Mr. W. Hamilton to Lord Castlereagh.

Foreign Office, December 29, 1813. My dear Lord-It is possible this may still find you at Harwich; and, in that case, you will have the pleasure of conveying to the Continent the abstract of Lord Wellington's account of his victories from the 10th to the 13th.

Colonel Hill, who brought the despatches, did not leave St. Jean de Luz till the 17th, when nothing of importance had occurred since the 14th.

We have no other despatches or news from any quarter with which you are not acquainted.

Your obedient servant,

W. HAMILTON.

Mr. Edward Thornton to Lord Castlereagh.

Kiel, December 29, 1813.

My Lord-I avail myself in haste of Sir Charles Stewart's return to the Imperial head-quarters, where he hopes to find. your lordship arrived, to offer to your lordship my sincere congratulations on the step which you have determined to take, and which, I promise myself, will settle every thing on its proper basis, and make the whole machine move forward once more with unity as well as energy.

Though not, perhaps, the first, yet certainly a most important object which your lordship's presence will attain is that of restoring to the affairs of Sweden that course which the politics of M. de Metternich have turned them from, and have occasioned almost the whole delay, which it was pretended he was desirous of saving. If I were to say more, and to assert that this conduct of the Austrian Cabinet, which has entangled with it new doubts and suspicions with regard to Russia and Prussia, is calculated to ruin the whole cause, as far as it depends upon Sweden and upon the Crown Prince to support it, I should not place before your lordship's eyes

too strong a picture of what I am apprehensive may happen, if a speedy remedy is not applied to it by the frank support of these powers to the system of Sweden, as stipulated by treaty, and even by the adherence of Austria to that system.

I put under this cover a duplicate of the last despatch which I had the honour of addressing to your lordship: from the times the others were written, subsequent to my number 144, and from the periods they must have reached the Hague at, and most probably England, I think all the rest must have already passed through your lordship's hands. Among these, I reckon my private letter of the 17th December, in which I had the good fortune to anticipate and to suggest the very circumstance which his Majesty's Government adopted two or three days after that date, of sending a Cabinet Minister to the Continent to the Imperial head-quarters.

Your lordship will see, from the despatches of Baron de Tawast, arrived at Copenhagen, (of which Sir Charles Stewart is to have copies) the state of the question at that capital. If M. de Rosenkrantz is to be believed-and in part Count de Bombelles' assertion confirms what he says-the instructions of this latter were not only shown to the Emperor of Russia and to the King of Prussia, but these sovereigns made alterations in them conformable to their own view. This assertion has had a most pernicious effect even on the mind of M. de Wetterstedt, who already talks of the possibility of being obliged to retire, with the Swedish troops, to Stralsund, if they are to be thus abandoned by the Allies: and I can assure your lordship that there are many Swedish Councillors who would readily advise this step. If it is attempted at the Imperial head-quarters (as I learn from Sir Charles Stewart has been thought of) to force the Prince Royal from hence, or to oblige him to yield to the conditions of the Austrian mediation by the threat or by the act of withdrawing the allied troops, I declare to your lordship my solemn belief that it will be done : and the consequences of that step would be much more per

nicious than the numbers of the Swedish troops withdrawn would lead to imagine.

I declared to M. de Wetterstedt to-day, as it was my duty to do, and as I am persuaded your lordship would authorize me to say, that, if it were possible for the Allied Sovereigns to act in that manner, and to oblige the Swedes, no longer strong enough to face the Danes, to retire to Stralsund, and wait the season for the return to Sweden, his Majesty's Government would still keep their good faith, would furnish the stipulated subsidy till the season arrived, and in Sweden would aid with their maritime force in obtaining the conquest of Norway. I said this, my lord (which I likewise believe, too), because I see that the Prince Royal and all the Swedes about him are only supported by their opinion of the unalterable good faith of England, who is, in fact, the only power upon whose influence and fidelity they can have any reliance.

