Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third Volume II Part 28

(Private.) Vienna, Sept. 1st, 1794.

MY DEAR BROTHER,

If M. de Thugut is waiting with impatience the result of M. de Merey's negotiation, you will easily believe that we have no less impatience to know your decisions upon that subject, though you will have seen that Lord Spencer and I have not been able to teach ourselves to wish that the pecuniary demands may, or ought to be, gratified by us. If they had confined themselves to asking only such a temporary a.s.sistance as might have given a more immediate spring to the vigorous movement which we are urging them to make, I should have been as little disposed as anybody could to withhold any practicable facilities of that description; but to the extent to which they steadily continue to point, I own I feel myself too little satisfied as to the equity of their claim upon us, and as to the probability of their acting fairly and manfully up to the great exertions which they ask from us, to entertain much disposition towards those demands.

They dwell certainly upon the difference which they state between loan and subsidy, and wish to prove to us that their offer of security upon the revenues of the Low Countries should, at least by us (who always insist on those territories remaining in the House of Austria), be accepted as a good and ample mortgage for the repayment of the sums which they want for this year and the next; but if it is true that they do not feel interested at heart in these possessions, or if they think us so earnest in our wishes on this subject, that they may safely throw the whole weight of it upon us, their offer of a _hypotheque_ on those possessions takes a much more suspicious character; nor is it, perhaps, an unreasonable jealousy on my part to apprehend that they may wish you to have a mortgage of two millions on the Netherlands, as an inducement to you hereafter to give up some of your French acquisitions in the West Indies, in order to recover for them a country, in which you will have a larger pecuniary stake, added to the ordinary course of political observations.

Much at least of Thugut's conversation would seem to tally with this view of the matter. It is observable that he perpetually recurs to its being a settled point, that _de facon ou d'autre_ the Netherlands will be secured to Austria at the peace, and yet he never seems (in his view of the military operations to be pursued) to consider them as a main object of defence, and is so little disposed to make them so, that he expresses much reluctance at the idea proposed, of engaging Austria to furnish so large an army, _to act in that country_, which he thinks might be better employed elsewhere. Add to this, his remarking that England might be satisfied by the irrecoverable detriment done to the navy and commerce of France, and his contrasting the difference in point of acquisitions made by Great Britain, with the total failure on the side of Austria; and it is no great refinement to suspect the whole of this to lead to an expectation that we may better buy back the Netherlands for them, than put them to the expense of defending them or regaining them; and that we should have an additional motive for sacrificing some of our conquests to this object, if we have two millions of money mortgaged upon it.

Of the advantage which may be expected at home from adopting this shape of lending upon security, rather than of furnishing a direct subsidy, I do not well know how to judge; but unless the security could be shown to be in itself substantial, and of a nature to be easily got at by those to whom it was due, I should doubt whether the public at home would be better reconciled to it than to a direct and acknowledged subsidy. The very small proportion of effect produced by the large payments this year to the King of Prussia, will create much indisposition to the incurring of a similar expense again, unless it can be shown to promise, upon good probable grounds, a much better return than we have had; and, generally speaking, I cannot but fear that the mere difference in point of exertion which we can hope from this country, may not turn out to be worth the purchase-money in the estimation of the country at large, though I should hope they might easily acquiesce in a very considerable exertion, if a great manifest exertion of strength, fairly disposable to the course of the war, could be procured by pecuniary aids. What inducement there may be to this measure, from any apprehension of the Emperor's withdrawing from the war, is another part of the question, upon which I can form no more correct judgment than belongs to the observation of a very short residence here.

Lord Malmesbury hints to me a suspicion of a proposed concert between the Emperor and the King of Prussia, to compel the Maritime Powers to make peace, though he appears to give no great credit to it. Certain it is, that in the month which we have past here, one of the most striking features of the conversation, both of Ministers and individuals, has been a hatred and aversion to Prussia, by Thugut, too, particularly marked towards Lucchesini, of whom he never scruples to speak to us in terms of the most unqualified dislike; so that as far as can be collected from what we hear, there ought to be no ground to suspect any plan of intimate concert between his Court and Berlin.

