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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2009
page 3 note 1 See vol. i. p. 208. It was summoned expressly to rouse the nation on the question of the election to the Duchy of Courland, which was a fief of Poland.
page 3 note 2 See p. 4.
page 3 note 3 See ‘ Pro Memoria,’ p. 5.
page 3 note 4 Hermann Karl, Graf von Keyserling (1695–1764), one of the many Germans in the service of Russia. He had been the confidant of Duke Biren of Courland during his regency of Russia. He was now Russian ambassador at Warsaw. At least as early as September 1762 Frederic of Prussia had approached him with an adroit bribe, and in December had sent the Baron de Korff as Private Secretary to the Legation at Warsaw with the special mission to engage Keyserling in his interests. Keyserling pointed out that in order to obtain the coveted alliance with Russia it was essential that Frederic should support the interests of Duke Biren and the objects of Russia in Courland and Poland, and Frederic had already (on February 3, 1763) given Keyserling a definite pledge on these important points. See Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des IIten, xxii. 219, 220, 372, 419, 467, 504, &c. See also Recueil des Instructions données aux Ambassadeurs : Russie, ii. 227.
page 4 note 1 Jean de Borck, the informal envoy from the King of Poland sent to Catherine to represent the Polish view of the Courland question. See vol. i. p. 196.
page 4 note 2 Charles Christian of Saxony, third son of the Elector Augustus III., King of Poland, was invested by his father with the Duchy of Courland, January 5, 1759, at the request, as he declared, of the States of the country. Catherine II. was now claiming the Duchy as of right belonging to John Ernest de Biren. See vol. i. p. 191.
page 4 note 3 See vol. i. p. 12. Biren's first election to that Duchy was in 1737. In 1740 he was Regent of Russia for one month, on the death of the Czarina Anna. In 1741 he was exiled to Siberia, whence he returned on the accession of Peter III. in 1762. Though restored by Peter III. he took a part in the Revolution which overthrew him, and it is probable that Catherine's support of his claims to Courland was a recognition of his services. He had been sustained in. his Duchy by Russian arms, and had employed them against his own nobility, as well as against the attempts of the Polish Government to interfere in the affairs of Courland. On his resumption of his dignity he once more relied upon their support, but his second reign was of a milder character, and in 1766 he resigned in favour of his son. He died at Mittau in 1772, at the age of 82. See Recueil des Instructions, &c, i. 335; Nouvelle Biographie Universelle, &c.
page 5 note 1 See vol. i. p. 191, note 1.
page 5 note 2 The year of Biren's fall and exile.
page 7 note 1 George Hobart, Lord Buckinghamshire's brother, who had acted as Secretary to his Embassy.
page 7 note 2 Afterwards Paul I.
page 7 note 3 George Montague Dunk, second Earl of Halifax (1716–1771), Secretary of State since October 1762.
page 7 note 4 Michael Ilarionovitch Woronzow. See vol. i. p. 94, note 4.
page 8 note 1 That of 1734.
page 9 note 1 I.e. Frederic the Great. See vol. i. p. 201, note 2.
page 9 note 2 Alexandre, Prince Galitzin.
page 9 note 3 See vol. i. pp. 157, 213.
page 11 note 1 Simon Romanovitch Woronzow, the Russian ambassador in England.
page 12 note 1 See vol. i. pp. 109, 110. This related to the claim made by the Sovereigns of Russia to the Imperial title.
page 12 note 2 M. le Comte de Merci-Argenteau, ambassador from 1761 to 1764.
page 12 note 3 See vol. i. p. 105, note 1.
page 14 note 1 Count Victor Friedrich Solms, Prussian ambassador at Petersburg since December 1762.
page 15 note 1 Adam Vassilievitch Alsufiow (or Olsufiow), 1721–1784, afterwards Secretary of State. See p. 16.
page 15 note 2 See ior these P.R.O. Russia, vol. lxxxiii. See also p. 26, note 1.
page 17 note 1 Cypher defective.
page 20 note 1 Mehmed Rachib Pasha, d. April 8, 1763.
page 20 note 2 Hamsa Hamid held the office from April to October 1763.
page 22 note 1 The note set forth that M. de Borck had received a verbal insinuation in the name of H.I.M. to the effect that that Sovereign had seen by the result of the Senatus Concilium that the King of Poland was obstinate in the affair of Courland to the extent of wishing to force her to change her mind with respect to it, and that therefore M. de Borck was ordered to leave Moscow within forty-eight hours. M. de Borck, as a regularly appointed envoy from the King of Poland, protested against this.
page 24 note 1 Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg, 1726–1795, diplomatist and historian.
