L29/559/10

Harris, St. Petersburg to Grantham (private) Harris explains to Grantham all that he has done since he arrived at St. Petersburg. The leanings of the Court when he arrived were entirely French. The King of Prussia was exerting his influence against the British. Count Panin assisted him; Lacy and Carberon, the Bourbon ministers were "artful and intriguing". The assitance the French gave Russia against the Turks and the two courts being united as mediators at the Peace of Feschen helped to reconcile the two countries. All Harris's negotiations with Count Panin from July 1778 to July 1779 were unsuccessful as "he meant to prevent not to promote an alliance". Panin misrepresented Harris's words to the Empress. When Harris presented the Spanish Declaration, Panin said "That Great Britain had by its own naughty conduct brought down all its misfortunes on itself, that they were now at their height, that we must consent to any conceptions to obtain Peace, and that we could expect neither assistance from our Friends or Forbearance from our Enemys" From henceforth Harris resolved to consider Panin as an enemy. Harris approached Potemkin and managed to see the Empress alone at Peterhoff. He managed to convince the Empress of the "inseperable interests of Great Britain and Russia". Once Panin found out about the interview he did all that he could to injure Harris and alter the Empresses resolutions. Yet the principal cause of Harris's failure was the way in which Great Britain replied to the Neutral Declaration of July 1780. Harris suggested the idea of giving up Minorca to the Empress and still doesn't know why the project failed. He thought at the time it was due to Empress's aversion to the current British ministry and to her lack of confidence in them. Since that time he is more inclined to think that she consulted the Emperor on the subject and that he "not only prevail'd on her to decline the offer, but betray'd the secret to France". The idea of bringing Empress forward as a friendly mediator went hand in hand with the proposed cession of Minorca. Harris's wish was that the Empress should be a sole mediator and although unequal to the task would be inevitably "involved in our quarrel, particularly when it should appear (& appear it would) that we had gratified her with Minorca". From that time until the removal of the late administration Harris has been acting on the defensive. It was to "prevent evil" that Harris supported the Empress's single mediation between Great Britain and Holland. Things have been improved since the new ministry in England. Now there is a "strong glow of friendship" in Britain's favour. Harris draws several conclusions from his experiences: "that the Empress is led by her Passions not by Reason & Argument; That her prejudices are very strong, easily fixed and once fixed inemoveable... till she is fairly embarked on a plan no assurances can be depended on, but that when once fairly embarked she never retreats & may be carried any lengths: that with very bright parts, an elevated mind & an uncommon sagacity, she wants judgement, precision of Idea, Reflection & l'Espirit de combinaison. That her ministers are either ignorant of or indifferent to the welfare of the state, and act from a passive submission to her will or from motives of party & private interests". Harris states that he is worn out and that a new face is needed. He is subject to much personal animosity.

16, 27 Aug 1782

From: 1778 To: 1782

item

Lucas,
Grantham, Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron,
Harris, James,
Panin,
Lacy,
Carberon,
Bourbon,
Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia,
Potemkin, Prince

political correspondence, ambassador, Foreign Secretary, French, Prussians, general royalty, Turks, peace and battles celebrations/commemorations, Spanish, central government, general, St.Petersburg, Russia, France, Turkey, Prussia, Spain, Britain, Peterhoff, Minorca, Holland, England