Chapter XVI: Front Matter (16)

The fatigue which I have undergone, added to the necessity of my
writing several letters upon my arrival here, makes it impossible
for me to say more to you than that I am alive and well, after a
miraculous escape from the 'Proserpine,' which ran ashore off
Searhorn, and a second danger, scarcely less, yesterday morning, in
a long walk to gain this place, during which we were overtaken by
the tide and forced to wade for an hour, in the hardest frost I
ever felt, against a strong current of tide, which was sometimes up
to, and sometimes above our middle. We are all, however, well
to-day, and I proceed this evening towards Berlin, as well as my
fatigues will allow me. I cannot say enough to you of Mr. Fisher's
behaviour in these trials of danger; his resources, his attachment,
and his kind attentions in assisting our poor Henry, and lessening,
where he could, the inconvenience of my situation, have entitled
him and ensured to him the sincerest and warmest regard. Henry,
likewise, has been a stout mariner, and has shown a fortitude much
beyond his years.

I find no Italian news except a report of the French having
possession of Naples. They have, likewise, Ehrenbreitstein. When
will they have Berlin? We have not a shirt in company. My loss,
about L700.

God Almighty bless and preserve you.

Having arrived safely at Berlin, Mr. Grenville gives a sketch of his first impressions of the King of Prussia and his Court.

MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Berlin, Feb. 28th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

The journal which Mr. Fisher has shown to me, and which he proposes
to send to you by this messenger, will give you a much more
accurate account of our voyage than I could pretend to do if I had
time to undertake it; but that is unfortunately so far from being
the case, that I can with difficulty catch a short time by this
opportunity to write even a few words to you.

We arrived here on the 17th, and I have scarcely yet got through
the endless presentations and the weary first suppers of the
Princes, which engross the whole evening from six in the evening
till one in the morning. I have seen the King hitherto very little,
but I am going to dine with him to-day; he is thought to be
well-disposed in his general intentions, perfectly aware of all he
has to fear from the great nation whom he detests and abhors; but
having no original opinions of his own, nor habits of forming his
own judgment, he falls unfortunately too much into the hands of the
military officers, particularly the aides-de-camp with whom he
lives, and their influence is, in consequence, powerful enough to
weigh sometimes against the opinions of the Ministers whom he
employs.

The general idea here is, that the person who has most weight with
him is an aide-de-camp named Kochentz, of whose honesty there is no
suspicion, but whose talents and capacity are of a very inferior
description, and who is therefore open to the artifices of bad and
designing men, who work powerfully through him upon the King.

Haugwiz is believed to be sincere in his apprehensions of the
general danger of French republicanism, and is considered as
struggling against the more immediate followers of the King, who
surround him daily, and haunt him with the dreadful consequences of
war to Prussia, and the old jealousies and distrusts of Austria.

If the Court of Vienna should at last act, as I am almost disposed
to think they will rather than send back the Russian troops at the
requisition of France, the beginning of hostilities from that Court
cannot fail of producing a good effect here; the great danger is,
that while each is waiting for the other to begin, the time for
useful and effective exertion will pass by.

I have seen Sieyes at Court with his scarf and cockade. What
Lavater would say of his features I know not, but I have seldom
seen a countenance of so bad impression. His manners, conduct and
appearance here have produced nothing but disgust in all that are
not of the lower ranks of life, but it is to those that his mission
is considered as being chiefly addressed, and he is said to have
both means and agents enough to work through upon the lower classes
of men here.

I have heard nothing from England or Ireland since I left Yarmouth,
nothing of Union, and nothing of you; but how can I till the
summer, if the last ten days of soft weather will not unlock the
inhospitable ice of the Elbe at Cuxhaven? We are all well. God send
that you and yours are so. Love to Lord B. and George and Mary. The
Major is, I trust, soon expecting you in England.

God bless you, dearest brother. You will be glad to hear great part
of my baggage is saved.

The negotiations which the French had been carrying on at Rastadt relative to the German boundaries, were broken off in consequence of the Emperor having permitted the Russian troops to enter his dominions; and on the 1st of March, the Directory having declared war against him, Jourdan, at the head of forty thousand men, crossed the Rhine at Kehl and Basle. Austria was now fairly committed to the war, and, strengthened by the Russians, who entered into it with enthusiasm, achieved a succession of important movements. On the 5th of March, the Arch-Duke Charles crossed the Leck; and on the 25th, defeated Jourdan at the battle of Stockach, and, leaving ten thousand men dead or expiring on the field, compelled the French to retire towards the Rhine. This triumph was followed up vigorously by the battle of Magnan, on the 5th of April, in which the Austrians, under Kray, joined by the vanguard of the Russians, effected so signal a victory, that Scherer, beaten for the third time in the course of the campaign, fled in precipitation across the Nincio. The effect of these encouraging successes was utterly lost on the Court of Prussia, where the policy, or no-policy, of doing nothing still prevailed over the counsels of friends, and the menaces of enemies. The picture Mr. Grenville gives of the weakness and incapacity of the Government suggests the only intelligible explanation of the conduct they pursued at this juncture.

MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Berlin, April 17th, 1799.

