We cannot have too much force anywhere, but if I am not very sanguine, Sir C. Grey has already a force beyond what the service requires; and it is likely that he will still be reinforced without breaking up Lord Moira's army, which I consider as the most usefully employed, and telling the most effectually against the enemy of any troops now in our service.

I will send your artillery plan to Dundas.

Ever most affectionately yours, G.



LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, July 9th, 1794. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I am sincerely sorry to see that you do not entertain the same hopes as I do of good from the new arrangements. I confess I think it so great an object to have annihilated all distinction of parties in this country among those who are attached to the present order of things; and I feel that the late events abroad have given so much more importance to this point, with a view to the internal situation of this country, than it had before, that I cannot help feeling very sanguine as to the consequences of the steps now taken with that view. God only knows which of us is right, and time only can show. In the meantime, jacta est alea, and we must abide by it.

On the subject of war and peace, you state very truly, that nothing is less probable than that peace should now be in our option. The retreat to Antwerp has been decided, not by opinions here, nor even by those of the Duke of York and Lord Cornwallis, but by the necessity consequent upon the Austrian movements. Whether those movements were right, I am not enough of a soldier, nor enough informed as a statesman, to pretend to form an opinion. The immediate effect of them is not necessarily the abandoning the towns taken last year, which are in a state to maintain themselves long, and to impede many of the operations of the enemy. Nor, as long as the Austrians maintain their line from Louvain to Namur, is the possibility of succouring them considered as desperate. What I most fear in the present moment is the effect of despondency here and abroad, without which I should see no reason why we should not, as you suggest, fight the country over and over again, inch by inch, with means and resources for carrying on the war, such as are out of all comparison superior to those of the enemy. It would have been a flattering and glorious thing, and a brilliant success, to have terminated the war by the favourable result of a plan of offensive operation in Flanders. If that has failed, I am very far from thinking this a reason for abandoning a cause in the issue of which I consider our existence as implicated. If we listen to the ideas of peace in the present moment (even supposing it were offered), it can be only because we confess ourselves unable to carry on the war. Such a confession affords but a bad security against the events which must follow, in Flanders, in Holland, and (by a very rapid succession) in this island.

I do not know from whence the papers have got the idea of Lord Camelford's return. He is not come, nor any officer or despatch, from Vancouver, but I understand the ship has been heard of in October last, all well. Many thanks for the offer of Paddington, which we may probably be glad to avail ourselves of.

Ever, my dear brother, Most affectionately yours, G.

We have nothing new from Lord Hood; and I am told that officers who know the coast do not speak favourably of the chance of doing anything against the French fleet in their present situation.

The failure of the Imperialists had thrown a serious damp on the spirits of the allies. It appears to have been thought the Austrians had not shown sufficient energy and determination; and it was resolved to send over Lord Spencer and Mr. Thomas Grenville to Vienna, in the hope of inducing them to make more vigorous exertions. A subsequent letter from Mr. Thomas Grenville to the Duke of Portland contains an admirable report of the progress of the mission.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, July 19th, 1794. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

Tom has, I know, mentioned to you the Commission which he has undertaken—jointly with Lord Spencer—to endeavour to encourage our Austrian allies to a little more exertion and energy, which, after all the late events, I continue persuaded is the only thing wanting to ensure success, instead of such a series of retreats as the last month has shown. God knows whether they will succeed; but it is an infinite satisfaction to me to see his talents employed in the public service, and to be corresponding with him on subjects of this nature. The rest of our public events are just such as you see them in the papers.

Lord Cornwallis is returned, speaking highly of the Duke of York, and far otherwise of the Austrian Generals, to whom he, and all mankind in Flanders, impute all that has happened. It is a whimsical circumstance, and hardly to have been foreseen, that in a war which we carry on conjointly with Austria, the great want which we experience should be that of Austrian Generals, of capacity sufficient to command the excellent troops which are acting in the Netherlands.

My American negotiation is, I think, going on promisingly. I have nothing else to tell you; and am, indeed, so completely knocked up by this last week's fagging, as hardly to be able to write at all. This evening I am going to Dropmore, for a little respite.

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.

(Private.) Vienna, August 24th, 1794. DEAR DUKE OF PORTLAND,

It had been very much my intention to have written to you by our messenger of the 16th instant, because, although our despatches have been very much detailed, and have not, therefore, left much to be said in private letters, it is upon these occasions, I know, some satisfaction to hear that nothing remains behind, which is material to the subject; but having been hitherto prevented, by the very entire occupation of our time here, I take the opportunity of writing to you, a little at large, by the messenger who is going to England to-night.

You know that upon the slight view which the shortness of the time allowed me to take of the business in question here, I was persuaded that we probably might, in some degree, succeed in our expedition; because, if the course of things here could not be improved by our journey, yet I should consider the being able to ascertain what that state was, as an object very useful to pursue, and one which, if pursued with attention, we might probably succeed in possessing ourselves of. How far we have already obtained this information you will have seen by the communications which we have made; and I much fear that our journey will not produce any advantage of a more solid and substantial description. To say that it might not be possible to procure from the Government here a formal consent to such an arrangement as we have to propose, is more than I would assert: although, the condition which they positively insist upon of being paid for it by loan and subsidy, as well as all the difficulties which they throw upon the subject of the proposed barrier, and upon that of acting in the Netherlands, might well seem to justify the opinion of its being improbable that anything like the proposed arrangement would be consented to. But the misfortune is, that—in my judgment, at least—the evil lies much deeper, and is such as would leave me little hope of seeing any effectual purpose served, even by the signature of a Convention between the two Courts.

I do not know of any good ground for believing the common report of treachery, either in the civil or military government of the country; but I know, that if the principle upon which our Government act in the prosecution of the war is not cordially felt here—if the greatness of those interests, which we think now at stake, is not to the same degree here considered as being of the very essence and existence of all regulated government, a Convention will not give them a livelier perception of this common danger, or teach them to see in it a crisis such as demands greater energy and exertions, than any other state of things could call for. But this common principle is not all that is wanting in the present case: we think, in England, that the preservation of the Austrian Netherlands is an object important to us as providing a defence for Holland, and important to the Court of Vienna as forming a rich and considerable possession to the House of Austria, and, therefore, making an object of common interest, though touching Austria still more sensibly than England. If this obvious view of the interests of both countries prevailed in the Governments of both—as one might rationally expect that it would—it would naturally furnish, by common consent, a very leading and governing motive, as well to the operations of the war, as to the ultimate issue of it. This, however, is not the view which is entertained here, or which I can persuade myself is really acted upon by those whose influence is decisive here.

M. de Thugut, the efficient Minister of this Court, is personally very much disposed (and long has been so) to the old project of an exchange of the Netherlands; and though that project appears to be laid aside for the purpose of conciliating Great Britain and Holland, yet it is evident that M. de Thugut's opinions are such as lead him to set but little value upon the possession of the Netherlands, and, therefore, that every circumstance, either of expense or of military enterprise, which looks towards the acquisition and defence of those provinces, is as much discouraged by him as he can venture to do, without openly declaring the whole bias of his mind: and it is very remarkable that, much as we have made it our business to press this to him in all our conversations, we have never yet been able to draw from him even a cold assent to the idea of the Low Countries being of any real value in themselves to the Emperor; though he sometimes feebly admits that, with a considerable addition to them, they might be made so.

It may be said, that a Convention might engage them on this point, whatever their inclinations may be; but the answer is, first, that in point of fact they do object to bind themselves to the employing one hundred thousand men in the Netherlands, though they have not finally refused it; and secondly, that be there what agreement there may, the only substantial security for a hearty co-operation in fighting for that country, or for any manly system to be adopted hereafter for the preservation of it, must arise from a sense—in the owners—of the value of its possession, and not from the words employed in any treaty respecting it. I am aware that part of the indifference which I so much remark in M. de Thugut may be affected, for the purpose of throwing the whole weight of the defence of the Low Countries upon the Maritime Powers; but if that is his policy, he must mean to support it by abstaining from any vigorous exertions in behalf of it, and in the end, whether his coolness and inactivity shall have been produced by a real or disguised opinion, the result will equally have been fatal to that earnest and animated concert, which is so much to be wished for on this occasion.

You see that I have so far considered the Convention, as taking place upon the terms proposed by us; but you will have known, long before you receive this letter, that they have persisted from the first in asking, as indispensable conditions, that their loan must be completely satisfied in England to enable them to answer the demands of this year, and that they must receive from England a considerable subsidy for next campaign, if it is expected that they should act vigorously in the prosecution of the war, which they assert themselves to be utterly unable to do without pecuniary assistance from England. We have urged them very ineffectually on this point: they declare that they have good hopes of M. de Merey's succeeding in obtaining these demands at London, and the negotiation actually hangs upon the report which they hourly expect from him on this subject; though we have repeatedly told them that their expectation was hopeless, and that, meanwhile, the delay occasioned by it might be fatal to those exertions which required immediate action and enterprise.

