_Motives of the War in Germany..... Conspiracy in Sweden.....
Measures taken by the King of Prussia and Elector of
Hanover..... Endeavours of the Court of Vienna to frustrate
them..... His Prussian Majesty demands an Explanation from
the Empress-Queen..... Her Answer..... The Prussian Army
enters Saxony, and publishes a Manifesto..... Prince
Ferdinand takes Leipsic..... King of Prussia takes
Possession of Dresden, and blocks up the King of Poland at
Pirna..... Prussian Army penetrates into Bohemia, and fights
the Battle of Lowoschutz..... Saxon Army surrenders.....
King of Poland’s Memorial to the States-General.....
Imperial Decrees published against the King of Prussia.....
Declarations of different Powers..... His Prussian Majesty’s
Answer to the Saxon Memorial..... and Justification of his
Conduct..... Remarks on both those Pieces...... Disputes
between the Parliament of Paris and the Clergy..... Dearth
of Corn in England..... Hanoverian Auxiliaries sent
back..... Session opened..... Debates on the Address.....
Bill passed for prohibiting the Exportation of Corn.....
Message to the House concerning Admiral Byng..... Supplies
granted..... Reflections on the Continental War......
Message from the King to the Parliament..... Measures taken
to remove the Scarcity of Corn..... Militia Bill.....
Petitions for and against it..... Altered by the Lords.....
Bill for quartering the Foreign Troops, and for regulating
the Marines while on Shore..... Bill for the more speedy
recruiting the Land-Forces and Marines..... Act relating to
Pawnbrokers and Gaming-Houses..... Laws relating to the
Wages of Weavers, and to the Improvement of the British
Fishery..... Act for importing American Iron Duty free.....
Regulations with respect to the Importation of Silk.....
Smugglers encouraged to enter into his Majesty’s
Service..... Inquiry into the Scarcity of Corn.....
Investigation of the Loss of Minorca..... Examination of the
American Contract..... Inquiry into the Conduct of Admiral
Snowies, as Governor of Jamaica..... Resolutions concerning
Milford-Haven..... Session closed..... Trial of Admiral
Byng..... Recommended to Mercy..... Message from the King to
the Parliament respecting the Sentence..... Bill to release
the Members of the Court-Martial from their Oath of
Secrecy..... Execution of Admiral Byng..... Paper delivered
by him to the Marshal of the Admiralty..... Remarks on his
Fate_
MOTIVES OF THE WAR IN GERMANY.
Having thus, to the best of our power, given a faithful and exact detail
of every material event in which Great Britain was concerned, either at
home, or in her settlements abroad, during the greatest part of the year
one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, we shall now return to Europe,
and endeavour to explain the beginning of a bloody war in Germany, which
then seemed to have become the chief object of the British councils. On
the eve of a rupture between France and England, it was natural for his
Britannic majesty to provide for the safety of his electoral dominions,
the only quarter by which he was at all accessible to the efforts of the
enemy, who he foresaw would not fail to annoy him through that avenue.
He, at that time, stood upon indifferent terms with the king of Prussia,
who was considered as a partisan and ally of France; and he knew that
the house of Austria alone would not be sufficient to support him
against two such powerful antagonists. In this emergency, he had
recourse to the empress of Russia, who, in consequence of a large
subsidy granted by England, engaged to furnish a strong body of forces
for the defence of Hanover. His Prussian majesty, startled at the
conditions of this treaty, took an opportunity to declare that he would
not suffer foreign forces of any nation to enter the empire, either as
principals or auxiliaries; a declaration which probably flowed from a
jealousy and aversion he had conceived to the court of Petersburgh, as
well as from a resolution he had formed of striking some great stroke in
Germany, without any risk of being restricted or controlled. He knew
he should give umbrage to the French king, who had already made
preparations for penetrating into Westphalia; but he took it for
granted he should be able to exchange his connexions with France for the
alliance with Great Britain, which would be much less troublesome, and
much more productive of advantage: indeed, such an alliance was the
necessary consequence of his declaration. Had his Britannic majesty
made a requisition of the Russian auxiliaries, he must have exposed
himself to the resentment of a warlike monarch, who hovered on the
skirts of his electorate at the head of one hundred and forty thousand
men, and could have subdued the whole country in one week; and if he
forbore to avail himself of the treaty with the czarina, he did not know
how soon the king of Prussia might be reconciled to his most christian
majesty’s design of invasion. As for the empress-queen, her attention
was engrossed by schemes for her interest or preservation; and her hands
so full, that she either could not, or would not, fulfil the engagements
she had contracted with her former and firmest allies. In these
circumstances the king of England sought and obtained the alliance of
Prussia, which, to the best of our comprehension, entailed upon Great
Britain the enormous burden of extravagant subsidies, together with the
intolerable expense of a continental war, without being productive of
one advantage, either positive or negative, to England or Hanover. On
the contrary, this connexion threw the empress-queen into the arms of
France, whose friendship she bought at the expense of the barrier in the
Netherlands, acquired with infinite labour, by the blood and treasure of
the maritime powers; it gave birth to a confederacy of despotic princes;
sufficient, if their joint force was fully exerted, to overthrow the
liberties of all the free states in Europe; and, after all, Hanover has
been overrun, and subdued by the enemy; and the king of Prussia put to
the ban of the empire. All these consequences are, we apprehend, fairly
deducible from the resolution which his Prussian majesty took, at this
juncture, to precipitate a war with the house of Austria. The apparent
motives that prompted him to this measure we shall presently explain. In
the meantime, the defensive treaty between the empress-queen and France
was no sooner ratified, than the czarina was invited to accede to the
alliance, and a private minister sent from Paris to Petersburgh, to
negotiate the conditions of this accession, which the empress of Russia
accordingly embraced: a circumstance so agreeable to the court of
Versailles, that the marquis de l’Hôpital was immediately appointed
ambassador-extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the court of Russia.
Applications were likewise made to the courts of Madrid and Turin,
soliciting their concurrence; but their catholic and Sardinian majesties
wisely resolved to observe a neutrality. At the same time, intrigues
were begun by the French emissaries in the senate of Sweden, in order
to kindle up a war between that nation and Prussia; and their endeavours
succeeded in the sequel, even contrary to the inclination of their
sovereign. At present, a plot was discovered for altering the form of
government, by increasing the power of the crown; and several persons
of rank being convicted upon trial, were beheaded as principals in this
conspiracy. Although it did not appear that the king or queen were at
all concerned in the scheme, his Swedish majesty thought himself so
hardly treated by the diet, that he threatened to resign his royalty,
and retire into his own hereditary dominions. This design was extremely
disagreeable to the people in general, who espoused his cause in
opposition to the diet, by whom they conceived themselves more oppressed
than they should have been under an unlimited monarchy.
MEASURES TAKEN BY THE KING OF PRUSSIA AND ELECTOR OF HANOVER.
