Stowe MS 243-245

LETTER-BOOKS of Hon. Alexander Stanhope, Envoy to the States-General, April, 1700-Jan. 1704 [5]; consisting of transcripts of his despatches to James Vernon, William Blathwayt, Sir Charles Hedges, Charles, Earl of Manchester, Daniel, Earl of Nottingham, and Robert Harley, successive Secretaries of State, James Cressett, Minister at Hamburg, Hugh Greg, Minister at Copenhagen, Sir George Rooke, the Duke of Marlborough, and others. Three Volumes. Paper. Folio. Vol. I. (ff. 171). 12/23 Apr. 1700-3 Mar. 1702. Vol. II. (ff. 270). 10 Mar. 1703-2 Oct. 1703. Vol. III. (ff. 270). 19 Sep./2 Oct. 1703 - 25Dec./6 jan 1704/5 The letters in Vol i which are in the hand of James Dayrolle, Resident at the Hague, illustrate particularly the history of Northem Europe, the designs of the Czar Peter I., in conjunction with the Kings of Denmark and Poland, against Charles XII. of Sweden, the attempts at mediation by William III. and the States General, and the ultimate despatch of a combined Dutch and English fleet to the Sound under the command of Sir G. Rooke. At the end, reversing the volume, are a few memorials to the States General, etc., in French, other copies of which are in Add. 15,883, also in the hand of Dayrolle. Vols. ii. iii. relate to the various negotiations, intrigues and military actions consequent on the Partition Treaty, the death of Charles II. of Spain, and the struggle for the Spanish succession. Several of the original letters of which these are transcripts are interspersed among the Ellis Correspondence, Add. 28,904, seqq.