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CHAP. XLVIII.]

NEGOTIATIONS.

175

"expensive," and "in concert with our allies" after "lasting peace."1

Pitt, however, who continued to direct the English counsels during the time that he remained in office, resolved to prosecute the war as vigorously as ever, and it was with him that Choiseul had to negotiate for a peace. As the war between England and France for their possessions beyond sea had really nothing in common with the continental war, except that they were simultaneous, Louis XV. obtained the consent of his allies that he should treat with Great Britain for a separate peace; while it was proposed that a Congress should assemble at Augsburg with a view to a general pacification. Negotiations were accordingly opened between the French and English Cabinets in March, 1761.2 It must be admitted that in the course of them the natural haughtiness of Pitt's temper sometimes led him to reject with disdain proposals which seemed reasonable enough. Thus, the French Minister offered to treat on the basis of uti possidetis, which was certainly favourable to England, as the English conquests had been far more considerable than those of France. Pitt did not object to this basis, but to the periods fixed for it: namely, May 1st for Europe, July 1st for Africa and America, and September 1st for the East Indies; and he declared that he would admit no other epoch than that of the signing of the Treaty of Peace. The French Cabinet naturally objected to so loose and unreasonable a method; yet, though they had offered to consider of other periods more convenient to Great Britain, Pitt delayed to answer. He was, in fact, awaiting the issue of the expedition which he had despatched against Belle Isle. A squadron under Commodore Keppel, with 9,000 troops under General Hodgson, effected a landing in that island towards the end of April, but the citadel of Palais, the capital, was not finally reduced till June 7th. Belle Isle is small and barren; but its situation off the coast of Brittany, between L'Orient and the mouth of the Loire, seemed to give it importance; and it was thought that such a conquest in sight of the French coast might, merely as a point of honour, be set off against Minorca. Pitt now consented, in a memorial, dated June 17th, to accept the dates of July 1st, September 1st, and November 1st, for the uti possidetis, two months later than those proposed by France, evidently for the purpose of including Belle Isle. Some discussion

1 Coxe, Mem. of Lord Walpole.

2 An elaborate and able, but, of course, partial, account of them, with the different notes and memoirs, drawn up by the

Duke of Choiseul himself, will be found in Garden, Hist. des Traités, t. iv. pp. 87-193.

176

THE FAMILY COMPACT.

[CHAP. XLVIII. ensued, and the French Minister delayed his final answer till July 15th. Meanwhile the negotiations which had been for some time going on between France and Spain had been brought to maturity; and the French memorial alluded to, of July 15th, was accompanied with another relating to Spain. Several Spanish demands and alleged grievances against England were brought forward for settlement, as the restitution by Great Britain of some prizes under the Spanish flag; the liberty of Spanish subjects to fish at Newfoundland; and the destruction of English establishments on Spanish territory in the Bay of Honduras; and in order that the future peace might not be disturbed by the quarrels of these two countries, it was proposed that the King of Spain should guarantee the peace between England and France. Pitt naturally rejected such a proposal with surprise and indignation; he expressed his astonishment that disputes between friends should be submitted to the mediation of an enemy, and that they should be brought forward by a French envoy, while the ambassador of his Catholic Majesty was entirely silent upon the subject! The French Minister, in his subsequent correspondence, dropped, indeed, all mention of Spain; but the reply to the application which the British Cabinet now deemed it prudent to make to that of Spain, showed a perfect understanding between the two Bourbon Courts. The Spanish Minister, Wall, declared to Lord Bristol, who had succeeded Sir B. Keene as English Ambassador at Madrid, that the French memorial concerning Spain had been presented with the entire consent of his Catholic Majesty; that nothing would induce his Sovereign to separate his counsels from those of France, nor deter him from. acting in perfect harmony with that country. An unsatisfactory answer was also returned to Lord Bristol's inquiries respecting the warlike preparations in the Spanish ports.

Shortly afterwards was signed at Paris, the celebrated treaty between France and Spain, known, like two former ones, as the FAMILY COMPACT (August 15th, 1761). This measure had been carried through by the Duke de Choiseul and the Marquis de Ossuna, the Spanish Ambassador at Paris, in spite of the opposition of Wall. The lures held out to Spain were, as before, the restoration of Minorca and the recovery of Gibraltar. In the preamble of the treaty, the motives of it were said to be the ties of blood and reciprocal esteem. The two Bourbon Monarchs agreed in future to consider the enemy of one as the enemy of both. They mutually guaranteed each other's dominions when they should next be at

1 Coxe, Spanish Bourbons, vol. iv. p. 261.

CHAP. XLVIII.]

FRENCH ULTIMATUM.

177

peace with all the world-for Spain did not undertake to reconquer the possessions lost by France during the war-and stipulated the amount of reciprocal succours. French wars on account of the Peace of Westphalia, as well as those arising out of the alliances of France with German Princes, were excepted from the operation of the treaty unless some Maritime Power should take part in them, or France should be invaded by land. The King of the Two Sicilies was to be invited to accede to the treaty, and none but a Bourbon Prince was to be admitted into the alliance.1 But neither the King of Naples nor the Duke of Parma acceded to it.