page 24 note 2 M. de Breteuil had been unable, however, to conclude a treaty of commerce between France and Russia, which had been an object of his mission. See Flassan, Histoire de la Diplomatic Française, vol. vi.
page 25 note 1 See vol. i. p. 66.
page 26 note 1 Some of the alleged damages date so far back as 1746. The losses consisted in rich furniture and china, Gobelin tapestry, and velvet clothes from Paris. These were inventoried. See R.O. Russia, vol. lxxxiii. May 1758.
page 26 note 2 See p. 18. Instructions of April 5, 1763.
page 27 note 1 On February 15, 1763, Frederic sent Catherine a copy of the Peace of Hubertsburg, and approached her for the first time on the subject of Poland, pointing out that his interests in the succession and those of Russia were the same. See Politische Corresp. Friedrich's des IIten, xxii. 524. To this Catherine replied on the 21st, ‘ Dans le cas de la vacance du trône de Pologne je consentirai aisément, comme votre Majesté le souhaite, à l''exclusion de tout prince de la maison d'Autriche, pourvu qu'il plaise à V.M. d'en faire autant pour tout candidat soutenu par la France. Je suis parfaitement de l'avis de V. M J'aime mieux aussi que la couronne de Pologne tombe en partage à un Piaste, mais à un tel qui ne soit point au bord du tombeau et qui ne reçoive des gages d'aucune Puissance. … Selon les désirs de V. M. [ce projet] restera secret entre nous. rsquo; See vol. xxiii. p. 4.
page 28 note 1 Charles Christian of Saxony. See p. 4, note 2.
page 28 note 2 This was an action for breach of promise, the lady having been persuaded to come out to Russia to be married. The question was how to get possession of 1.500l. damages which had been awarded her by the Court of King's Bench. See a letter of George Grenville, July 16, 1762, Buckingham. Corresp., P.R.O.
page 29 note 1 Of April 5, 1763.
page 30 note 1 Such an insinuation .was made April 5, 1763. See Frederic to Catherine II. of that date, Polit. Corresp. vol. xxiii. It had probably not been absolutely declined, ibid. p. 34.
page 30 note 2 Prince Nicolas Vassilievitch Repnin (1734–1801), Russian Ambassador Extraordinary in Poland.
page 31 note 1 M. le Comte de Breteuil. See vol. i. p. 78 et seq.
page 32 note 1 It appears that Catherine's ‘ attitude of benevolence and courtesy ’ towards M. de Breteuil was tempered by her knowledge of the action of French agents at Constantinople, Warsaw, and Stockholm, and that when she parted from him her last words were, ‘ Vous serez mon ennemi à Stockholm,’ and when he protested, she added, ‘ Si votre ministère est tel que vous me le dépeignez sa franchise est une fausseté de plus.’ See Recueil des Instructions données aux Ambassadeurs: Russie, ii. 218.
page 36 note 1 See Lord Buckinghamshire to Mr. Mitchell, of May 12, 1763, p. 30.
page 36 note 2 Prince Wladimir Dolguruki, appointed Russian ambassador to Berlin in succession to Prince Repnin, who left that Court in February 1763.
page 37 note 1 But see note to dispatch of May 5, p. 27. Frederic's reply of April 5 definitely proposed a treaty, based upon their community of interests in Poland. See vol. xxiii. p. 34 of Polit, Corresp. Friedrich's des IIten.
page 38 note 1 See vol. i. p. 30.
page 38 note 2 See vol. i. p. 99. ‘ Mme. D'Ashkow said to me one evening, “ Pourquoi est-oe que mon mauvais sort m'a placée dans ce vaste cachot ? Pourquoi suis-je obligée de ramper avec cette troupe de flatteurs également servils et faux ? Que ne suis-je pas née Anglaise ? J'adore la liberté et la fougue de cette nation.” ’ From ‘ Russian Memoranda.’
page 46 note 1 Baron Adolf Siegfried von der Osten had been in the secret of the Grand Duchess's affair with Poniatowski—‘ an intriguer of the first order,’ according to the Due de Choiseul. See Recueil des Instructions : Russie, ii. 240,
page 47 note 1 See Lord Halifax of April 29, 1763, p. 26.
page 51 note 1 This appears to refer to that part of the article which provided for the introduction into Russia of ‘the manufacture or productions of the Asiatic provinces.’
page 53 note 1 Pierre, who was associated with his father, Ernest John, in 1769, succeeded him in 1772, and reigned as Duke of Courland till 1795.
page 54 note 1 See for these terms Lord Halifax's despatches of April 29 and July 22, 1763. See also Lord Buckinghamshire to Lord Halifax of September 9. Those of the 8th and 12th here referred to are given in full so far as they relate to this transaction and leave it only to be inferred that Lord Buckinghamshire had committed the terms to writing which the English Government desired to make with Count Woronzow.
