^{page 3 note 1} The alliance between Russia and Austria dates from the Treaty of Vienna (1726), when Catherine I. purchased the support of Austria for her son-in-law, the Duke of Holstein, by her guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction.

^{page 4 note 1} For the detailed history of the relations of France with these three States, see Recueil des Instructions données aux Ambassadeurs: Russie, i. Introduction, pp. v. and xi. et seq.

^{page 5 note 1} Harrington to Rondeau, February 17, 1739, R.O. Russia, vol. 32. See for this ‘Notes on the Diplomatic Correspondence between England and Russia in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century,’ in the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, N. S. Vol. xiv.Google Scholar

^{page 5 note 2} See, inter alia, Newcastle's despatch of June 23, 1741, R.O. Russia, vol. 37.

^{page 6 note 1} That concluded at Constantinople, July 1740, through the mediation of the French ambassador (see Recueil des Instructions données aux Ambassadeurs: Russie, i. 375 and ii. 572).Google Scholar

^{page 6 note 2} Instructions to Finch, R.O. Russia, 02 29, 1740, Vol. 33.Google Scholar

^{page 7 note 1} Finch's despatch, November 26, 1741. See La Cour de Russie il y a Cent Ans, p. 88.Google Scholar

^{page 7 note 2} Ebauche pour donner une idée de, la Forme de Gouvernement en Russie. Parle Maréchal Münnich. Extracts from this work are preserved in MS. among Lord Buckinghamshire's papers. It was printed at Copenhagen, in 1774, in French.

^{page 7 note 3} February 19, 1742, R.O. Russia, Vol. 40.Google Scholar

^{page 8 note 1} Alexis Petrovitch. Bestucheff-Rumin, born at Moscow, 1693, died April 1766. Tooke derives his name from Best, and says he was of English or Scotch origin. His brother Michael, afterwards Field Marshal, was Peter the Great's envoy to London in 1720. See Biographie, Universelle, La, Cour de Russie, il y a Cent Ans, and, for his last years, the Buckinghamshire Papers.

^{page 9 note 1} Simon Romanovitch Woronzow (d. 1805) was Russian ambassador to St. James's in 1763. His Memoirs have been published by the Russian Historical Society, but are only in part translated.

^{page 10 note 1} See ‘Notes on the Diplomatic Correspondence between England and Russia during the First Half of the Eighteenth Century,’ in the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, N. S. vol. xiv., for details as to this treaty.

^{page 10 note 2} Ibid. See also Recueil des Instructions données aux Ambassadeurs: Russie, i. 437Google Scholaret seq.

^{page 10 note 3} France's declaration of war against England in March 1744 was acknowledged by Elizabeth as a casus fœderis.

^{page 11 note 1} See p. 3, note.

^{page 11 note 2} Wych's despatch, June 24, 1742, R.O. Russia, Vol. 40Google Scholar. See also Appendix A, p. 5.

^{page 11 note 3} Mardefeld to Frederic, March 4, 1742, Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's, Vol. ii.Google Scholar

^{page 12 note 1} John Erneat de Biren, whose grandfather was groom to the Dukes of Courland. He himself served first in their armies, and afterwards, while in the service of Bestucheff (father to the Grand Chancellor), rose to be Gentleman of the Chamber to Anna, then Duchess of Courland. The Russian nobility would have excluded him from Russia, on Anna's accession to the throne, but he followed her to St. Petersburg, and, under her favour, attained to a despotic authority in the country. In 1737 Anna forced the Courlanders to elect him as their Duke. For one month he was Regent of Russia, and for twenty years an exile in Siberia. His fortunes, after his return from exile in 1762, may be followed in the Buckinghamshire Papers. See Nouvelle Biographie Générale;, Annual Register, Vol. xiii. p. 27.Google Scholar

^{page 12 note 2} Burchard Christophe Münnich (b. 1683) was a native of Oldenburg. He served under Prince Eugène in Italy and Flanders, and was in the service of Poland during the great Northern War. In 1721 he offered his services to Peter the Great, and was employed by him in his great canal works at Ladoga. In 1734 he commanded the army which ‘pacified’ Poland and forced her to accept the Elector of Saxony as her King. He fought many brilliant campaigns against the Turks, and was concerned in almost every political event of importance in Russia during the reigns of Peter's successors. Anna made him her Field Marshal, Elizabeth exiled him, and Peter III. recalled him from exile. He survived to serve Catherine, having done what he could to save Peter III. from his fate. See Halem, ‘Vie de Münnich,’ Nouvelle Biographie Universelle. See also Bucking hamshire Papers, p. 3.Google Scholar

^{page 13 note 1} Frederic to Mardefeld, October 16, 1740, Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's, Vol. i.Google Scholar

^{page 13 note 2} To Mardefeld, June 7, July 24, August 6, November 6, and December 3 and 6, 1740, &c. See for all these early negotiations with Russia, vol. i. of Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des Zweiten.

