CHARLES FLEETWOOD WESTON Esq. 1735. Augt. 7th, N.S. Lord Harrington to Horatio Walpole. From Hanover. [Draft.]—Private. . . . . . . May not the Card's proposing the UNDERWOOD, Marriages of the Duke of Lorraine's sisters be in consequence of some private Negociation with the Emp", and this late Step be to save appear. ances in the manner of breaking it to the world? This I own is but a loose thought just come into my head from having been told within this half hour by Count Kinsky, in a mysterious way, that he had been acquainted with that affair of the marriages above these two Months ...... If the Dutch do not show an equal readyness for entering in Conjunction with the King into proper Engagements with the King of Prussia, they cannot for the future lay the fault of their Inaction upon his Majty's unwillingness to joyn with them in taking the proper Measures for engaging that Prince. 1735. Augt. 5th 16th Horatio Walpole to Lord Harrington. From the Hague.-Private. As to our Justifying ourselves for not assisting ye Emperour I think there is a great deal to be sayd, in our behalves; his refusal to accomodate matters wth Spain when it was in his power, his negligence & Pride in despising to hearken to any proposals from ye King of Sardinia joyned wth ye affair of Poland giving an occasion to ye War, were good reasons, for our not declaring ourselves in his favour without employing first our good offices for so long together when there was a prospect of their having an effect; while at ye same time his towns forteresses & Dominions were taken by his Enemys for want of being supplyed wth any thing necessary for their security & Defense; to such a degree that it would have been impossible for his Majty & ye States to have saved them if they had gone to his assist ance 1735. Augt. 16th, N.S. Robert Trevor to Edward Weston, From the Hague. That should endeavour to improve with Lord you Harrington to my advantage the Incident of poor M. Dayrolle's Illness, in the manner I had taken the freedom to suggest to you, was no more than what I ever expected from your Friendship; But that his Lordship should enter into this Thought in the kind inanner He did, & not only suggest an Expedient for rendering it still more beneficial to me, but even carry his Attention so far as to order you to consult my personal Inclinations first upon it, was indeed what even the Experience I have had, as well in my own Person as in that of my Brother, of his Laps Goodness had not yet made me vain enough to dream of, and I must desire you to express in the most lively manner my Surprise as well as my Gratitude on this occasion 12th 23rd 1735. Augt. Horatio Walpole to Lord Harrington. From the Hague.-Private.-His Majestys determination upon ye last resolution weh I transmitted to yr Lrdp from ye States is a matter of great importance. It is evident that nothing will bring the Province of Holland to a resolution to Encrease their forces as long as France forbears to give them any alarm on this side, and continues her solemn Contestations as they call them of her disposition for Peace, they will therefore pursue yo employment of good offices wth ye hopes the very distant of some favourable incident for a Ratification, or rather because if they cease their good offices they can have no excuse for not arming, wch as I sayd before they are resolved not to doe, and don't know what answer to return to ye pressing demands of ye Emperour for succours, wch they are still less disposed to grant. CHARLES FLEETWOOD WESTON Esq. t What they now propose is (as your Lrdp will have seen by ye Resolution) to take ye last answer from ye Imperiall Court, and ye last answer from ye Allvs wth explanations given publickly & privately UNDERWOOD, by Mr Fenelon as a sufficient foundation to promote wthout loss of time a Congress Unless we are resolved to goe into ye war without ye States, what shall we say to ye Emperour for not giving him assistance, after we shall for some time have stop'd ye negotiation by way of good offices, on ye account of ye insincerity of France, and shall have nothing better to propose that can take place; I am afraid we shall be told not only by these people but by others, that there was a prospect of procuring a Congress, and in consequence of it of procuring a Peace, by ye explanations & professions even of France, But England would not hearken to it nor propose any other measure for putting an end to ye War 1735. Sept. 5th, N.S. The same to the same. From the Hague. Private..... I must own I am surprised, I cannot tell how to reconcile ye Emperours kind reception of Mr Robinson wth ye paper given by ye Ministers, nor why Mr Robinson should say that ye difficultys arise chiefly from ye Emperour himselfe, whose behaviour was so gracious and had given such hopes of a favourable answer; and as to ye conduct of ye Court itself it seems madness, unless they have some resource, considering yo violent & desperate state of their affairs. Perhaps the Austrian pride will make them satisfyed wth less from their victorious Ennemys than they will take from ye good offices of the Maritime Powers who they look upon as their Guarantys, and who as such ought to go into ye war to recover their losses From the Hague. 