The landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, being desirous of averting a like storm from his dominions, not only promised to renounce all connexion with the kings of Great Britain and Prussia, but even solicited the court of France to receive him among the number of its dependents; for, on the eighteenth day of October, the minister of the duke de Deuxponts, delivered at Versailles, in the name of the landgrave, the plan of a treaty founded on the following conditions: The landgrave, after having expressed an ardent desire of attaching himself wholly to France, proposed these articles—That he should enter into no engagement against the king and his allies; and give no assistance, directly or indirectly, to the enemies of his majesty and his allies: that he should never give his vote, in the general or particular assemblies of the empire, against his majesty’s interest; but, on the contrary, employ his interest, jointly with France, to quiet the troubles of the empire: that, for this end, his troops, which had served in the Hanoverian army, should engage in the service of France, on condition that they should not act in the present war against his Britannic majesty: that, immediately after the ratification of the treaty, his most christian majesty should restore the dominions of the landgrave in the same condition they were in when subdued by the French forces: that these dominions should be exempted from all further contributions, either in money, corn, forage, wood, or cattle, though already imposed on the subjects of Hesse; and the French troops pay for all the provisions with which they might be supplied; in which case the landgrave should exact no toll for warlike stores, provisions, or other articles of that nature, which might pass through his dominions: that the king of France should guarantee all his estates, all the rights of the house of Hesse-Cassel, particularly the act of assurance signed by his son, the hereditary prince, with regard to religion; use his interest with the emperor and the empress-queen, that, in consideration of the immense losses and damages his most serene highness had suffered since the French invaded his country, and of the great sums he should lose with England in arrears and subsidies by this accommodation, he might be excused from furnishing his contingent to the army of the empire, as well as from paying the Roman months granted by the diet of the empire; and if, in resentment of this convention, the states of his serene highness should be attacked, his most christian majesty should afford the most speedy and effectual succours.—These proposals will speak for themselves to the reader’s apprehension; and if he is not blinded by the darkest mists of prejudice, exhibit a clear and distinct idea of a genuine German ally. The landgrave of Hesse-Cassel had been fed with the good things of England, even in time of peace, when his friendship could not avail, nor his aversion prejudice, the interests of Great Britain; but he was retained in that season of tranquillity as a friend, on whose services the most implicit dependence might be placed in any future storm or commotion. How far he merited this confidence and favour might have been determined by reflecting on his conduct during the former war: in the course of which his troops were hired to the king of Great Britain and his enemies alternately, as the scale of convenience happened to preponderate. Since the commencement of the present troubles, he had acted as a mercenary to Great Britain, although he was a principal in the dispute, and stood connected with her designs by solemn treaty, as well as by all the ties of gratitude and honour; but now that the cause of Hanover seemed to be on the decline, and his own dominions had suffered by the fate of the war, he not only appeared willing to abandon his benefactor and ally, but even sued to be enlisted in the service of his adversary. This intended defection was, however, prevented by a sudden turn of fortune, which he could not possibly foresee; and his troops continued to act in conjunction with the Hanoverians.
TREATY BETWEEN THE FRENCH KING AND THE DUKE OF BRUNSWICK.
The landgrave of Hesse-Cassel was not singular in making such advances to the French monarch. The duke of Brunswick, still more nearly connected with the king of Great Britain, used such uncommon expedition in detaching himself from the tottering fortune of Hanover, that in ten days after the convention of Closter-Seven, he had concluded a treaty with the courts of Vienna and Versailles; so that the negotiation must have been begun before that convention took place. On the twentieth day of September, his minister at Vienna, by virtue of full powers from the duke of Brunswick, accepted and signed the conditions which the French king and his Austrian ally thought proper to impose. These imported, that his most christian majesty should keep possession of the cities of Brunswick and Wolfenbuttel during the war, and make use of the artillery, arms, and military stores deposited in their arsenals: that the duke’s forces, on their return from the camp of the duke of Cumberland, should be disbanded and disarmed; and take an oath that they should not, during the present war, serve against the king or his allies: that the duke should be permitted to maintain a battalion of foot, and two squadrons of horse, for the guard of his person and castles; but the regulations made by mareschal Richelieu and the intendant of his army, should subsist on their present footing: that the duke should furnish his contingent in money and troops, agreeably to the laws of the empire: that his forces should immediately join those which the Germanic body had assembled; and that he should order his minister at Ratisbon to vote conformably to the resolutions of the diet, approved and confirmed by the emperor. In consideration of all these concessions, the duke was restored to the favour of the French king, who graciously promised that neither his revenues nor his treasure should be touched, nor the administration of justice invaded; and that nothing further should be demanded, but winter-quarters for the regiments which should pass that season in the country of Brunswick. How scrupulously soever the duke might have intended to observe the articles of this treaty, his intentions were frustrated by the conduct of his brother prince Ferdinand, who, being invested with the command of the Hanoverian army, and ordered to resume the operations of war against the enemy, detained the troops of Brunswick, as well as his nephew the hereditary prince, notwithstanding the treaty which his brother had signed, and the injunctions which he had laid upon his son to quit the army, and make a tour to Holland, The duke wrote an expostulatory letter to prince Ferdinand, pathetically complaining that he had seduced his troops, decoyed his son, and disgraced his family; insisting upon the prince’s pursuing his journey, as well as upon the return of the troops; and threatening, in case of non-compliance, to use other means that should be more effectual. [461] [See note 3 O, at the end of this Vol.] Notwithstanding this warm remonstrance, prince Ferdinand adhered to his plan. He detained the troops and the hereditary prince, who, being fond of the service, in a little time signalized himself by very extraordinary acts of bravery and conduct; and means were found to reconcile his father to measures that expressly contradicted his engagements with the courts of Vienna and Versailles.
