ion, and which seems to be
pretty well relished by some people [properly by one individual, Goltz,
the King's Adjutant and factotum], who are in great confidence about
the King of Prussia's person; and I think it is the only thing that now
remains to be tried; and as it is the least of two evils, I hope I shall
have the King my Master's approbation in attempting it; and if the Court
of Vienna will open their eyes, they must see it is the only thing left
to save them from utter destruction;"--and, finally, here it is:--

"Since Mr. Robinson left this place,--["Sooner YOU go, the better,
Sir!"],--"I have been sounding the people afore mentioned, the
individual afore hinted at, 'Whether the King of Prussia would hearken
to a Neutrality with respect to the Queen of Hungary, and at the same
time fulfil his engagements to his Majesty with respect to the defence
of his Majesty's German Dominions, IF she would give him the Lower
Silesia with Breslau?' At first they rejected it; saying it was a thing
they dared not propose. However, I have reason to believe, by a Letter I
saw this day, that it has been proposed to the King, and that he is not
absolutely averse to it. I shall know more in a few days; but if it
can be done at all, it must be done in the very greatest secrecy, for
neither the King nor his Ministers wish to appear in it; and I question
if his Minister Podewils will be informed of it." [_Hyndford Papers,_
fol. 97, 98.]

3. EXCELLENCY ROBINSON (in a flutter of excitement, temporary hope and
excitement, about Goltz) TO HYNDFORD, AT BRESLAU.

"PRESBURG, 8th SEPTEMBER (N.S.), 1741. My Lord, I could desire your
Lordship to summon up, if it were necessary, the spirit of all your
Lordship's Instructions, and the sense of the King, of the Parliament,
and of the whole British Nation. It is upon this great moment that
depends the fate, not of the House of Austria, not of the Empire, but
of the House of Brunswick, of Great Britain, and of all Europe. I verily
believe the King of Prussia does not himself know the extent of the
present danger. With whatever motive he may act, there is not one, not
that of the mildest resentment, that can blind him to this degree,
of himself perishing in the ruin he is bringing upon others. With his
concurrence, the French will, in less than six weeks, be masters of
the German Empire. The weak Elector of Bavaria is but their instrument:
Prague and Vienna may, and probably will, be taken in that