The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay (Oxford New Histories of Philosophy) 019093445X, 9780190934453

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The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay

Oxford New Histories of Philosophy Series Editors Christia Mercer, Melvin Rogers, and Eileen O’Neill (1953–​2017) * Advisory Board Lawrie Balfour, Jacqueline Broad, Marguerite Deslauriers, Karen Detlefsen, Don Garrett, Robert Gooding-​Williams, Andrew Janiak, Marcy Lascano, Lisa Shapiro, Tommie Shelby * Oxford New Histories of Philosophy provides essential resources for those aiming to diversify the content of their philosophy courses, revisit traditional narratives about the history of philosophy, or better understand the richness of philosophy’s past. Examining previously neglected or understudied philosophical figures, movements, and traditions, the series includes both innovative new scholarship and new primary sources. * Published in the series Mexican Philosophy in the 20th Century: Essential Readings Edited by Carlos Alberto Sánchez and Robert Eli Sanchez, Jr. Sophie de Grouchy’s Letters on Sympathy: A Critical Engagement with Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments Translated by Sandrine Bergès. Edited and with an introduction by Sandrine Bergès and Eric Schliesser Women Philosophers of Seventeenth-​Century England: Selected Correspondence Edited by Jacqueline Broad Women Philosophers of Eighteenth-​Century England: Selected Correspondence Edited by Jacqueline Broad (forthcoming) The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Edited by Karen Green

The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Edited by

KA R E N   G R E E N

1

3 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. CIP data is on file at the Library of Congress ISBN 978–​0–​19–​093446–​0  (pbk.) ISBN 978–​0–​19–​093445–​3  (hbk.) 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Paperback printed by WebCom, Inc., Canada Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America

Contents Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Editorial Note List of Letters

vii ix xi xiii

Introduction Life and Works The Letters The Letters

3 28

Appendix: Original Petition Drawn Up for the Use of the City of London, 22 March 1769 Bibliography Index

33 299 303 315

Acknowledgments It has taken a number of years to transcribe, compile, and edit this collection of Catharine Macaulay’s correspondence, and many individuals have contributed to a greater or lesser extent along the way. The bulk of the letters to Macaulay that have survived, along with drafts of her replies, are housed in the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and this edition would not have been possible without that archive’s generous help in providing access to high-​quality scans of many of the letters in their possession. Acknowledgment needs to be made also of the New York Historical Society, where the Gilder Lehrman collection was housed for some time, and where I was able to access manuscripts of Macaulay’s History of England. Thanks are due as well to the Morgan Pierpont Library for a microfilm of the letters in the Gilder Lehrman collection, which were initially housed with that library. Other libraries and archives whose staff have generously aided my researches, provided access to rare and manuscript materials, and given permission to publish the transcriptions include the Archives Nationales (Paris), Bibliothèque Municipale de Tonnere, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris), British Library (London), Beinecke Library (Yale), Bodleian Library (Oxford), Edinburgh University Library (Edinburgh), Firestone Library (Princeton), Huntington Library (Los Angeles), Houghton Library (Harvard), Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston), National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh), New York Public Library (New York), Rhode Island Historical Society (Providence), University of Virginia Library (Charlottesville), and the Baillieu Library (Melbourne). The research for the edition was greatly aided by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant, DP140100109, “Women and Liberty in Early Modern Europe,” held with Jacqueline Broad and Karen Detlefsen, which provided funds for a research assistant, Michelle De Stefani, who undertook primary research locating materials, worked on transcribing the letters, and drafted the editorial note. Thanks also to Samantha Prendergast, who took over from Michelle, transcribing some of the most illegible letters, those by Ezra Stiles, and to my children Michael Batt and Tamsin Green, for help with some last-​minute searches. Background research and access to the letters in American libraries was greatly facilitated by a period at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, as Rosanna and Charles Jaffin Founder’s Circle Member, during the spring of 2015. I  am particularly grateful for this opportunity to share my research with and learn from Jonathan Israel and other distinguished members of the Institute.

Abbreviations APCA

Address to the People of England, Scotland, and Ireland on the Present Important Crisis of Affairs. London: Dilly, 1775. BL British Library BLY Beinecke Library, Yale University BODL Bodleian Library, Oxford DNB Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. EUL Edinburgh University Library FF Founding Families: Digital Editions of the Papers of the Winthrops and the Adamses. Ed. C. James Taylor. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 2016. https://​www.masshist.org/​publications/​apde2/​ FO Founders Online: Correspondence and Other Writings of Six Major Shapers of the United States. http://​founders.archives.gov GLC Gilder Lehrman Collection, at Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, 170 Central Park West, New York. HA Histoire d’Angleterre; depuis l’avènement de Jacques I, jusqu’a la revolution. Trans. Mirabeau and Guiraudet. 5 vols. Paris: Gattey, 1791–​92. HEAJ The History of England from the accession of James I. to that of the Brunswick line. 8 vols. London: Vols. 1–​4, Printed for the author and sold by J. Nourse, J. Dodsley, and W. Johnston: Vols. 5–​8 Edward and Charles Dilly, 1763–​83. HERT History of England from the Revolution to the Present Time in a Series of Letters to a Friend. Bath: R. Cruttwell, 1778. HL Huntington Library, Los Angeles HOU Houghton Library, Harvard University LC Library of Congress, Washington, DC LCMA Leicester City Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, England LE Letters on Education. With observations on religious and metaphysical subjects. London: C. Dilly, 1790. LR Loose Remarks on certain positions to be found in Mr Hobbes’s “Philosophical rudiments of government and society,” with a short sketch of a democratical form of government, In a letter to Signor Paoli. London: T. Davies, in Russell-​street, Covent Garden; Robinson and Roberts, in Pater-​noster Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1767. LR2 Loose Remarks on certain positions to be found in Mr Hobbes’ Philosophical Rudiments of Government and society with a short sketch of a democratical form of government in a letter to Signor Paoli by Catharine Macaulay. The Second edition with two letters one from an American Gentleman to the author which contains some comments on her sketch of the democratical form of government

x Abbreviations

MHS MP NLS NYPL OP OR

RIHS TIM

and the author’s answer. London: W. Johnson, T. Davies, E. and C. Dilly, J. Almon, Robinson and Roberts, T. Cadell, 1769. Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston A Modest Plea for the Property of Copy Right. Bath: R Cruttwell, for Edward and Charles Dilly, 1774. National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh New York Public Library, New York Observations on a Pamphlet entitled “Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents.” 4th ed. London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, 1770. Observations on the Reflections of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, on the Revolution in France, in a Letter for the Right Hon. The Earl of Stanhope. London: C. Dilly, 1790. Rhode Island Historical Society, Newport, Rhode Island A Treatise on the Immutability of Moral Truth. London: A. Hamilton, 1783.

Editorial Note In preparing this correspondence for publication, the editorial principles adopted aim to maximize readability, without obscuring the author’s intended meaning, or omitting any information that the letter contains. Although a case might be made for a more diplomatic edition, given that the collection makes use of a mixture of manuscript and printed sources, and that images of many of the manuscripts are readily available, an approach which reproduces all the features of the holograph letters does not seem warranted.1 To this end, punctuation marks, such as commas and full stops, which Macaulay, in particular, uses sparingly, have often been inserted. Similarly, in instances where the author omitted an apostrophe—​such as with words like “its”—​these have been added. Throughout the letters, the authors capitalized various nouns and adjectives, and these capitalizations have been retained, since they add emphasis. Also, where the author underlined a word in the original letter, the underlining in the manuscript is reproduced. Archaic spellings, which would now be considered mistakes, are left unchanged. Some obvious small errors in spelling have been silently corrected but grammatical constructions that might now be deemed infelicities have been retained. In general abbreviations have been expanded. So, for instance, where in the original copy of the letter the author abbreviated a person’s name or title, the name or title in the manuscript is spelled out in full. For example, “Ld” is changed to “Lord.” Repetitive salutations such as “Your Affecne and Obedne Servt” have been omitted. Where the author’s abbreviation does not obscure the meaning of the word and amounts to an archaic spelling—​such as with words like “tho” and “inform’d”—​the abbreviation is retained. Often the original letters include a docket which repeats the date and recipient of the letter and, quite often, a number assigned to the letter by Macaulay. The dockets have not been reproduced, as they rarely provide additional information. There is a discussion of the significance of the numbering in the introduction to the letters. No attempt has been made to reproduce the placement or style of addresses and dates. Dates, where available, are included in the headings of the letter, in 1 For a discussion of the advantages of a diplomatic edition see Martin C. Battestin and Clive T. Probyn, eds., The Correspondence of Henry and Sarah Fielding (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), xlviii–​xlix.

xii  Editorial Note the form day-​month-​year, e.g. 21 May 1770. Where a date is not included in the original, the supposed date is in square brackets. Where an address is included by the sender, this has been inserted at the beginning of the letter, aligned right. The recipient’s address, where available, is included in the first footnote, along with the source or sources of the letter. Where in the original copy of the letter the author has crossed out a word, the word in the manuscript is retained with a strikeout. The exception to this rule is in cases where the author struck out the word due to a spelling or grammatical error; in many such cases the author corrected the error afterward. Where the author inserted words into the letter above the line, the words in the manuscript are inserted, enclosed by angle brackets. Occasionally, illegible words or missing prepositions are inserted to improve the readability of the document; in such cases the insertion is indicated by including it in square brackets. Although many of the letters span multiple pages, page numbers have not been inserted, as they interrupt the author’s prose.

List of Letters



Thomas Birch (1705–​66) [1]‌ Catharine Macaulay to Thomas Birch, 22 November 1762



Thomas Hollis (1720–​74) [2]‌ Thomas Hollis to Catharine Macaulay, 5 November 1763 [3]‌ Thomas Hollis to Catharine Macaulay, 15 January 1765 [4]‌ Thomas Hollis to Catharine Macaulay, November 1768 [5]‌ Catharine Macaulay to Thomas Hollis, 9 January 1769 [6]‌ Thomas Hollis to Catharine Macaulay 13 July 1769 [7]‌ Catharine Macaulay to Thomas Hollis 14 July 1769



David Hume (1711–​76) [8]‌ David Hume to Catharine Macaulay, 29 March 1764 [9]‌ Catharine Macaulay to David Hume, April[?] 1764



David Steuart Erskine (1742–​1829) [10] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 2 July 1766 [11] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 4 September 1768 [12] Catharine Macaulay to David Stuart Erskine, 29 December 1768 [13] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 12 February 1769 [14] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 9 June 1769 [15] David Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 25 June 1769 [16] David Steuart Erskine, Earl of Buchan to Catharine Macaulay, 24 November 1769 [17] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 21 May 1770 [18] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 21 January 1771 [19] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 22 July 1771 [20] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 20 September 1774 [21] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 8 October 1774 [22] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 18 December 1774 [23] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 23 February 1778



William Harris (1720–​70) [24] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 23 May 1767



xiv  List of Letters

[25] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 21 November 1767 [26] Catharine Macaulay to William Harris, 16 December, 1767 [27] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 8 February 1768 [28] Catharine Macaulay to William Harris, 16 April 1768 [29] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 23 December 1768 [30] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 30 January 1769 [31] Catharine Macaulay to William Harris, 4 March 1769 [32] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 15 July 1769 [33] Catharine Macaulay to William Harris, [July 1769?]



James Boswell (1740–​95) [34] James Boswell to Catharine Macaulay, 1 February 1768 [35] Catharine Macaulay to James Boswell, 17 February 1768



Charles Geneviève Louis Auguste André Timothée d’Éon de Beaumont, Chevalier d’Eon (1728–​1810) [36] Catharine Macaulay to Chevalier d’Eon, 10 March 1768



Mr. Pye [37] Catharine Macaulay to Mr. Pye, 24 December 1768



Benjamin Rush (1745–​1813) [38] Benjamin Rush to Catharine Macaulay, 18 January 1769 [39] Catharine Macaulay to Benjamin Rush, 20 January 1769 [40] Benjamin Rush to Catharine Macaulay, 25 November 1769 [41] Catharine Macaulay to Benjamin Rush [Spring 1770?] [42] Benjamin Rush to Catharine Macaulay, 1775



George Simon (1736–​1809) [43] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 30 January 1769 [44] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 29 March 1769 [45] George Simon, to Catharine Macaulay, 1769 [46] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 10 April 1769 [47] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 27 April 1769 [48] George Simon to Catharine Macaulay, 6[?]‌June 1769 [49] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 5 June 1769 [50] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 2 February 1770 [51] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, [1773] [52] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 14 June 1773 [53] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 8 October 1777 [54] George Simon to Catharine Macaulay, 1777

List of Letters  xv

[55] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 20 October 1777 [56] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 17 January 1778 [57] George Simon to Catharine Macaulay, 25 January 1778 [58] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 28 March 1778 [59] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 23 April 1778 [60] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 7 June 1778 [61] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 27 January 1781 [62] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 17 June 1783 [63] George Simon to Catharine Macaulay, 22 June 1783



James Burgh (1714–​75) [64] James Burgh to Catharine Macaulay, 17 February 1769 [65] Catharine Macaulay to James Burgh, 4 March 1769 [66] James Burgh to Catharine Macaulay, 23 November 1773 [67] Catharine Macaulay to James Burgh, 29 November 1773



Sarah Prince Gill (1728–​71[?]‌) [68] Sarah Prince Gill to Catharine Macaulay, 25 April 1769 [69] Catharine Macaulay to Sarah Prince Gill, 1769 [70] Sarah Prince Gill to Catharine Macaulay, 8 December 1769 [71] Sarah Prince Gill to Catharine Macaulay, 24 March 1770



James Otis Junior (1725–​83) [72] Catharine Macaulay to James Otis, 27 April 1769 [73] James Otis to Catharine Macaulay, 27 July 1769



William Livingston (1723–​90) [74] William Livingston to Catharine Macaulay, 22 September 1769



John Wilkes (1725–​97) [75] Catharine Macaulay to John Wilkes, [before April 1770]



Edward Dilly (1732–​79) [76] Edward Dilly to Catharine Macaulay, 5 January 1770 [77] Catharine Macaulay to [Edward] Dilly, 2 April 1774 [78] Catharine Macaulay to [Edward Dilly?], 11 January 1779



James Bowdoin (1726–​90), Samuel Pemberton, Joseph Warren (1741–​1775), and William Cooper [79] James Bowdoin, etc. to Catharine Macaulay, 23 March 1770 [80] James Bowdoin to Catharine Macaulay, 25 March 1777

xvi  List of Letters

Richard Henry Lee (1733–​94) [81] Richard Henry Lee to Catharine Macaulay, 30 March 1770



Ralph Iszard (1742–​1804) [82] Catharine Macaulay to [Ralph] Iszard [1770]



James Beesley [83] James Beesley to Catharine Macaulay [1770]



John Adams (1735–​1826) [84] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 9 August 1770 [85] Catharine Macaulay to John Adams, 19 July 1771 [86] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 19 April 1773 [87] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 28 June 1773 [88] Catharine Macaulay to John Adams, August 1773 [89] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 11 December 1773 [90] Catharine Macaulay to John Adams, 11 September 1774 [91] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 28 December 1774



John Dickinson (1732–​1808) [92] John Dickinson to Catharine Macaulay, 31 October 1770 [93] John Dickinson to Catharine Macaulay, 17 December 1770 [94] Catharine Macaulay to John Dickinson, 18 July 1771



American Gentlemen [95] Catharine Macaulay to unnamed American Gentlemen [1770?]



James Ramsay (1733–​89) [96] James Ramsay to Catharine Macaulay, 3 June 1771 [97] James Ramsay to Catharine Macaulay, 7 July 1774



Ezra Stiles (1727–​95) [98] Catharine Macaulay to Ezra Stiles, 10 July 1772 [99] Ezra Stiles to Catharine Macaulay, 13 November 1772 [100] Ezra Stiles to Catharine Macaulay, 6 December 1773 [101] Ezra Stiles to Catharine Macaulay, 30 July 1774 [102] Ezra Stiles to Catharine Macaulay, 15 April 1775 [103] Catharine Macaulay to Ezra Stiles, 14 July 1785



William Cooper (1721–​1809) [104] William Cooper to Catharine Macaulay, 8 December 1772

List of Letters  xvii

[105] Catharine Macaulay to William Cooper, 15 April 1773



Henry Marchant (1741–​96) [106] Catharine Macaulay to Henry Marchant, June 1773 [107] Catharine Macaulay to Henry Marchant, 22 October 1774 [108] Catharine Macaulay to Henry Marchant, 2 October 1784 [109] Catharine Macaulay to Henry Marchant, 3 May 1785



Mercy Otis Warren (1728–​1814) [110] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 9 June 1773 [111] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, 11 September 1774 [112] Mercy Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 29 December 1774 [113] Mercy Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 24 August 1775 [114] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, 15 July 1785 [115] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, September[?]‌ 1786 [116] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, 6 March 1787 [117] Mercy Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 28 September 1787 [118] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, November 1787 [119] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 18 December 1787 [120] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, March 1788 [121] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, 29 October 1788 [122] Mercy Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 20 September 1789 [123] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Warren, April 1790 [124] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Warren, 1 March 1791 [125] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 31 May 1791



Augustus Toplady (1740–​78) [126] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 11 June 1773 [127] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 13 July 1773 [128] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 22 October 1773 [129] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 11 January 1774 [130] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 18 February 1774 [131] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 8 July 1774 [132] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 10 February 1775



John Collett Ryland (1723–​92) [133] Catharine Macaulay to John Collett Ryland, August 1773



Mary Knowles (née Morris, 1733–​1807) [134] Mary Knowles to Catharine Macaulay, 27 December 1774 [135] Catharine Macaulay to Mary Knowles [1774]

xviii  List of Letters

Abigail Adams (née Smith, 1744–​1818) [136] Abigail Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 1774

Thomas Northcote (d. 1787) and Mrs. Northcote [137] Catharine Macaulay to Thomas Northcote and Mrs. Northcote, 20 January 1775



Hannah More (1745–​1833) [138] Catharine Macaulay to Hannah More, 28 December 1775



James Graham (1745–​94) [139] Catharine Macaulay to James Graham, 18 January 1777



William Gordon (1727/​8–​1807) [140] William Gordon to Catharine Macaulay, 25 March 1777



Hannah Sowden [141] Hannah Sowden to Catharine Macaulay, 1 June 1777 [142] Catharine Macaulay to Hannah Sowden, 2 February 1778



Benjamin Franklin (1706–​90) [143] Catharine Macaulay to Benjamin Franklin, 8 December 1777

Guy-​Claude Count of Sarsfield (1718–​89) [144] Guy-​Claude Count of Sarsfield to Catharine Macaulay, 12 December 1777 [145] Guy-​Claude Count of Sarsfield to Catharine Macaulay, 26[?]‌December 1777 [146] Guy-​Claude Count of Sarsfield to Catharine Macaulay, 2 May 1779



Marie-​Thérèse Jogues Le Ray de Chaumont (née Ormeaux, c. 1732–​1819) [147] Jogues de Chaumont to Catharine Macaulay, January 1778 [148] Jogues de Chaumont to Catharine Macaulay, 20 April 1778 [149] Jogues de Chaumont to Catharine Macaulay, 5 July 1778



Horace Walpole (1717–​97) [150] Horace Walpole to Catharine Macaulay, 31 January 1778



Richard Polwhele (1760–​1838) [151] Catharine Macaulay to Richard Polwhele

List of Letters  xix

Jacques-​Pierre Brissot de Warville (1754–​93) [152] Catharine Macaulay to Jacques-​Pierre Brissot de Warville, [1783]



Richard Watson (1737–​1816) [153] Richard Watson to Catharine Macaulay, 9 November 1783



Catharine Sophia Gregory (née Macaulay, 1765–​1821) [154] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, Friday [January] 1784 [155] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, Friday [February] 1784 [156] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, Wednesday [March] 1784 [157] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, Wednesday [April] 1784 [158] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 31 May 1784 [159] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 2 July 1784 [160] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 29 July 1784 [161] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 30 August 1784 [162] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 4 October 1784 [163] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 1 December 1784 [164] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 4 January 1785 [165] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 1 February 1785 [166] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 1 March 1785 [167] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 3 May 1785 [168] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 27 October 1785 [169] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 15 November 1785 [170] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 5 December 1785

xx  List of Letters [171] Catharine Sophia January 1786 [172] Catharine Sophia January 1786 [173] Catharine Sophia January 1786 [174] Catharine Sophia February 1786 [175] Catharine Sophia February 1786 [176] Catharine Sophia March 1786 [177] Catharine Sophia April 1786 [178] Catharine Sophia July 1787 [179] Catharine Sophia August 1787 [180] Catharine Sophia August 1787 [181] Catharine Sophia April 1790 [182] Catharine Sophia April 1790 [183] Catharine Sophia May 1790 [184] Catharine Sophia June 1790 [185] Catharine Sophia July 1790 [186] Catharine Sophia October 1790 [187] Catharine Sophia November 1790 [188] Catharine Sophia November 1790 [189] Catharine Sophia December 1790 [190] Catharine Sophia January 1791

Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 1 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 10 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 31 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 7 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 28 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 10 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 11 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 20 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 9 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 13 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 17 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 22 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 20 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 7 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 24 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 8 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 10 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 30 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 11 Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 3

List of Letters  xxi [191] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 31 January 1791



George Lux (1753–​97) [192] George Lux to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 11 June 1785



Guillaume-​Joseph Saige (1746–​1804) [193] Guillaume-​Joseph Saige to Catharine Macaulay, 14 September 1785 [194] Guillaume-​Joseph Saige to Catharine Macaulay, 27 September 1787 [195] Catharine Macaulay to Guillaume-​Joseph Saige, 11 June 1788



George Washington (1732–​99) [196] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, 13 July 1785 [197] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, [October, 1785] [198] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 10 January 1786 [199] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, before March 1786 [200] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, 10 October 1786 [201] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 16 November 1787 [202] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, 30 October 1789 [203] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 9 January 1790 [204] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, June 1790 [205] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 10 February 1791 [206] Catherine Macaulay to George Washington, 1 March 1791 [207] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 19 July 1791



James Blackstone (1765–​1831) [208] James Blackstone to Catharine Macaulay, 6 September 1789



William Robinson (1727–​1803) [209] William Robinson to Catharine Macaulay, 25 September 1789 [210] Catharine Macaulay to William Robinson, September 1789



Philip Mallet [211] Philip Mallet to Catharine Macaulay, 9 November 1789



Capel Lofft (1751–​1824) [212] Catharine Macaulay to Capel Lofft, 12 November 1789



Reverend Wilson? [213] Catharine Macaulay to Wilson, 1789

xxii  List of Letters

Ralph Griffiths (1720?–​1803) [214] Catharine Macaulay to Ralph Griffiths, November 1790



Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–​97) [215] Mary Wollstonecraft to Catharine Macaulay, December 1790 [216] Catharine Macaulay to Mary Wollstonecraft, 30 December 1790



Samuel Adams (1722–​1803) [217] Catharine Macaulay to Samuel Adams, 1 March 1791

The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay

IN T RODU C TION

Life and Works July 1791 was the occasion of a series of momentous events, when the spirit of hope that had fueled revolutions in America and France and had promised a new era of political justice, was reversed. Europe would soon be propelled into chaos and war. At the end of June, the ill-​fated attempt to escape from Paris by Louis XVI and his family marked the failure of the French Revolution to achieve its initial promise. In London, on 14 July, the second anniversary of the Revolution was celebrated at the Crown and Anchor, in the Strand, but the mood was less exuberant than in the previous year. Nevertheless, most of the eminent, dissenting clergymen and supporters of political reform were present, including Theophilus Lindsey (1723–​1808), Thomas Clarkson (1760–​1846), Major John Cartwright (1740–​1824), and Charles James Fox (1749–​1806). They toasted “the Rights of Man” and the “sovereignty of the people acting by free representation in every nation.”1 In Birmingham, a similar meeting had been planned, but had to be abandoned in the face of opposition from a crowd, who went on to gut and burn the dissenters’ meetinghouses, along with the home of Joseph Priestley (1733–​1804). Over the next few days, crowds proceeded to burn the homes of other dissenters, including that of John Ryland (1753–​1825), the son of Macaulay’s correspondent (letter [133]) John Collet Ryland, and that of William Russell (1740–​1818) and his son Thomas Russell (1775–​1851).2 A conservative reaction to the events in France was gaining momentum. Catharine Macaulay Graham, who, since the 1760s, had been one of the most articulate promoters of the political principles that had led to the American and French revolutions, had died less than a month earlier, on 22 June, at her home in the village of Binfield, Berkshire. Thus she was spared the disappointment of seeing her faith in the possibility of political progress severely tested by the persecution of these reformist dissenters, who had been among her friends and correspondents. Macaulay had hailed the French Revolution with delight, and defended it in her Observations on the Reflections of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, on the Revolution in France, (OR) one of the earliest and best-​argued critical responses to Burke’s Reflections. This, her last work, had appeared in November 1790, contemporaneously with the Vindication of the 1 London Magazine, or New Gentleman’s complete monthly repository of knowledge, instruction, and entertainment (July 1791), 346. 2 Ibid., 347.

4 Introduction Rights of Men, by her younger admirer Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–​97) (letters [215] and [216]).3 But, although she had been celebrated as an exceptional female historian in earlier decades, Macaulay’s death passed with little notice in the press. Yet, for thirty years, Macaulay had been celebrated as a “republican historian” and had been a tireless advocate for universal rights and parliamentary reform. She was born Catharine Sawbridge in 1731, at her father’s home, a grand Palladian mansion, Olantigh, not far from Ashford, in Kent. The neighboring property, Godmersham, would be inherited by Jane Austen’s brother, Edward, later in the century, and the society of her youth was not unlike that described by Austen in her novels. Not a great deal is known concerning the details of this early life or the genesis of her republican politics, but the contents of her father’s library demonstrate that he was already a republican, and as a young adult, Macaulay became a voracious reader, developing her political and social attitudes by delving into accounts of the English Civil War and parliamentary period, the works of John Milton, Algernon Sidney, Marchmont Needham, and John Locke, as well as Addison’s extremely influential Spectator.4 Sidney, Locke, and Milton were major influences on her political and philosophical views. Later she would be depicted in a pastel portrait, used as the basis for an etching, leaning on a copy of Milton’s political writings, with Sidney’s Discourses Concerning Government in the background.5 In 1738, Thomas Birch (letter [1]‌) had produced A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, which updated John Toland’s 1698 collection with the same name, and Birch followed this with a new edition, renamed The Works of John Milton, Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous (1753). Each of these was prefaced with an account of Milton’s life.6 Macaulay was undoubtedly familiar with at least one of these editions, and her philosophical language and political principles often hark back to Milton. Like him, and other seventeenth-​and eighteenth-​century writers, she distinguishes

3 Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men, in a Letter to the Right Honourable Edmund Burke (London: Joseph Johnson, 1790); Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London relative to that event (London:  J. Dodsley, 1790). Both OR and Wollstonecraft’s response to Burke were positively reviewed in the same issue of the Analytical Review 8 (1790): 416–​19 and 419–​21. 4 Mary Hays, “Catharine Macaulay Graham,” in Female Biography: Or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women of all ages and countries. Alphabetically arranged, 6 vols. (London: Richard Philips, 1803); Bridget Hill, The Republican Virago:  The Life and Times of Catharine Macaulay, Historian (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992). 5 Philip Hicks, “The Roman Matron in Britain:  Female Political Influence and Republican Response, ca. 1750–​1800,” Journal of Modern History 77 (2005): 35–​69. 6 John Milton, A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton (London: A. Millar, 1738); Works of John Milton, Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (London: A. Millar, 1753).

Life and Works  5 liberty from license.7 Birch had quoted Milton’s “excellent lines upon mere pretenders to liberty,” That rail for freedom in their senseless mood, And still revolt when truth would set them free. Licence they mean, when they cry Liberty; For who loves that, must first be wise and good.8

And liberty, as Macaulay understood it, would always be closely connected to wisdom and virtue, as it was for Milton. He had begun his Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, in which he argued for the legality of convicting, deposing, and executing a tyrant, with the assertion that only good men love liberty, while others love license, which flourishes under tyranny.9 Locke, likewise, had distinguished license from liberty.10 Liberty, for Macaulay, would also be connected with freedom of the press, of which Milton had said, in his Areopagitica, “when complaints are freely heard, deeply considered, and speedily reform’d, then is the utmost bound of civil liberty attain’d, that wise men look for.”11 From Milton and Locke she imbibed the doctrine that “all men naturally were born free, being the image and resemblence of God himself ” and that “creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of Nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another, without subordination or subjection.”12 In her histories she would follow the lead of these authors and argue that it was the wisdom and virtue of honest men that had led to the republic, for Governments formed on principles which promise the equal distribution of power and liberty, attach to their service every generous inclination which subsists in the human character; Monarchy, stripped of its trappings, and exposed naked to the eye of reason, becomes odious in the comparison; partial benefit is exploded, the generous plan of universal happiness adopted, and common good becomes the common care.13

7 Karen Green, “Locke, Enlightenment, and Liberty in the Works of Catharine Macaulay and her Contemporaries,” in Women and Liberty, 1600–​1800, ed. Jacqueline Broad and Karen Detlefsen (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017). 8 Milton, Works of John Milton, 1:xxviii. 9 Ibid., 1:341. 10 John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967), II.ii.6. 11 Milton, Works of John Milton, 1:149. 12 Ibid., 1:344; Locke, Two Treatises of Government, II.ii.4. 13 HEAJ, 5:19.

6 Introduction For her, republicanism was the manifestation of “the generous plan of universal happiness,” and the possibility of its establishment was closely connected to the perfectibility of humanity.14 It was not until her marriage to George Macaulay (1716–​66), in 1760, that Catharine moved to London and began her career as a historian and active participant in the political controversies of the period. Her husband was a widower and “man-​midwife” heavily engaged in charitable enterprises, such as the Brownlow Street Lying-​In Hospital for poor women, but he was also related to a number of intellectual figures from what has come to be called the Scottish Enlightenment. His sister had married a David Gregory in 1753. This David Gregory was a member of the Campvere trading arm of the large Gregory family, many of whose members were professors at the universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and which also produced the philosopher Thomas Reid (1710–​96).15 Through her husband, Macaulay was acquainted with his distant relation David Hume (1711–​76) and with David Steuart Erskine (1742–​1829), two of her correspondents (letters [8]‌–​[9] and [10]–​ [22]). It was also through this family connection that her daughter came to be married, in 1787, to Charles Gregory (?–​1796), whose father, another David Gregorie (1712–​65), had been professor of mathematics at the University of Aberdeen. The first years of Macaulay’s marriage coincided with the accession of George III to the throne, the end of the Seven Years War, and the resignation of the prime minister, William Pitt the Elder, over the concessions made to France at the end of that war. In 1763, she published the first volume of her History of England from the accession of James I (HEAJ), which set out to defend the virtues of the republicans during the civil war. This history was partly inspired by the hope that the new young king might be induced to become a “patriot king,” who would reform the British parliamentary system and uphold the liberties of the people, and it was praised in Parliament by Pitt, who shared its outlook.16 During this period, Pitt was a neighbor, and the Macaulays’ friend, Erskine, who was closely involved with him, kept Macaulay up to date with Pitt’s movements and mood (letter [10]). As well as being written to advocate reform, her history was even more obviously intended to be a response to the accounts of the period, favorable to the Stuarts, published earlier by David Hume and Tobias Smollett (1721–​71), another distant relation of her husband.17 Her work aimed to rectify these compatriots, who 14 Karen Green, “Catharine Macaulay’s Enlightenment Faith and Radical Politics,” History of European Ideas 44 (2017): 35–​44. 15 James Wyatt Cook and B. C. Cook, Man-​Midwife, Male Feminist (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004); Records of the Family of Gregory (London: Veale, Chifferiel & Co., 1886). 16 Thomas Gray to James Brown, 15 May 1766, in Correspondence of Thomas Gray: 1766–​1771, ed. Paget Toynbee and Leonard Whibley, 2nd ed., 3 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971), 3:924–​26. 17 David Hume, The History of Great Britain containing the reigns of James I  and Charles I (Edinburgh: Hamilton, Balfour and Neill, 1754); The History of Great Britain, Vol. II, Containing the

Life and Works  7 had failed to defend liberty and had “lost a just sense of the merit of the men by whose virtues those privileges [unpossessed by other nations] were obtained.”18 Over the next eight years she would produce a further volume of HEAJ every two years, to considerable acclaim. Her account of the seventeenth-​century conflicts over ship money, arbitrary taxation, parliamentary representation, and civil and religious liberty came to have increasing contemporary relevance, as the prosecution of John Wilkes (1725–​97) for libel and the controversy over the Stamp Act and later attempts by the British Parliament to tax the American colonies elicited the revisiting of many of the same controversies that had fueled the seventeenth-​ century Parliament’s conflict with Charles I. For her, this period had established of a system on government grounded in just principles, which was destroyed as a result of the perfidy and ambition of Oliver Cromwell (1599–​1658). Moreover, unlike many Whigs, she did not see the so-​called Glorious Revolution of 1688 as a complete triumph, but represented it as a partial victory that established the monarchy’s dependence on the will of the people, but failed to put in place a genuinely limited monarchy, with a constitution that firmly secured principles of political equality and human rights. The brief exchange of letters between Hume and Macaulay (letters [8]‌and [9]) encapsulates their political and philosophical differences. In his Treatise of Human Nature Hume had developed a naturalist account of morality and politics, which explained moral motivation as resulting from the approval we acquire for character traits that have proved to be useful and agreeable, and he represented political justice as fundamentally conventional. He questioned the idea that there are immutable moral truths, discoverable by reason, and although he and Macaulay both agreed that government is a creature of human invention, established for the interests of society, they had very different ideas as to humanity’s true interests.19 Macaulay assumes that political conventions are answerable to a higher moral law, and that the interests of society are not just the material interests of its members, but involve the moral perfection of its citizens. Hume’s position is that we approve of morality insofar as it is a means toward attaining other natural goods. In his letter of thanks to Macaulay for a copy of the first volume of her history, sent to him by her husband, Hume makes his conventionalism very clear: “I look upon all kinds of subdivision of power, from the

Commonwealth and the Reigns of Charles II and James II (London: A. Millar, 1757); Tobias Smollett, A Complete History of England, deduced from The Descent of Julius Caesar, to the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle, 1748. Containing the Transactions of One Thousand Eight Hundred and Three Years, 4 vols. (London: James Rivington and James Fletcher, 1757–​58). 18 HEAJ, 1:viii. 19 David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, 3 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896), 3.2.9; HEAJ, 4:430–​31.

8 Introduction monarchy of France to the freest democracy of some Swiss cantons, to be equally legal, if established by custom and authority” (letter [8]). Macaulay’s response is that “Your position, that all governments established by custom and authority carry with them obligations to submission and allegiance, does, I am afraid, involve all reformers in unavoidable guilt, since opposition to established error must needs be opposition to authority” (letter [9]). She subtly reinforces this point, as she parries his gallant chivalry, by alluding to the legal tortures, such as “cropping off ears close to the head, slitting of noses, and branding of foreheads” that were acceptable under the Stuart monarchs, which she takes to be obviously immoral acts, even if accepted under established legal conventions. Throughout her history, Macaulay would spare with Hume over his interpretation of events, and in A Treatise on the Immutability of Moral Truth (TIM) she would criticize his religious skepticism, hedonism, and what she called “the selfish plan” head on. Hume was skeptical of religious doctrine, and, in line with his conventionalism, his account of the period of Stuart reign and the events that resulted in the English Civil War was sympathetic to the Stuarts’ established prerogatives. He mocked the fanaticism of the members of the radical religious sects, whose members believed in spiritual equality, and he claimed that the cruel treatment of Archbishop Laud demonstrated that popular assemblies are “in great measure exempt from the restraint of shame” and “naturally break out into acts of the most atrocious tyranny and injustice.”20 To this jibe Macaulay responded, in a note to her history, that the unjust and cruel judgments delivered by popular assemblies “are not to be mentioned in comparison with those which have passed in all monarchical states, where the regal power was not restrained by very considerable limitations.”21 In TIM she would argue that those, like Hume, who raise skeptical doubts about the nature of divinity were in danger of undermining two of the important helps to moral motivation, the idea that we have of ourselves as palely reflecting God’s supreme goodness, and the promise of reward and punishment in the hereafter. While living on the corner of St James Place and Jermyn Street with her husband, Macaulay had become a friend and neighbor of Thomas Hollis (letters [2]‌–​ [7]), an avid promoter and editor of seventeenth-​century republican works, who was closely associated with a number of her other correspondents, including the historian William Harris (letters [24]–​[33]), the Calvinist minister Augustus Toplady (letters [126]–​[132]), and his friends John Collett Ryland (letter [133]), and the Northcotes (letter [137]). It was through Hollis, also, that Macaulay was approached by the earliest of her American admirers, Sarah Prince Gill (letters 20 Hume, History of . . . James I and Charles I, 393. 21 HEAJ, 4:153, note; Karen Green, “Catharine Macaulay as Critic of Hume,” in Rethinking the Enlightenment, ed. Martin Lloyd and Geoff Bowden (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018), 113–​30.

Life and Works  9 [68]–​[71]), who would subsequently put her in touch with James Otis (letters [72]–​[73]) and John Adams (letters [84]–​[91]). By means of her correspondence with the latter she would, in turn, exchange letters with his wife Abigail (letter [136]) and with Mercy Otis Warren (letters [110]–​[125]). The fulsome, complimentary missives that passed between Macaulay and Prince Gill bring out the extent to which both women subscribed to concepts of political liberty and equality that were rooted in traditions of Protestant religiosity.22 Prince Gill had heard, possibly through her friend Elizabeth Mayhew (c. 1734–​77), the wife of Jonathan Mayhew (1720–​66), with whom Thomas Hollis had had a long correspondence, that Macaulay was interested in writing a history of the American colonies. She wrote to supply her with a copy of her father’s unfinished annals of the New England colony. Praising Macaulay for the “Noble Zeal” she had “exerted in the Sacred Cause of Liberty & the Rights of Mankind,” she, like later correspondents John Adams (letter [91]) and Mercy Otis Warren (letter [112]), expressed attitudes that bring out the extent to which American colonists saw themselves as the inheritors of the principles of the English republicans and understood the conflict with George III to be a replay of those earlier conflicts, which had resulted in the flight of their ancestors to America. Macaulay is pleased to receive this letter from a female friend of liberty, and in her reply says that she was particularly gratified because “generous feelings for public liberty are so uncommon in our sex” (letter [69]). She may have had in mind the attitudes of Elizabeth Montagu (née Robinson, 1718–​1800) now known as the foremost of the bluestockings, and her sister, the novelist Sarah Scott (née Robinson, 1720–​95), who were acquaintances from Kent, but who strongly disapproved of her republicanism. Most of these women, to whom Macaulay refers in a letter to the publisher Edward Dilly (letter [77]) as “the Sisterhood,” distanced themselves from Macaulay as a result of her radicalism. Prince Gill, however, shared Macaulay’s understanding of the religious roots of republicanism, contrasting the arbitrary spirit of despotism with the design of the Gospel, which she read as “a System of Universal Benevolence.” In 1766, George Macaulay died, only shortly after the birth of Catharine Sophia, the only child of the marriage, and his widow moved from St James Place to Berners Street, off the Oxford Road, and not far from the British Library. During the next five years, she presided at the center of radical London society. For a period, her weekly “coteries” held on Tuesdays were attended by old friends, visiting Americans, such as Benjamin Franklin (letter [143]), Henry Marchant 22 See Sarah Hutton, “Liberty, Equality and God: The Religious Roots of Catharine Macaulay’s Feminism,” in Women, Gender and Enlightenment, ed. Sarah Knott and Barbara Taylor (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005); “Virtue, God and Stoicism in the Thought of Elizabeth Carter and Catharine Macaulay,” in Virtue, Liberty and Toleration: Political Ideas of European Women 1400–​1800, ed. Jacqueline Broad and Karen Green (Dordrecht: Springer, 2007).

10 Introduction (letters [106]–​[109], Benjamin Rush (letters [38]–​[42]), and Sylas Neville (1741–​ 1840), as well as radical, dissenting clergymen and educationalists, such as Caleb Fleming (1698–​1779), Richard Price (1723–​91), and James Burgh (letters [64]–​ [67]).23 Her brother, John Sawbridge (1732–​95), who had become a member of Parliament in 1768 and was also a London alderman and Lord Mayor from 1775 to 1776, was also often in attendance. During this period two events stirred the flames of liberty in Great Britain. During 1767, Wilkes, who had fled to Paris three years earlier as a result of being convicted for libel, quietly returned to London.24 During the same period, Pasquale Paoli (1725–​1807) was fighting to defend the republican government of Corsica against the French and Genoese, and in September 1769 he would seek refuge in England. James Boswell (1740–​95), who had spent time in Corsica and, having visited Jean-​Jacques Rousseau (1712–​78) on his way to the island, had been provided by him with a letter of introduction to the Corsican leader, was promoting the Genoese cause in England. Paoli, whose struggle was for a time supported by the British government, became a cause célèbre. The Corsican struggle inspired admiration among the many supporters of liberty in England. Macaulay’s younger contemporary Anna Laetitia Aiken (1743–​1825), who would become Mrs. Barbauld, had considerable success with her poem “Corsica.” Macaulay, in her turn, was moved to publish the sketch of a republican constitution, in a letter to Paoli, which constitutes the second part of Loose Remarks on certain positions to be found in Mr Hobbes’ Philosophical Rudiments of Government (LR).25 This pamphlet first sets out her critique of Hobbes’s political philosophy, and then undertakes the task of designing a republican constitution robust enough to withstand the danger of corruption, which she recognizes is a possibility in any government that vests power in weak humanity. Macaulay’s critique of Hobbes brings out the extent to which her republicanism is based on quite different assumptions concerning human nature to those that are often presumed to provide the foundations of liberal democracy. Undoubtedly, the liberal democratic tradition developed out of the republicanism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and its left-​wing critics have typically traced its roots back to the rise of commercial society as well as 23 Basil Cozens-​Hardy, ed., The Diary of Sylas Neville 1767–​1788 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1950). Benjamin Rush, The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush: His “Travels through Life” together with His “Commonplace Book” for 1789–​1813, ed. George W. Corner (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1948), 60. 24 Arthur H. Cash, John Wilkes, the Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006); George Rudé, Wilkes and Liberty, 2nd ed. (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1983). 25 James Boswell, An Account of Corsica, the journal of a tour to that island; and memoirs of Pascal Paoli, 2nd ed. (London: Edward and Charles Dilly, 1768), 236–​38; Karen Green, “Catharine Macaulay and Laetitia Barbauld:  Two Eighteenth-​Century ‘Republicans,’” in Political Ideas of Enlightenment Women: Virtue and Citizenship, ed. Lisa Curtis-​Wendlandt, Paul Gibbard, and Karen Green (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2013).

Life and Works  11 the idea of a social contract, representing Thomas Hobbes’s political works as central to the contract tradition. The distance between Hobbes’s ideas and those of John Locke is often minimized, and liberal democracy is then represented as grounded in the possessive individualism, psychological egoism, and instrumental rationality attributed to Hobbes.26 Yet Locke’s political philosophy has been shown, by other scholars, to have a religious foundation, not unlike Milton’s, and the doctrine of political equality to which they subscribed, and which equally grounds Macaulay’s democratic egalitarianism, rests on an understanding of our nature quite different from that found in Hobbes. These thinkers assume that it is our nature to be rational, social beings, whose interests and happiness are tied up with our virtue and moral perfection.27 As a result, Macaulay is highly critical of Hobbes, rejects his claim that we are not social by nature, and scorns his attempt to justify the absolute power of the sovereign on the basis of the claim that the people, who consent to be governed, dissolve once they have ceded this power. In fact, she turns Hobbes’s own reasoning against him, arguing that since he shows that rational agents, who desire the peace, will consent to be governed by a sovereign that upholds the law, and since we are rational by nature, we are, in virtue of that rationality, social by nature. By what we rationally consent to is not an absolute sovereign, but an executive, which is granted the powers necessary to uphold the law, for such time as it fulfills the terms of the contract by which it was appointed. Thus the overthrow of a sovereign who has ceased to protect the common good of the people, and has entered into a state of war with them, is legitimate, as she will argue in the fourth volume of HEAJ in relation to the execution of Charles I. Macaulay’s political philosophy is grounded in what I have elsewhere called “Christian eudaimonism” and “rational altruism.”28 Combining the eudaimonist tradition according to which the highest good is happiness, with a Christian inflection of the Stoic claim that this highest good is coincident with virtue, the Christian eudaimonist interprets this virtue and happiness as depending on participation in God’s goodness. If this characterization of our nature is correct, then altruism is rational, as is participation in the system of universal benevolence, to which both Prince Gill and Macaulay allude. At the same time, although Macaulay believes that humanity is perfectible, she is quite well aware that we are subject to all the normal, well-​known vices, and that power easily corrupts. So her sketch of a republican government aims

26 C. B. Macpherson, The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism:  Hobbes to Locke (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962); Alison M. Jaggar, Feminist Politics and Human Nature (Brighton, Sussex: Harvester Press, 1983). 27 John Dunn, The Political Thought of John Locke (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 1969); Jeremy Waldron, God, Locke, and Equality: Christian Foundations in Locke’s Political Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). 28 Green, “Catharine Macaulay’s Enlightenment Faith,” 35.

12 Introduction to put in place systems and structures that will prevent the accumulation of excessive power in the hands of an entrenched elite, and which will, she hopes, tend toward fostering the establishment of wise laws, justly administered in pursuit of the common good. To this end she recommends a bicameral system, frequent rotation, and an “agrarian law” to prevent the excessive accumulation of landed property. Her senate is elected by the people from among the members of a broader house of representatives, and has the role of proposing and debating legislation, which is then voted on by the representatives. In a letter to Benjamin Rush (letter [39]), she represents the senate as “like the fathers of adults” who only have “the privilege of giving their advice.” In the same letter she indicates that she has given up any aspiration that she might have had to write in defense of the cause of the Americans, concluding that “the general principles of the rights of mankind inculcated in my great work, is of more advantage to them than the more suspected arguments framed for the service of a particular purpose.” One feature of her proposals for limiting the accumulation of landed property has resulted in the claim that Macaulay was not interested, at least at this stage of her career, in the rights of women.29 For in order to foster financial equality among men, she advocates the abolition of dowries and of female inheritance, and so appears to accede to women’s lack of property rights. But the charge that she did not recognize that the discourse that had grown up around the rights of men did not apply to women does not appear to be sustainable. It was very common for the language of rights and liberties to be used both in relation to the rights of male citizens vis-​à-​vis the sovereign, and in discussions of the rights of women and men in marriage. Dowries and female inheritance were one source of the financial pressure that militated against women’s liberty to exercise their free choice in marriage. This was an issue dealt with in the plots of many contemporary novels, most notably Richardson’s Clarissa.30 Marrying an heiress was a standard means for a man to secure and enlarge his property, meaning that contemporary marriage was often not a relationship of love and friendship among equals, but a commercial enterprise for monetary gain. For women at the time, it was their rights vis-​à-​vis husbands that were most pressing, and Macaulay probably assumed that these would be more easily obtained by removing the financial imperatives that governed many marriages of her time. In embarking on her historical task, Macaulay clearly accepted women’s right to publish in their own name, and to be taken seriously as men’s intellectual equals. She would also later remark that married women had “hardly a civil right to save them from

29 Susan Staves, “‘The Liberty of a She-​Subject of England’:  Rights Rhetoric and the Female Thucydides,” Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 1 (1989): 161–​83. 30 Samuel Richardson, Clarissa. Or the History of a Young Lady, 7 vols. (London:  S. Richardson, 1748).

Life and Works  13 the grossest injuries.”31 That she did not anticipate the importance of women’s property rights in securing women’s civil rights in general is true, but this does not show that she did not see the language of rights as applying to women, only that she was a creature of her time, who accepted that women’s right to a fair standard of living should be secured by her husband and male relations. The sketch of a constitution for Corsica was shown to Paoli by Boswell (letter [34]), who approved of Macaulay’s recommendations, but as Boswell came to be more closely allied with Samuel Johnson, his attitude toward her cooled. Boswell was one of those responsible for disseminating Johnson’s claim to have shown the absurdity of her leveling principles, by asking her footman to sit down with them, illustrating his quip that “your levellers wish to level down as far as themselves; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves.”32 In her penultimate publication, Letters on Education (LE), Macaulay would offer her account of this occasion, and would distinguish equality before the law, in which she believed, from complete financial equality and abolition of property rights, assumed by Johnson and others to be implied by political equality.33 This did not prevent her from continuing to emphasize the danger of excessive material inequalities, an issue that was still exercising her in the last letter published here (letter [217]) to Samuel Adams. For she argued that, in light of the natural inequalities in ability possessed by humans, it is in keeping “that accumulation of property and influence, which the different qualities of men occasion, from producing tyranny, and infringing the general rights of the species,” that “the whole art of true and just policy” lies.34 In LE she would also fault Johnson, among other specious arguers, for playing “the sophist for victory in conversation” and for arguing “loosely and inaccurately when he thought he had a feeble antagonist.” At about the same time as Macaulay’s riposte to Johnson was published, her Quaker friend Mary Knowles (letter [134]) published her own critical account of an exchange with Johnson over the conversion of a young woman to the Quaker faith, which exposed the brutality of his argumentative style.35 No doubt Macaulay was well aware of this incident and other similar exchanges, and in the continuation of LE she moves from her critique of Johnson’s style of argument to fault all academic and legal wranglers, noting that, while logic is necessary in order to 31 LE, 210. 32 July 1763. James Boswell, Life of Johnson, 6 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1887), 1:448. Toplady also relayed a version of the story, Augustus M. Toplady, The Works of Augustus M. Toplady, A. B. Late Vicar of Bembury, Devon, 6 vols. (London: William Baynes and Son, 1825), 6:254–​55. 33 LE, 167–​68. in HEAJ, 4:397, note, Macaulay discusses the Levelers’ respect for property, though she criticizes those who would fetishize such rights, HEAJ, 6:211. 34 HEAJ, 4:355, note. 35 “An Interesting Dialogue between the Late Dr. Samuel Johnson and Mrs Knowles,” Gentleman’s Magazine, 22 June 1791, 500; Mary Knowles, Dialogue between Dr.  Johnson and Mrs. Knowles (London:  J.  and A.  Arch, 1799); Judith Jennings, Gender, Religion and Radicalism in the Long Eighteenth Century (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006).

14 Introduction “defend ourselves against the wiles of sophistry,” it also makes individuals adept at defending error, and its abuse is encouraged in the schools where students are taught “to manage their weapons with dexterity” and “with a torrent of words, and a specious arrangement of arguments” to “bear down all opposition, and give a show of reason and truth to propositions, which are the most destitute of either.”36 Excitement over the appearance of Paoli was preceded by an even greater furor of arguments over the legitimate extent of liberty of the press and civil rights, which led to political demonstrations, accompanied by window smashing, and other incidents of violence, stirred up by the return of Wilkes, his imprisonment in the King’s Bench, and his expulsion by the Commons from the parliamentary seat of Middlesex, to which he was thrice elected. For a time Macaulay and her brother John were among Wilkes’s active supporters, but the only surviving letter from her to him (letter [75]) suggests that, as a result of his profligacy, her attitude to him quickly cooled. The concept of liberty to which he was committed was far closer to libertinism than to the liberty to which she aspired, and she would no doubt have agreed with Caleb Fleming, who was reported by Sylas Neville as “thinking that J. Wilkes being an enemy to every obligation of religion cannot be a true friend of liberty.”37 Nevertheless, a letter to George Simon, who was then Viscount Nunham, dated 29 March 1769 (letter [44]) shows that at this time Macaulay was eager to invite the visiting French noble François-​Alexandre-​ Frédéric (1747–​1827), duc de Rochefoucault-​Liancourt, to witness the excitement of the Brentford election, where Wilkes would win the poll and be elected member for Middlesex. A petition drawn up for the use of the City of London, which is dated 22 March 1769 (appendix), shows that as well as the issues raised by the treatment of Wilkes—​the right of elected candidates to sit in Parliament, and objections to general warrants and to the use of military force against demonstrators—​those arising from the attempts to tax the American colonies were also already exercising the London radicals. It is not entirely clear what part Macaulay played in the drafting of this petition, though it seems to be a considerable one. It demonstrates how close the connection was between the general objections to the corruption of the parliamentary system, which she lamented in her histories, and the political agitation that she and her associates were engaged in. Whatever the disappointment that she might have expressed over Wilkes’s personal behavior, she remained committed to defending the liberties that had been breached by the government’s treatment of him. Macaulay’s health had never been robust, and after 1771, when she completed the fifth volume of her history, it deteriorated, leading her first to seek relief in

36 37

LE, 168. Cozens-​Hardy, Diary of Sylas Neville, 30.

Life and Works  15 sea bathing at the Isle of Thanet (letter [19]) and subsequently to move to Bath, as well as to spend time with Thomas Northcote and his wife in Devon (letters [127] and [137]). While in Bath, she and her daughter moved in with Reverend Thomas Wilson (1703–​84) at his home in Alfred Place. He had been an active supporter of Wilkes and shared her political convictions. Earlier in his career, he had been a friend of John Leland, who had written A View of the Principle Deistical Writers that have Appeared in England in the last and present Century in the form of letters to Wilson and had acknowledged his friendship and encouragement in his Reflections on The late Lord Bolingbroke’s Letters on the Study and Use of History; Especially so far as they relate to Christianity, and the Holy Scriptures.38 Her own metaphysical and theological views, which she set out in TIM, bear some resemble to Leland’s, for there she criticized Bolingbroke, Hume, Hobbes, and Shaftesbury, as he does, and the first of these works was also among the educational reading that she recommended to her daughter (letter [166]). Yet it has to be admitted that her own religious outlook seems rather closer than his to that of some of the deistical writers that he criticizes, since she does not place a great deal of emphasis on revelation, and admits in a letter to Capel Lofft (1751–​1824) to being a Unitarian (letter [212]). Nevertheless, like Leland, she flattered Wilson by composing her next substantial work, History of England from the Revolution to the Present Time (HERT), in the form of a series of letters to him. From this time on, Macaulay’s reputation and influence in England suffered, while her contacts and fame in America and France grew. Seeking help in the control of her illness, she became a patient of the controversial doctor James Graham, and allowed him to publish her letter of recommendation in one of his books (letter [139]). Although his prescriptions seem, in fact, to have been rather sensible, his later experiments with magnetism, electricity, and fertility treatments have earned him the reputation of being a quack and a charlatan, and it did her reputation no good to be associated with him. He presented her with a copy of his book at a birthday celebration, which was mocked in the press for the extravagant adulation that she was represented as receiving.39 Worse was to come, for, eighteen months later, she would marry James Graham’s younger brother William, who was her junior by twenty-​six years. The result was a flood of salacious satire in the press and a complete break with Wilson, whose house she left in order to stay with the Graham’s sister Elizabeth Arnold and her husband 38 John Leland, A view of the Principle Deistical Writers that have appeared in England in the last and present Century, 2 vols. (London: B. Dod, 1754–​55); Reflections on the late Lord Bolingbroke’s letters on the study and use of history (London: Benj. Dod, 1753). 39 Hill, Republican Virago, 98; “Review of Six Odes, presented to that justly celebrated Historian, Mrs. Catharine Macaulay,” Westminster Magazine (1777), 483; Philip Thicknesse, The new prose Bath guide, for the year 1778. Dedicated to Lord N—​—​([London]: For the author, [1778]), 74–​75.

16 Introduction in Leicester.40 Added to this was a fuss generated by Wilson’s decision to erect a marble statue of her in the nave of the church of St Stephen Walbrook, of which he was the rector, so that this was a period during which she had every reason to feel harshly treated by the press, though Wilson’s decision to erect the statue was not without defenders.41 The publication of HERT in early 1778 also lost her friends. At the end of 1777, Graham’s prescriptions not having provided her with a reliable cure, Macaulay was advised to go to the south of France. She applied to her well-​connected acquaintances George Simon and Horace Walpole (1717–​97) for letters of introduction to their contacts in Paris, where she planned to spend some time on her way there (letters [53]–​[55] and [150]). Ultimately, she did not go further south than Paris, but having spent some time there and been fêted for her opposition to monarchy, she suddenly returned to England. Letter [56], which recounts her French experience and attempts to explain her sudden return, was shared by Simon with Walpole, who had previously dined and attended the theater with her. In his response, Walpole goes so far as to declare his love and respect, but with the publication of HERT, which attacked his father, Robert Walpole (1676–​ 1745), and accused his ministry of being “venal” and of “double dealing,” he came to regret his friendship.42 Only the first volume of HERT, which was projected to extend to the present time, was ever published. It set out to show how William III manipulated the Parliament for his own purposes, burdening the country with a standing army, a national debt, and consequent taxes, and how during his reign, and that of Anne, the Parliament had become a tool of court policy, resulting in the corruptions that still prevailed, as outlined in the petition she had drafted to be presented to George III. Macaulay was not the only voice decrying the degeneration of parliamentary influence and its transformation into a tool of court policy. Seven years earlier, during the disturbances associated with the Wilkes campaign, Pitt had addressed Parliament on the “causes of the discontent which prevails” and Burke had subsequently offered his diagnosis of these causes in his Thoughts on the cause of the Present Discontents.43 There he argued that policies adopted at the beginning of 40 The Patriot Divine to the Female Historian, an Elegiac Epistle, To which is added the Lady’s reply; or, a modest Plea for the Rights of Widows (London:  Fielding and Walker, 1779); A Bridal Ode on the Marriage of Catherine and Petrucio (London: J. Bew, 1779); A remarkable moving letter! (London: Robert Faulder, 1779); [Richard Paul Jodrell], The Female Patriot: an Epistle from C—​—​t—​ —​e M—​—​c—​—​y to The Reverend Dr. W—​—​l—​—​n on her late marriage, with critical, historical, and philosphical notes and illustrations (London: J. Bew, 1779). 41 Hill, Republican Virago, 101–​2; Lady’s Magazine 8 (1777):  509–​10, 561; Claire Brock, The Feminization of Fame (Houndsmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 68–​70. 42 HERT, 225, 349, 56. 43 Cash, John Wilkes, 263; Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents in The Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke, ed. Paul Langford, vol. 2 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), 241–​323.

Life and Works  17 George III’s reign had undermined the strength of the parties that had previously dominated Parliament and had controlled the king’s ministers, and he argued for the restitution of strong aristocratic parties. In her response, Observations on a Pamphlet entitled “Thoughts on the cause of the present discontents” (OP) Macaulay had agreed with Burke, that the parliament had become a tool of court policy, but she accused him of simply wanting to reinstate the power of aristocrats, who were no more interested in putting in place policies to promote the common good than was the court. Instead she argued that what was needed was a revocation of the act that had instituted seven-​year parliaments, so that there were more frequent elections, a reform of the franchise to more equitably represent the people, and the exclusion of placemen and pensioners—​those fulfilling an office under the Crown—​from places in parliament. In HERT, also, she argued for the need for these reforms, which would ultimately be instituted during the next century and are now taken to be essential for a free and fair democracy. She may have had her earlier exchange with Burke in mind when she claimed in HERT that “a monarchy supported by aristocracy” is the “very worst species of government.”44 While in France, Macaulay was befriended by Jogues de Chaumont (1732–​ 1819), whose home at Passey included a summer house where Benjamin Franklin was lodging (letters [147]–​[149]). Visiting there, she undoubtedly caught up with her old acquaintance Franklin, and although only one letter to him survives (letter [143]), there is evidence that they had had a more extended correspondence (letters [141] and [142]). It was during this period in France that the translation of her history into French was first projected, but it was not until Honoré-​Gabriel Riqueti, count of Mirabeau (1749–​91), took up the challenge that a translation of the first five volumes was completed, and it did not appear until 1791, after the death of both author and translator.45 It was Jacques-​Pierre Brissot de Warville (1754–​93) who first alerted Mirabeau to the value of Macaulay’s history, and her relationship with him attests to the influence that she exercised on the moderate faction of French republicans, both during and before the Revolution, as well as their shared connections with the Quakers and others who were concerned to fight for the abolition of slavery. Brissot went to London in 1782, hoping to exploit the English freedom of the press as a means to disseminate radical political ideas back into France. There he was befriended by Macaulay, and although only one brief note from her to him survives (letter [152]) it shows that she had read and appreciated his recent De la Verité.46 They established a solid bond. He would subsequently refer to her

44

HERT, 310. Histoire d’Angleterre; depuis l’avènement de Jacques I, jusqu’a la revolution (HA). 46 Jacques-​Pierre Brissot de Warville, De la Vertité (Neuchatel: Société typographique, 1782). 45

18 Introduction works in his own justification for the trial of Louis XVI, and be responsible for introducing her history to Jeanne-​Marie Roland, which led her, in turn, to desire to emulate the older woman’s role as a historian.47 While in London, Brissot came in contact with a number of Quakers, among whom James Phillips and Thomas Clarkson became his close associates and informants in the campaign to end slavery, with which he became deeply involved.48 He mentions a Miss Capper as having been one of the first members of this sect with whom he established a friendship.49 The connections among these individuals is evident in the fact that members of the Society of Friends instituted for the abolition of the slave trade in 1787, which listed as Parisian members the Marquis of La Fayette and Brissot, also included Macaulay’s friends Mary Knowles and James Ramsay of Teston, Kent.50 Ramsay had studied medicine with Macaulay’s first husband, before changing careers and becoming a parson at St Christopher (letters [96] and [97]). His Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the Sugar Colonies (1784), based on his first-​hand experience, was one of the earliest contributions to the antislavery campaigns.51 So, although Macaulay does not mention the unjust treatment of the slaves until very late in her career, her friends, including Brissot, were early activists in the campaign to end slavery.52 Despite the predictions of the satirists, who had represented her second marriage as the triumph of passion over reason, during the last decade of her life, while married to Graham, Macaulay produced the last three volumes of HEAJ as well as her three most philosophical works, TIM, LE, and OR. The last three volumes of HEAJ, which deal with the reigns of Charles II and James II, constitute an extended account of the duplicity and corruption of the first, and a defense of Algernon Sidney and others condemned as a result of the Rye House plot. She also condemns elements within the Presbyterian and Anglican churches, who, rather than accepting a general religious toleration and acceding to James’s succession in exchange for legal constraints on his power, ultimately preferred to oppose a Catholic dynasty by inviting William III to the throne. She represents William as a wily manipulator, who got the better of Charles II in wresting from him permission to marry James’s daughter Mary, and who later blackmailed and 47 A Discourse on the Question, Whether the King shall be tried?, trans. P. J. G. Nancrede (Boston: J. Belknap & A. Young, 1791); Marie-​Jeanne Phlipon Roland, Mémoires de Madame Roland, 2 vols. (Paris: Librairie Plon, 1905), 2:264. 48 Archives Nationale, Fonds Brissot, 446AP/​6, Dossier 2; 9, 12. 49 Jacques-​Pierre Brissot de Warville, J.-​P Brissot mémoires, 2 vols. (Paris: A. Picard et fils, 1912), 1:375–​76; Mary Capper, A Memoir of Mary Capper, Late of Birmingham, a minister of the Society of Friends (London: C. Gilpin, 1847). 50 “List of the Society, Instituted in 1787, for the purpose of effecting the abolition of the slave trade,” ed. Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade (London: [n.p.], 1788). 51 James Ramsay, An Essay of the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies (London: James Phillips, 1784). 52 See LE, 251 and 257.

Life and Works  19 bullied the Parliament into giving him virtually unfettered authority. She is surprisingly kind in her assessment of James II, suggesting that since his failure can be attributed to his “bigotted sincerity,” this is “a circumstance which ought, in some measure, to conciliate our affections to the memory of the sufferer.”53 For her, personal virtue was something to be extolled and admired, and while she had begun her history in order to ensure that the virtues of Charles I’s opponents should not be forgotten, she ended it by reminding her countrymen that, unlike his elder brother, James II was honest, faithful, and non-​duplicitous. The letter that she wrote to John Collett Ryland (letter [133]) also demonstrates the importance that she placed on individual virtue, and her belief that democracy could not survive without representatives of the highest moral character. Her metaphysical and educational works articulate her reasons for believing that education is the key to fostering the required moral qualities, and the kind of education that is necessary. In TIM she turns from advocating civil liberties and political rights to the metaphysical question of freedom of the will and the problem of evil, while in LE, which reproduces portions of the earlier work, she draws out the consequences of the metaphysical outlook developed in TIM for educational practice and behavior in general. She begins TIM with a statement of the positions that I have called “Christian eudaimonism” and “rational altruism.” “Virtue, which . . . includes all the relative duties which man owes to his Creator and his fellow-​creatures, must, from the necessary connection of things . . . produce the summum bonum of his ultimate happiness” and “as far as he deviates from the strict line of moral rectitude . . . so far [man] recedes from the rational interest of his nature.”54 Since she accepts Locke’s claim that “the Idea of ourselves, as understanding, rational Beings, . . . would . . . , if duly considered and pursued, afford such Foundations of our Duty and Rules of Action as might place Morality amongst the Sciences capable of Demonstration,” she does not argue for, but clearly accepts, the position that there are immutable moral truths that can be known by reason.55 Citing Addison, she also believes that a good and benevolent God must have made us capable of achieving the greatest happiness possible for us, and so made us capable of knowing the moral truths. However, since the virtuous are not always rewarded with happiness in this life, there must be an afterlife.56 From this she deduces that we have been given minds capable of acquiring knowledge of our moral and religious duties, and we are appropriately framed for acting on that knowledge.57 Although we are able to acquire such 53 HEAJ, 8:278. 54 TIM,  1–​2. 55 John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1975), IV.iii.18, 549; TIM,  17–​21. 56 TIM,  94–​95. 57 TIM, 166–​67.

20 Introduction knowledge, evil exists, and following the common position that God allowed evil for the sake of a greater good, she concludes that this shows that it is better to attain to the knowledge of good and evil through experience and reason than to be innately endowed with it.58 Hence, God has created us so that by struggling with our passions we can come to perfect ourselves as moral beings. She argues that the only notion of liberty that is compatible with this solution to the problem of evil is that which allows for moral necessity, saying, we see that God, in the same proportional extent as he gave the privilege of reason, and allowed this privilege its free course, necessarily subjected the volitions of the creature to the necessity of being determined by that which the rational principle perceived to be the best.59

So she rejects libertarian freedom of the kind that involves uncaused choice. Nevertheless, hers is an agency theory, and she attempts to distinguish moral necessity from physical necessity, allowing “a power of suspending the motion of a corresponding action,” until one has “taken into due consideration the good or the bad which may exist in the object of the volition.”60 It has to be admitted that the position that she develops here is somewhat ambiguous. The language of suspension is also found in Locke, who undoubtedly influenced her and who also attributes to the mind “a power to suspend the execution and satisfaction of any of its desires.” Locke’s interpreters have been divided over whether this power of suspension is itself caused or uncaused.61 A similar ambiguity haunts Macaulay’s position. It is clear that she believes that the will is determined by the predominating balance of rational judgment and desire or passion, but it is not really clear how the power of suspending action, once the will is determined, operates. Is it caused by the level of uneasiness that an agent feels in regard to their epistemic authority, or passionate impulses? Or is it an active power to intervene in the causal chain? Macaulay does not elaborate. Nevertheless, though the underlying mechanism is not entirely clear, the view fully supports her purpose of showing why the development and dissemination of an appropriate education that attends to both reason and the passions, is essential for the improvement of humanity and society.62 58 TIM, 232. 59 TIM, 222. 60 TIM, 237. 61 Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, II.xxi.47, 263; Julie Walsh, “Locke and the Power to Suspend Desire,” Locke Studies 14 (2014): 121–​57. 62 See Martina Reuter, “Catharine Macaulay and Mary Wollstonecraft on the Will,” in Virtue, Liberty and Toleration, ed. Jacqueline Broad and Karen Green (Dordrecht: Springer, 2007); Karen Green and Shanon Weekes, “Catharine Macaulay on the Will,” European History of Ideas 39 (2013): 409–​25.

Life and Works  21 Macaulay did not immediately develop the educational implications of her metaphysical views. In 1784, she and her husband set out for America to see for themselves the fruits of the struggle for independence. She had been encouraged to visit America by Mercy Otis Warren (1728–​1814) (letter [110]) and possibly by Henry Marchant (1741–​96), as is suggested by the letter from Ezra Stiles (1727–​95) (letter [99]), who offered her an itinerary of a tour of the North American colonies, which appears to be close to the one she adopted. While in America, she spent the winter in Boston, where she had a slight falling out with Otis Warren, over her subscription to the Sans Souci Club, a tea assembly that involved dancing and cards, which was seen by the more puritan members of Boston society as evidence of the creeping corruption of colonial manners.63 Macaulay may have had this slight difference of opinion in mind when she later wrote in LE that “dancing is a wholesome exercise in a large well aired room, when not continued till too late an hour in the evening.”64 In the spring she traveled south, spending some time in Rhode Island with the Marchants, and then visiting Benjamin Rush and others in Philadelphia. She was introduced to George Lux (1753–​97) (letter [192]), who had served in the militia during the revolutionary wars. Having entertained the Macaulay-​Grahams at his property, Chatsworth, in Baltimore, Lux accompanied them south, where they spent ten days at Mount Vernon visiting George Washington (1732–​99). According to Lux’s account of their conversations, Macaulay expiated at length on the advantages of the rotation of offices in a republican government.65 No doubt she also discussed the necessity of moving forward quickly with the formulation of a constitution for the new state, and of avoiding the pitfalls that had led to the dissolution of the Long Parliament. The visit to Washington encouraged Macaulay in the belief that America was fortunate to have found a military leader who conformed to her high ideals, and who would not follow Cromwell’s bad example by becoming the dictator of the infant state. The letters that she later exchanged with Washington attest to their mutual admiration, and to her relief that the Americans had chosen for their first president someone who lived up to her standards of wisdom and virtue (letters [196]–​[198] and [202]). Cutting short her American sojourn, she sailed directly from New York to Port Lorient in France, spent some time traveling, and then settled for the winter in Aix-​en-​ Provence. It was not until her return to England in 1786 that she turned to the work on education that she had already anticipated in writing TIM. 63 Kate Davies, Catharine Macaulay and Mercy Otis Warren (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 220–​41; Charles Warren, “Samuel Adams and the Sans Souci Club in 1785,” Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 60 (1927): 318–​44. 64 LE, 60. 65 Alexander Graydon, Memoirs of a Life, Chiefly Passed in Pennsylvania, within the Last Sixty Years (Harrisburg, PA, 1811), 329.

22 Introduction When LE appeared, it dealt with issues that had not previously been treated by Macaulay, the education of children, the equality of the sexes, and our duties to animals. The first topic that she treats of, our duties to animals, comes as something of a surprise. She argues that, just as a benevolent God would not have created humans in order that they should suffer more pain than pleasure, so he would not have created other animals to simply live a life of suffering, and she concludes that other animals, as well as humans, must benefit from an afterlife. Like Jeremy Bentham (1748–​1832), who had, in a footnote, recognized that the capacity for animals to suffer made them morally considerable, Macaulay takes seriously the moral status of animals as sentient creatures.66 She treats of our duties to animals at far greater length than he does, for she sees the tendency to treat them cruelly as one of the factors that militates against sympathy in general, and so while, like Bentham, she does not go so far as to acknowledge animals’ right to life, she argues that eradicating their public slaughter, as well as hunting for pleasure, and other cruel treatments, should be adopted as part of a plan of public education intended to foster the sympathetic sentiments that promote universal benevolence. She faults Hume, whose utilitarianism is developed and extended by Bentham, because utility, in his case, is confined to the benefit of his own species, so that Hume is led to say that “he does not know by what principle the brutes can claim justice, which is another name for mercy, at our hands.”67 She would, nevertheless, have strongly disagreed with Bentham that the happiness of a rational, social being can be equated with pleasure. Reason and moral responsibility are necessary for the highest form of happiness, to which humans can aspire, though animals cannot.68 For animals, however, happiness can be reduced to a balance of physical pleasure and pain, and our recognition of the importance of their physical state to their happiness obliges us to treat them kindly. This makes her position rather more consistent than that of a pure, hedonistic utilitarian, since it explains why we have moral obligations toward animals, even though they don’t have any toward us. The position she develops is not subject to the objection that, so long as the pleasure of the hunt outweighs the pains of the fox, there can be nothing morally objectionable in it from the point of view of the mere maximization of pleasure. She takes a human’s true interest to reside in something higher than mere bodily pleasures, and as encompassing the pleasures of reason, of consistency, and of recognizing in oneself sentiments of benevolence. This position might be turned into a kind of utilitarianism if, with Catharine Cockburn, one accepts that, acting “contrary to the

66 Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the principles of morals and legislation (London: T. Payne and Son, 1789), 308–​9. 67 LE, 192. 68 LE,  8–​9.

Life and Works  23 reason, relations, and fitness of things, may not improperly be called the pain of rational being” so that “vice would naturally be the misery, and virtue the happiness of such beings.”69 But this would be a very different kind of utilitarianism to Bentham’s hedonism. Macaulay’s educational ideas build on those of Locke, François de Fenelon (1651–​1715), Rousseau, and Stéphanie-​Félicité de Genlis (1746–​1830), whose Adelaide and Theodore, or Letters on Education, both she and her daughter had been reading with some approval (letter [156]). She was also influenced by the associationist psychology developed by David Hartley, whose Theory of the Human Mind had been edited by Joseph Priestley in 1775.70 Her thoughts on the rearing of infants, which involve light clothing, bare feet, and freedom of movement, now sound unexceptionable, but were still unusual in a world where swaddling was common. In these respects she follows Rousseau. She sharply departs from him, however, on the question of sexual difference, and she advocates that boys and girls be given the same encouragement to develop their physical strength, manual dexterity, and intellectual faculties, and that they should be educated together in order to foster friendship and equality. This aspect of the work particularly appealed to Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote a laudatory review of LE, in which she commented that the observations on sexual equality could have been taken further.71 Macaulay also departs from Rousseau in relation to the need for academic instruction, and she develops a substantial curriculum which focuses on geography, history, languages, philosophy, and literature, but is light on mathematics and the sciences. This was one feature of the work criticized in a rather dismissive review, which elicited her offended objections, in a letter to the editor of the Monthly Review (letter [214]). She felt that her opinions had not been treated charitably or her arguments seriously considered, and she expressed disappointment at her waning influence.72 She may also have suspected that the reviewers were not disposed to treat women fairly, for, uncharacteristically, she published her next and last work, OR, anonymously. This response to Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France encapsulates all the attitudes and political principles that had inspired her political and historical labors from the outset, and the views that she had developed in undertaking them. Her observations were written as a letter to the Charles Stanhope, the third Earl of Stanhope (1753–​1816), chairman of the Revolution Society, who had 69 Catharine Trotter Cockburn, The Works of Mrs. Catharine Cockburn, Theological, Moral, Dramatical and Poetical, ed. Thomas Birch, 2 vols. (London: J. and P. Knapton, 1751), 1:420. 70 David Hartley, Hartley’s theory of the human mind, on the principle of the association of ideas (London: J. Johnson, 1775). 71 Mary Wollstonecraft, “Review of Letters on Education:  with Observations on Religious and Metaphysical Subjects. By Catharine Macaulay Graham,” Analytical Review 8 (1790): 241–​54. 72 Devoney Looser, “‘Those historical laurels which once graced my brow are now in their wane’: Catharine Macaulay’s Last Years and Legacy,” Studies in Romanticism 42 (2003): 203–​25.

24 Introduction married the sister of William Pitt the Elder. She begins her letter by contrasting her intention to convince her audience by the substance of her argument, with Burke’s decision to address the passions of mankind with a warm and passionate declaration, rather than an appeal to reason.73 Price, one of whose sermons is the subject of Burke’s ire, is described by her as animated by a “love for mankind and the spread of general happiness.”74 Burke is castigated for his unjustified invectives and for twisting the interpretation of the history of England to his own ends. The first substantive issue with which she deals is the significance of the events of 1688, celebrated by the Revolution and Constitutional Societies, and by Price, as demonstrating that the Crown of England depended for its authority on the choice of the people. Burke had denied that this principle held, arguing that hereditary succession had not been overturned by the events of 1688. Macaulay counters that the exclusion of the legitimate heirs of James II from inheriting “might warrant a plain thinking man in the opinion, that the present reigning family owe their succession to the choice or assent of the people,” but, in fact, she partly agrees with Burke that this was not quite the conclusion that one should draw from 1688. She briefly recapitulates the view, developed in her history, that “without the prince of Orange, and the assistance of his Dutch army, there could have been no Revolution” and claims that far from being animated by the “abstract notion of the rights of men which prevailed in the opposition to Charles the first,” the friends of the 1688 revolution recognized that they were dependent for achieving their aims on the will and power of William, and so, rather than formally declaring the abstract right of the people to choose their own magistrates and to depose them for ill conduct, they confounded and confused this principle, “the only just authority they had for their conduct” in as “great a mist of words and terms as possible.”75 The fact that the 1688 revolution did not firmly establish a government grounded in principle, truth, and reason then led, according to her account, to the controversies between non-​jurors, Tories and Whigs, and the system of corruption established by Robert Walpole which had marred the history of England since 1688. She argues that, even in monarchies, the establishment of the principle that a particular family owes its right of succession to the choice of the people is an antidote to the vices to which royal administrations are often subject, and she quietly mocks Burke, who “seems to adopt prejudice, opinion, and the powers of the imagination, as the safest grounds on which wise and good statesmen can establish or continue the happiness of societies.”76 Her faith in principles of truth

73

OR,  5–​7. OR, 9. 75 OR,  9–​12. 76 OR, 16. 74

Life and Works  25 and reason, which, she claims, when followed, will result in happiness in this life and the next, is warmly reiterated. She goes so far as to claim that “the events of life, when properly considered, are but a series of benevolent providences” so that “when the believer thinks he perceives the omnipotent will more immediately declaring itself in favour of the future perfection and happiness of the moral world, he is naturally led into the same extasies of hope and gratitude, with which Simeon was transported by the view of the infant Messiah.”77 The French Revolution appears to her as a “sudden spread of an enlightened spirit” and the warm approbation of the English societies to be well justified in the light of the National Assembly’s abolition of all the feudal privileges that had persisted for such a long time in France.78 Having regretted, but excused, the acts of violence that had so far attended the events in France, she turns her attention to the fundamental disagreement with Burke over the grounds of political authority. Burke, like Hume, takes English liberties to be grounded in precedent and established convention.79 Macaulay argues that this makes no sense, since it either robs conventions of any justification, or involves an incoherent attitude to the times at which conventions are adopted. If rights depend on past “voluntary donations of monarchs,” then future monarchs are entitled to rescind them.80 So, without appeal to abstract rights, which constrain positive law, no rights or liberties can be secure. The boasted “birthright of an Englishman” she deems an “arrogant pretension, built on a beggarly foundation.” It “institutes a kind of exclusion to the rest of mankind from the same privileges” and “rests our legitimate freedom on the alms of our princes.”81 She thinks that the French people had no need to preserve their ancient forms but had “a right to provide for their own security and welfare on those principles which they thought to most conducive to this great end,” only being sure “to cherish and preserve the liberty” they had gained and to “suffer no intemperate spirit to produce that licentiousness which must bring anarchy in its train.”82 Burke argues for the need for a class with extensive property, in order for property rights in general to be secured. Macaulay disagrees, suggesting that inequality in property fosters jealousy, resentment, and discord. Burke even goes so far as to attempt to make a virtue out of the unequal representation in Great Britain. She points out that the consequence of the inadequate state of representation is that the interests of the people are sacrificed to the ambition of private individuals, who “make their market with government.” She suggests that the opposition of the ruling powers to parliamentary reform is

77

OR, 20. OR,  22–​23. 79 OR, 29. 80 OR, 31. 81 OR,  31–​32. 82 OR, 37. 78

26 Introduction one of the sad consequences that follows from the “continual war of interests so much admired by Mr. Burke and others.”83 Macaulay deals at some length with Burke’s criticisms of the confiscation of the clergy’s property, the dissolution of the ancient parliaments, and the creation of a paper currency, each of which she justifies as having been carried out on reasonable grounds, though she suggests that, as an act of compassion, the clergy might have been allowed to keep their livings until they died. She then turns to his “quibbling sophistry” and insincere criticism of the property franchise, which he says overthrows “the equal rights of men.”84 Here one might expect her to allow that a universal franchise would have been preferable, but she is enough a creature of her time to call the moderate property qualification specified by the National Assembly one that unites “the highest degree of freedom with the highest degree of order.”85 She does not think that paupers, who live on the alms of others, should have a right to vote or to be elected. The question of women’s political rights is not even mentioned, and it is disappointing that she does not note, as Condorcet did in an article published during that same year, that women with the appropriate property qualifications should be allowed to vote.86 Although she had previously advocated a bicameral government, she disagrees with Burke’s criticisms of the single assembly adopted by the French. Then, having conceded to him that history, up to her time, did not offer a great deal of evidence for optimism that the bold new French experiment would succeed, she concluded her work with a succinct statement of her political principles: when we once give up the point, that there is an inherent right attached to privileged persons to make laws for the community, we cannot fix on any other principle that will stand the test of argument, but the native and inalienable rights of man. For if we say that lawful governments are formed on the authority of conventions, it will be asked, who gave these conventions their authority? If we grant that they derived their authority from the assent of the people, how came the people, it will be said, to exert such an authority at one period of society, and not at another? If we say it was necessity that recovered to the social man the full rights of his nature, it will be asked, who is to be the judge of this necessity? why certainly the people. Thus, in every light in which we can place the argument, in every possible mode of reasoning, we shall be driven back to elect either the first or the second of these propositions; either that an individual, or some privileged persons, 83 OR, 51. 84 OR,  77–​78. 85 OR, 77. 86 Marie-​Jean-​Antoine-​Nicolas de Caritat Marquis de Condorcet, “Sur l’admission des femmes au droit de cité,” Journal de la Société de 1789 5 (1790): 1–​13.

Life and Works  27 have an inherent and indefeasible right to make laws for the community, or that this authority rests in the unalienable and indefeasible rights of man.87

It being clear since the arguments of Locke, in his Two Treatises of Government, and those of Sidney in his Discourses, that there is no individual with a God-​ given or indefeasible right to govern, she rests her case that the authority of legitimate government derives from the assent of the people and the rights of man. During this last period of her life, Macaulay was no longer at the center of political events, as is clear from her letter to Capel Lofft (letter [212]). Although her observations on Burke were published in Boston late the following year, Tom Paine’s The Rights of Man soon eclipsed them. Nevertheless, her political philosophy stands out as an important witness to a strand of thinking that was widely influential during the eighteenth century, but which has been sidelined in twentieth-​century narratives of the history of democratic, political thought. Her histories constitute a bridge connecting the period of the seventeenth-​century English republic with the American and French Revolutions, and demonstrate the far greater influence of Milton, Sidney, and the seventeenth-​century Levelers on eighteenth-​century events than is acknowledged by standard introductions to contract theory, which often exclude Milton in favor of Hobbes.88 Her philosophy also constitutes an antidote to those who would represent the growth of democratic thought, and the language of universal rights, as fundamentally allied to the rise of secularism. It belies the associated representation of the foundations of liberal democratic thought as involving a commitment to psychological egoism and rational self-​interest, narrowly conceived.89 As well as Milton and Sidney, her brand of democratic politics owes a great deal to Locke, and like him she is deeply influenced by a reading of the essentials of Christian doctrine that makes it compatible with natural reason.90 Indeed, she believed that “to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God, are principles on which the essential part of rational religion and rational morality is founded.”91 The letters published here demonstrate that these were not the idiosyncratic beliefs of an isolated individual, but were widely shared presuppositions of a broad group of religious dissenters and radical reformers, who hailed the celebrated Mrs. Macaulay as the defender of their liberties and as an articulate expositor of Enlightenment republicanism, as they understood it.

87 OR,  94–​95. 88 Rachel Hammersley, The English Republican Tradition and Eighteenth-​Century France: Between the Ancients and the Moderns (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010). 89 Jonathan Israel, Radical Enlightenment (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001); Macpherson, Political Theory of Possessive Individualism; Jaggar, Feminist Politics. 90 Dunn, Political Thought of John Locke; Waldron, God, Locke, and Equality. 91 TIM, 284.

The Letters When Bridget Hill composed her biography of Catharine Macaulay, she lamented the absence of any correspondence that would have thrown more light on her subject’s inner life and social relations.1 By an ironic twist of fate, in 1992, just as her book was going to press, she was alerted to the fact that, on 11 June, a collection of Macaulay’s letters had been put up for sale by a descendant, through the auctioneers Phillips and Sons. Hill was not able to revise her account of Macaulay’s life in the light of these letters, although she did subsequently make use of them in a couple of important articles.2 Since then, the correspondence has been largely neglected, having languished unedited in various locations in the United States. For a period the bulk was deposited at the Pierpont Morgan Library, in safekeeping for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, where the most substantial portion of the letters then offered for sale is now housed. Other letters from the auction were acquired by the New York Public Library and by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. All of the letters purchased for the Gilder Lehrman Institute were copied under the British government’s export regulations and are available in the British Library RP5020. These correspond to Phillips Auction Catalogue, 11 June 1992, Lots 1–​6, 8–​ 9, 11–​15, 17–​20. Lot 10 (Hollis) was acquired by the Houghton Library, Lot 16 (Ramsay) by Ruth and Sid Lapidus and then gifted to the New York Public Library, and Lot 21 (Wollstonecraft) by the New York Public Library. It is not clear who purchased Lot 7, a letter from Boswell. It was resold at auction, on 31 January 2018, by Dominic Winter Auctions, by a purchaser from Corsica. This edition provides, for the first time, all the available correspondence between Catharine Macaulay and her many correspondents. The letters that were made accessible in 1992 are supplemented with others that had been previously published, were published during Macaulay’s lifetime but have not been subsequently edited, or have remained hidden in archives and libraries dispersed across the globe. Collated, they provide an illuminating snapshot of the preoccupations, debates, and personal relationships of an important segment of reformist Great

1 Hill, Republican Virago, 1. 2 “The Links between Mary Wollstonecraft and Catharine Macaulay: New Evidence,” Women’s History Review 4 (1995): 177–​92; “Daughter and Mother; Some New Light on Catharine Macaulay AND her family,” Journal for Eighteenth-​Century Studies 22 (1999): 35–​50.

The Letters  29 Britain, during the second half of the eighteenth century. The correspondence also gives a detailed picture of Macaulay’s contacts with an influential group of Americans, many of whom would come to be known as the fathers and mothers of the American Revolution, and it throws light on her relationships with others, who would come to play various roles in the development of the French Revolution. However, Hill’s desire that Macaulay’s correspondence would throw greater light on her inner life and personal motivations is disappointed. The documents that have survived are almost all of a rather public kind, written, in general, to politically engaged individuals, with whom Macaulay was interested in sharing her political and historical insights. Many of those by her are drafts of responses to these individuals, retained in her private possession. There is no available correspondence from the period before her marriage to George Macaulay in 1760. There are no letters from a period of courtship. It is possible that some of Macaulay’s youthful correspondence was destroyed in 1903, when her childhood home, Olantigh, was burned down. But it is equally possible that, while she was still Catharine Sawbridge, Macaulay did not engage in any extended epistolary activities. The art of polite letter writing was developed to a high degree by the daughters of one of the neighboring families in Kent, the Robinsons, one of whom would become famous as the “bluestocking” Elizabeth Montagu, another, the novelist Sarah Scott.3 Their letters are models of wit and polite charm, written in well-​formed script, according to the highest standards of feminine excellence for the period.4 In this regard, Macaulay falls somewhat short. Her education had been comparatively lacking, as is clear from her rather rough and uneven hand and her own assessment of the inadequacy of her governess.5 When told that “Kitty Sawbridge” had published a volume of history, Elizabeth Montagu, who was aware of the inadequacy of the governess, wrote to her brother with some distain, “If she took her sentiments from her Father, & her language from Mrs Fuzzard it must be an extraordinary performance.”6 More generously, when commenting on women’s need to educate themselves when adult, Mary Delany observed that “the great Mrs Macaulay” had been virtually ignorant of the principles of grammar until after her marriage, though “now all her publications go

3 Harriet Guest, “Bluestocking Feminism,” Huntington Library Quarterly 65 (2002):  59–​80; Elizabeth Eger and Lucy Peltz, Brilliant Women (London: National Portrait Gallery, 2008); Sylvia Harcstark Myers, The Bluestocking Circle (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990); Nicole Pohl and Betty Schellenberg, eds., Reconsidering the Bluestockings (San Marino, CA: Huntington Library, 2003). 4 Reginald Blunt, ed., Mrs Montagu, “Queen of the Blues”; Her Letters and Friendships from 1762–​ 1800, 2 vols. (London: Constable, 1923); Elizabeth Carter, Letters from Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, to Mrs. Montagu, between the Years 1755 and 1800, ed. Montagu Pennington (London: F. C. & J. Rivington, 1817); Elizabeth Robinson Montagu, The Letters of Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu (London: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1809). 5 Hays, Female Biography, 6:288. 6 Elizabeth Montagu to Matthew Robinson-​Morris, Newcastle, 4 December 1763, HL, MO4763.

