The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 2 - Online Library of ...

Online Library of Liberty: The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 2
“Leave Cour [November 5th], and stop on my way to see Madame de Tessé, who has
quarrelled with Madame de Tôt, and who complains of persecution, and in
consequence she is about to quit this country and go, with about ten to twelve
thousand pounds sterling, she knows not whither. Advise her to invest in the
American three per cents.”
“This evening [November 6th] at Berne Messieurs Malet du Pin and Mounier call
upon me. I see in a den made for the purpose one of three bears which are maintained
here at the public expense. There is a pension of 4,000f. Swiss, or 6,000f. French,
appropriated to the keeping of four bears. Malet du Pin tells me that the Austrian
Cabinet is seriously determined on continuing the war if it can be done.”
“At Basle [November 11th] I buy the horses of M. Diodati, and engage his coachman,
who seems to be an excellent creature. Dine with M. Diodati and go to the concert.
There are arrived in town some Prussian officers, said to come for the purpose of
treating about an exchange of prisoners. Two deputies are expected, and the idea is
that a treaty of peace is in contemplation. It is possible enough. Many and many
civilities from M. and Madame Diodati.”
Morris’s journey from Paris to Hamburg was charmingly diversified by the kind
reception of old friends whom he met in the different towns he passed through, and
also by many hospitalities shown him by strangers to whom he had letters, who dined
and wined him with almost more liberality than he cared for. The relief that he
experienced at being once more free he expressed in letters to various friends written
along the way. To Mr. Isaac Parish, of Hamburg, he wrote from Basle, November
12th: “The arrival of a successor has at last enabled me to quit the irksome place
which I occupied, and I am now on my way to your city.” And to William Short, then
at Madrid, he wrote of the “relief it is to get away from my duties as Minister. I
hope,” he adds, “you have so much friendship for me as to be heartily glad at my
removal from the place I lately occupied. . . . As to the political state of France, it is
externally as strong as its best friends could desire, and internally as weak as its worst
enemies could wish.”
“To-day,” says the diary for November 13th, “I set off with my own horses, which I
see for the first time, having bought them at a venture from the Comte Diodati. They
appear to be excellent, and we jog along over execrable roads and I get cheated at the
various inns I stop at. The best way, however, is to pay with good humor and jog
patiently on. The art of living consists, I think, in some considerable degree in
knowing how to be cheated. At Hirschfeld this evening, after taking tea and as I am
going to bed, I receive a message from the Landgravine and another from the
Duchesse de Bouillon, her sister. It is impossible to refuse, so I embark in a voiture de
la cour and wait on the Duchess; then go to the Château and assist at the souper.
Madame had known me at the Baron Besenval’s five years ago and, hearing my
name, was desirous of seeing me. Je suis comblé de politesses of the right kind, and
am pressed to stay and dine to-morrow. The gentlemen assure me that the spring of
my carriage shall be mended in the morning. The smith of Monseigneur is to do it. It
is near twelve when I get to bed, which is not right for a traveller.”
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