11950. UNTERREDUNG DES KÖNIGS MIT DEM GROSSBRITANNISCHEN GESANDTEN MITCHELL.

[Freiberg, 29. März 1760.]

Mitchell berichtet an Holdernesse, Freiberg 30. März (secret): „My Lord. Yesterday His Prussian Majesty said, that if I would dine with him, he had a great deal of news to tell me, the substance of which is as follows:

The person sent from the Court of Gotha to Paris arrived here last night. He says the French are much disposed to hearken to terms of peace, but insisted on a dedommagement for the Elector of Saxony; that so soon as the preliminaries with England can be signed, they will withdraw their troops and cease acting offensively; that perhaps they may be obliged to furnish the succour of 24000 men stipulated by treaty, or the value in money, to the Empress Queen; but it is not impossible that even this may be avoided, as the Imperial Court will certainly be much out of humour with that of France, upon the first news of their treating separately, and the insolence natural to the Imperial Court on such occasions may afford a pretence to the Court of Versailles to refuse or elude the giving of the succour stipulated.

The same gentleman says, that the French King, the Dauphin, the greatest part of the ministers, and even Madame de Pompadour are disposed to peace; that the people in gênerai are extremely discontented, and declaim loudly against the authors of the alliance with the Court of Vienna; that Marshal Belle-Isle is very much hated, as the disgraces<209> the French have suffered in the field are imputed to him; that there is a great jealousy between the Marshals Belle-Isle and Broglie, and it was even talked of recalling the last from the command of the army.

He likewise said that, if he had not been sent to Paris, the French were upon the point of sending a person to sound the King of Prussia; to which, he was informed, the duc de Choiseul had agreed. He says, the French took frequent occasions to assure him, that they were in no want of money, and that the funds for the next campaign were already provided, which, however, this gentleman does not believe.

The King of Prussia said that he intended in a few days to send this gentleman to England, to make the report to the King's ministers of everything that had passed at Paris, and that, as he was provided with a passport from the Duke of Broglie, he might go directly from England to Calais, charged with such instructions as the King's ministers should think proper to give him.

As in this conversation His Prussian Majesty avoided naming the gentleman, and always, when he spoke of him, made use of these words: „,Mon homme me dit“ , I thought proper to shew no curiosity either to know his name nor to see him, especially as I found that great care had been taken to keep him concealed in the most private manner since his arrivai here.

Your Lordship will, no doubt, be informed of this gentleman's character from the Court of Gotha, to which he belongs, for I hear he is an entire stranger to the King of Prussia.“

Nach der Ausfertigung im Public Record Office zu London.