30 Introduction to the press uncorrected.”7 It therefore seems likely that there never existed a cache of juvenilia to throw light on Macaulay’s early inner life. Sadly, also, in the one case where we have an extended personal correspondence—​that is, in her exchange with her daughter—​only Catharine Sophia’s letters were included in the auction, so Macaulay’s contribution is missing. We are not privy to her personal observations on her experiences in America, or during her second visit to France. The absence of these letters is to be highly regretted, since Macaulay’s daughter notes that, when she was so inclined, she was capable of being an engaging and informative correspondent. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate to publish the only available side of this exchange, since it reveals a good deal about Macaulay’s financial and familial circumstances and, indirectly, about her personal views, including the fact that she was not very fond of letter writing.8 It is to be hoped that the other side of this correspondence will, at some point, be made available to the public, since the evidence from the material put up for sale is that Macaulay’s descendants must have possessed further letters, including those by Macaulay to her daughter, along with drafts to additional correspondents and other manuscript letters. The material sold in 1992 was passed down through Macaulay’s female descendants, and includes an interesting one-​sided exchange of letters that Catharine Sophia wrote to her stepfather, William Graham, between 1796 and 1820, after the deaths of her mother and her husband, Charles Gregorie. In these annual missives she offers an account of the progress of her family.9 William Graham must have subsequently returned them to Catharine Sophia or her family. Presumably it is through Graham, also, that the letters received by her mother, earlier in her career, were returned to her daughter’s descendants. Since the collection has been passed down from Catharine Sophia’s daughter, who became Mrs. Brickdale, one would expect that Macaulay’s letters to her daughter would also have been preserved. As well as the correspondence with William Graham, the Gilder Lehrman Collection (GLC) includes an exchange of letters between Catharine Sophia and her cousin, Mrs. Fraser, the first item of which reports the death of Charles Gregorie.10 Macaulay’s granddaughter, also named Catharine, must have been the grandchild responsible for retaining the correspondence, which includes some notes in her hand, as well as letters to her from her cousin, Jane Fraser.11 No attempt has been made to edit this family material, which is not immediately relevant for understanding the life and times of Catharine Macaulay, but it does

7

George Paston, Mrs Delany (Mary Granville). A Memoir (London: Grant Richards, 1900), 198. Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 10 November 1790, letter [187]. GLC01795.45 to GLC01795.69. 10 GLC01795.75 to GLC01795.78. 11 GLC01795.70, GLC1795.74, GLC01795.79 to GLC1795.89. 8 9

The Letters  31 amount to an important repository of information concerning her descendants, worthy of further detailed study. Tantalizingly, the material in GLC also includes typescripts, presumably from some time during the twentieth century, of letters and other documents that were not among the manuscripts offered for sale.12 These typescript sheets are numbered, suggesting that an earlier attempt was made to edit the correspondence, and then abandoned. This is further indicated by a note on GLC01794.02, a corrected draft of an epitaph for George Macaulay, saying “Parcel First sorted for publication” and numbered 19. Somehow, the bulk of the typescripts, as well as some of the originals from which they were made, were not included in the material auctioned in 1992. The items GLC01794.56 and GLC01794.63, for instance, are copies of an exchange of letters between Macaulay and Benjamin Rush, and are numbered 120 and 200, respectively, but the corresponding manuscripts are not among the material in GLC. Some of the manuscript letters are also numbered and, in the case of GLC01794.05, a letter from David Steuart Erskine dated 12 February 1769, the number on the manuscript, 71, corresponds to that on the typed copy, GLC01794.05.01. Another manuscript letter from him, dated 2 July 1766, is numbered 39. Some of the numbers on these manuscripts are in Macaulay’s hand, and various notes indicate that before her death she had numbered and organized her correspondence. For instance GLC01794.06, Macaulay’s reply to Erskine’s letter of 2 July, is numbered 72, and annotated “My answer to the Earl of Buchan.” Since it is unlikely that Catharine Sophia would have destroyed letters from her mother, who clearly anticipated the possibility of her correspondence being published, it is highly probable that a remaining portion of the original collection continues in private hands, including the letters from Macaulay to her daughter. It is possible that the person responsible for these typescripts was Macaulay’s descendant Charles Fortescue-​Brickdale, who published an article on her exchange with Samuel Johnson in 1930.13 Apart from the letters from her daughter, the correspondence included here can be roughly divided into four distinct categories. The earliest group, stretching from 1762 to 1770, covers the period of Macaulay’s first marriage, when she resided in St James Place with her physician husband, George Macaulay, as well as the first years of her widowhood, during which she moved to Berners Street, off the Oxford Road. From 1769 until her death, Macaulay corresponded with many individuals in America who were caught up in the opposition to the British taxation of the colonies, and subsequent wars of independence. The third group is made up of Macaulay’s French acquaintances, and the final one includes a 12 See appendix. 13 Charles Fortescue-​Brickdale, “Dr.  Johnson and Mrs. Macaulay:  The Credibility of Boswell,” Notes and Queries 159 (1930): 111–​12.

32 Introduction mixed bag of friends and acquaintances. There are friends from Devon, Augustus Toplady—​who reports the death of their mutual friend, Thomas Hollis—​and his neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Northcote, with whom Macaulay had stayed. From the same period there is a letter from her Quaker friend Mary Knowles, who writes to her with warm affection. There is one to Hannah More, and another to More’s protégé and admirer, Richard Polwhele. After Macaulay’s marriage to William Graham, the correspondence with the aristocratic friends of the period during and immediately after her first marriage declines, but there are new admirers, in particular Capel Lofft and Mary Wollstonecraft, and one old acquaintance, William Robinson, the younger brother of Elizabeth and Sarah.

The Letters Dr. Thomas Birch (1705–​66) The brief note from Catharine Macaulay to Dr. Thomas Birch demonstrates her acquaintance with a man who is now almost forgotten, but who is an interesting example of a popular historian and biographer who was both a promoter of the political ideas of John Milton and supporter of women’s philosophical and intellectual aspirations. Birch was born and educated as a Quaker, but converted to Anglicanism. He edited and compiled many historical and biographical works, was secretary of the Royal Society, and became a trustee of the British Museum. Macaulay would have known some of his works from her father’s library, in particular, his edition of John Milton’s works. Birch was sympathetic towards intellectual women and edited the works of Catharine Cockburn, published in 1751. He was a friend of Elizabeth Carter during her early period, when she wrote for Samuel Johnson’s Rambler, and he encouraged her to undertake the translation of Francesco Algarotti’s Newtonismo per li donne. It is also thought that he asked Carter to marry him.1   [1]‌Catharine Macaulay to Thomas Birch, 22 November 17622 Mrs Macaulay returns Dr Birch’s Sanderson’s Life of James and Mary with many thanks for the use of it, and begs the favour of the King’s cabinet broke open, which she has applied to several Booksellers for in vain.3

1 Edward Ruhe, “Birch, Johnson, and Elizabeth Carter:  An Episode of 1738–​39,” PMLA 73 (1958): 491–​500; Cockburn, Works; Milton, Works; Francesco Algarotti, Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophy explain’d for the use of the ladies, trans. Elizabeth Carter, 2 vols. (London: E. Cave, 1739). 2 West Sussex Record Office, Add Mss 523/​30. 3 Referring to William Sanderson, A Compleat History of the Lives and Reigns of Mary Queen of Scotland, and of Her Son and Successor, James the Sixth, King of Scotland and (after Queen Elizabeth) King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland (London: Printed for Humphrey Moseley, Richard Tomlins, and George Sawbridge, 1656), and Letters published by the Parliament, entitled The King’s Cabinet broke open, from which she cites at HEAJ, 4:177–​78 note.

34  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay

Thomas Hollis (1720–​74) Thomas Hollis was described by the engraver Cipriani as being over six feet tall, Herculean in size and strength, with bright brown eyes and a laughing mouth—​a description which, to modern prejudice, does not appear to fit very well with his reputation as a radical dissenter and political propagandist, nor is it borne out by the engraving inserted in the front of his diary.4 Hollis is known as a man who shunned public entanglement in political controversy, yet spent a fortune republishing and binding republican political tracts, which he donated to his friends and to British and American libraries.5 During Catharine Macaulay’s marriage to George Macaulay, he was a neighbor, and his diaries note a number of visits to the couple’s home, and his praise of her historical work. At the request of Macaulay’s husband, Hollis confected the initial sketch for an engraving of Macaulay as Libertas, which he modeled on a medal of Caius Cassius, one of Caesar’s assassins. He commissioned Cipriani to finish the drawing and execute the engraving, which is included at the beginning of the third volume of HEAJ, though initially intended for the second volume.6 Out of his own generosity he anonymously presented her with 145 Civil War tracts that he purchased on 22 March 1765, and on 18 June he sent her another 30 tracts.7 His biographer takes umbrage at the fact that a contributor to the St James’s Chronicle for 17 September 1778 defends her against the charge of having been helped in the composition of her history, by Hollis, by declaring that Hollis’s abilities were far inferior to Mrs. Macaulay’s History of England.8 But the implication that the biographer, Blackburne, insinuates—​that this letter was written with Macaulay’s knowledge and demonstrates a lack of gratitude for the material that Hollis had (anonymously) presented to her—​seems to be completely unfair. As the letter below from Augustus Toplady demonstrates, Macaulay remained an interested friend of Hollis’s until his death. It was through Hollis, who had long corresponded with the American preacher Johnathan Mayhew, that she was contacted by her earliest American correspondent, Sarah Prince Gill.   4 Thomas Hollis, “Diary 1759–​70,” HOU. 5 Colin Bonwick, “Thomas Hollis (1720–​1774),” DNB. 6 Caroline Robbins, “The Strenuous Whig:  Thomas Hollis of Lincoln’s Inn,” William and Mary Quarterly 7 (1950): 406–​53 (427); Hollis, “Diary 1759–​70,” 18 January; 1, 3, 4 February; 13 March 1764. 7 Francis Blackburne, Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, Esq. F. R. and A.S.S. (London 1780), 1:264 & 69. There is no mention in Hollis’s diary for the first date; thirty tracts are mentioned on 18 June 1765. Macaulay’s printed catalog of tracts is discussed in Bridget and Christopher Hill, “Catharine Macaulay’s History and Her Catalogue of Tracts,” Seventeenth Century 8 (1993): 269–​85; A Catalogue of Tracts ([London]: n.p., 1790). 8 Blackburne, Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, 1:478–​79.

The Letters  35 [2]‌Thomas Hollis to Catharine Macaulay, 5 November 17639 Pallmall Thomas Hollis presents his most humble thanks to the author of “The History of England from the accession of James I, to that of the Brunswick line” for an early copy of the first volume of that work. He has read with singular satisfaction & surprise a spirited and magnanimous Introduction; and is seeking out eagerly for leisure to read the History. And fix dominion’s limits by its ends. Akenside.10   [3]‌Thomas Hollis to Catharine Macaulay, 15 January 176511 Pall Mall Madam, I have read the second volume of your history and admire unfeignedly the Industry, Judgment, Energy, Elegance, faithfulness, and Magnanimity that is in it. I shall preserve it choicely, a monument to a noble lady, noble above all Parehment,12 and I  have the honour to subscribe, with respect and esteem, Madam, etc.   [4]‌Thomas Hollis to Catharine Macaulay, November 176813 The ingenious throughout all ages will surely join to celebrate your praise as a very valuable historian, and with increased spirit for the new volume of your work, now happily completed, which closes so important a period. I am, etc.

9 HOU MS Eng 1191.2. The letter is dated 5 November, but Hollis notes writing it in the 8 November entry of his diary, Hollis, “Diary 1759–​70,” 8 November 1763. 10 Mark Akenside, An epistel to Curio (London: R. Dodsley, 1744), 18, a satire directed at William Pulteney (1684–​1764), who disappointed his followers after the fall of Robert Walpole by accepting the earldom of Bath. Robin Dix, “Mark Akenside, poet and physician (1721–​1770),” DNB. A correspondence in the British Library shows Akenside to have been a friend of Thomas Birch, as well as Thomas Hollis. 11 HOU MS Eng 1191.2, printed in Blackburne, Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, 1:264. 12 Looks like “Parehment.” The printed version has “parchment,” but this makes little sense, so it is possible that Hollis intends parement, an old term for decorative robes and ornaments, and he means “noble beyond all compare.” 13 Excerpt printed in Blackburne, Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, 1:410.

36  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [5]‌Catharine Macaulay to Thomas Hollis, 9 January 176914 The first object which presented itself on my return to Town was your very magnificent present. I see there are no ages of Mankind so degenerate but that disinterested virtue meets with additional reward to the meer consciousness of doing well. The applause of the good and great is the most of all satisfactions the most pleasing to elevated minds. That satisfaction I at present enjoy in its highest degree. That you Sir so perfect a judge of literary and merit and more particularly on which I write should adorn a production of mine with those ornaments which you keep sacred with which you only honour your most favorite heroes is an [accolade to]15 them for the highest attempts attended with the happiest success. Permit me sir to say that no consequent incident of my labours can flatter me equally to being thus distinguished by a man of your just taste and very singular virtues.   [6]‌Thomas Hollis to Catharine Macaulay, 13 July 176916 Madam, The enclosed came to hand yesterday.17 The letter need not be returned, having copied it. The writer of it is the amiable excellent widow of the late celebrated Dr. Mayhew.18 Any answer you shall be pleased to send me for New England, I will take care to forward thither by the first good occasion. I have, etc. 14 HOU MS Eng 1191.2. 15 What is written looks more like “achgual se” but “accolade” makes sense. 16 GLC01794.53 (typescript). 17 The letter referred to is that sent by Sarah Prince Gill to Macaulay, GLC01797.01A, dated Boston, 25 April (letter [68]). A typescript note, GLC01794.54, reproduces a covering letter from Mrs. Mayhew to Thomas Hollis, dated Boston, 13 May 1769, which says, “It is at the desire of a Lady with whom I have the pleasure of some acquaintance, that the enclosed comes to you begging the favour that you would forward it to Mrs Macaulay who it is said intends in her next Volume to favour the public with some historical account of America. I  am a stranger to the contents of what is sent, but have reason to think that the Lady whose desire I have complied with is under peculiar advantages to suggest what may be worthy of Notice respecting this province in particular. I have so far presumed upon the condescension you have shown me, as to be the medium of this communication, and hope Sir, you will be so good to pardon me for giving you the trouble, if I detain you no longer than while I beg leave to subscribe myself, Hon. Sir, Your most obedient & humble servant.” 18 Jonathan Mayhew (1720–​66) was a Congregationalist minister whose paternal family had been missionaries to the American Indians of Martha’s Vineyard for three generations. He wrote A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-​Resistance to the Higher Powers: With some Reflections on the Resistance made to Charles I (Boston: D. Fowle and D. Gookin, 1750). His wife was born Elizabeth Clarke (c. 1734–​77). Mayhew believed in a rational version of Christianity, religious freedom, and political liberty and was a friend of James Otis and Thomas Hollis, with whom he corresponded regularly. Both were opposed to the appointment of American bishops.

The Letters  37 [7]‌Catharine Macaulay to Thomas Hollis 14 July 176919 Sir, According to the permission given me in your very obliging letter, I take the liberty to trouble you with the care of the conveyance of the enclosed, it contains an answer to an American Lady20 who is inspired with a noble ardour for the cause of Liberty and whose wishes are anxiously engaged in the defence of the rights of her fellow citizens. As such sentiments are uncommon in the female sex, examples of this kind give me very great pleasure. I am, etc.

David Hume (1711–​76) The philosopher David Hume was a distant relation of Catharine Macaulay’s first husband, George Macaulay, and the latter’s biographers surmise that the two may have been acquainted when young.21 Hume’s popular History of England had been written chronologically backwards, and the account of the period of the Stuarts, covered in the first two volumes, was highly critical of the republicans, amounting to an apology for the Stuart monarchs.22 Along with the history written by another of her husband’s relations, Tobias Smollett, Hume’s History of England was one of the works that Macaulay had set out to answer in her history. As Macaulay notes in her reply to Hume, George Macaulay, having arranged to send a copy of the first volume of her history to Hume, who was then in Paris, wrote on 22 March to inquire what had come of it.23 Hume seems to have immediately replied, explaining the delay, or possibly, fortuitously, his letter and Macaulay’s crossed paths in the mail, as Macaulay is polite enough to suggest.

On 4 December 1769, Hollis wrote to Mrs. Mayhew informing her that he was sending a copy of Macaulay’s history, Blackburne, Memoirs of Thomas Hollis, 1:429–​30. John B.  Frantz, “Jonathan Mayhew (1720–​66), Congregationalist minister in America,” DNB.

19

GLC01794.55 (typescript). Sarah Prince Gill; see letter [68]. Cook and Cook, Man-​Midwife, 6. 22 Hume, The History . . . James I and Charles I; The History, Vol. II,. . . Charles II and James II. 23 Cook and Cook, Man-​Midwife, 216–​17. 20 21

38  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [8]‌David Hume to Catharine Macaulay, 29 March 176424 Paris, Madam, The agreeable present which you was so good as to make me, did not come to hand till a few days ago; it had been packed up with some of Lord Hertford’s25 baggage, and was so long on the road: I should not otherwise have been so long wanting to express my thanks for the pleasure your performance has given me; and also for the obliging manner in which you mention me, even when you oppose my sentiments. I find, indeed, that you often do me the honor to keep me in your eye, during the course of your narration; and I flatter myself that we differ less in facts, than in our interpretation and construction of them. Perhaps also I have the misfortune to differ from you in some original principles, which it will not be easy to adjust between us. For as I look upon all kinds of subdivision of power, from the monarchy of France to the free democracy of some Swiss Cantons, to be equally legal, if established by custom and authority; I cannot but think, that the mixed monarchy of England, such as it was left by Queen Elizabeth, was a lawful form of government, and carried obligations to obedience and allegiance; at least it must be acknowledged, that the princes and ministers who supported that form, tho’ somewhat arbitrarily, could not incur much blame on that account; and that there is more reason to make an apology for their antagonists than for them. I grant, that the cause of liberty, which you, Madam, with the Pyms26 and Hampdens27 have adopted, is noble and generous; but most of the partizans of that cause, in the last century, disgraced it, by their violence, and also by their cant, hypocrisy, and bigotry, which, more than the principles of civil liberty, seem to have been the motive of all their actions. Had those principles always appeared in the amiable light which they receive both from your person and writings, it would have been impossible to resist them; and however much inclined to indulgence towards the first James and Charles, I should have been the first to condemn those monarchs for not yielding to them. But lest you think that the air of this place has infected me with the style of gallantry, I beg leave to conclude, by expressing my great esteem of your history, and my great personal respect for yourself. I beg my compliments to the doctor; and am, Madam, with great sincerity, etc. 24 In European Magazine, and London Review 4 (November):  330–​34. Reprinted in Raymond Klibansky and Ernest C. Mossner, eds., New Letters of David Hume (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1954),  80–​82. 25 Hume was then in Paris as the personal secretary to Francis Seymour-​Conway, first Marquess of Hertford (1718–​94), who was ambassador to France from 1763 to 1765. 26 John Pym (1584–​1643) appears often in the first three volumes of HEAJ. In the first volume he is quoted as saying that “All our petition is for the laws of England” (1:397), and later he is described by Macaulay as “much noted for his abilities, but yet of greater weight with his party from the steady uncorrupted uniformity of his conduct” (2:316). 27 John Hampden (1595–​1643). His opposition to the legality of the levying of ship money during the reign of Charles I is treated at length in HEAJ, 2:229–​350.

The Letters  39 [9]‌Catharine Macaulay to David Hume, [April] 176428 St. James’s Place. Sir, Your polite letter came to hand on the 26th instant. I am highly indebted to you for the obliging manner in which you mention my first production. The length of time it was upon the road will occasion you the trouble of a letter from the doctor, who wrote to give you intelligence of the time of its departure.29 You do me the honour to mention some of your political opinions. I am afraid, indeed, we differ much in some original principles, which may not be proper to discuss in a letter. Every kind of government may be legal, but sure all are not equally expedient; and an individual, who rigorously maintains and enlarges his power, in opposition to the inclination and welfare of a people, is, in my opinion, highly criminal. Your position, that all governments established by custom and authority carry with them obligations to submission and allegiance, does, I am afraid, involve all reformers in unavoidable guilt, since opposition to established error must needs be opposition to authority. You do me the honour to unite me in sentiments to those two excellent patriots Hampden and Pym; and end your letter in a high strain of gallantry, which I do not ascribe to the French air, since those who have had the pleasure of conversing with Mr. Hume know, that he unites with the utmost candor, all that engaging politeness which marks the gentleman, as well as the philosopher. But, gravity apart, I think the arbitrary princes of the Stuart line took an effectual way to secure themselves from female opposers; since cropping off ears close to the head, slitting of noses, and branding of foreheads, must needs be as formidable to women, as Caesar’s attack on the face was to the Roman petit-​maîtres.30 It is with great pleasure that your friends hear that respectful attention you meet with in France. On your return to Great-​Britain, I sincerely wish you may find that we follow so good an example, and that you may in this country experience the distinction due to so rare a merit. I do myself the honour to express all 28 In European Magazine 4 November): 330–​34. 29 George Macaulay to David Hume, 22 March 1764, in Cook and Cook, Man-​Midwife, 216–​17. 30 Macaulay no doubt had in mind the persecution of the Puritan Alexander Leighton, author of Zion’s Plea against Prelacy. She recounts in detail how he was sentenced to be whipped in the pillory of Westminster and then “to have one of his ears cut off, his nose slit, and to be branded in the face with S. S. for sower of sedition.” He was then to be taken to the pillory at Cheapside, to be whipped some more and have his other ear cut off (HEAJ, 2:92–​95). Miraculously, Leighton appears to have survived this torture and to have left an account of it. The story of Caesar giving his troops the order to attack Pompey’s soldiers in the face is in Charles Rollin, The Roman History from the Foundation of Rome to the Battle of Actium: that is To the End of the Commonwealth, 2nd ed., 16 vols. (London: J. and P. Knapton, 1754), 14:11–​15. Petit-​maîtres was a term for fops or dandies, and Rollin emphasizes that Caesar assured his troops that, since Pompey’s soldiers “piqued themselves on their beauty and comliness,” this kind of attack would soon reduce them to disorder, as apparently it did.

40  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay imaginable esteem for so great an ornament to the republic of letters, with all respect which is due on other regards, I am, etc.

David Steuart Erskine (1742–​1829), Lord Cardross, Eleventh Earl of Buchan David Steuart Erskine inherited the title of Lord Cardross and Auchterhouse in 1747, at the death of his brother, and from 1767 became the eleventh Earl of Buchan. He was educated at St. Andrews, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.31 His father had studied with William Pitt, Lord Chatham (1708–​78), at Leiden, and consequently the son became Pitt’s secretary and also developed a friendship with him.32 No doubt through this common friend, Macaulay and Pitt were also acquainted. This is all the more probable, since he occupied 10 St. James’s Square from 1759 until 1762, and so, during the period in which he had resigned from the ministry, lived close by the Macaulays, whose residence was on the corner of St. James’s Place.33 A short biographical note on Macaulay, written by Erskine, is not entirely flattering, but is worth reproducing in full for the light it throws on the company who visited her house and the way she was perceived by contemporaries. Catharine Macaulay the daughter of Mr Sawbridge of Olantigh a woman of Masculine sense and spirit yet by no means exempt from the Characteristic weaknesses of her sex was married at no very early period of life to Dr Macaulay son of the Provost of Edinbugh to whom in learning and noriety being much superior. She sought out a path of eminence in literature while her good husband was employed in the drugery of his business as an Accoucher. I became a frequent Visitor of hers on finding her house and company frequented by Thomas Hollis that worthy Confessor of the principles of Liberty, Dr Franklin, Dr Price and other Men in whose taste and judgement I had well placed confidence. Her Husband & his Father had been well known to my Father & my Uncle Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees & this gained me easy admittance to her company tho a young and fashionable frequenter of Gaeity & at that time apparently a dubious Citizen of the Republic of Letters. I believe it was owing to the frequent company of eminent dissenters from the Church of England that her mind

31 Emma Vincent Macleod, “Erskine, David Steuart, eleventh earl of Buchan (1742–​1829),” DNB. 32 Richard Cargill Cole, Peter Stuary Baker, and Rachel McClellan, eds., The General Correspondence of James Boswell: 1766–​1769, 2 vols. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997), 1:1, n. 3. 33 Basil Williams, The Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013), 2:126, n 3.

The Letters  41 became first prepossessed against the Principle of Monarchy & united with those of a Commonwealth in which afterwards she abode with great uniformity. In Laborious research of historical truth she exhibited a perserverance that is rarely found in the Sex and this enabled her from the Treasures of the British Museum and the Paper Office at Whitehall to collect many unknown particulars relating to the History of England. Her Book may be considered rather a reply to Hume’s history of the Stewarts than as an History of the times she chose for her particular contemplation, and after all it may be safely affirmed that with a wrong bias Hume told the disagreeable truth of England being really in all times a Monarchy with a Monarchical Constitution & tendency & Catharine Sawbridge with a right bias reasoned on the other side with a great admixture of error.34

Despite this rather dismissive sketch, his Anonymous and fugitive essays show him to have been a supporter of female education, and proud of the fact that his ancestor Marr had been a student of George Buchanan (1506–​82), author of De jure regni, which defends a kind of constitutional monarchy.35 Erskine also corresponded with John Wilkes, who thanked him for his polite and friendly congratulations in a letter dated 1770.36 George Simon, who would become Lord Harcourt, was another mutual acquaintance.37   [10] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 2 July 176638 Walcot near Bath Dear Madam, I had by yesterday’s Post a long & affectionate letter from Mr. Pitt39 which gave me more Pleasure then I Can Express as It informed me of his being in—​better 34 This biographical note in EUL La. II. 588. 35 David Stewart Erskine, Earl of Buchan, The anonymous and fugitive essays of the Earl of Buchan, collected from various periodical works (Edinburgh: Ruthven & Sons, 1812). 36 NLS Ms 3813, f. 13. 37 BL Add Ms 15932, George Simon Harcourt to David Steuart Erskine, f. 37. 38 GLC01794.32. 39 Williams, Life of William Pitt, 1:126. At this point in time, Pitt was a member of Parliament, but had resigned from the ministry in 1761. Soon after the date of this letter, he would receive a personal invitation from the king and by 11 July had arrived in London to accept the king’s offer to form a new administration, ibid., 1:206. When he had first been elected to Parliament, Pitt had been part of the opposition to Robert Walpole, had spoken against placemen, and been close to Frederick, Prince of Wales, until the latter’s reconciliation with his father, George II. Although Pitt disapproved of Wilkes’s morals, the Wilkes affair gave him the opportunity of redefining himself as “a whig on revolution principles” (Marie Peters, DNB). The Stamp Act drew him back into Parliament, and he opposed it vigorously on the grounds that the House of Commons did not represent North America and so had no right to lay a tax on its residents; however, he at the same time insisted on Britain’s authority over the colonies and right to regulate trade.

42  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay health & Spirits than he has been for a long time Past, he says he finds the Air of Burton Pyrsent Agree better with him then that of Hayes, & I am not Surprised at it for I never thought that part of Kent Wholesome.40 I think of going next week to Lord Shelburne’s41 & then to Mr. Pitt’s after which I intend to take a Jaunt into north & South Wales, where I have never as yet been. I am Inform’d that things are not yet Settled, & no wonder, for what fellowship has light with Darkness, or how can a faction ever Prosper after it is exalted by Intrigue upon the Ruins of Public Spirit—​when Mr. Pitt was here he knew nothing of the Schemes of Administration—​he went up to Town at the meeting of Parliament, though very Infirm, to give his Opinion with Respect to the Affairs of America,42 he had Seen by the Public Gazzettes the appointment of Lord George S[ackville]43 to the Vice Treasurship of Ireland—​which of Course must have Unhinged him altogether in his Ideas of the Principles of Administration. When it was asked why this Promotion took Place, it was Answered that So Able a Speaker & So well informed a Person could not but be of great Use in the Support of a good Cause—​a Spurious Apology—​but how great must his Surprise have been when he found this Noble boasted Coadjutor44—​a Wolf in sheep’s cloathing appearing in a Direct Opposition in the Affairs of America to those very Ministers who had Appointed him—​This was an Instance of Dupplicity not to be got over—​I shall say nothing of these fine Unmeaning Compliments thrown out in both houses to our Illustrious friend, or of a Noble Old Duke45 professing that he was very willing to Resign if it was agreeable to that Gentleman—​but I cannot help mentioning a Recent instance of impropriety in the Affair of a Scotch Election where 40 In 1765, Pitt inherited the estates of Sir William Pynsent, which included a house and park at Burton Pynsent near Langport in Somersetshire, Williams, Life of William Pitt, 2:169–​70. From 1756, he had owned Hayes Place, near West Wycombe, which he had bought from Elizabeth Montagu, but which he sold after inheriting the property in Somersetshire, ibid., 2:126. 41 William Petty [formerly Fitzmaurice], second Earl of Shelburne, later first Marquess of Lansdowne (1737–​1805) was part of the Grenville administration and had been appointed first lord at the Board on Trade in 1763. He was a strong supporter of Pitt, and had been employed to negotiate with Pitt over returning to the ministry in 1763. He was dismissed for opposing the government position, in relation to Wilkes, that parliamentary privilege did not extend to seditious libel. He had estates at Wycombe, and in 1765 his marriage brought him estates near Bath. He was a follower of Pitt’s line with regard to the Stamp Act, and was appointed secretary of state for the south by Pitt. 42 Pitt had attended the opening day of the new Parliament on 14 January 1766. In his speech he asserted, “The Commons of America represented in their several assemblies have ever been in possession of this their constitutional right of giving and granting their own money. They would have been slaves if they had not enjoyed it.” Williams, The Life of William Pitt, 2:189–​95. 43 See Piers Mackesy, “Germain, George Sackville [formerly George Sackville], first Viscount Sackville (1716–​1785),” DNB. He had been court-​martialed and convicted over accusations of cowardice for failing to obey an order to attack in 1759. Pitt regarded his appointment as an insult to the memory of George II and to his ministry, ibid., 2:2–​6, 187. 44 “Helper.” At this time William Cavendish, fifth Duke of Devonshire (1748–​1811) was lord high treasurer of Ireland. 45 Duke of Newcastle, who had been appointed to the privy seal by George III, had offered to resign if his presence in the ministry was an obstacle to Pitt’s rejoining it, Williams, The Life of William Pitt, 2:176–​77.

The Letters  43 A Councellor was procured to Persuade his Client to drop his petition by a lusty Pension for his Sister, after it is certain that to get the other member Returned, the Officers of the Revenue in the boroughs had been publicly & notoriously tampered with. The poor outwitted Client Signed a paper being purblind, on which he professed the deed of—​Relinquishing his Petition to be Spontaneous—​as for the total neglect of Continental affairs, the strange omission of so glorious an opportunity for an Ultimatum as to the Manilla Ransom,46 the State of the several funds, the Supplies of the Year, the Additional Land had by way of Windows, & the Curious Compromise with the Cyder Counties for gaining other Ends not from a Motive of Justice.47 I shall be silent upon these heads & beg to hear from the Doctor how he is, & whether my little Parcel to Mr. Craig was Delivered, I am etc., kind compliments to the Doctor.   [11] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 4 September 176848 Middleton, West Lothian, by Edinburgh, Scotland. Madam, Since I had the Honor of seeing you at London I have been Employed in Some Family Affairs of a very disagreeable & perplexing Nature, which have so much engross’d my attention that I have had but little leisure to enquire after the Health of my Friends. Yours is particularly interesting to me on more accounts than one & therefore I must petition for some few lines of information on this Head when you can Snatch a Minute or two from the more important occupations of the Day. I am here alone in a little Philosophic retreat which I have betaken myself to, not from choice but from Necessity, the Smallness of my Paternal fortune, from the succesive Delapidations of my Predecesors, and the defoliations which are necessary to support a Widow and four children, render my income so extremely inconsiderable that I am incapacitated from Appearing in Life with the common Decencies of my Rank and Character. This is my Apology & it is but too good for a Derelection of Scenes in which it might have been expected I should have remained, & the removing from which may be construed into the Effects of Disappointment or a Gloomy Misanthropy. 46 In 1762, Manilla had been captured and a ransom, against pillage, of two million pesos agreed to by the governor of the Philippines, Archbishop Rojo, which the Spanish government had then refused to pay. When Erskine wrote, William Draper (1721–​87) had just published Colonel Draper’s Answer to the Spanish Arguments claiming The Galeon, and refusing Payment of the Ransom Bills, for preserving Manila from Pillage and Destruction (London: J. Dodsley, 1764). 47 It is unclear what Erskine is referring to here, but later in the year, when Pitt joined the Rockingham ministry, the controversial stamp taxes and cider tax were withdrawn and the loss of revenue made up by an increase in the window tax. 48 GLC01794.04.

44  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay However, in times like these I might have found Apologies for my present System even though my fortune had been Sufficient for all the demands of public life; There are and have been many, Writes the elegant Tully, who in Search of tranquility have removed themselves from Public Business & have fled into the Arms of their friends & of the Muses—​of these too adds he, “By far the greatest & most exalted in Sentiment being Unable to bear the Dissolution of Manners & General Weakness & distemper of the State have betaken themselves to the innocent Amusements of rural and Domestic life.”49 I do not pretend to declare that I shall remain in this state long but as I am Absolutely resolved to preserve my independency by living within my Income I must continue in it or amuse & instruct myself by foreign travel, work making myself Known, Untill matters shall be so settled as to admit of my following a different Plan. Marriage I cannot indulge myself with, except it bring me a great Dower or a person of the most Moderate Dispositions in the department of Luxury. This is no Small Mortification to me for I  approve much of the early entrance of Youth into this State & have had more than one Attachment. But Unluckily where a Necessary ingredient of Matrimonial felicitas to a Poor Scotch Earl was Wanting. But I am Writing what you Know I believe very well about, even from the Town talk last winter. So I shall proceed to lament with you the state of America from whence I have had letters lately that make me sad indeed—​My God what Havoc does the want of Wisdom make among our species, what detestable Policy flows from that Want & what a Pleasant thing it is to feel ones Self an enemy to that Tyranny which destroys the Earth. You must excuse the length of this letter there are very few whom I molest after this manner, but when I sit down to Write to Mrs Macaulay I know not when or Where to stop. There is a Mr Nisbett from this country of whom I have heard as a person attached to the truth, & that He was Honor’d with your Acquaintance, pray is it so? I do not remember to have seen him at your house. If I remain long here, I imagine that I shall employ myself in collecting, recording & preparing some things for the Public Eye on several very interesting subjects.50 At present I am engaged in writing a little Natural Historical Tract on the Position and Strata of mountains in different parts of the Globe as a compliment to the Academy of Bologna in return for some publications and to Entitle me to become a member of that society. When you happen to see your brothers or sisters be so Kind as to remember me to them & to Accept my Kindest wishes for the health of your pretty little Daughter and of your own health, I shall be happy to hear or to see, I ever am Madam, with high consideration and respect, your etc. 49 Probably a loose translation of the last paragraph of Cicero, De Officiis, 1.20. 50 Erskine was to become well known as an antiquary; he was already a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society in 1764, and he later founded the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

The Letters  45   [12] Catharine Macaulay to David Stuart Erskine, 29 December 176851 Bath The long delay I have made in returning my acknowledgements for your very polite and agreeable letter has been wholly occasioned by an intense application to the finishing my fourth volume from which I would not suffer any consideration however tempting to draw me. That volume is now published and I am at present at Bath/​the late place of residence of your family/​in the hope of gaining sufficient vigor to pursue the laborious task. I am sorry that any accident should drive your Lordship from society, but make no doubts that the fruits of your solitude will in some measure make up for the loss of your conversation. I have little time to enter into Town talk and therefore am ignorant of the name of the fair one whom you honoured with your affection, if a matrimonial union would be any addition to your happiness I am sorry that inclination met with interruption. I am acquainted with a Mr Nisbett who I believe is a Scotchman. He is I know a lover of Truth and a very sensible Young Man. I never write particulars in the History of Modern politics therefore shall content myself with observing that the hopes and fears of parties were never more fluctuating than at present. I shall leave this place soon and therefore when you honor me with another letter if you please to direct to me at my House in Berners street Oxford Road London. My Compliments and Good wishes attend Lady Buchan and her family. I am my Lord, etc.   [13] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 12 February 176952 Edinburgh Madam, I had the Honor of your’s & should have returned my thanks for it sooner had I not been desirous to read your fourth Volume before I should write to you. I have now done so, & when I tell you that I approve highly of it, I tell you nothing that can flatter you, for your reputation is far above that Standard to which my Applause could add any weight—​Give me leave to add that Partial as I may be well supposed to be to any production of yours, a short & Simple Approbation without any warm Eulogys, from one who is so sparing

51 BL MS Montagu d. 19, ff.106r–​106v. 52 GLC01794.05 also typescript GLC01794.05.01. Addressed, Mrs. Macaulay, Berners Street, Oxford Road, London.

46  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay as I am of these figures in Rhetoric is more Significant than the Rhapsodys of a Modern Puffer. I have Seen a letter from A Young American within these few days of the name of Rush,53 of whom you have made an entire Conquest; & that too in a manner by which very few Ladies of my Acquaintance extend their empire: He gives a long Account of a Conversation you honord him with & is so full of it that he even sent down a Card of invitation you sent him to Breakfast, because it was wrote with your own hand as a Curiosity to his Friend. You will allow from this Specimen that you stand Very high in Mr Rush’s opinion, & I only mention it as a great Student of Human Nature to Show the effects Of uncommon Talents on Minds that can Apprehend them. I remember I never was more flattered then by overhearing Some common people in the Streets disputing whither it was I who passd by them one of them Alledging that I was a tall Stately Gentleman. You I am Sure are a Figurative Gyant & I wish I was So, as through the Channels of Truth & of Virtue it is the greatest object of my Ambition. Among my Acquaintances here I  have found one Lady who has read your last Volume with Conviction, & is likely to become a Convert to those principles which are So rarely to be met with in your Sex. I have heard an Eminent Sportsmen Say that Hares had a pleasure in being hunted, it would Seem as if the Same Instinct prevaild amongst the more timid half of the Human Kind for you are all advocates in general for that Enthrallment which in Some particular Cases you wish to elude; I had a letter lately from Dr Priestley the author of the Essay on Government, in which are contained many Excellent Sentiments with respect to Civil & Religious Liberty.54 But I thought him Guilty of Some dangerous Errors with respect to the papist Superstition which gave me great pain in the present State of it & which made me take the liberty to Send him Some strictures on those Passages.55 I do not expect that in the Midst of So much more Important occupations you Should take the trouble to answer my letters, at any time except when your other Avocations will Easily permit you. I shall inform you in what studies I am employed & for what Purposes Soon, But my health is so very indifferent, & I am so often attacked with Returns of my headaches that I am much retarded in my Progress, But how ever Or wherever I may be I shall remain with great Truth, Madam, etc.

53 Benjamin Rush. 54 Joseph Priestley, An Essay on the First Principles of Government (Dublin: James Williams, 1768). 55 Priestley argued for complete religious liberty, and claimed that getting rid of the remaining obstacles to allowing Catholics to hold public office would be no threat to the Protestants since “All the address and assiduity of man cannot, certainly, recommend so absurd a system of faith and practice to any but the lowest and most illiterate of our common people, who can never have any degree of influence in the state.” Ibid., 131.

The Letters  47 [14] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 9 June 176956 Delaford57

Sir, I embrace the opportunity which a Country retirement for a few days gives me to thank your Lordship for the honor of your last letter very polite and entertaining letter. I  flattered myself that long ere this you would be tired with your retreat and that we should have seen you acting a part in the bustling happiness which this Capitol produces. I had the pleasure of seeing Lady Buchan and one of your sisters for a few minutes during their residence in London. Lady Buchan looks well but is not free of complaint. Your Country my Lord has distinguished it self so highly lately that Scotland and Cappadocia58 will be equally famous through the annals of time. When you have an hour of Leisure I  shall be very happy to hear of your Lordship’s welfare. I am my Lord, etc. PS. I heard from a third person that your Lordship had done Dr Priestley the honor to make some very judicious reflections on his essay of government. Berners Street Oxford Road June 12, 1769.59   [15] David Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 25 June 176960 Middleton West Lothian Madam, I receiv’d your Obliging letter yesterday, every mark of your attention gives me pleasure, at the same time that it does me Honor, & I believe you will agree with 56 GLC01794.06 (draft). 57 In 1767 Delaford in Buckinghamshire had been purchased by Sir William Young, first baronet of North Dean (1725–​88). Lady Elizabeth Young (née Taylor, 1729–​1801), his wife, was a relation of Macaulay’s. She was the only daughter of the mathematician Brook Taylor (1685–​1731), who had married Elizabeth (Sabetta) Sawbridge in 1725. The elder Elizabeth, who died giving birth to the younger, was a daughter of Joseph Sawbridge (1672–​1719), who was Catharine Macaulay’s great uncle, John Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldric History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, 4 vols. (London: Henry Colburn, 1838), 4:210. He is mistakenly described in his grandson’s life of Brook Taylor as being John Sawbridge of Olantigh in Kent, Brook Taylor, Contemplatio philosophica: a posthumous work of the late Brook Taylor, L.L.D. F.R.S. (London: Shakespeare Printing Office, 1793), 34–​35. In letters [154] and [172] from Catharine Sophia to her mother she mentions these Youngs as their relations. 58 Cappadocia is in the region of Turkey now known as Anatolia. It was famous for its early Christian hermits, and Macaulay may be jesting that Erskine’s residence in Scotland will make it equally famous as a retreat. 59 Although written from Delaford, the letter was clearly not sent until Macaulay had returned home. 60 GLC01794.07.

48  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay me in the thinking that there is not a Gentleman in Cappadocia who esteems you so much or knows your Merit so well as I do. The manners of the lower sort of People in this Country are very simple & congenial to the Spirit of Civil Liberty but their poverty, the Relick of the Feudal System & the exclusion of small landholders from having any share in the Choice of the Reppresentatives, have in a great measure rendered all Ideas of the Origins of Civil Government too weak to produce any Visible effects on the organs of their understanding. The old affair of Presbyterian Church Government & the Idea of the Original right of the Heads of familys &c to Choose their own Pastors are the only Mediums through which the People receive any Notion of Popular prerogative. At the Revolution Patronage was destroyed as being hostile to the Ancient forms. Immediately successive to the Refformation, the Tory Ministry in the Queen’s61 reign reppeald King William’s act, forgetting that it was one of the things that a Brittish parliament could not do, as it was cutting down an express Article of the Union Treaty—​this circumstance creates continual heart burnings among the People & occasions frequent Appearances of the leading Clergy on the popular side of the Question in the General Assembly, that Savour a good deal of a Stand for Liberty in St. Stephen’s Chappel.62 This is pretty nearly the State of the Case & it goes but little farther though there is a Dr. Erskine, a Doctor Dick & a Doctor Maqueen, Ministers in Edinburgh, the first of whom is a Great Grandson of David Lord Cardross, who are men of great merit & particularly the two first. I shall entertain you with further particulars with respect to Scotland on some future occasion. I am Madam, Your Obliged Servant, Buchan. P.S. I  have never got the better of the severe Ague I  had about two years ago which among other unlucky effects has that of making me often very Indolent, & afflicting me with Headaches. I desire my Compliments to Mr Sawbridge63 & to be remembered Kindly to little Miss. I must do Scotland the justice to say that I have heard several people in it claim you, from your name & connection & that some few have even a very high opinion not only of the Stile but the Candor & Spirit of your History. I need hardly tell you that I refused to sign the Address as presses so, Lord Hopton64 did it and I did not attend the meeting.

61 Queen Anne. 62 St. Stephen’s Chapel in the old Palace of Westminster served as the chamber of the House of Commons from 1547 until 1834. 63 Catharine Macaulay’s brother, John Sawbridge. 64 Presumably John Hope, Earl of Hoptoun (1704–​81). It is particularly difficult to decipher the words “presses so” and what follows because of the way the material is inserted.

The Letters  49 [16] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 24 November 176965 Middleton Dear Madam, I blush on the recollection of the date of your last obliging letter, but since I read it at Aberdeen nothing has occurred in the course of my retirements at this place worthy of your Notice. I have been afraid , to ask you about Paoli, for I know so well what he has and will have to struggle with in England. His desire to renew a noble strife for the liberties of his brave Countrymen, will make him more attentive to those who have it most in their power, at present, to make it an object to the British Nation, and this attention will be interpreted by the Friends of liberty here as a defection from the common Cause. His ignorance of the complicated science of British politics, the superstition of the Corsicans, so incompatible with the principles of a mixed Monarchy or of a commonwealth and a thousand other circumstances which I need not mention to Mrs Macaulay, will make his residence in England less useful to his friends and less satisfactory to himself. By a Boston newspaper which now lies before me I see that your History is read with avidity and excepted in the General Embargo laid upon what comes from this Island. My cousin Dr. Erskine sent me another anecdote from new England which shews strongly their resolution. Though extravagantly fond of public newspapers, the supplement to the Boston Gazette is often omitted to be printed for want of New England or American paper. It would be well for the D[uke] of G[rafton]66 to read this little story. I ever am Dear Madam, with the most sincere regard, Your most obliged servant, Buchan.   [17] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 21 May 177067 Berners Street I am obliged to your Lordship for the sincere instance of your friendship in your kind enquiry after my health. The accounts in the news papers relative to it were true, I have languished under great indisposition of body all this winter but am now I thank God on the recovering trend. 65 GLC01794.57 (typescript). 66 Augustus Henry FitzRoy, third Duke of Grafton (1735–​1811), was at this stage was prime minister. 67 Letters of Samuel Johnson, collected by George Birkbeck Hill, vol. 10, HOU MS Hyde 77 (Case 10.397.2). Draft on verso of Edward Dilly to Catharine Macaulay, 5 January 1770, GLC01794.08.

50  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Those fugitive pieces I have had the pleasure of seeing with which you have favored have all great merit.68 I am impatient for a publication which you call of more consequence. The God Hymen has been very busy in your Lordship’s family lately. I wish the change of conditions may be attended with all the happy circumstances which are undoubtedly expected by the different parties. I have heard that they have all been in town but I was not acquainted with it and therefore missed the pleasure of seeing them. Believe me my Lord to be with a very sincere respect for your Lordship, etc. [Verso, in Buchan’s hand:] I have unluckily destroyed the greatest part of my correspondence with Mrs. M[acaulay] and Dr. Price69 and Priestley70 which I very much regret. The work alluded to in this letter of Mrs Macaulay was A View of the present state of Europe & its Revolutionary Aspects . . . from the folly of Scotland.   [18] David Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 21 January 177171 Edinburgh Madam! The Election affair which we have lately had here in Scotland, suggests to me that I ought to let you know as a Friend, that whatever pleasure it gives me to perceive a Stirring among the Dry Bones in this Land, yet I cannot say I think a resurrection of the true Spirit of Liberty is at hand. It was the circumstance of an Englishman being brought upon the field that roused the Old Caledonian Antipathies; & after the opponents had engaged to Breadalbane72 they could not decently forsake him. It was not consistent either to receive Lord Irvine without the least complaint & to remonstrate with

68 “Fugitive pieces” suggests these might be Fugitive Political Essays, which have appeared in the Public Advertiser During the last Winter, 1769 and 1770 (London: Richardson and Urquhart, 1770), but in his note Buchan says he sent “A View of the present state of Europe & its Revolutionary Aspects . . . from the folly of Scotland,” a work that I have been unable to identify. 69 Richard Price (1723–​91) was pastor at the Presbyterian chapel at Newington Green until 1783 and author of A Review of the Principal Questions and Difficulties in Morals (London: A. Millar, 1758); Observations on the nature of civil liberty and the principles of government, and the justice and policy of the war with America (London: T. Cadell, 1776); and later A Discourse on the Love of our Country (London: T. Cadell, 1789), which provoked Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France. He was a member of the Bowood group, who met at Bowood, the estate of William Petty, second Earl of Shelburne, along with Joseph Priestley (1733–​1804) and Jonathan Shipley (1713–​88), bishop of St Asaph. He was also a friend of Benjamin Franklin. 70 Joseph Priestley. 71 GLC01794.09. Addressed to Berners St. 72 Presumably John Campbell, third Earl of Breadalbane (1696–​1782), who sat in the House of Lords during 1752–​68 and 1774–​80.

The Letters  51 Violence against Lord Dysart.73 However I am in hopes that certain irritations & the love of Popularity may keep the present Opposition together till another Opportunity. I have no thoughts of coming to England, my private Affairs detain me at home. I  have erected some few monuments of my political penchants in the Country & am preparing to make a little Temple on an Eminence about a quarter of a mile from my House, Sacred to Liberty & to Learning, there I propose to have the Busts of (A. Sidney),74 (Ham[p]‌den),75 (C. Macaulay), (Locke),76 (Fletcher of Saltoun),77 (Sir James Macdonald).78 Such little Schemes amuse me & I see no openings or pastures of Affairs above that can render my retirement either immoral or even Reprehensible. Wherever I am or whatever may employ me I am with great truth, Madam, etc.   [19] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 22 July 177179 London Sir A very severe application to the finishing my fifth volume with a fever80 of four months continuence the consequence of that application has hitherto prevented my indulging my self with the honor of writing to your Lordship.

73 Lord Dysart was an Englishman with a Scottish title, whose candidacy for a seat in the House of Lords was opposed by a group of Scottish peers. At the previous general election, Lord Irvin, who also had no connection with Scotland, had been elected on the recommendation of the ministry, but this second attempt to make someone without Scottish connections one of the Scottish representatives was a step too far, “Narrative of the late Proceedings at Holyrood-​House in Edinburgh, for the Election of a Parliamentary Peer of Scotland, in the Room of the late Duke of Argyle,” Universal magazine of knowldge and pleasure (1771), 45–​47. The issue prompted at least one pamphlet calling for the sixteen Scots peers in the House of Lords to be directly elected to office, rather than being nominated by the ministry, Patrick Murrsy Elibank, Considerations on the Present State of the Peerage of Scotland. Addressed to his Grace the Duke of Buccleaugh (London and Edinburgh: T. Cadell and J. Balfour, 1771). Although he takes a stance of detachment in this letter, the article in the Universal Magazine shows Erskine to have been a supporter of Breadalbane. 74 Algernon Sidney (1623–​83). The unpublished manuscript of Algernon Sidney, Discourses concerning government (London: n.p., 1698) had been used against him in his trial of 1783, and since his execution, Sidney had been a favorite martyr of those opposed to Stuart tyranny. Macaulay gives a long account of his trial and defends him against later detractors in HEAJ, 7:72–​73, 425–​89. 75 Hampden; see letter [8]‌ note. 76 John Locke (1632–​1704). 77 Andrew Fletcher (1653?–​1716) was a Scottish patriot and political theorist who had been charged with high treason in 1685, and had supported the Duke of Monmouth. He was a friend of John Locke. Later Erskine published Essays on the lives and writings of Fletcher of Saltoun and the poet Thomson: biographical, critical, and political (London: J. Debrett, 1792). 78 Unidentified. 79 EUL La. II. 588, draft GLC01794.10. 80 Draft “very severe.”

52  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay I never regarded the opposition of the Scotch peers to the dictates of the Court relative to the Election of the representative Lords in any other light then an opposition on narrow and selfish principles but am very much obliged to your Lordship for your accurate and succinct account of it. Your family and friends would no doubt be happy if a return to the Great World could be agreeable to your inclination but your retirement is so far from immoral or even reprehensible that in the manner it is used by your Lordship it is highly commendable Your Lordship does me very great honor in the giving me a place in your Temple sacred to Liberty and that you continue to honor me with your friendship is a circumstance very high flattering to your Lordships, etc. [PS. I am a going to spend some time at Margate in the Isle of Thanet for the recovery of my Health use of Sea Bathing towards the recovery of my health.]81 [20] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 20 September 177482 Bath I have the pleasure inform your Lordship that Dr Arthur Lee of Virginia83 who some time makes a figure in the papers among the Friends of Liberty must be the same person who formerly had the honor of your correspondence. I have been these last six Months a resident at Bath and do not know how long I shall be yet necessitated to continue one on account of my health but when I see Dr Lee I shall certainly communicate to him the agreeable intelligence that you remember your former acquaintance and intend him the favor of renewing it. Near a Year ago I had the honor of writing a Letter to your Lordship but as I never received an answer am afraid it did not reach you. My daughter is in very good health and desires her respectful compliments. I am very much obliged to your Lordship for the honor you do us in desiring to be informed on the state of our health and in particular for the testimony you give of yet continuing a friendship for me and am My Lord, etc.  

81 The PS is not found in the version at EUL. Macaulay’s cousin Colonel Jacob Sawbridge was master of the Thanet Freemason’s Lodge, and the family owned property in the region of Margate. Soon after her marriage to Charles Gregorie, Macaulay’s daughter and her family spent the summer in a house, described as “slight,” in Ramsgate, which she calls “our house.” See letter [184], dated 24 July 1790. 82 The Morgan Library and Museum, MA Unassigned. Addressed, To the Right Honourable, The Earl of Buchan, Kirk Hill, Scotland. 83 Arthur Lee was a brother of Richard Henry Lee (see letter [81]), and residing in London.

The Letters  53 [21] David Steuart Erskine to Catharine Macaulay, 8 October 177484 Kirkhill85

Dear Madam! The Letter you mention which you was so good as to write to me about a year ago I had not the pleasure of receiving but I know very well that there could arise no bad consequence from its contents being deleted, even to the great Lord North.86 I look upon my adherence to the Friendship & respect I have had so long for Mrs Macaulay to be one of the Diagnostics of my Determined attachment to the Liberties of Mankind; and I verily believe it will be dissolved only with the Fabric that is the Medium of my Senses, and I think not even then, let the French Materialists write or say what they please.87 I am happy to find my Young Friend88 is in good health, I wish I had a Lord Cardross to lay out for Her, if she imbibes the Sentiments of Her Parent and Protetrix, she would be a Companion for such a Son as I would wish to have. It gives me real concern to find that you are still ailing & I shall think it a very particular favour to know when your health is more established, for in my Hermitage it regales me to think of the wellfare of my Friends of whom the List on my part is so very short that I am sure it would not add much to the length of this letter to Enter them in a Chancery hand. Ten years experience have now confirmed Her in that Catalogue. Whose etc.  

84 GLC01794.11. Addressed to Bath, which is crossed out and readdressed Honiton, Devon. 85 Kirkhill in Linlithgowshire was one of the Buchan family estates, which Erskine was intent on improving. 86 Frederick North, second Earl of Guilford (1732–​92), had been the mover, in November 1763, of the parliamentary motion declaring Wilkes’s North Briton 46, a seditious libel. He had supported the Stamp Act and taxation of the American colonies, and the exclusion of Wilkes from parliament. He had become prime minister in 1770, a post he would hold until 1782. 87 Editions of works by French materialists were widely available, for instance, Julien Offrey de La Mettrie, Man a machine. Translated from the French of the Marquise d’Argens (London: W. Owen, 1749); Paul Henry Thiry, baron d’Holbach, Systeme de la Nature ou Des loix du monde Physique & du monde morale, 2 vols. (Londres [Amsterdam]: n.p., 1770); Le bon-​sens ou idées naturelles opposées aux idées surnaturelles (Londres [Amsterdam]:  n.p., 1772); Systeme social, ou principes naturales de la morale et de la politique (Londres [Amsterdam]: n.p., 1773); Helvétius, De l’esprit: or essays on the mind and its several faculties (London: Dodsley and Co.; Millar, Nourse, and Tonson; Hitch and Hawes; Mr Flecher; Mr Meril; J. Coote, 1759). 88 Macaulay’s daughter, Catharine Sophia.

54  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [22] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 18 December 177489 Bath I intended to have written a second Letter to your Lordship to enquire whether my Letter of last year came safe to hand, but your obliging condescension has precipitated the Discovery of an accident which whilst unknown carries the appearance of an unpardonable neglect on my side. The enlargement of the happiness of a Man whose Virtues understanding and knowledge engaged me to Love and esteem him, often occasioned in me fruitless wishes that those virtues and abilities should be handed down to posterity and that my friend should ever Live in his children’s children & all generation. But your Lordship has added a strong stimulus to those wishes by engaging my Daughter’s interest in that  event I am infinitely obliged to your Lordship for the concern you take in the state of my health and for those professions of friendship which would reflect honor on a Sydney90 or a Cato.91 My health is I thank God much better than it has been for some years at this Season and if my eyes, which have been much affected with my last Sickness, were proportionably strengthened to the amendment in other particulars I should be able to return to the labours of composition. My Daughter joins me in respectful compliments and best wishes for your Lordship’s health and prosperity and I am My Lord, etc.   [23] Catharine Macaulay to David Steuart Erskine, 23 February 177892 Bath, Alfred House The favor of your Lordship’s letter found me just returned from a Journey to Paris where I resided a few weeks for the recovery of my health after a long and dangerous illness. I have the pleasure to inform your Lordship that sentiments of liberty which are as you observe lost in these united Kingdoms never flourished in a larger extent or with more vigorous animating force than they do at present in France. Your Lordship does me the honor to congratulate me on the recovery of my health by means of Dr Graham’s medical skill and I must do Dr Graham the justice to observe to your Lordship that he not only strengthened and returned 89 GLC01794.12. 90 Algernon Sidney; see letter [18] note. 91 Cato of Utica, Stoic political leader who suicided rather than surrender to Julius Caesar, had, since the beginning of the eighteenth century, become a byword for republican virtue. 92 New York Historical Society, AHMC Catharine Macaulay, non-​circulating.

The Letters  55 the injured state of my nerves, injured indeed greatly by a long and severe application, but when on his return from Edinburgh he found me on the brink of the grave from the severe attack of a Billious intermitting Autumnal fever he under God gave me a rescue from the Grim Tyrant by a judicious mixture of the Bark, often I had taken repeatedly taken that Drug not only without success but with very ill effects when administered by others of the faculty, I do assure your Lordship that I look upon Dr Graham as a happy Genius in the medical line of knowledge and as such very cordially recommend him to you Lordship’s notice and patronage in the extent of his practice at Edinburgh where he is now from a predilection to his native country determined to fix. It is undoubtedly the interest of the public to encourage all men of science and abilities who will venture to step out of the hackneyed road of the medical practice by which thousands languish under the pressure of curable disorders and at length sink to the grave secundum artem. I have this month published a vol of the history of England from the revolution to the resignation of Sir Robert Walpole. I hope it will meet with the same aprobation which your Lordship has done me the honor to express for my former publications. I am very much obliged to your Lordship for your kind remembrance of my Daughter, she is at present at a Boarding School at Chelsea. I beg you will present my best compliments to Lady Buchan and believe me to be your Lordships, etc.

William Harris (1720–​70) William Harris was a historian of the Stuart period who published lives of James I, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, and Charles II, which consisted largely of material copied from earlier sources.93 In his account of Charles I’s life he accused him of duplicity and insincerity, and denied he was a martyr, but did not justify his execution. While there was little of his own commentary on events in these volumes, Macaulay must have found them extremely useful compilations of source material. The following letters between Dr. Harris and Macaulay were published in the 93 William Harris, An Historical and Critical Account of the Life and Writings of James the First, King of Great Britain. After the Manner of Mr. Bayle. Drawn from Original Writers and State-​Papers (London: James Waugh, 1753); An Historical and Critical Account of the Life and Writings of Charles I King of Great Britain. After the Manner of Mr. Bayle. Drawn from Original Writers and State-​Papers (London: R. Griffiths, T. Field, and C. Henderson, 1758); An Historical and Critical Account of the Life of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. After the Manner of Mr. Bayle. Drawn from Original Writers and State Papers (London: A Millar, 1762); An Historical and Critical Account of the Life of Charles the Second, King of Great Britain. After the Manner of Mr. Bayle. Drawn from Original Writers and State Papers (London: A. Millar, 1766).

56  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay European Magazine and London Review in May and June 1788, along with a letter from him to Thomas Hollis, their mutual friend.94 Harris had been considerably helped in writing his work on Cromwell by Hollis, who, during 1759, copied various letters from and to Cromwell for him, in order to assist his enterprise.95 The letters between Macaulay and Harris were accompanied by a note saying that “the decease of a person in this town has thrown into my hands a correspondence which I think will afford some entertainment to the readers of the European Magazine. You are at liberty to insert it at such times as may be most convenient, but I expect it to be without alteration. You will observe that the initials only of some names are written; and this rule, for reasons of no consequence to mention, must be observed in printing. I am, &c LEMUEL, Honiton, May 5, 1788.”   [24] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 23 May 176796 Honiton

Madam, It is with great pleasure I hear, by our friend, of your return. I hope you received benefit from the waters, and continue well. Colds here are almost universal, so that few escape being disordered by them. Mine I think is on the mending hand, so that I hope to be tolerably well again soon. By the waggon was sent you yesterday a paper parcel, containing a few books and pamphlets, of which I entreat your kind acceptance.

94 William Harris and Catharine Macaulay, “Letters between Dr.  Harris and Mrs Macaulay,” European Magazine and London Review 13 (1788):  317–​18 and 406–​9. The following excerpt is headed, “From, William Harris to Thomas Hollis”: Praise and honour be ever to Mrs Macaulay! T.H. Mrs Macaulay’s work pleases me. She has sense, spirit, and dignity. Let scoundrels look up and admire. She shall have a place, however, in my parlour, and be honoured with the company of Sir Henry Vane, Cromwell (war selfish good Doctor!), Thurloe, &c. If the lady accepts my trifles, I shall be much pleased. You may assure her of my esteem (the esteem certainly of an Englishman without guile, and ingenuous), and the free loan of any thing my library contains, which may be any way serviceable to her work. The writer of the Confessional, I suppose, is aware of the fate of a reformer; but I am persuaded (and the writer) he has a spirit to brave it. Thank God! we can all of us do for ourselves; or, I know (and the writer), we should have little reason to expect any thing from what is called the World. What a writer is that freebody in the St. James Chronicle! [A man in black, on commendam with Leviathan]. This is dated, Pall-​Mall, 28 February 1767, suggesting that it was a letter copied by Thomas Hollis. “Freebody” refers to “Nathaniel Freebody,” the name used by the author of a “Miscellany” in the St James Chronicle. 95 Hollis, “Diary 1759–​70.” 96 European magazine, and London review 13 (1788): 317–​18.

The Letters  57 I much applaud your advertising the Loose Remarks97 with your name; they do honour to your judgement, and will be read with attention and applause by men of virtue and understanding. The high and mighty villains, the hunters and oppressors, the vain, the foolish, and the proud, that is, almost all the titled animals, the plagues and pests of every society, will, without understanding run your excellent works down; but I am much mistaken if your name is not handed down to very distant ages. Clarendon daily sinks into contempt; Hume will not as an historian be long esteemed; and Smollet is dwindled into merely a romancer.98 Truth was not their object; their foundation therfore cannot, could not last: whereas the facts and reasonings in Mrs. Macaulay’s writings are such as time will never overthrow. This Madam, is no flattery: and with pleasure I find the impartial public join in your praise. I hope W—​—​will give us some more anecdotes. Our heroes cannot be too roughly handled; though, much I fear, they are incapable of amendment. I am, etc.   [25] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 21 November 176799 Honiton

Dear Madam, Your favour of the 19th September merited more early acknowledgement; but my bad health will be my excuse. I thank God I am at present, however, much better, and now hope I may possibly begin my History, for which I have been continually laying in materials. If I live to finish it, I shall have my wish. I hope the Reflections on National Establishments in Religion* has reached your hands, and may have afforded you a little amusement. The writer is not much used to controversy, and therefore his defects are the more pardonable. Be so good, Madam, as to command any materials you may stand in need of, in finishing your next volume, which it is in my power to give you. I again assure you, any of my books or pamphlets are very much at your service. There is much canvassing against the approaching election through the west; but am very sorry to see that men’s principles and behaviour in private or public life are not attended to. The country gentry are ignorant; the voters in boroughs venal; so that we have a wretched prospect before us. But thus it seems it must be; and few, very few, seem apprehensive of the consequences. I am extremely 97 It was still relatively uncommon for women to put their names to their publications. 98 Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, The History of the rebellion and civil wars in England, begun in the year 1641, 2 vols. (Oxford: n.p., 1702–​3); Smollett, A Complete History of England; and Hume’s histories all took a far more royalist line than Macaulay. Nevertheless, as a first hand witness of events, Clarendon remained an important source for her. 99 Edinburgh magazine, and London review 13 (May 1788): 318.

58  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay glad you enjoy your health so well, and wish you the long continuance of it. My neice and wife interest themselves much in your welfare, and join in compliments to you. I am, Madam, etc. * It was entitled, “Observations on National Establishments in Religion in general, and of the Establishment of Christianity in particular. Together with some occasional Remarks on the Conduct and Behaviour of the Teachers of it. In a Letter to the Author of an Essay on Establishments in Religion.” 8vo100   [26] Catharine Macaulay to William Harris, 16 December 1767101 St James Place,

Dear Sir, I am very sorry you have so good an apology to make for not giving me the pleasure of hearing from you so often as I could desire. I know well the fatigues of writing in a bad state of health, and am myself at present a convalescent from a fever just brought on by too strenous and continued an application. A tract, entitled Reflections on National Establishments in Religion, was sent me by our liberal friend Mr. —​—​, and gave me very great pleasure. I am surprised the author could find time, in the midst of his labours, to write so excellent a tract. A gentleman of my acquaintance has lately published a pamphlet in answer to those jesuitical papers which appeared in the Ledger, and afterwards were collected in an octavio pamphlet. I suppose they have by this time reached Honiton. The preface and first chapter shew the writer to expect church preferment, which is the truth, and by whom he was set to work; but the controversy is, in my opinion, well conducted, and the arguments skillfully managed. In regard to your very friendly offer, I shall certainly take the liberty to send to you for any necessary materials of which I find myself deficient; and flatter myself I shall have an opportunity to avail myself of your judicious collections and reflections to be found in the life of the Stuarts, &c. to the last period of my History; i.e. that you will be able to conclude yours. In regard to the present state of manners in this country, it is indeed pitiable, and the consequences to a reflecting mind appear formidable; but the unthinking herd never have sufficient foresight to avoid impending evil. My grateful comliments to Mrs. Harris and your neice for being so good as to interest themselves in my welfare. I am, etc.

100 William Harris, Observations on national establishments in religion in general, and on the establishment of Christianity in particular (London: S. Bladon, 1767). 101 European Magazine and London Review 13 (May 1788): 409.

The Letters  59 [27] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 8 February 1768102 Honiton Madam, I am extremely obliged by your favour of the 16th December last. I hope this will find you in better health than when you wrote. For my part, I think myself much better than when I wrote to you, though not wholly free from complaints. We must relax a little, or we shall hardly be quite well. I have just made a beginning of James the Second; when I shall end God knows. I foresee a long work; but I wish for nothing more in life than to perfect it according to my own ideas; that is, fully to state popery, arbitrary power, and the nature of government, civil and ecclesiastical, as fixed at the Revolution. Here you see is a vaste field, as I intend to take in the memorable events of William’s reign, til the death of his father-​in-​law. I suppose the whole herd will be up in arms on the occasion. Dr. —​—’​s pamphlet I have read; it is judicious enough; but it provokes me to think that men of talents should want a spur, the mean spur, (for such I think the expectation of preferment is) to the exertion of them. I am glad Mr. W—​—​has characterized Clarendon so justly henceforth he will not, after Warburton, stile him the Chancellor of Human Nature. I expect down next week the Clarendon papers; I am sure, if they are of authority, they can never authenticate his romance. When do you publish your octavo volumes? Surely, Madam, it would be right to have such an edition, as your work will fall into more hands, and be more useful. Our clergy in the country still talk of Charles the first as a saint and a martyr; and the last madding day, even in the cathedral of Exeter, the opposers of him and his measures were very much vilified; so that you see things are as they were. What shall we say?—​Let us not despair.—​With all my heart, and I heartily wish that you and I may yet live to bear testimony against those wicked, unreasonable men the Stuarts, and all their abettors. I am, etc.   [28] Catharine Macaulay to William Harris, 16 April 1768103 St. James’s Place Good Sir, I am ashamed to have been so long in returning you thanks for your favour of the 8th February; but I had so much illness this winter, as to prevent my applying to those amusements and occupations which are the most agreeable to me. The

102 103

European Magazine and London Review 13 (June 1788): 406–​7. European Magazine and London Review 13 (June 1788): 407.

60  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay account of your amending health gave me great pleasure; I sincerely hope you next will inform me of its continuance. I have been disappointed in my intention of publishing my fourth volume this spring; but by the assistance of a milk and vegetable diet, which I have been obliged to submit to, I hope I shall have no interruptions, and that my fourth volume will make its appearance in the beginning of the next winter. After this publication, I propose to bring out an octavo edition. How far the more general circulation of the work in question may affect vulgar prejudices, I know not; but I believe, whilst there is a priest in the world, they will preach up doctrines and opinions opposite to the improvement and happiness of mankind, in spite of anything you or I can write, or of the better sense of the public. Pray let me know in your next when we are to be favoured with another volume of your excellent work. My compliments attend Mrs. Harris and your niece. I am, etc.   [29] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 23 December 1768104 Honiton What apology shall I make to you, my much honoured and esteemed Madam, for not making good my promise of seeing and conversing with you at Bath? I will relate facts, and trust to your goodness for the interpretation of them. My health after my return from Weymouth was but tolerable; but about the beginning of October I found it necessary to set out for Bath, where I was till the middle of November, when I came home pretty well, and in good spirits; but for a a fortnight back I got ill again, and last week for two days kept my bed. I am now once more indifferently well again, and hope to continue so. This, Madam is my history, from which you will perceive that my health has been chequered, and that neither the epithets of good or ill could be long applied to it. While at Bath I flattered myself with hearing of your arrival there; but when the season was so far advanced, I gave up that hope, and concluded that you would defer your journey thither to the spring; in which thought I continued till the receipt of your two letters, which I  own I  ought to, and would have answered, had I known of your being actually there, which I did not till last post by the London papers. Let me now, my dear Madam, after this tedious narrative, congratulate you on the finishing and publication of your fourth volume. Mr. —​—​speaks highly of it; and, by the extracts I have seen in the Chronicles, not more highly than it deserves: you will not doubt of its being acceptable to all the lovers of liberty; that is, to all the good and wise; and to no other would an honest writer want

104

European Magazine and London Review 13 (June 1788): 407–​8.

The Letters  61 to be acceptable. But are you not afraid of the power, in an age like this, where every thing is construed into libel—​when every thing is said to be seditious, and tending to inflame, and where persons are ordered to appear at —​—​,105 for a little asperity of expression, how great soever the occasion?—​Many, very many will fear; but I know your magnanimity and fortitude; and I know they will not dare to attack you.—​The truth seems to be, they regard little of what is said about the dead; but as to themselves, they will not be spoken of, because they know they deserve to be exposed. Many an happy hour should we have passed, had it been our fortune to have been together, as we purposed; and many an execration would you have heard proceeding from my mouth against the foul fiends who have the dominion over us. I heartily wish you the recovery and preservation of your health, and hope we may again see each other with pleasure. My wife and niece return you their most respectful compliments. I am, etc.   [30] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 30 January 1769106 Honiton Dear Madam, Your very obliging letter and your kind present came safe to hand, and I think myself very honoured in receiving it from you. Though I have been far from well, I have read it through with much pleasure and great attention. You have done justice to your subject, and consequently to yourself and the public; so that you may defy the whole herd of critics. The manner you treat the Aristocratical gentry particularly pleases me; you draw characters admirably, and in general your sentiments are agreeable to my own. I differ from you with regard to the punishment of Laud.107 The man that could desire the rack for Felton, who could record with pleasure the cruel punishment procured by himself for Leighton108 and others, was unfit to live, in my opinion. Indeed, as an ecclesiastical tyrant, he deserved his fate. I hope you got well to London. My wife and neice sent their compliments to you. I am etc. Don’t you expect some curses on this day?109 105 It is not clear why this is left blank in the original. Harris is in all likelihood referring to Wilkes, who had just returned from voluntary exile in Paris. 106 European Magazine and London Review 13 (June 1788): 408. 107 William Laud (1573–​1645), archbishop of Canterbury, was tried in 1744 on charges of treason and the advancement of popery. In this instance Macaulay somewhat agreed with Hume, that the execution of Archbishop Laud was unjust and unnecessary, and judged that he “fell a sacrifice to the intolerant principles of the Presbyterians.” HEAJ, 4:153. 108 See letter [9]‌ note. 109 30 January 1649 was the date of Charles I’s beheading.

62  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [31] Catharine Macaulay to William Harris, 4 March 1769110 Berner’s-​street, Oxford Road. I sincerely hope that this will find you in a better state of health than when your last favour to me was written. I am very happy in observing that we do not differ widely in sentiment; that the contrariety between us is merely opinion, and that a good deal confined to the subject of Archbishop Laud. Your position that such an ecclesiastical tyrant deserved death, I do not contradict; but still I think it could not equitably have been inflicted by a party who absolved his fellow-​associates in guilt; and there was no apparent necessity to justify any irregularity in his treatment. I shall always think myself happy in the being indulged with your remarks; and am good Sir, with sincere wishes for the welfare of yourself and family, Your etc.   [32] William Harris to Catharine Macaulay, 15 July 1769111 Honiton Madam, You are exceedingly obliging to enquire concerning the state of my health; were it as I know you wish, it would be well indeed: it is far otherwise: within a week after my return from London, my old complaints returned, and I have been forced ever since to seek health on horseback, and in the fresh air. It is not half an hour since I came from Sydmouth, where I have a lodging, and where, during the heat, I shall reside. May you and your amiable daughter enjoy much happiness! I congratulate you on Mr. Sawbridge’s success. May liberty still be triumphant! I am, etc.   [33] Catharine Macaulay to William Harris, [July 1769?]112 Olantigh Your health is much desired by me, on a personal, public, and historic account; and would be indeed perfect, if the wishes of mortals had power to influence the decrees of fate. I am very sorry to hear so bad an account of it, but exhort you to give way to necessity, and not to struggle against what is irresistible, to the injury of your health. I am very much obliged to you for your kind congratulations for

110

European Magazine and London Review 13 (June 1788): 408. European Magazine and London Review 13 (June 1788): 408–​9. 112 European Magazine and London Review 13 (June 1788): 409. 111

The Letters  63 the success of my brother, and for the prosperity of our cause—​the glorious cause of liberty and man. I am at present at my brother’s house in the country, for the residence of a few days; he desires his best respects and thanks. My compliments attend yourself, Mrs. Harris, and niece. I am, etc.

James Boswell (1740–​1795) Most famous as the biographer of Samuel Johnson (1709–​84), Boswell made Macaulay’s acquaintance through their shared admiration of the Corsican general Pasquale Paoli (1725–​1807). Despite this shared interest in the Corsican republic, they did not warm to each other. When this correspondence took place, Boswell had fairly recently returned from a grand tour of Europe, during which he had visited Rousseau and Voltaire, and trekked across Corsica, meeting with Paoli. One result of this excursion was an account of his travels in Corsica, a copy of which he gifted to Macaulay.113 Boswell’s interest in women was largely sexual, and he did not really approve of them aspiring to intellectual excellence. He flirted with, and considered proposing to, Belle de Zuylen (1740–​1805), who became a successful novelist and essayist under her married name, Isabelle de Charrière. Boswell told her to “never to think of metaphysics,” adding that “speculations of that kind are absurd in a man, but in a woman more absurd” than he cared to express.114 While escorting her to England, he had seduced Rousseau’s companion, Thérèse le Vasseur. Macaulay was clearly not attractive to him, and his main influence on her life was being among those spreading the account of her exchange with Samuel Johnson, in which Johnson ribbed her for her leveling principles, by asking her why she did not invite her servant to sit down with them.115   [34] James Boswell to Catharine Macaulay, 1 February 1768116 Edinburgh . . . he writes to me thus: Le osservazioni sopra dell’Hobbes servono a meraviglia per guarire i Spiriti proppo prevenati a favor della Monarchia  .  .  .  gli altri punti . . . constituzione sia sempre felice e libera. Una perpetua riconascenza e 113 Boswell, An Account of Corsica. 114 Frederick A. Pottle, ed., Boswell in Holland, 1763-​1764: including his correspondence with Belle de Zuylen (Zélide) (London: Heinemann, 1952), 303. 115 Boswell, Life of Johnson, 1:448. 116 Sold at Dominic Winter Auction, 31 January 2018, Lot 284. Number 7 in Phillips catalog, mentioned in Cole, Baker, and McClellan, General Correspondence of James Boswell: 1766–​1769, 2:15.

64  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay la gratitudine pubblica di un intiera Nazione seanno la ricompensa della di lui applicazione e zelo. Paoli was not informed to whom he was obliged for so elegant & spirited an address. I have now however told him and have ventured to asure him that the Lady will continue her correspondence. Such public addresses from Great Britain do honour both to this country and to Corsica, and were it not that we are in general dead to nobleness of sentiment, there would be many more zealous friends of the brave Islanders. Permit me Madam to join my thanks to those of Paoli. I have the honour to be etc.   [35] Catharine Macaulay to James Boswell, 17 February 1768117 St. James’s place. Sir: I take the earliest opportunity to return you my thanks for three considerable favors which you have done me the honor to confer on me. The first is the valuable present of the judicious history of Corsica, a well timed spirited and elegant work.118 The second is the notice you were pleesd to take of a small work of mine entitled loose remarks etc. and the third is the transmitting to me the agreeable intelligence that that publication has met with the approbation of the Corsican Chief Paoli as I had no imagination that the pamphlet would ever come to the hands of that illustrious modern Worthy.119 The passage which he does me the honor to refer to relating to a further correspondence was only put in to shew that the exhibited sketch was not intended as a perfect one and with a view to enlarge it to a regular compleat extensive system as soon as I had gone through the laborious fatiguing work which I am now upon. A correspondence with Paoli would certainly do me great honor and give me great satisfaction and I shall always be ready to the utmost of my power to obey his commands but exact notes on the important subject of Police Militia and Education would require the severe application of a Couple of Years. Could I be so happy as to have a conversation with the great ornament of this age I flatter my self that I could give hints which his genious would improve to the point of perfection but I am afraid that Cursory remarks on paper would be of small service. When I received the History of Corsica I was in great hopes that the Author was in London. When your affairs call you this way I desire Sir that you will add to 117 Beinecke Library (BLY), James Boswell Collection GEN MSS 89, Series II Correspondence (1672–​1850), Box 26, ff. 635; printed in ibid., 2:22–​23. 118 Boswell, An Account of Corsica. 119 Boswell had arranged for Macaulay’s LR to be sent to Paoli, with other republican works, Cole, Baker, and McClellan, General Correspondence of James Boswell: 1766–​1769, 1:238–​39.

The Letters  65 your favors and give me the pleasure of seeing a Man of whom I have heard much and with whom I wish to be acquainted.120 I am, etc.

Charles Geneviève Louis Auguste André Timothée d’Éon de Beaumont, Chevalier d’Eon (1728–​1810) In 1768, the Chevalière d’Eon was in London, ostensibly as minister plenipotentiary for the Court of France, but actually on a secret spying mission for Louis XV. He had not yet falsely “outed” himself as a female, who had been raised as a boy.121 The following note is the only evidence that exists for Macaulay having been acquainted with him.   [36] Catharine Macaulay to Chevalier d’Eon, 10 March 1768122 St. James’s Place Mrs Macaulay presents her compliments to the Chevalier d’Eon. She has sent a copy of the third volume of her work to obtain his friendly judgement of the merits of the translator. Mrs Macaulay takes the liberty to beg that care may be taken of the copy, as it is the only one which is corrected for another edition.

Mr. Pye The identity of Mr. Pye is unclear. Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) includes information concerning an engraver John Pye (1746–​1789) and a poet, Henry James Pye (1745–​1813). A Benjamin Pye was the author of a tract called Five Letters on Several Subjects in which he approvingly quoted Macaulay’s criticism of the doctrine of passive obedience and referred to her account of the 1641 massacre of Irish Protestants by Catholics.123 If the letter concerns a painting, then the first would be the more probable person, but Mr. Pye may well have been the third who is likely to have been an acquaintance. The letter to which this draft is a reply has not been found. 120 Boswell did subsequently visit Macaulay, in April 1768, but the encounter was not a success. In a letter Boswell claimed, “She was very complimentative to me, but formal and affected, and she whined about liberty as an old Puritan would whine about grace. In short I was rather disgusted with her.” F. Brady and Frederick A. Pottle, eds., Boswell in Search of a Wife (New York: McGraw Hill, 1956), 161. 121 Gary Kates, Monsieur d’Eon is a Woman: A Tale of Political Intrigue and Sexual Masquerade (New York: Basic Books, 1995); Charles de Beaumont d’Éon, The Maiden of Tonnerre: The Vicissitudes of the Chevalier and the Chevalière d’Eon, trans. Roland A. Champagne, Nina Ekstein, and Gary Kates (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001). 122 Bibliothèque Municipale de Tonnere. 123 Benjamin Pye, Five Letters on Several Subjects, religious and historical: in which the Injurious Complaints and Misrepresentations of the Popish Writers are Occasionally Considered (London: C. Bathurst, 1769), 13, 41.

66  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [37] Catharine Macaulay to Mr. Pye, 24 December 1768124 Sir I should have answered the lines of your former letter but having no franks125 directed to you waited for a more urgent occasion. I will with pleasure agree to the composition proposed by Mr Reynolds,126 but desire it to be understood as agreed to by me on generous, not on prudent considerations. The security I have on Mr Wilkes’s estate is a very probable one, for the whole sum due,127 but I will not suffer a selfish consideration to help to distress a man, who is suffering for his intrepidity in the defence of a cause to which I am passionately devoted /​ The cause of public Liberty/​. When the money is forthcoming you paid, you will please to give in my name a receipt in full for it, and I will give up the bond when I return to Town, you will if you please, as you mentioned, pay the money into my banker’s hand and take from them a receipt for it.

Benjamin Rush (1745–​1813) On his return to Philadelphia, Rush would become a successful physician and educator. He would also encourage Tom Paine to write and publish Common Sense, which played an important part in firing up the movement for American independence.128 He was introduced to Macaulay by a Dr. Bruce, and she invited him to her “evening Coterie” which met weekly on Tuesdays. There he was introduced to Mr. Burgh, Sir Adam Ferguson, Captain Phipps, General Webb, and her brother John Sawbridge, and became a great admirer of hers.129   [38] Benjamin Rush to Catharine Macaulay, 18 January 1769130 Pennsylvania Coffee-​house131

Madam, I have taken the liberty to interrupt you for a few minutes with a letter, as the present situation of my affairs will not admit of my paying you a formal visit. It has 124 GLC01794.33 (draft). 125 The eighteenth-​century post was paid for by the receiver. “Franks” relieved the receiver from having to pay the charge. They were originally granted to members of Parliament, to allow them to correspond with their constituents, without the constituents having to pay. 126 Is this a painting proposed by Joshua Reynolds (1723–​92)? 127 This no doubt refers to the loan, mentioned in letter [75] to Wilkes. 128 Thomas Paine, Common Sense (Philadelphia: R. Bell, 1776). 129 Rush, Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, 60. 130 GLC01794.48 (typescript) printed in LR2,  29–​32. 131 Although, in the printed version, this letter is addressed “Pennsylvania Coffee House,” the letter below, from Rush to Macaulay, implies that this must have been written before Rush departed from England.

The Letters  67 given me great pleasure to reflect, since I had the honor of being at your house, that the exalted opinion I had always entertained of your character and principles, has been much increased by the interview I had with you. The objects you have in view are the noblest that ever animated a human breast. The highest honor to which a generous mind can arrive, is to be capable of communicating happiness to its fellow-​creatures. The least addition of it to an individual, is likewise an addition to our own; and should we even fail in our attempts to make our fellow-​creatures happy, the consciousness of our good intentions compensates for the disappointment we meet with, and more than repays us for all our trouble. How noble then, Madam, must your views be, which terminate, not on the happiness of an individual but of nations; and of nations too who are to live for centuries to come! Political freedom includes in it every other blessing. All the pleasures of riches, science, virtue, and even religion itself, derive their value from liberty alone. No wonder therefore wise and prudent legislators have in all ages been held in such great veneration; and no wonder too those illustrious souls who have employed their pens, and sacrificed their lives in defence of liberty, have met with such universal applause. Their reputations, like some majestic river which enlarges and widens as it approaches its parent ocean, shall become greater and greater through every age, and outlive the ruins of the world itself. You, Madam, will shine among the brightest throng of these with double lustre, in as much as you are the only individual of your sex who has hitherto been distinguished in this noble cause. Allow me now, Madam, to make an observation or two upon your admirable letter to General Paoli. In page 31 and 32, you propose “that generals and admirals should be taken out of the senatorial order, and that they should vote in the senate during the time they are in office, though not otherwise elected into that assembly.” I will not pretend to say that the love of liberty, and the love of arms, are incompatible; but, if possible, I would chuse that every man who holds an office in your republic, should necessarily be a lover of liberty. The strict discipline kept up in armies and navies disposes military gentlemen, above all others, to contract an arbitrary temper, which when brought into private or civil life becomes disagreeable, and is often attended with a good deal of danger. Besides, men who have fought in defence of their country, and have endured the hardships of war, naturally claim a superiority over the rest of their countrymen. They feel their own importance, they know how necessary they are to the support of the state, and therefore assume more to themselves than is consistent with a free government. Should they ever be provoked to it, their knowledge in arms, and their popularity with the soldiers and common people, would give them great advantages over every other citizen, and would render the transition from democracy to anarchy, and from anarchy to monarchy, very natural and easy. Upon this account, I think, it would be best that military officers should be entirely excluded from having any share in the legislature. Civil offices would always distinguish them sufficiently in times of peace, and amply reward them for their bravery and public spirit in times of war.

68  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay In page 32, you propose that “the representative assembly should not have the power of imposing taxes till the subject has been first debated by the senate.”—​ Give me leave to observe here, that I cannot help thinking that the representative assembly should retain the exclusive right of taxing their country to themselves. They represent the greatest part of the people. They are supposed to be collected from all parts of the commonwealth, and are, therefore, much better acquainted with the circumstances of the country. Besides, they (from their greater number) are naturally supposed to have more property in the state, and, therefore, have a better right to give it away for the purposes of government. Perhaps I am wrong in both these observations.—​If I am, I expect to be rectified by you, Madam, who are so well skilled in the science of government. I am but a young scholar in the school of politics, although I have made great progress in the love of liberty; for this, let me assure you, Madam, was among the first passions that warmed my breast. Allow me to conclude in the same words in which you have addressed the illustrious Corsican general, and to assure you that I am, etc.   [39] Catharine Macaulay to Benjamin Rush, 20 January 1769132 Berners-​street, Oxford-​road Sir, The pleasure I received from your elegant and polite letter, was much alloyed by the hint it conveyed, that I was not to expect any more of your conversation. I see you have very strongly one essential quality to the composition of a great legislator, viz. distrust; which, according to the expression of a philosopher, is one of the nerves of the soul. The contrary to this virtue, viz. confidence, has rendered all civil establishments abortive of their just ends; and I do assure you, that I should not have suffered generals, admirals, and such dangerous officers, to have a vote in the senate of my republic, if I had not thought I had sufficiently guarded against the selfish evils of such an assembly, or individuals of such an assembly, by only allowing them (like the fathers of adults, the society being of age to judge for themselves) the privilege of giving their advice. The senate, you see, has no coercive power to put any of their resolutions into practice: rotation sufficiently secures the popular assembly from corruption; and, without corruption, they never would be guided by the selfish views of their superiors. On the supposition that rotation will always prevent corruption, I have not deprived the senate of the assistance of the most experienced members of the society, in the business of defending their country; nor left military employment barren of

132

GLC01794.49 (typescript) printed in LR2,  33–​35.

The Letters  69 temptation to excite the ambition of men of genius fitted to shine in the great department of government. It is on the above mentioned supposition also, that I trust the senate to advise in the business of taxation; on the reason, that all the important concerns of the republic, before they are put into execution, may be duly weighed by all the orders of the state. The senate I have placed in the character of the fathers of the people, and invested them with the only rational authority which belongs to the father of an adult, the privilege of advising, but not that of coercing their advice. I have endeavoured, in my Sketch of a Democratical Form of Government, to make all interests unite in the welfare of the state, and deprived every individual order, or class, of the power of hurting it. I hope, if you take the trouble, with these comments, to read over again that little tract, you will find it what I pretended to make it, a perfect skeleton of a democratical form. If you will do me the honor to let me know how I can convey any parcel to you, when returned to America, I will send you half a dozen of a more perfect edition, when it comes out. I cannot conclude this letter, though long, without adding, that nothing can console me for the being precluded by my engagement to the English public from defending the cause of the Americans, but that I think the general principles of the rights of mankind inculcated in my great work, is of more advantage to them than the more suspected arguments framed for the service of a particular purpose. Sir, with great admiration for your zeal for liberty, and with gratitude for your high estimation of my endeavours to serve the public, I remain, etc.   [40] Benjamin Rush to Catharine Macaulay, 25 November 1769133 Madam, Instead of taking up your time in making an apolgy for my neglecting to write to you immediately after my arrival in America, I  shall begin my letter by informing you that your Name and your History are every day becoming more and more known in this Country. Arts and Empire will die in America. To be known here therefore is a greater happiness than to possess the Fame of a Marlborough134 or a Robertson135 in any part of Europe. But to be admired and celebrated here as a patroness of Liberty and a defendant of the rights of Mankind is the highest pitch of honour an ambitious mind can aspire after. This, Madam is an honour you have already acquired—​an honour which will continue to increase (to borrow an Indian allusion) “while the Sun shines and the rivers flow.” 133 GLC01794.56 (typescript). 134 No doubt referring to John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough (1650–​1722). 135 Presumably William Robertson (1721–​93), whose The history of Scotland during the reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI, till his accession to the crown of England, 5th ed., 2 vols. (London: A Millar, 1769) was just published.

