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Molecular Modeling of Inorganic Compounds Second
Edition Prof. Dr. Peter Comba Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Prof. Dr. Peter Comba, Prof. Dr. Trevor W. Hambley(auth.)
ISBN(s): 9783527612987, 352761298X
File Details: PDF, 16.51 MB
Year: 2001
Language: english
Peter Comba, Trevor W. Hambley

Molecular Modeling of Inorganic Compounds

@WILEY-VCH
Further Reading from Wiley-VCH
and John Wiley & Sons

H.-D. Holtje I G. Folkers

Molecular Modeling. Basic Principles and Applications
1997.206 pages. Wiley-VCH.
ISBN 3-527-29384-1

F. Jensen
Introduction to Computational Chemistry
1998. 454 pages. Wiley.
ISBN 0-471-98425-6

W. Koch I M. C. Holthausen
A Chemist’s Guide to Density Functional Theory
2000.308 pages. Wiley-VCH.
ISBN 3-527-29918-1

K. B. Lipkowitz I D. B. Boyd (Eds.)

Reviews in Computational Chemistry, Vol. 13
1999. 384 pages. Wiley.
ISBN 0-471-33135-X

M. F. Schlecht
Molecular Modeling on the PC
1998. 763 pages. Wiley.
ISBN 0-47 1- 18467-1

P. von Schleyer (Ed.)

Encyclopedia of Computational Chemistry
1998. 3580 pages. Wiley.
ISBN 0-471-96588-X

J. Zupan I J. Gasteiger
Neural Networks in Chemistry and Drug Design
1999.400 pages. Wiley-VCH.
ISBN 3-527-29779-0 (Softcover), 3-527-29778-2 (Hardcover)
 Peter Comba, Trevor W. Hambley

Molecular Modeling
of Inorganic Compounds
Second, Completely Revised and Enlarged Edition

Includes CD-ROM
With Tutorial

@WILEY-VCH
- -
Weinheim New York Chichester
-
Brisbane * Singapore Toronto
Prof. Dr. Peter Comba Prof. Dr. Trevor W. Hambley
Anorganisch-Chemisches Institut School of Chemistry
Im Neuenheimer Feld 270 University of Sydney
69120 Heidelberg Sydney, NSW 2006
Germany Australia
e-mail : [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]
homepage: http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/ homepage: http://www.chem.usyd.edu.au/
institutelfak 1Z/AC/comba/ -hamble-t

This book was carefully produced. Nevertheless, editors, authors and publisher do not warrant the in-
formation contained therein to be free of errors. Readers are advised to keep in mind that statements,
data, illustrations, procedural details or other items may inadvertently be inaccurate.

Shown on the cover are the calculated structures and energetics of two conformations of a figure-of-
eight-shaped dicopper(1) compound, together with the observed 'H-NMR spectra (J.Chem.Soc., Dalton
Trans. (1999), 509; Eur.J.Inorg.Chem. (1999), 509).

Library of Congress Card No.: applied for

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this publication is available from Die Deutsche Bibliothek

ISBN 3-527-29915-7

0 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, D-69469 Weinheim (Federal Republic of Germany), 2001

Printed on acid-free paper

All rights reserved (including those of translation into other languages). No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form - by photoprinting, microfilm, or any other means - nor transmitted or trans-
lated into machine language without written permission from the publishers. Registered names, trade-
marks, etc. used in this book, even when not specifically marked as such, are not to be considered
unprotected by law.
Composition: ProSatz Unger, D-69469 Weinheim
Printing: Strauss Offsetdruck GmbH, D-69503 Morlenbach
Bookbindung: Wilhelm Osswald & Co., D-67433 Neustadt
Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany
Preface

Over the past thirty years molecular-mechanical modeling of organic molecules

has developed to the point where comprehensive models are now available and
the structures and energetics of most simple molecules can be reliably calculated.
More recently there has been a rapid expansion in the application of molecular
mechanics and dynamics to biological macromolecules such as proteins and
DNA. Highly sophisticated commercial packages are available that combine mole-
cular mechanics with computer-graphical construction, manipulation and graphi-
cal output.
Proceeding in parallel with these developments has been the application of mo-
lecular mechanics to inorganic and coordination compounds. Initially, simple me-
tal complexes were modeled, but recently the field has been extended to include
organometallic compounds, catalysis and the interaction of metal ions with biolo-
gical macromolecules. The application of molecular mechanics to coordination
compounds is complicated by the number of different metals and the variety of
coordination numbers, coordination modes, geometries and electronic states they
can adopt. For this reason the existing models used for metal containing com-
pounds are more complex than those available for organic molecules, and only
few of the commercially available packages are able to reliably deal with even a
small subset of the possible metal-based systems. The difficulties encountered in
modeling inorganic and coordination compound systems have deterred many from
making use of the method.
The goals of this book are to provide an understanding of molecular mechanics,
to show that it can be applied successhlly to a wide variety of inorganic and coor-
dination compound based systems and to show how to undertake such a study.
This book should give the reader the ability to judge the reliability of published
data, to evaluate reported interpretations and to judge the scope and limitation of
the various models for her or his own studies.
The book is aimed at students and scientists who have a basic understanding of
inorganic chemistry. No prior knowledge of theoretical chemistry, sophisticated
mathematics or computing is assumed. The basic concepts of molecular me-
chanics are developed and discussed in Part I. Examples of applications and the
difficulties encountered are reviewed in Part 11. In Part I11 a practical guide to un-
dertaking a molecular modeling study of a new system is presented and the pro-
blems and pitfalls likely to be encountered are outlined. The three parts of the
book can be read and used separately.
VI Preface

We are gratefd for the help of Sigrid Rieth, Brigitte Sau1,Volker Licht and Dr
Norbert Okon in the preparation of the manuscript, to Dr Thomas Kellersohn for
a strain-free collaboration with VCH, to our coworkers for allowing us to report
unpublished data and for their helpful hints on scientific, didactic and linguistic
aspects. A special thank is due to Prof. Marc Zimmer for his invaluable help dur-
ing his sabbatical leave as a Humboldt Fellow in Heidelberg. Many interesting dis-
cussions with and suggestions by him have been of importance to this book.
Finally, we owe our families a huge debt for their love and patience.

Peter Comba Trevor W. Hambley

Preface to the Second Edition

The field of inorganic molecular modeling has developed in the past five years to
an extent that it has led us to add some chapters and rewrite others. The division
of the book into three parts; I Theory, 11 Applications and Ill Practice that can be
read and used separately is retained. Our emphasis is still on empirical force field
calculations. Quantum-mechanical calculations have undergone an enormous de-
velopment in recent years, and techniques such as DFT and combined quantum
mechanics/molecular mechanics (QWMM) are now routinely used by theoreti-
cians and experimentalists to predict and interpret structures, stabilities, electronic
properties and reactivities of metal-containing compounds. Where appropriate, we
have included results derived from such methods in this second edition of our
book, without going into detailed discussion of the theoretical background, since
this is given in many recent textbooks and review articles.
We have made only a few changes to Part I and most examples from Part I1
have remained unchanged, since our goal is to cover the types of application
rather than to provide a comprehensive review of inorganic molecular modeling.
New developments and some new examples have been added.
Part I11 has been rewritten completely. Important rules for molecular modeling
and for the interpretation of the results, possible pitfalls and guidelines for the
publication of molecular modeling studies are given in an introduction. This is
followed by a tutorial, based on software included in this book, where the reader
experiences in 20 lessons, how inorganic molecular modeling works in reality.
The appendices have been updated and lists of molecular modeling books and in-
organic molecular modeling reviews have been added (see Appendix 4). Regularly
updated lists and comments related to the field appear also on our homepages.
We are grateful for comments by colleagues on the first edition. We are also
gratehl for the help of Marlies von Schoenebeck-Schilli, Karin Stelzer and Bri-
gitte Saul in preparing the manuscript, to Dr Norbert Okon for the setup of MO-
MEClite and to Dr Roland Wengenmayr for an excellent collaboration with
Wiley-VCH. The continuing support of our families has allowed us to complete
this project and is greatly appreciated.

