414. To his Stepmother.

Bentinck Street, February 24th, 1781.

Dear Madam ,

As you have probably received my last letter of thirteen hundred pages, [474] I shall be very concise; Read, judge, pronounce: and believe that I sincerely agree with my friend Julian, [475] in esteeming the praise of those only who will freely censure my defects. Next Thursday I shall be delivered to the World, for whose inconstant and malicious levity I am coolly but firmly prepared. Excuse me to Sarah. I see more clearly than ever the absolute necessity of confining my presents to my own family; that , and that only, is a determined line, and Lord S. is the first to approve his exclusion. He has a strong assurance of success, and some hopes of a speedy decision. How suddenly your friend General Pierson [476] disappeared! You thought him happy. What is happiness?

I am, My Dear Madam, Ever Yours, E. Gibbon .