page 57 note 1 Cyril Grigorievitch Rozoumowski. See vol. i. p. 68.
page 60 note 1 By these articles of the Treaty of 1742 Great Britain was dispensed with from furnishing the stipulated succour in case of a Russian war with Turkey, Persia, the Tartars, or other Eastern nations, while the Russian troops were not to be sent anywhere out of Europe, or to Spain, Portugal, or Italy. For the history of this earlier treaty see the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. xiv. new series, p. 169.
page 60 note 2 See for this and the second secret article proposed, Appendix, note A.
page 61 note 1 Freiherr Joseph Heinrich Ried, from July 1763 to December 1764 Austrian ambassador at the Prussian Court.
page 62 note 1 These memorials, which state the grievances and the claims of the Republic and Royal Family of Poland in the matter of Courland, are among Lord Buckinghamshire's papers, but are too long to be inserted here.
page 65 note 1 See for this vol. i. p. 95, note.
page 66 note 1 Solms also reported to his master that he suspected Bestucheff and Woronzow to be concerting negociations with Austria. See Polit. Corr. Friedrich's des IIten, xxiii. 104.
page 66 note 2 It appears from Frederic's correspondence that Catherine had at last written (on July 9), in answer to Frederic's proposal of an alliance (of April 5), that ‘she would see further proposals for it with great satisfaction.’ On August 6 these more definite proposals were sent. They were for a defensive alliance with a mutual guarantee of both States, a promise of auxiliary troops, or in the case of an attack upon Frederie's Rhenish provinces, or in the case of troubles upon the Persian and Tartar frontiers of Russia, a subsidy instead of troops. Frederic left to the Empress to make her own stipulation with regard to Poland, but proposed an article relating to commerce. He warned her at the same time that the French and Saxons were misrepresenting the affair of Courland to the Turks, and that it would be necessary to counteract their influence, if she wished to be able ‘ to give a king to Poland.’ See Polit. Corr. F. IIten, xxiii. 5, 76.
page 66 note 3 See Lord Halifax's of August 16, p. 54.
page 72 note 1 Lord Sandwich had now succeeded Lord Halifax in the Northern Department, while Halifax had accepted the seals of the Southern Department of Foreign Affairs.
page 73 note 1 Art. XVI. of Treaty of 1742: ‘ It is also agreed that, on account of the great distance of places, the troops which H.I.M. of all the Russias shall furnish by virtue of this alliance shall not be sent either into Spain, Portugal, or Italy.’
page 74 note 1 Art. XVIII.: ‘If it should happen that they should be obliged to have recourse to force of arms, no peace nor truce should be made without including therein such of the contracting parties as shall not have been attacked, that they may suffer no damage in resentment for the succours they shall have given to their ally.’
page 74 note 2 See Appendix.
page 76 note 1 See Dispatch, May 5, 1763, and note, p. 27.
page 78 note 1 See vol. i. p. 50 et seq.
page 79 note 1 The Marquis Hieronymus Grimaldi, Spanish ambassador in Paris, and since October 1763 Minister for Foreign Affairs at Madrid.
page 79 note 2 Augustus III., King of Poland and Elector of Saxony.
page 83 note 1 See for this the letters of Colonel Ramsey, who represented the ‘ English party’ in Sweden, and those of Wilkinson (otherwise Gedda), who corresponded privately from Sweden with the English Government. They are urgent for an English ambassador, and point out that now, when great discontent existed against France, because she was remiss in the payment of her subsidies, it was the moment for England to intervene. The Queen of Sweden, who had been vacillating, was now becoming favourable to an English alliance. (See P. P. R. O., vol. cxxvii., Sweden, Oct. 6, 1761; Jan. 2 and June 15, 1762; July 26, Sept. 13, 1763, &c.
page 84 note 1 See pp. 73 and 74.
page 85 note 1 See p. 77.
page 88 note 1 See p. 75, vol. i. This relates to Catherine's promise on her accession to the Russian throne that she would endeavour to obtain that of Poland for Stanislas Poniatowski.
page 90 note 1 His private audience with the Empress.
page 91 note 1 This scheme consisted at first only in the dispatch of one frigate, the expenses of which were to be defrayed by Government. It was necessary to employ foreign sailors. (See P. R. O.: Russia, vol. lxxxiv.)
page 96 note 1 Count Peter Ivanovitoh Panin.
page 98 note 1 By the peace of Belgrade, 1739, Russia retained Azof, recently conquered from the Turks, but on the condition that its fortifications should be destroyed.
page 98 note 2 See pp. 46 and 99.2
page 99 note 1 Adolf Siegfried von der Osten, Danish envoy to St. Petersburg.
