BLACKHEATH,September 23,1757
MY DEAR FRIEND:I received but the day before yesterday your letter of the 3d,from the headquarters at Selsingen ;and,by the way,it is but the second that I have received from you since your arrival at Hamburg.
Whatever was the cause of your going to the army,I approve of the effect;for I would have you,as much as possible,see everything that is to be seen.That is the true useful knowledge,which informs and improves us when we are young,and amuses us and others when we are old;'Olim haec meminisse juvabit'.I could wish that you would (but I know you will not enter in a book,a short note only,of whatever you see or hear,that is very remarkable:I do not mean a German ALBUM stuffed with people's names,and Latin sentences;but I mean such a book,as,if you do not keep now,thirty years hence you would give a great deal of money to have kept.'A propos de bottes',for I am told he always wears his;was his Royal Highness very gracious to you,or not?I have my doubts about it.The neutrality which he has concluded with Marechal de Richelieu,will prevent that bloody battle which you expected;but what the King of Prussia will say to it is another point.He was our only ally;at present,probably we have not one in the world.If the King of Prussia can get at Monsieur de Soubize's,and the Imperial army,before other troops have joined them,I think he will beat them but what then?
He has three hundred thousand men to encounter afterward.He must submit;but he may say with truth,'Si Pergama dextra defendi potuissent'.The late action between the Prussians and Russians has only thinned the human species,without giving either party a victory;which is plain by each party's claiming it.Upon my word,our species will pay very dear for the quarrels and ambition of a few,and those by no means the most valuable part of it.If the many were wiser than they are,the few must be quieter,and would perhaps be juster and better than they are.
Hamburg,I find,swarms with Grafs,Graffins,Fursts,and Furstins,Hocheits,and Durchlaugticheits.I am glad of it,for you must necessarily be in the midst of them;and I am still more glad,that,being in the midst of them,you must necessarily be under some constraint of ceremony;a thing which you do not love,but which is,however,very useful.
I desired you in my last,and I repeat it again in this,to give me an account of your private and domestic life.
How do you pass your evenings?Have they,at Hamburg,what are called at Paris 'des Maisons',where one goes without ceremony,sups or not,as one pleases?Are you adopted in any society?Have you any rational brother ministers,and which?What sort of things are your operas?In the tender,I doubt they do not excel;for 'mein lieber schatz',and the other tendernesses of the Teutonic language,would,in my mind,sound but indifferently,set to soft music;for the bravura parts,I have a great opinion of them;and 'das,der donner dich erschlage',must no doubt,make a tremendously fine piece of 'recitativo',when uttered by an angry hero,to the rumble of a whole orchestra,including drums,trumpets,and French horns.Tell me your whole allotment of the day,in which I hope four hours,at least,are sacred to writing;the others cannot be better employed than in LIBERAL pleasures.In short,give me a full account of yourself,in your un-ministerial character,your incognito,without your 'fiocchi'.I love to see those,in whom I interest myself,in their undress,rather than in gala;I know them better so.I recommend to you,'etiam atque etiam',method and order in everything you undertake.Do you observe it in your accounts?If you do not,you will be a beggar,though you were to receive the appointments of a Spanish Ambassador extraordinary,which are a thousand pistoles a month;and in your ministerial business,if you have no regular and stated hours for such and such parts of it,you will be in the hurry and confusion of the Duke of N-----,doing everything by halves,and nothing well,nor soon.Isuppose you 'have been feasted through the Corps diplomatique at Hamburg,excepting Monsieur Champeaux;with whom,however,I hope you live 'poliment et galamment',at all third places.
Lord Loudon is much blamed here for his 'retraite des dix milles',for it is said that he had above that number,and might consequently have acted offensively,instead of retreating;especially as his retreat was contrary to the unanimous opinion(as it is now said)of the council of war.In our Ministry,I suppose,things go pretty quietly,for the D.of N.has not plagued me these two months.When his Royal Highness comes over,which I take it for granted he will do very soon,the great push will,I presume,be made at his Grace and Mr.Pitt;but without effect if they agree,as it is visibly their interest to do;and,in that case,their parliamentary strength will support them against all attacks.You may remember,I said at first,that the popularity would soon be on the side of those who opposed the popular Militia Bill;and now it appears so with a vengeance,in almost every county in England,by the tumults and insurrections of the people,who swear that they will not be enlisted.
That silly scheme must therefore be dropped,as quietly as may be.Now that I have told you all that I know,and almost all that I think,I wish you a good supper and a good-night.