^{page 13 note 3} See Système de Bestucheff, Appendix A, 5. See also Mardefeld to Frederic, February 5, March 27,1743, Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's, Vol. ii.Google Scholar

^{page 13 note 4} Frederic to Podevils, August 21, 1743, ibid.

^{page 14 note 1} Fred, to Mardefeld, August 20, 1743, January 5 and 26, 1744, &c. (Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's, vols. iiGoogle Scholar. and iii.).

^{page 14 note 2} By the marriage of Hedwig, elder sister of Charles XII., with Frederic, fourth Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and Schleswig, whom Charles had destined to be his heirs, the House of Holstein had become first in the direct line of succession to the throne of Sweden; and the marriage of Frederic I. and Ulrica, younger sister to Charles XII., having been childless, the Swedish States offered their crown to Peter, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, who had, however, ten days before accepted the succession to the throne of Russia, and, having become a member of the Greek Church, had become disqualified for the Swedish, throne, which, it is said, he would have preferred. It must be remembered that the Swedish custom was to elect their monarchs from members of the Royal House. (See Wych's despatches, December 1742, R.O. Russia, vol. 42Google Scholar. See also Annual Register, xv. 50, 51.)Google Scholar

^{page 15 note 1} Recueil des Instructions: Russie, i. 375.Google Scholar

^{page 15 note 2} Carteret's correspondence with Wych, Jene 13, 1743 (British Museum Add. MS. 22,528).

^{page 15 note 3} Wych's despatch, November 17, 1742 et seq. (R.O. Russia, Vol. 42).Google Scholar

^{page 16 note 1} George II. had at first been disposed to support the candidature of his sonin-law, Prince Frederic William of Hesse-Cassel. Carteret to Wych, November 17, 1742 (R.O. Russia, Vol. 42Google Scholar). See also ‘Secret Instructions to Lord Tyrawley,’ 12 17, 1743Google Scholar (British Museum Add. MS. 22,528).

^{page 16 note 2} See Annual Register for 1772, p. 50.

^{page 16 note 3} Horace Walpole writes to Townsend, October 24, 1725, that ‘the King of Sweden was overwhelmed, without a penny to himself’ (Newcastle Papers, MS. 32,744); and Tyrawley writes, in December 1744, that ‘the Swedes are so distrest that they would give their troops to the very Devil for money’ (R.O. Russia, Vol. 46).Google Scholar

^{page 16 note 4} See ‘Retrospect of French Policy towards Sweden,’ by Duc de Choiseul, April 22, 1766 (Flassan, Vol. vi.).Google Scholar

^{page 17 note 1} Koch, , Histoire des TraitésGoogle Scholar, sui. 337, note.

^{page 18 note 1} See Recueil des Instructions: Russie, i. 406–446Google Scholar. Instructions to La Chétardie, September 1743, and to St. Séverin, November 29,1744. See also Carteret to Tyrawley, January–April 1744 (British Museum Add. MS. 22,528).

^{page 18 note 2} Fred, to Mardefeld, December 2,1743, Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des Zweiten, Vol. ii.Google Scholar

^{page 19 note 1} Fred, to Mardefeld, January 14,1744, Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des Zweiten.

^{page 19 note 2} See Carteret's correspondence with Lord Tyrawley, April 1744 (British Museum Add. MS. 22,528).

^{page 19 note 3} In June 1744. Mardefeld on this at once openly declared against the English

^{page 19 note 4} A copy of this is in MS. among the papers of the Earl of Buckinghamshire, and I have not been able to find it elsewhere. See Appendix, note A, p. 1.

^{page 20 note 1} See La Cour de Russie il y a Cent Ans, pp. 119, 120.Google Scholar

^{page 20 note 2} See Frederic, to Rothenberg, , 02 1744, and 03 16, 1744Google Scholar, Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's, Vol. iii. p. 43Google Scholaret seq.

