Since my most humble report, which I made on the 10th of this month and sent by express courier, I have, in accordance with Your Royal Majesty's most gracious orders of the 17th of this month, which were sent to me last Friday at noon, discussed with Colonel du Moulin what measures could be taken to apprehend the escaped Lieutenant Keith, since we have not only kept the people we have constantly at Rotterdam and Brill, at Hellevoetsluis, and other places for this purpose, but also at Mardyck and at Lage Zwaluwe (which is on the usual route to France) to observe him, so that it would have been impossible for him to get through in this way, and we have been constantly keeping a close eye, day and night, on Milord Chesterfield's hotel (which is where we lost the trail of the fugitive), and have posted people everywhere, as I had otherwise discussed things with the aforementioned Colonel du Moulin, and thought it a good idea to reveal our suspicion to Secretary Holtzendorf, who is handling the affairs of the English court in the absence of the Earl of Chesterfield, so that he would not later claim that he had never known that Lieutenant Keith was wanted. When no inquiries were made, we went to the Secretary mentioned above and explained to him in detail how we had been reliably informed that the deserted lieutenant's baggage, after he had fled from the inn, had been brought to his hotel by one of my lord's kitchen servants, and we could not judge otherwise, or the person himself must have retreated there, so that this would undoubtedly have happened without his knowledge. We must trust that a person who had behaved in a highly reprehensible manner towards Your Royal Majesty would not be given asylum in the Earl of Chesterfield's residence, and therefore asked the secretary to make inquiries with the servants and to carry out an investigation. He replied, however, that as far as he knew, everything in the hotel had been quiet and that he had not noticed any disturbance whatsoever. Nor was it his place to do any research or assume any authority over the servants there, other than to carry out his duties in the absence of the ambassador, with which excesses he also rejected our repeated request the following day when he had paid a visit to Colonel du Moulin and myself.
Then Colonel du Moulin went with me that same day to the Pensionary Councilor, whom, after a further compliment of thanks for his demonstrated promptness in carrying out the necessary orders, I sought only to continue his compliance and to arrange everything possible so that the aforementioned lieutenant could be apprehended anywhere in this province. Otherwise, we would like to sound out Lieutenant-General von Keppel again to see whether he could give us some information about the person mentioned, namely where his valet had taken him. Although the Pensionary Councilor promised to contribute everything he could on the first point, he nevertheless attempted to exclude the latter, under the pretext that this renewed attempt would certainly be fruitless, and since von Keppel would without doubt stick to his previous declaration that he had no further knowledge of Keith, we must not insist on it any further, but take our leave of him.
When I went to the sea on the following day, namely on the 20th of this afternoon, with Colonel Du Moulin and the domain councillor Meinerzhagen to Schevelingen, and the latter had the opportunity to make a conversation with some people standing on the shore and to announce their voyage, etc., in order to find out whether any ships had set out for anything other than fishing, he heard from the night watchman there and from others that on Friday morning at about ten o'clock a so-called pinnacle or fishing ship, hired by people unknown to him, had set sail for England, whereupon a young man (whose description was quite similar to that of Lieutenant Keith) who had been brought there from The Hague by three gentlemen, some of whom he believed to be in the entourage of an ambassador, embarked, despite the wind being completely contrary, so that other ships were driven back in the Maas river, but it seemed as if this man must have been in a great hurry. This man could not give any further information, but he offered to take us to the commissioner from whom such ships must be hired, whereupon he accompanied us to the innkeeper in the far Scheveningen where the hunter hangs, where we then questioned the innkeeper in detail, who confirmed everything that had been reported above regarding the ship that had set sail and the person who had gone away, and in response to our further question, he said that he had come from the Hague very early on Friday morning in a hired carriage and was accompanied not only there but even to the ship by three people, among whom were My Lord Chesterfield's steward and a certain wine merchant, the third of whom was unknown to him, but he did not tell us the name of the person who had gone away as commissioner, nor any further particulars, nor did he want to, although he was promised to be compensated for it. He claimed he is not allowed to do this, but perhaps we could find out more about it in the other inn, the one where the falcon hangs, which is where these people had stayed for a while before they came to him.
