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Lord Whitworth and the Conspiracy Against Tsar Paul I: The New Evidence of the Kent Archive

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

James J. Kenney Jr.
James J. Kenney Jr.*
Affiliation:
St. Mary's College of Maryland
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Extract

Tsar Paul I died at a critical moment in the affairs of Europe. During the last fifteen months of his life he had become estranged from Great Britain and Austria, his erstwhile allies, who were being hard pressed by their French enemy on several fronts. By the beginning of 1801 the tsar's government seemed on the verge of concluding an alliance with Napoleonic France. Russia's “cold war” with Britain heated up as the tsar ordered the confiscation of British merchant vessels in his ports and the incarceration of British seamen. A British fleet under Admirals Parker and Nelson was dispatched to the Baltic to deal with the new threat to British interests. Then, quite suddenly, the tsar was dead.

Type
Articles
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , June 1977 , pp. 205 - 219
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1977

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References

1. Czartoryski, A. P., Memoires du prince Csartoryski et sa correspondence avec Alexandre 1” , 2 vols. (Paris, 1887), 1 : 237 Google Scholar. See also the testimony of Princess Lieven that Alexander's first thought on assuming power was to recall the Cossacks sent by Paul to invade India, in T., Schiemann, Zur Geschichte der Regierung Paul I und Nikolaus I, 2nd ed. (Berlin, 1906), p. 43–44.Google Scholar

2. Le Moniteur, quoted in Thiers, M. A., History of the Consulate and the Empire under Napoleon I, 20 vols. (London, 1845-62), 2 : 246.Google Scholar

3. Letter of Kochubei to Vorontsov, March 16/28, 1801, Arkhiv Kniasia Vorontsova, 40 vols. (Moscow, 1870-95), 14 : 146-48 (hereafter cited as AKV).

4. See the testimony of Kotzebue, A. in Tsareubiistvo 11 marta 1801 goda : Zapiski uchastnikov t sovremmenikov (St. Petersburg, 1907), p. 349 Google Scholar. A similar story is told in Derzhavin, G. R., Sochineniia Dershavina, ed. Grot, la., 2nd ed., 7 vols. (St. Petersburg, 1868-78), 7 : 364.Google Scholar

5. Letter of S. R. Vorontsov to A. R. Vorontsov, July 31, 1801, AKV, 10 : 113-14. See also K., Waliszewski, Le fils dc la Grande Catherine : Paul Icr (Paris, 1912), pp. 574–75, 581Google Scholar; and Thiers, History of the Consulate, 2 : 245.

6. See, for example, A. B. Lobanov-Rostovskii in Schiemann, Zur Geschichte, pp. 261-68. Cf. Waliszewski, Paul I, pp. 572-75.

7. See, for example, Whitworth's reports to Grenville in the Public Record Office (hereafter cited as PRO), F.O. 65/46, no. 17, March 18, 1800; no. 22, April 2, 1800; and no. 30, April 30, 1800, where Whitworth speaks of confidences made “in strictest secrecy “ by Panin. More generally, see Waliszewski, Paul Ier, p. 575, n. 1; and C., Grunwald, L'Assassinat dc Paul Icr (Paris, 1960), pp. 181–82 Google Scholar.

8. The best sources concerning the final phase of the conspiracy are T. Schiemann, “Des Generals Grafen von Bennigsen Brief an den General von Fock über die Emordung Kaiser Pauls, ” Historischc Vierteljahrschajt (1901), pp. 57-69; and Loewenson, L, “The Death of Paul I and the Memoirs of Count Bennigsen,” Slavonic and East European Rcvieiv, 29 (1950) : 212–3Google Scholar3. Thiers, Waliszewski, and Grunwald all reach the same conclusion. An exception to the prevailing opinion is that of V., Zubow, Zar Paul I : Mensch tmd Schicksal (Stuttgart, 1963), p. 66 Google Scholar. Zubow, the great-grandson of one of Paul's assassins, considers the question of English involvement “bisher noch nicht gelöst. “

9. Published by Brückner, A. [Brikner], in Materialy dlia zhizneopisaniia graja N. P. Panina, 6 vols. (St. Petersburg, 1888-92).Google Scholar

10. AKV, especially vols. 9 and 11.

11. See especially the letters of Vorontsov to Grenville dated April 27, 1800, June 27, 1800, February 11, 1801, and April 17, 1801, in the Dropmore Manuscripts in the British Museum. The Museum acquired this correspondence, bound in four quarto volumes, from the estate of the Fortescue family in late 1972. At the time I examined the letters, they had not yet been assigned Additional Manuscript numbers; however, the documents are easily identifiable by their dates. A report on the collection of which these manuscripts were a part was published by the Historical Manuscripts Commission—Report on the Manuscripts of J. B. Fortescue preserved at Dropmore, 10 vols. (London, 1892-1927).