Peter Comba Trevor W. Hambley

Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V
Preface to the Second Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII

Part I: Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Molecular Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Historical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 Molecular Modeling Methods in Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.1 Molecular Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Quantum Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.1 Hartree-Fock Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2.2 Semi-Empirical Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2.3 Density Functional Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Other Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.1 Conformational Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.2 Database Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3.3 Cluster Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3.4 Free Energy Perturbation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3.5 QSAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3 Parameterization. Approximations and Limitations of Molecular

Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.1 Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2 Potential Energy Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2.1 Bond Length Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2.2 Valence Angle Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.2.3 Torsion Angle Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.2.4 Cross-terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2.5 van der Waals Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.6 Electrostatic Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.2.7 Hydrogen Bonding Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
X Contents

3.2.8 Out-of-plane Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

3.3 Force Field Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.3.1 Bond Length Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.3.2 Valence Angle Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.3.3 Torsion Angle Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.3.4 Out-of-plane Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.3.5 Nonbonded Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.3.6 Electrostatic Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.3.7 Hydrogen Bonding Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.4 Spectroscopic Force Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.5 Model and Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.6 Electronic Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.7 The Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.8 Entropy Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

4 Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.1 Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.2 Energy Minimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.2.1 The Simplex Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.2.2 Gradient Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.2.3 Conjugate-Gradient Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.2.4 The Newton-Raphson Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.2.5 Least-Squares Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.3 Constraints and Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

5 The Multiple Minima Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

5.1 Deterministic Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.2 Stochastic Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.3 Molecular Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5.4 Practical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.5 Making Use of Experimental Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Part 11: Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7 Structural Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
7.1 Accuracy of Structure Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
7.2 Molecular Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
7.3 Isomer Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
7.4 Analysis of Structural Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
7.5 Prediction of Complex Polymerization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
7.6 Unraveling Crystallographic Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
7.7 Comparison with Solution Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
 Contents XI

8 Stereoselectivities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8.1 Conformational Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8.2 Enantioselectivities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
8.2.1 Racemate Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
8.2.2 Stereoselective Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8.3 Structure Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.4 Mechanistic Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

9 Metal Ion Selectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

9.1 Chelate Ring Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
9.2 Macrocycle Hole Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
9.3 Preorganization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
9.4 Quantitative Correlations Between Strain and Stability Differences . . 115
9.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

10 Spectroscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
10.1 Vibrational Spectroscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
10.2 Electronic Spectroscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
10.3 EPR Spectroscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
10.4 NMR Spectroscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

11 Electron Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

11.1 Redox Potentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
11.2 Electron Transfer Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

12 Electronic Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

12.1 d-Orbital Directionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
12.2 The trans lnfluence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
12.3 Jahn-Teller Distortions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

13 Bioinorganic Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

13.1 Complexes of Amino Acids and Peptides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
13.2 Metalloproteins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
13.3 Metalloporphyrins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
13.4 Metal-Nucleotide and Metal-DNA Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
13.5 Other Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
13.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

14 Organometallics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
14.1 Metallocenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
14.2 Transition Metal-Ally1 Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
14.3 Transition Metal Phosphine Compounds ..................... 177
14.4 Metal-Metal Bonding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
14.5 Carbonyl Cluster Compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
XI1 Contents

15 Compounds with s.. p- and f-Block Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

15.1 Alkali and Alkaline Earth Metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
15.1.1 Crown Ethers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
15.1.2 Cryptands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
15.1.3 Spherands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
15.1.4 Biologically Relevant Ligands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
15.2 Main Group Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
15.3 Lanthanoids and Actinoids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
15.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Part 111: Practice of Molecular Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

16 The Model. the Rules and the Pitfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

16.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
16.2 The Starting Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
16.3 The Force Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
16.4 The Energy Minimization Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
16.5 Local and Global Energy Minima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
16.6 Pitfalls. Interpretation and Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

17 ntorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
17.1 Building a Simple Metal Complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
17.2 Optimizing the Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
17.3 Building a Set of Conformers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
17.4 Calculating the Strain Energies and Isomer Distribution of a Set of
Conformers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
17.5 Constructing and Optimizing a Set of Isomers Automatically . . . . . . 219
17.6 Building More Difficult Metal Complexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
17.7 Analyzing Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
17.8 Potential Energy Functions I : Bond Length,Valence Angle, Torsion
Angle, Twist Angle and out-of-plane Deformation Functions . . . . . . 229
17.9 Potential Energy Functions 11: Nonbonded Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . 236
17.10 Force Field Parameters I: Developing a Force Field for Cobalt(II1)
Hexaamines - Normal Bond Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
17.1 1 Force Field Parameters 11: Refining the New Force Field - Very
Short Bond Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
17.12 Force Field Parameters 111: Refining the New Force Field - Very
Long Bond Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
17.13 Force Field Parameters I V. Comparison of Isomer Distributions Using
Various Cobalt(II1) Amine Force Fields ............................ 253
17.14 Force Field Parameters V Parameterizing a New Potential -TheTetra-
hedral Twist of Four-Coordinate Compounds ...................... 257
17.15 Using Constraints to Compute Energy Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
17.16 Using Constraints to Compute Macrocyclic Ligand Hole Sizes . . . . . 268
17.17 Cavity Sizes of Unsymmetrical Ligands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
 Contents XI11

17.18 Using Strain Energies to Compute Reduction Potentials of Coordina-

tionCompounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
17.19 Using Force Field Calculations with NMR Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
17.20 Optimizing Structures with Rigid Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
1 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
2 Fundamental Constants, Units and Conversion Factors . . . . . . . . . . . 299
3 Software and Force Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
4 Books on Molecular Modeling and Reviews on Inorganic Molecular
Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
 MolecuIar Modehg OfInorganic Compoundr
Scond. CoripIetcIyRevrsed and Enlarged Edrtion
Peter Comba, Trevor W. Hambley
copyright 0 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH,2001

Part I: Theory

In Part I of this book we describe methods for molecular modeling with special
emphasis on empirical force field calculations. Molecular mechanics is an inter-
polative procedure, and its justification is that it works. However, there is a theo-
retical basis for force field calculations, and it will be given in this Part of the
book. The fact that molecular mechanics is a rather simplistic method implies
that there are a number of dangers and limitations, and these have to be discussed
in detail to give the reader the ability to judge where these methods are applicable
and what quality the predictions might be expected to have. Since the aim of
Part I is to show explicitly these problems we might create a rather pessimistic
view in terms of the accuracy, reliability, general applicability and scientific basis
of the methods presented. This certainly is not our aim. The applications dis-
cussed in Part I1 clearly reveal the potential of molecular modeling, enabling use-
ful predictions to be made in many areas of inorganic chemistry.
 MolecuIar Modehg OfInorganic Compoundr
Scond. CoripIetcIyRevrsed and Enlarged Edrtion
Peter Comba, Trevor W. Hambley
copyright 0 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH,2001

1 Introduction

1.1 Molecular Modeling

Advances in computing, and particularly the ready availability of high resolution

graphics, have greatly increased the interest in computer-based molecular model-
ing. Molecular modeling is now widely used as an aid in the interpretation of ex-
perimental results and in the design of new materials with desirable properties.
Examples drawn from the area of inorganic chemistry include the study of the in-
teraction of metal ions with proteins and DNA, the design of new metal-based
drugs, metal-ion-selective ligands and stereospecific catalysts.
The basis of molecular modeling is that all important molecular properties -
such as stabilities, reactivities and electronic properties - are related to the mole-
cular structure (Fig. 1.1). Therefore, if it is possible to develop algorithms that are
able to calculate a structure with a given stoichiometry and connectivity, it must
be possible to develop algorithms for the computation of the molecular properties
based on the calculated structure and vice versa. There are many different ap-
proaches and related computer programs, including ab-initio calculations, various
semi-empirical molecular orbital (MO) methods, ligand-field calculations, mole-
cular mechanics, molecular dynamics, QSAR, neural networks and genetic algo-
rithms that can be used to calculate structures and one or more additional molecu-
lar properties.
Before any computational study on molecular properties can be carried out, a
molecular model needs to be established. It can be based on an appropriate crystal
structure or derived using any technique that can produce a valid model for a gi-
ven compound, whether or not it has been prepared. Molecular mechanics is one
such technique and, primarily for reasons of computational simplicity and effi-
ciency, it is one of the most widely used technique. Quantum-mechanical model-
ing is far more computationally intensive and until recently has been used only
rarely for metal complexes. However, the development of effective-core potentials
(ECP) and density-functional-theory methods (DFT) has made the use of quantum
mechanics a practical alternative. This is particularly so when the electronic struc-
tures of a small number of compounds or isomers are required or when transition
states or excited states, which are not usually available in molecular mechanics,
are to be investigated. However, molecular mechanics is still orders of magnitude
faster than ab-initio quantum mechanics and therefore, when large numbers of
4 I Introduction

structure of the

t
I molecular properties I

thermodynamics electronics
stability reaction pathways spectroscopy
reaction rates

Figure 1.1: The relationship between the ligand and metal ion preferences, the resulting
molecular structure, and the molecular properties.

