Diaries and Correspondence of James Harris, First Earl of Malmesbury, Volume 1 |
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acquainted affairs alliance Ambassador answer appear assured attention believe Berlin bien character Cobenzel conduct considered conversation Count Goertz Count Kaunitz Count Panin courier Court of Vienna DEAR declaration DESPATCH FROM SIR disposition Dutch EARL OF SUFFOLK effect Emperor empire employed Empress endeavoured enemies England Europe event everything EXTRACT favour favourite feel flatter foreign France French friendship give Grand Duke greatest HARRIS TO LORD Holland honour idea Imperial Majesty interests King of Prussia language LETTER FROM SIR LORD STORMONT LORD SUFFOLK LORD VISCOUNT STORMONT Lordship Madrid Majesté Impériale Majesty's manner Masserano Mediation mind Minister Minorca Mons nation never obtain occasion opinion orders Orlow passed peace person Petersburg Poland political Potzdam present Prince of Prussia Prince Potemkin proposed Prussian Majesty qu'elle received Russia sent sentiments ships sincere SIR JAMES HARRIS situation Sovereign Spain speak tion told treaty Vienna wish
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Page i - Diary and Correspondence of James Harris, First Earl of Malmesbury; containing an account of his missions to the Courts of Madrid, Frederick the Great, Catherine the Second, and the Hague; and of his special missions to Berlin, Brunswick, and the French Republic. Edited by his Grandson, the third Earl.
Page 237 - Empress discoursed a long while the other day on the ancient Greeks ; of their alacrity and the superiority of their genius, and the same character being still extant in the modern ones ; and of the possibility of their again becoming the first people, if properly assisted and seconded.
Page 142 - Proceeding on these grounds, he has, all along, been guided by his own judgment alone, without ever consulting any of his ministers or superior officers, not so much from the low opinion he entertains of their abilities, as from a conviction, from his own feelings, that if he employed them otherwise than as simple instruments, they would, in time, assume a will of their own, and, instead of remaining accessories, endeavour to become principals.
Page 142 - ... of his Ministers or Superior Officers ; not so much from the low opinion he entertains of their abilities, as from a conviction from his own feelings that if he employed them otherwise than as simple instruments they would, in time, assume a will of their own; and instead of remaining accessories endeavour to become principals. To persevere in this system it was necessary for him to divest himself of compassion and remorse, and of course of religion and morality.
Page 253 - Admitting what you say," replied she, "what right have I, after all, to interfere in a quarrel foreign to my own concerns, on a subject I am not supposed to understand, and with Courts at such a distance from me?
Page 291 - Que tout vaisseau peut naviguer librement de port en port et sur les côtes des nations en guerre. 2. Que les effets appartenant aux sujets des dites puissances en guerre soient libres sur les vaisseaux neutres à l'exception des marchandises de contrebande.
Page 53 - ... clear head — an excellent heart — the best of fathers and of masters — and, though despotic, not a tyrant ;'— but, on the other hand, obstinate, indolent, and absorbed from more important avocations by his passion for the chace. ' The Prince of Asturias' [the King deposed by Buonaparte] has a good heart and clear head, but, by a neglected education and a continued suite of childish amusements, neither the one nor the other does him credit. The Princess [afterwards Queen] is of an engaging,...
Page 306 - As soon as he read the declaration and saw the grounds on which the instructions were to be made, he collected the various sentences which had been pronounced last war in the Archipelago by the Russian tribunal instituted for that purpose, and at which he frequently presided, on neutral ships. After proving in the clearest manner that they confiscated and condemned Turkish property wherever they found it, and the only prizes they made were such property on board neutral ships, he gave in the whole...
Page 144 - ... success through almost every important undertaking he has attempted. ... He undoubtedly owes this, in great measure, to his superior talents; yet I think we may find another cause in the character and position of his subjects ; in general they are poor, vain, ignorant and destitute of principle; had they been rich, his nobility could never have been brought to serve as subaltern officers with zeal and ardour. Their vanity makes them think they see their own greatness in the greatness of their...
Page ix - with whom I lived were very pleasant, but very idle, fellows. Our life was an imitation of high life in London. Luckily drinking was not the fashion ; but what we did drink was claret, and we had our regular round of evening card-parties, to the great annoyance of our finances.