter 269 To John Chute, Esq.

Strawberry Hill, June 29, 1758.

The Tower-guns have sworn through thick and thin that Prince Ferdinand has entirely demolished the French, and the city-bonfires all believe it. However, as no officer is yet come, nor confirmation, my crackers suspend their belief. Our great fleet is stepped ash.o.r.e again near Cherbourg; I suppose, to singe half a yard more of the coast. This is all I know; less, as you may perceive, than any thing but the Gazette.

What is become of Mr. Montagu? Has he stolen to Southampton, and slipped away a-volunteering like Norborne Berkeley, to conquer France in a dirty s.h.i.+rt and a frock? He might gather forty load more of laurels in my wood. I wish I could flatter myself that you would come with him.

My Lady Suffolk has at last entirely submitted her barn to our ordination. As yet it is only in Deacon;s orders; but will very soon have our last imposition of hands. Adieu! Let me know a word of you.

431 Letter 270 To George Montagu, Esq.

Strawberry Hill, July 6, 1758.

You may believe I was thoroughly disappointed in not seeing you here, as I expected. I grieve for the reason, and wish you had told me that your brother was quite recovered. Must I give you over for the summer? sure you are in my debt.

That regiments are going to Germany is certain; which, except the Blues) I know not. Of all secrets I am not in any Irish ones. I hope for your sake, your Colonel(907) is not of the number; but how can you talk in the manner you do of Prince Ferdinand! Don't you know that, next to Mr. Pitt and Mr.

Delaval, he is the most fas.h.i.+onable man in England? Have not the Tower-guns, and all the parsons in London, been ordered to pray for him? You have lived in Northamptons.h.i.+re till you are ignorant that Hanover is in Middles.e.x, as the Bishop's palace at Chelsea is in the diocese of Winchester. In hopes that you will grow better acquainted with your own country, I remain your affected Horatius Valpolhausen.

(907) Mr. Montagu's brother.

432 Letter 271 To The Rev. Dr. Birch.

Arlington Street, July 8, 1758.

Sir, As you have been so good as to favour me with your a.s.sistance, I flatter myself you will excuse my begging it once more. I am told that you mentioned to Dr. Jortin a Lord Mountjoy, who lived in the reign of Henry VIII. as an author. Will you be so good as to tell me any thing you know of him, and what he wrote. I shall entreat the favour of this notice as soon as possibly you can; because my book is printing off, and I am afraid of being past the place where he must come in. I am just going out of town, but a line put into the Post any night before nine o'clock will find me next morning at Strawberry Hill.

432 Letter 272 To The Hon. H. S. Conway.(908) Arlington Street, July 8, 1758.

You have made me laugh; do you think I found much difficulty to persist in thinking as well of you as I used to do, though you have neither been so great a Poliorcetes as Almanzor, who could take a town alone, nor have executed the commands of another Almanzor, who thought he could command the walls of a city to tumble down as easily as those of Jericho did to the march of Joshua's first regiment of Guards? Am I so apt to be swayed by popular clamour. But I will say no more on that head. As to the wording of the sentence, I approve your objection; and as I have at least so little of the author in me as to be very corrigible, I will, if you think proper, word the beginning thus:--

"In dedicating a few trifles(909) to you, I have nothing new to tell the world. My esteem still accompanies your merit, on which 'it was founded, and to which, with such abilities as mine, I can only bear testimony; I must not pretend to vindicate it. If your virtues," etc. It shall not be said that I allowed prejudice and clamour to be the voice of the world against you. I approve, too, the change of "proposed"

for "would have undertaken;" but I cannot like putting in "prejudice and malice." When One accuses others of malice, one is a little apt to feel it; and if I could flatter myself that such a thing as a Dedication would have weight, or that any thing of mine would last, I would have it look as dispa.s.sionate as possible. When after some interval I a.s.sert coolly that you was most wrongfully blamed, I shall be believed. If I seem angry, it will look like a party quarrel still existing.