12. On Vorontsov's knowledge of the plot, see the letters to him from N. N. Novosiltsov, January 20 and February 4, 1801, AKV, 18 : 435-38; and from him to Novosiltsov, February 5, 1801, AKV, 11 : 380-81. The published Vorontsov papers are but a fraction of the entire Vorontsov holdings, now broken up among several Soviet repositories (see Grimsted, P. K., The Foreign Ministers of Alexander I [Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1969], pp. 312–13Google Scholar). But neither the Soviet historians nor the few Western historians who have used these papers have had anything new to say about the death of Paul.

13. Thiers, History of the Consulate, 2 : 246.

14. Lord Whitworth married the widowed Duchess of Dorset in 1801, and took up residence at Knole, near Sevenoaks, in Kent. His private papers, along with others of his family (including those of his great-uncle, envoy to the court of Peter the Great) were joined with the papers of the Sackville family and passed eventually to the Kent Archive Office in Maidstone. They are listed now among the Sackville of Knole Manuscripts, catalog numbers U 269, O 195 to O 198. There are hundreds of documents, contained in bundles, not individually catalogued. Their grouping and order suggest that they have not been much disturbed during almost two hundred years. (Hereafter I will cite individual documents as KAO, U 269, their file number, and date.)

15. Concerning these episodes see Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/23, no. 21, May 3, 1792; Grenville to Whitworth, ibid., no. 2, June 31, 1792; Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/28, no. 56, October 13, 1794; and Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/35, no. 349, October 12, 1796.

16. Grenville to Whitworth, PRO F.O. 65/35, no. 33, December 2, 1796.

17. Whitworth to Lord Hawkesbury, “Most Secret, ” March 14 through 31, 1803, British Museum Add. Ms. 38238.

18. Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/42, no. 54, December 4, 1798; Grenville to Whitworth, ibid., no. 1, January 25, 1799; also Vorontsov to Grenville, January 22, 1799, in the Dropmore Manuscripts; and the report of Cobenzl to Thugut in the Haus-, Hof-, und Staatsarkhiv, Vienna (hereafter cited as HHSA), Russland, series 2, karton 90, no. 12, February 17, 1799.

19. To cite only a few examples : Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/22, no. 62, December 1, 1791; PRO F.O. 65/23, no. 32, June 19, 1792; PRO F.O. 65/33, no. 15, March 9, 1796 (where Whitworth solicits a team of horses for Zubov); and Grenville's obliging response, PRO F.O. 65/33, no. 7, April 15, 1796.

20. On Zherebtsov, see V., Zubow, Karlik favorita : Istoriia zhizni Ivana Iakubovskogo (Munich, 1968), pp. 302–12 Google Scholar; and S. A., Adrianov, “Ol'ga Aleksandrovna Zherebtsova,” Istoricheskii vestnik, 62 (1895) : 843–56.Google Scholar

21. Cobenzl to Thugut, HHSA, Russland, series 2, k. 84, no. 79, apostille 11, December 26, 1796.

22. Golovina, V. N., Memoirs of the Countess Golovine, ed. Waliszewski, K. (London, 1910), pp. 174–75, 206-12Google Scholar.

23. Whitworth to Grenville, “Most Secret, ” PRO F.O. 65/36, no. 12, February 23, 1797.

24. Cobenzl to Thugut, HHSA, Russland, series 2, k. 76, no. 30, apostille 12, May 19, 1792.

25. Grenville to Whitworth, PRO F.O. 65/40, no. 32, October 16, 1798; and Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/41, no. 54, November 20, 1798.

26. See especially Panin's correspondence with many Englishmen in Brückner, Matcrialx, 5 : 73-114.

27. Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/39, no. 18, April 18, 1798.

28. Whitworth to Grenville, private, PRO F.O. 65/45, November 28, 1799.

29. See the excellent reexamination of Russian foreign policy under Paul by Hugh, Ragsdale, “Was Paul Bonaparte's Fool? : The Evidence of the Danish and Swedish Archives,” Canadian-American Slavic Studies, 7, no. 1 (Spring 1973) : 52–67.Google Scholar Whitworth dolefully reported Rostopchin's influence as increasing, “I am sorry to say, in proportion to his disinclination to operations (against the French)” (Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/45, no. 102, November 13, 1799).

