W1/6572

Samuel Whitbread II, Strasbourg, to Elizabeth Grey. Marked no 26.

20 August 1787

From: 1787 To: 1787

My dearest Bess I will own that my Spirits were a little damped, on my arrival here on Friday Evening by not finding a letter from you. but believe me, not a word of complaint, or Impatience, escaped me. Upon recollection I find that my Expectations of any more letters from You directed to Strasbourg, than what le Duc brought to Basle, were very ill founded: for in my first letter from Geneva I desired You to direct to Francfort. I can easily account for my Memory being so defective as not to have presented me with this fact before; my wishes overpowered it, & prevented my at all recollecting that it was impossible for me to hear again from you at Strasbourg. that the disappointment proceeded not from your, but from my own fault I was immediately conscious & soon found it's real cause. You will allow that I am not incorrigible; & having once sinned & been forgiven I do not sin again, but endure my temporary affliction with the most heroic constancy. I have confessed that I never did fear that you were neglectful of me, or that your remembrance was not thoroughly alive: altho' I once had the Impudence to write it. but it shall never again escape my Pen. I told you in my last that we should probably stay some days in this Town to see M. Blanchard ascend in his Balloon; this is to take place on the 25th (next Saturday). An accident that has happened to my Servant will probably detain us five or six days beyond even that time. dismounting from his Horse at one of the Stages he trod upon a round stone which threw him down, & in falling he strained his ancle in a very violent manner. he was imprudent eno' to ride on two Posts more without informing Us of his accident & when we overtook him he was unable to stand, & his leg exceedingly swelled. We conveyed him hither in the Chaise & he has kept his bed ever since. The Surgeon who attends him gives hopes of his recovery in five or six days but having so lately had a strain myself, I doubt much whether double that time will be sufficient for his cure. As We can make him lie in bed & be quiet, perhaps three days may be as effectual as three Months were to a person who always contrived to be hopping about. It is the only day since We left England in which any Misfortune of any sort has happened to Us in the way of posting & two befall Us within a very short time of each other. the first was occasioned by the postillion's horse falling with the Man under him. We however dragged the Gentlemen out of his great Boots unhurt. the second was le Duc's which was more serious. I have not been upon a Post Horse since you prayed I would not, till the three last Posts into Strasbourg when I was obliged to cede my place in the Chaise to my Servant. My Valets de Chambre must be either very unlucky or very bad Horsemen, for they are always tumbling about; & if they do not tumble they manage to frighten me as much as if they did, by sending Messengers unable to relate the real circumstances. This delay would put at too great a distance the pleasure of hearing from you; I have therefore written to Francfort desiring my Banker to send what letters he may already have to my direction hither. & in five days I trust I shall be possessed of one or more of these invaluable acquisitions. indeed my dear Bess. their value is measured by the love I bear to you, & from the knowledge you have of me & my heart, you will think that I exaggerate when I say that no Words can express how great that is. Each expression of every one of your letters confirms the opinion I have so long formed of You, & increases the honest pride & satisfaction of which I am possessd in reflecting that I am happy eno' to be the Person to whom they are addressed. As the Commendations you force from me are the very reverse of Flattery; as they are sincere on the part of him who bestows, & desired on the part of her who receives them; I do not partake of the fear you express least they should overset your head. It's foundations are too good. If I could discover a fault I would honestly tell you of it:- as I cannot, do not debar me the pleasure of repeating that You are every thing I could wish You to be. less than six Weeks will now restore me to England & I think it will not be long after my arrival there that I shall fly to what is dearest to me in England. I shall set out for the North as soon as I have got the Credentials arranged with which it will be necessary for me to appear before the whole Family at Fallodon. & I promise you that I do not entertain a doubt respecting the species of reception I shall there meet with. It is now nearly four Months since We parted; they have been spent as well as they could be in your absence, in thinking of, & writing to You. but they have appeared so long, as to convince me that it very essential to my Happiness that We never should again be seperated for one fourth of that time.- Your answer to this You may certainly direct to Spa, & even two or three subsequent letters. but as I do not wish to lose a single one of your letters, I will give you an account of the day we mean to leave Spa, & be calculation of the time that the Post employs between that place & Fallodon. You will know when to cease directing there. It is our intention to quit Spa on Saturday the 22nd of Septr. to cross the Sea on Thursday following, so as to be sure of reaching London on Friday & Bedwell or wherever else my Father may be on the 29th. I think a letter cannot be more than 5 days at the utmost in going from London to Spa. But I shall also expect a little note at Calais to welcome my arrival on the Sea Shore. & afterwards you may direct to S.W. Junr. Chiswell Street. Oh how happy I am to be able to write thus! that our meeting should be so near. I see on the list of the English names that of Ogle; probably it is a Son of the Dean of Winchester; he has left this Inn & I believe Strasbourg. Your Cousin is not here; I mean the Killer. nor are any English that we at all know. Indeed I think the Continent is not near so well stocked with English as it was two years ago. much to the credit of the good Sense of our Countrymen. Altho' I have been so much abroad I am still John Bull eno' to think that no Country can afford the Comforts of our own. not that I mean to depreciate the good effects of travelling. I think they are notorious, & that We all who have been abroad, may have reaped very great advantages, unless prevented by our own INdolence or Obstinacy but I must always hold in comtempt the understanding of any Englishman who prefers any Country to England. but if I grow serious you will laugh at me. retaliation. to prevent which I will conclude. begging you to give my best remembrances to all at Fallodon, & assuring you my dearest Bessy that I am & shall ever remain with the most unfeigned sincerity & affection Your's & Your's only S. Whitbread I need not say that I will write very soon again Adieu. "

item

Whitbread, Samuel II,
Grey, Elizabeth,
Monson, Thomas,
Blanchard,
Le Duc,
Ogle

Switzerland, Strasbourg, Spa, travel, civil balloons