If I am behind-hand, my dearest brother, in thanking you for your
two letters of the 11th and 24th of March, I am less so than those
dates would lead you to imagine, for the messengers did not bring
me the first of them till a week ago, and the last arrived here
only the day before yesterday. The amities of the 'Proserpine' are
out of date with me, and would long ago have been forgotten, if
they were not daily recalled to me by new and continued proofs of
the affectionate interest which has been taken in them. To know
what you would feel in a state of anxiety and suspense which I
could not relieve, was a distress greater to me than the fatigue
and danger which accompanied my escape. It has ended well, and I
trust it will not be long before we shall laugh over it together.

I presume that you will have heard from William how exactly the
politics of Berlin have continued to remain in _statu quo_; how
much more occupied they are in enumerating the follies and
disgraces of Austria, than in adapting their own conduct to any
wise system or any liberal principles, and how little applicable
are the measures which they take, either to the danger which they
fear, or to the hopes which they entertain. Their fear of France
is, however, not dissembled by them, and certainly is not affected
by them; it engrosses all their attention, and furnishes to them
great and constant disquietude in the present, and serious
apprehension for the future. But as there is no man of leading and
commanding talents enough to show them the greatness of their
danger, and to provoke from the public the adequate means of
resisting it, there is nothing done by the Government, and they are
living on from day to day, conscious of all they have to fear, but
destitute of energy and activity, and submitting to a state of
things which could only be produced by the most extreme weakness
and incapacity; for you will certainly have remarked that the
little influence which Prussia exercises, either from her hopes or
fears, in Europe, is not owing to the defeat of any great and
ambitious projects, is not to be attributed to the disappointment
of any great plans, civil or military, but to a total absence of
any leading and governing talents in those who direct the measures
which prevail here.

It has been the fashion, I know, to consider the influencing men
here as having views and principles of a bad description, and as
being engaged in a systematic course of conduct pursued by them
with great address and dissimulation. It is perhaps presumptuous in
a stranger, as I am, to trust to any opinion formed upon so short a
residence amongst them, but if I am sure of anything, I tell myself
I may be sure that the miserable policy which is seen here is very
much more weak than wicked, and the wretched state of Government
much more to be attributed to the absence of great talents than the
influence of deep and dangerous designs. Whatever be the cause, the
effect is the same; and although it seems to be a pretty universal
opinion that Prussia must and will at length be driven into war,
they are content rather to let their enemy choose that moment for
the commencement of hostilities, than make common cause and fight
one common battle, which in my conscience I believe would be
successful. Indeed, the Austrian successes in driving the French to
the Rhine, if they are followed by similar success in Switzerland,
will almost justify one's hope that, even without Prussia, the
French may in this campaign be pushed back upon their own country;
and the continued state of insurrection in the Low Countries, where
the republican troops can scarcely restrain the inhabitants, give
good hopes on that side as soon as any solid force could be made to
bear in that quarter. The zeal and enthusiasm of the Court of
Petersburg increases every hour, and they will become very
immediately principals in the war against France, both by word and
deed.

In this immediate state of the negotiation, I am remaining here
more because there is an inclination in London to think I can do
good, than from any great good that is likely to be done. I am
very much obliged to you for your offer of a loan, which, however,
I hope will be unnecessary by the shortness of my stay. If that
should unexpectedly be prolonged, I will then have recourse to you
to assist by an advance the tardy payment of His Majesty's Envoys
Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary, who are always left in
arrears seven quarters for the better credit of the Court that
employs them. I hope my loss by the 'Proserpine' will turn out not
to exceed L600, as many things have been saved.

I trust you are now happy and well at Stowe. God bless you, dearest
brother.

By this time, Lord Buckingham had returned to England, and the next despatch from Berlin is addressed to Stowe. The account of the vacillation of the Court, and the sketch Mr. Grenville gives of the King, are full of interest. Since he had last written, Suwaroff had taken the command of the Austro-Russian armies in Italy, and in a short time had expelled the French from the principal towns of the North, which forced Macdonald to evacuate Naples, and cross the Apennines.

MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Berlin, May 25th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

My last letters from Cleveland Row have, thank God, brought you
back safe and sound to your own fireside and to the many who share
the comforts of it with you; it cannot, I presume, be very long
before I may reckon myself of that number, although as I do not
like to do anything by halves, I consider myself as liable to duty
as long there is any fair demand to be made upon me. You will have
heard from William all that was to be heard of our hopes and of our
disappointments, and you will know likewise from him that our stock
of those articles is not yet exhausted, although the briskness of
the market is a little affected by the absence of the King. The
Berlin reviews being over, he has begun a military progress, which
will carry him through Brunswick, Minden and Wesel to Cassel and to
Anspach, and after various reviews in those places he will return
to Potsdam in the first week of July.

Whether in the first of these places, or in the last, or in any of
them, he will have determined to take his part with us, remains to
be decided, and it will be less hazardous to abide the event than
to pretend to foretel it. It is certain that the inclination to war
has grown very much of late among all the thinking men in the
country, and the regular Ministers have agreed in recommending it
very strongly to the King; the disinclination to it is chiefly
found in the confidential aides-de-camp and the subordinate
characters, whose familiar habits with the King enable them to
exercise a very governing influence upon him.

