Folio 140: Finch to Harrington. Despatch from Burnaby received with account of violent...

Folio 140: Finch to Harrington. Despatch from Burnaby received with account of violent dispositions of Swedish diet and apparent coming of a crisis there which will occasion rupture with Russia. Osterman informed me that the recent arrest of Count Gyllenberg's secretary when emerging from Bestuzev's house had made Bestuzev confused, which showed in his last despatches, and wondered whether Burnaby had written more intelligibly to me. I told him Swedes were bent on war and after that the French partisans had constantly insinuated in order to raise the drooping spirits of some of their friends that France would not abandon them. Told that a courier arrived from Count Tessin with the ratifications of a subsidiary treaty which he had concluded with Cardinal Fleury and the Spanish ambassador at Paris by which those two powers agree to pay to the Swedes 20 tons of gold per annum the first two years and 40 the third year; and in confidence learnt that the two young ministers had engaged the Turks to break with Russia on a fixed day agreed between them. Osterman asked with emotion what the other part of my intelligence meant since Cardinal Fleury had declared that France had too much need for her money to furnish the Swedes with subsidies. Plainly France would not be indifferent spectator of troubles in the Empire as she first insinuated, thinking Austria wanted one more stab and that the queen of Spain resolved to push her point in Italy, thus embarking Sweden in war against Russia and thereby preventing fulfilment of agreements with Austria and furnishing assistance to queen of Hungary which she so much needs. Osterman said Russia will always have 80,000 men in service of Sweden. If Russia cannot depend on English squadron her fleet is not fit to be directed against Sweden and they thought this in Sweden even when I was there. Much altered since 1719 when Russian gallies covered by the fleet could burn entire Swedish coast and alarm Stockholm until English fleet arrived in the Baltic. Suggested that matters would have been better if our treaty had been concluded last summer. Osterman interrupted me to say our treaty should be looked upon as a thing concluded. He then returned to our squadron, taking for granted that Russia might depend on one this summer in case of rupture with Sweden. He seemed more concerned about an offer of a million allegedly made to Sweden by king of Prussia, apparently to have Swedish troops at his service, but in reality to have Sweden in condition to break with Russia in case she would give that assistance to queen of Hungary which Prussian king begins to fear. Dated St Petersburg 28 Mar 1741.