What decision the Cabinet will make upon this heavy demand of subsidy, is doubtless a very important question, of which they will be the fit and competent judges; but if that question simply turned upon the supposed probability of our being able to purchase, even at that dear rate, a proportionate degree of energy and activity in the war from this Government, I confess I do not hesitate to say that, from what I see here, I should not believe, if the experiment is tried, it will well answer their expectations. There is no soul in the bodies of these men—none, at least, which is alive to the magnitude of all the objects now at stake, or which leads them to share with you, as it ought the great points of common danger and common interest; and while these mainsprings are wanting, it is in vain to look for such movements and effects as cannot be produced without them. If this radical defect did not exist; if the Government here was as earnest as it ought to be in its contemplation of this war, but really was without the means of prosecuting it; if it acknowledged and took its proper interest in the possession of the Netherlands, and asked your assistance to that object, only because they had exhausted all their own resources, there might be great inducements to hope that, in furnishing to them the supply which they wish, you might on your side expect all the active effects which ought to be produced by it; but I know not how to hope that a subsidy will give vigour to their councils or enterprise to their armies; still less can I hope that a subsidy, given for the preservation of the Netherlands, will teach them to put a proper value upon those possessions on their own account, though it certainly would teach them how highly you value their retaining them on your account.

All M. de Thugut's conversation, even upon the idea of the subsidy taking place, is evidently adverse to the prosecuting of the war in the Netherlands; and even when the danger of Holland is urged as a powerful argument for this course, he very coldly answers that, supposing the French to succeed in Holland for a time, they would be glad enough to relinquish it if the arms of the allies were successful in the interior of France. How, then, can one easily hope that the payment of a subsidy will reconcile views so remote—as I apprehend these are—from the wishes of the English Cabinet, or prevent much of thwarting and contradiction in the operations of the campaign? I confess that I suspect this disinclination to the defence of the Netherlands to arise, not only from a habit of undervaluing them, but partly, too, from a persuasion that the Maritime Powers must and will, at their own expense, protect them; and partly, also, from a narrow and timid view of collecting the whole Austrian force on the German frontier, so as to be more immediately ready for the defence of the imperial dominions, as well as to have less reason to fear in their jealousy of the intentions of the King of Prussia.

Upon this latter point the difficulties are, perhaps, much more likely to be increased than to be relieved, by transferring the Prussian subsidy to the army of Austria, because the Court of Berlin will doubtless express great dissatisfaction at that measure; and everything which excites their apprehension here, will naturally more or less interfere with the energy of their operations against France. I do not mean that these arguments would be stated as reasons against their acting up to the conditions of the subsidy; but I fear they would nevertheless be found to have too much influence and effect in practice.

The objections which have seemed to me to arise against a large subsidy to Austria—from the little hope which I should have of its producing from hence that exertion of force, and that course of military operations which, with a view to Holland, we should think ourselves fully entitled to—are of course much increased by my apprehension of the bad and dangerous consequences which would affect our Government at home, from a second disappointment of so costly an experiment, which I must hope need not be considered as necessary to the prosecution of the war.

If it is true—as it may, perhaps, be found—that much of the languor and apathy of this Court arises out of a confidence in the greatness of our exertions, which may allow them to be sparing of their own, if (as there is reason to believe) they have still the fair means of recruiting their armies and maintaining their present military force, is it not to be hoped that the necessity of the case will rouse them to the use of those means, when they see no other prospect of safety open to them? They sometimes talk stoutly of all that they would do by arming the empire, and other vigorous measures, in case the French succeeded in forcing their way to menace Germany. But why are these exertions to be reserved for any other situation of things? and why are we to pay them a million and a half, rather than put them to the full extent of all their own exertions and resources? Nor is it, perhaps, to be overlooked, in this view of the subject, that the crooked policy of Prussia would perhaps acquiesce in the loss of his own subsidy much more readily, if he does not see it given to Austria, but has the satisfaction of seeing Austria fight her own battles with her own men and money. They always insist here, too, that they are sure the King of Prussia, even if his bargain should not be renewed with England, will not withdraw entirely from the war, and still less will take a part hostile to the combined Powers. And whether this speculation of theirs is true or not, while they believe it, they are more at liberty to act solely against France, without fearing any attack from the quarter of Berlin.

The great danger, perhaps, of trying another campaign without subsidizing either Prussia or Austria, might first be found with respect to Holland (at least, if the Government here act as they threaten in the case of being unsubsidized), by their withdrawing of the Austrian army from the neighbourhood of Maestricht, and contracting their defence to the limits of their German frontier. But even if they did so—which may be much doubted—might not England and Holland, at a smaller expense than that paid to the King of Prussia, subsidize an army of auxiliary troops to act for the defence of Holland, and for carrying on the war in the Netherlands, and have that army really and effectually at their own disposal, and doing the service which they were paid for. How far this may be practicable, I do not pretend to judge. If it is so, nobody could doubt that it would be an expense more grateful to the public of our own country than that of paying for a force which we cannot bring as we ought into action, and which we must consider as compelled by their own interests to continue the war, whether we pay them or not for doing so. By subsidizing Austria, we acquire no greater force than that of the last campaign, and we put the justification of that enormous expense upon the unpromising chance of a vigour and energy on their part such as they appear to be altogether incapable of exerting, unless under the pressure of such a danger as would force them to act without hiring them to do so.

The length of this letter is such as I am really ashamed to add to.

Lord Spencer writes to Lord Grenville by the same opportunity. Neither he nor I see much prospect of making ourselves useful in the shape and with the views proposed, and we are therefore naturally anxious to see the ordinary course resumed in some other person, and any such arrangements taken as may admit of our return as soon as without inconvenience might be. We speak the more directly on this matter, from the entire and perfect agreement of our view of it, and our opinions concerning it; at the same time, if, in your determinations at home, it should seem to you that Lord Spencer can and ought to stay longer, with any fair prospect of such advantages to this great subject as his peculiar situation alone could promise, I do not doubt but that he would consent to protract his stay a little longer; and while he does, I certainly will not ask to desert him, bien entendu, that I cannot think of staying one hour after him.

Ever, my dear Duke, Very truly and faithfully yours.

The session had been protracted to the beginning of July, not merely by the interest of passing occurrences, but by the efforts of the Opposition to damage the character and embarrass the action of Ministers. The most remarkable of these movements was a string of resolutions moved in the Upper House by the Duke of Bedford, and in the Lower by Mr. Fox, and urged upon the consideration of both Houses with an amount of ability that could not have failed of its object, had that object been a sound one, or sustained by the public opinion of the country. The main purpose was to obtain from Parliament a protest against the war, and to compel the Government to enter into proposals for a peace with France. After setting forth that the policy of the Administration had been that of strict neutrality before the commencement of hostilities, and that, after the declaration of war, Ministers adopted the policy of resistance to the ambition and aggrandisement of France, the resolutions went on to state, that at the beginning of the war it was considered a matter of general concern in which His Majesty was to have the cordial co-operation of the powers united with him by the ties of interest and alliance; that His Majesty had not received that co-operation; that Russia had not contributed in any shape to the common cause; that Denmark and Sweden had coalesced to defend themselves against any attempt to force them into it; that Venice and Switzerland remained neuter; that Sardinia was subsidized merely to act on the defensive; and that Great Britain was loaded with a subsidy which ought properly to be borne by Prussia; and, finally, that the time was now come when peace might be secured on a permanent basis, and that it was the duty of His Majesty's Ministers to avail themselves of the opportunity.

There was some truth in these statements, although the general deduction was erroneous, and the colouring throughout false. The allies had not given that cordial co-operation to Great Britain which they were bound to do, and Prussia had evaded the onus of the coalition. Mr. Thomas Grenville's letter to the Duke of Portland discovers a great deal more than was known to the Duke of Bedford or Mr. Fox in illustration of these facts; and the correspondence that follows, which is of the highest importance from the confidential character of its details, confirms them. But the attempt to cast the responsibility of these circumstances upon the English Cabinet was equally ungenerous and unjust. The policy of Ministers had undergone no change, except that which was contingent upon the altered situation of affairs. To preserve a strict neutrality in the face of a declaration of war, was clearly impossible; and to abandon the war, from an abstract desire for peace, at a time when the common enemy had gained enormous advantages, and were menacing the tranquillity and liberties of other nations, and threatening an invasion of England, would have precipitated results the very reverse of those contemplated by the Opposition. To have made proposals to France on what the resolutions termed "equitable and moderate conditions of reconciliation," would have involved two serious difficulties—the negotiation, in the first place, with a Government of anarchy which England had justifiably refused to treat with from the outset; and, in the second place, the admission of the power of France to dictate terms which England could not accept without degradation, or refuse without aggravating the existing grounds of hostility. Circumstances might arise—such as a change in the Government—to obviate the former difficulty; but the latter was insuperable. It would have been inconsistent with the principles upon which the war was undertaken to have proposed or submitted to any conditions which France, exulting over her recent successes, could have been expected to approve; and the result of such a negotiation at such a moment must have been, in any event, fruitless and inglorious. The decision of Parliament was unequivocal and decisive. The Duke of Bedford's motion was lost on the question of adjournment, and Mr. Fox's thrown out by a majority of 210 against 57 votes. The influence of the Opposition was overthrown. The country was against them, and their ranks were daily weakened by secessions. So strongly and unanimously had the Parliament pronounced its judgment in favour of the maintenance of the war, that His Majesty at the close of the session was enabled to urge both Houses "to persevere with increased vigour and exertion in the present arduous contest against a power irreconcilably hostile in its principles and spirit to all regular and established government."