compounds or isomers are to be investigated, molecular-mechanical methods are

still preferred. Also, because of the speed of molecular-mechanics calculations it
is possible to highly optimize the force field parameterization against a large set
of compounds. With slower quantum-mechanical calculations the optimization
and testing of basis sets, fimctionals and other variables against more than a few
compounds is less feasible and, perhaps as a consequence, the balance between
bonded and nonbonded forces is often better in molecular mechanics than in
quantum mechanics.
Molecular mechanics can be considered to arise from the Born-Oppenheimer
approximation, which assumes that the motions of the nuclei of a molecule are in-
dependent of the motions of the electrons. In molecular-mechanics calculations
the arrangement of the electrons is assumed to be fixed and the positions of the
nuclei are calculated. The basis of many quantum-mechanical calculations is, in
contrast, that the electronic states can be calculated if the nuclei are assumed to
be in fixed positions.
The basis of the molecular-mechanics method is that a good estimate of the
geometry of a molecule can be obtained by taking into account all the forces be-
tween the atoms, calculated using a mechanical approach. For example, bonded
atoms are treated as if they are held together by forces that behave as mechani-
cal springs, and nonbonded interactions are taken to be made up of attractive
and repulsive forces that together produce the typical van der Waals curve. The
parameters that define the strength of the springs or the steepness of the van der
Waals curves are derived, in the first instance, from experimental observables
such as infrared vibrational frequencies and gas compressibility data. However,
the parameters are usually modified empirically to enhance the reproduction of
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Norris thought, that in order to obtain the Bill he must not give the
least satisfaction on any question. Accordingly, when questioned if
he knew anything that would show the sentence to be unjust? he
replied, “No.” If he knew anything of undue practices? still he
answered “No.” Yet when Lord Halifax asked him, whether he was
desirous the Bill should pass? he replied, “Yes.” Lord Halifax—“If he
knew anything that was necessary for the King to know, and that
would incline him to mercy?” He begged leave not to answer, and
withdrew. The contradiction in this behaviour must be left to the
comment of the reader. The only observation I would make, not only
on Norris, but on his associates, (I speak not of those who evidently
were influenced,) is this. If, as they all said, they knew nothing
unjust, why did they solicit to be released from an oath of secrecy,
under the lock of which they had no secret? Is it not more probable
that they were ashamed of what they had done, and neither knew
how to bear or avow it?
Admiral Broderick was short and steady in negatives to all the
questions. Holmes as explicit, saying he knew nothing to incline the
King to mercy but the sentence and their letter. Lord Halifax then
informed the Lords, that Norris had recollected himself, and desired
to return to the bar. Lord Cholmondeley and Lord Stamford objected
to it, but even Lord Hardwicke could not close with such rigour,
though he declared against repeating the like indulgence. Norris
returning, and being asked if he knew anything proper for his
Majesty to know, and that might incline him to mercy, replied, “At
the time that I said I desired the Act might pass, I thought we
should have an opportunity of explaining our reasons for signing the
sentence.” These words, though obscure, and by no means
adequate to what was expected from his desire of being reheard,
seemed to imply that he had been drawn into the harshness of the
sentence from some arguments of the improbability that it would be
carried into execution. This in the utmost candour I own; it was
what all the advocates for rigour insisted was the case: though the
defence in truth is but a sorry one, for what can exceed the
weakness of condemning a man, whom one thinks innocent, upon
the supposition that he will afterwards escape?
Geary, the accommodating Geary, the repenter of his repentance,
came next; answered No, to Lord Mansfield’s questions, like the rest:
to Lord Halifax’s, whether desirous of the Bill, replied No, but have
no objections to it, if it will be to the satisfaction of anybody; and
that he knew nothing for mercy but the sentence and letter. “Could
you,” said Lord Fortescue, “if the Act should pass, explain the
sentence better?” “My oath of secrecy,” said Geary, “will not let me
say more.” Captain Boyce gave his three noes to the questions. So
did Moore to Lord Mansfield’s. When asked by Lord Halifax, if
desirous of the Bill? he said, “I am very desirous of it, that I may be
absolved from my oath; I have been under concern when I took it—I
don’t mean on this point.” To the other question relative to the King
and mercy, he said, “I don’t think myself at liberty to answer while
bound by my oath.” To Lord Fortescue, whether, if absolved, he
could better explain the sentence and letter? he replied in these
equivocal words, “I could give better reasons for my signing.” Simko,
Douglas, and Bentley, were unanimous in negatives to all the
questions. Then Keppel appeared. Being asked if he knew anything
unjust?—after long silence and consideration, he replied, No.
Whether the sentence was obtained through undue practices? No.
Whether desirous of the Bill? “Yes, undoubtedly.” Whether he knew
anything necessary for the knowledge of the King, and conducive to
mercy? Keppel: “I cannot answer that, without particularizing my
vote and opinion.” Lord Halifax asked him whether he thought his
particular reasons had been asked now? He replied, No. He retired.
If Keppel had had no more to tell, than that he had been drawn into
the harsher measure by the probability of the gentler preponderating
at last, he had in truth been much misunderstood: his regret had
worn all the appearance of remorse. How he came to appear so
calm and so indifferent at the last moment, in which either regret or
remorse could hope to have any effect, I pretend not to decide.
Such as showed any compunction of any sort I would excuse to the
utmost. Those who determined no compunction should operate, and
those who, like Moore and Geary, abandoned their contrition to
make their court, I desire not to absolve. The former were gratified,
the latter were rewarded. Dennis was the last who appeared, and
took care to have no more tenderness before the Lords than he had
exerted in the House of Commons.
Lord Temple then desired that the Court-Martial might be absolved
from their attendance; and that the depositions might be read over.
When finished, he said (what indeed in his situation he could not
well help saying, considering how few questions had been put,
except the captious ones of Lord Mansfield, and how little
satisfaction had been obtained, and that even Keppel himself had
not said half so much as he had said in the House of Commons,)
Lord Temple, I say, after congratulating the King and nation on the
temper that had been observed, said, the discussion might produce
an opinion that the sentence was just: he had had doubts, but now
they were all removed: yet he would ask, whether still it were not
better to indulge the conscientious with the Bill, especially as it
would clear all doubts in others?
Lord Marchmont and Lord Hardwicke objected warmly to that
proposal, and treated the House of Commons with the highest scorn.
The former said, he had the utmost contempt for the Bill, and hoped
their Lordships would set their mark on all who had traduced the
Court-Martial, whose very countenances had shown their breasts. He
begged the House no further to load his Majesty, but to reject the
Bill. Lord Halifax acknowledged, that all who read the preamble,
must have concluded that they had something material to divulge:
yet not one had produced any one circumstance. For himself, he was
never ashamed to retract, when the ground had gone from him. Yet
he thought they still must have had reasons for their extraordinary
behaviour, and wished for the Bill to clear up that wonderful
sentence and letter. But Lord Hardwicke authoritatively put an end to
the Debate; said the recital to the preamble had been false; that
they had sworn there had been no undue practice, and that it
appeared upon what no grounds the House of Commons had
proceeded; which he hoped would tend to ease the mind of his
Majesty. He proposed, and it was ordered, that the whole
examination should be printed.
The affair having concluded in this extraordinary manner, the
friends of Mr. Byng could no longer expect any mercy. If he could be
brought to the verge of death after such a sentence and such a
recommendation from his Judges; if the remorse of those Judges
could only interpose; undoubtedly their retracting all distress of
conscience, and upholding their sentence in a firmer manner than
when they first pronounced it, could neither give the King a new
handle to pardon, nor any hopes to the Admiral’s well-wishers. They
despaired, though they ceased not to solicit. Of the Court-Martial,[83]
it must be remembered, that Norris, who had faltered, was never
after employed—that Keppel was—that Moore had immediately
assigned to him the most profitable station during the war.
I hasten to the conclusion of the tragedy: a few intervening
incidents I shall resume afterwards.
The 14th of March was appointed for execution. Yet one more
unexpected event seemed to promise another interruption. The city
of London had all along assumed that unamiable department of a
free government, inconsiderate clamour for punishment. But as a
mob is always the first engine of severity, so it is generally the
foremost, often the sole body, that melts and feels compassion when
it is too late. Their favourite spectacle is a brave sufferer. This time
they anticipated tenderness. On the 9th, at eleven at night, four Tory
Aldermen went to Dickinson, the Lord Mayor, to desire he would
summon a Common Council, intending to promote a petition to the
King to spare the Admiral. The motion was imputed to Mr. Pitt. The
magistrate, as unfeelingly formal as if he had been the first
magistrate in the kingdom, replied, it was too late; he would be at
home till noon of the next day. On the morrow they sent to him not
to dismiss his officers, but he heard no more, though they continued
squabbling among themselves till two in the morning. Thus the last
chance was lost. Had the first midnight emotion been seized, it
might have spread happily—at least the King could not have pleaded
his promise of severity pledged to the city. I hesitate even to
mention what I will not explain, as I cannot prove my suspicion: but
I was eye-witness to a secret and particular conference between
Dickinson and another man, who, I have but too much reason to
think, had a black commission.
The fatal morning arrived, but was by no means met by the
Admiral with reluctance. The whole tenour of his behaviour had been
cheerful, steady, dignified, sensible. While he felt like a victim, he
acted like a hero. Indeed, he was the only man whom his enemies
had had no power to bend to their purposes. He always received
with indignation any proposal from his friends of practising an
escape; an advantage he scorned to lend to clamour. Of his fate he
talked with indifference; and neither shunned to hear the requisite
dispositions, nor affected parade in them. For the last fortnight he
constantly declared that he would not suffer a handkerchief over his
face, that it might be seen whether he betrayed the least symptom
of fear; and when the minute arrived, adhered to his purpose. He
took an easy leave of his friends, detained the officers not a
moment, went directly to the deck, and placed himself in a chair
with neither ceremony nor lightness. Some of the more humane
officers represented to him, that his face being uncovered, might
throw reluctance into the executioners; and besought him to suffer a
handkerchief. He replied, with the same unconcern, “If it will frighten
them, let it be done: they would not frighten me.” His eyes were
bound; they shot, and he fell at once.[84]
It has often been remarked that whoever dies in public, dies well.
Perhaps those, who, trembling most, maintain a dignity in their fate,
are the bravest: resolution on reflection is real courage. It is less
condemnable, than a melancholy vain-glory, when some men are
ostentatious at their death. But surely a man who can adjust the
circumstances of his execution beforehand; who can say, “Thus I will
