The Paget Papers.

Letter from the Hon. Arthur Paget (Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary) to Lord Grenville.

Source: Paget, Right Hon. Sir Augustus B. Paget, G.C.B. The Paget Papers, Diplomatic and other Correspondence of the Right Hon Sir A. Paget. G.C.B., 1794-1807, 2 Vols. Longmans, Green and Co. New York 1896. Vol 1. Pages 212-217.


From the Hon. A. Paget to Lord Grenville.

[No. 4.]                                                                                                                                Palermo, May 13, 1800.

My Lord,—I have, in a separate Dispatch given Your Lordship an account of the different Interv iews I have had with General Acton, in which it has been my chief object to bring about His Sicilian Majesty's return to Naples, and I am so convinced that any change in the Neapolitan Government unaccompanied by the presence of the King would be ineffectual towards the Restoration of Order and System, that I have only spoken hitherto in general terms upon that subject. When I look back to the different times I have been employed in His Majesty's Service, it is with pain I reflect that whenever it has been my duty to represent the state of things at the Court where I have resided, I have been under the necessity of drawing a very disagreeable picture, but in no instance has it been in my power to perform this task in so disadvantageous a manner as in the present.

In reviewing the present situation of the Kingdom, it presents in my mind a most alarming subject for reflection. Every department in the State, ecclesia,stical, civil, and military, has assumed the most untoward appearance.

Instead of Religion, there is an excess of bigotry, corruption has succeeded to Justice, and the fact of calling the assistance of Foreign Troops in itself proves what the state of the Army must be, and I will further venture to say that there is not a thinking man in the Country who would not gratuitously subscribe to this Statement.

But this in itself would not dishearten me, if there was a possibility of laying a foundation upon which to act. It appears that a radical change of system is indispensably necessary to the political existence of this Country, but I feel it my duty to state to Your Lordship, even in this my early stage of residence here, that I am very far from being sanguine as to the practicability of operating such a change.

I am aware that in order to give anything like a true representation of the state of the internal politics of this Court, it will be necessary to lay down what will appear a string of inconsistencies.

The King, whose real character has from circumstances shown itself during and since the revolution more than at any former period, is timid and bigoted and, as is often the case in the same disposition, cruel and revengeful.

He has no natural turn for, nor do his habits allow him to attend to business. He has no guide for his Conduct but that of private consideration, and to take the present Instance, whatever plea he may set forth for delaying his return to Naples, I am in my own mind convinced, and I should not utter these opinions but upon the surest  grounds, that His Sicilian Majesty labours under the strongest apprehensions for his own personal safety.

The Queen's character generally is too well known to Your Lordship to require any comment upon it from me.
I have every reason to suppose that not from principles, but from pique, Her Sicilian Majesty has been very violent in opposing the King's return since my arrival. She had been taught to believe that I was sent here to Dictate and to use haughty language upon the Subject, at which idea I know from undoubted authority she was most violently irritated. General Acton indeed told me confidentially that upon his acquainting her of the result of our first interview, and of the moderate and friendly language I had used, instead of being satisfied Her Sicilian Majesty gave loose to her anger, and accused him of making a false report to her, and unable to get over this first impression she has, I also know, several times since expressed herself in very unfavourable terms of me. But I have reason to think that She has entirely lost her Influence, though she meddles as much as ever in business. She assists at every Council that is held. General Acton, on the contrary, frequently does not attend them.

Her Sicilian Majesty is supposed to have a great partiality for the Prince Belmonte Plgnatelli. The Prince Castelcicala, formerly Minister in England, is another leading man of the party, but neither of them have the smallest weight, and the latter is personally disagreeable to General Acton. The Country is governed solely by General Acton, and notwithstanding the opposition he meets with from the Queen and her party, whose unceasing activity do not fail to cramp him considerably in his operations, (and which indeed he rather seeks opportunities to represent, and consequently to urge the difficulties to which he is exposed,) I really believe that he sees the necessity of carrying His Sicilian Majesty back to Naples, and if he does not exert his inHuence over the King upon this occasion, I can only attribute this seeming inconsistency to the fear of returning, for although the greatest pains have been taken, and not altogether unsuccessfully, to persuade the General that his presence at Naples is universally wished, the real fact I believe to be that he is extremely unpopular.

The King and Queen of Naples are, as I have already mentioned, upon the worst terms. This is a fact know to everybody, but I have seen private letters from His Sicilian Majesty to General Acton, in which he sets forth the grief of his mind without reserve, and for the relief of which he dwells upon his desire to abdicate the Throne.

