To his Stepmother.
Bentinck Street, December 21st, 1780.
Dear Madam,
I am sorry to inform you that I shall be forced to trespass a few days beyond the precise term which I had fixed. The constant attendance on the board of trade almost every day this week, has obliged me to defer till next Monday a visit of inclination and propriety to Lord Loughborough (at Mitcham in Surrey). I shall not return till Wednesday or Thursday, and instead of my Christmas, I shall eat my new-year's dinner, at the Belvidere. May that new year prove fortunate to you, to me, and to this weary country, which is this day involved in a new War. I shall write again about the middle of next week with a precise account of my motions. I think the gallant Colonel, who is now Lord Sheffield, will succeed at Coventry perhaps on the return, certainly on the petition.
I am, Dear Madam,
Ever yours,
E. Gibbon.
413
To Lord Sheffield.
Prophecy of the events of two years.
December 31st, 1780.