page 100 note 1 The Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, ‘written during her travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa to persons of distinction,’ etc., were published in this year.
page 101 note 1 Mustapha Aga. He was a friend of Achmet Effendi, and Frederic II. Flattered himself that he might be gained through him. See Polit. Corr. xxiii. 224.
page 102 note 1 Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Brunswiok-Wolfenbüttel, m. the Princess Augusta, sister of George III., Jan. 16, 1764.
page 105 note 1 Catherine had on October 6 communicated to Frederic of Prussia that Poniatowski was the man on whom her choice had fallen. On November 1 Frederic wrote his approval of her choioe. (See Polit. Corresp. F. des IIten, xxiii. 167, 168.)
page 106 note 1 That of 1742.
page 107 note 1 See dispatch of November 15, p. 105, note.
page 108 note 1 Lord Buckinghamshire afterwards maintained that the refusal to accede to this request was the cause of the failure of his mission. (See vol. i. Preface, p. vii.)
page 110 note 1 See p. 109
page 111 note 1 Karl Theodor.
page 113 note 1 Nolken's appointment as Swedish envoy to England was formally confirmed in the end of November 1763. (See Wilkinson's letters of November 29, P. B. O. Sweden, vol. 127.)
page 121 note 1 1 The tendency of Woronzow's dispatches was against the projected alliance between England and Russia. He reported that lsquo; England never made a political alliance but in accordance with the interests of her trade,’ that ‘the English Ministry were much more occupied in supporting an election of an M.P. for Essex than in any events upon the Continent,’ and that the instability of the Government made an alliance unadvisable: for even if they yielded in the matter of Turkey they could not be depended upon to keep faith ; it was too much against their interests. (See Woronzow's letters to Galitzin of December 3, 1763, and to Panin, December 29 (N.S.), 1763, Add. MSS. B.M. 32888, ‘Deoyphered Letters of Russian Ambassadors.’)
page 120 note 1 Yet the King of Prussia was still uncertain as to the real policy of Panin, and suspected that he was being amused with the projeot of a treaty with Eussia until that Government had succeeded in their plans for Poland. (See Frederic to the Count de Solms, December 17, 1763, vol. xxiii. Polit. Corres.)
page 123 note 1 Cypher defective.
page 125 note 1 Frederic Christian, son and successor to Augustus III., died December 17,1763.
page 123 note 2 Prince Xavier (1730–1806), second son of Augustus III. of Saxony. His candidature was specially favoured by his sister, Marie Josèphe, who had married the Dauphin in 1747. She was to be the mother of Louis XVI., Louis XVIII. and Charles X.
page 123 note 3 John Clement Branitzki (or Branicke). He had also the uncertain and vacillating support of the French Government as an alternative to a Saxon prince. He was already over seventy years of age, and to him Catherine probably referred when she mentioned her wish to exclude a Piast who ‘ had one foot in the grave.’ See p. 27, note. He died in 1771.
page 126 note 1 Simon Bomanovitch Woronzow in his Memoirs points out that it was really the interest of Eussia to support Saxony in Poland, and to maintain the status quo, but that everything was sacrificed to Catherine's vanity and passion. Thus Austria and Saxony were alienated, and Eussia was thrown into the arms of Prussia, and ‘ thus was inaugurated the monstrous and ridiculous system of the north, of which Panin was the inventor and by which Prussia only was aggrandised.’ (See for this vol. i. p. 97.)
page 128 note 1 See also vol. i. p. 59, note.
page 129 note 1 Simon Romanovitch Woronzow relates that at this period Keyserling was become very dévot and warmly attached to the Protestant religion, and that his political view was influenced by this, as he wished to oppose the Catholic and Austrian ascendency in Germany.
page 130 note 1 Of a subsidy.
page 131 note 1 George III. objected to M, Gross as a successor to Prince Galitzin in January 1762, because he believed him to have ‘ a most unfriendly and malicious disposition to H.M. and his allies, and that his principal occupation in London would be the supplying of H.M.'s enemies with intelligence.’ He knew also from undoubted authority that Gross ‘had sold himself to France.’ (See Earl of Bute to Keith, January 5, 1762, and also to Keith and Wroughton, February 23, 1762, Buckinghamshire Papers).
page 133 note 1 See p. 119, note.
page 138 note 1 M. Gideon Benoit. See next page.
page 139 note 1 The action of Denmark in the matter of Poland was influenced by her desire to make terms with Russia as to Holstein. Her treaty with Prance (of 1754) was about to expire, and in March 1764 the offer of Prance to renew it without a subsidy was rejected by Denmark. (See Becueil des Instructions, Danemark, p. Ixii.)
page 140 note 1 See his dispatch of January 15, 1764, p. 129.
page 142 note 1 Prince Ladislaus Lubienski, Archbishop of Gnesen and Primate of Poland.
page 143 note 1 In this matter of Woronzow the following passages from Frederic II.'s correspondence are significant:—
On January 19,1764, he writes to his ambassador Michell at London—
‘ Quand vous trouverez des occasions où vous saurez adroitement nourrir le mécontentement du comte de Woronzow, et mêaie l'aigrir contre les susdits ministres, vous ne devez pas négliger de le faire.’
