Strawberry hill Aug. 13, 1773

I am always glad to see Voltaire’s letters; but much more when they procure me one from you, whom I love much better, & without a Draw-back. There is spirit in his letter, it is true, but while he is contesting Volcanos, his thoughts seem to have been blown up by the explosion of one. It looks as if his head had fallen to pieces on a sheet of paper, & that his Ideas had tumled out higgledy piggledy. Cyclops, St Januarius, Ants, Archimedes, Trajan, Antonine, Mont Taurus, Comets, Oysterwomen, St Luke & St Paul, did ever Mortal make such a salmygondy? — But I will not dispute with him or you, tho I have a little difficulty in beleiving that Volcanos produce regular columns like those in the giant’s causey. I shoud as soon suppose that the gunpowder plot, if it had taken place, would have caused a methodical debate in both Houses of Parliament. We folks of old-fashioned understandings look on burning Mountains as very petulant ovens, & a little destructive. The modern French Philosophers seem to have a mind to make them Parents of Order, & a kind of Providence, as far as they will admit any. They put me in mind of George Montagu, who said of the last Earthquake, ‘I protest, it was so tame one might have stroked it’. Methinks, dear s^r, I wish you was not quite so fond of these outrageous monsters. They sometimes put out their claws to a horrible degree, & when Voltaire quoted Pliny to you, he had better have put you in mind of his Catastrophe, or have invited you to his own Icy Domains that never furnish bonfires….

I will now bid you adieu! Ransack Herculaneum, sift Pompeii, give us charming Vases, bring us Corregios & all Etruria, but do not dive into the Caverns of Etna & Vesuvius. You are a Knight of water not of the opposite Element; and it is better to be an Antiquary of Taste, than a salamander that had passed a thousand Ordeals. I am sure Lady Hamilton is on my side. I am most sincerely Her, & dear s^r

yr most faithfull humble sert.

Hor. Walpole