Immediately after the close of the session, some changes took place in the materiel of the Administration, arising out of the accession of power the Ministry had obtained by the adhesion of some of the leading Whigs. The Duke of Portland (to whom Mr. Thomas Grenville addressed his first letters from Vienna) was appointed Third Secretary of State; Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord President of the Council; Earl Spencer, Privy Seal; and Mr. Wyndham, Secretary at War. Further changes took place before the close of the year, when Lord Fitzwilliam accepted the Government of Ireland, and was succeeded as President of the Council by Earl Mansfield. Lord Spencer, at the same time, was placed at the head of the Admiralty; and Lord Chatham, the brother of the Premier, who had for some years occupied that department, was made Lord Privy Seal.

The junction with the Whigs was, as far as it went, a new coalition; but, under the circumstances which led to it, a coalition of a very different character from that which had been entered into by Mr. Fox and Lord North. The old elements of the Cabinet still held the ascendancy; and although some sincere friends of Mr. Pitt doubted the prudence of admitting the Whigs to office, no actual disturbance of the existing system was apprehended from it. All agreed upon the question of the war—the one great question upon which agreement was essential to the repose and security of the country. In forming this alliance, however, another question had been overlooked, which was now daily rising into importance, and upon which the Whigs differed widely from Mr. Pitt, not so much in principles, as in the time and mode of their application. That question, the clog and difficulty of every Administration, was Ireland. But the moment had not yet arrived when the dangers of this question became manifest.

The following series of letters trace the whole course of the negotiations going forward on the continent, and exhibit in minute detail the actual position in which England stood in her relation to the rest of the allies, and the incessant energy she exerted in vain to awaken them to a just sense of their obligations.

LORD GRENVILLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.

(Private.) St. James's Square, Aug. 26th, 1794. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I have to acknowledge your private letters, which I do not attempt to answer by this conveyance for obvious reasons, and only write that you may not receive my public despatch without a line to tell you that your private letters have reached me, and that I will state to you, by a safer opportunity, what occurs to me upon them. I am a little out of humour with you for not telling me how you bore your journey, and how you are, but I am willing to hope it has not renewed any symptoms of your former complaint. There never was such a succession of cross-incidents as seem to have accompanied every part of poor Merey's mission, and I fear his loss is a serious one to us all. What do you think of Robespierre's death? I look upon it as a very favourable event, not from any opinion that I ever entertained of his personal talents, but because those who succeed him are evidently under the necessity of lowering the despotism of the Revolutionary Government, and of giving up thereby the great instrument with which they worked. A strong proof of this, and a circumstance very favourable in itself, is, that instead of a Committee of six or eight efficient persons who conducted the Government in all its branches, and with absolute power, they have already been obliged to institute twelve Committees, who are to be chosen with a sort of rotation, those who go out not being re-eligible. This is, in fact, a substitution of the weakest possible form of Executive Government in lieu of the strongest.

God bless you, my dearest brother, and believe me Ever most affectionately yours, G.

We have received this morning accounts from Italy, mentioning the reduction of Calvi. You will probably have heard it by this time.

It was in the beginning of this month of August, that the Duke of York, at that time stationed at Breda, retreated before the French towards Bois-le-Duc; and afterwards, upon the advance of General Pichegru, crossed the Maese, and took up a fresh position near Grave. Seeing the necessity of placing the conduct of the campaign in more experienced hands, Ministers now proposed to give the command in chief to Lord Cornwallis; but before this step could be finally resolved upon, it was necessary to consult the feelings of His Majesty on the subject. Mr. Pitt therefore submitted a statement to the King, assigning the reasons which induced him to urge the appointment of Lord Cornwallis upon His Majesty's consideration; and suggesting that Mr. Wyndham should be sent on a mission to the army. The following was His Majesty's answer:

Weymouth, August 27th, 1704. Thirty-five minutes past One, P.M.

I have this instant received Mr. Pitt's letter accompanying the Paper of Considerations, which I undoubtedly should wish to keep; but not knowing whether Mr. Pitt has a fair copy of it, I have thought it safest to return.

Whatever can give vigour to the remains of the campaign, I shall certainly as a duty think it right not to withhold my consent; but I own, in my son's place, I should beg my being allowed to return home, if the command is given to Lord Cornwallis, though I should not object to the command being entrusted to General Clairfayt. From feeling this, I certainly will not write, but approve of Mr. Wyndham's going to the army, and shall be happy if my son views this in a different light than I should.

I will not delay the messenger, as I think no time ought to be lost in forming some fixed plan, and that the measure of sending Mr. Wyndham is every way advantageous.

GEORGE R.

It is hardly necessary to observe that Mr. Wyndham was sent upon his mission; and that the Duke of York, having met some further reverses, which almost incapacitated the troops from acting even on the defensive, shortly afterwards returned to England.

LORD GRENVILLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.

(Private.) St. James's Square, Aug. 29th, 1794. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

The despatch which you will receive by this messenger, and the letter which Wyndham has promised to write to you from the British head-quarters, will explain to you the whole of the system which we have adopted, as affording the only hope of vigorous or successful exertion. The Austrian Government is already prepared for your proposal, respecting the giving to Lord Cornwallis the command of the whole combined force, as Count Starhemberg is apprized of it, having, indeed, himself in a great degree suggested the measure, on some general hints which I threw out to him, in order to try the ground. For the moment, the great point seems to be to bring them to acquiesce in the virtual command which his rank of Field-Marshal will give him over Clairfayt, and to send positive orders to the latter to that effect; and if there should be any difficulty in Clairfayt's submitting to this, then to let Clairfayt absent himself for the moment, and leave the Austrian troops under the command of some officer whose standing will occasion no difficulty in this respect. You will observe that, by virtual command, we mean precisely the same deference as the Duke of York has shown to the Prince of Coburg, not extending to any of the points of military etiquette by which command is usually rendered ostensible, but going to the effect of complying with his suggestions respecting the mode of executing the operations agreed upon in concert, when the instructions of his Court do not interfere with such suggestions. Before you receive this letter, Lord Cornwallis will probably be on the spot; and it is therefore urgent, to prevent the first beginnings of dissension, that no time should be lost in making the Austrians give their orders to Clairfayt. Knowing the delay of that Government, and the difficulty of getting them to adopt any decided line of conduct, we have thought it best to do the thing first, and afterwards to try to obtain their consent to it. If you succeed, or, indeed, in any case, it will be useful that you should write directly to Lord C. upon the subject, as that may save a week, at a time when a week's delay might be of the utmost importance.

With respect to the Duke of York, Wyndham will probably tell you in confidence how he succeeds in his negotiation. It certainly is a pretty strong instance of zeal and desire to facilitate whatever can promote the cause, when he undertakes a task of no less difficulty than the reconciling the mind of a young Prince to a supercession in his military command, and that too at the precise moment of moving forwards, after so mortifying a retreat. I am, however, not without hopes of his success; and, at all events, the moment was too critical to suffer any consideration to interfere with the only means of salvation that appeared practicable.

With respect to the languor of the Austrian Government, and the doubt whether even money will obtain from them decisive efforts, we have strongly felt the force of all that you have stated on that head. But we are inclined to flatter ourselves, that if we once obtain so large a force as is mentioned in my despatch, and can put that force, in addition to our own, under the absolute and supreme direction of such a man as Lord Cornwallis, we shall at least be able to say to ourselves, whatever be the result, that we have done everything that it was possible to do; and without trying this measure, I confess for one that I should not have that sentiment in my mind. I lament that we have thought ourselves obliged to bring forward the discussion of a precise barrier, and yet I do not see how it could be avoided. But the impression may be very bad on their minds, if we appear to be narrowing the benefits which they are to derive from exertion, instead of animating them by the hope of increased advantage. I have not dwelt on this point in my despatch, as you mention that you intended to write further upon it.

When the idea of transferring the subsidy was opened to me by Starhemberg, from Merey's instructions it was expressly stated, as a part of the plan, that the empire could be made to subsidize the Prussian troops; and this agrees with every information we receive on the subject, all which concur in stating the efforts of the empire, particularly in money, as being very far below what they could be brought to make by the joint exertions of Austria and Prussia. But on my pressing Starhemberg for further detail on this point, he has always avoided it, assuring me, whether truly or not, that he found no particulars respecting it among Merey's papers. You will see that in the despatch we make the whole dependent on a complete and bona fide execution of this point, and my language to him has always been of the same nature. But I confess that it is on this point that I feel the strongest apprehensions, and I much fear that Austria will both be disposed to evade it, and, in truth, unable to accomplish it. Should this be the case, the whole plan must be abandoned; and we should, I believe, in that event, be disposed to turn our subsidy to the object of raising other force, of whatever nature, so as, if possible, to form a separate British and Dutch army, destined to act under Lord Cornwallis, without the pretence or show of concert with either of the German Powers.