^{page 20 note 3} Carteret, to Tyrawley, , 11 9, 1744Google Scholar (R.O. Russia, Vol. 46Google Scholar). See also Harrington's despatches of December 11, 1744, and January 8, 15, 18, 1745 (ibid. vols. 46 and 47).

^{page 21 note 1} Carteret, to Tyrawley, , 07 6, 1744Google Scholar, R.O. Russia, Vol. 45.Google Scholar

^{page 21 note 2} The two Bestucheffs were in receipt of pensions from George II. since 1742.See Carteret to Wych, June 1742 (R.O. Russia, Vol. 40).Google Scholar

^{page 21 note 3} See Belsham, , George II. Vol. ii. 167Google Scholar, and Koch, , Histoire des Traités, ii. 409.Google Scholar

^{page 21 note 4} Koch, , Histoire des Traites, ii. 409, 418.Google Scholar

^{page 22 note 1} Instructions to Guy Dickens, August 1749, R.O. Russia, Vol. 60.Google Scholar

^{page 22 note 2} Newcastle, to Keith, , 10 17, 1749Google Scholar, ibid. See also Koch, , ii. 397–403.Google Scholar

^{page 23 note 1} Hanbury Williams reported that most of the annual subsidy went to the Czarina's private purse, and that she was building palaces with it.

^{page 23 note 2} Lord Holderness warns the English ambassador at St. Petersburg with manifest alarm that the King of Prussia had succeeded in obtaining for his envoy an audience with the Czarina through the influence of Shouvalow. (Holderness, to Dickens, Guy, Buckinghamshire Papers, 10 22 and 11 5, 1754.)Google Scholar

^{page 23 note 3} Holderness, to Dickens, , 11 5, 1754Google Scholar; Holderness, to Williams, Hanbury, 01 17, 1755Google Scholar. See also Buckinghamshire Papers, ‘Negotiations concerning the Convention of 1755.’

^{page 23 note 4} Holderness to Williams, December 26, 1755, R.O. Russia, Vol. 70.Google Scholar

^{page 24 note 1} Historians have not been agreed as to which Power made the first advance in these negotiations, and many explanations have been given of Frederic's desertion of the French alliance at the outbreak of the Seven Years' War. I submit that a careful study of his correspondence proves that the true explanation was to be found in the Anglo-Russian treaty of 1755. (See for all these negotiations Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's, Vol. xi. 247Google Scholaret seq. The Duke of Brunswick to Frederic, August 1, 1755; Frederic to the Duke of Brunswick, August 12 and September 1; Maltzahn to Frederic, August 29 and September 5; Michel to Frederic, August 15, 1755, etc.)

^{page 25 note 1} It had been renewed in 1746 for twenty-five years. Koch, , vol. ii. 397, 398.Google Scholar

^{page 26 note 1} See the works of Hanbury Williams, annotated by Horace Walpole (Introduction).

^{page 26 note 2} Sir Charles Hanbury Williams was attached to the Saxon Court in 1754, and went to Warsaw in attendance on the Elector of Saxony. Here he allied himself with the Czartoriski and Poniatowski faction, which made him specially obnoxious to the French party, who were then intriguing to get the Prince de Conti recognised as the successor to the throne. From Warsaw he went to St.Petersburg, where he successfully concluded the treaty of 1755. The influence he acquired over the Grand Duchess is incontestable. M. de l'Hôpital wrote that ‘Mme. la Duchesse ne voit et n'entend que par lui et ses adhérents’ (September 16, 1757). See his biography, attached to his works, edited by Horace Walpole ; see also Le Secret du Roi, i. 49Google Scholar, par le Duc de Broglie.

^{page 26 note 3} In December 1755. Holderness to Williams, Lansdowne Papers; Third Report of the Hist. MSS. Commission.

^{page 27 note 1} Williams to Holderness, February 19, 1756, R.O. Russia, vol, 71.Google Scholar

^{page 27 note 2} Holderness to Williams, March 30, and Williams, , 05 8, 1756Google Scholar, ibid.

^{page 27 note 3} Williams to Holderness, July 9, and Holderness, to Williams, , 08 6, 1736Google Scholar (Historical MS. Report, Lansdowne Papers, Vol. iii.).Google Scholar

^{page 28 note 1} Williams, to Holderness, , 09 28, 1756Google Scholar, ibid.

^{page 28 note 2} Michael Ilarionovitch Woronzow (1714–1767).