do, and thus;” who can sustain the determined part, and throws in
no unnecessary pomp, that man does not fear—can it be probable
he ever did fear? I say nothing of Mr. Byng’s duels; cowards have
ventured life for reputation: I say nothing of his having been a warm
persecutor of Admiral Matthews: cowards, like other guilty persons,
are often severe against failings, which they hope to conceal in
themselves by condemning in others: it was the uniformity of Mr.
Byng’s behaviour from the outset of his persecution to his
catastrophe, from whence I conclude that he was aspersed as
unjustly, as I am sure that he was devoted maliciously, and put to
death contrary to all equity and precedent.[85]
I have perhaps dwelt too long on his story—let me be excused: I
could not say too much in behalf of a man, whose sufferings, with
whatever kind intention, I unhappily protracted!
The cousinhood intended to supply Byng’s seat at Rochester, with
Dr. Hay of their own Admiralty, whom Fox had jostled out of
Parliament. The King, by suggestion from the same quarter, told
Lord Temple, “That Rochester was a borough of the Crown, not of
the Admiralty; nor did he like Hay or any of their Admiralty; they had
endeavoured to represent his justice as cruelty; he would have
Admiral Smith chosen there.” The subject was artfully selected, a
relation of their own. Lord Temple, with more calmness and decency
than he often condescended to employ in the Cabinet, contested it
long: and at last said, he would not obstruct his Majesty’s service
and commands—but he would be no borough-jobber, he would have
nothing to do with it, nor would he pay the price of blood by
bringing into Parliament the President of that Court that had
condemned Admiral Byng. As the measure was taken to get rid of
Mr. Pitt and his friends, it was hoped they would resign on this
obstacle, which might pass for a private affair: but they were too
wise to be the dupes. The Duke of Devonshire was ordered to
recommend Admiral Smith to Rochester, but the poor man was
shocked both at succeeding a person he had sentenced, and at
being chosen for a stumbling-block to his friends. He said he had not
sufficient estate for a qualification; and declined. Admiral
Townshend, the gaoler of Byng, had no scruples, and was elected.
 On the 8th of this month, advice was received that a French army
of one hundred and four thousand men, commanded by the Comte
de Clermont and Marshal D’Etrées, were marched to the Lower
Rhine.
A slight event that, by displaying the Duke’s moderation, indicated
his having views at that time which it was worth his while, by
curbing his natural temper, to gratify, may be fitly mentioned.
Colonel Forbes, a man of parts and spirit, had long lain under his
displeasure, being suspected of having writ some severe pamphlets
against him. They were, in truth, the compositions of one Douglas.
Forbes, during the preceding summer, had ingratiated himself with
the Duke of Bedford in the camp at Blandford, where his Grace had
been reading Bladen’s Cæsar and Bland’s Military Discipline, and
playing at being a General, for he was always eager about what he
was least fit for. He immediately undertook to reconcile Forbes to the
Duke,[86] who would not listen to him. Richbell’s regiment falling
vacant in Ireland, the Lord-Lieutenant gave himself no farther
trouble to obtain the favour of the Duke for Forbes, but carried a
warrant ready drawn to the King, who signed it, and Forbes had the
regiment. The Duke bore it without a murmur.
On the 13th, died Dr. Herring, Archbishop of Canterbury, a very
amiable man, to whom no fault was objected; though perhaps the
gentleness of his principles, his great merit, was thought one. During
the Rebellion he had taken up arms to defend from oppression that
religion, which he abhorred making an instrument of oppression. He
was succeeded by Dr. Hutton, Archbishop of York, a finer gentleman,
except where money was in question. The Duke of Newcastle, to pay
court to Leicester-house, had promised York to Dr. Thomas, of
Peterborough, the Prince’s Preceptor: but though he had been raised
by the King himself, his Majesty (to thwart the Princess, who had
indulged the Bishop in no weight with her son, and was
consequently indifferent about him) refused to confirm the grant,
and bestowed the Archbishopric on Gilbert of Salisbury, who had
formerly shed courtly tears in a sermon on the Queen. Gilbert was
composed of that common mixture, ignorance, meanness, and
arrogance. Having once pronounced that Dr. King ought to be
expelled from Oxford for disaffection, the latter said he would
consent to expulsion, provided Gilbert would propose it in
convocation—the motion must have been in Latin. Thomas was
permitted to succeed to Salisbury. On the news of Gilbert’s
promotion, they rung the bells at York backwards, in detestation of
him. He opened a great table there, and in six months they thought
him the most Christian Prelate that had ever sat in that see.
18th.—Legge opened the new taxes, and particularly proposed to
abolish the Commissioners of Wine-Licences, which office he would
incorporate with that of the Stamps. Among those Commissioners
was one Harris, a dependent and intimate of Fox, who broke out on
this occasion in the most imprudent manner—“Was this the
beginning of reformation? why was it not carried farther? why not
abolish one of the Secretaries of the Treasury? why did Mr. Legge
himself receive double salary as Lord of the Treasury?” He himself
would have been content with half the pay of Secretary of State. Sir
Robert Walpole had never destroyed the offices and influence of the
Crown. He taxed Hardinge with being author of this scheme. Legge
replied, yes, it was the beginning of reformation; and if others
would, he himself would serve for nothing. Beckford said principiis
obsta; he liked better to begin with small things than great, because
from the former there might be hopes—but he knew, he saw, why
Mr. Fox was averse from demolishing the influence of the Crown. Of
all things he should disapprove any diminution of the salaries of
great officers, in order to carry on the war, for then he was sure
there would soon be a peace. Pitt was very ill, and could not attend.
I hinted that it was determined to dismiss Mr. Pitt and his friends,
or provoke them to resign. I shall now explain that measure, which
opens a new scene.
The French had made an irruption into Germany with a mighty
Army, and threatened Hanover. The King had neither able Generals
there nor Ministers on whom he could rely. The latter were Austrians
in their hearts, with the additional incumbrance of possessing
estates in the countries of the Empress. The Duke, since the
accession of Mr. Pitt to the Administration, was become a favourite.
The King readily vented his mortifications to his son, whom he knew
would cheerfully be a confidant, of his aversion to the Princess and
her faction. By the channel of the Duke and Princess Emily, Fox had
insinuated innumerable prejudices and obstructions to the new
Ministers. At this juncture the King cast his eyes on the Duke, as the
sole resource for Hanover. His son had saved his Crown: he wished
to owe the preservation of the dearer Electorate to him. The Duke
was very averse to the charge. War with all its charms could not
tempt him now. His many defeats by the French still ached. If to be
clogged with orders from Pitt,—if to be obliged to communicate with
him, and depend on him for supplies, command itself would lose its
lustre. Even if successful, the popularity of Pitt would ravish half his
laurels; should he miscarry, his misfortunes would all be imputed to
himself. Fox snatched at this dilemma: he knew the King would pay
any price to rescue Hanover, and suggested to the Duke to demand
as a previous condition the dismission of Pitt;—could his Majesty
hesitate between an unwelcome servant and a favourite dominion?
The terms were granted, but were too soon performed. The King
hurried away the Duke. His Royal Highness would not endure even
for a fortnight to be accountable to Pitt; yet there had been no time
to settle a new Administration. The inquiries still hung over the
heads of the old Ministers, and though a whole Parliament of his
own interposed their bucklers, Newcastle shuddered at the glimpse
of an axe in the faint hand of a wearied rabble. Fox wished for
power without the name of it; Newcastle for both. If his Grace would
have united with him, Fox would have taken the Paymastership, with
a Peerage for his wife, and a pension of 2000l. a year on Ireland for
himself. But Newcastle could be pinned down to no terms: he
advanced to Fox, retreated farther from him, would mention no
conditions, nor agree to any. Lord Mansfield had early gone to
Claremont and endeavoured to fix him to Fox; but as that Lord
himself told the latter, Newcastle was governed by Lord Hardwicke,
even by a letter. Fox would then have assumed the Government
himself, could he have conjured together the slightest vision of a
Ministry. He tried Lord Granville, he courted Devonshire, he offered
the Treasury to Bedford; but, though nobody was more sanguine in
the cause than the latter, yet as it was not easy to give Rigby an
equivalent for Ireland, he took care to regulate his patron’s warmth
within the pale of his own advantage.
In this strange uncertainty the day of the Duke’s departure was
fixed; and fixed it was that Pitt and Lord Temple should be thrust out
by any means. Pitt had behaved with as much veneration as his
Majesty could expect; with as much as he was fond himself of
receiving: surely he had even shown that German measures were
not beyond the compass of his homage. But he had introduced
eloquence into the closet. The King was a man of plain sense, and
neither used ornament in discourse nor admired it; sometimes too
the drift of his royal pleasure was too delicate to be conveyed but in
hints. He liked to be served in essentials; it was better not to
expatiate on them. Lord Temple was still more tiresome; and when
his verboseness did not persuade, he quickened it with
impertinence. On the affair of Mr. Byng he had even gone so far as
to sketch out some parallel between the Monarch himself and the
Admiral, in which the advantage did not lie on the side of the battle
of Oudenarde.
The King resenting this and other instances in the strongest
manner, Lord Temple sent him word by the Duke of Devonshire, that
he could not serve him more, though he should not resign till a
convenient opportunity; that he would not even have come out of
his Majesty’s closet as a Minister, if it would not have distressed
those with whom he was connected. Pitt himself kept in the outward
room, saying, he no longer looked upon himself as a Minister; and
attributing this storm solely to Fox, he bade Lord George Sackville,
who was feeling about for a reconciliation between him and
Newcastle, tell that Duke, that he was not so averse to him as his
Grace had been told: let him judge by my actions, added he, if I
have been averse to him.
 The idea of the approaching change no sooner spread than it
occasioned the greatest astonishment: indignation followed; ridicule
kept up the indignation. The first jealousy was, that British troops
would attend the Duke to Germany. Fox called on Legge in the
House to disavow this, which he did; and the former declared that it
had never existed even in the wish of his Royal Highness—(that
measure indeed was reserved for Pitt!) George Townshend, to
prevent the change by intimidating, called for more papers; but as
Fox wished for nothing more than to dispatch the inquiries, after
which he would be at liberty to appear again on the scene, he
pressed to have them begin; and Townshend was forced to yield
that they should commence on the 19th of April, the first day after
the recess of Easter. Sir Francis Dashwood said, that day would
interfere with the meeting at Newmarket, and proposed a later time.
Fox said there would be a second meeting, with which a later day
would equally clash. I blush to repeat these circumstances—was it a
greater proof of the levity of our character, or of the little that was to
be expected from the inquiries, when a senate sat weighing horse
races against national resentment and justice—Newmarket against
the fate of Minorca![87] George Townshend added some sharp words
on the abuse published against Pitt. Fox said, he desired the liberty
of the press might continue: nobody had suffered more from it than
himself, yet he would not be for restraining it. Did Mr. Townshend
object to cards and pictures?[88] George Grenville said, he knew
when he accepted a place what tax he was to pay for it; yet said
Fox, “I have been most abused since out of place.”

