between Great Britain and Austria, was surther Chap. ofsered to" be purchased, by some concessions to be XXH. made In Italy, or elsewhere. The British court, 176^, at this time, had no authority to stipulate for any concessions to be rrisde in Italy, in behalf of the House of Austria—consequently the word elsewhere, a word of unlimited latitude, must have '.'.," been meant to Include any country or territory, to which the British insluence either did or could extend. And if we reflect but an instant, on the disposition of the British cabinet at this time towards the King of Prussia, there can be no doubt, that this word was intended to apply to some part of the dominions of that prince. . These acts of proferred treachery were treated with contempt. The court of Vienna communicated them to the court of Peterfburgh ; R and by the last court, all the documents of both made negociations were communicated to the King of know" t° Prussia: which explains the cause of that cool- nf Praffil ness which subsisted between that monarch and* the court of Great Britain, until within a short time of his death. A third negociation, which was opened with the Negoda court of Turin, was more successsul; soliciting tion with the interest of that court with the House of Bour- th/r,?°Vrt r 1 n r- or i imn. bon, to repose the most sirm considence in the pacisic disposition of the British cabinet; at the same time imploring his Sardinian Majesty, to become the mediator and umpire in all points of dispute. This was the second time that the House «f Savoy had been authorized to dispose of the .. ... interests Cha?. interests of Great Britain.to the House of Bour. XXII. [jon> The ftrft ti1-ne WqS at ;[ie peace of Aix la 1762. Chaptlle; which not being mentioned by the writers of the time, the realer wiij sind it stated in the note*. And of the present negociation, Lord * At the battle of Laffelt, Lord Loonier being made prisoner, was introduced to the French King as soon as the action was over. Ti>e Kiug said to him—He bien, Monsieur de Ugonicr, qua.d eft e que le Roy iiotre maitre nous donnera la paix? And at the same time commanded Marshal Saxe, and ,the Duke de Noallles, to confer with him next day upon the subject; which they djd, and assured him that his Majesty's orders we're, that he should be sent back to the Duke of Cumberland upon his pnrole, with the following proposal of peace: .That the King, was ready to make peace upon these terms: That France would acknowledge the Emperor and restore all Flanders, except Fumes, in case England insisted on the demolition of Dunkirk; but if England permitted Dunkirk to continue in its present state, France would restore Fumes also: That England should testore the sort and island of LouiTbourg; aud the Empress Queen and King of Sardinia should make an establishment for.Don Philip; which his Majesty did not require to be very splendid. The proposal was debated in the British cabinet several times, and the cabinet were divided upon it. Dr. Maty gives some hints of this matter in Section V. of his Memoirs of Lord Chesterfield, but he does not seem to have been sully informed. 'At length the - Sardinian minister in London, prevailed upon the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pelhatn to reject the proposal, under a pretence that it was incompatible with the treaty at Worms. Whoever will be at the trouble of comparing these terms with the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, will instantly perceive that they were insinitely more advantageous to Great Britain, than the 'articles of that treaty. But there was another circumstance which marked this influence of the court of Turin more strongly :—This was the negociation for peace that was attempted to be opened on the part of the court of Madrid by M. Wall, who came through the Pays Bos to London, with Marshal Saxc's passport for th~at purpose. He had several conserences with the British ministry on the subject; but when he began to enter upon that part • which. t Lord Chatham said in the House of Lords, on the Chap, second of March, 1770,'" That the court of Xxi'1'; "Turin sold this country to France in the last 1763. "peace." If we admit this assertion to have been well founded, and there is no reason to doubt it, the court of Turin received savours from both sides. The British court were very liberal in the rewards "they gave: Amongst other?, lhe Sardinian ambassador in particular was gratisied with a pension of one thousand pounds per annum upon Ireland for thirty years; commencing the 25th. of March, 1763, in the name of George Charles, Esq.-j* The which related to an establishment for Don Philip, he was told, that it was expected that Spain mould consent'to the King of Sardinia's keeping Final, Vigevanasee, part of Pavia and Anghiera, with the free navigation of the Thesin. To this proposal M. Wall resused to give his promise; upon which the negociation broke off, and M. Wall returned- to Madrid. And though these very terms were obtained for the King of Sardinia, by the treaty of Aix la Chapeile,'yet as the conditions of that treaty were not so savourable to Great Britain, as the terms which had been offered to Lord Ligonier, there can be little doubt of the British interests having been sacrisiced to secure these points for his Sardinian Majesty; who had moreover a' subsidy from England of 20O,pool. per annum j by die treaty of Worms. f This sact was sirst mentioned in the House of Commons of Ireland, by Mr, Edmond Sexten Pery, now L.ord Pery, on the 24th of November, 1763, in these words: "I mail communicate a sact to this House, from whicK it will appear, that the grant of pensions to aliens, is supposed to be contrary to the sense of the nation, even by the advisers of such grant, and theresore not avowed, though madeThere is a pension, Sir, granted nominally, to one George Charles, but really to Count Viri, the Sardinian minister, for negociating the peace that has just been concluded with the minister Chat, The reduced condition of France required no *X1I. entreaty on the part of Turin, to induce her to 1763> accept the pacisic assurances of the new British minister. But before this negotiation was publicly minister of France. I must consess, Sir, that in my opinion, this service deserved no such recompence, at least on our part; so that in this cafe our money is not only granted to an alien, but to an alien who has no merit to plead. If it is thought a desensible measure, I should be glad to know why it was not avowed; and why, if it is proper we should pay a thousand pounds a year to Count Viri, we should be made believe, that we pay it to George Charles?" 1 he reader will draw his own conclusion from the following account of monies issued for the King's privy purse and secret service, during the two last years of the reign of the late King, and the three sirst years of his present Majesty; taken from the 32d vol. of the Journals of the House of Commons, page 514, &c. Ldle Reign. ... For secret service during the same -. For secret service during the lame For secret service during the same For secret service during the same For secret service during the {ame , . .. period, 72,000!. licly opened, Lord Bute had avowedly assumed Cha*. the character of prime minister. He had dis- XXII. milled the Duke of Newcastle and all his friends; and had established his omnipotence through Lord every department of the state. He took the trea- .lte""" sury himself, and appointed Mr. Grenville bis successor in'the secretary of slate's office. Lord' Anson dying at this time, he offered the admiralty to Lord Halifax, who at sirst resused it, because he wanted to be secretary of state; upon which Lord Bute told him, he did not know what he resused; that in patronage it was next to the treasury. Lord Halifax then took it. He had recalled his brother from Turin, and had appointed Lord Rivers to that station. When his . brother appeared at the levee, his Majesty honoured him with this compliment—" / have now HisWa second friend here" From the moment that^"j* . Court. he became minister, it was 'he public language at the court of Versailles, that he myft make peace if he wished to preserve his power; and therefore the assurances of his pacisic disposition, and the offers to commence a negociation, that court was prepared to expect. .* - - - r The correspondence of this negociation, not having been laid before parliament, it may not be improper in this place, to state a sew particulars of the negociation, with some extraordinary circumstances relative to it; which, although they are known to several persons who have been in certain situations, yet they are not known to the public in general. The |