It is possible, to be sure, that independently of any such concert, the Government here, if una.s.sisted by money from us, might endeavour to withdraw from the prosecution of the war; but, as we have had no reason to expect any ultimate success to the propositions which _we_ brought here, we have endeavoured, as much as possible, to learn what their conduct would be in failure of the proposed Convention, and to consider them in all that we have said as equally bound to continue in their co-operations with us according to the existing agreement, whether any new arrangement should succeed or not. To this view they have not only acceded always in distinct terms, when urged by us, but they have frequently stated this of their own accord, confining themselves only to the observation, that their means are limited, and will no longer allow of the exertions which they wish; but solemnly protesting against any present idea of peace, and always expressing their belief that Prussia is now desirous of peace being made, because, in the present situation of things, it might probably be made to the disadvantage of Austria. Unless, therefore, their opinions should be disguised to a degree which I cannot well believe, or should undergo an entire change, I do not see what ground there is to suspect in them any intention of abandoning the war, though I can entertain no great hopes of such a vigorous prosecution of it as we might wish and expect from them.

There is but one opinion as to the Emperor's inclinations on this subject, and if his personal character had steadiness enough to influence the Government, his disposition to the true principles of the war would be a great security to us; at present, however, it is of little or no avail; and it is much to be lamented in times like the present, that though there is no dislike entertained to him, there is not either the respect or consideration which ought to be attached to his situation, to make it tell with any of the effects one wishes to derive from it. With respect to his Ministers, you have seen too much of our remarks upon the striking features of their conduct, to make it necessary for me in every letter to repeat them. Thugut is certainly the only efficient Minister here: very diligent and laborious in his office, he seems to have acquired an influence here by being the only man of business about the Court; and with this recommendation has reached a situation which the n.o.bility of the country are mortified to see him hold, because he has no pretensions to hereditary rank, and because they have been used to see that office for many years filled by Prince Kavnitz. What _we_, however, miss in him is, either the disposition or capacity to see the present great crisis of Europe upon the large scale on which it should be looked at by the leading Minister of this empire; instead of which, we see in all our discussions a cold, narrow, and contracted view of this subject, infinitely too languid and little for the object, and made peculiarly unfavourable to our propositions, by the disinclination which he certainly feels to concur heartily with us in the great interests attached to the Austrian possession of the Low Countries. We have, it is true, obtained from him a.s.surances of concerting an immediate plan for the relief of Valenciennes; but even this has not been obtained without many discouraging tokens of that total want of manly energy and direct dealing, without which all co-operation must necessarily be languid and feeble: always taking merit for having sent the most distinct orders to try the relief of Valenciennes, yet never taking the obvious mode of satisfying us by communicating those orders to us; maintaining as an argument for the loan, that without it the army cannot move, yet at the same time resisting our objections of the delay of waiting for answers from M. de Merey, by stating this movement as being actually in great forwardness, and not depending upon the loan for its execution; acquiescing in the change of command urged by us, and yet ever since that event reminding us that in his opinion this very change may defeat the operation which we wished to a.s.sist by it; gratifying our impatience at one time by counting up the days to the probable time of the desired movement, and then again stating that Clairfayt's army may be weakened too much to attempt it by his detaching, perhaps considerably, towards the side of Treves; complaining that the Austrians had been prevented from sending Blankenstein's corps towards Flanders, as they wished, by the Prussians having engaged it in their line of defence, and yet refusing to us a corps much more inconsiderable, and not involved in the objection--I mean the corps of Conde--a corps, too, which, as I have before observed, from their own statement of their want of money, they should have been glad to have seen transferred to the pay of another country.

These, and many other such traits of inconsistency, I advert to only as being descriptive of the very unsatisfactory manner in which our business is discussed, always providing on their side apologies for future failures, instead of means of success, and projects of vigour and enterprize. Yet though the shortness of our possible residence here makes this inanimate character of the Government a bar to that immediate spirit and alacrity which, for the purposes of the present crisis, it was highly desirable to create here, so as to act upon instantaneously; much, I should suppose, may be done after our return, by any person of steadiness and activity, in the course of an established residence here, there being certainly fair grounds for the most intimate union between the two countries, and appearances enough of general inclination towards it, though traversed for the present by their hopes of fighting at our cost, and by the unfavourable turn of M. Thugut's mind upon the subject of the Netherlands. For this purpose, the sooner a regular Minister is appointed here the better; because though the opening of the subsequent campaign is at present distant enough, the dilatory habits of this Government make every moment more precious than it should be; and the points, both of the barrier and the Dutch indemnity, may be found longer in discussion than they were expected to be when I left London, particularly upon the former of those two subjects, on which the future possession of Dunkirk and Givet must, perhaps, be distinctly explained.