70  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay By a vessel which arrived here a few days ago we learn that General Paoli is in London. I could almost persuade myself to take a second voyage to England on purpose to see him. I understand he is to lodge at your House, methinks I already see him surrounded from morning to evening with a company of patriots. One while lamenting the downfall of his once flourishing little Commonwealth, and then again planning schemes to restore it to Liberty and Happiness,—​now he calls his few attendants to witness with what firmness they stood the repeated assaults of the Enemy, and then he drops a tear when he adds that all their bravery and resolutions were in vain—​I sometimes flatter myself that he will seek a retreat in America. Tell him how much he is the idol of this Country. Should he be persuaded to visit us our spirits would revive, and we would hail him as the man who was one day to be the champion of American, as he was once of Corsican Liberty. Our affairs here in America are very quiet. We continue determined to import no more British Goods till the Revenue Acts are repealed, a spirit of Industry begins to prevail among all ranks of people. New Manufactories are set up every day amongst us. These things I hope will convince the ministry of the Folly of their conduct towards us. The next generation of Britons will curse the memory of that man, that first proposed the taxing of America. I expect to have the honour of hearing from you soon. Mr. Dilly136 will forward your letter to Philadelphia. I am at present closely employed not only in the practice of Physic but in teaching one of the Branches of medicine in the College of the City.137 An Office this, which is not only attended with considerable profit—​ but what to an aspiring mind is of more consequence—​a good deal of Honour. I mention this only to apologise for the shortness of this letter. I hope it will serve as an introduction to many future ones from both sides of the Ocean. I have etc.   [41] Catharine Macaulay to Benjamin Rush, [Spring 1770?]138 Sir, A very weak state of health under which I  have languished all winter has prevented me from answering ere this your very polite but long delayed letter. You have dressed up a very pleasing idea of General Paoli’s figure and conduct in the Country, but I do assure you this fiction of a splendid imagination is the very 136 Charles Dilly (1739–​1807) and Edward Dilly (1732–​79) were publishers and booksellers. Their publishing house was a meeting place for Americans and English writers and reformers, and they conducted a brisk book trade in both directions with America, using Benjamin Rush and his brother as agents, Lyman H. Butterfield, “The American Interests of the firm of E. and C. Dilly, with their Letters to Benjamin Rush, 1770–​1795,” Papers of the Bibliographic Society of America 45 (1951): 283–​332. 137 He was appointed to the medical faculty of the College of Philadelphia in August 1769. Rush, The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, 81. 138 GLC01794.63 (typescript).

The Letters  71 reverse of reality. Ever since Paoli has resided in England he has been in the hands of the Ministry, receives a pension from them and has been seen by very few of the friends of Liberty and consequently is totally disregarded by the people. The quiet state in which your affairs were when you did me the honour to write to me, I fancy is a good deal disturbed by the bloody event of the massacre of the citizens of Boston by the Military.139 I sincerely mourn with the brave Americans that horrid catastrophe. You give me a very flattering description of my reputation on the other side of the Atlantic, I shall ever esteem it as a grateful reward of my labours to be regarded by your magnanimous Countrymen and to enjoy the friendship of an individual of your private merit. I am rejoiced that the situation of your affairs are in the prosperous way you describe them. I am, etc.   [42] Benjamin Rush to Catharine Macaulay, 1775140 Madam, The bearer of this Mr Samuel Stockton141 is a lawyer of eminence in this country and the brother of a gentleman who, with the offices of a Judge & a Councillor in the Province of New Jersey, is a firm advocate of the claims of America. Your polite attentions to Mr Stockton will add to the many obligations confirmed on Madam, your etc.

George Simon (1736–​1809) Simon was the second Earl of Harcourt, who inherited the title when his father, Simon Harcourt (1714–​77), died on 16 September. Prior to this he was Viscount Nuneham from 1749 to 1777.   [43] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 30 January 1769142 Berners St, Mrs Macaulay presents her respects to Lord Nuneham and takes the liberty to inform him that on Tuesday the seventh of February there will be a meeting at her 139 News of the Boston Massacre, of the fifth of March 1770, when soldiers of the Twenty-​Ninth Regiment fired on civilians, killing five, had been sent to Macaulay by James Bowdoin and other Boston citizens; see letter [79]. 140 Manuscript copy in HOU, MS Am 811.1, Arthur Lee Papers, 57–​58, is proceeded by a similar letter of introduction addressed to John Sawbridge by Rush. 141 Samuel Stockton (1751–​95), brother to Richard Stockton (1730–​81), whose daughter Julia, Rush would marry on 11 January 1776. 142 Bodleian Library (BODL), Harcourt papers, MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 1r.

72  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay house of some of the Literary of her acquaintance, which meeting will be continued on the same day of the week through the course of the Winter or Year. Mrs Macaulay will be very glad of the honor of Lord Nuneham’s company on that Day as often as it may suit his Lordship’s pleasure or conveniency and shall particularly hope to see him on the first Day of the meeting if Lord Nuneham will favor Mrs Macaulay with his company next Tuesday, Mrs Macaulay will communicate more of the scheme to his Lordship.   [44] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 29 March 1769143 Berners St, Oxford Road.

My Lord Lest a direct message to the Duke of Liancourt144 should be misunderstood, as I cannot write in the French Language, I take the Liberty to inform your Lordship with a desire that you will communicate to him that my Brother will have the honor of conducting him in his own coach to the Brentford145 election, if it will be agreeable to the Duke to be conveyed in that manner. I hope your Lordship caught no cold or found any other inconvenience from your civility to the patriot Lord Mayor. I am etc.   [45] George Simon to Catharine Macaulay, 1769146 Monsieur de Liancourt is now at Newmarket and as he proposes going from thence into Norfolk, he will probably not return to London, ’till near the time of the Middlesex election; but the first opportunity that offers after his arrival, I will have the honour of delivering your obliging message to him, and of informing him of your very polite attention, and Mr Sawbridge’s offer of protection. I should be happy myself to be of the party, that I might be an eye witness of the important contest on that Day, but I am (as you well know Madam) so circumstanced that I dare not appear openly the zealous friend to Liberty, that in my heart I really am. I am very glad 143 BODL, Harcourt papers, MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 3r. Addressed to The Right Honourable Lord Nuneham. 144 François-​Alexandre-​Frédéric (1747–​1827) duc de Rochefoucault-​Liancourt, who would inherit the title of La Rochefoucault in 1792. 145 Brentford is the historic county town of Middlesex, situated at the confluence of the river Thames and river Brent. It was here that the Middlesex elections were held. In the previous year, Wilkes had been elected as one of the members of Parliament for Middlesex, but had been expelled. He was re-​elected at a by-​election on 16 February 1769, and then deemed “incapable” of election, by the House of Commons. A further election, held on 13 April 1769, is the one being referred to here. At it, Colonel Henry Lawes Luttrell (1737–​1821) stood as an alternative candidate, and although he was defeated 1,143 votes to 296, was awarded the seat by the Commons. 146 GLC01794.36, mistakenly dated 1770.

The Letters  73 you were not at the Mansion House on Monday, for the cold was beyond anything I have felt this year and your health is of such importance to your friends and to the nation in general, that you ought carefully to avoid everything, by which there may be the least danger of injuring it. The company was just what I expected, persons of the city, for Courtiers & titled people dared not appear at an entertainment given by a popular magistrate, my Lord Fife, an Irish Lord,147 & Lady Mary Hay, Daughter to Lord Errol148 were there, the former regularly attends those entertainments for the pleasure of shewing his gold coat, and of having his name called over in his rank by the City Cryer, & the latter could have no motive for going there but curiosity. Allow me Madam etc.   [46] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 10 April 1769149 Mrs Macaulay returns her very grateful compliments to Lord Nuneham for his obliging attention to procure her indulgence without prejudicing her health. Mrs Macaulay will esteem the snuff box as a very flattering token of Lord Nuneham’s friendship.150 Is very sorry that there is one of the Middlesex Journals missing but believes the two enclosed contain all the Letters relative to Mr Lutterell’s151 shameful clamour.   [47] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 27 April 1769152 Berners St, Sir I have the pleas to inform your Lordship that petition153 will be carried up to the Throne some time in the next I shall be able to tell you some particulars when I have the favor of seeing you next. I have the Honor to be your Lordship’s etc. 147 Presumably James Duff, second Earl of Fife (1729–​1809), who was an Irish peer and MP for Banff. 148 This is puzzling, since Mary Hay, Countess of Erroll, died in 1758. In 1769, the Earl of Erroll was James, Lord Boyd, the grandson of Mary Hay. He had a daughter, Mary, who would only have been fifteen years old at this date, Sir James Balfour Paul, ed., Scots Peerage Founded on Wood’s Edition of Sir Robert Douglas’s Peerage of Scotland, 8 vols. (Edinburgh:  David Douglas, 1906), 3:580–​81. 149 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 5r. Addressed, To the Right Honourable Lord Nuneham. 150 This snuffbox is sent with letter [48], so Harcourt must have mentioned it to her earlier. 151 Alternative spelling of Luttrell, see letter [44] note. 152 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 7r. Addressed, To the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Nuneham. 153 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fols. 14r–​17r is the original copy of this petition, dated 22 March 1769. A slightly different version survives in typescript, GLC01974.52, see appendix.

74  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [48] George Simon to Catharine Macaulay, 6[?]‌154 June 1769155 Leicester House I intended Madam to have done myself the honour of paying my respects to you last Sunday, but the loss of one of my oldest & best loved Friends, has made me very unfit to appear in company, nor have I once been out of the House since my return from the Country, or should before this time have waited on you. I go again into Oxfordshire, on Saturday next, so that I fear I have no chance of seeing you before I leave London. Will you excuse me Madam for adding to this note, a little Snuff Box I sent for to Paris on purpose for you? and which I meant to have asked your acceptance of, in person, but for the unfortunate event I have mentioned may I also flatter myself that you will receive it as a token of my very sincere & respectfull regard? Nuneham. Lady Nuneham tells me that she has written, to excuse herself, for not having paid her personal acknowledgements, for the honour of your Visit.156   [49] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 5 June 1769157 Berners St. Sir I am impatient to snatch the first opportunity of returning your Lordship my most grateful thanks for the honor of your very polite and obliging letter accompanied with your very elegant and magnificent present. We have no Civic Crown my Lord in this Country, but we have yet one Nobleman who despising the contemptible dissipation of a worthless age makes it his business to distinguish public virtue. I shall ever regard your Lordship’s friendship as the most pleasing reward for my Literary labors and preserve your present as one of the choicest trophies of my life. I am extremely concerned to hear that the rude and undiscerning hand of affliction has invaded the happiness you so well deserve and shall think it long till the returning season brings me the pleasure of your conversation. I have received the honour of Lady Nuneham’s note am very much obliged to her for the promise of a visit next Winter and wish her Ladyship with your Lordship a sufficient stock of Health and spirits to enjoy the pleasing beauty and tranquility of a Country retreat. I am my Lord, etc. 154 Although clearly dated 6 June, this letter must have been sent earlier, since Macaulay’s reply is dated 5 June. 155 GLC01794.35. 156 Endorsed, “This one written in the Book.” 157 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 9r–​9v; draft, GLC01794.34.

The Letters  75 [50] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 2 February 1770158 Mrs Macaulay presents her best respects to Lord Nuneham and takes the liberty to send him the original copy of the petition drawn up for the use of the City of London.159 Mrs Macaulay’s compliments attend Lady Nuneham.   [51] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, [1773]160 Titchfield St. My Lord It was with a mixture of pleasure and pain that yesterday on my return from the City I received the favor of your Lordship’s note, accompanied with the two Pantheon tickets. The trouble you have so obligingly taken gave me no small pain and it was with great pleasure that I received this fresh mark of the friendship with which you honour your Lordship’s, etc.   [52] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, June 14 [1773]161 My Lord Your polite apology fills me with confusion lest I should have done wrong in my application. I, by leave do assure you, that I never thought it could be complied with and only made it to satisfy the importunities of a friend from whom I had received some trifling obligations. I return my thanks to Lady Nuneham for her compliment and in particular to your Lordship a proffesion of a friendship I set so high a value on. I have the honor to be your Lordship’s etc.   [53] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 8 October, 1777162 Alfred House, Bath.

158 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 11r. Addressed to the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Nuneham. 159 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fols. 14r–​17r. See Appendix. 160 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 16r. Dated only “Tichfield St, Sunday morn,” but since Macaulay to Burgh, 29 November 1773 is also addressed Titchfield St., we can assume that this is from this period. 161 BODL, Harcourt papers, MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 18r. Addressed to the Right Honourable The Lord Viscount Nuneham, dated, June 14th, 1773 on cover, “Monday morn,” in interior. 162 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 20r. Addressed to the Right Honourable the Lord Harcourt, Nuneham near Abingdon, Berkshire.

76  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Sir Tho it has long since I have had the honor of seeing or hearing from you yet the having enjoyed the friendship of Lord Harcourt is too pleasing a circumstance not to be fresh in memory. I am going in the beginning of next month by the advice of my phsicians to change the air of this foggy island for the air of the continent and do intend, if the place agrees with me, to make the city of Paris my winter’s residence, if not to move toward the south till the warmer season. The former goodness I have experienced from your Lordship encourages me to beg you will give me such letters of recommendation as will make my stay in that city agreeable to me in point of society. I have just finished the printing of the first vol of the History of the Revolution to the present times163 and it will be published some time in November. I hope it will meet with an equal aprobation from your Lordship to that which the rest of my works have had the good fortune to obtain. My best respects to Lady Harcourt conclude me your Lordship’s etc.   [54] George Simon to Catharine Macaulay, Wednesday, 1777164 Nuneham In obedience, Madam, to those commands which I shall ever esteem it as an honour and a pleasure to obey, I herewith send 3 letters of recommendation, and I have in them, endeavoured, Madam, to do justice to your private character, as well as to that highly esteemed one you enjoy as an author, among all persons who love their country, respect the right of mankind in general, or are judges of the beauties of historic composition—​I have moreover, Madam, already announced your intention of visiting Paris, to the Dukes of La Rochfoucault, and Liancourt, whom you may remember to have frequently seen at your own house.165 As it may be some advantage to you, not to remain absolutely unacquainted with the characters, and situations of those, to whom my letters are addressed, I will briefly sketch out their history—​ Monsieur le duc de Harcourt,166 is a very agreeable, and respectable man, of excellent taste, and of a cultivated understanding—​Monsieur le Comte de Sarsfield167 though 163 HERT. 164 GLC01794.13. 165 Louis-​ Alexandre de La Rochefoucault, duc d’Enville (1743–​ 92), see Daniel Vaugelade, Louis Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld 1743–​1792 un aristocrate au service de la science (La Roche-​ Guyon: Les Éditions de l’Amandier, 2014). For François-​Alexandre-​Frédéric, duc de Rochefoucault-​ Liancourt, see letter [44] note. 166 Anne Pierre de Harcourt (1701–​83), fourth marshal of France. He was not a relation of George Simon. 167 Guy-​Claude, Count of Sarsfield (1718–​89).

The Letters  77 grandson of one of the bravest and most distinguished among the bigoted defenders of the wretched house of Stuart, is himself one of the most friendly, most worthy of mankind, and is universally beloved both in France (which by his Grandsire’s folly is become his country)168 and in England where he often comes, and to which Island he is more partial than you Madam, and I, who know it better, can ever be—​ Monsieur Wattelet169 is a gentleman in many parts of his character like the former, and is connected with all the celebrated men of letters, and artists, and has also distinguished himself both as an author and as an artist, in the first capacity by his Poem with excellent dissertations at the end of each Canto, called l’art de la peinture,170 in the second, by a considerable number of beautiful and masterly etchings. Though I have already written so long a letter you must permit me, Madam, before I conclude to regret the necessity your state of health lays you under, of quitting this country, but I hope that you will soon find so much benefit by a change of air, as to [be] enabled to return again among your friends—​nothing could in any degree reconcile me to the idea of your leaving us, but the prospect of the present you intend to leave behind you, and for the publication of which I shall wait with utmost impatience—​I hope Madam you are persuaded that no additional title, or alteration of name will make any change in those opinions I have constantly hitherto maintained, and which have been so fortunate as to meet with your approbation, or in those sentiments of sincere esteem and respect for you which, I beg leave Madam, again to repeat the assurance of. Harcourt I should humbly advise you to leave the letter to the Duc de Harcourt, at his hôtel, in one of your morning airings.   [55] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 20 October 1777171 Alfred House, Bath. Indisposition my Lord has for three days prevented my returning my grateful thanks to you for your letters of recommendation and what is still more interesting for the very obliging manner in which you indulged me with that favor. You do me great honor in the condescending to give me assurance that no change of Title or fortune can alter those principles or that conduct which have 168 Patrick Sarsfield, first Earl of Lucan (1660–​93), remained faithful to James II, and was one of the leaders of the Irish Jacobites, who fought for James II in Ireland, and then fled into exile in France. Once again, Harcourt’s genealogy is puzzling, since according to Piers Wauchope, “James Frances Edward Sarsfield (1693–​1719),” DNB, his only child, died unmarried. 169 Claude-​Henri Watelet (1718–​86). 170 Claude-​Henri Watelet, L’art de peindre, poème, avec des réflexions sur les différentes parties de la peinture (Paris: H.L. Guerin & L.F. Delatour, 1760). 171 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 22r–​22v. Addressed to the Right Honorable the Earl of Harcourt at Nuneham in Oxfordshire.

78  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay rendered you so truly amiable in the eyes of the just and the deserving. My Lord I never doubted you, your virtues always appeared too steady too uniform too well founded on the justest principles not to be permanent and I cannot help being pleased that the house of peers has one member which would have done honor to that house in the best of times. My generous friend Dr Wilson172 to whom undoubtedly you must have heard I have been much obliged was so delighted with your politeness to his friend that he desires me to present his best repects. If I am advised by the French Physicians to leave Paris in a hurry I shall not deliver your Lordship’s favors till my return to that city in the Spring. I wish your Lordship all that prosperity and happiness which his virtues so well deserve I beg you to present my compliments to Lady Harcourt I was much concerned that my illness prevented me having the honor to wait on her during her short stay at Bath. I am my Lord with respect and sincere regard your Lordship’s etc.   [56] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 17 January 1778173 Bath, Alfred House. My Lord,—​You will undoubtedly till you have heard the story of my journey be very much surpised at my sudden return, and of my passing through London without having done my self the honour to have waited on your Lordship, to give my thanks to you in person for the many civilities which were paid to me in Paris through your Lordship’s strong and powerful recommendations. By the accident of going into a tepid bath rather too cool and after a hot day, I was attacked, my Lord, at the end of the summer with one of the most formidable of all the species of intermitting fevers, and with every symptom which could threaten the dissolution of a very delicate frame. The faculty here, after having made what was very bad much worse by their unavailing remedies, in despair of my life, and not caring that I should dye under their hands, sent me over to Nice for change of air.

172 Thomas Wilson, D.D. (1703–​84), at whose house in Alfred Place, Bath, Macaulay was then residing. 173 BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fols. 24r–​27v. Printed in Edward William Harcourt, ed., The Harcourt Papers, 13 vols. (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1880), 8:105–​13. This letter was sent by Harcourt to Walpole, W. S. Lewis, ed., The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, 48 vols. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937–​1983), 35:485. In letter [150], Walpole thanks Macaulay for allowing him to see it.

The Letters  79 I was so weak when I left Bath, that from Bath to London I was obliged to be six days on the road, and to remain one fortnight in London to recover strength sufficient to pursue my journey. Your Lordship has been in France, and therefore must have an adequate conception of what I suffered from the bad accomodations which I met with on the road from Calais to Paris, being in the weak state of body which I have described, and my fever with all its terrible symptons still preying on my constitution. When I arrived at Paris the Physician to whom Mr. Walpole recommended me said that I should certainly perish on the road if I attempted to go farther. Happily for me the Bark which I had before repeatedly tried in vain about a week after I was in Paris began to have so good an effect as to abate my fever suffuciently for me to partake of that agreeable society which your Lordship’s recommendations had preparred for me. The Duke of Harcourt called upon me several times, offered me all the civilities which are usually offered by that polite people to women of consequence, and would have made a dinner for me if I could have stayed to have accepted it. Monsieur Watelet is in a bad state of health, but attended me often; he also would have made a dinner for me, but I was obliged to decline the civility. I really, my Lord, know not how to express in a sufficient manner the strong sense I have of the very great civilities shewed to me by your very amiable friend the Count of Sarsfield; he reminded me of all the goodeness and indulgence which I have often experienced from your Lordship; he made a dinner for me the moment I was able to go out, and invited the ladies of the highest rank in his family to the entertainment; he recommended me to their notice and their civilities, nor was there a day during my stay in Paris that he did not call upon me to offer his services. As soon as I have recovered my fatigue I intend to write him a letter and send him all my works which are already published; but I beg when your Lordship writes to him that you will have the goodness to express to him the very high sense I have of all his favours. The Dukes of Rochefoucault and Lèoncourt were not at Paris when I  first arrived there, but I had the honour of seeing them before my departure; they also were very friendly and polite. As your Lordship has not lately been in France you will undoubtedly expect from me some account of the manners and the present opinions of the Parisians. In regard to their manners, my Lord, tho’ I had formed a very high idea of them I found report for once had lessened truth. I was quite charmed with the decent rational system of social life which the good sense of these people have rendered general; and in regard to their sincerity, I received more important acts of kindness from more that one individual during my short stay at Paris than I ever received from any acquaintance of so short a date in my whole life.

80  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay In regard to the political opinions of the French, my Lord, I fancy they must be a good deal changed since your Lordship was in France. If it was not for the necessity of a passport in the King’s name to go out of France, and the being asked at the gates of the several French towns whether you have any thing in your coach contrary to the orders of the King, you would not know by any thing you heard spoken by the people of any rank, and especially of the better sort, that you lived under the power of a Monarch. In no one company in France do you ever hear any one indivdiual of the Royal Family or the Princes of the Blood mentioned; and tho’ the Queen of France174 is at present in the prime of youth and beauty, is regarded by the English as very handsome, dances exceedingly well, and is possessed of all those accomplishments which attract and captivate most powerfully the vulgar in the favor of Women, and particularly of Women of her exalted rank, yet I do assure you, my Lord, that I never heard this princess once mentioned by a Frenchman. You know we are fond of rattling our chains in our ears which is the most provoking part of the servile dispostion which prevails among the English. In addition to this account I must tell your Lordship that after the French had paid compliments on my genius and on my literary powers, the quality which they regarded as the next highest compliment was that I was a hater of kings. In regard to the part they take in our civil wars, they are all American mad; and I do assure you, my Lord, that even your Lordship would not be well received in France if you were not an American. All the enlightened French wish ardently to see a large empire established on a republican basis to keep the monarchies of the world in order; and all the vulgar have the same earnest desire, through hatred and jealousy of the English. I am told that this spirit from this last motive is so universal through all the continent of Europe, that, if I had entertained a different idea of our ministry from what I have, I should have thought it my duty, provided my health would have admitted it, to have waited on my Lord North175 on my first arrival in England, to have acquainted him with the dreadful storm which hangs over this devoted country. After the description which I have given to your Lordship of the manners and opinions which now prevail among the French, your Lordship will undoubtedly be surprised that I should make so short a stay with a people whose opinions and manners are so similar to my own notions on these capital points. Indeed, my Lord, it was sad necessity which drove me away; as my stomach was always very unfortunately delicate, I nauseated from the first, tho’ I was prejudiced in its favor, at all the food I met with in France; their meat is carion, their poultry and even their game insipid, and their cookery most detestable. They have no good spices to season their meats with, and they use them too sparingly; their

174 175

Marie Antoinette (1755–​93). Lord North, see letter [21] note.

The Letters  81 made dishes are a collection of gravy drawn from bad meat, fat, &c., without other flavour but what a little onion gives; thus the stomach is loaded with every thing baneful to it without the assistance of warm spices to help digestion; and, in addition to these mortifications, as my stomach was very weak after my illness, all their wines turned sour upon it. Thus all the juices of my body, vitiated by my long and important illness, was deprived of that nourishment which can alone restore the decayed strength and yeild fresh balm to the oppressed constitution. My disorder, after three weeks remission, fell all upon my stomach and bowels, and I was obliged to return for the advantage of that kindly nourishment which I believed to be found only in England, and among the English and Scotch who are in America. What I suffered on the road in my return in this inclement season, and under these circumstnaces, I will not wound your Lordship’s general humanity and the private friendship with which your Lordship honours me, in relating all the particulars of; it is sufficient to observe to you that I never tasted other nourishment but water for several days, that I was taken out of my coach every day in a dyeing condition, and tumbled into a hard bed in which I could never get warm; and, if I was not kept awake with fever, was kept awake with cold, and the violent pains in my limbs which the jolting and shaking of the carriage occasioned, notwithstanding I was always laid quite cross it with blankets over me. In this way, my Lord, and in the terror daily of being laid up in a wretched French hotel, I got in about the space of six days to Bulloign,176 very much out of humour, as you may imagine, with all Physicians who send their patients to travel with any important illness upon them for their health. At Bulloign I luckily met with one of [a]‌factor’s vessels177 which saved me the misery of going three leagues and a half further by land, but I was so weak when I was put into the vessel, that, being necessitated to get out of my bed by reason of the sea sickness, I tumbled down on the floor, and all my attendants, who were also unfortunately very sick, regarded me as one in the agonies of death. A cold sweat bedewed my whole body, and I was so weak that I could not lift my hand to my head to wipe off the moisture which fell from my mouth; however, being at last landed safe at Dover, I found myself much refreshed by the comforts of an English Inn and a warm room. Here I stayed two days, and then proceeded by slow stages to Maidenhead, when my fever began to rage so violently, and every other dangerous symptom to encrease so fast upon me, that I was put into a bed and was obliged to send for an Apothecary; but by the help of an emetic, after keeping my bed two days at Maidenhead, I was enabled to reach my house at Bath by 176 Boulogne, France. 177 A factor is a trader, or merchant. The printed version has introduced a capital letter, but this is not in the manuscript. Since I have not been able to find reference in contemporary newspapers to a shipowner called “Factor,” Macaulay has presumably left out an indefinite article and means, “one of a factor’s vessels.”

82  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay slow journies. The violent effforts which nature made to fling off my disease in the course of my journey succeeded so far, with the assistance of an excellent good warm house and good nourishment, that my fever has been decreasing ever since I have been at Bath; my nights are tolerably good, and I seem to have nothing now but weakness to contend with. This long letter, my Lord, if I did not highly depend on your Lordship’s friendship, would undoubtedly be very impertinent, but as I cannot help flattering myself that you rank me among that happy select number who have the honor and privilege of being among your Lordship’s friends, it will undoubtedly find its excuse. I hope that you received your muff safe, that you will do me the honour to let me hear from you soon, and that you will present my respectful compliments to Lady Harcourt. Dr. Wilson joins me in respectful compliments to yourself, and I am, my Lord, etc.   [57] George Simon to Catharine Macaulay, 25 January 1778178 Harcourt House Your Letter Madam astonished me; for although I never thought the faculty more free from craft, than other professions, yet I did not think it possible that could carry it to such a length, as to condemn any person to take a foreign tour for the improvement of their health, when they were in that wretched state of sickness & debility in you describe yourself to have been at the time of your leaving Bath. When you informed me madam, of your intention of your undertaking so long and fatiguing a journey, how could I guess that you were so little well to put that design into execution? This entire ignorance with regard to your allarming situation alone prevented my taking the liberty of enquiring after you since your return yet, though I should be extremently concerned to appear deficient in any point of respect or attention towards you, I know not how to lament an ignorance, that saved me from the grief and anxiety, I should have felt, had I been better informed—​I flatter myself that I may now rejoice (as I sincerely do) at the pleasing prospec of your prfect recovery, in which not your friends only, but the public is interested. I knew the French nation too well, having been three times in France myself, and having lived with many of that nation’s best, to entertain the least doubt of your meeting with a most distinguished and honourable reception, at Paris—​they pay more regard than we do to genius, and litterary merit, and these are united in a woman, who moreover possesses a manly spirit and a strong and manly eloquence, such an uncommon character, could not fail 178 GLC01794.14. Although this letter has “January 25, 1779” written in the left top corner, it is clearly a response to the above and from 1778.

The Letters  83 to inspire them, with all the respect that is so justly due to it—​I foretold before you went, that we should suffer by a comparison with our neighbours, for we are really sunk to nothing; the love of slavery and servility, are now the characteristic marks of an Englishman, and false taste and peurility, are the consequences of such a depraved inclination—​look at the ornaments in our buildings; what are they but an heap of tawdry unneccessary sans stile sans utiles without art or design? I read our books, what are they in general, but a pompous jumble of sonorous words in the Johnsonian style? This most miserable style, is called fine writing, and is unhappily become so universal that every Miss makes use of it in her notes and the scullione Christie179 has adopted it in every advertisement for the sale of a Villa, or a load of second hand furniture—​Swift180 and Addison181 did not write such prose, and one need not have recourse to a Lexicon182 to make out their meaning; but then to be sure, it was not so fine as the frothy Doctor’s—​I am rejoiced madam at the praise you bestow on Monsieur de Sarsfield183 who merits indeed the high opinion you have conceived of him, for there exists not a more respectable man—​he mentions you with the greatest regard, and was highly highly pleased with the present you made him, that your intention of giving him the remainder of your work will be the most acceptable return you can make for the civilities he showed to you. I received your letter at an hour when almost every person who could purchase, borrow, or hire a court dress were vying with each other who should rattle their gilded or silver chains the loudest; but as I am not fond of this fashionable English Music neither Lady Harcourt nor myself bore a part in the concert at Saint James last Monday, and have absolutley excluded ourselves for ever of being enrolled of the Band, by not having (as is the universal custom) been presented, on my coming to the Earldom. Lord Chatham184 has declared that he would as soon subscribe to the doctrine of transubstantiation as to acknowledge the Independence of America; which declaration being translated I take to have the following meaning, that he is anxious to get into office and that he is throwing out a bait to tempt the King to send for him; but should he be disappointed, and the Leviathan not nibble at it, I do not guess how he will avoid the difficulty, his false ambition will have drawn him into. 179 James Christie (1730–​1803) was the most successful of contemporary auctioneers selling paintings, household effects, and property. He regularly advertised in newspapers such as the Public Advertiser, Morning Chronicle, and Morning Post, the latter two papers being partly owned by him. 180 Jonathan Swift (1667–​1745), author of satirical works including Gulliver’s Travels. 181 Joseph Addison (1672–​1719) was responsible, with Richard Steele (1672–​1729), for producing The Tatler from 1709 and subsequently, The Spectator, between 1711 and 1712. The collected essays from both of these papers continued to be republished and widely read throughout the eighteenth century. He was also the author of the incredibly popular and influential play Cato, which glorified the republican austerity of Cato of Uttica. 182 Samuel Johnson had published his A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755. 183 Guy-​Claude, count of Sarsfield; see letter [54] note. 184 William Pitt; see letter [10] note.

84  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Lady Harcourt sends a thousand Compliments, and I must beg the favor of you, Madam, to present mine to Dr Wilson. I received the muff very safe, and immediately after the reception of it I sent to enquire where you lived (thinking you would make some stay in London) that I might have an opportunity of congratulating you on your safe return, but your speedy departure having prevented my intention of waiting on you I must now beg leave Madam to have the honor of offering my thanks, and of renewing the sincere assurances of my most perfect respect, and regard, Harcourt.   [58] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 28 March 1778185 Bath, Alfred House I was just on the point of writing to your Lordship when I received this morning the favor of your letter; the subject of it gives me some chagrin, because I find by your Lordship’s intimation that Monsieur de Sarsfield has missed the receiving a letter which I wrote to him some months agoe, informing that my works would be sent to him as soon as they were bound; they are now in the hands of an American gentleman,186 who has promised to deliver them, but I shall esteem it an additional favour to those which I have already received from your Lordship, if, when you write to the Count, you will inform him of the letter which I wrote, and also of the delivery of the books to the American gentleman. It is my Lord, at present one of the warmest wishes of my heart to have my works translated into the French language, therefore I shall embrace the obliging offer of the Duc De Harcourt with great satisfaction; and your Lordship will perceive how much I trust to the friendship with which you honour me, when I take the liberty to desire you will permit your servants to order an octavo edition of my works, bound, of Messieurs Dilly, in the Poultry after the manner you shall please to direct. I prize your Lordship’s aprobation so much that your total silence on my last publication, viz. “The History of England from the Revolutio to the present time”187 first vol., gave me a good deal of pain. I hope you are not disgusted with the freedom I have taken with William,188 our great deliverer as he is called. 185 BODL, Harcourt papers, MS Eng. d. 3849, fols. 28r–​29v, printed in Harcourt, The Harcourt Papers, 8:113–​16. 186 This is Thomas Digges; see Leonard Labaree et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 41 vols. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959–​2014), 27:474. 187 HERT. 188 Unlike most Whigs, Macaulay was highly critical of William III (1650–​1702), whom she accused of being inspired by calculating ambition, rather than sincere commitment to liberty, for the role he played in the invasion of 1688.

The Letters  85 I am sure if your Lordship examines my principles closely you will find this last publication exactly concordant to those which are set forth at large in my preceeding vols., and it was impossible for me to treat with aprobation characters who have laid the foundation of our ruin by a funded debt, and by reducing the art of corruption into a system. It was impossible for me without pain to make the necessary reflections on the conduct of Sr Robert Walpole,189 on account of the regard I have for the virtues and good understanding of his son, and the friendship with which he does me the honor to express for me. If your Lordship finds him disgusted on the mention I have made of his father, I am sure that you will have the goodness to offer in my excuse all that your reason and the sterling virtue of your principles must suggest to you on the subject. A line from your Lordship with your free sentiments on my last publication will give me great pleasure. I am not only shocked, on a public concern, on the apprehension of a war with France,190 but on the dissappointment of a private gratification; for I promised my self the returning to Paris when I was in better health, and once more enjoying the pleasures of a French society. I am much obliged to the Duc de Rochefoucault191 for his positive enquiries. I beg your Lordship will return my thanks when you write to him. My respectful compliments attend Lady Harcourt; Dr. Wilson desires to join in the same to yourself, and I am, my Lord, your Lordship’s, etc.   [59] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 23 April 1778192 I should have done myself the honor to have written your Lordship a Letter of thanks for your observations on my last publication193 and also for the trouble you were so good as to take in forwarding my history of the Stuarts to the Duc of Harcourt, but have been prevented by a low state of health and spirits which my tender constitution is very subject to incur at this season of the year when the Weather is always severe and changeable. But one of the most agreeable reasons which occasioned my silence was the hopes I had formed of having the great 189 Robert Walpole (1676–​1745), first Earl of Orford, was, in effect, prime minister from 1730 until 1742. In HERT, Macaulay, following the representations in the popular press during his period in power, accused him of corruption and the purchase of parliamentary places. Her representation of him resulted in the cessation of her friendship with his son, Horace Walpole (1717–​97), fourth Earl of Orford, with whom she had been friendly until the appearance of HERT. See letter [150] from him. 190 France had entered the revolutionary wars in support of American independence. 191 Louis-​Alexandre de La Rochefoucault; see letter [54] note. 192 BODL, Harcourt papers, MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 30r–​30v. 193 HERT. There must have been a letter from Harcourt to Macaulay in the intervening period, which has not been found.

86  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay happiness of a personal interview with you in the beginning of next month, when I propose if my health will permit to visit London for a short time. I am exceeedingly obliged to your Lordship for the favor of your last letter with the enclosed from the Count De Sarsfield and for your very friendly enquiries in relation to my health. My best respects attend Lady Harcourt. Dr Wilson joins me in the same to your Lordship and I have the honor to be your Lordship’s etc.   [60] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, Sunday, 7 June 1778194 My Lord, When the mind and Body are oppressed with sickness every incident appears formidable. Your Lordship did not take leave of me, I flattered myself I should have the honor of seeing you again. I had not the honor of seeing Lady Harcourt when she was so good as to call upon me, my servant told me that on seeing my Dinner bringing up, she declined coming . I hope it was so and that there was no mistake on the part of my servant. My Weakness has prevented my putting on a proper Dress to attend Lady Harcourt in Cavendish Square. Pray my Lord be so good to send me word that it is not sickness which has prevented my having the honor of seeing your Lordship nor any misconstruction of my conduct. I esteem your steady friendship as one of the greatest blessings I enjoy in this life. How long does your Lordship intend staying in London? I have had the honor of your Letter from Bath and am very much mortified and chagrined that my vol[umes]s have not reached Monsieur de Sarsfield. The name of the gentleman to whom they were entrusted was I think, Brown, and they were directed to Dr Francklyn.195 My respects to Lady Harcourt conclude me, etc.   [61] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 27 January 1781196 Chelsea, Lawrence Street Mrs Macaulay Graham presents her compliments to Lord Harcourt and has taken the liberty to send him the sixth and seventh vols of her history of England as a small token of that respect which is due to Lord Harcourt’s public and private virtues and in particular by Mrs Macaulay Graham for the uninterupted friendship with which she has been honored by his Lordship for the cause of several years. Mrs M G desires her respectful compliments to Lady Harcourt

194

BODL, Harcourt papers, MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 32r. Benjamin Franklin. 196 BODL Harcourt papers, MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 34r. 195

The Letters  87 [62] Catharine Macaulay to George Simon, 17 June 1783197 1 High Row, Knightsbridge My Lord My intention of waiting on Lady Harcourt the moment I was free for the necessary attention given to the correcting the press was frustrated by the intelligence my servant brought me that you were both gone to your seat in Oxfordshire. This was a great disapointment because greatly unexpected, since the Town is yet full, the Parliament not prorogued and the weather yet cool. I have done myself the honor to send your Lordship my Treatise on the immutability of Moral Truth,198 the first fruits of my literary labours on the subjects of Ethics and Theology and as you have always perused my writing with great indulgence, I  cannot help flattering my self that my volume may afford your Lordship a few hours amusement. My best respects to Lady Harcourt conclude me your Lordship’s, etc. Mr Graham sends his respectful Compliments   [63] George Simon to Catharine Macaulay, 22 June 1783199 Madam, Yesterday I  was honoured with your obliging letter, and valuable present, which was highly acceptable to me, not only from the certainty of receiving both instruction and entertainment from every production of your spirited and nervous pen, but likewise as being a fresh mark of that friendship and regard I have so repeatedly experienced on many occasions, and on which I justly set so great a price. It is with difficulty, Madam, that I can write to you without repeating what I have so often said before, with respect to the great and astonishing work you have lately brought to a conclusion, so honourable to yourself, & which might be productive of the greatest advantages to this country, did it know how to avail itself of your instruction, and would future historians take you for their model, instead of following the past epigrammatic, or the nauseaus perfumed styles, at present in vogue—​your last task was a difficult one indeed, and therefore I particularly admire the courage and address with which you extricated yourself out of it; for without meanly corecting either party at the expence of truth and humanity, and without attacking with rude & violent hands either of their Idols, you content yourself with proving, to the conviction of all unprejudiced persons,

197

BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fol. 35r–​35v. TIM. 199 GLC01794.15. Addressed, Mrs: Macaulay Graham, High Row No: 1, Knightsbridge, London. 198

88  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay that they were not the proper objects of admiration, and if after this men will still continue [to] admire, the reason can only be that their blindness is incurable. I left London on a sudden, or should have done myself the honour of previously paying my respects to you; as for the amusements of the town, I partake but of few of them, and those few I can always leave without regret, and as for Parliament, & particularly that branch of it, in which I have a voice, my opinion of it is such, that unless things should greatly change, I shall no longer attend their useless debates, nor have I been in the House since I gave my vote for the Peace;200 for I almost disbelieve in the existence of political honesty, and think the nation in general as despicable, and as callous to all sense honour & dignity, as the wretches they chuse to represent them, or even as the Bishops, & Peers themselves. Lady Harcourt desires me (with her compliments) to return her thanks for your obliging message, and to add that would certainly have waited on you, had I not prevented it, by the information I gave her relative to the troublesome occupation of preparing your philosophical work for the press. Pray give my Compliments to Mr Graham, and allow me the honour of assuring you, Madam, of my most sincere esteem and respect. Harcourt.

James Burgh (1714–​75) James Burgh was an educator and historian who at this time ran a school at Newington Green and was a good friend of the dissenting minister Richard Price.201 His widow would later befriend Mary Wollstonecraft, helping her to set up her school at Newington Green. His political views were very close to Macaulay’s, and he quotes her history in his Political Disquisitions, though this letter shows that he was more distrustful of the ministry than she was.   [64] James Burgh to Catharine Macaulay, 17 February 1769202 Madam, It may not be in my power to wait on you again for some weeks, I know it will not be so often as I wish because that would be every Tuesday. But we are not to have all our wishes in this world, I therefore take the liberty of troubling you Madam, with this in the meantime to beg that you will please to reconsider at your leisure the subject started last Tuesday , namely the possibility of the British Empire’s being enslaved by a designing Ministry.

200

Peace was made with America in 1783. See letter [17] note. 202 GLC01794.50 (typescript). 201

The Letters  89 You seemed, if I rightly understood you Madam, to be of the opinion that no administration could ever persuade themselves that they could be gainers by making a direct attack on Liberty, because whatever diminishes Liberty must hurt commerce, upon which the public revenue depends and consequently their own incomes must fall short of what they are at present, and that Liberty can never be violated but by a Military force. But the British army can never be brought to make an attack on the Liberties of Britain. I should be very willing Madam, to be reasoned into a persuasion of our security, but at present I cannot help being alarmed with apprehensions of troublesome times coming on, when I see such a measure carried into execution as the taxing the Americans, the consequence of which, already felt, is a considerable diminution of the commerce of the Mother Country. Does this show a fear in the Ministers of injuring trade, or an apprehension of hurting their own interest in hurting the National Commerce? Did Walpole attend to the object when he pushed on with a violence next to madness his villainous excise scheme, which would have injured both commerce and liberty to an inconceivable degree? Is it not even a sort of maxim among tyrannical princes and ministers that the people are only the more unruly for their being rich? Can the French Ministry miss observing that the Liberty enjoyed by the English is of advantage to commerce? Yet they do not think of giving liberty to the Subject. Venice depends more on trade than England, yet the Venetians think their State in great danger from designing men, for it is immediate death by their Law for any person to propose anything detrimental to the public interest, and the state inquisition orders any person against whom they have an information to be taken up, and without proof or confronting with this adversary, to be thrown into the Adriatic in the Night. Nor do the Dutch trust to the probability that Statesmen will never think it their interest to injure the public, merely because whatever injures Liberty must hurt Trade and consequently lessen the Emoluments of those who serve the public. The commercial republics of Italy, as Genoa, Luca, etc. all shew by their policy a jealousy of their Liberties, some of those Republics accordingly change their Administration every two months. And as to the supposed certainty that any Army of British peoples will never act against British Liberty I cannot (without submission) see that any great stress can be laid on it. Soldiers are slaves and they are detached from the people. They look on the people with an invideous eye, and the setting up and fomenting with a little art, a party cry, or the making the division between the civil and the military a little wider than it is, might produce mischief not easy to imagine. Upon the whole Madam, I own I do not know anything so foolish or so wicked as not to be apprehended from the wrong headed animals we call Kings and Ministers. Interest, it is true, does in great measure govern mankind, but passion much more. If this were not the case, tyrants and bad ministers we should have had

90  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay none. And our incomparable female historian would then have filled her page with panegyric instead of invective. Your candour will I doubt not consider this in its proper light, viz of a hasty scribble written off hand as I suppose all letters are, and as I am sure all mine must be, and when I have the honour of waiting on you again, which will be as soon as power suits inclination, I shall be proud to be further instructed. Mrs Burgh offers her most respectful compliments and has often mentioned with pleasure and pride your promise of looking in upon her at Newington Green. In the meantime I  have the honour to be with great respect and Esteem, Madam, etc.   [65] Catharine Macaulay to James Burgh, 4 March 1769203 Berners St Sir, I was very sorry to find by your letter that I was not often to expect the pleasure of your company. Verbal argument is always liable to be misunderstood, and I find by your comments and observations that my meaning was not thoroughly comprehended, that men intoxicated with powers will be guilty of weak as well as wicked actions the history of all times undeniably proves and indeed every ministerial act which deviates from the rule of true Policy equally partakes of the foolish and the wicked. I never pretended to imagine bounds to the mad attempts of administration, but argued that the situation of our Country was so critical and the circumstances necessary to its very existence as a State, of a nature so delicate, that power if exerted with violence would immediately find its own ruin, in the general destruction. The jealousy I have always entertained of a standing Military force is too great to depend on the good affections of Soldiery, but yet I think there dwells more hope in the circumstances of an Army of Natives than an Army of Foreigners. Sir, I propose myself the pleasure of waiting on you and Mrs Burgh as soon as the Season is settled. I desire my best compliments may be accepted and am Sir, Yours etc.   [66] James Burgh to Catharine Macaulay, 23 November 1773204 Islington

203

GLC01794.51 (typescript).

204 GLC01794.19.

The Letters  91 Madam, I am exceedingly obliged to you for the use of Lord Somers’s Tracts,205 which I return by bearer. I hope my borrowing them has been no inconvenience, as I have kept within the time assigned by Messieurs Dilly.206 They are a valuable collection, and I  should like to have a set of my own, but I have already so many books, that I have been obliged lately to build new presses,207 which is unnatural at my time of life, and with such a complaint upon me. As to my health, I have of late been somewhat easier. But it is so uncertain, I never know half an hour before how I shall be the next half hour. I am almost totally cut off from all society, and was obliged to suffer the cruel mortification of having you in my house, without the pleasure of seeing you. But such is the state of human affairs; nothing certain or steady. Poor Dr Hawksworth!208 What good will his £6000 do him? I have printed above 12 sheets of my Political Disquisitions,209 volume 1, and shall beg to have the honour of presenting you a copy when finished. Mrs Burgh joins in very respectfull compliments with Madam, Your etc.   [67] Catharine Macaulay to James Burgh, 29 November 1773210 Titchfield Street

205 This is A Collection of Scarce and Valuable Tracts on the most Interesting and Entertaining Subjects: But chiefly such as relate to the History and Constitution of these Kingdoms. Selected from an infinite Number in Print and Manuscript, in the Royal, Cotton, Sion, and other Publick as well as Private Libraries; Particularly that of the late Lord Sommers. The lord Somers in question is Baron John Somers (1651–​1716). 206 Edward and Charles Dilly; see letter [40] note. 207 “Presses” is cupboards, presumably here for bookcases. 208 John Hawkesworth (bap. 1720–​73) had been commissioned to compile the official account of the expedition to the South Pacific of 1764–​71, based on the journals of various captains, including James Cook, and the papers of Joseph Banks. He had sold the copyright for John Hawkesworth, An Account of the Voyages undertaken by the order of his present majesty for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, and successively performed by Commadore Byron, Captain Carteret, Captain Wallis, and Captain Cook, in the Dolphin, the Swallow, and the Endeavour, 3  vols. (London:  W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1773) to Strahan and Cadell for £6,000. He also became involved in litigation to prevent a rival account being published. He died soon after having gained his £6,000 for the copyright, having been attacked in the Public Advertiser for denying individual providence, and for other purportedly immoral features of the work. The rumor was then spread that the attacks on his moral character had led to his death. 209 James Burgh, Political Disquisitions: or an inquiry into public errors, defects, and abuses, 3 vols. (London: Edward and Charles Dilly, 1774). 210 GLC01794.20.

92  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Dear Sir I last Saturday received the favor of a Letter from you with the return of the Harleyean211 collection I did not limit the time of your keeping it—​but I suppose Messieurs Dilly took that on themselves on their knowledge that they were necessary to me in my present work but I hope their limitation did not subject , to any inconvenient haste in your inspection The intelligence that your bodily pain is in some measure decreased of late made me very happy. The concern I have for your welfare will not suffer me to suppress my opinion on the state of your health that if you enjoy any tolerable share of ease it will be much better to Discard Medicine as in these cases they always weaken the constitution and often render the Disease itself more painful. Poor Dr Hawksworth did not long enjoy that state of health and prosperity with which he seemed to be possessed when you and I met him in the Poultry.212 Some people pretend to say he Died of the Public Advertiser, but be that as it may, his imitable nature undoubtedly would not suffer him to enjoy much tranquility under the Decline of reputation both in respect of an Author and a moral man. The very valuable present you intend me I shall regard as a large addition to the many favors I have already received from you. My best compliments to Mrs Burgh and sincere wishes for your recovery conclude me Dear Sir, Your etc.

Sarah Prince Gill (1728–​71?) “Sophronia” was the pen name of Sarah Prince Gill, daughter of the Reverend Thomas Prince (1687–​1758) and first wife of Moses Gill (1734–​1800), the brother of John Gill, one of the proprietors of the Boston Gazette, “the chief radical newspaper in Boston at that time.”213   211 Lord Somers’s Tracts. It is not clear why Macaulay calls them the “Harleyean Collection”; however, in 1751 twelve volumes of Lord Somers’s Tracts were sold by John Whiston and Benjamin White, including books from the library of the Right Honourable Countess Dowager of Portland, who died in 1751. Her son had married Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, so it is possible that this collection had come from the Harleyean library, and then been purchased by Macaulay or her family. 212 The Poultry, in the City of London, is close to the Mansion House, where Macaulay often visited her brother, John Sawbridge, who had been an alderman since 1769. The publishers Edward and Charles Dilly also operated from their home at 22 Poultry, and it may have been here that Macaulay, Burgh, and Hawkesworth had met. See also letter [66] note. 213 Monica Letzring, “Sarah Prince Gill and the John Adams–​Catharine Macaulay Correspondence,” Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 88 (1976): 107–​11.

The Letters  93 [68] Sophronia [Sarah Prince Gill] to Catharine Macaulay, 25 April 1769214 Boston Madam Eminent Abillities employed in Usefull Services are entitled to uncommon Respect; the more important the Services, and the more general the Benevolence whence they Spring, the greater Respect is Due.—​The Noble Zeal you have exerted in the Sacred Cause of Liberty & the Rights of Mankind, demand the Tribute of Gratitude from every Mind capable of those glorious Sentiments, and ev’ry heart that glows with this generous Ardor. Permit the Innocent Boldness of the meanest of your readers who admires the Patriotic Spirit of Mrs. Macaulay, and venerates her as One raised up, accomplished, and inclined by Heav’n to tranfuse the benign emanation[s]‌to Various Realms. New England, the Land of Nativity (A Privilege I glory in!) was First settled on the plan of Civil & Religious Freedom. Worthy Men, and Patriots all were those who Formed this Civil Community. Their lives were spent, their talents employed, their estates consumed, they suffered hunger and thirst, and cold and weariness, and labour and toil,—​They Jeoparded their lives amidst numerous tribes of savage Barbarians; and all this, that they and their Posterity might enjoy the right of thinking, of Judging, and Acting for themselves; and the Blessing of sitting each one under his own vine, and have no Arbitrary Power to molest their humble repose.—​ We their Descendants possess as Yet the Fruits of the generous Adventure; we venerate their Manes, and Aim to Maintain the same Cause; Nor negligently loose, nor timidly yeild, nor basesly barter, the dear bought purchase, the inestimable Boon.—​ Forbid it Gracious Heav’n, that we ere change The Glorious name of Men, for that of Slaves; Apostates; Paricides of Liberty, Of Reason, and the Dignity of Man!, First let us cease to be! It is with Pleasure Madam, I hear of your design to treat of the settlement of these Northern Collonies. I hope you will have the aid of the most accurate peices that give Light on the Subject—​Not One of all the Historians who have attempted this have done Justice to the Theme—​Emulous to throw in a Mite to Your Treasury I beg leave to present you the Beginning of the Chronological Annals of New England. Alass for my Country that only the beginning is Extant! The remainder died with the Author. When I reflect on the Quallities you are endowed with for Works of this Nature, I feel regret that you are not on the Field where the history was Acted; for give me leave to say, no Person can form a full Idea of the American Spirit & Love of 214 GLC01797.01.01. This letter was forwarded to Macaulay through the agency of Mrs. Mayhew and Thomas Hollis; see letter [6]‌ note.

94  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Liberty, but those who dwell in or visit the Clime;—​it is in-​wrought in their Frame; transpires in every breath; and beats in every Pulse; but of those ignoble Souls (and such exist in ev’ry Country) whose private interest, and sordid Avarice, wou’d sacrifice the Wellfare of Kingdoms and Countries to their Lust of Domination and Wealth! The Disgrace of Human Nature, and the Plague of Society these! If Madam, you are in want of Intelligence on any Subject of Former or Later American Affairs, & will please to signify the Articles; the Assistance of our ablest Patriots in Boston (with whom I have the honour of a Personal Acquaintance) will not be wanting when ever you make the Requisition.—​In this Case a Line Directed to me Under Cover to Mr. Moses Gill, Merchant in Boston, will come safe to me.—​ I Blush on recollecting to whom I thus vent myself. From these things only do I expect forbearance, that the Theme will dignify the Writer, (who is an illiterate Woman) and that Condescention and Clemency are Essentials in a Mind Truly Great, and this I conceive is characteristic of the Lady I have the honor to Address.—​ To that Condescention and Goodness I consign these Lines, and crave Allowance to profess myself, on my own, my fellow-​Subjects account Madam, Your etc.   [69] Catharine Macaulay to Sophronia [Sarah Prince Gill], [1769]215 Madam, Just sentiments on the rights of Nature and society are Generous feelings for public liberty are so uncommon in our sex that it was with sigular pleasure that I received the bright example which your letter contains very elegant and polite letter contains. I do assure you that the Patriots in this Island simpathise very tenderly with our American Brethren on the wrongs and oppressions which they sustain and very cordialy mingle their cause in the defence of our own privileges. When ever I treat of the American settlements I hope to find an opportunity to treat as [assert] the natural and constitutional rights of the Natives and should be very happy glad to be possesed of all which has been published in America relative to the the Dispute between our Government and the Colonists. I shall be much indebted to you Madam for as many pieces of this kind as you may be enabled to procure the procuring me any pieces of this kind and remain with great gratitiude for the high esteem which you do me the honor to profess for me Madam, etc. 215 GLC01797.01.02. (draft). Address, “Mrs Macaulay, Burney St, Middlesex Hospital,” and note on reverse: “Mr Vaughan presents his respectful Compliments to Mrs Macaulay. He has seen Mr Sawbridge, who goes out of Town on Saturday, therefore appointed Friday, for having the pleasure of dining with Mrs Macaulay, at which time Mr Vaughan will do himself that Honour. 27 June 1769.” This may be Samuel Vaughan (1720–​1802), who is listed as a “true patriot” in [Buchan], Fugitive Politcal Essays, 20.

The Letters  95 [70] Sophronia [Sarah Prince Gill] to Catharine Macaulay, 8 December 1769216 Hannover Street, Boston Madam, When I took the Liberty of Addressing you I had not the vanity to expect any further Notice than what is implied in the kind Acceptance of Honest Praise, much less did I presume to think Corresponding with a Lady whose time is crowded, and whose talents are devoted to the Public Good. However Sensible I am of the honor reflected on me by your aprobation, yet can I not be willing that one Moment of yours shou’d be Substracted from the General Service, to promote the pleasure of a little Individual.—​My design was, in part, to pave the way for a more Superior hand than mine to transmit you such Authentic Accounts of this Country as wou’d render your History more Compleat;—​That design Madam was accomplished when you wrote Mr Otis on this head. As that Valuable Gentleman (the Cato of America, as Mr Dickinson is its Cicero) has wrote you very Largely on American Affairs I am happily excused. I would not, I  hope I  do not, carry my notions of Patriotism beyond the Standard of Truth, yea, of Truth confirmed by Fact. Souls there have been, Souls there are, who have sacrificed darling Interests for their Countries Good. Even in this age of Corruption Venality and Dissipation I am frequently the Wittness of such a Conduct. I Glory in my Country, I Glory in Boston my native Town on this Account.—​And tho the Pathetic Writings and warm address of some have been termed Enthusiastic Rhapsody, high Flights of the raised Imagination &c, and the Spirited United Conduct of Others deem’d Maddness and Faction, yet in my humble opion these are the Genuine result of a Rational Enthusiasm, a Generous Madness, and a truly Loyall Faction. What more Generous than the Merchant who depends on Commerce, stopping the resource of his own gain to procure the Liberty of his Country? What more Loyall than to prefer the good of the Empire to that of a Few mercenary Place-​Men Pensioners &c? What more rational than to employ the Powers of Genius, and of Eloquence, in stating and defending the rights of Humanity?—​Yes, My Dear Madam, there are among Us of Men very many, of Women not a Few animated, with this Philanthropy!—​ You Lament the want of such a spirit in “Our Sex,” I  have Observed, and Mourned it also, but I find this is chiefly among Our City Ladies, that takes rise from that Levity of Manners that dissipation of Thought, that Low ambition of Stile and Show which Characterises our Modern Women;—​Amusement and Pageantry have absorbed their every Care and destroyed the Noblest Feelings of the Humane Heart! When sick of Contemplating this, and conversing with these, I turn me to those who think and Act more becoming Rationals. And many do

216

GLC01797.02. Addressed to Mrs Catharine Macaulay, Berners St, Oxford Road.

96  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay I know who are warm assertors and steady Friends of Liberty. Especially is this evident among the most serious religious Women of New England. Few Indeed of this Character are of Arbitrary Principles, nor can we Wonder Principles so Opposite to the Genius of our Holy Religion, so repugnant to the design of the Gospel which is a System of Universal Benevolence, must be detested by those who have partaken of its Spirit, unless through Ignorance or Missaprehension they have been led into Error.—​Our Ancenstors wisely took care to instill the principles of Liberty into the minds of their Children, to this provident care it is owing that America hath made such a Noble stand against the inroad of Despotism, and produced such Able Defenders of her Rights. I know not any Tracts that sit our Controversy with the Parent Country in so Just & Clear a Light as Mr Dickenson’s Letters,217 Mr Otis’s Rights of the Collonies,218 & that Collection of Peices entitled the Sentiments of America,219 all which I conclude you have. If any thing New shou’d transpire I will not fail to transmit them. Happy shou’d I think myself if in any instance I cou’d serve the Cause, tho’ as the smallest spring in the Grand Machine. I revere the Spirit and the Conduct of the admirable Paoli,220 and Congratulate you on his visit to England. Barbarously as he has been neglected by that Nation who ought to be the Protectors of Freedom through Europe, I hope his Presence will send to awaken them a sense of the importance of his Cause, & a zeal to retrieve their Honor by supporting him in it.—​ I have great need Madam of an apology for giving you this lengthy interuption, but must leave it to your goodness to make one for me. If the dignity of the Subject & the honesty of the writer will not excuse me, I know of nothing else to avail myself of. With great Gratitude & zealous atachments, I take Liberty to subscribe myself Madam, your etc.   [71] Sophronia [Sarah Prince Gill] to Catharine Macaulay, 24 March [1770]221 Hanover Street, Boston. 217 John Dickinson, Letters from a farmer in Pennsylvania, to the inhabitants of the British Colonies (London: J. Almon, 1768). 218 James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonists Asserted and Proved (Boston [reprinted London]: J. Almon, 1764). 219 [Thomas Hollis, ed.,] The true sentiments of America: contained in a collection of letters sent from the House of Representatives of the Province of Massachusetts Bay to several persons of High Rank in this Kingdom: together with certain papers relating to the supposed libel on the Governor of that Province, and a Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law (London: J. Almon, 1768). 220 See letters [33] and [40]. 221 GLC01797.03.

The Letters  97 Madam I take the advantage of this Express to transmit the Enclosed Papers; Not doubting of your Generous Simpathy with Us, and Just Indignation at the Horrid Treatment this Injured, Oppressed, yet truly Loyall, Heroic, & Prudent People have met with from the Servants of the Crown! It gives me Pain to mention the Malloncholly Fact that my Worthy Friend Mr Otis Labours under such Infirmities as deprives us in a great measure of His Assistance in this Exigence of our Public Affairs! If Madam You will excuse a Liberty prompted by zeal for the Common Cause, I wou’d just hint that the Author of the “Dissertations on the Cannon & Feudal Laws” is Worthy your Correspondence. If you chose to maintain one in Boston. An Amiable Lady (who honors me with her Friendship) well known to Mr Hollis of London Justifies my aprehension that you cannot fail of Pleasure from his Masterly Pen.—​I conclude you have heard the real author is John Adams Esq; Barrister at Law in Boston; a Gentleman of Clear Sense, Precision of Sentiment and Expression, and thoroughly awake to the Cause of Liberty. With the warmest wishes for the continuance of your valluable Life & opportunities for Public Service, I am with the truest respect, Madam, Your etc.

James Otis Jr. (1725–​83) James Otis become embroiled in the events which led to American independ­ ence when, in 1761, he brought a suit against the right of the customs commissioner and Massachusetts courts to issue writs of assistance, which permitted the commissioner to search anywhere for illegal goods. Later John Adams represented this trial as the origin of the movement for American independ­ ence.222 Otis represented the writs as instruments of arbitrary power and destructive of English liberty. He published A Vindication of the Conduct of the House of Representatives (1762), The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved (1764), and A Vindication of the British Colonies (1765), which denied that the colonies could be represented in the British Parliament.223 By the time Macaulay wrote to him he was apparently already suffering from alchoolism and mental illness, circumstances made worse by a beating from a customs officer which rendered him unable to take further part in public affairs.224 222 Charles Francis Adams, ed., The works of John Adams, second president of the United States, 10 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1850–​56), 10:247–​48. 223 William Pencak, “Otis, James, junior (1725–​1783)” DNB; James Otis, A Vindication of the Conduct of the House of Representatives of the Province of Massachusetts-​Bay:  more particularly in the last session of the General Assembly (Boston:  Edes & Gill, 1762); The Rights of the British Colonists Asserted and Proved; Considerations on Behalf of the Colonists (London: J. Almon, 1765); A Vindication of the British colonies (Boston [and London]: J. Almon, 1769). 224 J. R. Ferguson, “Reason in Madness: The Political Thought of James Otis,” William and Mary Quarterly 36 (1979): 194–​214.

98  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [72] Catharine Macaulay to James Otis, 27 April 1769225 London Sir,—​Your patriotic conduct and great Abilities in defence of the rights of your fellow Citizens claim the respect and admiration of every Lover of their Country and Mankind. The principles on which I have written the History of the Stewart Monarchs are I flatter myself in some measure correspondent to those of the great Guardian of American Liberty. To you, Sir, as one of the most distinguished of that Number I offer a Copy of this Work. I beg leave to assure you that every partizan of liberty in this Island simpathizes with their American Brethren: have strong sense of their Virtues and a tender feeling for their sufferings, and that their is none among us in whom such a disposition is stronger than myself. I shall be very glad to have the Honour of an account from your own hand of the present state of American affairs and am, Sir, with high admiration for your Virtues, Your etc. When you favour me with an answer if you please to send it to Messieurs Dilly, Bookseller in the Poultry, London, the proprietors of my History of England.   [73] James Otis to Catharine Macaulay, 27 July 1769226 Boston Madam I received by Dr Jeffries227 the singular honor of your letter with an elegant edition of your excellent history. This had been much admired here from its first publication & is every day sought after and read with great avidity. I have the pleasure to assure you that in proportion to ye number of inhabitants in each, you have as many hearty friends to your name, fame, and prosperity in North America as in Britain. There are of these who scruple not to affirm that you have displayed greater talents for history than those who at any period have attempted ye British annals. All agree that you have exhibited a most illustrious proof of ye truth of an old observation which I shall express in my own way. GOD & Nature, at least in point of genius, have been equally kind to both Sexes: And were it not for the Tyranny of Custom, the sage result of despots, priests, pedants & coxcombs, every age & nation would furnish more frequent instances of Ladies 225 Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS), published in Warren-​Adams Letters: Being Chiefly a Correspondence among John Adams, Samuel Adams, and James Warren, 2 vols. (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1917–​25), 1:7–​8. 226 GLC01796. 227 Probably Dr John Jeffries (1744/​45–​1819), who had graduated from Harvard in 1763, and then studied medicine in Aberdeen before returning to Boston. He became the Adams’s family doctor, while they were in England, despite the fact that he had been a loyalist during the Revolutionary War, and had therefore moved to London in 1780, Lyman H. Butterfield, ed., Adams Family Correspondence, 6 vols. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963–​93), 7.472, n. 7.

The Letters  99 rivalling gentlemen in the arts and sciences. You have condescended to intimate your pleasure that I should transmitt you an account of American affairs. Were I equal to the business it would require a volume. At present I can only say North America is as really distressed as you justly conceive.—​The governors of too many of ye Colonies are not only unprincipled but as rapacious as old Verres228 of Scicily—​The revenue officers in general are to ye last degree oppressive—​The Commerce of ye Country is languishing & dying—​And the Citizens talk of captures & prizes taken from his majesty’s truly loyal subjects here, in much the same strain as if sent out against traitors, rebels and others ye worst of his Ennemies. Indeed all those endearing appellations are liberally bestowed on ye Colonists for no apparent fault, unless jointly & severally imploring ye heavenly graces, petitioning ye King, & living as honestly and peaceably as possible on ye pitiful pittances left them be Blasphemy & Treason. It must be confessed should ye publications of Mr G—​rge Gr—​nv—​lle229 and the Circulating Epistles of my Lord of It—​ly once be established as ye rule & standard of political faith the wearing of an old coat over again might be an hostile combination against the Commerce of Great Britain and a humble joint prayer or petition of two or three gathered together, Crimen Laesae Majestatis & Sir Fr—​nc—​s B—​—​d of Nott—​ h—​m Bart230 and the rest of ye Tory tools here might say Amen! But such doctrine will not be generally adopted in these latter days nor received very readily in any of ye regions of light which now distinguish ye Republic of letters.—​The fervent supplications of Five dutiful millions from year to year either secreted or altogether rejected must sooner or later produce very serious effects to both Countries—​This at least is to be feared. I say Five millions; For including the American Isles, his Majesty every day reigns in the hearts of that number of North American subjects. Each of these, what ever be his color, in ye grand circulation of Commerce, by his labor production & consumption contributes infinitely more to ye wealth power and grandeur of ye parent state than can his proportion of a paultry extorted revenue, chiefly squandered away among a few idle & insignificant placemen & pensioneers. I cannot now enlarge on a thousand embarrassments on trade which some of ye new regulations have occasioned. Some of ye late Acts extend the Admiralty Jurisdiction to a degree that subjects ye fortune of every merchant in America to ye Caprices of a sole

228 Gaius Verres (c. 120 BC–​43 BC) a Roman magistrate notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. Prosecuted by Marcus Tullius Cicero in 70 BC, the prosecution case was published as the Verrine Orations. 229 George Grenville (1712–​70) had been prime minister from 1763 to 1765; he had attempted to enforce a duty on molasses entering North America, and had drafted the American Stamp Bill, moves which had added fuel to the discontent that was already being felt in the colonies over the impost of duties which restricted American trade. 230 Sir Francis Bernard was governor of Massachusetts from 1760 to 1769. He had been responsible for appointing Thomas Hutchinson chief justice instead of James Otis Sr.

100  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay uncontroulable Judge & he by ye tenor of his Commission is ordered to be paid as far as possible out of ye Confiscations he shall decree. Other acts, besides guarding an infamous informer with new triple bias as if that race had none of their own have put in effect put it in ye power of all revenue officers to take such fees as they please. For one of the late Acts says such fees shall be taken as usual & Customary. The very thing complained off “And where no fees are settled by usage, then such fees as are taken at ye nearest Custom house.” The great grievance complained of again. Good GOD! This is British liberty & felicity with a vengeance. People may bear these things for this generation, but it will be marvellous if those that are rapidly rising should. Eighty years from the date of this, at ye most moderate computation gives this Continent and the adjacent Isles Eighty millions of Inhabitants. This consideration will weigh nothing with those who look not beyond the “poor bounties of an hour.” Others will after revolve it. The principal political problem worthy ye contemplation of a British statesman is not ye ways & means of securing ye perpetual dependance of North America, for that in ye rotation of human affairs should seem to be absolutely impossible, but what are the most probable methods of securing this great good for ye longest possible period. By dependance I mean not subjugation, but that subordination of the Colonies to ye parent state & that connexion union & harmony between both Countries which every honest man would wish to promote & Continue. To ye great Question how is all this to be effected? I hesitate not in my Answer; By treating ye Colonists as the descendants of those who settled a New world with little or no expence to ye Old, deserve! This would be not only much better than from the first migration & settlement has ever been experienced; but infinitely better than that discipline exercised over ye Colonists by every Stuartine Prince till ye Revolution and by almost every minister since ye glorious acquisitions of ye late wars, in which they freely bled with their fellow subjects of Britain. In ye year 1620 was effected at New Plymouth ye first English settlement of any importance, North of Virginia. At that time ye French had settled Quebec, on the great River St Laurence, and ye Dutch were pushing up the River Hudson which has ye next best communication with the immense western Lakes on this continent, in comparison of which the Euxine231 & the Caspian, the Inland seas of Europe, Asia & Africa are but trifling fishponds.—​In 1628.232 The Great Winthrop,233 Father of the Massachusetts, came over with his Colony, and with a few at Plymouth justly styled ye Fathers of New England, settled a region which but for them in a few years would have been overrun & possessed by ye 231 The “Euxine” is the old Greek name for the Black Sea. 232 This date is indistinct and could be 1608, but in either case, Otis has mistaken the date, since Winthrop did not set sail for New England until April 1630. 233 John Winthrop (1588–​1649) was governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company, which financed the Arbella and three other ships to bring about seven hundred emigrants to New England. He was also governor of the nascent colony for thirteen one-​year terms during the period 1629–​49.

The Letters  101 French & Dutch. Had that taken place in all human probability not a foot of North America had appertained to Great & if she had not fallen herself, it must have been a miracle. It is a piece of justice due to ye memory of Governor Winthrop to observe here, that he was a gentleman a scholar a lawyer & a statesman. The paternal Estate he sold in England before he Embarked & his Lady’s fortune the produce of both which were expended in ye settlement, if kept at home and managed with wordly œconomy would long since have entitled him and his descendants to one of ye first peerages in Britain. It is well known that the Stewarts of whom you have so true an Idea and regard just as they deserve, would have sold their Colonies as well as Kingdoms to France and Rome.234 It is equally clear to me that those who are at ye bottom of ye present American system, and who they are time I  hope will discover, either through Ignorance or as I rather think, by design, are meditating the downfal of the most glorious empire in ye world. The fall of a State has this in common with Comets & falling bodies, that the motion is rapidly increased in the approximation to ye Sun and the Earth. This difference however is observable that Comets approach ye sun but to gather new light & heat which is a proper reduction to first principles, whereas fallen states & fallen houses, seldom rise and flourish again even as part of ye materials of a new Fabric. This should teach our modern state mongers a little more Caution in their Careers. I have only to add that I have sent you a few papers & pamphlets that I hope will gratify your Curiosity. The bearer of this is Colonal Hoar235 who served with reputation in the Provincial service during ye two last wars and has been as first Colonel at ye head of the Massachusetts forces. I have the honor to be Madam a great admirer of your Genius & Learning and very much your etc.

William Livingston (1723–​90) William Livingston was educated at Yale and belonged to a group who became known as the “triumvirate” or “Presbyterian triumvirate” which also included William Smith Jr. (1727–​93) and John Morin Scott. He was married to Susannah French (1723–​89). In 1752 the triumvirate began to publish the Independent Reflector, which only lasted until 1753, and was modeled after Thomas Gordon’s and John Trenchard’s Whig journals, Cato’s Letters and Independent Whig. According to one account these almost perfectly encapsulate the radical Whig ideology expressed by American patriot leaders in their 234 He is referring to the period of Charles II, when secret negotiations with Louis XIV had taken place, and to the reign of the Catholic, James II. 235 Unidentified.

102  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay contest with Great Britain in the years immediately preceding the American War of Independence.236 Smith, however, did not become a supporter American independence. Livingston moved to New Jersey in 1772, intending to retire and lead a contemplative life, but with the outbreak of the revolutionary wars re-​ engaged with politics, was elected governor of New Jersey in 1776, and played an important role as a propagandist on the side of independence. He is buried in the Presbyterian Church in Elizabethtown, New Jersey.   [74] William Livingston to Catharine Macaulay, 22 September 1769237 New York

Madam, It was with singular pleasure I received the very acceptable present of your celebrated History of England; the value of which is greatly enhanced by the Merit of the Author, and the polite letter that accompanied it. The amiable Spirit of Patriotism which breathes throughout the whole of that excellent Work: your inflexible Attachment to the best Constitution that perhaps ever was devised by human Wisdom, with the most unconquerable Aversion to every tyrannous Machination to undermine it, is enough, one would think, to inspire even a Court minion with the Love of Liberty & render the most zealous Advocate for Despotism, like Milton’s Satan on beholding the happiness of Eve, at least for a moment, stupidly good. It is truly amazing, and shines in a strong point of light, the extreme Degeneracy of Human Nature, that so arbitrary a Race as that of the Stuarts, who invariably aimed at the utter Extinction both of our Religion & Government, should find, especially in this refined and enlightened age, any pen to Varnish their pernicious Designs or attempt a Vindication of their illegal Attacks on the Liberties of a free People. Still more astonishing it is, that the Nation after so great a progress of Science should continue that solemn mockery of God whereby Fools perpetuate what Flatterers invented, the Canonization of one of the greatest Tyrants of that unhappy Family & pray for the remission of a Sin that never was, or could, in the nature of things, be committed by the Persons who implore the Almighty’s forgiveness of it.—​ The Encomium Madam which you are pleased to bestow upon me as one of the most distinguished Guardians of the American’s Liberty is probably beyond my Deserts. But this I can I hope with Truth declare, that no earthly Consideration whatsoever wou’d bribe me servilely to submit to any measures subversive to our glorious Constitution.

236

Milton M. Klein, “Livingston, William (1723–​1790),” DNB.

237 GLC01793.

The Letters  103 The Americans, Madam, have reason to rejoice that in You they have a Patroness of their Liberties; and that you have a tender feeling for their Sufferings. Heaven grant this feeling may never be obliterated by the Misrepresentations of our Enemies; for be assured upon the Word of an honest Man, that however restiff to what we deem unconstitutional Measures, his Majesty has not in all his three Kingdoms any Subjects that Surpass us, for affection to his Royal Person, or attachment to his Illustrious Family. We are generally and almost universally Whigs; and should, I am confident stand by him regardless of our Blood or Treasure, when those who plume themselves upon their boasted Veneration for Prerogative would desert him for any Pretender & probably profess extreme Devotion & Loyalty to the Devil himself, if advanced to the British Monarchy and capable of rewarding their infamous Merit. Sorry indeed we are that one of the best Kings in the World, should employ about his sacred Person, so many designing & selfinterested Men, the loss of whose Heads on a Block wou’d perhaps not be too great of a Sacrifice to the National Resentment: But none of this Mismanagement do we impute to his Heart; and an upright Soul should like Charity cover a Multitude of Faults.—​ Your desire of having an Account of the Affairs of America from my own hand, is what my Inclination would prompt me with the greatest Alacrity to gratify: But being so generally expressed, it might perhaps lead me into a detail of many facts with which you are already intimately acquainted, while I might pass over in silence such particulars as you have principally in View. I  shall therefore untill I have the Honour of receiving a more particular specification of your desire (which with me will ever carry the force of a Command) content myself with observing that nothing will satisfy us short of a Constitution similar to that enjoyed by our fellow Subjects at home and established upon such a basis that any infringement of it by the Parliament be deemed so fundamental a Violation as would absolve us from all dependence on the Mother Country. We never can acquiesce in such an unheard of System of Government whereby a part of the Commons shall have a Power of taxing the rest of their fellow subjects whom they do not represent, & by that means from the Nature and Depravity of men be perpetually impelled to commit the most flagrant Injustice by easing themselves of the Burden which they are thus invested with the power of laying upon others. A Sollicism in Government not to be parallel’d in the History of any People under Heaven. I take the Liberty to recommend to your Notice the Bearer of this Letter who is a Nephew of mine just bound on a Jaunt to London. I doubt not you will find him a sensible young Gentleman & capable of resolving you in many Inquiries which your Compassion for our sufferings may induce you to make concerning us. I am Madam, With the greatest respect, your etc.

104  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay

John Wilkes (1725–​97) During the first years of George III’s reign, Wilkes had anonymously published a journal, the North Briton, that was highly critical of the administration, and in particular of the Scottish prime minister, Lord Bute. In 1763, issue 45 had stung a new ministry into action, and general warrants for the arrest of the writers and publishers were drawn up. These were strongly opposed as arbitrary and unjust, as was the charge of seditious libel brought against Wilkes for his privately published poem Essay on Women. Initially, Wilkes preferred exile in Paris to jail in England, but in 1767 he returned to London to fight the charges against him. Macaulay’s brother John Sawbridge was initially a strong supporter of Wilkes, but they later fell out over Wilkes’s refusal to agree that some of the money that was being raised to clear his debts should be used to help others who had been charged as a result of the prosecution of all those responsible for North Britain. As is clear from this letter, Macaulay was one of those who had lent Wilkes money, but she soon came to regret the fact. As late as 1795 William Graham (1757–​1845), Macaulay’s second husband, was writing to Wilkes in the hope of the return of this loan.238   [75] Catharine Macaulay to John Wilkes, [before April 1770]239 Berners St, Oxford Road Sir, The gratitude which you express for the sum I have given up to your necessities are genuine marks of a generous mind but you must give me leave to recall to your rememberence that you have no personal obligation to me. That there is an higher principle on which I act than the relative ties of common life and that it is the Duty of a Good Citizen to assist as far as circumstances will allow every individual isr under sufferance for exertion in the cause of liberty. If the sum I have sacrificed

238 BL, Add Ms 30874. 6 October, 1795. “To John Wilkes Esquire, Chamberlain of the City of London. Sir, I was the Husband of the late Mrs Macaulay, and I have often heard her mention an annuity of 50£ a year she had during your life, the principle of which she relinquished when your circumstances were not so ample, as they are at present, upon your paying the arrears which were then due.—​At the time she gave up her claim she said you had the honour to assure her that if your fortune should ever be bettered you should not think yourself exonerated from the debt.—​You have now an ample fortune, and I, as her relict, am in narrow circumstances.—​I am only a Curate with a very small stipend, and I find my income very unequal to my former habits and present sentiments.—​ I have no claim but on your honour and generosity; and whatever you may give me, I shall receive with gratitude and thanks. Whatever may be the result of this application I shall always esteem it an honour to subscribe myself your most obedient and humble servant, William Graham. Please direct to the Reverand William Graham Long Itchington near Southern, Warwickshire.” 239 BL, Add Ms 30870. Not dated but addressed to him in The King’s Bench Prison, so must be earlier than April 1770.

The Letters  105 to the hightest and the most binding of moral obligations had been part of my superfluities the merit would have been small, but it is indeed that which my own necessities having been this year bothered with great expenses vis the furnishing entirely a new House and the paying a large line on my estate. The sum which was legally due to me from you would have made me eassie but I have left my own affairs entangled to accomodating yours. You know sir that the admiration of that Patriotic virtue which so eminently subsisted flourished in the glorious states of Greece and Rome always subsisted in my Character. I have not like others stopt at admiration but endeavoured to regulate my own conduct by the most illustrious patterns of Antiquity. The only object of my ambition and the honest aim of my life is that I may die with the pleasing consciousness of having in the most pro[f]‌ligate times which this unhappy Country ever knew acted with my ability the part of a good Citizen I am Sir, With repect, And esteem, Your etc.

Edward Dilly (1732–​79) Bookseller and publisher Edward Dilly had a shop at the sign of the Rose and Crown, 22 the Poultry, near the Mansion House, where he and his younger brother Charles Dilly (1739–​1807), his partner in the business, lived. They carried out a successful trade in books with America, using Benjamin Rush and his brother as agents.240 Their home was a meeting place for authors, and their dinner parties legendary. Macaulay and many of the people in her circle of acquaintance dined there, including Boswell and Johnson, who were invited on a couple of occasions, along with Wilkes and Knowles, resulting in some spirited debates, as related in Boswell’s Life of Johnson.241   [76] Edward Dilly to Catharine Macaulay, Friday Evening, 5 January 1770242 I called on Mr Forster at Long Acre about the House at Hampstead, but he will not Lett the House for a less Term that three years and at the price which Mr. Baldwin paid, which was Twenty five guineas Per Annum, but he will grant

240 Butterfield, “The American Interests of the firm of E. and C. Dilly.” 241 15 May 1776, and 15 April 1778, Boswell, Life of Johnson, 3:64–​77 and 285–​99. 242 GLC01794.08. The letter has been crossed through, and the reverse used for the draft of that to David Steuart Erskine dated 21 May 1770, above. There is also a note on this letter, in Macaulay’s hand, “To write to Mr Frassier that we leave it to his judgment to take care that the neat Income of the Mortgaged estate is sufficient to pay the interest on the Mortgage.” This example suggests that Macaulay did not consider letters concerning her business dealings worth preserving.

106  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay a running Lease for 3.7.11 and 14 Years, so that you make what alterations or additions for your own conveniency the Landlord says that when the spring advances he makes no doubt of getting 30 Guineas a year—​the situation is certainly very pleasant in the Summer—​and I believe the Air will be very conducive to your Health—​you will be a better judge when you see the premises and I shall be glad to be favoured with a line when you return—​the Place is called Frogall, or Frogwell, and Mr Forster’s own house adjoins to Mr Baldwin’s—​the back of Hampstead Church and the Hey lion at the Farmer’s next Door to Mr Baldwin’s House. I am Madam, Your etc.   [77] Catharine Macaulay to [Edward] Dilly, 2 April 1774243 Bath I am very happy my Dear Friend that you were pleased with my reasons for giving relief by Statute Law to Authors and Booksellers.244 I  approve highly of your General Sketch to be signed by respectable authors and hope Mrs Montague245 and the rest of the Sisterhood will not deny their Assistance on this urgent occasion. If the house will condescend to hear the sentiments of Authors in a more enlarged manner you must read those first whose names are the most agreable to the house and whose arguments are the strongest, if you should find mine as servicable as those of others, they will go down very well after the house has heard the opinions of Robertson246 and other more favourite writers. I am very much obliged to you for your kind attention in sending the Books, viz the arguments of the Scotch Lawyers and those of Hargrave and also for the favor of the Whitehall Evening Post, but I must own I had a curiousity to see the answer of Burke and others to the petulant insolent harrangue of the Atorney General which I have since been able to procure but which was surmised to be continued in the paper you last sent me. I think the transposition of the word power in the inscription in the portrait is a very good alteration247 in regard to the label on the Books, as the picture is not drawn for my self and perhaps intended as a present to the British Museum I do not see there will be much room for criticism. Dr Wilson too is at present at a Distance and perhaps he will take it ill if we venture on such an alteration without 243 HOU b Autograph file, G. 244 Macaulay had recently published A Modest Plea for the Property of Copy Right (MP), which was prompted by decision in the House of Lords that there was no common-​law right to literary property. 245 Elizabeth Montagu, known as the foremost bluestocking. Myers, The Bluestocking Circle. 246 William Robertson, see letter [40] note. 247 The inscription on the pedestal on the portrait of Macaulay by Robert Edge Pine, now in the National Portrait Gallery, London, reads, “Government a power delegated for the happiness of mankind conducted by wisdom, justice, and mercy.”

The Letters  107 his consent but if you think it a matter of consequence I will let you know time enough to make the alteration before it goes into the exhibition. As all the family had a pamphlet sent to them, perhaps my brother Wanley will not be pleased with the being neglected, therefore when you have an opportunity I shall be obliged to you if you will send one to my Brother’s house to be kept there till he comes to town. Our letters have lately been so full of business that I have not had time to ask you concerning the truth of a prosecution against Mrs Stanope248 for her publication, if this is the case I am very glad you escaped that bargain. I have been told that the character of the Deceased Mr Hollis has been enlarged in the papers since I have been down here, I should have been glad to have seen it but I suppose it is not easily to be got at. I have sent Mr Northcote word that I intend to spend a couple of Months at his house sometime in the ensuing summer when I hope it will be convenient to you to give me a meeting, you know you have been so often invited and have made such generous returns for your former residence that you may venture on the visit without any repugnance at eating the Good Man’s meat. Mr Toplady intends I believe the being in town sometime next month and the making Bath in his way back. I shall be glad to see him for I believe he is a very sincere good man. In the signing my name I have left room for you to compliment Mrs Montague, or any other you think proper, with the first place, and am with hearty wishes for your welfare and compliments to your Brother and Sister. Your etc. Dr Wilson desired his compliments might be remembered to you and I shall take care to return yours to him when I write.   [78] Catharine Macaulay to [Edward Dilly?], 11 January 1779249 Leicester Sir, I will send you the money, in a short time for the Books ordered by the Gentleman who called at your house. As it is highly inconvenient for me to keep the printed copies of my Historical Letters I shall be glad to dispose of the whole Edition if you chuse Sir to become 248 The Letters of Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth Earl of Chesterfield (1694–​1773), to his son Philip Stanhope were published in 1774 by J. Dodsley, who paid Chesterfield’s widow, Eugenia, 1,500 guineas for the copyright. There was an unsuccessful attempt by his executors to prevent the publication of the work. Macaulay must have heard about this prosecution, and from her comment, the Dilly brothers must earlier have considered taking on the publication and passed it up. John Cannon, “Stanhope, Philip Dormer, fourth earl of Chesterfield (1693–​1773), politician and diplomat,” DNB. 249 Letters of Samuel Johnson, collected by George Birkbeck Hill, vol. 10, HOU MS Hyde 77 (Case 10.397.5). Although the recipient of this letter is not identified, it appears highly probable that it is either Edward or Charles Dilly.

108  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay a purchaser. I shall be glad to know what money you will set on each copy. I am Sir, etc.

James Bowdoin (1726–​90), Samuel Pemberton, and Joseph Warren (1741–​75) James Bowdoin was a graduate of Harvard and friend of Benjamin Franklin, with whom he carried on a scientific correspondence. He was the author of the Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston, the account of the killing of five civilians by British soldiers on 5 March 1770.250 A copy of this account was transmitted with the following letter, along with a document registering the vote of the freeholders of Boston. Samuel Pemberton was a member of a Boston family of merchants, but it is difficult to exactly identify him. Joseph Warren was a doctor who also graduated from Harvard. He was closely associated with John and Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and James Otis. He emerged to prominence during the Stamp Act crisis in 1765, and when the British seized Hancock’s sloop Liberty in 1768 he objected vociferously.251 He died in the battle of Bunker Hill.   [79] James Bowdoin, Samuel Pemberton, and Joseph Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 23 March 1770252 Boston, New England Madam, It is in Consequence of an Appointment of the Town of Boston, that We have the honor of writing to you, and of communicating the enclosed Narrative, relative to the Massacre of this Town on the 5th Instant. After that execrable deed, perpetrated by Soldiers of the 29th Regiment, the Town thought it highly expedient, that a fully and just representation of it should be made to Persons of Character as soon as may be, in order to frustrate the designs of certain Men who, as they have heretofore been plotting the Ruin of our Constitution and Liberties, by their Letters, Memorials, and Representations, are 250 Eric van der Luft, “Bowdoin, James (1726–​1790),” DNB. 251 Paul David Nelson, “Warren, Joseph (1741–​1775),” DNB. 252 GLC01789.02. Addressed to Mrs Catherine Macaulay in London. A copy of the same letter was sent to various other people, including Dennys de Berdt, who was the agent in London for the Massachusetts House of Representatives (available online through MSH), Thomas Hollis, and John Wilkes.

The Letters  109 now said to have procured depositions in a private manner, relative to the said Massacre, to bring an Odium on the Town as the Aggressors in that Affair. But we humbly apprehend that after examining the said Narrative, and the Depositions annexed to it, you will be fully satisfied of the Falsehood of such a Suggestion and We take upon ourselves to declare upon our honor and Consciences, that having examined critically into the matter, there does not appear the least ground for it. The Depositions referred to (if any such there be) were taken without notifying the Selectmen of the Town,253 or any other Persons whatever, to be present at the Caption, in behalf of the Town; which as it has been a thing justly complained of heretofore in some other Cases, so the Town now renew their Complaints on the same head; and humbly presume such depositions will have no weight, till the Town has been served with Copies of them, and an Opportunity given them to be heard in their defence in this matter, and in any other, wherein their Character is drawn into Question, with a view of passing a censure upon it. A different conduct was observed on the Part of the Town: The Justices with a Committee to assist them, made their examinations publicly: most of them at Faneuil Hall, and the Rest where any Persons might attend. Notifications were sent to the Custom House, where the Commissioners of the Customs sit, that they or any Persons in their behalf, might be present at the Captions: and accordingly Mr Sheaffe the Deputy Collector, and Mr Green, Tenant of the Custom House under the Commissioners, and employed by them, were present at many of them. One of the said Commissioners, Mr Robinson, in a secret manner has embarked on Board Captain Robson, and sailed for London the 16th Instant, which, with three of the other Commissioners retiring from the Town, and not having held a Board for some time since the 5th Instant, gives reason to apprehend they have planed, and are executing a Scheme of misrepresentation, to induce Administration to think, that their Persons are not in Safety in this Town in the absence of Troops. But their Safety is no way dependent on Troops: for you are Sensible Madam, that if any Evil had ever been intended them, Troops could not have prevented it. It was so apparently incompatible with the Safety of the Town, for the Troops to continue any longer in it, that His Majesty’s Council were unanimous in their Advice to the Lieutenant Governor, that they should be removed to the Barracks at Castle Island. And it is the humble and fervent Prayer of the Town, and the Province in General, that his Majesty will graciously be pleased, in his great wisdom and goodness, to order the said Troops out of the Province; and that his dutiful and loyal, Subjects of this Town and Province—​dutiful and loyal, notwithstanding any representations to the Contrary—​may not again be distressed



253

The selectmen made up the governing board of the town of Boston.

