convinced this army will not be risked in a general action; without one, I don't see how we are to break down Buonaparte. Schwarzenberg would almost wish to be back upon the Rhine; he has so many difficulties to face in his present advanced position, that nothing but a victory could extricate him; but this he thinks a dangerous remedy: to go back without being forced, would require great nerve to bear the responsibility, so he continues where he is, without, I fear, any great prospect of doing much, unless the way was made easy for him by victories gained by others of the Allied armies.

Some time ago, a Swiss officer, Lieut.-Colonel Freudenreich, who was formerly in the English service, and on the staff of General Hope, when he was with the Austrian armies, proposed to attach himself to me, if I could give him an appointment. I answered, it was impossible; but, from some confusion in a message delivered to him, he joined me at this place before our retreat. I explained to him I could do no more than offer him my table: he has remained with me. I must say he is of great use to me; without, therefore, saying anything to him, I wish you could allow me to give him an appointment of secretary, such as is at present allowed me, and amounting to fifteen shillings per diem. The truth is, I very much want a person like him, who speaks German. It remains, however, for your decision.

My messenger Vich takes this letter; he is very unwell, and can't ride. I wish you could send me another who was more active.

Peace is the constant cry of every officer in this army. It is very disgraceful, but it is my duty to tell you of it-the army is in a state of great disorganization, pillage and plundering at its utmost. The inhabitants of this town can get no bread: they are starving, and eat the dead horses which are to be met with in the streets.

Believe me ever yours most sincerely,

VOL. IX.

BURGHERSH.

Ꮓ

Lord Castlereagh to Sir Henry Wellesley.

Chaumont, March 12, 1814.

Sir-I enclose, for your confidential information, copy of a treaty which has just been signed between the Courts of London, Vienna, St. Petersburg, and Berlin. Until the ratifications are exchanged, it cannot be made regularly the object of an official proceeding, but you may communicate confidentially upon it with the Spanish Government, and prepare them for the early invitation which they may expect to receive, under the Second Secret Article, to accede to this treaty.

The importance of its policy, and the value to the nations of the Peninsula of having the great military Powers of Europe solemnly pledged to their defence, will, as I have no doubt from your past correspondence, be duly appreciated both by the Regency and Cortes. This measure is now perhaps more than ever important, in order to discourage, on the part of France, any attempt hereafter to presume upon the engagements which were lately so disgracefully imposed upon Ferdinand VII. in his captivity.

I shall be desirous of learning, as early as possible, the sentiments of the Spanish Government upon this important subject. Should they feel disposed to accept the invitation to be made them, I should wish the necessary instructions to be sent to their Ambassador in London, to treat as to the number of troops, &c., to be furnished by Spain. On this point I should be glad of any preliminary information your Excellency can procure, as to the sentiments of the Government.

Lord Cathcart to Lord Castlereagh.

Chatillon sur Seine, March 12, 1814.

My dear Lord-There was not much to add to the original documents transmitted in the night of the 10th and 11th, to

put your lordship in possession of all that took place at the conference of the 10th; and, as Lord Aberdeen and Sir Charles both wrote private letters after we had conferred together, I did not think there was anything worth troubling you to read a third letter.

The long paper was, I have reason to believe, drawn up here, with much labour, and at the expense of many brouillons. Its length was calculated to create delay in copying, and in considering, and still more in discussing, had it produced this latter end. It has occasioned some delay in the present stage; for this morning, at a meeting of the Plenipotentiaries of the Allied Courts, upon receiving Prince Metternich's letter, and the copy of the instructions drawn up by the Cabinet at Chaumont, it was agreed to send a message to the Plenipotentiary of France, to propose a conference at eight o'clock this evening, which was accepted. But it was found impossible to engross the Protocol of the last conference, including that paper, within the intermediate time; and therefore it was proposed by the Plenipotentiaries of Prussia, and agreed to by Count Rasoumoffsky, to put off the conference till to-morrow. We urged the expediency of employing more hands, and of meeting an hour or two later this evening. But punctuality even under this appeared so doubtful that it was abandoned, and the meeting stands for to-morrow at one, p.m.

I take it for granted the French Plenipotentiary will endeavour to avail himself of the twenty-four hours, and that it will therefore be Monday, the 14th, before the conferences will be declared at an end. I have no expectation of acceptance, or even of a counter-projet upon or near the basis offered.

I have a few lines of the 3rd, from Sir T. Graham's headquarters at Groot Zundert. That army is now not in force to block Antwerp; for the Prussians and Saxons have allowed 3,000 French to come back into Flanders, by Courtray, to Ghent, who may get to Antwerp by the Tête de Flandre, which would make that garrison 13,000. Sir T. Graham was

taking precautions to prevent anything being thrown into Bergen-op-Zoom.

Ever, my dear lord, most sincerely yours,

CATHCART.

Lord Aberdeen to Lord Castlereagh.

Chatillon sur Seine, March 12, 1814. My dear Castlereagh-I enclose a private letter which I have received from Johnson. You will probably have the means of forming a just estimate of the state of the public mind in the Netherlands to which he alludes. This strong desire of States which have formerly been under the Austrian dominion to return to their ancient condition, is at least a proof of the practical mildness of the Government.

I hope all this party-spirit may subside, and with a little management it ought to do so, there being nothing in reality to keep it up. Believe me ever sincerely,

ABERDEEN.

The new instructions you have sent us are sufficiently precise. A delay has taken place in their execution. I will write to-morrow evening, when we shall see the result.

[Enclosure.]

Mr. Johnson to Lord Aberdeen.

Brussels, February 20, 1814.

My Lord-The bearer of this letter, whom I have the honour to introduce to your lordship's acquaintance, is the Marquis de Chasteler, one of the members of the deputation appointed by the City of Brussels to convey to his Majesty the Emperor of Austria the prayer of the inhabitants that the Belgian provinces may be governed by a prince of the Imperial Family. The choice of the members who compose this deputation is very judicious, as they are all distinguished by the purity of their political principles; and, whatever may be the ultimate fate of this country, it appears to me that the

determination of its inhabitants to express in a suitable manner their attachment to their former Sovereign will be gratifying to his Majesty the Emperor of Austria and to the Allies in general.

I am sorry that it is not in my power to give your lordship any very gratifying account of the state of this country. The people are discontented at not seeing any Austrian troops amongst their deliverers; and some injudicious measures which have been adopted to procure partisans for the Prince of Orange have created a violence of party-spirit, which is very prejudicial to the general interest.

Should it appear necessary, during the progress of the war, to call forth the military resources of the Netherlands, this can only be done effectually by the immediate intervention of Austria. Baron M. has not been so successful as we had reason to expect; but I believe that whatever has been done by the inhabitants in aid of the common cause may be attributed to his efforts.

I direct all my attention to the object which principally interests us. Mr. Gordon will have informed your lordship of the failure of the first attempt made in this business. I am now repeating the experiment, and, if I succeed, I shall lose no time in communicating the intelligence to your lordship. I have the honour to be, &c.,

J. M. JOHNSON.

Lord Aberdeen to Lord Castlereagh.

Chatillon sur Seine, March 13, 12 o'clock.

My dear Castlereagh-Many thanks for your good news, which I have just received in time to enable me to send it to Liverpool, Caulaincourt having detained our messenger a couple of hours, in order to accompany one of his own. The effect of these successes just at this moment is incalculable.

I have sent to Liverpool a duplicate of the report of our former conference, as well as that held to day, which I now