[Footnote 49: In 1692, on a difference which the princess had with King
William and his Queen, occasioned by her warm attachment to the Duchess
of Marlborough, she quitted The Cockpit, and accepted the Duke of
Somerset's offer of Sion House for a temporary residence. [N.]]

[Footnote 50: A cant name given to five lords of that party. [ORIGINAL
NOTE.]]

[Footnote 51: P. Fitzgerald says "the pride of his nature." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 52: P. Fitzgerald says "the meanest." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 53: "I had almost forgot to tell you," writes Lewis to Swift
in the same letter, "you have mistaken the case of the D---- of S----,
which, in truth, was this, that his grace appearing at court, in the
chamber next to the council chamber, it was apprehended he would come
into the cabinet council, and therefore the intended meeting was put
off; whereas one would judge, by your manner of stating it, that the
council had met, and adjourned abruptly upon his taking his place
there." Sir W. Scott's edit. vol. xix., pp. 133-136. [T.S.]]

[Footnote 54: It was Nottingham who moved this argument in the form of
an amendment to the address on 7th December, 1711. See _infra_, and also
vol. v., p. 444 of present edition. [T.S.]]

The other lord, in whom the discontented managers placed much of their
hopes, was the Earl of Nottingham, already mentioned; than whom no man
ever appeared to hate them more, or to be more pleased at their fall,
partly from his avowed principles, but chiefly from the hopes he had of
sharing in their spoils. But it fell out, that he was no way acceptable
to the Queen or her new servants: these apprehended no little trouble
and impediment to the public business, from his restless, talkative,
overweening manner, if once he was suffered to have any part in affairs;
and he stood very ill with the court, having made a motion in the House
of Lords, and in Her Majesty's presence, that the Electoral Prince of
Hanover might be invited to reside in England, although he had before
declared to the Queen how much he was against that proposal, when it was
first offered by the other party. However, some very considerable
employments had been given to his nearest relations, and he had one or
two offers for himself, which he thought fit to refuse, as not equal to
his merits and character. Upon the Earl of Rochester's decease, he
conceived that the crown would hardly overlook him for president of the
council, and deeply resented that disappointment. But the Duke of
Newcastle, lord privy seal, dying some time after, he found that office
was first designed for the Earl of Jersey, and, upon this lord's sudden
death, was actually disposed of to the Bishop of Bristol by which he
plainly saw, that the Queen was determined against giving him any
opportunity of directing in affairs, or displaying his eloquence in the
cabinet council. He had now shaken off all remains of patience or
temper, and, from the contemplation of his own disappointments, fell, as
it is natural, to find fault with the public management, and to assure
his neighbours in the country, that the nation was in imminent danger of
being ruined. The discontented[55] lords were soon apprised of this
great change, and the Duke of Roxburgh,[56] the earl's son-in-law, was
dispatched to Burleigh on the Hill, to cultivate his present
dispositions, and offer him whatever terms he pleased to insist on. The
Earl immediately agreed to fall in with any measures for distressing or
destroying the ministry but, in order to preserve his reputation with
the Church party, and perhaps bring them over to his interests, he
proposed, that a bill should be brought into the House of Lords for
preventing occasional conformity, and be unanimously agreed to by all
the peers of the low-church[57] principle, which would convince the
world of their good intentions to the established religion,[58] and that
their oppositions to the court wholly proceeded from their care of the
nation, and concern for its honour and safety.[59]

[Footnote 55: P. Fitzgerald says "factious." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 56: John Ker, Earl of Roxburgh, was created Earl of Kelso,
Marquess of Cessford and Beaumont, and Duke of Roxburgh in 1707.
[W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 57: P. Fitzgerald says "Whig." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 58: P. Fitzgerald says "established Church." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 59: Nottingham succeeded in carrying the bill against
Occasional Conformity on December 15th, 1711. See Swift's "Letter to a
Whig Lord," in vol. v. of present edition. [T.S.]]