110  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay and destroyed by Troops: for preventing which, we beg leave in behalf of the Town, to request most earnestly the favor of your interposition and influence. We have the honor to be with the most perfect regard, Madam, Your etc.   [80] James Bowdoin to Catharine Macaulay, 25 March 1777254 Boston Dear Madam I arrived here a little better than a twelvemonth ago, since which I have enjoyed a good share of Health. I am sorry that I am deprived through the Difficulty of the times of the opportunity of writing to you & of hearing of your welfare in England but such has been the Situation of Things that it has been out of my power of communicating any Thing on the other side the Atlantic. But by the desire of Dr. Gordon255 a friend of mine I have ventured to write to you a few times expressive of my regards to you & my friend Dr. Wilson & to inclose you a few lines from Dr. Gordon asking the favour of your Assistance in procuring some necessary papers for the writing the History of the present disputes down to this day. It is an arduous undertaking & what all Lovers of Mankind ought to lend their aid in, perhaps Madam he may be able in his turn to furnish you with some papers in return which may facilitate your plan you told me of, of continuing your History, if God spared your Life, to the End of the present War, which by the way I pray God may shortly terminate. However I believe the Impracticability of conquering this Country must be clearly seen before this time, in England. I wish it wish it may induce Parliament to offer such Terms of peace as this country could accept of. The People here continue Spirited and determined & I believe that though Brittain was to double its present Army in America it would make but little way towards a Conquest. Our Cause is too just & our Countrymen too numerous & brave to be overcome. But however it is my wish & the Wish of us all that the Justice & not the power of Brittain might disarm us. We say if you’ll acknowledge our Independance we’ll give you trade, the advantages of it to you must be much greater than a Conquest, but why do I speak . It is chimerical none I believe but the deluded—​& Ministry can even think of it, it is strange they refuse being taught by Experience—​every year seems to add really to add to their disgrace and puts conquest at a greater distance perhaps they may make another Effort the approaching Summer, but our well disciplined & well formed army raised during the War wont fail I believe of giving them a proper

254 255

GLC01791.02. Addressed to Mrs Catharine Macaulay, Hottwells, Bristol. William Gordon, see letter [140], mentioned here as forwarded through Bowdoin.

The Letters  111 Reception. Sixty Thousand men embodied & well disciplined together with twenty Thousand well formed militia at call are no Small numb­ers to defeat. These they might first conquer before the country will submit & even then would be uncertain; Turks, Jews, or Infidels at present would be much better received & relished than Englishmen: The English now in America seem to have lost all that humanity for which they were one justly famed. Fire, Bloodshed, Plunder savage & Raveshment mark their Footsteps, but we are still too charitable to think this a general Depravity. We trust the majority of the Kingdom look with horror upon such Conduct I am sure madam you must feel Indignation & pity for your Countrymen—​the Army that is here seems to partake of the Character of their Employers & act with almost as little humanity & with almost as little policy as they have done—​But while we execrate such wretches, our Bosoms glow with gratitude & Esteem for many sincere Lovers of mankind—​for many that have felt for our destresses I have wished to have relieved them. Would such Visit us we should receive them with joy heap the highest honours of our country upon their heads & even raise Monuments to the memories of some of them. This Hint Madam I hope you [to]256 improve—​Make my affectionate Regards to Dr. Wilson & accept my warmest wishes for your prosperity & Happiness & believe me, Dear Madam to be with the greatest Esteem, & Respect your etc.

Richard Henry Lee (1733–​94) Richard Henry Lee had been particularly active in organizing protests against the Stamp Act of 1765. With George Washington (1732–​99) and Patrick Henry (1736–​99) he was involved in organizing opposition to British policy and extralegal sittings of the Virginia House of Burgesses, after it was dissolved by the colonial governor. He corresponded with his brothers, William and Arthur, who resided in London, which resulted in the establishment, in 1773, of formal corresponding committees.257 A  letter from him to his brother Arthur, dated 5 April 1770, shows that the letter printed here was delivered to Macaulay via Arthur, along with a copy of the Farmer’s and Monitor’s Letters, for which he had written an introduction.258 In the letter to his brother he also asks him to purchase, and send to him, a copy of Macaulay’s History and any other works that she has published. On her trip to America she caught up with Richard Lee in New York, and he was among those who included in a letter (dated 3 May 1785) a 256 Ink stain; word obscured. 257 Bruce A. Ragsdale, “Lee, Richard Henry (1733–​1794), revolutionary politician and planter in America,” DNB. 258 James Curtis Ballagh, ed., The Letters of Richard Henry Lee, 2  vols. (New  York:  Macmillan, 1911–​14; reprint, Da Capo Press, 1970), 1:42–​44.

112  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay friendly recommendation intended to introduce her to George Washington.259 Washington wrote back to him, after her visit, “I have just parted with Mr, & Mrs (Macauly) Graham; who after a stay of about ten days, left this in order to embark for England, from New York. I am obliged to you for introducing a Lady to me whose reputation among the Literati is so high, and whose principles are so much, & so justly admired by the friends to liberty and of mankind. It gave me pleasure to find that her sentimts respecting the inadequacy of the powers of Congress (as also those of Doctr Price) coincided with my own.”260 Lee had sent Washington a copy of Richard Price’s Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution and the Means of Making It a Benefit to the World.   [81] Richard Henry Lee to Catharine Macaulay, 30 March 1770261 Chantilly in Virginia Madam, A Lady of your singular merit, may expect to be troubled with the admiration, and the gratitude, of every friend to worth and freedom, in every part of the world. All the works of Providence, Madam, deserve admiration; but the finest we are acquainted with, are entitled to our highest applause. And surely those, who have an extraordinary “portion of aetherial spirit” bestowed on them, are the fittest objects of respect and veneration. This Madam, is the only apology, that a stranger, removed three thousand miles from you, has to make, for the liberty he has taken of writing this letter, and of presenting you with a late edition of the Farmers and Monitors letters,262 published this Colony. Your fine understanding, and your strong attachment to the rights and liberty of mankind, will secure your approbation of these worthy writers, who have with much spirit, and force of argument, supported the rights of their injured country. I have the honor to be, with the most sincere respect and esteem, Madam, your etc.263

259 Abbot, Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992–​94), 2:532–​34. Available from FO. 260 Ibid., 3:70–​72. 261 GLC01792. 262 John Dickinson and Arthur Lee, The Farmer’s and Monitor’s Letters to the inhabitants of the British Colonies (Williamsburg, VA: William Rind, 1769). The preface has been attributed to Richard Henry Lee. 263 A draft letter located at University of Virginia, the Papers of the Lee Family, 1750–​1809, MSS 38-​112, box 5, is printed in Ballagh, The Letters of Richard Henry Lee, 1:160–​64, and claimed to be addressed to Catharine Macaulay. However, the recipient is a Mrs. Macaulay of St Bees, and since Macaulay could not have been at St Bees when the letter was sent, I have chosen not to include it.

The Letters  113

Ralph Iszard (1742–​1804) Although the recipient of this letter is only identified as Iszard, the person concerned was in all probability Ralph Iszard, of South Carolina, who was in England at the time.264 He had spent a good deal of time traveling in Europe, and was critical of Franklin.265   [82] Catharine Macaulay to [Ralph] Iszard, [1770]266 I received the favour of your commands by Mr Bergue267 and in answer to the question which you have done the honour to refer to my judgment return the following opinion. The representative Assembly of South Carolina or the Parliament of England with the assent of the Crown may certainly alter any particular Article or circumstance in the mode of representation of their respective consituents and even the whole mode of representation, if such alteration is not directly contrary to the inclinations of the people represented, but as the Constitution of Great Britain and the Colonies now stand, neither the representative Assemblies of the one, or the Parliament of the other can regularly make any such alteration without the Royal Assent.

James Beesley I have not been able to identify this person with confidence; however, a James Beesley was a signatory to the petition of the London yearly meeting of the Society of Friends for the Abolition of Slavery, 16 June 1783.268 Macaulay’s close connections with the Quakers, evident from letter [134] from Mary Knowles, suggests that this is in all likelihood the same person.   264 Langdon Cheves, “Izard of South Carolina,” South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine 2 (1901): 205–​40. 265 Graydon, Memoirs of a Life, 327. 266 GLC01794.58, typescript. I have dated the note at some time during 1770, on the basis of the assumption that the typescripts that are included in GLC were numbered in chronological order. Since this typescript is numbered 132, and so comes between GLC01794. 56, Benjamin Rush to Catharine Macaulay, numbered 120, and dated 25 November 1769, and Macaulay’s reply, GLC01794.63, numbered 200, which was written after she had received news of the Boston massacre, it is appropriately placed here. 267 It is not clear who this might be, and it is possible that it is a misreading of Burgh. 268 http://​abolition.e2bn.org/​abolition_​view.php?id=34&expand=1.

114  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [83] James Beesley to Catharine Macaulay, [1770]269 James Beesley’s respects to Mrs Macaulay and herewith are presented to her Mr. Dickinson’s letter to the inhabitants of the British Colonies.270 If they afford her any agreeable entertainment it will be a pleasure to him who is her very hearty and sincere well wisher. Alas! the sword of power is become the perfection of Reason and decider of Right.

John Adams (1735–​1826) It was through Sarah Prince Gill that Macaulay began the following correspondence with John Adams, who would later become America’s representative in France, and afterwards the second president of the United States. When this correspondence began, he was still a relatively obscure lawyer from Baintree near Boston, but the anonymous articles he had published in the Boston Gazette during 1765 had been picked up and republished by Macaulay’s friend Thomas Hollis. Although Adams here expresses his admiration for Macaulay’s History, he would later distance himself from what he understood to be her political principles, saying, in a letter to Richard Price, that his countrymen had been “running wild and into danger, from a too ardent and inconsiderate pursuit of erroneous opinions of government, which had been propagated among them by some of their ill informed favourites, and by various writings which were very popular among them, such as the pamphlet called Common Sense, for one example, among many others; particularly Mrs Macaulay’s History, Mr. Burgh’s Political Disquisitions, Mr. Turgot’s letters.”271 Like Benjamin Rush, Adams was in contact with the Dilly bothers, and in 1771 Abigail Adams’s cousin Isaac Smith Jr. (1749–​1829), met Macaulay at their house, reporting back to John Adams that “she is not so much distinguished in company by the beauties of her person, as the accomplishments of her mind.”272 Although John Adams was distancing himself from Macaulay’s politics by the end of the 1780s, his son John Quincy Adams, while in St. Petersburg, spent the period from 14 February to 30 March 1782 reading the first five volumes of her history, having earlier read eight volumes of Hume’s

269 GCL01794.62 typescript. While undated, this typescript is numbered 188, and so the letter was probably sent before Macaulay’s reply to Benjamin Rush, while the comment concerning the sword of power suggests that it was after the Boston Massacre. 270 The first British edition was Dickinson, Letters from a farmer in Pennsylvania. 271 John Adams to Richard Price, 20 May 1789, Adams, The works of John Adams, 9:558–​59. 272 Butterfield, Adams Family Correspondence, 1:72.

The Letters  115 history of England, both of which were available in St. Petersburg from a subscription library.273   [84] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 9 August 1770274 Madam, I received from my Friend Mr. Gill,275 an Intimation that a Letter from me, would not be disagreeable to you: and have been emboldened by that means to give you this Trouble. I have read, not only with Pleasure and Instruction, but with great admiration, Mrs. Macaulay’s History of England. It is formed upon the Plan, which I have ever wished to see adopted by Historians. It is calculated to strip off the false Lustre from worthless Princes and Nobles and selfish Politicians, and to bestow the Reward of Virtue, Praise, upon the generous and worthy only. No charms of Eloquence can attone for the want of this exact, historical Morality: and I know of no History, in which it is, so religiously regarded. It was that History, as well as the concurrent Testimony of all who have come to this Country from England that I  had formed the highest opinion of the Author, as one of the brightest ornaments, not only of her Sex, but of her age and Country. I could not therefore but esteem the Information given me by Mr. Gill, as one of the most agreeable & fortunate occurrences of my Life. Indeed it was rather a Mortification to me to find, that a few fugitive speculations in a Newspaper, had excited your Curiosity to enquire after me. The Production which some Person in England I know not who has been pleased to entitle “a Dissertation on the Cannon and Feudal Law,[”] was written at Braintree, eleven miles from Boston, in the year 1765—​written at Random, weekly without any preconceived Plan, printed in the Newspapers, without Corrections, and so little noticed or regarded here, that the Writer never thought it worth his while to give it either a Title or a Signature.276—​And indeed the Editor, in London, might with more Propriety have named it “The what d’ye call it” or as the critical Reviewers did “a flimsy lively Rhapsody,” than by the Title, he has given it.277 But 273 Ibid., 4:286–​87. David Grayson Allen et  al. eds., The Diary of John Quincy Adams, 2  vols. (Cambridge Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981), 1:108–​15. Available through FF. 274 GLC01784.01. Adams’s draft of this letter is published in Lyman H. Butterfield, ed., Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, 4 vols. (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1961), 1:360–​61. Available through FF. 275 Moses Gill, the husband of Sarah Prince Gill; see letter [68]. 276 It was first published as a series of anonymous articles in the Boston Gazette on 12, 19 August, 20 September, and 21 October 1765. See Butterfield, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, 1:103–​4, and FF. 277 The editor was, in fact, Thomas Hollis, who organized the republication of the work in the London Chronicle of 23, 28 November and 3, 26 December with the title, “A Dissertation on the Feudal and Canon Law” and later published a version in the pamphlet The True Sentiments of America, with the title “A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law.”

116  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay it happened to hit the Fancy of some one it seems, who has given it a larger duration than a few weeks of printing it in Conjunction with the Letters of the House of Representatives of this Province, and by ascribing it to a very venerable and learned Name. I am very sorry, however that Mr. Gridley’s Name was affixed to it, for many Reasons.278 The Mistakes, Inaccuracies and want of arrangement in it are utterly unworthy of Mr. Gridley’s great and deserved Character for Learning, and the general Spirit and Sentiments of it, are by no means reconcilable, to his known opinions & Principles in Politics. It was indeed written by your present Correspondent, who then had Designs in his Head, which he never attempted to execute and probably never will.—​depressed as he is by the Infirmities of ill Health, and the Calls of a numerous, growing Family, whose only Hopes are in his continual application to the Drudgeries of his Profession, it is almost impossible for him to pursue any Inquiries, or to enjoy any Pleasures of a literary kind. He has, However been informed that you have in Contemplation an History, in which the affairs of America are to have a Share.—​If this is true it would give him infinite Pleasure.—​Whether it is or not, if he can by any Means in his Power, by Letters or otherwise, contribute any Thing to your Amusement, and Specially to your Assistance in any of your Inquiries, he will always esteem himself extremely happy in attempting it. Pray excuse the Freedom I have taken, Madam in giving you the Trouble of this Letter, and believe me with great Esteem and Admiration, your etc.   [85] Catharine Macaulay to John Adams, 19 July 1771279 London Sir A very laborious attention to the finishing the fifth vol of my history of England, with a severe fever of five months duration the consequence of that attention, has hitherto deprived me of the opportunity of answering your very polite letter of August 9, 1770. Your observations of the history of England are highly favorable and flattering to the Author but you must give me leave to say that on the principle of having a right to treat your own performances with freedom you have not done common justice to the work entitled a Dissertation on the Common and the feudal laws. 278 Like John Adams, Jeremiah Gridley was a member of the Sodality Club, which met for the study of law and oratory. Adams is here referring to the version of his work, mistakenly attributed by Hollis to Gridley, which appeared in The True Sentiments of America. 279 Published in Robert J. Taylor, ed., Papers of John Adams, 10 vols. (Cambridge, MA.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977–​96), 1:250. Available through FO.

The Letters  117 I am really very much concerned to hear that you labor under the heavy misfortune of a weak and infirm state of health. I simpathise with you in body and mind having rarely any alternative from either labor or pain. A correspondence with so worthy and ingenious a person as your self Sir will ever be prised by me as part of the happiness of my life. I wish to your numerous family continued health and prosperity and to you every other blessing which can ballance the unavoidable evils attending our human existence. I am Sir with esteem regard and gratitude Your etc.   [86] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 19 April 1773280 Boston Madam, I have many Apologies to make, for neglecting so long to acknowledge the Receipt of your agreable Favour. I hope to be more punctual for the future—​My own absence from Town, my ill State of Health and the melancholly Situation of our public affairs, a System of Tyranny gaining ground upon us every day and overbearing every Man, who will not bow his Knee to Baal, must be my excuse for the past—​ We have had here, an Abundance of Politicks this the last Winter, as you will partly see by the inclosed Papers.—​ The Intelligence that Salaries were granted by the Crown to our Judges, already dependent for their Continuance in office, on the mere Will of a Governer and Council, Spread a general Alarm here—​to lull the People, the Courtiers had Recourse to a very old stratagem.—​they gave out that the judges were already in, during good Behaviour, and that this Grant of Salaries from the crown would render them completly independent. In order to practice this most flagrant Imposition upon the People one of the Council who had the Reputation of a Lawyer, having formerly practiced at the Bar here, was employed to advance Such curious Doctrines in a Cambridge Town Meeting.—​He executed his Commission with Such Zeal, that he publicly challenged every Lawyer in the Province, and Mr Otis, Mr Quincy and myself by Name, tho we were all of us, near ten miles distant from him, to dispute with him upon his Law, either in Town Meeting, or in the Newspapers, and accordingly, in the next weeks Paper, commenced the Combat by publishing his Narration—​With all the Sobriety, 280 GLC01785.01. Addressed, For, Mrs Katharine Macaulay, London. A partial draft of an earlier letter from Adams to Macaulay, written during the previous year, is published in Butterfield, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, 2:75–​76. The fact that no copy of it survives among the material sold in 1992 strengthens the editor’s surmise that it was never sent, and it has been decided not to include it here.

118  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay and Gravity imaginable, I entered the Lists with him, and exhibited as you see a most ridiculous ostentation of Learning.281—​I fear you will scarsely thank me for giving you the trouble of reading it—​ You will find however in these Papers, a Part of a controversy between the Governor and the House—​This controversy will amuse you—​It ought never to have been begun by the Governor.—​For the Consequence of it must be that the People of this Continent will be convinced, too clearly, and too soon that upon Principles of the British Constitution, the British Parliament have no Authority over us.—​ However, We must resign to hate—​this Man was born, to disturb this Continent and the British Empire, and if he is suffered with his Family Connections to hold the Places they now fill he will effectually answer the last of his Creations.—​a thorough Master in Theory and Practice of the Political Principles of Machiavell there is no Quantity of public Mischief, no Sacrifice of Truth, Honour, Virtue or Country through which he will not cheerfully force his way to Wealth and Power. I know of no greater Anguish than to see, half a Dozen men for Seven years together constantly bent, to set two Countries together by the Laws, and yet not be able to convince Either Country that this is the Case—​Barnard,282 Hutchinson,283 Oliver,284 Moffat,285 Howard,286 Paxton287 & Hallowell288 are that Lot of Men, and yet they are cherished on both sides the Atlantic one side of the Atlantic as their best Friends, and are not detected on the other as their worst Enemies—​ As Soon as the Proceedings of the last Winter are printed I  will transmit them to you entire—​Th[ere is] strong appearance at present of a Renovation of 281 John Adams’s exchange with William Brattle (1706–​76) was published in the Boston Gazette between 31 December 1772 and 22 February 1773, and is published in Taylor, Papers of John Adams. Available through FO. 282 Sir Francis Bernard (1712–​79) was for a short time governor of New Jersey and then from 1760 governor of Massachusetts. 283 Thomas Hutchinson (1711–​80) was appointed chief justice for Massachusetts by Bernard, thus arousing the ire of James Otis and his father, who believed that the post had been promised to him by previous governors. Although he opposed the Stamp Act, Hutchinson did not publicly support Otis’s claims that the British Parliament had no right to tax the colonies, resulting in his being represented as a tool of the British ministry and his home being attacked by the mob. From 1771 he became governor of the colony. In 1773, Benjamin Franklin made available a collection of letters from Hutchinson and others to Thomas Whately, which showed him to support the curtailing of the liberties of the colonists. After his death in England in 1780, his property at Milton was purchased by James and Mercy Otis Warren. 284 Andrew Oliver (1706–​74) was Hutchinson’s brother-​in-​law and had been appointed to the position of colony’s stamp officer, a position he resigned as a result of attacks on his house by protesters, who also hanged him in effigy. 285 Thomas Moffatt (c. 1702–​87) was a physician, scientific experimenter, snuff-​mill proprietor, and supporter of royal authority who lived in Newport, Rhode Island. His letter relating to the failure of the Rhode Island General Assembly to provide compensation for the losses he sustained in the Newport riots is part of the Hutchinson letters released by Benjamin Franklin. 286 Howard, chief justice of North Carolina, also suffered losses in the Newport riot. 287 Charles Paxton (1708?–​88) was a Boston customs commissioner, who zealously enforced the British Acts of Trade. 288 Hallowell was responsible for delivering the Hutchinson letters.

The Letters  119 that Union of the Colonies, which alone can give us hopes, that Falsehood and Hypocrisy, will not finally prevail against us—​ I am, Madam, with great Esteem, your, etc.   [87] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 28 June 1773289 Boston

Madam, I have taken the Freedom to inclose to you a Letter from a Lady, who is one of the ornaments of her Sex in the Country, and not the less amiable, for being attentive to public affairs, and a Friend to Liberty.290 She is Daughter, Wife and Sister of Patriots.—​The Daughter of Col[onel] Otis one of the Council,291 Wife to Col[onel] Warren,292 a Member of our House of Governors, and one of the most determined Patriots we ever had, and Sister to your Friend Mr Otis of Boston293 who has Sacrificed himself his Fortune & family in the Cause of his Country—​ If you should indulge me in the Pleasure of introducing to your Acquaintance, our American Ladies, I shall become an important character here, I assure you with the Sex. They are all admirers of Mrs Maccaulay—​ I have also enclosed, the Proceedings of our Council and House of Represen­ tatives, relative to certain Letters—​294 These Letters have broken the charm, in this Province—​They have furnished full proof, of what was Suspected by many and fully believed by a few here before, that all our Calamities have originated in the cruel, rapacious Breasts of Some of our own Countrymen—​God grant them their Reward! We are anxious here to know what is meditating for us in England. What is the opinion of People there concerning the controversy last Winter, between the Governer and House, and what they intend to do with us for the future—​ We hope to be restored to our old situation—​This will give us Peace and restore Harmony and good will.—​Nothing short of that will do it—​without that 289 GLC01786. This letter is mentioned by Edward Dilly in his letter to John Adams dated 4 March 1774; it had been sent to Macaulay via a Captain Scott under cover to Dilly, and he mentions that the Proceedings of the Assembly that were supposed to be enclosed had disappeared, Taylor, Papers of John Adams, 2:18–​19. Available through FF. Dilly also sent Adams a copy of “a Letter which was written by Mrs Macaulay to a friend upon the necessary Qualifications for a representative in Parliament” which, he says, “will be distributed upon the Eve of the General Election.” This is undoubtedly her letter to John Collett Ryland, letter [133]. Burgh’s Political Disquisitions was also transmitted to Adams at the same time, and Dilly mentions the fact that John Sawbridge and Benjamin Franklin had dined together at his house. 290 See letter [110] dated 9 June 1773, from Mercy Otis Warren. 291 James Otis Sr. (1702–​78) was a colonel in the Barnstable militia, and its representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. 292 James Warren (1726–​1808) had married Mercy Otis (1728–​1814) in 1754. 293 See letters [70] and [71]. 294 These are proceedings relating to the Hutchinson letters, which were not delivered to Macaulay.

120  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay I shall never see any Thing but Resentment & Rage, Hatred and Dissaffection, and in plain English without that I never shall wish to see any thing else. I should wish for any Event that can be mentioned rather than a Reconciliation with Great Britain at the Expence of our Liberties.—​ It is now generally hoped and expected that the Nation will learn more Wisdom than to suffer themselves to be led blindfold, by a few needy Americans, who have much Ambition, but no Honour, or Virtue—​ I hope I shall not appear, Madam, in your Eyes ill tempered but really, to see a Continent, an Empire danced for Seven Years upon like Puppetts upon the Wires of two mean Americans for no Purpose in the World but to build up their own Families excites more Indignation in me than I can well restrain—​ I hope to have the opportunity of returning my Thanks to the Parent Country for restoring us, what she had no Right to take away, and to Mrs Maccaulay in particular for contributing to bring about so happy an Event, mean time I am with great Respect, Madam, your etc.   [88] Catharine Macaulay to John Adams, August 1773295

Sir,296

London

I was very sorry to find by your favor of the 19 of Aprill that you had so many good reasons to allege for the Depriveing me thus long of the pleasure of your Correspondence. We simpathise so much in mind and Body that you cannot think me guilty of compliment when I say that I was much concerned at the account you gave me of the state of your health and the situation of your public Affaires. There are some matters of importance which have come to light since the reception of your letter which will be I hope leading steps to the Amendment if not the thorough reformation of that unjust system of policy which has too long prevailed in your government and filled the minds of your Patriots with melencholly Apprehensions for the future State of America. I have just received intelligence that Governor Hutchinson desired leave to resign.297 The wicked have fallen into the pit they have digged for others. May Hutchinson’s example be a warning to the rest of your Countrymen, for if American Liberty is destroyed the Destruction will be effected by the Vipers which she Nourishes in her own Bosom. Your controversy with General Bratle 295 GLC01785.02 draft. MHS copy received by Adams, printed in Taylor, Papers of John Adams, 1:352–​53. Available through FF. 296 The draft begins, “The fav Your favor of the 19 of April relieved me from the Disagreeable of uncertainty I was not sure you had received my letter.” It contains various other strikeouts and alternative phrasings which do not alter the content. 297 Hutchinson asked leave to be relieved of his duties as governor on 26 June.

The Letters  121 afforded me a good Deal of amusement. I am fond of the subject when treated with any Degree of perspicuity. Plausible argument has a great influence on the judgement of the vulgar and on that consideration had you not received a challenge the pains you took in the controversy was undoubtedly well bestowed. In the next Letter which I have the honor of receiving from you I hope to hear that the appearance of a renovation of the Union betwixt the Colonies is become a reality. It is the Jealousies and Divisions which has always subsisted among you that has encouraged Ministers to attempt those innovations which if submitted to naturally lead to the subversion of your Liberties, I am Sir with Great Esteem, Your etc.   [89] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 11 December 1773298 Boston Madam, The last ministerial Maneuvre, has excited a more and determined Resistance than ever has been made before—​The Tea Ships are all to return, whatever may be the Consequence.—​I Suppose your wise Ministers will put the Nation to the Defence of a few Millions to quell this Spirit by another Fleet and Army. The Nation is so independent, so clear of Debt, and so rich in Funds & Resources, as yet untried, that there is no doubt to be made, She can well afford it—​ But let me tell those wise Ministers, I would not advise them to try many more such Experiments—​a few more Such Experiments will throw the most of the Trade of the Colonies, into the Hands of the Dutch, or will erect an independent Empire in America—​perhaps both—​ Nothing but equal Liberty and kind Treatment can Secure the attachment of the Colonies to Britain.—​ We are much concerned here at the unhappy Divisions among the Friends of the Constitution in the City of London—​We hope to see a Reconciliation, as much depends on their Union, and Exertions—​ I am much obliged to you for your Favour by Mr Clark, your etc.   [90] Catharine Macaulay to John Adams, 11 September 1774299 Dear Sir, A Very long and uninterrupted course of sickness has hitherto prevented me the pleasure of answering your Letters dated Boston June 28 and Dec. 11:1773, 298 GLC01787. Addressed, Mrs Katherine Macaulay, London. 299 Taylor, Papers of John Adams, 2:164–​65, 72. Available through FO. Addressed, To John Adams Esqr at Boston New England, delivered with a letter from Edward Dilly.

122  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay The Letter dated June 28 was long before it reached me and being pillaged of those papers relative to the proceedings of the Council which are mentioned in it I fear it fell into bad Hands.300 In that Letter Dear Sir you desire me to inform you of what is meditating against you in England but had I received that Letter in time it would have been impossible for me to have given you any hint concerning the Boston Port Bill and the Bill for the better regulating the trials of the Soldiery and the Canada Bill. No Items were dropt of the intentions of the Ministry till they were ripe for execution nor did any person out of the secret and very few were in it conceive an idea that Government would venture such lengths. If you have all the English News papers in America you will have seen how strenously and ever zealously my Brother Mr. Sawbridge defended the injured rights of America but the bands of the Ministry in both houses are so numerous that opposition serves to no other purpose than to publish the sentiments of individuals not in the smallest respict to obstruct the designs of Government. The people of this country are so dead to any generous principle in policy that they regard the Quarrel of the Government with the Americans only as it may affect their own interest. They will snarl a litle if they meet with interruption in their commerce but I believe no evil short of the entire destruction of their prop­ erty will produce an effectual opposition to the career of power. I must now thank you Dear Sir for the pleasure you have given me in introducing me to so agreable a correspondent as Mrs Warren. I assure you their is no circumstance can flatter me more than the being a favorite of the Ladies in general and in particular of Women of equal sentiment to your fair friend. I am, Dear Sir with Ardent wishes for the prosperity of the public and of your private happiness, Your etc. PS I have just read the Bishop of St Asaph’s speech on the affaires of America and think it one of the most capital performances I have seen of modern times.   [91] John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, 28 December 1774301 Braintree Dear Madam, The obstruction of our Harbour, by the Port Bill, occassions such a round-​ about Conveyance of every Thing from London, that it was but a few days ago, that I had the Pleasure of your Favor of 11 of September. I rejoice that your Health is so far recovered, as to enable you to afford me this Pleasure.

300

See Edward Dilly in his letter to John Adams dated 4 March 1774, note 289.

301 GLC01788.

The Letters  123 Your letter to Mrs. Warren I delivered to the Col[one]l her Husband immediately, and I hope to have the Honour of inclosing an answer to it very soon. The account you give of an overbearing influence in the House and of the want of feeling and Spirit, out of it, is of a very serious and melancholy kind. Americans are very sensible that such accounts are true, and expect to fall a sacrifice to the knavery in the Cabinet and the Folly out of it, unless preserved by their own Virtue—​their Frugality, or Valor or both. I have a long Time attended, with Pleasure, Gratitude and Veneration, to the upright conduct of Mr. Sawbridge in Parliament. His Principles alone can preserve the Nation and if they cannot be brought into Fashion, the Nation must be lost.—​I scarcely recollect another Instance in Either House of Parliament, who has espoused the American Cause upon Proper Principles, and from first to last, as he has done.—​Shorter Parliaments, a more equitable Representation, the abolition of Taxes and the Payment of the Debt, the Reduction of Placemen and Pensioners, the annihilation of Bribery and Corruption, the Reformation of Luxury, Dissipation & Effeminary, the Disbanding of the Army, are all necessary to restore your Country to a free Government, and to a Safe, honourable and happy life. But is this practicable?—​Is there a Resource in human Nature for Hope of such a miraculous Change?—​Is there one example of it in History, or Experience? A Nation is easily corrupted but not so easily reformed.—​The present Reign may be that of Augustus, but upon my Honour, I expect twelve Ceasars will succeed it. What is to become of America if they should? Ought she not to think in Time, and prepare for the worst? I have a great curiosity to know, how the Proceedings of the Congress at Phyladelphia are relished in London, at St. James’s and St. Stephens.—​I think it may be seen, from there, that America, is not insensible of her Danger, nor inattentive to the Means of her Safety.—​ I am also very anxious to know, what the Friends of Liberty think of the hasty Dissolution of Parliament. For my own Part, I have ever thought this the most insidious, and artfull, the step of the present Reign. It seems to betray more Contempt of the People, at the Same Time that it betrays a dread of some remaining Trust and Integrity among them than any Thing else which has been done.—​ You will allow Madam, that the Broil with American is a very great national concern.—​at a time, when America, was assembled, to concert Measures, relative to this great Concern, a new Parliament is called of a sudden, before the People could hear from America, as if the Minister disdained or dreaded that the Nations should have opportunity, to judge of the State of America, and choose their or instruct their Representatives accordingly, as if the Minister scorned or fear’d that the People, the Electors, should have opportunity to hear and converse together upon Facts, before they chose their Members.

124  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay The Design of these Gamblers, the Ministry, seems to have been likewise to give the Friends of Liberty the Go by,302 in London England as well as America, determined to pursue their System, they would not Suffer the Friends of the Constitution to converse or correspond together, before the Day of Election, least the Constituents should bind the candidates, to act an honest Part.—​ It is not easy to convey to you, Madam, an Adequate Idea of the State of this Province.—​It is now at last true, that we have no Government,—​legislative, executive, or judicial.—​The People determined never to Submit to the Act for destroying their Charter, so dearly purchased, preserved and defended by the Toil Treasure and Blood of their Ancestors, are, every where devoting themselves to Arms.—​Our Duke of Alva,303 is Shut up, with his Troops, and his forlorn Remnant of Mandamus Councillors, in Boston—​What the Ministry will do is uncertain.—​All the British Fleet and Army cannot change Minds Opinions.—​They cannot make a Juror Serve, nor a Representative.—​An attempt to cram a form of Government down the Throats of a People,—​to impose a Constitution, upon a united and determin’d People by Force, is not within the Omnipotence of an English Parliament. If they attempt a Campaign like that of Kirk, if they Send the Sword and Fire, to ravage in this Country, they will find in New England, one hundred Thousand descendants of the Puritans in the Charles and James’s days, who have not yet lost entirely the Spirit of English men under the English Commonwealth. Our enemies give out, that Persons, who have distinguished themselves here, in opposition to the Power of Parliament, will be Arrested and Sent to some County in England to be tryed for Treason.—​If this should be attempted, it will produce Resistance, and Reprisals, and a Flame through all America, Such an Eye hath not yet Seen, nor Ear heard nor hath it entered into the Heart of the Minister or his Minions to conceive.—​I beg the Continuance of your favours and am, with the warmest wishes, for the safety of both countries and for your uninterrupted Health and Happiness, your etc.

John Dickinson (1732–​1808) John Dickinson was a born into a Quaker family, but did not himself become a member of the Society of Friends.304 He is best known as the author of Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767–​68) which set out the case for believing 302 The act of evading or ignoring someone. 303 Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimental (1507–​82) who was sent by Spain to crush the revolt of the Dutch Protestants. 304 Jane E. Calvert, Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2008), 192. Benjamin H.  Newcomb, “Dickinson, John (1732–​1808), revolutionary politician and writer in America,” DNB.

The Letters  125 that the Townshend duties were unconstitutional. Like Macaulay, he was not an advocate of independence, but hoped to see the establishment of political rights and civil liberties on an equal basis in all the dependencies of the British crown.   [92] John Dickinson to Catharine Macaulay, 31 October 1770305 Philadelphia

Madam, I very sincerely thank you for your favor of the 24th of May; and as I truly esteem your Approbation, one of the brightest honours I can attain, so I receive every Mark of it with unfeigned Pleasure. At so great a Rate do I hold your good Opinion, that grateful as it is, I cannot be content with possesing the Treasure Myself. I wish my Country, Madame, to have an exalted Rank in your Regard. I wish—​and blush—​at the same Moment. Yet do not let America sink too low in your Mind. A Class of Men in all states too fondly devoted to profitable tho inglorious Tranquility, have shewn the same addiction to private interests here, that they have shewn in every other part of the World.—​But the Freeholders of this Continent, the really respectable Body of the People, I think, are still firm to the Cause of Liberty. To engage them to act with more spirit of steadiness in controlling the sliding Patriotism of Merchants, it will be proper, I apprehend, to wait awhile till the administration encouraged by a supposed Victory, shall with still more violent Audacity, renew their Attacks on our Freedom. We are not without Hopes—​without Resources. I  trust, we have Virtue & Resolution. Yet certain it is—​than no mortal can engage in a more difficult Enterprise than to rouze a People in vindication of their artfully invaded Rights—​to unite them—​& to maintain that union, in a persevering adherence to prudent Measures for obtaining Redress. Your generous Labors, Madam, in rendering Justice to deceased worthies will I  doubt not, Facilitate the Endeavors of future Patriots throughout the British Dominion in every Age. Your attention to America in particular is very obliging—​and your mentioning Mr Sayre is an instance of it.306 Your recommendation of that Gentleman, independent of his good character, would engage me in serving him to the utmost of my Power; but I have so few

305 GLC01790.01. 306 It is unclear who this is. It may be Stephen Sayre, an American who had moved to London and was arrested in 1775 for his activities in support of the Americans. He was later engaged by Arthur Lee as his secretary. See letter [95] from Catharine Macaulay, to unnamed Gentlemen, supporting Sayre.

126  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay acquaintances in the Province of Massachusetts Bay that I could not be of any use to Mr Sayre in his designs. I am Madam, With many sincere wishes for your happiness, Your etc.

[93] John Dickinson to Catharine Macaulay, 17 December 1770307 Philadelphia,

Madam, As it would be in vain for Me to think of sending you a Present, equal in Value to that with which you have honored Me, I have endeavoured to procure one, that might in some Degree be worthy of your Acceptance. My Attempts have been susuccessful. It is in my Power, however, to convince You, that besides her native production, my Country can happily adopt some useful ones from foreign Parts; and I do not doubt, but this Information will afford Satisfactioon to a Mind as benevolent as your own, and so kindly disposed towards these Colonies. My Friend Mr. Cottrel308 will wait upon You with a Piece of American Silk—​a new thing among Us—​. If its Novelty, or the unaffected Sentiments of Esteem, Gratitude, and Respect with which it is offered, can in any manner atone for its trifling Worth and recommend it, I shall receive a sincere Pleasure. With many Wishes for your Happiness, and with great Truth, I am, Madam, your etc.   [94] Catharine Macaulay to John Dickinson, 18 July 1771309 London Sir, It was with some Difficulty that I  could prevent my Heart the being somewhat elated with vanity on the reception of a present from the most Dignified character on the other side the Atlantick nor can I ever wear the example of American industry and ingenuity without feeling a very sensible pleasure. The best wish I can form for the Americans is that they would be always satisfied with the produce of their plentiful Country that they would confine their tast for Ornament to the limits of their own ingenuity and rather emulate that 307 GLC01790.03. 308 It is not clear who this is, and the mystery is made deeper by the fact that letter [94] refers to a Mr. Chattwell. 309 Historical Society of Pennsylvania, R.R. Logan Collection, Box 1.  Addressed, To John Dickenson Esq, Philadelphia, By the favor of Mr Chattwell. Draft, GLC01790.02. The draft has various strikeouts and alterations, most of which don’t alter the sense. The note concerning Mr. Chattwell does not appear in the draft.

The Letters  127 meritorious simplicity and moderation which was to be found310 in the happy and virtuous periods of the Greek and Roman States than the vices and Luxuries which afterwards prevailed in those illustrious Republicks to their entire ruin and which mistaken moderns miscal civilisation. I am Sir with all the Gratitude esteem and respect which are due to the Virtues in Your Character and the favors I have received from you, Your etc. On Mr Chattwell’s being engaged for some time in the North of England I did not receive your favor of the American Silk till last week or should have acknowledged it sooner.   [95] Catharine Macaulay to unnamed American Gentlemen, [1770?]311 Gentlemen, The appointment of an agent is a matter of such consequence to the welfare of your Collony, that you will excuse the liberty my zeal for your service prompts me to take in the cautioning you against puting any confidence in meer pretensions of concern for your interests and in particular against giving that trust to any man nearly connected with Lord Hilsborough.312 Your friends here think Mr Sayre in regard to integrity and public principle the most proper person you can appoint in regard to his abilities, you will be yourselves the judges on perusing several letters addressed to Lord Hilsborough on American grievances and published in the papers here. I am Gentlemen, Your etc.

James Ramsay (1733–​89) James Ramsay was an important early abolitionist who influenced Wilberforce, Clarkson, and later reformers. He had studied medicine under George Macaulay, and qualified as a ship’s surgeon. This led him to experience the horror of ministering to the cargo of a slave ship, infected with the plague, on which occasion he was the only person prepared to tend to the sick and dying slaves. He later published An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves (1784) while vicar of Teston in Kent. 310 “Prevailed” deleted from draft. 311 HOU b Autograph file, G. From the collection of Jeremiah Colburn, with “Dr. W Lewis” written on verso. The date of 1770 is suggested by the fact that Macaulay was promoting Sayre to Dickinson at this time, letter [92]. 312 Wills Hill (1718–​93) was generally known as Hillsborough, though he also managed to be awarded many other titles, including first Marquess of Downshire. He was made third secretary of state in 1768. When the Massachusetts House of Representatives issued a circular letter opposing the Townshend duties, and asserting that only the colonial assemblies had the right to impose taxes, he issued a reply demanding the rescinding of this letter, which was robustly opposed. He was also responsible for sending troops to Boston. Peter Marshall, “Hill, Wills, first marquess of Downshire,” DNB.

128  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [96] James Ramsay to Catharine Macaulay, 3 June 1771313 St. Christopher Dear Madam I have many thanks to return you for your acceptable letter transmitted me by Mr Akers, for all the condescending expressions it contains, and for your valuable fourth volume which accompanied it. I am glad to find since, that you have been able to compleat and publish your fifth volume; and I promise myself great pleasure in the perusal of it. The period is important; the revolutions are sudden and interesting. Though the triumph of liberty was but short; yet, even in that small space of time, her atchievements were vast, and flattering to an independent mind. The remaining part of your work will no doubt turn out less difficult as well as less pleasant to you. You no longer will have the successful struggles of freedom to relate, nor the acquisitions of liberty to a generous plan to mark down. The story, now, is of the ineffectual striving of a narrow bottomed opposition against the blunders and intruigues of a dissipated enslaving court, or the dishonourable shackles of aristocracy forged out of the ruins of prerogative and rivetted by corruption. After the restoration, the nation wanted both virtue and ability to make the proper use of the advantages which accident, and the superstition, and villainy of its Governours, threw into its power. Our diminutive tyrants at present seem to suffer all the effects of a lethargy. While their fingers itch and their teeth gnash to crush and devour the few men of sentiment among us, the terrour of their past villanies petrifies their hearts, and holds them trembling and shuddering under the expectation of vengeance. Cowardice makes them substitute all the little arts of malice and slander in the room of their omnipotent votes and arbitrary commitments. Their only comfort is that they are to be judged, and determined upon, in Britain, by men who, as they believe, have as little respect to sentiment as themselves, by men equally with them enemies to law, liberty and the reserved rights of human nature. Mr Akers bids us indeed raise our expectations high at the just and exemplary punishment, which must overtake these traitors to the peace and credit of our little community. But I confess I expect little from an administration, which in the very face of decency, in direct opposition to every prudent measure of government, could lately raise our abandoned firebrand Stanley to be King’s Solicitor, and a member of his council, as if to rejoice and insult over our misery and distress. The villainy and absurdity of the appointment is in this respect the more glaring, that the debauchee, to the most tyrannical oppressive illegal conduct towards our Colony has joined open rebellion against the laws and 313 SC Rare Lapidus Collection Box 2, Folder 18, New York Public Library (NYPL). Addressed, Mrs Catharine Macaulay, Berners St, Oxford St. Forwarded by Mr Maude, Downing Street.

The Letters  129 constitution of the mother country, and made exceeding large strides entirely to cut off our dependence and connection with it. By his influence with our ignorant judges he has set aside those laws of the British parliament which were designed to strengthen and secure the commercial bond, which ties Britain and her colonies together. He has persuaded our insignificant assembly by a string of formal votes to cast off in plain terms all dependence on the British constitution, and erect themselves into a body above law, controul, equity, and justice. And these his plans have not liberty and independence in view but oppression, injustice and inhumanity. When we consider that the ministry who have appointed him are all to a man most minutely acquainted with the conduct and exploits of this worthless; and know that his public character, justly accursed and detested as it is, is fair as an angel’s, compared with his private practice and manners, we must lament over the condition of that Sovereign whom they counsel, of that state which they rule. Never was poor hare so unmercifully hunted by a parcel of yelping dogs, as I have been and continue to be by the most ignorant unprincipled malicious set that ever combined against any appearance of integrity and honesty. Let me have never so much propriety or or generosity in view by any action I perform, let it be attended with never so disinterested and benevolent an effect, my enemies shall find nothing but selfishness and villainy in it; and in consequence of their discovery I  shall be hunted down with as much violence hatred and clamour, as if I were the only villain in the community, as if they could not reflect that they every day have the shameless impudence to boast of perpetrating the very villainies against me, of which they falsely accuse me. It is true my conscience gives the lye to their reproach; and I think that if I were in a private situation I should little care for the malicious railing of such people. But being as I am here in a public station, I find my condition truly irksome and disagreeable. And I am often brought by disgust to wish them any where but to the–​–​so I were forever rid of them. One comfort is that my enemies are all to one man the enemies and oppressors of their country; and by standing up against their illegal tyranny I have raised almost the whole present army of my revilers. One would chuse to write only of agreeable things to their friends; and great would my pleasure be if I could keep up to the rule in the correspondence with which you indulge me. But you take so kind a concern in my happiness that I could not resist the inclination I felt of laying my complaint before you and thereby perhaps to procure the help . . .314 indignation to blast such ungenerous treatment. May you long continue to be the pride and darling of a mighty people enlightened, and instructed in their due importance by your labours. And may you have



314 Tear.

130  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay the satisfaction to behold the glorious sun of liberty illuminating every dark neglected corner of our constitution, and dispelling every noxious chilling vapour raised in the shade of tyranny and condensed by errour and slavish awe. With the mort perfect respect I remain, Dear Madam, your etc.   [97] James Ramsay to Catharine Macaulay, 7 July 1774315 St Christopher Dear Madam, I am almost ashamed at this date to acknowledge the receipt of your very obliging favours of June and November 1773. And yet I am sure, I have at no time forgotten your worth, nor have been insensible of the value of your friendship. If my daily wishes and prayers have been answered, your health is now reestablished, and your country in a fair way of being blessed with the completion of that noble monument, which, at the hazard of your constitution and life, you have spent so much time and pains in raising to liberty. I look forward with desire to the hour which shall put the last hand to it, but posterity alone will, I fear, reap the profit and advantages of the work. Slow is the progress of reason in the world; yet still it is progressive, and I hope will, in time, triumph over prejudice and errour. How glorious the reflection, to be conscious of being an instrument in the management of a kind providence to remove the veil of ignorance from before ones fellow citizens, and to prepare them for the enjoyment of that equal liberty, in which alone consists the proper dignity and happiness of man as a social creature. May you long enjoy this pleasing sensation; and before you are summoned to the world of spirits, may you behold the noble prospect, in preparring them for which you have so strenuously laboured, gradually opening on your enlightened countrymen. Liberty herself will thank you for your vindication of Sidney.316 The frivolous manners of the age had of themselves, sunk man too much in his own opinion. What malice then must it have been to attempt to extinguish even those few lights, that rare integrity had set up to direct us to noble and disinterested actions. How indignant the design to persuade us into the opinion, that public spirit is in practice to be found only a cover to narrow avarice, a blind to mean selfish intruigue. I have seen with indignation the decision of the house of Lords respecting literary property.317 I can easily suppose, that they, sitting as a court of appeal,

315

SC Rare Lapidus Collection Box 2, Folder 18, NYPL. HEAJ, 7:72–​73, 425–​89. 317 See letter [77] note. 316

The Letters  131 should consider themselves as bound to judge by the laws in being; but surely, when they find the law deficient, or their tendency injurious, they should, in their other capacity of Legislators, order in a Bill to correct the wrong for the future. That the public should be careful to bring the price of useful books within the compass of the greatest number of readers will be readily allowed. It is a matter of police, and therefore subject to regulation. And as all particular rights still suppose a respect to public utility, no authour, after the first impression, ought to be suffered to lay any extraordinary tax upon the public. To oblige them to publish a cheap edition after the first would sufficiently effect this. The worth of Books as an article of trade may be more easily ascertained and may be more equally fixed than the value of almost any other commodity. But surely when the public have taken care to make books plentiful and cheap, it is but natural justice to leave the authour to enjoy the fruits of his labours within these restrictions. I can see nothing more capable of the attribute of propriety than a book, nor a right that can be more easily or more innocently exercised. Nor is there any analogy between an useful machine and a book. Nor shop can furnish, nor with conveniency transport, to distant parts, all the machines which may be wanted; while one press may easily supply the whole Empire with a particular book. Nay if an authour were indulged with the privilege that his copyright should not be adjudged for debt, it would be but a moderate recompence for the benefit which society has reaped from science and learning.—​I have always considered it as an illiberal advantage taken by the North Americans to publish American editions of every valuable book, as it comes out. Blackstone’s four volumes they sell for eighteen shillings, Robertsons Charles 5th for thirteen shillings and sixpence.—​By this practice an authour is deprived of the advantage of dispersing his work in a large and opulent part of the Empire, where there are perhaps, London excepted, a greater proprtion of readers than in any of the other provinces. The present disputes with America have a particular gloomy appearance to us in the Westindies. We are threatened by them with a combination to deprive us of the necessaries of life, which we hold entirely of the American provinces. And should it be put in practice we have no immediate resource. You kindly express a wish, that I might be able in my intended retreat to fix near you. I much fear no such happiness will be in my power. I propose two years hence to bring my two eldest Girls home for education; and I shall take that opportunity of looking out for some humble retirement for my family. I shall have many temptations respecting my fortune to make the place of my nativity the spot; though I dread the severe climate. But I shall keep myself indeterminate till I come home, and then suffer myself to be guided by circumstances. There is indeed a particular living in one of the Southern counties, which a friend of mine might perhaps be able to procure for me, should it become vacant; but as that

132  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay depends on a contingency, which is neither in his or my power, it serves just to keep alive my hopes that some time or other it may translate me from my present uncomfortable situation. Wherever my lot may be cast the remembrance of your friendship will enable me to set light by every instance of prejudice and injury, which ignorance or pride may attempt to fix on Dear Madam, your etc. This letter together with a large pot of ginger will be brought you by Margaret Cooper a free negroe woman, who comes home nurse to Mr Akers. She is a careful woman, and will call for any letter you may favour me with.

Ezra Stiles (1727–​95) Stiles was a Congregationalist pastor in Newport, Rhode Island, who, although he did not join in the Revolution, was famous for his opposition to the Stamp Act. His comments in the following letters, on the inevitable corruption of all political systems, throw some light on his subsequent attitude to the Revolution. He left Newport in May 1775 and lived in Dighton, Massachusetts, until taking up the position of president of Yale, moving to New Haven in 1778. He kept drafts of his letters, and most of the following letters from him to Macaulay are transcribed from those drafts. Only for the letter sent on 15 April 1775 do both the draft and the clean copy sent survive.318   [98] Catharine Macaulay to Ezra Stiles, 10 July 1772319 London Sir, By the favor of Mr Marchant320 in whose company I have been during some time of his stay in England I am acquainted with the eminent abilities of the Author of the Discourse on the Christian Union.321 I take the opportunity of Mr Marchant’s return to America to send you Sir thanks for the pleasure which the perusal of that performance gave me and to request it as 318 Unfortunately, I arrived at the Beinecke Library to consult this material just after the Stiles papers, containing the originals of the letters, had been closed for processing. The following transcriptions have therefore been made from scans of an imperfect microfilm and may contain errors. 319 Ezra Stiles Papers, BLY. Addressed to the Rev. Dr. Styles. 320 Henry Marchant of Newport, Rhode Island, was another of Macaulay’s correspondents. See letters [106]–​[109]. 321 Ezra Stiles, A discourse on the Christian union: the substance of which was delivered before the Reverend Convention of the Congregational Clergy in the colony of Rhode-​Island; assembled at Bristol April 23, 1760 (Boston: Edes and Gill, 1761).

The Letters  133 a favor that you will give a place in the Redwood Library to my publication as a small testimony to my regard to the people of the free Colony of Rhode Island I am Sir, Your etc.   [99] Ezra Stiles to Catharine Macaulay, 13 November 1772322 Newport Rhode Island

Madam By Mr Marchant we see the elegant copy of your publications in five Volumes which you did us the honor of presenting to the Redwood Library in this Town; where I have accordingly deposited them. The Directors of the Library have instructed me as Librarian to express their Gratitude, and hereby return you the Thanks of the Redwood Library Company for this generous Donation. This I now do Madam, with the greatest pleasure. And while your Works are an Ornament to our public Library I trust they will at the same time be a means of feeding the sacred fire of Liberty, and honoring to late posterity a Female of the first Eminence among the Writers of History. A thorough Knowledge of the period you write others may have obtained; but it may be said, without acquiting in every Description, that your Composition and setting forth a clear and penetrating discernment of the springs of action a very unbiased Judgment, and an unexampled honesty and intrepid freedom in striking of Events and Characters. But, madam, you have too pure & fine a Taste to write the History of Man. Not a Character on Earth can stand the principles of your Tribunal. Unsullied and useful Characters only, and Administrations conducted with unerring wisdom, please you. If you should look over all the Empires on Earth and attend to their policies and the men who from age to age have conducted them, you would be justly disgusted; perhaps at length displeased even with yourself to have written one page on human Folly, or to have immortalized so inglorious so ignoble a period as the dissmall the duel of History. Wise policies and designs defeated by actors interfering with mankind’s good, public vacilation, mixt and broken characters, the monuments of Instability—​ among the Great & those at the Summit of Empires. Tummults Groans oppression & other distress—​among the people—​are the materials of the history of this World. Humanitas is in Ruins. Genius however may be displayed in writing the ruins of Baalbeit323 or Palmyra much more than in describing

322 Draft, Ezra Stiles Papers, BLY. 323 Baalbeit-​el-​Hagar was the contemporary name for the ancient Busiris, where the ruins of a temple to Isis were described in Richard Pococke, A description of the East, And Some other Countries., 3 vols. (London: W. Bowyer, 1743–​45), 1:21.

134  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay those august Edifaces in a perfect state. The best of Characters we shall find changes, varys, reforms themselves & sinks again; they must be painted as they are for the Time being—​“catch ere she change the Cynthia of this minute.”324 To defend the good and leave the ill, to define the ill & pass the good, to confound a mixture so as to annihilate all character are equally absurd. To investigate the predominacy & ultimatum in Character & give it forth with Energetic Boldness becomes the Historian! There is a public good, not imaginary but real, with it the true Interest of every Individual coincides: It is sain Gov[ernment] moral Gov[ernment] it ought to be so in common that the whole collective body of a K[ingdom] or state should be actuated by it, is to be desired but in vain expected on Earth* .325 To discern this & to be inspired and governed by it is the distinguishing glory of the Patriots, whether in a Monarchy or a Republic. When this is well desired, perhaps for a Time pursued, at last abandonned, patriotism degenerates into venality. One pities a noble Athenian hovering in Uncertainty and Perplexity between the Love of his Country on one hand, & the splendor of a Persian Title and pension on the other. Many Events roman historians have described as Ingratitude of the Grecian State in some of these best Men are to be considered as the just Onslaught by a glorious people jealous of their Liberty against Nobles, whom they catched temporizing with the Court of Persia influenced by Splendid promises of a foreign Court, that employed themselves to persuade & convince their Countrymen that their Invaders were invincsable, and that it would be wiser & more glorious for them to become Members of an immense Medo-​Persian Empire, than to remain the little independent tho glor[ious] republics of Greece. Could Liberty be safe in such hands? The moment such a thought found Entertainment that moment true grecian Liberty expired in the Breast of an Athenian. So the moment that Monarchy & the hereditation of it in his family entered the soul of O. Cromwell, that moment he deserted the cause of Liberty & fell like Lucifer Son of the Morning. He was heroic & formidable while he lived, he is since justly reverenced for the sagacity &Wisdom of his actual Gov[ernment]. Had he left the Rep[ublic] not to his son but the parl[iament], & settled the Polity a Senate of but one Order, an annual or triennial assembly forming an equitable Representation of the people proportionate to Number & Property with an Elective Protector at its Head: he had died without Sullying his Republican principles; leaving behind him an Institution or System of Government so adapted to the Genius of Englishmen as to have sustained the Shocks of Ages, perhaps have endured to the Confusion of all Things.



324 325

Quoting Alexander Pope, “Epistle to a Lady” 11:17–​20. “*till the coming of ” added at bottom of page.

The Letters  135 Your History Madam will commend you to Posterity rather than to the present Age. It cannot please Princes courts & the Combination of a complex Court Connexion through a State; more than Father Paul’s history of the Council of Trent or his Rights of republican Sovereignty could please a pontificate founded in the Encroachment on Liberty & the Subjugation of K[ingdoms] and empires. You have written & and are writing a critical period—​a period which will be better judged of 300 y[ears] hence than at present. All now acknowledge now your Elegance & nervous Composition, & a certain sensible keanness of candor; then they will reverence the Justice & determinacy of your Judgment. And I descry you now find many admirers among those whom all parties would determine the most candid Judges: to be approved by a Hollis, by men without the vanity of Venality Men of Know[ledge] & above all of real Independ[ence] of mind, you may expect. This Tribunal you will secure. You know not Madam how much you may subserve the Cause of Truth & Liberty. Britain as well as Amer’ the World, has great Revol[utions] to pass through. Your Works may bring forth fruit after you shall be transported to the Realms of perfect Liberty. I knew not that Mr Marchant had with him the Discourse on the Christian Union, which you mention in to obliging a manner in your letter to me of 10th July last. Such a unmerited Expresions of support from one of the lights of the present Age do me great honor. You was pleased to intimate to Mr Marchant that you desired I should correspond with you. This must be very flattering. Modesty forbids me to say how much I should be pleased with this Honor: especially as I have the satisfaction of assertaining that, to the formost abilities & the most shining Accomplishments Mrs Macaulay adds a firm Belief & sound reverence of Revelation, the highest Esteem of the divine Religion of JESUS, & the most amiable Morals. I have read of a Zenobia & an Olympia, I have read of a Sarentora, to whom was applied that of the arabian poet “if the Women would resemble her, the men would soon loose their their Superiority.” I have read of Females eminent for philosophy & Literature. Posterity will read of one figuring in the present age in the literary way, who has surpassed those of of all previous ages. A plan for America Travels. I  could readily draught. In a hasty manner I  penned for Mr Marchant a plan for the Tour of Europe, which he showed you; whereapon you wished for a similar one for travells this Continent (the Continent of Kingdoms of Europe polished, Madam, by the improvement of ages, contains things worthy of description. Not so the inhospitable Desarts of America a country curious for what it will be than for what it is. You meditate a Travel thinking the English Colonies, the promised Land of future Liberty &Glory. Entertain not the high Ideas of satisfaction in such a Tour lest you return disappointed or disgusted. The

136  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Improvements & population here when considered but of 150 years standing & the growth from a very small Emigration for–​the present State, would indeed surprise any one. The font of Liberty realy burns with great fervor in America’s Breast. But infinite pains are taken along the whole connexion of crown Offices of every Department along the Continent to extinguish the Sacred Flame. Most Travellers fall into this Trash & are deceived & led to think that american Liberty is asleep except in a few Gazette Ebulliations. Few mingle with the Body of the common people, or with persons uncorrupted with ministerial connections, from whence they might see that mighty Wave that great spirit of Liberty agoing & operating with great force in the colonial Body—​tho the Era is yet at a distance when those Events shall arise; which will asuredly draw forth Birth of the public Spirit into achievments & Revolution astonishing as the World itself. On principle this Spirit is now reined in upon a proffesed convention that now is not the age of its making & further that the mother Country may have full opport[unit] y to recover her Wisdom. Every step she has taken for some years past not least the general System of Colony Administration has had as direct a tendency to accelerate Events which she would keep at a distance, as if projected with the deep laid policy of the Canadians. The Enemies of Great Britain could not wish her to adopt another System. It is most firmly believed througout all America that providence intends a glorious English Empire here. We suck it in with our Mothers Milk; it grows up with us, it propagates with increasing vigor & with an assurance devoid of doubts that when Heaven Shall have doubled our Millions a few times more it will not be in the power of our Enemies to chastise as with Sovereigns. A people grows up with this fervid love of Liberty & with these indelible Expectations will become a Phaenomenon in the political world worthy a very curious Attention. Should you persue the design of visiting America then you may think it best to come first to Charleston, South Carolina. There you will find Mr Gordon & other friends to public Liberty. From thence by water you may come to Virginia where you will find an assembly firm in the Cause of Liberty. From Williamsburg it may be best to travel by land to the Northeast In Maryland you may find the sensible Mr Delany. In Philad[adelphia] you will find Dr Mason, Dr Dickinson, & so many other patriots. At New York among others you will take satisfaction in surgeon William Livingston & Mr Junior Mason Scott. Travelling along through Connecticutt you may see Gov Trumbull & others in your way to Newport, where you will find Mr Marchant & others, & among them I myself shall be happy in waiting upon you. The late Gov Ward & Gov Hopkins both now living in this colony will take pleasure in seeing so eminant a Daughter of Liberty. You will then proceed to Boston & find Mr Otis, Mr Adams, Mr Cushing, Mr Hancock & the Reverend D. Chauncy. I flatter myself you may find agreeable Entertainment

The Letters  137 among them. You will proceed to Piscataqua & return to Boston, may make an Excursion across New England to Springfield on Connecticutt River & so down to Haisford thence across the new Town to Albany, & so down along Hudson River to New York. Perhaps you may chuse to proceed from Albany up Lake Champlain to Canada, and having visited Quebec and Montreal then may return to New England. You will vist the infant Colleges at Williamsburg, Newark, Philadephia, Princeton, New York, New Haven, Providence, & above all Harvard College in Cambridge near Boston, where a Library of ten thousand volumes, & where you will see the liberal Foundations of the Family of Hollis, & particularly the most learned Dr Winthrop an Ornament of Literature & true Liberty. Throughout the tour you will find Men of great merit among the provincial Crown officers though in their Ideas of Liberty differ from Americans in general. Confucius wrote the History of the civil wars & martial ages of China, travelled the Empire, then returned into philosophic solitude sick of human Nature & the indocility of mankind, solacing himself with a far sublimer Knowledge than that of all the policies & empires on Earth, tho’ he had laid the foundations of a lasting Glory which has endured already above two thousand years. Wishing you every Blessing I am Dear Madam. Your etc.   [100] Ezra Stiles to Catharine Macaulay, 6 December 1773326 Dear Madam The Roman Senate consisted of but one Order viz the patrician, which increased from 100 to 1000, and their power was for Life. The Consuls even in office were but prime inter pares with some appendages of temporary power under the Control of the Body—​out of office indeed they had the Titular precedency of ordo consularis but shared an equality only of Senatorial power with their Brethren. Thus in the English House of Lords the Members sit not as Superior Dignitaries, but as of one order only. Whether it was necessary to good Govenrment! That the Patrician order should be for Life may be as much a Question in the Theory of Politics as whether it should like the Venetian Nobles be hereditary. In which last case it would seem to be [subject] liable if not subject to most of the inconveniences you with great Justice enummerate as belonging to hereditary Dominion which would undoubtedly be aimed at by a Protector for Life. A Protector for life at the Head



326

Draft, Ezra Stiles Papers, BLY.

138  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay of an Elective Senate or an Assembly, is not my Idea of a perfect Republic; tho it came so near it that I had thought even such a policy would be very desirable. Politics is aside of my Profession, or so practical politics. They fall within my sphere only in philosophic views of human Nature. One part of the proper study of Mankind is MAN. So I would contemplate the monarchical Republic of Rome with a curious Astonishment as I would contemplate the Arrangement & order & Spontaneous Government of the other Tribes of Animals; so in contemplating Man we are naturally led to see what are the mighty Works which issue from that Invention Sagacity & Genius with which he is endowed by the Creator, on what Principles he runs or is caught into Society, how operated upon, and the efficacy of political Systems at distant periods, and copy what Polity has advanced the greatest public Good. With those views I have had an Inclination to look into the Politics of all the Kingdoms & Empires on Earth. Under the Small Limits of my Reading I had imagined that the Spirit of all might be reduced to a few different Theories. But which was absolutely the best I confess so clear in my Mind, as that such a best one is impracticable. Still the oposition of evil Policies is scarcely worthy the too nugatory buzzing of mankind. Any & all of them will assure the Ends of as much public Happiness as human Nature is well capable of in this imperfect State. Any of them even the best if illy administered admit of a Defeat of public Happiness. When Corruption has insinuated itself into the best system of Government it degenerates into Tyranny. Corruption has insinuated itself into and overturned the best. It is worthy the Inquiry of a philosopher, it would be beneficial to society to investigate one which on the principles, & taking in the same old Simplest of Laws that bids fairest for the longest duration in the preservation of public Justice & Liberty—​continuing to be the Servant rather than the Lord of the public. But no good polity can be of long duration in this corrupt World. My Ideas of the English Constitution have much diminished. It seems to have become or arisen into to a kind of fortuitous Consolidation of Powers now in Opposition to the true Interests of the people. America bids fair to investigate a free & equal polity founded on the perfection of all the policies of all Ages & Empires. It will be a new phaenomenon. Its first Ages will be a happy Administration—​but I am sure in a few Ages it faults in its Form give Way to Corruption; & pass the fatal Mutations of Empire. Thus changes from good to ill from ill to good will go on to take place in this and every part of the World till the destined Period shall arrive, when all the Kingdoms of this World shall see the Lord, & coalese under his most joyful & universal Domininion. The most that you, madam, and the most enlightened Legislator can effect, is at best to patch up a broken Constitution laboring at inumerable Diseases and Infirmities until the Renovation shall take place. And it is almost as discouraging

The Letters  139 to attempt an Emendation or Reformation of the true English Constitution as to asay the Recovery of an hydropical Subject which with many Excellencies in it carries about it the inevitable Death. England has been struggling under diseases for ages. It has at Times and in some parts received a temporary cure—​but the disorders so radically seated as will at last baffle every political physician. Shall we then set down in Despair and do nothing for the good of our Country? God forbid. Let us take a large and comprehensive View of the policies of the States of all Ages & Countries around the Globe; not content ourselves with cursory superficial Views, but enter deeply & profoundly & thoroughly into the grand operating principles of every species of Dominion—​verify them by Facts, accurately attend to their operation—​and either augment new Constitutions or at least investigate those Remedies which may be successfully applied to the treatment and restoration of old, injudiciously formed & decayed Governments. The Theatre of the World is now before us, through the custom of Travels of Men of Genius and penetrating Observation. Let us not confine ourselves to Europe, but avail ourselves of the Lights of Orientals & Asiatics, of the World itself both in antient and modern Ages. What the Result of such an Universal examination of all the political Systems on Earth by a person of my Friend’s Sagacity might be, I shall not adventure to presume—​but I believe you would find it much greater than what may arise from limiting your Contemplation to the Greeks and Roman Republics for Antiquity, & to the Reigns of the Houses of the Tudors, Stuarts, & Brunswicks, for mordern Times. We have hackneyed the Roman History which lent that of an enormous fruitful Tyranny at best—​the true & noble principles of Justice and Liberty we with Pity and Regret behold bleeding and emerging but to fall into oppression again in the last 700 years of English History. With grief we turn from the bloody Period; distressed that all efforts are in vain & abortive forclosing into extensive and triumphant Oppression those few general principles of Saxon Right and Liberty, which if human folly would but permit their full operation would rescue not Britain only but the World itself into political Order & Happiness. So excellent are some to the noble principles of the English Constitution! The Republic of Venice which has figured gloriously for ages is hastening to Ruin. The seeds of Death have entered its Constitution. The state of the Kingdom or Republic of Poland may evince that it is not best should be engrossed by a few, but be divided and dissememinated through the Body of a People. As Nobility and parentage It is necessary that Tax should be with those in whose Hands is the property to be taxed & given. When this in the hands of a few, those few are to be consulted. It was a reform in England which reformed the acquest of property, & so Inherited the Independence & spirit of the main body of the people. For this Reason among others the Law abhors

140  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay perpetuities, because it precluded the many from congatheredably327 Estates. But upon the Alteration of English Law & permission of the Lords of Territory to alienate their estates, the property is after strongly diffused among the Commons, plebians emerged thereby into weight in the system of Government. A noblity or Baronage of large property may subsist well while frugality remains—​but now that the Expences of Vast luxury exceed the Means of their estates 328 they are ruined or tethered in a dependence on the Crown in order to participate in the Revenues raised on the Body of the people. Hence the System of Court Dependance of Corruption. Let the Nobility proceed in alienating their estates for the present supplies of Luxury, and the diffusion of property among the many take place, and the Body becomes prepared for a new form of Government which I have sometimes thought the happiest for a well modelled Empire. That is a Legislature of one Order only, any of the Representive standing on the & annual Election of the people with a Protector as often elected for their Head, with the power of a speaker of the House of Commons, or the Consuls of Rome. This Body of Representatives to elect & appoint a small standing Body for constant executive Supervisory & Administration whose Members moveable at pleasure & by no means for Life. Ysocrates.   [101] Ezra Stiles to Catharine Macaulay, 30 July 1774329 Dear Madam, The last recent Stroke of the Parliament at our Liberties has astonished America into a real & efficacious Union, which it is beyond the Power of Europe again to dissolve. Instead of Depression and Despondency the public Spirit rises itself for Exertion. The Attack of Boston is felt & recognized as an attack on all the Provinces—​it has been thus declared by the Several Assemblies that have been permitted to sit—​it has been thus declared by provincial County P Meetings with whom is the Fine Sense of their Constituents the people—​ it has been thus declared in large numerous plebian Assemblies in the Citys of Philadelphia & NY, as well as the Town meetings in N.E. It is undoubtedly the general Sentiment of the America. Surely Boston as suffering in a common Cause will be supported by all the Colonies except the 327 Unclear word, but I take Stiles to be intending to refer to estates that can be divided among beneficiaries. 328 † Stiles’s note: “Isocrates’ Orat. Panathenaic, p. 623. Lat.” I have not been able to identify the edition of Isocrates’s Panathenaicus that he is citing. 329 Draft, Ezra Stiles Papers, BLY.

The Letters  141 military ones. But we are not going to Arms, we do not to be decoyed into Rebellion by the Haughtiness & Intolerance of Power. We know that the party right of taxing and governing unrepresent Millions, & the whole system of Domination founded on that claim, is repugnant to all the principles of the Jus civil & Law of Nature & Nations & that Saxon Genius of Liberty & Law which English America inherits from the parent State, & must & will sooner or later be given up. Not a politician in Europe not even a single Man on in America believes that the unruly Millions of this Continent will always submit to Despotism. There are many Means of Redress. We shall not be discouraged if all proves unsuccessful till we come to the last, the Success of which is indubitable; We shall continue our at present useless & repulsed Supplications to our King remembring that the hearts of Princes are in the hands of the Most High, will turn with Him &c.330 But if Oppression proceeds, Desperation may force an annual Congress & a public System of Enterprise may engenerate an American Magna Charter & Bill of Rights supported with such intrepid & perservering Imports as even Sovereignty may henceforth judge it not wise to withstand. Then will be a Runimead in America.331 I should be glad to know the Amount of the interior & foreign Trade of Great Britain: of the former may be annually, say 20 or 30 millions more or less, yet from a cursory Examination of  .  .  .332 I  can’t make the Exports, from Great Britiain in Manufactures to the Baltic, the Mediteranean and the East Indies 300 Thousand each, exclusive of Bullion—​& I presume this is half the Exports, for I can’t suppose the Sale of British Manufactures in Portugal, Spain, Germany &c exceed a Million sterling more. I should therefore suppose the total Exports to all the World of the Atlantic don’t excede two Million sterling perannum? But say it is Four, that is the same as to America. It should seem then that the American Trade is one half the national Exterior Commerce!   [102] Ezra Stiles to Catharine Macaulay, 15 April 1775333 Newport, Rhode Island

Dear Madam, The Resolutions of Parliament instead of intimidating only add Fuel to the Flame, invigorate & strengthen the Resolutions of the Americans. We have 330 See Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” 331 Runimead, or “Runnymede,” the meadow by the Thames where the Magna Carta was signed. 332 Illegible. 333 GLC01798; draft, Ezra Stiles Papers, BLY. Addressed, Mrs Catharine Macaulay In London. Favored by Francis Dana Esq.

142  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay the united Wisdom of the Continent incessantly exercised in deliberating, projecting & resolving the public Measures adapted to the present momentous Exigency: and if deserted by our Brethren in Great Britain, and abandoned by the World, we confidently trust in our God that he will deliver us. We hoped the unhappy & unnatural Differences would have been amicably adjusted & settled upon Principles of public Justice, Equity, Benevolence. If otherwise, America is ready for the last Appeal, which however shocking and tremendous, is by the Body of the Colonies judged less terrible than the Depredations of Tyranny & arbitrary Power. There are 120 Thousand stands of Arms in good Repair in the hands of the common People of New England only; and Amunition . . .334 for more Battles than one, nor are they at a loss for delivery of further Supplies of Powder & Arms. We have certainly Six hundred Barrels of Powder with a Quantity of Small Arms within a few days arrived into this Colony only. And there is pretty certain Intelligence, that notwithstanding the Vigilance of the Navy, above six Thousand Barrels of Powder have been imported into the continental Colonies, the Spring and Winter past. The Spirit & Ardor for military Exercise in all the Colonies, particularly Virginia, Maryland & New England, the half year past is incredible. It will not be the Loss of several Battles that can conquer & subdue the Spirit of a hardy People fighting pro Aris & Focis, for Property, Religion & Liberty. I pray God that Things may never come to real Action, for after that, the Wound can never be healed. We are set forth a Spectacle to God, Angels & Men. Not only Britain, but all Europe are Spectators of the Conflict, the arduous struggle for Liberty. We consider ourselves as laying the foundation of a glorious future-​Empire, and acting a part for the Contemplation of Ages. America is ambitious of conducting with that Prudence, Wisdom, Counsel, and true Greatness, which may commend them to the Admiration of Posterity and the World. These Motives are transfused throughout the Body of the People, and operate with great Efficacy. The Motive is prodigious, and the operation astonishing! We are not the Aggressors. Our Fathers fled hither for Religion and Liberty;—​if extirpated from hence, we have no new World to flee to. God has located us here, and by this Location has commanded us here to make a Stand, and see the Salvation of the Lord. In repeated Days of Prayer and Fasting, we have asked Council of Heaven, and committed our Cause to God. The Event is with the Lord of Hosts, which we doubt not will be happy and glorious. We are embarked in a glorious and animating Cause, and procede in it with undoubted Confidence of final Success.



334 Tear.

The Letters  143 When Rome was attacked by the Carthaginian Powers, when the Carthaginian Armies came round & poured into the northern parts of Italy, this Attack united the otherwise divided Nations of all Italy, and the Italians fought side by side with the Romans with victorious success. But when the Punic Wars were finished, the Romans took all the Glory of Conquest to themselves, despised the Socii, and claimed Domination over Allies; though the latter could raise three Quarters of a Million according to Velleius Paterculus while the Rom[ans] fell short of 300 Thousand according to Livy. Hence arose the Bellum Sociale, which from a very trifling Incident kindled into a Flame, and spread through Italy with an incredible Celerity. Two numerous Armies met to dispute a Point of Honor and nominal Dignity; but wisely stoped their Fire in full Volley, and pacificated all by agreeing to share in equal Liberty, upon the Roman Blood accepting the Italian in Dolitian Civitatis.* [inserted at bottom of page: Which wise Policy increased The census in 100 years from 300 Thousand to Seven Million Citizens.] America now exasperated does not dread to meet her Brethren in Bellum Sociali, if Great Britain shall perist in rapaciously seizing and annihilating her dearest Rights & Liberties. Massachusetts will resume her old Charter of 1628, or assume a new moddled Police, elect Magistrates, constitute Courts & Judges, levy Taxes & raise Forces the ensuing Summer, if before their annual Election they have nothing more favorable from Parliament. The instructioned Governors and Mandamus Councillors in the other Provinces are fallen into such disrepute, and have so lost the Confidence of Colonies, as being the mere Creatures of a corrupt Ministry, Enemies to American Liberty, that they are nearly ripe to fall into Desuetude; while the Colony Congresses, which exhibit more just & equal Representations of the people, acquire Weight daily, & feel more Liberty to Act efficaciously for the public good, unchecked by arbitrary Governors. They will naturally find themselves, possessed of Power, & rise into Legislatures. The Maryland Congress has already proceeded to levy Taxes for an Armament. South Carolina Congress have shut up the Courts of Law. The System proceeds, and may perhaps terminate in an intirely new Colony-​Police, by erecting the Congresses into Legislatures of free allied States. And on this Alliance and Confederacy may arise a stated Continental or Imperial Congress for deliberating Matters of universal Moment. I do not say that this Change would be the happiest, wisest & best: but this I say, that the Measures of Administration & Parliament will precipitate & ensure such a Revolution, and if not desisted and departed from, all will very soon terminate in this. If there be no Relaxation speedily, a Continental Army will be raised, and under repeated supposed Defeats, will survive and perpetuate itself, till such or a similar system of Policy shall be eventually established.

144  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay It is my ardent Prayer to the Most High that the Union between Great Britain and these Colonies may never be dissolved; and that we may always boast and glory in having Great Britain the Head of the whole British Empire. And we thank you, dear Madam, for interposing your kind Offices, in you late truly patriotic, pathetic & importunate Address to the three Kingdoms.335 With the sincerest Esteem and Respect, I am, Dear Madam, Your etc. You will receive this by Francis Dana Esq, of Cambridge near Boston a Barrister at Law, who I ask leave to commend to your Notice, as one that can inform you the state of the Massachusetts Bay very particularly.   [103] Catharine Macaulay to Ezra Stiles, 14 July 1785336 New York Dear Sir, My having the ill luck to miss seeing you in America is a mortification as sensibly felt as any I could have sustained on that continent. I fully intended passing through Connecticut in my way to the Southern States but my ignorance of the climate and the state of your roads occasioned me to lose the only opportunity which offered of putting that intention in practice. Tho I have had the misfortune to lose the satisfaction of a personel interview with you I hope you will still preserve me in the bosom of your friendship and you may be assured Dear Sir that the very obliging testimony you have given in your learned Discourse of your regard for the female Historian will ever preserve in her mind sentiments of affection and Gratitude. On my first arrival on this continent my fears were a good deal allarmed for the safety of the infant states but on a calmer and less hasty view of circumstances I leave America in the pleasing hope that the expectations which your success has raised in the minds of the good will not be blasted and that the fate of liberty in America will not furnish the scoffer with the strongest argument in favor of patience and servitude. Mr Graham offers his respectful compliments and joins me in sincere wishes for your welfare and happiness I am Dear Sir, Your etc.

335 Referring to Address to the People of England, Scotland, and Ireland on the Present Important Crisis of Affairs (APAC). 336 Ezra Stiles Papers, BLY, addressed, The Revd Dr Stiles, President of Yale College, Newhaven, State of Connecticut.

The Letters  145

William Cooper (1721–​1809) William Cooper was a member of the Sons of Liberty, and associate of James Otis and John Hancock. He was town clerk of Boston, and clerk of the committee of correspondence. In a letter dated 9 March 1773, Benjamin Franklin thanks Cooper for a letter of 8 December, which transmitted to Franklin the same Proceedings as those mentioned in this letter to Macaulay, and says that he has delivered copies for other people that had been sent to him. It therefore seems likely that it was through the agency of Franklin that letter from Cooper and the mentioned proceedings were received by Macaulay.337   [104] William Cooper to Catharine Macaulay, 8 December 1772338 Boston Madam, In pursuance of a Vote of the Town of Boston, at a legal Meeting on the 20th. of November last, I have the Honor by direction of this Committee to transmit to you the Notes and Proceedings of that Day and am, with great Respect, Madam, Your etc.   [105] Catharine Macaulay to William Cooper, 15 April 1773339 Tichfield Street, Oxford Road, London.

Sir, I received the favor of your Letter as a great compliment from the Committee and a very agreeable token that the Bostonians were sensible of the part I take on every circumstance which concern their happiness. I beg you will embrace the first opportunity to return my grateful thanks on the occasion and my wishes that I could do more than simpathize whith them on the melancholly cause of this meeting. I am Sir, Your etc.



337 Labaree, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 20:97. 338 GLC01789.03. 339

Samuel Adams papers, Mss Col 20, NYPL.

146  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay

Henry Marchant (1741–​96) A jurist and politician from Rhode Island, he was a protégé of Ezra Stiles and friend of Benjamin Franklin, who accompanied the latter on his Scottish tour. During his stay in London he wrote enthusiastic letters back to Stiles, describing Macaulay and her political opinions.340 On his return to America from London he wrote a letter to Franklin which conveyed much the same information as that which must have been in the lost letter, to which Macaulay replies in letter [106].341   [106] Catharine Macaulay to Henry Marchant, June 1773342 Titchfield St Dear Sir The relation of the many afflicting circumstances you met with on your return to America gave me great pain. The loss of your only son and the sickness of Mrs Marchant was on after the fatigue of a long journey a severe trial of your patience but Christian resignation and Philosophic fortitude I make no doubt were at hand to lend their peaceful assistance. I am very much obliged to Mrs Marchant for the honor of her compliment, but the great pleasure I received from the conversation of so agreeable so sensible and so liberal a Man as your self rendered the scale in the balance of obligation heavier on my side, nor am I a little indebted to you for the introducing me to so very valuable a correspondent as Dr Styles. To him I have enlarged much on the subject of the independence of the Americans, whom I am afraid will lose much if not all of their present virtue from the contagious influence of their Mother Country, before the period arrives of forming themselves into a separate state.343 I am much obliged to you for your American news. Mr Otis’s generosity and Mr Robinson’s concessions have been inserted in the English papers.344

340 Franklin Bowditch Dexter, ed., The Literary Diary of Ezra Stiles (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1901), 1:251 and 319. Quoted in Claire Gilbridge Fox, “Catharine Macaulay, an Eighteenth Century Clio,” Winterhur Portfolio 4 (1968): 129–​42 (134). 341 Labaree, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 19:376. 342 Marchant Papers, MS 552, Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS). 343 Unfortunately, this letter from Macaulay to Stiles seems not to have survived. 344 The full account of the case brought against John Robinson, who had conceded that he had attacked James Otis, was printed in the Public Advertiser, 25 December 1772, a shorter version appeared in the Middlesex Journal or Universal Evening Post (December 1772), 24–​26. Otis waived his right to claim £2,000 damages in the light of Robinson’s apology, hinting that Robinson had been incited by others, and asking only that the costs of his lawyers, Samuel Fitch and John Adams, and his medical expenses be paid by Robinson. In his letter to Benjamin Franklin of 21 November 1772, Marchant calls this a “most unmanly attack and assault.” Labaree, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 19:376.

The Letters  147 There has been lately made a very infamous attempt to slander the Character of the great Sidney345 and the very aimable Lord Russel346 in a publication of a Scotchman Sir John Dalrymple347 but the enemy has shown their malice without so far imposing on the public as to injure the memory of those respectable Englishmen in any degree. I shall always be happy Dear Sir in communicating with you either on public or private affairs. The situation of this country is in every respect as bad as it was when you left it. The Ministry are present batling with the india born pony348 for power, my compliments to Mrs Marchant conclude me Dear Sir, Your etc. PS I have not seen Mr Lee or Mr Sayre or I should have communicated to them my intention of writing.   [107] Catharine Macaulay to Henry Marchant, [22] October 1774349 Bath

Dear Sir Since I had the favor of receiving your very kind letter dated Dec 7:1773 the situation of England and her Colonies is grown very alarmingly critical. You undoubted saw enough of this country in your last visit to be convinced that no degree of public virtue exists in the generality of Englishmen, some few among us yet retain sentiments worthy a Roman Breast, and those few wait with all the anxiety which the passions of fear and hope occasion the determinations of America. Determination which in their opinion will either establish the power of our Despots on a permanent or lead to the recovery of our almost lost liberties. 345 See letter [18] note. 346 William Russell (1639–​83) was a close associate of Anthony Ashley Cooper, first Earl of Shaftesbury, and was part of the opposition who distrusted Charles II’s policies with regard to France. He was a fierce opponent of Roman Catholicism, and promoter in Parliament of the exclusion of James II from the throne. He was arrested on 26 June 1683, accused of involvement in the Rye House Plot to kill Charles II and his brother, tried for treason, and then executed on 21 July. Macaulay was among those who accepted the view that Lord Russell was innocent and was a martyr to a corrupt government. She begins her account of his trial during the reign of Charles II, with the comment, “Lord Russell, eminent above all the nobility for the simplicity of his manners, and the purity of his life, was pitched on to be the next sacrifice.” HEAJ, 7:436. 347 Sir John Dalrymple (1704–​71) published in the 1773 edition of his Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland the French diplomatic papers from the period of Charles II, which revealed that Algernon Sidney and Russell had had secret negotiations with the French, as had Charles II. Sir John Dalrymple, Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland. From the dissolution of the last parliament of Charles II, until the sea-​battle off La Hogue, 2 vols. (London and Edinburgh: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1773). Macaulay made considerable use of Dalrymple’s publication in the seventh volume of HEAJ, 7:72–​73, 425–​89, where she defended Sidney’s conduct. 348 Although Warren Hastings (1732–​1818) was not “india born” this comment presumably refers to his impeachment. 349 Marchant Papers, MS 552, RIHS. Text loss makes the date only partly legible. Addressed to Henry Marchant, Newport, Rhode Island. Note in corner below address, “From Mrs Catherine Macaulay of London dated Oct. 1774 received Dec. 16 1774 and answered by Mr Marchand on April 8 1775.”

148  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Mr Otis’s misfortune must ever be resented by the virtuous the candid and the generous and at this time === be a matter of general lamentation to all America. I had the favor of a Letter last Winter from his sister Mrs Warren, as far as it is possible to judge in the infancy of a correspondence, she appears a very aimable Woman and to be possessed of as warm a glow of patriotism as animated her brother. I had the favor also of receiving at the same time as yours came to hand, a very short letter from Dr Styles with the promise of it being followed with a longer Epistle, this has not yet reached me, and I conclude from his silence that his honest mind is too much afflicted with the troubles of his country or from some private misfortune to continue at this time the correspondence. You are so good dear Sir as to enquire after the sixth Vol[ume] of the History of England, that Vol[ume] from a long series of ill health which came on me in the very beginning of last Winter, and continued till the latter end of the ensuing Summer, is not yet finished, but as a fever which scarce ever left me all that time is now gone, and I gather strength Daily. I am in hopes to return to my Literary occupation in November and to finish another volume by next spring, you may depend on its being sent to you immediately after publication. As you read the English papers it may perhaps be needless to inform you that my Brother Sawbridge has strenuously defended the rights of America through the whole last sessions of parliament, and even in some points when almost every Member of the House was against him, this is tho it could not avail our injured Brethren gave me great pleasure. As you say nothing to the contrary I hope your family are well, and that you have a no private misfortune to add to the weight of what I am sure your honest heart must feel for your Country, my best wishes and compliments attend all those . . . allied to you . . . also Good . . .350 I am Dear Sir, Your etc. PS I have been obliged to reside [in Bath] ever since the middle of last Winter on account of my health.   [108] Catharine Macaulay to Henry Marchant, 2 October 1784351 Boston Sir, The very obliging manner in which you express your rememberance of our former acquaintance commenced in London made me regret highly the being absent from Boston during your short stay in this Town. As I am not fond of 350 Text loss due to holes. 351 Marchant Papers, MS 552, RIHS. Addressed, the Honorable Henry Marchant Esqr, Newport. Rhode Island. Note below address, “Letter from Mrs Catharine Macaulay Graham dated Boston Oct 2nd 1785, respond Feb 14 1785.”

The Letters  149 passing the water I had resolved not to visit Rhode Island but your invitation is too pleasing not to engage me to alter my plan, however I cannot promise myself the pleasure of seeing you this year but as early in the next spring as the state of travelling in this country will allow, I fully propose to set out for Newport and will give you notice by letter of my intenion according to the purport of you polite message. Mr Graham joins me in compliments and thanks for the favour of your kind invitation and I am Sir your etc.   [109] Catharine Macaulay to Henry Marchant, 3 May 1785352 New York

Dear Sir, I Seize the opportunity which a few leasure moments gives me to repeat my thanks to you and Mrs Marchant for the kind entertainment you afforded us at Rhode Island. We had a disagreable Voyage to New York but in the kind reception which Mr Ellery and every other person of consequence gave us in this place made us soon forget the past evil and to look forward with pleasure on the agreeable society which we flatter ourselves will continue to us during the whole of our journey. Mr Graham joins me in affectionate compliments to yourself Mrs Marchant and family and I am Sir your etc. Pray present our compliments to Mrs Ellery and the rest of our friends.

Mercy Otis Warren (1728–​1814) The sister of James Otis, Mercy was educated with her brothers by the tutor who prepared the boys for Harvard, and she was recognized by her contemporaries in Boston as a brilliant poet and polemicist. She married James Warren (1726–​ 1808) in 1754, and was a close friend of Abigail Adams and Hannah Winthrop, with whom she regularly corresponded.353 After the bashing of her brother, she began to write satirical, political plays which were initially published anonymously. After independence, she and her husband James became anti-​Federalists who lamented the loss of republican virtue and the rise of commercial society in America. In writing her most important work, History of the Rise, Progress, and

352 Marchant Papers, MS 552, RIHS. Addressed, Hon. Henry Marchant Esqr, Newport Rhode Island. Note below address, “Letter from Mrs Catharine Macaulay Graham dated New York May 3rd 1785.” 353 Jeffrey H. Richards and Sharon M. Harris, eds., Mercy Otis Warren:  Selected Letters (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2009); Davies, Catharine Macaulay and Mercy Otis Warren; Nancy Rubin Stuart, The Muse of the Revolution. The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation (Boston: Beacon Press, 2008).

150  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Termination of the American Revolution (1805–​6) she was at least in part inspired by the example set by Catharine Macaulay.354   [110] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 9 June 1773355 Plymouth Impressed with a strong sense of the natural rights of mankind, which your masterly pen has so finely delineated, you will permit me to address you, and though conscious inferiority checks the ambitious hope of a long correspondence, yet may I not claim the indulgence as the wish arises from the love and admiration of superior merit. I am led to flatter myself with a favourable reception both from the knowledge I have of your respect for some persons in this country and from that generous principle of regard to universal happiness so conspicuous in your works. The feelings of sympathy in your benevolent heart have been discovered on several occasions when you have surveyed the system of oppression formed against the injured Americans. Has the Genius of liberty which once pervaded the bosom of each British hero animating them to the worthiest deeds forsaken that devoted Island;—​or has she only concealed her lovely form untill some more happy period shall bid her lift her avenging hand to the terror of every arbitrary despot and to the confusion of their impious minions on each side of the Atlantic? Give me leave to ask what Ideas arise in your mind when your imagination reaches this once peaceful asylum of freedom? of freedom intrepid race whose glorious love of liberty prompted them to explore the uncultivated wilds and with a degree of fortitude and patience that would have done honour to the annals of Sparta and of Rome, endeavoured secure this invaluable purchase to prosperity? What a reverse of the pleasing prospect! The rapacious arm of tyranny has now seized and is devouring the fair inheritance, and what adds to the just indignation of every lover of his country is that while his land is groaning under the yoke of foreign servitude many of her treacherous sons, dead to more laudable feelings of soul, are stretching out their miscreant hands to fix the chain on a people, to whom they are indebted by innumerable obligations. Hence appears a general alienation of affection where harmony has been long used to erect her graceful head, and every worthy heart is daily disgusted by fresh instances of venality, which from the contaminated fountain of Government is 354 Mercy Otis Warren, History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution interspersed with Biographical, Political, and Moral Observations, 2 vols. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1994). 355 Copy in “Letterbook,” Mercy Otis Warren Papers, MHS, printed in Richards and Harris, Mercy Otis Warren: Selected Letters, 14–​16. This letter was enclosed with letter [87] from John Adams, dated 28 June 1773.