With respect to your remaining at Vienna, you will easily conceive, that having a project of this nature to propose, none of us thought we should give it its fair chance if we put it into other hands than those in which the business now is. We allow for your natural desire of quitting a scene which, God knows, must be mortifying enough to men who feel how much of the safety of Europe depends on the conduct of the Austrian Government, and who see how unfit that Government is to be trusted with the interests of the smallest corporation. But we are confident that as long as there may remain the hope of doing so much good as would, we trust, be done by the complete success of the present plan, you will not be unwilling to give your assistance to it.

With respect to what you mention about yourself, you know my wishes on the subject, but I certainly will not urge them beyond what you are disposed to do. The proposal Lord Fitzwilliam makes to you is, I fairly own, in my apprehension, one less eligible than that of Vienna; but I fear a nearer view of that Court has rather strengthened than diminished your indisposition to that situation. You know, as well as I do, all the desagremens belonging to the post of Irish Secretary; but it is certainly an important and honourable one, and such as to afford you ample room for showing yourself such as you are: more, perhaps, than many others which commonly rank higher in public estimation. My objection to it is the banishment, which obtains as much as in the foreign missions, and certainly to the most disagreeable of all countries. I do not know well how to make myself quite a disinterested adviser; but if I was to give you fairly the result of my thoughts upon it, I should still beg you to look at the foreign line, and if that must not be, I should then say yes to the question of Ireland.

Supposing that yes were decided, let me ask you whether your remaining some time longer at Vienna, so as finally to conclude, not the leading points only, but all the details of the arrangement now in question, and of the preparations for the active scene of next year, is wholly out of the question? It seems very clear that no arrangement will happen before that time which can change the Irish Government, and in the meanwhile you would be honourably and most usefully employed. I have, however, not hinted this idea to any individual, nor will I. If all this is wholly out of the question, I conclude that my reply to your answer to these despatches, will bring to Lord Spencer and you the King's permission to return to England.

It would be very satisfactory to you to see how well things are going on here, and how completely our hopes have been realized on the subject which employed so much of our time and thoughts this summer.

God bless you, my dearest brother.

At this time, the new changes in the Administration, already alluded to, were under discussion in the Cabinet; and, amongst the rest, it was proposed that the government of Ireland should be offered to Lord Fitzwilliam. As soon as this appointment was suggested, his Lordship wrote to Mr. Thomas Grenville to offer him the office of Secretary.

MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO EARL FITZWILLIAM.

(Private.) Vienna, Aug. 30th, 1794, DEAR LORD FITZWILLIAM,

You will already have heard enough of our proceedings here to give you no considerable expectations of any great good to be done here; and if you happen to have been in London, and to have read a very tedious and long letter which I wrote on the 24th to the Duke of Portland, you will have seen there, more at large than it is necessary to repeat, the general view and impression of our minds as to the business with which we are charged; and the little ground which there appears to us for hoping that even by satisfying their pecuniary demands, we could depend upon such exertions being made in consequence, as the country would expect in return for expense of so great and heavy a scale. It is very true, to be sure, that in this as well as in many other cases, the difficulties present themselves something more readily than the remedies to them, yet upon the question of the subsidy, if we are right in our conception that it would not probably produce, either in degree or in shape, that energy and cordial co-operation which we are looking for, perhaps no difficulty could be much more serious than that of engaging ourselves at home in an expense, the disappointment of which might produce in the minds of the public an effect, both with respect to the war itself and with respect to the Government which supports it, of the most perilous description. It is very true that great objects must sometimes be pursued at great hazards, and nobody is more ready than I to acknowledge that a greater object cannot be found than the successful prosecution of this war; but the peculiar question of subsidy seems to me to apply chiefly to the mode of carrying on the war, and, I would hope, not to the entire decision of pursuing or abandoning it.

I will not again go over the same detail which I pursued in my letter to the Duke of Portland, but satisfy myself with recalling to your observation, that the Government here, in speaking of the exertions which they should be driven to the necessity of making, if the French should threaten the German empire, plainly admitted that they do still possess resources capable of being applied to such critical exigencies, and in this confession show pretty plainly that nothing but the necessity of the case will drive them to the use of those means. Is it not then probable that a much greater exertion may be made by that necessity existing in our refusal of subsidy, than will be made by such pecuniary assistance being given, as may relieve them from the necessity of making any exertion of their own?

If the immediate alarm on the side of Holland seems to be a considerable inducement to the grant of the subsidy, in order to interest Austria in that very important defence of which the Netherlands make so essential a part, it should not, on the other hand, escape notice, that all our observation on their language and views would lead us very much to doubt how far they would cordially concur in the defence of the Netherlands, even though they might consent to do so in the words of their contract; whatever value they may or may not themselves put upon the possession of the Low Countries, they always argue and act under the manifest persuasion, that the Maritime Powers are alone interested enough in this point to secure its being ultimately carried, and they give it pretty plainly to be understood, that they mean to depend upon us for that object. Under this view, they seem to me always disposed to consider the operations of the Austrian army in another campaign as likely to be concentered for efforts from the German frontier, by which means they will have a more collected force more immediately applying to the Imperial dominions, and better suited to the jealousies which they entertain of the King of Prussia, but certainly not best adapted to the defence of Holland, and the recovery of Brabant.

Perhaps I may be considered as carrying these suspicions too far, but I own I cannot help fearing too, that the suggestion made by them of mortgaging the Low Countries to us, is not as security for the money in question in this and the next campaign, is not a bona fide offer of their best security, but is considered by them as a fresh motive for interesting us in their possession of those territories, and as contributing the more to make that object our business, by either taking upon ourselves the whole defence of them, or, what they rather look to, by our purchasing the cession of them at the peace, by some of the acquisitions which Great Britain has made in the war: a measure which they may have the more hope for our concurrence in, if we have two millions lent out upon the security only of the Austrians regaining those territories at the peace.

Do not believe that these impressions are taken from any starving principle of economy, or from a too timid apprehension of the unpopularity of a subsidy in England; but be assured, that even if there should be no difficulty at home as to this demand being acquiesced in, I should retain the same doubts as to any expectation of proportionate advantages resulting from it, and should be inclined to believe that even if the whole amount of the subsidy was to be expended, it might be more advantageously used in the purchase of Hessians, Swiss, or any other such troops absolutely at our disposal, in addition to the Austrians, than in the proposed purchase of increased vigour and activity in the government and army of this country: you cannot buy what they have not to sell.

Sept. 14th, 1791.

The former part of this letter had already been written before I received yours of the 11th of August, which did not reach me till the 2nd instant. I am very sincerely rejoiced to find by it that you have made your decision for Ireland, because I believe that much good may be done there, by your taking that heavy load upon your shoulders; and although you are wanted enough both in London and Yorkshire, I am persuaded that for public objects you are still most wanted at Dublin. I am not enough acquainted with the interior there, to judge how far the means (as Government now stands) are competent to the end, or to what degree you may be able to supply all those links of connection between the two countries, which have latterly appeared to be very much worn away and broken through. I presume that it will be found easy enough to continue the same negative course of administration, and that it will be a work of great difficulty and delicacy for you to do all that you will think should be done; I am, therefore, from a strong persuasion of the arduousness of the task, well pleased to know that it is in such good hands.

With respect to my undertaking the office of Secretary, I am very far from being confident that I should be able to make myself, in that situation, as useful to you as it undoubtedly should be made. You know it is not the first moment in which I have expressed my doubts as to that employment, since it is twelve years ago that the same objections presented themselves to me; and if I still feel the weight of them, it is not from any disinclination to pull at my oar in the galley, or from any reluctance to take part in public measures at a time when I think, as you do, that everything is at stake; on the contrary, I confess that, all other considerations put apart, I shall be gratified in making myself actively one of a system with which the prosperity of the country will, I am persuaded, be to stand or fall; and I shall be best gratified by doing this in whatever shape it could be hoped that I should be serviceable. To foreign mission, I own I know not how to reconcile myself; and for Ireland, besides my own disinclination to it, I should have thought Pelham better suited, as I have often told you. But my own opinion upon this, as upon all other subjects, gives way to the better judgment of my friends; and if the Duke of Portland and you think, that in the present state of things, I should do best to go to Ireland, I cannot say that I will not try it; sure I am that your going there gives to the situation every advantage which I can receive in it, and that if my engaging in it could succeed, it is on every account as promising and gratifying to me with you, as the situation itself can be made. Thus, therefore, it stands, that my own inclination, if no difficulties stood in the way, would rather lead me to any such employment at home as I might be fit for, when any such offered itself; but no such destination being easily found, if the Duke of Portland and you think it any way desirable that I should go to Ireland, I will certainly undertake it, and do the best I can in it; trusting always, that if hereafter, when you are settled on your Irish throne, the chance of events should make any home-situation of business practicable for me, you would not object to any such arrangement if it could be found.