We have heard of Lord Malmesbury's intention to quit Frankfort on the 10th of September, and we have read the formal acceptance, signed by him, of the military concert of the 26th July; you will already have seen, in our despatch No. 5, our apprehensions of the inconvenience of placing Clairfayt's army in any state of dependance upon the Prussian line, as we are always afraid that the Prussians may, by a nominal concert upon this subject, become a real hindrance, and throw difficulties in the way of the proposed enterprise for the relief of Valenciennes. In this view, therefore, we had certainly rather have seen Lord Malmesbury remaining at least till the movement in question had actually been carried into effect; and the more so, as we have always kept their fears a little quiet here, by promising that Lord Malmesbury, at Frankfort, should look to and strictly watch the operations of Marshal Mollendorff's army. I take for granted, however, that you will provide as well as you can against the inconveniences which in this shape may arise, and we shall likewise mention it to Lord M.

Ever, my dear brother, Most affectionately yours, T. G.

MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO LORD GRENVILLE.

(Private.) Vienna, Sept. 15th, 1794.

MY DEAREST BROTHER,

You will receive enclosed with this a letter, which I had already written before the arrival of your last despatches, and which can only be useful by showing you all that occurred to me upon the former view of the subject. The conditions which are now attached to the two questions of loan and subsidy, appear certainly to be the best which could have been imagined for promising a fair use of the troops for which we are desired to pay, and would probably appear to the country to be so, besides really furnishing all the means which can be supplied to this great stake which we are compelled to play for. What has pa.s.sed upon these propositions, you will have seen pretty amply in the public despatch, which is written so much at length as to require no great additional comment. It is manifest, that instead of complying with all the conditions proposed, they could not easily be brought to consent to any one of them. Upon the subject of command, there is a soreness which would be an insuperable bar to the idea of a large combined force (chiefly Austrian) acting under any English General; and yet there is so little hope of their acting vigorously under any other, that the choice lies between two extreme difficulties.

Under the pressure of your letter, which led us to imagine that Lord Cornwallis is actually gone to Flanders, we have done and said all that was in any shape likely to a.s.sist his situation there; at the same time, from Wyndham's letter, and from the fall of Valenciennes, it is possible that his journey may still have been delayed. Instead, therefore, of writing to him in Flanders, as you suggested, we have given a letter for him to Colonel Ross, who will find him either on this or the other side of the water, and will be best able to communicate to him whatever intelligence from hence it is material for him to know.

They do not talk heartily here of Clairfayt's co-operating, though they do not plainly refuse it; and I fear it is but too likely that they will satisfy their dignity by keeping their army entirely distinct from ours, a determination which may perhaps but too much a.s.sist the views of the French, if they really make a vigorous attack upon Holland. All that we could do by threats, entreaties, and remonstrances, on this very important point we have done, and will continue to repeat while we stay here.

Upon the subject of transferring the subsidy, I believe they are in earnest when they say it is out of their power to engage for any considerable subsidy from the empire to the King of Prussia; and if it is true that they are now under the necessity of ascertaining what are their means for the next campaign, it may be true that they cannot act upon the uncertain speculation of receiving so much from us as they could promise for the King of Prussia. I know not whether I am right, but I have thought once or twice that Thugut has spoken with some marks of dislike to-day to Comte Stahremberg, whom he appears to suspect of having broached this proposition at London; to prevent any confirmation of this suspicion, we have not in any manner quoted Comte Stahremberg in our conferences; and as I believe you are satisfied with him, I hope I misinterpret the word or two which Thugut dropped upon this matter.

We are come back again (upon the failure of our overtures) to the hearing of a reduced scale of military operations, an idea more like a haberdasher of small wares than the Minister of a great empire. What the supposed plan of this _contracted_ war is to be, I never have been able to learn; and, indeed, it requires all the good temper one can muster to make so discouraging an inquiry.

Meanwhile, orders are said to be already issued for raising sixty thousand new recruits in the hereditary states of Austria, but no hopes are given of a.s.sistance from Hungary, where the harvest has been, in many places, uncommonly deficient.