The king of Prussia, alarmed at these formidable alliances, ordered all
his forces to be completed, and held in readiness to march at the first
notice; and a report was industriously circulated, that by a secret
article in the late treaty between France and the house of Austria,
these two powers had obliged themselves to destroy the protestant
religion, and overturn the freedom of the empire, by a forced election
of a king of the Romans. The cry of religion was no impolitic measure;
but it no longer produced the same effect as in times past. Religion was
made a pretence on both sides; for the partisans of the empress-queen
insinuated, on all occasions, that the ruin of the catholic faith in
Germany was the principal object of the new alliance between the kings
of Great Britain and Prussia. It was in consequence of such suggestions,
that his Britannic majesty ordered his electoral minister at the diet,
to deliver a memorial to all the ministers at Ratisbon, expressing his
surprise to find the treaty he had concluded with the king of Prussia
industriously represented as a ground of apprehension and umbrage,
especially for religion. He observed, that as France had made open
dispositions for invading the electorate of Hanover, and disturbing the
peace of the empire; that as he had been denied, by the empress-queen,
the succours stipulated in treaties of alliance; and as he was refused
assistance by certain states of the empire, who even seemed disposed to
favour such a diversion: he had, in order to provide for the security
of his own dominions, to establish peace and tranquillity in the
empire, and maintain its system and privileges, without any prejudice to
religion, concluded a defensive treaty with the king of Prussia; that,
by this instance of patriotic zeal for the welfare of Germany, he had
done an essential service to the empress-queen, and performed the part
which the head of the empire, in dignity and duty, ought to have acted;
that time would demonstrate how little it was the interest of the
empress-queen to engage in a strict alliance with a foreign power,
which, for upwards of two centuries, had ravaged the principal provinces
of the empire, maintained repeated wars against the archducal house
of Austria, and always endeavoured, as it suited her views, to excite
distrust and dissension among the princes and states that compose the
Germanic body.
The court of Vienna formed two considerable armies in Bohemia
and Moravia; yet pretended that they had nothing in view but
self-preservation, and solemnly disclaimed both the secret article,
and the design which had been laid to their charge. His most christain
majesty declared, by his minister at Berlin, that he had no other
intention but to maintain the public tranquillity of Europe; and, this
being the sole end of all his measures, he beheld with surprise the
preparations and armaments of certain potentates; that, whatever might
be the view with which they were made, he was dis posed to make use of
the power which God had put into his hands, not only to maintain the
public peace of Europe against all who should attempt to disturb it,
but also to employ all his forces, agreeably to his engagements, for
the assistance of his ally, in case her dominions should be attacked;
finally, that he would act in the same manner in behalf of all the other
powers with whom he was in alliance. This intimation made very little
impression upon the king of Prussia, who had already formed his plan,
and was determined to execute his purpose. What his original plan
might have been, we shall not pretend to disclose; nor do we believe he
imparted it to any confidant or ally. It must be confessed, however,
that the intrigues of the court of Vienna furnished him with a specious
pretence for drawing the sword, and commencing hostilities. The
empress-queen had some reason to be jealous of such a formidable
neighbour. She remembered his irruption into Bohemia, in the year one
thousand seven hundred and forty-four, at a time when she thought that
country, and all her other dominions, secure from his invasion by the
treaty of Breslau, which she had in no particular contravened. She
caballed against him in different courts of Europe; she concluded a
treaty with the czarina, which, though seemingly defensive, implied
an intention of making conquests upon this monarch; she endeavoured to
engage the king of Poland, elector of Saxony, as a contracting power in
this confederacy; and, if he had not been afraid of a sudden visit from
his neighbour of Prussia, it cannot be supposed but he would have been
pleased to contribute to the humiliation of a prince, who had once
before, without the least provocation, driven him from his dominions,
taken possession of his capital, routed his troops, and obliged him
to pay a million of crowns, to indemnify him for the expense of this
expedition; but he carefully avoided taking such a step as might expose
him to another invasion, and even refused to accede to the treaty of
Petersburgh, though it was expressly defensive; the _casus fæderus_
being, his Prussian majesty’s attacking either of the contracting
parties. It appears, however, that count de Bruhl, prime minister and
favourite of the king of Poland, had, in conjunction with some of the
Austrian ministers, carried on certain scandalous intrigues, in order to
embroil the king of Prussia with the empress of Russia, between whom a
misunderstanding had long subsisted.
THE KING OF PRUSSIA DEMANDS AN EXPLANATION.
His Prussian majesty, perceiving the military preparations of the court
of Vienna, and having obtained intelligence of their secret negotiations
with different powers of Europe, ordered M. de Klingraafe, his minister
at the imperial court, to demand whether all those preparations of war,
on the frontiers of Silesia, were designed against him, and what were
the intentions of her imperial majesty? To this demand the empress
replied, that in the present juncture she had found it necessary to make
armaments, as well for her own defence as for that of her allies; but
that they did not tend to the prejudice of any person or state whatever.
The king, far from being satisfied with this general answer, sent fresh
orders to Klingraafe, to represent, that after the king had dissembled,
as long as he thought consistent with his safety and honour, the bad
designs imputed to the empress would not suffer him longer to disguise
his sentiments: that he was acquainted with the offensive projects which
the two courts had formed at Petersburgh; that he knew they had engaged
to attack him suddenly with an army of two hundred thousand men; a
design which would have been executed in the spring of the year, had not
the Russian forces wanted recruits, their fleet mariners, and Livonia a
sufficient quantity of corn for their support; that he constituted the
empress arbiter of peace or war: if she desired the former, he required
a clear and formal declaration, or positive assurance, that she had no
intention to attack him either this year or the next; but he should look
upon an ambiguous answer as a declaration of war; and he called heaven
to witness, that the empress alone would be guilty of the innocent blood
that should be spilt, and all the dismal consequences that would attend
the commission of hostilities.
A declaration of this nature might have provoked a less haughty court
than that of Vienna, and, indeed, seems to have been calculated on
purpose to exasperate the pride of her imperial majesty, whose answer he
soon received to this effect: that his majesty the king of Prussia
had already been employed, for some time, in all kinds of the most
considerable preparations of war, and the most disquieting with regard
to the public tranquillity, when he thought fit to demand explanations
of her majesty, touching the military dispositions that were making in
her dominions; dispositions on which she had not resolved till after
the preparations of his Prussian majesty had been made; that though her
majesty might have declined explaining herself on those subjects, which
required no explanation, she had been pleased to declare, with her own
mouth, to M. de Klingraafe, that the critical state of public affairs
rendered the measures she was taking absolutely necessary for her own
safety, and that of her allies; but that, in other respects, they tended
to the prejudice of no person whatsoever; that her imperial majesty
had undoubtedly a right to form what judgment she pleased on the
circumstances of the times; and likewise that it belonged to none but
herself to estimate her own danger; that her declaration was so clear,
she never imagined it could be thought otherwise; that being accustomed
to receive, as well as to practise, the decorums which sovereigns owe to
each other, she could not hear without astonishment and sensibility
the contents of the memorial now presented by M. de Klingraafe; so
extraordinary, both in the matter and expressions, that she would find
herself under a necessity of transgressing the bounds of that moderation
which she had prescribed to herself, were she to answer the whole of
its contents; nevertheless, she thought proper to declare, that the
information communicated to his Prussian majesty, of an offensive
alliance against him, subsisting between herself and the empress of
Russia, together with the circumstances and pretended stipulations of
that alliance, were absolutely false and forged, for no such treaty
did exist, or ever had existed. She concluded with observing, that this
declaration would enable all Europe to judge of what weight and quality
those dreadful events were which Klingraafe’s memorial announced; and
to perceive that, in any case, they could not be imputed to her
imperial majesty. This answer, though seemingly explicit, was not deemed
sufficiently categorical, or, at least, not suitable to the purposes of
the king of Prussia, who, by his resident at Vienna, once more declared,
that if the empress-queen would sign a positive assurance that she would
not attack his Prussian majesty, either this year or the next, he would
directly withdraw his troops, and let things be restored to their former
footing. This demand was evaded, on pretence that such an assurance
could not be more binding than the solemn treaty by which he was already
secured; a treaty which the empress-queen had no intention to violate.