The long delay which has prevented my sending a messenger when I wrote the first sheet of this letter, has now so altered the events of the negotiation that it is hardly worth sending to you, except as a proof that want of opportunity, and not want of punctuality, has prevented my letter reaching you at an earlier period.

The loss of the fortresses, at a moment when they had been reluctantly induced here to make an effort to save them, is vexatious in the extreme. They threaten the vengeance of a court-martial on the officers who surrendered Valenciennes; but what will that avail towards recovering these great objects, which were equally material, both to the regaining of the Netherlands, and to their security when reconquered?

The hopeless inactivity of this Court is too long a theme to write upon, and will continue, I fear, to be a fertile source of uneasiness. It is shocking to foresee that their assistance may be as much wanted to save Holland as it was to save Valenciennes, and may likewise be retarded till it is equally ineffectual.

I expect to be in England towards the 12th or 15th of November.

Ever very faithfully and affectionately yours, T. G.

THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM TO MR. T. GRENVILLE.

Camp, Weymouth, Aug. 31st, 1794. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I have just received your letter of the 16th from Vienna, and am glad to find from it that you are as well as I wish you to be, and as sanguine as any one could wish who is less desponding than myself. I fear that very much of your difficulty is insuperable, for I have no idea that it is possible to induce the Imperial Government to exert themselves more for the recovery of Brabant than they did for the preservation of it. Various circumstances (some of which you have stated) co-operated to the scandalous dereliction of a country, which all former history proves to us might have been defended (even for a losing campaign) with one half of the allied force; and it is no part of my creed that the zeal or activity of the Austrian Ministry (even if they act with good faith) can replace us by the end of November where we were last year. But if it is to be proposed to us to add Austria to the list of powers subsidized, and to call upon Great Britain, the ally of the war, to consider herself as the only principal in it, I fear that the proposition will meet with every difficulty, and (if acceded to) with as little success as the subsidy paid to Prussia. You will then ask me for my solution of this difficulty; and I will fairly own that I see none, but in endeavouring to stimulate Austria, by showing them clearly that we will not take the whole upon our back; and that we can better keep the wolf out of our house, than they can out of theirs, if the war is to be defensive.

As to the military operations of the Prince of Saxe Coburg, I make no doubt that he has done very ill; indeed, it seems difficult to conceive that his groom could have done worse. But I fear that the ignorance or treachery of the German Generals goes much deeper than you imagine, for I do not recollect one instance in the course of this campaign—and perhaps not one in the last—in which they answered the expectation formed of them. Again, if we imagined that by protracting the war we might exhaust the enemy, though I might not agree as to the prospect of success, I could understand it as a system; but in that case, the war would have been defensive, and co-operation settled to that object, instead of abandoning the Duke of York to certain ruin, if the winds and the circumstances of this country had not permitted Lord Moira's army to arrive just (and only just) in time to cover their retreat, and communication. These points are all mysterious to us lookers-on, and perhaps not much more clear to you at Vienna. The only point clear and indisputable is, that we begun the campaign offensively in the south-west point without securing West Flanders; that we undertook by defensive positions to cover it; and notwithstanding the very slow progress of the French, which gave us full and ample time, it was lost for want of sufficient force on the western flank of our combined force, and for want of co-operation, either of defensive retreat, or of mutual support in a systematic evacuation of a country so very tenable. Now, if all this is proposed to be cured by changing the Commander, and by taking the Austrians into British pay, I fear that I shall be one of the first to cry out against such a measure, which cannot in the least tend to remove those difficulties, and will superinduce many others on the continent, and others more serious at home, to which you cannot be a stranger. If the object be to add to our force, we do not accomplish it by changing the Paymaster or Commander of the troops; but we may obtain a very considerable force under our immediate and actual command, by adding to the levies of French troops; or, in plain terms, by raising an immense French army in British pay, who would not be liable to be called off a la Prussienne to schemes of plunder, or possibly of home defence, in the moment in which they are the most wanted by us. I have taken some pains to get information on this subject; and I verily believe, that if we take the small remnant of the Prince of Conde's army into our pay, with him at the head of it as a foundation, we may in a very short time increase it to twenty-five, or perhaps thirty thousand men, which, added to our British, Hessian and Hanoverian army, would effectually support the Dutch in covering Holland, and would enable us to make a very serious diversion either in Normandy or in Poitou.

I have written upon this subject more at large than I at first intended, but it is very difficult to compress it; and having found it difficult to reconcile the conduct of Ministry in the management of this campaign to my own feelings, or the plan (so far as I understand it from common report) of reconquering Brabant for the Emperor by an Austrian army in British pay, or of assisting Holland by a force of the same nature on which the experience of two campaigns shows how little we can depend, I have not thought it fair to withhold these opinions from you, having stated them to my other brother as soon as I heard of your mission (and from public report of the objects of it) to Vienna. But be assured, my dear brother, that I do not feel the less warmly for your credit, and for the success of your negotiation (whatever it may be) as far as the question is personal to yourself. I have always seen, with very sincere regret, your talents useless to the public; and I am happy, on every account, that you have found an opportunity of showing them in co-operation with my brother William, who seemed so happy in this proof of your confidence and affection.

I feel, as I ought, your anxiety about the yeomanry. I have the satisfaction of hearing that they go on very well, but of course meeting very seldom, because of the harvest. Their numbers, however, increase; and are, as near as can be, as follows:

Captains. Lieutenants. 2nd ditto. Qr. Masters. Numbers. Lt.-Col. Grenville Fremantle Grubb —— 47 Praed Mansell Higgins Cooch 60 Sir J. Dashwood W. Hicks T. Mason Clarke 43 Drake K. Mason Clerk —— 37 Sir W. Young Ch. Clowes L. Way Quanne 29

Most of them have got their swords, and have returned their pistols, which were most scandalously bad; they have got their appointments, and (except Young's troop) they come on very well. I am, however, tied by the leg to Weymouth, while the King is here, and cannot stir. He is in wonderful health; but very unruly as to the common precautions which ought to be taken, and which keep me in constant hot water, notwithstanding our incessant rains. Lord Howe passed Portland yesterday with thirty-three sail of the line, and three Portuguese ships; of which one ran foul of the 'Barfleur,' and stove in her bows so as to force her to return to Portsmouth. All the sea prisoners lately taken, say, that Barrere is determined to force the Brest fleet of thirty-five sail to sea. Sir J. B. Warren's last prisoners say, that they were brought from the interior to Brest, and embarked handcuffed; another account states, that sixteen thousand men have been sent to Brest en requisition, since Lord Howe's action. Our line of battle is thirty-seven sail, including what is to join at Plymouth; from which deduct two ships not ready, and the 'Barfleur,' his number will be thirty-four. He will probably fall in with your friend, Lord Macartney, who is coming back with "the Emperor's copy of verses," and left St. Helena on the 6th of July with nineteen East India ships.

Adieu, my dear brother, Ever most affectionately yours, N. B.

Sept. 5th, 1794.

P.S.—This letter was begun five days ago, but I have been for the last four days confined, and very ill from an epidemic, which is running all over England. It is not confined to the army, and it has not been fatal, but very painful. I have got clear of it, but I have above forty men ill of it at this moment. Adieu.

The difficulties of the negotiation in which Lord Spencer and Mr. Thomas Grenville were engaged, are very clearly stated in the following letter. It is perfectly evident from these curious revelations, that Austria and Prussia were pursuing a crooked and evasive policy in their diplomacy with England, that the vacillations and infirmity of purpose they betrayed left them open to the suspicion of insincerity, and that the affairs of both Courts were conducted by Ministers utterly deficient in all qualities of firmness and judgment, which the occasion imperatively demanded.

MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO LORD GRENVILLE.

(Private.) Vienna, Sept. 1st, 1794. MY DEAR BROTHER,

If M. de Thugut is waiting with impatience the result of M. de Merey's negotiation, you will easily believe that we have no less impatience to know your decisions upon that subject, though you will have seen that Lord Spencer and I have not been able to teach ourselves to wish that the pecuniary demands may, or ought to be, gratified by us. If they had confined themselves to asking only such a temporary assistance as might have given a more immediate spring to the vigorous movement which we are urging them to make, I should have been as little disposed as anybody could to withhold any practicable facilities of that description; but to the extent to which they steadily continue to point, I own I feel myself too little satisfied as to the equity of their claim upon us, and as to the probability of their acting fairly and manfully up to the great exertions which they ask from us, to entertain much disposition towards those demands.

They dwell certainly upon the difference which they state between loan and subsidy, and wish to prove to us that their offer of security upon the revenues of the Low Countries should, at least by us (who always insist on those territories remaining in the House of Austria), be accepted as a good and ample mortgage for the repayment of the sums which they want for this year and the next; but if it is true that they do not feel interested at heart in these possessions, or if they think us so earnest in our wishes on this subject, that they may safely throw the whole weight of it upon us, their offer of a hypotheque on those possessions takes a much more suspicious character; nor is it, perhaps, an unreasonable jealousy on my part to apprehend that they may wish you to have a mortgage of two millions on the Netherlands, as an inducement to you hereafter to give up some of your French acquisitions in the West Indies, in order to recover for them a country, in which you will have a larger pecuniary stake, added to the ordinary course of political observations.

