Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, PRINTEES TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from JOHN MENZIES & Co., ROSE STREET, EDINBURGH, and HODGES, FIGGIS, & CO., LIMITED, 104, GRAFTON STREET, DUBLIN. [C.-9470.] Price 3s. 1d. 1899. INTRODUCTION TO VOLUMES II. AND III. AFTER the publication of Volume II., containing Lord Grenville's' correspondence from the beginning of 1791 to the end of 1794, a second inspection of the portfolios at Dropmore brought to light other papers of great interest relating to the periods embraced by Volumes I. and II. These papers are now printed as addenda' to Volume III. The earliest of them are confidential letters from Pitt, Sir James Harris, and William Eden, to Grenville, and the replies of the last-named, during and after his missions to the Hague and Paris in 1787. Besides affording valuable information in regard to the internal factions of the Dutch Republic, which involved Prussia and Great Britain as supporters of the House of Orange, and France as the ally of the Burgher party or Patriots, in sharp collision and almost in war, they bring into contrast the methods and characters of Harris and Eden, representing rival schools of English diplomacy; and they show clearly the unbounded trust already reposed by Pitt in Grenville's ability and judgment, in situations of great responsibility for which previous training had not specially fitted him. While Pitt sought by negotiation to obtain the concessions required from France, the Duke of Brunswick cut the knot of the difficulty by marching into the Provinces at the head of a Prussian army, and restoring the supremacy of the Prince of Orange. In April 1788, Harris signed a treaty at the Hague renewing the political alliance that had existed between Great Britain and the Dutch Republic from the English Revolution of 1688 until 1780. In the following June, he induced the King" of Prussia to join the maritime powers in forming a Triple Alliance for mutual defence and the preservation of peace. For these services George III., on Pitt's recommendation, raised him to the House of Peers as Lord Malmesbury. As appears from his letter to Grenville, dated December 27, 1787, Harris had aimed at making union between the English and Dutch nations firm and cordial by coming to an agreement in regard to conflicting claims of maritime right and commercial interest which formed a a 94090. 1 a 2 |