These preparations were public enough, and the ministers had sufficient
time to arm themselves; but they seem to have acted, in this juncture,
like men who trusted to the goodness of their cause, and the general
inclinations of the kingdom, rather than to those arts which our
corruptions have too often made necessary. Calculations were indeed
taken, by which it was computed, that there would be a majority of ten
upon the side of the court. I remember to have told my Lord Harcourt and
Mr. Prior, that a majority of ten was only a majority of five, because
if their adversaries could bring off five, the number would be equal:
and so it happened to prove; for the mistake lay in counting upon the
bare promises of those who were wholly in the interest of the old
ministry, and were only kept in awe by the fear of offending the crown,
and losing their subsistence, wherein the Duke of Somerset had given
them full satisfaction.

With these dispositions of both parties, and fears and hopes of the
event, the Parliament met upon the seventh of December, one thousand
seven hundred and eleven. The Queen's speech (excepting what related to
supplies) was chiefly taken up in telling both Houses what progress she
had made towards a general peace, and her hopes of bringing it to a
speedy conclusion. As soon as Her Majesty was withdrawn, the House of
Lords, in a committee, resolved upon an address of thanks; to which the
Earl of Nottingham proposed an addition of the following clause.

"And we do beg leave to represent it to Your Majesty, as the humble
opinion and advice of this House, that no peace can be safe or
honourable to Great Britain and Europe, if Spain and the West Indies are
to be allotted to any branch of the house of Bourbon."

He was seconded by the Earl of Scarborough; and, after a debate of
several hours, the question for the clause was carried, as I remember,
by not above two voices.[60] The next day the House agreed with the
committee. The depending lords, having taken fresh courage from their
principals, and some who professed themselves very humble servants to
the present ministry, and enemies to the former, went along with the
stream, pretending not to see the consequences that must visibly follow.
The address was presented on the eleventh, to which Her Majesty's answer
was short and dry. She distinguished their thanks from the rest of the
piece; and, in return to Lord Nottingham's clause, said, She should be
sorry that any body could think she would not do her utmost to recover
Spain and the West Indies from the house of Bourbon.

[Footnote 60: The previous question in favour of the Earl of
Nottingham's amendment was carried by a single vote, the main question
by a majority of no less than eight! [S.] But Bishop Burnet says "by
three voices" ("Hist. Own Time," ii. 584), and Coxe says "by a majority
of 64 to 52." [W.S.J.]]

Upon the fifteenth of December the Earl of Nottingham likewise brought
in the bill to prevent occasional conformity (although under a disguised
title), which met with no opposition; but was swallowed by those very
lords, who always appeared with the utmost violence against the least
advantage to the established Church.

But in the House of Commons there appeared a very different spirit; for
when one Mr. Robert Walpole offered a clause of the same nature with
that of the Earl of Nottingham, it was rejected with contempt by a very
great majority. Their address was in the most dutiful manner, approving
of what Her Majesty had done towards a peace, and trusting entirely to
her wisdom in the future management of it. This address was presented to
the Queen a day before that of the Lords, and received an answer
distinguishedly gracious. But the other party[61] was no ways
discouraged by either answer, which they looked upon as only matter of
course, and the sense of the ministry, contrary to that of the Queen.

[Footnote 61: P. Fitzgerald says "faction." [W.S.J.]]

The Parliament sat as long as the approaching festival would allow; and
upon the twenty-second, the land-tax and occasional bills having
received the royal assent, the House of Commons adjourned to the
fourteenth of January following: but the adjournment of the Lords was
only to the second, the prevailing party there being in haste to pursue
the consequences of the Earl of Nottingham's clause, which they hoped
would end in the ruin of the treasurer, and overthrow the ministry; and
therefore took the advantage of this interval, that they might not be
disturbed by the Commons.

When this address against any peace without Spain, &c. was carried in
the House of Lords, it is not easy to describe the effects it had upon
most men's passions. The partisans of the old ministry triumphed loudly,
and without any reserve, as if the game were their own. The Earl of
Wharton was observed in the House to smile, and put his hands to his
neck when any of the ministry was speaking, by which he would have it
understood that some heads were in danger. Parker, the chief justice,
began already with great zeal and officiousness to prosecute authors and
printers of weekly and other papers, writ in defence of the
administration: in short, joy and vengeance sat visible in every
countenance of that party.[62]

[Footnote 62: See "Journal to Stella," December 13th (vol. ii., p. 299
of present edition). [W.S.J.]]