F O OT N OT E S :
[81] A lawyer, it seems, would establish prescription even against
conscience!
[82] I say, power: Lord Hardwicke and Lord Anson were out of
place—but were they out of power? Without hinting how soon
they remounted to formal power, let it be remembered that at
that moment, they commanded the House of Lords, and had a
vast majority in the House of Commons.
[83] As some of them said in plain terms that they were satisfied
with the sentence, in how many contradictions were they
involved! By the very wording of the sentence, which expressed
dissatisfaction; by the letter that accompanied it; by Admiral
Smith’s letter to Sir R. Lyttelton, which said that they were all
willing to appear before the Privy Council or the Parliament to
explain their reasons!
[84] [The following extract from our Author’s Private
Correspondence in MS. corroborates the account given in the
text, and as it contains some further particulars, may be
acceptable to the reader.—E.]
“March 17, 1757.—Admiral Byng’s tragedy was completed on
Monday—a perfect tragedy—for there were variety of incidents,
villainy, murder, and a hero. His sufferings, persecutions,
aspersions, disturbances, nay, the revolutions of his fate, had not
in the least unhinged his mind; his whole behaviour was natural
and firm. A few days before, one of his friends standing by him,
said, ‘Which of us is tallest?’ He replied, ‘Why this ceremony? I
know what it means; let the man come and measure me for my
coffin.’ He said, that being acquitted of cowardice, and being
persuaded, on the coolest reflection, that he had acted for the
best, and should act so again, he was not unwilling to suffer. He
desired to be shot on the quarter-deck, not where common
malefactors are:—came out at twelve—sat down in a chair, for he
would not kneel, and refused to have his face covered, that his
countenance might show whether he feared death; but being told
that it might frighten his executioners, he submitted; gave the
signal at once; received one shot through the head, another
through the heart, and fell.”
[85] Many years after that tragedy was acted, I received a most
authentic and shocking confirmation of the justice of my
suspicions. October 21, 1783, being with her Royal Highness
Princess Amelia at her villa at Gunnersbury, among many
interesting anecdotes which I have set down in another place,
she told me, that while Admiral Byng’s affair was depending, the
Duchess of Newcastle sent Lady Sophia Egerton to her the
Princess, to beg her to be for the execution of Admiral Byng.
“They thought,” added the Princess, “that unless he was put to
death, Lord Anson could not be at the head of the Admiralty.
Indeed,” continued the Princess, “I was already for it; the officers
would never have fought, if he had not been executed.” I replied,
that I thought his death most unjust, and the sentence a most
absurd contradiction.
Lady Sophia Egerton was wife of a clergyman, afterwards Bishop
of Durham. What a complication of horrors! women employed on
a job for blood!
[As the author calls this accidental conversation at Gunnersbury,
“a most authentic confirmation of his suspicions,” the Editor was
not at liberty to omit any part of the story; though the reader will
probably think with him, that more importance is ascribed to
mere gossip than it deserves.—E.]
[86] [The Duke of Cumberland.—E.]
[87] Indeed there was so little intended by the inquiries, that
Legge himself, one of the new tribunes of the people, said, “Both
sides will be trying which shall fling most dust in the eyes of the
nation.”
[88] Townshend had been author of the first political caricatura
card, with portraits of Newcastle and Fox.
APPENDIX.
 APPENDIX.

A.
(Vide page 147.)
These Armenian letters are apparently written in humble imitation
of the Persian, but greatly inferior to them; they are calculated solely
for the meridian of Ireland, and contain little else besides a few
severe strictures on the politics and government of that kingdom,
with a particular account of the late divisions there, and the persons
chiefly concerned in them. As these are topics, which, however well
treated, would scarce afford our readers any entertainment, an
extract from this part of the performance would be unnecessary. The
affairs of England are, however, now and then, introduced, and
treated in these letters with the same freedom as those of Ireland.
The following characters of two or three of our most celebrated
orators are not ill drawn.
“When I was last in England,” says our Armenian, “curiosity led me
to hear the Judicial, Parliamentary, and Ecclesiastical eloquence of
that kingdom, in all which there are men very eminent. Among the
foremost was a native of North Britain; he excelled in order and
ornament, yet his ornaments were never studied, they flowed from
his matter, and with such ease, that, though no man could speak
more elegantly, it seemed that he could not speak less so. He was
quick in distinguishing, of memory so tenacious that he could range
the testimonies of thirty persons in different cells, and immediately
call them forth with the same ease as if he took them from paper. As
a judicial speaker, he seemed but little inferior in subtlety and
elegance to the celebrated Greeks; in decency he was superior; in
his narrations plain; in ranging his arguments, concealing his
weakness, and displaying his strength, he had no rival; he concluded
always strongly, sometimes with his best argument; with a short and
weighty enumeration, when many arguments had been lightly
dispersed through his oration; he could mix raillery, but seemed to
avoid it, and hasten to serious arguments, as if he blamed himself
for using others. His voice was clear and musical, to some it was too
acute.”
“Charles Townshend, a young man, was at the same time in
Parliamentary debate nervous, copious, and vehement; in order not
most exact, but in sentiment strong, in expression animated; his
figures were glaring, and his illustrations grand; a tide of matter and
words bore his hearers with him, even when he digressed; and
though there was something in his eloquence which calm judgment
might prune, there was nothing which a warmed audience would not
admire.”
“There is an Ecclesiastic,[89] who was Preacher to an Academy of
Law, whom I have heard with delight. He was grave, dignified, and
elegant; his subjects, whether of things human or divine, he treated
with becoming majesty. Thou hast seen him, Aza; he is a great and
a good man, and true eloquence comes from such only; look
through all experience, virtue produces eloquence, and adversity
calls forth virtue.”