We have done what we could to urge them to be active in Sardinia, now the French appear to be retiring; and though an invincible prejudice to that quarter prevents Thugut from doing all he might, yet he expresses a readiness to concur in an attack upon Nice, if the English fleet would co-operate, as soon as the equinoctial snows have fallen to guard the mountains of the Milanes.

There are, however, bad reports of Kosciusko declaring war against Austria, which will be both a reason and a pretext for suspending enterprise, if any would otherwise be undertaken. The Duc de Guiche has a project of collecting the Gardes du Corps, of which he says he thinks he could soon muster twelve hundred. He and the French here are grown very anxious about Comte d'Artois' journey to Rotterdam. We expect impatiently to hear from you of our return.

With respect to Vienna, Lord Spencer having considered this business as now come to a point, which requires some new shape and fresh regular negotiation, writes to request leave to return home, and only waits for it to set out immediately. In that request (after all the consideration which I can give to it) I feel that I must likewise beg to be included, so as to return with him at the same time. The line of foreign mission is one to which I own I cannot reconcile myself; it leads certainly to a claim for future competency, but it seems to me little likely to a.s.sist those views of honest ambition, which are certainly, though I hope to no improper degree, still more forward in my mind than those of emolument. In this view it was, that upon a former occasion of arrangement, I had declined the Hague, which certainly is the first of all the situations in that line, but which still has the objection of banishing from all connections, social as well as political, and of cutting across all other expectations except those of an invalid upon half-pay.

I believe I need not tell you, that upon the proposition which you suggest of my staying here only to make the detail of the new arrangements for next year, I certainly would not have refused it, if I had thought that I could more usefully transact that point for you; but I am really firmly persuaded, that the only chance of any good being done here, is by some active and intelligent man _taking root here_, and acquiring over these Ministers by the vigour and perseverance of his own mind, influence enough to supply the total want of it in theirs; but as this must be a work of some time, so it seems highly important that it should immediately be undertaken in that regular established shape in which alone it is likely to succeed, and to which I could very little contribute by protracting my departure two or three months beyond that of Lord Spencer; besides, too, that if Ireland is to be looked at, I have not much time to lose with a view to that subject. Certainly no man can be more sensible than I am to the _desagremens_ of the Irish Secretaryship; and if the political arrangements which have taken place, had admitted of my occupying any situation of business at home, there is scarce any which I should not prefer to it. I am, however, very ready to confess, that at the present moment I do not see any such opening likely to be easily made; and, therefore, the question is as with respect to myself, whether, even with all my dislike to the situation, it may not be right that I should take it, and trust to the course of events to supply hereafter some other situation more eligible. What much inclines me to this is, that I shall be able to preserve a much nearer and closer connection with my family and friends, whom I shall at times have an opportunity of seeing, and that the business itself may become in one light highly interesting to me, if I see in it the means of making myself essentially useful upon a subject certainly not unimportant.

I am not without considerable apprehensions, as you know, with respect to the practicability of all that in theory one wishes to be done in that country; but of those difficulties, it is useless now to speak. Upon the whole, therefore, I have thought it best to accept of Lord Fitzwilliam's offer, and have accordingly written to say so.

I will not unnecessarily add to this letter, as I expect to see you so soon: we calculate that in about twenty-six days we shall receive from you our answer, with permission to return; and that we shall be enabled to set out between the 15th and 20th of October at latest. Happy, indeed, I am to find, by the conclusion of your letter, that everything is going on at home upon as good a footing as we could wish. Every day's experience confirms me in the conviction, that with the present arrangement of Government, the peace and prosperity of the country must stand and fall; and however threatening may be the prospect from without, as long as everything keeps so right within, I shall continue to be of good heart.

I am ashamed of having written so much about myself, or rather I should be so if I was not writing to you; but I have confidence in your kindness and affection.

G.o.d bless you, my dear brother.

MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.

(Private.) Vienna, Sept. 15th, 1794.

