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relief, it is doubtful whether he may have force sufficient to ascertain success, unless the French should have left some of their men-of-war at their islands for the protection of their commerce. A large reinforcement, however, under Mr. Boscawen, is supposed by this time to be not far from America. A French East Indiaman taken by some privateers, of which you will see the particulars in the papers, is supposed to be worth two hundred thousand pounds.

This day we received a mail from Holland, and some letters from thence say that the French have passed the Weser, but there is no account come as yet directly from the Duke: I forgot to mention that the troops designed for the expedition are to assemble on the Isle of Wight, and it is said that the dispositions of most of the camps are to be changed.

We were alarmed last night with what we thought was an earthqake. I felt a very severe shock as I was sitting at my lodging, but it proves to have been a powder-mill blown up near Epsom. I have, &c., &c. CHARLES JENKINSON.

MR. JENKINSON TO MR. GRENVILLE.

London, July 21, 1757.

DEAR SIR,-You will be glad to hear that all our apprehensions in relation to Lord Loudon', and all the French pretences to victory, are without foundation: yesterday the New York packet arrived, and brings word that Lord Loudon had sailed out of that port with ninety-one sail of transports and five men-of-war, and that they were

1 Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in America.

out at sea proceeding with their voyage with the greatest prospect of success; and that Lord Loudon (as he had wrote word before) had detained the packet boat until he could send this account; and as it is supposed that it could not be many days after this that he must have joined Holbourne, and as any French fleet coming from the Islands must have probably been to the southward of him when he left New York, and as our fleet must continue advancing on to the northward, it is to be hoped that there is not the least reason to fear their meeting each other, till our fleet becomes so strong as to make such an event desirable.

A large train of Artillery, consisting of cannon as high as 24-pounders, is embarking; platforms for batteries, and even hay for the horses that were to draw them, are also put on board, and the public seem to be extremely pleased with the secrecy and spirit of this enterprise. I have, &c., &c.

CHARLES JENKINSON.

MR. JENKINSON TO MR. GRENVILLE.

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London, August 4, 1757. DEAR SIR, I have had the honour of both your letters, and should have answered the first sooner if I had not been absent for a few days from London.

I left Lord Harcourt at Nuneham on Tuesday, where he proposed to stay until to-morrow, but when he meant to return I cannot tell: he usually spends four or five days there in every fortnight, and as I have let him know of your intention to wait on him, I am sure he will hurry his return there, and will send a servant over

to Wotton to let you know it. I am only sorry that the uncertainty of his being there will prevent my being able to meet you there, especially if it should be on Monday or Tuesday next, as it will be impossible for me to know it time enough.

To make one amends, however, for this loss, I shall wait on you at Wotton with Lord Harcourt, who will take, I know, the speediest opportunity of returning your visit, and who is determined to trouble you for two or three days when he comes, and had directed me, when I left him on Tuesday, to find out when Mrs. Grenville would be well enough to make it agreeable to you to see us.

I must now be the transmitter of ill news. On Tuesday an account arrived to Baron Munchausen', from Hanover, of the French having attacked the Duke, and forced him to retreat. There are no letters come as yet from the Duke or any of his people, which makes us think the defeat the worse, and the confusion the greater: the letters from Hanover say that there are 800 Hanoverians killed; as to the loss of the other corps, it is not known. The Hessians are said to have behaved well. The Duke sent to Hanover to let them know that they must take care of themselves, as he was no longer able to protect them. Colonel Keppel is so ill in Hanover that he will be taken prisoner; the rest of the Duke's family are well. We wait hourly for more particular accounts of this affair and its consequences, though Heaven only knows in what way they are to get at us.

2

Boscawen is extremely angry upon his being sent for

1 The Hanoverian Minister.

2 The Battle of Hastenbeck.

home he has also received a letter of dismission; he complains that this is a private pique of Mr. Pitt's, and assigns as the cause thereof his opposition to the Navy Bill he talks in short like a man who has lost a good cruise, and wants to raise a disturbance; but whether it will go so far as to make him resign his seat at the Admiralty Board I cannot as yet find out.

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We had yesterday letters from the Duke of the 29th ultimo. The action was not decisive as we at first apprehended; the loss does not exceed 1200 men, and it is hoped that His Royal Highness may, on a proper occasion, be able to put his fortune to another trial. He continues with his right to the Weser, and when he is forced to quit that river he will, I suppose, cross over to Stadt, and pass the Elbe there.

Between you and I a great many people complain here of the Hanoverians not doing their utmost to defend their country their not having raised any irregulars, or disciplined any of their people at a time when troops of that sort must have been of great service in distressing the French, and hindering their advances. The French have done a very unusual thing in recalling their general, Marshal d'Estrées, in the midst of a campaign; the cause assigned for his disgrace is, that he being a great friend of Marshal Belleisle had shown

some countenance to his son, the Duke de Gisors, in preference to the Prince of Soubize, upon which the latter, both jealous and angry, has constantly represented Marshal d'Estrées as dilatory, and not pushing the war with the vigour that he ought, to Madame Pompadour, in whose favour the Prince of Soubize has the honour to be; and this all-powerful lady, under this pretence, has got this disgrace cast on M. d'Estrées, and has transferred Marshal Richelieu into his command. A letter is come to a merchant of Bristol from a place near Halifax, giving an account of the arrival both of Loudon and Admiral Holbourne at that place, and of the latter having had the success to take transports containing 1000 French troops. This we hope to be true, though it does not come immediately from Halifax itself, and though there is no letter for the Government.

What a long letter have I wrote you, and how is your goodness to me repaid with torment to yourself. I will presume, however, to add one observation, though they are commonly the dullest part of dull letters. I fear that the change the French have made in their generals will prove to our disadvantage, for Marshal Richelieu, to justify the choice and alteration that has been made, will probably push on the war with the greatest vigour, and there seems to have wanted that alone to have made their superior force already more successful. I have, &c., &c. CHAS. JENKINSON.

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