Instead of resenting your not being employed in the present follies, I think you might write a letter of thanks to my Lord Ligonier, Or to Mr. Pitt, or even to the person who is appointed to appoint generals himself,(910) to thank them for not exposing you a second year. All the puffs in the newspapers cannot long stifle the ridicule which the French will of course propagate through all Europe on the foolish figure we have made. You shall judge by one sample: the Duc d'Aiguillon has literally sent a vessel with a flag of truce to the Duke of Marlborough, with some teaspoons which, in his hurry, he left behind him. I know the person who saw the packet before it was delivered to the Blenheimeius. But what will you say to this wise commander himself? I am going to tell you no secret, but what he uttered publicly at the levee. The King asked him, if he had raised great contributions?

"Contributions, Sir! we saw nothing but old women." What becomes of the thirty thousand men that made them retire with such expedition to their transports? My Lord Downe, as decently as he can, makes the greatest joke of their enterprise, and has said at Arthur's, that.,five hundred men posted with a grain of common sense would have cut them all to pieces. I was not less pleased at what M. de Monbagon, the young prisoner, told Charles Townshend t'other day at Harley's: he was actually at Rochfort when you landed, where he says they had six thousand men, most impatient for your approach, and so posted that not one of you would ever have returned. This is not an evidence to be forgot.

Howe and Lord George Sackville are upon the worst terms, as the latter is with the military too. I can tell you some very curious anecdotes when I see you; but what I do not choose, for particular reasons, to write. What is still more curious, when Lord George kissed hands at Kensington, not a word was said to him.

How is your fever? tell me, when you have a mind to write, but don't think it necessary to answer my gazettes; indeed I don't expect it.

(908) Now first printed.

(909) The little Volume of Fugitive Pieces, printed this year at the Strawberry Hill press.

(910) The King.-E.

433 Letter 273 To Sir Horace Mann.

Arlington Street, July 8, 1758.

If you will not take Prince Ferdinand's victory at Crevelt in full of all accounts, I don't know what you will do--autrement, we are insolvent. After dodging about the coasts of Normandy and Bretagne, our armada is returned; but in the hurry of the retreat from St. Maloes, the Duke of Marlborough left his silver teaspoons behind. As he had generously sent back an old woman's finger and gold ring, which one of our soldiers had cut off, the Duc d'Aiguillon has sent a cartel-s.h.i.+p with the prisoner-spoons. How they must be diverted with this tea-equipage, stamped with the Blenheim eagles! and how plain by this sarcastic compliment what they think of US! Yet We fancy that we detain forty thousand men on the coast from Prince Clermont's army! We are sending nine thousand men to Prince Ferdinand; part, those of the expedition: the remainder are to make another attempt; perhaps to batter Calais with a pair of tea-tongs.

I am sorry for the Comte de la Marche, and much more sorry for the Duc de Gisors.(911) He was recommended to me when he was in England; I knew him much, and thought as well of him as all the world did. He was graver, and with much more application to improve himself, than any young Frenchman of quality I ever saw. How unfortunate Belleisle is, to have outlived his brother, his only son, and his hearing! You will be charmed with an answer of Prince Ferdinand to our Princess Gouvernante of Holland.(912) She wrote by direction of the States to complain of his pa.s.sing over the territories of the Republic.

He replied, "That he was sorry, though he had barely crossed over a very small corner of their dominions; and should not have trespa.s.sed even there, if he had had the same Dutch guides to conduct him that led the French army last year to Hanover."

I congratulate 'you on your regale from the Northumberlands.

How seldom people think of all the trouble and expense they put you to--I amongst the rest! Apropos, if they are not bespoken, I will not trouble you for the case of drams. Lord Hertford has given me some of his; the fas.h.i.+on is much on the decline, and never drinking any myself, these will last me long enough and considering that I scarce ever give you a commission, but somehow or other ends at your expense, (witness the medals you gave me of your own,) it is time for me to check my pen that asks so flippantly. As I am not mercenary, I cannot bear to turn you to account; if I was, I should bear it very easily: but it is ridiculous to profit of one's friends, when one does not make friends.h.i.+ps with that view.

Methinks you don't make a Pope very fast. The battle of Crevelt has restored him a little, or the head of our church was very declining. He said the other day to Lady Coventry in the drawing-room, "Don't look at me, I am a dismal figure; I have entirely lost one eye."Adieu!