DECREE OF THE AULIC COUNCIL.
The defeat of the French army at Rosbach, and the retreat of the Russians from Pomerania, had entirely changed the face of affairs in the empire. The French king was soon obliged to abandon his conquests on that sida of the Rhine, and his threats sounded no longer terrible in the ears of the Hanoverian and Prussian allies. As little formidable were the denunciations of the emperor, who had, by a decree of the Aulic council, communicated to the diet certain mandates, issued in the month of August in the preceding year, on pain of the ban of the empire, with avocatory letters annexed against the king of Great Britain, elector of Hanover, and the other princes acting in concert with the king of Prussia. The French court likewise published a virulent memorial, after the convention of Closter-Seven had been violated and set aside, drawing an invidious parallel between the conduct of the French king and the proceedings of his Britannic majesty; in which the latter is taxed with breach of faith, and almost every meanness that could stain the character of a monarch. In answer to the emperor’s decree and this virulent charge, baron Gimmengen, the electoral minister of Brunswick-Lunenbourg, presented to the diet, in November, a long memorial, recapitulating the important services his sovereign had done the house of Austria, and the ungrateful returns he had reaped, in the queen’s refusing to assist him, when his dominions were threatened with an invasion. He enumerated many instances in which she had assisted, encouraged, and even joined the enemies of the electorate, in contempt of her former engagements, and directly contrary to the constitution of the empire. He refuted every article of the charge which the French court had brought against him in their virulent libel, retorted the imputations of perfidy and ambition, and, with respect to France, justified every particular of his own conduct.
BREMEN TAKEN AND RETAKEN.
While the French and Hanoverian armies remained in their winter-quarters, the former at Zell, and the latter at Lemenbourg, divers petty enterprises were executed by detachments with various success. The Hanoverian general Juncheim, having taken post at Halberstadt and Quedlimbourg, from whence he made excursions even to the gates of Brunswick, and kept the French army in continual alarm, was visited by a large body of the enemy, who compelled him to retire to Achersleben, committed great excesses in the town of Halberstadt and its neighbourhood, and carried off hostages for the payment of contributions. General Hardenberg, another Hanoverian officer, having dislodged the French detachments that occupied Burgh, Vogelsack, and Ritterhude, and cleared the whole territory of Bremen, in the month of January the duke de Broglio assembled a considerable corps of troops that were cantoned at Ottersburg, Rothenburg, and the adjacent country, and advancing to Bremen, demanded admittance, threatening that, in case of a refusal, he would have recourse to extremities, and punish the inhabitants severely, should they make the least opposition. When their deputies waited upon him, to desire a short time for deliberation, he answered, “Not a moment—the duke de Richelieu’s orders are peremptory, and admit of no delay.” He accordingly ordered the cannon to advance; the wall was scaled, and the gates would have been forced open, had not the magistrates, at the earnest importunity of the people, resolved to comply with his demand. A second deputation was immediately despatched to the duke de Broglio, signifying their compliance; and the gates being opened, he marched into the city at midnight, after having promised upon his honour that no attempt should be made to the prejudice of its rights and prerogatives, and no outrage offered to the privileges of the regency, to the liberty, religion, and commerce of the inhabitants. This conquest, however, was of short duration. Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick being joined by a body of Prussian horse, under the command of prince George of Holstein-Gottorp, the whole army was put in motion, and advanced to the country of Bremen about the middle of February. The enemy were dislodged from Rothenburg, Ottersburg, and Verden, and they abandoned the city of Bremen at the approach of the Hanoverian general, who took possession of it without opposition.