On May 25, 1764, Panin having informed him that Michell had been in communication with Count Woronzow as to his plans for overthrowing the English Ministry, Frederic writes to Solms, his ambassador at Petersburg—
‘ Vous l'en remercierez très poliment et lui direz que le dit sieur Michell serait rappelé, mais que je priais le comte Panin qu'il ne voudrait pas ajouter foi à ce que les ministres anglais prétendaient mettre à sa charge … et que de tout temps je ne lui avais connu aucun esprit de cabale dont il paraît que les ministres anglais le soupçonnent, quoiqu'à tort. …’
See vol. xxiii. pp. 257, 396.
page 147 note 1 Alexander Iwanovitoh Glebow, Procurator-General also under Peter III., over whom he had much influence. See Recueil des Instructions, &a.: Russie, ii. 191.
page 148 note 1 Joseph was elected King of the Romans, March 27, 1764.
page 152 note 1 To this the Porte had been instigated by the French Court. See ‘Instructions to the Marquis de Bausset, December 18, 1763,’ Recueil des Instructions, &c. Russie, ii. 229
page 153 note 1 The plan of treaty proposed to the Türkish internuncio Aohmet Effendi in November 1763 was founded upon the principle of mutual help in case of attack. If the Porte should be attacked by the Austrians, Frederic was to make a diversion in the territories of the Empress Queen. If Frederic should be attacked, the Turk was to make a diversion in Hungary. See a ‘Memoire’ delivered to the Turkish envoy, November 30, 1763, Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des IIten, xxiii. 201.
page 154 note 1 Augusta, sister of George III., and Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Prince of Brunswick, who succeeded to the dukedom in 1780. They were to be the parents of the unfortunate Queen Caroline of Brunswiok and of the Duke of Brunswick who fell at Waterloo.
page 155 note 1 The quarrel between the Chevalier d'Éon, ‘the French Wilkes,’ secretary to the Embassy, and M. de Guerchy, the French ambassador at St. James's, occurred in the beginning of the year, and was followed by the publication in March of the Lettres, Mémoires et Négotiations particuliàres du Chevalier Déon, which made the quarrel publio property. See Walpole's Memoir of the Reign of George III., i. 392.
page 157 note 1 This is abundantly proved from the correspondence of the French Government with their ambassadors. See Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 177, 191, 193. See also vol. i. of this work, p. 95.
page 158 note 1 Czartoryski. See vol. i. p. 75, note 1.
page 158 note 2 See p. 129.
page 159 note 1 This oondition was attached in the form of a note to the separate and secret articles. See Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des IIten, xxiii. 306, Frederic to the Count de Solms, March 15,1763.
page 160 note 1 1 Zachar Grigorievitch Chernichow, or Tchernicheff (1722–1784). His elder brother was Peter, the younger Ivan. (See Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii, pp. 178, 179, 217.)
page 163 note 1 Austrian envoy to St. Petersburg since the end of 1763.
page 163 note 2 A copy of this protocol, the gist of which is given here, is among Lord Buckinghamshire's papers. See also P.R.O., Russia, vol. lxxxv.
page 164 note 1 See vol. i. p. 35.
page 165 note 1 See also for these articles P.R.O., Russia, vol. lxxxv.
page 166 note 1 The declarations to the effect that they viewed Poland as a sovereign and independent State, which had a right to exercise all the prerogatives given her by her constitution, without limitation and exception, and specially that of free election, upon which no condition or exclusion should be imposed by exterior influence; that they had no other desire than to see the Polish nation maintained in all her possessions and all her liberties, &c. (See Buckinghamshire Papers.)
page 169 note 1 Abraham Ludwig Michell. See for the reasons of the discontent of the English Court in this matter vol. i. p. 53, and p. 143 of this volume.
page 171 note 1 In 1750. Sir Charles Hanbury Williams afterwards acted as Frederic's intermediary with Peter III.—when Grand Duke—in 1755–6. See Mitchell Papers, Add. MSS. B.M. 6844.
page 175 note 1 See p. 163.
page 176 note 1 Cyril Grigorievitch Rozoumowski. See vol. i. pp. 61, 68.
