jet. 25 .]

LETTERS.

93

Caballo. I have had a letter from the chief of them, givingme an invitation to come to Paris. He is a much greaterman than I suspected him to be: he is General in the FrenchArmy, Knight of the Grand Order of St. Louis, (similar to ourKnights of the Garter, ) was Second in Command of theFrench army in America , brother to the Prince De DeuxPonts, who is heir apparent to the Electorates of Bavaria andPalatinate , the present Elector upwards of eighty years ofage, and the Prince, his brother, in a deep consumption; sothat most probably 1 shall have had the honour of havingtaken prisoner a man who will be a Sovereign Prince ofEurope , and an absolute Monarch, ruling a country as largeagain as England, and brings into the field near a hundredthousand infantry. My paper is full, therefore I must havedone. A pretty good postscript!

TO THE REVEREND MR. NELSON, BURNHAM.

St. Omer , December 28th, 1783,January 3rd, 1783, [1784],

Dear Brother,

Your Letter of the 15th, I received last post with infinitepleasure, as there was many pleasing accounts in it: if youget Sutton and Ulp secured for you, you are a lucky manindeed. And at a time when all your hopes were vanished—Who would be a Parson ? was your tone a few months ago,now, I suppose, at least for the present—Who would not bea Parson ? You will be surprised, but most probably my nextletter may be from London , where I intend going on thefirst week in January. My health is not very stout this coldwinter ; and I must come over to get a little good advice fromsome of the London Physicians. At this place I am as happyin a friendly society as is possible. As you will suppose mytime to have been pretty well taken up, as I have been solong in writing this epistle. The frost, thank God , is broke,which has made a vast alteration in me for the better; coldweather is death to me. I hope your plan of getting Ulp, &c., hasbeen accomplished before this change in the Administration ; 6

6 Mr. Pitt came into Office on the 27th December 1783.