The King himself is, I believe, of a very well-disposed and honest
character; his inclinations are English, and his personal respect
for the King of England is very striking; his suspicion and dislike
of the French is also beyond all question, and there are so many
ingredients in his situation and character that should lead him to
an open declaration against France, that it is not easy to account
for the different line which he pursues; it must, however, be
attributed to the influence of the very weak persons who are in
familiar confidence with him, and to his being too diffident in
himself to decide upon the important measure of engaging Prussia in
war. I am, however, inclined to believe that such will at last be
his decision, though there is too much hesitation in his own mind
to give us any solid ground of reliance until he shall be
completely embarked.

Meantime, all is going on prosperously under the active exertions
of Suwaroff, who is daily hemming in and menacing Turin, and who
has now advanced to Chivasso, and has detached Kaim with a
considerable force to the Valais. The general opinion here is that
the French will evacuate Switzerland whenever their line at
Luceinsteig and Coire is forced, and some accounts to-day seem to
announce that event as having happened.

Moreau, with seventeen thousand men, is at Alexandria, and I
suppose the Naples army will try to join him, although Macdonald
will find that junction rather difficult to accomplish.

We are all still waiting in anxious expectation for news of the
fleet. The Ministers here think the Mediterranean is the object,
and to me it seems not unlikely that they may pursue that object,
and at the same time detach to Ireland.

God bless you, dearest brother.

The occupation which was given by the Austrians and Russians to the French troops in Italy and Germany, appearing to offer a favourable opportunity to rescue Holland from the hands of the republicans, an expedition, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby, set sail from England on the 13th of August, and disembarked off the Helder. On the 30th, the Dutch fleet surrendered, and hoisted the Orange flag. In order, probably, to give more weight and effect to a mission which had for its object the restoration of the Stadtholder, it was proposed that Lord Grenville should undertake an embassy to Holland, and that Mr. Thomas Grenville (who had in the interim returned home) should proceed to St. Petersburg.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, Sept. 5th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I was much obliged to you for your kindness to us in writing on the
subject of Lady B. We earnestly hope that all cause of uneasiness
to you on her account has ceased, and that both fever and cold are
gone. If you would let anybody write us a line to say so, you would
much oblige us.

You will have seen that, in spite of wind, we have succeeded at the
Texel. The Lieutenant says that the Dutch fleet had cut the buoys,
and run up into the Zuyder Zee. Lord D. was preparing to lay the
buoys down again, and to follow them, but it was not expected that
Storey would make any further resistance, more than half his fleet
being Stadtholderians.

The wind is now changed to the N.E., as if to bring our Russians.
The Dutch reported that they were to have had nine thousand French
at the Helder by the Wednesday night, but that is doubted. I have
not learnt what their actual force is, but it appears that there
were some Trench there. We have now about seventeen thousand men
there, and when the transports return, we can, if necessary, send
ten thousand more, besides our eighteen thousand Russians. I trust,
therefore, I am not very sanguine in thinking the business as
nearly certain as one can allow oneself to call anything in these
times.

But for the plans which we have in view, supposing this to
terminate well, and soon, we want full twenty thousand more British
force. Do you think it is possible to get them from the Militia?
and how? Dundas is revolving in his mind projects for the purpose,
but I should much wish to know from you whether you think the thing
practicable for a great object, and in what manner.

An idea has been proposed to me, which I think I shall not be at
liberty to decline, if, when the time comes, I should myself be
satisfied that I could be of more use than other people: it is to
go to Holland as Ambassador Extraordinary, carrying myself and my
office there for about a month or six weeks, to help to fix Old
Stadt a little more firmly in his chair. You know I had destined
Tom to this service, and if he should go, I still think my going
would be quite superfluous. He had agreed to undertake the service
as a temporary one only; but I have been since urged to press him
to go to Petersburg, to establish a further concert there, and I
trust he will not refuse the earnest entreaties we have made him on
that subject. You may suppose that I do not look to this as a very
pleasant interlude to my other business, but I cannot deny that it
is at least possible I may be of use there, and if so, I must
practise as I preach.

God bless you, my dearest brother.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, Sept. 5th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

Your letter, which I received yesterday, though a little more
satisfactory than your former account, still leaves room for so
much uneasiness, that Lady G. and I are extremely anxious to hear
again from you, and I trust in God the answer will be such as to
set us quite at our ease; but the complaints of which you speak are
of so ugly a nature, that one cannot feel satisfied while any trace
of them remains.

I have not yet my answer from Tom; but by an intermediate letter,
I guess that he will be very little disposed to undertake this
jaunt to Petersburg. Even if he should not, but should go to
Holland, I am not quite sure that I must not go, for as short a
time as I speak of, to assist him in Holland; not that personally
I have the vanity to think that I could do any part of the
business better, or as well as he, but my red boxes and my seals
would have a great effect in enabling me to expedite, and even in
some degree to _brusque_ a business which, if left to Dutch
arrangement only, or with nothing more than the usual aid of an
English Ambassador, would take not six months, as you say, but
six years, and not be done at last.

I fully understand the nature of your offer, and should not
certainly have suspected even, if you had not explained it, that
you were canvassing for the delectable amusement of leaving Stowe
and England, to figure at the Hague or Petersburg. But the best
negotiation you can carry on for us just now would be one with the
Militia for giving us twenty thousand more men. I hardly dare say,
or let myself think, what we could do, or rather what we could not
do, with such a reinforcement, supposing Holland to go on quick,
and our troops not to suffer much from sickness; for of their
suffering in battle there, I am not much afraid.