B.
[In a note to page 41 a reference is made to the correspondence of
Mr. Fox with Lord Hartington, as printed in the Appendix to Lord
Waldegrave’s Memoirs. The part, however, of the
correspondence which is at variance with the statement in Lord
Oxford’s text is not to be found in the extracts there printed;
and it is therefore here subjoined, with some additional extracts
from unpublished letters of the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Fox,
illustrative of the views of parties at that time.]
Extract of a Letter from Mr. Fox (Secretary at War) to the Marquis of Hartington
(Lord Lieutenant of Ireland), August 10, 1755.
... We have made a treaty with Hesse and another with Russia, to
be followed with other subsidies, or these will be useless; and if
followed by other subsidies, how can we find money to pay or place
to assemble these troops? And, perhaps, I may add, members to
vote them? For the Duke of Devonshire is so determinately against
them, that I believe he will think it his duty to declare his opinion,
and how far that may operate (most people, I find, being in their
own minds of the same opinion) there is no saying. Legge did not
sign the order for the Hessian money at the Treasury, and, I believe,
makes no scruple of declaring his opinion. I have been more
cautious in giving, I may say, in forming mine; but have, by not
signing it at the Cockpit, kept myself at liberty. Pitt’s and Egmont’s
opinions, in this regard, I don’t know.

Extract of a Letter from Ditto to Ditto, August 29, 1755.

... Your father is certainly against subsidies, and will, I think, be
hardly kept from making his opinion, by some method or other,
public, which will the less embarrass your Lordship, as I suppose
whatever passes of this kind will be over before you can come here,
make what haste you will. Lord Granville has had a conversation
with the Duke of Newcastle, in which his Grace told him his scheme,
which the other says is no scheme at all. You know Lord Granville
talks the language Stone talked. It was one of my crimes,[90] in Lord
Hillsborough’s garden, that Lord Granville was my friend, who was so
much his, (that is) Pitt’s enemy. Well, the scheme is this: to gain
Lord Egmont with Yonge’s place; to try, by Lord Chancellor, to gain
Pitt; to trust to my acquiescence, from the influence H. R. H. has
over me, and to carry every thing through, without parting (as Lord
Granville expresses it) with the least emanation of his power to any
body.

Extract of a Letter from the Duke of Newcastle to the Marquis of

Hartington, August 30, 1755.
 ... I took this opportunity, in concert with my Lord Chancellor, to
lay before the King, in a very strong letter to my Lord Holderness,
the necessity of forming forthwith a system for the House of
Commons; that Mr. Pitt must make a material part of it; that if he
would take a cordial and an active part, with other arrangements
proposed, the King’s business might be done with ease; that
otherwise we could not answer for it. We therefore proposed to be
authorized to assure Mr. Pitt of his Majesty’s countenance and
gracious acceptance of his service, and that Mr. Pitt might be called
to the Cabinet Council if he desired it. This authority we have,
though with evident marks of reluctance and resentment to Mr. Pitt.
My Lord Chancellor has seen Mr. Pitt, and I am to have that honour
next Tuesday. If nothing but the Secretary’s office will do, I am
persuaded nothing will induce the King to consent to it; but if proper
regard and confidence with his rank of the Cabinet Council, and I
hope a proper, or at least a better, behaviour from the King towards
him will do, that I should think might be brought about, and I dare
say your Lordship thinks Mr. Pitt ought to be satisfied. We also
advised the getting of Sir William Yonge’s place (which indeed is now
vacant) for my Lord Egmont; that was most readily consented to,
and I hope and believe my Lord Egmont will do well; and upon these
conditions he will have it. Nothing is determined about the
Chancellor of the Exchequer; your friend Legge would not
countersign the Lords Justices’ warrant for the Hessian levy money.
That is a new symptom of the Treasury Board, and not very
complaisant for the First Commissioner. I wish your Lordship would
find out some expedient for Legge: I would not willingly do anything
to disoblige him, but his continuance at the Treasury cannot be
agreeable to either of us. As Mr. Fox is already in the Cabinet
Council, which was what he desired, and is now, in consequence of
it, one of the Lords Justices; if Mr. Pitt will be satisfied with these
marks of distinction, and some other arrangements can be made,
which I hope will not create much difficulty, when the great ones are
over, I should hope things might go on well in the House of
Commons. Your Lordship sees I do not suffer my private
resentments to have any effect on the public service: I must,
however, be entire master at the Board where I am, and not put
myself under the tutelage of anybody. I can go out, and easily; but
not be a cipher in office.

Extract of a Letter from Mr. Fox to the Marquis of Hartington, Sept. 1,

1755.
... The Duke of Newcastle has seen Egmont, who at first talked
very high; but at length, “such was his submission to the Princess
and duty to the King, that he believed he should accede to what was
proposed;” but dropped that he should be unwilling to act
offensively to Mr. Pitt. The Duke then asked if he might write to
Hanover: Lord Egmont said he could not quite authorize his Grace to
go so far yet, but desired a few days; which the Duke of Newcastle
interprets to be to consult Pitt. His Grace is to see Pitt, but Legge
says Pitt is in no disposition to be paid with such counters as his
Grace has to give him. The Chancellor, too, has told him, as he did
your father, though not so positively, that he knew of no subsidy but
that of Hesse. I think he told your father that the Russian was not
done yet, (he must mean ratified, which is an equivocation;) but he
told Pitt absolutely that he knew of no other but the Hessian, which
was, to my knowledge, an absolute falsehood. The Duke of
Newcastle told a friend of mine that he had an overture from me by
Lord Granville, which is not true; but his Grace might, perhaps, from
what Lord Granville said, conclude it came from me. My friend asked
him why he did not close with me then? He answered, the Duke
would govern them; and likewise talked of his own family, as he calls
it, (Lady C. Pelham and Lord Lincoln,) and he might have added, his
expectations through Egmont, &c., at Leicester House. But all or
either of them show how sincere at any time his professions have
been.

Extract of a Letter from Ditto to Ditto, Sept. 11, 1755.

... I hear Pitt declares against the Russian subsidy, which, I am
told, is growing as unpopular as the excise.
 Extract of a Letter from Ditto to Ditto, Sept. 23, 1755.
... I have never declared my opinion of the subsidies till this
morning to the King. His Majesty is in great distress: they have been
obliged to tell him that the House of Commons could not go on
without some authority within it; that almost every principal person
there had declared against subsidies, and they could not name one
who had declared for them. They had tried Pitt, Sir George Lee, and
Egmont: that the two first and Legge had declared against them;
that Egmont doubted and declined accepting the place; that in this
situation they had spoken to me. Lord Grenville had spoke of me to
him, but could not tell him my opinion.
I told his Majesty that he should, on this occasion, have my best
service as a private soldier or as an officer, but I could not be both. I
had a great deal of discourse, but he entered into no particular
destination of me. He lamented the harm the Duke of Devonshire’s
opinion would do him, and commended your Lordship exceedingly. I
told the Duke of Newcastle (whom I saw by appointment with Lord
Waldegrave, Saturday) that this was the last time I would ever come
to see if we could agree. And so it is. Lord Granville says, if Legge
won’t keep it (and to be sure he will not) I must be Chancellor of the
Exchequer. The Duke of Newcastle says, that in that case we shall
not agree a fortnight, and that it must not be. They quarrelled about
it. I give readily into the Duke of Newcastle’s opinion. Nothing then
remains but Secretary of State. How to make a vacancy I can’t tell,
but there is nothing else. If this be done, I shall behave just as both
you and they would have me; if not, I shall still be for the subsidies.
It is my opinion. But I will be for them out of place; and in the act of
vindicating the measure, declare war with the Minister. So you see
that instead of the quiet state I thought of, I am brought, and
indeed without my seeking, into such a one that I must (I hope you
see with me the necessity) be within this week more, or within these
six weeks less, than Secretary at War.
I forgot to tell you that Lincoln advises the Duke of Newcastle to
agree with me, and even prefers me to the others, or to any
measure but that of his uncle’s retiring quite, which he thinks best.
The Attorney and Stone are of the same mind. I am sorry to tell you
that it is certain the latter has lost his credit at Kew for being my
friend. You know where that must point; to the Duke, who has not
been once mentioned in the negotiation. I think he must have been
Pitt’s reason for discarding me, and yet that does not quite solve it.

Extract of a Letter from Ditto to Ditto, Sept. 25, 1755.

... If you have not yet received my letter by last Tuesday’s post, it
is not now worth reading. The matter is settled, and I am to be
Secretary of State in the room of Sir Thomas Robinson, and in order
to have the conduct of the House of Commons.