I need scarcely say that little attention is paid to this wild project. His Sicilian Majesty considers the former intrigues of the Queen as tho principal cause of the misfortunes that have befallen Him. He has made a solemn vow not to return with Her to Naples, on which account he is anxious that she should take this Journey to Vienna.

This General Acton on the other hand opposes, both on account of the immense expenses attending the journey, and from an apprehension that the Queen will do more harm than good to the Interests of this Country by being at Vienna, and concerning the Journey itself; it is evident that a considerable degree of uneasiness prevails here with respect to the views of the Court of Vienna. I am therefore led to suppose that the principal object of Her Sicilian Majesty's journey is to endeavour to produce a change in the disposition of that Court which is thought to be extrPmely unfriendly, but I do not know how far her presence there will be liable to effect an alteration, for it is supposed here that Mr. de Thugut has never been particularly well disposed towards the Queen, and this leads me to mention a circumstance not wholly irrelevant to the subject. Within a very few days, it has been confidentially made known to me that Her Sicilian Majesty is exceedingly uneasy lest, through any means, the Court of Vienna should become acquainted with the weak and defenceless state of this Country, and in consequence be disposed to take advantage of it.

The Queen will be accompanied by three Princesses her daughters, for any or all of whom it is much wished to provide suitable marriages.

As to the state of Parties at Naples, it is certain that a very large majority of that community desire, from different motives, to see the King among them again. But there still doubtless exist people of a very different disposition, who are attached to the French Cause and who zealously serve it as far as their means enable them. To these may be added not an inconsiderable number of persons whose parents have perished, and whose property has been confiscated to the State by the late revolution, and it is this description of Person the dread of whose revenge deters the King of Naples from at once deciding to return. I confess that I should not be surprised at any attempt that might be made against the lives of the King and Queen and two or three of the Ministers.

The Provinces are, in general, in a very unpleasant state of Insubordination, particularly in Calabria and the Abruzzi, where the people live in a state of licentiousness and anarchy which it will require time and considerable vigour to compress. The cause of this mischief may be attributed to Cardinal Ruffo, 1 who in his march through those Countries promised an exemption of taxes and other immunities for some years to all those who would advance in support of the Royal cause. The Russian troops being at Naples, if the disposable part of the Neapolitan Forces could be counted upon they would beyond a doubt be more than adequate to overrule this spirit, and to insure the tranquillity of the Country. But in their present state no reliance whatever can prudently be placed in them to act independently. An urgent request has therefore been sent from this Court to the Emperor of Russia soliciting an augmentation of Force from that Country. It is right to say that the new xnodelling of the Army is an operation to which the Government here have more seriously turned their thoughts than any other, but the work goes very slowly, and with the present ofhcers who are in every point of view a most despicable set, it never could be completed. Another source of misery to the whole Nation which the revoliztion has in great measure produced, is the total discredit into which the paper Money has fallen. It now sells at Naples at 68 % discount, but I am happy to think that this calamity has also caught the attention of the Government, and that about 17 out of 24 million which is now in circulation will be immediately called in.
In this deplorable state of things, nothing could be more truly congenial to my feelings than to find myself able to afford assistance by advice and Co-operation towards the Restoration of a regular and well constituted Government. I have hitherto indeed not gone very deeply into the subject from a conviction that until the King of Naples returns, and will by his own presence and example protect the existing laws, an event which no pains shall be spared on my part to realize, and enable his Government to enact new ones, no good would be derived from it ; and because I have discovered a degree of peevishness and jealousy, the effect of a sense of their own humiliating and dependent situation, whenever I have touched upon the subject of Reform, but which I trust may change into Cordiality and Confidence.

Your Lordship's very interesting instructions upon this subject are strongly imprinted upon my mind, but I reflect with the utmost diffidence upon my own abilities, and look forward with considerable uneasiness to carrying into eflect the different important objects contained in them. I only intreat Your Lordship to be assured that no application or exer tion shall be spared on my part.

The Corps Diplomatique here consists of the Austrian Ambassador, the Russian Minister, and myself. The former is Count Esterhazy, a perfect cypher, as matters of the most indifferent nature are scarcely entrusted to him, and he is personally disagreeable to General Acton.

The Chevalier D'Italinsky, the Russian Minister, is a man of the soundest judgment and understanding and one of the most upright and honourable characters, much in the confidence of the General and singularly attached to England and to the Cause in which our Sovereigns are engaged.-I have, &c., (Signed) Arthur Paget.

1. Commander of the Neapolitan forcea in Calabria, who had brought about the restoration of the King.


COMMENT.



Created 15th March 2004

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