my dear Kitty, will you set out upon your journey hither? To perform it alone must be painful; I will come to bear you company. I will be with you by the end of July, or sooner if you desire it, though it would be inconvenient to me. All the months of August, September, and October, shall be devoted wholly to your service. If you choose, we will return to London immediately; or if you prefer it, I will stay with you for some time at Lausanne or any other place, till the hottest weather has passed over. Above all things, let me entreat you to be careful of your health, think of your children, and remember that at their age the loss of a mother is much greater than of a father; think what endearing duties you have to discharge. We shall certainly join our dear friend again soon, (for what are a few years, what is a whole life compared to that eternity which we shall pass with him?) but let us endeavour, first, to have done all that we know will afford him pleasure, and not to leave unperformed those offices for which he would chiefly have desired to live. In the midst of our affliction, and under the hard lot which has befallen us, we will find out serious, nay melancholy pleasures, which might be envied by those who seem more the favourites of fortune. Once more let me entreat you to be careful of your health, and not to cause another affliction to your dearest friends, greater than they will be able to bear, - at least, if I may judge of their hearts by that of your most affectionate brother, SAML. ROMILLY. in the world to do with myself. The first morning, The following account of Mr. Baynes is extracted from a letter of Dr. Parr, dated March 2. 1820. See antè, p. 68. "John Baynes was born at Skipton, in Yorkshire, where his father was a prosperous attorney. He was a member of Trinity College; and, at a time of life unusually early, he gained the highest, or nearly the highest honours, mathematical and classical. He had great ardour of mind, great singleness of heart, great variety of research. He was an antiquary as well as a scholar. He was for a time suspected of having written the celebrated Epistle to Sir William Chambers: he disclaimed the authorship, but confessed that he superintended the press. He had a very fine commanding person, the tones of his voice were impressive, his dress was at all times becoming, his manners were un-affected, and yet dignified. He was now and then fond of paradoxes, and would defend them resolutely, when they had all the properties of improbability and even absurdity. He was a steady advocate for civil and religious liberty. "John Baynes was perhaps the most intimate friend Sir S. Romilly had in early life; and in consequence of their connexion, my own acquaintance at Warwick with Sir Samuel began at some assizes or sessions. Sir Samuel spoke of him with affection and admiration; and doubtless, if he had lived, he would have been a bright luminary in the literature and politics of England. He had not been called to the bar, but practised at Gray's Inn, believe, as a conveyancer. He died, to my sorrow, of a fever; and his resignation at the approach of death was worthy of his intellectual, moral, and religious excellences. I wrote his epitaph in Latin." I verily believe I should have been tempted to throw myself into the Seine, had I not, luckily, met with an acquaintance, who was at the Hôtel d'Espagne in the next street, at the Café Conti. I called on M. Romilly', and was very sorry to find Mad. Romilly was very ill; so I did not stay, but promised to call the next day, which I did, and saw her much better, but he was not at home. The next morning I called at Passy, but Dr. Franklin was gone to Paris. I set off for Pontoise, and arrived there on Wednesday. I was much taken with the look of the place; the bridge, the river Oise, the rising ground on which it stands, made me very much in love with it ;- began a copy of verses on the place. The next day I went to see the convents, and to make inquiries about a preceptor, but the devil a preceptor could I find; did not like Pontoise quite so well. The third day, not meeting with any better success, I thought Pontoise a most horrible place indeed; — burnt my verses, and set off for Paris again, where I now am chez M. Villa. I went this morning to the Chambre du Parlement, where I understood rather more than I had done before. The subject of the cause was a suit between the sheriffs of a neighbouring town and the bakers, for enhancing the price of bread. But. (would you believe it?) the "avocats du Parlement de Paris" are as arrant squabblers as any of our King's Bench practitioners. I was not a little diverted with the dispute between a little dapper avocat with his own hair, and a great tall man in an 1 See antè, p. 64. enormous wig, both concerned in this cause: the tall man seemed to rely much on the prosecution being at the suit de la ville; "Ah," said the other, "on sait fort bien ce que c'est que la ville; ce n'est que deux ou trois officiers de la ville." I have half read through M. Henault.' It is certainly a very useful book, and by a learned man ; but he has two faults: 1. His principles of toleration in religion, and his ideas of government, are both very bad. 2. He is perpetually making very foolish and childish observations, qui ne prouvent rien, as he says himself. Pray tell me if you are not of the same opinion. His observations on the progress of customs, laws, manners, &c. are excellent, and show him to have been a great antiquarian in that particular line. I saw St. Denis' church, a fine light building (I speak of the inside), the roof unornamented, the windows wonderfully rich and (ut ita dicam) frequent, the church being surrounded with windows which have hardly any space between them. The ornaments on the gate are very curious, being as old as Charlemagne. The lightness of the columns and windows pleased me much. This morning I went to see the Duchess of La Vallière at the Carmelites. Oh! I had almost forgot to tell you that, on Tuesday, I went to see the Duc de la Villière's library, which, for the number of rare and fine books, is well worth the trouble. I never saw such a magnificent collection for an individual; there are some volumes of drawings and paintings which I should think invaluable, immense numbers Probably Abrégé Chronologique de l'Histoire de France. of ancient romances, printed and MSS., and a fine collection of the first printed books, all in excellent condition. Pray tell me if you have already written to Pontoise. Write immediately; be full, explicit, nay, even be tedious; have no mercy on me. Je ne voulois plus vous écrire que je n'eusse une réponse de vous qui me dît, que ce n'est pas par simple tolérance que vous souffrez mon amitié et mes bavardages. L'extrait ci-joint d'une lettre de Franklin me force à un billet d'envoi. J'ai fait toutes les démarches nécessaires chez Johnson, pour remplir ses vœux de ce côté : du vôtre, je vous demande un avertissement bien LETTER XXXIV. London, Thursday, 1785. I had resolved, my dear friend, not to write to you again until I had had an answer from you, telling me that you did something more than merely tolerate my friendship and my idle talk; but the enclosed letter from Franklin obliges me to send to you. I have taken all the necessary steps with Johnson to fulfil his wishes on that side. From you I hope to receive a good introduction, in accordance with the very sensible See 1 Mr. Romilly became acquainted with Mirabeau in 1784. ante, p. 78. This letter refers to the work on The Order of Cincinnatus, by Mirabeau, which Mr. Romilly was translating. (See antè, p. 79.) The translation was published by J. Johnson, St. Paul's Churchyard, in 1785. |