If any fresh parliamentary authority is necessary, we can now call
Parliament together in a fortnight. I will write to Dundas, as you
desire. If I had known of his coming to town to review his East
India regiment, I would have proposed precisely the Dropmore plan
you speak of; but I fear you could hardly have looked at it at that
moment, and I presume he is gone back to Walmer; I shall, however,
expect his answer.

Ever most affectionately yours,
G.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, Sept. 9th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I hope, from your account, that the worst is over, and that Lady B.
will continue to mend, but we shall be very anxious to hear that it
is so. If nothing new arise, and if we shall not be troublesome to
you, we think of being with you on Wednesday in next week; but pray
let us know if you would wish us to delay our visit.

If the project holds respecting Holland, it is likely, I think,
that I shall not be much longer before I am called upon to begin my
preparations. I have as yet no answer from Tom, but I shall have
one to-day or to-morrow; for we know that the wind changed to the
eastward on the other side the water on Friday, and we have three
mails due.

Our first division of Russians, five thousand two hundred men, are
arrived, and are under sailing orders for the Texel. Popham left
the second division at Elsineur on Sunday last; and calculates that
both this and the rear division, amounting together to above eleven
thousand men, will be here by Tuesday or Wednesday next. Our own
transports were also beginning to arrive, so that we shall have to
send them in the course of a week or ten days a reinforcement of
twenty-six thousand men, besides cavalry. I have no doubt that this
is more than sufficient, with tolerable activity and enterprise, to
do our work completely, and in a very few weeks--I might almost say
days--for we have the command of the Zuyder Zee, by which we can
turn the enemy on their right, and of the North Sea, which equally
turns their left; and they have, I am confident, no means of
assembling an army of half the force of ours, to oppose it in
front. All this, however, is a question of time; for if that is
allowed them, one can answer for nothing.

We have not heard of Abercromby (nor indeed could we) since the
31st. He was then preparing to march forward to Alkmaar. Have you
got Wiebeking's map of Holland and Utrecht? If not, let anybody
write for it for you from Hamburgh. You will see, indeed, in any
map, a little promontory that runs forward opposite to Amsterdam,
on the north bank of the Y., between Buyksloot and Newdam. The
opinion of persons of the country is, that if we can make ourselves
masters of that point, Amsterdam is open to be bombarded, and must
capitulate on the first summons. All the other advantages of the
country we have to act in, upon our line of march, are obvious by
looking at the map. The disadvantages are, the facility of
retarding our march by defending the dykes and narrow causeways
along which we must pass; but a great superiority of force will
enable us to surmount many of these. The French papers talk of
having marched against us the garrisons of the Generality. So much
the better if it is so, for then we shall not find them there, and
the fact itself proves (if even our intelligence were defective)
how little other force they have in the country.

I am greatly obliged to you for what you have written on the
subject of the Militia. It seems to me that allowing the Militia to
volunteer by companies for a fixed time is the best suggestion I
have yet heard. But it would be necessary to consider, on a
statement of numbers, how many could be so procured from all the
Militias--English, Scotch, and Irish--though, with respect to these
last, there is, I fear, an insurmountable difficulty, from the
necessity of assembling Parliament, which could not be done in
Ireland without broaching the question of Union before we are
prepared for it.

Less than twenty thousand men would not, on the most sanguine
calculations, answer our object, and the issue of the war so much
depends upon it that we should be unpardonable to omit any possible
effort that we could make for it. What we want is to be able to
garrison Holland with twenty thousand men so as to have as soon as
possible after the conquest of it the means of disposing of our
whole army now there. It is a very doubtful question, I think,
whether our Militia volunteering would be more or less promoted if
we confined our proposal to that particular service, and sent our
Militia battalions into the Dutch garrisons, employing the army now
there in the active service, or if we took the offer generally for
foreign service, and made such distribution between the two as
might best suit our convenience.

There would be no difficulty as to Parliament; we can call them
together at a fortnight's notice. We would do so for this object
alone. The King would speak of nothing else, and ask no supply; and
we could easily, in a moment of triumph like the present, exclude
all other discussions, so that the execution, were the plan once
arranged to the satisfaction of the Militia officers, would take up
not more than ten days or a fortnight at most.

If anything new occurs to you upon it, let me hear it. If not, we
will talk it over when we meet; but as that is always precarious,
write if you have anything to suggest upon it.

Ever yours,
G.

A year, memorable in the annals of the war for the European confederacy which was formed by the energies of England to resist the aggressions of France, and for the successes by which it was crowned, was now drawing to a close. How much of that vast machinery of diplomacy, of that activity in council and promptitude in action, by which the happy results were obtained, may be justly attributed to the genius and firmness of the distinguished statesmen whose correspondence forms the substance of these volumes, need scarcely be pointed out; nor would it be becoming in this work to pronounce the eulogy which their virtues and patriotism deserve. That grateful duty may be securely left to history.