But, before an answer could be delivered, the king had actually invaded
Saxony, and published his declaration against the court of Vienna.
The court of Vienna believing that the king of Prussia was bent upon
employing his arms somewhere; being piqued at the dictatorial manner
in which his demands were conveyed; unwilling to lay themselves under
further restrictions; apprehensive of giving umbrage to their allies,
and confident of having provided for their own security, resolved to run
the risk of his resentment, not without hopes of being indemnified in
the course of the war, for that part, of Silesia which the queen had
been obliged to cede it in the treaty of Breslau.
THE PRUSSIAN ARMY ENTERS SAXONY.
Both sides being thus prepared, and perhaps equally eager for action,
the king of Prussia would no longer suspend his operations, and the
storm fell first upon Saxony. He resolved to penetrate through that
country into Bohemia; and even to take possession of it as a frontier,
as well as for the convenience of ingress and egress to and from the
Austrian dominions. Besides, he had reason to believe the king of
Poland, elector of Saxony, was connected with the czarina and the
empress-queen; therefore, he thought it would be impolitic to leave
that prince in any condition to give him the least disturbance. His army
entered the Saxon territory towards the latter end of August, when
he published a declaration, importing, that the unjust conduct and
dangerous views of the court of Vienna against his majesty’s dominions,
laid him under the necessity of taking proper measures for protecting
his territories and subjects; that for this purpose he could not
forbear taking the disagreeable resolution to enter with his troops
the hereditary dominions of his majesty the king of Poland, elector
of Saxony; but he protested before God and man, that on account of
his personal esteem, and friendship for that prince, he would not have
proceeded to this extremity, had he not been forced to it by the laws
of war, the fatality of the present conjuncture, and the necessity of
providing for the defence and security of his subjects. He reminded
the public of the tenderness with which he had treated the elector of
Saxony, during the campaign of the year one thousand seven hundred and
forty-four, and of the bad consequences resulting to that monarch
from his engagements with the enemies of Prussia. He declared that the
apprehensions of being exposed again to such enterprises, had obliged
him to take those precautions which prudence dictated; but he protested
in the most solemn manner, that he had no hostile views against his
Polish majesty, or his dominions; that his troops did not enter Saxony
as enemies, and he had taken care that they should observe the best
order, and the most exact discipline; that he desired nothing more
ardently than the happy minute that should procure him the satisfaction
of restoring to his Polish majesty his hereditary dominions, which he
had seized only as a sacred depositum. By his minister at Dresden, he
had demanded a free passage for his forces through the Saxon dominions;
and this the king of Poland was ready to grant, with reasonable
limitations, to be settled by commissaries appointed for that purpose.
But these were formalities which did not at all suit with his Prussian
majesty’s disposition or design. Even before this requisition was made,
a body of his troops, amounting to fifteen thousand, under the command
of prince Ferdinand, brother to the duke of Brunswick, took possession
of Leipsic on the twentieth day of September. Here he published a
declaration, signifying that it was his Prussian majesty’s intention to
consider and defend the inhabitants of that electorate as if they were
his own subjects; and that he had given precise orders to his troops to
observe the most exact discipline. As the first mark of his affection,
he ordered them to provide the army with all sorts of provisions,
according to a certain rate, on pain of military execution. That same
evening notice was given to the corporation of merchants, that their
deputies should pay all taxes and customs to the king of Prussia; then
he took possession of the custom-house, and excise office, and ordered
the magazines of corn and meal to be opened for the use of his soldiers.
The king of Poland, apprehensive of such a visitation, had ordered all
the troops of his electorate to leave their quarters, and assemble in a
strong camp marked out for them, between Pirna and Konigstein, which was
intrenched, and provided with a numerous train of artillery. Thither the
king of Poland repaired with his two sons Xaverius and Charles; but
the queen and the rest of the royal family remained at Dresden. Of this
capital his Prussian majesty, with the bulk of his army, took possession
on the eighth day of September, when he was visited by lord Stormont,
the English ambassador at that court, accompanied by count Salmour, a
Saxon minister, who, in his master’s name, proposed a neutrality.
The king of Prussia professed himself extremely well pleased with the
proposal; and, as the most convincing proof of his neutrality, desired
the king of Poland would separate his army, by ordering his troops to
return to their former quarters. His Polish majesty did not like to be
so tutored in his own dominions; he depended for his own safety more
upon the valour and attachment of his troops thus assembled, than
upon the friendship of a prince who had invaded his dominions, and
sequestered his revenue, without provocation; and he trusted too much to
the situation of his camp at Pirna, which was deemed impregnable. In the
meantime, the king of Prussia fixed his headquarters at Seidlitz, about
half a German league distant from Pirna, and posted his army in such a
manner, as to be able to intercept all convoys of provisions designed
for the Saxon camp; his forces extended on the right towards the
frontiers of Bohemia, and the vanguard actually seized the passes that
lead to the circles of Satzer and Leutmeritz, in that kingdom; while
prince Ferdinand of Brunswick marched with a body of troops along the
Elbe, and took post at this last place without opposition. At the same
time, the king covered his own dominions, by assembling two considerable
bodies in Upper and Lower Silesia, which occupied the passes that
communicated with the circles of Buntzlau and Koningsgratz. Hostilities
were commenced on the thirteenth day of September, by a detachment
of Prussian hussars, who attacked an Austrian escort to a convoy of
provisions, designed for the Saxon camp; and having routed them, carried
off a considerable number of loaded waggons. The magazines at Dresden
were filled with an immense quantity of provisions and forage for the
Prussian army, and the bakers were ordered to prepare a vast quantity of
bread, for which purpose thirty new ovens were erected. When the king of
Prussia first arrived at Dresden, he lodged at the house of the countess
Moczinska, and gave orders that the queen and royal family of Poland
should be treated with all due veneration and respect: [387] _[See note
3 C, at the end of this Vol.]_ even while the Saxon camp was blocked
up on every side, he sometimes permitted a waggon, loaded with fresh
provisions and game, to pass unmolested, for the use of his Polish
majesty.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
PRUSSIANS PENETRATE INTO BOHEMIA.
During these transactions, the greatest part of the Prussian army
advanced into Bohemia, under the command of veldt-maresehal Keith,*
who reduced the town and palace of Tetchen, took possession of all the
passes, and encamped near Aussig, a small town in Bohemia, at no great
distance from the imperial army, amounting to fifty thousand men,
commanded by count Brown, an officer of Irish extract, who had often
distinguished himself in the field by his courage, vigilance, and
conduct.
* Brother to the earl mareschal of Scotland, a gentleman who
had signalized himself as a general in the Russian army, and
was accounted one of the best officers of his time; not more
admired for his warlike genius, than amiable in his
disposition.
His Prussian majesty having left a considerable body of troops for the
blockade of Pirna, assumed in person the command of mareschal Keith’s
corps, and advanced to give battle to the enemy. On the twenty-ninth
day of September he formed his troops in two columns, and in the evening
arrived with his van at Welmina, from whence he saw the Austrian army
posted with his right at Lowoschutz, and its left towards the Egra.
Having occupied with six battalions a hollow way, and some rising
grounds which commanded the town of Lowoschutz, he remained all night
under arms at Welmina; and on the first day of October, early in the
morning, formed his whole army in order of battle; the first line,
consisting of the infantry, occupying two hills, and a bottom betwixt
them; the second line being formed of some battalions, and the third
composed of the whole cavalry. The Austrian general had taken possession
of Lowoschutz, with a great body of infantry, and placed a battery of
cannon in front of the town; he had formed his cavalry chequerwise, in
a line between Lowoschutz and the village of Sanschitz; and posted about
two thousand Croats and irregulars in the vineyards and avenues on his
right. The morning was darkened with a thick fog, which vanished about
seven: then the Prussian cavalry advanced to attack the enemy’s horse;
but received such a fire from the irregulars, posted in vineyards and
ditches, as well as from a numerous artillery, that they were obliged to
retire for protection to the rear of the Prussian infantry and cannon.
