Humble servant,
⸺
Oct. 16, 1792.
I agree most sincerely and sadly with you, Dear Sir, in being shocked at the lamentable change of scene, but am far from knowing more than you do, which are general reports; nor whether there have been other causes than the evident, constant deluge, which have annihilated, for all good purposes, the Duke of Brunswick’s army. It is not less horrid to hear that the abominations of France, which had made us so rich, and promised such security to us, should now tend to threaten us with something of similar evils. I say with something, for, till this year, I did not conceive human nature capable of going such execrable lengths as it has done in France; and therefore I grow diffident, and dare not pronounce any thing impossible. But, alas! the subject is too vast for a letter.—May our apprehensions be too quick—may a favourable turn happen! Foresight and conjecture we find are most fallible; and I have on all emergencies found them so. In my long life I have seen very black æras, but they vanished, and the sky cleared again.
I am very sorry I cannot directly accept the kind offer you and Mr. K. are so good as to make me, but you shall hear from me again as soon as I am sure of my own movements.
I am, Dear Sir,
Most sincerely,
⸺.
Extract from a Letter, dated