^{page 28 note 3} Adam Vassilievitch Olsufief, Private Secretary to the Czarina, and later Secretary of State.

^{page 29 note 1} The Comte de Gisors was son to the Maréchal de Belle-Isle. It had been proposed by Woronzow to invite him to Russia as a kind of informal envoy from France, he being then in Sweden. As it appears, it was the King of France himself who would not permit this. See Recueil des Instructions; Russie, ii. 21.Google Scholar

^{page 30 note 1} Peter, Duke of Holstein and Grand Duke of Russia.

^{page 30 note 2} Ivan Ivanovitch Shouvalow, 1727–1797. He was the founder of the University of Moscow and of the Academy of Fine Arts. He afterwards passed some time in England and was a frequent guest at Strawberry Hill. See Walpole's ‘George III.,’ and Nouvelle Biographie Universelle.

^{page 30 note 3} Of June 1, 1755. See Le Secret du Roi, par le Duc de Broglie, i. 445.Google Scholar

^{page 31 note 1} ‘An Account of an Interview with Bestucheff,’ in the Buckinghamshire Papers.

^{page 31 note 2} Mitchell to Holderness, May 27, 1756. Mitchell to Williams, June 3 and 12, 1756. Mitchell reports that this man was probably one Mackenzie, who had been aide-de-camp to the Prince of Waldeck, and afterwards employed by the Dutch at Liege as a spy. He was a Roman Catholic, and probably of the Order of the Jesuits, though he did not wear their dress. (Mitchell Papers, Add. MS. 6,804, British Museum).

^{page 31 note 3} Charles Geneviève Louise Auguste Eon de Beaumont, commonly called Le Chevalier d'Eon, born 1728 at Tonnerre. He was one of the earliest agents employed by Louis XV. in his secret diplomacy. He died in London in 1810. See Biographie Universelle and Walpole, 's Memoirs of George III. Vol. i. p. 392.Google Scholar

^{page 32 note 1} See Mitchell, to Holderness, , 05 27 and 30, 06 2, 1756Google Scholar (Mitchell Papers, British Museum Add. MS. 6,804). See also Mitchell to Hanbury Williams, May 30, 1756.

^{page 32 note 2} See Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 574Google Scholar. The Treaty of Versailles was concluded May 1,1756; that of Stockholm, March 21,1757.

^{page 33 note 1} See Le Secret du Roi, par le Duc de Broglie. Stanislas Auguste Poniatowski, the future and last King of Poland (1764). He was born in 1732, the fourth son of Stanislas Ciolek Poniatowski and of Constance Czartoryska. The anger which he conceived against the King of Poland on the occasion of his recall from Russia brought him into direct antagonism with the Government of the House of Saxony on his return to Poland. He became the chief of the party which opposed the succession of another member of that House in Poland, and in 1763 himself became the candidate for the throne, supported by Russian arms.

^{page 34 note 1} Buckinghamshire Papers.

^{page 34 note 2} Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 63.Google Scholar

^{page 35 note 1} Holderness and Williams' Correspondence, 1755–1756, Hist. MS. Third Report (Lansdowne MSS.). Two receipts in Catherine's handwriting, addressed to the English agent, are still in existence, of July 21 and November 11, 1756.

^{page 35 note 2} Frederic, to Mitchell, , 12 25, 1756.Google Scholar

^{page 36 note 1} See for this his friendly letter of farewell to Williams, which, with Catherine's, were communicated to Frederic when Williams left Russia. Eichel to Frederic, February 13, 1758, Corresp. Polit. Friedrich's des Zweiten.

^{page 36 note 2} Sir Robert Keith, ninth in descent from William, second Earl Marshal, had been Minister at Vienna since 1748, having been recalled when the coalition between France and Austria was announced in 1757, which resulted in war between Austria and England. In 1758 he went to St. Petersburg, where he remained until Lord Buckinghamshire's arrival in September 1762. On his return home he was handsomely pensioned, and lived some years in Edinburgh in the enjoyment of the society of many distinguished men, among whom were the historians Hume and Robertson. He died in 1774. His son was Sir Robert Murray Keith, also an ambassador to Vienna, and a distinguished diplomatist. See Memoirs of Sir Robert Murray Keith, by Mrs. Gillespie Smith. See also Keith Papers in the British Museum.

^{page 36 note 3} Holderness to Keith, February 25, and Keith to Mitchell, September 19, 1758; Add. MS. 6,825, British Museum.

