Chapter VI: Part 6

_July 24th, 1806._--The Russians have made a separate peace.[211] The Cabinet have determined upon sending a person upon an extraordinary Mission to Portugal, and have chosen Lauderdale for that purpose, and he has accepted. Ld. St. Vincent is to follow with the fleet, and be joined in the Commission; the nature of the appointment to be the same as Ld. Minto and Ld. Hood were at Toulon. It is proposed, if Portugal be invaded, that we should carry off (_vi et armis_) the Royal family, and such as choose to follow their fortunes, and establish them at _Brésil_. A French army of 90,000 men is assembled at Bayonne for the invasion of Portugal. Eugène Beauharnais, the Viceroy of Italy, is to have the command of it; the attack is to be made by Galicia.

[Sidenote: NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE]

_25th._--The preliminaries of peace between France and Russia have been signed by d’Oubril, though he knew at the time that Basilico was on his road to Paris with dispatches from our Governt. He signed three hours after he knew of his landing at Boulogne. The following stipulations form the basis of the peace. The Russians are to return Corfu, but they are not to keep more than 4000 men in garrison there. Dalmatia and Ragusa are left to the French. The Montenegrins are not to be punished for the successful resistance which, in conjunction with the Russians, they have opposed to the French arms, but this amnesty does not extend to any offences which they may have committed against their lawful Sovereign. Sicily is left exposed to the French without a stipulation in its favour. No provision of any sort is made for the ex-King of Naples, nor is there any allusion to him in the Treaty, except a declaration on the part of the French that they have no objection to the King of Sicily _et sa femme_ (they will not call her Queen) finding an asylum wherever they can. By a secret article, Minorca, Majorca, and Iviza are to be transferred from Spain to the D. of Calabria, on condition that the ports of these islands shall be shut against the English. The Russians agree to exclude the English from all their ports in the Mediterranean. The French are to be allowed six months[212] to evacuate Germany. The present Treaty must be ratified within twenty-five days.

On the day following this extraordinary transaction, Ld. Yarmouth[213] presented his credentials to the F. Governt., though his instructions were not to present them at all, till the basis of the pacification was settled. This step of Ld. Y.’s is very reprehensible, as it may give d’Oubril a pretext to justify his conduct.

[Sidenote: NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE]

The terms of peace originally offered by Talleyrand and conveyed to Mr. Fox by Ld. Y. were very advantageous to this country; indeed, so extremely so, that as the proposals were verbally made, much doubt was entertained of Ld. Y.’s accuracy in reporting them, and he owed entirely his being employed in the negotiation to the doubts of his veracity. The _uti possidetis_ on both sides was to be the basis of the treaty. Hanover was to be restored to the K. of E., in return for our acknowledgment of Bonaparte’s newly-created Kings. No further changes were to be made in Germany or Switzerland. The integrity of Spain and Portugal was to be guaranteed in both Hemispheres. We were not to interfere with the settlement of Italy or Holland. Upon a distant hint being thrown out about commercial arrangements, ‘Nous voulons être maîtres chez nous’ was the reply. When Sicily was mentioned, _Talleyrand_, who had spoken the above, exclaimed, ‘Mais que voulez vous? Vous l’avez.’ Our Cabinet readily assented to these terms (in addition to which it was hinted that Bonaparte was disposed to concur with Mr. F. in taking measures for the general abolition of the Slave Trade, but this was intended as a sneer. When Talleyrand read the resolutions of the H. of Commons upon the subject of the S. Trade, he said there was another Act of Parliament much more necessary, one for which the Spaniards, Portuguese, and Germans called out most loudly, ‘_Et cette acte du Parlement, c’est la paix_’), and Ld. Y. was sent back to Paris with full assent to his message. But when he arrived there he found the views of the French Governt. materially changed in the most important point. They now demanded that Sicily should be ceded to them in order to be re-annexed to the kingdom of Naples. Joseph, the new King, had represented that his kingdom of Naples would not be secure without the possession of Sicily, and the French engineers had given in a report that Sicily could be subdued with much more ease than they had at first supposed. On these grounds, which the French have the assurance to represent as _new occurrences_ since their first overtures to Ld. Y., they pretend to justify their deviation from their original proposals, and they offered to the King of Sicily, in exchange for that island, to make him King of Dalmatia and Albania.[214] D’Oubril, the Russian negotiator, who was by this time at Paris, and who had been privy to everything done by our Cabinet, was caught by this last proposal, and expressed his opinion decidedly in favour of it. In the cession of Dalmatia to the King of Sicily, he fancied that he saw the elevation of power which would remove the French to a greater distance from the frontiers of Turkey, and prove in future a bulwark against the extension of their empire in that quarter. He was ready, as Mr. Fox observed, to sacrifice a well-understood English object to an ill-defined Russian one. This modification of the original project was received here with great disappointment and ill-humour, and was considered as a breach of faith on the part of the French. We contended that no event had happened which could justify any departure from the first proposals. We could not consent to transfer Albania from its present possessors, who were the friends and allies of England, in order to make compensation to the K. of Sicily for the loss of his dominions, which it was equally our interest and our duty to defend. Dalmatia alone was not to be mentioned as an equivalent for Sicily. But to show our disposition to accommodate matters, it was at length proposed as a compromise, that Dalmatia should be given to the King of Sardinia, with the title of King; and since the new K. of Naples was desirous to have a greater extent of sea-coast, that Sardinia, together with the other Spanish Islands of Majorca, &c., should be added to his kingdom; Sicily on no account could we yield. The Minute which Mr. Fox drew up for the Cabinet, in which he states his reasons compressed into 8 or 10 sentences, is the most able summary ever penned.