page 177 note 1 ‘ At the time the Court went to Riga,’ says Lord Buckinghamshire in the Russian Memoranda, ‘ the Empress proposed and Orlow was particularly eager that the Grand Duke should be inoculated, but the idea was overruled by M. Panin and by many others.‘
page 177 note 2 This paper is to be found in the Appendix of vol. i.
page 177 note 3 To this Lord Buckinghamshire added the following comments on the trade :—
1. That Eussia now consumes much less of English manufactures.
2. That the cost of provisions brought to England from Russia is increased by one-third, particularly that of isinglass.
3. That the cost of living in St. Petersburg is double what it was ten years ago.
(To M. Panin, August 1, 1794, Buckinghamshire Papers.)
page 179 note 1 1 See for this vol. i. p. 67. Catherine's maternal grandfather, of the House of Holstein Gottorp, was hereditary Bishop of Lübeck, and this bishopric was now claimed by the King of Denmark, who was of the elder and royal branch of the House of Holstein. (See for some of the ramifications of the Holstein question ‘ Notes on the Diplomatic Correspondence between England and Russia,’ in the Transactions of R. Hist. Soc, xiv. new series, 150,160.)
page 181 note 1 See for this Frederic to Solms, February 10, 1764, Polit. Corresp. xxiii. 275.
page 182 note 1 See for this p. 143, note.
page 182 note 2 Count Ivan Andreevitch Ostermann (1724–1811), grandson of the Grand Chancellor tinder Anne. He became Catherine's minister for Foreign Affairs and Vice-Chancellor, and under Paul, Grand Chancellor of Russia. He was now ambassador at Stockholm.
page 182 note 3 That of his father, Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke; died March 6, 1764.
page 183 note 1 Cypher defective.
page 183 note 2 The Spanish minister, who was succeeded by Grimaldi as first minister at Madrid, September 1763. Grimaldi was one of the chief promoters of the Family Compact.
page 185 note 1 The House of Saxony.
page 187 note 1 1 Frederic wrote to Michell (May 28,1764) that, as he now had little or nothing to negotiate with England, he purposed to leave there only some secretary to the embassy to take charge of his affairs, Polit. Corr. vol. xxiii. p. 398.
page 189 note 1 The Queen of Sweden, despairing of active support from her brother, the King of Prussia, at this time made a direct appeal to George III. for pecuniary aid, that she might be independent of the French party at the ensuing Diet. In her memorial (which was secretly forwarded through Sir John Goodricke, June 15, 1764) she points out that the anarchy and misery which prevailed in Sweden came from the abuse of the constitution of 1720, which had placed almost the whole power in the hands of the Senate, and that body by corruption was so completely subject to France ‘ that she had come to rule Sweden with the same ease as if it were one of her own provinces.’ Reform was urgently needed, but to carry reform the Queen must be able to command the Diet, and ‘ if it proved impossible to prevent her opponents from getting support from a foreign Power, she must combat them with the same weapons.’ Hence English and Russian money was indispensable. See Goodricke to Earl of Sandwich, R.O. Sweden, vol. cxxviii.
page 189 note 2 Baron Ulric Scheffer and Axel, Comte de Fersen—the latter the well known Count Fersen,’ who endeavoured in 1791 to save Louis XVI. and his Queen. These men, the most influential in Sweden, were disposed to treat with the Queen from dread of the Court becoming influenced by Russia. Their aim was to amalgamate the French and Court parties, and to effect this they agreed to pay some of the Queen's debts, to destroy an Act of the former Diet which was very offensive to the King and Queen, to strengthen the influence of the Court by the admission of some of their supporters to the great offices, and in the approaching Diet to consent to a new interpretation of those passages in the fundamental laws which had been wrested to the prejudice of the royal authority. See Goodricke to Earl of Sandwich, May 22, 1764, R.O. Sweden, vol. cxxviii.
page 191 note 1 I.e. a close alliance with France. See vol. i. p. 32.
page 193 note 1 Yet Frederic had definitely declared against the policy of a northern league which should include England. He had ‘ every reason to believe that England would not accede to such a league.’ He had ‘ not a word to. say against Sweden and Denmark,’ but Sweden would not accede without a subsidy, and for himself ‘ his alliance with Russia took the place of every other.’ See Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des IIten, xxiii., dispatches to Solms of April 5 and May 14, 1764.
page 194 note 1 In all regular and irregular troops amounted to 568,234 effective men.
page 194 note 2 The fleet was estimated at 24 ships, 8 frigates, 3 prames, 2 bomb ketches, 4 packet boats.
page 194 note 3 The revenue is given as 16,565,875 R. 62¾ kopeks.
page 199 note 1 The memoranda were written on Lord Buckinghamshire's return voyage.
page 201 note 1 The original spelling of M. Panin's letters is preserved.
