ing made a
French province. His conduct was regarded with so much approbation by
the allies, that he received from the Prussian king leave to add the
Prussian eagle to his arms, and from the Stadtholder, his motto, "_Je
maintiendrai_." From England he received the more substantial rewards of
the peerage, by the title of Baron Malmesbury, and the appointment of
ambassador. But though he was a Whig, he was one on the old English
principle, and not on the new. In 1793, when in the midst of
revolutionary horrors, and after the murder of the unfortunate French
king, Fox, in the spirit of infatuation, declared himself ready to
acknowledge the French republic, all the chief leaders of the Whigs
retired from the Opposition bench. The Duke of Portland, Lord
Loughborough, Sir Gilbert Elliott, Lord Spenser, and Lord Malmesbury,
joined those distinguished persons; yet without any apparent loss of
friendship with Fox, whose manners retained personal friends even when
he had lost their political confidence. Frederick William, king of
Prussia, a prince of singularly undecided character, though of loud
professions, being at this time suspected of a leaning towards the
revolutionists, Lord Malmesbury was immediately sent by Pitt to Berlin,
for the purpose of holding him to his good faith. He succeeded, to the
extent of making the king sign an additional treaty with England and
Holland.

His next mission, if not one of more importance, was of still greater
delicacy--it was to ask the hand of the Duke of Brunswick's daughter for
the Prince of Wales. This was a marriage by compulsion, and the wrath of
the prince fell upon the noble negotiator. He never forgave Lord
Malmesbury, and he quickly alienated himself from the princess: the
unfortunate result is fully known. In 1796, and 1797, Lord Malmesbury
was engaged in the most important negotiation of his life. The French
Directory, probably for the purpose of exciting dissensions between
Austria and England, made a secret proposal of peace, which led to the
mission of an ambassador. But while Napoleon was pursuing his conquests
in Italy, France had no actual desire of pacification. The purpose was
evidently to gain time; and Lord Malmesbury, on discovering the true
nature of the transaction, demanded his passports, and returned to
England. It cannot be imputed to Pitt, that he was ever negligent of
those who had done the state service. Lord Malmesbury had already
obtained the Order of the B