The last letter of the year appropriately terminates the record of its events, by a general outline of the projects that were contemplated and in preparation for the arduous and important period that marked the opening of the nineteenth century.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Cleveland Row, Nov. 6th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I have just received your letter. My business seems to increase
upon me so much that I fear I must abandon all hope of my Stowe
project. I heartily wish that I could see the means of executing
the idea you mention, but our force is not as yet sufficient for
the purpose, especially considering that the possession of the
country would give the enemy such incalculable advantage over an
army whose communication would be maintained in that season across
the Channel. We cannot well put the army brought back from Holland
at more than thirty thousand effective men, including Russians.
Twenty or twenty-five thousand Militia volunteers, English and
Irish, may be added to this during the winter if our last measure
succeeds, and other additions will also be gradually coming
forward; but I doubt whether even then we shall have enough to
encounter the mass of force which the enemy could bring against us
in his own country, if not occupied by some serious attack on the
other side.

Our system must therefore, I think, of necessity be this, viz.: to
complete the winter in negotiating on the continent, in furnishing
supplies to the royalists, who have, however, shown themselves much
too soon, both for their own interest and ours; and in nursing up
our own force to make it as considerable and as fit for action as
we can.

In the spring its employment must be regulated by the state of the
other two points. If Austria has made her peace (which, though
certainly not improbable, I do not however consider as the most
likely event), and if the royalists are crushed, our force can then
only be used in desultory expeditions to annoy the enemy, and
weaken his means of acting against us; for to make a serious
impression on France with sixty, or even eighty thousand men,
unsupported by any diversion, is impossible, and the attempt can
only lead to disaster, and to the loss of the only army we ever can
have during this war. This was our situation in 1798. We fought
manfully through it under much greater disadvantages than we should
now have to meet. The enemy was stronger and more abundant in
resources. We were weaker in force, and the extent of our means was
unknown even to ourselves.

If, on the contrary, the French are materially occupied either by
Austria, or by royalists, or still better if by both, we may then
choose our own point of attack; our fleet will threaten the whole
coast from Cadiz to the Texel and Delfzuyl, and nothing but a
course of ill luck, equal to that of this year, can deprive us of
the benefit of a fortnight or three weeks' start in whatever point
we really attack.

I should be sorry that any degree even of private blame in people's
minds should attach on the Duke of York, who has, I really believe,
had no other fault on this occasion than that of following, perhaps
too implicitly, the advice of those whose advice he was desired to
follow. In many things he has certainly done extremely well.

The business of the Union is going on well, and I trust rapidly
approaching to a conclusion. Even if it were possible that we
should again fail next year, still I should regard the ultimate
success of the measure as certain.

I have been ruminating on some ecclesiastical projects, but I do
not know whether I shall be able to bring them to bear, nor do I
yet possess all the knowledge of the actual state of things which
is necessary in order to enable me to fix my own judgment. They
relate to the two points of episcopal jurisdiction and
superintendence, and residence of parochial clergy.

My notion is to strengthen, if necessary, the legal powers of the
bishops, so as to give them effective means, both of suspension and
deprivation, in all cases, both of improper life and manners, and
of remissness in the execution of certain _stated duties_ which
they are to be required to exact from all their parochial clergy.
To enable them, from the chapters in their dioceses, at their own
choice, to augment the number of their archdeacons or _visitants_,
under whatever name may best suit the old constitutional forms of
our Church. To require them, or in their absence, the archdeacon,
or other proper person, to hold fixed and invariable annual
visitations; at which, calling, if necessary, to their assistance a
certain number of their beneficed or dignified clergy, they should
receive the reports of their archdeacons and other visitants, and
should _at such visitation_, or at furthest at the next visitation,
proceed by sentence either of suspension or deprivation against all
persons who should appear on such reports to be of scandalous life
or conversation, or to have published irreligious, immoral, or
seditious books, or to have been remiss in the performance of such
_stated duties_ as above. Lastly, to compel the bishops to return
these reports, and their proceedings thereon at their visitations,
to their metropolitans, by whom they should be annually laid before
the King, with their observations thereon.

As to parochial residence, the idea would be to require that no
person shall on any pretence be non-resident on his living, without
appointing a curate to be there _constantly_ resident in his room.
And to charge on the consolidated fund a sum sufficient to make up
every living throughout the kingdom to the amount of L70 per annum,
with the single exception of such parishes as, being adjacent to
each other, it might be fit to _conjoin_ for this purpose, by the
act of proper commissioners to act with the bishop, &c.

When, therefore, the living fell short of L70, the parson would
receive the difference from the public, but would be compelled to
personal and constant residence, (and some provision might be made
for the residence and maintenance of his curate in the single case
of absence with the bishop's licence, from _extreme necessity_ of
sickness). When the living amounted to L70 or upwards, he would
have the choice, as at present, of residing, or finding some legal
excuse for non-residence; but in the latter case he would be
obliged to provide a curate _constantly_ resident. And in both
cases proper certificates of residence would be required to be
produced to the _visitants_.

The hardship, whatever it was, which this regulation would bring on
the body of the clergy at large (I do not speak of particular
cases), would be amply compensated by the addition which the
Legislature would thus make to the smaller livings; and the expense
of this last measure would be much more than compensated to the
public, by the benefit which must arise from the constant residence
of a clergyman in every parish throughout the kingdom.

By what I have called _stated duties_ above, I mean, that from
these resident clergymen, who would no longer have the plea of
other duty to perform, I would certainly exact, by enumeration,
many points of their duty (evening service, catechism, visitation
of sick, and other points), which are now growing, or grown into
disuse.