Much at least of Thugut's conversation would seem to tally with this view of the matter. It is observable that he perpetually recurs to its being a settled point, that de facon ou d'autre the Netherlands will be secured to Austria at the peace, and yet he never seems (in his view of the military operations to be pursued) to consider them as a main object of defence, and is so little disposed to make them so, that he expresses much reluctance at the idea proposed, of engaging Austria to furnish so large an army, to act in that country, which he thinks might be better employed elsewhere. Add to this, his remarking that England might be satisfied by the irrecoverable detriment done to the navy and commerce of France, and his contrasting the difference in point of acquisitions made by Great Britain, with the total failure on the side of Austria; and it is no great refinement to suspect the whole of this to lead to an expectation that we may better buy back the Netherlands for them, than put them to the expense of defending them or regaining them; and that we should have an additional motive for sacrificing some of our conquests to this object, if we have two millions of money mortgaged upon it.

Of the advantage which may be expected at home from adopting this shape of lending upon security, rather than of furnishing a direct subsidy, I do not well know how to judge; but unless the security could be shown to be in itself substantial, and of a nature to be easily got at by those to whom it was due, I should doubt whether the public at home would be better reconciled to it than to a direct and acknowledged subsidy. The very small proportion of effect produced by the large payments this year to the King of Prussia, will create much indisposition to the incurring of a similar expense again, unless it can be shown to promise, upon good probable grounds, a much better return than we have had; and, generally speaking, I cannot but fear that the mere difference in point of exertion which we can hope from this country, may not turn out to be worth the purchase-money in the estimation of the country at large, though I should hope they might easily acquiesce in a very considerable exertion, if a great manifest exertion of strength, fairly disposable to the course of the war, could be procured by pecuniary aids. What inducement there may be to this measure, from any apprehension of the Emperor's withdrawing from the war, is another part of the question, upon which I can form no more correct judgment than belongs to the observation of a very short residence here.

Lord Malmesbury hints to me a suspicion of a proposed concert between the Emperor and the King of Prussia, to compel the Maritime Powers to make peace, though he appears to give no great credit to it. Certain it is, that in the month which we have past here, one of the most striking features of the conversation, both of Ministers and individuals, has been a hatred and aversion to Prussia, by Thugut, too, particularly marked towards Lucchesini, of whom he never scruples to speak to us in terms of the most unqualified dislike; so that as far as can be collected from what we hear, there ought to be no ground to suspect any plan of intimate concert between his Court and Berlin.

It is possible, to be sure, that independently of any such concert, the Government here, if unassisted by money from us, might endeavour to withdraw from the prosecution of the war; but, as we have had no reason to expect any ultimate success to the propositions which we brought here, we have endeavoured, as much as possible, to learn what their conduct would be in failure of the proposed Convention, and to consider them in all that we have said as equally bound to continue in their co-operations with us according to the existing agreement, whether any new arrangement should succeed or not. To this view they have not only acceded always in distinct terms, when urged by us, but they have frequently stated this of their own accord, confining themselves only to the observation, that their means are limited, and will no longer allow of the exertions which they wish; but solemnly protesting against any present idea of peace, and always expressing their belief that Prussia is now desirous of peace being made, because, in the present situation of things, it might probably be made to the disadvantage of Austria. Unless, therefore, their opinions should be disguised to a degree which I cannot well believe, or should undergo an entire change, I do not see what ground there is to suspect in them any intention of abandoning the war, though I can entertain no great hopes of such a vigorous prosecution of it as we might wish and expect from them.

There is but one opinion as to the Emperor's inclinations on this subject, and if his personal character had steadiness enough to influence the Government, his disposition to the true principles of the war would be a great security to us; at present, however, it is of little or no avail; and it is much to be lamented in times like the present, that though there is no dislike entertained to him, there is not either the respect or consideration which ought to be attached to his situation, to make it tell with any of the effects one wishes to derive from it. With respect to his Ministers, you have seen too much of our remarks upon the striking features of their conduct, to make it necessary for me in every letter to repeat them. Thugut is certainly the only efficient Minister here: very diligent and laborious in his office, he seems to have acquired an influence here by being the only man of business about the Court; and with this recommendation has reached a situation which the nobility of the country are mortified to see him hold, because he has no pretensions to hereditary rank, and because they have been used to see that office for many years filled by Prince Kavnitz. What we, however, miss in him is, either the disposition or capacity to see the present great crisis of Europe upon the large scale on which it should be looked at by the leading Minister of this empire; instead of which, we see in all our discussions a cold, narrow, and contracted view of this subject, infinitely too languid and little for the object, and made peculiarly unfavourable to our propositions, by the disinclination which he certainly feels to concur heartily with us in the great interests attached to the Austrian possession of the Low Countries. We have, it is true, obtained from him assurances of concerting an immediate plan for the relief of Valenciennes; but even this has not been obtained without many discouraging tokens of that total want of manly energy and direct dealing, without which all co-operation must necessarily be languid and feeble: always taking merit for having sent the most distinct orders to try the relief of Valenciennes, yet never taking the obvious mode of satisfying us by communicating those orders to us; maintaining as an argument for the loan, that without it the army cannot move, yet at the same time resisting our objections of the delay of waiting for answers from M. de Merey, by stating this movement as being actually in great forwardness, and not depending upon the loan for its execution; acquiescing in the change of command urged by us, and yet ever since that event reminding us that in his opinion this very change may defeat the operation which we wished to assist by it; gratifying our impatience at one time by counting up the days to the probable time of the desired movement, and then again stating that Clairfayt's army may be weakened too much to attempt it by his detaching, perhaps considerably, towards the side of Treves; complaining that the Austrians had been prevented from sending Blankenstein's corps towards Flanders, as they wished, by the Prussians having engaged it in their line of defence, and yet refusing to us a corps much more inconsiderable, and not involved in the objection—I mean the corps of Conde—a corps, too, which, as I have before observed, from their own statement of their want of money, they should have been glad to have seen transferred to the pay of another country.

These, and many other such traits of inconsistency, I advert to only as being descriptive of the very unsatisfactory manner in which our business is discussed, always providing on their side apologies for future failures, instead of means of success, and projects of vigour and enterprize. Yet though the shortness of our possible residence here makes this inanimate character of the Government a bar to that immediate spirit and alacrity which, for the purposes of the present crisis, it was highly desirable to create here, so as to act upon instantaneously; much, I should suppose, may be done after our return, by any person of steadiness and activity, in the course of an established residence here, there being certainly fair grounds for the most intimate union between the two countries, and appearances enough of general inclination towards it, though traversed for the present by their hopes of fighting at our cost, and by the unfavourable turn of M. Thugut's mind upon the subject of the Netherlands. For this purpose, the sooner a regular Minister is appointed here the better; because though the opening of the subsequent campaign is at present distant enough, the dilatory habits of this Government make every moment more precious than it should be; and the points, both of the barrier and the Dutch indemnity, may be found longer in discussion than they were expected to be when I left London, particularly upon the former of those two subjects, on which the future possession of Dunkirk and Givet must, perhaps, be distinctly explained.

We have heard of Lord Malmesbury's intention to quit Frankfort on the 10th of September, and we have read the formal acceptance, signed by him, of the military concert of the 26th July; you will already have seen, in our despatch No. 5, our apprehensions of the inconvenience of placing Clairfayt's army in any state of dependance upon the Prussian line, as we are always afraid that the Prussians may, by a nominal concert upon this subject, become a real hindrance, and throw difficulties in the way of the proposed enterprise for the relief of Valenciennes. In this view, therefore, we had certainly rather have seen Lord Malmesbury remaining at least till the movement in question had actually been carried into effect; and the more so, as we have always kept their fears a little quiet here, by promising that Lord Malmesbury, at Frankfort, should look to and strictly watch the operations of Marshal Mollendorff's army. I take for granted, however, that you will provide as well as you can against the inconveniences which in this shape may arise, and we shall likewise mention it to Lord M.

Ever, my dear brother, Most affectionately yours, T. G.

MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO LORD GRENVILLE.

(Private.) Vienna, Sept. 15th, 1794. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

You will receive enclosed with this a letter, which I had already written before the arrival of your last despatches, and which can only be useful by showing you all that occurred to me upon the former view of the subject. The conditions which are now attached to the two questions of loan and subsidy, appear certainly to be the best which could have been imagined for promising a fair use of the troops for which we are desired to pay, and would probably appear to the country to be so, besides really furnishing all the means which can be supplied to this great stake which we are compelled to play for. What has passed upon these propositions, you will have seen pretty amply in the public despatch, which is written so much at length as to require no great additional comment. It is manifest, that instead of complying with all the conditions proposed, they could not easily be brought to consent to any one of them. Upon the subject of command, there is a soreness which would be an insuperable bar to the idea of a large combined force (chiefly Austrian) acting under any English General; and yet there is so little hope of their acting vigorously under any other, that the choice lies between two extreme difficulties.