The Letters  151 conveyed through this corrupted channel, and like a rushing torrent threatens desolation to the mighty Empire. What fatal infatuation has seized the parent state that she is thus making illegal encroachments on her loyal subjects, and by every despotic measure urging these populous, brave, and extensive colonies, to a vigorous union in defence of their invaded rights. But I turn from the painful portrait and pray Heaven may yet avert the dread calamity of Civil War; and prevent the sad alternative of either bowing beneath the bands of slavery or of repurchasing our plundered rights by the blood of the virtuous citizens. I doubt not of your candour and ready pardon for this free communication of sentiment from a person wholly unknown to you, and when assured Madam, it is from one whose bosom has been long warmed with affection and respect for your distinguished literary character, I promise myself the favour of a line. I thank you for the marks of esteem you have heretofore shown to a brother of mine, a Gentleman, eminent for his remarkable exertion of ability in behalf of the expiring liberties of his country. He has not lately been able to make those acknowledgements that are justly in your due; yet I hope he may one day be in a capacity to answer the highest demands that either friendship or society may claim. Our friend, Mr. John Adams, through whose hand this is conveyed, has informed me that when he last had the pleasure of hearing from you, you was taken off by an interruption of health from that application to letters which has contributed so much to the pleasure and benefit of mankind. My unremitting prayers shall be for a restoration of health and a continuation of life to a lady whose elegant writings reflect so much lustre on her sex. If a short relaxation does not produce the desire effect, I understand you have it in contemplation to honour these distant regions with a visit. Among the many that will hail you welcome to the American shore, there is no one who will more sincerely rejoice at the pleasing event if consistent with the happiness of Mrs. Macaulay than her etc.   [111] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, 11 September 1774356 Dear Madam A Long course of uninterupted sickness hitherto prevented me the pleasure of answering your very elegant Letter of the seventh of June 1773. 356 Mercy Otis Warren Papers, MHS. Addressed, To Mrs Warren at James Warren Esq, Plymouth, New England. This letter, along with that to John Adams dated 1774 was sent through the agency of Edward Dilly, as is clear from his letter to John Adams dated 24 September 1774, Taylor, Papers of John Adams, 2:172.

152  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay To be distinguished Dear Madam in so flattering a manner by a Woman of your sentiments and who is so nearly connected to the greatest patriots of the Age fills me with the most pleasing ideas of importance, but I should be little deserving of that Distinction if I did not entirely simpathise with you in your feelings for the public Weal of America You ask me Dear Madam whether the Genius of Liberty has entirely forsaken our devoted Isle. The Acts of parliament which have passed this Sessions and to which we have tamely submitted will be a compleat answer to that Question but that the Goddess of Liberty has left in the minds of individuals some traces of her former residence will I hope appear plainly to you in the conduct of myself and my Brother Mr Sawbridge who through the whole sessions has strenuously and zealously defended the injured rights of your Countrymen. The misfortune Dear Madam which America has sustained from the Dreadful Accident to which your Brother’s patriotic spirit subjected him has been very sensibly felt by me not only on account of the public but of the private injury I have suffered in the loss of his inestimable correspondence a loss which cannot in any measure be repaid but by the same conferred by his excellent Sister. You are so good as to tell me I shall be welcome to America and that you will receive me with open arms. I wish it may ever be in my power to experience so great a blessing but the weak state of my health forbids at present so high an attempt as crossing the Atlantic Ocean you would otherwise Dear Madam have seen me on this trying occasion when the animating voice of the sincere friend to the cause might in some degree have assisted to support a proper spirit among the Americans not that I doubt their resolution for notwithstanding the false representations which have been with great pains cirulated concerning the Americans I flatter myself with the strong hope that they will be the Saviours of the Liberties of the whole British Empire. Believe Dear Madam that with a Grateful sense of the favor you have confired on me by your correspondence I am with a high esteem, Your etc.   [112] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 29 December 1774357 Plimouth Dear Madam, Your kind notice of my last Emboldens me again to Interrupt your more important pursuits, by offering my Warmest acknowledgment for the Expressions 357 GLC01800.01. Addressed, To, Mrs Catharine Macaulay, London. Printed in Richards and Harris, Mercy Otis Warren: Selected Letters, 37–​40. Their note 7 says that another version is found in the letterbook. The letterbook copy led the editors of the Adams Papers to wrongly surmise that the letter was never sent, see Mercy Otis Warren to Abigail Adams, 25 February 1775, Butterfield, Adams Family Correspondence, 1:187, n. 2.

The Letters  153 of personal Regard contained in your agreable favour of Sept 11th. as well as for your generous Attention to the publick Calamities of my Country. Though I never imagined that while you were Researching the Records of time & by your Elegant pen Exhibiting to the World the most striking traits of former tyrants, you was inattentive to the living Agents of a Corrupt Court: who have been Long forming A System of Despotism that should Reach beyond the Atlantic, & involve this Extensive Continent in the Same Thralldom that Avails the Miserable Asiatic. But how Absurd will the plans of Modern policy appear when the faithful Historian shall transmit to posterity the Late Manoeuvres of A British administration: when they shall Behold them plunging the Nation still deeper in an immense debt. Equiping her fleet, to Harrass the Coasts & her armies to insult & subjugate these loyal & populous Colonies who (from the first settlement of this once dreary Wilderness, to the mad project of shuting up the port of Boston) have been Voluntarily pouring their treasury into the Lap of Britain. Will not Succeeding Generations be Astonished when told that this Maritime city was Blockaded at a period when her Commercial interests were Closely interwoven with those of Britain. When the tracts of Cultivated Lands on this Continent, acknowledging the sceptre of Brunswick were almost immeasurable, & when at the same time they Boasted their united Millions Ready to Pour out the Warm Blood as a Libation at the Shrine of Freedom Ere they would submit to become the slaves of arbitrary power. But tho America Stands Armed with Resolution & Virtue, she still Recoils at the thought of Drawing the sword against the state from whence she derived her Origen. Tho that state Like an unnatural parent has plunged her dagger into the Bosom of her affectionate offspring. But may I  not hope to hear from you Madam, who can easily Delineate their Character, that the New parliament principly Consists of men of more Conciliating tempers, of men who inherit the Glorious spirit which distinguished their Noble Ancestors: & stimulated them to stand forth as the Barriers of English Liberty in the Most perilous Seasons, yet such is the prevailing Luxury & Dissipation of the times, such the undue influence of the Crown from the tribes of placemen, Pensioners & Dependents Backed with a Large standing army, that Nursery of Slavery & Vice, that Bane of Every Free State that I fear there is Little Reason to Expect it. But if the Majority of the Commons still Continue the Dupes of Venality and Corruption they will soon see the Genius which once Animated their Hambdens, Haringtons, & Pyms, has taken up for Residence on their Distant shores. The seeds of Empire are Sown in this new World, the Ball Rolls Wayward fast, and though daily threatened with the incursion of savages: & the Depredations of foreign auxilliries. Yet Each City from Nova Scotia to Georgia has her Decii

154  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay & her Fabii,358 Ready to Sacrifice their Devoted lives to preserve inviolate & to Convey to their Children the inherent Rights of Men Confered on all by the God of Nature and Claimed by Americans from the sacred sanction of Compact. It is not possible for me Madam to give you an Adequate Idea of the situation of this Country, ’tho doubtless it will be done by some more able pen. The Boston port Bill occasions such A stagnation of commerce as is felt in Every Villa of the Massachusetts. The Bill for altering the Constitution has Reduced the province to a state of Nature. The Legislative Body is prevented meeting, the Executive officers Rendered incapable of acting, & the Court of justice shut up. Nothing but the Virtue of this people prevents our Daily feeling the Dreadful Consequences of Anarchy in the Exstream. Heaven only knows how Long we Can Continue in this state. But such is the Ferocity of Human Nature that it is not to be Expected Society can subsist Long Without some Government, which may finally drive us to assume such a form as is most Consistant with the taste & Genius of a Free People. Ere this Reaches your Hand you will doubtless have seen the Resolves of the provincial & the Result of the Continental Congress. Perhaps there never was any Human Law to which Mankind so Religiously, & so generally Adhered as the Americans do to the Resolutions of those Assemblys. And now a Firm, undaunted persevering people, with the sword half Drawn from the Scabard, are patiently waiting the Effects of those Measures. The Vigorous Spirit that universally Reigns, the Determined opposition to the strides of Wanton power, & the unshaken Union of the American Colonies is so Remarkable, that I think we must Ascribe it to the Divine Agency of a superintending providence. But what are the Grand designs of the Almighty Governour of the Universe, or what the important Events the present Comotion will produce time only can only disclose, but if pacific Measures do not soon take place none can wonder that a timid Woman should tremble for the consequences, more Especially one who is connected by the tenderest tie to a Gentleman whose principles & Conduct in this province may Expose him to fall an Early Victim. Either in the day of Battle, or by the Vindictive Hand of Lawless power. Will you pardon me Madam if I own that my Apprehensions are Sometimes Awake, Least Britain should be infatuated Enough to push the unhappy American to the Last Appeal. 358 The Decii and Fabii are those who, like Publius Decius Mus and Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, heroes of the Battle of Sentium, 295 BCE, are ready to sacrifice their private comforts for the republic.

The Letters  155 I Behold the Civil Sword Bradished over our Heads, & an innocent Land Drenched in Blood. To see the inhabitant of our plundered cities quitting the Elegancies of Life possesing nothing but their freedom taking refuge in the forests. I Behold faction & Discord tearing up an Island we once held dear as our own inheritance, and A mighty Empire (Long the dread of distant Nations) tottering to the very Foundation. Forgive dear Madam, & I draw a Veil over the painful Reverie. It gives me particular pleasure to hear that your Worthy Brother is Reelected a Member of parliament. Mr Sawbridge has been often Mentioned with Respect & Gratitude at the Social Boards of the American Patriots & when assurred by his good sister that he will still continue an Advocate to the injured, we thank her for the communication, And ardently wish that his Laudable Example might Fire the Breast of a Certain August Assembly to do that justice which not only the Colonies Wish but Every Honest man in Europe must Expect. I am Extremely obliged by your kind Remembrance of an unhappy man once the pride of his Numerous friends, & a principle supporter of the invaded Rights of his Country. But Heaven who Bestows superior intelect, has a Right to Limit the Duration, and so inscrutable are the ways of providence that the Vilest instruments are often permitted to work the Ruin of the individual & to undermine the Happiness of the state, the truth of the first I feel in an instance too painful to mention, & the tears as all America Witness the last, traduced & misrepresented as she has been by men who were Bound by all the ties of Honour, Gratitude, and Humanity to Defend her. Were not the peculiar Circumstances of the times some Apology, yet from your Candor Madam I should expect a pardon for the Length of this Letter, & as a proof thereof may I hope for the indulgence of a few more of your Excellent Sentiments & judicious observations in the next I am favoured with from you, but whatever cause may prevent or postpone me that pleasure, may your want of Health be the Last. Heaven Grant you the confirmation & Long Continuance of that invaluable Blessing with the Addition of Every other Felicity that Life can Boast. And if the Lowering Cloud which now Darkens the American Hemisphere should pass over, & a more Bright and Tranquil prospect appear. May you be able to Gladen with A  visit your Admiring Friends in this quarter of the Globe. Among which there is no one who [can] subscribe, With more Respect & Affec[tion] than your, etc.

156  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [113] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 24 August 1775359 Plimouth N E At A time when all Europe is Interested in the state of America you will forgive me Dear Madam, if I Lay Aside the Ceremony usually observed when there is no Attachment that Arises Either from Affection or Esteem, & again Call of your Attention when I have Not been Assured of the Welcome Reception of my Last. In that I hinted that the sword was half Drawn from the scabbard, soon after which this people were obliged to unsheath it to Repel the Violence offered to Individuals, & the Insolence of an Attempt to seize the private property of the subjects of the King of England. And thereby put it out of their power to Defend themselves against the Corrupt Ministers of His Court. You have Doubtless, Madam been Apprized of the Consequences of this Hostile Movement which compeled the Americans to fly to arms in Defence of all that is held dear & sacred among Mankind. And the public papers as well as private accounts have Witnessed to the Bravery of the Peasants of Lexington, & the spirit of Freedom Breathed from the Inhabitants of the surrounding Villaiges. You have been told of the Distresses of the people of Boston. And the shamful Violation of faith which will leave a stain on the Memory of A Certain General Officer so long as the obligations of Honour & Truth are held sacred among Men. He after sporting with the Miseries of the Wretched Sufferers till Famine & pestilence began to Rage in the City, permited the Most of them to Depart Leaving Their Effects behind, & to quit Their Elegant & Convenient Habitations in the Capital & fly Naked into the Hospitable arms of their Brethren in the Country. And the Conflagration of Charlstown will undoubtedly Reach Each British Ear before this comes to your Hand. Such Instances of Wanton Barbarity have been seldom practiced Even among the Most Rude & uncivilized Nations, the ties of Gratitude which were Broken through by the kings troops in this Base transaction Greatly Enhances their Guilt. It was the Inhabitants of that town who prompted by Humanity Generously opened their doors to the Routed Corps on the Ninteenth of April, & poured Balm into the Wound of the Exhausted & dying soldiers after their precipitant Retreat. Had they observed a Different Conduct on that Memorable day. Had they assisted in cuting L[or]d percys Retreat it Might not have been in the power of General Gage to have Wraped that town in Flames & Driven out the Miserable Inhabitants the prey of poverty & Despair. But A particular Detail of sufferings of the Massachusets you will have from other Hands. I shall therefore only Give a short Account of the present situation of American affairs in the Environs of Boston. We have a well Appointed Brave



359

GLC01800.02. Printed in Richards and Harris, Mercy Otis Warren: Selected Letters,  58–​61.

The Letters  157 & High spirited Continental army, Consisting of About twenty-​two thousand Men, Commanded by the Accomplished George Washington Eqr. A Gentleman of one of the first fortunes in America. A man whose Military Abilities, & public & private Virtues place Him in the first Class of the Good & Brave & are Really of so High a stamp as to do Honour to Human Nature, this army is to be occasionally Recruited & to be supported & paid at the Expence of the United Colonies of America. And were Britain powerful & Infatuated Enough to send out a force sufficiant to cut of[f]‌to A Man this Little Resolute army, Less than the Compass of A  week would Exhibit in the Field thrice their Numbers Ready to Avenge the stroke & to Call down the justice of Heaven on the Destroyers of the peace, Liberty & Happiness of Mankind. In Compliance with the Recommendation of the Continental Congress, the Massachusets have at Last Reassumed the powers of Government, the provincial Congress sent out A writ for Calling a House of Representatives & Agreable to the Charter of W[illia]m & Mary they proceeded to Elect 28 Counselers. And Considering the Gov[erno]r & Lieut[enant] as Absent the supreme Authority as of the province was Vested in any sixteen of the Number. Thus after living without Goverment without Law and Without any Regular Administration of justice for more than 12 Months we are just Returning from a state of Nature to the subordinations of Civil Society. The Grand Counsel of America have once more petitioned His Majesty to Devise some Methods [of] Reconciliation this is A  final proof with what Reluctance the progeny of Britain Draw forth the sword against their unnatural parent. Both the Ministerial & the American armies seem at present to be Rather on the Defensive as if Each were wishing for some Benign Hand to Interpose & heal the Dreadful Contest without Leting out the Blood from the Bosom of their Brethren. But fond as this people are of the Restoration of that Harmony which Has Added Riches & Strength to the power of Britain, yet so tenatious are we of the Birth Rights of Nature & the fair possession of freedom which no power on Earth has a Right to Curtail, that we shall Never give up the Invaluable Claim. But with the Warm Currant which plays round the Heart & Animates the Breast to Resist the arm of Tyrany. Thus dispose to Welcome the Bright Image of peace if at the same time that she Appears with the Olive Branch in the one Hand. The Other holds forth A Radical Redress of Griviances Stamped with such a signet that as May not be Broken Either by the practices of openly Abandoned Men, or the Machinations of perfidious Trayters. Who profane the Heavenly Name of Virtue, by puting on the Guize that they may more securly perpetrate Every species of Iniquity. I fear Notwithstanding the Efforts of A  Virtuous & sensible Minority, the Ministerial Hirelings will pursue their Mad Projects, till the sceptre Drops

158  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay from the Hands of Royalty, & the Mighty of the Iles sits solitary & Alone, till she becomes the Derision of Nations & the Contempt of Her Enemies. But shall not their Confusion be inexpressable when Disappointed in Every Vissionary scheme, when perhaps Ere long thy may see the ports of America Frown open to Every Foreign power & the Mart of the Whole World be fixed in the Western Regions. What were the United provinces when the Contest began with Spain in Comparison with the United Colinies of this Wide Extended Continent. Although I  have Already Detained you longer than I  Designed, I  cannot Close without observing to you Dear Madam that the protest of the Dissenting Lords And the Conduct of Several Members of Both Houses with regard to American affairs is Never Mentioned but with Every Expression of Approbation & Applause. The Noble Example of Lord Effingham will be Remembered in the Historic page, but at the same time that it transmits His Name with Honour to posterity it will Evince to Future ages the Corruption of the times that such an Instance of Disinterested Merit should Have Recorded Almost Alone, one who Has heretofore been Honored with your Correspondence Subscribes with the Highest Esteem A Daughter of America, Mercy Warren [written on margin] Our Good Friend Mr Adams Has just left us to Return to philadelphia & with My very Good Husband Desire you would accept their Respectful Complements And Highest Esteem.   [114] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, 15 July 1785360 New York. Dear Madam, I think I hear you say with all that animated severity which, I acknowledge, has sometimes offended the delicacy of your friend’s sentiment. Well there is no trusting to the boasted sincerity of that idle Woman, how was I decieved when I believed her capable of the solid qualities of the mind. Can patriotism dwell in a heart where friendship has no place. With what indifference of temper does she fly from society to society, pleased with the present set of companions regardless of the past, how have I mistaken a plausibility of speech and diction for the real language of the heart. Before you proceed any further in your observations, I must tell you my Dear friend that your vivacity has led you into an error that I have never forgotten or 360 Mercy Otis Warren Papers, MHS, printed in Warren-​Adams Letters, 2:257–​59. Addressed, Mrs Warren. Two draft letters to Catharine Macaulay from Mercy Otis Warren’s letterbook dated February 1777 are reproduced in Richards and Harris, Mercy Otis Warren: Selected Letters, 84–​97. Since I have been unable to check these transcriptions, and there is no evidence that Macaulay received them, they have not been included here.

The Letters  159 remembered with a cold indifference the many endearing obligations which we have received from our friends at Milton. That this is absolutely the first moment which I have been able to snatch from a crowd of company or from the fatigue of travelling to express those sentiments of esteem, of friendship and gratitude which I have always felt for Mrs Warren. A variety of reasons have at length determined me to give up all thought of a subscription for a new publication of my history in this country. The state of my health inclines me to like the advantage of two or three years residence in the mild and steady climate of the South of France and the delicacy of my sentiment urges me to leave my visit to the Americans free and unclogged with any considerations of interest. I am informed by Mr Gerry361 that your son is returned from Hispaniola. I flatter myself that your journey to Plymouth was made with the intention of establishing him in bussiness in this place and consequently that his present state of health is equal to such undertaking. Had I resided any time in America I should undoubtedly have made Boston the seat of my residence but the calls of maternal affection and the interest of our families oblige us to separate residence in different quarters of the globe I shall with your leave continue our Epistolory correspondence when I am established in a domestic way in France. We must now take leave of you my Dear Madam as we are on the eve of our departure for France, we must beg the favor of you to preserve us a place in your affection and that you will remember us to the General, to the young gentlemen of your family, and particularly to our sick friend; we also desire to be remembered particularly to Mr Russel and his family, the uninterupted kindness and civility we have received from that polite benevolent man we shall not easily forget. There are a variety of other people my Dear Madam who claim our attention from the civilities we have received from them we must beg of you to dispose of our compliments according to that propriety which is so evident in all your actions. Enclosed you will find a letter from Mrs Washington, I return you my thanks Dear Madam for the very kind remembrance which followed us to Providence, our reception at Mount Vernon was of the most friendly and engaging kind we spent ten days very happily in one of the sweetest situations on the continent. The opinion we had formed of the illustrious owners was rather improved than lessened by that converse which our situation enabled us to enjoy. I am Dear Madam, Your etc.  

361

Elbridge Gerry (1744–​1814).

160  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [115] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, [September?] 1786362 Milton It is long, very long, dear madam since the social intercourse that has given me so much pleasure has been suspended; but not from any neglect or a want of regard one either side. I speak from the feelings of my own heart; and I think I can answer for those of my friend, that the lamp of esteem burns as ardent as ever;—​ but, alas! the distance and the difficulty of communication! this checks my pen, while I hope yours is employed to give pleasure and instruction to mankind. I congratulate you that you have safely arrived on your beloved Island after a long and hazardous voyage across the Atlantic: a journey through the greatest part of America and since that the fatigues of a tour through a considerable part of France. Such a length of time elapsed before I had the pleasure of a line, that I began to apprehend some misfortune had taken place; for I could not suspect that though you had bid adieu to these distant shores, you had taken a final leave of all you had gratified by your visit here. I do not wonder that a mind formed like yours, glowing with the love of freedom and independence, should risk the danger of crossing the seas with the hope of seeing the system of virtue and liberty, the Idol of political and philosophical writers of former ages realized in modern times. But methinks I hear you cry, Alas! for human nature! as face answers to face so does the character of a Nation to Nation: at least so far as a simularity of circumstance puts it in the power of the governed to enjoy quietly the luxuries of life or the Governors to prevent the indulgence by the abuse of power. Yet notwithstanding you acknowledge your disappointment and think our practice does not comport with the principles professed and inculcated in the day of our distress, I do not despair of America. Though her native propensities to folly are strengthened and the seeds of every foreign vice have taken deep root—​yet she may long retain a greater share of simplicity, virtue, and freedom, than perhaps can be found in almost any other part of the civilized world. This may justly be attributed more to her local situation and the incapacity for splendid indulgence from the general equality of fortune, than from superior policy or moderation. You have doubtless been informed of the tumults that have lately taken place in some of our Counties: they have risen to insurrections at which our enemies rejoice and our friends tremble. We have indeed been much alarmed at the apperances of discontent, disorder, and riot; the people now feel the burthen 362 Mercy Otis Warren Papers, MHS, printed in Richards and Harris, Mercy Otis Warren: Selected Letters, 208–​9. Although they date this September 1786, it appears to be the letter dated 6 January to which Macaulay is responding in the following.

The Letters  161 of the late war and the pressure of their public and private debts, heightened by the injudicious conduct of some in power both in the legislative and executive departments; who feel little for the lower classes of people; who though complaining of grievances seem not to be sensible from what causes they arrive. But we hope that these disorders will soon be suppressed, and a due subordination will appear on the one side: and lenity and justice on the other: that energy and wisdom will go hand in hand and maintain peace, order, and independence to each of the states in the union: but these things will undoubtedly be improved by certain characters and descriptions of men to strengthen the hand of power and draw tight the reins of government. Yours etc.   [116] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, 6 March 1787363 Knightsbridge near London I thank you Dear Madam for the favour of your letter of sixth of January, the having seen and conversed in person with the Author gave an additional pleasure to the renewal of our old correspondence We have indeed been much alarmed for the safety of the infant Governments of America and I sincerely hope that this attempt to disturb the public tranquility will like most others of the same nature when they fail only serve to give it a more permanent establishment. I  have heard that things are grown better in many ways since I left America the high price of provisions be lowered and I hope the tast for the luxuries of Europe decreased. Indeed I always flattered myself that the mortifications you sustained on the article of commerce and the disappointment of Land not taking a great rise after the Revolution from the incoming of foreign settlers will rather prove advantageous in the event of things than otherwise. Mr Adams has published a Defence of the American Constitutions I have not yet had time to read it therefore can give no account of it but I suppose you will have received a copy before this comes to hand. We are now upon the eve of a Treaty with France which is in a stile of politics so new to this country and so agreeable by the present views of our old enemy that it alarms many yet the two houses of parliament here seem only to have considered it as a party business, tho it might have imagined that the spirit of reformation which has taken place in the counsels of that formidable power would have produced more serious and anxious debates and more deliberate conclusions.



363

Mercy Otis Warren Papers MHS, printed in Warren-​Adams Letters, 2:283–​85.

162  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay I thank you Dear Madam for your kind wishes and do most sincerely return them by earnest desires and hopes that you may never again experience the sorrows you have felt I was happy to hear that Mrs Russel had brought so agreable an addition to Mr Russel’s felicity and I sincerely hope that it has not been clouded with the loss which rumour says he has sustained in one of his ships taken by an Algerine Corsair.364 When you see our mutual friend Mr Gerry I shall be obliged to you if you will make our compliments of congratulations on his marriage which tho an event of an old date we only heard this winter by Dr Prevost the Bishop of New York.365 You flatter me much Dear Madam in interesting your self on the subject of my compositions my present thoughts are employed in education for tho the History of your late glorious revolution is what I should certainly undertake were I again I must for many reasons decline the task My daughter I thank God enjoys at present a perfect state she is much obliged by your remembrance and joins me and Mr Graham in best compliments to yourself General Warren and family. From Dear Madam, Your etc. Pray make our compliments to Mr Otis’s family and your sister and to General Lincoln and his family.366   [117] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 28 September 1787367 Milton I have my dear Madam postponed writing by several opportunities as I wished for the Pleasure of transmitting to You the result of the Grand Convention of the United States, everything has for some time hung suspended in their determinations. I now forward them to you without any comment thereon, first because I do not think myself qualified to make any: and in the next place it might not be thought altogether prudent. It is now only three days since the publication of the recommendations of this respectable body has appeared in our papers, almost every one whom I have yet seen reads with attention, holds the page with solemnity & silently wraps up his 364 Thomas Russell was a Boston merchant who had married Mercy Warren’s niece, Sally Sever, the daughter of James Warren’s sister Sarah, in 1784, during the period when Macaulay was in America. 365 Samuel Provost (1742–​1815). 366 It seems likely that Macaulay is here referring to Maria Otis, Mercy’s sister-​in-​law. Benjamin Lincoln served as a general during the revolutionary wars; his son, Benjamin Lincoln Jr., had married Mercy Warren’s niece, Mary Otis. 367 GLC01800.03.

The Letters  163 opinion within his own breast, as if afraid of interrupting that calm expectation that has pervaded all ranks for several months past. Our situation is truly delicate & critical, on the one hand we stand in need of a strong Federal Government founded on principles that will support the prosperity & union of the colonies, on the other we have struggled for liberty & made lofty sacrifices at her shrine: and there are still many among us who revere her name too much to relinquish (beyond a certain medium) the rights of man for the Dignity of Government. I should be happy to hear the observations of a Lady (who has made politics & Government so much the subject of her contemplations) on this new and complicated system; which I suppose will set in motion both the pens & the tongues of the political world. Happy indeed will this country be if a tranquil energetic government can be adopted before the sword is drawn to give it a despotic master. The rumours of war assail our ears from the European shores, if the flames should really kindle there, I hope they will not spread beyond the ocean, unless internal feud, should rise to such a height as to lead the benevolent heart to wish for some foreign object to divert the General attention, & again convince this continent that we stand or fall together. But I turn from the field of war & the theater of political speculation too wide & extensive for the compass of a letter to a friend for whose health & happiness I am solicitous & of whose employment I am curious to know. I think her active mind must be engaged on something of importance: which while it wears away life in pleasing pursuits, will furnish entertainment to her friends & improvement to mankind. I wish my dear madam I could give you a pleasing account of all those you kindly inquire after in the circle of my friends but alas, my amiable Mrs. Russel has for several months been parrying the shafts of Death, while the slow & fatal Hectic is making sure & certain work by its consumptive fire. She was I think justly among the first of your favorites on this side of the water and if I recollect you were acquainted with her parents who are now trembling for the fate of both their blooming Daughters, attacked by the same disorder & by the phisitians presumed in the last stages of this complaint that baffles the art of man & cuts off the most promising enjoyment. You do not mention Miss Macaulay in either of your letters, have you not made us acquainted. I certainly feel interested in her happiness & have figured to myself so accomplished a young lady in your daughter that I shall always be attentive to any important changes in her life & wish you make her my best regards, yourself and Mr. Graham will accept the kind remembrance of Mr. Warren & his family in addition to those of your etc.

164  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [118] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, November 1787368 Knightsbridge near London Dear Madam I have long wished, long hoped, and long neglected to receive a letter from you; the letter is at length arrived and your reasons for not gratifying me before are so friendly that I cannot complain. Indeed I have expected with much impatience the result of the deliberations of your convention and as your letter contained the result it gave me a very pleasing proof of your attention. You pay me the compliment, Dear Madam, of asking for my observations on the plan of federal government proposed by the convention to the considerations of the States I will give them you freely. In the first place I must own to you that from some hints that were flung out in our papers I feared that it would lead much more to the principle of Monarchy and Aristocracy than I find in the , indeed they are grounded on simple Democracy and appear to me to be so well grounded that in the present situation of the United States were they to be adopted they had fair to stand for ages without contracting any alloy that may affect that temperament and indeed, Dear Madam, if some system of power is not established which may protect instead of ruining the liberties of America and which may direct the pressing interests of the several states to one great end of general good your contention and dissapointments must in the end bring on a government whose principles will be as much at variance with the rights of man as all the most of our European ones. In short Dear Madam it is my opinion that were some plan of the kind now proposed by the convention to be adopted and carried into execution and were your people less fond of Commerce and European luxuries, would they attend to the cultivation of their Lands and employ their industry in those manufactures which are necessary to the comforts of life and were strict prohibition made against the consumption of our foreign manufactures you would in a short time be the happiest and the greatest people in the World. The rumors of war and fate of the Globe are now over and the free States of Holland subjected to the my sentiments on this subject are I dare say so similar to your own that I think I need not trouble you with them. The account you give me of Mrs Russel fills me with concern both for her own sake her Husband’s, her Father and Mother’s, and what you my Dear Madam must suffer in the occasion, for the friendship you entertained for your Neice was I know of the tenderest kind, her constitution appeared to be always



368

Mercy Otis Warren Papers, MHS, printed in Warren-​Adams Letters, 2:298–​300.

The Letters  165 delicate but her sister whom I am sorry to hear is in the same hopeless condition had the air of robustness. I have certainly brought my Daughter acquainted with you Dear Madam and I think I sent you her kindest rememberance in my last letter. She is lately married to a Mr Gregorie who is Captain of an East India Man the Match is very much to mine and the rest of her friends liking.369 You are so kind as to inquire after my present employment. I am still writing Letters on Education, when I have finished that work I propose to resume my pen on a political subject which I have in view and this I fancy will close my sublunary labor. My Daughter Dear Madam returns you her particular compliments and thanks for the sentiments you have entertained in her favor Mr Graham also joins me in repectful regards to your self General Warren and family. From Dear Madam, Your etc. Postscript If there is any defect in the plan proposed by the Convention it is the want of a rotation of the presidents of Congress covered by law, for I still think this to be the only firm support of freedom in every mode of its existence.   [119] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 18 December 1787370 Milton In my last I gave no opinion relative to the adoption of the system of government offered by the late convention at Philadelphia. At present there appears little doubt that more than nine states will agree to ratify, and without amendments accept it in toto. Some of the best friends to the liberties of America and the most distinguished of her patriots have opposed it with energy, as offered to the public: though many of them think it may be so amended as to answer every purpose of a salutary, strong, and representative government. Pennsylvania, the Delaware counties, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut, have already adopted the proposed system, even without hinting at the necessity of amendments. Massachusetts and Maryland have also ratified the doings of the convention, though they have given a list of necessary alterations: but they have not made this the condition of their acceptance. New Hampshire has met and adjourned on a pretty equal division: in Rhode Island the plan is rejected by five 369 Catharine Sophia was married to Charles Gregorie on 7 June 1787, at Marylebone Church. 370 Mercy Otis Warren Papers, MHS, printed in Richards and Harris, Mercy Otis Warren: Selected Letters, 215–​17.

166  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay sixths of the people: the Carolinas will come in, Virginia and New York are still doubtful, but most probably will accede. Thus stands the system: how it will operate must be left to time. I hope it will be so modified and corrected, as to be productive of unanimity and every other good effect. If you madam have seen the . . .371 publications we must appear to you a very divided people. Those who stile themselves Federalists are perhaps less fond of harmony than the class stigmatized with the appellation of Anti-​Federalists. The last wish for a union of the states on the free principles of the late confederation; while the first are for the consolidation of a strong government on any or no principles;—​and are for supporting it by force at the risque of distorting the fairest features in the political face of America. Perhaps your curiousity may be excited to inquire who are the principle characters in the several states who have had the courage to oppose a system, that a majority in most of the state conventions have approved, and that a considerable party are enthusiastically mad to support at every hazard. I give you a list of a few names—​Lowndes, Laurens, Gadsen, in South Carolina;—​ Martin, Chase, and others in Maryland; Governor Randolph, P. Henry the late Governor; the whole family of Lees and many other respectable characters in Virginia; Judge Byron, and many gentlemen of ability and distinction in Pennsylvania;—​Governor Clinton, two of the delegates who were of the federal convention, and many others in New York;—​your friend General Warren and Mr Gerry who also was one of the convention in the Massachusetts.372 I take the liberty to transmit to you the reasons of dissent from the majority in the Pennsylvania convention, the proposed amendments of Massachusetts and Maryland, a pamphlet circulated in the Massachusetts immediately on their ratification and a few addresses to the public previous thereto under the signature Helvidius Priscus.373 Thus I have given you a slight sketch of the state of the parties in this country. Human nature is too often vilified by some and depreciated by others; but I think the times we have lived in are not the most favourable to the noblest feelings of the soul. Old attachments have been eradicated by the diversity of political opinion: animosities heightened by the severity or indiscretion of parties; new political connexions formed as it were by accident without any principle of public or private virtue for their basis. 371 Text loss. 372 Rawlins Lownes, Henry Laurens, Christopher Gadsden, Luther Martin, Samuel Chase, Edmund Randolph, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Arthur Lee, Samuel Bryan, George Clinton, Joseph Warren, and Elbridge Gerry. 373 The pen name used by Joseph Warren for an Anti-​Federalist essay in the Boston Independent Chronicle on 27 December 1787, after a first-​century Stoic.

The Letters  167 A fondness for honorary distinctions, has arisen among us which calls for an hereditary monarchy for their support: and a taste for expensive pleasure reigns while the public treasures are empty and the private finances low. A combination of other incidental circumstances has involved this generation in a mist ascending from the pit of Avarice and led them to the chimerical pursuit of the Golden fleece of the poets which some think and perhaps may find deposited with the fabricators of the new government. If you wish to know more of the present ideas of your friend and the consequences apprehended from the hasty adoption of the new form of government, I will whisper to you—​you may find them at large in the subjoined manuscripts I  now enclose with a printed pamphlet entitled the Columbian Patriot374 by the same hand. I am madam as ever yours etc.   [120] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, March 1788375 Binfield, near Oakingham, Berkshire.376

Dear Madam, I am very sorry to be driven by the course of events to awaken melancholy reflections in you rather than to endeavor to amuse you with the Bagatelles of human life, accept however the simpathy of a friend for the great loss you have sustained in the Death of your very worthy and amiable Neice Mrs Russel whose affections to you were I know stronger than is commonly existing in this dissipated country in the hearts of children towards their parents. Though I have nothing to say that can anywise entertain you yet I would not miss the opportunity of Mr Adam’s return to shew you how much I value Dear Madam your correspondence. I find by the accounts received from America that the plan of Government recommended by the Convention has been accepted already by the majority of the States, we are a little surprised here to find that New England and Connecticut should be the earliest in acceeding. 374 Pseudonym used by Mercy Otis Warren, who with Gerry Elbridge, had published Observations on the New Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions. By a Columbian Patriot ([Boston]: n.p., 1788). 375 Mercy Otis Warren Papers, MHS. Addressed, Mrs Warren, Milton near Boston, printed in Warren-​Adams Letters, 2:301–​3. 376 “Oakingham” is now “Wokingham.” Macaulay and her husband William Graham had rented a building now called Binfield House, but which may then have been called “Wyhtwicks” after its builder, or have had some other name, since the much larger Binfield Manor, which then belonged to the Pitt family, was sometimes called Binfield House. The now much-​expanded building that Macaulay and her husband rented still stands between Wick’s Green and Terrace Road North, on the Western edge of the village of Binfield. A memorial plaque to Macaulay, dedicated by William Graham, remains in the nearby All Saints Church, located at the northern end of Terrace Road.

168  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay The Town of London has been much amused this Winter in the pompous shew of Mr Hasting’s trial.377 Facts are stong, and much eloquence has been displayed by the prosecutors; but most people think that his party among the powerful is strong enough to preserve him from other punishment than the mortifications attending the trial. The political state of this Country is as usual; for we have gained no virtue by the loss of America, and as the present low condi of the finances of our Neighbours the French and the important undertakings of Russia and Austria give these powers no opportunity to disturb the peace of Europe we believe that our present appearance of felicity will have no end. Pray make Mr Graham’s and my compliments to Mr Warren and all friends, particularly our compliments of condolence to Mr Russel, for the great misfortune he has sustained in the loss of his excellent partner. Accept Dear Madam all that is affectionate from your etc. Mrs Gregory whose marriage I believe I acquainted you with in my last begs to be remembered to you.   [121] Catharine Macaulay to Mercy Otis Warren, 29 October 1788378 Binfield, near Oakingham, Berkshire My Dear Madam I wish we were nearer together that we might oftener have an opportunity of exchanging sentiment of friendship I flatter my self it would conduce to our mutual happiness. I find that the National Government proposed by the federal convention is adopted by a majority of the States. To Europeans who are used to the form the parade the expence and all the high prerogatives of Monarchy it must necessarily carry the appearance of perfect feedom but you who are used to liberty in its most pleasing Garb and who have so lately and dearly purchased an independence it must carry a contrary aspect nor do I wonder that the american patriots still entertain apprehensions that appears to give a larger trust to that faithless ambitious animal man but whether there may or may not be grounds for fear and jealously I think it shows more levity and more of party spirit than I hoped was in America to enter on any new frame of Government by which trust must be reposed with such marks of festivity and joy.

377 Warren Hastings (1732–​1818) had been governor-​general of Bengal. In 1788 an attempt to impeach him for mismanagement of colonial affairs was begun which, as Macaulay predicts, was ultimately unsuccessful. 378 Mercy Otis Warren Papers, MHS, printed in Warren-​Adams Letters 2:303–​5.

The Letters  169 I am much obliged to you for sending me the reasons of dissent in Pensilvania and the pamphlet circulated in the Massachusetts, the one is well drawn up and the other is written with spirit and energy. I assure you Dear Madam I pay a very anxious attention to the concerns of America and were not my inclinations drawn that way on determined principles my friendship for yourself and family would engage me to interest myself in the welfare of any country of which you were Citizens. Mr Adams I see by the papers has been long returned to his native country. He is a very warm Federalist and by what I have discerned of yours and Mr. Warren’s political sentiments and opinions you will not agree quite so well on public matters as you did formerly. I am exceedingly sorry that you have had so many occassions to mourn the hopless hand of Death in your own family the tenderness of youth in female constitution has much to dread from the rigor of yr climate but it must be some very forcible and unlucky stroke of destiny which could carry in the flower of his age Mr Lincoln who appeared a very strong and healthy young man.379 As your friendship inclines you to interest yourself in the concerns of my family I have the pleasure to inform you that Mrs Gregorie has got a daughter and that the mother and child are both well. The Turks have made a stand against the German and Russian forces, which has surprised all Europe. I  believe they owe the present figure they make in arms to the restless ambition of the French which has carved out work enough to employ it for some time at home, but I cannot leave the subject without paying a tribute of praise to the sensible and intrepid conduct of the French who have disputed rights with a Sovereign backed with above a hundred thousand miltary Men. Mr Graham joins me in affectionate regards to your self Mr Warren and family and to all friends who do us the honor to remember us From Dear Madam with an high esteem, your etc. I have taken a small Villa in Berkshire about thirty miles from London where I propose to reside chiefly being quite tired of the absurdities of the Capital.   [122] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 20 September 1789380 Plimouth 379 The daughter of James Otis and his wife Ruth (née Cunningham), Mary, had married Benjamin Lincoln (1755–​88), who had died 18 January 1788, and was the son of General Benjamin Lincoln. 380 GLC1800.04. A revised and expanded version from Mercy Warran’s letterbook is printed in Richards and Harris, Mercy Otis Warren: Selected Letters, 221–​23. There it is dated July 1789. Since it was not received by Macaulay, I have not reproduced these additions.

170  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay My dear Madam As I cannot excuse myself I will not attempt an apology for thus long neglecting to answer your favour dated October 29th 88. I feel really mortified at my own delay, as it has undoubtedly prevented me the pleasure of hearing from a very valuable & much esteemed friend: whom nor time nor distance nor the accidents of life will ever lead me to view with an indifferent eye. Yet we live in an age of revolution when not only the most extraordinary political events are exhibited: but the most sudden inverse of private friendships and dereliction of all former attachments at once surprises & wounds the heart disposed to cultivate the social affections to the last moment of existence. But from the instability of the human heart I have learned to expect every thing; & to fear nothing (beneath The supreme being) so long as I feel a firmness of mind that will ever render us independent of popular opinion: of political change: of the vacsilility of individuals in high office: or the absurd enthusiasm that often spreads itself through the lower classes of life. I have often recollected an observation of yours on a very pleasant morning when you came to breakfast with me at Milton. So many Carriages, so many joyous faces, such an appearance of General Happiness, that you could scarcely forbear weeping that this people were trifling away their advantages & seemed almost ripe to relinquish the prize they had recently purchased—​if you was here now my dear madam perhaps you would indulge the tear—​But I forbear to draw a portrait of the moral & political situation of a country whose very humanity Values & Virtue has made them an object of curiosity throughout the world. It is true we have we have a Government established & a Washington at its head—​But we are too poor for Monarchy, too wise for Despotism, and too dissipated selfish & extravagant for Republicanism—​It ill becomes an infant Government when the foreign & domestic accounts are large & the resources small: to begin its Caucus in all the splendor of Royalty. Should trade be shackled manufacturory checked the spirit of agriculture discouraged & the people almost deprived of the means of subsistence to amass sums for the payment of exorbitant sallaries—​in order to support the dignity of office & and keep up the ostentatious pomp for which the ambitious have sighed since the moment of the institution of the order of Cinicinatus. The compensations may appear small to ancient Monarchies & powerful nations but the exhausted americans begin already to lay out that they are more than they can bear.—​ But I leave America to wait the success of her bold experiments: and wonder a moment with you at the astonishing revolution in France—​would it not be surprising if that nation should reap Greater advantages from the spirit of liberty latly diffused through this continent than the Americans may be able to boast after all their struggles & sacrifices to become a free people.—​

The Letters  171 But more of this subject in my next. I dare not yet pronounce—​I only retrospect the past & contemplate the probabilities of futurity. For so various are the parties the interests & the principles among us that no human calculation can decide the fat[e]‌381 of America.—​ Shall I ask you madam if the treatise on Education is finished? if the essay on truth is revised & if you are as is imported now writing the History of the American Revolution? If you are I shall be happy to see it, if you are not possibly you may see in two thin Volumes annals collected by your Friend. I am always gratified to hear of the welfare of your Daughter or any with whom you are connected. My Compliments with those of Mr Warren & family to Mr Graham & yourself And believe me to be as ever yours, etc.   [123] Catharine Macaulay Graham to Mercy Otis Warren, April 1790382 Bracknal Berks Dear Madam I can very readily believe that the ver very discordant principles m sentiments must at present exist in America on the subject of your new Constitution and that I have the honor of thinking agreeing much with the opinions of my sensible Friend as the following observations on the different state of think things will very much evince It was easy I think Madam to foresee that the Americans from national prejudice and the power of habit would have an eye to the English Government in the forming her own plan and that they would endeavor to correct its abuses by pruning its luxuriances but the Smallest error in the first principles of Government is attended with the worst consequences Whilst Agriculture continues the prime object of American industry and her riches as a Society are moderate she will enjoy domestic liberty in its fullest extent but as she has composed her Legislator has a power to establish Offices to settle the quantum of Salary and to enjoy the emoluments themselves when America becomes a large commercial State and riches pour in upon her from the Southern Continent the State of her security will be rendered precarious. For it will be an easy Matter to by levy large sums upon her in the way of Mercantile impost the power and pageantry of government will grow with the increase of the revenue and then the people will be both robbed and deluded. The invidious distinctions of Aristocracy will be easily introduced

381 382

Ink smudge obscures end of word. GLC01800.05, draft.

172  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay and the more so from the Circumstance of the Legislator being divided into an Upper and a lower house.* [A good Financier is a man who can in the most effectual manner fill the Exchequer with the plunder of the subjects is the only quality that is regarded in this Country in a Minister but the difficulty of raising money on the people will ever be found the surest sign of liberty and the best guardian of it].383 The French in the establishing their government had equally with the Americans an eye to their Neighbors the English but the vicinity of the two countrys furnished them with the opportunity of seeing the deformities of our government in their full extent and they have carefully avoided the adopting any part of the english system but the only part which is worth having vis the mode of trial by jury. A Legislator independent of any undue influence from from motive of personal interest with sufficient power to restrain the ambitious Schemes of the Executive Magistrate appears to me to be the most perfect of all practical forms of Government and Whilst the National Assembly of France keeps firm to the resolution of excluding her Members from any office in Administration France may bid defiance to the Wiles of Corruption. I have just printed my observation letters on education with my observations on truth revised I do my self have done my self the honor to send you a Copy of it. I have no thought of writing a history of the American revolution and wait with impatience for a sight of your annals. Mrs Gregory is Mrs Gregorie is encreasing her Family fast she has one Daughter and another Child a coming & she joins me in entertains with me the most kind and respected sentiments for you and am Dear Madam with Mr Graham You and the Generals. Mr Graham is with me Dear Madam my and the Generals etc.   [124] Catharine Macaulay Graham to Mercy Otis Warren, 1 March 1791384 Bracknal Berks

Dear Madam, It is long since I Have had the pleasure of hearing from you so long indeed that I should have felt a good deal of uneasiness but your health should have been affected if I had not flatter my self that your attention to the important work in which you are now engaged had prevented you from diverting it into any other channel.

383

Inserted from end of letter.

384 GLC01800.06.

The Letters  173 I have lately been informed that their is a parcel for me laying at Mr Dilly’s my Bookseller. I have not yet seen it but I hear it contains a vol of your excelent poems, this agreable intelligence gave me great pleasure to be in the possession of my Dear friends literary performance and the other at receiving this cordial mark of her friendship I am also in hopes that I shall find a letter among the contents of the parcel. With this letter you will receive my observations on Mr Burke’s reflections on the french revolution a work which has been much admired and eagerly read in this country nor will you be surprised at this when you find that it is a vehement and virulent attack on the French constitution and Legislature, for I must tell you that we in general look with a very malignent eye on the progress which our enlightened Neighbors are making towards political perfection, the Government because it will oblige them to keep within some bounds of moderation towards their own subjects the Civil and Ecclesiastical Aristocrats from a principle of interest and the large majority of the people from a petulant resentment against the French from the contempt they have shown in their variations of the English government whom the Nation has been taught to adore as a model of perfection that never was equaled and which never can be surpassed. I look with impatience for your history of the American Revolution because I expect it will be the most authentic account of grand event and that it will be interspersed with sagacious reflections on the subject of genuine liberty Mr Graham joins me in affectionate respects to your self and General Warren, From Dear Madam, Your etc.   [125] Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 31 May 1791385 Plymouth I have my dear madam been particularly obliged by two of your favours since I  have taken up my pen to write to my friend.386 Were I  fully to express my sentiments with regard to your letters on education and your learned and metaphysical disquisitions, you might think they savoured of flattery. This is a fault not less despised by myself than it is detested by a lady whose talents, set her very much above it. I will therefore only say, I was entertained and delighted with the volume and pleased that you had taken up your pen on subjects so important: nor was I less 385 Mercy Warren Papers, MHS printed in Richards and Harris, Mercy Otis Warren:  Selected Letters, 230–​33. 386 From what follows, these were LE and OR; the reference to “metaphysical disquisitions” suggests that Macaulay may also have sent a copy of TIM, though Warren may well be referring to the parts of TIM reprinted in LE.

174  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay gratified with the manner of executing the design. I have since been obliged by your ingenious and just observations on Mr Burke’s strictures on the national assembly of France. What an inconsistent creature is man! I am sorry for the sake of the human character, that a gentleman whose oratorical powers have been so often so honourably employed and exerted in favour of the rights of society, should so far deviate from the principles he has supported, as to vilify the advocates for freedom, and to abuse characters that have discovered more firmness and consistency than himself, yet his celebrated pamphlet may be productive of good, both to Europe and to America. It appears to me that it will lead to the discussion of questions that have for some time laid dormant, and to the revival and vindication of opinions that have of late been too unfashionable to avow. Even some Americans who have fought for their country and been instrumental in her emancipation from a foreign yoke, seem to be at war with every Democratic principle:—​and some men of genius, professed republicans, who formerly shared the confidence of the people, are now become advocates for Monarchy and all the trappings of Royalty. The British constitution is the idol of their warmest devotion and they daily sigh for Patrician rank, hereditary titles, stars, garters, and nobility, with all the insignia of arbitrary sway. Thus from age to age, are the people coaxed, cheated, or bullied until the hood-​winked multitude set their own hand rivet to the chains of servitute on their posterity. This is a painful reflection to the patriot in retirement and the philosopher in his closet: but when we consider it is the usual course of human conduct, one is almost led to assent to the Federal creed lately established in America. First that mankind are incapable of the enjoyment of liberty; second that the mass of the people have not the capacity nor the right to choose their own master; therefore the game of deception must be played over and over to mislead their judgment and work on their enthusiasm until by the assent, hereditary crowns and distinctions are fixed, when their posterity may load the authors thereof with as many curses, as now daily fall on the first Federal head who it is said conveyed an hereditary taint to all succeeding generations. Yet it is my opinion the commotions in France will check the designs of certain characters, about the American Court: and for a time keep them within some bounds of moderation and perhaps awake the vigilance of others, so far as to keep in awe those who are buzzing for a crown for their President and hereditary titles, lordships, and revenues for his ministers and favourites. You will direct me in future at Plymouth, where we are again happily fixed, I  believe for the remainder of life. For though the pleasant mount where you visited us has many charms in the softer season of the year, yet view it through all its changes, I think Plymouth by far the most eligible residence.

The Letters  175 I wish I could flatter myself with the idea of once seeing my friend here. I am sure that she would enjoy her visit in higher degree than she did at Milton. I have always felt more happy in this place where I have a little social circle around me, than I did in my residence nearer the Capital. Indeed, I think we should both enjoy a felicity unknown to the interested and unfeeling part of mankind, if we could spend a few days together in the pleasant little village of Plymouth, beneath the shade of retirement amid philosophical contemplation. But this is a pleasure I contemplate as within the chapter of possibilities, rather than as a probable event; therefore I do not indulge even the pleasing anticipation which makes so considerable a part of the happiness enjoyed by mortals. But if an interview with my friend before the race of mortality is closed, must not take place, yet let the interchange of letters be frequent while ability is lent to grasp the pen. I hope that you have received a small packet from Dilly; if the amusements of some leisure hours should meet your approbation, I should be highly gratified. The volume I know will be read by you Madam with candour, if not partiality. What the critics may say I know not–​–​but sensible many a hapless reputation has been wrecked on the oceans of public opinion, I have endeavoured to arm myself with fortitude either to ride out the storm or to see my little shallop stranded on the quicksands of neglect. I am my dear madam with unalterable esteem your etc.

Augustus Toplady (1740–​78) Toplady was a committed Calvinist, and vicar of Broad Hembury in Devon, and is now most famous for his polemics with John Wesley, whose Arminianism he opposed, and for a handful of hymns, most notably “Rock of Ages.”387 When in London he stayed in Titchfield Street, and since a number of letters written by Macaulay during 1773, including the 29 November 1773 letter from Macaulay to Burgh, are also addressed Titchfield Street, this suggests that at this time they were at least neighbors, or possibly that they shared the same lodgings from time to time.388   387 Arthur Pollard, “Toplady, Augustus Montague (1740–​1778),” DNB. A  complete list of his publications was printed soon after his death in Memoir of some Principle Circumstances in the Life and Death of the Reverend and Learned Augustus Montague Toplady B. A. Late Vicar of Broad Hembery, Devon (London: J. Mathews, 1778). 388 Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:218.

176  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [126] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 11 June 1773389 Broad-​Hembury Deign to accept my best acknowledgments, madam, for your very obliging letter, which, you told me awaited me in Devonshire; and which I accordingly found on my return. You do me infinitely too much honour, in condescending to solicit my opinion of the merits of your last publication. But, as my judgment is asked, I will give it without reserve. I think its merits are unspeakable, both as to substance and composition. That sedulous attention to truth, that undeviating zeal for the rights of mankind, and that nervous refinement of thought, which so eminently mark and adorn your character and writing, shine with full force in your fifth volume. Be it so, that your political theory is too sublimely virtuous, to be universally adopted by an age, of such a cast as the present; yet are you secure of the affections and the admiration of the honest and discerning: who, though they have, in all periods of times, constituted far the smaller part of society; yet is their esteem of more weight and value, than the disgraceful applause of the weak or interested multitude. As greatly, madam, as I revere your uncommon talents; and as sincerely as I regard your public and private virtues, there are two or three minutiæ, on which I respectfully dissent. It is not, for instance, clear to me, that the levellers were a “brave and virtuous party”: nor that Cromwell was so utterly destitute of conscience and principle, as, to you, he seems to have been.390 That he was a traitor to the liberties of his country, can admit of very little dispute. Yet can I perceive, in various features of his mental character, some striking symptoms of magnanimity and virtue, which leave me in suspense as to the total corruption of his heart. You, who have penetrated into the recesses of history, with more attention that I have had opportunity of applying, and with far greater judgment than I am capable of exerting, may wonder, perhaps, at the freedom with which I venture to mention any thing relative to a province so peculiarly your own. But you must place the liberty, madam, which I have presumed to take, to the account of your own condescension, which commanded me to present you with my genuine thoughts. I wish my honoured friend may, in her turn, prove as obedient to my request, as I have to her command. If so, you will not fail to revisit Devonshire, in the course of this summer. My neighbours, Mr. and Mrs. Northcote, long impatiently, for the 389 Published in Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:180–​83. 390 In HEAJ, 4:354, Macaulay called Cromwell “the most corrupt and selfish being that ever disgraced an human form.” In the fifth volume of HEAJ she defends the proposals of the levelers, claiming that their document called “the Agreement of the people . . . [was] a better model than any which had been yet offered to the public” since it involved “the reformation of all the grievances which the people of England then laboured under, and which to this day they do with equal weight sustain,” HEAJ, 5:9. According to her account of the period, Cromwell threw the last remnants of the Parliament out of the chamber because they were on the brink of establishing the principles for a new election and of dissolving themselves, in order to secure a legitimate and long-​lasting republic, thus depriving Cromwell and the army of their power, HEAJ, 106–​214.

The Letters  177 happiness of enjoying your company again.391 And, for myself, I hope I need not assure you, that I reap too much pleasure and improvement from the privilege of your conversation, to be distanced in the desire of seeing you, by the warmest of your admirers. Though this is a species of avarice, which I deem it an honour to avow; I have still another argument to urge, infinitely superior to any motive deduced from my own self-​interest as an individual. I saw, with pain, when last in London, that the closeness of that overgrown town, your want of exercise, and your intense literary application, appear to have had an unfavourable effect on your health. Consider, madam, that, notwithstanding all your past meritorious services, you are still a debtor to society. You owe yourself to your country. If you do not take care of its best citizen, you will be guilty of the highest injustice to the public. Say not, “How does this advice comport with your doctrine of predestination?” For I hope you are predestined to take the advice; and that a predestined old age will be the result. Our friend, Mr Northcote, sometimes says, “Mr Toplady believes absolutely in predestination; and yet he is loath to ride on horseback, for fear of breaking his neck.” I answer, “True:” and, perhaps, that very fear may be an appointed means of preserving my neck unbroken. The corollary from the whole is; let Mrs. Macaulay, by coming down soon into Devonshire, consult her health, gladden her friends in the west, and show herself just to the community. We set too high a value on the productions of your pen, to wish you to lay it aside entirely while you are with us. We will allow you to devote your mornings to study; and I am pretty certain, that Mr. N. and myself together, can furnish you with most, if not with all the books you may wish to consult, relative to the period on which you are now employed. If invitation will not prevail, I shall have recourse to threats. I told you, when I saw you last, that I would so pester you with letters, that you should be glad to visit us, in your own defence: and I mean to be as good as my word. The present piece of prolix expostulation is a disagreeable sample of what you have to expect, from, madam, Yours, etc.   [127] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 13 July 1773392 Broad-​Hembury Let a lady alone for dexterity. The king has lost by you. Your late much esteemed favour, madam, (doubly valuable for being double in size), was so ingeniously folded, as to elude the vigilance of the post-​office, and to be charged only as a single letter. The circumstance, however, of postage, is an article that I  shall never think of, when Mrs. Macaulay’s improving favours are the freight. It is in

391 392

The Rev. Thomas Northcote and his wife; see letter [137]. Published in Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:183–​86.

178  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay obedience to your own desire, that I trouble you with an incident, in all other respects too trivial for notice. But as I am on the subject, I must request you, once for all, never to let a deficiency of franks lay the shortest embargo on your correspondence hither. I imagine them to be (what, considered in this relationship, they indeed are) mere things of nought. Of all the letters, madam, with which you have vouchsafed to honour me, I set the highest value on your last. Should I ask why? My answer would be, because it is the longest. That a person of your eminence, and engaged by so many avocations of usefulness and importance, should oblige me with so much of your time and attention, is an instance of condescending friendship, which reflects as much honour on your own politeness, as I can receive from its effects. Doubtless, the character of Cromwell, when contrasted with the shining benevolence and disinterestedness of Antoninus Pius; or with that gentleness, yet steadiness of wisdom, that self-​denying simplicity, that discreet but noble liberality, that unrelaxing adherence to justice, truth, and equity, which (still more than even his writings) have stamped greatness and immortality on the name of Marcus Aurelius; the maxims and conduct of the English usurper, when weighed against the characters of those, cannot but appear, on the comparison, black as darkness, and lighter than emptiness itself.393 Much less will Cromwell’s measure bear to be paralleled with the humane, the just, the wise, the improving administration of our own Alfred: who, perhaps, both as an individual, and as a chief magistrate, came the nearest to moral and political perfection, of any regal character, which adorns the page of secular history.394 I know of but one prince who would, probably, have outshone Alfred; I mean, Edward VI.395 Yet, after all, I  question if it be strictly fair, to bring Cromwell to the test of such very exalted standards. Antoninus Pius, Antoninus the philosopher, Nicocles of Salamis,396 Alfred and Edward VI. of England, Louis XII. of

393 Antoninus Pius, emperor of Rome from AD 138 to 161, was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius, emperor from AD 161 to 180, the famous author of the Stoic inspired Meditations. They were the last two of the five so-​called good emperors, who guided Rome through a period of relative peace and prosperity. 394 Alfred was the Anglo-​Saxon king of Wessex from 871 to 899. The glorification of Alfred the Great and the Saxon constitution was a common theme of the patriot literature during the eighteenth century, which emerged particularly strongly during the period when Frederick, Prince of Wales, was being promoted as a potential new “patriot king.” 395 Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and half-​brother of Elizabeth I, was king of England from 1547 to 1553, and acceded to the throne at the age of nine. Toplady’s seemingly unjustified high hopes for what his reign might have been are no doubt due to the young king’s devout Protestantism. 396 In Charles Rollin’s Ancient History, it is claimed that when Nicocles of Salamis (a city in Cyprus, which he governed from 374 BC) succeeded his father, “he found the publick treasures entirely exhausted . . . he knew that the generality of princes, upon like occasions, thought every means just for the re-​establishment of their affairs; but for him, he acted upon different principles. In his reign there was no talk of banishment, taxes, and confiscation of estates. The public felicity was his sole object, and justice his favourite virtue.” Charles Rollin, The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Cathaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians and Greeks, 13 vols. (London: James, John

The Letters  179 France,397 and (perhaps) one or two more individuals, who were formed for the good of mankind, and for the honour of monarchy; are examples, too severely bright, for Cromwell’s competition. Inexcusable as many of his principles seem to have been, and unjustifiable as the main of his conduct undoubtedly was; the peculiar exigencies of his situation might still, in some degree, oblige him to avail himself of maxims he detested, and to pursue a course of action which his heart might disapprove. In short, much allowance must be made for the times in which he lived; much for the situation, in which he was gradually placed; much for that teeming train of events, which appear to have drawn him in step by step; much for the embarrassment arising from those distressing alternatives, to which public persons are sometimes reduced, and which frequently pose the shallowness of human wisdom; and much for the depravity of human nature itself, which it is sufficiently plain, was not less operative in Cromwell than in the rest of the species. To which we may add, that the persons who are actually parties in the busy scenes of political transaction, are often hurried and perplexed into measures, which the cool speculative politician would justly condemn; and at either the prospect or the retrospect of which, the delinquents themselves would shudder. But to close this amicable controversy, with a single question. What figure would the generality of English historians (though many of them have great merit) make, if set in competition with Mrs. Macaulay’s noble and spirited performance? Or to vary the query; how should I dwindle to a span, to an inch, to a point, to nothing, if compared with a Witsius,398 a Turretin,399 a Spanhemius,400 a Gurnall,401 a and Paul Knapton, 1734), 5:280–​81. It was undoubtedly a description such as this which prompted Toplady to include Nicocles among his examples of virtuous rulers. 397 Louis XII of France ruled from 1498 to 1515. According to Bossuet, he “considerably lowered the taxes with which the people were loaded, and would have lowered them more, but for the great wars that he had to support; but it is remarkable, that, notwithstanding the expenses which they occasioned him, his œconomy was so great, that he never increased the people’s burdens.” Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, The History of France, from Pharamond to Charles IX. Translated from the French of M. Bossuet, 4 vols. (Edinburgh: A. Donaldson and J. Reid, 1762), 3:2. Toplady may have included him here as a result of such a description. 398 Herman Witsius (1636–​1708) was a Dutch theologian who had dedicated his most important work, Economy of Covenants, to William III of England, as stadtholder of the Netherlands. This work had been translated into English and published by Edward Dilly. Herman Witsius, The Œconomy of the Covenant between God and Man. Comprehending the Complete Body of Divinity, 3  vols. (London: Edward Dilly, 1763). Toplady included a Latin quote from Witsius on the title page of his The Church of England Vindicated from the Charge of Arminianism (London: Joseph Gurney, 1769). 399 Francis Turretin (1623–​87) was a Swiss theologian and author, whose son Jean-​Alphonse Turretin (1671–​1737) also published theological works. Toplady refers to “the immortal Frances Turretin” in Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the Church of England (London:  George Keith, 1774), 1:68. So it is probably to the former that he is referring. 400 Friedrich Spanheim (1632–​1701) was a German author of church history and the son of Friedrich Spanheim (1600–​1649). Toplady no doubt intends to refer to the younger Spanhemius, whom he calls a “consumate scholar and historian” in The Church of England Vindicated, 8. He also quotes his works in Historic Proof, 1:109–​10. 401 William Gurnall (1617–​79), English Puritan and author of The Christian in complete armour. Or, A treatise of the saints war against the Devil (London: Ralph Smith, 1655).

180  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Hervey!402 Think on this, when you are for contrasting Cromwell with the two Antoninus’ and Alfred. Sorry am I to learn, that your health is not improved, since I had the honour of seeing you in the spring. But, though deeply concerned, I cannot wonder. The heat of the season, for some time past, has been intense, even at Broad-​Hembury. At London it must be scarce supportable. You, whose constitution is almost as delicate as your mind it elegant, must have suffered much by it, aided as I fear, it has been, by confinement and application. Would to God, you would receive, with your usual attention in other matters, the hint I took the liberty to give you, at our last interview, viz. Write little, that you may write much. If no entreaties can prevail with you to see the west this summer; yet be so kind to your friends and to the world, as to spare yourself all you can. When you perceive fatigue and langour approaching, lay down your pen for the day; and imagine that I am at your elbow, requesting, and adjuring you, with all the earnest importunity of respectful friendship, to be tender of that exquisite machine which providence has formed into the distinguished tenement of so much exalted reason and virtue. Nothing exhausts the spirits, and impairs the health more, than the continued labour of deep historical researches. It engages for the time, all the powers of the soul, and engrosses the whole collective force of the nerves. What can be more dangerous, what more pernicious to the human fabric? Timotheus, the Athenian, is justly admired for having said, that, “being at the head of an army, he took care not to expose himself rashly to danger: for the life of a general is of too much consequence, to be needlessly thrown away.” Valuable as your history is, it is not of equal value with the historian. Besides: should the historian fail, what would become of the remainder of the history? I fear, I should be the means of detaining you too long from the exercise and relaxation I recommend, were I not to cut short this free lecture, by subscribing myself, with great respect, Madam, your etc.   [128] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 22 October 1773403 Broad-​Hembury As we live at a period, when to be in debt, and to be in the fashion, are almost inseparable ideas; I offer no apology, for the length of time, during which, my honoured friend’s obliging letter has passed without acknowledgment. 402 James Hervey (1714–​59) was rector of Weston-​Favell in Northhamptonshire and was author of Theron and Aspasio: or, a series of dialogues and letters, upon the mort important and interesting subjects, 2 vols. (London: John and James Rivington, 1755); Meditations and Contemplations (London: John and James Rivington, 1748). 403 Published in Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:200–​201.

The Letters  181 I will go farther still:  and even value myself on an omission, which has, perhaps, contributed something to the public benefit. In writing to me, you please and improve a grateful individual. But, as an historian, you convey pleasure and instruction to multitudes. Was I to return you an immediate answer to the favours I receive from your friendship, your friendship and politeness would not fail to balance the epistolary account with equal exactness. A  considertion, which induces me, now and then (contrary to the general maxim of the age), to consult my country’s advantage, though at the occasional expense of my own. With regard, madam, to Oliver Cromwell, on whom our correspondence has of late chiefly turned, I find myself silenced, though not entirely convinced, by the force of your observations. I must resign my client, to your better judgment and superior powers: unless you will permit me to compromise matters, in the language of lord Lyttleton. “By an uncommon appearance of zeal, by great address, and great valour, Cromwell first enflamed the spirit of liberty into extravagance; and afterwards duped and awed it into submission. He trampled on the laws of the nation, but he raised the glory of it: and it is hard to say, which he most deserved; a halter, or a crown.”404 From a person whose public merits are thus equivocal, I revert with pleasure, to one, whose patriotic deserts no honest and capable judge can dispute. To be informed, and from so good an authority as your own, that your health and strength are improved, give me far greater and solider joy, than any other information you were able to convey. I hope to be an eye-​witness, if, as I have some thoughts of doing, I should spend a fortnight in London, during the ensuing winter. I learned another piece of good news, a few days hence, at H[oniton], where our friend Mr. N[orthcote], acquainted me, on Mr. D[illy]’s authority, that your 6th volume will appear, early in the spring.405 This will be the most valuable amends you can make us, for depriving us of your company, this year, in the West. Your old acquaintance and admirer, Mr. H[ollis] has, I am told, received some disgust at L[yme Regis], and is very seldom there.406 Lord C[hatham]407 however, still professes to affect that romantic seaport; though it does not promise 404 Quoting, Letters from a Persian in England to his Friend at Ispahan, letter LXII, found in George Lyttelton, The Works of George Lord Lyttelton. Formerly printed separately, and now first collected together (London: J. Dodsley, 1774), 230. The passage does not appear in editions of Letters from a Persian in England published prior to the Works. 405 Referring to Mr. Northcote of Honiton, and either Charles or Edward Dilly. The sixth volume of her history did not in fact appear until January 1781. 406 Thomas Hollis, whose death is the subject of the next letter, owned a property at Lyme Regis. 407 Pitt spent a good deal of time at Lyme Regis in his declining years, Williams, Life of William Pitt, 2:290.

182  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay to yeild him (as, if fame say true, he once hoped it would) a second sir W. P.408 it were a pity a second should ever fall to his share. With every wish of happiness, and with the utmost sincerity of respect, I remain, Madam, your etc.   [129] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 11 January 1774409 Broad-​Hembury Last Saturday, I returned from a short excursion to Dorsetshire. Though you can be no stranger to the loss, which the public have sustained in the decease of Mr. Hollis; yet it is possible you may not have been apprised of the particulars, by an authentic hand. That friend of the British empire and of mankind was, early in the afternoon of New-​Years day, in a field, at some distance from his place of residence at Corscombe, attended by only one workman, who was receiving is directions, concerning a tree, which had been lately felled. On a sudden, he put one of his fingers to his forehead; saying, “Richard, I believe the weather is going to change: I am extremely giddy.” These words were scarce off his lips, when he dropped. He fell on his left side: and, being near a hedge, his head was received by the subjacent ditch. The man (I know not whether a carpenter or a common labourer) sprung to his assistance; and, raising him from that sad situation, administered what little relief he could. The expiring patriot was still sufficiently himself, to say, “Lord have mercy on me; Lord have mercy on me; receive my soul”: which were the last words he was able to pronounce. His lips moved, afterwards; but no sound was formed. In a few seconds more, his spirit was disimprisoned. The frighted assistant lost no time. Leaving his corpse on the grass, he hastened away, for superior help. But in vain. The lancet when applied was without effect. It seems Mr. Hollis always wished that his death might be sudden. Providence was pleased to grant his request.—​Was I qualified to choose for myself, and were it lawful to make it a subject of prayer, I would wish for the same indulgence, whenever my appointed change may come. It is, I think, the most desirable mode of departure, where the person is in a state of grace. How happy to be surprised into heaven! And to surviving friends, it is but a single shock, once for all. At the time of his decease, Mr Hollis was ready booted; intending to ride that day to Lyme Regis. When I was there, it was my melancholy lot to occupy the

408 William Pitt; see letter [10] note. 409 First published in Toplady, The Postumous works of the late Reverend Mr. A.  M. Toplady (London: J. Mathews; G. Keith, R. Bishop; Hogg and McGowan; Murray, 1780), 357–​59. Reprinted in Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:205–​7.

The Letters  183 chamber in which he always slept, during his occasional stay in that town, and which had been prepared for his reception, two or three nights before. It was at the Three Cups: an inn, which he purchased a few years ago. How black is the ingratitude of human nature! Though this valuable man lived entirely to the benefit of others, and may be classed with the most public-​spirited worthies that ever breathed; yet I have seldom known a death so little regretted by the generality. An eminent foreigner was of opinion that “there is no such thing as friendship in the world.” Had he said, “ there is not much,” he would have met the mark. “With fame, in just proportion, envy grows: The man that makes a character, makes foes.”410 Very exalted virtue is often admired: but not often loved. What is the reason? Because few are truly virtuous. And we must have some virtue ourselves, ere we are capable of loving it in others, or of loving others for it. You knew and esteemed Mr. Hollis’ virtues: nor (which is one of the highest encomiums his memory can receive) was he unworthy even of your friendship. Allow me, madam, to express my wish, that the precious blood and the imputed righteousness of the adorable Messiah, who lived and died for sinners, may present you, in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment, faultless and complete before the uncreated Majesty. But, for the sake of those whom, in virtue and in knowledge, you so greatly surpass; may you long be detained from receiving that crown of life, to which (I trust) the Son of God has redeemed you by the atonement of his inestimable death.—​ Augustus Toplady   [130] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 18 February 1774411 Broad-​Hembury Had I not lived long enough in the world, to cease from wondering at any thing, I should have more than wondered at the incident, of which you so justly complain. If almost any pen, except your own, had informed me of Mr. —​—​’s ingratitude and injustice, I should have questioned the reality of the fact. I am sorry, still more for his sake, than for yours, to find it so authentically attested. Well may scripture (a book which you, madam, are too wise and too virtuous to despise) say, What is man!

410 Quoting Edward Young, “Epistle I  to Mr Pope,” Edward Young, The Poetical Works of the Reverend Edward Young, 2 vols. (London: Curll, Tonson, Walthop, Hitch, Gilliver, Browne, Jackson, Corbett, Lintot and Pemberton, 1741), 2:120. 411 Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:213–​15. Addressed, To Mrs Macaulay now at Bath.

184  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Pity it is, that, on such occasions as the present, you are not divested of that exquisite sensibility, which, at your own expence, adds too much honour to the remembrance of a social delinquent. Forget it all; and, as you are more than female in understanding; be more than masculine in fortitude. Triumph over the irritating savageness of the cynicism which has requited you so ill, by opposing to it the iron apathy of the portico.412 Do more. Rise into a still nobler revenge.—​Namely, by centering your expectations in him, who never disappoints those desires, of which his Spirit is the gracious inspirer. “Lean not on earth; ‘twill pierce thee to the heart: At best, a broken reed; but, oft a spear. On its sharp point, peace bleeds, and hope expires.”413 Only the experienced favour and the felt possession of God in Christ can fill the vast capacities of a soul like yours. Enjoy his communicated smile: “Then bid earth roll; nor feel the idle whirl.” May Bath have a happy effect on the health of a person so important to the community. You tell me, your stay there will be of considerable duration. I think to see London, some time in April. Should you continue at the Western Bethesda414 until the latter end of that month, or until the beginning of May, I will take Bath in my return to Devonshire, by way of seeing how the waters have agreed with you. Let me submit a single caution to your candour, viz. Be careful not to renew your acquaintance with the dapper doctor;415 and above all, beware of being seen with him in public. —​Hic niger est: hunc tu, Romana, caveto.416 He would derive lustre from you; but, like a piece of black cloth, he would absorb the rays, without reflecting any of them back. The world is very malicious: and a character so eminently conspicious as yours, is a mark at which envy and censure delight to seize every opportunity of discharging their arrows. As you give me hopes of seeing you in this country, during the course of the ensuing summer; who knows, but I may have the honour of escorting you hither, 412 Stoicism. 413 Quoting Edward Young, The Complaint or, Night-​Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality (London: R. Dodsley, 1743), 13. 414 Bath. 415 Lucy Martin Donnelly, “The Celebrated Mrs Macaulay,” William and Mary Quarterly 6 (1949): 172–​207 (184), surmises that this refers to Rev. Thomas Wilson. Bridget Hill endorses the surmise, The Republican Virago, 103. However, the advice “not to renew her acquaintance” appears to refer back to the person about whose ingratitude and injustice she has complained, and so it is unlikely to have been Wilson. 416 From Horace: “Absentem qui rodit amicum, qui non defendit, alio culpante; hic niger est; hunc tu, Romane, caveto” [He who attacks an absent friend, or who does not defend him when spoken ill of by another; that man is a dark character; you, Romans, beware of him].

The Letters  185 through the whole length of Somersetshire? But I must not detain you from the Pump-​room, by my tedious speculations. So for the present farewel. God give you good spirits; for where they lead the van, good health generally brings up the rear. Augustus Toplady P.S. I could wish you acquainted with Mrs. Derham of Green-​street, Bath. You would find her one of the most sensible and amiable women in that city. She has all the genuine ease, without any of the affected grimace of politeness, her husband is a wine merchant, and she has a lovely daughter nearly the age of yours.   [131] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 8 July 1774417 Broad-​Hembury [extract] I arrived here, from London, no longer than this day se’nnight; and though I was not able to take Bath in my way home, through the unavoidable length of my stay in town, I hope, madam, to be soon amply recompensed for that loss, by seeing you, safe and well, in this part of the world. Favour me with a line: and God grant it may import these two things: 1st. That all your complaints are completely annihilated by the Bath waters; and. 2ndly. That you have begun to take the previous measures for your intended two months excursion to Devonshire. I left good Mr. Ryland418 behind me in London. He desired his best remembrance to you: and wishes (in his lively manner), “that you may be a perfect idiot once in every twenty-​four hours, and incapable of writing, reading, thinking, or conversing, viz. from ten at night, until six or seven in the morning:” that you may not impair your health by sitting up late. No friend, I verily believe, has more respect and esteem for you, than he: not even your etc. P.S. One day, when Mr. Ryland and I went to Islington, to dine with Mrs. Bacon, he took that opportunity of introducing me to Mr. Burgh, author of the “Political Disquisitions.” I saw him to great disadvantage, as he was in much pain, and in a very ill humour. The interview, on the whole, was a curious one. I was hardly seated, when, he said to Mr. Ryland, concerning me, “This gentleman, I apprehend, is an antagonist of Mr. Lindsey’s.”419 I answered, for myself, no sir; I am not, indeed, of Mr. Lindsey’s principles, but I look upon him, with all his mistakes, to be an honest man: and I respect an honest man, be his opinions what they will. By degrees, our conversation grew rather engaging: and Mr. Burgh seemed, for a while, to feel a truce from the torments of the stone, and assume some degree

417 Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:220–​21. 418 See letter [133]. 419 Theophilus Lindsey (1723–​1808) was a unitarian minister who had left the Church of England. For Toplady’s candid assessment of him see Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:218–​19.

186  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay of good-​nature. But I should have had a sharp onset, if he had been in perfect health. Even as it was, he could not forbear feeling my pulse, on the article of free-​will. In the course of our debate, I drove him into this dreadful refuge, viz, that “God does all that he possibly can,” [these were Mr. Burgh’s own words] “to hinder moral and natural evil, but he cannot prevail; men will not permit God to have his wish.” Lest I should mistake his meaning, I requested him to repeat those terms again; which he did. Then the Deity, said I, must needs be a very unhappy being. “Not in the least” replied Burgh. “What (rejoined I), disappointed of his wishes, embarrasses in his views, and defeated of his schemes, and yet not be unhappy?” “No,” rejoined Burgh: “for he knows that he must be so disappointed and defeated, and that there is no help for it: and therefore he submits to necessity, and does not make himself unhappy about it.” A strange idea this, of the Supreme Being! At coming away, I told Mr. Burgh, that however he might suppose God to be disappointed of his will, I hope the public would not be disappointed of the remaining volumes of the Political Disquisitions yet unfinished. And, in truth, madam, your friend Burgh is much better qualified for political disquisitions, than either theological or metaphysical ones. Adieu. Augustus Toplady   [132] Augustus Toplady to Catharine Macaulay, 10 February 1775420 Broad-​Hembury Dear Madam, Your favour of Jan. 27, arrived in due course. Had you deferred penning it, but three days longer, it would have borne the date of a certain anniversary, on which no person living is so well qualified to write as yourself.421 I have had too much ill health this winter, to be, as you suppose me to have been, very assiduously engaged “in deep researches after philosophical and religious truth.” The principle result of my few researches in that way, has been a tract (begun and finished within a fortnight) in explication and defence of Christian philosophic necessity. But, I believe, I shall not commit it to the press, until I go to London: the printers being a very teasing set of people, to be concerned with at so great a distance from the scene of action. As I know not how much longer my supposed “researches” may be impeded, by want of health; I must beg, that you will not, in time to come, forbear writing hither, from an imaginary fear of “interrupting” researches which have little or no existence.

420 Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:250–​51. 421

Charles I was executed on 30 January 1649.

The Letters  187 I will reduce you to a dilemma, on the occasion. Either I am, or am not engaged in the said researches. If the former, then do you write by all means; and the oftener the better: for I know no pen, more capable of assisting a philosophical enquirer, than your own. It the latter, still write: for, in that case, the very reason under which you shelter yourself, ceases to exist. To tell you the truth, I am quite of the opinion, that by your polite apology for being so bad a correspondent, you have only wedged yourself fast into a cleft stick: from which, nothing can extricate you, but your directing as many letters to Broad-​Hembury as possible. I have not been to Honiton, since I took leave of you there. But your host, Mr. N[orthcote] I have seen twice; once at my own house, and once at Mr. Drewe’s. Many thanks to you, dear madam, for the purse, which, you tell me, you have condescended to knit for me. I would rather, however, defer receiving it, until I have the pleasure of seeing you at Bath: which I hope will be within these two months; either in my way to, or in my return from London. I have a very extraordinary letter to show you; sent me by my respectable friend, Dr. Baker, vicar of St. Martin’s in Salisbury: relative to Bradshaw’s internment in Jamaica.422 I own, I am partly staggered, though not proselyted, as to that matter. I set it down under the class of “Historic Doubts.” But without any shadow of doubt at all, I  have the honour to be, madam, your etc. P.S. Compliments to Miss Macaulay.—​I observe you do not say a syllable concerning our common favourite, Mr. Lytt[elt]on.423—​On second thoughts, I will not (as I at first designed) defer showing you Dr. B’s letter until we meet: but shall inclose it in this. The circumstance of double postage is not to be considered. Adieu.

John Collett Ryland (1723–​92) Ryland was a Baptist preacher and school master who preached and ran a school in Northampton from 1759 until 1785, when he moved to Enfield to set up a new school. He was a friend of Augustus Toplady and of James Hervey, and a prolific 422 John Bradshaw (1602–​59) was the president of the High Court of Justice, which tried Charles I, and handed down the sentence of death. According to his friend Marchmont Needham, he died at Dean’s House on 31 October 1659, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey on 22 November. Nevertheless, according to legend he made his escape, incognito, to Jamaica, where he died and was buried, a memorial inscription advising passers-​by that they “never, never forget that rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God,” Sean Kelsey, “Bradshaw, John, Lord Bradshaw (bap. 1602, d. 1659), lawyer, politician, regicide,” DNB. The letter mentioned here relates to this legend. As is clear from his letter to Dr. Baker dated 18 November 1774, a Jamaican informant had told Baker about the epitaph, but Toplady, while being interested in it, was quite sure that Bradshaw had been buried in England, Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:233–​34. 423 George Lyttelton (1709–​73), whose passage on Cromwell Toplady had quoted above.

188  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay publisher of works of many kinds. In a letter to him, dated Broad-​Hembury 29 December 1774, Toplady begins, “When my dear friend’s letter, (whose date I am quite ashamed to recollect) arrived, our valuable Mrs. Macaulay was present. Her countenance brightened, at learning from whom it came.”424 Toplady also reports that Macaulay admires his metaphysics as well as his physic (by which is meant medical advice).   [133] Catharine Macaulay to John Collett Ryland, August 1773425 With all that anxiety my Dear Friend which a Good man feels for the Distressed state of his Country (tho a little tinctured with the partiality of friendship) you have often importuned me to give you my opinion on the following important Question. What kind of Man will it be proper to elect to the Representative office in the ensuing Parliament. The man capable of performing his Duty in such a trust is I am afraid much easier to be described than to be found. England from the earliest period of its empire to the present moment never was in so perilous so Desperate a state. That Country of mine says Sydney (when writing on the situation of England immediately after the restoration of the Stewart Family) is like to be made a stage of Injury, the Liberty which we hoped to establish oppressed, Luxury and Lewdness set up in its height instead of the piety virtue sobriety and modesty which we hoped God by our hands would have introduced, the best of our nation made a prey to the worst, the Parliament, the Court, the Army corrupted, the people enslaved, all things vendible, no man safe but by such evil and infamous means as flattery and Bribery. This my friend was the description of a man whose force of imagination, whose refined tast, whose purity of sentiment and whose experience of better times led him to see and describe the fallen state of his Country in the strongest Colours, but yet in Sydney’s description we find Corruption confined to the Parliament, the Court, and the Army, but we live in times when the Empire of corruption has no bounds. To the Parliament, the Court, and the Army we may add every Corporation through the whole Dominions, to every Corporation we may add all the inhabitants which posess the Country at large the Dire infection hath spread from rank to rank, it has tainted the vitals of the Commonwealth and from thence extended its putrid influence to all its members. Self interest that leaven which destroys the power of every good tendency in the human character was never known from the earliest History of man to exist with more malignant force than in the Breasts of our 424 Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:247. 425 GLC01794.21. A copy of this letter was sent by Edward Dilly to John Adams on 4 March 1774, Taylor, Papers of John Adams, 2:18–​19.

The Letters  189 Contemporary Countrymen. The merciless Statesman, the needy Placeman, the Opulent Landholder, the rapacious monopoliser, the extortionate retailer feel alike its influence. Hence those powerful combinations which in the midst of plenty has produced an artificial scarcity. Hence the People are loaded by their representatives with taxes beyond the oppressive exacting of the most powerful of their Kings. Hence the decay of Trade. Hence the almost starving condition of the middling Gentry and hence the unparalled misery of the poor. These are causes which united to an almost universal profligacy of manner has brought us to the Eve of a National Bankruptcy. The parliament who can redress such grievances, reform such manners and save the Nation from ruin when on the brink of Destruction must be of a very different complexion from any which we have seen. It is not a common character my friend to whom I would give my vote on the ensuing Election, no if there beget any means of salvation the salvation must be effected by men whose minds are exalted above the standard of common honest and vulgar sense. The man Qualified for the important business of Legislation must have a Heart Devoted to the public and a head equal to the understanding its true interests. He must not covet a seat in parliament (either for the purposes of selfishness or the Gratification of a vain idea of consequence) beyond the accomplishing that which in our present situation is the only possible means of salvation. He must be ready to sacrifice the rise of his rent roll to principles of justice and the Duties of Humanity. He must be capable of understanding the great Truth that every individual is interested prosperity of his fellow Citizens and that in a general sense the welfare of the Community at large and the interest of the individuals who compose it is intimately connected. He must condemn as a base imposition on the credulity and laziness of mankind every Distinction which does not arise from the comparative degree of service an individual is enabled to perform to his Country. In short my friend to speak in the Style of those writings you are so particularly well acquainted . He must be a man who has added to his wisdom Virtue, to his virtue knowledge, to his knowledge temperance, to his temperance charity, and to his Charity a Superlative love of God and his Country.426

Mary Knowles (née Morris, 1733–​1807) The wife of Thomas Knowles, a physician, and member of the Society of Friends, Mary Knowles is mostly remembered for a discussion with Samuel Johnson over the conversion to Quakerism of Jane Henry, which Boswell refused to include in 426 An asterisk and the words “annual parliaments” are written below, but it is unclear where this was intended to be inserted.

190  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay his Life of Johnson, leading to its independent publication.427 She was admired for her embroidery, her conversation, and her singing, and was listed as a member of the Society instituted for the abolition of the slave trade in 1787, whose committee included the Marquis of La Fayette (Paris) and Macaulay’s friends Brissot de Warville (Paris) and James Ramsay of Teston, Kent.428   [134] Mary Knowles to Catharine Macaulay, 27 December 1774429 London When I received my dear friend’s last favor ’twas in the midst of pressures—​it warm’d me with gladness to find she was so much recover’d—​its variously pleasing contents urg’d me to the pen, when impossible to obey the impulse, safely deposited in my desk I was obliged soon after to determine against a reperusal till a dark cloud in prospect had passed over my head, lest I shou’d too much affect a friend so tenderly sympathetic as is the gentle Catherine. The evil dreaded was the Hooping-​cough which siezed our child rather violently at first, but with a little med’cine & continual change of air it was happily carried off in about five weeks. He is now all life & spirits, talks much in the langauge of Lilliput, & has the face of a Cherub on a french snuff box. He is now become a proper subject for the dear Sophy to exercise her tutelary talents upon, & I hope will not prove so unmanageable as our late pupil Mr. D—​I have not seen that goodnatur’d friendly-​hearted man since the city election, overhead & ears in canvassing then—​equally involved now, with the melancholy contemplation of America. My Cath’rine sees far—​the present measures fill her with indignant concern, the very remotest consequence of maladministration escape not her view! My heart too draws many a deep sigh for the days that seem near at hand—​“Oh Liberty”!—​pale languishing Liberty, what shall the vigilant few do for thee; if the People sunk in selfishness & stupor, will suffer thee to expire—​thou must expire—​but woe be to their false rest, for chains and famine wait on their awaking! In plain terms, the cause of freedom seems so much involv’d in the American question that we stand or fall with it; we have only to hope that the Machiavilian policy may be frustrated, & that the many will keep as strongly united as the few. Our lament the state of the times—​they hold a sympathetic correspondence with their Breth’ren over the water—​bound by their pacific principle, there’s scarce a possible exertion that will not involve them in inconsistency.430 427 Knowles, “Dialogue between Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Knowles”; Jennings, Gender, Religion and Radicalism. 428 “List of the Society, Instituted in 1787.” 429 GLC01794.37. 430 The Quakers’ commitment to both resistance against tyranny and rejection of violence often caused them to be conflicted. For their political philosophies see Calvert, Quaker Constitutionalism.