In this state of the negotiation, d’Oubril, who a few days before had reminded Mr. Fox of the expression of ‘_piano piano_,’ which he had used in his letter to Czartorisky upon the Grand Confederacy forming last year, signed the peace, the outline of which I have just noted. His excuse for this conduct is said to be the danger to which Russia would be exposed, if they were to persuade Turkey and compel Austria to join in a coalition against her. Austria is so much reduced that she must comply with whatever France demands, and French influence domineers at Constantinople. But these are not supposed to be the true reasons for his conduct. The late changes in the private councils of St. Petersburg are suspected to have had a greater share in determining him, and it is even said that, on the strength of those, he has ventured to take this important step without instructions from his Court. He says, ‘He is gone back to lay his Treaty and head at the feet of his Master.’

Czartorisky,[215] the late Minister of Russia, is a Pole of great consideration and high rank in Poland. He owed his elevation to the partiality of the Empress, who was passionately in love with him. He afterwards became a favourite with Alexander; he played the truant to his mistress, who was for a length of time quite inconsolable at his infidelities. The Empress is with child at present.

[Sidenote: MISSION TO PORTUGAL]

_26th._--It is determined to send a military man to Portugal, and Ld. Rosslyn[216] has been fixed upon for the mission. Ld. H. immediately proposed to him to take Brougham, if he had any person in a civil capacity. He promised to propose him to Ld. Grenville. There is an idea of employing Dumouriez.

Sr. Sidney Smith has taken the Isle of Capri, and the French have been worsted in several encounters in Calabria. Hopes are entertained that we shall be able to defend Sicily against the French, with the aid alone of the Sicilians. The Queen and Duke of Calabria, who are surrounded by persons suspected of being secretly in the French interest, are eager for carrying the war into Calabria.

Great dissatisfaction at Ld. Yarmouth’s conduct, and another negotiator must go. Ld. Holland not being able to leave his uncle, Lauderdale, as the next best person, is to go. It is a sad mortification, as it has long been the darling hope of uncle and nephew; but it would be impossible to go, as Ld. H., besides being useful, is also one of the greatest comforts to Mr. Fox. Mr. F. so ill that none of the last transactions of the preceding three days have been communicated to him.

_27th July._--Mr. Fox stronger, and in better spirits to-day, but there is no material change in his complaint. The news of the Russian Treaty, and the determination of sending Lauderdale to Paris, were communicated to him by Ld. Howick. Upon hearing that L. was to go to Paris, he exclaimed, ‘Why does not Holland go?’ Ld. Howick was perplexed, and stammered by way of excuse the ‘suddenness of the departure’; upon which Fox said, ‘Oh, I understand you!’ and immediately changed the subject. When he saw Ld. Holland about an hour afterwards, he began with saying, ‘So, young one, you won’t go to Paris’; on Ld. Holland’s answering that he preferred staying, as he thought he was a comfort to him, he caught his hand and said, with great emotion, ‘Yes, a comfort indeed,’ and was for several minutes quite overcome and shedding tears. This circumstance is the first event which has given him any apprehension about his own danger.

[Sidenote: LORD YARMOUTH’S CONDUCT]

D’Oubril has written to Stroganoff[217] that he signed the preliminaries with Ld. Yarmouth’s approbation. Ld. Yarmouth in his dispatches says quite the contrary. Copies of the letters have been sent to St. Petersburg. Our Ministers are greatly displeased with Ld. Yarmouth for having presented his credentials the very day after d’Oubril signed, and are not without fear that he may be bullied or won into signing the preliminaries without further instructions. There are some unpleasant suspicions afloat about Ld. Y., especially upon the score of stock-jobbing.[218] General Clarke[219] is the person named to negotiate with him; he was employed upon d’Oubril’s business. The French already show a disposition since the signature of the Russian Treaty, to rise in their demands. They have thrown out hints that they expect _St. Lucia_ and _Tobago_ to be restored to them, and Ld. Y. has of his own head suggested that _Cuba_ should be ceded to the King of Naples, who cannot be reduced to live as a fugitive or subject in the dominions of his son. Ld. Y. is suspected of concealments in his report of his negotiations. A messenger went off instructing him not to proceed in any way, but wait L.’s arrival. Notwithstanding their displeasure, Ld. Y. has been joined in the Commission with Ld. Lauderdale.

_28th._--Mr. Fox nearly in the same state; his spirits are good, and he has still great hopes of recovery. He said this morning, ‘I hope my recovery is not so desperate as peace.’ The news from Paris is every day less favourable, so much that hints have been thrown out to Ld. Yarmouth about the restitution of Pondicheri and Surinam, and the other Dutch colonies in S. America, about the expulsion of the French Princes from England, and a restraint upon the licence of the journals. Ministers are much more discontented with Ld. Y. L. has been told in the most explicit manner by the Cabinet, that if he finds anything in Ld. Y.’s conduct to disapprove of, he has only to give a hint, and he shall be recalled.

