The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 2 - Online Library of ...
The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 2 - Online Library of ...
The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 2 - Online Library of ...
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<strong>Online</strong> <strong>Library</strong> <strong>of</strong> Liberty: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Diary</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Letters</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Gouverneur</strong> <strong>Morris</strong>, <strong>vol</strong>. 2<br />
“Dine at Mr. Haynes’s [July 10th], where I meet Lord Wycombe. He comes home<br />
with me after dinner, <strong>and</strong>, chemin faisant, expresses himself with much warmth<br />
against his quondam friend, Madame de Flahaut. She had a design upon him, viz., to<br />
marry him; <strong>and</strong> he thinks she did much mischief to effectuate it. He is <strong>of</strong> those men<br />
who go far in the way which they once travel, <strong>and</strong> believes more than is just. At the<br />
time when I suspected their connection to be what I now find it was, <strong>and</strong> on his arrival<br />
in Paris, she sent her servant to him, with a letter full <strong>of</strong> all sorts <strong>of</strong> tenderness <strong>and</strong><br />
dying sensibility. I find she had nearly catched him in the matrimonial noose, <strong>and</strong> he<br />
seems to be very angry at it, though, in fact, he has nothing to complain <strong>of</strong>. He<br />
seemed a proper subject to work upon, <strong>and</strong> therefore she exerted herself to get hold <strong>of</strong><br />
him. We have a pretty long conversation on matters <strong>of</strong> a public nature, <strong>and</strong> his<br />
lordship begins to doubt some things which appeared to him to be certain.”<br />
From Altona, July 11th, <strong>Morris</strong> despatched another letter to Lady Sutherl<strong>and</strong>,<br />
acknowledging her letters, <strong>and</strong>, just touching on the all-absorbing political subject, he<br />
announced to her his intended departure for home.<br />
“It has for some time been my opinion,” he wrote, “that you would have peace this<br />
year, <strong>and</strong> the negotiators being now met, I presume you will soon know the happy<br />
issues <strong>of</strong> their labors. As to the conditions, I think them <strong>of</strong> little consequence, for the<br />
state <strong>of</strong> Europe seems to me similar to what it was previous to the Gr<strong>and</strong> Alliance,<br />
<strong>and</strong>, if so, you will have only an armed truce whose duration must depend on<br />
contingencies; unless, indeed, the internal commotions <strong>of</strong> France should give to<br />
neighboring nations a security they could not derive from their arms. Qu<strong>and</strong> on se<br />
trouve au parterre il faut attendre le déno?ment de la pièce, quelque mauvaise qu’elle<br />
soit. Ainsi, quoiqu’en route pour mon foyer, je reste ici encore quelques jours. But for<br />
trifles not worth mentioning, I should have been by this time in America; <strong>and</strong> I think<br />
it wisest to go without visiting Engl<strong>and</strong>, because I shall leave this hemisphere with<br />
less reluctance than if I saw you at the moment <strong>of</strong> my departure. Still, there is<br />
something which tells me I shall see you again, <strong>and</strong> the idea is so pleasant that I can’t<br />
find it in my heart to drive it away. Wouldn’t it be whimsical if, in the shufflings <strong>of</strong><br />
time <strong>and</strong> chance, we should meet under the auspices <strong>of</strong> a bonnet rouge at Paris? You<br />
ask my plan <strong>of</strong> operations. I float, dear lady, like all light substances, on the stream <strong>of</strong><br />
time, too indolent to row, too ignorant to steer, <strong>and</strong> trusting fate for a future haven.<br />
You, more provident, are buying <strong>and</strong> repairing a house, on which I felicitate you,<br />
because it will (till finished) give you the pleasure <strong>of</strong> employment, <strong>and</strong> then you must<br />
seek some other object. Whatever may be your pursuit <strong>and</strong> with whatever success, my<br />
warmest wishes will still attend you—still like<br />
Thy guardian sylph shall hover near,<br />
With cheerful smile <strong>and</strong> blooming joy to greet;<br />
Or, in life’s weariness, thy spirit cheer,<br />
And scatter roses underneath thy feet.<br />
Adieu. My best remembrances await his lordship. Tell him so, <strong>and</strong> believe me ever<br />
<strong>and</strong> truly yours.”<br />
PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 157 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1170