You would much oblige me by your ideas on these points. On the
first I have been told that it is no more, or little more, than the
law as it now exists. All I can say is, that I am sure it is not
the practice as it now exists; and that this is not the only case
where it has been found to be highly useful to re-enact, with small
variation, the existing law, in order to call the attention and
excite the zeal, both of those who are to execute the law, and of
those who are to obey it.

You are not, I am very certain, one of those extremely profound
politicians who have, among other happy discoveries of this age,
found out that the religion of the people has no influence on its
morals, or its morals on the prosperity and good government of the
State. You will not, therefore, think that an attention to this
subject is either unbecoming Government and Parliament, or is ill
suited to such a moment as the present.

God bless you, my dear brother.

Ever most affectionately yours,
G.

THE END.

LONDON: Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.

* * * * *

13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. COLBURN AND CO.'S LIST #Of Interesting New Works.#

FIFTH AND CHEAPER EDITION, REVISED.

In One Vol., Post 8vo. 10s. 6d. bound.

LORD GEORGE BENTINCK, A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY.

BY THE RT. HON. B. DISRAELI, M.P.

FROM BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE.--"This biography cannot fail to attract the deep attention of the public. We are bound to say, that as a political biography we have rarely, if ever, met with a book more dexterously handled, or more replete with interest. The exertions of Lord George Bentinck in behalf of every assailed or depressed branch of British and Colonial industry--the vast pains which he took in procuring authentic information--and the enormous amount of private labour he underwent in the preparation of those materials which have thrown a novel light upon disputed doctrines of economy--are faithfully chronicled in this most interesting volume. The history of the famous session of 1846, as written by Disraeli in that brilliant and pointed style of which he is so consummate a master, is deeply interesting. He has traced this memorable struggle with a vivacity and power unequalled as yet in any narrative of Parliamentary proceedings."

FROM THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE.--"A political biography of Lord George Bentinck by Mr. Disraeli must needs be a work of interest and importance. Either the subject or the writer would be sufficient to invest it with both--the combination surrounds it with peculiar attractions. In this most interesting volume Mr. Disraeli has produced a memoir of his friend in which he has combined the warmest enthusiasm of affectionate attachment with the calmness of the critic, and in which he has not only added to his reputation, but we verily believe must increase his influence even as a politician."

FROM THE MORNING HERALD--"Mr. Disraeli's tribute to the memory of his departed friend is as graceful and as touching as it is accurate and impartial. No one of Lord George Bentinck's colleagues could have been selected, who, from his high literary attainments, his personal intimacy, and party associations, would have done such complete justice to the memory of a friend and Parliamentary associate. Mr. Disraeli has here presented us with the very type and embodiment of what history should be. His sketch of the condition of parties is seasoned with some of those piquant personal episodes of party manoeuvres and private intrigues, in the author's happiest and most captivating vein, which convert the dry details of politics into a sparkling and agreeable narrative. But the portrait which will stamp the book as one of the most extraordinary productions of the time is that of Sir Robert Peel. It is written with wonderful force and extraordinary impartiality."

THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS, QUEEN OF FRANCE, CONSORT OF HENRY IV., AND REGENT UNDER LOUIS XIII.

BY MISS PARDOE. Author of "Louis XIV. and the Court of France in the 17th Century," &c.

In 3 large vols. 8vo., with Fine Portraits, 42s. bound.

"A fascinating book. The history of such a woman as the beautiful, impulsive earnest, and affectionate Marie de Medicis could only be done justice to by a female pen, impelled by all the sympathies of womanhood, but strengthened by an erudition by which it is not in every case accompanied. In Miss Pardoe the unfortunate Queen has found both these requisites, and the result has been a biography combining the attractiveness of romance with the reliableness of history, and which, taking a place midway between the 'frescoed galleries' of Thierry, and the 'philosophic watch-tower of Guizot,' has all the pictorial brilliancy of the one, with much of the reflective speculation of the other."--_Daily News._

"A valuable, well-written, and elaborate biography, displaying an unusual amount of industry and research."--_Morning Chronicle._

"A careful and elaborate historical composition, rich in personal anecdote. Nowhere can a more intimate acquaintance be obtained with the principal events and leading personages of the first half of the 17th century."--_Morning Post._

"A work of high literary and historical merit. Rarely have the strange vicissitudes of romance been more intimately blended with the facts of real history than in the life of Marie de Medicis; nor has the difficult problem of combining with the fidelity of biography the graphic power of dramatic delineation been often more successfully solved than by the talented author of the volumes before us. As a personal narrative, Miss Pardoe's admirable biography possesses the most absorbing and constantly sustained interest; as a historical record of the events of which it treats, its merit is of no ordinary description."--_John Bull._

"A life more dramatic than that of Marie de Medicis has seldom been written; one more imperially tragic, never. The period of French history chosen by Miss Pardoe is rich in all manner of associations, and brings together the loftiest names and most interesting events of a stirring and dazzling epoch. She has been, moreover, exceedingly fortunate in her materials. A manuscript of the Commandeur de Rambure, Gentleman of the Bedchamber under the Kings Henry IV., Louis XIII., and Louis XIV., consisting of the memoirs of the writer, with all the most memorable events which took place during the reigns of those three Majesties, from the year 1594 to that of 1660, was placed at her disposal by M. de la Plane, Member of the Institut Royal de la France. This valuable record is very voluminous, and throws a flood of light on every transaction. Of this important document ample use has been judiciously made by Miss Pardoe; and her narrative, accordingly, has a fulness and particularity possessed by none other, and which adds to the dramatic interest of the subject. The work is very elegantly written, and will be read with delight. It forms another monument to the worthiness of female intellect in the age we live in."--_Illustrated News._

MEMOIRS OF THE BARONESS D'OBERKIRCH,

ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE COURTS OF FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND GERMANY.