Bonaparte is elated beyond his usual tone of insolence since he procured the Russian Treaty; he sent for the Austrian Chargé d’Affaires, and ordered him to signify to his master that he must lay aside the title of Emperor of Germany, and yield the precedence to France, and that he must assent to and recommend the alterations in the constitution of the Empire, which were proposed to be held at Frankfort on the 10th August. The Chargé d’Affaires pleaded that he durst not convey such a message to his Sovereign. ‘_Pourquoi votre maître ne m’envoye-t’-il pas un ambassadeur, et pas un misérable parlementaire?_’

_29th._--Professor Dugald Stewart, who has just arrived from Edinburgh, is to go with L. to Paris. Gaeta is taken, and Sr. Sidney has met with some check in the kingdom of Naples.[220] L. had a conversation alone with Mr. F., in which he opened himself freely. He said he wished to retire from office till he got better, and to have Ld. H., whom he had always destined ultimately to succeed him, appointed to fill his place _pro tempore_, adding that he had been thinking of this for some time, but that he had put it off in the hope of being able to sign the peace before he retired. He bid L. ‘open the matter to Ld. Grenville,’ and added that he ‘would talk further on the subject to Ld. Grenville in 8 or 10 days.’ In a conversation which L. had with Ld. Grenville some time ago, during which they talked of Mr. Fox’s situation and of the small prospect of any amendment in his health, Ld. Grenville said, ‘That he hoped his own conduct had been such as to satisfy Mr. Fox’s friends since the period of their being connected together, and if that disastrous calamity should happen, and most disastrous indeed would it be for the country, he trusted, they would have no reason to be dissatisfied with any future arrangements that might take place.’

Sheridan, who dined here to-day, begged to talk to me privately. He said that it was the wish of many of Fox’s friends, whenever the state of his health should make it impossible for him to attend to the duties of his office, that Ld. H. should be appointed his successor; that such an appointment would be regarded by them as a pledge that the Whig Party was still to be kept up, and its principles maintained; that the Prince was very eager to have them carried into effect; that he had spoken to Windham, who seemed to listen with satisfaction. That he, ‘from delicacy, spoke to me instead of to Ld. H., and begged I would communicate the substance of them to him,’ He told me that George Byng and the second-rate sort of politicians were very eager upon the subject.

Cline, the surgeon, has seen Mr. Fox, and declares himself ready to perform the operation whenever the physicians shall judge it expedient, as he does not see any reason to think the result more formidable to Mr. F. than to any other person.

[Sidenote: A SUCCESSOR TO FOX]

Ld. Howick is full of plans for an Administration, in the event of Mr. Fox’s retirement, or worse. He takes for granted that neither the General or Ld. Fitzwilliam would choose to remain in office if F. were away. He would, in that case, make Whitbread Secretary at War, himself S. for the Home Department, Tom Grenville the Admiralty, Tierney the Board of Control, Ld. H., of course, the Foreign Office; and, said I, ‘Pray where do you put Lauderdale, ye first, greatest, and best lord?’

_31st._--Lauderdale had an interview with Ld. Grenville, and repeated the substance of his late conversation with Mr. F.; Ld. G. listened with great attention, but made no reply. Just as L. went out, he called him back to beg that he would say to Ld. H. that, ‘He had many times abstained from going to Stable Yard, from an apprehension that if Mr. Fox should know he was there, he might suppose he was come upon business and make an effort to see him, which might do him harm; but that if he followed the dictates of his own inclination, he should be there every day,’ Tierney and Ld. Morpeth have both expressed to me very strongly their wishes and the necessity that Ld. H. should be the _locum tenens_ for his uncle.

_1st August._--Ld. Rosslyn has written a letter on the subject of his Mission to Portugal, from which it appears he is not inclined to undertake the services assigned to him. When Admiral Markham read it, he observed upon it that, ‘Ld. St. Vincent, when he sees this, will say the fellow has got dung at his heart.’ Not a very elegant or delicate mode of expression!

It is said that Spain is disposed to a war with France, in consequence of their having discovered that a plan of partitioning Spain is in agitation, by which Estremadura and Galicia are to be annexed to Portugal, and made into a kingdom for the Prince of the Peace,[221] while the rest of Spain is to be given to one of B.’s brothers.

Mr. Goddard (Ld. Henry Spencer’s friend) arrived this evening from Paris with passports for Lauderdale. When the passport was required, Bonaparte exclaimed, ‘What! another passport! Have they not a blank one already? But this is of a piece with the whole of their conduct during the negotiation; delay, delay is their object.’ ‘But will you grant them the passport?’ ‘Yes, and for twenty more if they choose.’

_2nd._--Lauderdale set off for Paris this evening, with Professor Stewart, and Mr. Maddison from the Post Office. Ld. H. gave him a letter to Serra and Prince Masserano.[222]

Mr. Fox better; Vaughan said this morning that there was a greater assemblage of favourable symptoms than there had been any day since he attended.

[Sidenote: SHERIDAN’S INTRIGUES]

Sheridan came here in the evening, and talked over his schemes. He enlarged greatly upon the state in which the House of Commons would be left if Mr. Fox were removed from it; deplored the unpopularity of Ld. Howick, and seemed to insinuate that Petty had been tried and found unfit for the task.[223] He has some project, all founded upon his enmity to Ld. Howick and hereditary suspicion of Ld. Henry, to try and rouse Ld. H.’s old partiality for Canning, and get him and Perceval into the Administration.

_3rd._--Mr. Fox not quite so well.

_4th._--Mr. Fox in high spirits, and talks confidently of meeting Parlt. in October; approves of an early session in time of war. He has not the slightest expectation of peace, and expects Lauderdale’s immediate return.

_5th._--When Bonaparte was told that L. was coming, he said, ‘Comment! on m’envoye un ancien Jacobin.’ D’Oubril had been shut up for 14 hours with General Clarke, before he signed the Preliminaries. It is a dexterous way of carrying a point, to weary out a man’s physical strength, to tame him like a wild beast, to carry your purpose. The pretext was to carry the business through rapidly.

Ali Pacha[224] of Janina has sent a letter which he received from Bonaparte, all written in his own hand, inviting him to form a connection with France. Ali observed he had never received such a mark of respect and confidence from the English. Bonaparte is steady and indefatigable in all his undertakings.

