W1/6557

Samuel Whitbread II, Bordeaux, to Elizabeth Grey. Marked no 12.

23 June 1787

From: 1787 To: 1787

My dearest Bessy I possess no longer the slightest pretensions to the dismal title of Sad, the repeated assurances I receive from you that I am not forgotten, your regularity in answering my letters, I might add your Ingenuity in being able to find answers to such heaps of nonsense; which have nothing but their truth & sincerity to reccommend the, & the contents of all those letters make me as happy as much Sam, as it is possible for me to be at this distance from you. I can find no expressions that rise in proportion to the pleasure I feel in opening each letter; I was superlatively happy at the first; I am more than superlatively happy at the receipt of the fifth which arrived on Thursday; & altho' I cannot find Words that keep pace with my feelings: Do me the justice to believe that they do exceed not only Words but themselves & that till this moment I had no conception of a Magic that could operate so strongly as that of which you are mistress. I had thought it impossible to be more attached to you than I was at quitting England but I am, the fact is so, & I cannot lay to my charge any great share of coldness at that time. But the reason of this increase of affection & esteem is not unfathomable; I have always found that the more I know you the more estimable you appeared; you must not therefore blame or distance comparative coldness at any period for I give you fair warning that if you continue to make me as happy by your correspondence as you have hitherto done; I shall love you better much at my return than I do now & yet this appears a moral impossibility at present.- Protestations that you will not murmur conveyed in murmurs advise to me not to be Sad, given by a Person who wears at the very instant a dismal Countenance (for I can I think, read your countenance at the time of writing, in your expressions) the whole letter in short is most grateful to me & I thank you for it but I will tell you wherein its principle merit consists. A the notice taken of that single letter enchants me. I see that you are as punctilious as myself; It shall not be wanting again. Do not suppose that it was laid aside thro' carelessness, for I wanted to see whether every particle of my letter was as thoroughly examined as your own. I find with pleasure that it is; & when the most unimportant thing has Weight, we form a satisfactory Judgement to ourselves of the person who gives that Weight. I heard from my Father at the same time that I received your last letter & I am sure that you will be happy to be informed that no letter from him since I left England has been so thoroughly pleasing. He is in excellent spirits & talks of us in the terms that I should have dictated. He is even in good humour sufficient to wish me in Parliament & talks of my political Principles with coolness & some degree of respect. But however emulous I may for moments feel myself, when I look up to the Eagle Flight of your Brother, & when I hear the promises bestowed upon my Friend Lambton I enjoy & partake of their success without the slightest emotion of envy. I repress my own sensations knowing how impossible it is for me to sit in the same House of Commons with my Father; for I owe that deference to my own opinion not to give it up to any man. I owe that deference to my Father('s) way of acting in Parliament, not to divide against him. I have only to hope, that if ever I should take my seat in the House my Principles may be as pure & unsullied as his have ever been: as our opinions at present differ I must hope that my Judgement may be better. Not that I tie myself to any specific way of acting or thinking at any future period; circumstances may so alter as to render my present opinions very immaterial to my future conduct. & at all events no man ought to be decided upon until he has voted- You see you are still my Confessress but I will bore you a little longer. Parliament is not so absolutely necessary to me as to most young men in my situation, I have an occupation without it, & an occupation which well conducted will have not only the merit of amusing & enriching me, but also of making me an essentially useful Member of Society, I am told by some that I shall never have application sufficient to make myself Mast of the Business. it may be so the Experiment it will be worth the while to make but if I find the task too arduous which I do not much dread from what I have already see, the relinquishing it will be at any time very easy.- Some may possibly impute avarive to me, that charge I deny. It is true in all human probability I should have more than a sufficiency independent of the Brewhouse; But I believe this Argument would be found very ineffectual to make any of your wealthy neighbours in Durham close their Coalpits. I give my attention to the B- I must submit to give a silent Vote in Parliament, at least must never attempt to shew there, for it is impossible in my opinion to give sufficient application to two so material object as to become perfect Master of the one at the same time that you are following up & attending to all the Storms & revolutions of the other.-I have detained you very long & I fear tired you with this Subject which the mention of my Father's last letter led me into almost imperceptibly.- but I flatter myself that you will pardon me, from an Assurance that I have not a thought that I do not wish to communicate to you & that I shall hold it as the highest mark of that confidence that I trust you place in me & of that esteem of which I am so tenaceous if you will take the trouble to expose to me the Errors you may see in my ways of thinking or acting or if luckily they should not appear to you erroneous to give my judgement the confirmation of your own.- The Earrings I hope you have received from Charles before this time. You must overlook their extreme insignificancy in consideration of the Donor. The world is extremely liberal in giving me a new Wife almost every week. You will have seen that you were not the first person to send me the Paragraph. Verily I never saw but one of Lady Bathursts. the night on which that event happened was one of the pleasantest I ever passed in my Life, it was the night on which I was authorized to say Yes. which if you have any recollection, & that your wit has not totally overpowered your Memory, you will remember to have been pronounced three steps from the bottom of the Stair case in Hertford Street; & that I immediately ran away to shew myself at Lord Bathurst's. Where it appears that an immediate conquest was made by an exceeding plain one.- You will remember also that I called next morning in H. St. in very high spirits, & to my great mortification found a Lady or rather did not find her. for she was gone to dress. Remember the opera of that Evening. the pains that were necessary to persuade her to believe the Truth. lastly remember me, who can never forget you for one instant. I am sorry I know when the Assizes commence at Newcastle, but soyez gaie. give me now & then an ideal place at Table & in the dance. I will not fish as I did at Alnwick & wish you a better partner; especially since I have attempted to steal your own choice. but you have a long letter to write from Newcastle.- who are there, with whom you dance, what Questions are asked about me. & even how you were dressed. I insist upon knowing every circumstance with the utmost precision. do not disappoint me. I heard from Mary on Thursday, She is very melancholy at the prospect of all her Family leaving London. I imagine that they are long before this safe at Bedwell & that Emma & her Brats are at Melchbourn. We shall quit Bordeaux on Thursday & dread a smoking journey to Lyons, for the Weather is most intensely hot. You will direct to Strasbourg till I give you further notice. I shall write once more from hence. & hope to receive another letter from you before I depart. then I must bid adieu to your handwriting for some time; but I shall not exempt you from the trouble of hearing from me very constantly. thro'out my Journey. I hear from my Servant that Lady Pennyman is to be at Strasbourg this Summer. one more chance of seeing a handsome Woman. I am not frightened of her.- I am not so precise in my numbers at Table as to miss my dinner rather than sit down with sixteen or twenty six, & at Fallodon, I would sit down with as many as the room could possibly contain with pleasure for I should be sure of having you of the party. I wish Miss B- joy. I think her Caro has a countenance more resembling a Battle Area than any thing else; a great voluble bit of Tongue, very little encumbered with Brains and - but hold he is a favourite of Ly. G- & I have too much respect for her to proceed. In short I believe he is very good humoured creature. My best remembrances attend all your Family. Adieu my dearest Bessy, depend upon me, I am & shall ever remain Most sincerely & affectly Your's & Your's only S. Whitbread

item

Whitbread, Samuel II,
Grey, Elizabeth,
Whitbread, Samuel I,
Grey, Charles,
Whitbread, Mary,
St John, Emma,
Pennyman

Bordeaux, Lyons, Strasbourg, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, travel, PARLIAMENT, Chiswell Street Brewery London, jewellery