^{page 36 note 4} One of the suggestions M. de l'Hôpital was instructed to make to the ‘young Court’ was that the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, which reigned in England, must necessarily have an interest in advocating the rule of Ivan of Brunswick Wolfenbüttel in Russia, as they were branches of the same House. See Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 57.Google Scholar

^{page 37 note 1} Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 70 and 152.Google Scholar

^{page 37 note 2} Bestucheff, Hanbury Williams, and Poniatowski (ibid. ii. 111).

^{page 37 note 3} Augustus III., Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.

^{page 37 note 4} October 30, 1757. See Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 73Google Scholar. See also La Cour de Russie il y a Cent Ans, p. 173.Google Scholar

^{page 37 note 5} See instructions to Douglas: Recueil des Instructions, etc.: Russie, ii. 25.Google Scholar

^{page 38 note 1} Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 61Google Scholaret seq. La Cour de Russie il y a Cent Ans, pp. 159–175Google Scholar. Keith, to Holderness, , 03 14, 1758Google Scholar; Add. MS. 6,825, British Museum. See also Flassan, , Histoire de la Dip. Fr. Vol. viGoogle Scholar. Cf. also Woronzow's Memoirs.

^{page 38 note 2} Mitchell, to SirHanbury-Williams, Charles, 01 8, 1757.Google Scholar

^{page 38 note 3} First Minister of France from 1758 to 1770. He was known first as the Comte de Stainville, then as the Duc de Choiseul-Stainville, and must be distinguished from his cousin, the Duc de Choiseul Praslin, who became Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1761.

^{page 39 note 1} Louis Auguste le Tonnelier, Baron de Bretenil, born 1733. He had already begun his diplomatic career at Cologne in 1758 (Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 102, 118).Google Scholar

^{page 39 note 2} He returned thirty-five years later, a dethroned king.

^{page 39 note 3} In April 1759.

^{page 40 note 1} See Le Marquis de l'Hôpital au Duc de Choiseul, May 20, 1759 (Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 91).Google Scholar

^{page 40 note 2} ‘The demand for Prussia is in pursuance of the plan of Peter the Great, who always desired to make his empire conterminous with Germany. Prussia, possessed by Russia, would be too troublesome to Poland, who had already too much frontier in common with that empire.’ See ‘Instructions to the Baron de Breteuil,’ April 1, 1760. See also Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 68.Google Scholar

^{page 40 note 3} Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 97.Google Scholar

^{page 41 note 1} The existence of this secret diplomacy was suspected in the lifetime of Louis XV., and has since been proved. The first publication of a portion of it took place in 1866, when M. Boutaric edited two volumes of Correspondance sécrète inédite de Louis XV. avec le Comte de Broglie. It had its origin in 1745, and five years later had many ramifications and a great influence. See Le Secret du Roi, par le Due de Broglie. See also Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 3.Google Scholar

^{page 42 note 1} Recueil des Instructions: Russie, i. v. xi. xlvii.Google Scholar

^{page 42 note 2} Ibid. ii. 213.

^{page 42 note 3} ‘Instructions au Baron de Breteuil,’ August 1, 1760. See Flassan, , Histoire de la Diplomatic Française, vi. 193Google Scholaret seq.

^{page 44 note 1} This had been a part of Frederic's policy from the first days of his reign. By a secret article in the first treaty which he had concluded with Russia in 1740 it was also agreed that Poland should not be permitted to make her sovereignty hereditary. This was aimed against the permanence of the House of Saxony in Poland. It is clear that the elective system tended to perpetuate the anarchy of Poland. See for this treaty, Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des Zweiten, Vol. i. 07 31, 1740.Google Scholar

^{page 44 note 2} See Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 574Google Scholar. See for English grievances against Sweden in 1747, R.O. Sweden, Vol. 120Google Scholar, the despatches of Guy Dickens, December 30,1746 et seq. Sweden had long remained Jacobite in her sympathies, and had undertaken to furnish 200 Swedish gentlemen and twice as many soldiers to the invasion of Scotland in 1745.

^{page 45 note 1} Fox, to Harris, , 04 11, 05 16 and 07 27, 1783Google Scholar, Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury, Vol. ii.Google Scholar

^{page 45 note 2} See for this the action of Parliament and of the nation on the occasion of Pitt's preparations for war with Russia in 1791. See Lecky, , v. 286–293.Google Scholar

^{page 46 note 1} Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury, ii. 2Google Scholar. October 25, 1782.