_6th._--Ld. Grenville has proposed to Ld. H. that he should be one of the Commissioners for settling the points in dispute between this country and the U. States of America.[225] Ld. Auckland, as President of the Board of Trade, is to be the other Commissioner. The Americans are Messrs. Monroe[226] and Pinckney.[227] Ld. Howick and others consider this as a delicate opening on the part of Ld. G. to show his readiness to comply with the intimation he had recently had from Mr. F. through Lauderdale.

The operation is to be to-morrow.

_7th._--The operation was performed this morn.; Cline and Hawkins did it. Sixteen quarts of amber-coloured water was drawn off; he bore the operation perfectly well, his pulse very little affected, and no disposition to faintness.

_8th._--Not so well from nausea and lowness.

Ld. H. has accepted the appointment of Commissioner. Mr. Eden is the Secretary (by a shabby artifice of his father’s), Mr. Allen the Assistant-Secretary.

It has been proposed to Tierney to go to Lisbon in the capacity in which Ld. Rosslyn was to have gone. T.’s intimacy with Ld. St. Vincent made him be thought of for the service. Ld. St. V. is to follow with a squadron for carrying off, if necessary, the Portuguese fleet to the Azores, and for transporting the Prince Regent and his friends to Brazil. T. is disinclined, and has refused.

[Sidenote: LAUDERDALE’S MISSION]

_9th._--Ld. Grenville sent for Ld. Rosslyn late last night and renewed his former proposal of sending him to Lisbon. Ld. R. has accepted, and is to set off to-night. The Commissioners are Lds. Rosslyn, St. V., and General Simcoe;[228] and, to my great satisfaction, Mr. Brougham.

_10th._--Mr. Fox continues very low; a great flow from ye wound, the _anasarca_ diminishes fast.

_12th._--No messenger from Paris. It is suspected that some artifice is used to delay the messengers, in order to prolong the negotiation, it being a matter of importance to France to keep up the appearance of a negotiation with England till the changes she meditates in Germany are completed.

[Sidenote: NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE]

_14th._--Messengers in. Immediately on L.’s arrival he presented to the F. Governt. a short recapitulation of what had already passed during the negotiation, recalling to their recollection that the principle on which the E. Governt. had consented to treat was the _uti possidetis_, and reminding them how much this had been forgotten and departed from in their late demands, and concluding with the alternative, either to resume the uti possidetis as the principle of the Treaty, or to send him passports to return to England.[229] Three days elapsed before any answer was given to this note. General Clarke proposed that the business should be carried on by conversations, and not by written notes, which was refused. He also cavilled at some expressions in L.’s note, but at length presented a note couched in rather a high tone, complaining that when the Treaty was far advanced, and that Ld. Yarmouth was on the point of signing, L. should have been sent over to make inadmissible pretensions and to disappoint the hopes which all Europe had conceived of peace. The _uti possidetis_ could not be the basis of the Treaty, unless the Emperor were to be replaced in the possession of Fiume, Treviso, and of all the conquests which he had renounced by the Peace of Presburg. Upon this L. sent for his passports. Three days were employed in sending from one office to another to obtain them, without success. _M. de Lima_ (the Portuguese) called upon him, and implored in the most earnest manner that he would not break off the negotiation, as this would leave Portugal and Spain exposed to certain and immediate destruction. No effect being produced by this manœuvre, and L. persisting in his demand of passports, a 2nd note was sent, expressed in much more civil and moderate language, and tho’ _denying_ that the _uti possidetis_ had ever been admitted as the basis of the Treaty, and declaring that without great modifications it was inadmissible, but concluding with these words, ‘Mais l’Empereur l’adopte puisqu’il le trouve.’ It is remarkable that in this note the word _adopte_ was substituted in the Emperor’s own handwriting, in place of _accepte_ or _admet_. And in the date, the 11th had been inserted instead of the 7th, which had been the original date, so that the note had been detained some days, in hopes of Lauderdale’s yielding. On receiving this, L. addressed a note to the French Governt., in which, without taking any notice of the contents of theirs, he declared he could not go on with the negotiation, unless he had an explicit assurance from them that he should have passports at any time within half an hour, for himself or couriers, whenever he should chance to demand them. This note produced a very civil answer from Talleyrand, ascribing to accident entirely the blame of the former delay, and assuring him that it was in no respect owing to any want of civility to him. Lauderdale returned a second note, in answer to the former one, that he could not negotiate further, unless the _uti possidetis_[230] was distinctly admitted to be the basis of the Treaty, and that every deviation from it should be considered as an exception from the general basis of the peace. Things were in this state when Basilico was sent away.

Ministers, especially Ld. Grenville, are extremely pleased with L.’s conduct, particularly in his note on the subject of passports, after he received the second note from General Clarke. A Council was held immediately, in which it was determined to recall Ld. Yarmouth, and Basilico was sent back in the evening with an order to that effect. The reason for this measure:--1st, d’Oubril’s account and Ld. Yarmouth’s of the conclusion of the Russian Treaty are in flat contradiction. D’Oubril has written to Stroganoff that he signed the article with Ld. Yarmouth’s knowledge and approbation. 2ndly, Ld. Yarmouth seems to have spent some weeks at Talleyrand’s country house last autumn, tho’ he gave Ministry to understand that he was hardly acquainted with him. 3rdly, Ly. Yarmouth is very much connected with Monteron,[231] an agent of Talleyrand’s, and employed in his office.

Favourable accounts of the disposition of the new Russian Governt. towards this country; Stroganoff has received letters to that effect from the new Prime Minister, _Budberg_,[232] in which he expresses very strongly Alexander’s high opinion as well as his confidence in Mr. Fox. Stroganoff thinks Russia will _not_ ratify d’Oubril’s preliminaries.

