titution of the empire; and that, if you persist in it, you will
disgrace your family, and bring a stain upon your country, which you
pretend to serve. The hereditary prince, my son, was at Hamburgh by
my order, and you have carried him to Stade. Could he distrust his
uncle,--an uncle who hath done so much honour to his family? Could he
believe that this uncle would deprive him of liberty, a liberty never
refused to the lowest officer? I ordered him to make a tour to Holland:
could not the lowest officer have done as much? Let us suppose for a
moment that my troops, among whom he served, were to have staid with the
Hanoverians, would it not have been still in my power to give an officer
leave of absence, or even leave to resign his commission? And would you
hinder your brother, the head of your family, and of such a family as
ours, to exercise this right with regard to a son, who is the hereditary
prince, of whose rights and prerogatives you cannot be ignorant? It is
impossible you could have conceived such designs, without the suggestion
of others. Those who did suggest them have trampled on the rights of
nature, of nations, and of the princes of Germany; they have induced you
to add to all these the most cruel insult on a brother whom you love,
and who always loved you with the warmest affection. Would you have your
brother lay his just complaints against you before the whole empire, and
all Europe? Are not your proceedings without example? What is Germany
become? What are its princes become, and our house in particular? Is it
the interest of the two kings, the cause of your country, and my cause
that you pretend to support?--I repeat it, brother, that this design
could not have been framed by you. I again command my son to pursue his
journey and I cannot conceive you will give the least obstruction; if
you should (which I pray God avert), I solemnly declare that I will not
be constrained by such measures, nor shall I ever forget what I owe to
myself. As to my troops, you may see what I have written on that head
to the Hanoverian ministry. The duke of Cumberland, by the convention
of Closter-Seven, dismissed them, and sent them home; the said ministry
gave me notice of this convention, as a treaty by which I was bound. The
march of the troops was settled; and an incident happening, they halted:
that obstacle being removed, they were to have continued their march.
The court of Hanover will be no longer bound by the conven