Letters to His Son 1756-58 | Page 9

whom, from
accident or choice, you frequent more than others: Have you either fine
or well-bred women there? 'Y a-t-il quelque bon ton'? All fat and fair, I
presume; too proud and too cold to make advances, but, at the same
time, too well-bred and too warm to reject them, when made by 'un
honnete homme avec des manieres'.
Mr. ------ is to be married, in about a month, to Miss ------. I am very
glad of it; for, as he will never be a man of the world, but will always
lead a domestic and retired life, she seems to have been made on
purpose for him. Her natural turn is as grave and domestic as his; and
she seems to have been kept by her aunts 'a la grace', instead of being
raised in a hot bed, as most young ladies are of late. If, three weeks
hence, you write him a short compliment of congratulation upon the
occasion, he, his mother, and 'tutti quanti', would be extremely pleased
with it. Those attentions are always kindly taken, and cost one nothing
but pen, ink, and paper. I consider them as draughts upon
good-breeding, where the exchange is always greatly in favor of the
drawer. 'A propos' of exchange; I hope you have, with the help of your
secretary, made yourself correctly master of all that sort of
knowledge--Course of Exchange, 'Agie, Banco, Reiche-Thalers', down
to 'Marien Groschen'. It is very little trouble to learn it; it is often of
great use to know it. Good- night, and God bless you!

LETTER CCIX
BLACKHEATH, October 10, 1757
MY DEAR FRIEND: It is not without some difficulty that I snatch this
moment of leisure from my extreme idleness, to inform you of the
present lamentable and astonishing state of affairs here, which you
would know but imperfectly from the public papers, and but partially
from your private correspondents. 'Or sus' then--Our in vincible
Armada, which cost at least half a million, sailed, as you know, some
weeks ago; the object kept an inviolable secret: conjectures various,

and expectations great. Brest was perhaps to be taken; but Martinico
and St. Domingo, at least. When lo! the important island of Aix was
taken without the least resistance, seven hundred men made prisoners,
and some pieces of cannon carried off. From thence we sailed toward
Rochfort, which it seems was our main object; and consequently one
should have supposed that we had pilots on board who knew all the
soundings and landing places there and thereabouts: but no; for General
M-----t asked the Admiral if he could land him and the troops near
Rochfort? The Admiral said, with great ease. To which the General
replied, but can you take us on board again? To which the Admiral
answered, that, like all naval operations, will depend upon the wind. If
so, said the General, I'll e'en go home again. A Council of War was
immediately called, where it was unanimously resolved, that it was
ADVISABLE to return; accordingly they are returned. As the
expectations of the whole nation had been raised to the highest pitch,
the universal disappointment and indignation have arisen in proportion;
and I question whether the ferment of men's minds was ever greater.
Suspicions, you may be sure, are various and endless, but the most
prevailing one is, that the tail of the Hanover neutrality, like that of a
comet, extended itself to Rochfort. What encourages this suspicion is,
that a French man of war went unmolested through our whole fleet, as
it lay near Rochfort. Haddock's whole story is revived; Michel's
representations are combined with other circumstances; and the whole
together makes up a mass of discontent, resentment, and even fury,
greater than perhaps was ever known in this country before. These are
the facts, draw your own conclusions from them; for my part, I am lost
in astonishment and conjectures, and do not know where to fix. My
experience has shown me, that many things which seem extremely
probable are not true: and many which seem highly improbable are true;
so that I will conclude this article, as Josephus does almost every article
of his history, with saying, BUT OF THIS EVERY MAN WILL
BELIEVE AS HE THINKS PROPER. What a disgraceful year will this
be in the annals of this country! May its good genius, if ever it appears
again, tear out those sheets, thus stained and blotted by our ignominy!
Our domestic affairs are, as far as I know anything of them, in the same
situation as when I wrote to you last; but they will begin to be in
motion upon the approach of the session, and upon the return of the

Duke, whose arrival is most impatiently expected by the mob of
London; though not to