The following morning I dispatched the chamberlain of the Committee Council to Scheveningen, in order to question the innkeeper in the inn where the hunter hangs, who, upon his return, gave me the verbal report contained in his written report found here; Otherwise, I sent another trusted person to Scheveningen in secret at the same time, to inquire about some circumstances in the inn where the falcon hangs in order to further confirm the matter. He then not only confirmed what had already been said, but also reported that only on Thursday evening two people came up and ran into the landlord, and they wanted to return early the following morning in order to swim in the see, also that they arrived there at four o'clock the next morning with two others in a hired carriage, but instead of swimming, they had taken a pinnacle to England. That when the ship was ready, after ten o'clock, a stranger unknown to him turned up, who spoke Low German, but otherwise looked like Lieutenant Keith according to his description, but who was presented to the commissioner as a steward of the Earl of Chesterfield. His three companions were supposed to have accompanied him up until he embarked on the ship, and they also brought some provisions that had been left behind in the inn. One of the aforementioned companions was the tutor of My Lord Chesterfield, the other a certain wine merchant here in The Hague, named Palairet (who, as I am informed, supplies wine to the Earl of Chesterfield, and has a brother in England who teaches the Duke of Cumberland how to write). He did not know the third, but according to a description it must have been the valet of the Hanoverian envoy Spörcken.
Since, according to the circumstances mentioned, there is no longer any doubt about Lieutenant Keith escape, and since all the measures taken by all our authorities to date, the care taken, and the diligence applied to track him down, have been fruitless, although we firmly believe that he cannot escape us, unless the States of Holland themselves, despite their favorable resolution, connive, or perhaps a foreign minister residing here takes on the accused Lieutenant and obviously wants to protect him, I should not have failed most obediently to submit my most dutiful report to Your Royal Majesty of the most important circumstances (all of the particulars of which can be found in the Protocol of Colonel du Moulin (to which I must most humbly refer for the sake of brevity)), with testimony of my extreme regret, despite Colonel Du Moulin and my making all imaginable precautions.
We have seen our hope of catching the aforementioned Lieutenant Keit thwarted by the obvious protection which he received in the hotel of the Earl of Chesterfield, in that he was accompanied by other servants, as he had a passport as his maitre d'hotel, and even if one had known everything, one would not have been able to touch him or take possession of him. Consequently, it would have been quite impossible for us to prevent this escape, which Your Royal Majesty can assess for yourself, and we will be pleased to explain if, to my greatest annoyance, I do not succeed as I wish and achieve your most gracious intention, and I can assure Your Royal Majesty with the deepest humiliation that I have maintained all possible vigilance diligently and zealously, that we have not rested day or night, and that I will leave nothing to chance in order to achieve the stated goal wherever possible.
I, who remain in the humblest veneration and most constant loyalty throughout my life,
most humble loyalty and most obedient, [something] du Moulin [who, we have seen, is signing on the late Meinerzhagen's behalf]
Most interesting to me here: Peter speaking Plattdeutsch! He's been stationed in Wesel for all of six months, and I see his linguistic talents are already showing. :D
Hunting Peter Keith: Meinerzhagen, August 22
Then Colonel du Moulin went with me that same day to the Pensionary Councilor, whom, after a further compliment of thanks for his demonstrated promptness in carrying out the necessary orders, I sought only to continue his compliance and to arrange everything possible so that the aforementioned lieutenant could be apprehended anywhere in this province. Otherwise, we would like to sound out Lieutenant-General von Keppel again to see whether he could give us some information about the person mentioned, namely where his valet had taken him. Although the Pensionary Councilor promised to contribute everything he could on the first point, he nevertheless attempted to exclude the latter, under the pretext that this renewed attempt would certainly be fruitless, and since von Keppel would without doubt stick to his previous declaration that he had no further knowledge of Keith, we must not insist on it any further, but take our leave of him.