(911) Only son of Marshal Belleisle; he was killed at the battle of Crevelt: the Comte de la Marche was not.

(912) Anne, eldest daughter of George II. and Princess Dowager of Orange.

434 Letter 274 To The Hon. H. S. Conway.

Strawberry Hill, July 21, 1758.

Your gazette, I know, has been a little idle; but we volunteer gazettes, like other volunteers, are not easily tied down to regularity and rules. We think we have so much merit, that we think we have a right to some demerit too; and those who depend upon us, I mean us gazettes, are often disappointed, A common-foot newspaper may want our vivacity, but is ten times more useful. Besides, I am not in town, and ten miles out of it is an hundred miles out of it for all the purposes of news .

You know, of course, that Lord George Sackville refused to go a-buccaneering again, as he called it; that my friend Lord Ancram, who loves a dram of any thing, from glory to brandy, is out of order; that just as Lord Panmure was going to take the command,@e missed an eye; and that at last they have routed out an old General Blighe from the horse armoury in Ireland, who is to undertake the codicil to the expedition. Moreover, you know that Prince Edward is bound 'prentice to Mr. Howe.(913) All this you have heard; yet, like my cousin the Chronicle, I repeat what has been printed in every newspaper of the week, and then finish with one paragraph of spick and span. Alack!

my postscript is not very fortunate: a convoy of twelve thousand men, etc. was going to the King of' Prussia, was attacked unexpectedly by five thousand Austrians, and cut entirely to pieces; provisions, ammunition, etc. all taken.

The King instantly raised the siege, and retreated with so much precipitation, that he was forced to nail up sixty pieces of cannon. I conclude the next we hear of him will be a great victory-. if he sets over night in a defeat, he always rises next morning in a triumph--at least, we that have nothing to do but expect and admire, shall be extremely disappointed if he does not. Besides, he is three months debtor to Fame.

The only private history of any freshness is, my Lady Dalkeith's christening; the child had three G.o.dfathers: and I will tell you why: they had thought of the Duke of Newcastle, my Lord and George Townshend: but of two Townshends and his grace, G.o.d could not take the word of any two of them, so all three were forced to be bound.

I draw this comfort from the King of Prussia's defeat, that it may prevent the folly of another expedition: I don't know how or why, but no reason is a very good one against a thing that has no reason in it. Eleven hundred men are ill from the last enterprise. Perhaps Don William Quixote(914) and Admiral Amadis(915) may determine to send them to the Danube: for, as no information ever precedes their resolutions, and no impossibilities ever deter them, I don't see why the Only thing worthy their consideration should not be, how glorious and advantageous an exploit it would be, if it could be performed.

Why did Bishop Wilkins try to fly? Not that he thought it practicable, but because it would be very convenient. As he did not happen to be a particular favourite of the city of London, he was laughed at: they prepossessed in his favour, and he would have received twenty gold boxes, though twenty people had broken their neck off St. Paul's with trying the experiment.

I have heard a whisper, that you do not go into Yorks.h.i.+re this summer. Is it true? It is fixed that I go to Ragley(916) on the 13th of next month; I trust you do so too. have you had such deluges for three weeks well counted, as we have? If I had not cut one of my perroquet's wings, and there were an olive-tree in the country, I would send to know where there is a foot of dry land.

You have heard, I suppose,--if not, be it known to you,--that Mr. Keppel, the canon of Windsor, espouses my niece Laura; yes, Laura.(917) I rejoice much; so I receive your compliments upon if, lest you as it sometimes happens, forget to make them.

Adieu!

July 22.

For the pleasure of my conscience I had written all the above last night, expecting Lord Lyttelton, the Dean, and other company, This morning I receive yours; and having already told you all I know, I have only a few paragraphs to answer.

I am pleased that you are pleased about my book:(918) you shall see it very soon; though there will scarce be a new page: n.o.body else shall see it till spring. In the first place, the prints will not be finished: in the next, I intend that two or three other things shall appear before it from my press, of other authors; for I will not surfeit people with my writings, nor have them think that I propose to find employment alone for a whole press--so far from it, I intend to employ it no more about myself.

I will certainly try to see you during your waiting.,' Adieu!