There, being formed, and led back to the charge, they made an impression
on the Austrian cavalry, and drove the irregulars, and other bodies of
infantry, from the ditches, defiles, and vineyards which they possessed;
but they suffered so severely in this dangerous service, that the
king ordered them to reascend the hill, and take post again behind the
infantry, from whence they no more advanced. In the meantime, a furious
cannonading was maintained on both sides with considerable effect. At
length the left of the Prussian infantry was ordered to attack the town
of Lowoschutz in flank; but met with a very warm reception, and in all
likelihood would have miscarried, had not veldt-mareschal Keith headed
them in person: when he drew his sword, and told them he would lead
them on, he was given to understand that all their powder and shot were
exhausted: he turned immediately to them with a cheerful countenance,
said he was very glad they had no more ammunition, being well assured
the enemy could not withstand them at push of bayonet; so saying, he
advanced at their head, and driving the Austrians from Lowoschutz, set
the suburbs on fire. The infantry had been already obliged to quit the
eminence on the right; and now their whole army retired to Budin, on the
other side of the Egra. Some prisoners, colours, and pieces of cannon,
were taken on both sides; and the loss of each might amount to two
thousand five hundred killed and wounded; so that, on the whole, it was
a drawn battle, though both generals claimed the victory. The detail of
the action, published at Berlin, declares, that the king of Prussia not
only gained the battle, but that same day established his head quarters
at Lowoschutz; whereas the Austrian gazette affirms, that the mareschal
count Brown obliged his Prussian majesty to retire, and remained all
night on the field of battle; but next day, finding his troops in want
of water, he repaired to the camp of Budin. If the battle was at
all decisive, the advantage certainly fell to the Austrians; for his
Prussian majesty, who in all probability had hoped to winter at Prague,
was obliged by the opposition he met with, to resign his plan, and
retreat before winter into the electorate of Saxony.
SAXON ARMY SURRENDERS.
The Prussian army having rejoined that body which had been left to block
up the Saxons at Pirna, his Polish majesty and his troops were reduced
to such extremity of want, that it became indispensably necessary either
to attempt an escape, or surrender to the king of Prussia. The former
part of the alternative was chosen, and the plan concerted with count
Brown, the Austrian general, who, in order to facilitate the execution,
advanced privately with a body of troops to Lichtendorf, near Schandeau;
but the junction could not be effected. On the fourteenth day of October
the Saxons threw a bridge of boats over the Elbe, near Konigstein, to
which castle they removed all their artillery; then striking their tents
in the night, passed the river undiscovered by the enemy. They continued
to retreat with all possible expedition; but the roads were so bad, they
made little progress. Next day, when part of them had advanced about
half way up a hill opposite to Konigstein, and the rest were entangled
in a narrow plain, where there was no room to act, they perceived that
the Prussians were in possession of all the passes, and found themselves
surrounded on every side, fainting with hunger and fatigue, and
destitute of every convenience. In this deplorable condition they
remained, when the king of Poland, from the fortress of Konigstein, sent
a letter to his general, the veldt-mareschal count Rutow-ski, vesting
him with full and discretionary power to surrender, or take such other
measures as he should judge most conducive to the preservation of the
officers and soldiers. [388] _[See note 3 D, at the end of this Vol.]_
By this time count Brown had retired to Budin, so that there was no
choice left. A capitulation was demanded; but, in effect, the whole
Saxon army was obliged to surrender at discretion; and the soldiers were
afterwards, by compulsion, incorporated with the troops of Prussia.
The king of Poland being thus deprived of his electoral dominions, his
troops, arms, artillery, and ammunition, thought it high time to provide
for his own safety, and retired with all expedition to Poland. His
Prussian majesty cantoned his forces in the neighbourhood of Seidlitz,
and along the Elbe towards Dresden. His other army, which had entered
Bohemia, under the command of the count de Ichwerin, retired to the
confines of the county of Glatz, where they were distributed in quarters
of cantonment; so that this short campaign was finished by the beginning
of November.
KING OF POLAND’S MEMORIAL TO THE STATES-GENERAL.
The king of Poland, in his distress, did not fail to implore the
assistance and mediation of neutral powers. His minister at the Hague
presented a memorial to the states-general, complaining that the
invasion of Saxony was one of those attacks against the law of nations,
which from the great respect due to this law, demanded the assistance
of every power interested in the preservation of its own liberty
and independency. He observed, that from the first glimpse of
misunderstanding between the courts of Vienna and Berlin, he had
expressly enjoined his ministers at all the courts of Europe to declare,
that it was his firm resolution, in the present conjuncture of affairs,
to observe the strictest neutrality. He represented that a free and
neutral state had been, in the midst of peace, invaded by an enemy, who
disguised himself under the mask of friendship, without alleging the
least complaint, or any pretension whatsoever; but founding himself
solely on his own convenience, made himself master, by armed force,
of all the cities and towns of the electorate, dismantling some and
fortifying others; that he had disarmed the burghers; carried off
the magistrates as hostages for the payment of unjust and enormous
contributions of provisions and forage; seized the coffers; confiscated
the revenues of the electorate; broke open the arsenals, and transported
the arms and artillery to his own town of Magdeburgh; abolished the
privy-council, and, instead of the lawful government, established a
directory, which acknowledged no other law but his own arbitrary will.
He gave them to understand, that all these proceedings were no other
than preliminaries to the unheard of treatment which was reserved for
a queen, whose virtues ought to have commanded respect, even from her
enemies; that, from the hands of that august princess, the archives of
the state were forced away by menaces and violences, notwithstanding the
security which her majesty had promised herself under the protection of
all laws, human and divine; and notwithstanding the repeated assurances
given by the king of Prussia, that not only her person, but the place
of her residence, should be absolutely safe, and that even the Prussian
garrison should be under her direction. He observed, that a prince who
declared himself protector of the protestant religion, had begun the
war by crushing the very state to which that religion owes its
establishment, and the preservation of its most invaluable rights; that
he had broken through the most respectable laws which constitute the
union of the Germanic body, under colour of a defence which the empire
stood in no need of except against himself; that the king of Prussia,
while he insists on having entered Saxony as a friend, demands his army,
the administration of his dominions, and, in a word, the sacrifice
of his whole electorate; and that the Prussian directory, in the
declaration of motives, published under the nose of a prince to whom
friendship was pretended, thought it superfluous to allege even
any pretext, to colour the usurpation of his territories and
revenues.--Though this was certainly the case, in his Prussian majesty’s
first exposition of motives, the omission was afterwards supplied, in a
subsequent memorial to the states-general; in which he charged the king
of Poland as an accomplice in, if not an accessary to, the treaty of
Petersburgh; and even taxed him with having agreed to a partition of
some Prussian territories, when they should be conquered. This treaty
of partition, however, appears to have been made in time of actual war,
before all cause of dispute was removed by the peace of Dresden.
IMPERIAL DECREES PUBLISHED AGAINST THE KING OF PRUSSIA.
