circumstantial account of a plot to burn the English fleet at Portsmouth by means of Irish and other incendiaries in Russian pay. In the meantime Pitt had become alarmed at the opposition to his Russian policy in parliament, Burke and Fox both uttering powerful speeches against the restoration of Oczakow to the Porte, and early in April 1791 a messenger was hastily despatched to St. Petersburg to keep back the ultimatum which Whitworth had on 27 March been ordered to present to the empress. His relations with the Russian court were now for a short period considerably strained. Catherine, elated by recent victories of Suvarof, said to him with an ironical smile: ‘Sir, since the king your master is determined to drive me out of Petersburg, I hope he will permit me to retire to Constantinople’ (Tooke, Life of Catharine II, iii. 284). Gradually, however, through the influence of Madame Gerepzof, the sister of the favourite, the celebrated Zubof, and in consequence of the alarm excited in the mind of Catherine by the course things were taking in France, Whitworth more than recovered his position.
Great Britain's influence upon the peace finally concluded at Jassy on 9 Jan. 1792 was, it is true, little more than nominal, but Whitworth obtained some credit for the achievement, together with the cross of a K.B. (17 Nov. 1793). Wraxall's statement that the relations between Whitworth and Madame Gerepzof were similar to those between Marlborough and the Duchess of Cleveland is utterly incredible (see Quarterly Review, December 1836, p. 470).
The gradual rapprochement between the views of Russia and England was brought about mainly by the common dread of any revolutionary infection from the quarter of France, and in February 1795 Catherine was induced to sign a preliminary treaty, by the terms of which she was to furnish the coalition with at least sixty-five thousand men in return for a large monthly subsidy from the British government. This treaty was justly regarded as a triumph for Whitworth's diplomacy, though, unfortunately, just before the date fixed for its final ratification by both countries, the czarina was struck down by mortal illness (February 1795). Paul I, in his desire to adopt an original policy, refused to affix his signature, and it was not until June 1798 that the outrage committed by the French upon the order of the knights of St. John at Malta, who had chosen him for their protector, disposed him to listen to the solicitations of Whitworth. The latter obtained his adhesion to an alliance with Great Britain offensive and defensive, with the object of putting a stop to the further encroachments of France, in December 1798, and the treaty paved the way for the operations of Suvarof and Korsakof in Northern Italy and the Alps.
Whitworth was now at the zenith of his popularity in St. Petersburg, and Paul pressed the British government to raise him to the peerage. The request was readily complied with, and on 21 March 1800 the ambassador was made Baron Whitworth of Newport Pratt in Ireland; but before the patent could reach him the czar had been reconciled to Napoleon. Irritated, moreover, by the British seizure and retention of Malta, Paul abruptly dismissed Whitworth, and thereupon commenced that angry correspondence which developed into the combination of northern powers against Great Britain.
In July 1800 the seizure of the Danish frigate Freya for opposing the British right of search led to strained relations with Denmark, and, in order to anticipate any hostile move from Copenhagen, Whitworth was despatched in August on a special mission to that capital. To give the greater weight to his representations, a squadron of nine sail of the line, with five frigates and four bombs, was ordered to the Sound under Admiral Dickson. The Danish shore batteries were as yet very incomplete, and Whitworth's arguments for the time being proved effectual. He returned to England on 27 Sept., and on 5 Nov. was made a privy councillor.
His former friend, the Duke of Dorset, had died in July 1799, and on 7 April 1801 he married the widowed duchess (Arabella Diana, daughter of Sir Charles Cope, bart., by Catharine, fifth daughter of Cecil Bishop of Parham, who afterwards married Lord Liverpool). She was a capable woman of thirty-two, with a taste for power and pleasure, says Wraxall, kept ‘always subordinate to her economy.’ By the death of the duke she came into possession of 13,000l. a year, besides the borough of East Grinstead, while Dorset House and Knole Park subsequently passed into her hands.
The peace of Amiens was concluded on 27 March 1802, and Whitworth, whose means were now fully adequate to the situation, was chosen to fill the important post of ambassador at Paris. His instructions were dated 10 Sept. 1802, and two months later he set out with a large train, being received at Calais with enthusiasm; a considerable period had elapsed since a British ambassador had been seen in France. He was presented to Napoleon and Mme. Bonaparte