1735. Sept. 9th, N.S. The same to the same. Particular & private.-I am infinitely obliged to your Lrdp for ye mark of confidence, in leaving under a flying seal your particular special letter to ye D. of N. I cannot be persuaded but that ye important communication contained in it was made by order, unless your Lrdp have some particular reason, with respect to ye person that made it, to conclude ye contrary; & I think he was order'd to doe it wth a view of alarming & intimidating his Majty wth ye danger of a secret negotiation, that he might be brought to prevent it by coming into ye War in favour of ye Emperour; I could have wished that since we had gott ye same intelligence another way, you had in a glancing manner lett ye person perceive that we were not entirely ignorant of it, before he told it, altho' still as much obliged to him for ye confirmation, and as to your Lrdp's last proposall of Lrd Waldegrave's acquainting ye Cardinal wth our knowledge of his secret negotiation wth ye Emperour; these dark and subterraneous negotiations wth ye promise of secrecy in all events are so lyable to a variety of artifices & turns that it is impossible to know what effect (wthout knowing ye heart of man) such a communication will have upon ye French Ministers, but considering ye difficultys we shall soon be under, upon ye foot our negotiation is at present with France, relating to ye abandoning, or forcing the Emperour, and ye Allys of France to accept the conditions proposed; and considering ye darkness & confusion that must arise from three different negotiations being carry'd on secretly together upon ye same subject, I think there can possibly be no harm, in taking ye step proposed by yr Lp, of wh ye Lords in England wili be better able to Judge, after they shall have had an account, of ye conference weh Lrd Waldegrave was to have on last tuesday ye 6th Inst wth ye French Ministers. . . I must desire your Lrdp not to send me his Majtys orders pursuant to ye minutes of ye Council of ye CHARLES FLEETWOOD WESTON UNDERWOOD, Esq. 25 & 26 past wh you will have by this messenger, until ye letter wch I shall write to you tomorrow by y post shall have come to your hands. (P.S.) For Gods sake when will ye King sett out for England, sure the critical situation of these secret negotiations on all sides should make him hasten his Journey. 1735. Sept. 11th, N.S. The same to the same. From the Hague. If we can't fight we must negotiate or else we can't continue in England upon ye foot of hiring soe many troops as we have there at present. (P.S.) Prince of Modena is here he dines with me tomorrow, when I suppose as I have been informed he will mention his waiting upon ye King either at Hanover or in England. If I divert him as I think it will be an easy matter from ye first, yet he will certainly follow his Majty to England. 1735. Sept. 19th. Andrew Stone to Edward Weston. From Whitehall. The Emperor is very much to be pitied; Every Body is ready to command, or to serve against Him; and even His Friends will not be courted into His Service; upon the best Terms, that he can offer. . . . . We are as willing as you to make the Duke of L[orraine] a Great D[uke], or a great Turk, if he likes it; But the Difference is (if there is any Difference) that we dont think it civil to force Him, to be a greater Duke, than perhaps, for Reasons best known to himself, he may care to be... . My particular Compliments to Dick Trevor, with my heartiest Congratulations upon His good Fortune in succeeding My Old Friend Dr Terry [as Bishop of Durham.] . . 12th 1735. Sept. Horatio Walpole to Lord Harrington. From the Hague.-Private. Count Kinskys discourse to you seems to have ye tendency of a sudden conclusion with france, and that ye Emperour thinks he shall be better able to doe it by His own Negotiation, than by one carryed on by Us wth france, he will certainly find himselfe disappointed in that notion, for altho' the Cardinall may now & then appear alarmed, and apprehensive of a War; yelt ye Court of Vienna stakes themselves too much wth ye hopes of obtaining great consessions from that principle of his Eminency; Chauvelyn will take care & cure that apprehension by his advices from home, & by showing how incapable ye Emperour is [of] hurting france alene ye Exchange of Lorrain immediately for y° reversion of Tuscany wthout naming any security for ye Reversion is unaccountable; ye difference between ye Emperour & france about y cessions to be made to ye King of Sardinia are I think almost insurmountable, unless his Sardinian Majty could be perswaded to abate