10672. UNTERREDUNG DES KÖNIGS MIT DEM GROSSBRITANNISCHEN MINISTER MITCHELL.
[Breslau, Januar 1759.]
Mitchell berichtet an Holdernesse, Breslau 21. Januar (separate), er habe dem Könige den französischen Operationsplan mitgetheilt, nach dem die ganze Armee von Soubise oder ein Theil derselben durch Hessen und Hannover vordringen solle, um mit den Schweden sich zu vereinen.
„His Prussian Majesty said immediately and with some vivacity that he did not believe the intelligence, that the French knew better than to give in to a project of this sort, that he imagined they had quite other things in view.“
Zwei Tage später ist Mitchell auf dasselbe Project zurückgekommen, um zu erfahren, ob der König von England für den Fall eines Angriffs gegen Hessen und Hannover auf die Unterstützung der preussischen Armee rechnen könne: „ . . . The King of Prussia replyed that, though he believed this project impracticable, he should be glad to join a body of his troops with those of the King in Order to cover and protect the country of Hesse, as well in deference to any proposai that came from the King as to shew the real regard he had for the Landgrave, who had been the bulwark of the alliance and deserved every mark of attention, but, added he: « Look round you and consider my situation, you know it; tell me where you think I can spare a single man, my enemies are increasing on all sides, and they are nearer to me than they were last year, it is therefore absolutely impossible for me to spare any corps of troops even for this necessary and désirable service. »“
Mitchell berichtet an Holdernesse, Breslau 21. Januar (most secret), er habe befohlenermaassen dem Könige Mittheilungen gemacht aus Erlassen der Londoner Regierung an die englischen Vertreter in Warschau und Petersburg. Der Gesandte Stormont sollte erkunden, ob der polnische Hof zu einem Abkommen mit Preussen geneigt sei; Keith in Petersburg sollte verschiedene Personen in der Umgebung der Kaiserin Elisabeth für den Frieden zu gewinnen suchen. „His Prussian Majesty was highly pleased with this new mark of confidential friendship on the part of His Majesty.
„As to the Court of Warsaw, His Prussian Majesty thinks that, notwithstanding the reasons they may have to be offended with the Court of Vienna, they still continue firmly attached to that court, and he concludes from thence that any slight appearances which may have been shewn at the Court of Warsaw of desiring an accommodation with the Court of Prussia were neither real nor sincere, but assumed to gain time and to serve other purposes ....
„The King of Prussia approves entirely of the instructions given to the King's minister at Petersburg, and, as he wishes, above all things,<37> to get rid of the Russians, he desired me to write in the strongest manner to Mr. Keith, that he expected he would do every thing that was possible to draw of the Russians from the alliance or at least to render them inactive.“
Mitchell hat dem Könige mitgetheilt, dass der König von Polen an Georg II. sich gewandt habe, um von dem preussischen Könige die Erlaubniss auszuwirken, dass der Churprinz von Sachsen und seine Gemahlin nach München oder Warschau sich zurückziehen dürften.37-1 Der König hat entgegnet: „I am persuaded the King is not informed of the true State of that case. You were yourself a witness, before and during the siege of Dresden, what part the Princess Electoral acted notwithstanding of her pregnancy. The application now made to the King to obtain leave for the Prince and the Princess Electoral to go to Munich or to Warsaw, is really meant more to hurt me than to serve the Princess, and from what you have seen and known of that affair, you must be convinced that the desire to retire at this time is only a pretext to cover the real intentions of favouring or perhaps of inviting a new irruption of the Austrian army into Saxony and a fresh attack upon the town of Dresden. I need say nothing to convince you of what importance it is to my affairs in the présent conjuncture to keep possession of Dresden, and the suffering the Royal and Electoral family to depart at this time, would in effect be giving up the ramparts of that capital ...“
Der erste Bericht nach der Ausfertigung im Public Record Office; der zweite nach der Abschrift in Mitchell's Nachlass im British Museum zu London.
37-1 Vergl. S. 31.