eral were assembled. This was in the month of June. It could
hardly have been anticipated that the States would consent to receive so
unusual an ambassador, or that they would even allow her to proceed on
her journey; and, accordingly, they took measures to arrest her before
she reached the Hague, sending her back under escort to Nimeguen. This
very decided step simplified the matter at once. There was no longer a
pretext for hesitation or compromise; and the King of Prussia, affecting
to regard the indignity offered to his sister as a personal insult to
himself, immediately set about organizing an army for the purpose of
invading Holland. The greatest consternation prevailed throughout the
country; and it was at this crisis, while the Prussian force was
gathering in the Duchy of Cleves, that Mr. Grenville was sent to the
Hague. On the 3rd of August, immediately after his arrival, he writes to
his brother:

Nothing new has occurred here. All eyes are turned towards the
King of Prussia, whose conduct still appears contradictory. I
trust that by to-morrow we shall know something decisive. In the
meantime his army is certainly collecting, and the Duke of
Brunswick has accepted the command. Yet his other measures
indicate much leaning towards France. I am rather in better
spirits about my own particular task here, though by no means
satisfied with what I have undertaken, and which I now think I
must have had the vanity of a French Abbe to expect to perform
in four or five days.

A hurried note of the same date, made up just at the departure of the
packet, adds that the writer intends to go to Nimeguen, and hopes to be
in England at the end of the week. On the 6th, he writes again from the
Hague, stating his intention to set out the next morning for Nimeguen,
where he should see the Princess, and expected to find the Prince and
the Duke of Brunswick, to whom it was understood the King of Prussia had
committed the charge, not only of the military, but also of the
political part of the business. A few days afterwards, a note from
Whitehall announces his return to England, adding: "There is every
reason to believe that we shall disarm without subsequent negotiation,
as you must be satisfied at last."

The course of events, however, rendered subsequent negotiations
unavoidable. On the 8th of September, Mr. Grenville writes: "Everything
is going on much as it was. The Duke of Brunswi