While the Austrian and Prussian armies were in the field, their
respective ministers were not idle at Ratisbon, where three imperial
decrees were published against his Prussian majesty; the first,
summoning that prince to withdraw his troops from the electorate of
Saxony; the second, commanding all the vassals of the empire employed
by the king of Prussia to quit that service immediately; and the third,
forbidding the members of the empire to suffer any levies of soldiers,
for the Prussian service, to be raised within their respective
jurisdictions. The French minister declared to the diet, that the
proceedings of his Prussian majesty having disclosed to the world the
project concerted between that prince and tie king of England, to
excite in the empire a religious war which might be favourable to their
particular views, his most christian majesty, in consequence of his
engagement with the empress-queen, and many other princes of the empire,
being resolved to succour them in the most efficacious manner, would
forthwith send such a number of troops to their aid, as might be thought
necessary to preserve the liberty of the Germanic body. On the other
hand, the Prussian minister assured the diet, that his master would
very soon produce the proofs that were come to his hands of the plan
concerted by the courts of Vienna and Dresden, for the subversion of
his electoral house, and for imposing upon him a yoke, which seemed to
threaten the whole empire.
DECLARATION OF DIFFERENT POWERS.
About the same time, the Russian resident at the Hague communicated to
the states-general a declaration from his mistress, importing, that her
imperial majesty having seen a memorial presented at the court of Vienna
by the king of Prussia’s envoy extraordinary, was thereby convinced that
his Prussian majesty’s intention was to attack the territories of the
empress-queen; in which case, she, the czarina, was inevitably obliged
to succour her ally with all her forces; for which end she had ordered
all her troops in Livonia to be forthwith assembled on the frontiers,
and hold themselves in readiness to march; that, moreover, the Russian
admiralty had been enjoined to provide immediately a sufficient number
of galleys for transporting a large body of troops to Lubeck. The
ministers of the empress-queen, both at the Hague and at London,
delivered memorials to the states-general and his Britannic majesty,
demanding the succours which these two powers were bound to afford
the house of Austria by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle; but their high
mightinesses kept warily aloof, by dint of evasion, and the king of
Great Britain was far otherwise engaged. The invasion of Saxony had well
nigh produced tragedies in the royal family of France. The dauphiness,
who was far advanced in her pregnancy, no sooner learned the distressful
circumstances of her parents, the king and queen of Poland, than she was
seized with violent fits, which occasioned a miscarriage, and brought
her life into the most imminent danger. The Prussian minister was
immediately ordered to quit Versailles; and directions were despatched
to the French minister at Berlin, to retire from that court without
taking leave. Finally, the emperor of Germany concluded a new convention
with the French king, regulating the succours to be derived from that
quarter; he claimed, in all the usual forms, the assistance of the
Germanic body, as guarantee of the pragmatic sanction and treaty of
Dresden; and Sweden was also addressed on the same subject.
HIS PRUSSIAN MAJESTY’S ANSWER TO THE SAXON MEMORIAL.
The king of Prussia did not passively bear all the imputations that were
fixed upon his conduct. His minister at the Hague presented a memorial,
in answer to that of the Saxon resident, in which he accused the court
of Dresden of having adopted every part of the scheme which his enemies
had formed for his destruction. He affirmed that the Saxon ministers
had, in all the courts of Europe, played off every engine of
unwarrantable politics, in order to pave the way for the execution of
their project; that they had endeavoured to give an odious turn to
his most innocent actions; that they had spared neither malicious
insinuations, nor even the most atrocious calumnies, to alienate all the
world from his majesty, and raise up enemies against him everywhere. He
said, he had received information that the court of Saxony intended to
let his troops pass freely, and afterwards wait for events of which
they might avail themselves, either by joining his enemies, or making a
diversion in his dominions; that in such a situation he could not avoid
having recourse to the only means which were left him for preventing his
inevitable ruin, by putting it out of the power of Saxony to increase
the number of his enemies. He asserted, that all the measures he had
pursued in that electorate were but the Accessary consequences of the
first resolution he was forced to take for his own preservation; that
he had done nothing but deprived the court of Saxony of the means of
hurting him; and this had been done with all possible moderation; that
the country enjoyed all the security and all the quiet which could be
expected in the very midst of peace, the Prussian troops observing the
most exact discipline; that all due respect was shown to the queen
of Poland, who had been prevailed upon, by the most suitable
representations, to suffer some papers to be taken from the paper
office, of which his Prussian majesty already had copies; and thought
it necessary, to ascertain the dangerous design of the Saxon ministry
against him, to secure the originals; the existence and reality of which
might otherwise have been denied. He observed, that every man has a
right to prevent the mischief with which he is threatened, and to retort
it upon its author; and that neither the constitutions nor the laws of
the empire could obstruct the exertion of a right so superior to all
others as that of self-preservation and self-defence; especially when
the depository of these laws is so closely united to the enemy, as
manifestly to abuse his power in her favour.
But the most important step which his Prussian majesty took in his own
justification, was that of publishing another memorial, specifying the
conduct of the courts of Vienna and Saxony, and their dangerous designs
against his person and interest, together with the original documents
adduced as proofs of these sinister intentions. As a knowledge of
these pieces is requisite to form a distinct idea of the motives which
produced the dreadful war upon the continent, it will not be amiss to
usher the substance of them to the reader’s acquaintance. His Prussian
majesty affirms, that to arrive at the source of the vast plan upon
which the courts of Vienna and Saxony had been employed against him
ever since the peace of Dresden, we must trace it as far back as the
war which preceded this peace; that the fond hopes which the two allied
courts had conceived upon the success of the campaign in the year one
thousand seven hundred and forty-four, gave occasion to a treaty of
eventual partition, stipulating that the court of Vienna should possess
the duchy of Silesia and the county of Glatz; while the king of Poland,
elector of Saxony, should share the duchies of Magdeburgh and Croissen;
the circles of Zullichow and Swibus, together with the Prussian part
of Lusatia; that after the peace of Dresden, concluded in the year one
thousand seven hundred and forty-five, there was no further room for
a treaty of this nature; yet the court of Vienna proposed to that of
Saxony a new alliance, in which the treaty of eventual partition should
be renewed; but this last thought it necessary, in the first place,
to give a greater consistency to their plan, by grounding it upon an
alliance between the empress-queen and the czarina. Accordingly, these
two powers did, in fact, conclude a defensive alliance at Petersburgh in
the course of the ensuing year; but the body, or ostensible part of this
treaty, was composed merely with a view to conceal from the knowledge of
the public six secret articles, the fourth of which was levelled singly
against Prussia, according to the exact copy of it which appeared among
the documents. In this article, the empress-queen of Hungary and Bohemia
sets out with a protestation, that she will religiously observe the
treaty of Dresden; but explains her real way of thinking upon the
subject, a little lower, in the following terms: “If the king of
Prussia should be the first to depart from this peace, by attacking
either her majesty the empress-queen of Hungary and Bohemia, or her
majesty the empress of Russia, or even the republic of Poland; in all
these cases, the rights of the empress-queen to Silesia and the county
of Glatz would again take place, and recover their full effect; the
two contracting parties should mutually assist each other with sixty
thousand men to achieve these conquests.” The king observes upon this
article, that every war which can arise between him and Russia, or the
republic of Poland, would be looked upon as a manifest infraction of the
peace of Dresden, and a revival of the rights of the house of Austria
to Silesia; though neither Russia nor the republic of Poland is at all
concerned in the treaty of Dresden; and though the latter, with which
the king lived in the most intimate friendship, was not even in alliance
with the court of Vienna; that, according to the principles of the law
of nature, received among all civilized nations, the most the court of
Vienna could be authorized to do in such cases, would be to send those
succours to her allies which are due to them by treaties, without her
having the least pretence on that account, to free herself from the
