L30/14/369/1

From S[uissart] to 2nd Baron Grantham. [Text in French]:

Not dated c. 1780

From: 1780 To: 1780

Translation: My Lord, It is with the most sensible satisfaction, that I take advantage of the prerogative you have granted me of giving you our news, that I have the honour of letting you know of our arrival in Bagneres, where we count on staying until the beginning of next month, for my wife to take the baths, hoping thereby to recover her health which has been enfeebled for some time by little deserved misfortunes and the fatigue natural to the journey to Spain, where the delicate sex do not find the conveniences necessary to their condition, we spent several days in Bayonne where up till now they have still only armed a twenty gun corsair. The news of the encounter of the two squadrons was at first told as being very advantageous for the French Squadron`s side, but little by little their imaginary triumph has so changed its appearance, that, at my departure, even the inhabitants of Bayonne were arguing among themselves as to which of the two should be given the advantage and the jesters were saying that the whole story was nothing but a scratch, that the two Admirals gave themselves up to the other and that the rational people were afflicted by nothing, that false intelligence and the lack of command were stronger than there own forces, proof that there were several officers who failed in their duty, such that during the battle, the Duke of Chartres had a ball fired on a vessel of his own division, to force it to obey his signals, another thing that proves it even further is that there is presently at Brest a Council of War at which four Marshals of France are present to judge the guilty, all that, according to my ideas, is a bad opening; when once disorder accompanied by ignorance, false intelligence and lack of harmony begin in an army or a squadron, a commander can no longer flatter himself that he will succeed well, and from then on naturally acts in the fear of seeing his undertakings fail, and as the head has much influence on the body , the whole machine soon becomes unproductive, and it is truly from this point of view that I now consider the Brest squadron, if on the contrary, it had carried the victory over the English squadron, I believe I could assure you that a descent on England was being thought of, such as is no longer being spoken about, there are even speculators who opine that soon all quarrels will be settled amicably, in truth if that happens, I will begin to believe in miracles, a rare thing in our time. Forgive My Lord, if an individual like me, has pretensions of seeing through the politics of our times, finally, however it is, I desire that a nation which I have always infinitely respected, should take advantage of time and prove to their neighbours, by the most effective arguments, that they are mistaken in believing them already beaten without a battle, it is therefore the moment to profit from the omens which are heaping up today, and perhaps they would prove that too much petulance spoils everything, I assure you that they have become so high and holy that, with all my phlegm I often have all the trouble in the world in remaining calm at their triumphal speeches, often I have the pleasure of contradicting them and I enrage them when I propose large wagers on the defeat of their squadrons, which, according to our speculations will be utterly defeated by the jealousy between their commanders. There is definite news that New York is besieged by the Americans and that the squadron of the Comte d`Estaing is holding Admiral Howe blocked in this road, it would be good that Admiral Biron would get there in time to enclose the French squadron with the English flag, from which it would have the greatest difficulty in breaking out. News of this is awaited at the earliest moment and also of Portsmouth`s and Brest`s squadrons, which are said to be within sight of one another, much depends on the outcome of their encounter, I hope and believe all of the English; another good thing is that there is in France as elsewhere a great scarcity of money, and they agree among themselves that they have nothing to hope for, by way of credit, after the proofs Louis XV gave to the public of his obligations, by the ruinous reductions, for a number of my compatriots and others, his successor can scarcely expect that this most recent wound has been forgotten, to be entirely hidden by new provisions, thus with finding resources in the treasures of Spain, I believe that the war suits them as little as anyone: the letters from my country speak only of an extremely peaceful system at home, which assuredly suits us; there is a lot of talk about an alliance between France and the King of Prussia, what is certain is that France has refused to give auxiliary forces to the Emperor and that there is general disapproval of the quarrel with the King of Prussia, he could well repent of it himself in time: and I certainly, in going away into all the troubles in Europe, would repent all my life if I forgot to dedicate to you our feelings of courtesies and tokens of friendship with which it has pleased you to overwhelm us during our stay in Madrid, all that we could desire would be to reciprocate them one day, but till now, having only the pure incense of gratitude which burns in our hearts to offer you, we flatter ourselves that having once had a part in your friendship and goodwill, you will be pleased to continue it and we have the honour to earnestly recommend ourselves to it. Dare I pray you My Lord, to assure all our friends in Madrid who had the goodness to render our stay agreeable, of our respect, we had the pleasure of seeing the Comte de Massin as he passed through Bayonne, he was very well, if somewhat fatigued from the journey. Forgive me My Lord if I bore you with my scribble but it is sweet to converse with persons one esteems; we entreat you to believe that we value you infinitely, we beg you to accept our very humble compliment sand to be assured that I am honoured to call myself, with all possible respect My Lord, Your very humble and very obedient servant, S-------t.

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Howe,
Biron,
Chartres