WRITTEN BY HERSELF, And Edited by Her Grandson, the COUNT DE MONTBRISON.

3 Vols. Post 8vo., 31s. 6d. bound.

The Baroness d'Oberkirch, being the intimate friend of the Empress of Russia, wife of Paul I., and the confidential companion of the Duchess of Bourbon, her facilities for obtaining information respecting the most private affairs of the principal Courts of Europe, render her Memoirs unrivalled as a book of interesting anecdotes of the royal, noble, and other celebrated individuals who flourished on the continent during the latter part of the last century. Among the royal personages introduced to the reader in this work, are Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, Philip Egalite, and all the Princes of France then living--Peter the Great, the Empress Catherine, the Emperor Paul, and his sons Constantine and Alexander, of Russia--Frederick the Great and Prince Henry of Prussia--The Emperor Joseph II. of Austria--Gustavus III. of Sweden--Princess Christina of Saxony--Sobieski, and Czartoriski of Poland--and the Princes of Brunswick and Wurtemberg. Among the remarkable persons are the Princes and Princesses de Lamballe, de Ligne and Galitzin--the Dukes and Duchesses de Choiseul, de Mazarin, de Boufflers, de la Valliere, de Guiche, de Penthievre, and de Polignac--Cardinal de Rohan, Marshals Biron and d'Harcourt, Count de Staremberg, Baroness de Krudener, Madame Geoffrin, Talleyrand, Mirabeau, and Necker--with Count Cagliostro, Mesmer, Vestris, and Madame Mara; and the work also includes such literary celebrities as Voltaire, Condorcet, de la Harpe, de Beaumarchais, Rousseau, Lavater, Bernouilli, Raynal, de l'Epee, Huber, Goethe, Wieland, Malesherbes, Marmontel, de Stael and de Genlis; with some singular disclosures respecting those celebrated Englishwomen, Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, and Lady Craven, Margravine of Anspach.

"The Baroness d'Oberkirch, whose remarkable Memoirs are here given to the public, saw much of courts and courtiers, and her Memoirs are filled with a variety of anecdotes, not alone of lords and ladies, but of emperors and empresses, kings and queens, and reigning princes and princesses. As a picture of society anterior to the French Revolution, the book is the latest and most perfect production of its sort extant; and as such, besides its minor value as a book of amusement, it possesses a major value as a work of information, which in the interest of historical truth, is, without exaggeration, almost incalculable."--_Observer._

"Thoroughly genuine and unaffected, these Memoirs display the whole mind of a woman who was well worth knowing, and relate a large part of her experience among people with whose names and characters the world will be at all times busy. A keen observer, and by position thrown in the high places of the world, the Baroness d'Oberkirch was the very woman to write Memoirs that would interest future generations. We commend these volumes most heartily to every reader. They are a perfect magazine of pleasant anecdotes and interesting characteristic things. We lay down these charming volumes with regret. They will entertain the most fastidious readers, and instruct the most informed."--_Examiner._

"An intensely interesting autobiography."--_Morning Chronicle._

"A valuable addition to the personal history of an important period. The volumes deserve general popularity."--_Daily News._

"One of the most interesting pieces of contemporary history, and one of the richest collections of remarkable anecdotes and valuable reminiscences ever produced."--_John Bull._

THE MARVELS OF SCIENCE, AND THEIR TESTIMONY TO HOLY WRIT; A POPULAR MANUAL OF THE SCIENCES.

BY S. W. FULLOM, ESQ.

DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE KING OF HANOVER.

Second Edition, Revised. 1 vol. Post 8vo.

"This work treats of the whole origin of nature in an intelligent style; it puts into the hands of every man the means of information on facts the most sublime, and converts into interesting and eloquent description problems which once perplexed the whole genius of mankind. We congratulate the author on his research, his information, and his graceful and happy language."--_Britannia._

"The skill displayed in the treatment of the sciences is not the least marvel in the volume. The reasonings of the author are forcible, fluently expressed, and calculated to make a deep impression. Genuine service has been done to the cause of Revelation by the issue of such a book, which is more than a mere literary triumph. It is a good action."--_Globe._

"Its tone is grave, grand, and argumentative, and rises to the majesty of poetry. As a commentary upon the stupendous facts which exist in the universe, it is truly a work which merits our admiration, and we unhesitatingly refer our readers to its fascinating pages."--_Dispatch._

"Without parading the elaborate nature of his personal investigations, the author has laid hold of the discoveries in every department of natural science in a manner to be apprehended by the meanest understanding, but which will at the same time command the attention of the scholar."--_Messenger._

