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 />
[Back to Table <strong>of</strong> Contents]<br />
CHAPTER XXXV.<br />
<strong>Morris</strong> goes to Switzerl<strong>and</strong> in June, 1796. Lord Grenville provides him with letters.<br />
Altona. <strong>The</strong> Duke <strong>of</strong> Orleans. Journey to Berlin. Berlin. Count de Haugwitz.<br />
Conversation with M. Kalitch<strong>of</strong>f. Dines with Prince Ferdin<strong>and</strong>. Introduced to the<br />
Princess Dowager <strong>of</strong> Hesse. Dines with Count Haugwitz. First <strong>of</strong> a series <strong>of</strong> letters to<br />
Lord Grenville. Dines with the Russian minister. Long conversation. Madame de<br />
Nadaillac. Letter to Lady Sutherl<strong>and</strong>. Letter to Lord Grenville. Dinner at Lord Elgin’s.<br />
An announcement <strong>of</strong> a victory <strong>of</strong> the French at Brescia. An evening at Prince<br />
Ferdin<strong>and</strong>’s. Dines with Marshal Von Mollendorf. Leaves Berlin.<br />
In June <strong>of</strong> this year <strong>Morris</strong> was suddenly called, by some “indispensable<br />
circumstances, to take a journey into Switzerl<strong>and</strong>; <strong>and</strong> my sense <strong>of</strong> propriety,” he<br />
wrote to Washington, “induces me to make the long <strong>and</strong> inconvenient circuit <strong>of</strong><br />
Hamburg in preference to the short cut through France.” In this same letter he said:<br />
“Short as this letter is, I must not close without the tedious repetition how important I<br />
conceive it to be that you should continue in <strong>of</strong>fice. Would you require a very strong<br />
reason indeed? You yourself shall give it from the last four months <strong>of</strong> our history, <strong>and</strong><br />
I will freely consent to your retirement when you can designate a successor who will<br />
truly hold the sentiments <strong>and</strong> pursue the conduct mentioned in yours <strong>of</strong> December.<br />
But even then you ought to consider that it is not given to every man to bend the bow<br />
<strong>of</strong> Ulysses, whatever may be his wishes or intentions, <strong>and</strong> well know that weight <strong>of</strong><br />
character is, in arduous circumstances, quite as useful as strength <strong>of</strong> mind. God grant<br />
you long life <strong>and</strong> good health; the rest you will take care <strong>of</strong>. Farewell. I am, ever<br />
yours.”<br />
<strong>Morris</strong> left London on the 7th <strong>of</strong> June for Switzerl<strong>and</strong>, having previously taken leave<br />
<strong>of</strong> the king, partaken <strong>of</strong> farewell dinners with various friends, <strong>and</strong> conversed with<br />
Lord Grenville, “which conversation, though short,” he says, “amounts nevertheless<br />
to a great deal in substance.” He left amply provided by Lord Grenville with letters.<br />
After the various vicissitudes experienced at that time when crossing the North Sea<br />
from Gravesend to Altona in a Dutch sailing-vessel—“sleeping in a so-called bed<br />
upon a mattress about two feet too short, with no sheets <strong>and</strong> but two blankets,” with a<br />
pretty fresh wind <strong>and</strong> “all sail left st<strong>and</strong>ing so as to avoid the trouble <strong>of</strong> taking them in<br />
<strong>and</strong> setting them again,” <strong>Morris</strong> arrived safely at Altona, June 12th. “<strong>The</strong> vis inertiœ<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Dutchman nearly cost me my horses. At four I hear them stamping <strong>and</strong><br />
struggling upon deck. <strong>The</strong>y tumble down, break the frail stalls which had been built<br />
for them, <strong>and</strong> such is the list <strong>of</strong> the ship that it is with difficulty they can, when clear<br />
<strong>of</strong> the wreck, keep upon their legs. I go to my old quarters at Altona, but, alack! they<br />
are taken, <strong>and</strong>, what is worse, my l<strong>and</strong>lord is not at home, so that I know not whether<br />
any lodgings are taken for me elsewhere. Finally, I have my baggage brought to the<br />
King <strong>of</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong> Hotel. Everything is, I find, become dearer since I left this place, or<br />
else the expectations <strong>of</strong> the innkeeper are greatly raised by the concourse <strong>of</strong> strangers.<br />
I meet M. Dumas this morning in the street; he regrets not having believed what I told<br />
him about the assignats.”<br />
PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 92 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1170