^{page 46 note 2} Diaries and Correspondence of the Earl of Malmesbury, i. 438Google Scholar, July 25, 1781.

^{page 46 note 3} See Leoky, , v. 215.Google Scholar

^{page 47 note 1} Bute to Sir Joseph Yorke, January 12, 1762, British Museum Add. MSS. vol. 6,820. See also Bute to Mitchell, March 26,1762, Adolphus's History, Vol. i. App. pp. 579–589.Google Scholar

^{page 48 note 1} Bute, to Keith, , 02 23, 1762Google Scholar, R.O. Précis Russia, 1761–1762.Google Scholar

^{page 48 note 2} Bute, to Kniphausen, , 02 26, 1762Google Scholar. George III. to Frederic II., March 30,1762 (British Museum Add. MS. vol. 6,809).

^{page 48 note 3} Carlyle, 's Frederick the Great, vi. 298Google Scholar

^{page 49 note 1} Bute, to SirMitchell, A., 05 26, 1762Google Scholar, Bisset, 's Memoirs of Sir A. Mitchell.Google Scholar

^{page 49 note 2} Mémoires de Frédéric II. Vol. ii. 226.Google Scholar

^{page 49 note 3} See William Pitt (Chatham) und Graf Bute, von Albert Von Ruville, 1895. Berlin.Google Scholar

^{page 49 note 4} Letters of Mary Lepel, Lady Hervey, p. 275.Google Scholar

^{page 50 note 1} Harris, to Grantham, , 01 29, 1783Google Scholar, Malmesbury Correspondence Vol. ii.Google Scholar

^{page 50 note 2} Keith, to Bute, , 03 19, 1762Google Scholar, R.O. Précis Russia, 1761–1763.Google Scholar

^{page 51 note 1} Keith, to Bute, , 06 18 and 22, 1762Google Scholar, R.O. Précis Russia, 1761–1763Google Scholar. See, too, Grenville, to Keith, , 07 23, 1762Google Scholar, id.

^{page 51 note 2} Mitchell, Andrew, 1708–1771Google Scholar. He was appointed British Envoy to Frederic of Prussia in 1756.

^{page 51 note 3} The King feared that the misrepresentations of the Prussian Ministers might inflame Frederic's suspicions if only an abstract were shown him. Bute to Mitchell, March 30, 1762. Adolphus's History, vol. i. App. For this despatch of January 12, 1762, see Appendix, Note B.

^{page 51 note 4} Buckinghamshire Papers, Memorial A.

^{page 51 note 5} Bute to Mitchell, May 26,1762. See Bisset's Memoirs of Sir A. Mitchell.

^{page 52 note 1} Buckinghamshire Papers, British Museum Add. MS. 22,358.

^{page 52 note 2} Mitchell to Bute, May 3, 1762, Bisset's Memoirs of Sir A. Mitchell.

^{page 52 note 3} Alexandre, Prince Galitzin. He was Russian ambassador to London in the last years of George II., and received fresh credentials to George III. In February 1762 he was recalled and was appointed Vice-Chancellor at St. Petersburg.

^{page 53 note 1} Bute, to Mitchell, , 05 26, 1762.Google Scholar

^{page 53 note 2} Grenville, , Memoirs and Correspondence, i. 467.Google Scholar

^{page 53 note 3} See also Frederic, to Kniphausen, and Michell, , 07 12 and 24, 1762Google Scholar, Oct. 8, 1762, &c., Polit. Corresp. Friedrich's des Zweiten, Vol. xxii.Google Scholar

^{page 53 note 4} See Frederic, to Kniphausen, and Micheli, , 10 8, 1762Google Scholar, ibid. p. 258.

^{page 54 note 1} George Grenville to Keith, of July 14, mentions Lord Buckinghamshire's appointment, and it will be remembered that communication between St. Petersburg and London took at least a month.

^{page 54 note 2} Much of Lord Buckinghamshire's youth had been passed under the guardian ship of his aunt, the celebrated Lady Suffolk, at Marble Hill. Lady Suffolk had lived on terms of close intimacy with all the Grenvilles, and Lord and Lady Bute had also been of that society which charmed and attracted men of such different calibre as Horace Walpole and George Grenville. See Lady Suffolk's Letters.

^{page 54 note 3} Frederic to Keith through Mitchell, January 21,1762, British Museum Add. MS. 6,844.