particular engagements subsisting between her and the king: he appealed,
therefore, to the judgment of the impartial world, whether in this
secret article the contracting powers had kept within the bounds of a
defensive alliance; or whether this article did not rather contain a
plan of an offensive alliance against the king of Prussia. He affirmed
it was obvious, from this article, that the court of Vienna had prepared
three pretences for the recovery of Silesia; and that she thought to
attain her end, either by provoking the king to commence hostilities
against her, or to kindle a war between his majesty and Russia, by her
secret intrigues and machinations. He alleged that the court of
Saxony, being invited to accede to this alliance, eagerly accepted the
invitation; furnished its ministers at Petersburgh with full powers for
that purpose; and ordered them to declare that their master was not only
ready to accede to the treaty itself, but also to the secret article
against Prussia; and to join in the regulations made by the two courts,
provided effectual measures should be taken, as well for the security of
Saxony, as for its indemnification and recompence, in proportion to
the efforts and progress that might be made; that the court of Dresden
declared, if upon any fresh attack from the king of Prussia, the
empress-queen should, by their assistance, not only reconquer Silesia
and the county of Gratz, but also reduce him within narrow bounds,
the king of Poland, as elector of Saxony, would abide by the partition
formerly stipulated between him and the empress-queen. He also declared
that count Loss, the Saxon minister at Vienna, was charged to open a
private negotiation for Settling an eventual partition of the conquest
which might be made on Prussia, by laying down, as the basis of it, the
treaty of Leipsic, signed on the eighteenth day of May, in the year one
thousand seven hundred and forty-five, as would appear by the documents
affixed. He owned it had been supposed, through the whole of this
negotiation, that the king of Prussia should be the aggressor against
the court of Vienna; but he insisted, that even in this case the king of
Poland could have no right to make conquests on his Prussian majesty. He
likewise acknowledged, that the court of Saxony had not yet acceded
in form to the treaty of Petersburgh; but he observed, its allies were
given to understand again and again, that it was ready to accede
without restriction, whenever this could be done without risk; and the
advantages to be gained should be secured in its favour. Circumstances
proved by divers authentic documents, particularly by a letter from
count Fleming to count de Bruhl, informing him that count Uhlefield had
charged him to represent afresh to his court, that they could not take
too secure measures against the ambitious views of the king of Prussia;
that Saxony in particular ought to be cautious, as being the most
exposed; that it was of the highest importance to strengthen their old
engagements, upon the footing proposed by the late count de Harrach, in
the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-five; a step which might
be taken on occasion of his Polish majesty’s accession to the treaty of
Petersburgh. The answer of count Bruhl to this despatch imported, that
the king of Poland was not averse to treat in the utmost secrecy
with the court of Vienna about succours, by private and confidential
declarations relating to the fourth secret article of the treaty of
Petersburgh, on condition of reasonable terms and advantages, which in
this case ought to be granted to his majesty. He quoted other despatches
to prove the unwillingness of his Polish majesty to declare himself
until the king of Prussia should be attacked, and his forces divided;
and that this scruple was admitted by the allies of Saxony. From these
premises he deduced this inference, that the court of Dresden, without
having acceded in form to the treaty of Petersburgh, was not less
an accomplice in the dangerous designs which the court of Vienna had
grounded upon this treaty; and that having been dispensed with from a
formal concurrence, it had only waited for that moment when it might,
without running any great risk, conquer in effect, and share the spoils
of its neighbour. In expectation of this period, he said, the Austrian
and Saxon ministers laboured in concert and underhand with the more
ardour to bring the _casus fæderus_ into existence; for it being laid
down as a principle in the treaty, that any war whatever between him
and Russia would authorise the empress-queen to take Silesia, there was
nothing more to be done but to kindle such a war; for which purpose no
method was found more proper than that of embroiling the king with the
empress of Russia; and to provoke that princess with all sorts of false
insinuations, impostures, and the most atrocious calumnies, in laying to
his majesty’s charge a variety of designs, sometimes against Russia,
and even the person of the czarina; sometimes views upon Poland, and
sometimes intrigues in Sweden. By these and other such contrivances, he
affirmed they had kindled the animosity of the empress to such a degree,
that in a council held in the month of October, in the year one thousand
seven hundred and fifty-three, she had resolved to attack the king of
Prussia, without any further discussion, whether he should fall upon
any of the allies of Russia, or one of them should begin with him; a
resolution which for that time was frustrated by their want of seamen
and magazines; but the preparations were continued under pretence
of keeping themselves in a condition to fulfil their engagements,
contracted in the last subsidiary convention with England; and when all
were finished, the storm would fall on the king of Prussia.
This is the substance of that famous memorial published by his Prussian
majesty, to which the justifying pieces or authentic documents were
annexed; and to which a circumstantial answer was exhibited by the
partisans of her imperial majesty. Specious reasons may, doubtless, be
adduced on either side of almost any dispute, by writers of ingenuity;
but, in examining this contest, it must be allowed that both sides
adopted illicit practices. The empress-queen and the elector of
Saxony had certainly a right to form defensive treaties for their own
preservation; and without all doubt, it was their interest and their
duty to secure themselves from the enterprises of such a formidable
neighbour; but at the same time, the contracting parties seem to have
carried their views much farther than defensive measures. Perhaps the
court of Vienna considered the cession of Silesia as a circumstance
altogether compulsive, and therefore not binding against the rights of
natural equity. She did not at all doubt that the king of Prussia would
be tempted by his ambition and great warlike power, to take some step
which might be justly interpreted into an infraction of the treaty of
Dresden; and in that case she was determined to avail herself of the
confederacy she had formed, that she might retrieve the countries she
had lost by the unfortunate events of the last war, as well as bridle
the dangerous power and disposition of the Prussian monarch; and in all
probability the king of Poland, over and above the same consideration,
was desirous of some indemnification for the last irruption into his
electoral dominions, and the great sums he had paid for the subsequent
peace. Whether they were authorised by the law of nature and nations
to make reprisals by an actual partition of the countries they might
conquer, supposing him to be the aggressor, we shall not pretend to
determine; but it does not at all appear, that his Prussian majesty’s
danger was such as entitled him to take those violent steps which he
now attempted to justify. By this time the flame of war was kindled up
to a blaze that soon filled the empire with ruin and desolation; and
the king of Prussia had drawn upon himself the resentment of the three
greatest powers of Europe, who laid aside their former animosities,
and every consideration of that balance which it had cost such blood
and treasure to preserve, in order to conspire his destruction. The king
himself could not but foresee this confederacy, and know the power it
might exert; but probably he confided so much in the number, the valour,
and discipline of his troops; in the skill of his officers; in his own
conduct and activity; that he hoped to crush the house of Austria by one
rapid endeavour at the latter end of the season, or at least establish
himself in Bohemia, before her allies could move to her assistance. In
this hope, however, he was disappointed by the vigilance of the Austrian
councils. He found the empress-queen in a condition to make head
against him in every avenue to her dominions; and in a fair way of being
assisted by the circles of the empire. He saw himself threatened with
the vengeance of the Russian empress, and the sword of France gleaming
over his head, without any prospect of assistance but that which he
might derive from his alliance with Great Britain. Thus the king of
England exchanged the alliance of Russia, who was his subsidiary, and
the friendship of the empress queen, his old and natural ally, for a
new connexion with his Prussian majesty, who could neither act as an
auxiliary to Great Britain, nor as a protector to Hanover; and for this
connexion, the advantage of which was merely negative, such a price
was paid by England as had never been given by any other potentate of
Europe, even for services of the greatest importance.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
DISPUTES BETWEEN THE PARLIAMENT OF PARIS AND THE CLERGY.