Ld. Granville Leveson arrived this day from Petersburg, dined here, and is looking handsomer than ever. I have not seen him these four years.[233]

American Commissioners very amicable; disposed to settle the differences, and to conclude a Treaty of Commerce between the two countries.

_20th._--Ld. Howick dissatisfied with Sr. J. Borlase Warren, who lost three days after he got orders to sail, and wasted three more at Madeira, instead of going straight to ye W. Indies, by which Jerome may escape.[234] Alderman Prinsep did not know how to open the Stock Exchange.

Alas! Mr. Fox begins to fill again; they talk of another operation in three weeks.

Lauderdale is abused at Paris, and represented as having deserted Fox. Goldsmid is supposed to be Ld. Yarmouth’s agent in the Stock Exchange, and to have transacted business for him to a great amount. Narbonne was admonished not to visit L. so frequently, Fouché sent for him to that purpose. Emperor gone to hunt, his Ministers rejoice at his absence whilst in so violent a mood; they call him _bête féroce_.

[Sidenote: FOX’S HEALTH]

Second operation performed on Sunday. Bore the operation extremely well; less water taken from him than on the former occasion, but he was more completely emptied. Some pints of water which had remained in ye abdomen were drawn off; fell soon after into a state of languor and depression, but the physicians flattered themselves he had gained strength in the interval between the operations, and that he would soon be able to bear the course of medicines which they judged necessary for his recovery, and in this hope they remained until Monday, the 7th September. Water had, in this interval, flowed repeatedly from the wound in the abdomen, and the quantity of urine discharged had augmented. They said there was a greater assemblage of favourable symptoms than had appeared since they had been called in.

Sunday, ye 6th September, Vaughan thought that he felt some hardness in the region of the liver, which made him speak much more doubtingly to Ld. H. about Mr. Fox’s recovery than he had done the day before. On Monday as he was led about the rooms at Chiswick[235] to look at the pictures, a _gush_ of water burst from the wound, which had been closed for some hours; he fell into a state of alarming weakness, and continued so the whole of that and the succeeding day. A catch in his breathing. We were sent for, and reached Chiswick by two, and found him in this deplorable state. He was low, and never spoke willingly, but every now and then got up in consequence of some irritation in his bowels. He swallowed nothing but brandy, usquebaugh, and other strong cordials; his senses and understanding never left him, tho’ he spoke very little till Wednesday, when he reminded Ld. H. of a promise made to him in Stable Yard, of telling him when he was in danger. It was a painful duty, but he fulfilled it, and told him what the physicians thought. He thanked him with his usual tenderness.

On Wednesday, about 4, he began to revive, and during the night, whilst Ld. H. was sitting up with him, carried on a conversation in French, that his servant, who was present, might not understand it, as it regarded Mrs. Fox, &c. He had a few hours rest, and continued to get better. In the course of the morning he was wheeled into an adjoining room, and put on his spectacles to look at a caricature which Ld. L. had sent from Paris. I went into the room, kissed his hand, and he spoke kindly to me. During this amendment, he told Ld. H. he had never been in such danger as the physicians had apprehended. He had said on Tuesday night to Vaughan, ‘I have had a sad struggle for it, do you think it will do?’

[Sidenote: FOX’S DEATH]

On Friday morning he became languid without any apparent cause, and continued afterwards to sink without any interruption. His senses were good, but he used the wrong word to express his meaning, and seemed hurt that he could not find the right one. On Saturday death was fast approaching; his pulse became every moment feebler, but still regular, his breathing was deep, his strength gradually failing. Mrs. Fox sat upon the bed, holding his hand; he looked upon her with that sweet smile so expressive of all the benevolence and goodness of his heart. He articulated distinctly, ‘I die happy’; his last words were, ‘Bless you, I pity you.’ He died without a struggle or groan at ¼ before 6 o’clock, on Saturday, the 13th September, 1806.

The scene of unaffected grief was awful; every room contained a friend who shed unfeigned bitter tears. Ld. Fitzwilliam was so overcome that, for some time, it was feared he would follow the fate of his beloved friend. Ld. Holland and General Fitzpatrick immediately went to Mrs. Fox. A sad scene ensued. She wished the whole family should remain as long as the body continued at Chiswick; accordingly ourselves and the General continued until -- September. His body was examined by Mr. Cline. Ld. Howick was at Chiswick, and sent off a messenger to Windsor. The first account of Mr. Fox’s danger was communicated to Ld. Grenville by Petty, on Monday night, the 8th Sept., and he was very much affected on receiving the intelligence, which was quite unexpected. When informed of his death by Ld. Howick, he inquired what was proposed for his funeral, and when told that Ld. Holland had given orders that he should be buried in the family vault at Foxley,[236] he expressed his disappointment, and asked Ld. Howick what he thought fit. Finding they were of the same opinion, he offered to recommend to the King that a public funeral should be ordered. However, the private and political friends thought it more consistent with the simplicity and dignity of his character that he should be attended to the grave by his friends, public and private, without the interference of Governt., and an application signed by many of the friends was addressed to Lord H., begging that he might be interred in W. Abbey, and attended by his friends.[237]

The answer of the King to Ld. Howick’s notification of Mr. Fox’s death was in the coldest possible style, and did not express even sorrow for the event. When Ld. Grenville told him that he had given the Seals to Ld. Spencer, he approved of it, and added that there was no hurry about disposing of them, and recommended Ld. Grenville to take his time (considered as an intimation to take in the Pitts). He received Ld. Howick very coldly, and made the inquiries about Mrs. Fox from ye other Ministers.

