Joseph trying to convince them to compromise. Eventually, he told the envoys that if they did not accept his mediation he would advise the emperor to refuse all of their requests. In response to this threat the diet voted to allow for twelve thousand new recruits and promised to find a final solution for continual recruitment on the next diet. The upcoming Diet of 1804 did not deliver on these promises and was entirely inconsequential, with some development towards making Hungarian the official language of the country (instead of Latin). It seemed that Joseph had grown tired of the assembly by mid-August, and he soon asked the emperor-king to settle some minor issues and end the diet. In the end, economic reforms were never even seriously considered, especially because the issue was brought up on 14 July, the same day the badly received royal letter of the 12nd was read to the envoys. After more peaceful negotiations during September, the emperor-king's hesitance to re-attach Modruš-Rijeka County meant that the diet ended in distrust and pessimism in October. To the palatine, King Francis wrote that the Hungarian nobles 'only want gains for themselves, without looking to the good of the whole' and that he would need 'great resignation' to forget their 'behaviour against [him]'. Third journey to Russia Since Archduke Joseph had developed a warm relationship with the Russian imperial family and especially his former mother-in-law Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, his brother relied on his help in keeping the Russians allied during the Napoleonic Wars. In December 1802, the empress dowager invited Joseph to Saint Petersburg. He arrived on 30 March, and found the imperial court broken up into three factions around the Emperor Alexander I, Empress Consort Elizabeth Alexeievna, and the dowager empress. Joseph joined the dowager's circles. While he tried to seem neutral, all eyes were on him and his inclinations soon became public knowledge. During his stay, he ate lunch with the emperor almost every day and spent the afternoons with him. Alexander honestly disclosed many of his opinions and worries, which Joseph reported back to Vienna. Still, he enjoyed the company of the empress dowager and Grand Duchesses Maria and Catherine Pavlovna more, spending evenings with them. Joseph's preference for the dowager's faction displeased the Russian court, especially when he declined to embark on a tour of the country with the emperor. They found the fact that