Under the pressure of your letter, which led us to imagine that Lord Cornwallis is actually gone to Flanders, we have done and said all that was in any shape likely to assist his situation there; at the same time, from Wyndham's letter, and from the fall of Valenciennes, it is possible that his journey may still have been delayed. Instead, therefore, of writing to him in Flanders, as you suggested, we have given a letter for him to Colonel Ross, who will find him either on this or the other side of the water, and will be best able to communicate to him whatever intelligence from hence it is material for him to know.

They do not talk heartily here of Clairfayt's co-operating, though they do not plainly refuse it; and I fear it is but too likely that they will satisfy their dignity by keeping their army entirely distinct from ours, a determination which may perhaps but too much assist the views of the French, if they really make a vigorous attack upon Holland. All that we could do by threats, entreaties, and remonstrances, on this very important point we have done, and will continue to repeat while we stay here.

Upon the subject of transferring the subsidy, I believe they are in earnest when they say it is out of their power to engage for any considerable subsidy from the empire to the King of Prussia; and if it is true that they are now under the necessity of ascertaining what are their means for the next campaign, it may be true that they cannot act upon the uncertain speculation of receiving so much from us as they could promise for the King of Prussia. I know not whether I am right, but I have thought once or twice that Thugut has spoken with some marks of dislike to-day to Comte Stahremberg, whom he appears to suspect of having broached this proposition at London; to prevent any confirmation of this suspicion, we have not in any manner quoted Comte Stahremberg in our conferences; and as I believe you are satisfied with him, I hope I misinterpret the word or two which Thugut dropped upon this matter.

We are come back again (upon the failure of our overtures) to the hearing of a reduced scale of military operations, an idea more like a haberdasher of small wares than the Minister of a great empire. What the supposed plan of this contracted war is to be, I never have been able to learn; and, indeed, it requires all the good temper one can muster to make so discouraging an inquiry.

Meanwhile, orders are said to be already issued for raising sixty thousand new recruits in the hereditary states of Austria, but no hopes are given of assistance from Hungary, where the harvest has been, in many places, uncommonly deficient.

We have done what we could to urge them to be active in Sardinia, now the French appear to be retiring; and though an invincible prejudice to that quarter prevents Thugut from doing all he might, yet he expresses a readiness to concur in an attack upon Nice, if the English fleet would co-operate, as soon as the equinoctial snows have fallen to guard the mountains of the Milanes.

There are, however, bad reports of Kosciusko declaring war against Austria, which will be both a reason and a pretext for suspending enterprise, if any would otherwise be undertaken. The Duc de Guiche has a project of collecting the Gardes du Corps, of which he says he thinks he could soon muster twelve hundred. He and the French here are grown very anxious about Comte d'Artois' journey to Rotterdam. We expect impatiently to hear from you of our return.

With respect to Vienna, Lord Spencer having considered this business as now come to a point, which requires some new shape and fresh regular negotiation, writes to request leave to return home, and only waits for it to set out immediately. In that request (after all the consideration which I can give to it) I feel that I must likewise beg to be included, so as to return with him at the same time. The line of foreign mission is one to which I own I cannot reconcile myself; it leads certainly to a claim for future competency, but it seems to me little likely to assist those views of honest ambition, which are certainly, though I hope to no improper degree, still more forward in my mind than those of emolument. In this view it was, that upon a former occasion of arrangement, I had declined the Hague, which certainly is the first of all the situations in that line, but which still has the objection of banishing from all connections, social as well as political, and of cutting across all other expectations except those of an invalid upon half-pay.

I believe I need not tell you, that upon the proposition which you suggest of my staying here only to make the detail of the new arrangements for next year, I certainly would not have refused it, if I had thought that I could more usefully transact that point for you; but I am really firmly persuaded, that the only chance of any good being done here, is by some active and intelligent man taking root here, and acquiring over these Ministers by the vigour and perseverance of his own mind, influence enough to supply the total want of it in theirs; but as this must be a work of some time, so it seems highly important that it should immediately be undertaken in that regular established shape in which alone it is likely to succeed, and to which I could very little contribute by protracting my departure two or three months beyond that of Lord Spencer; besides, too, that if Ireland is to be looked at, I have not much time to lose with a view to that subject. Certainly no man can be more sensible than I am to the desagremens of the Irish Secretaryship; and if the political arrangements which have taken place, had admitted of my occupying any situation of business at home, there is scarce any which I should not prefer to it. I am, however, very ready to confess, that at the present moment I do not see any such opening likely to be easily made; and, therefore, the question is as with respect to myself, whether, even with all my dislike to the situation, it may not be right that I should take it, and trust to the course of events to supply hereafter some other situation more eligible. What much inclines me to this is, that I shall be able to preserve a much nearer and closer connection with my family and friends, whom I shall at times have an opportunity of seeing, and that the business itself may become in one light highly interesting to me, if I see in it the means of making myself essentially useful upon a subject certainly not unimportant.

I am not without considerable apprehensions, as you know, with respect to the practicability of all that in theory one wishes to be done in that country; but of those difficulties, it is useless now to speak. Upon the whole, therefore, I have thought it best to accept of Lord Fitzwilliam's offer, and have accordingly written to say so.

I will not unnecessarily add to this letter, as I expect to see you so soon: we calculate that in about twenty-six days we shall receive from you our answer, with permission to return; and that we shall be enabled to set out between the 15th and 20th of October at latest. Happy, indeed, I am to find, by the conclusion of your letter, that everything is going on at home upon as good a footing as we could wish. Every day's experience confirms me in the conviction, that with the present arrangement of Government, the peace and prosperity of the country must stand and fall; and however threatening may be the prospect from without, as long as everything keeps so right within, I shall continue to be of good heart.

I am ashamed of having written so much about myself, or rather I should be so if I was not writing to you; but I have confidence in your kindness and affection.

God bless you, my dear brother.

MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.

(Private.) Vienna, Sept. 15th, 1794. DEAR DUKE OF PORTLAND,

The impatience which we know that you must all have in England to hear the result of your last determinations, leaves me no time to add to what is contained in our despatches; but having had occasion to write to Lord Fitzwilliam upon his having offered to me and pressed upon me the Secretaryship in Ireland, I cannot let the messenger go without a few words likewise to you upon that subject, to tell you that I have left that to your decision and to his; having only added such expressions of my own views and inclinations as I know your friendship for me will lead you to view in their proper light. My objections to the situation of Secretary in Ireland you very well know, because even all my desire of making myself useful to you could not, twelve years ago, overcome those objections. I am, however, so persuaded that, in this moment, it is every man's duty to take his task without consulting his inclination, that if, all things considered, you agree with Lord Fitzwilliam in thinking that I had best go to Ireland, I will certainly try it.

You will, I am sure, forgive me for adding that, if the future course of political arrangements (according as facilities may occur) should admit of my being usefully employed at home, my wish and preference to any such arrangement will not, I am sure, be overlooked by my friends in England.

Ever, my dear Duke, Most sincerely yours, T. G.

That some inconvenience had already arisen, and that more was yet likely to arise, from the nomination of Lord Fitzwilliam to the government of Ireland, will be seen from a letter addressed by Lord Grenville to his brother at Vienna. It had been clearly understood all along, that Lord Fitzwilliam's appointment could not be confirmed until some suitable provision should have been made for Lord Westmoreland, who had accepted the office of Lord-Lieutenant on that express condition; yet the friends of Lord Fitzwilliam, in their eagerness to make known the accession of their party to power amongst their allies in Ireland, committed the indiscretion of talking publicly about the approaching change, before any arrangements had been concluded, or could be concluded, respecting Lord Westmoreland. The immediate effect of these premature announcements was to embarrass the Cabinet, and irritate the feelings and compromise the position of the Lord-Lieutenant. Worse effects followed soon afterwards.

LORD GRENVILLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.

Sept. 15th, 1794. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I am so late, that I have hardly time to write this private letter to you, nor, indeed, have I much to add to my despatches.

There is, however, one point which it is material that you should know for your own satisfaction. The despatches, as now drawn, bear very much the appearance of contracted operations in Flanders, without any very distinct statement of an intention to extend our plans elsewhere. The reason is, that we doubt whether we ought to trust the Government at Vienna with our secret in this respect. The failure of our expected operations in Flanders, where we had hoped to engage the principal attention of the enemy for the next month, makes it impossible to try, with the small force of which we now have the disposal, any operations of consequence in the Vendee; and a weak and ineffectual effort there would both betray and dispirit those whom we wish to support. We have therefore, for the present, renounced the idea of doing more than barely trying to throw in arms and supplies; and we reserve our attack for the spring, when, if our present expectations do not deceive us, we shall have the means of disposing of a very large force, independent of emigres, &c.

In this way, the two parts of the war will operate as a diversion one to the other, and we shall be able to push that, whichever it may be, when we shall appear at the time most likely to succeed. That will probably be the quarter where we act alone, and have neither to depend on Prussian faith nor Austrian energy.

It is in the meantime discouraging to see how fair an opportunity is lost by our not being able to profit of the present state of things in France. God knows what may happen between this and the spring. It does not appear to me that there is any foundation for the report of the young King's death. If it was true, it would solve at once the question of the acknowledgment of the Regent, which Spain has formally proposed to us.