of his demands; My Lord you see clearly ye confidence of that Prince towards his Majty has been pure artifice, and therefore I leave it to be considered whether any hint can be given to alarm him if he persists in not being reasonable, weh may be done (altho' I own it is a nice matter) by making him perceive that we are sensible of the part he is acting... or secondly by alarming him with ye possibility of an accomodation between ye Emperour & Spain by means of a marriage wh must end at last in his destruction. . CHARLES FLEETWOOD WESTON Esq. immediately pressed to declare his consent to ye Armistice, I doe not see that he has anything to loose by it, and certainly it is of great consequence to him to safe Mantua. if wthout signing in particular, UNDERWOOD, yett by encouraging & promoting as much as possible this negotiation & by showing france we are seriously disposed to procure a peace upon their principle with regard to Tuscany & Lorrain`mutatis mutandis for ye security of ye D. of Lorrains equivalent; we can by our application to ye Emperour & to France procure an armistice wthin such a time as to save Mantua I think it will be a great point gained. . . (P.S.) if ye armistice should continue in Statu quo an article may be proposed that provisions &c. may be sent into Mantua during ye suspension of arms. 1735. Oct. 2nd, N.S. From the same to the same. From the Hague.-Private & Particular. . . . . . . I think everybody is agreed in endeavouring to combine ye two secret negotiations together, & ye difference between ye Councill in England & your Lrdp abont ye time of proposing ye Quadruple Alliance for ye execution of what shall be settled is of no great consequence, since Lord Waldegrave takes care to inculcate an opinion in ye french Ministers of our disposition to come to an agreement with them. ... I must own I am desirous that ye D: of Lorrain should keep Tuscany althô he becomes heir to ye Austrian Dominions, & Emperour, but I could wish that in that case, Leghorn was made a free & independent town & port; for should either ye Emperour or Spain become masters of Tuscany & Leghorn, possessing at ye same time other great Dominions; I am afraid they would not think it soe necessary to procure ye liberty of trade in that port, as a private Prince must find it his Interest to doe that has no other possessions. Lord Waldegraves dispatch of ye 21 past to ye D. of N gives me a great deal of uneasyness; & between you and me I am afraid his Lraps supple & mild temper, joyned wth a laudable desire of bringing so good a work as peace to a conclusion suffers him to flatter ye french ministers too much wth ye hopes of our signing a plan on their own loose terms wthout its being thoroughly digested; and also to have too good an opinion of their being sincere, wh if they should prove otherwise will give them an advantage over Us.-Does not your Lrdp think that ye sending an express at ye request of ye Cardinal to desire that his Majty will agree to an immediate signing of what he's proposed in such a generall manner, and to induce ye Emperour upon those terms to come into an Armistice on ye foot of Statu quo a little too premature? . . . I would in my opinion give ye french all possible assurances of our disposition to bring maters to an accomodation, that we would use our utmost endeavours to prevayl wth ye Emperour to agree to an armistice, but yt ye Cardinal & Garde des Sceaux would agree to it upon y foot of ye Statu quo proposed by his Majty & ye States, and that they would in concert wth ye King of Sardinia take such measures as might prevent ye taking of Mantua, while we should in ye mean time make use of ye danger of loosing that place, wth ye Imperiall Court as a motive to agree to a suspension of Arms. . 1735. Oct. 9th. Lord Harrington to Horatio Walpole.-Private & particular.--I received with great pleasure the honour of your private letter of the 2nd instant, and was very happy to find by it, that we agreed so well in our Observations upon the project lately come from France. . . . The only point in our projects, or rather observations, in which any material difference appears, is that of the disposition of Lorrain, but might not a third way be struck out founded upon your CHARLES WESTON Idea of Security for the Succession of Tuscany? I mean the putting FLEETWOOD of French Troops into the Strong Places there; which would be a real UNDERWOOD, Security to France for the Reversion of the Dutchy of Lorrain after the death of the Duke of Tuscany. . . Esq. (P.S.) We are still quite in the dark as to the King's return. 1735. Oct. 13th. Mons" von Alt to Edward Weston. . From Cassel. Je suis faché, que je ne puis d'abord satisfaire aux souhaits de Mons le Collonel Cope par raport à l'envoy de Conserves. L'homme qui les fait n'en a pas toujours de reste 1735. Oct. 14th. Horatio Walpole to Lord Harrington. From the setting your faces towards England |