The Letters  191 Several, as well the Doctor431 & myself, have thought a conciliating address to the throne wou’d appear with propriety from the Friends in the Colonies. We intend again to move in this matter—​but alas we have a melancholy presage that every struggle will be vain, & that we have to do with a Ministry, that will be too many for the Patriots, people, Quakers & all. There are many here who wish for thy return, they want thy sagacious judgement as perplexities arise, fearful of being led into a wrong idea by the complex mode of management—​so many mixed characters obtrude themselves, that Ithuriel with his truth-​trying spear cou’d scarcely detect them.432 We have read with great attention the Bishop of St Asaph,433 & the letter from the Congress; with what pleasure can be best express’d by thy own feelings in the like perusal. I did not intend to have gone such a length in politics, but the subject runs away with me. We are now tolerably well settled in Ingram court where the company of Mrs Macaulay as often as she cou’d favor us wou’d give us great satisfaction, I hope the pleasing circumstance draws nigh when I with the Doctor may assure her that we are her most affectionate friends. M. Knowles   [135] Catharine Macaulay to Mary Knowles, [December 1774]434 To write to Mrs Knowles that I  am very sorry to find such precepts from the Quakers, they had better have recommended to their people to pray for those whose consciences would permit them to defend the cause of Justice and the rights of Nature that Tyranny from its first establishment had ever been supported by superstition. the Now trace it through Greece through Assia, the India, in Africa, and lastly in Europe since Christianity the English Church the greatest idolaters and now the Quakers who have affected the greatest simplicity in religion are as noxious as the most superstitious structure of Tyraney and the most complicated structure of political Machinery.435

431 Her husband Thomas Knowles. 432 In Paradise Lost, IV, 800–​820, Ithuriel uses his spear to touch a toad, which then reveals itself to be the Devil. 433 Jonathan Shipley, A speech, intended to have been spoken on the bill for altering the charters of the colony of Massachusett’s Bay (London: T. Cadell, 1774). 434 Verso of GLC01794.37, partial draft. 435 Macaulay’s meaning is not very clear, but she is, potentially, aware that some Quakers interpreted their faith as enjoining passive obedience, and so were politically not far distance from the Catholics, of whom she was highly critical HEAJ, 3:345–​7

192  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay

Abigail Adams (née Smith, 1744–​1818) Wife of John Adams, Abigail has become famous for her letter to him, requesting that he not forget the ladies in the deliberations over the US Constitution, a request to which he did not accede. Some years before writing this letter to Macaulay, when her cousin Isaac Smith reported having dined with the historian, Abigail had responded, “I have a great desire to be made acquainted with Mrs. Maccaulay’s own history. One of my sex so eminent in a tract so uncommon naturally raises my curiosity and all I could ever learn relative to her, is that she is a widdow lady and Sister to Mr. Sawbridge. I have a curiousity to know her Education, and what first prompted her to engage in a Study never before Exhibited to the publick by one of her own Sex and Country, tho now to the honour of both so admirably performed by her.”436 John Adams kept her up to date with gossip relating to Macaulay, describing in one letter Benjamin Rush’s admiration for her, and in another the wax statues he had seen modeled by Mrs. Wells, of “Chatham, Franklin, Sawbridge,” and Macaulay with some others he does not bother naming.437 Abigail commented on the controversy over the statue erected to Macaulay by Dr Wilson that “the Gentleman who erected it has sullied the glory of his deed by the narrow contracted Spirit which he discovers in the inscription.”438 This inscription called Macaulay a prodigy, but also included a rendering of a poem, attributed to Lyttleton, which concluded, “We want no more than one Mrs Macaulay.”439 Adams demonstrates her acute appreciation of the backhandeness of Wilson’s gesture, commenting, “What must be that Genious which cannot do justice to one Lady, but at the expence of the whole Sex?” Later, when she accompanied her husband to London, she made the acquaintance of Macaulay’s daughter, Catharine Sophia, who she described as “a very fine young lady.”440   [136] Abigail Adams to Catharine Macaulay, [1774]441 Madam In the last Letter which Mr. Adams had the honour to receive from you, you express a Desire to become acquainted with our American Ladies. To them Mrs. 436 Butterfield, Adams Family Correspondence, 1:77. 437 Ibid., 2:59, 235. 438 Hill, The Republican Virago, 101–​2. Abigail Adams to John Thaxter, 15 February 1778, Butterfield, Adams Family Correspondence, 2:391–​92. 439 Fox, “Catharine Macaulay, an Eighteenth Century Clio,” 138. 440 Abigail Adams to Charles Storer, London, 22 May 1786, Butterfield, Adams Family Correspondence, 7:187. 441 Ibid., 1:177–​79. Available through FF. Undated draft, with numerous cancellations and insertions not noted here; notes by CFA at head of text assign date “1774” and recipient’s name. Although no copy of this letter was included in the material auctioned by Philips, it seems likely that it was sent to Macaulay and is the letter referred to in Mercy Otis Warren’s letter to Abigail Adams, 15 February 1775, ibid., 1:186–​87.

The Letters  193 Macaulay is sufficiently distinguished by her superior abilities, and altho she who is now venturing to address her cannot lay claim to eaquil accomplishments with the Lady before introduced, yet she flatters herself she is no ways deficient in her esteem for a Lady who so warmly interests herself in the cause of America—​ a Cause madam which is now become so serious to every American that we consider it as a struggle from which we shall obtain a release from our present bondage by an ample redress of our Grieveances—​or a redress by the Sword. The only alternative which every american thinks of is Liberty or Death. “Tender plants must bend, but when a Goverment is grown to strength like some old oak rough with its armed bark it yealds not to the tug, but only nods and turns to sullen state.”442 Should I attempt to discribe to you the complicated misiries and distresses brought upon us by the late inhumane acts of the British parliment my pen would faill me. Suffice it to say, that we are invaded with fleets and Armies, our commerce not only obstructed, but totally ruined, the courts of Justice shut, many driven out from the Metropolis, thousands reduced to want, or dependant upon the charity of their neighbours for a daily supply of food, all the Horrours of a civil war threatning us on one hand, and the chains of Slavery ready forged for us on the other. We Blush when we recollect from whence these woes arise, and must forever execrate the infamous memory of those Men whether they are Americans or Brittons, whose contagious Ambition first opened the pandoraen Box, and wantonly and cruelly scatterd the fatal ingrediants—​first taught us filled with grief and anxiety to inquire, Are these thy deeds o Britton? this the praise That points the growing Lusture of thy Name These glorious works that in thy [better?] Days fild the bright period of thine early fame To rise in ravage and with arm prophane From freedoms shrine each sacred Gift to rend and mark the closing annals of thy reign With every foe subdued, and every Friend. You will think Madam perhaps from the account I have given you, that we are in great confusion and disorder—​but it is far otherways. Tho there are but few who are unfealing or insensible to the general calimity, by far the greater part support it with that firmness, that fortitude, that undaunted resolution which ever attends those who are conscious that they are the injured not the injurer, and that they are engaged in a righteous cause in which they fear not to “bare

442

John Dryden, Don Sebastian, II.i.51–​54.

194  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay their bold Breasts and pour their generous Blood.”443 Altho by the obstruction of publick justice, each individual is left at a loose, to do that which is right in his own Eyes, yet each one strives to shew his neighbour that the restraints of Honour and of conscience are more powerful motives, than the judiciary proceedings of the Law. Notwithstanding the inveterate Malice of our Enimies who are continually representing us as in a state of anarchy and confusion, torn up with intestine broils, and guilty of continual riots and outrage, yet this people never saw a time of greater peace and harmony among themselves, every one uniting in the common cause, and strengthning each other with inconceivable constancy and sumpathetick ardor. I mean always to Except those whose venal Souls barter freedom for Gold, and would sell their Country, nay gladly see an innocent land deluged with Blood, if they could riot upon its Spoils, which heaven Avert!—​Tis with anxious Hearts and eager expectations that we are now waiting for the result of the united Supplications of America. Yet having so often experienced their Enefficacy we have little reason to hope. We think we have more to expect from the firm and religious observance of the association which accompanied them—​for tho it was formerly the pride and ambition of American[s]‌to indulge in the fashions and Manufactures of Great Brittain now she threatens us with her chains we will scorn to wear her livery, and shall think ourselves more decently attired in the coarse and plain vestures of our own Manufactury than in all the gaudy trapings that adorn the slave.—​Yet connected as we are by Blood, by commerce, by one common language, by one common religion as protestants, and as good and loyal subjects of the same king, we earnestly wish that the three fold cord of Duty, interest and filial affection may not be snapped assunder. Tis like the Gordean knot. It never can be untied, but the sword may cut it, and America if she falls to use the words of the revered and ever honourd Mr. Pitt,444 will fall like a strong Man, will embrace the pillars of State and pull down the constitution along with her. I must intreet your pardon Madam for Detaining you so long from the important Services in which you are engaged, but having taken up my pen I could not refrain giving utterance to some of those Emotions which have agitated my Bosom and are the cause of many anxious hours to her who begs leave to subscribe herself Dear Madam your etc.

443 Robert Lowth, The Choice of Hercules, XIII, 29–​30, “In peace, in war, pursue thy country’s good, /​For her, bare thy bold breast, and pour thy generous blood.” 444 William Pitt, see letter [10] note.

The Letters  195

Thomas Northcote (d. 1787) and Mrs. Northcote The Northcotes lived at Honiton, in Devon, so were neighbors of Augustus Toplady, vicar of Broad Hembury. Macaulay visited them in 1774, staying three months.445 William Harris, the historian with whom Macaulay had corresponded until his death in 1770, also resided in Honiton, so it may have been through this friendship that Macaulay came to be acquainted with the Northcotes. Thomas Northcote would later become an honorary member of the Society for Constitutional Information.446 His letters in the Public Advertiser during the 1780s show him to have then been intimately connected with that society’s campaign for fairer parliamentary representation, and his pamphlet Observations on the Natural and Civil Rights of Mankind provides a cogent articulation of the doctrine of natural rights, based on the concept of humans as free, moral agents, and argues on the basis of these natural rights for universal suffrage.447   [137] Catharine Macaulay to Mr. and Mrs. Northcote, 20 January 1775448 Bath Dear Sir, I hope by this time Mr Dilly has fully justified himself of the matter of Browne’s accusation. I must own to you I was a good deal startled at your intelligence as I regarded such a proceeding as a flagrant breach of the laws of hospitality. Mr Dilly however assures me that there is not one word of truth in Browne’s assertion, I pity that poor Wretch for being obliged to his recourse to such mean and destructive arts to excuse his own conduct to justifie or rather, excuse his own conduct and in those parts of it where perhaps nobody has any right to call him to an account. I have had a Letter from London which informs me that dispatches are arrived from Boston with the account that the Bostonians have appointed a Governor of their own as this News is not confirmed to me by a second intelligence I doubt its authenticity You must undoubtedly my friend have felt a sympathetic glow on reading the noble sentiments contained in the resolutions of the American Congress. In the declining rotten State of England to hear our own children as they are the 445 Toplady, Works of Augustus M. Toplady, 6:232. Hill, The Republican Virago, 89. 446 “Tracts published and dstributed gratis by the Society for Constitutional Informantion,” ed. Society for Constitutional Information (London: n.p., 1783), vi. 447 Thomas Northcote, Observations on the Natural and Civil Rights of Mankind, the Prerogatives of Princes, and the Powers of Government (London: C. Dilly and J. Debrett, 1781). 448 GLC 01794.38.

196  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Americans are called breathing sentiments which would have done honor to our country in its most virtuous its more vigorous Days must fill with great satisfaction every Englishman’s breast untainted with the vices of the age. I have heard seen the Manuscript of the petition of the same Congress to the King and according to the judgement I could form from one reading it is a first rate composition. It is not to [be] published till after it has been presented to the parliament. _​_​_​_​_​_​_​ I had a letter from Dr this morning I had this morning a letter from Dr Wilson he has received the letter from you which was entrusted to my care and is highly pleased with it. I hope there will be no occasion for your giving your self the trouble of a Journey to London on the business of defending Sir George Young from the malicious and unfair attacks of his enemies.449 I am Dear Sir, Your etc. To Mrs Northcote, Your expressions my Dear Friend of regard for a present which if it is of any real value is highly your due is quite of a peace with all the rest of your Affectionate conduct to me. In answer to your kind solicitude concerning my health I have the pleasure to inform you that tho I am not quite so strong as Hercules, so young as Hebe, nor yet so free from bodily complaint as many more vulgar characters than these, yet upon the whole I have not had so good a Winter for many years as I have experienced this season. To shew my unabated zeal for the welfare the prosperity and the liberties of the British Empire more than from any prospect of success in this profligate slate of public conduct I have drawn up an Address to my Countrymen on the present important State of Crisis of Affairs.450 It was composed under many disadvantages from weakness in the eyes and pain in the stomach and I immagine the intention will be well accepted by the friends of Liberty. My Daughter has spent her Christmas holidays in Misery on account of a swelled face which has been general among the children at Bath, she is infinitely obliged to you for the favorable opinion you entertain of her industry and perseverance in regard to her education and promises she will use her utmost endeavors to prevent your being a false prophet. I told Mr Lytton your news and gave your compliments he is now gone to London on the melancholly occasion of his friend Mr Price having broke his Leg. 449 Presumably Sir George Yonge, also spelled Young (1733–​1812), who was the member of Parliament for Honiton at this time. 450 APCA.

The Letters  197 My Daughters and my Joint compliments to your self Mr Nortchco Northcote and Miss Stodard conclude me, Dear Madam, Your etc. PS I am very glad to hear so good an account of your health.

Hannah More (1745–​1833) Hannah More and her sisters ran a very successful school in Bristol, and from 1774 she regularly visited London, where she was welcomed by Elizabeth Montagu, and became part of her literary circle. More’s poem “The Bas Bleu or, Conversation” helped popularize the already established use of the term “bluestockings” for members of this group and more generally for women who engaged in literary pursuits.451 She became an energetic campaigner against slavery and for the moral improvement of the poor, publishing as part of the first campaign the very popular poem Slavery and as part of the second a vast quantity of moralizing tales and dialogues in the collection of cheap repository tracts.452 As she grew older she developed a distinctive, conservative view of women’s proper role, outlined in her Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education. Commenting on friends who had urged her to read Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman, she wrote to Horace Walpole saying that she found the title ludicrous and that “there is perhaps no animal so much indebted to subordination for its good behavior, as woman.”453   [138] Catharine Macaulay to Hannah More, 28 December 1775454 Bath Dear Madam, I hope this will arrive in time enough for you to receive my thanks for your very valuable poem.455 I do assure you that I was charmed with every stanza and observe with pleasure that the Author of this elegant performance is possessed of 451 Hannah More, Florio:  A Tale for Fine Gentlemen and Fine Ladies:  and, The Bas Bleu:  or, Conversation. Two Poems (London: T. Cadell, 1786). 452 Slavery, a Poem (London: T. Cadell, 1788). 453 Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education with a view of the principles and conduct prevalent among women of rank and fortune, 2 vols. (London: T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1799). Lewis, Yale Edition of Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, 31:370. 454 Letters of Samuel Johnson, collected by George Birkbeck Hill, 10, HOU, Hyde Collection, MS Hyde 77 (Case 10.397.4). 455 This was no doubt one of the editions of Hannah More, A Search After Happiness: a pastoral. In three dialogues (Bristol: S. Farley, 1773). First published in 1762. By 1774, More had added an “Epilogue” in which she praised learned women of her time, including Macaulay, who “claims a Livy’s right.”

198  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay the true fire and genius of poetry and my tast is so nice that I do assure you it is very few poetical pieces please me. On this subject one must either be in raptures or asleep in my opinion you have outdone all those who have written in the tast of Spencer nor do I remember that Spencer ever gave me so much pleasure. Your Pheasant was in excelent keeping. I am very sorry my Dear friend to understand by Mr Hall that you have been affected by the unhealthy State of the air. I have my self been very ill and am now in mourning for a relation who died of the Influenza. I hope you will spend your time agreeably in London but am afraid I shall not have the pleasure to meet you there as I do not propose nor will it be convenient for me to go till April. My Daughter joins with me in affect compliments to your self and Amiable sisters I am Dear Madam with Gratitude for your many obligations Your etc. PS If your worthy Neighbor Dr Stonhouse and his family are at Bristol pray give them my compliments.456

James Graham (1745–​1794) Graham was trained in medicine in Edinburgh, and practiced in Yorkshire and America before returning to England in 1774, when he began to practice in Bristol and Bath, moving to London, where he built a “temple of health” near the Strand. In America he learned about Franklin’s researches into electricity, which he subsequently attempted to apply to medicine.457 He is generally considered to have been a “quack” doctor, and became famous for his treatments for infertility and, in particular, for a “celestial bed” connected up to magnets and electrical currents, which was promoted as encouraging fertility. Although he descended into debt and near lunacy, it appears from the following letter and her comments to Burgh, in letter [67], that what Macaulay learned from James Graham were the benefits of exercise, fresh air, and simple food for a healthy life. Macaulay became friends with Graham’s sister, Elizabeth Arnold, who traveled to France with her, and a few years after writing this testimonial, she married their younger brother William. The fame of her brother-​in-​law’s fertility treatments added to

456 Reverend James Stonhouse had set up a trust which paid More an annuity of £200, allowing her financial security and independence. The capital was provided by William Turner, of Belmont House, Wraxall, to whom More had been engaged, but who had postponed the wedding so frequently that, in 1773, she was persuaded to break off the engagement, S. J. Skedd, “More, Hannah (1745–​1833), writer and philanthropist,” DNB. 457 Roy Porter, “Graham, James (1745–​1794) quack,” DNB.

The Letters  199 the scandal surrounding her marriage to a much younger man. Sarah Scott wrote to her sister, Elizabeth Montagu, Mrs Macaulay’s marriage was reported in good time to change conversation, of which the Duel between the two gaming counts had been the sole topic, and it was entirely worn out. A Gamester appears to me so far from being a loss to the world that I consider the marriage as the more melancholy event of the two, because it is a dishonour to the sex. If I had not more pride than revengefulness in my temper I might derive much consolation from the moral certainty that her punishment will equal her offence. The man she has married is in age about 22, in rank 2nd Mate to the Surgeon of an India man. He is brother to a Dr Graham, who etherized and electrified her, till he has made her electric per se. She wrote a letter to Dr Wilson acquainting him with her marriage, and her reasons for it, which she tells him in the plainest terms are constitutional; that she had been for some years struggling with nature but found that her life absolutely depends on her complying with her constitution’s earnest call (perhaps she calls it nature’s, but I shall not, for it is not the nature of woman, and woman cannot find her excuse in the nature of a beast) and she would have chosen him, if his age, as he must be sensible, did not disqualify him for answering a call so urgent. The Doctor shews the letter, but I have not seen it, and the Gentlemen declare it cannot be shewn to a woman. Old Wilson is rewarded for his folly; he is in the highest rage, and having some years ago by Deed given her the furniture of the house they lived in and 300  for her life, he intends to apply to the law to be released from this engagement; on pretence of its having been given without value received. It will make a curious cause, . . . If there is any zeal still remaining in the world for virtue’s cause the pure Virgins and virtuous Matrons who reside in this place, will unite and drown her in the Avon, and try if she can be purified by water, for Dr Graham’s experiments have shewn that fire has a very contrary effect on her, being a Salamander it is the element truly congenial to her. Were she flesh and blood one could not forgive her, but being only skin and bone she deserves no mercy.458

Despite the claim in her testimonial, that Graham’s treatments had cured her, by the end of 1777, Macaulay’s illness had returned and she was advised to travel to the south of France. Traveling in the company of Elizabeth Arnold, she only made it as far as Paris, and for the reasons outlined in letter [56] to Lord Harcourt, she returned to Bath in January 1778.



458

Sarah Scott to Elizabeth Montagu, 27 November 1778, Bath; HL, MO 5391.

200  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [139] Catharine Macaulay to James Graham, 18 January 1777459 Alfred-​House,  Bath To Dr. Graham. Sir, In justice to your abilities, and to the indefatigable industry, by which you have attained a safe and an easy method of cure, in illnesses which, though common in this country, are, of all the various species of malady, the most afflicting, and the most dangerous to human existence. In justice, I say, Sir, to you, and in compassion to the wretched victims of disease, I take this opportunity to declare, and I give you full liberty to publish the declaration, that I was unfortunately born with a very delicate constitution, and a weak system of nerves; that from my earliest infancy to the age of maturity, my health was continually disturbed with almost every species of fever, with violent colds, sore throats, and pains in the ears, attended with all the variety of symptoms which accompany a relaxed habit, and an irritable state of nerves. In this very weak state of health, I undertook the writing the History of the Stewarts; and I do not know whether it is not impertinent to add, that seven years severe application reduced an originally tender frame to a state of insupportable weakness and debility: continual pains in the stomach, indigestion, tremblings of the nerves, shivering fits, repeated pains in the ears and throat, kept my mind and body in continual agitation; and marked, those which would otherwise have been the brightest of my days, with sorrow and despair. In one of these fits of despair, your pamphlet came to my hands. Its contents awakened my curiousity; I sent for you; you undertook my cure with alacrity, and gave me the pleasing hope of a restoration of health, or rather a new state of constitution; and I have the happiness to declare, that a great part of my disease immediately gave way to your Chemical Essences, your Ætherial, Magnetic, and Electric Applications: the pains in my ears and throat subsided, the fevers and irritations of my nerves left me, and my spirits were sufficiently invigorated to break from a confinement of six weeks, and to exercise in the open air. These exercises I have since in all weathers repeated, without omission, with a high degree of impunity; and, from the general amendment of my health, I am enabled to immerge out of a life of idleness which I abhor, and to renew my labours for the service of the public. I have also the greatest reason to hope that, with the blessing of God, 459 Printed in James Graham, A short inquiry into the present state of medical practice in consumptions, asthmas, nervous disorders, &c . . . To which (by permission) is added, a letter from the celebrated historian Mrs. Catharine Macaulay (London: F. Newberry, 1777), 18–​20. Reprinted Catharine Macaulay, “To Doctor Graham,” St James’s Chronicle or the British Evening Post, 25 August 1778. The letter is tendered as evidence that Macaulay could not herself have written HERT, but must have plagiarized her “intimate acquaintance and friend” James Burgh, whose papers, it is claimed, she inherited. She is defended in “To the people of England” published in the same magazine on 19 Sepember 1778.

The Letters  201 I shall enjoy a more comfortable existence for the remainder of my life, than I had any prospect of enjoying before I had the good fortune to be aquainted with you. I am, Sir, Your etc. P.S. I am happy, Sir, in being able, from what I have seen, and from what has come to my certain knowledge, to congratulate you on the success which has attended your method of cure in this city, in the most desperate state of consumptive, asthmatic, and nervous cases: such instances cannot fail to establish the reputation of your medical practice to you own honour and emolument, and to the blessing of mankind, in matters of the highest sublunary importance, viz. the prolongation of life, and the enjoyment of health.

William Gordon (1727/​28–​1807) Gordon was an independent minister, who preached in Ipswich and Southwark before moving to America in 1770, where he lived for about fifteen years, and was pastor at Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was chaplain to the provincial congress, but was dismissed for attacking Article 5 of the Articles of Confederation. In 1784, during her visit to America, Macaulay visited him at Jamaica Plain, and she is mentioned in a letter that he wrote to Washington on 30 August of that year.460 He returned to London in 1786, and published a History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America in 1788. Macaulay, then living at Knightsbridge, is among the subscribers to the London edition.461   [140] William Gordon to Catharine Macaulay, 25 March 1777462 Jamaica Plain

Madam, You may possibly have heard of my name, & of my political character, though I have not the honour of a personal acquaintance, to which I had designed to have been introduced by my friend Dr Mayo, ere I had left Great Britain had you not just before laid aside the practice of appropriating a day for public company.463 460 Abbot, Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, 2:63–​65. 461 William Gordon, The History of the rise, progress, and establishment of the United States of America, 4 vols. (London: Charles Dilly, 1788). 462 GLC01791.01. This letter was sent by Bowdoin; see above. 463 Henry Mayo (1733–​93) was an Independent minister who was vehemently opposed to all forms of the Test acts, which limited dissenters rights. He was editor of the London Magazine and a friend of Edward and Charles Dilly, John Stephens, “Mayo, Henry (1733–​1793), Independent minister,” DNB. For some years during her widowhood, Macaulay hosted a “cotterie” at her home on Tuesday evenings.

202  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay If you have accidentally acquired a traditionary knowledge of me, hope you have been led to view me as the friend of human liberty in general, of American in particular as the only remaining medium in the world through which to secure the greatest degree of the former, & form an invincible barrier against the increasing spreading devastations of tyranny. I am persuaded that nothing, except an unreservered obedience to the Sovereign of the universe, could recommend me to your favourable notice, so effectually as the love of liberty. Conscious of my possessing the latter I am encouraged in applying for your assistance in an undertaking I have before me. My design is to collect the best & most authentic materials, & then to write, if health and abilities are spared, so far as I can divest myself of all prejudices, an impartial history of the rise progress & /​I flatter myself/​the successful issue of the American revolution. His Excellency General Washington has very kindly promised me all the help to be obtained from his papers. Other Generals have done the like. My personal acquaintance with many honourable members of the Congress, & the share I have in their esteem gives me ample ground to expect that I shall obtain all desired encouragement from that quarter. I have the late Gov Hutchinson’s letters—​the [memoir] of the late Josiah Quincy Esq, & various advantages besides.464 The Honorable James Bowdoin Esq favours me with all his political papers, received at different periods from divers writers. Mentioning to his son the last week my purpose of applying to some friends in England to procure & send me all the important anecdotes & articles of intelligence that might be proper for such a history & must be procured from your side of the water, he proposed my writing to you, & accompanying of my letter with one from himself. I thanked him for the thought & accepted of his offer. The numbers & quality of the persons [the] ministry meant to sacrifice to their resentments had it been as Lord Mansfield prophesised sine clade victoria465—​ his Lordship been first & not second sighted, seen for himself & not by Hutchinson’s optics, he would not have erred so egregiously—​The confiscations & murders they induced should have marked their characters, when they found it was a slaughter without a victory, after they had subdued the rebels—​The military executions & forms of government, that they had prepared for the continent, when they were convinced the contest proceeded not from a faction but a prevailing union of souls among the inhabitants—​together with other instances 464 Josiah Quincy (1744–​75) was a Bostonian who had acted with John Adams during the trial of the soldiers responsible for the Boston Massacre. He spent 1774–​75 in England as the agent of the patriotic party in America, keeping a journal which was subsequently published by his son, Josiah Quincy (1772–​1864), Josiah Quincy, Memoir of the Life of Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts (Bedford, MA: Applewood Books, 1825). 465 “Victory without detriment.” Gordon repeats the phrase and the sentiments in this letter in his history, where he is, in fact, quoting a speech of William Pitt to the House of Lords on 20 January 1774, as it had been recorded by Josiah Quincy; Gordon, The History of the rise, 1:441; Quincy, Memoir, 322.

The Letters  203 of their madness & folly—​Intelligence transmitted from the army, respecting the killed & wounded /​which the government has secreted/​their movements & projected operations—​These and such like particulars, of which Madam, you will be a most competent judge, will be gratefully acknowledged. I mean to confine myself to truth, & to sacrifice it neither to friendship nor enmity & not to exceed or fall short of it in colouring, that I may the more effectually recommend myself to any party. Shall write in the cause of liberty with the spirit of a freeman. I shall send this with a letter to Dr Price466 wherein I have given him a pritty distinct relation of our affairs to which I shall refer you, having desired him to communicate it to you. ’Twas wrote in haste. In the same way I expect to hear from him, should be glad would you forward an answer, to Madam your etc.

Hannah Sowden Hannah Sowden was the daughter of Rev. Benjamin Sowden (d. 1778)  of Rotterdam, who in a letter dated 21 April 1771 had asked Benjamin Franklin to be a conduit for his correspondence with William Gordon, and had offered to provide a reciprocal service for letters from America designed for Benjamin Franklin.467 When the Reverend Sowden wrote this letter he had been minister of the English Presbyterian Church in Rotterdam for twenty-​eight years, and a decade earlier, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu had deposited the manuscript of her Turkish Embassy letters with him on her way back from Italy, in order to ensure their publication. Later, Gordon used Sowden as an intermediary to forward mail from America to Franklin and other Americans.468 Earlier in the same year, in a letter to Franklin dated 7 June 1777, Benjamin Sowden mentions, along with newspapers and a letter for Dr. Price, a letter sent to Macaulay at Bristol.469 This letter from Franklin to Macaulay has not been found. Hannah Sowden’s father died on June 22 in the next year, as is announced in a letter from her to Benjamin Franklin.470 It is suggested by her letter that this was not the only time that 466 See letter [17] note. 467 Labaree, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 23:598. 468 Ibid., 25:38. 469 Ibid., 24:134. The letter from Hannah Sowden to Macaulay was sent with it. 470 “Rotterdam August the 2d 1778, Sir, Excuse the liberty I  take in acquanting you with the decease of one who during his life was honored with your occasional correspondance, The Revd. Mr. Sowden who died on the 22d of june last my worthy and honored parent, after a residence of 30 years in this City. How much his sudden and almost momentary death is publicly or privately regretted, does not become me to mention, nor am I certain whether he was personally known to you. Be that as it may, with his character as a man of Letters, and a friend to both civil and religeous liberty you were well acquainted and will therefore excuse my troubling you with this information, and with the enclosed as I know of no other way of communicated the melancholy intelligence to Mr. Gordon, whom the Public papers cannot reach and from whom I have just received a letter

204  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Franklin had used the Sowdens to correspond with Macaulay. Hannah Sowden was also, in all probability, the author of Plain Sermons for Plain People.471   [141] Hannah Sowden to Catharine Macaulay, 1 June 1777472

Rotterdam If you have not Madam wholy forgot one who received very singular satisfaction from the honor of being admitted to several interviews with you three years since, under the auspices of the amiable Mrs Ravaud & Shelley,473 you will not be surprised that I should embrace this opportunity of making some enquiries into the present state of your health, which I flatter myself is considerably improved since I had the pleasure of seeing you. The importance it is of, to your Friends, & to the world in general authorises my warmest wishes for its preservation, & will I hope excuse the liberty of making an enquiry which I could not resist, & which was sugested by the arrival of the enclosed about a fortnight since in a letter from Paris to my Farther, in order to be forwarded, which he now does, by the first proper opportunity, not judging it advisable to trust the Post, since its officers are become Inquisitors. Having mentioned my Father, I must not omit the assuring Mrs Macauley, how greatly he admires her sentiments & productions, & how happy I should be in an opportunity of introducing him to Her personal acquaintance, you flatter’d me with its possibility when at Bath. Have we nothing in our small well regulated Family sufficiently powerful to attract you? the very name of Republic, I should supose more Magnetical to Mrs Macauley than anything. I ought to beg you pardon Madam, for detaining your attention from something far more deserving of it, I do, & will trespass no farther after presenting my Compliments to Miss Macauley, & recommending myself to a share in you remembrance. I have the Honor to remain with all possible consideration & respect, Madam, Your etc.

address’d to my Dear Father, who desires him to convey his answer by your means, and I the more readily rely on your goodness in this particular, as I have had the honor of enclosing some of Yours to Mrs. Macauley to whom I am not unknown. Permit me Sir the additional one of subscribing myself with all possible consideration and respect Your Very humble and obedient Servant, Hannah Sowden.” Ibid., 27:203–​4. 471 [Hannah Sowden], Plain Sermons for Plain People (London: J. Johnson, 1792). 472 GLC01794.39. Addressed, Mrs Catharine Macaulay, Hott wells, Bristol, Bath. There is no other confirmation that Macaulay tried the waters of Hotwells in Bristol, as well as those of Bath, but this address suggests that she went there during the summer of 1777. 473 Mrs. Ravaud and Mrs. Shelley are mentioned in some letters included in the correspondence of Mary Delany (née Granville, 1700–​1788) [Augusta Hall] Lady Llanover, ed., The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany: with interesting reminiscences of King George the Third and Queen Charlotte., 3 vols. (London: Richard Bentley, 1862), 1:302, 321.

The Letters  205 PS I have followed the Address of the enclosed, supposed it to be by you direction, and that you are at the Wells—​I hope it will reach you safely & speedily, it goes by a vessel bound to that Port—​   [142] Catharine Macaulay to Hannah Sowden, 2 February 1778474 Bath, Alfred House

Dear Madam, Your polite and friendly letter found me in a very wretched state of health and on the Eve of taking a long and fatiguing Journey on the hopes of a re’establishment. These circumstances with the peculiar turn of my disorder & deprived of the spirits to thank you for your kind remembrance of me, the letter which received enclosed I could not with any safety answer, as all correspondence with the Americans is by act of parliament barred against the subjects of Great Britain. Be assured Dear Madam that whenever it is in my power to take another trip to the Continent that I shall avail my self of your very friendly and very polite invitation, pray Madam be so good as to assure Monsieur Sowden of the high sense I have of the honor of the favorable opinion he has conceived of my character and writings and Believe me to be Dear Madam. Your etc.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–​90) Famous for his investigations and experiments into electricity and his literary activities, Franklin was sent to London in 1757 as the agent of the Pennsylvania assembly, remaining there until 1762. During this period he joined the Club of Honest Whigs, thus coming into contact with many of Macaulay’s friends and acquaintances. After his return to Pennsylvania, Franklin was elected speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and became closely involved in opposition to the Stamp Act, which escalated on his return to England in late 1764 as, once more, one of the assembly’s agents. In 1771, he was a guest of John Shipley, bishop of St Asaph, and on a tour of Scotland and Ireland met David Hume and Lord Kames. Franklin was responsible for sending back to Massachusetts the letters of the governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, and the lieutenant governor, Andrew Oliver, in which they encouraged the British ministry in their repressive measures. These were then published in 1773, exacerbating the unrest in



474

GLC01794.40, draft.

206  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Massachusetts, resulting in the resignation of Hutchinson, and leading to Franklin being publicly blamed for the mounting unrest in Boston. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1775 and was chosen as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. In late 1776 he was elected by Congress commissioner to France with Silas Deane and Arthur Lee, and went to stay in the summer house of the Hôtel de Valentinois at Passy. While in London Franklin was often entertained by the Dilly brothers, and attended Macaulay’s coteries. On her visit to Paris in 1777, Guy-​Claude, Count of Sarsfield, arranged for them to dine together on Monday, 31 November, and Macaulay visited the home of the Chaumonts, at Passy, where Franklin was staying.475 However the following letter is the only known correspondence between them.   [143] Catharine Macaulay to Benjamin Franklin, 8 December 1777476 L’Hotel de Treville, Rue Tournon Sir I have some affaires which demand my immediat return to England. You are very sensible that the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act subjects me to an immediate imprisonment on any suspicion of my having held a correspondence with your Countrymen on this side the Water. This Sir is the only reason why I did not fix a day to have the honor of seeing you at my own Hotel and why I have not been more forward in availing myself of my present situation to hold converse with my American friends who reside in this Capital. I am sure Sir that you and every generous American would be exceedingly concerned to hear that my feeble constitution was totaly destroyed by a long imprisonment and to see me fall a sacrifice to the resentment of administration unpitied and unlamented as an impertinent individual who would needs make a bustle where she could not be of the smallest service and especially Sir as I  hope the whole tenor of my conduct must have convinced you that I would with pleasure sacrifice my life to be of any real use to the public cause of freedom and that I am now nursing my constitution to enable me to treat largely on our fatal civil wars in the History I am now about. I am Sir with a profound respect for your great Qualities as a Statesman Patriot and Phylosopher Your etc.



475 Labaree, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 25:203. 476

Ibid., 25:264. Addressed, “To Dr Francklin.”

The Letters  207

Guy-​Claude, Count of Sarsfield (1718–​89) According to Lord Harcourt’s letter [54], this Guy-​Claude was the grandson of Patrick Sarsfield, first Earl of Lucan (1660–​93), who had remained faithful to James II, and was a leader of the Irish Jacobites. However Harcourt’s genealogy is puzzling, since according to the entry in DNB, James Frances Edward Sarsfield (1693–​1719), the first Earl of Lucan’s only child, died unmarried. Guy-​Claude had met Franklin in 1767, when they were both in London, and was the brother of Jacques-​Hyacinthe, Viscount Sarsfield, who like his brother, frequently dined with Franklin during his residence in France.477   [144] Guy-​Claude, Count of Sarsfield, to Catharine Macaulay, 12 December 1777478 Malesherbes Madam, It is a great pain for me to hear that you intend to leave us so soon. I expected that you would spend the whole winter in Paris and I am vastly affected in thinking of your travelling in such weather as we have now. The honour you intend to do me by your correspondence can hardly make amends for what I feel on this occasion. You will make me happy, Madam, by an information of your safe arrival in London and the flattering opinion of your remembering not what I did but I would have done for you. The letter you have trusted me with shall be delivered as soon as I return to Paris with my own hands. To obey your commands I send you the list of some errors of print which I remarked or suspected in perusing your history, it will make me proud to receive the foregoing parts from your hand and I desire you, Madam to receive my humble thanks on it. I wish I could enjoy the pleasure of being present to some of your conversations with Lord Harcourt but I am apt to think I must give up any thought of visiting England this year, tho’ I believe that our massers, as they call them, will continue in a good correspondence the ill successes in America will by no means make a french man an acceptable guest . I wish you would come again to us in Summer time the Journey would be easier and more pleasant. I must still make my old apology for writing in English and for some erasures which I take to be more proper than leaving the phrase awkward or unintelligible I hope you I will be clearly understood when I have the honour to assure you that I am with the truest and most respectfull attachment Madam, Your etc.

477

Ibid., 14:205.

478 GL01794.22.

208  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay I have made bold Madam to order my servant to beg from you to be so good as to carry to a friend of mine in London a small bundle or rather a large letter if not troublesome to you.479   [145] Guy-​Claude, Count of Sarsfield, to Catharine Macaulay, 16 December 1777480 Malesherbes

Madam, I cannot hear of your setting out so soon without desiring to tell you again how the affairs which have detained me here make me unhappy in this occasion. I take the liberty to insist upon your being so kind as to inform me of your safe arrival in London. The inclemency of the weather grieves me much on your occasion account. I wish you would please to let me know if you have taken any measures to have your history translated into french. If nobody presents himself first, I could perhaps order the matter in the best manner of which you Shall be informed. I am with respect Madam, Your etc.   [146] Count of Sarsfield to Catharine Macaulay, 2 May 1779481 Rue Poidefer Madam, I have delayed answering the very obliging letter which you have honoured me With in February last, in order to be able to give you some account of the books mentioned there in.482 They are now safe in my hands. One parcel lodges with a great gratitude and no less pleasure, into my library; the other shall be delivered to morrow according to its direction. But I must own, Madam, that I was not a little surprised to find that they end at King Charles 2nd’s restoration, when the new volume begins to King William’s accession. So that there is a Chasm which I very little Expected. If you had some few moments to spare I would wish that you would be so kind as to let me know if there is no hopes to have it filled up some day. As to the translation, you may be sure that I will spare no trouble to find some man of letters able to do it properly. I have had some conversations about it and 479 There follows a list of eleven “errors of Print.” 480 GLC01794.23. Addressed to Madame MacAulay, a lhotel de Lempereur, Rue de Tournon. 481 GLC01794.24. Addressed to Mrs Macaulay at Leicester. 482 There had been some delay in the delivery of Macaulay’s volumes to France. In a letter to Franklin, dated 29 September 1778, Sarsfield told him that Macaulay had consigned the books to someone called Brown, and they had been taken by a shipowner from Jersey, Labaree, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 25:474.

The Letters  209 am not without hopes of succeeding, though there is as yet no resolution taken. You must Madam very easily conceive that in every country such a task, though never so agreeable, meets with some difficulties. As soon as I have succeeded, you will receive the information but I own again that I would wish to be able to give satisfaction upon that part of the history which runs from the restoration to King William’s accession to the throne. Receive again Madam my thanks for the valuable present which I may now boast of and the assurance of the respectfull attachment I am with Madam, Your etc.

Marie-​Thérèse Jogues Le Ray de Chaumont (née Desormeaux c. 1732–​1819) Jogues de Chaumont, was the wife of Jacques-​Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, whom she had married in 1749 at the age of seventeen.483 She was born in Orléans to a wealthy family of grain merchants. It was as a result of her husband’s purchase of the château of Chaumont-​sur-​Loire in 1750, that the couple were entitled to add the aristocratic “de Chaumont” to their name. During his stay in France, Benjamin Franklin lodged with them, occupying the summer house at the Hôtel de Valentinois at Passy, just outside Paris. A number of letters between Jogues and Benjamin Franklin have survived. In one she regrets that he has not been able to visit her at Chaumont; in another, he gently dissuades her from adopting her proposal that she come to America.484   [147] Jogues de Chaumont to Catharine Macaulay, January 1778485 Jamais, Madame, Verglat et Cocher, ne m’ont donné autant d’humeur que ce soir, mon cocher vient de me representer que je ne pouvois pas aller sans risque à Paris, M. de Montigui qui vous remettera cette lettre, a appuié les raisons du Cocher, enfin, j’ai consenti rester yci, j’en suis deseperée, il n’y à point despressions qui puissent vous rendent mes regrets, de ne vous point embrasser, vous m’auriez donné une parole positive de venir occuper un lit yci ce printems, c’est ce que je desire le plus au monde, je vous aurois prié de m’envoyer le plus promptement qu’il vous sera possible vos ouvrages, je moccupe de les faire traduire, je 483 Thomas J. Schaeper, France and America in the Revolutionary Era: The Life of Jacques-​Donatien Leray de Chaumont (New York: Berghahn Books, 1995), 5. 484 Madame de Chaumont to Franklin, 15 March 1782, Labaree, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 36:692. Franklin to Madame de Chaumont, 12 June 1785, available at http://​franklinpapers.org/​ franklin//​. 485 GLC01794.027. Addressed, Madame Macaulet, Lhotel de LEmpereur, rue Tournon, A Paris.

210  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay vous proteste que ce sera le plus grand plaisir que je puisse avoir pendant votre absence, ha, Madame que n’est t’il possible, que vous nayez pris pour moi, des sentimens aussi vifs que ceux que vous m’avez inspirées, votre seule amitie est capable dadoucir mes maux, vos lettres seront aussi un specifique, adieu, adieu, vous ne pouves pas moublier sans ingratitude, la vive et prompte amitié que j’ai prise pour vous me fait croire qu’il y à une analogie une attraction dans nos ames, pardon a Madame pour mon amour propre, vous devez le trouve bien fort M. de Montigui vous dira une partie de mes regrets, et moi une petite partie de mes sentimens jai l’honneur d’être avec respect Madame, Votre tres humble Servante Jogues de Chaumont. [Never madam have ice and coachman put me so much out of humor as this evening. My coachman has just told me that I can’t, without danger, go to Paris. M. de Montigui who will deliver this letter upholds the coachman’s reasons, so I have consented to stay here. I am so upset, there is no way of expressing my regret at being unable to embrace you; you would have given me your promise to come and occupy a bed here in the spring, and this is what I desire more than anything in the world. I would have begged you to send me your works as soon as it was possible for you to do so. I am going to concern myself with having them translated. I swear this will be the greatest pleasure while you are away. Could it be possible, Madam, that you have not felt sentiments towards me as strong as those that you have inspired in me, your friendship alone is capable of softening my ills, your letters too will be a cure, adieu. You cannot forget me without ingratitude, and the immediate strong friendship which I have felt for you makes me think that there is a correspondence, an attraction, between our souls. Forgive madam, my presumption, you may find it too strong. Mr. Montigui will tell you some of my regrets, and I a small portion of my sentiments. I have the honor of being, with respect, Madam, Your very humble servant, Jogues de Chaumont]   [148] Jogues de Chaumont to Catharine Macaulay, 20 April 1778486 Passy rien n’est égal, Madame, au plaisir que ma fait votre lettre, que l’impatience que j’avois de la recevoir, j’ai aussi à vous remercier, de mavoir envoyer un homme qui ma assuré votre bonne santé, et que jaurois le bonheur de vous avoir cette



486

GLC01794.25. Addressed, Madame Macaoly, en anglerre, A bath.

The Letters  211 automne, comment trouver des mots pour vous bien exprimer la satisfaction, la joye, que je ressenterai en vous possedant, n’oubliez pas je vous prie Madame, que vous prie Madame, que vous m’avez promis de prendre un lit chez moi, en vérité, je crois que c’est le seul moyen de donner de la remission, a mes cruels maux de têtes, votre belle ame peut se refuser à obliger une femme qui à pour vous la plus vive admiration, j’ai fait demander à M Sarsefied par M Franklin, vos ouvrages, il a repondu qu’il ne les avoit pas, je vous proteste Madame, que j’ai la plus grande envie de les lire, on ma promis de mes les traduire, par grace donnez moi des détail de votre santé, et une parole positive de vous avoir yci cette Automne vous connoissez votre chambre, soyez assurez, que vous y serez libre comme chez vous, et si comme je n’en doute pas, vous êtes sensible au plaisir que vous faites, vous jouirez de celui que vous me ferez, qui je vous jure ne sera pas petit, depuis ma lettre commencé j’ai été tres malade, il ne ma pas été possible de tenir une plume, le médecin que j’ai vû chez vous avait bien raison de dire que mes nerds étoient dans le plus mauvais état, je vous avoue que celà matriste beaucoup en recevant votre seconde lettre, je me suis écriée il y á donc encore des plaisirs po[ur] moi, ce m’en seroit encor un grand [plaisir] si vous vouliez me charger yci d[e]‌vos commissions, bon Dieu, que jaurais de joye à les faire, je me souviens que vous m’avez dit que je rassemblois a une Dame de vos amie, je vous prie de la voir souvent, elle me rappellera a votre souvenire, j’ai une autre maniere de penser à vous, cest en trouvant qu’aucune femme ne vous ressemble, excusez la longeur de ma lettre, c’est mon coeur qui la dictée, il lui faudroit bien du papier, pour vous exprimer tout ce qu’il sent pour vous, j’ai l’honneur d’être Madame Votre tres humble Servante Jogues de Chaumont. [Nothing is equal, Madame, to the pleasure your letter has given me, apart from the impatience that I had to receive it. I must also thank you for having sent me a man who assures me of your good health, and that I will have the happiness to have you this autumn. How to find words to express to you the satisfaction, the joy, that I will feel in possessing you. Please don’t forget, I beg you Madam, that you promised to occupy a bed at my house. Truly, I think it is the only way to give some respite from my cruel headaches. Can your kind soul refuse to oblige a woman who has the most lively admiration for you? By Mr. Franklin I sent to ask Mr. Sarsfield for your works. He answered that he did not have them. I assure you, madam, that I have the greatest desire to read them. One has promised to translate them for me.487 Please give me details of your health, and your positive 487 Macaulay sent copies of her works to Franklin and Sarsfield for translation, but they were held up in passage. Nevertheless, Sarsfield mentions postponing “his going to chaillot on occasion of Mrs.

212  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay word that I shall have you here this autumn. You know your room, be assured that you will be as free as at your own home, and if, as I don’t doubt, you are sensible of the pleasure you give, you will get as much enjoyment from this as you give me, which I assure you will not be little. Since I began this letter I have been very ill. I was unable to hold a pen. The doctor that I saw at your house was quite right to say that my nerves are in a very bad state. I swear to you that that greatly saddened me on receiving your second letter. I cried to myself there are then some pleasures for me. It would be a further great [pleasure] if you wanted to charge me with your commissions here. Good God, how much joy I will have in undertaking them. I remember that you said to me that I resembled a woman who is your friend. I beg you to see her often. She will remind you of me. I have another method of thinking of you, which is in finding that there is no woman who resembles you. Excuse the length of my letter. It is my heart that dictates it. It would necessitate a great deal of paper to express all that it feels for you. I have the honor of being Madam, Your very humble servant, Jogues de Chaumont]   [149] Jogues de Chaumont to Catharine Macaulay, 5 July 1778488 Passy Je me jette à vos pieds, Madame, je dois vous paraitre bien criminelle, ce sont mes execrables douleurs qui me fait faire tout de travers, j’ai fait mettre à la poste deux lettres pour vous, comme si elles avoient été pour la france, en pietand que vous ne les aviez pas récues, bon Dieu, qu’il il affligeant pour moi d’ymaginer que vous me soupconnez de vous avoir oubliée, non, non jamais croyez je vous prie que celá est impossible. J’ai encor une Autre faveur à vous demander, cest de ténir la promesse que vous m’avez faites de venir passer lautomne y ci, cest le premier voeu de mon coeur, vous avez vû votre lit, Madame, passé ce mois ci, je ne le donnerai a personne qu’elle joye ce sera pour moi de vous le voir occuper, votre belle ame ne sera pas insensible à la vive satisfaction que jaurais de vous posseder je vous proteste que ce seroit pour moi un cruel chagrin d’en être privée, si nous étions en guerre, et que vous crusiez qu’il vous falut un pasport de la cour de france je me fais fort de vous l’envoyer cest la chose plus facile. Je vous dois bien de remerciemens Madame, il me faudroit trop de mots pour vous rendre le plaisire qu’elles m’ont données. N’avoir point réçus vos ouvrages à été pour moi une sensible privation, nous avons beaucoup parlé, M. de Sarsefield Macaulay’s translation” in a letter to Franklin dated 2 May 1778, Labaree, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 26:390. 488 GLC01794.26. This letter repeats much that was in the preceding one, which Jogues believed Macaulay had not received.

The Letters  213 et moi du choix du traducteur apportez les Madame, votre presance sera necessaire à la boute de la traduction, et à mon boncheur.489 M. Franklin jouit d’une parfaite sante, mes maux de têtes sont toujours les mêmes, mais je suis sure que le bonheur de vous avoir yci, y féra une forte divertion. Je me souviens, Madame, que vous m’avez dit avoir en Angleterre une amie qui me ressemble, elle me rappellera à votre souvenir, pour moi toutes les femmes me font penser à vous, en me faisant sentir à qu’elle distance elles sont de vos admirables qualités, enfin, par grace marquez moi que vou me pardonnez mon étourderie, et que vous viendrez passer l’automne yci, celà pénétrera mon coeur de reconnaissance et de joye, ce coeur qui est pleins de sentimens pour vous, entreprendre de vous les exprimer cervit les affoiblir, j’ai l’honneur d’être Madame, avec le plus respectueuse attachement, Votre très humble et très obeissante Servante, Jogues de Chaumont. ma famille vous presente ses hommages elle partage avec moi l’empressement de vous posseder [I throw myself at your feet Madam. I must seem to you quite criminal. It is my execrable pains that make me do things all wrong. I put two letters in the post for you as though they were meant for France, praying whether or not you have received them. Good God, what so afflicting for me than to imagine that you suspect me of having forgotten you, no, no, never believe that, I assure you that it is impossible. I have one further favor to ask, it is that you keep the promise that you made me to come pass the autumn here. This is the first wish of my heart. You have seen your bed, Madame, for this month past I will not give it to anyone. What a joy it will be for me to see you occupy it. Your beautiful soul will not be insensible to the lively satisfaction that I will have in possessing you. I protest that it will be a cruel chagrin for me to be deprived of it. Should we be at war, and you were to believe that a passport would be necessary from the court of France I will exert myself to send it to you. It is the easiest thing. I owe you many thanks Madam, it would require too many words to express the pleasure they have given me. Not to have received your works, has been a real privation. Mr. Sarsfield and I have spoken a lot about the choice of a translator. Bring them Madam, your presence will be necessary for the purposes of the translation, and for my happiness. Mr. Franklin is perfectly well. My headaches are always the same, but I am sure that the happiness of having you here will be a great diversion from them.



489 I.e., bonheur.

214  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay I remember, Madam, that you told me that you have in England a friend who resembles me. She will bring me to your memory. As for me, every woman makes me think of you in making me feel how removed they are from your admirable qualities. To conclude, write me please that you forgive me my stupidity, and that you will come pass the autumn here. This will penetrate my heart with thanks and joy, this heart which is so full of feelings for you, to try to express them would only serve to weaken them. I have the honor Madam, to be with the most respectful attachment, Your very humble and very obedient servant, Jogues de Chaumont My family send their respects and share with me my impatience to possess you.]

Horace Walpole (1717–​97) The youngest son of Robert Walpole (1676–​1745), the long standing and controversial British prime minister, Horace Walpole was a prolific letter writer, author, and historian, who helped popularize the gothic novel and fashionable medievalism, through his novel The Castle of Otranto and estate at Strawberry Hill. His voluminous correspondence is an entertaining source of commentary on all the main events of the second half of the eighteenth century. He was initially a supporter of Macaulay, calling her history “the most sensible, unaffected and best history of England that we have had yet.”490 They moved in the same circles and had many acquaintances in common. He dined with her and the dukes of La Rochefoucault in 1769, and during the same period they attended the theater together to see Samuel Foote’s Devil on Two Sticks, which partly satirized Macaulay.491 Soon after the receipt of this letter, published for the first time here, their friendship was destroyed by the publication of HERT, which heavily criticized Robert Walpole, accusing him of corruption. By the time Macaulay published OR, her response to Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, Walpole was happy to exercise his undoubted talent for invective at her expense, writing of Burke in a letter to Mary Berry, “his foes show how deeply they are wounded by their abusive pamphlets. Their Amazonian allies, headed by Kate Macaulay and the virago Barbauld, whom Mr Burke calls our poissardes, spit their rage at eighteen pence a head, and will return to Fleet Ditch, more fortunate in being forgotten than their predecessors immortalized in the Dunciad.”492 Just twelve years earlier, however, he had been happy to announce his love for her. 490 Lewis, Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, 28. 3. 491 Ibid., 32:92, 39:102. 492 Ibid., 11:169–​70. Also quoted in Susan Wiseman, “Catharine Macaulay: History, Republicanism and the Public Sphere,” in Women, Writing and the Public Sphere, 1700–​1830, ed. Elizabeth Eger et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 181. In the Dunciad, Alexander Pope had mocked, among others, the earlier female political author Eliza Haywood, see Karen Green, A

The Letters  215 [150] Horace Walpole to Catharine Macaulay, 31 January 1778493 Tho nothing coud give me more real Satisfaction, Madam, than to have been of any real, or even of agreable use to you at Paris, I shoud be the blindest of Men if I assumed to myself any Share in the just distinctions & regard paid to you there. Excepting my good old friend Madam du Deffand,494 I must not claim a part in the Attentions you received. The French have sense enough to distinguish between the female Thucydides & a trifling Writer on a level with their own trifling Authors, & who has no merit but that flattering one of agreeing with you, Madam, in having conceived no respect for most of their present Litterati; whose behavior your acute penetration saw thro at once. I  had unfortunately more opportunities of discovering that they are both supercilious & superficial—​& Marmontel was the one that always disgusted me most.495 I had not the honour of knowing Monsr Turgot, but believe him an honest man, & intrepid in pursuit of his patriot Designs.496 He was thought too much, without knowing or weighing the prejudices he had to combat, but alas! how are prejudices to be reconciled to a System of Virtue, but by the common way of making the Virtues give place to the Prejudices? It demands an Uncommon portion of Genius & Integrity to make the proper Election between both, so as to make both cooperate to the common good of Mankind. And so seldom does that Superior Assemblage of Honesty & Judgment happen, that it is perhaps the reason why the virtues that do exist are rarely beneficial to the Public. A Good Man scruples to go the lengths that are sometimes necessary; & by having too much conscience, leaves Those that have none at Liberty to go all lengths. In truth if Knaves & Villains, & even Fools did not counteract one another or themselves, I doubt the condition of the World woud be still more deplorable than it is. I can scarce express, Madam, the surprise you have caused in me at the Change in Dr . . .497 I really believe him an honest Man, but am sorry to confess I know his understanding is not deep; & hurt as I am for him, I rather suspect his sense than his Integrity. My Sentiments differ so widely from his, that I cannot but look on our Breach with the Colonies as the most fortunate Event History of Women’s Political Thought in Europe, 1700–​1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014),  57–​58. 493 GLC01799. Addressed “to Mrs Macaulay, at Alfred House, Bath.” 494 Marie Anne de Vichy-​Chamrond, Madame du Deffand (1697–​1780), with whom Walpole had developed an intense friendship on his visit to Paris in 1765, and with whom he continued to correspond until her death. 495 Jean-​Francois Marmontel (1723–​99), author and encyclopedist. 496 Anne Robert Jacques Turgot (1727–​81). 497 Strikeout.

216  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay that coud have happened for the cause of Liberty; & It is That cause, & not Place, that is my Country. A System of genuine Freedom may arise in America—​or It had perished every Where! for I doubt Free men woud have waited as long as the Jews, if They had no Country to resort to—​but with this Difference from the Hebrews, that as the Latter expect a Reedification of the Temple, the Temple must be destroyed, before liberty is established any where. I shall certainly avail myself, Madam, of the permission you give me of asking leave to see your letter to Lord Harcourt. You know the high respect I have for your Writings; & Madame du Deffard ventured an expression in my behalf that, however just < I should not have> presumed to use myself—​yet why not? Tho it is taking liberties for a man to tell a lady he loves her; because it generally implies no very respectfull Intentions; yet to love Virtue implies respect; and tho respect without love may content Monarchs, it would be too mean Incense to be offerred to Mrs Macaulay by her most sincere, Admirer & obedient, Humble Sevant., Hor Walpole.

Richard Polwhele (1760–​1838) As a teenager, Richard Polwhele had contributed to a collection of poems, offered to Catharine Macaulay, on the occasion of her forty-​sixth birthday.498 The birthday party and resulting publication was cruelly mocked in the press, and this is no doubt the “scurrilous abuse” to which Macaulay refers in her letter.499 Much later Polwhele published a long doggerel poem, The Unsex’d Females, which roundly attacked Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Hays, and other female writers who were deemed to have been unsexed, both by their sexuality and by their support for the French Revolution, setting up in opposition the conserv­ ative Hannah More, Hester Chapone, Elizabeth Montagu, and Elizabeth Carter, as proper models for the expression of female literary talent.500 In the copious notes to the poem he mentions Macaulay briefly, without making clear to which category he assigns her, though he seems to imply that, like Laura Cereta, she had an “amphibious nature.”501   498 Six Odes, presented to the justly-​celebrated Historian, Mrs. Catharine Macaulay on her Birth-​day (Bath: R. Cruttwell, 1777). 499 “Review of Six Odes,” Westminster Magazine; “Review of Six Odes,” Monthly Review or Literary Journal (London: 1749–​1844), June 1777, 57:145–​49. 500 Rev. R. Polwhele, The unsex’d females. A  poem addressed to the author of The Pursuits of Literature (New York: William Cobbett, 1800). 501 Ibid., 49.

The Letters  217 [151] Catharine Macaulay to Richard Polwhele, 13 August 1778502 Bath My having been almost continually [on] the road has prevented me from answering the favour of letter dated May 11th. Your poem of Henry & Rosamund will in my estimation be a very valuable adition to my miscellanious Works.503 A little scurilous abuse from those illiberal critics the Reviewers ought not to give you a dejected Idea of your merits as a Poet which I assure you without Compliment I have heard much lauded by better judges than myself. Wilson desires his best compliments, I am Sir your etc.

Jacques-​Pierre Brissot de Warville (1754–​93) During the French Revolution, Brissot would become the leader of the Girondins, and be executed during the Terror. In 1782 he moved from Paris to London with plans for setting up a review journal of the latest English works, to be written in French, and a society in England, for discussing the latest works appearing in France.504 His intention, in setting these up, was to provide an innocent cover for combating absolute monarchy and disseminating republican political ideas of the kind that would not be tolerated in France.505 He claims that Macaulay was one of the few in England who befriended him, but the only remaining correspondence from the friendship is the note reproduced below. It is clear, however, from a letter from Jeremy Bentham (1748–​1832), who was another of Brissot’s acquaintances in England, and from Catharine Sophia’s letters to her mother, that both Brissot and Macaulay were residing in Knightsbridge, so they may well have seen each other quite frequently.506 Indeed, while her mother was traveling in the United States, Catharine Sophia called on his wife Felicité (née Dupont), who was indisposed and unable to see her.507 In fact, at this time, because the Journal du Licée de Londres had not been a great financial success, and he had difficulty with his creditors, Brissot had been obliged to return to Paris, where he was arrested, and this brought his sojourn in England to an abrupt end. He nevertheless continued to praise and cite Macaulay’s history in his publications, and conveyed the wish that 502 Memorandum Book, Osborne 579, BLY. Reprinted in Polwhele’s memoir. 503 This is the only surviving reference to Macaulay’s intention of publishing a “Miscellaneous Works.” 504 Jacques-​Pierre Brissot de Warville, Journal du Licée de Londres, ou Tableau de l’état présent des sciences et des arts en Angleterre, 2 vols. (Paris: Périsse le jeune, 1784). 505 J.-​P Brissot mémoires, 1:238. 506 Jeremy Bentham to Brissot de Warville, Archives Nationales, Fonds Brissot, 446AP/​6, Dossier 2, 2; Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 1784, letter [158]. 507 Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay Graham, 2 July 1784, letter [159]

218  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay it should be translated into French, expressed in the Journal du Licée, to Honoré-​ Gabriel Riqueti, Count of Mirabeau (1749–​91), who took up the challenge of having it translated, though the translation did not appear until 1791.508   [152] Catharine Macaulay to Jacques-​Pierre Brissot de Warville, [1783?]509 Mrs Macaulay Graham presents her compliments to Monsieur Warville and shall be glad of the honor of his company on Sunday in the afternoon to Drink Tea, Mrs M G having fixed on Monday for the Day of her Departure to Richmond. Mrs M G has read with much pleasure and profit Monsieur Warville’s meditations sur la verité and she expects great things from the work which he has announced to the public under the Title of Correspondence Universelle &c. Friday Morn

Richard Watson (1737–​1816) Richard Watson was an author of early treatises on chemistry, who had been appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge at the age of thirty-​four.510 In 1776, he published An Apology for Christianity, in a series of letters addressed to Edward Gibbon and an essay on civil liberty; in 1783, he had recently published his Chemical Essays.511 It is not at all clear how Macaulay was acquainted with him, but his principles were clearly close to hers. In the Anecdotes of his Life, published by his son, he does not mention her; however, he shared her political principles, and judged Locke to “have finished the work on civil government” and set out “the principle questions of Natural Law.”512   [153] Richard Watson, Bishop of Landaff, to Catharine Macaulay, 9 November 1783513 G[rea]t George [St] 508 Brissot de Warville, Journal du Licée de Londres, 1.1:32.. 509 Archives Nationales, Fonds Brissot, 446AP/​6 Dossier 2, 32. 510 Richard Watson, Anecdotes of the Life of Richard Watson: written by himself at different intervals, and revised in 1814, 2nd ed. (London: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1817), 38. 511 Chemical Essays, 3 vols. (Cambridge: Printed by J. Archdeacon Printer to the University, 1782); An Essay on Civil Liberty:  or, the Principles of the Revolution Vindicated (Cambridge:  Printed by J. Archdeacon, printer to the University, 1776). 512 Anecdotes of the Life of Richard Watson, 52. 513 GLC01794.41.

The Letters  219 Madam, On my arrival in town, last night I  found on my table, a treatise on the Immutability of Moral Truth:  presuming that I  am indebted for this compliment to yourself I take the first opportunity of expressing to you my sense of the favour. Accept, Madam, my best thanks. I feel myself highly gratified by this mark of your attention, I look upon it as the attention of the best historian of our Country & of the firmest friend of the natural rights of human kind & I beg that you would believe me when I say that I value it very highly. I am, Madam, with the greatest respect your etc.

Catharine Sophia Gregorie (née Macaulay, 1765–​1821) Macaulay’s only child, Catharine Sophia, was a dutiful daughter who preserved her mother’s correspondence, but did not, by the time she was an adult, entirely support her political principles. Unfortunately, Catharine Macaulay’s side of this correspondence has not been located.514   [154] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, Friday, [January] 1784515 Dear Mama, I thought myself infinitely obliged by your kind letter both on account of its coming as soon as I could reasonably expect & because it was a longer one than you usually indulge me with. Tho’ the day I left was certainly very severe yet we thought ourselves extremely lucky upon the whole in having fixed upon it; as the roads were then very good & the weather fine overhead; but on Wednesday & Thursday it snowed almost incessantly, & it would have been so heavy as to make it impossible for us to come down in a day. I think you very bold indeed to persevere in your theatrical expedition & was almost as much surprized as delighted to hear you come off so well. I have to Canterbury once to see my uncle N. Sawbridge516 he is etremely well excepting a cold which hardly any one has escaped but myself either in town or country. I hope my Dear Mama will be very careful of herself for after being well during the greatest part of the winter & that so inclement a one it would be a thousand pities to get ill just when we 514 For a discussion of what this correspondence reveals about the relationship between Macaulay and her daughter see Hill, “Daughter and Mother.” 515 GLC01795.003. 516 It has not been possible to determine who this is. Catharine Macaulay had two brothers, John and Wanley, but the initial here is clearly an N. Bridget Hill identifies the uncle as Nicholas, but does not explain who he is. Hill, “Daughter and Mother,” 41.

220  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay may hope for the return of fine weather. We have seen Mrs. Jane Knight several times,517 she enquires kindly after you & still continues to observe continually my likeness to you which I am told consists more in manner than my features; when I speak she often says, “now that is just as her mother would have said it” & the resemblance must undoubtedly be very strong for Mrs Knight518 who never saw you but once I believe, took notice of it immediately. I do not neglect my reading while I am here, sometimes of an evening when we are all together one of us reads the history of France to the rest, & at other times I take up the Spectator. Poor Rollin does not go on very well as I cannot finish him till my return to town which I tell you only that you may not be surprized when you enquire; to hear that he is still in hand.519 I shall be much obliged to you if you will send the enclosed Letter as soon as you conveniently can according to the direction. It is to Lady of Mrs Heron’s520 acquaintance who is going to India & is I believe not yet sailed, & I intend to convey a letter to Miss Coleman by her means.521 I forgot to mention when I said that my Uncle N. Sawbridge was well that he was also grown very fat & I do not doubt, if your health continues good as I certainly hope it will, your following his example. Mrs Heron desires her compliments to you & I hope you never omit to remember me to Mr. Graham. I am Dear Mama, Your etc. Pray make my Compliments of Condolence to Mrs. Margaret on the subject of her mother’s death. Turn over. 517 The Knights were squires of Godmersham, a neighboring property to Olantigh, where Catharine Sawbridge spent her youth. Thomas Knight Sr. (c. 1701–​81), who had been born Thomas Brodnax, and had changed his name to May, and then to Knight, in order to secure a series of inherited estates, was married in 1729 to Jane Monke (d. 1765). One of their unmarried daughters was also Jane (d. 1793) and is presumably the Jane Knight spoken of here, Diedre Le Faye, ed., Jane Austen’s Letters, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 541. 518 No doubt Catherine Knight (née Knatchbull) the wife of Thomas Knight Jr. (1735–​94). In 1783 this couple adopted Edward Austen (1768–​1852), brother of the famous Jane Austen (1775–​1817), ultimately making him heir to the Knight fortunes, G. M. Ditchfield and Keith-​Lucas Bryan, eds., A Kentish Parson. Selections from the Private Papers of the Reverend Joseph Price Vicar of Brabourne, 1767–​86 (Stroud, Gloucestershire: Alan Sutton Publishing for Kent Arts and Libraries, 1991), 135–​ 36; Christine Grover, “Edward Knight’s Inheritance: The Chawton, Godmersham, and Winchester Estates,” Persuasions Online 34 (2013). By this act, Macaulay’s cousins, Colonel Jacob Sawbridge (d. 1798)  and Catharine Heron (née Sawbridge) (1746–​1835)—​the children of Jacob Sawbridge and Anne Brodnax, sister of Thomas Knight Sr.—​were excluded from inheriting the Godmersham estates. Jacob Sawbridge, in particular, would seem to have had a greater entitlement to inherit than did Edward Austen, who was distantly related to the Knights through Jane Monke, Le Faye, Jane Austen’s Letters, 541; Karen Green, “Jane Austen and Catharine Macaulay,” Persuasions 40 (2018): 177–​83. 519 Rollin’s Ancient History and Roman History had had a great impact on Macaulay when she was young, as had Addison’s Spectator. 520 This is Catharine Macaulay’s cousin, Catherine Heron, who had married Thomas Heron in 1779, in the long room at Godmersham. 521 It has not been possible to identify Miss Coleman.

The Letters  221 If the lady should be gone which you will be so obliging as to tell George to inquire, desire him to bring the letter back to you, do me the favor to burn the letter directed to the Lady & be so good to send mine /​to Miss Coleman to the India House to be sent by the ships which are going out. Mr Graham I fancy knows what is proper to be done with the Letters that go to India. I am vastly to give you so much trouble but know your goodness will make you think it none. As this is a long letter do not be alarmed if I should not write quite so soon again, not that I intend it should be very long but think I cannot guard too much against making you uneasy knowing your tenderness.   [155] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, Friday, [February] 1784522 Dear Mama I am almost angry with you for saying you grudge putting me to an expence for your letters as you have not any news to tell me. I am sure you do not know how much pleasure they give me & how much I think myself to you for indulging me with them, or you would not do me such an injustice—​you were mistaken in supposing I only meant to caution you against evening expeditions, I wish you to be careful at all times & am too much delighted at hearing you continue tolerably well during this severe season not to be anxious for your remaining so. I have received a very kind note from Miss Olivia Young523 in which all past differences seem to be entirely forgotten, and I believe the reconciliation has been better affected by writing than it would have been by a personal interview. The weather has been almost without variation since I came here, very cold, & the ground covered with snow but sometimes fine over head. I have walked out only twice & we have paid or received but few visits since our arrival. Time however has not hung upon our hands as we very luckily possess the art of employing agreeably within doors when prevented from going out. The Miss Herons524 have two charming instruments which it is quite a pleasure to play upon. We are all fond of reading & that affords a constant fund of amusement. I am now perusing a book which tho universally read I never happened to read before, Thompson’s Seasons, & I never was so much delighted with any tract in my life, the descriptions are so natural, the thoughts so just, the ideas sometimes so sublime & at others so pleasing, and the language so smooth & harmonious that I am quite charmed

522 GLC01795.004. 523 Daughter of Lady Elizabeth Young (née Taylor, 1729–​1801) and Sir William Young (1725–​88). See letter [14] note. 524 Presumably the daughters of Thomas Heron by his first marriage.

222  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay with it. I am going to read either Middleton’s Life Cicero, or Raynal’s Histoire des Indes, or Plutarch’s Lives but undetermined which to take first.525 I received a letter from Mr Gregorie with a present of a muff.526 Miss Fraser527 & himself desired to be remembered to you, they have been retained at Dunkirk by the weather but I fancy propose going southward when it breaks. The state of politics seems to be full as critical at present as when I saw you last. There is kind of plausibility about Lord North’s528 late conduct which makes him appear rather more respectable that he did formerly, & I cannot help siding with that party as it strikes me that if Pitt529 were to get the better, it would be a terrible blow to the authority of the commons, as hitherto every minister however corrupt has always respected their resolutions, whenever they have had honesty or spirit to oppose their measures; & have thought their approbation & support absolutely necessary to their remaining in power—​besides I really think that Fox’s530 moderation during the whole contest has been highly commendable—​I find you still perservere in your intentions of leaving England, but I do not know how it is I cannot persuade myself you will go. I am certain, so obstinate am I in my unbelief, that if your passage was hired & even yourself on board I should still think you would change your resolution—​but pray let me know whenever you write what you propose doing; whether there is any change in your intentions or not, & never forget to mention particularly how you are in health—​I am much obliged to you for executing my commission so punctually—​Mrs Heron has had a letter from Mrs Wynch, they cannot sail till the weather breaks, but have been desired to send all their things on 525 Conyers Middleton, The History of the Life of Marcus Tullius Cicero, 2 vols. (London: Printed for the Author, 1741) was by the Robinson sisters’ grandmother’s second husband. Guillaume-​Thomas Raynal, Histoire philophique et politique des établissements & du commerce des européens dans les deux indes (Amsterdam: [n.p.], 1770) had been translated as A Philosophical and Political History of the Settlements and Trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies, trans. J. Justamond, 4 vols. (London: T. Cadell, 1776). 526 This is David Gregorie, born in Zelande, the Netherlands, son of George Gregorie (1685–​1731), and grandson of David Gregory of Kinairdy (1625–​1720). This makes him a cousin of Thomas Reid (1710–​96), the philosopher. David Gregorie had married Catharine Sophia’s aunt, Anne Macaulay (1723–​c. 1757) on 4 September 1753, at Saint James, Picadilly, Middlesex. He had taken over his father’s business as a staple-​factor at the Scots factory at Campvere in 1739, during the period when Anne’s father, Archibald Macaulay (c. 1686–​1760), was lord conservator of the Scottish trading privileges at Campvere, a position he had held since 1727, Family of Gregory, 43; Cook and Cook, Man-​Midwife, 7, 12. In his will of 1791 (UK Public Records Office, Prob 11/​1204), registered at Dunkirk, where he was a merchant, David Gregorie refers to his nieces, Anne Fraser (1747–​1837?), wife of Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747–​1813), and Mrs. Jane Fraser (1749–​1847?), wife of Edward Fraser (1751–​1835), Lord of Rolick (Reelig). They were no doubt his nieces by marriage, since a portrait of Archibald Macaulay descended through the Fraser Tytler family (available through artuk. org). One of George Macaulay’s older sisters, Jean (1718–​c. 1750) had married William Fraser of Balnain (1703–​75), and after his first wife’s death, Anne Macaulay’s widower concerned himself with the welfare of these nieces by marriage. 527 Catharine Sophia’s cousin Catherine Eliza Fraser (c. 1748–​), second daughter of William Fraser of Balnain, who would marry David Gregorie (c.1760–​1822), son of David Gregorie senior, in 1785. 528 See letter [21] note. 529 William Pitt the younger (1759–​1806). 530 Charles James Fox (1749–​1806).

The Letters  223 board in order to be prepared against it does. The severity of the season has I make no doubt made the poor suffer very much in many places; but in this I believe they have been better off than they are at another time, for Mr Heron has given meat and broth to the number of near three hundred every day since we came, besides which the parish is remarkably good to them. I am extremely entertained with reading the french history & I think the genius of the nation well characterised in that of their princes; they bear a much greater resemblance to each other than those who have reigned over us & almost all of them interest, from some amiable parts in their character tho very faulty in others. Pray give my kind Compliments to Mr Graham. Mrs Heron desires to be remembered to you & she does not flatter me less than Mrs J. Knight by remarking my resemblance to you. When I make an observation she often answers me by saying now that is just what Mrs Graham would have said, and every one in Kent who knew you takes notice of it. I am dear Mama, Your etc.   [156] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, Wednesday, [March] 1784531 My Dear Mama, Tho I receive such repeated instances of your indulgence that I have no reason to be surprized at any fresh proof of it, yet I must own my expectations have been surpassed in the most agreable manner imaginable in receiving so long a letter from you. I return you a thousand thanks for it, & tho the news you send me of still remaining firm in your intentions of going abroad is far from being a desirable piece of intelligence to me yet I am extremely obliged to you for complying with my request of knowing exactly all your present plans; pray continue to do so & if any change should take place in your resolution of quitting this country, I beg to have the earliest information of it as it would be unkind in you to defer giving me so much pleasure. If you do go, it is the sincerest desire of my heart that success may attend your every wish, & it will be my constant prayer that after some time I may have the joy of seeing you return well & happy in the accomplishment of your designs. I am delighted to find that you coincide with me in admiring Madame Genlis’ work on education;532 it always raises me in my own opinion when my judgement is confirmed by your approbation & I really trembled to hear your sentence on this occasion. Amongst it’s many excellencies there is a fault which I make no doubt you will agree with me in thinking one, & that is 531 GLC01795.001. 532 Adelaide and Theodore first published in French in 1782, was immediately translated into English and appeared in 1783. Stéphanie-​Félicité de Genlis, Adelaide and Theodore, or Letters on Education (1783), ed. Gillian Dow (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2007).

224  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay a want of sincerity. It is an invariable rule with me that no kind of deceit should be used towards a child & I am convinced that among the numerous artifaces which are practiced on Adelaide, some would be discovered & consequently destroy all confidence in the preceptor, set a dangerous example, & render all their future care in great measure useless. I hope now the weather is settled you begin to enjoy the change & have entirely recovered the indisposition it occasioned at first; you cannot imagine how much I was charmed the second day of the thaw when I rose in the morning to see all the fields quite green. I have been out walking several times & feel as much delighted with the approaching spring as the birds & beasts appear to be. I have begun Cicero & shall defer giving any opinion of his character till I have concluded his life, but already think you will find me cured of a great many of those prejudices I had conceived against him. Mrs Heron & myself have an dispute whether the young man who used to write for you was called Ick or Tix, pray resolve it in your next. We go to the Assembly at Canterbury tomorrow & to the concert on Friday. I shall give an account of them when I write again. My Uncle Sawbridge has let his house in New Burlington Street & has taken one in Harley Street till their own is ready.533 Mrs Heron desires her compliments; pray remember me kindly to Mr. Graham & Believe me, Your etc. Have you seen Mrs Siddons yet.534   [157] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, Wednesday, [April] 1784535 My Dear Mama Will you never leave off making me angry by mentioning the postage of your letters; but I have now the comfort of depriving you of any excuse for it, my whole stock of franks being exhausted. I must beg of you to let me hear very soon again as you do not give quite so good an account of yourself as I could wish & I shall be impatient to have a I forget the directions to the hoop and cushion makers but if you will take the trouble of sending to Portman Square some time at the end of the week I shall write before then, & will desire they may be ready against the servant calls. I bought a hoop of the same person before I left town, she makes them remarkably well, but has one fault which is being rather dear, & often takes much less than she asks. Be so obliging at the same time to send my Aunt the directions to the man who dyes your neting. Pray are these purchases intended as preparations for your journey? My Uncle’s house in 533 John Sawbridge. 534 Sarah Siddons (1755–​1831) was at the height of her fame as an actor of tragedy. 535 GLC01795.002. Addressed to Mrs Mc Graham, No 1 High Road, Knightsbridge. Note added says, “without date from Chilham Castle,” Chilham, is 7 miles south-​west of Canterbury. The estate had been bought in 1774 by Thomas Heron, who married Macaulay’s cousin, Catherine Sawbridge, in 1779. The wedding took place in the Long Room at Godmersham.

The Letters  225 Portman Square536 will be completed in the course of next summer; that in Harley Street is only a ready furnished one, which was taken not to lose an opportunity of letting the other. I have seen no reviews since I came here; but am delighted & not a little surprized to hear that the monthly has acted so well in the review of your publication.537 I have not heard any thing of Mr Ick; our speaking of him was merely accidental. The Canterbury Assemblies are now held every month; you are mistaken in supposing I should partake of the amusements with indifference; I danced almost every dance & that circumstance comprehends a very large share of entertainment & satisfaction. We went to a very good concert, the next night, under the direction of a gentleman in the neighbourhood who is passionately fond of music & leads the band. I dined last Friday in a little palour at Eggerton & at the same table which I was told you and my Aunt had often sat down to, with Mrs Gott.538 The house is much altered since you were there; & Mrs Jane Knight has made as chearful now, as I have heard it was dismal formerly. I am quite impatient to finish Cicero that I may give you my opinion of him which I hope to be able to do without prejudice after reading Middleton who is a great admirer of him & at the same time represents facts with great impartiality. I get up every morning before seven & take a long walk before breakfast which I am sure you well approve of as I hope it will be a means of preventing my burnishing* so much as I should do without exercise. I shall enclose this in a frank to my Cousin. Best Compliments wait on Mr Graham from, Dear Mama, Your etc. Wednesday *A kentish expression for growing fat539   [158] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 31 May 1784540 Dear Mama, I hope you are now sailing in good health, with a favourable wind and every ofther desirable circumstance towards the continent of America—​We have watched with the strictest attention every change of the wind since you left 536 This is presumably John Sawbridge, see letter [156]. However, Catharine Sophia’s other uncle, Stephen Beckingham, is listed in various documents as residing in Portman Square. For instance, in a list of members of the Whig Club, published in 1792. He joined this club in May 1784, along with John Sawbridge then of Portland Place, and Colonel Jacob Sawbridge of Lower Brook Street. Later, in January 1790, John’s son, Samuel Elias became a member; John Bellamy, Whig Club, instituted in May 1784, by John Bellamy (London: J. S. Barr, 1792). 537 Hill suggests that this is the review of the last volume of HEAJ in The Monthly Review or Literary Journal, 49, December 1783, 471–​78, Hill, “Daughter and Mother,” 45. It seems more likely that it was Badcock’s review of TIM, ibid., 70, February 1784, 100. 538 Not clear whether this is Gott or Goth, or who the person is. 539 CSM’s own note. 540 GLC01795.005. Addressed to Mrs Macaulay Graham, Boston, New England. During May, Macaulay had boarded a ship bound for America.

226  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Knightsbridge & while the rest of the world are railing at its blowing from the East as a serious calamity, we think ourselves justifiable in anxiously wishing it to remain in a corner so favourable to you—​I have already experienced the inconvenience of the lengh of time which must necessarily intervene before I can receive any intelligence of your situation, it would give me great satisfaction only to know how far you are advanced in your voyage and you must easily conceive my impatience to hear how you have borne it.—​Perhaps you recollect I was informed at Mr Dilly’s that a packet sailed for America the beginning of every month, and you may depend upon my contantly making use of that opportunity to write, where your goodness assures me my letters will always be received with pleasure.—​Mr Warville541 in his publication for this month concerning your going to America. “Dans la foule d’emigrans que l’Amerique enleve à l’Angleterre il faut distinguer une historienne célébre, don’t j’ai fail l’éloge, M.de Macaulay. La liberté n’est plus dans sa patrie, elle va la trouver dans son asyle à Boston. Elle y sera procédée d’une grande réputation que lui ont faite ses ouvrages très répandus, et qui doivent être goûtés dans cette contrée. Il est à desirer que la main qui a tracé l’histoire du long Parlement, et des forfaits de Cromwell, trace celle de l’etonnante revolution de l’Amerique. Il est à desirer surtout que les Americains se pénétrant bien des causes qui ont détruit le républicanisme en Angleterre, pour ne pas faire les mêmes fautes que les Anglois, et ne pas tomber dans leur malheur.542—​You wished me to give you an account of our Politics, I am sorry not to have anything agreable on that subject to communicate—​Mr Fox had indeed a large majority at the close of the poll, which event was celebrated by his friends by a great procession, in which the carriages of the Dukes of Portland and Devonshire were ornamented with laurels and the other ensigns of their party, a number of gentlemen attended on horseback in a uniform of blue and buff. The Prince of Wales gave an elegant breakfast and the Duchess of Devonshire543 and Mrs Crewe544 balls on the occasion—​Illuminations were expected, but much to the honor of Mr Fox and his friends, they took so much pains to prevent any disturbance that every thing was perfectly quiet—​Sir Cecil however demanded a scruting, and the Sheriff granted it. This in the house of Commons 541 Jacques-​Pierre Brissot de Warville (1754–​93), who had moved to London during 1784, and had been befriended by Macaulay Brissot de Warville, J.-​P Brissot mémoires, 1:346-​7. 542 “Among the emigrants that America receives from England the celebrated historian, who I have already praised, Mrs Macaulay should be noted. Liberty is no longer in her homeland, she goes to find it in its asylum in Boston. There she is preceeded by a grand reputation, which has made her works widely known, and should be appreciated in that country. It is to be desired that the hand which traced the history of the long parliament, and Cromwell’s crimes, should trace America’s astonishing revolution. Above all it is to be desired that the Americans make themselves aware of the causes which destroyed republicanism in England, so as not to make the same mistakes as the English, and fall into the same misfortune.” The publication in question was Journal du Licée de Londres, not the later Patriote français as suggested by in Hill, “Daughter and Mother,” 40. 543 Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spenser, 1757–​1806). 544 Frances Crewe (née Greville, 1748–​1818).

The Letters  227 was moved to be illegal, and it was urged that the law required two members to be returned at the meeting of Parliament, but the motion was rejected by a very great majority—​Mr Fox has presented a petition complaining of the conduct of the returning officer and the house has consented to hear his counsel on the occasion next Friday—​I have lately seen Mrs Siddons in her most favourite character and am become so great an admirer of her, that I quite regret your leaving England without seeing her—​you know my imagination generally carries my idea of excellence pretty high, but I really cannot conceive that acting is capable of greater perfection than what she has arrived at—​She is so infinitely superior to any other actor that I am afraid she has disgustified me for being . . .545 with any performance but her own—​I have g . . .546 Mortgage Deed from Mr Rudd547 & will take care that the . . .548 be safely deposited into the Banker’s hands. My cousin is quite recovered from her Disposition indisposition—​My Uncle Wanley549 contiues perfectly well—​They and my Uncle Beckingham550 all desire to join my Aunt and myself in kind love. Pray give my best compliments and good wishes to Mr Graham—​Accept my thanks for your goodness in writing to me from Deal and the Downs and Believe me your etc. I wrote this some days ago but kept it open in hopes to be able to send you more news in Politics but not any thing has occurred.   [159] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 2 July 1784551 Portman Square

Dear Mama I was flattering myself that all your sickness & fatigue was over when Mr. Graham’s letter informed me you were still suffering under a tedious passage, a rough sea, and a disagreeable indisposition, & I am much afraid the wind did not change as you wished from the dispatch of the vessel which brought the intelligence, for I received it in ten days after date. The account however was not entirely unsatisfactory, as it assured me you were almost recovered, & gave me leave to hope your complaint had not been particularly the effects of a sea voyage; I beg you will return my best thanks to Mr. Graham for his attention in seizing the only opportunity to let me hear of you, & assure him he could not 545 Page torn. 546 Continuation of tear. 547 Edmund Rudd was a Quaker who acted as Macaulay’s agent while she travelled. 548 Continuation of same tear. 549 Wanley Sawbridge (1733–​96), Catharine Macaulay’s younger brother. 550 In 1758, Stephen Beckingham (1729–​1813) had married Catharine Macaulay’s older sister, Dorothy Sawbridge (1729–​98), at Bishopsbourne, the Beckingham family estate. 551 GLC01795.006. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay, Boston, New England.

228  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay possibly confer a greater obligation upon me than in so doing. I have but little news to acquaint you with; politics are pretty much the same as when I wrote last, the ministry have large majorities, great taxes are to be laid on to make up the defficiencies, the house has granted a scrutiny for the Westminster election, but if they are not more expeditious than they have been hitherto in the examination of votes, it will not be concluded before the next general election. I have not heard any thing of Atkinson’s petition & should suppose he has dropt it. Mrs. Thomasin had sent you some Gingerbread, which they are famous for at Chester, but hearing by a letter from my Cousin you had left the Kingdom she desired my Uncle Wanley & I might be your representatives. I delivered the tin box at Mr. Hoare’s552 but was informed I could not have it again without an order under your hand so that I think you had better send me a general one in case any papers should be wanted out of it for your use. I called upon Mme de Warville553 who had been much indisposed & was not at that time able to see me. The servant told Mons de W. was gone to France & probably intends proceeding as he proposed to Germany. We were induced by the account you had given me of the entertainment . . .554 Agreable Surprize to visit the little T[heatre]555 Hay Market to see a representation & were quite as much diverted with Lingo and Mrs. Cheshire as we expected.556 All the Family here desire their kind Love & we anxiously wait for the happy news of your safe arrival at Boston. Best Compliments to Mr. Graham. Conclude me your etc.   [160] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 29 July 1784557 Hayesford558 God grant that my dear Parent may now be enjoying herself in good health & spirits & the success of all her wishes—​I hope in little more than a month to hear a desirable & minute of her by the return of the Captain, how impatiently do I expect his arrival—​My Uncle & Aunt are set out on their usual tour. Mrs. Gregory, my Uncle’s sister, asked me to pass some time with her in the country.559 I accepted the invitation with pleasure & have found no reason to repent of it—​I never met with any person whose company I had more satisfaction 552 Either the banker Henry Hoare (1705–​85) or his successor. 553 Félicité Brissot de Warville (née Dupont, 1759–​1818). 554 Blotch. 555 Agreeable Surprize is a comic opera by John O’Keefe (1747–​1833). 556 Lingo and Mrs Cheshire, two characters in Agreeable Surprize. 557 GLC01795.007. Addressed to Mrs Macaulay Graham, Boston, New England. 558 Hayesford Park Drive, Bromley, is eleven miles south of London. 559 Stephen Beckingham’s half-​sister, Elizabeth Catherine (1756–​1833) had married a Daniel Gregory (1747–​1819), see, http://​www.british-​history.ac.uk/​survey-​kent/​vol9/​pp328-​337, and memorial gravestone, at St Mary’s, Lower Hadres, Canterbury, Kent. Daniel Gregory was the son of

The Letters  229 in—​she has cultivated an understanding naturally good by an extensive reading & possesses an uncommon liberality sentiment—​I have been so fortunate in both my expeditions from home to add a valuable acquisition to my list of favourites—​the eldest Miss Heron & Mrs Gregory I hope always to preserve among my friends—​those who have but a slight acquaintance with either of them know not the hundredth part of their good qualities—​Mr. Gregory’s country house is a small agreeable retired place about eleven miles from town—​ he is not with us above half the week—​the rest he is obliged to pass in the city. We are just returned from a short excursion to Tunbridge after taking a view of all the Houses, Antiquities, & curiosities worth seeing in the way. We paid a visit to the ruins of an old castle the solemnity of which was greatly heightened by an Eolian Harp advatageously situated—​the effect was admirably well imagined—​I went about a fortnight ago to see the Hospital at Greenwich—​you know I am by nature a patriot & cannot divest myself of national partiality; but you will hardly imagine how I swelled with importance and satisfaction in beholding that noble building that noble provision for the old servants of our country; but well as I love that country so infinitely, do I prefer the happiness of my dear Parent, that I sincerely hope she may have met with that kind reception from the Americans as to forget she is an Englishwoman & be wholly attached to the interest of her new admirers; & if they do receive her as she deserves I will throw aside my former prejudices & become one of their most zealous advocates. I find announced in the review some posth[umous] works of the late Mr. Toplady & amongst other scattered pieces they have published his letters to you—​The People here grumble much Mr. Pitt’s new taxes—​I seldom read the papers but I believe his majorities are large tho I fancy his popularity is already greatly diminished. Mrs. Gregory desires me to present her best Compliments & good wishes & I beg that my very particular ones may never be omitted to Mr. Graham from my dear Mother’s, etc.   [161] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 30 August 1784560 I have been for some days impatiently waiting for news from my dear parent—​ the American pacquets are surely not so frequent as ours or I might have flattered myself reasonably with the hopes of receiving a letter before now but I know that winds & waves are not to be depended upon& will trust that your labours will be rewared by health happiness and a hospitable reception on the shores of America. I am still with Mrs Gregory at Hayesford & my esteem for her encreases George Gregory (1697–​1758) of Harlaxton Manor, and no relation of the Campvere Gregories, so far as I can ascertain.

