Concerning the proposals made from Potsdam to Baron Schulen pressing to him the opinion that s to protect such a commerce, it wou a foreign flag. But he added: However, in spite of these consid nor to offend the colonies by a com their plenipotentiary commissioners more expedient for you by a civil a friendly disposition they appear to the above-mentioned colonies will the means of entering into negotia become more favorable. Then other manufactured articles can fi mend to you, then, is to put noth potentiaries that can displease your position toward their offer moment events become more pro advantage of it.1 From this and other extr that Frederick's policy was, o neutrality; for, although he humiliated, his interests dict broiled in a war with her. he mouthpiece of the minister and determine Fredwritten from Potsdam to continue the same tone a well disposed toward they ought not to expect myself with England." ing game. To his brother, wek earlier, "I purpose to lin with the side for which hamar strain he had written As to the deputies of the use to take toward them. It affairs." To de Maltzan at at my court a deputy of the treaty; but as their indereadily see that I have not him." At that time, with the and Burgoyne uncertain, the possible for him to fall in a very bright, and consequently the same time he wished thereby to keep a way for in case they should proves On March 15 Schulen something of Frederick's p lowing month the commissi informed Schulenburg tha to Berlin "properly empow and that in order to hasten their own number would plan did not meet the appr burg that the colonies w propositions for a forma he had taken in his lette wrote to Arthur Lee, th mission," in order to disc since Lee journeyed by w 1 Frederick to Schulenburg Schulenburg to Arthur Lee w willing to do in their behalf the resentment of England. to avoid offending the colonies, come when it would be desirable cal connection. Because of his inclined to wish that the colonies he many times wrote, the whole him. 4 complicated by an extraordinary Hugh Elliot, a man whom Finckenyoung and very rash", had naturally nce of Lee in Berlin. As a result of English embassy entered Lee's lodgings, sle his papers. By some writers it has sh minister directly instigated this recroft states that the robber was hired for have been the case. Years afterward, Quincy Adams upon his word of honor without express orders and merely out of the t. t was curious to know what headway Lee was tiations. However this may have been, there is the papers once obtained, Elliot was not above 1. Copies of them were taken, after which the t on Lee's staircase, while the servant was spirited m.2 used much comment at Berlin, and made Frederick t he took no violent action against the English mintude in the matter is revealed in the following extract to de Maltzan: t tell you of an act of singular daring and recklessness on hevalier Elliot. That minister took the liberty, through mestics, of abstracting the portfolio of Lee, the American, in the auberge de Corsica, in Berlin; and the theft having e, he not only brought back the portfolio to the American, ver, came himself to avow the theft to my minister, with all stances that accompanied it, making various poor excuses for took in it. It is properly what is called a public theft; and shed to make him feel the resentment which the law of nations , and which he richly deserved, I would immediately have forIn the court. But having himself told his fault, and having I his person and his sentence to my discretion and generosity, t wish to push things to an extreme, and confined myself to notiin through my ministers of the impropriety and lawlessness of his h, in fine, is the minister whom the court where you are has to reside at mine, and you can judge very well what would have e sensation created by a similar performance there, and how the er Elliot would have been regarded. It is in the school of Bute ich scholars are found. In the handwriting of Frederick.] Oh! the worthy pupil of Bute ! 'homme incomparable que votre Gott Damme Elliot! In truth, the ish ought to blush with shame at sending such ministers to foreign rts.3 The British government made haste to disavow the action of its nister, both through that minister himself and also through de laltzan, and Frederick was told that he was at liberty to signify desire for Elliot's recall. But the king was not desirous of further straining his relations with England, so he gave to Hertzberg 1J. Q. Adams, Letters on Silesia, London, 1804, 257–258. 2 For accounts of the theft see Lee to the Commissioners, June 28, 1777, and to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, July 28, 1777; Frederick to de Maltzan, June 30, 1777, Circourt, III, 211; Hertzberg to Frederick, June 28, 1777 ; and other letters. A portion of this correspondence is given by Sparks and Wharton. Carlyle's Frederick, VI. 343345, contains a not very accurate account of the affair. See also the North American Review for April, 1830. 3 Frederick to de Maltzan, June 30, 1777, Circourt, III. 211; in Sparks and Wharton. 