monarch as a private man, and not in the character of a minister.

After the audience was ended, I took the liberty of observing to the King of Prussia, that I remarked with regret, in the course of the conversation, that he had not spoken to me with the same freedom and openness he was wont to do on former occasions, and that I suspected he had only given the specious, not the real reasons, for his disinclination to the treaty proposed. He answered, with good humour, that my conjecture was not absolutely without some foundation, and that he would own to me, as a private man, that it was not easy for him to forget the ill usage and injustice he had met with from our nation, at the time of

not till then, is the time of uniting together, and of concerting measures to ward off the impending danger. I am therefore unwilling to enter into schemes that may occasion new wars, and these are in general my reasons against the expediency of such a treaty at this juncture, which I desire you will lay fairly before the King your master, assuring him, at the same time, of the high sense I have of the repeated marks of his Majesty's friendship and confidence.'

"To this I replied, I should punctually obey his orders; but I took leave to observe, that it would be matter of wonder in England, that his Prussian Majesty should decline entering into a defensive alliance, proposed for the preservation of the present general tranquillity, especially of the peace of Germany, and which, in stead of exposing him, the King of Prussia, to danger, was so manifestly calculated for his particular advantage and security. Finding, after all I had said, that he still declined entering into his Majesty's views, I thought it unnecessary to press him any farther. I therefore took leave, by assuring him, that I should not fail to make a faithful report to my court of what had passed."-Mitchell MSS.

making the last peace, and he then enumerated particulars.

I replied, that it was not candid to impute to the nation the faults of private men, who were then unhappily ministers; that there was now a fixed and settled administration, whose way of thinking and acting was very different from that of their predecessors; that whilst your Lordship was at the head of it, he could reasonably have no sort of diffidence; that the triple alliance proposed was a favourite measure of your Lordship's, which you had much at heart, for preserving the public tranquillity, and for uniting the interests of the King with those of his Prussian Majesty.

The King of Prussia answered, "I have a very high opinion of Lord Chatham, and great confidence in him; but what assurances can you give me, that he has power, and will continue in office ?" I replied, I had not the least doubt of either, as your Lordship was now the darling of the King and people. His Prussian majesty said, "that does not agree with my accounts from England." I assured him of the truth of what I had advanced, and that I believed the contrary reports had been raised by your Lordship's enemies. He said he wished it might be so; but till he saw more stability in our administration, he did not choose farther connections, and concluded by adding, "I have spoke to you with freedom, as a private man, and expect, upon your honour, that you will not make a bad use of it; " which I am sure of not

doing in communicating this to your Lordship only, and desiring, at the same time, the most perfect secrecy.

I own the King of Prussia's conduct amazes me. I had hopes, a little reflection would have shown him his real interest; but vanity and caprice are often too strong for reason, and to these motives chiefly, I ascribe the answer to the King's salutary proposal; for I do not even suspect his having views to an alliance in another quarter: if he is cool to our nation, he has the French in abhorrence and contempt; of which he makes no secret. His plan seems to be (if he has any) to stand unconnected upon his own bottom; which experience might have taught him is far from being a safe

one.

Notwithstanding all that has passed I think it probable, that if our treaty with Russia be once settled, the King of Prussia must, for his own safety, either desire to be admitted into it, or throw himself into the arms of those who do not seem desirous of receiving him. But, my Lord, this leads me too far, and your Lordship can best judge, whether the laying this high-minded prince under such a necessity be a proper measure at this juncture.

I have the honour to be,

with the greatest and most sincere respect,

Your most obedient

and most humble servant,

ANDREW MITCHELL.

THE EARL OF BRISTOL TO THE EARL OF CHATHAM.(1) St. James's Square, December 29, 1766.

MY LORD,

THE purport of my writing at present is to acquaint your Lordship, that Mr. Flood was with

(1) Lord Chatham was at this time at Bath; the two houses having, on the 13th of December, adjourned till the 16th of January. "We have had a busy month," writes Horace Walpole to Mr. Montagu, "and many grumbles of a state-quake; but the session has, however, ended very triumphantly for the great Earl. I mean, we are adjourned for the holidays for above a month, after two divisions of 166 to 48, and 140 to 56. It is to be regretted, that no reports of the proceedings of this "busy month" should have been preserved. The following brief sketch of what took place in the House of Commons on the 25th of November is contained in a letter from Mr. Henry Flood to Lord Charlemont:

"The affair of the embargo, aggravated by the multitude of private discontents which mingled with it, produced a ferment, and encouraged all the parties that are unsatisfied to join against Lord Chatham on Tuesday last. Beckford was chosen by him to make a motion for examining into the state of the East India Company. This motion contained offensive matter, and was offensively introduced. Our friend Burke rose first in opposition, and acquitted himself very honourably. Yorke, G. Grenville, Thurlow, Rigby, Dowdeswell, Wedderburne, all joined. Charles Townshend stated the matter quite new; disclaimed all the offensive parts, and made a very artful, con ciliating, able, and eloquent speech. Barré, Conway, the attorney-general, the master-of-the-rolls, Hans Stanley, &c., spoke in favour of the general ground of the motion; upon the whole, however, there was little concert, and not much ability in the defence. The opponents were more successful upon the whole, though no one person near Townshend. He is the orator; the rest are speakers. I have heard him frequently this time, and always well: one remarkable speech of his I missed, but I went to see him the day after; I lamented the loss I had sustained by my absence, and he remedied it by speaking excellently on the same subject to me in his room. The ques

me this morning to take his leave of me, as he is obliged to return to Dublin; but he said he had so

tion was carried in favour of the resolution, amended by Conway, by 129 to 76. The Bedfords, Rockingham, Portland, Devonshire, Temple, Grenville, Yorkes, and the friends of the Company all united. Some of Lord Bute's were against administration, some went away, and Oswald and Elliott were silent. Hamilton voted with the minority, but did not speak."

Sir Matthew Fetherstonehaugh, member for Portsmouth, and a considerable proprietor of India stock, in a letter to Lord Clive of the 30th of December, thus describes some of these debates:

"In a question like this, about the right of property and the forfeiture of a charter, one would have thought that the opinion of almost all the lawyers in the house might have been attended to; but they were called by Colonel Barré ‹ a sort of heavy artillery, which did little execution;' for which the master of the rolls called him, instead of the honourable gentleman, the valiant gentleman. Mr. Grenville, on both days, defended the Company's rights with a force that was unanswerable, always declaring that, if the Company wanted the renewal of their term, or any other favour from the public, they should be made to pay for it, in the best bargain which could be made for the public; but protesting against extorting money from them by the terror and threats of parliamentary power. But the finest piece of oratory was Mr. Burke's, late secretary to Lord Rockingham. After pointing out the ill effects which so violent a measure might have on the public credit, 'But perhaps,' said he, this house is not the place where our reasons can be of any avail: the great person who is to determine on this question may be a being far above our view; one so immeasurably high, that the greatest abilities (pointing to Mr. Townshend), or the most amiable dispositions that are to be found in this house (pointing to Mr. Conway), may not gain access to him; a being before whom "thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers (waving his hand all this time over the treasury-bench, which he sat behind), all veil their faces with their wings:" but though our arguments may not reach him, probably our prayers may!' He then apostrophised into a solemn prayer to the Great Minister above, that

VOL. III.

6

L