^{page 55 note 1} Frederic II. to George III., March 12,1762. See Adolphus, 's History of England, Vol. i. App.Google Scholar

^{page 55 note 2} Keith, to Mitchell, , 04 10, 1759Google Scholar, British Museum Add. MS. 6, 825.

^{page 55 note 3} Mitchell's despatch to Keith, , 01 21, 1762Google Scholar. See also Keith, to Mitchell, , 09 19, 1758, 07 23, 1761Google Scholar, &c., British Museum Add. MS. 6,825.

^{page 55 note 4} Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 41Google Scholar (note 1). See also La Cour de Russie il y a Cent Ans, p. 170.Google Scholar

^{page 55 note 5} Keith's despatch, February 28, 1762. See also Jenkinson, to Greuville, George, 04 10, 1762Google Scholar, Grenville Papers.

^{page 56 note 1} See Lord Buckinghamshire's despatch, September 24, 1762, The date of Keith's return and the reasons for his recall seem to be misapprehended by the author of the article upon him in the Dictionary of National Biography.

^{page 56 note 2} Bute, to Mitchell, , 05 26, 1762Google Scholar, British Museum Add. MS. 6,820.

^{page 56 note 3} ‘Keith seems too ready to support the Prussian system,’ writes Jenkinson to G. Grenville, April 10, 1760, Grenville Memoirs, i. 421.Google Scholar

^{page 56 note 4} Wronghton's despatch, April 6, 1762, R.O. Précis Russia, 1761–1763.Google Scholar

^{page 56 note 5} Keith, to Mitchell, , 07 17 and 21, 1762Google Scholar, British Museum Add. MS. 6,825.

^{page 57 note 1} Guy Dickens asked to be recalled in 1755 ‘because he was too old to go to every ball, and here they expect it!’

^{page 57 note 2} ‘Lord Buckinghamshire may try the remainder of his charms on the heart of an Empress,’ writes Horace Walpole, with his accustomed spite (to Sir Horace Mann, July 31, 1762).

^{page 57 note 3} Keith, to Grenville, , 07 12, 1762Google Scholar, ‘Buckinghamshire Papers. See p. 60, note 2.

^{page 57 note 4} About thirty English miles from St. Petersburg.

^{page 58 note 1} Russian Memoranda, Bukinghamshire Papers.

^{page 59 note 1} Russian Memoranda, Buckinghamshire Papers.

^{page 59 note 2} Elizabeth Romanowna Woronzow, niece to the Grand Chancellor.

^{page 59 note 3} Paul, afterwards Czar, November 1796–1802.

^{page 59 note 4} Grigori Nicolaevitch Teplow, or Tieplow, held an obscure post in the chancellerie until the Revolution, and upon Catherine's accession became one of her Secretaries of State. He composed the declaration which Catherine issued on the day of that event. It has been pointed out that if he was indeed the murderer of her husband, Catherine's complicity was made more probable, as Teplow was too obscure to gain anything by committing the deed on his own responsibility. More generally the crime has been ascribed to Alexis Orlow, whose family had everything to gain by the triumph of Catherine. See Schuhmacher's Geschichte der Thronentsetzung und des Todes Peter des Dritten, as quoted by Waliszewski. ‘Perhaps Nature never formed a more villainous countenance than that of Teplow,’ writes Lord Buckinghamshire, ‘or one whose character was more consonant to his appearance’ (Russian Memoranda).

^{page 60 note 1} Buckinghamshire Papers.

^{page 60 note 2} The rest of this letter has been printed in the Memoirs of Sir Hubert Murray Keith, by Mrs. Smith, vol. i.

^{page 60 note 3} The Prussian envoy.

^{page 61 note 1} Ivan Grigorievitch Orlow (1732), Grigori (1734–1783), Alexis (1735–1807), Vladimir (1743–1831), Feodor, were all sons of Grigori Ivanovitch Orlow, who was a colonel, in the army of Peter the Great. Four of the brothers were concerned in the Revolution of 1762, their influence with the four regiments of the Guards having practically ensured its success. Ivan became Count and Senator after that event. Grigori was already Catherine's lover. He was supremely handsome, ‘avec une adorable tête d'ange sur les épaules,’ but with little else angelic about him. He was a man of little intelligence or education, and led to excess the usual life of a dissipated officer of the Guards. He became Grand Master of Artillery, Director-General of Fortifications, and finally Catherine procured for him the title of Prince of the Empire. Alexis, surnamed le Balafré, became Admiral, and distinguished himself by the destruction of the Turkish fleets at Tchesmé (1770). Vladimir, in 1793, was made Director of the Academy of Science.

