Dropmore, Dec. 2nd, 1796.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,
I have been followed here to-night by a letter, to mention that
above twelve millions are already subscribed to the loan, and that
it may very probably be full to-morrow, so that I had no time to
lose in doing what of course the public will expect from me. I have
therefore desired that L10,000 may be subscribed to-morrow in my
name; and I imagine that by getting Coutts to advance the two first
payments, and transferring the stock, at whatever loss, the moment
it is transferable, I shall be able _me tirer d'affaire_, better
than I had hoped. It was my intention to have written to you
to-morrow, to let you know what other persons in your sort of
situation and class had done; but what I have now heard, makes me
think that I ought to send to you without delay, in order that you
may know how the thing stands, and of course afterwards judge for
yourself whether to do anything, and what.
The only names that have been mentioned to me, except among my
colleagues, are the Duke of Bridgewater and the Duke of Bedford!
each L100,000, and Lord Romney and Lord Carrington each L40,000,
besides L100,000, which the house of Smith and Co. subscribe as
bankers.
Lord Spencer, Lord Liverpool, Pitt and Dundas, subscribe L10,000,
as I have done; the two last will, I believe, have still more
difficulty in finding it than I shall.
You will, of course, not imagine that by sending to you in this
manner, I have the least idea of saying or suggesting to you to do
anything but what may have occurred to yourself, but I thought you
would naturally expect to hear these particulars from me.
Other news I have none. There was a report yesterday that Kehl was
surprised by the Austrians, but I could not trace it to any certain
source.
God bless you, my dear brother.
The time had now arrived when the English Cabinet believed that an
attempt might be made to negotiate for peace, without compromising its
honour. In the preceding March, the ambassador to the Helvetic States
had been authorized to inquire of the Government of France, through the
medium of their representative, whether they were disposed to entertain
such a negotiation. The answer was so unsatisfactory, laying down as a
peremptory condition the retention of all those conquests which, during
the course of the war, had been annexed to the republic, that nothing
more was then done in the matter. The subject was resumed in September,
and, the Directory having signified their readiness to grant passports
to any persons who should be furnished with full powers and official
papers, Lord Malmesbury was appointed as plenipotentiary on the part of
His Britannic Majesty to treat for peace with the French Republic. On
the 22nd of October his Lordship announced to M. de la Croix, the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, his arrival in Paris in that capacity. The
negotiations occupied nearly two months, and the main point of
difficulty turned upon the Netherlands, Lord Malmesbury, who acted
strictly on his instructions, making the restoration of the Netherlands
a _sine qua non_, and M. de la Croix repeatedly stating that this
difficulty was one which could not be overcome. The negotiations had
arrived at that stage which made this insuperable difficulty perfectly
clear and unmistakeable on both sides, when Mr. Talbot, a gentleman
connected with Lord Malmesbury's embassy, addressed the following letter
to Lord Buckingham. No allusion will be found in it to the pending
negotiations, which were of too delicate and important a nature to be
touched upon in a private letter; but it is very curious and
interesting, as presenting a picture of the state of France at that
period.