When I went to the sea on the following day, namely on the 20th of this afternoon, with Colonel Du Moulin and the domain councillor Meinerzhagen to Schevelingen, and the latter had the opportunity to make a conversation with some people standing on the shore and to announce their voyage, etc., in order to find out whether any ships had set out for anything other than fishing, he heard from the night watchman there and from others that on Friday morning at about ten o'clock a so-called pinnacle or fishing ship, hired by people unknown to him, had set sail for England, whereupon a young man (whose description was quite similar to that of Lieutenant Keith) who had been brought there from The Hague by three gentlemen, some of whom he believed to be in the entourage of an ambassador, embarked, despite the wind being completely contrary, so that other ships were driven back in the Maas river, but it seemed as if this man must have been in a great hurry. This man could not give any further information, but he offered to take us to the commissioner from whom such ships must be hired, whereupon he accompanied us to the innkeeper in the far Scheveningen where the hunter hangs, where we then questioned the innkeeper in detail, who confirmed everything that had been reported above regarding the ship that had set sail and the person who had gone away, and in response to our further question, he said that he had come from the Hague very early on Friday morning in a hired carriage and was accompanied not only there but even to the ship by three people, among whom were My Lord Chesterfield's steward and a certain wine merchant, the third of whom was unknown to him, but he did not tell us the name of the person who had gone away as commissioner, nor any further particulars, nor did he want to, although he was promised to be compensated for it. He claimed he is not allowed to do this, but perhaps we could find out more about it in the other inn, the one where the falcon hangs, which is where these people had stayed for a while before they came to him.
The following morning I dispatched the chamberlain of the Committee Council to Scheveningen, in order to question the innkeeper in the inn where the hunter hangs, who, upon his return, gave me the verbal report contained in his written report found here; Otherwise, I sent another trusted person to Scheveningen in secret at the same time, to inquire about some circumstances in the inn where the falcon hangs in order to further confirm the matter. He then not only confirmed what had already been said, but also reported that only on Thursday evening two people came up and ran into the landlord, and they wanted to return early the following morning in order to swim in the see, also that they arrived there at four o'clock the next morning with two others in a hired carriage, but instead of swimming, they had taken a pinnacle to England. That when the ship was ready, after ten o'clock, a stranger unknown to him turned up, who spoke Low German, but otherwise looked like Lieutenant Keith according to his description, but who was presented to the commissioner as a steward of the Earl of Chesterfield. His three companions were supposed to have accompanied him up until he embarked on the ship, and they also brought some provisions that had been left behind in the inn. One of the aforementioned companions was the tutor of My Lord Chesterfield, the other a certain wine merchant here in The Hague, named Palairet (who, as I am informed, supplies wine to the Earl of Chesterfield, and has a brother in England who teaches the Duke of Cumberland how to write). He did not know the third, but according to a description it must have been the valet of the Hanoverian envoy Spörcken.
Since, according to the circumstances mentioned, there is no longer any doubt about Lieutenant Keith escape, and since all the measures taken by all our authorities to date, the care taken, and the diligence applied to track him down, have been fruitless, although we firmly believe that he cannot escape us, unless the States of Holland themselves, despite their favorable resolution, connive, or perhaps a foreign minister residing here takes on the accused Lieutenant and obviously wants to protect him, I should not have failed most obediently to submit my most dutiful report to Your Royal Majesty of the most important circumstances (all of the particulars of which can be found in the Protocol of Colonel du Moulin (to which I must most humbly refer for the sake of brevity)), with testimony of my extreme regret, despite Colonel Du Moulin and my making all imaginable precautions.
We have seen our hope of catching the aforementioned Lieutenant Keit thwarted by the obvious protection which he received in the hotel of the Earl of Chesterfield, in that he was accompanied by other servants, as he had a passport as his maitre d'hotel, and even if one had known everything, one would not have been able to touch him or take possession of him. Consequently, it would have been quite impossible for us to prevent this escape, which Your Royal Majesty can assess for yourself, and we will be pleased to explain if, to my greatest annoyance, I do not succeed as I wish and achieve your most gracious intention, and I can assure Your Royal Majesty with the deepest humiliation that I have maintained all possible vigilance diligently and zealously, that we have not rested day or night, and that I will leave nothing to chance in order to achieve the stated goal wherever possible.
I, who remain in the humblest veneration and most constant loyalty throughout my life,
most humble loyalty and most obedient, [something]
du Moulin [who, we have seen, is signing on the late Meinerzhagen's behalf]
Most interesting to me here: Peter speaking Plattdeutsch! He's been stationed in Wesel for all of six months, and I see his linguistic talents are already showing. :D