A communication from Ld. Grenville through Ld. Howick to General Fitzpatrick to take Ld. H. into the Cabinet. Ld. Howick acknowledged Ld. Holland was the fittest to succeed in the Foreign Department, but that he could not undertake to lead in the H. of Commons if he remained at the Admiralty, the fatigue being too great. T. Grenville grumbled at the Admiralty, as the public looked to Ld. Spencer if a change were necessary, besides disliking the duties of the office.[238] Ld. Grenville wanted Tom to lead the H. of Commons; and there was a proposal of his being made Secretary for ye Home Department, and Windham kicked upstairs by a peerage, in order that he might, when Ld. Howick goes to the Lords, be considered as the head--impracticable from T. Grenville’s coldness of character, and, I think, want of the right stuff in his head.

[Sidenote: CABINET CHANGES]

The strongest reason which the Grenvilles have for proposing the Whigs to the Opposition in forming a new Administration, is that they can depend upon them in case of a quarrel with the King, which they could not on such men as Hawkesbury and Castlereagh. They are out of humour with Windham. On ye 19th September they proposed the peerage, and hoped he might bite at it, to escape from the Norfolk election, which will be strongly contested. Peace perhaps might be easier with Whigs, but tho’ Ld. Grenville is strenuous for peace, there seems to be very little hopes of attaining it at present.

Prussia has offered to go to war with France, and, with the concurrence of Russia, to guarantee Hanover to the King of England. Ld. Howick is very warlike. Whitbread has been absurdly extravagant in his views and demands; talks of the Cabinet!

Ld. Holland has agreed to accept the Privy Seal, with a full understanding, however, with Ld. Howick, that his views are directed to the Foreign Office, and that he only accepts this insignificant charge to serve the party, and satisfy that part of his uncle’s party who might suspect the Grenvilles, were he overlooked.[239] All this was subject to the approbation of the Prince of Wales and his uncle’s friends. He stipulated that in case of peace, he might resign in favour of Lauderdale, and go, if he chose, to Paris. Ld. Grenville agreed to his changing Privy Seal for Paris, and that Lauderdale might come in; not otherwise, as retiring from office would be injurious to the Governt.

An affectionate letter to Ld. H. from the Prince, expressing his wish that Ld. H. might be successor to his uncle in the Seals.

_20th._--A letter of Murat to the King of Prussia, addressing him by the style of ‘Mon Frère,’ is said to have been the origin of these movements of the Prussians against France.[240] Another is that Lucchesini has discovered, and communicated to his Court, Bonaparte’s scheme of annexing the Prussian States in Westphalia to Murat’s dominions. Some think Lucchesini is capable of having made this communication on the suggestion of Bonaparte, who would be glad of a pretext to reduce the Prussian power. The Prussians and Saxons are 240,000 ready to take the field. The French 220,000 to oppose them. Prince Louis,[241] son of Prince Ferdinand of Prussia, is the person who has the most hostility against France, and who is eager for military renown. Austria is determined to remain neutral.

Windham peremptorily refused the peerage. When he talked to Petty of the proposal, he mentioned it as being whimsical, that, as the great distress was the want of talent in the H. of Commons, they should therefore move their best speaker into the House of Lords.[242] Ld. Howick is _now_ desirous of retaining the Admiralty; he is satisfied of the impolicy of giving up such a mine of patronage, and has, in idea, been long enough in possession of the Foreign Office to be weary of it, but unluckily it is too late. The Foxites have not _one_ office which has patronage annexed to it.

[Sidenote: THE NEW CABINET]

The plan is finally fixed:--Mr. Grenville, Admiralty; Ld. Howick, F. Department; Ld. H., Privy Seal; Ld. Sidmouth, P. of the Council; Ld. Fitzwm., Seat in Cabinet, without office; Tierney, Board of Control. Ld. Howick had a thousand _freaks_, for they were too wild to be called plans, the burthen of which was that if he could not do things his own way, he would go out. He assured Ld. Holland through the General, and to _himself_ also, that he considered himself merely as _locum tenens_ during the period of his being in the H. of Commons, and that his being in the office ought not to be considered as an obstacle to Ld. H.’s views, he knowing also what Mr. Fox’s intentions had been upon that subject. In short, as far as professions and assurances can go, we must feel satisfied that he will make the offer when he is removed to the H. of Lords. The General says, ‘I have no doubt he is sincere now, but when the impression of Fox’s loss wears away, perhaps his intentions may change.’

_22nd._--Messenger from Lauderdale. He has had a severe bilious attack, caused, D. Stewart thinks, a good deal by the sad tidings from England. Talleyrand full of overstrained civility. England, he said, had a right to dictate her own terms, she being in a most commanding station. France has only to be careful not to concede too much. They want to have back Surinam and Demerara. L. has demanded Cuba in exchange. Capture of Buenos Ayres produced little sensation at Paris.[243] Emperor left Paris. Ld. Morpeth is to go to Berlin immediately.[244]

_25th._--In consequence of Ld. M.’s declining to go on acct. of the shortness of notice, Ld. Henry Petty having expressed some desire to go, Ld. Howick gladly caught at it, and it was mentioned to the King. Upon Ld. Holland hearing of it, he did his utmost, both in conversation and by letter, to dissuade Petty, who was so much shook by Ld. H.’s arguments that he was as eager to seek a pretext to avoid going as he had been before to get one to go, and he availed himself of some difficulties about putting the Seals into commission. Ld. Carlisle wished Morpeth to go, and accordingly he has agreed, and very kindly is to take B. Frere[245] with him, whom he will leave, in case he comes away, as Chargé d’Affaires, which will be getting B. F. employment, and perhaps a grade hereafter.