560

GLC01795.008. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay Graham, Boston, New England.

230  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay daily—​indeed she possesses so uncommon a degree of generosity & greatness of mind that I am in hopes when I am again made happy with the company of my dear mother she will find her daughter improved by the society of her present kind hostess—​I am almost ashamed to own that sentiments which should have wanted no other authority than yours have received weight by coming from an indifferent person, & I do flatter myself were my dear mamma to converse with me at this moment, she would find me more deserving of her goodness than when she left me—​you will be a little surprized to hear that Mr. Graham’s sudden friend Mr. Christie, has written to me from Montrose, expressing great anxiety to hear of his and your safe arrival, & begging I will do him the favor to inform him of it when I have intelligence. If he goes on at this rate he will possess a very numerous correspondence for he tells me in his letter that he has written to Mrs Knowles561 but received no answer. Tell Mr. Graham I shall it as a favor if he will take him off my hands by writing to him himself—​All friends in England are very well—​My Uncle Wanley, the last time I heard of him, was perfectly so—​he desired me at parting always to remember his kind love whenever I wrote to you—​My Portman Square friends are now at Malvern but will soon proceed to Bath—​The Parliament has adjourned for the season—​people grumble much at the taxes, but c[onsidering] the quantity of money to be raised I believe they are as judiciously laid on as possible—​We have had very cold wet weather, hardly any summer at all; I fear the harvest will fall short. Mr. Dick has sent the rents of the scotch farm very punctually to the time. Best Compliments & good wishes to Mr. Graham Conclude me Dear Madam, Your etc. Tell my friend Mrs. Nogarth I hope she is well.562   [162] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 4 October 1784563 How much anxiety did my dear mother’s letter relieve me from, I delayed not one moment to communicate it to my Aunt, & she desires me to assure you how sincerely she participates in my joy at receiving the happy news of your safe arrival & agreeable reception in America; a rumour of it had reached Bath before my intelligence could travel so far, with such celerity does Fame publish the proceedings of her votaries! I return you many thanks for your kind present, but must make it my earnest request that you will never suffer your indulgence to me to be inconvenient to yourself. I am much obliged to Mr. Graham for those little scraps which 561 See letter [134]. 562 This person has not been identified. It is likely that Macaulay was travelling with a servant, who is here being remembered. 563 GLC01795.009. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay Graham, Boston.

The Letters  231 are so prettily scattered throughout your letter, but as they always occur when a direction is to be given, only prove I am afraid, his usual diffidence with regard to your punctuality. So soon after the fatigue of your voyage any letter at all was as much as I could expect & the agreeableness of its contents was sufficient to satisfy any reasonable person, but another time you must not put me off with a duplicate of pins powder &c.&c. when there are so many interesting particulars to relate, & I own I was a little mortified when I turned to your fourth page to find you had taken the trouble of so unneccessary a repetition. The shoes I bespoke immediately, & am this evening going to town with Mr. Gregory in order to procure the other things you desire me to send you. I shall take the liberty of substituting 20 instead of 12 pound of powder as I know it to be a commodity that does not ever lay long on one’s hands. I expect my Uncle and Aunt in town the first week of next month. All Friends are well. Mrs. Gregory’s little boy is coming home for the holidays, & if it is written in to book of my fate ever to be called by the name of mother, I hope to make some advantage of her example, for she seems to understand the business of education both in theory & practice as well as Mme Genlis herself. If you read this passage to Mr. Graham, tell him at the same time, that I am not so absolutely determined to add, to that class of women wh[om he] terms unwise, but that I sometimes [turn] my thoughts towards those qualifications which are necessary to make an old maid respectable, & have begun with a determination of relinquishing the Miss when I attain the age of forty, & that he may be a witness against me should I wish to break so good a resolution, let him remember the 24th of next February being the year of our Lord 1785 I shall be just twenty.—​Mrs. Gregory desires me to present her Compliments & I am, etc.   [163] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 1 December 1784564 Dearest Mama I have already written to you by the packet which sails the beginning of this month & sent the letter to the post, but having seen Mr. Rudd this morning and being informed by him that he had received a draught payable in January of two hundred and fifty pounds from the mortgage in Scotland I could not help calling at the post office to know if it was not too late to send another line in order to communicate a piece of intelligence which always gives you satisfaction. He also told me that Dr. Wilson’s executors565 made not the smallest hesitation about the payment of the annuity & had promised he should have it at Christmas which 564 GLC01795.010. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay Graham, Boston, New England. 565 See letter [55] note. Wilson, was most upset by Macaulay’s marriage to William Graham, and it was rumored that he had cut her out of his will. It is clear from letter [167] that the annuity referred to here was honored and Macaulay made it over to her daughter, Hill, “Daughter and Mother,” 43.

232  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay is the time when the rents of the estate are paid in, & they should consider his waiting till then as a favor. I forgot to mention in my other letter that the new regulations in the postage which you spoke of had taken place here at the very first of our correspondence, & I find upon enquiring that there have not been any since. The love of all friends & Best Compliments to Mr. Graham, Conclude me Dear Mama, Your etc. I suppose Balloons are not yet become fashionable amusement in America. We have had many aerial travellers here. We saw two go up with one yesterday. A Pastry Cook at Oxford made one himself & travelled with it twenty two miles in thirteen minutes. The height they have ascended is prodigious, no one could have imagined before these experiments it were possible for us to breathe in so rarified an atmosophere.   [164] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 4 January 1785566 Dear Mama We have been for some time in daily expectation of hearing from you & cannot help being very cross at the post when he pays us a visit without bringing any letter from America—​we are not however so absurd as to indulge apprehensions which would be highly unreasonable in a correspondence subject to the power of so fickle a Deity as Eolus. The weather in this part of the world has been remarkably severe for the earliness of the season & we tremble lest you should suffer extremely from its inclemency in a still colder region—​I have just discovered a very comfortable kind of gloves, which I regret not to have known when I dispatched your box, & should send them even now, if there was not some trouble and expence at the Custom House attending the conveying of a parcel, which makes it eligible to send as many things as you can think of at once, & for that reason I do not propose procuring the Lavender Water till you favor m[e with] the execution of more commissions. My Aunt [th]ank God, has been pretty well considering the weather [and] as a proof of it we went to the play the night [befor]e last; where we saw the King and Queen wi[th] one of the Princes & two of the Princesses, which I was very glad of as I never saw them before—​the girls were really very fine young women & behave with uncommon propriety—​your picture and my Aunt’s are come from Bath & are safely lodged here—​they have not sent that we like the best, but I make no doubt they thought this a better because a larger one.



566

GLC01795.011. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay Graham, Boston, New England.

The Letters  233 My Uncle has wrote to Mr. Rack to get the other if possible—​this is the one Miss Read painted looking down.567 I am going to give a little account of what the things I bought for you came to.

Mrs Sands Shoes Gloves Powder Pomations & Pins Norris’s Drops568 Dalmahoy’s salts569 Box & Porterage

£ .. S.. D 10..0..0 4..11..6 1..16..0 1..15..0 2..0..0 0..3..0 0..6..0

Sum Total £ .. S.. D 20..19..6

I made a [little m]istake in my Arithmetic when I saw Mr Rudd & to[ld] him that I laid out 21..7..6—​as it is hardly worth rectify[ing] with him, the eight shillings may be carried over to [the] next account. Mr Rudd is to send me a Draught for that & your kind present, when the Draught from Scotland becomes due, as I did not want it before—​. All here heartily join with me in wishing you many happy new Years—​My Kind Remembrances & Compliments of the season attend Mr Graham & I am etc. I shall not send this till the last moment in hopes of hearing from you in the mean time. You will think me very stupid but I forgot to mention the Pins which cost eight shillings & that makes the account I gave Mr Rudd quite right.   [165] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 1 February 1785570 Dear Mama, Your letter dated the 27th November gave us uncommon satisfaction, for it was above two months since I had heard from you, & we really began to grow very uneasy. Tho you do not give any details of the circumstances of your present situation, I flatter myself from your general account that it is perfectly agreable to you & I hope you are convinced that this belief not only affords me delight but is absolutely necessary to my enjoying the blessings that surround me. You may remember you used to rally me when I represented as a grievance that I was continually receiving obligations without ever having it in my power to return them. 567 This portrait by Catherine Read (1723–​78) has not been located, but an engraving by Williams, based on the portrait, of Macaulay in the character of a Roman matron has survived. 568 Dr Norris’s drops were a treatment for fever. 569 A “tasteless” purging salt. 570 GLC01795.012. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay Graham, Boston, New England, New York.

234  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay According to this system I never was more unhappy than at present. To describe the kindness I experience from this family I need only say they treat me like another daughter. Every time I hear from my Dear Mother she gives me some new proof of her indulgence. It is impossible for me ever to deserve such uncommon goodness. Let me however repeat my request that you will never suffer your generosity towards me to be inconvenient to yourself; if you do, you will give me pain instead of pleasure. There is no subject however trifling or important that does not remind me of your goodness. I have made up the Point Lace you were so kind to give me & the pink sattin shews it to great advantage.—​I have heard from Mr Rudd, he has sent me a draft for £ 46..10..0, he informs me he has not yet been able to make up the yearly accounts with your Bankers; but he has taken care that all your draughts shall be answered & has desired me to inform you that you may draw for any part of your yearly income without fear of incurring any inconvenience; when he has settled the account he intends sending it to Mr. Graham. I have wrote to the shoemaker at Cheslea & when the shoes are finished shall pack them up with your Lavender Water & get Mrs. Knowel571 to take charge of them, as you know she made me promise to dine with her and offered to get any parcel conveyed I might have occasion to send to America. I shall at the same time inform myself of the proper method of proceeding, that I may be able to manage the business myself. My Cousin572 has begun to learn Italian & as she is so good to take the trouble of instructing me I hope soon to be quite a proficient; I ca[n a]lready read tolerably well with assistance of a Diction[ary]. We have at present the pleasure of my uncle Wanle[y’s] company for a week, he desires to be remembered to you in the most affectionate manner. I kept my letter open till he came that I might have the satisfaction of informing you he is perfectly well. I have just received a very obliging letter from Miss Fraser, she enquires very particularly after your health and welfare, & begs I will send both Mr. Gregorie’s & her own respectful Compliments to you when I write. My Aunt desires her kind Love, My best Compliments wait on Mr. Graham & I am, etc.   [166] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 1 March 1785573 Dearest Mama, I had the happiness of receiving a long letter from you two days ago dated the first of January & now I am upon the subject of dates I shall be obliged to you always to mention what letters of mine have come to hand as it will be a satisfaction

571

A misspelling of Knowles, no doubt Macaulay’s Quaker friend, Mary Knowles, see letter [134]. This is probably her cousin Dorothy Charlotte Beckingham (1766–​1821). 573 GLC01795.013. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay Graham, Boston, New England. 572

The Letters  235 to me to know they arrived safe—​yours of 10th of December was brought to me by Colonel Miranda the beginning of this month. I was not at home but my Uncle was so obliging to return the visit the next day—​he dined here yesterday, with a large company & I make no doubt was satisfied with his reception as my Uncle & Aunt paid him every possible attention. You may suppose how much I was delighted to inform myself of every particular concerning my Dear Mother & the country of which she is at present an inhabitant & I really received much entertainment from his conversation. I was happy to hear so favourable an account of many of those parts of America you have not yet visited but I hope from what I have always heard both from him & others that you will not think of venturing to South Carolina or Virginia as from the extreme unhealthfulness of the climate I cannot but apprehend the most imminent danger to so delicate a constitution as yours—​few persons however robust can escape with impunity an attack which to tender frames must in all probability prove fatal & my Aunt sincerely joins me in requesting you will not run so great a risk—​When Mr. Graham’s shoes come home I shall send them with some Lavender Water but as I think it very dear I shall send but two bottles in hopes of being able to find some equally good and cheaper against another opportunity—​When I  saw Mrs. Gregory she enquired very kindly after you—​In answer to your desire of hearing what progress I had made in my reading I must inform you that in the summer I slightly perused Cook’s last voyage to the South Seas, Coxe’s Northern Tour, & some travels through South America & read many of Plutarch’s Lives & some of Plato’s Dialogues to which list you must excuse me when I add Sir Charles Grandison.574 I am pursuing the study of Ancient History & the Best Poets—​When the weather grows warmer I shall get up early in order to gain time & intend to commence a series of Theological reading which I know you will approve of, Stackhouse’s History of the Bible, Leeland’s View of the Deistical Writers & Prideau’s Connexions are the Books I have fixed on from your’s and my Uncle’s joint recommendation. Pray indulge me with an account of the success of your subscription when you write next & inform me how I must direct while you are moving about.575 We rejoice to hear you have not found the cold remarkably severe & with this family’s Affectionate Love to you and my best Compliments to Mr. Graham, I remain, etc. I have just received an invitation from Mrs. Gregory to dine with her tomorrow & go in the evening to hear Sheridan & Henderson read & as it is so far to come back I am to sleep at Mrs. Gregory’s I will give you an account of my entertainment at the lecture in my next.

574 Samuel Richardson, The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753). Macaulay did not much approve of novels, as she makes clear in LE, 143–​47. 575 An attempt was begun to finance an American edition of Macaulay’s history by subscription but the project did not come to fruition.

236  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [167] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 3 May 1785576 My Dear Mama I took the very first opportunity after I  received your letter of the 19th of February of writing to Mr. Hoare.577 I  told him you were under some apprehensions that one of your bills might have been protested from the remissness of your Agent in gathering your income & paying it into Mr. Hoare’s hands as soon as it became due & as this very disagreeable circumstance was likely to happen while you were absent from England & consequently obliged to leave your affairs in the care of an Attorney you requested the favor of him to answer your bills tho he might not have any money of your’s in his hands & upon applying to me the money should be immediately reimbursed—​Mr. Hoare wrote me an answer in which he regreted not being able to comply with your request it being contrary to their & every other banker’s mode of business to answer bills to a greater amount than the affects left in their hands.—​When I had written to Mr Hoare I went to Mr Rudd & mentioned your apprehensions & likewise your surprize at not having heard from him but did not say anything concerning the application to Mr. Hoare as he might have thought it argued some distrust not to leave the affair entirely to him—​He assured me he had taken so much care that it was impossible you should incur the inconvenience you apprehended for he had told Mr. Hoare that he himself would answer any sums Mr. Graham might draw for—​he shewed me three bills of Mr. Graham’s to the value of two hundred & fifty pounds which he had answered, & told me there was two hundred pound’s in Mr. Hoare’s hands (for which he shewed me the receipt) to answer the last hundred and fifty pounds Mr. Graham had drawn for.—​He was surprized you had not heard from him as he had written some time ago but I found he was ignorant of the necessity of putting a shilling with his letter which I make no doubt was the reason of it’s not reaching you—​you will find by a former letter of mine, I have already received the money Mr. Graham sent in a Draught for you last & also the five and twenty pounds out of the first half yearly payment of the annuity, which I am extremely obliged to you for but shall not think in future of accepting till I am convinced it will not be inconvenient to you to spare it—​I rejoice in the hopes of seeing you soon as I flatter myself you must long before this have renounced your scheme of visiting France before you return to England—​Port L’Orient is situated quite at the northern part of the kingdom & so near our coast that in all probability (as the english vessels are allowed to be better sailors that the french) your voyage will be much shorter to this country than to Port L’Orient; & besides the circumstance of accelerating our meeting, which I flatter myself is not a matter of indifference to you, you will have 576 GLC01795.014. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay Graham, Boston, New England, New York or further southward. 577 See letter [159] note.

The Letters  237 an opportunity of settling any affairs that may require your presence—​And afterwards prosecute with equal facility any future excursion, & as you complain of the dearness of living in America it may not perhaps be amiss to examine the state of your finances before you proceed on another expedition especially to the South of France where travelling is attended with no small expence. I have been lately seized with as violent a politi[cal] fit as I experienced at the general election—​ our grand object a parliamentary has been proposed by the Minister to the house of Commons, & I am sorry to add, rejected by a majority of seventy four. Mr. Pitt made an excellent speech on the occasion & in my opinion his plan seemed calculated to obviate every objection—​he proposed the establishment of a fund for purchasing the franchises of decayed Boroughs at the pleasure of their proprietors, & that the fund should be continued, so that if any Boroughs now populous should at any time become deserted they might part with their right of electing members on the same terms, & the number of members that were thus curtailed to be added to the counties—​he likewise proposed that the right of voting should be extended to [include] proprietors of copyholds578—​But it was evident that tho’ a plan of the Minister’s it was not seconded by ministerial influence & consequently ineffectual. I lately received a letter from Miss Fraser who enquired after you kindly & begs that I will not omit her own & her Uncle’s best rememberances to you when I write—​My Uncle Wanley is now with us & charges me never to neglect sending his kind love in which my Aunt & the rest of the family sincerely join & with my very best Compliments to Mr. Graham I am Dear Mama, Your etc. I expect Mr. Gregorie & Miss Fraser in London very soon in their way to Scotland.   [168] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 27 October 1785579 Bath Nothing my dearest Mamma can exceed the anxiety we have for a considerable time laboured under at so long a silence—​both my Aunt & myself were convinced it could only be occasioned by illness & an illness sufficiently serious to prevent your writing to me, at a time when you were travelling in a country where accommodations are so miserably bad, & after so long a course of fatigues what might it not have ended in—​ we resloved more than once never to mention you while we continued in a state of suspence because we always encreased our apprehensions by adding our particular fears to the common stock.—​We found it very difficult however to avoid the subject 578 Copyhold tenure was a form of tenure of land granted to peasants by manorial owners in return for agricultural services. 579 GLC01795.015. Addressed, À Madame Macaulay Graham, À Aix-​en-​Provence, À Post Restant, France.

238  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay & especially on post days—​we were continually enquiring whether it had been round & the moment we heard any thing like a knock, let what would be our occupation at the time, we were both on the stairs. After numberless disappointments, for I do think I never received so many letters from indifferent persons as this painful interval, your letter arrived. We are still however very uneasy & most impatiently wait for further accounts of your recovery—​not strong enough to write a longer letter from a person so careful of alarming their friends as my Dear Mama ever was is surely sufficient to justify our fears. For God’s sake write often, nothing else can make me patiently acquiesce with your remaining longer on the continent—​ I suppose your motive for preferring Aix is on account of the warm Baths—​excuse me my Dear Mamma for warning you against using them to excess—​remember you have the constitution of Mat Robinson580—​in moderation they may be good for your complaints but they are certainly relaxing & you must surely be already greatly weakened by the trials you have undergone.—​The next time you write to Mr. Rudd or myself, if you have not done it already, you had better send a certificate [for] the payment of annuity due last Michaelmas. We are now at Bath where we have spent near two months—​if you ever receive the last letters I wrote to America you will find a regular account of our proceedings during the Summer—​ they are not of importance enough to deserve a repetition here—​Our Newspapers with their usual inaccuracy have inserted a paragraph informing the public that my Uncle Sawbridge lay at the point of Death at his house in town—​my Uncle Wanley wrote immediately to my aunt to say that his brother had been perfectly well & was just gone to place his eldest son at the Academy at Caen in Normandy—​he added that when I wrote to you I had better mention it, lest an english paper might fall in your way & occasion you an uneasiness, which at so great a distance, it would acquire a considerable time to remove—​I am sure if any one of us had found my Uncles’s letter without a name, we should, by this single instance of attention to the happiness of his friends, have known the writer. We shall return to town in less than a week, where I hope, before this can reach you, to be made happy by a longer & more satisfactory letter from my Dear Mother. My best Compliments wait on Mr. Graham & I am Dear Madam, Your etc.   [169] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 15 November 1785581 Portman Square Indeed my Dearest Mamma no person that had not experienced as equal degree of anxiety could have been half so much delighted as I was by your last kind 580 Matthew Robinson (1712–​1800), the oldest brother of Elizabeth Montagu and Sarah Scott was famous for spending long hours in a hot bath. 581 GLC01795.016. Addressed, Mme Macaulay Graham, Aix en Provence, France.

The Letters  239 letter—​Now that it has pleased God to spare you through a course of fatigues which no one could have supposed your delicate frame capable of supporting, I will hope myself th provided you can be prevailed upon to take care of yourself; I shall again have the very great satisfaction of seeing you, blessed with a competent share of health to enjoy the society of your child & that serenity of Mind which spight of the laboured sophisms of the Stoics must I am convinced be interrupted by any great degree of bodily pain—​I could not forbear smiling when I first read the diverting account of your occupations & represented to myself the picture you have drawn in such lively colours & even upon second thoughts I can imagine you derive satisfaction from a plan of Oeconomy which you suppose it commendable to pursue but I know my Dearest Mamma is sometimes apt to carry a favorite pursuit too far—​from denying yourself the indulgences of superfluity you will I fear proceed to deprive yourself of comforts—​such an excess of frugality it can never be necessary or right for you to adopt, & do for God’s sake consider that your Life and Health are of more consequence to the interest & happiness at those who love you than any other consideration whatever—​I am well acquainted with Mr. Graham’s kind & constant attention to your ease and satisfaction I most heartily thank him for it & if it will afford him any pleasure he may be assured that the whole of his behaviour has long engaged my sincere regard and esteem. I believe that it was in one of those letters which you never received that I  informed you Mr. Gregorie & Miss Fraser were in town in the Spring & that I saw her married to one of his sons who is in partnership with him at Dunkirk582—​it gave me great pleasure as it will in all probability make the remainder of Mrs. Gregorie’s life happy for they continue to live with him & no father can love a Son and Daughter better than he does them—​they paid a visit to her friends in Scotland during the summer & returned to London the end of September—​they continued in town above a month & returned to Dunkirk about a fortnight ago—​I came from Bath just time enough to see them before they went & they both requested that when I wrote to you I would say that now you were on the Continent if you & Mr Graham could make it convenient to pay them a visit at Dunkirk, they should be extremely happy to see you there. My Aunt desires to join in Best Love & good wishes & I am Dearest Mamma, Your etc. Pray tell whether my old friend Sancho is still in being & under your protection—​I am sure if he has changed Masters his travels have been unfortunate ones to him. 582 June 1785, David Gregorie, second son of David Gregorie of Dunkirk, married Catherine Eliza Fraser, second daughter of the late William Fraser of Balnean. See letter [155] note.

240  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [170] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 5 December 1785583 Portman Square Pray my Dearest Mama continue to indulge me very often with such charming long letters as your two last & I  will endeavor not to trouble you with any complaints of your prolonging an absence which I had flattered myself was nearly at an end. Very early in the next summer I had hoped to have the happiness of seeing a parent whose delightful society & peculiar tenderness to me continually occur to my rememberance & encrease my desire of again enjoying that society & that tenderness to a very painful degree of impatience. And I cannot help feeling the additional apprehension that before you reach your native country some damp bed, some accident which you have hitherto almost miraculously escaped may lead to the most fatal consequences & perhaps for ever deprive me of a blessing I so ardently long for.—​It would however grieve me that your indulgence for me should induce you to relinquish a scheme from which you expect the smallest gratification—​only let me entreat you to use every possible precaution & remember that in so doing you will prove in the most desirable manner that kind attention to my peace & happiness which you have so long accustomed me to, that I begin to consider it as my due.—​I return you my sincere thanks for your usual generosity with regard to my pecuniary concerns but I am at a lost how you can reconcile it to your conscience when you esteem Oeconomy so highly to make such a spendthrift of your child. I believe I forgot to mention that Mr C. Beckingham was married this summer to a young Lady whom he has been some time attached to, & who promises to make an excellent wife—​they have now a house at Hythe but from the great age of the present incumbent on the Hardes Living it will not in all probability be long before Mr C. B, who has taken orders will take possession of that & the parsonage house together.—​ Your old acquaintance Mr. Armstrong the dissenting minister now lives at Bath in the same house with Mr. Rack—​he desired his friend to present his compliments to me & to say he should be glad of the opportunity of paying his respects to me—​my Uncle and Aunt were so good to ask them both to dinner—​ he began by telling me it would be seven years next month since he saw me last, he seemed highly delighted with us all & before he took leave addressed my Uncle & Aunt with a degree of formality which excited no small degree of curiosity “that he had an humble request to make & hoped they would attend to the prayer of his petition which was they would have the goodness to permit 583 GLC01795.017. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay Graham, À Aix en Provence, À la Poste Restante, France.

The Letters  241 his friend & him to [bo]w to them under their own roof the next time they visited Bath”—​in short if it were in my power to do justice to the odditites of my good friend during the whole of the visit I am sure that account would afford you no small amusement. I do do not believe you were ever witness to so great a variety of his talents for he no[t only] preached but sung & almost danced . . .584 during their short acquaintance. My Uncle Wanley spent a few days with [us] since our return to town & was thank [God] prefectly well—​My Uncle Beckingham & . . .585drank tea with Mrs. Gregory of Austyn [Friars]586 yesterday evening & she enquired very kindly after you—​All here join in Affectionate Compliments & beg to be kindly remembered to Mr. Graham, I am Dearest Madam, Your etc.   [171] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 1 January 1786587 My Dearest Madam In order to make a good beginning to every new year, it is my constant practice to avoid being out of humor on the first of January, by never doing any thing, during the whole day, that does not afford me satisfaction, & as I cannot be more agreably employed than in writing to you I have taken opportunity of thanking you for your last obliging favor—​Indeed I receive so much pleasure from the perusal of my Dear Mama’s kind letters—​she so tenderly assures me of her maternal affection that I never suffer a post day to pass without anxiously hoping I may possibly be made happy by a packet from Aix—​tho every letter renews my regret at our long absence & every fresh proof of your goodness makes me despair of ever being able to deserve so excellent a parent. I sent a note to Mr. Rudd the day after I received your commands, requesting Mr. Graham might be informed of what he desired as soon as possible—​he was not up when the servant left the note & I have not heard from him since but shall take an opportunity of calling upon him myself very soon—​I was sorry to find you intend paying a visit to Dunkirk before your return, tho my reason for being so is so selfish a one that I am almost ashamed to say, unless you promise yourself so much satisfaction from it I should think myself extremely obliged you for declining it—​the fact is that I have repeatedly received the most pressing invitations to pass some there time there which, as I have a great dislike to the journey, I have hitherto 584 Tear. 585 Tear. 586 Tear. Daniel Gregory of Austin Friars bought land with Stephen Beckingham in 1791, London Metropolitan Archives, Kent Archeological Society Collection, Q/​KAS/​022. See letter [160] note. 587 GLC01795.018. Addressed, Madame Macaulay Graham, À Aix en Provence, À la Poste Restante, France.

242  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay declined—​I excused myself from accompanying them this last time by alledging that I expected you soon in England; but if you go there I am sure they will press me to meet you & I think I cannot without offending them refuse to comply—​this as it would not in the least accelerate my seeing you, for I hope you will pass that time in England you would otherwise spend at Dunkirk, I wish avoid—​If you acquiesce I will take care to apologize for you in the most obliging manner for indeed they have been so kind to me & expressed themselves speak of you with so much politeness & attention that I would not upon any account be deficient in proper return to their civility—​While I was writing the above we have had a visit from Samuel Sawbridge,588 who is just come from Portsmouth, where he has been some time on board a Guardship, & is to pass the day with us, he has already made two voyages, one to the Mediteranean & I flatter myself from his apparent sound judgement & good sense he will in time do honour to his family & the profession he has chosen. All here sincerely jo[in] in the good Wishes of the Season & with kind Comp to Mr. Graham I am Dearest Madam, Your etc. If by a personal application from Dunkirk you should be obliged to write, do not I beg you drop any kind of hint that your reason for refusing their application invitation proceeds from any objection of mine.   [172] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 10 January 1786589 Portman Square

Dearest Madam, I have made all the enquiries you desired & am happy to add that tho I think your apprehensions were far from unreasonable I flatter myself they are entirely groundless—​I went first to Mr. Hoare’s where I found your Balance amounted to One Hundred pounds—​I then called on Mr Rudd & was extremely well satisfied with his account—​he has received a draught from Mr. Dick which he has deposited in Mr. Hoare’s hands—​Mr. Ferguson has paid his rent—​Dr. Wilson’s executors have promised to pay the half year’s annuity when they have received their rents at Christmas as they did last year, & as they have hitherto behaved very well I dare say you will readily acquiesce in granting them any reasonable indulgence—​Cockerell put off his payment likewise till after Christmas but Mr Rudd has written lately to hasten his motions which you know by experience 588 Samuel Elias Sawbridge (1769–​1850) was the second son of John Sawbridge with his second wife, Anne Stephenson. 589 GLC01795.019. Addressed, Madame Macaulay Graham, À Aix en Provence, À la Poste Restante, France. Scribbled in Macaulay’s hand below address, “mem spectators who behold. Executioners who execute do horrible a sentence. See if the public baths are down.”

The Letters  243 are apt to be dilatory—​Poor Mr. Rudd cannot at present do anything but write having broke his leg about a fortnight ago during the severe frost which has prevented his going to Mr Barrett’s who has not yet made his payment—​I find that two accounts which Rudd sent you whilst in America were lost, which in a great measure occasioned your apprehensions—​I fancy one of them miscarried from his neglecting to put a shilling when he delivered it at the post office & the other in all probability you never received because you had left New York, to which place it was directed, before it arrived—​he has given me a draft for ten pounds which I paid to Mrs. Sands & is to send to me another for fifty more when he receives Dr. Wilson’s annuity—​Being unwilling to offend him unneccessarily by appearances of distrust I made this the pretence of my calling upon him & I demanded the whole sum you are so good to intend for me, because I thought if your suspicions had proved true it would have been very well to secure it—​I never however intended to keep above half of it—​the rest I shall lay by to present you with at your return—​Accept however my sincere thanks for your kind intentions as well as for the very ample supply I propose to avail myself of. The weather here has been quite as extraordinary as on the Continent—​during the beginning of the summer the fruits of the earth were entirely burnt up by an uncommon drought which was succeeded by continued rains—​we have just experienced a fortnight of one of the severest frosts that was ever remembered—​it is now gone & the atmosphere is so remarkably damp that there is not a house in London that is not running down with water. All here join in Affectionate Compliments—​My best rememberances wait on Mr. Graham & I am with the sincerest prayers and good wishes for your health & happiness your etc.   [173] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 31 January 1786590 My Dearest Madam I am in great hopes that the next foreign post will bring me a letter from Aix—​it is exactly a month since I received the last for they afford me too much pleasure not to keep a very particular account of them—​you are very good to commend my punctuality, but Conscience bids me to confess that it proceeds from a selfish motive, for I know if I did not write often I should hear less frequently from you.—​ —​—​We spent an evening lately with our relation Lady Young591—​Mary is with her & they both enquired very much after you—​poor Portia is extremely ill with 590 GLC01795.020. Addressed, Madame, Madame Macaulay Graham, À Aix en Provence, À la Poste Restante, France. 591 Lady Elizabeth Young, Macaulay’s distant relation, see letter [14] note. A portrait of the family, which includes the daughters Mary, Olivia, and Portia mentioned here, painted by Johan Zoffany is in the Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool.

244  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay a nervous complaint & Olivia is gone to the West Indies with Sir William—​she was in a bad state of health for some time before she went but the climate agrees with her so well that she is now quite recovered—​I rejoice that my Dear Mama is not now crossing the Atlantic for we have had such dreadful accidents even upon our own coasts from the uncommon violence of the Winds that I  cannot help feeling alarmed for those I know ever so little of who are exposed to their fury.—​ The Parliament met last Tuesday after a very long recess—​the newspapers have for some time past supplied the want of debates by abusing Mr. Eden592 with his desertion of his old friends to accept of a very lucrative place under the present minister for negotiating a treaty of Commerce with the Court of France & it is must indeed be owned that his endeavors to keep well with all parties by accepting the wages of his new & making excuses to his old Masters have given ample subject for ridicule. All our friends here are thank God pretty well & desire to be affectionately remembered to you I shall not seal my letter till after the Post has been in.—​ The Post has been in & no letter from Aix—​indeed my Dear Mama you must allow me to be a little angry with you, but I am nevertheless with best Compliments to Mr. Graham, Your etc.   [174] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 7 February 1786593 Dearest Madam I received your last letters, one Saturday, the other yesterday & felt so much alarmed at the inconvenience you might incur from Mr. Rudd’s neglect that 592 William Eden (1744–​1814) the author of The Principles of Penal Law and member of Lord North’s administration, during the period of the American War of Independence, and subsequently associated with the Fox-​North coalition, which fell in 1783. After this, Eden had orchestrated a conciliation with William Pitt the younger who decided, in December 1785, to send him to negotiate a commercial treaty with France. This betrayal of his “old friends” resulted in a number of squibs and satires in the press. 593 GLC01795.021. Addressed, Madame, Madame Macaulay Graham, À Aix en Provence, À la Poste Restante, France. Note added on folded edge of address pane, “It is Helvetius’s observation is true &c but the education of the world will give a turn and a tone and alain to the passions of men but it will not teach them to subdue and moderate them. In what light domestic education has been considered by different people its true end, Why the ancients could not fully understand, why the moderns neither understand nor practice it.” Note inserted below address, “Moderate abilities will obtain the point of happiness which a greater animation & quickness of parts looks beyond.” Note on opposite folded edge of address pane, “To make a note on the necessity of acts of violence committed by government to prevent acts of violence committed by private persons. The many assasinations and roberies committed in France notwithstanding their cruel punishments, this will never cease till Homicide except for self defence is no longer regarded as legal and the cruel carnage of the Brute species is forbidden.” Note on the page left blank, “add those who die in defence of their country, nations will never be truly civilized whilst it is thought glorious offensive arms, add lond admired bury the man and the father, so the public education of the romans must be much altered in from the days of Fabricius to those when poverty was

The Letters  245 I cannot express how greatly I was relieved by a note from him, in answer to my enquiries, informing me that he had sent notes of Sir Robert Herries594 to the value of 100£ which I hope long before this are safely arrived—​I have written to him in the most pressing manner to beg that he will send the other 300£ in Herries’s notes with all possible dispatch—​if the procuring of them depended upon me how much would the hopes of accelerating our meeting have encreased my diligence & alacrity in obeying your commands. As I find Mr. Rudd has sent you an account of his receipts with the notes I shall not do any thing more till I hear from you again.—​ I return you a thousand thanks for all your kindness both with regard to pecuniary matters & also for your obliging acquiescence with my wishes respecting Dunkirk.—​I have not time to write more before the post goes out but if I could not have excused myself if I  had delayed giving you any satisfaction in my power—​I beg to be kindly remembered to Mr. Graham. All our Friends here join in Affectionate Compliments to my Dear Mama & constant good wishes for her health & happiness with her, etc.   [175] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 28 February 1786595 Dearest Madam According to your directions I  defered doing anything with respect to the notes till the latter end of this month—​last Saturday I wrote to Mr Rudd desiring to know whether he had already sent them & provided he had not money enough of your’s in his hands for that purpose offering to furnish whatever sum was deficient—​I received an answer in which he told me that he had written some time since to Mr Graham informing him that he had paid all the money he received immediately into the Banker’s hands & desiring him to draw upon Mr Hoare for the sums he wanted—​In consequence of this I carried your draught yesterday to Mr Hoare’s & received a note for 300£ which I changed at Sir Robert Herries’s for six-​notes of 50£ each—​three of these I send enclosed & the three

despised Fabricius’s answer to Pyrhus, compare the integrity of—​with the rapacity of Cesar, brought home money enough from Gaul to corrupt half the City of Rome. In the time of Paulus Emilius their great ignorance of the arts, their enthusiastic fondness for them in the time of Veres.” These notes are clearly related to revisions to LE. Fabricius’s answer to Pyrrhus is found at LE, 254, and the discussion then moves on to Paulus Emilius. 594 Sir Robert Herries (c. 1731–​1815) had set up a network of agencies where travelers could cash “circular notes” issued by his company. 595 GLC01795.022. Addressed. Madame, Madame Macaulay Graham, À Aix en Provence, À la Poste Restante, France.

246  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay others I shall enclose in another sheet of paper for fear they should be too heavy if I  send them all in one cover—​I enquired at Mr Hoare’s what balance still remained in his hands & was informed it amounted to £251..5..5—​My Uncle at the same time called at Child’s to ask if Rudd had paid the half yearly fines regularly to the college & found he still owes £50..13..4 due last Michaelmas—​this I thought it proper to inform you of tho’ I do not believe you have any reason to be alarmed at it as Mr Rudd made his payment in May last for the whole year at once & I suppose he means to do the same again. We are all thank God very well—​my Uncle Wanley is with us for a few days & desires to join my aunt Myself & the rest of the family in kind Love—​he always comes from the country loaded with provisions for his friends from his own farm—​some [of] them I remember my Dear Mama used to be fond of & need I say I sincerely wish she was here to partake of them—​I beg to be remembered to Mr Graham & with very great pleasure indeed do I send away a letter which is to convey the means of bringing you back to Your etc.   [176] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 10 March 1786596 I have now my dearest Madam received two letters from Aix since I wrote last & have actually been seated this quarter of an hour with my pen in my hand & my paper before me without being able to express to my satisfaction the pleasure they afforded me—​in short I must entreat you to give me credit for all the gratitude & affection your kind indulgence deserves & I do beg as you love me never to write less frequently—​ By the Mail that set out the 28th of February I sent you 300£ in notes of fifty pounds each—​of Sir Robert Herries—​the numbers were 2447, 2448, 2449, 2450, 2451, 2452, I shall be glad to hear they are safely arrived & I make no doubt you will give me the earliest intelligence of it—​I am ashamed to say I am some letters in your debt—​I do assure you it is not indolence has prevented my writing but I suffered a longer time than usual to elapse between my two last from a desire of informing you whether I had been obliged to make use of the draught—​I wish Rudd could have furnished the money because I know it would have been more agreable to you & Mr Graham but when he told me he had written to Mr Graham desiring him to send an order to Mr Hoare I found it would be in vain to wait any longer—​—​ I have never seen anything of Mrs Knowles since I applied to her to convey a Box to you either at New York or at Boston I forget which—​The Bishop, as we 596 GLC01795.023. Addressed. À Madame, Madame Macaulay Graham, À Aix en Provence, À la Poste Restante, France.

The Letters  247 used to call him, paid me a visit last spring upon a double errand—​he was at that time a candidate for the chaplainship to the Foundling Hospital597 where he had preached with some applause & betrayed a competant share of vanity—​& came to sollicit Mr Beckingham’s interest & at the same time present me with a copy of his essays—​he repeated the same high blown expressions of esteem and attachment for your person and abilities he has so often wearied you with & desired to present you also with a copy of his essays, if I knew of any method of conveying it to you—​since that time I have not heard any thing of him.—​ I sincerely rejoice that you have passed the winter in so temperate a climate & most ardently do I wish that your journey may be attended with every circumstance that is agreable to your inclination & salutary to your constitution—​ Pray lay in a small stock of sweet pomatums598 both for yourself & me before you leave the South, Rose & Orange are I think the two best sorts If you go to Genoa as you proposed you had better provide yourself with a small quantity of Arguebusade599 as they have it there remarkably fine.—​—​—​—​ The Duke of Richmond has just lost a very favorite motion of his for fortifying the kingdom by one vote only—​he was supported by the ministry but I should suppose not warmly as they have carried everything else however unpopular by a vast majority—​I am glad the Duke’s scheme has not taken place as it would have attended with a prodigious expense & I fancy with but little solid advantage—​The Prince of Denmark has not visited this country yet tho it has long been reported he was to do so—​it is the son of the reigning Monarch & is they say to marry one of our princesses—​All here desire their Love—​ My kind compliments wait on Mr Graham & I am etc.   [177] Catharine Sophia Macaulay to Catharine Macaulay, 11 April 1786600 My Dearest Madam I return many thanks to you and Mr Graham for the drafts and many more for the agreable news of your speedy return to England. Indeed it makes me so happy, that desirous as I am of hearing from you continually, I am almost afraid of receiving another letter lest you should have altered your plan—​if you do, 597 Now Coram Fields, Stephen Beckingham senior had been involved with Thomas Coram in setting up the hospital. 598 “Pomade,” sweet smelling oil for dressing the hair. 599 The Family Cyclopaedia of 1822, defines Arguebusade Water as a “medicinal preparation, which has received this name, from its great efficacy in healng gun-​shot wounds.” It recommends its use for bruises and gives a rather terrifying receipt that includes vinegar, sugar, “rectified spirits of wine” and sulfuric acid. 600 GLC01795.024. Addressed. À Madame, Madame Macaulay Graham, À Paris, À la Poste Restante.

248  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay I shall be so angry that I intend to advise all my friends here when they hear the post to keep out of my way till my displeasure has had time to evaporate. If Mr Rudd applys to me for any writings I shall observe your directions—​I always understood that Mr Hoare had not reckoned the money from Scotland in my last account of the balance remaining in his hands, but when I have occasion to draw I intend to make a fresh enquiry—​I know you will be glad to hear that my legacy is perfectly safe tho it may be some time before it is paid, as the Exectutors have put the management of the late Doctor’s affairs into the care of chancery—​ Mrs Sands called here lately & says she has received a letter from Peggy in which she mentions that a Box directed to you arrived at Boston after you were gone—​there is no doubt it contains the things I sent you last spring but whether it is still there or who has the care of it I could not learn—​I hope it will not be lost as the shoes will be equally useful here as there & I think you had better write to Boston about it—​Colonel Norton drank tea with us about a week ago, we were quite surprised to see him concluding he had been gone back to America but by his account, I fancy Mr Pit will detain him some time yet—​I told him I expected you in England in the course of the summer which is the general answer I give to everyone that enquires after you.—​—— ​ ​ The papers had the goodness to inform us about a month since that you had taken an elegant Villa near Marseilles—​I knew it to be false or it would have alarmed most exceedingly for I do assure you if you take any habitation in any place whatever before I have the happiness of seeing you I shall forget all my Duty & submission & be quite out of patience. My best Compliments to Mr Graham & the affectionate rememberances of all this family to yourself Conclude me Dearest Madam, Your etc. We drank your health on the second of this month & most sincerely join in wishing you many happy returns of it.   [178] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 20 July 1787601 Hotel de la Chine, Rue Richlieu à Paris602

601 GLC01795.025. Addressed to 19 Queen’s Road, Knightsbridge, London, but redirected to Dr Arnold, Leicester. He was William Graham’s brother-​in-​law. 602 Catharine Sophia had married Charles Gregorie (1751–​96) at St Marlybone, 7 June 1787; the following letters give an account of a honeymoon tour. He was the son of David Gregorie (1712–​65), who had been professor of mathematics at St Andrews, as had his father. His mother was Margaret Patterson, Family of Gregory, 41. This David Gregorie was a cousin of the David Gregorie who had married Anne Macaulay, and like him a grandson of David Gregorie of Kinairdy.

The Letters  249 Dearest Madam We did not arrive at this place till about eight o’clock yesterday evening owing to a slight indisposition which prevented my Uncle from leaving Dunkirk till Sunday afternoon.—​We reached Lisle on Monday time enough to see every thing worth seeing and were most superbly lodged at the Hotel de Bourbon, Lisle is indeed a charming town, the fortifications quite modern the theatre elegant, the hackney coaches excellent & every thing so much in the english stile that I could scarcly believe myself in Flanders.—​We set out early on Tuesday morning & reached Amiens that night—​striking indeed is the difference between a french & a flemish town—​as opposite as light from darkness is sadness of the one from the chearfulness of the other.—​We went no farther that Chantilly the next night & on Thursday morning we saw the Palace, the stables, le hameau, le Jardin Anglais, the Rock, L’isle d’amour & in short every thing we could see & I was so much pleased with every one of them that I  would rather have travelled ten leagues than have missed a single article—​but never never can I  be reconciled to Jets d’eaus, Cupidons & parterres tho at the Prince of Condés where there is room for every stile of improvement I  allow the propriety of admitting a deformity were it only to set off the beauties of the place to advantage. I do not know whether you remarked the Gateway to the stables, but of all the pieces of Architecture I ever saw I never beheld anything half so light and beautiful—​We arrived here in good time & have taken the earliest opportunity of acquainting you of it for our plan of operation is to begin immediately—​Peggy is waiting to dress my hair for the opera, strangers you know have no time to lose—​however before I conclude I must in justice find time to say that tho flemish towns are preferable to the french, the country of France is far more beautiful tho’ not a tenth part so fruitful as Flanders—​indeed I believe in some parts of Picardy a Flemming would scarcly think the crops worth the trouble of cutting—​ I sincerely hope travelling will be as serviceable to you as it has been to my uncle who is now as well as any one of us—​He desires to join with Mrs. Gregorie,603 Captain Gregorie604 & myself in kind compliments to you and Mr. Graham. I am dearest Madam, Your etc.  

603 This Mrs Gregorie is presumably Catherine Fraser, now married to David Gregorie. 604 Captain Charles Gregorie, now Catharine Sophia’s husband, who had been master of one of the East India Company’s ships, the Fortitude, which had been purchased on 29 October 1785 by a George Macaulay and renamed the Pitt. Charles Gregorie subsequently became captain of the Manship.

250  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [179] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 9 August 1787605 Dearest Madam, In the hottest day I ever felt we had the honor of making our appearance at Versailles, by the specimen I then saw of Courts, give me only a competence & were I to accept of the best place under the greatest prince that ever reigned most richly should I deserve & most readily would I submit to the severest punishment that Vanity & Folly ever incurred—​—I​ do not however intend to give you a whole sheet of heroics—​to descend to plain matters of fact I am really uneasy at the time which has elapsed since I have heard from you—​I comfort myself however with the idea that you are from home & well do I know by experience how great an interuption travelling is to any regular correpondence. Doubtless you expect some account of the many places we have visited—​to see every thing worth seeing in Paris is truly a business—​by having such excellent conductors as my Uncle and Mrs. Gregorie we have really taken the cream & examined the master pieces only & yet our time has been so completely filled up that I think myself lucky when I find a moment to assure my friends in England that among all the curious pieces of Art & brilliant spectacles of this great capital thay are never absent from my thoughts. _​_​_​_​ We have been at St Germaine, St Cloud, & Verailles, we have walked in Marechal Biron’s gardens, the Tuilleries, the Jardin du Roi, the Bois de Bologne, the Luxemburgh & the Champs Elisès, we have seen the picture of Mme de la Valiere, the tomb of Cardinal Richlieu, the Dome of the Invalides, the Church of Notre Dame, L’Ecole Militaire, le Palais Bourbon, & the manufactures of the Goblins, not to forget Le Bibliotheque du Roi which is a noble institution where we made an acquaintance with a man of letters who is no stranger to your writings & has promised this morning to accompany us to the Cabinet of Medals—​As to the Theatres they are terribly hot this warm weather but we have accomplished two visits to Opera, one to the Comedie Française, & another to the italienne—​ so that with dining you will not think we have idle nor will you that I defer all particular observations upon the wonders we have seen till we meet on the other side of the water. My Uncle & Mrs. Gregorie desire their best Compliments to yourself & Mr. Graham—​Captain Gregorie begs to be kindly remembered & I remain Dearest Madam, Your etc. Let me beg you will not think of the present you intended for me—​my husband is so fond of buying fine things for me himself that tho I never saw him angry yet, I have a strong idea he would be very angry were I to accept of them from any one else. Adieu Dearest Madam, but remember I request it as a favor & as such I am sure you will not refuse.

605

GLC01795.026. Addressed to 19 Queen’s Road, Knightsbridge, London.

The Letters  251 [180] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 13 August 1787606 Paris Dearest Madam I do not know how it is that so long a time has elapsed since I have received a single line from you but in spight of all my good resolutions I cannot help being uneasy at it—​indeed I should be much more so if I did not persuade myself that you are now at some distance from London & that probably you have forgot to pay the portage by which means your letters have never reached me. We propose leaving Paris in about a week from this time & shall certainly be in London before the end of the month.—​If you expected much amusement from my account of this New World, for to me everything here is new, I fear you have been greatly dissapointed—​the fact is that I have seen so much & am so full of wonder at every thing I have seen that twenty sheets would not contain the half of it & as I am confined to one I do not know where to begin—​but I can assure you that so far from becoming a convert to the general dissipation which prevails through every rank of people in this idle town I have no idea of any enjoyment so great as a tête a tête with my own husband by our own fireside—​indeed my Dearest Madam were that fearful East India voyage out of the question I should be too happy—​We are in daily expectation of hearing his destination, you will probably be informed of it by the public prints before we shall.—​—​ Unless I hear from you by the next post I cannot have any news of you till we arrive in England for an answer to this letter would not reach Paris till we had left it.—​—​ Captain Gregorie desires to join in kind Complimentss to yourself & Mr Graham with my Uncle & Mrs Gregorie & My Dearest Madam, Your etc.   [181] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 17 April 1790607 Dearest Madam I have received both your kind letters, in consequence of the first I sent to Mrs Sands, I told her to consider the matter once more coolly & deliberately—​not to accept your place unless it appeared to her in so advantageous a light as would induce her to accept the offer had it come from any person to whom she lay under no obligations whatever—​I told her I should give no answer for her, but desired her in the course of another week to write to you herself—​either thankfully & cheerfully accepting your offer—​or finally declining it—​I must do her the justice to say she seemed hurt at having given you so much trouble & concern in

606 607

GLC01795.027. Addressed to 19 Queen’s Road, Knightsbridge, London. GLC01795.028. Addressed, Mrs M Graham, Bracknal, Berks.

252  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay return for all your goodness to her—​I do really pity her for I am convinced she has worked herself up to such unreasonable apprehensions about her children that the usual hardships to which every gentleman’s son is exposed who is sent to Eaton or Westminster—​or afterwards embraces a seafaring or military life, even with all the indulgences that rank & interest can on such occasions possibly command, would appear to her in so tremendous a light that she prefer keeping him for ever a fractious spoilt Boy at her Apron-​string. I told her very plainly—​whether she accepted your place or not—​she must send the Boy from her or he would be fit for no one situation or occupation upon Earth. The fire which alarmed us last Thursday sen’night was as you supposed occasioned by carelessness, at least we have every reason to think so—​It began in the next Building /​but one/​to our own stable—​it belongs to a Musical Instrument maker & is full of dry planks of Mahogany which thay make the body of Harpsichords with—​They use it as a Workshop & we suppose must have left a candle there as it broke out with great fury at the first of its appearance, & must have been burning some time before it was perceived. None of us /​thank God/​ are the worse except about fifteen pounds which the Carriage will cost repairing as that was not insured—​My maid was thrown down stairs by a bundle which one of our servants threw over the Balustres in their hurry not perceiving she was there—​she felt her fall & her fright a good deal next day. But a little Bleeding & two or three glasses of wine quite got her to rights again—​My greatest fear was Mr Gregorie, being but just recovered from his illness, would get a relapse; & his greatest fear was that I should be alarmed—​but thank God we neither of us suffered in the least. He joins in kindest Compliments to yourself & Mr Graham with your etc. They write us from Dunkirk that my Uncle608 is quite recovered—​they do not call his illness Paralytic—​We only think from the symptoms it was something like it, as he complains of a lameness which affected one side only.   [182] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 22 April 1790609 Dearest Madam, Mr Heaton has just applied to me for your address for the purpose, I understand, of informing you that Mr Leod has given notice that he intends paying off the ten thousand pounds Mortgage which you and Mr Beckingham have on his Estates. Mr Gregorie I believe informed you when you were in town that he had got a mortgage for fifteen thousand pounds at 41/​2 percent. Should you wish it, when your

608 609

Not John Sawbridge, as Hill surmises, “Daughter and Mother,” 47, but David Gregorie Sr. GLC01795.029. Addressed, Mrs M Graham, Bracknal, Berks.

The Letters  253 Mortgage is paid in, he will take it of you, giving you security upon his Mortgage of 15000£ and paying you 41/​2 percent yearly or half yearly as you please. He desired me to write to you upon the subject as you might be embarrassed how to dispose of the Money & his Attorney who is an eminent Man & his particular friend assures him it is a remarkable good security.—​Mr Beckingham intends laying his out on Mortgage at 41/​2 percent on the Duke of Portland’s Estate but I am far from thnking it an eligible security because they will not part with the Title Deeds.—​ I suppose by this time you have had Jenny Sands final answer—​pray let me know it when you write again.—​ I have heard very lately from Dunkirk—​There is a third cousin expected there in the course of the Summer—​& one at Ostend in June or July—​no fear that the Clan of Gregories will fail.—​My Gregorie joins in kindest remembrance to you with Dearest Madam, Your etc.   [183] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 20 May 1790610 My dear Madam I have the pleasure to tell you that my little boy, my great girl, & myself are all remarkably well—​indeed I have had a better recovery this time even than the last—​tho I had no reason whatsoever to complain then—​I have now no grievance but a scarcity of milk & I actually never break the tenth commandment except while I am suckling & then I covert every plentiful Breast of Milk I meet with—​However thank God, this child is very thriving as well as the last & hitherto has no objections whatever to take victuals when I have nothing else to give him—​Next Tuesday is the day fixed on for his Christening & my Uncle Wanley is so kind to come to town to officiate.—​I had a letter from my good husband this morning, as indeed I have had one every day since he left me, & I hope to see him either late this evenng or early tomorrow morning.—​ The Beckinghams go on as at first. Montagu has recovered his usual state of health or rather dis-​health. Mr Gregorie of Dunkirk continues as an invalid. Mrs Sawbridge611 has commenced again her former round of dissipation & her son has from neglected Colds taken her place in a sick chamber where I fear he meets with all the want of tenderness he has experienced from his birth. Mr Dash’s daughter has run away with an Irish fortune hunter from a Sunday Concert in the true spirit of adventure, tho being of age & perfect mistress of her actions, she might I think with more convenience as well as more decency have walked out of her father’s 610 GLC01795.030. Addressed, Mrs M. Graham, Bracknal, Berks. 611 Presumably Catharine Macaulay’s brother, John Sawbridge’s second wife, born Anne Stephenson.

254  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay house to the Church.612 Dash declares he will not give her a sixpence & make a certain amiable neice of his his Heir. You who know her can suppose how artfully she pretends to pacify & at the same time in reality to exasperate the wea[k ol]d man against her Cousin—​in short every day she airs out in the carriage with poor Uncle Dash to keep up his spirits & try to reconcile him to his daughter—​I intended to have written but a few lines—​but the spirit of scandal has got the better of me. God bless you dear Madam, my best Compliments wait on Mr Graham. Ever Most Truly your etc.   [184] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 7 June 1790613 My Dearest Madam I did indeed fully intend to have called my little Boy, Charles—​but all our Scottish connexions stood up so strenuously for an old custom, North of the Tweed, of calling the eldest son after his paternal Grandfather614 that I  was obliged to yield & consent to call him David—​however at Mrs Beckingham’s particular request who has an objection to the name David as not sufficiently modern, I added William to it after Major Cook who was one of his Godfathers. So, your Grandson, after much deliberation on the subject was christened David William for I would not waste the name of Charles as a second name—​it is so pretty a one I am determined it shall stand alone & I reserve it for my second son. Mr Gregorie desires me to tell Mr Graham he saw Farmer Cocherell—​but weather was not good—​the roads worse—​& his friend in a hurry to go on to Northhampton which prevented his visiting the Farm—​Mr Lawson has been with him requesting to know if he wished to occupy the whole fifteen thousand of Mortgage as Lawson had heard of another for five thousand which he thinks would suit you. Mr Gregorie told him he only wished to accommodate you & Mr Graham—​he can take the whole fifteen thousand provided Lawson can find a security equally good for your five, but if you do not like what Lawson means to offer, you will be always welcome to lay it out upon Mr Gregorie’s Mortgage of the fifteen thousand, & it will be attended with no inconvenience whatever to him. Our little David, thank God, thrives well—​but proved so fond of the Breast & I had so little to give him, I have been obliged to get him a Wet Nurse—​she has now been with me above a week & the Milk agrees with him very well indeed—​as 612 “Poor Uncle Dash” is Sir William Stephenson’s brother-​in-​law, Samuel Dash (1704–​91) of Shepherd’s Hill, Sussex, who left his fortune to his great-​nephew, Wanley Sawbridge, and Wanley’s father, John Sawbridge, suggesting that the object of his niece’s attentions was achieved, Hill, “Daughter and Mother” 47; The Gentleman’s Magazine: and historical chronicle 61.2 (August 1791): 781. 613 GLC01795.031. Addressed, Mrs M. Graham, Bracknal, Berks. 614 David Gregorie, who was professor of mathematics at St Andrews, see letter [178] note.

The Letters  255 to mine it has given me no trouble whatever—​for I never had enough to satisfy a Sparrow.—​About the middle of next month we think of moving with our who . . .615 y to Ramsgate for we have not [been] able to meet with a house to lett or purchase that was any ways inhabitable—​Mr Gregorie has made two or three journeys from the finest descriptions in the world—​but when he saw them—​the One was full of Water the Other Lath & Plaister—​& the next in Ruins with a fine Outside.—​ Our best Compliments wait on yourself & Mr Graham & I am dear Madam, Ever Your etc.   [185] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 24 July 1790616 My Dear Madam Your kind letter reached me at Ramsgate where we have been just a fortnight. And here we intend to remain/​if the slightness of our house will permit of it /​till the beginning of November. The pure keen air of Thanet agrees vastly with the whole family & our little David takes after his father for he seems really to be fond of Bathing—​He has been in already four times—​As to Catherine she so fairly got the better of me last season that I have not even attempted it again—​To confess the truth I begin to find out that I & her old nurse together have given her too much of her own way/​tho I am determined never to own it except to yourself—​you gave me in your last so sharp a reproof for my negligence that I am really at a loss what apology to make—​I believe I had better on this occasion also confess the truth—​Excellent as are your writings they are not volatile enough to suit the taste of the times—​& I saw so much of the mortification you felt at the uncandid account the Reviewers gave of your immutability that I am really concerned when I hear you are publishing lest it should again occasion an interuption to the usual calmness and serenity of your feelings.—​With these sentiments/​& fearing they might appear ungracious just at that period of the business/​I said nothing at all upon the subject—​& I hope you will forgive me.—​ We saw my Uncle Wanley at Canterbury in high triumph at the success of his friend Honywood—​They were to ride in procession on a day appointed in great state with blue saddle cloths and God knows how many knots of blue ribbon—​& my Uncle Wanley was highly delighted with a cutting paragarph of his own penning for the Canterbury papers against the enemies of the Old Whig interest. All this is very well for by-​standers but [I should] be sorry to have spent so m[any hours] so idly as either the successful or unsuccessful Candidate.—​Mr Gregorie joins in best Respects to yourself & Mr Graham with Dearest Madam, Your etc.

615 Blotch. 616

GLC01795.032. Addressed, Mrs M. Graham, Bracknal, Berks.

256  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [186] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 8 October 1790617 Dearest Madam Upon Receipt of your last letter I again wrote to London for further information in the business of your Mortgage.—​It appears to me from a very full & satisfactory Account of the whole proceeding that the delay has been occasioned by any neglect but simply & unavoidably by one or other of the Parties being always out of town—​& the bustle which Colonel McLeod has been in on account of the dissolution of Parliament. I have no idea that any thing unjust or contrary to your interest is intended by any person concerned—​before the money is paid the securities must of course be given up—​& now Mr Beckingham is in town I have No doubt a proper mode of paying the Money and delivering the securities will soon be concluded on & every thing settled to your satisfaction. The last College Lease618 is in Mr Lawson’s hands with other Papers.—​Indeed my dear Madam I do not think you have any cause for uneasiness—​few men are more punctual in business than Mr Beckingham & Lawson has been so much employed both by yourself & Mr Gregorie—​I am confident he will not be inattentive to our interest. Our kind Compliments on yourself & Mr Graham—​The Children are in perfect health & our weather for these last six weeks has been delightful. Ever Dearest Madam, Your etc.   [187] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 10 November 1790619 My Dear Madam I have been for many days /​I may almost say some weeks /​expecting every Post a letter from you.—​I begin to be under some uneasiness at so ling a silence, as you are in general a punctual correspondent tho’ not very fond of letter writing.—​I have just immagined you perhaps waited to hear of our arrival in town & I now hope to have an early answer to this.—​We returned here last Sunday Sen’night—​& nothing could be better timed as we contrived to stay all the mild weather in the country & for three days before we left Ramsgate had sufficient specimens of the Cold to enjoy our warm quarters in Berners Street.—​We are all in perfect health your Grandson 617 GLC01795.033. Addressed, Mrs M. Graham, Bracknal, Berks. 618 May refer to the fact that the rent for Binfield House was paid to Pembroke College. 619 GLC01795.034. Addressed, Mrs M.  Graham, Bracknal, Berks. Note below address pane in Macaulay’s hand, “so to confound all other simpathies to lead me had apast I a similar portion as his great abilities to endeavor by an inflamatory declamation to combine all the energies of the worst passions of men in favor of my opinion.” Jotting in relation to OR, 60, where she says that “this sentiment of mine is not of so forcible a kind as to destroy all other sympathies. It would not lead me, even if I possessed a similar portion of abilities with Mr. Burke, like him to endeavour, by the animating power of declamation, so to condole with the sufferers as to combine all the energies of the worst passions of men in favour of my opinion.”

The Letters  257 as fat as a little Ortolan620—​Catherine talking from Morning till night to make up for lost time—​A Propos my Dear Madam I intend to present you with another Grandchild next April—​Our friends in Portman Square are all well/​Mr Montagu621 excepted whose recovery is I believe despaired of by his Physician/​and considering the present circumstances I think them in good spirits—​Mr Gregorie joins me in kind Compliments to yourself and Mr Graham & I ever am Dear Madam, Your etc.   [188] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 30 November 1790622 Dearest Madam I have just received intelligence from Portman Square of poor Mr Montagu’s623 death—​As he has been long past all hopes of a recovery & suffered very much, this event is rather to be rejoiced at than lamented. Our weather here for the last three days has been very severe—​I think it must for the present interupt your exercises out of doors.—​We are all well & beg to join in kindest Compliments to yourself & Mr Graham. Ever dearest Madam etc.   [189] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 11 December 1790624 Dearest Madam Many thanks for your excellent Christmas Fare—​I hope your thinking of us is a proof you are well but really you are grown a bad Correspondent of late—​The world says you are employed in writing to Mr Burke—​If so—​I must for a time relinquish my claims in favour of the National Assembly—​which by the bye shows itself a little despotic in this as well as other instances—​ I have the pleasure to say our friends in Portman Square are all as well as can possibly be expected—​They have taken for some time a house at Kensington 620 A songbird often eaten as a delicacy. 621 “Our friends in Portman Square” may include not just Stephen Beckingham and his family, but also Elizabeth Montagu and her entourage. Her husband, Edward Montagu (1692–​1775) was a grandson of Edward Montagu, first Earl of Sandwich (1625–​72). The Hon. John George Montagu, styled Viscount Hinchingbrooke (1767–​90), who is referred to here, was a son of John Montagu, fifth Earl of Sandwich (1743/​44–​1814). He had married, on 3 March 1790, Dorothy Charlotte Beckingham. It is possible that the connection between the two families was cemented as follows. By marrying into the Gregorie family, Catharine Sophia had become a distant relation of Dorothea Gregory (1754–​1830), who was Elizabeth Montagu’s companion from 1772 until 1782. Dorothea was the daughter of James Gregory (1724–​73), professor of medicine at Edinburgh from 1767, and author of A Father’s Legacy to his Daughters (1774). This branch of the family were descended from the younger brother of David Gregory of Kinairdy, but had been reconnected with the Dunkirk branch of the family through the marriage of Sophia Van Wyngarden, the mother of David Gregorie (husband of Anne Macaulay) to yet another David Gregory (1711–​39), who was this James Gregorie’s uncle. 622 GLC01795.035. Addressed, Mrs M. Graham, Bracknal, Berks. 623 See letter [187] note. 624 GLC01795.036. Addressed, Mrs M. Graham, Bracknal, Berks.

258  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay where they intend to remove to this day. We have had terrible weather of late—​ gardening must have been laid aside for a time—​had no such thing as the National Assembly existed—​Seriously I hope you will indulge me with one line soon just to say how you are—​We are here in perfect health—​Mr Gregorie joins in kind remembrance to yourself & Mr Graham with Dearest Madam Your etc.   [190] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 3 January 1791625 My Dear Madam Many thanks for your kind information which has procured us the reading of a book we have been much pleased with, so much so, that Mr Gregorie is at this moment reading it for the second time—​I feel the strength of your Arguments & the goodness of your language—​at the same time I feel that I have lost that spirit of Patriotism which I still admire & which you have uniformly retained through life.—​The injuries which are done to individuals, & which are unavoidable in all revolutions are by them & their families bitterly & severely felt, whilst the Public Good arising from them is distant doubtful & precarious, & felt in a trifling degree by each member of the community.—​Tho it is absolutely necessary that from time to time these reformations should take place or all governments would degenerate into despotism—​yet I sincerely rejoice that my private station in life can never make it necessary to me to become a Reformer.—​Nay my dear Madam I can perfectly recollect a trifling anecdote which perhaps you have forgot—​which convinces me the general turn of mind induces you to agree with me. My uncle once opposed in Parliament the granting two thousand pounds as a recompence to a man for finding out a powder to destroy Vermin, the powder was allowed to be inefficacious, of course the inventor undeserving of reward—​But I remember you remarked at the time that tho’ it was undoubtedly wrong to lavish the Public Money on such pretences yet you should not have liked to be the Person who prevented the Poor Man from obtaining what was to him so very desirable & especially as he was blind & poor—​however to a Politician these circumstances were quite out of the question. This instance seems to me very analogous to many of the sufferers in the french revolution who tho unworthy with respect to the Public are I doubt amiable in their private capacities.—​ I hear my dear Madam that you are going to leave Binfield & have some thought of coming to Sloane Street, Knightsbridge—​A Certain [person] met a



625

GLC01795.037. Addressed, Mrs M. Graham, Bracknal, Berks.

The Letters  259 Certain Person in Bedford Coffee Hou[se] & that Certain Person told it to me—​ for Mr Graham did not mention a word of it here—​Tell him he is very good for Nothing however Mr Gregorie & I  beg to unite in kind Compliments to you both—​The Children are very well—​your grandson has cut two teeth.—​ I am Ever dearest Madam, your etc.   [191] Catharine Sophia Gregorie to Catharine Macaulay, 31 January 1791626 Dearest Madam We are much obliged by your kind present of Ham & Bacon which to us who have at present no Farm is particularly acceptable. I am happy to find you have borne the uncommon succession of demp weather tolerably for such an uninterupted series of rain I think I never remembered. For the sake of some friends who have been lying in the downs these two months Wind-​Bound, Mr Gregorie looks for a Northerly Wind the moment he gets up every morning. But except three four times /​& then it lasted for a few hours only /​the constant point has been South West.—​My Uncle Wanley’s direction is Hall’s Place near Feversham.—​It is the same house he lett for some years on lease to Mr Honywood. We begin with our increasing family to grow tired of a Watering Place for our summer Residence. I have hired a most humble Cottage in Hampshire merely for the sake of breathing a Change of Air during five or six months in the year—​It has been neatly fitted out by Mr Hugh Hoare one of the Partners in the Banking House—​We are to take the furniture of him at a fair Appraisement it is new and neat but uncommonly plain, quite in the Cottage stile—​The rent to the Farmer for the Cottage & garden is only fifteen Pounds a year so that I flatter myself our Chateau will not be a very Expensive addition to our establishment. Mr Gregorie writes with me in kindest Compliments to yourself & Mr Graham, I ever am dearest Madam, Your etc.

George Lux (1753–​97) George Lux owned a large estate, Chatsworth, in Baltimore, which he had inherited from his father. He had served as an officer in the militia during the



626

GLC01795.038. Addressed, Mrs M. Graham, Bracknal, Berks.

260  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Revolution. He was also secretary to Baltimore’s committee of observation, and an enthusiastic reader of history. In June 1785 Macaulay and William Graham stayed with him at Chatsworth and then he accompanied them to Mount Vernon along with a Colonel Fitzgerald.627 According to his account, while at Mount Vernon, Macaulay expiated at length on the advantages of the rotation of offices in a republican government.628   [192] George Lux to Catharine Macaulay, 11 June 1785629 Alexandria My letter to Mr. Grahame will, My Dear Madam, exculpate me (I hope) for leaving you, especially as I  flatter myself with seeing you again not only in Baltimore, but also at Chatsworth—​ From some hints dropped by Mr. Grahame I have reason to suppose you are chiefly endeavouring to inform yourself minutely of every particular relating to the siege of York; I must take the liberty of frankly confessing I cannot think that event as most honourable to the illustrious Character under whose hospitable roof you now are placed—​The Campaign of 1776 in my opinion is the most glorious epoche of his Command, for at the time he had but few Troops, & they were undisciplined, while a numerous army commanded by a great Commander opposed him—​his Genius & Spirit of Resource enabled him then to save us, when even hope was lost—​Is it not more glorious in a great Man to conquer difficulties, than merely to reap the fruits of his labours? The World will say nay, but a liberal Mind will not hesitate to answer in the Affirmative—​A mere detail of Facts will not satisfy a generous disposition; they may be gathered from the Remembrancer or Annual Register, but the secret Springs from which they result must be learnt—​It increases my Admiration of the General, when I remember, that he had not the unlimited Confidence of his Country before the Battles of Trenton & Princeton, which was rivetted by the Battle of Monmonth & the Dispersion of a Cabal formed to crush him, which only failed because his Country would not lose his services—​ I have been told, that his resource was astonishing, & that even Lord Chatham had not a greater talent for collecting intelligence—​his intelligence during 1776 & 1777 is what you would be happy in learning—​I wish you could come at the particulars of the Cabal formed against him in the Winter of 1777, but

627 Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds., The Diaries of George Washington (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1979), 4:148. 628 Graydon, Memoirs of a Life, 329. 629 GLC01794.18.

The Letters  261 perhaps his delicacy may induce him to withold Information, as being in some measure of a personal nature; You can only try to learn them—​ When Clinton was at Charlestown, & Kniphausen came out against him in 1779, Gen. W[ashington] had but a trifling force—​that era is worthy of you informing yourself of every particular, as well as from Brandywine & Germantown—​in such trying Situations a great Man shines with greater lustre, than merely in besieging & taking a Town with a Superior Force, but the World generally judges of a Man merely by his success—​ The particulars of the Northern Campaign of 1779 you may gather from General St Clair (to whom I shall have the honor of introducing you when you to return to Philadelphia) & Lincoln, & General Williams can give you information respecting the Southern Campaign, as he was the Adjutant General & Confidential Friend of both General Gates & Greene—​ I must confess I wish not to see you for a Month, i.e. I wish you to spend so much time in collecting exact information—​I shall, when I get home, sit down & write you a voluminous letter giving you every information in my power respecting the Revolution, that it may amuse you upon comparison with others—​ I am respectfully Madam, Your etc.

Guillaume-​Joseph Saige (1746–​1804) As early as 1775, in the context of political murmuring over the cost of, and formulae adopted, during the coronation of Louis XVI, Guillaume-​Joseph Saige had published a “seditious” work, Le Catéchisme du Citoyen. This was also a reverberation from the Maupeou crisis, brought on by Louis XV’s attempt to limit the traditional powers of the parlements. It spelled out in simple terms the doctrine that the purpose of government is to bring about the general will, and was heavily influenced by Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws.630 Saige was born in the Ile de France, but spent most of his life in Bordeaux, were he was an advocat.631 He was an active member of the literary and philosophical society, the Musée de Bordeaux, of which Macaulay became a corresponding member, as a result of his advocacy. The author of a number of books and pamphlets that were radical when published, his political stance was later overshadowed by the adoption of a single National Assembly and the rapid rise of republicanism,for he had looked back to the ancient

630 Keith Michael Baker, “French Political Thought at the Accession of Louis XVI,” Journal of Modern History 50 (1978): 279–​303; Clarke W. Garrett, “The Moniteur of 1788,” French Historical Studies 5 (1968): 263–​73. 631 “The Moniteur of 1788,” 267.

262  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay French constitution, argued for regional assemblies, and promoted the role of the nobility and clergy as intermediate powers in a constitutional monarchy.   [193] Guillaume-​Joseph Saige to Catharine Macaulay, 14 September 1785632 Madame Je n’aurais pas tardé aussi longtemps a répondre à la lettre que vous m’avez fait l’honneur de m’écrire et à vous remercier au nom du Musée et au mien du superbe present que vous lui avés fait, sans le long retard qu’a éprouvé votre envir a la remise de vos ouvrages, il y avait plus d’un mois que le navire que les portait étais dans la rade de Bordeaux avant qu’on m’eut averti, et il a fallu au moins trois semaines après cela pour retirer les livres de chez le Courties. Permettes moi actuellement Madame d’etre auprès de vous l’organe de la Societé et de vous assure de tout sa reconnaissance, de l’admiration qu’elle à pour vos talens, et de la satisfaction qu’elle a de vous posseder au nombre de ses membres. Permettes moi aussi Madame, en qualité d’ami sincere acaddem de la liberté de vous rendre l’hommage qui vous sont due de la part de tous ceux qui connaissent les droits de l’homme et savent apprecier les avantages inestimables d’une constitution libre. Convaincue avec raison de la Superiorité des anciennes legislations Sur les meilleurs des institutions modernes, vous avez cherché à dissiper les prejugés de vos compatriotes qui leur faisaient regarder leur constitution comme la meilleure possible, et le prejugé encore plus deraisonnable qui arrive comme fletri dans l’opinion vulgaire quelque ans, des grands hommes auxquels les anglais derivent la plupart des droits civile ou politiques dont ils jouissent actuellement. Puissent tels en depouillent l’esprit de parti profiter de vos conseils pour perfectionner leur legislation et la rapprocher de ce paix desirable qui place la souveraineté dans les mains de la Societé elle-​même, vos concitoyens plus heureux que nous jouissent au moins d’une liberté civile très assurée et d’une grande portion de liberté politique, et ne sont pas ainsi que le peuple français, soit individuellement soit en corps exposés au coups du pouvoir arbitraire. Chès nous les lumieres et l’esprit de liberté existe dans la parti partie la plus saine de la nation, mais l’ignorance l’empire de despotisme ou de servitude existent egalement dans la multitude et dans le gouvernement dans ce moment ci la lutte est vigoureux entre la liberté et le pouvoir arbitraire, et il est peut etre indecis auquel des deux la victoire resterai. Il servir à desirer que dans un siecle aussi eclairé tenté les antipattiees et les animosités nationales ces animosités sont nourries par les chefs qui cherchent par la guerre à



632

GLC01794.29. Addressed to Mistress Macaulay Graham, Knightsbridge.

The Letters  263 augmenter leur pouvoir. Il serait plus raisonnable les nations, et surtout les nations voisine mettent p . . .633 des querelles qui n’ont pas pour but le bonheur des peuples mais la satisfaction de prince ou de ministres ambition se reunissent dans la cause commune de la liberté le s’aidaient mutuellement contre les entrepris de leur chefs. Je sais combien les prejugés nationaux rendre difficile l’accomplissement de ce projet, mais il m’est permis d’en exprimer le voue. Me etant sur le point de publier une second edition d’un petit ouvrage de ma composition intitulé Cathéchism du citoyen qui dois paraitre sous plus court des augmentations j’ose vous prie de vouloir bien acceptiez une exemplaire que je vous ferai tenir par la voie la plus facile. J’en ai un autre sous presse portant le titre de Manuel de l’homme libre je vous prierai egalement Madame d’agreer l’envoi que je vous en ferai. Vous y retrouverai Madame vos principes mais exprimé avec moins de force et de talent que s’ils eussent été traie par votre plume. Servir les tels qu’ils sont comme un temoignage du plus profond respect pour votre vertu et vos talents et de la plus haute veneration pour votre personne avec laquelle j’ai l’honneur d’etre Votre très humble Madame et très obligant serviteur de bon Saige serv: du Musée [Madam, I would not have been so slow to respond to the letter which you did me the honor of writing and of thanking you in the name of the Museum and in mine for the superb present which you made it, except for the long wait that your envoy suffered in receiving your works. The boat which brought them was in the harbor of Bordeaux for more than a month before I was told about it, and it then took at least another three weeks to retrieve the books from the Courties. Allow me in fact Madam to speak as the representative of the Society and to assure you of its deep gratitude, of the admiration it has for your talents, and of its satisfaction in welcoming you as one of its members. Permit me also, Madam, as a sincere and ardent friend of liberty, to render the homage due to you on behalf of all those who understand the rights of man and who know how to appreciate the inestimable advantages of a free constitution. Convinced with reason of the superiority of the ancient legislations over the best of modern institutions, you have attempted to dispel the prejudices of your compatriots which make them consider their constitution the best possible, and the even more unreasonable prejudice which, a few years ago, came wrinkled into vulgar opinion, [that] the English derive most of the civil and political rights which they actually enjoy from some great men.634 Should such in plucking out party spirit, profit from your advice to perfect their legislature and to approach to that desirable peace which places sovereignty in society’s own hands. Your citizens, at least, are happier than we are in enjoying very secure civil

633 Tear. 634

This comment suggests that Saige was familiar with OP.

264  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay liberties and a large measure of political liberty, and are thus not like the French people, both individually and as a body exposed to the blows of arbitrary power. Here enlightenment and the spirit of liberty exist in the healthiest part of the nation but ignorance, the rule of despotism and servitude exist equally among the masses and the government. At this moment the struggle between liberty and arbitrary power is vigorous, and it has not been decided which will win. It is reasonable to hope in a century of such an enlightened tendency to escape national antipathies and animosities, for these animosities are nourished by leaders who seek to augment their power through war. It would be more reasonable for nations, and even more neighboring nations to put [aside] quarrels which do not aim at the happiness of the people, but the satisfaction of the ambition of prince or ministers, uniting themselves in the common cause of liberty mutually protecting it against the plans of their rulers. I know how national prejudice makes the achievement of such a project difficult but I am permitted to express the wish. Being on the point of publishing a second edition of a little work I composed called Catechism of the Citizen which should appear with short augmentations I beg you to be kind enough to accept a copy which I will send to you by the most convenient means. I have an other in press carrying the title Manual of the Free Man of which I equally beg you to accept the gift that I will make. You will find there, Madam, your principles but expressed with less great a talent than they would have been had they been traced by your pen. I will be pleased if they serve as a testament of the deepest respect for your virtue and your talents and the highest veneration of your person with which I have the honor of being Your very humble, Madam, and obliging servant, from the good Saige, servant of the Museum]   [194] Guillaume-​Joseph Saige to Catharine Macaulay, 27 September 1787635 Bordeaux Madame, Permette que j’ai l’honneur de vous offrir l’hommage de deux de mes productions consacré à la defense de la liberté. C’est la leur principal ou peutetre leur unique merite, et c’est sous ce seul rapport que j’ose vous les presenter. Le but de l’auteur dans la composition de ces petites ouvrages obtiendra peut etre votre indulgence pour la maniere dont il l’a rempli. Hardie pour la liberté politique de votre nation, vous n’avès pas concentre vos affections dans le cercle de vos concitoyens; vous vous interessés egalement au bonheur et à la liberté de tous les

635 GLC01794.30.

The Letters  265 peuples, et vous ne doutés pas qu’ils n’aient tous les mêmes droite a la jouissance des prerogatives de leur espece. Le catechisme du citoyen quoique destine pour la nation françoise et à lui faire connaitre sa vrai constitution politique ne vous paraitra donc absolument etranger dans son objet. Le manuel de l’homme libre ou j’ai cherché à poser dans la nature de l’homme la fond’ment des droits des Societés, et à les porter jusqu’a la demonstration la plus rigoureuse, est plus relatif encore aux principes etendue de liberté que vous avés adopté depuis longtems. J’oserais donc vous prier instamment, Madame de derober quelques momens à vos occupations pour jetter les yeux sur ces ouvrages et je m’estimerai tres heureux si vous y retrouverai quelques etincelles de l’esprit que vous animait dans la composition de l’histoire que vous aves donnée à l’angleterre. Je vous prierais aussi de vouloir bien les communiquer a Mr Brissot de Warville dont vous m’avez parlé, lorsque j’ai eu l’honneur de vous voir dans ce pays ci. L’attachement qu’il à temoigné avec tant de courage et de lumieres dans ses ecrits et dans sa conduite pour tous les genres de liberté me porte à croire qu’il prendre quelque interêt à l’ouvrage et à l’auteur. Personne n’est plus propre que vous, Madame, et ce homme de lettres respectable à faire connaitre en angleterre le Manuel de l’homme libre si vous le trouviés l’une et l’autre digne de votre attention et que vous crussiés qu’il peut etre du goût des politiques anglais, vous m’obligeriés infinment de faire demander à quelque libraire de londres s’il en prendre une certaine quantité d’exemplaires, et sur la réponse donc vous m’honorerié je previendrais mon libraire pour qu’il les envoyai directement à l’adresse donnée. C’est principalement pour les nations libres que j’ai ecrit ce dernier ouvrage. Je desirerais donc qu’il repandre en angleterre, en hollande et en suisse. Je souhaiterais aussi que les philosophes qui dans ces pays la s’occupent de droit public et de politique voulassent bien m’honour de leurs observations. Leurs lumieres fondées non seulement sur la theorie mais encore sur la connaissance practique des constititions libres me seroit infiniment utiles. Oserois je me flatter, Madame, que vous voudrés bien me faire part de vos avis et de vos reflexions. J’en serois tres reconnaissent. Je ne sais si la letter que j’ai eu l’honneur de vous ecrire au nom du Musée pour vous remercier de beau present que vous lui avés fait vous est parvenu, ignorent votre addresse j’en avois mis simplement le suscription à Londres persuadé que quelque part que vous fussiés en angleterre cette lettre vous seroit infailliblement rendu. Je vous reïtere dans ce moment-​ci au nom de la societé et au mien mes remerciemens pour un don aussi flatteur par la main dont nous le tenons que magnifique en lui-​même. J’ai l’honneur d’etre avec la plus haute veneration, Madame, Votre très humble et très obeirent Serviteur, Saige. Mon adresse est à M Saige Maison de Madame Loustan, rue de la grande taupe, faubourg St Sevrin, à Bordeaux

266  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [Madam, Permit me the honor of offering you the homage of two of my works consecrated to the defense of liberty. This is their principle or maybe their only merit, and in any case only on this consideration do I dare present them to you. The author’s aim in the composition of these little works will perhaps gain your indulgence for the manner in which it was completed. Dedicated to the political liberty of your nation, you have not limited your affections to the circle of your countrymen, you are equally interested in the happiness and liberty of all peoples, and you don’t doubt that they all have the same right to enjoy the prerogatives of their kind. Thus the Catechism of the Citizen, while destined for the French nation and to acquaint it with its true political constitution will not seem completely alien in its ends to you. The Manual of the Free Man, where I have attempted to place the foundation of the rights of societies in the nature of man, and to provide them with the most rigorous demonstration, is even more relevant to the extended principles of liberty that you have adopted for a long time. So I dare beg you immediately, Madam to give up a few moments from your occupations in order to glance at these works and I will count myself very happy if you were to find there some sparks of the spirit which animated you in the composition of the history that you gave to England. I would ask you also to be so kind as to communicate them to Mr. Brissot de Warville of whom you spoke when I had the honor of seeing you in this country. The attachment that he has shown with so much courage and enlightenment in his writings and in his conduct for all kinds of liberty leads me to believe that he will take some interest in the work and the author. None other than you and this respectable man of letters is more proper to make known the Manual of the Free Man in England, should you both find it worthy of your attention and should you believe that it might be to the taste of English politicians. You would infinitely oblige me were you to ask a London bookseller if he would take a certain quantity of copies, and on the reply that you honor me with, I will notify my bookseller to send them directly to the address given. It is principally for the free nations that I wrote this last work. I would therefore like it to circulate in England, in Holland, and in Switzerland. I would wish also that the philosophers who are occupied in these countries with politics and public law would honor me with their observations. Their insights founded, not only on the theory, but also on the practical knowledge of free constitutions would be infinitely useful to me. Do I  dare flatter myself, Madam, that you might share with me your advice and reflections, I would be most grateful. I do not know whether the letter that I had the honor of writing to you in the name of the Museum in order to thank you for the beautiful present which you made arrived. Being ignorant of your address, I put simply the direction, London, being persuaded that no matter where you were in England this letter would undoubtedly be delivered to you. I reiterate now in the name of the society and

The Letters  267 my own my thanks for a gift so flattering in virtue of the hand from which it came, as magnificent in itself. I have the honor of being with the highest veneration, Madam, Your very humble and very obedient servant, Saige. My address is to M Saige, Maison de Madame Loustan, rue de la grande taupe, faubourg St Sevrin, à Bordeaux]   [195] Catharine Macaulay to Guillaume-​Joseph Saige, 11 June 1788636 Binfield Dear Madam, I joyfully embrace the first opportunity of writing to you which a continued series of business necessary in the removing to a new habitation where every thing was out of order has given me. Sir, I have read over your two political tracts with infinite pleasure. The principles on which they are written do great honor to your heart and they are elucidated in a manner which manifests a high and extensive knowledge of your subject with a clearness of judgment and an acuteness of observation which few political writers possess. I own to you that I found my vanity a good deal exalted in the reading so argumentative an exposition of my own sentiments and I  think that Locke and Rousseau were they to revisit the earth would acknowledge that their ideas were improved, extended, and elucidated in your Manuel, but I am afraid you have a better opinion of the english than they deserve, the lower ranks of the people are too ignorant to read works of any depth and the higher classes too interested to relish the pureness of your equity. This is the misfortune of all those who write for the bulk of mankind and not for the favored few, their works are only read by those who have an interest in decrying them. I am at present buried in a Country retreat but I have written to Mr Warville’s Bookseller to inquire where he is but I am afraid he is out of England, however I shall take every step in my power to get some copies of your excelent Work circulated here both for the esteem I have for the Author and the intrinsick value of his performance. I received the first letter you favored me with but delayed answering it till the promised Literary present arrived. I beg you will accept my thanks for it The Gentlemen of the Museum do me honor in mentioning my works with so much politeness, were they much more considerable I should regard them as a small 636 GLCO1794.31. Draft with the address, Monsieur Le Saige, Maison de Madame Loustan, Rue de la grande taupe Faubourg St Sevrin Bordeaux.

268  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay return for the flattering compliment they paid me, I am Sir with the highest esteem and regard,

George Washington (1732–​99) It is hardly necessary to explain who George Washington, military commander during the American War of Independence and first president of the United States of America, was. It was partly through the agency of Mercy Otis Warren that Macaulay was introduced to Washington, and visited him at his home, Mount Vernon, in the summer of 1785, though she enlisted the support of a number of other acquaintances who wrote on her behalf to introduce her to him.637 The purpose of her visit may have been to collect material for the history of the American Revolution that she had considered writing, but soon after her visit, she had given up any hope of completing that project and decided to return to Europe.   [196] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, 13 July 1785638 The intemperate heat of the air which prevailed on the morning when we parted with our illustrious friends accompanied us during the whole of our journey from Mount Vernon to New York. When I arrived in this city I found my self too much indisposed to embrace so early as inclination prompted, the honor Sir of obeying the most obliging command you could have laid on me. When we address ourselves to characters so eminently distinguished Sir as yours we wish to describe the impressions which very extraordinary virtues never fail to make on the candid mind. There are some scenes however too lively for painting to do justice too in the representation, and some sentiments too strong even for Oratory to express. The voice of flattery has so often swelled moderate virtues into all the magnitude of excellence which speech can convey to the immagination, that we in vain search in the language of panigeric for some arrangement of words adequate to that superiority of praise which is due to the first character in the world—​My present feebleness obliges me for the present to desist from the arduous undertaking especially as I know the delicacy of your mind makes you as backward to meet applause as you are forward to deserve it. You must however give me leave to say that you above all the human race seem happily distinguished in the privilege of

637 Abbot, Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, 2:532–​34. Available from FO. 638

HOU MS Sparks 49.3.IV.166. Published in ibid., 3:115–​17. Available from FO.

The Letters  269 preserving and encreasing the esteem of mankind through the opportunity of a more intimate and correct knowledge of your character and talents. The more attentively Sir you are examined by the inquisitive mind the more it finds, that the voice of fame tho noted for exaggerating the puny merit of mortals into a gigantic form of virtue has in your case even lessened truth; and whilst we contemplate with an exalted admiration the grand features of your public character we indulge with delight those softer sentiments of friendship which your domestic and private virtues are so well calculated to inspire. With impressions such as these Sir you may immagine that the virtues of the Great Hero of the Western World, the benevolence of Mrs Washington’s temper with that polite and captivating attention with which she exercises the virtues of hospitality to all the numerous visitors which resort to Mount Vernon are the favorite topicks of conversation on which we have dwelt ever since we have had the honor of being entertained under your roof. These topicks are fortunately universally pleasing. That Heaven may long preserve that mode of existence in which so many bright, useful, and aimable qualities, are united, and that it may long preserve to you Sir, every pleasing circumstance which marks the felicity of the present day is the sincere wish, Of Your etc. Mr Graham joins me in best respects to yourself and to Mrs Washington, for whom our wishes for a long succession of happy years are most sincerely offered; we beg to be remembered to Major Washington, and Miss Basset, and that you will present our love to the very young Lady and Gentleman.   [197] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, [October 1785]639 You know, in all human societies, there are many things to blame, if there are many to praise; but all which I shall say on the whole is, that I found the state of things as well, or perhaps better, than a philosopher would have expected. My journey to Virginia, though very fatiguing, and even injurious to my health, I  can scarcely repent, for I  found that Fame had not exaggerated the private or public qualities of that modern Colossus of human virtue, General Washington. I have brought away a parcel of . . .. . . seeds for your service, which he has collected for a new plantation which he is making. I left New York the middle of July last, arrived in the French packet the middle of August, and have been settled a fortnight at Aix en Provence. I intend to spend

639 “Extracts from two original letters of Gen. Washington and Mrs Macaulay,” Scots Magazine 48 (1786): 112.