On the same day a particular Convention was signed by the two Powers, by which Spain engaged to declare war against Great Britain, on May 1st, 1762, if a peace had not been concluded at that date. Louis XV. undertook to include Spanish interests in his negotiations with England; to assign Minorca to Spain on May 1st following, and to endeavour that it should be assured to her at the peace. Portugal was to be invited to join in the war, it being declared unjust that she should remain neuter in order to enrich herself. This Convention related only to the present war, while the treaty was to be perpetual. These treaties were to be kept secret, in order to afford time for the American treasurevessels to arrive in Spain; but the English Government obtained intelligence of them. Such a league, of course, overthrew all hopes of peace; yet the French Cabinet continued the negotiations, and in its last memorial, of September 9th, repeated its offers of large concessions, though with the renewed intimation that it could not evacuate Wesel, Geldern, and the Prussian possessions in Westphalia, nor consent that Great Britain should lend any help to the King of Prussia after the peace.3 Pitt, with that high sense of national honour which distinguished him, and which forms so favourable a contrast to the subsequent conduct of Lord Bute, would not for a moment entertain the thought of thus deserting an ally. He did not even condescend to reply to the French memorial, but instructed Lord Stanley, who had conducted the negotiations at Paris, to apply for his passports, and the negotiations terminated.

The Congress of Augsburg had also no result. The King of

Martens, Recueil des principaux Traités depuis, 1761, t. i. p. 1; Wenck, Codex Juris. Gent. rec. t. iii. p. 278.

2 Flassan, Diplomatie Franç t. vi. p. 314 sq. and 322 sqq.; Garden, Hist. des Traités de Paix, t. iv. p. 79 sq. Coxe

does not mention this Convention, but merely observes: "From this moment the question of peace or war was evidently decided by the two Bourbon Courts."Span. Bourbons, vol. iv. p. 264.

Garden, ibid. p. 178.

178

CAMPAIGN OF 1761.

[CHAP. XLVIII. Prussia objected to any Imperial Ambassador appearing at it, as he denied that he was at war with the Empire; nor, through the dissensions between the Catholic and Protestant members, could the Emperor obtain from the Diet at Ratisbon authority to conclude a peace. The Empress-Queen was for continuing the war; and her party prevailed at the Russian Court, while Sweden was in the hands of France. The King of Poland, whose Saxon dominions suffered terribly by the war, was sincerely desirous of peace; but, by himself, he had little weight, and, for fear of offending his powerful allies, he hardly ventured to display his peaceable inclinations.1

The war had continued during these negotiations. In February, 1761, Prince Ferdinand penetrated into Hesse, but being repulsed by the French, under Broglie, near Grünberg, March 21st, was compelled to evacuate the Landgraviate. During the remainder of the campaign he remained on the defensive on the banks of the Lippe. The French, under Soubise and Broglie, attacked his right wing near Wellinghausen, July 15th, but were repulsed, and the campaign had no results, though Ferdinand had not half the forces of his opponents. The Austrians, in Silesia, under Loudon, assisted by a large Russian force, marched on Breslau; whilst another Russian army, supported by the Russian and Swedish fleets, besieged Colberg. Frederick covered Schweidnitz and Breslau by establishing a fortified camp, first at Kunzendorf, near Freiburg, where he lay six or seven weeks, and then at Bunzelwitz. Here his small army was surrounded by 140,000 Austrians and Russians; the latter, however, were not anxious to fight for the benefit of the Austrians, and retired, in September, into Poland. After their departure Frederick marched to attack Loudon, who had encamped near Freiburg; when the Austrian commander took advantage of his departure to surprise Schweidnitz in the night of September 30th, and made the garrison prisoners, to the number of 3,600 men. This action, and the capture of Colberg by the Russians, December 16th, are the only memorable events of the campaign in this quarter. Frederick's brother, Prince Henry, succeeded in maintaining himself against Marshal Daun in Saxony.

The year 1762 opened under gloomy auspices for the Alliance of Hanover. Spain was now added to the opposite side. After the conclusion of the Family Compact, Pitt had counselled an immediate declaration of war against Spain, before her preparations

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CHAP. XLVIII.]

SPAIN DECLARES WAR.

179 should be completed; but his opinion being overruled by Lord Bute and the King, the great Minister resigned (October 5th, 1761). He was succeeded by the Earl of Egremont, but Bute was the virtual director of the English Cabinet. The event showed the wisdom of Pitt's advice. The Cabinet of London demanded, at first in measured terms, that Spain should communicate the treaty which she had concluded with France. Wall evaded this inquiry till the treasure had arrived from America, and then spoke out more boldly, while the English demands also became more peremptory. There were now no motives to check the explosion of Castilian pride. The passports of the English Ambassador were made out and delivered to him in December; on January 2nd, 1762, England declared war against Spain; to which the Cabinet of Madrid replied by a manifesto of the 18th of the same month.

If matters looked threatening for England, they were still more menacing for the King of Prussia. The retirement of Pitt had deprived him of his best friend. Bute and the Tories denounced the foreign policy of that Minister, and prepared to withdraw the subsidies which Frederick had hitherto enjoyed. The King of Prussia, they alleged, neither had done, nor could do, anything for Hanover or England, and all the resources of the country would be required for the war with Spain. Bute was not unwilling to sacrifice Frederick for the sake of peace, and he made a proposition to that effect, in 1761, to the Austrian Court; but Kaunitz, who took the offer for a snare to embroil him with the Court of Versailles, rejected it with the more disdain, as the prospects of the Empress-Queen were then so brilliant that she confidently anticipated the conquest of Silesia.1 Nay, so sure was she of an easy victory, that she reduced her army by 20,000 men. Frederick's own dominions were exhausted, and he knew not where to look for help. The only gleam of hope arose from the uncertain expectation of Turkish aid. He had negotiated a treaty with the Porte and with the Khan of Tartary, and he was not without hopes that they might be induced to make a diversion in his favour by invading Hungary. But such an expectation was little more than the straw clutched by a drowning man. Frederick's situation seemed truly desperate. He expressed his gloomy forebodings, his almost utter despair, in his correspondence with the Marquis d'Argens at this period; thoughts of suicide again took possession of his mind, and he is said to have

Garden, t. iv. p. 194; Frederick II. Guerre de Sept Ans, ch xiii.; Schlosser, Gesch. des 17ten Jahrh. B. ii. S. 396 f.

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