About the latter end of November, the Saxon minister at Ratisbon
delivered to the diet a new and ample memorial, explaining the
lamentable state of that electorate, and imploring afresh the assistance
of the empire. The king of Prussia had also addressed a letter to
the diet, demanding succour of the several states, agreeable to their
guarantees of the treaties of Westphalia and Dresden; but the minister
of Mentz, as director of the diet, having refused to lay it before that
assembly, the minister of Brandenburgh ordered it to be printed, and
sent to his court for further instructions. In the meantime his Prussian
majesty thought proper to intimate to the king and senate of Poland,
that should the Russian troops be permitted to march through that
kingdom, they might expect to see their country made a scene of war and
desolation. In France, the prospect of a general and sanguinary war
did not at all allay the disturbance which sprang from the dissension
between the clergy and parliament, touching the bull Unigenitus. The
king being again brought over to the ecclesiastical side of the dispute,
received a brief from the pope, laying it down as a fundamental article,
that whosoever refuses to submit to the bull Unigenitus, is in the way
of damnation; and certain cases are specified, in which the sacraments
are to be denied. The parliament of Paris, considering this brief or
bull as a direct attack upon the rights of the Gallican church, issued
an _arret_ or decree, suppressing the said bull; reserving to themselves
the right of providing against the inconveniences with which it might be
attended, as well as the privilege to maintain in their full force the
prerogatives of the crown, the power and jurisdiction of the bishops,
the liberties of the Gallican church, and the customs of the realm. The
king, dissatisfied with their interposition, declared his design to hold
a bed of justice in person at the palace. Accordingly, on the twelfth
day of November, the whole body of his guards, amounting to ten thousand
men, took post in the city of Paris; and next day the king repaired with
the usual ceremony to the palace, where the bed of justice was held:
among other regulations, an edict was issued for suppressing the fourth
and fifth chambers of inquests, the members of which had remarkably
distinguished themselves by their opposition to the bull Unigenitus.
DEARTH OF CORN IN ENGLAND.
In England, the dearth of corn, arising in a great measure from the
iniquitous practice of engrossing, was so severely felt by the common
people, that insurrections were raised in Shropshire and Warwickshire by
the populace, in conjunction with the colliers, who seized by violence
all the provisions they could find; pillaging without distinction the
millers, farmers, grocers, and butchers, until they were dispersed
by the gentlemen of the country, at the head of their tenants and
dependants. Disorders of the same nature were excited by the colliers on
the forest of Dean, and those employed in the works in Cumberland.
The corporations, noblemen, and gentlemen, in different parts of the
kingdom, exerted themselves for the relief of the poor, who were greatly
distressed; and a grand council being assembled at St. James’ on the
same subject, a proclamation was published, for putting the laws in
speedy and effectual execution against the forestallers and engrossers
of corn.
The fear of an invasion having now subsided, and Hanover being supposed
in greater danger than Great Britain, the auxiliaries of that electorate
were transported from England to their own country. At the latter end of
the season, when the weather became severe, the inn-keepers of England
refused to admit the Hessian soldiers into winter-quarters, as no
provision had been made for that purpose by act of parliament; so that
they were obliged to hut their camp, and remain in the open fields till
January; but the rigour of this uncomfortable situation was softened
by the hand of generous charity, which liberally supplied them with all
manner of refreshment, and other conveniences; a humane interposition,
which rescued the national character from the imputation of cruelty and
ingratitude.
SESSION OPENED.
On the second day of December, his majesty opened the session of
parliament with a speech that seemed to be dictated by the genius of
England. He expressed his confidence, that, under the guidance of Divine
Providence, the union, fortitude, and affection of his people would
enable him to surmount all difficulties, and vindicate the dignity of
his crown against the ancient enemy of Great Britain. He declared, that
the succour and preservation of America constituted a main object of
his attention and solicitude; and observed, that the growing dangers to
which the British colonies might stand exposed, from late losses in
that country, demanded resolutions of vigour and despatch. He said, an
adequate and firm defence at home should maintain the chief place in his
thoughts; and in this great view he had nothing so much at heart as to
remove all grounds of dissatisfaction from his people; for this end, he
recommended to the care and diligence of the parliament the framing of
a national militia, planned and regulated with equal regard to the just
rights of his crown and people; an institution which might become
one good resource in time of general danger. He took notice that the
unnatural union of councils abroad, the calamities which, in consequence
of this unhappy conjunction, might, by irruptions of foreign armies into
the empire, shake its constitution, overturn its system, and threaten
oppression to the protestant interest on the continent, were events
which must sensibly affect the minds of the British nation, and had
fixed the eyes of Europe on this new and dangerous crisis. He gave them
to understand that the body of his electoral troops, which were brought
hither at the desire of his parliament, he had now directed to return to
his dominions in Germany, relying with pleasure on the spirit and zeal
of his people, in defence of his person and realm. He told the commons
that he confided in their wisdom, for preferring more vigorous efforts,
though more expensive, to a less effectual, and therefore less frugal
plan of war; that he had placed before them the dangers and necessities
of the public; and it was their duty to lay the burdens they should
judge unavoidable in such a manner as would least disturb and exhaust
his people. He expressed his concern for the sufferings of the poor,
arising from the present dearth of corn, and for the disturbances to
which it had given rise; and exhorted his parliament to consider of
proper provisions for preventing the like mischiefs hereafter. He
concluded with remarking, that unprosperous events of war in the
Mediterranean, had drawn from his subjects signal proofs how dearly
they tendered the honour of his crown; therefore, they could not, on his
part, fail to meet with just returns of unwearied care, and unceasing
endeavours for the glory, prosperity, and happiness of his people.
DEBATES ON THE ADDRESS.
The king having retired from the house of peers, the speech was read by
lord Sandys, appointed to act as speaker to that house; then earl Gower
moved for an address, which, however, was not carried without objection.
In one part of it his majesty was thanked for having caused a body of
electoral troops to come into England at the request of his parliament;
and this article was disagreeable to those who had disapproved of the
request in the last session. They said they wished to see the present
address unanimously agreed to by the lords; a satisfaction they could
not have, if such a paragraph should be inserted; for they still thought
the bringing over Hanoverian troops a preposterous measure; because
it had not only loaded the nation with an enormous expense, but also
furnished the court of France with a plausible pretence for invading the
electorate, which otherwise it would have no shadow of reason to attack;
besides, the expedient was held in reprobation by the subjects in
general, and such a paragraph might be considered as an insult on the
people. Notwithstanding these exceptions, which did not seem to be very
important, the address, including this paragraph, was approved by a
great majority.
BILL PASSED FOr PROHIBITING THE EXPORTATION OF CORN.
In the address of the commons no such paragraph was inserted. As soon
as the speaker had recited his majesty’s speech, Mr. Charles Townshend
proposed the heads of an address, to which the house unanimously agreed;
and it was presented accordingly. This necessary form was no sooner
discussed, than the house, with a warmth of humanity and benevolence
suitable to such an assembly, resolved itself into a committee, to
deliberate on that part of his majesty’s speech which related to the
dearth of corn that so much distressed the poorer class of people.
A bill was immediately framed to prohibit, for a time limited, the
exportation of corn, malt, meal, flour, bread, biscuit, and starch; and
a resolution unanimously taken to address the sovereign, than an embargo
might be forthwith laid upon all ships laden or to be laden with these
commodities, to be exported from the ports of Great Britain and Ireland.