Lds. Grenville and Howick wrote to the Prince after Mr. Fox’s death. His answer to Lord Howick was that he wished for no change but that Ld. Holland should have his uncle’s Seals. But, being in the meantime informed of the arrangements agreed upon, he wrote to Ld. G. that his political interest was buried in the grave with Mr. Fox, but that, as it was probable he might at some future time be again forced to public matters, he thought it proper to say that he was ready to give his support to the present Administration, on acct. of the friends he had in it, and that he should always look to ye friends of Mr. Fox, and particularly to Ld. H., as his own political friends.

[Sidenote: LORD HOLLAND’S POST]

The Duke of Bedford in writing, and the D. of Norfolk in conversation, have also expressed to Ld. H. that they look upon him as his uncle’s representative in the Whig Party. Ld. H. stipulated, as it was his uncle’s wish, that the first blue ribbon was to be given to the D. of Norfolk. Agreed to.

Ld. Holland strenuously against sending any person to Prussia, but to allow whatever business there may be to be transacted by the Minister, Jacobi,[246] who is at Hambro’ [_sic_] on the part of Prussia, and by Mr. Thornton on our part, our Minister at Hambro’.

On the 10th October, the funeral of Mr. Fox. He was accompanied to the grave by his old friends, public and private, and by the Ministers. I was present in a gallery erected for me in the Abbey over the grave.

* * * * *

_12th December, 1806._[247]--The fragment of the Prussian army may amount altogether to about 50,000 men. Old Kalkreuth, who made his escape after the Battle of Auerstadt, is in Dantzic with 12,000. The King is not at Petersburg, but whenever he is, his councils are directed by Haugwitz more than ever, which makes him perfectly nugatory.

The Russian Proclamation, which declares the necessity of Wallachia and Moldavia being occupied by their troops,[248] has excited alarm and distrust in the Austrian Cabinet. Those Courts are wrangling about punctilios, just as if Bonaparte were not alive. The Austrians want to coalesce with Russia, but they are afraid and undecided; however, Pozzo di Borgo, who is in the Russian Military Service, is despatched to Vienna to see whether he can bring about any co-operation. Little can be expected even if he does, Bonaparte has so completely secured his rear and kept a communication with France by means of menacing and cajoling, that all attempts against him are idle.

[Sidenote: KING OF SWEDEN]

The King of Sweden, tho’ very wrong-headed, and ill-gifted with that rare commodity common sense, has some notion of honour and high sense of it. Bernadotte, either at Altona or Hamburg, made some overtures to the Swedish Minister, saying that Bonaparte had always considered the King of Sweden as the only high-spirited Monarch; talked of the old alliance between France and Sweden, and threw out hints of Bonaparte’s willingness to give him Norway. The only notice the K. of Sweden bestowed upon this was a severe reproof and recall of his Minister for listening to any proposals from the French, and giving instructions to have the whole proceeding laid before the Danish Government, in order to show them the perfidy of the French, who were soliciting their friendship.[249] Our Government intend to augment his subsidy, and hold out a prospect hereafter of giving him ships to assist in the conquest of an island, Martinique or Guadalupe. The Danes are terrified, and will yield Holstein if the French should be peremptory; not, it is to be hoped, with impunity on our part.

The Opposition are full of jokes against Tierney; they say the dissolution was entirely his scheme, that by its suddenness they might be taken by surprise and unprepared, but that it appeared that he himself was the least prepared, and the most surprised. He lost the Borough.[250]

An abundance of speculators have gone with English goods to Buenos Ayres, enough to make a glut in the market, and merchants have sent over, it is said, to buy English goods, as they will be quite a drug there. Auchmuty[251] is gone with considerable reinforcements thither.

General Craufurd’s[252] expedition is to land at Val Paraiso in the South Sea; it was delayed so long that the passage by Cape Horn would be impracticable, therefore they must go round the Cape, a voyage of eight months. This expedition was delayed on account of the negotiation. Peace was once expected, but even then it was a mistaken policy, in my humble opinion, as Bonaparte is an enemy who will respect you more, if you will not only show your teeth but bite with them too.

The Government of the United States has detected the conspiracy which has long been gathering to break off the Northern from the Southern States, and so to make the Allegany Mountains the boundary. Mr. Burr,[253] who killed General Hamilton, is the head of it, and orders have been given to arrest him. General Wilkinson with the army is in the South and declared for Burr.

_J. Hoppner Pinscit, 1798_ _Emery Walker Ph.sc._

_John, Viscount Boringdon_

(_afterwards Earl of Morley_)]

[Sidenote: BURR’S CONSPIRACY]

Burr laid the whole plot open to our Minister, and asked the assistance of England; Merry transmitted the communication to Ld. Mulgrave,[254] who, as usual, returned no answer.

Ld. Grenville calls the American a _Mob Government_, and one too weak to carry its own measures into effect.

The Scotch Peers elections have gone well; Ld. Melville was cruelly disappointed, he expected to carry four, and only carried Ld. Aberdeen. Kinnaird behaved imprudently and foolishly; however, Ld. Lauderdale’s dexterity and activity carried him through. Till the very moment before the election, Lord Melville reckoned upon carrying _four_.

Deliberations in the Cabinet upon an attack on Mexico; Ld. Grenville sent to Ld. H. Sr. Arthur Wellesley’s plan.[255] Sir Arthur Wellesley appears to have obtained all his information with respect to the accessible points for attacking S. America, New Spain, from a Mr. Frazier.

_18th December._--Lauderdale entertains no doubt whatever that the note so very offensive in its language to him was written, and also that it was written by the Emperor himself; and, moreover, that the Ministers, to avoid a severe reprimand from him for having ventured to suppress it, have thus impudently ventured to publish it officially. The other speculation is that the order for the publication of the correspondence was sent from Berlin, and the clerks published _all_, _brouillons_ included. This is the most probable.