page 202 note 1 Ludwig Eberhard von Gemmingen was the Hanoverian representative at Ratisbon.
page 205 note 1 What follows is from notes entitled ‘ Relation de l'Affaire de M. de Mirowitz à Schlüsselburg de la Nuit du 16 de Juillet 1764.’
page 206 note 1 For Ivan's claim to the throne, see vol. i. pp. 6, 7.
page 211 note 1 Here Lord Buckinghamshire recapitulates what he had written to Sir John Goodricke of the same date. See p. 209.
page 215 note 1 If this was not also Frederic II.'s real opinion, it was at least the opinion which he expressed, that the French, Austrians, Saxons, and Poles opposed to the Russian influence in Poland had had a hand in this event. (See Polit. Corr. vol. xxiii. p. 457.)
page 216 note 1 See p. 209.
page 218 note 1 See for this p. 155, n. 1.
page 219 note 1 Afterwards successively Sir George and Lord Macartney.
page 224 note 1 The purport of this conversation was communicated to Sir John Goodricke on September 11. (See Buckinghamshire Papers.)
page 225 note 1 Count Karl Wilhelm Düben, Lord Chamberlain to the Queen of Sweden, was in May 1764 made Chancellor to the Court. See p. 229.
page 226 note 1 Ulric Antoine, Duke of Brunswick-Bevern, father of the murdered Ivan. ‘ It depended upon the old man himself, a year ago, to have left the country, if he would have gone without his children.’ (‘Russian Memoranda.’)
page 227 note 1 See vol i., p. 7.
page 228 note 1 See p. 229.
page 229 note 1 This was to the effect that the Vice-Chancellor (deputed by the Empress) bad hinted that she hoped ‘ that the spirit of party in Sweden would not extend their divisions to such essential points as would require the attention of a good neighbour.’ This, it was reported, was concealed by the Ministers from the King and the Senate, lest they should use the dread of Russia as a means to effect their ends. On the other hand, it was contended that the whole story was a canard invented by the Queen and M. Düben to overawe the French party. See Sandwich's despatch, August 13, 1764, Buckinghamshire Papers.
page 229 note 2 The substance of this was also communicated to Sir Joseph Yorke on October 2.
page 231 note 1 The 4th, 8th, and 27th were the only articles of the old Treaty which gave British commerce an advantage over that of other nations with Russia. In the matter of cloth and flannels especially England claimed to be treated as the ‘ most favoured Nation.’
page 231 note 2 See vol. i., p. 90.
page 231 note 3 See vol. i., pp. 82, 233 et seq.
page 232 note 1 See p. 194, note.
page 236 note 1 Von Feronce was Envoy from Brunswick to London in 1763.
page 240 note 1 Panin had informed Solms about this time, ‘ Que l'alliance avec l'Angleterre serait conclue dés que cette Cour se réeoudrait à payer 500,000 roubles à S.M.I.’ (See Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des IIten, vol. xxiii., p. 486.)
page 242 note 1 Lord Sandwich had written that, according to Sir J. Goodricke's opinion, about 8,000l. were necessary for immediate use to gain a majority in the Diet and secure the secret committee, and that eventually 25,000l. would be needed. Lord Buckinghamshire was to find out whether Russia was prepared to share in these expenses.
page 243 note 1 See vol. i., p. 21. In 1747 the Swedes were uncertain whether to ally themselves with Prussia or Russia. They decided in favour of Frederic II., and to this Treaty the French were invited to accede. It is related that when the Russians and English paid bribes to secure the election of members of the Diet who were in their interest, the Swedes took the money and openly voted in the French interests. See P.R.O. Sweden, vol. cxx.
page 244 note 1 The substance of this despatch was repeated by Lord Buckinghamshire to Sir John Goodricke on the same day.
page 245 note 1 Lord Sandwich had written (September 28, 1764) that Lord Buckinghamshire should in the King's name make a compliment to the Czarina on the election of Stanislas Poniatowski to the throne of Poland, adding that ‘ an election carried on with such unanimity and quiet, contrary to the usages of former times, reflected great honour upon the wisdom and moderation of H.I.M., and gave an agreeable prospect that it will contribute to strengthen public tranquillity and preserve the balance of power so necessary to the repose and prosperity of Europe.’ Buckinghamshire Papers.
page 247 note 1 Mir Cossim, deposed by the East India Company in July 1763.
page 248 note 1 See p. 225.
page 250 note 1 Since May 1763 France had been represented at the Russian Court only by a Charge d'' Affaires, M. Bérenger. In December 1763 M. le Marquis de Bausset received instructions to go to St. Petersburg as Minister Plenipotentiary, but his departure was delayed by the King until April 29, 1765, owing chiefly to the uncertainty the French Government was in as to Russian action in the Polish election. See Recueil des Instructions, etc.: Russie, vol. ii., pp. 223, 242.