30. Grenville to Whitworth, PRO F.O. 65/45, nos. 101-3, November 23, 1799.

31. V. Zubow, Zar Paul I, pp. 67-68.

32. Six letters of Popham to Whitworth, KAO, U 269, O 196/1, dated November 1798 to May 1800. Popham's ship was detained by ice off the coast of Sweden; he made his way to Stockholm and eventually to Finland, where he fell violently ill with “the fever.” When he finally reached Vyborg in Russian Karelia, he wrote to Whitworth, “Here I am all Skin and Bone, but thank God no Fever!” (March 19, 1800).

33. See Whitworth's bitter comments about Rostopchin in his report to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/44, no. 94, October 10, 1799. For some of Panin's comments, see his letters to Vorontsov (for example, October 4, 1799— “C'est qu'il est très mauvais fils, interessé, avare à l'excès, et qu'il n'ambitionne des places que pour s'enrichir” [AKV, 11 : 93]; and November 3, 1799 [AKV, 11 : 96-97]). Whitworth later drew up a memorandum in which he accused Rostopchin of causing the break between England and Russia, KAO, U 269, O 197/8, n.d. It is impossible to date the beginning of discussions at Mme. Zherebtsov's, but Rostopchin's letter to Vorontsov (October 9, 1799, AKV, 8 : 250-51), where he speaks of Panin's “love of intrigues, ” may be a reference to Panin's association with dissident elements. Cf. Czartoryski, Memoircs, 1 : 231-36, where he discusses the start of the conspiracy without giving any dates, and Waliszewski, Paul Ier, pp. 569-74.

34. See the letter of Bennigsen to Fock, Historische Vierteljahrschaft (1901), p. 60; the testimony of Veliaminov-Zernov in Schiemann, Zur Geschichtc, pp. 277-79; and Czartoryski, Memoircs, 1 : 237.

35. The most complete summary of this matter, based primarily on the sources cited in the above note, is still Waliszewski, Paul Ier, pp. 572-75.

36. Cobenzl to Thugut, HHSA, Russland, series 2, k. 94, no. 12, February 11, 1800.

37. Ibid.; see also Cobenzl to Thugut, ibid., no. 19, March 17, 1800; Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/46, no. 17, March 18, 1800; and Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/47, no. 32, May 19, 1800, concerning the broken codes.

38. On Dumouriez, a readable but quite dated biography is that by A., Chuquet, Dwitouries (Paris, 1914)Google Scholar; see pp. 240-41.

39. Dumouriez to Whitworth, February 15/26, 1800, KAO, U 269, O 197/3. From this letter it is clear that Dumouriez was growing impatient with waiting.

40. Ibid. One memorandum was a ten-page proposal, “Diversion dans le midi de la France, ” and the other was a forty-seven-page document, “Plan d'expedition maritime sur les cotes de France.” Whitworth also received a paper entitled, “Note sur le projet d'employer les troupes danoises.” See also Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/46, no. 20, March 25, 1800.

41. See Chuquet, Dumouriez, pp. 232-33. Grenville felt that Dumouriez, unlike Lafayette, did not have the merit of being attached to his principles.

42. That Paul made this decision and instructed Rostopchin to write London without even informing Vice-Chancellor Panin is the point made by Aleksandrenko, V. N. in Russkie diplomatichcskie agenty v Londone v XVIII veke, 2 vols. (Warsaw, 1897), 1 : 75–77.Google Scholar

43. Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/46, no. 17, March 18, 1800.

44. Ibid.

45. Panin to Whitworth, KAO, U 269, O 197/11, “ce lundi 19” (March 19, 1800 O.S.). From its position in the bundle, this note clearly pertains to 1800. A check of the Julian calendar for 1800 shows that there was no other “lundi 19” during the time Whitworth was in Russia.

46. Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/46, no. 22, April 2, 1800 (March 21 O.S.).

47. Rogerson to Vorontsov, April 8, 1800, AKV, 30 : 122.

48. Panin to Whitworth, KAO, U 269, O 197/11, “mercredi.” The precise date is deduced from the connection of this note to the one which follows, “jeudi 10, ” which could only have been May 10, 1800 O.S.