270  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay the winter here, and early in the spring to proceed to England, taking the round-​ about route of Nice, Geneva, with some part of Flanders and Holland. You will be surprised at the extent of the tour, when I tell you that travelling is as painful and unpleasant to me as it is pleasurable to others: but it convinces me that there is very little useful knowledge to be gained from the descriptions presented to us in all the various books of travels; and it furnishes me with several necessary ideas for a work which I have much to heart.   [198] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 10 January 1786640 Mount Vernon

Madam, I wish my expression would do justice to my feelings, that I might convey to you adequate ideas of my gratitude for those favourable sentiments with which the letter you did me the honour to write to me from New York, is replete. The plaudits of a Lady, so celebrated as Mrs Macauly Graham, could not fail of making a deep impression on my sensibility; and my pride was more than a little flattered, by your approbation of my conduct through an arduous and painful contest. During the time in which we supposed you to have been on your journey to New York, we participated the distresses which we were sure you must have experienced, on account of the intemperature of the Air, which exceeded the heats common in this Country at the most inclement season; and though your letter was expressive of the great fatigue you had undergone, still we rejoiced that the journey was attended with no worse consequences. I hope, and most sincerely wish, that this letter may find you happily restored to your friends in England, whose anxiety for your return must, I am persuaded have been great—​and that you will have experienced no inconvenience from your voyage to America. Mrs Washington who has a grateful sense of your favourable mention of her—​and Fanny Bassett, & Major Washington who, since we had the honor of your Company, have joined their hands & fortunes, unite with me in respectful compliments to you—​and in every good wish that can render you & Mr Graham happy. The little folks enjoy perfect health. The boy, whom you would readily have perceived was the pet of the family, affords promising hopes from maturer age. With sentiments of great respect & esteem I have the honor to be Madam Your etc.

640 T1007, Collection of Letters and Autographs of Celebrities, LCMA. Published in Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, 3:502–​3. Available from FO.

The Letters  271 [199] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, before March 1786641 Our course of Husbandry in most of the American States is not only exceedingly unprofitable, but so destructive to our lands, that it is my earnest wish to engage a thorough bred English farmer, from a part of England where husbandry is best understood, and most advantageously practiced, to take care and charge of a plantation, say of ten labourers; or to be more explicit, of a farm of about 250 acres of arable land, to be flocked with a competent number of ploughs, black cattle, sheep, and hogs. I mean by a knowing farmer, one who understands the best course of crops, how to plough, to sow, to mow, trench, drain, hedge and ditch, and who (Midas-​like) can convert every thing he touches into manure, as the first transmutation towards gold. I don’t mean to put you to the trouble of actually engaging one at present: but shall be obliged to you for making enquiry, and communicating the result to me, as it is now too late for the ensuing year. These enquiries, you will readily perceive, are pointed to a farmer of the middle class, which would probably best answer my purpose; but if you could conveniently extend your enquiries further, permit me to ask if one of a higher rank could be had; and on what terms? I mean for a steward? It may not be amiss to observe, that I have discontinued the growth of tobacco, and that it is my intention to raise as little Indian corn as may be, as I am desirous of entering on as complete a course of husbandry as is practiced in the best farming counties in England. I, however, enquire for a man of the latter description with little hopes of success; first, because I believe one who is completely fit for my purpose would be above my price, as I do not abound in money; and secondly, because I  entertain the idea that an English steward is not so much a farmer as he is an attorney or accomptant: in this, however, I may be mistaken. In a word, if you could meet with a man of one or both these descriptions, in whom you could absolutely confide, and could ascertain his or their terms, leaving me at liberty to accede to them or not within a reasonable time for an interchange of letters, I shall be happy to hear from you as soon as convenient. A man in the character of steward, if single, and his appearance equal to it, would live in the house with me, and be at my table. The common farmer would be on the farm, which would be intrusted to his care.   [200] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, 10 October 1786642 Knightsbridge near London 641 Printed in “Extracts from two original letters.” 642 Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Simon Gratz Collection, 0250A. Published in Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, 4:289–​90. Available from FO.

272  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Sir By some of those unlucky incidents which attend the passage cross the Atlantic the letter with which you honored me dated Jan. 10 did not reach me till the latter end of June last. There are few persons in Europe who would not be highly flattered by a correspondence with General Washington but when this gratification which from the consideration of popular eminence must be felt by every vulgar mind is enlarged by a Genuine taste for moral excelence it raises the most lively Sentiments of self complacency and gratitude. When I returned from Mount Vernon to Philadelphia I had the pleasure of seeing a Portrait which bore the strongest resemblance to the original of any I had seen, if you favor me with another letter you will do me great pleasure if you will inform me whether Mr Pine is much advanced in his grand designs of pourtraying the Capital events of the civil wars and whether he is likely to succeed in his attempt. Give me leave Sir to return you our thanks for those obliging and benevolent sentiments with which your letter is replete. We present our best respects to Mrs Washington our best compliments and good wishes to the aimable pair who have united their fortunes since our departure from America and our love to the little people whom we sincerely hope will both in their different characters afford an ample recompense for the benevolent care and culture they have received. I have the honor to be Sir with those sentiments which your virtues and goodness are so well calculated to inspire Your etc.   [201] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 16 November 1787643 Mount Vernon Madam, Your favor of the 10th of October 1786 came duly to hand, and should have had a much earlier acknowledgment, had not the business of the public (in which I have been, in a manner, compelled to engage again) engrossed the whole of my time for several months past; and my own private concerns required my unremitted attention, since my return home. I do not know to what cause I shall impute your not receiving my letter of the 10th of January 1786 till the last of June; it went by the common rout—​subject to the common incidents. 643 T1007, Collection of Letters and Autographs of Celebrities, LCMA; Letterbook copy, LC, George Washington Papers. Published in ibid., 5:440–​41. Available from FO.

The Letters  273 Mr Pine’s Historical paintings does not appear to go on very rapidly. He informed me, when I  was in Philadelphia, that he had been collecting materials to enable him to proceed with it, but that it must be a work of time to accomplish it. You will undoubtedly, before you receive this, have an opportunity of seeing the plan of Government proposed by the Fœderal Convention for the United States. You will very readily conceive, Madam, the difficulties which the Convention had to struggle against. The various & opposite interests which were to be conciliated. The local prejudices which were to be subdued. The diversity of opinions & sentiments which were to be reconciled. And in fine, the sacrifices which were necessary to be made on all sides, for the general welfare, combined to make it a work of so intricate & difficult a nature, that I think it is much to be wondered at, that any thing could have been produced with such unanimity as the Constitution proposed. It is now submitted to the consideration of the People, & waits their decision. The legislatures of the several States which have been convened since the Constitution was offered, have readily agreed to the calling a Convention in their respective States—​some by an unanimous vote, and others by a large Majority, but whether it will be adopted by the People or not, remains yet to be determined. Mrs Washington & the rest of the family join me in Compliments and best wishes for you and Mr Graham. I have the honor to be Madam—​ Your etc.   [202] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, 30 October 1789644 Bracknal Berks Sir It is now about a year and a half since I had the honor of receiving a letter from you dated November. 16. 87. I do not pretend to make you any apology for not troubling you with an acknowledgment sooner, tho I rather think it necessary to make one for troubling you in the important station you now fill, with my congratulations on the event, which placed you at the head of the American government. But it is not you Sir, that I consider as benefited by the unanimous election of the Americans; your philosophic turn of mind would have lead you to the completion of human happiness in a private station; but the Americans in their judicious choice, have I flatter my self, secured to themselves the full 644 LC, George Washington Papers. Published in Dorothy Twohig, ed., The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series (Charlottesville:  University Press of Virginia, 1993), 4:257–​59. Available from FO.

274  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay and permanent enjoyment of that liberty for which they are indebted to your persevering valor in the first instance. Your wisdom and virtue will undoubtedly enable you to check the progress of every opinion inimical to those rights, which, you have so bravely and fortunately asserted; and for which many of your Country men have paid so dear: and you will be a bright example to future presidents of an integrity rarely to be met with in the first stations of life. All the friends of freedom on this side the Atlantic are now rejoicing for an event which in all probability has been accelerated by the American revolution. You not only possess your selves the first of human blessings but you have been the means of raising that spirit in Europe, which I sincerely hope, will in a short time extinguish every remainder of that barbarous servitude under which all the European Nations in a less or a greater degree, have so long been Subject. The French have justified the nobleness of their original character, and from the immerssions of Luxury and frivolity, have set an example that is Unique in all the histories of human society. A populous nation effecting by the firmness of their union, the Universality of their sentiments; and the energy of their actions; the intire overthrow of a Despotism that had stood the test of ages. We are full of wonder in this part of the world, and cannot conceive how such things should be. Your Friend and Eleve the Marquis de la Fayette has acted a part in this revolution which has raised him above his former exploits; because his conduct has been directed to the good of his distressed country men and shews him far above those base and narrow selfishnesses with which particular privileges are so apt to taint the human mind. I have heard that a Mons: Brissot de Warville has lately become a citizen of America; he is a warm friend to liberty and a man of the first rate abilities.645 He is a great friend of mine and as I presume he has been presented to your Excelency; will take the liberty which your known goodness inspires to beg that you would remember me to him and to assure him of my wishes for his happiness and prosperity. Mr Graham joins me in best respects to your self and Mrs Washington. We contemplate with no small pleasure the advantage America will reap from that check to all the luxuries of dress which her example of an elegant simplicity in this article will undoubtedly effect. I am Sir Your etc.

645 Brissot de Warville had visited George Washington on 15 November 1788, and had been recommended to him by Lafayette. Jackson and Twohig, The Diaries of George Washington, 5:422. Available from FO. In a letter dated 25 May 1788, written from Paris, which was given to Brissot to deliver, Lafayette had provided Washington with an account of the French political situation and introduced Brissot and his traveling companion, claiming that the former intended to write a history of the American Revolution, Abbot, Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, 6:292–​95. Available FO.

The Letters  275 [203] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 9 January 1790646 New York Madam, Your obliging letter, dated in October last, has been received; and, as I do not know when I shall have more Leisure than at present to throw together a few observations in return for yours, I take up my Pen to do it by this early occasion. In the first place, I  thank you for your congratulatory sentiments on the event which has placed me at the head of the American Government; as well as for the indulgent partiality, which it is to be feared however, may have warped your judgment too much in my favor. But you do me no more than Justice, in supposing that, if I had been permitted to indulge my first & fondest wish, I should have remained in a private Station. Although, neither the present age or Posterity may possibly give me full credit for the feelings which I have experienced on this subject; yet I have a consciousness, that nothing short of an absolute conviction of duty could ever have brought me upon the scenes of public life again. The establishment of our new Government seemed to be the last great experiment, for promoting human happiness, by reasonable compact, in civil Society. It was to be, in the first instance, in a considerable degree, a government of accomodation as well as a government of Laws. Much was to be done by prudence, much by conciliation, much by firmness. Few, who are not philosophical Spectators, can realise the difficult and delicate part which a man in my situation had to act. All see, and most admire, the glare which hovers round the external trappings of elevated Office. To me, there is nothing in it, beyond the lustre which may be reflected from its connection with a power of promoting human felicity. In our progress towards political happiness my station is new; and, if I may use the expression, I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any action, whose motives may not be subject to a double interpretation. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent. Under such a view of the duties inherent to my arduous office, I could not but feel a diffidence in myself on the one hand; and an anxiety for the Community that every new arrangement should be made in the best possible manner on the other. If after all my humble but faithful endeavours to advance the felicity of my Country & Mankind; I may endulge a hope that my labours have not been altogether without success, it will be the only real compensation I can receive in the closing Scenes of life.

646 T1007, Collection of Letters and Autographs of Celebrities, LCMA; Letterbook copy, LC, George Washington Papers. Published in Twohig, Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, 4:551–​54. Available from FO.

276  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay On the actual situation of this Country, under its new Government, I will, in the next place, make a few remarks. That the Government, though not absolutely perfect, is one of the best in the World, I  have little doubt. I  always believed that an unequivocally free & equal Representation of the People in the Legislature; together with an efficient & responsable Executive were the great Pillars on which the preservation of American Freedom must depend. It was indeed next to a Miracle that there should have been so much unanimity, in points of such importance, among such a number of Citizens, so widely scattered and so different in their habits in many respects, as the Americans were. Nor are the growing unanimity and encreasing good will of the Citizens to the Government less remarkable than favorable circumstances. So far as we have gone with the new Government (and it is completely organized and in operation) we have had greater reason than the most sanguine could expect to be satisfied with its success. Perhaps a number of accidental circumstances have concurred with the real effects of the Government to make the People uncommonly well pleased with their situation and prospects. The harvests of Wheat have been remarkably good—​the demand for that article from abroad is great—​the encrease of Commerce is visible in every Port—​and the number of new Manufactures introduced in one year is astonishing. I have lately made a tour through the Eastern States. I found the Country, in a great degree, recovered from the ravages of War—​the Towns flourishing—​& the People delighted with a government instituted by themselves & for their own good. The same facts I have also reason to believe, from good authority, exist in the Southern States. By what I have just observed, I think you will be persuaded that the ill-​boding Politicians, who prognosticated that America would never enjoy any fruits from her Independence & that She would be obliged to have recourse to a foreign Power for protection, have at least been mistaken. I shall sincerely rejoice to see that the American Revolution has been productive of happy consequences on both sides of the Atlantic. The renovation of the French Constitution is indeed one of the most wonderful events in the history of Mankind: and the agency of the Marquis de la Fayette in a high degree honorable to his character. My greatest fear has been, that the Nation would not be sufficiently cool & moderate in making arrangements for the security of that liberty, of which it seems to be fully possessed. Mr Warville, the French Gentleman you mention, has been in America & at Mount Vernon; but has returned, sometime since to France. Mrs Washington is well and desires her Compliments may be presented to you. We wish the happiness of your fire side; as we also long to enjoy that of our own at Mount Vernon. Our wishes, you know, were limited; and I think that our plans of living will now be deemed reasonable by the considerate part of our species. Her wishes coincide with my own as to simplicity of dress, and every thing

The Letters  277 which can tend to support propriety of character without partaking of the follies of luxury and ostentation. I am with great regard Madam, Your etc.   [204] Catharine Macaulay to George Washington, June 1790647 Bracknal; Berks. Sir The sentiments your Excellency expressed in your Letter of the 9th of January are worthy of your exalted character; and must be pleasing to all those who are friends to the happiness of man kind, For when by the success of your arms, you afforded America the option of a free government; your task was not so difficult, or more important, than your present station; as her first Chief Majestrate. The present system of American Government, contains all those principles which have been regarded as capable of resisting every hostile influence arising either from force or seduction. I  once thought that such a system of government would be invulnerable; as your Excellency must have perceived if you have ever read a political tract of mine adressed to Paoli the Corsican General. It is true that in that sketch of a Democratical Government, I endeavored to keep out corruption by enforcing a general Rotation; but I must acknowledge to you that the corruptions which have crept into our Legislature since the revolution, with the wise caution used by the french patriots in the rules to which they have subjected their National Assembly, have led me to alter my opinion; and this alteration of opinion, incline me to fear, that ill consequences may arise from vesting the Legislative body with the power of establishing Offices, of regulating the quantum of their salaries, and of enjoying themselves the emoluments arising from such establishments. I should have thought it safer to have made them incapable of holding at least any Civil Office whilst they were Members of the Legislature. Th who have studied mankind with the greatest attention, find, that there is no depending on their virtue; except where all corrupting motives are put out of their way. I see also that you have followed the example of the Parent State in dividing your Legislature into an Upper and a Lower House. I once thought that this was the only method of obtaining the result of deliberate Counsels; but I at present am of opinion that the French have effectualy secured themselves from the return of Aristocracy in their government, by confining the Legislature to one equal Assembly; and committing the office of approving laws to the King and the people. May not your Upper House in length of time, acquire some distinctions 647 LC, George Washington Papers. Published in Twohig, Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, 5:573–​75. Available from FO.

278  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay which may lay the grounds for political inequality among you? a circumstance which never ought to take place in a Society of free men. The Americans free from every part of the feudal tenure and the unjust distinctions of primo geniture; found it easy when they had shaken of the yoke of England, to form and regulate a popular government; but from the c[ir]cumstance of always having been exempt from the evils of Aristocracy, they may not have the principle of averssion to such pretenssions planted in their minds, as now happily exist among the French. They may also have regarded wi[th] admiration instead of disgust, the splendor of European Society; and mistaken the insolence and ostentation of a few citizens, for National dignity. But, besides these causes, which appear to form a very important difference in the relative state of things in the two Empires, of France and America; the former Nation has undergone the fiery trial of temptation and come out purified; she has sat an example hitherto unparralled in the annals of humanity, that of emmerging from the depths of frivolous dissipation to the most exalted heigth of National conduct. But as the difficulties which the Americans have to strugle with in the settling a new country, and that mediocrity of wealth which must naturally have attended such difficulties; a good deal enforced a sobriety of manners among them, it is impossible to tell what may be the effects of a change in the internal prosperity of the Country. When the E’ra now so ardently desired by the Americans shall arrive, that commerce pours in wealth on every side, and when they will by this means have it in their power to import all the l[uxur]ies and copy all the excesses of the Mother Country, and to vye with her Citizens in all the deceitful pleasures of a vicious dissipation; it is more than possible, that the novelty of such seductive enjoyments will overturn all the virtue which at present exists in the Country. That an inattention to public interest will prevail, and nothing be pursued but private gratification and emolument. These do not appear as groundless fears; for the Americans have shewn a greater inclination to the fripperies of Europe, th[an] to Classic simplicity. That these evils may only exist in the imagination of those who like me am tremblingly alive on the subject of human liberty, I most sincerely hope; as also that the future Chief Majestrates of the United States, may in some measure partake of the wisdom, and virtue, of her first Chief Majestrate. If I have transgressed on your Excellencies patience by so long a letter; I have been led to it by your condescenssion in giving me some of your senti[me]nts and observations, on the present state of things in America; and I hope your goodness will excuse it. I have done my self the honor to send your Excellency a copy of a work I have lately published on education. Mr Graham joins me in respectful compliments as due, And I am Sir your etc. I beg my thanks to Mrs Washington, for the favor of her remembrance.

The Letters  279 [205] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 10 February 1791648 Philadelphia. Madam, At the same time that I acknowledge the receipt of your letter of June last, with which I have been honored, I must beg you to accept my best thanks for your treatise on Education which accompanied it. The anxiety which you express for the welfare of this Country demands a proper acknowledgment; and the political sentiments which are contained in your letter merit a more particular reply than the multifarious and important business in which I  am constantly engaged (especially while Congress are in Session) will permit me to make. I must therefore, Madam, rely upon your goodness to receive this short letter as an acknowledgment of your polite attention, and beg you to be assured that my not entering at this time, more fully into the subject of your favor does not proceed from a want of that consideration with which I have the honor to be Madam, Your etc.   [206] Catherine Macaulay to George Washington, 1 March 1791649 Bracknal Berks. Sir The reports in Europe some months ago respecting your Excellencies health gave the admirers of your virtues and the friends to American liberty much concern. We are happy to heer that health is again restored to you. Some the course of the last summer I did my self the honor of sending you my thoughts on the important subject of education. I  now send you my observations on Mr Burkes reflections on the French revo[lution] a work which has been much used in England both on account of the importance of the subject and the virulent manner in which the Author has abused the French Legislators and supported all those unjust distinctions in society which have so long oppressed and humbled mankind. When you have read Mr Burke your Excellency will not be surprised that he has a large party in this country as it comprehends the Court the Dignified Clergy the Aristocratists and their dependants. The French Revolution I thank God yet stands firm, to the great mortification of the European Aristocratists, and to the great joy of all those who like my self are zealous friends to equal liberty. 648 T1007, Collection of Letters and Autographs of Celebrities, LCMA; Letterbook copy, LC, George Washington Papers. Published in Jack D. Warren, ed., The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998), 7:328–​29. Available from FO. 649 LC, George Washington Papers. Published in ibid., 7:489–​90. Available from FO.

280  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Mr Graham joins me in most respectful compliments to your self and Mrs Washington and all those of your family whom we have the honor to be acquainted with I am your etc.   [207] George Washington to Catharine Macaulay, 19 July 1791650 Philadelphia

Madam, At the same time that I acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the first of March with which I have been honored, let me request you to accept my thanks for your polite attention in sending me the pamphlet which accompanied it. The importance of the subject, which has called forth your production and numerous others, is so deeply interesting to mankind that every philanthropic mind, however far removed from the scene of action cannot but feel anxious to see its termination, and it must be the ardent wish of every good man that its event may encrease the happiness of the human race. I often regret that my public duties do not allow me so much time as my inclination requires to attend to my private correspondencies, especially with you Madam—​But I persuade myself your goodness will lead you to place the brevity of this letter to its proper account, particularly when I add that I am but just returned from a tour of near 2000 miles thro’ the southern States, to perform which took me more than 3 months. I shall only further add to it what I know must give you great pleasure, that the United States enjoy a scene of prosperity and tranquillity under the new government that could hardly have been hoped for under the old—​and, that, while you, in Europe, are troubled with war and rumours of war, every one here may sit under his own vine and none to molest or make him afraid. I have the honor to be etc.

James Blackstone (1765–​1831) This note from James Blackstone, then bursar of All Souls College, is primarily of interest for the light it throws on Macaulay’s estates. He was the son of the more famous William Blackstone (1723–​80).   650 Letterbook copy, LC, Washington Papers. Published in Mark A. Mastromarino, ed., The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series (Charlottesville:  University Press of Virginia, 1999), 8:357–​58. Available from FO.

The Letters  281 [208] Blackstone to Catharine Macaulay, 25 September 1789651 All Souls College Madam As the Usual period of renewing the lease of your Estate held under All Souls College is now approaching viz on the 10  next, I am to acquaint you that if you propose applying for a Renewal, such Application must be directed with all Convenient speed to Your etc., Bursar

William Robinson (1727–​1803) Younger brother of Elizabeth Montagu and Sarah Scott, William Robinson had lived as a teenager not far from the Sawbridges in Kent during the 1740s. When he sent this cockade he was rector of Burghfield in Berkshire.   [209] William Robinson to Catharine Macaulay, 21 September [1789]652 Burfield Mr William Robinson presents his Compliments to Mrs Macaulay Graham & presuming upon their former Acquaintance takes the liberty of sending her a French Cockade, which was brought from Boulogne and which his Brother Matt sent him. Knowing her love of liberty, & how much and well she has wrote in its defence, hopes it will not be a disagreeable Present to her, as she cannot but honor a People who are making such noble struggles to be free. He begs his Compliments to Mr Graham.   [210] Catharine Macaulay to William Robinson, [September 1789]653 Dear Sir, To be remembered by an Old and valuable acquaintance after many years of absence is a very pleasing circumstance in life this pleasure I felt most sensibly from your kind enquiries through the means of Mr Wilson your second remembrance was still more grateful pleasing as it was a strong confirmation that you thought

651 GLC01794.17. 652 653

GLC01794.16. Address torn, “Mrs Macaul . . . Bin . . .” visible. Draft reply on verso of James Blackstone to Catharine Macaulay, 25 September 1789, GLC01794.17.

282  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay me worthy of preserving a place in your mind your present was doubly satisfactory both on the account of the giver and the Glorious occasion of the Gift. The French Revolution is the most illustrious event that ever graced the annals of humanity it far surpasses that of America and I think it a happy circumstance in my fate that I have lived to see it If you should ever favor this Neighbourhood with your presence the accepting of a residence at our Cottage would greatly oblige both Mr Graham and myself he joins me in compliments and I am Dear Sir, Your etc.

Philip Mallet (d. 1795) Philip Mallet of Newington Green was a merchant and member of Richard Price’s congregation who was closely involved in the radical dissenting community there. His eldest son, Philip Mallet (1788–​1812), presented Macaulay with a poem on the occasion of his twelfth birthday.654   [211] Philip Mallet to Catharine Macaulay, 9 November 1789655 Newington Green Dear Madam! Your highly esteemed letter to me by a private conveyance impels me to return you my sincere Thanks, and also calls upon me to express a hope that you will keep Mr Towgood’s book as long as maybe agreeable to you, and that I shall be favored with your sentiments of that work in Person in the course of the Winter.656 I have another inducement in now addressing you Madam, which is, that I have just read a Work of Thomas Cooper Esqr. of Manchester—​called: “Tracts Ethical—​Theological & Political” recently Published657—​In a part where he treats on a Question—​Whether the Deity be a free agent He says—​“All the attributes &

654

Philip Mallet to Catharine Macaulay, 12 February 1790, GLC01794.45. To you, the bright historian of our Isle, This puerile humble offering I bring, Thrice happy I, on this my natal day, That brings me first to view, & sing In artless numbers your transcendent worth On this twelfth Anniversary of my birth

655 GLC01794.42. Addressed, Mrs Macaulay Graham, Bracknel, Berks. 656 Not clear what this is, but possibly a work by Michaijah Towgood (1700–​1792), who was a prolific author of dissenting works, as well as a work of advice on recovering from illness. 657 Thomas Cooper, Tracts Ethical, Theological and Political (Warrington: Printed by W. Eyres, for J. Johnson, 1789).

The Letters  283 tendencies of the Deity are not only infinite in degree & strength but they are in no case counteracted by any opposite tendency; therefore the approximation to an impossibility of not doing in every case what is right is not predicable of the Deity, for his inability to do otherwise amounts to a perfect impossibility; there being motives infinitely strong on one side and no motive at all on the other:—​ But an impossibility on the oneside implies a necessity on the other—​(ie) God is not a free Agent. From the preceding review of the subject it appears to me for the more probable opinion, that every thing of which God is the cause results from him necessarily.—​And then the Author adds this Note I know of no one who has publicly maintained the same opinion among us Unless Mrs. Macaulay, which as I have never seen her Book I am ignorant of.—​Pray Madam, what is this your work called to which this author alludes?658 he appears to me to be a very accute reasoner, and his Chapter on Materialism has gained my perfect assent. As our Glorious Revolution has been the Theme of your nervous Pen—​ Permit me to tell you that I attended the Anniversary Sermon & Meeting of the Revolution Society last Wednesday & a very large & repectable meeting it was—​ The Sermon was preached by Dr Price—​the times were most propitious for his Address which he called it & not a Sermon, I mean with respect to the great work carrying on in France. This address abounded with Points the most forcible and sentiments the most just, at once calculated to strike & convince: a Concise statement of the Nature of Government—​its object & end—​the necessity of informing men’s minds, so as to make them enquire after Truth which leads to Liberty & to Virtue—​That Knowledge leads men to Liberty—​Ignorance to Slavery. That the writings of certain Men whom I need not name to you, have strongly excited men to this great work of Revolution & Reformation. He touched on the fulsome idolising Addresses presented to the King on his recovery and gave a Specimen of such an Address as he would have presented to him. As this discourse will very soon be printed, it is not for me to pretend to retail the passages which were all truly legitimate and such sentiments as you Madam have ever fosterd—​it was a discourse of one hour & 20 minutes in delivering, with an apology that his strength would not permit him to say all he purposed & had prepared. After dinner & some of the most patriotic toasts had been drunk—​the doctor Price made a motion that an address be presented from that Society to the National Assembly of France congratulating them on the Glorious Revolution they had effected, and sincerely & ardently hoping that they compleat the Work they had begun by Framing a Constitution that should redound to their immortal glory and be the admiration and imitation of the nations of the whole World. This motion was carried without any one opposing in a meeting of between 3 & 400.



658

No doubt this is TIM.

284  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Mrs Mallet unites with me in Compliments to Mr Graham & to yourself—​ believe me to be with unfeigned respect, Dear Madam, Your etc.

Capel Lofft (1751–​1824) In 1780 Lofft was a founding member of the Society for Constitutional Infor­ mation and the author of various works, including the poem Eudosia, and a response to Macaulay’s History in Letters. Like Macaulay, he published a reply to Burke’s reflections.659 He had attended Peterhouse, Cambridge, and was involved with many of the agitators for parliamentary reform, including John Cartwright, John Jebb, and John Disney.660   [212] Catharine Macaulay to Capel Lofft, 12 November 1789661 Bracknell Dear Sir be assured that I  have a very grateful sense of your kind attention in forwarding to me Some of the contents of Dr Price’s excelent Address had it not been for your very kind letter and some hints that I afterwards received from another friend I should have remained in profound ignorance of the glorious things which had been said and done at your last meeting for tho I have the perusal of four different papers I have not met with a word of it indeed they are grown so the news printers are grown so publishers are grown so shamefully partial that one might peruse all the prints of this kind them all the papers to be made acquainted with every thing that is going forward in politicks

659 Capel Lofft, Observations on Mrs Macaulay’s History of England; (lately published) from the Revolution to the resignation of Sir Robert Walpole, in a letter addressed to that lady (London: Edward and Charles Dilly, 1778); Remarks on the Letter of the Rt. Hon. Edmund Burke, concerning the Revolution in France, and on the proceedings in certain societies in London, relative to that event (London: J. Johnson, 1790); Eudosia: or, a poem on the universe (London: W. Richardson in the Strand and C. Dilly in the Poultry, 1781); An Argument on the nature of party and faction. In which is considered, the duty of a good and peaceable citizen at the present crisis (London: C. Dilly, 1780); Elements of Universal Law and particularly of the Law of England. Vol I. Being the first volume of a translation of a Work intitled Principia Juris Universalis &c. (London: His Majesty’s Law Printers, 1779). 660 Ian R. Christie, Wilkes, Wyvill and Reform:  The Parliamentary Reform Movement in British Politics 1760–​1785 (London:  Macmillan, 1962), 114–​15; The Gentlemen under-​mentioned having agreed to form themselves into A Society for Constitutional Information, have come to the following, amongst other Resolutions (Society for Constitutional Information:  1780); “Tracts published and dstributed gratis by the Society for Constitutional Informantion.” 661 Draft, GLC01794.43.

The Letters  285 I need not tell you how intesely my sentiments agree with those of the excelent Dr Price and I admire his courage to stand forth to reprove his Countrymen for a baseness of conduct which alas at this time is almost universal. I waited till I had perused your Theological Tract before I wrote to you otherwise my excelent Friend you would not have had an opportunity to have shown so much condescension with your goodness. Your Answer to Knowles is written with a clearness and precision that must I think bring over all the candid to your opinion662 I never was a Trinitarian but I acknowledge to you that I Worship Jesus Christ as the Lord of all the human race and as a Being deserving of all the honors which God can confer on any of his Creatures, this is the only point of the controversy on which I think there can be a dispute concerning the opinions and practice of the primitive times and had of the Divines preserved this moderation in that honors to the Savior of the World we could not wish justice we could not have been accused of absurdity or of departing from Unity in our religious notions.  . . .  663 my friend who upon the powers and virtues of philosophy, poetry, and patriotism how I admire that calmness and equal temper which could enable you to discuss so deep a subject in the Uproar of political contention as for my part my immagination has been so compleatly filled with the revolution in France that I  have dreamt talked and thought of nothing else from the period of its commencment to the present day of its progress in short I look upon it as the political star to conduct all Europe to light and happiness and I find that time has so little abated the strength of my passions and the warmth of my temper in these particulars that my free Body has more than once suffered fr with my mind on the arrival of News that cast a gloom on the situation of affairs. But to return to your meetings pray was Mr Hollis664 among you for I have not heard from him some time. I am sorry you could not procure a Frank but I should have been happy in a full payment if your memory and patience could have furnished more . . .665 the Sermon I have now finished my letters on education and intend to put the Work to press this winter or early in the Spring.

662 Capel Lofft, Observations on the first part of Dr. Knowles’s testimonies from the writers of the First Four Centuries. In a letter to a friend (Bury [St Edmond]: J. Rackham, 1789). 663 Text loss. 664 Although difficult to read, this is probably “Hollis” and refers to Thomas Brand Hollis, who was a founding member of the Revolution Society, and had inherited the bulk of Thomas Hollis’s estate, adding “Hollis” to his name, after his friend’s death in 1774. 665 Erasure.

286  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay My best compliments attend yourself, Mrs Lofft, and Family from Dear Sir Your etc.

Reverend Wilson It has not been possible to identify this Reverend Wilson.   [213] Catharine Macaulay to Wilson, Tuesday morning, 1789666 Dear Sir, I return you many thanks for affording me so much pleasing amusement in my solitude. The Bishop of Landaff ’s instructions are excelent but not better than those I heard last Sunday, I see no reasonable objection which can be made to the proposed plan for raising the taxes. And Indeed the principle of simplifying the mode of collecting taxes must ever be highly approved by all those men who well understand the interests of society and who are sincere well wishers to public happiness and. Such a principle will ever be adopted by a free people and an honorable government, but its utility will never recommend it to a Government carried on by corruption fraud and imposition, an English Minister will have insuperable objections to it in the first place it will deprive him of a great number of his dependants and in the second place in the second place, it will let the people feel their burthens in the first instance and render taxation a more difficult bussiness. On these reasons a complicated and expensive mode of raising taxes has been adopted by all the crowned in Europe for tho the subjects pay as much again by the present complicated modes of raising taxes in use, ignorance inattentive ignorance does not discriminate between the real price of the commodity and its advanced price by taxation and the setting up one interest against another makes every additional tax appear as a partial burthen partially felt. Had England always preserved a simple mode of taxation the many wars she has waged would have been, let alone her debts, would have been small and she would not have been on the Eve of sinking into the Slavery of a general Excise. I greatly respect the benevolent mind of the person who conceived the said plan but its adoption is a blessing that England never will experience. I beg my best and if she will accept them my affect compliments to Mrs Wilson, I am Sir, Your etc. 666 Draft, GLC01794.44. Endorsed, To the Revd Mr Wilson, on his sending me, plan of a simple mode, of taxation.

The Letters  287

Ralph Griffiths (1720?–​1803) Griffiths was the original owner and editor of the Monthly Review, which had been providing reviews and abstracts of virtually all new publications since 1749. He was also part owner of the St James’s Chronicle. The Monthly Review had, in general, offered quite positive reviews of Macaulay’s works. The first volume of her history was deemed by Owen Ruffhead (1723–​69) “an animated, nervous, and entertaining composition, interspersed with many just and liberal reflections on the most striking incidents of these reigns.”667 Two years later, the same reviewer was even more enthusiastic: “the farther we advance the more we approve,—​nay, in defiance of Mr. Pope, the more we admire the spirit and judgement of the fair and ingenious Writer.”668 The third volume, however, in which Macaulay praised the proposals of the Levelers, drew out more criticism; the review warned that her notions in regard to universal human rights were “much too refined to be reduced to practice.”669 Nevertheless, despite his clear divergence from her with regard to political principles, Ruffhead provided lengthy extracts from her volumes and generally approved of her sentiments as “liberal, acute and animated.”670 A cooler attitude was evinced by “St,” who was responsible for the review of the fifth volume, but the next three volumes were dealt with by Griffiths himself, who was generally positive and, in his last review, judged perceptively that “uninfluenced by the predilections of party, her sentiments are delivered with that honest freedom that can only proceed from a conviction of their truth; and which, flattering no party, may possibly, in its turn, offend all.”671 Her experience had been, in general, that the Monthly Review was a serious and appreciative critic of her publications. It must therefore have been something of a shock to find that the Letters on Education (LE) was cursorily treated. William Enfield (1741–​97) failed to give an account of the overarching argument of her work, and his tone was generally critical.672 Uncharacteristically, Macaulay attempted to get some redress by sending letter [214]. It was not printed, but its receipt was acknowledged in a response, again by Enfield, which called her letter “angry and rather impolite” and defended the criticisms in the initial review as “unbiased sentiments,” which the reviewer found no reason to retract.673 Perhaps it was some consolation to 667 Griffiths, Monthly Review, December 1763, 29:420. For the reviewers see Benjamin Christie Nangle, The Monthly Review. First series 1749–​1789 (Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1934) and The Monthly Review. Second Series 1790–​1815 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955). 668 Griffiths, Monthly Review, March 1765, 32:216. 669 Ibid., April 1767 36:304. 670 Ibid., May 1769, 40:363. 671 Ibid., May 1771, 45:81–​87, December 81, 65:401–​8, December 83, 69:472. 672 Ibid., November 1790, 3ns 305–​9. The review is discussed at length in Looser, “ ‘Those historical laurels.’ ” 673 Griffiths, Monthly Review, January 1791, 4ns 118–​19.

288  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Macaulay, that in the same issue, her anonymously published OR was reviewed, by Thomas Pearne, along with a number of other responses to Burke’s Reflections (including Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Men) and was given an uncompromisingly favorable assessment. It was said of the author, assumed to be a man, that he was “well acquainted with history” and wrote “with temper and judgment.”674 At the conclusion, it was noted that the work had been publicly ascribed to Macaulay, but the gender of the pronouns was not corrected, and the positive notice left to stand. Wollstonecraft by contrast was accused of having “too many ideas” mixed together in such a way as “to perplex both the writer and reader,” though ultimately excused, in light of “the ardent love of liberty, humanity, and virtue, which evidently actuates the heart, and directs the pen of the very ingenious author.”675   [214] Catharine Macaulay to Ralph Griffiths, November 1790676 Sir, I have never before troubled any Reviewer with my animadversions. But your Review of my Letters on education, is so uncandid and unfair, it contains so many misrepresentations and is sketched over in so slovenly a manner it compels me to expostulate with you and to endeavour to shew you that in this instance at least; you have taken upon you an office the duties of which you have not in any measure fulfilled. To assume the situation of the great Reviewer general of literature and to direct the taste of an enlightened people are great pretensions, and the qualifications necessary for such a province are great natural , great acquired knowl­ edge, great industry, and great candor. These virtues Sir you ought to enlist in your service, and you ought to be certain of your man before you commit the meanest work to his judgement. To find fault is an easy task and particularly when inclination gives a spur to the inactivity of the mind, but to find out the view and drift of an author, to delineate his beauties as well as to point out his defects with clearness and precision, requires a little more time patience and industry than the person to whose criticism you have committed my letters seems to have bestowed on them. Even in the province of finding fault he appears to me to have been guilty of many mistakes which I shall take the liberty of representing to you. In the first place he entirely mistakes my meaning when he says that I have made an apology for mothers in the fashionable World for neglecting to suckle

674

Ibid., January 1791, 4ns 97–​99. Ibid., January 1791, 4ns 95–​97. 676 Draft, GLC01794.47. 675

The Letters  289 their children, is it not easy to discover Sir that my observation on this head contains a sarcasm on fashionable life rather than an apology. In the second place he says that it is inconsistent to discourage the ordinary use of Animal food, and yet recommend the medical use of the pure gravy meat. Were he to take the trouble to read these foolish letters over again he would find more consistence than he has imagined in my instructions; he would perceive that I recommend the flesh of well grown animals as a proper diet for children; and whilst I restrain the daily use of it, both on a moral and a medical principle I have an eye to the difference which subsists in the state of the stomach between children and sucking babes, where weak stomachs are surcharged with great acidities from the nature of a milk diet, beside had your Critic known the rudiments of Chemistry or the process of digestion he must have known that there is a material difference between the solid fibres of animal substances and the nutritive fluid which may be produced from them. In the third instance of his chastising reflections he peremptorily asserts, that the extreme hardiness with which I advise that children should be treated can never be adopted in a high state of civilization, yet ought I think to have given his reasons for this assertion; for it is plain that my plan excludes children from entering into the follies of what he calls a high state of civilization. It is also true that nature so kindly guards her children against the mischiefs of art that by a prudent management, the most tender infants may be reared up to endure the most hardy habits. That hardy habits will always if there is no internal weakness in the frame produce a robust constitution; and that a robust constitution is the only basis which can support a firm mind and it is also the best safe guard against the undermining evils which lurk in a high state of civilization. In his reflection, that the plan of converting early instruction into amusement has been too hastily conceived, he has given me credit for a conceit which is not my own; for in this I have only followed what some of the best writers on education have conceived before me. It is on the authority of Fenelon, , Rousseau, and Genlis that I form this part of my instructions; authorities which my small experience and the experience of many persons with whom I have conversed here warranted me in adopting, and untill I perceive a greater number of finished literary characters among persons of fashion than the present age in England produces; I shall still believe that the labors of study are often flung away on the child, and that Latin, Greek and all the instructions of the Schools so industriously given and laboriously gained in the tender age of infancy are generally in a great measure lost on the man. At an early period of life persons seldom recur to those exercises from which they received pain; whereas when instruction wears a pleasing aspect, and entices the fancy, knowledge steals on the youthful mind and whilst it engaged its affections, it creates in it an appetite for mental food, and a desire for an enlarged view of all that is worth the notice of men.

290  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay The animadversion which comes next in order to this Sir is so very deficient in candor as to carry even a malignant aspect; your critic says a few persons who have any respect for religion will, we apprehend, be inclined to follow this preceptress in her advice to keep children wholly unacquainted with the Scriptures. Do you believe that any one who confines for knowledge of these letters to the ideas which he can gain from your review, will conceive that the whole tendency of them (and what the preceptress has most at heart) is to engrave on the minds of her pupils solid principles of morality and religion. If so much of your paper had been spared Sir as was sufficient to have given her reasons for this advice, your readers would if they had not approved her judgement, at least have exculpated her from having any disrespect for religion. They would have found that her opinion had arisen from a view of the spreading infidelity of the age and from the barren effects of the present mode of religious education. When you come to my plan of literary study Sir I am apt to regard your critic as the Master of an academy rather than the candid liberal minded Reviewer, here indeed his critical rod is laid on with an unsparing hand for he has found out my weak part, he has found out that I have not read all Plato’s works; nor am acquainted with their forms; he has found out that Aristotle’s philosophy is forgotten and that mathematics are wrong placed. Now to give him a full triumph Sir I will acknowledge that I am no classical scholar, that my education in this respect has been more deficient than most of the female writers in this country and indeed Sir, if you had experienced the unremitting industry, and even labor necessary to the task of cultivating ones own mind and the pursuing and over taking science in an irregular chace without a guide, you would pity us poor unlearned women, and encourage us in our laudable endeavors, to fill up that void in the mind which has been made, by prejudice, ignorance, and inattention. It is under a full sense of the many inconveniencies that I have my self struggled with that I recommend a learned education to Women. But to take a little off from the completeness of the triumph which this confession may give your critic Sir I must put him in mind that all the best critics in common language make a distinction between the treatise on laws, the Republic and the other Dialogues , that the higher branches of Mathematics are much more difficult than any of the elementary studies† which I  have recommended to precede them, that it is generally thought by the learned that Aristotle is not adapted to the capacities of young persons and that the principles on which these letters are written are professedly moral not literary. The literature which I thought necessary to enlighten the man and render him equal to the character of a good christian and an useful citizen I have recommended. It is true that I might have put this part of my work into the hands of a friend versed in the arrangement of school learning; but I expected that you sir as an indulgent critic

The Letters  291 would have set me and the public right in this particular, without condemning my work in the gross for an error in one part of it. Your is pleased to say Sir that in the moral part of education I  am more successful; and that one passage which you he677 quotes on the variety of dispositions in children does no discredit to my pen. But lest I should be too much flattered with this little sweetening to the preceeding bitter, and the public led in to a mistake as to the degree in which they are to rate my talents; he closes his review with an opinion that Mrs Macaulay Graham excels more in the character of an historian than in that of a philosopher, and that he apprehends the present work will add little to the wreath of honor which already graces her brow. I have confessed to you Sir, that I am an unlearned woman tho ready to pick up a little knowledge wherever I can find it. Now will you or your critic be so good as to inform me what the meaning of the word philosophy is, for I protest to you that I was ignorant enough fancy that the science of morals and the knowledge of the human mind formed the most useful branch of it. As to the compliment which seems to be implied in the last sentence of your review I fear there is an ironical meaning couched in it. Do not you know Sir that those laurels which once graced my brow are now in their wane. Do not you know that the principles and notions with which that history is replete are now exploded as antiquated absurdities. Do you not know that Mr de Lolme has, since that history was published, condescended to enlighten this country on the grand object of politics and shewn them the true excellencies inherent in the British Constitution.678 Do you not know that the advantage of a strong government, an implicit confidence in our rulers and an influence in the crown superior to all opposition by the legal power it has over parliaments, by the prerogative of extending the peerage, and the advantage it has of dispensing irresistable favors among the commons are now held out as excellencies which set our constitution on a pinnacle of perfection, which never was equalled and never can be excelled. What do you suppose in this state of public opinion my readers (if any I have) must think of my political abilities, and historical talents, when they will meet in almost every page intimation that the most cautious circumspection ought to be observed in the trust given to Governors. What will they think of my democratic spirit, which would at least put the branch of our constitution on an equal footing with the other branches; and which preaches up the independence of parliaments as the only palladium of liberty; shame on all such reveries, they are only fit for the reading of school girls and deserve to be committed to the lining of Trunks or other more ignoble purposes! Now Sir as this is the sad condition of my 677 From here on, Macaulay has replaced “you” with “he,” realizing, perhaps, that the reviewer was not Griffiths himself. 678 Macaulay is sarcastically referring to Jean Louis de Lolme, The constitution of England, or, an account of the English government; in which it is compared, both with the republican forms of government, and the other monarchies in Europe (London: Printed by T. Spilsbury and sold by G. Kearsley, 1775).

292  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay Historical Laurels, it is I think a little severe if not ill natured of you and your critic to damp in this manner the hopes of a disapointed woman who has toiled so long in vain over the Historic page; in her attempt to gain a little sprig of laurel in the harmless province of morals, and to tell her that her pretentions to philosophy have yet a less foundation than her pretentions to the character of being a good Historian. I am very apt to think Sir, on the perusal of the few lines your critic has bestowed on my enquiries into the most likely means of producing public and private happiness that he has mistaken an abstract speculation; for a well meaning but injudicious adress to our Legislature, advising them to adopt new rules of Government. Did you not see Sir that the form into which I had put my remarks are of a kind which allowed great latitude to my fancy. Now I imagine that by all the rules of fair criticism before your had censured me so serverely you ought to have shewn that I was wrong in my opinion that the quality of sympathy is the basis of all human virtue; or that the modes that I have recommended to encrease and elevate this precious gift of the mind were not adapted to the proposed end, for if my speculations are founded in truth, they must be useful tho not altogether practicable in the present state of society. Many of my observations, your says are ingenious and liberal, and may be worthy of attention but he take[s]‌care to keep then entirely out of the view of his readers and I am sure they will not be encouraged by his criticism to look for them in the letters . To pass over the instituting public Baths at the expence of the government after the custom of the Romans; I will make some observations on his strictures on transferring theatrical amusements to the morning, when everyone is or ought to be busy, could not the sagacity of your critic have pointed out to him Sir that the author did not lay so much stress on the advantage of Theatrical exhibitions for the improvement of a moral civilization; as is generally done. That she regarded them more as an innocent amusement to charm away the ennuie of the opulent, who will always be idle, than as a proper occupation for the industrious part of the community; and she was willing to diminish the power of those incentives to vice which attend such exhibitions by calling in decency and a regard to character; to the aid of virtue. As to the converting places of worship into public exhibitions for the amusement of our Connoiseurs; I cannot help smiling when I think what an erroneous opinion your has given of the taste of the Author to your readers. Undoubtedly they must think her quite a critic in Virtu whilst poor woman she has more of the homely understanding of honest Phocian.679 She can well dispence with all the ornamental arts, provided you will allow her to launch out a little in praise of the virtue of sympathy. But whilst the ornamental arts are held out to us as the most capital means by which nations are improved and civilised whilst an encouragement of them is reckoned the greatest virtue that

679

An Athenian politician famous for his honesty and frugality.

The Letters  293 Kings can possess in their princely capacity, she is surprized to find an appropriation of them to the service of morality and religion worthy his censure. She thought if they really had the power ascribed to them, of refining the mind, that the large body of the people ought to partake of that advantage and she was willing to entice the opulent part of the community, to a frequent attendance at public worship; a duty which must be rendered very disagreeable to them, by the contrast between naked walls in a cold building, and the inviting mansions, which all the arts of luxury have adorned. But that these speculations are all intended as abstract reflections in an abstract enquiry concerning the best means to encrease the moral perfection of man to its possible height; rather than recommended as practical rules may easily be discerned, by my attaching to them a prohibition of using the fine arts for other than religious purposes; and the forming a system of religious worship quite different from that which is practiced throughout all christendom; but exactly suiting with my own plan of improving human virtue. On a supposition Sir that your thought himself warranted by the rules of good criticism in the many faults he has found with my letter I have reason to think myself very unfairly dealt with that he would not as a testiment of his impartiality give himself the trouble to point out a few of those ingenious and liberal observations which he acknowledges them to contain. But myself and many of your readers Sir, when we are not at all interested in your partialities cannot help observing that you have your favorite authors whose works on the first publication are immediately advertised in your Review in the engaging stile of panegyric. To those favorite authors you are neither sparing of your trouble nor your paper, the public attention is kept up thro two or three Reviews; and all your powers are exerted in a display of the beauties to be found in their works. The intimations contained in Mr Badcok’s letters to the Revd Dr White sank into our minds; and we cannot help sighing to find that the Republic of letters is not free from those corruptions which disgrace most political systems. You may perceive sir, that I have been as free in my remarks on your Review as your in that review has been on my letters, should you find what is here said to be grounded I trust from your candor that you will either make a new review of my letters on education or that you will publish this as a full criticism on them. I am your etc. † Since writing the above I  have the pleasure to find that Mr Harris in the preface to his Hermes disapproves of making mathematics the basis of a literary education.680 680 James Harris, Hermes: or, a Philosophical Inquiry Concerning Language and Universal Grammar (London: H. Woodfall for J. Nourse and P. Vaillant, 1751).

294  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–​97) At the time of writing this letter to Catharine Macaulay, Mary Wollstonecraft was a virtually unknown, aspiring author, who was eking out a living by writing reviews for Joseph Johnson’s Analytical Review. In early November she had published a laudatory review of Macaulay’s Letters on Education, and moved on quickly to penning her condemnation of Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, a copy of which accompanied letter [215].681 Wollstonecraft’s response to Burke was inspired by the same spirit of enlightenment republicanism that is to be found in Macaulay’s works, and in those of James Burgh, whose wife had befriended and financially assisted Wollstonecraft, after Burgh’s death. In her Vindication of the Rights of Woman, for which she has become justly famous, Wollstonecraft developed the critique of Rousseau’s views on women’s education and social role that Macaulay had begun in her Letters on Education, and regretted that Macaulay had not lived sufficiently long to give this critique the approbation which she had anticipated.682 She also regretted that sufficient respect had not been paid to Macaulay’s memory, a situation which, ironically, continues, with the far greater attention that is paid to Wollstonecraft’s relatively slender opus, in comparison to the substantial and influential writings of her predecessor.   [215] Mary Wollstonecraft to Catharine Macaulay, December 1790683 Thursday Morning Madam, Now I venture to send you —​—​—​684 with a name utterly unknown to you in the title page, it is necessary to apologize for thus intruding on you—​but instead of an apology shall I tell you the truth? You are the only female writer who I coincide in opinion with respecting the rank our sex ought to endeavour to attain in the world. I respect Mrs Macaulay Graham because she contends for laurels whilst most of her sex only seek for flowers. I am Madam, Yours etc.  

681 Mary Wollstonecraft, The Works of Mary Wollstonecraft, ed. Janet Todd and Marilyn Butler, 7 vols. (London: Pickering, 1989), 5:309–​22. 682 Works of Mary Wollstonecraft, 5:174-​5. 683 Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection, NYPL. Printed in Hill, “The Links.” 684 Word excised. Correctly thought by Bridget Hill to be the title of her publication.

The Letters  295 [216] Catharine Macaulay to Mary Wollstonecraft, 30 December 1790685 Dear Madam The receipt of your letter with one of the copies of the second edition of your excellent pamphlet in vindication of the rights of men gave me a pleasure derived from a variety of causes. I was pleased at the attention of the public to your animated observations, pleased with the flattering compliment you paid me in a second remembrance, and still more highly pleased that this publication which I have so greatly admired from its pathos & sentiment should have been written by a woman and thus to see my opinion of the powers and talents of the sex in your pen so easily verified. Believe me Dear Madam I shall ever be happy in your valuable correspondence, and when opportunity offers shall with great pleasure avail myself of it for changing the lesser satisfaction of a correspondence by letters to that of a personal acquaintance, I am Dear Madam, with great esteem and admiration, Your etc. I have ordered Mr Dilly to present you with my observations on Burke in a letter to Earl Stanhope.

Samuel Adams (1722–​1803) When he was sent this letter, Samuel Adams was lieutenant governor of the Massachusetts, a position he held from 1788 until 1793, when he became governor. He had been an early advocate of the right of the people to resist an unjust government, having argued in his Harvard MA of 1743 that it was “lawful to resist the Supreme Magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved.”686 He played a central, though somewhat disputed role in the resistance to the British policies in Boston in the lead-​up to the Declaration of Independence and was one of the signers of that Declaration. During Macaulay’s sojourn in Boston in 1784–​85, he was involved in opposition to the Sans Souci Club, a “Tea Assembly” seen by some as introducing luxury and effeminacy into Boston society, which aroused controversy in the local press.687 Perhaps even more than Macaulay, he was a strict moralist and hoped that the American Republic would become a “Christian Sparta.” Although Macaulay speaks of renewing her correspondence with Samuel Adams, no earlier correspondence has survived, at least in part due to the fact that he destroyed his personal papers.

685

Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection, NYPL. Printed in Hill, “The Links.” William Pencak, “Adams, Samuel (1722–​1803), revolutionary politician in America,” DNB. 687 Davies, Catharine Macaulay and Mercy Otis Warren, 220–​41. 686

296  The Correspondence of Catharine Macaulay [217] Catharine Macaulay to Samuel Adams, 1 March 1791688 Bracknal, Berks. Sir, I hope I may be permitted without being689 thought guilty of a disagreeable intrusion on your valuable time to renew by this letter my Correspondence with you.690 I cannot indeed forbear to communicate to you those mixed sentiments of exultation691 fear and692 hope with which the present state of affaires in Europe have filled the minds of every zealous friend to equal liberty. That wonderful event the french revolution fills all our thoughts and occupies the whole mind. We desire its permanence and prosperity, with more than paternal solicitude; for we look upon its firm establishment, as an event which will necessarily bring after it the693 final emancipation of every other society in Europe, from those Monarchic and Aristocratic694 chains imposed by the violence of arms and rivetted on mankind by ignorance credulity, and priestcraft. And you will pardon me if I tell you, that in my opinion695 notwithstanding the brilliancy of american exertions in the cause of independence that the696 continuation of the freedom of that vast Continent equally depends on the stability of the french Democracy. The Americans have a little too much of the leaven of their Ancestors in them, they appear to turn their views and desires more to the acquiring of gain than the enjoyment of rational liberty, and to have entertained that mischievous opinion that the felicity of Nations depends on their riches. They have also I think been guilty of a dangerous error in the not restricting the Members of their Congress from the enjoyment of those lucrative Offices established by their authority and this may become the source of Oppressive taxation and the foundation of Aristocratic wealth and ambition. The unexampled virtue of the French Legislature in697 cutting of[f]‌this source of corruption, by depriving themselves of the emoluments of Office, sets them on a footing of merit superior to that which any other popular Assembly have

688 Samuel Adams Papers, NYPL. Draft, GLC01794.03. 689 Draft, “guilty” struck. 690 Draft, “whom all the business of virtue must look up to with the highest respect and veneration” struck. 691 Draft “of ” struck. 692 Draft “of ” struck out. 693 Draft “even” struck. 694 Draft “forged” struck. 695 Draft “that” struck. 696 Draft “freedom of that Continent” struck. 697 Draft “depriving themselves” struck.

The Letters  297 ever obtained, and the bright example of this government if it stands on the same footing as it is at present698 with the advantage it will confer on society, will awe the governments of other countries into moderation, and serve as an antidote to your american Travellers, against the fascinating charms of ostentatious luxury. You may699 well believe Sir that very contrary sentiments to these which I700 have above described agitate the minds of a very large party in this country. Mr Burke who may be considered as the mouth of this party, and the strenuous supporter of Monarchy, and Aristocracy has published a work in which all these rights are701 pertinaciously defended and the French Government and Legislature abused with great702 virulence. Tho he is very popular in this country, his answerers have been numerous; among the rest, I have ventured to reply to this great Champion of the Aristocracy, and have done my self the honor to send you a copy703 of my observations. I shall be very happy to hear by a line from your own hand of your and Mrs Adams’s welfare; to whom with your704 self Mr Graham joins me in best complements. I am Sir with great respect for your etc.

698 Draft “will awe the Governments of ” struck. 699 Draft “very” struck. 700 Passage written with page turned 180 degrees and struck: “Sir I am very glad to find the money of Mr Farmers is to be freed at last. There would have been two years due the last day of February 1791. I have returned the deeds signed according to your desire by the Reading Coach which is a very good end.” 701 Draft “strenuously de” struck, “pertinaciously” struck, “vehemently de” inserted. 702 Draft “a high degree of acrimony and even” struck. 703 Draft “of my observations” struck. 704 Draft “for personal interest were it strong enough set at defiance” struck. This does not relate to this letter.

APPENDIX

Original Petition Drawn Up for the Use of the City of London, 22 March 1769 22 March 1769 The original copy of the petition drawn up for the use of the City of London by desire.1 In full assurance of your Majesties paternal love to your People, your just regard to their rights and privileges, your affection towards their peace , and persuaded that your Majesties Princely disposition cannot wilfully err in the exercise of the duties of your exalted station. We your Majesties obedient servants, the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons of the City of London in Common Hall assembled with all the humility agreeable to the relation of subjects to their sovereign, with all the frankness becoming the character of freemen, but with all the anxiety which the immediate sufferance of oppressions and the terrifying prospect their consequential ills produces on our minds, lay before your Majesties view a long list of grievances your people have incurred from the impolitic and wicked conduct of those Men who entrusted with the Administration of your Majesties Government. With equal horror no doubt will your Majesty hear as we relate that bold attempts have been and are daily made to destroy that constitution to the spirit of which we owe the relation which subsists between your Majesty and the Citizens of these rhealms, and to subvert those Sacred laws our Ancestors have purchased with their Blood. Your Ministers from corrupt principles and a misunderstood selfishness in opposition to the duties of Citizens, in opposition to the Duties of their station, in opposition to the duty which they owe your Majesty in faithfully fulfilling that trust your goodness favour has committed to their care, have invaded our invaluable and unalienable right of Trial by Jury by encouraging attachments and perverting the use of information Ex Officio. They have invaded both our National and Constitutional Rights by issuing out General Warrants and violently seizing papers. They have attacked and undermined the firmest bulwark of our liberties by invading the privileges of Parliament and through undue in election of Members to serve in parliament, by filling that assembly with their Dependents, Placemen, and Pensioners. They have squandered the public money in Bribes Pensions and New Placemen and this at a time of scarcity and public Distress. They have discouraged petitions to parliament by selecting those parts which tended not to relieve but criminate the Petitioner. They have rendered the Laws non-​effective to our security by invading the habeas Corpus granted for legal redress. They have given countenance to the Doctrine of constructive treason on doubtful and uncertain laws, to assume to themselves a vague and

1

BODL, Harcourt papers MS Eng. d. 3849, fols. 14r–​17r; GLC01794.52 is a typescript copy.

300 Appendix discretionary power of judging that offence and thus effectually to destroy the only valuable rights of englishmen , the absolute security of under the sanction of fixed and established Laws. They have promoted a Tax on British Manufactories to be raised as a Revenue on America, a Tax so little effective of its proposed end that it hath proved insufficient to pay the revenue officers, yet a Tax which from its invidious nature is attended with the pernicious effects of creating distrusts, jealousy and discontent among our American Brethren, of extinguishing the love they have hitherto borne their Mother Country and has engaged them in a fixed design of promoting Home Manufactories to the irreparable detriment of the Manufactories of this country and navigation of Great Britain, the effects of this we are already beginning to feel. They have weakened Public credit by laying claim to property secured by Charter and growing out of many Acts of Parliament. They have brought into disrepute the Civil Majestracy and corrupted the General Channel of Justice by appointing to the Commission of Peace Men in no respect qualified for that high honourable and important Trust. They have, with a black and malicious intent against the liberty of the Constitution, taken every opportunity to use military force and on occasions where it is evident that the civil power had it been properly executed would have been sufficient to have preserved peace order and due obedience to the laws. Thus they have sported with the lives of your Majesties subjects and prostituted your Majesty’s Authority to the worst ends and purposes. They have occasioned the confinement of a Subject for bringing an action in the usual way against an over officious Magistrate and keeping him in Durance untill he had given a full and ample discharge. They have by fallacious means and misrepresentation procured a pardon for murder. They have deprived the freeholders of this Kingdom of the unalienable right by rejecting a representative repeatedly and unanimously chosen. These alarming innovations most Gracious Sovereign induced your Faithful Subjects, the Livery of London in Common Hall assembled, to exert their unquestionable right of instructing their representatives in order to obtain Parliamentary Redress, but such has been the disengenuity, such has been the baseness of your Majesties Ministers, that with a view to counteract these instructions, To asperse the Authors as turbulent, factious and seditious, To prevent the complaints of your Majesties people from reaching your royal ear, they have by private and corrupt means procured partial addresses from different quarters to the throne. Thus they have endeavored to deceive your Majesty. Thus they have endeavored to sow division and distrust among your people that, by sheltering themselves under the head Cover of Party and the noisy faction of their numerous dependents, they may conceal from your Majesty the true state of your affairs, the apprehension and fears of your people, and secure to themselves the possession of their much abused Power. Your Petitioners from the duty which they owe your Majesty and their Country now lay those great and important truths at the foot of your Throne, which it has been the business of your Ministers to conceal, Earnestly beseeching your Majesty that you will be graciously pleased to remove for ever from your presences those evil and pernicious counsellors and Ministers who have abused their trust, deceived their royal Master, Diminished the freedom of our Constitution, squandered the public money, sown the seeds of discord among your Majesties subjects , and thrown scandalous

Appendix  301 imputations on the faithfullest of your Majesties Subjects, by such gracious conduct Beloved Sovereign the agitated minds of your Peoples will be quieted, public peace and safety will be restored, Trade and Navigation will again flourish in these once happy Rhealms, and joy and unanimity be universally diffused throughout your Majesty’s Extensive Dominions.

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Index For the benefit of digital users, indexed terms that span two pages (e.g., 52–​53) may, on occasion, appear on only one of those pages. Adams, Abigail (née Smith), 9, 114, 149, 191–​94 Adams, John, 9, 97, 114–​24, 136–​37, 154, 158, 161, 169,  192–​93 Adams, John Quincy, 114–​15 Adams, Samuel, 13, 108, 295–​97 Addison, Joseph, 4, 19–​20, 83, 220n519 Agrarian law, 12 Alfred, King of England, 178–​80 Anne, Queen of England, 16, 48 Arbitrary power, 9, 39–​40, 59, 93, 95–​96, 97, 102, 128, 141–​42, 143, 153, 174, 263–​64 Aristocracy, 16–​17, 128, 164, 171–​72, 277–​78, 297 Arnold, Elizabeth (née Graham), 15–​16, 199 Austen, Edward, 4, 220n518 Austen, Jane, 4, 220n518

 

Badcock, Samuel, 225n537, 293 Barbauld, Anna Laetitia (née Aiken), 10, 214 Bassett, Fanny, 269, 270 Beckingham, Dorothy (née Sawbridge), 227n550, 228–​29,  232–​33 Beckingham, Dorothy Charlotte, 234, 254, 257n621 Beckingham, Stephen, 225n536, 228–​29, 241, 246–​ 47, 252–​53, 256 Beesley, James, 113–​14 Bentham, Jeremy, 22–​23, 217 Bernard, Sir Francis, 98–​101, 118 Berry, Mary, 214 Bill of Rights, 140–​41 Birch, Thomas, 4–​5, 33, 35n10 Blackburne, Francis, 34 Blackstone, James, 280–​81 Blackstone, William, 130–​31, 280 bluestockings, 9, 197 Boswell, James, 10, 13–​14, 28, 63–​65, 105, 189–​90 Bowdoin, James, 108, 110–​11, 201–​3 Bradshaw, John, 187 Brattle, William, 118n281, 120–​21 Brickdale, Mrs., 30 Brissot de Warville, Félicité (née Dupont), 227–​28 Brissot de Warville, Jacques-​Pierre, 17–​18, 190, 217–​18, 226, 264–​65, 266–​67, 274 Brodnax, Anne, see Sawbridge, Anne (née Brodnax)

Brodnax, Thomas, see Knight, Thomas Sr. Buchanan, George, 41 Burgh, Hannah (née Harding), 294 Burgh, James, 10, 66, 88–​92, 114, 185–​86, 200n459, 294 Burke, Edmund, 3–​4, 16–​17, 23–​27, 106, 173–​74, 214, 256n619, 257, 279, 284, 294, 295, 297

 

Campbell, John, third Earl of Breadalbane, 50–​51 Canada Bill, 122 Capper, Mary, 17–​18 Carter, Elizabeth, 33, 216 Cartwright, John, 3–​4, 284 Cato, 54, 83n181, 95 Cavendish, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spenser), 226 Cavendish, William, fifth Earl of Devonshire, 41–​43n44 Cereta, Laura, 216 Chapone, Hester, 216 Charles I, King of England, 7, 11, 38, 55, 187 Charles II, King of England, 18–​19, 55, 101n234, 147n346 Charrière, Isabelle de (née de Zuylen), 63 Christian eudaimonism, 10–​11,  19–​20 Christie, James, 83 Churchill, John, first Duke of Marlborough, 69 Cicero, 44, 95, 99n228, 221–​25 civil rights, 14, 33 Clarkson, Thomas, 3, 18, 127 Clinton, George, 166, 261 Cockburn, Catharine (née Trotter), 22–​23 Constitution, 6–​7, 21, 94, 108–​9, 124–​25, 129–​30, 139–​40, 154, 194, 262–​64, 291–​92 American, 140–​41, 161, 171, 192, 273 British, 41, 42n42, 102–​3, 113, 118, 128–​29, 138–​39, 174, 291, 299, 300–​1 French, 173, 261–​62, 264–​65, 266–​67, 276, 283 Republican, 10 Saxon, 140–​41, 178n394 Cooper, Anthony Ashley, first Earl of Shaftesbury, 14–​15, 147n346 Cooper, Margaret, 132 Cooper, Thomas, 282–​83

316 Index Cooper, William, 145 Copyright, 106, 130–​31 Coram Fields Foundling Hospital, 247 Crewe, Frances (née Greville), 225 Cromwell, Oliver, 6–​7, 21, 55–​56, 133–​34, 176, 178–​80, 181,  225–​27

 

Dalrymple, Sir John, 147 Dana, Francis, 144 Dash, Samuel, 253–​54n612 Deane, Silas, 205–​6 Deffand, Marie Anne de Vichy-​Chamrond, Madame de, 215 Deism,  14–​15 Delany, Mary (née Granville), 29–​30, 204n473 democracy, 7–​8, 10–​11, 16–​17, 18–​19, 27, 67, 69, 164, 174, 277, 291–​92, 296 despotism, 9, 95–​96, 150, 151, 152–​53, 170, 257, 258, 262–​63, 274 Dickinson, John, 95, 114, 124–​26, 136–​37 Dilly, Charles and Edward, 9, 70, 84, 91, 92, 92n212, 98, 105–​8, 114–​15, 119n289, 173, 175, 195, 206, 225–​27, 295 dissenters, 9–​10, 27, 34, 40–​41, 88, 201–​3, 240–​41,  282 Duff, James, second Earl of Fife, 72–​73

 

Eden, William, 243–​44 Education, 19–​20, 22–​23, 29–​30, 41, 192, 197, 223–​ 24, 244n593, 288–​93, 294 Edward VI, King of England, 178–​80 Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 38 Ellery, William, 136, 149 Enfield, William, 287 enlightenment, 24–​25, 27, 80, 102, 129–​30, 138–​39, 173, 263–​64, 266–​67, 288, 290–​91, 294 Scottish, 6 Éon de Beaumont, Charles d’, 65 equality, 5, 6–​7, 8, 9, 10–​11, 12–​13, 25–​26, 121, 130, 138–​40, 143, 160, 276, 277 before the law, 13–​14 of the sexes, 12–​13, 22–​23, 98–​101 Erskine, David Steuart, Earl of Buchan, 6–​35,  40–​55

 

Fenelon, François de, 9, 289 Fitch, Samuel, 146n344 FitzRoy, Augustus Henry, Duke of Grafton, 49 Fleming, Caleb, 9–​10, 14 Fletcher, Andrew, 51 Fortescue-​Brickdale, Charles, 31 Fox, Charles James, 3, 222, 226–​27 Franchise, 16–​17, 25–​26, 236–​37. See also representation Franklin, Benjamin, 9–​10, 17, 40, 86, 108, 113, 118n283, 119n289, 145, 146, 146n344, 192, 198–​99,  203–​4

Fraser, Anne, 222n526 Fraser, Catherine Eliza, see Gregorie, Catherine Eliza (née Fraser) Fraser, Edward, 222n526 Fraser, Jane, 30–​31, 222n526 Fraser, William of Balnean, 222n527 freedom, see also liberty political, 66–​67, 157, 300–​1 of the press, 5, 14, 17–​18 free will, 19–​20, 176–​77, 185–​86 French, Susannah, 101 Fuzzard, Mrs, 29

 

Genlis, Stéphanie-​Félicité de, 23, 223–​24, 231, 289 George II, King of England, 41–​43n39, 41–​43n43 George III, King of England, 6–​7, 9, 16–​17, 29–​30, 41–​43n45, 103, 104, 128–​29 Germain, George Sackville, first Viscount Sackville,  41–​43 Gerry, Elbridge, 159, 162, 166, 167n374 Gill, John, 92 Gill, Moses, 92, 94, 115 Gill, Sarah Prince, 8–​9, 11, 34, 36n17, 92–​97, 114 Godmersham, 4, 220n517, 220n520 Gordon, Thomas, 101 Gordon, William, 110, 136, 201–​4 Graham, Catharine Macaulay, see Macaulay, Catharine (née Sawbridge) Graham, James, 15–​16, 54–​55, 104, 198–​201 Graham, William, 15–​16, 18–​19, 30–​32, 167n376, 221, 227–​28, 229–​31, 233–​34, 236–​37, 241–​ 42, 245–​46, 254, 259–​60 Gregorie, Catherine Eliza (née Fraser), 222n529, 239 Gregorie, Catharine Sophia (née Macaulay), 6, 30–​ 31, 52, 52n81, 55, 165, 169, 172, 219–​59 Gregorie, Charles, 6, 30–​31, 52, 165, 249, 252–​53, 254–​55, 256, 258, 259 Gregorie, David, of St Andrews, 249n602, 254 Gregorie, David, of Campvere Jr., 239 Gregorie, David, of Campvere Sr., 6, 222, 233–​34, 239, 249n602, 252, 253–​54, 257n621 Gregorie, George, 222n526 Gregorie, Clan of, 253 Gregory, David, of Kinairdy, 222n526, 249n602 Gregory, Daniel, 228n559, 230–​31, 241, 241n586 Gregory, David, 257n621 Gregory, Dorothea, 257n621 Gregory, Elizabeth Catherine (née Beckingham), 228–​31, 234–​35,  241 Gregory, George, 228n559 Gregory, James, 257n621 Grenville, George, 41n41, 99 Gridley, Jeremiah, 115–​16 Griffiths, Ralph, 287–​88 Gurnell, William, 179

Index  317 Hallowell, Thomas, 118 Hampden, John, 38, 39, 51 happiness, 22–​25, 54, 59–​60, 66–​67, 69, 106n247, 130, 138–​39, 150, 170, 175, 244n593, 266–​67, 275, 277, 280, 285, 286, 292–​93, 299 Harcourt, Anne Pierre de, 76–​77, 79, 84 Harris, William, 8–​9, 55–​63, 195 Hartley, David, 23 Hastings, Warren, 147, 168 Hawksworth, John, 91, 92 Hay, Lady Mary, 73 Hays, Mary, 216 Henderson, John, 235 Henry, Patrick, 111 Heron, Catharine (née Sawbridge), 224n535 Heron, Thomas, 224n535 Herries, Sir Robert, 245 Hervey, James, 180 Hill, Bridget, 28 Hill, Wills, 127 Hoar, Colonel, 101 Hoare, Henry and Hugh, bankers, 228, 236, 242, 246, 248, 259 Hobbes, Thomas, 10–​11, 15, 27, 63 Holles, Thomas Pelham, duke of Newcastle upon Tyne, 42n45 Hollis family, 137 Hollis, Thomas, 8–​9, 31–​32, 34–​37, 40, 55–​56, 93n214, 97, 107, 114–​16, 135, 181–​83 Hollis, Thomas Brand, 285 Home, Henry, Lord Kames, 205 Honywood, Sir John, 255, 259 Hume, David, 6–​8, 14–​15, 22–​23, 25–​26, 37–​40, 41, 57, 61n107, 205 hunting,  22–​23 Hutchinson, Thomas, 99n230, 118nn283–​285, 120, 202,  205–​6 Hyde, Edward, first Earl of Clarendon, 57, 59

 

instrumental rationality, 11 Iszard, Ralph, 113

 

James II, King of England, 18–​19, 24, 77n168, 98–​101,  207 Jebb, John, 284 Jeffries, John, 98 Johnson, Joseph, 294 Johnson, Samuel, 13–​14, 31, 33, 63, 82–​83, 105,  189–​90

 

Knight, Catherine (née Knatchbull), 220n518 Knight, Jane, 220, 223, 225 Knight, Jane (née Monke), 220n517, 220n518 Knight, Thomas Jr., 220n517 Knight, Thomas Sr., 220n518

Knowles, Mary (née Morris), 105, 113, 189–​91, 229–​30, 233–​34,  246–​47 Knowles, Thomas, 189, 285

 

La Fayette, Marquis de, 18, 190, 274, 276 Laud, William, 8, 61, 62 Lee, Arthur, 52, 125n306, 166, 205–​6 Lee family, 166 Lee, Richard Henry, 52n83, 111–​12, 166 Leighton, Alexander, 38n30, 61 Leland, John, 15, 235 Le Ray de Chaumont, 209 Le Ray de Chaumont, Jogues (née Desormeaux), 17,  209–​14 Levelers. 13–​14, 27, 63, 176, 287 libertinism, 14, 188–​89 liberty, 4–​5, 6–​7, 9, 10, 14, 25–​26, 37, 38, 40, 46, 48, 50, 54, 60–​61, 64–​65n120, 89, 93, 95–​96, 128, 130, 133–​34, 160, 181, 188–​89, 190, 283. See also free will American, 98, 102, 120–​21, 135–​37, 138–​39, 140–​43, 144, 160, 163, 168, 170, 171–​ 72, 173, 174, 192–​93, 201–​3, 215–​16, 266–​67, 276, 278, 291–​92, 296 British, 97, 98–​101, 128–​29, 138–​39, 140–​41, 150, 152, 153, 263–​64, 273–​74, 300 cause of, 62–​63, 66–​67, 70, 93, 97, 104–​5, 125, 136–​37, 190–​91, 203,  215–​16 Civil, 5, 6–​7, 38, 46, 48, 93, 203n470, 218 friends/​lovers of, 49, 52, 60–​61, 67, 68, 70–​71, 72–​73, 93–​94, 95–​96, 102, 111–​12, 119, 123, 124, 150, 196, 201–​3, 263–​64, 274, 279, 281, 287–​88,  296 positive, 5, 10–​11, 19–​20, 66–​67, 160, 188–​89, 273–​74, 283,  287–​88 religious, 6–​7, 36n18, 46, 93, 203n470 sons of, 145 women’s,  12–​13 license,  4–​5 Lincoln, Benjamin Jr., 162n366, 169 Lincoln, Benjamin Sr., 162, 261 Lindsey, Theophilus, 3, 185–​86 Livingston, William, 101–​3, 135 Locke, John, 4–​5, 10–​11, 19–​20, 23, 27, 51, 218, 267, 289 Lofft, Capel, 14–​15, 27, 31–​32, 284–​86 Lolme, Jean Louis de, 291 Louis XII, King of France, 178–​79 Louis XV, King of France, 65, 261 Louis XVI, King of France, 3–​4, 17–​18, 261 Luttrell, Henry Lawes, 72n145, 73 Lux, George, 21, 259 luxury, 44, 123, 126–​27, 139–​40, 153, 160, 161, 164, 170, 171, 188–​89, 274, 276–​77, 292–​93, 295,  296–​97 Lyttelton, George, 167, 187, 192

318 Index Macaulay, Anne, 222n526, 249n602, 257n621 Macaulay, Archibald, 40, 222n526 Macaulay, Catharine (née Sawbridge) Birth and education, 4, 29–​30, 192, 220n517 cotteries, 40, 66 death,  3–​4 first marriage, 6, 40 second marriage, 18–​19, 31–​32, 199, 231n565 Macaulay, Catharine Sophia, see Gregorie, Catharine Sophia (née Macaulay) Macaulay, George, 6, 9–​10, 31–​32, 34, 37, 40, 127, 222n526 Macaulay, Jean, 222n526 Machiavelli, Niccolò, 118 Mallet, Philip Jr., 282 Mallet, Philip Sr., 282–​83 Manilla Ransom, 43 manners, 21, 44, 48, 58, 79, 80–​81, 95–​96, 130, 188–​89,  278 Marchant, Henry, 9–​10, 21, 132, 133, 135–​36, 146 Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, 80 Marmontel, Jean-​François, 215 Mary, Queen of England, 18–​19 Mayhew, Elizabeth, 9, 93n214 Mayhew, Jonathan, 9, 34, 36 Mayo, Henry, 201–​3 middlesex elections, 14, 72–​73 Milton, John, 4–​5, 11, 27, 33, 102 Moffatt, Thomas, 290 monarchy, 24–​26, 38, 40–​41, 49, 63–​64, 67, 80, 133–​34, 164, 167, 168, 170, 174, 178, 217–​18, 261–​62,  296 Montagu, Edward, 257n621 Montagu, Edward, first Earl of Sandwitch, 257n621 Montagu, Elizabeth (née Robinson), 9, 29–​30, 42n40, 106, 197, 198–​99, 216, 257n621, 281 Montagu, John, fifth Earl of Sandwitch, 257n621 Montagu, John George, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, 253–​54,  257 Montagu, Mary Wortley (née Pierpont), 203 moral necessity, 19–​20 More, Hannah, 32, 197, 198n456, 216

Otis, James Jr., 8–​9, 36n18, 95, 96, 97, 98–​101, 108, 117–​18, 118n283, 119, 136–​37, 145, 146n344, 148,  149–​50 Otis, James Sr., 99n230, 118n283, 119

national debt, 16 Needham, Marchmont, 4, 187n422 Neville, Sylas, 9–​10, 14 North, Frederick, second Earl of Guilford, 41, 53, 222, 244n592 Northcote, Thomas and Mrs, 8–​9, 15, 32, 107, 176–​ 77, 181, 195

 

 

 

Olantigh, 4, 29–​30, 220n517 Oliver, Andrew, 118, 205–​6 Olympia, 135

 

Paine, Thomas, 27, 66 Paoli, Pasquale, 10, 13–​14, 49, 63–​65, 67, 70–​71, 96, 277 Patriotism, 95, 98, 102, 105, 125, 133–​34, 148, 158, 168, 174, 258, 283, 285 Patriot King, 6–​7, 178n394 Patriots, 39, 70, 72, 93, 94, 94n215, 101–​2, 119, 120, 125, 136–​37, 152, 155, 165, 167, 182, 190–​91, 206, 215, 228–​29, 277 Patterson, Margaret, 249n602 Paxton, Charles, 118 Pearne, Thomas, 287–​88 Pemberton, Samuel, 108 perfectability, 6, 7–​8, 10–​12, 19–​20, 24–​25, 138–​39, 173, 293 Petty, William, second Earl of Shelburne, 42, 50n69 Phillips, James, 18 Pine, Robert Edge, 106n247, 272, 273 Pitt, William, the elder, 6, 16–​17, 23–​24, 40, 42, 83, 181–​82, 194, 202n465 Pitt, William, the younger, 221–​23, 228–​29, 236–​ 37, 244n592 Polwhele, Richard, 32, 216–​17 possessive individualism, 11 predestination, 176–​77,  185–​86 Prevost, Samuel, 162 Price, Richard, 10, 24, 40, 50, 88, 112, 114, 196, 203, 282, 283, 284–​85 Priestley, Joseph, 3, 23, 46, 47, 50 Prince, Thomas, 92, 93 Protestants, 9, 65, 124n303, 194 psychological egoism, 11, 27 Pye, Benjamin, 65 Pye, Henry James, 65 Pye, John, 65 Pym, John, 38, 39, 153 Pynsent, Sir William, 42n41

 

quakers, 13–​14, 17–​18, 31–​32, 33, 113, 124–​25, 189–​91, 225–​27,  233–​34 Quincy, Josiah Jr., 202n464 Quincy, Josiah Sr., 117, 202 Ramsay, James, 37, 127–​32, 189–​90 Rational altruism, 11, 19 Read, Catherine, 232–​33 Reid, Thomas, 6, 222n526 Religious toleration, 18–​19 republicanism, 6–​7, 9, 10–​12, 17–​18, 21, 27, 63–​ 65, 67–​69, 80, 89, 126–​27, 133–​35, 137–​40, 153–​54, 170, 174, 217–​18, 225–​27, 259–​60, 261–​62, 294, 295 revolution, 27, 170, 258

Index  319 American, 3–​4, 27, 28–​29, 132, 135–​36, 140–​41, 143, 149–​50, 156–​58, 161, 162, 171, 172, 201–​ 3, 225–​27, 259–​61, 274, 276, 277 English, 1642–​1660, 59, 98–​101, 128, 225–​27 French, 3–​4, 17–​18, 23–​25, 27, 28–​29, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 216, 217–​18, 274, 276, 277, 279, 281–​82, 283, 285, 296 Glorious, 1688, 6–​7, 24, 48, 283 rights, 37, 41n39, 48, 68, 93, 94, 97, 98, 122, 124–​25, 127note, 135, 140–​41, 143, 148, 151, 152, 157, 169, 174, 191, 201n463, 219, 273–​74, 295, 297, 299–​301 animal,  22–​23 human, 6–​7, 13–​14, 95, 128, 287 inalienable, 13–​14, 26 of man/​men, 3–​4, 24, 25–​26, 27, 153–​54, 163, 164, 263–​64, 295 of mankind, 9, 11–​12, 25–​26, 69, 76–​77, 93, 112, 150, 176 property, 12–​14,  25–​26 universal, 4, 27, 266–​67 voting, 25–​26, 195, 236–​37 women’s, 12–​13, 25–​26, 197, 294 Riqueti, Honoré-​Gabriel, count of Mirabeau, 17–​37,  217–​18 Robertson, William, 69, 106, 130–​31 Robinson, John, 146n344 Robinson, Mr, 109 Robinson, William, 31–​32, 281–​82 Robinson-​Morris, Matthew, 29–​30,  237–​38 Rochefoucault, Louis-​Alexandre de La, 76–​77, 79, 85, 214 Rochefoucault-​Liancourt, François-​Alexandre-​ Frédéric, 14, 76–​77, 79, 214 Roland, Jeanne-​Marie,  17–​18 rotation, 11–​12, 21, 68–​69, 165, 259–​60, 277 Rousseau, Jean-​Jacques, 10, 23, 63, 267, 289, 294 Rudd, Edmund, 225–​27, 231–​32, 233–​34, 236–​38, 241–​43, 244–​46,  248 Ruffhead, Owen, 287 Rush, Benjamin, 9–​10, 11–​12, 14–​15, 31, 45–​46, 66–​71, 105, 114–​15, 192 Rush, Julia (née Stockton), 71n141 Russell, Lord William, 147 Russell, Sally (née Sever), 162, 163, 164–​65, 167 Russell, Thomas, husband of above, 159, 162, 168 Russell, Thomas, 3 Russell, William, 3 Ryland, John, 3 Ryland, John Collett, 3, 8, 19, 185–​86, 187–​88

 

Saige, Guillaume-​Joseph,  261–​67 Sands, Jenny, 233, 242–​43, 248, 251–​52, 253 Sans Souci Club, 21, 295 Sarentora, 135 Sarsfield, Guy-​Claude Count of, 76–​77, 79, 83, 84, 86, 206, 207–​9, 210–​12, 213 Sarsfield, Patrick, first Earl of Lucan, 76–​77

Sawbridge, Anne (née Brodnax), 220n517 Sawbridge, Anne (née Stephenson), 242n588,  253–​54 Sawbridge, Catharine, see Macaulay, Catharine (née Sawbridge) Sawbridge, Colonel Jacob, 52n81, 220n518, 225n536 Sawbridge, Elizabetta, 47n57 Sawbridge, Jacob, father of Catharine Macaulay, 40 Sawbridge, Jacob, great-​uncle of Catharine Macaulay, 47n57 Sawbridge, Jacob, uncle of Catharine Macaulay, 220n517 Sawbridge, John, 9–​10, 48, 62, 66, 72–​73, 92n212, 94n215, 104, 119n289, 122, 123, 148, 152, 155, 192, 224, 225n536, 237–​38, 254n612 Sawbridge, Nicholas, 219n516 Sawbridge, Samuel Elias, 225n536, 237–​38, 242 Sawbridge, Wanley, brother of Catharine Macaulay,  225–​27 Sawbridge, Wanley, nephew of Catharine Macaulay, 254n612 Sayre, Stephen, 125–​26, 127, 147 Scott, John Morin, 101–​2 Scott, Junior Mason, 136–​37 Scott, Sarah (née Robinson), 9, 29–​30, 198–​99, 281 Scottish peers, 50–​51 Seymour-​Conway, first Marquess of Hertford, 38 Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 235 Shipley, Jonathan, 50n69, 122, 191, 205 Siddons, Sarah, 224, 225–​27 Sidney, Algernon, 18–​19, 27, 51, 54, 130, 147 Simon, George, Viscount Nunham then Lord Harcourt, 14, 16, 41, 71–​88 slavery, 17–​18, 113, 127, 189–​90, 197 Smith, Isaac, 114–​15, 192 Smollett, Tobias, 6–​7, 37 Society for Constitutional Information, 195, 284 Society of Friends, see quakers Sowden, Benjamin, 203–​4 Sowden, Hannah, 203–​5 Spanheim, Friedrich, 179 St John, first Viscount Bolingbroke, 15 Stamp Act, 6–​7, 41n39, 42n41, 53n86, 108, 111–​12, 118n283, 132, 206 standing army, 16, 90, 153 Stanhope, Charles, third Earl of, 23–​24 Stanhope, Eugenia, 107 Stanhope, Philip Dormer, fourth Earl of Chesterfield, 107n248 Stephenson, Anne, 242n588, 253–​54nn611–​612 Steuart, Sir James of Goodtrees, 40–​41 Stiles, Ezra, 21, 132–​44, 146, 148 Stockton, Richard, 71n141 Stockton, Samuel, 71 Stoicism, 10–​11, 54, 166, 178, 184, 238–​39 Stonhouse, James, 198 Stuart, John, third Earl of Bute, 104

320 Index Swift, Jonathan, 82–​83 sympathy, 22–​23, 150, 292–​93

 

taxation, 6–​7, 14, 16, 31–​32, 41–​43n39, 41–​43n47, 68–​69, 70, 89, 103, 118n283, 123, 127n312, 130–​31, 139–​41, 143, 171–​72, 178–​79nn396–​397, 188–​89, 227–​30, 280, 286n666, 296, 300 Taylor, Brook, 47n57 Toland, John, 4 Toledo y Pimental, Fernando Álvarez de, 124n303 Toplady, Augustus, 8, 13n32, 32, 34, 107, 175–​88, 195, 229 Towgood, Michaijah, 282 Turgot, Anne Robert Jacques, 114, 215 Turretin, Francis, 179 Tytler, Alexander Fraser, 222n526

 

unitarianism, 14–​15, 185n419

 

Vasseur, Thérèse le, 63 Vaughan, Samuel, 94n215 Voltaire, 63 Walpole, Horace, 16, 79, 85n189, 197, 214–​16 Walpole, Robert, 16, 24, 41n39, 55, 85, 89, 214 Warren, James, 118n283, 119, 123, 149–​50, 162n364, 169 Warren, Joseph, 108, 166 Warren, Mercy Otis, 21, 118n283, 119, 122, 123, 148, 149–​75, 268

Washington, George, 21, 111–​12, 156–​57, 180, 201–​3,  268–​80 Washington, George Augustine, 269, 270 Washington, Martha (née Dandridge), 159, 269,  276–​77 Watelet, Claude-​Henri, 76–​77, 79 Watson, Richard, 218–​19 Wesley, John, 175 Whately, Thomas, 118n283 Wilkes, John, 6–​8, 14–​15, 16–​17, 41, 41n39, 42n41, 53n86, 66, 72n145, 104–​5 William III, King of England, 16, 18–​19, 84, 208–​9 Wilson, Reverend, 286 Wilson, Thomas D.D., 36–​37, 78, 106–​7, 110–​11, 184n415, 192, 196, 199, 231–​32, 242–​43 Winthrop, Hannah, 149–​50 Winthrop, John, 98–​101, 136–​37 Witsius, Herman, 178–​80 Wollstonecraft, Mary, 4, 23, 32, 88, 197, 216, 287–​88,  294–​95

 

Young, George, 196 Young, Lady Elizabeth (née Taylor), 47n57, 243–​44 Young, Mary, 243n591 Young, Olivia, 221, 244 Young, Portia, 243 Young, Sir William, 47n57, 244

 

Zenobia, 135