You will have received my letter on the point on which you asked my opinion. If the decision is likely to go in favour of Ireland, I heartily wish you were here, as I am afraid that there is less discretion on that subject than there should be. The intended successor to Lord W. is talked of more openly than I think useful, at a time when there is yet no arrangement made for his quitting his station. But what is worse than that, ideas are going about, and are much encouraged in Dublin, of new systems there, and of changes of men and measures. Whatever it may be prudent to do in that respect, I know that you will agree with me that, till the time comes when that question is to be considered, with a view to acting upon it immediately, the less is said about it the better, in every point of view. When I see you, we can talk this over more easily than by letters between Vienna and London; and yet I have heard so much of it lately, that I almost wish it were possible for you, even at that distance, to write something that might suggest the necessity of caution; and that something you might even ground upon the paragraphs in the papers, which, as you may have seen, have been full of speculations upon it, particularly since Ponsonby's journey here.

The notion of seeing your personal quiet and happiness committed in this business, makes me feel more anxious about it than I otherwise should, though it is otherwise sufficiently important, and that in more than one point of view.

God bless you, my dearest brother, and believe me

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Sept. 17th, 1794. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I have forwarded your letter to Tom, who will, I think, probably set out from Vienna soon after the receipt of it. I should have been very glad if I could have engaged him to stay there, but that, I think, seems out of the question. I am not more sanguine in his success than he is himself; and if my conjecture is right, at least you will have the satisfaction of knowing that a subsidy is not given to Austria. I own myself that if the situation of affairs there had been such that one could, with propriety, have been given, with a reasonable hope of adequate exertion in return, I should never have signed any other instrument with as much pleasure as the warrant for ratifying that agreement, whatever had been the consequences of it. I have no other view of the contest in which we are engaged, nor ever have had, than that the existence of the two systems of Government is fairly at stake, and in the words of St. Just, whose curious speech I hope you have seen, that it is perfect blindness not to see that in the establishment of the French Republic is included the overthrow of all the other Governments of Europe. If this view of the subject is just, there can be worse economy than that which spares the expense of present exertion, and incurs the probability of increased risk, and the necessity of protracted efforts. I believe, however, that all this reasoning applies, in this instance at least, to a case which will not exist.

Our letters from Holland yesterday announced the execution of Barrere and Co.; but so many false reports have come from thence, that I do not give much faith to this, except from the probability of the thing itself. The weakness which this state of things at Paris occasions, in their efforts in the Low Countries, is very encouraging, and would be much more so, if we were but in a situation to profit of it.

Mulgrave's expedition has, I believe, completely performed its object, and averted all danger for the present from that quarter. The corps will now be broken up. In that event, Nugent has been thought of to go to the West Indies with the command of a brigade, and the local rank of Brigadier-General. I have taken it for granted that this will be a thing agreeable to him, and have therefore promoted it as far as I could, because it gives him the opportunities of showing himself both in service and in command. If you see it in the same light, perhaps, you would prefer throwing out the idea to him before it is formally proposed to him, as he might have difficulty in declining any proposal of service, even if for any reason that I do not foresee this destination was not agreeable to him.

I rejoice to think that your King's guard is almost over, which I imagine must have been a troublesome business enough.

God bless you, my dearest brother.

The straw was now beginning to move in the direction of Ireland. Mr. Ponsonby and his friends made no concealment of the expectations they founded upon the advent of Lord Fitzwilliam; and reports were creeping out, that with the change of men would come an entire change of measures.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, Sept. 27th, 1794. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I received your letter here yesterday, and write this because what you say on two material points of the public situation of affairs, impels me to it, though I well know how impossible it is within the compass of a letter to discuss such questions, or even to state the mere grounds of the considerations on which they depend. I see so much all around us of the gloomiest colour, that I am on that account, perhaps, more sensible to the manner in which you seem to view our situation. I cannot, however, be much surprised at the confidence which you seem to feel as to the possibility of our seeing the storm break all round us, and remaining untouched by it, because such appears to be the prevailing sentiment here, as well as in every other part of Europe: every country, and almost every individual, seeming to reason and to act in the hope of such an exception being made in their favour during the general ruin which they see impending over others. I am, however, not the less convinced of the truth of my own opinion, which is unhappily already confirmed by too many instances of the effects which this delusive security, as I think it, has produced, and is daily producing. I can see no grounds, in the state of this country, to hope for such an exception in our favour, and I do verily believe that we must prepare to meet the storm here, and that we must not count upon the continuance of a state of domestic tranquillity which has already lasted so much beyond the period usually allotted to it in the course of human events. I trust that we shall at least meet it with more firmness than our neighbours, but even in order to do this, we ought not to blind ourselves at the moment of its approach. It seems too probable that it is decreed by Providence that a stop should be put (for reasons probably inscrutable to us) to the progress of arts and civilization among us. It is a melancholy reflection to be born to the commencement of such a scene, and to be called to bear a principal share in it, but I trust we may hope that our strength may be proportioned to our trial.

With respect to what you say of Ireland, I am not ignorant of the reports upon the subject, though perhaps a little mortified at the facility with which you seem to have given credit to them. I know of no such measure as you say we have adopted. I have never varied in my opinion as to the impolicy of the conduct held in Ireland during the time of Lord Rockingham's Administration, nor do I believe that any one is disposed to repeat that conduct now. On the other hand, I must say that I think we, least of all people, and yourself less than any man existing, have reason to feel any particular interest in a system which experience has always shown, at least in our time, to be neither able nor disposed to carry any support to English Government whenever England can think such support material. It has long appeared to me, and I believe to you also, that to make the connexion with Ireland permanently useful to Great Britain, that connexion must be strengthened by a systematic plan of measures, well considered and steadily pursued. Whether the present moment, or any other moment that is in near prospect, would be favourable to such a plan, is another and a more difficult question; but I am sure that every year that is lost increases the hazard of our situation as with respect to Ireland. These points I feel as those which are truly important to England, are not questions of power or advantage to Lord Shannon, or Mr. Ponsonby, or any other individual, or set of individuals there. And with this impression, I certainly have not for one consented, as you express it, to surrender Ireland to the Duke of P. and Lord F. under the government of Mr. Ponsonby; but neither can I conceive what other interest you or I have, or ought to have, on that subject, except that Ireland should be so managed, if possible, as not to be an additional difficulty in our way, when so many others are likely to occur.

I have not often as much leisure as I have found to-day to put these ideas on paper. Do not think me dispirited by what has happened. I see the extent of our danger, and think that danger much greater than it is commonly apprehended; but the effect of that opinion on my mind is no other than that of increasing the conviction with which I was before impressed, of the necessity of perseverance and exertion. France and Spain and the Netherlands, and Geneva, most of all (small as it is), show us that this danger is not to be lessened by giving way to it, but that courage and resolution are in this instance, as in most others, the surest roads to self-preservation.

I have written this with more than usual seriousness, because such is the state of my mind, which I am accustomed to open to you without reserve, and such as it is at the moment of my writing or conversing with you.

When are we likely to meet? I suppose that your campaign will not last much beyond the King's journey. You will not, I hope, forget that this place is your best inn, whether you go to Stowe or to town; but you must give me a few days' notice, that I may be sure to be here. God bless you.

The progress of the negotiations on the continent, and the weakness of Austria and Prussia, mixed up with no inconsiderable amount of indecision and duplicity, are freely commented upon in letters from Mr. Grenville and Lord Malmesbury. Want of power, and want of will—fear, hesitation, and imbecility—were so conspicuous in the conduct of these Courts, as to destroy all confidence in their professions. The character drawn by Lord Malmesbury of the King of Prussia—which the reader will find confirmed in the subsequent communications of Mr. Grenville—shows how little reliance, under any circumstances, could be placed on His Majesty's co-operation.

MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO LORD GRENVILLE.

(Private.) Vienna, Sept. 22nd, 1794. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

The course of this last week has been employed—as you will have seen from our despatch—in very long, but fruitless arguments on our parts. The proposal which we send to you, has no other recommendation than that of its having been strenuously resisted by us, and steadily persisted in by them. If the fact really was, as they are disposed to consider it, that England—at no risk and no expense—could, in the shape of this guarantee, furnish means to Austria, without which they must consider themselves as beat, and act too under that impression, to their own certain ruin, and to the great probable danger of Holland; if, I say, all this mischief could be prevented without any real expense to England, the question would seem to me very different from what it now is. But, I confess, that I have not been able to make out of their conversation on this subject any of that security on these points which they must insist upon. They say, provision can be made by which the interest of this money can be punctually secured, to be paid strictly when due to the commissaries of the English army, or any other persons appointed to receive it; yet what those provisions are which provide for that security, I do not make out, nor do they seem able to describe. I state to them that Mr. Pitt must find ways and means for the payment of the interest of this loan, which must increase the first shape of our annual expenses, whether they are afterwards honestly repaid or not; but they maintain that M. Desardroui can settle this somehow or other, though how they have not by any means explained; perhaps M. Desardroui has been more fortunate with Mr. Pitt.