The melancholy year of 1806 died with another loss: the D. of Richmond[256] died at Goodwood of suppressed gout and a liver complaint, discovered only after death.

News of the recapture of Buenos Ayres believed by the Government. It rests upon the declaration of a Portuguese Captain, who reached Lisbon in 43 days from Pernambuco; he says a Spanish schooner came in there dismasted, who was the bearer of dispatches to Old Spain, giving an account of the retaking of the town after a severe contest. It must be highly gratifying to Ld. Howick that he should have made his manly exposition of Sr. Home Popham’s improper conduct before this news, when the shabby people will be as ready to cry against the business, as they have been ready to praise it. An instance of the money-getting spirit of Sr. Home came to my knowledge lately. He wrote to the merchants at Manchester advising the exportation of certain goods, but to his own agent he bid him send him, upon speculation, a large quantity of silk stockings, with a hint that this order should not transpire. B. Frere assured me he was acquainted with the silk-stocking merchant who supplied the articles.

[Sidenote: LORD ELDON AND THE KING]

The business of the Princess,[257] which is now before the Cabinet, is highly perplexing, and from the answer given by the K. to the Minute of the Cabinet, there is good reason to suspect he has some secret advisers. The style is much too business-like, and shows too much knowledge of law to be his own. This suspicion is confirmed by the line of conduct taken in the H. of Lds.; it is quite distinct from Canning’s in the H. of Commons, as they did not move the Address. Ld. Eldon had for many years the management of the D. of Portland’s estates; in consequence of which, he had frequent access to him, and thereby acquired considerable influence over his mind. The King has appointed the D. of Portland his Master of his own private Monies. Thus upon pretence of his private affairs, the K. has a channel of communication with Ld. Eldon, which Ministers can in no way get at or interfere with.

There are avowed schisms amongst the Opposition; Canning is distinct from Perceval, and from Castlereagh. If the _great man_ of all does meddle in the H. of Lds., those in the Commons are not entrusted with the secret of his benign influence.

A curious petition under the Treating Act against Messrs. Windham and Coke, curious because it is not brought by the rejected candidate, who, on the contrary, declares he is not privy to the petition. It is the result of female spleen and revenge, a retaliation upon Mr. Windham for an election trick played by his party against these incensed heroines, Mesdames Atkins and Berney.[258] They had induced some electors to come forward and petition under the Treating Act; the three candidates unwisely consented to treat, not suspecting mischief could ensue from any other quarter. Mrs. Atkins was a celebrated actress, formerly of the name of Walpole. Her coadjutor is as great a virago as herself. ‘_La vengeance est douce à l’esprit d’une femme._’ Windham had a double return, so will sit for some rotten borough. Serjeant Lens, who is his counsel, rather despairs of making out a defensible case.

The expedition of General Craufurd, which was _not_ to take Teneriffe on its way to the S. Sea because it would take too much time, is now loitering and beating off the Cape de Verd Islands for want of convoy, which convoy has not at this moment quitted England.

_January 4th, 1807._--The American Treaty is at length signed; it must go to the U. States for ratification before it can be made public. The only point gained is the settling the ill-humour, and fixing the continuous voyage;[259] the seamen question is still unsettled.

[Sidenote: DEBATE ON THE NEGOTIATION]

_6th January._--Last night upon the subject of the negotiation, Whitbread took the most hostile line against Government, arguments mingled with invective against their conduct from the beginning to the end of the negotiation. He _applauded_ Ld. Yarmouth’s proceedings, censured the recalling him, as well as the motives assigned for it, and found fault with everything done by Lauderdale; concluding the whole in the most personal manner to Grey, by moving the _same_ amendment that Grey himself had moved on the Address to the King when Ld. Whitworth’s papers were under consideration.[260] Ld. Yarmouth, conceiving himself to be the injured party, spoke with warmth against Ministers; Perceval, with bitterness and scurrility against Fox. This strange conduct of Whitbread’s will be productive of great mischief, and unfortunately Ld. Holland, from an apprehension of being overcome if he risked mentioning his uncle’s name in public, did not speak on the night of the debate in ye House of Lords. His silence and Whitbread’s garrulity will corroborate the French story of the Fox party being discontented with Lauderdale’s conduct. This, however, can and will be justified immediately by his speaking, with or without an opportunity.

During the debate L. sat next to the Prince, who seemed mightily to relish Ld. Yarmouth’s occasional raps at the Grenvilles, and shortly after opened very freely upon his dissatisfaction; told him to sound H. upon the subject of the Pss., in which he spoke as if he suspected he was _given up_, and to ascertain whether, if so, he, Ld. H., was prepared to go out upon it; deeply deplored the loss of Fox, who was a _man_, fair, open, and attached. L. collected, which combined with other circumstances that had come to his knowledge, that Ld. Moira is playing a deep game, by trying to draw a line in the Cabinet of Prince’s friends and Grenville’s. He has never recovered the double disappointment, first, of not being made First Lord of the Treasury and Patron of Scotland, and, secondly, of not being acknowledged the successor of Fox in the Whig party. That is to say, the Prince styles himself the head of the Whig party, in imitation of his uncle, the D. of Cumberland, who was so in 1764, forgetting how foolish that was, but how much more foolish it is in an Heir Apparent! However, with this idea thrust upon him by Ld. Moira, he is the more likely to concur with Moira’s views, who would content himself with being styled his assistant upon such an assumption.

Ld. Holland dined at the India House where Ld. Minto had been sworn in;[261] Ld. M.’s spirit excessively depressed. If annoyed at going, why seek the appointment by such means?

[Sidenote: WHITBREAD’S SPEECH]