DEAR DUKE OF PORTLAND,

The impatience which we know that you must all have in England to hear the result of your last determinations, leaves me no time to add to what is contained in our despatches; but having had occasion to write to Lord Fitzwilliam upon his having offered to me and pressed upon me the Secretaryship in Ireland, I cannot let the messenger go without a few words likewise to you upon that subject, to tell you that I have left that to your decision and to his; having only added such expressions of my own views and inclinations as I know your friendship for me will lead you to view in their proper light. My objections to the situation of Secretary in Ireland you very well know, because even all my desire of making myself useful to you could not, twelve years ago, overcome those objections. I am, however, so persuaded that, in this moment, it is every man's duty to take his task without consulting his inclination, that if, all things considered, you agree with Lord Fitzwilliam in thinking that I had best go to Ireland, I will certainly try it.

You will, I am sure, forgive me for adding that, if the future course of political arrangements (according as facilities may occur) should admit of my being usefully employed at home, my wish and preference to any such arrangement will not, I am sure, be overlooked by my friends in England.

Ever, my dear Duke, Most sincerely yours, T. G.

That some inconvenience had already arisen, and that more was yet likely to arise, from the nomination of Lord Fitzwilliam to the government of Ireland, will be seen from a letter addressed by Lord Grenville to his brother at Vienna. It had been clearly understood all along, that Lord Fitzwilliam's appointment could not be confirmed until some suitable provision should have been made for Lord Westmoreland, who had accepted the office of Lord-Lieutenant on that express condition; yet the friends of Lord Fitzwilliam, in their eagerness to make known the accession of their party to power amongst their allies in Ireland, committed the indiscretion of talking publicly about the approaching change, before any arrangements had been concluded, or could be concluded, respecting Lord Westmoreland. The immediate effect of these premature announcements was to embarra.s.s the Cabinet, and irritate the feelings and compromise the position of the Lord-Lieutenant. Worse effects followed soon afterwards.

LORD GRENVILLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.

Sept. 15th, 1794.

MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I am so late, that I have hardly time to write this private letter to you, nor, indeed, have I much to add to my despatches.

There is, however, one point which it is material that you should know for your own satisfaction. The despatches, as now drawn, bear very much the appearance of contracted operations in Flanders, without any very distinct statement of an intention to extend our plans elsewhere. The reason is, that we doubt whether we ought to trust the Government at Vienna with our secret in this respect. The failure of our expected operations in Flanders, where we had hoped to engage the princ.i.p.al attention of the enemy for the next month, makes it impossible to try, with the small force of which we now have the disposal, any operations of consequence in the Vendee; and a weak and ineffectual effort there would both betray and dispirit those whom we wish to support. We have therefore, for the present, renounced the idea of doing more than barely trying to throw in arms and supplies; and we reserve our attack for the spring, when, if our present expectations do not deceive us, we shall have the means of disposing of a very large force, independent of _emigres_, &c.

In this way, the two parts of the war will operate as a diversion one to the other, and we shall be able to push that, whichever it may be, when we shall appear at the time most likely to succeed.

That will probably be the quarter where we act alone, and have neither to depend on Prussian faith nor Austrian energy.

It is in the meantime discouraging to see how fair an opportunity is lost by our not being able to profit of the present state of things in France. G.o.d knows what may happen between this and the spring. It does not appear to me that there is any foundation for the report of the young King's death. If it was true, it would solve at once the question of the acknowledgment of the Regent, which Spain has formally proposed to us.

You will have received my letter on the point on which you asked my opinion. If the decision is likely to go in favour of Ireland, I heartily wish you were here, as I am afraid that there is less discretion on that subject than there should be. The intended successor to Lord W. is talked of more openly than I think useful, at a time when there is yet no arrangement made for his quitting his station. But what is worse than that, ideas are going about, and are much encouraged in Dublin, of _new systems_ there, and of changes of men and measures. Whatever it may be prudent to _do_ in that respect, I know that you will agree with me that, till the time comes when that question is to be considered, with a view to acting upon it immediately, the less is _said_ about it the better, in every point of view. When I see you, we can talk this over more easily than by letters between Vienna and London; and yet I have heard so much of it lately, that I almost wish it were possible for you, even at that distance, to write something that might suggest the necessity of caution; and that something you might even ground upon the paragraphs in the papers, which, as you may have seen, have been full of speculations upon it, particularly since Ponsonby's journey here.

The notion of seeing your personal quiet and happiness committed in this business, makes me feel more anxious about it than I otherwise should, though it is otherwise sufficiently important, and that in more than one point of view.

G.o.d bless you, my dearest brother, and believe me

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Sept. 17th, 1794.

MY DEAREST BROTHER,