'Hertzberg to Frederick, June 28, June 30, August 11, and August 26, 1777; de Maltzan to Frederick, August 1, 1777; etc. the following directions: "I do not wish a noise to be made over this affair, and you have only to say to him that out of consideration for the king of England and of his own youth we will pass over the matter in silence." To Lee, the man who had suffered from the theft, but little satisfaction was given,' except what might be gained from receiving a copy of the magistracy proceedings, which had been begun before the real nature of the theft had become known. This copy he desired for use in proving to his associates his own fidelity and loyalty. It would, however, be a mistake to infer from this lack of action on the part of Frederick any unfriendliness towards the colonies. Frederick was but following his policy of keeping out of the struggle. The theft aroused his anger, but he did not feel that it was wise to punish it; for, while the resentment of the colonies was not a thing to be feared, that of England was. Shortly afterward Lee quitted Berlin for Paris, but not before he had received a definite answer upon the points in the negotiation. Schulenburg informed him that the propositions were not acceptable, as they put the affairs of the king in jeopardy without giving the hope of any very solid advantages. Thus closed this effort to obtain the assistance of Prussia. The later negotiations were carried on entirely by correspondence. Lee had obtained permission to keep the Prussian court informed of the progress of the war, and in the next few weeks he took advantage of the permission to write two letters urging that the Prussian ports be opened to American vessels." On receiving the second letter Schulenburg transmitted a translation of it to Frederick with a request for instructions." Frederick's reply possesses such significance that it should never be lost sight of by any one seeking to unravel the king's policy, and all the later correspondence of the Prussian court with the American agent should be scanned in the light of it. Upon the margin of Schulenburg's letter Frederick wrote, "Mit Complimenten abweissen ", that is, "Put him off with compliments." Lee's next request was for information concerning the probability that the English would in the following year be able to draw 1 Frederick to Hertzberg on Hertzberg's letter of August 11, 1777. 2 A. Lee to Frederick, July 1, 1777; Frederick to A. Lee, July 2, 1777, both in Sparks and Wharton. See also Schulenburg to Frederick, July 3, 1777 4 Schulenburg to Frederick, July 6, 1777. * Schulenburg to Frederick, July 6, 1777; Lee to Committee of Foreign Affairs, July 29, 1777, in Sparks and Wharton. 5 A. Lee to Schulenburg, August 13 and September 21, 1777, in Sparks and Wharton. 6 Schulenburg to Frederick, October 6, 1777. more recruits from Germany, Russia, or Denmark.' Schulenburg referred Lee's request to Frederick, and upon Schulenburg's letter the king wrote, “none from Russia, none from Denmark, but some men from Anspach, and from the prince of Hesse." In consenting that Schulenburg should give this information Frederick showed himself in perhaps the most friendly attitude toward the colonies in which he had yet appeared. 4 About the same time Frederick refused to allow the passage of the mercenary troops from Baireuth, Anspach, and Cassel across his dominions, and some writers have seen in this action another evidence of his friendship for America. His correspondence and other writings do not bear out this theory. To his minister to England he wrote that he refused their passage because of certain mutinies that had taken place among the mercenaries the year before while they were on their way to embark. A passage already quoted from his Memoirs after the Peace shows that the refusal gave him some pleasure because it disobliged England. In the same work he states that he refused because he did not like to see Germany denuded of troops. Furthermore, he was doubtless disgusted by the sight of Germans being sold like cattle, and wished to discourage the practice. In refusing passage to the mercenaries he does not, however, seem to have thought, as some writers have asserted, that he was thereby bestowing belligerent rights upon the colonies, for, as will later be seen, he for a time withdrew the prohibition. 5 Frederick continued steadfast in the determination not to enter into formal diplomatic relations with the colonies until he was able to see on which side Fortune would declare herself. On November 17, 1777. Arthur Lee wrote to Schulenburg stating that Congress had appointed his brother, William Lee, commissioner to the Prussian court with powers to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce, and requesting to be informed as to whether it was the king's pleasure that his brother should come to Berlin. But Schulenburg replied that the king "cannot possibly conjecture, as circumstances have not changed, what propositions Mr. Lee can make more acceptable to His Majesty, nor consequently what can be the object of his mission." On the fourth of the following month Arthur Lee wrote to Schulenburg confirming the glorious news of the surrender of 1 A. Lee to Schulenburg, October 23, 1777, in Sparks and Wharton. Schulenburg to Frederick, November 4, 1777, Circourt, III. 116. "Frederick to Goltz, November 10, 1777, ibid., 116; Elliot to Suffolk, November 8, 11, and 16, 1777, ibid., 8, 9. 6 Frederick to de Maltzan, November 17 and 28, 1777. 5 Works, IV. 178. Schulenburg to A. Lee, November 28, 1777, in Sparks and Wharton. |