page 251 note 1 Peter Alexandrovitch Romanzow, 1725–1796.
page 251 note 2 See vol. i., p. 224.
page 253 note 1 Goodricke reports that the French have offered the Queen 200,000 or 300,000 Swedish crowns. They spread everywhere also, he writes, the statement that England's design in the impending Diet was to ruin all Swedish manufactures in order to introduce her own. See despatches of November 6 and 16, 1764, P.R.O. Sweden, vol. cxxviii.
page 253 note 1 See p. 216.
page 255 note 1 This was the Khan of the Crimea, Kerim Geray, who had been used as an instrument by the French and Austrians to incite the Turks against Russia. See Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des IIten, vol. xxiv., p. 24, etc.
page 256 note 1 Baron Ulrich Scheffer, the real head of the French party in Sweden.
page 256 note 2 The ‘ Family Compact’ had inclined the Duo de Choiseul to rely on his Southern rather than his Northern alliances, and the Treaty with Denmark of 1754, having expired in March 1764, was not renewed. On this occasion the French proposals were not accompanied by an offer of subsidy. See Recueil des Instructions, etc.: Danemark, p. lxii.
page 259 note 1 Cypher defective.
page 259 note 1 The Marshal of the Diet had not only the direction of all the deliberations in the House of Nobles, but also the privilege of voting in all committees. He was therefore an important person to gain. See Goodricke to Sandwich, September 21, 1764, P.B.O. Sweden, vol. cxxix.
page 261 note 1 The Russian Envoy, Obreskow, had been directed to represent to the Porte that if that Government opposed Russia in Poland, Russia would have no other part to take but to return to her old union with Austria, which in past times had so often been the source of embarrassment to Turkey. See Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des IIten, xxiii. 401.
page 265 note 1 In the Treaty between Russia and Denmark, which was concluded March 11 1765, it was stipulated that, in case the Turks attacked the Russians, Denmark should assist Russia either by a fleet or by an annual subsidy. The second article related to Holstein, and in 1767 that matter was provisionally settled (pending the majority of the Grand Duke) by the Empress renouncing, in her son' name, the ducal part of Schleswig and of his part of Holstein in exchange for Oldenburg and Delmenhorst and a large subsidy. See for these treaties Koch, , Histoire des Traités, xiii. 381Google Scholaret seq., and Recueil des Instructions données aux Ambassadeurs : Danemark, p. lxii.
page 266 note 1 The Diet was looked upon as of such importance because it was possible by its decree so to modify the Constitution of 1720 that more power might be delegated to the Senate, which, consisting only of sixteen persons, was pensioned by the French Government and completely controlled by them. If, for instance, the right of concluding alliances were ceded to the Senate, France would be mistress of he situation. (See P.B.O., Sweden, cxxxi. Despatches of October 22 and 30, 1764.)
page 269 note 1 See p. 244.
page 270 note 1 The substance of this conversation was sent to Sir John Goodricke on January 15, 1765. The Treaty of Friendship which was concluded in 1766 between England and Sweden was considered by the French Government as a breach of a formal engagement entered into by the Swedes in 1754, by which they undertook not to contract any alliance with another Power except in concert with France or with her knowledge. The French subsidy in consequence was cut off. See Recueil des Instructions, etc.: Siède, p. 425.
page 271 note 1 Dmitri Alexievitoh Galitzin, who returned to Paris as Minister Plenipotentiary in 1763.
page 273 note 1 A Treaty of Commerce between England and Russia was finally signed by Sir George Macartney, August 29, 1766, the Russian signatories being Panin, Ernest Comte de Münnich, the Prince Galitzin, and Teplow. It contained no political clauses, and speaks merely of a ‘ close friendship’ between the two countries. By the 14th Article British subjects were permitted to trade in every town in Russia, excepting those ‘ qui ont des droits de bourgeoisie particuliers et des privilèges à ce contraires.' By the 4th Article productions of Asiatic provinces might also be among their articles of trade, and for the future English cloth for soldiers was only to pay a duty of 2 copecks per rix-dollar. So too for wide and narrow flannel and York cloth.
page 275 note 1 See p. 160.
page 278 note 1 A draught letter, undated.
page 278 note 1 Lord Buckinghamshire here uses the names which were used in cypher for the various public personages, viz.:—
Le Butor = The Great Chancellor, Woronzow.
Le Nouveau Venu = The Marquis de Bausset, Ambassador from Prance to Russia.
Le Polisson = Solms.
Le Désolateur = The King of Prussia.
page 285 note 1 That of Elizabeth.