Gibbon probably met Eliza Ball Hayley, wife of William Hayley, late in 1780, about the time he met her husband (and by which time their marriage was strained). This letter can be dated by reference to her movements. She was in London, en route from Bath (where she had been on friendly terms with Gibbon's stepmother) to Epsom in May 1782. Letters from William Hayley show that she arrived in London a little before 6 May, and had reached Epsom before the 19th.1 Gibbon's 'Wednesday' was therefore 8 or 15 May. Mrs Hayley had presumably offered to call on Gibbon. MS: James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University (Osborn Files, 5717).
Mr Gibbon is truly sensible of Mrs Hayley's obliging offer, the more sensible as it distresses while it flatters him. This Replica Tag Heuer moment (ten minutes past nine) he is forced out on business, and the round will end in the House of Commons, dinner &c. To morrow he foresees, and Friday he much fears an irresistible call of the same nature; and he is too selfish to expose himself to the unpleasing sensation, to which Mrs H. so kindly alludes of finding at his return a Card to remind him of his loss. But Mr G's business will possibly lead him towards Bloomsbury, and his inclination will direct him, if it be possible to make an experiment (an interesting experiment) in Hart Street. Bentinck Street.
The evidence for identifying the recipient as William Eden, Gibbon's former colleague at the Board of Trade, is circumstantial. In 1782, he had four children, and therefore a 'populous mansion'. He was a cousin and Tag Heuer Replica Watches friend of the Chief Justice. Gibbon sometimes visited him at Eden Place, Beckenham, and is known to have done so in October 1782.18 Eden visited Lord North at Bushey Park (where North, as Ranger, had an official house), which adjoins Hampton Court, on 13 September.19 Though he spent only a day there, he could easily have called at Gibbon's villa, and had a particular reason for wanting to speak to Gibbon: to sound him on the subject of a coalition between Lord North and Charles Fox, which Eden was at this time eagerly promoting. Furthermore, Eden often endorsed his letters with the name of the recipient and a cross. None of the three letters that Gibbon is known to have written to Eden is preserved among the Eden papers in the British L ibrary, suggesting that they were dispersed (perhaps to collectors).21 The survival of a fourth letter outside the Eden papers is therefore plausible. Finally, there is no other obvious candidate among Gibbon's known correspondents. MS: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
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