^{page 61 note 2} See p. 99.

^{page 61 note 3} See p. 96.

^{page 61 note 4} See p. 94.

^{page 62 note 1} See p. 52, note 3. Prince Galitzin had returned from his mission to England early in 1762. His appointment as Vice-Chancellor had been confirmed by Peter III., and he entered upon that office in July. (Keith to Bute, Jan. 19 and July 20, 1762, R.O. Précis Russia, 1761–1763.)Google Scholar

^{page 62 note 2} Peter III. claimed Schleswig as his hereditary possession as Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and this province had been conquered by the Kings of Denmark in the great Northern War.

^{page 63 note 1} ‘Count Haxthausen, a very honest gentleman, with very good, tho’ not very quick, parts, perfectly well disposed to England, an enemy to France.’ (Buckinghamshire Papers, Keith's Notes.)

^{page 63 note 2} Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, born at Liége 1722. In 1756 he had accompanied Kaunitz to Paris, and assisted at the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles, which reversed so completely the policy of France and of Austria. ‘M. Mercy is a creature and admirer of Kaunitz, but otherwise a worthy man,’ writes Keith (Buckinghamshire Papers).

^{page 64 note 1} Elizabeth Woronzow was allowed to retire to one of her father's villages, and married later M. Palianski. The children of Roman Larevonetz (or Ilarionovitch) Woronzow, brother of the Grand Chancellor, Michael Ilarionovitch Woronzow, were Alexander, who became Chancellor of the Empire; Simon, or Semen (1744–1832), ambassador in England (1762–1763); Marie, afterwards Countess Bouterlin; Elizabeth, who was the mistress of Peter III.; Catherine (1744–1810), who became the celebrated Princess Dashkow. The two elder sisters were Maids of Honour to the Czarina Elizabeth. Catherine became for a short time the favourite of Catherine II. See Mémoires de la Princesse Dashkoff, edited by Mrs. Bradford ; Recueil des Instructions, etc., Vol. ii. 4Google Scholar, etc.

^{page 65 note 1} This survey of the political situation is preserved among Lord Buckingham shire's papers, but is evidently by some person much more intimately acquainted than he could himself have been at that time with the state of things at St. Petersburg.

^{page 65 note 2} Nikita Jourievitch Trubetzkoi (1699–1767), Field Marshal and President of the War Department. He was described in the instructions given to M. de Breteuil as ‘well versed in Russian affairs and incapable of corruption.” See Recueil des Instructions; Russie, ii. 179.Google Scholar

^{page 66 note 1} In 1759. See pp. 37 and 38.

^{page 67 note 1} She was Jeanne Elizabeth of Holstein-Eutin, a sister of Adolphus Frederic, who became King of Sweden, 1751–1771. Her father was hereditary Bishop øf Lübeck.

^{page 68 note 1} Cyril Grigorievitch Rozoumowski (1728–1803), Hetman of the Cossacks of the Dnieper. He was the last to hold that office, which under Catherine II. was replaced by a College of Administration. He was a Cossack of humble birth, and owed his success in life to his brother, Alexis Rozoumowski (1709–1771), who, from being a chorister in the Court chapel, became the lover of the Grand Duchess, afterwards the Empress, Elizabeth. Elizabeth advanced her lover to the highest posts. On the day of her coronation he was made General-in-Chief and Knight of St. Andrew, and soon after Elizabeth privately married him. In 1756 he became Field Marshal; but he had already been superseded in Elizabeth's private favour by Ivan Ivanovitch Shouvalow. Recueil des Instructions; Russie, ii. 9Google Scholar; Bilbassof, 's Histoire de Catherine, Vol. i.Google Scholar

^{page 69 note 1} Count Peter Semenovitch Soltikow (1700–1772). He commanded the Russian forces during the last years of the Seven Years' War, and conquered Frederic himself at the Battle of Kunersdorf(1759). Recueil des Instructions: Russie, ii. 90.Google Scholar

^{page 69 note 2} Keith had received 100,000l. See Smith's Memoirs of Sir R. M. Keith.

^{page 69 note 3} Simon Romanovitch Woronzow (1744–1832), nephew to the Grand Chancellor