C.
(Vide page 234.)
[As our author derived his information on Northern and German
Courts, especially Dresden, from Sir Charles Hanbury Williams,
of whose letters from abroad he speaks (p. 205, vol. i.) in terms
of such high commendation, and has already given extracts in
the Appendix, vol. i., a short account of that lively writer’s
Embassies, taken in substance from the same author’s MS.
notes, together with a farther specimen of his correspondence
concerning the Court of Saxony, will not be misplaced here; at
least they will afford some entertainment to the reader.]
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams was appointed envoy to Dresden in
1747, was commissioned in July, 1749, along with Mr. Anstis, Garter
at Arms, to carry the Blue Riband to the Margrave of Anspach; and
on Mr. Fox waving, at the request of the King, his pretensions to the
Treasurership of the Navy, was, with a view of gratifying that
gentleman, who was his intimate friend, named Envoy Extraordinary
at Berlin. He set out for that Court in May, 1750, and passed through
Hanover when the King was there. From thence he was sent to the
King of Poland, who was holding the Diet at Warsaw, to engage his
vote for the Archduke Joseph to be King of the Romans. On this
progress he wrote a celebrated letter to the Duke of Newcastle at
Hanover, which was sent over to England and much admired, as his
ministerial letters generally were. About this time he met the
Ministers of the two Empresses of Germany and Russia; reconciled
these two Princesses, and set out for Berlin, where he was very
coldly received, and soon grew so offensive to the King, that he was,
as he had predicted, recalled at his request, and sent back to
Dresden in February, 1751. Sir Charles had detected the Saxon
Minister at Berlin, in betraying his master’s and Russia’s secrets to
the Court of Prussia; and had also exposed an artifice of the King of
Prussia in making a Tartar, sent to release a countryman who had
enlisted in the Prussian Army, pass for a Deputy or Minister for the
disaffected in Russian Tartary. These circumstances, and his satirical
tongue, and yet more[91] satirical pen, combined to exasperate the
King of Prussia. It was, he said in his private letters, “in vain to
contend with so mighty a Prince, and he became the sacrifice.”
However, in 1753, he was sent to Vienna to demand the assistance
of that Court in case Prussia should proceed to extremities after
stopping the Silesian loan; and in his triple capacity of Minister,
Courtier, and Poet, he composed the following distich on the
Empress-Queen:
“Oh Regina orbis prima et pulcherrima! ridens
Es Venus, incedens Juno, Minerva loquens.”
The general style of his poetry was far from being so
complimentary; and that of his prose, though not so well known,
and often too licentious for publication, was to the full as easy, lively,
and humorous as his verse. After returning to England he was again
appointed to Dresden, and attended the King of Poland to Warsaw,
in 1754, where, upon espousing very warmly the interests of the
Poniatowskys in an affair called the disposition of the Ostrog, he
came to an open rupture with Count Bruhl. He shortly afterwards
concluded a subsidiary treaty with Russia, and was named
Ambassador to Petersburg in 1755. He returned to England in 1758,
and died in 1759.
The following letter was written on his first arrival at Dresden, and
before any quarrel with Count Bruhl. Though addressed to a private
friend, it seems nearly a duplicate of his public dispatch. It is no
unfavourable specimen of his correspondence, but is perhaps less
enlivened by anecdote, as well as less disfigured by indecencies,
than many of his epistolary compositions from Germany.

