Add MS 37354-37360

WHITWORTH PAPERS. Vols.VII.-XIII. Correspondence of C. Whitworth, as Envoy Extraordinary to Russia, with successive Secretaries of State, viz. Robert Harley [Earl of Oxford 1711], [Charles Spencer] Earl of Sunderland, Henry Boyle [Baron Carlton 1714], [James Douglas] Duke of Queensberry, and Henry St. John [Viscount Bolingbroke 1712], and with the Duke of Marlborough at the seat of war and other prominent persons in England and at foreign courts; 1704-1712. Besides the higher affairs of state the correspondence treats of matters of trade and especially the concerns of the English Tobacco Company at Moscow, the demands of the Czar [Peter I.] consequent on the arrest, in 1709, of Matheof, the Russian Ambassador in London, for debt, etc. Whitworth's letters are drafts or official copies, and numerous copies of papers are included. Whitworth returned from Moscow on leave in March, 1710, and during his absence the affairs of the embassy were carried on by L-Christ-Weisbrod, Secretary of Legation, whose correspondence will be found in 37360. Early in April, 1711, Whitworth again started for Russia with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary, though, in a note on his accompt of expenses on his return to London in 1710, he says, "the Court began to treat me as Ambassador the 6th of Dec. 1709" (cf. 37358, f. 110). The death, however, of the Emperor Joseph I. (6 Apr.), when Whitworth was at the Hague, caused a change of plan, and he received instructions to represent the Queen at Berlin and Dresden, and subsequently, in the temporary absence of the Earl of Peterborough, at Vienna. Ultimately, in September, he joined the Czar, who was with his army at Carlsbad, and accompanied him (in Feb. 1712) to St. Petersburg, whither the seat of government had been transferred from Moscow. Here the correspondence ends. In 37359, Vol. XII., are included (ff. 97-379) miscellaneous papers relating to trade and other matters, many in German and Russian (translations of some of which appear in their proper places in the correspondence). Among them are: (1) Proposals for preserving the Czar's ships "from rotting and decay in time of Peace," by John Perry; Moscow, 10 Jan. 170/6. Followed by an abstract, for applying the plan to the British navy. ff. 132-136; -(2) "Short journal of Mr. Whitworth's journey from Mosco to London"; 24 Mar.-2 July, 1710. f. 190;-(3) "Declaration of the Allies for a neutrality in Germany, in relation to the Northern War"; 31 March, 1710. Lat. f. 201; (4) Summary account of Russia as it was in the Spring in 1710," by C. Whitworth. A note states that, though drawn up in 1710, "it was not given before April, 1711, and then to M^r Sec^Y St. John, Duke of Shrewsbury, and Lord Halifax." It was printed at Strawberry Hill in 1758. f. 225;-(5) Survey of Rivers for making a canal between Lakes Breilo and Onega, by Capt. Perry; 26 Sept., 30 Dec. 1710. ff. 248, 251;-(6) Papers connected with the grievances of British merchants trading with Russia, and especially "the case of [Stephen] Perry, [Edward] Bell and [John] Edwards"; 1710- 1711. ff. 253-379 passim. Seven volumes.