It was with much pain, therefore, that I felt myself obliged, in conformity to your lordship's despatch, No. 78, of the 21st of this month, to make even an allusion to the troops in the British pay, as if they could not be spared for the purpose of being diverted to other services, while the great interests are to be neglected or sacrificed. I might, in strictness and in exact conformity to your lordship's instructions, (the corps of Winzingerode being now marched) have suppressed the mention of this despatch; but I was not unwilling to give a stimulus to the Prince Royal on a subject on which we are all so much alive, and, in making the communication, I wished to ascribe it (as is the case certainly) to the extreme anxiety and sensibility of the English Government in every thing relating to Holland. But, with all I could do, I could not prevent it from being very severely felt by the Prince Royal; and I had to sustain a scene, in some degree resembling that at Leipsick, though incomparably less violent. I conjure your lordship not to suffer yourself to be led away by the opinions which you will find at the head-quarters, and to trust to my utmost

exertions, in as far as I know the Prince Royal, and have most studied his character, to bring him, with all the force which he can bring from this country, to bear upon the points the most interesting to his Majesty's Government and to Europe.

I am convinced, however, my lord, that nothing is to be hoped for until after the 4th or 5th of next month, when we shall have most certainly the return of the Comte de Bombelles from Copenhagen. The thing is not quite to be despaired of, until after that event shall have decided that Denmark will not yield; and, if there is a prospect of the signature of preliminary articles of peace with Sweden, I can venture to assure you that the negociation of that with England shall not stop the march of the troops towards Holland, nor the departure of the Prince Royal himself. It will be very easy for a Danish negociator to follow the head-quarters.

It is my intention to send duplicates of all my letters to England by other messengers to your lordship, as long as you may continue at the Imperial head-quarters.

When once our faces are turned towards the Rhine, as I trust they will be ere long, I shall then have to address your lordship upon subjects of a more delicate nature and of vast moment, if I see my way clear, as I am endeavouring to do. At that time, I should wish most earnestly to have a personal conversation with your lordship, which might be easily managed by my falling into your route on your way back from the Imperial head-quarters. I flatter myself that the course of events and the direction of this army's march will make this project one of easy attainment.

I have the honour to be, &c.,

EDWARD THORNTON.

Kiel, December 30, 1813

I saw the Prince Royal alone this morning; and, after speaking upon the expectations he had of obtaining Glückstadt. and upon the subject of the despatches he had just received

from M. de Bildt relative to the affairs of Denmark, he began to talk to me upon the subject of France.

He said he was anxious to know what were the sentiments of the English Government upon it, that he might conform himself, as much as possible, to them. If it was their wish to preserve the present dynasty, he ought to know it, that he might concert with England the means of limiting its power, and confining it within such bounds as would preserve the liberties and independence of Europe. If, on the other hand, it was their real opinion that no security could be given, either during the life of the man, or during the continuance of his dynasty, either for the permanent peace of the Continent or of Great Britain, he was ready, always, however, to be understood, with the concurrence and co-operation of the French nation, to act with Great Britain in restoring that form of government and constitution which the former should desire, and Great Britain would consent to. "Enfin," said he, "en un mot, comme en mille, je veux être l'intermédiaire de la nation Française envers l'Europe, pour lui donner le souverain qu'elle choisira, soit Paul, soit Pierre, où quelqu'autre—en assurant à mon fils la succession à la couronne de la Suède; et c'est là, il me semble, le plus beau rôle que je puisse jouer."

He gave me to understand that he meant by this the reestablishment of the house of Bourbon, if that was the wish of Great Britain; and he urged me to procure without delay the sentiments and decision of the British Government upon it. I answered him that, for my own part, without having any instructions from my Government upon this point, I could assure him, and I would take it upon my own responsibility to do so, that we did not wish to see the dynasty of Bonaparte established in France. I thought I could equally venture to assure him that we wished to see the re-establishment of the Bourbons; not by attempting to force it upon the French nation, but by encouraging in every way their return to this way of thinking, and to this cause.