GENERAL BURGOYNE TO THE EARL OF CHATHAM.

MY LORD,

Dresden, August 21, 1766.

THE letter I had the honour to receive from your Lordship at the time I left England, together with one inclosed for Prince Ferdinand ('), required a warmer return of acknowledgement than I could find terms to make; and that debt has been increased by the reception so distinguishing a mark of your Lordship's countenance procured me at the court of Brunswick: but however flattering or advantageous have been the effects, my Lord, of your friendship, it is in the possession of it that I exult; and not to wrong my feelings, I must still trust to the conceptions of a great and benevolent mind, and not to my own feeble expression, to represent that respect, that gratitude, and that zeal, with which I solicited, with which I embrace, and with which I study to cultivate those sentiments your Lordship professes towards me.

I entreat you, my Lord, to accept my congratulations upon your peerage and upon your engaging in the administration, as those of a man who takes the truest interest in every thing that concerns your glory and satisfaction, and who looks up to your lights and counsels for the salvation of his country. I move not a step upon the continent without seeing the impression your

(1) See Vol. II. p. 432, note.

Lordship's name makes. (') It is a touchstone that no German hypocrisy can resist; and the con

(1) In a letter, written at the Hague on the 29th of August, Sir Joseph Yorke thus addresses Sir Andrew Mitchell: “I hope, whatever other effects it may produce, the late political turn in England will make your old residence, newly revived, more agreeable than when you undertook it; at least we are told that the late Great Commoner is uniform in his Prussian system. I know very little of home, except that party runs very high as usual, and that the present plan is still too narrow for our present political faculty. However, if Mr. Pitt has a mind, and keeps his temper, I think he may keep his power, and nobody is so able to do us good; because nobody has so much courage to carry any thing through. The great struggle which will determine future power in the issue, will be probably at the next general election; and all that is doing just now seems calculated for that period, all sides striving to destroy the other's popularity before the dissolution of this parliament. Luckily France and Spain are unable to commence a war, and their fear of Mr. Pitt's entry into the ministry is quite ridiculous. I really believe his very name will settle the Manilla affair; and France presses it strongly." To the speculations of his correspondent, Sir Andrew thus replies: "I cannot yet guess what effect the late changes in our administration will have upon the King of Prussia, not having had an opportunity of seeing him since that happened. Considering the instability of our men and measures at home, I shall not be surprised if his Prussian majesty should be shy of entering into strict con> nections with us; at least till he sees some probability of a fixed and settled administration, which I am afraid the universal clamour against the late Great Commoner will make him think is not near at hand. Though I have a very high opinion of Mr. Pitt's courage and abilities, I cannot figure to myself any solid reason that could induce him to accept of the peerage at this time, which, joined to the malice of his enemies, has afforded an opportunity of diminishing his popularity at home, and thereby of weakening his credit and influence abroad. If Spain will agree to pay the Manilla ransom, it may, in some degree, serve to revive his popularity; but I fear it will not regain that implicit confidence they formerly had in him. Be

versation of every court, upon the present arrangement in England, betrays their disposition towards

us.

Together with those who partake in the satisfaction of the friends of Great Britain and of your Lordship, there are not wanting those who are industrious to propagate the malevolence of our party writers: for the prejudices and the follies of our country are dispersed through the world, with every wind that blows; and what is made use of at home, to embroil and disunite every class of the people, is retailed at second-hand abroad, and serves, as far as our enemies can make it do so, to depreciate and disfigure his Majesty's measures. But these are only the vapours of an hour, and they will fly like those which have often attended, but never obscured, the lustre of your Lordship's conduct.

Able and vigilant as is his Majesty's minister at Berlin, it would be very impertinent in me to mention my observations upon the present policy or occupations of that court. The circumstances which have particularly engaged my reflections as a soldier, I shall communicate to your Lordship,

sides, I am really concerned to see so many of the principal leaders of the Whig party retiring from business, which obliges our late Commoner to build upon a very narrow and uncertain bottom; but this may, and I hope will, be remedied before the election of a new parliament. Had he delayed taking the title till that event, I think every thing might have gone on smoothly." Mitchell MSS.

if I have the honour to be admitted to your conversation at my return.

Since my arrival at Dresden, I have been confirmed in what I had before reason to believe relative to a meeting proposed between the Emperor and the King of Prussia, during the journey of his Imperial Majesty in Saxony. The one was de'sirous of a personal interview to gratify his curiosity; the other to penetrate into the real character of a young monarch who, if what is reported of his talents, his application, and his ambition, be true, will soon become a principal object of the attention of Europe. The Empress prevented the meeting. (') Distant and transient as

(1) The following account of what really took place, with regard to the intended meeting of the two monarchs, is taken from Sir Andrew Mitchell's letters to Mr. Conway:

"Berlin, June 14.- I have learnt from good authority, that the King of Prussia, upon hearing that the Emperor intended to come into Saxony, under pretence of visiting some of the fields of battle during the late war, particularly that of Torgau, has proposed to have an interview with the Emperor. Whether this proposal may be agreeable to his Imperial Majesty I very much doubt, as I believe nothing of this sort was expected when he left Vienna; and the insinuation has been made to the Emperor's minister here, as I am informed, only three days ago, who has given notice to his court, but, in the present strict connection that court stands in with that of Versailles, a step of this kind cannot fail to give jealousy and suspicion to France; and perhaps this may be the chief reason why an interview has been proposed by the King of Prussia at this time, and it may likewise serve to impose upon the court of Russia (with whom there has been some coldness), as if his Prussian Majesty was making advance to the court of Vienna; in which, if he suc

must be the view I can expect to take of this prince, I cannot resist the desire I have to see him. I have the honour to be, with the most profound respect, attachment, and sense of obligation,

Your Lordship's most obedient

and most humble servant,

J. BURGOYNE.

ceeded, his alliance with the Empress of Russia would be of less importance."

"July 8. - As the intended interview between the young Emperor and the King of Prussia did not take place, his Prussian Majesty sent Count Kameke, on the 26th of June, from Potsdam to Torgau, with compliments to the Emperor, who, I hear, behaved with great affability in all the places he passed through, and affected much simplicity of dress and manners, avoiding all sorts of pomp and ceremony as much as possible. One circumstance I cannot help mentioning, which is, that his Imperial Majesty, in order to view the fields of battle and remarkable encampments during the last war in Saxony and Lusatia, with as little inconvenience and parade as possible, had a number of dragoon horses led by the escort that attended him; upon which he and his retinue were mounted, as occasion required. What would the Emperor Leopold, or even Charles the Sixth, say, if they could be informed of the novelty, hitherto unprecedented in their family?"

"July 12. In the conversation I had with the King of Prussia at Sans Souci, he threw out, as if it had been accidentally, that he had once thought of meeting the Emperor in the neighbourhood, but the diffidence of princes to one another prevented such interviews; and he mentioned the visit paid by the Emperor Charles the Fifth to Francis the First. As I saw his Prussian Majesty had no mind to tell what had passed on the late occasion, I thought it best to appear quite ignorant and uninformed; but I could easily perceive he was hurt with the disappointment, though he endeavoured to conceal it from me,"