authentic materials, which have never
yet appeared. It will, upon the whole, be a very curious and valuable
history; though, between you and me, I could have wished that he had been
more correct and elegant in his style. You will find it dedicated to one
of your acquaintance, who was forced to prune the luxuriant praises
bestowed upon him, and yet has left enough of all conscience to satisfy a
reasonable man. Harte has been very much out of order these last three or
four months, but is not the less intent upon sowing his lucerne, of which
he had six crops last year, to his infinite joy, and, as he says, profit.
As a gardener, I shall probably have as much joy, though not quite so
much profit, by thirty or forty shillings; for there is the greatest
promise of fruit this year at 'Blackheath, that ever I saw in my life.
Vertumnus and Pomona have been very propitious to me: as for Priapus,
that tremendous garden god, as I no longer invoke him, I cannot expect
his protection from the birds and the thieves.

Adieu! I will conclude like a pedant, 'Levius fit patientia quicquid
corrigere est nefas.'

LETTER CCXLII

LONDON, April 16, 1759

MY DEAR FRIEND: With humble submission to you, I still say that if Prince
Ferdinand can make a defensive campaign this year, he will have done a
great deal, considering the great inequality of numbers. The little
advantages of taking a regiment or two prisoners, or cutting another to
pieces, are but trifling articles in the great account; they are only the
pence, the pounds are yet to come; and I take it for granted, that
neither the French, nor the Court of Vienna, will have 'le dementi' of
their main object, which is unquestionably Hanover; for that is the
'summa summarum'; and they will certainly take care to draw a force
together for this purpose, too great for any that Prince Ferdinand has,
or can have, to oppose them. In short, mark the end on't, 'j'en augure
mal'. If France, Austria, the Empire, Russia, and Sweden, are not, at
long run, too hard for the two Electors of Hanover and Brandenburg, there
must be some invisible power, some tutelar deities, that miraculously
interpose in favor of the latter.

You encourage me to accept all the powers that goats, asses, and bulls,
can give me, by engaging for my not making an ill use of them; but I own,
I cannot help distrusting myself a little, or rather human nature; for it
is an old and very true observation, that there are misers