49. Ibid., “jeudi 10” (May 10, 1800 O.S.). There were no other Thursdays falling on the 10th of the month during the first half of 1800.

50. Grenville to Casamajor, PRO F.O. 65/47, nos. 1-3, May 2, 1800. The instructions were addressed to the secretary of legation because it was assumed that Whitworth would have already left Russia.

51. Panin to Whitworth, KAO, U 269, O 197/11, May 20, 1800 O.S.

52. Panin to Whitworth, private, ibid., “ce vendredi 25 “; also Panin to Whitworth, as vice-chancellor of Russia to the minister of Great Britain, ibid., May 25, 1800.

53. Copy of a letter from Whitworth to Panin, in Whitworth's hand, KAO, U 269, O 197/7, May 26/June 7, 1800. I have reproduced this copy as it appeared, evidently written in great haste. A slightly different version of the letter was published, but with the wrong date, by Brückner, Materialy, 5 : 111.

54. Pahlen to Whitworth, KAO, U 269, O 197/8, May 26, 1800 O.S.

55. Whitworth to Grenville, April 16, 1801, in Report on the Manuscripts of J. B. Fortescuc, vol. 7 (London, 1905), p. 4 (cited in N., Saul, Russia and the Mediterranean, 1797-1807 [Chicago, 1970], p. 153, n. 80Google Scholar).

56. See the letter of Vorontsov to Whitworth, PRO F.O. 65/48, April 15, 1801; and Vorontsov to Grenville, Dropmore Manuscripts, April 17, 1801. Vorontsov liberally advised his friends concerning whom they should send to Russia, and he asked Whitworth to pass on his recommendations to Lord Hawkesbury in case Whitworth should decline to return himself.

57. St. Helens to Whitworth, private, KAO, U 269, O 197/12, May 31, 1801. Bennigsen was recruited at the last moment by Count Pahlen (see Bennigsen's letter to Fock, Historische Vicrteljahrschajt [1901], p. 60). Cf. St. Helens to Hawkesbury, “Secret and Confidential, “ PRO F.O. 65/48, May 31, 1801.

58. Whitworth to Grenville, PRO F.O. 65/47, no. 35, May 22, 1800.

59. Commissioners of Audit to Whitworth, KAO, U 269, O 196/5, November 5, 1808.

60. Whitworth to the commissioners, ibid., November 9, 1808.

61. Whitworth to Canning, ibid., November ll, 1808; Canning to Whitworth, ibid., November 12, 1808. Copies of these two letters also appear in PRO F.O. 65/74.

62. Whitworth to Canning, PRO F.O. 65/75, November 15, 1808.

63. Whitworth to Grenville, KAO, U 269, O 196/5, November IS, 1808; Grenville to Whitworth, ibid., November 28, 1808.

64. Whitworth to Canning, PRO F.O. 65/75, December 4, 1808. See also the following letter from Whitworth to Canning, ibid., December 9, 1808.

65. Whitworth to Canning, KAO, U 269, O 196/5, December 20, 1808.

66. Ibid.

67. Commissioners to Whitworth, ibid., December 15, 1808.

68. Whitworth to Canning, PRO F.O. 65/75, December 23, 1808; Whitworth's affidavit to the Lords of the Treasury, KAO, U 269, O 196/5, December 24, 1808; Minutes of the Board of Treasury, PRO, T. 29/98, December 30, 1808; Canning to Whitworth, KAO, U 269, O 196/5, January 9, 1809; Lords of the Treasury to Whitworth, ibid., January 20, 1809; and King's Warrant to Whitworth, ibid., February 7, 1809.

69. Drafts of two letters from Whitworth to Grenville, KAO, U 269, O 196/5, May 19 and 20, 1800.

70. See Rostopchin to Vorontsov, June 30, 1801, AKV, 8 : 286-88; the testimony of Kotzebue and Veliaminov-Zernov in Schiemann, Zur Gcschichte, pp. 278, 321-24; and E., Shumigorskii, Imperator Pavel I : Zhisn’ i tsarstvovanie (St. Petersburg, 1897), pp. 195–96.Google Scholar

71. See, for example, Thiers, History of the Consulate, pp. 245-46; Waliszewski, Paul Ier, p. 575; and Grunwald, L'assassinat, pp. 180-82.

72. These letters make up the bulk of KAO, U 269, O 197. They are personal in character, and almost exclusively concerned with small, private matters.