Geneva Nov^r9^th 1774

Dear s^r,

I hope that you will not impute to the want of a proper sense of your Friendship the Liberty I have taken to delay so long any direct answer to your Obligeing letter.
My Packet in returne was for Obvious reasons addressed elsewhere & those reasons however trifling might still hinder my writing if I could possibly avoid thanking you for the part you have taken in my affairs, and of which D^r Black has told me the likelyhood of a favourable Ishue. He has likewise repeatedly informed me, how much I owed to you in this business as well as in the kind attention of your family to mine in this sort of orphancy, both of which circumstances give me greater pleasures than ever my opportunitys perhaps will enable me to communicate to any one else. I am here in appearance but my heart & my mind and all my sensibilitys are with you. Fortunately what engages me without a rival in this Peregrination is the Object of my Charge. In this I find many good Materials a little neglected & requiring much of the back game, a Phrase which for want of knowing Back gaming you may not possibly understand. All my letters have been dated at Geneva: but I have been settled here only a few days, the Summer was spent in the Countrey or in excursions to the Kingdoms, Dukedoms & Cantons which touch this little territory on different sides. I am on this account yet little acquainted with the place or its Inhabitants. I have seen two or three Ingenious men but am not yet properly speaking in habits with any of them. The silence of Politics here and in the Aristocratical Cantons of Switzerland is amazing: Government does not think itself safe but by keeping out of sight. Notwithstanding the Democratical Dash which this little Republic has lately received all Deliberations are secret, Elections never heard of till the day & then made in profound silence. Even the Doors of the Presbetery are shut, so that all idle expectations of being sometimes amused with Republican debates are intirely dissappointed. D'Alembert passed some weeks here a few years ago, chiefly at Voltaires, when some of the younger Clergy in haste to show their enlarged Views talked a little freely & he was idle enough to put in his Encyclopedie that they are all socinians. This raised a great Ferment in the Church of Calvin that is but now in some measure appeased. We are in the way to see most people that come & go into Italy. Many of them remain some time and we are a numerous Colony of English amounting when all are reckoned to near a hundred. The Countrey is beautiful beyond description. The Lake is equal to the Firth of Forth & the banks somewhat better, with a perpetual view of the snowy Alps in the heat & bloom of Summer.

The Principal curiosity however is Voltaire. If he were less a humourist by Nature the continual empressement of all strangers to see him woud of itself inspire him with whims. You have been told how much he lys a bed & how little he comes to his own Table. He has no certain hours like most old people, is sometimes up early enough & dressed in a full suit laced or Embroidered which cannot be less than thirty year old to judge from the fashion of the Cuffs & the buttons, but is for the most part in his Night gown, a dark Tye Wig & a laced Crimson silk bonnet. His common salutation is, qui veut voir une Ombre? Vous estes bien bon Monsieur, vous venez voir un Mourant, un Cadavre. It is very difficult to Converse with him on this subject. If you say you are sorry — And pray sr why shoud you be sorry? Or if you insist that he is wonderfully well & Robust for his Age, he complains of the Cholic which is universally understood as a signal to leave his house. So that the only way is to let him go on When in a few Minutes altho his legs be feeble his tongue becomes as frolicsome as that of a boy of eighteen. He likes the Crack of every Whip especially that of Infidelity. He Professes a great regard for the Late Lord Chesterfield & for this Lord of Course so that we can force ourselves upon him at most times; some time ago after repeated excuses to avoid being seen by a person that wanted to be introduced to him he Answered at last, Si je suis en Vie je serai à vos ordres, si je suis mort, je vous en demande pardon d'avance, L[e] Pavre Diable de Ferney. Hubert, of whose Inimitable talent you have heard, can cut him or punch him out of Cards or Crusts of bread so like that you imagine you see him and have your imagination quick filled with him. He has lately made a picture of him come out of bed standi[ng on o]ne leg & putting on his breeches dictating to his C[lerk which] makes a very fair specimen of his Way. He […] produceing something which Cramer gets hold of a[nd] brings through all the forms of Anonymous squibs, Pamphlets and Volumes. People have a notion that there is something now in agitation between him & the King of Prussia. The latter had an Officer residing at Voltaires above eight months & the most probable conjecture is that this officer has brought Memoires of late Wars to be licked up & waits to carry them back again. But if this or any other serious matter is on foot between them the secret is well kept.

So much for Voltaire. I have mentioned only his humour but you need not be told that he is in general what the French call Aimable dans la société without formality, communicative & Polite. I condole with you most sincerely on the loss of Poor Keith. Such breacks make even home recur with an Air of sadness. My best respects to m^r Bruce who I hope will succeed to our wishes. In cas he should need further orders from me to receive the Quarterly & other Payments I shall not fail to send them punctually. I expect to pass the Winter here but may be in Spain in the Spring. If you have any commissions there I beg to be employed. I am frequently questioned about the time of your next publication & make the wisest answer I can. Your Friend Lord Holdernesse has been here some months & has escaped from a dangerous fistule. He desires to be remembered to you & says you have put powder in his drink. My best Respects in your Family & at the Poker Club. My Little stock I find is encreased. I trust that some of you will take Care of the Christening. My being so far off sometimes costs me reflections but better times I hope are coming. Your most affectionate humble servant

A. Ferguson