Dear Sir,
The short time that I have been abroad, would, in any
other Court, have hardly been sufficient to have formed a
judgment, or given a description of it; but this, where I am, is
so easy to be understood, that an understanding as mean as
mine may see into it as clearly in a month’s time as in ten
years.
The King’s absolute and avowed hatred to all business, and
his known love for idleness and low pleasures, such as
operas, plays, masquerades, tilts and tournaments, balls,
hunting, and shooting, prevent both him and his country from
making that figure in Europe which this noble Electorate
ought to do, and often has done. As to the King himself, he is
very polite and well-bred, and his natural abilities far from
bad ones. I have very often (much oftener than any Minister
here) the honour of conversing with him, and I must say, that
he talks better, and makes juster judgments on affairs than
any other person I have met with in this Court: but he wont
dwell long upon politics. ’Tis visible that he soon grows
uneasy, and then you must change the discourse to the last
stag that he hunted, the last opera that was acted, or the last
picture that he has bought. Immediately, you perceive that
his countenance clears up, and he talks on with pleasure.
From these subjects ’tis easy to lead him back to any other
you please, always taking care to observe his countenance,
which is a very speaking one. He is seldom seen, when at
Dresden, but at dinner. He always dines with company, and
his buffoons make a great noise, and fight with one another
during the whole repast, which is quite over by two o’clock;
and then his Majesty retires to his own apartments, undresses
totally, and then puts on his night-gown, in which he sits the
rest of the day. Nobody must come to him at that time but
Count Bruhl, Father Guerini, and the buffoon. He has had a
great loss in the Electress of Bavaria being married, for she
often came to him in the afternoon, and they have been
surprised together in very indecent postures. The Queen
knew this, and was furious about it. She complained of it to
her Confessor; but the good Jesuit told her, that since things
were so, it was much better that the King’s affections should
remain in his own family, than be fixed upon a stranger, who
might be a Lutheran, and do prejudice to their holy religion;
and by this these holy casuists appeased her angry Majesty.
The whole Court is now gaping to see who will succeed the
Electress, for his Majesty’s constitution requires somebody
besides the Queen. The King is excessively fond of hunting,
and ’tis reckoned that the game of all sorts (which is strictly
preserved for him) do 50,000l. per annum of damage to this
country. I have myself seen fifty stags a feeding in one corn-
field; and to take care of all his game and forests, there are
no less than 4000 persons in constant pay.
The expenses of this Court of every sort are in proportion
with that of the chase. After this, Sir, you will not be surprised
when I tell you, that the debts of this Electorate (all incurred
since this King came into possession of it) are near four
millions sterling, and that their credit is quite ruined; but the
King will not hear of the expenses of the Court being
lessened. He has no idea of the state of his country; but as
he finds himself easy, he thinks and wishes his people to be
so too. He is not beloved nor respected. His never heading his
Army, and his precipitate flight from Dresden at the King of
Prussia’s approach, did him more injury in the minds of the
Saxons, than he will ever be able to retrieve.
Her Majesty the Queen is very devout, but not a bit the
better for her devotions: she does nothing but commit small
sins, and beg forgiveness for them. She is ugly beyond
painting, and malicious beyond expression. Her violent hatred
to the Empress-Queen, and her great love to all her enemies,
make me rejoice that she has not the least influence at this
Court. She has much impotent aversion to Count Bruhl: he
hates her Majesty in return, but then he makes her feel his
power. She meddles much in the lowest things, such as
disgracing or restoring a buffoon to favour; disposing the
parts of an opera, and giving the preference to such and such
a dancer; and even this she never does by merit, but he or
she that comes oftenest to mass has the best parts and the
first rank. The Italians are much favoured here. They are
divided into two parties, one of which is headed by Father
Guerini, who first placed the colony here; the other, which is
the most powerful, has the Faustina for its leader; and the
two chiefs have by turns vented their complaints against each
other to me, till I could hardly keep my countenance. But to
return to her Majesty: I look upon her to be thoroughly in the
French interests. She is not at all beloved, nor does she
deserve it, for she does no good to anybody but converts,
and very little to them.
I am next to speak of the Electoral Prince. You know, Sir,
his person is bad, and his backbone so disjointed, that he
cannot stand without two people to support him. The
weakness of his body has hurt his mind. His parts, if he ever
had any, are much decayed; but he is civil, good, and well-
tempered. His education has been extremely bad; he knows
nothing. He asked ’tother day at table, whether, though
England were an island, one could not go there by land?
Judge of the rest by this. When he walks, supported or rather
dragged along by two people, his knees almost touch his
stomach; and the Duchess of Courland (who is our good
friend at this Court) told me that she saw him in bed on his
wedding-night, and that he lay in the same posture there; so
that she did not comprehend how matters could be
accomplished. The Court, however, swear that (the marriage
was then consummated). He is at present wholly devoted to
his new bride, about whom I must say a little, having the
happiness, by her permission, to see her very often.
She is far from being handsome or well made; but then she
is infinitely agreeable in her manner, and very well-bred. She
talks much, and is very entertaining. When she first came,
she had flattered herself with hopes of succeeding the
Electress, and attacked the King the first night, but without
success. He seemed rather disgusted with her advances, and
since that time she has not recovered the ground she then
lost. All[92] this I have also from the Duchess of Courland.
Before she came here she was reckoned to meddle much in
politics, and to be in the French interests. She denies all this
herself, and declares against women’s meddling in state
affairs; but I will venture to prophesy, that if ever the Prince
Electoral should outlive his father, she will govern this country
most absolutely. Hitherto she is much liked and admired by all
who come near her, for her address is very engaging, and not
at all like the Queen’s.
The King has four younger sons, and three unmarried
daughters. As to the Princesses I can say nothing of them,
but that they are very young and very plain.
Prince Xavier is next to the Prince Royal, and has always
been the Queen’s favourite, and she tried every way to
persuade the Prince Electoral to go into orders that this Prince
might succeed his father. His person is good, and I believe his
natural parts are so too, but his education has been very
unfortunate. He is sixteen years of age, and has hitherto been
taught nothing but bodily exercises; and they do not seem to
think in this country that a Prince wants any accomplishments
who can dance, fence, ride at the ring, and shoot at the
mark. This Prince has not yet learned common good
manners, and is almost a stranger to common decency. The
French Ambassador and I dined with him the other day, and
the whole time we were at table he talked to the Pages
behind him, and what he said to them was in German.
Monsieur des Issarts was quite out of humour at the
treatment he met with: I was only sorry for the Prince. But to
end his character, those who are best acquainted with him tell
me he is very proud and very malicious. ’Tis publicly known
that he hates his elder brother; but his pride is much abated,
and his spirits much sunk since the Electoral Prince’s
marriage, which was a thing that he had been taught to
believe never would happen. Still he flatters himself with the
hope that if the King his father should die, he should succeed
him in the Throne of Poland.
Prince Charles is next; he is a fine youth about thirteen; his
person is good, and he has great quickness of parts; but as
he labours under the misfortune of having the same wretched
education as his brothers have had, ’tis impossible to say how
he will turn out; and here I must observe, that the scarcity of
men of ability is so great in this country, that out of four
governors employed in the education of these Princes, there
is not one who is a Saxon.
The two other Princes, Albert and Clement, are both so
young, that I can say nothing about them.
Having now, Sir, gone through the Royal Family, I shall
speak of their fine country, which I believe produces more to
its sovereign than any other district of land of the same size
in Europe. The last grant of the Diet of Saxony was between
eight and nine millions of dollars (each dollar exactly three
shillings and sixpence English money) per annum for nine
years; yet ’tis likely that the whole may be anticipated and
spent in five, and then the King calls a new Diet, and gets
fresh supplies, so that ’tis not possible to say exactly what the
King’s revenues are; but everybody must see that they are
very large, and how the people will continue such payments
begins to be a question. It is certain this country grows daily
poorer, which is very visible by the decay of Leipsick fair.
Everybody agrees that the last Easter fair was not half so
good as it used to be; and this fair is the touchstone of the
trade and money in this Electorate. The loss and expenses
their own bad politics have drawn them into during this war
have been very great; and the visit the King of Prussia made
to Dresden was very expensive to this country; but above all,
the visible decay of their linens and tinned iron manufactures
(which England has been wise enough not to want any longer
in such great quantities from foreign countries,) is a blow that
is felt more severely than can be expressed. The Stier Bills,
which are the funds here, and which always used to bear a
premium, are now at 5 and 6 per cent. discount, and ’tis very
difficult to negotiate them even at that price, though they
carry 5 per cent. interest. I have been offered some, whose
principal is due at Michaelmas, 1748, at 7 per cent. discount.
This being so, you see that their credit is exhausted, and that
they would hardly be able to borrow under 10 per cent.; and
yet they must take up money, or their Army will mutiny, for
their officers are most of ’em twelve or fifteen months in
arrear. In the midst of all these difficulties the Court has
squandered away above 200,000l. sterling at the late double
marriages; given 100,000l. sterling for the Duke of Modena’s
gallery of pictures; and Count Bruhl alone cannot spend so
little as 60,000l. sterling a year. The pensions also that the
King gives in Poland exceed the revenues he receives from
thence by full 50,000l. per annum.
It is now necessary I should say something of the person to
whom the King commits the entire care of this country. Count
Bruhl is originally of a good family, but as he was a Page to
the late King, so he had the education of a Page. His natural
parts, without being very good, are certainly better than any
other person’s I have hitherto conversed with at this Court.
He was employed by the late King in high employments, but
never touched the zenith of power till after the fall of
Monsieur Sulkowsky, who was his predecessor in the present
King’s favour. Sulkowsky lost it by absenting himself from the
King’s person to make campaigns in Hungary and upon the
Rhine. As Count Bruhl profited by this false step of Sulkowsky,
he is resolved no person shall ever have such an advantage
over him. He is never absent from the King’s person, and he
pays the closest attention to every thing his Majesty says or
does, though he himself is naturally very idle. His every day is
passed in the following manner: he rises before six in the
morning, then Father Guerini comes to him to talk upon
business, and to read over whatever letters they receive, and
then they send such of them as they please to the Privy
Council; but if anybody comes in, business is laid aside, and
he is very ready to talk upon indifferent matters. Afterwards
he dresses, which takes up above an hour, and he is obliged
to be with the King before nine. He stays with him till his
Majesty goes to mass, which he does exactly at eleven; and
then Count Bruhl goes to the Countess Moyenska, where he
stays till twelve; from thence he goes either to dinner with
the King, or to his own house, with a few of the lowest and
worst people of this Court.
After dinner he undresses and goes to sleep till five, when
Father Guerini comes and sits with him while he dresses, and
at six he goes again to the King, with whom he stays till after
seven; from thence he goes to some assembly, where he
plays at cards very deep, the Countess Moyenska being
always of the party, who plays very well, and wins
considerable sums of the Count; rather before ten he sits
down to supper, and from thence he goes to bed about
twelve.
 Now as everything of the kind, from the highest affairs of
state down to operas and hunting, are all in Count Bruhl’s
immediate care, I leave you to judge how his post is
executed, by the time he takes to do business in. His
expenses are immense. He keeps three hundred servants and
as many horses. His house is in extreme bad taste and
extravagance. He has, at least, a dozen country seats, where
he is always building and altering, but which he never sees. It
is said, and I believe it, that he takes money for everything
the King disposes of in Poland, where they frequently have
very great employments to bestow. Everybody here reckons
that he is not sincere, but for my own part I have as yet no
great reason to think so. He is very communicative to me,
and very patient to hear whatever I have to say. He is
certainly not an ill-natured man, having never done a hard or
cruel thing to any person that I heard of since he has been in
power. He is very vain, and a little flattery is absolutely
necessary for those who intend being well with him; and my
notion of the duty of a Foreign Minister is, that after serving
his master to the utmost of his power and ability, he ought to
make himself as agreeable as possible at the Court he is sent
to. From this way of thinking, I have endeavoured to cultivate
the King of Poland and his Minister as much as possible,
because a time may come when my being well with this Court
may be of some small service to the King my master.
Count Bruhl is polite, civil, and very ready to oblige, and,
after the first ceremonies are over, without any forms. If he
has any principle in politics, ’tis certainly favourable to the
House of Austria. That, indeed, is not much, but it is more
than any other person has that belongs to this Court, and
whenever he falls we shall fall into worse hands. He has been
very negligent of support at Court, having never, during his
long Administration, made himself one friend of any great
consequence. The clamours now against him are very high,
for the two reasons of the fall of the Stier Bills, and the non-
payment of the Army. The man that heads these complaints,
and whom ’tis possible his Majesty may remember to have
seen at Hanover, is one Count Linard, a Saxon, whom I take
to be thoroughly in the French interests. He has but moderate
parts, and very little literature, but in Saxon learning he is
very deep. He rides, shoots, and dances better than anybody
here, and by these accomplishments he has got himself into a
good degree of the King’s favour, and flatters himself that
whenever the Minister falls, he is the man that is to succeed
him. I know he has been contriving to get a body of officers
to throw themselves at the King’s feet to complain of Count
Bruhl, and to demand their pay. By means of a spy that I had
at Court I discovered this affair, and told Count Bruhl of it. He
owned things were as I said, and added, that he did not
expect nor deserve such usage from Count Linard; but two
days afterwards he told me that my information was very
true, and that he had taken such measures upon it as would
perfectly secure him. I have since had the misfortune to lose
my spy, who is fled for having got a woman with child, he
being a married man, and adultery in this country is punished
with death.
The next person I shall speak of is father Guerini, a Jesuit,
who is more in the King’s favour than in any credit. He has
been long in the service, and is now kept, like an old horse,
for what he has formerly done. He is Count Bruhl’s absolute
creature, and has his confidence. He is perpetually with the
King and Queen, and constantly employed in making up some
quarrel among the singers and dancers. If he ever had any
parts, they were gone before I came; but he is a good, trifling
old man, and, though a priest, has no ambition. He has twice
refused a Cardinal’s hat; and the last time, which was not
above half a year ago, the King pressed him to it very much,
but in vain. I go to him very often; for he often comes out
with things that he is trusted with, and which I am sure he
ought not to tell.
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