"A grand tour of the sciences. Mr. Fullom starts from the Sun, runs round by the Planets, noticing Comets as he goes, and puts up for a rest at the Central Sun. He gets into the Milky Way, which brings him to the Fixed Stars and Nebulae. He munches the crust of the Earth, and looks over Fossil Animals and Plants. This is followed by a disquisition on the science of the Scriptures. He then comes back to the origin of the Earth, visits the Magnetic Poles, gets among Thunder and Lightning, makes the acquaintance of Magnetism and Electricity, dips into Rivers, draws science from Springs, goes into Volcanoes, through which he is drawn into a knot of Earthquakes, comes to the surface with Gaseous Emanations, and sliding down a Landslip, renews his journey on a ray of Light, goes through a Prism, sees a Mirage, meets with the Flying Dutchman, observes an Optical Illusion, steps over the Rainbow, enjoys a dance with the Northern Aurora, takes a little Polarized Light, boils some Water, sets a Steam-Engine in motion, witnesses the expansion of Metals, looks at the Thermometer, and refreshes himself with Ice. Soon he is at Sea, examining the Tides, tumbling on the Waves, swimming, diving, and ascertaining the pressure of Fluids. We meet him next in the Air, running through all its properties. Having remarked on the propagation of Sounds, he pauses for a bit of Music, and goes off into the Vegetable Kingdom, then travels through the Animal Kingdom, and having visited the various races of the human family, winds up with a demonstration of the Anatomy of Man."--_Examiner._

THE LITERATURE AND ROMANCE OF NORTHERN EUROPE.

CONSTITUTING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE LITERATURE OF SWEDEN, DENMARK, NORWAY, AND ICELAND, WITH COPIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE MOST CELEBRATED HISTORIES, ROMANCES, POPULAR LEGENDS AND TALES, OLD CHIVALROUS BALLADS, TRAGIC AND COMIC DRAMAS, NATIONAL SONGS, NOVELS, AND SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF THE PRESENT DAY.

BY WILLIAM AND MARY HOWITT.

2 v. post 8vo. 21s. bound.

"English readers have long been indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Howitt. They have now increased our obligations by presenting us with this most charming and valuable work, by means of which the great majority of the reading public will be, for the first time, made acquainted with the rich stores of intellectual wealth long garnered in the literature and beautiful romance of Northern Europe. From the famous Edda, whose origin is lost in antiquity, down to the novels of Miss Bremer and Baroness Knorring, the prose and poetic writings of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland are here introduced to us in a manner at once singularly comprehensive and concise. It is no dry enumeration of names, but the very marrow and spirit of the various works displayed before us. We have old ballads and fairy tales, always fascinating; we have scenes from plays, and selections from the poets, with most attractive biographies of these and other great men. The songs and ballads are translated with exquisite poetic beauty."--_Sun._

"We have most cordially to thank Mary and William Howitt for their valuable contribution to our knowledge of the literature of Northern Europe. They have effected a public good. They have offered to all classes of readers a work abounding in original and entrancing interest, overflowing with varied matter--of criticism, biography, anecdotes, sketches, and quotations, all tending to exhibit new treasures for the gratification and enlightenment of a vast circle of minds. Our authors have described to us in copious and entertaining detail the romance and the poetry, the writings and the imaginations, of the Scandinavian races, interspersed with abundant and well-selected specimens of the historical, romantic, legendary, chivalric, ballad, dramatic, song, and critical literature of Northern Europe. They have brought to light the treasures of the illustrious poets, historians and bards of Scandinavia, in a work of astonishing interest."--_Sunday Times._

"This work teems with information of the rarest and most curious character, and is replete with interest to the scholar, the philosopher, the antiquarian, and the general reader. The subject has the charming freshness of novelty. There is not any other book in the English language, which presents so vivid, so interesting, and so accurate a picture of the manners, customs, opinions, and superstitions of our Scandinavian forefathers."--_Morning Post._

"A standard work on the whole subject."--_Globe._

"A valuable addition to our literature."--_Daily News._

"A book full of information--and as such, a welcome addition to our literature. The translations--especially of some of the ballads and other poems--are executed with spirit and taste."--_Athenaeum._

JUDGE HALIBURTON'S NEW HISTORICAL WORK.

In 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s. bound.

RULE AND MISRULE OF THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA.

By the Author of "SAM SLICK," "THE OLD JUDGE," &c.

"A most attractive work."--_Standard._

"The cleverest volumes Judge Haliburton has ever produced."--_Messenger._

"We conceive this work to be by far the most valuable and important Judge Haliburton has ever written. The exhaustless fund of humour--quiet, yet rich and racy, and at the same time overflowing with the milk of human kindness--which his writings display on one hand, and the wonderful knowledge of man's character, in all its countless varieties, which they exhibit on the other, have insured for them a high, and honourable, and enduring station in English literature. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to arise from the perusal of any of Mr. Haliburton's performances without having become both wiser and better. His 'English in America' is, however, a production of a yet more exalted order. While teeming with interest, moral and historical, to the general reader, it may be regarded as equally constituting a philosophical study for the politician and the statesman. It will be found to dissipate many popular errors, and to let in a flood of light upon the actual origin, formation, and progress of the republic of the United States."--_Naval and Military Gazette._