that events would
compel her to take sides against Napoleon.

Far less calculating was Gustavus IV of Sweden. With the chivalrous zeal
of his race he stood forth the first among the European monarchs as the
declared ally of England. After the execution of the Duc d'Enghien by
the French Emperor, he informed "Monsieur" Napoleon Bonaparte of the
rupture of all relations between them; and now, on 3rd December 1804, an
Anglo-Swedish Convention was signed, placing at our disposal the Isle of
Ruegen and the fortress of Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania, in return for
a subsidy of L80,000. This sum served but to whet his appetite for
subsidies, his demands almost equalling in extravagance his Quixotic
summons to a royalist crusade.

Pitt therefore based his hopes on the statesmanlike policy of the Czar,
who in that month despatched to London one of his confidants, a clever
but viewy young man, of frank and engaging manners, Count Novossiltzoff.
Ostensibly the mission was for scientific purposes; but French agents
discovered that he took with him a plan of a Coalition against
Napoleon.[701] This seems to have led the Emperor to take a step similar
to that of Christmastide 1799. On 2nd January 1805 he wrote a letter
direct to George III, proposing terms of peace. The King at once
expressed to Pitt his astonishment that "the French usurper" had
addressed him in this objectionable manner, and highly approved the
draft of an answer which Pitt had thoughtfully forwarded to Windsor. In
it Pitt declared that His Majesty could not enter upon the proposed
overtures for peace until he had communicated them to the Powers with
which he had confidential ties, especially to the Emperor of Russia. At
the King's command, he sent a copy of this answer to St. Petersburg. At
London, then, as also at Paris, Napoleon's offer was deemed a diplomatic
device for getting news, though it also enabled him to represent himself
as the friend of peace and Pitt as its worst enemy.

While the French Emperor played his game with the advantages conferred
by a daring initiative, superior force, and unquestioned authority at
home, Pitt had to employ all possible means to conciliate allies abroad
and half-hearted friends at Westminster. His position was far from
secure. True, the King had now recovered almost his usual health; but in
Parliament the Ministry with difficulty repelled the bitter attacks of
Fox, Sheridan, Grenville, and Windham. The speech of Grenville