At the same time, vice-admiral Boscawen, from the board of admiralty,
informed the house, that the king and the board having been dissatisfied
with the conduct of admiral Byng, in a late action with the French fleet
in the Mediterranean, and for the appearance of his not having acted
agreeably to his instructions for the relief of Minorca, he was then
in custody of the marshal of the admiralty, in order to be tried by a
court-martial; that although this was no more than what was usual in
like cases, yet as admiral Byng was then a member of the house, and
as his confinement might detain him some time from his duty there, the
board of admiralty thought it a respect due to the house to inform them
of the commitment and detainer of the said admiral. This message being
delivered, the journal of the house in relation to rear-admiral Knowles
[392] _[See note 3 E, at the end of this Vol]_ was read, and what Mr.
Boscawen now communicated was also inserted.
The committees of supply, and of ways and means, being appointed, took
into consideration the necessities of the state, and made very ample
provision for enabling his majesty to maintain the war with vigour.
{1757}
They granted fifty-five thousand men for the sea-service, including
eleven thousand four hundred and nineteen marines; and for the
land-service, forty-nine thousand seven hundred and forty-nine effective
men, comprehending four thousand and eight invalids. The supply was
granted for the maintenance of these forces, as well as for the troops
of Hesse and Hanover; for the ordnance; the levy of new regiments; for
assisting his majesty in forming and maintaining an army of observation,
for the just and necessary defence and preservation of his electoral
dominions, and those of his allies; and towards enabling him to fulfil
his engagements with the king of Prussia; for the security of the empire
against the irruption of foreign armies,* as well as for the support of
the common cause; for building and repairs of ships, hiring transports,
payment of half-pay officers, and the pensions of widows; for enabling
his majesty to discharge the like sum, raised in pursuance of an act
passed in the last session of parliament, and charged upon the first
aids or supplies to be granted in this session; for enabling the
governors and guardians of the hospital for the maintenance and
education of exposed and deserted young children, to receive all such
children, under a certain age, as should be brought to the said hospital
within the compass of one year;** for maintaining and supporting the new
settlement of Nova Scotia; for repairing and finishing military
roads; for making good his majesty’s engagement with the landgrave of
Hesse-Cassel; for the expense of marching, recruiting, and remounting
German troops in the pay of Great Britain; for empowering his majesty
to defray any extraordinary expenses of the war, incurred, or to be
incurred, for the service of the ensuing year, and to take all such
measures as might be necessary to disappoint or defeat any enterprises
or designs of his enemies, as the exigency of affairs should require;
for the payment of such persons, in such a manner as his majesty should
direct; for the use and relief of his subjects in the several provinces
of North and South Carolina and Virginia, in recompence for such
services as, with the approbation of his majesty’s commander-in-chief in
America, they respectively had performed, or should perform, either by
putting these provinces in a state of defence, or by acting with vigour
against the enemy; for enabling the East India company to defray the
expense of a military force in their settlements, to be maintained in
them, in lieu of a battalion of his majesty’s forces withdrawn from
those forts and factories; for the maintenance and support of the forts
on the coast of Africa; for widening the avenues, and rendering more
safe and commodious the streets and passages leading from Charing Cross
to the two houses of parliament, the court of justice, and the new
bridge at Westminster.***
* Nothing could more gloriously evince the generosity of a
British parliament, than this interposition for defending
the liberties of Germany, in conjunction with two electors
only, against the sense of the other seven, and in direct
opposition to the measures taken by the head of the empire,
who, in the sequel, stigmatized these two princes as rebels,
and treated one of them as an outlaw.
** This charity, established by voluntary contribution,
might, under proper restrictions, prove beneficial to the
commonwealth, by rescuing deserted children from misery and
death, and qualifying them for being serviceable members of
the community; but since the liberality of parliament hath
enabled the governors and corporation to receive all the
children that are presented, without question or limitation,
the yearly expense hath swelled into a national grievance,
and the humane purposes of the original institution are, in
a great measure, defeated. Instead of an asylum for poor
forlorn orphans and abandoned foundlings, it is become a
general receptacle for the offspring of the dissolute, who
care not to work for the maintenance of their families. The
hospital itself is a plain edifice, well contrived for
economy and convenience, standing on the north side of the
city, and a little detached from it, in an agreeable and
salubrious situation. The hall is adorned with some good
paintings, the chapel is elegant, and the regulations are
admirable.
*** The bridge at Westminster may be considered as a
national ornament. It was built at the public expense, from
the neighbourhood of Westminster Hall to the opposite side
of the river, and consists of thirteen arches, constructed
with equal elegance and simplicity.
Such were the articles under which we may specify the supplies of this
year, on the whole amounting to eight millions three hundred and fifty
thousand three hundred and twenty-five pounds, nine shillings and three
pence. It must be acknowledged, for the honour of the administration,
that the house of commons could not have exhibited stronger marks of
their attachment to the crown and person of their sovereign, as well
as of their desire to see the force of the nation exerted with becoming
spirit. The sums granted by the committee of supply did not exceed eight
millions three hundred and fifty thousand three hundred and twenty-five
pounds, nine shillings and three pence; the funds established amounted
to eight millions six hundred and eighty-nine thousand and fifty-one
pounds, nineteen shillings and seven-pence; so that there was an
overplus of three hundred and thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and
twenty-six pounds, ten shillings and four pence; an excess which was
thought necessary, in case the lottery, which was founded on a new plan,
should not succeed.
REFLECTIONS ON THE CONTINENTAL WAR.
Some of these impositions were deemed grievous hardships by those upon
whom they immediately fell; and many friends of their country
exclaimed against the projected army of observation in Germany, as the
commencement of a ruinous continental war, which it was neither the
interest of the nation to undertake, nor in their power to maintain,
without starving the operations by sea, and in America, founded on
British principles; without contracting such an additional load of debts
and taxes, as could not fail to terminate in bankruptcy and distress.
To those dependents of the ministry, who observed that as Hanover was
threatened by France for its connexion with Great Britain, it ought, in
common gratitude, to be protected, they replied, that every state, in
assisting any ally, ought to have a regard to its own preservation:
that, if the king of England enjoyed by inheritance, or succession, a
province in the heart of France, it would be equally absurd and unjust,
in case of a rupture with that kingdom, to exhaust the treasures of
Great Britain in the defence of such a province; and yet the inhabitants
of it would have the same right to complain that they suffered for their
connexion with England. They observed, that other dominions, electorates,
and principalities in Germany, were secured by the constitutions of the
empire, as well as by fair and equal alliances with their co-estates;
whereas Hanover stood solitary, like a hunted deer avoided by the herd,
and had no other shelter but that of shrinking under the extended shield
of Great Britain: that the reluctance expressed by the German princes to
undertake the defence of these dominions, flowed from a firm persuasion,
founded on experience, that England would interpose as a principal,
and not only draw her sword against the enemies of the electorate, but
concentrate her chief strength in that object, and waste her treasures
in purchasing their concurrence; that exclusive of an ample revenue
drained from the sweat of the people, great part of which had been
expended in continental efforts, the whole national debt incurred, since
the accession of the late king, had been contracted in pursuance of
measures totally foreign to the interest of these kingdoms: that, since
Hanover was the favourite object, England would save money, and great
quantities of British blood, by allowing France to take possession of
the electorate, paying its ransom at the peace, and indemnifying the
inhabitants for the damage they might sustain; an expedient that would
be productive of another good consequence, it would rouse the German
princes from their affected indifference, and oblige them to exert
themselves with vigour, in order to avoid the detested neighbourhood of
such an enterprising invader.