On the other side, all well-wishers to the Queen, the Church, or the
peace, were equally dejected; and the treasurer stood the foremost mark
both of his enemies' fury, and the censure of his friends: among the
latter, some imputed this fatal miscarriage to his procrastinating
nature; others, to his unmeasurable public thrift: both parties agreed,
that a first minister, with very moderate skill in affairs, might easily
have governed the event: and some began to doubt, whether the great fame
of his abilities, acquired in other stations, were what he justly
deserved: all this he knew well enough, and heard it with great phlegm;
neither did it make any alteration in his countenance or humour. He told
Monsieur Buys, the Dutch envoy, two days before the Parliament sat, that
he was sorry for what was like to pass, because the States would be the
first sufferers, which he desired the envoy to remember: and to his
nearest friends, who appeared in pain about the public or themselves, he
only said that all would be well, and desired them not to be
frighted.[63]

[Footnote 63: See Swift's account of an interview with the lord
treasurer in his "Journal to Stella," December 8th (_ibid.,_ p. 296).
[W.S.J.]]

It was, I conceive, upon these motives, that the treasurer advised Her
Majesty to create twelve new lords,[64] and thereby disable the sting of
faction for the rest of her lifetime: this promotion was so ordered,
that a third part were of those on whom, or their posterity, the peerage
would naturally devolve; and the rest were such, whose merit, birth, and
fortune, could admit of no exception.

[Footnote 64: See note, vol. ii., p. 308, and note, vol. v., p. 446.
[W.S.J.]]

The adverse party, being thus driven down by open force, had nothing
left but to complain, which they loudly did; that it was a
pernicious[65] example set for ill princes to follow, who, by the same
rule, might make at any time an hundred as well as twelve, and by these
means become masters of the House of Lords whenever they pleased, which
would be dangerous to our liberties. To this it was answered, that ill
princes seldom trouble themselves to look for precedents; that men of
great estates will not be less fond of preserving their liberties when
they are created peers; that in such a government as this, where the
Prince holds the balance between two great powers, the nobility and
people, it is the very nature of his office to remove from one scale
into the other, or sometimes put his own weight in the lightest, so as
to bring both to an equilibrium; and lastly, that the other party had
been above twenty years corrupting the nobility with republican
principles, which nothing but the royal prerogative could hinder from
overspreading us.

[Footnote 65: P. Fitzgerald says "dangerous." [W.S.J.]]

The conformity bill above mentioned was prepared by the Earl of
Nottingham before the Parliament met, and brought in at the same time
with the clause against peace, according to the bargain made between him
and his new friends: this he hoped would not only save his credit with
the Church party, but bring them over to his politics, since they must
needs be convinced, that instead of changing his own principles, he had
prevailed on the greatest enemies to the established religion to be the
first movers in a law for the perpetual settlement of it. Here it was
worth observing, with what resignation the Junto Lords (as they were
then called) were submitted to by their adherents and followers; for it
is well known, that the chief among the dissenting teachers in town were
consulted upon this affair, and such arguments used, as had power to
convince them, that nothing could be of greater advantage to their cause
than the passing this bill. I did, indeed, see a letter at that time
from one of them to a great[66] man, complaining, that they were
betrayed and undone by their pretended friends; but they were in general
very well satisfied upon promises that this law should soon be repealed,
and others more in their favour enacted, as soon as their friends should
be re-established.

[Footnote 66: It was to the Treasurer himself. [ORIGINAL NOTE.] Scott
says that it was written by Mr. Shower on December 20th, and that the
writer complained that the Dissenters had "been shamefully abandoned,
sold, and sacrificed, by their professed friends." [W.S.J.]]

But nothing seemed more extraordinary than the event of this refined
management, by which the Earl of Nottingham was so far from bringing
over proselytes (wherein his abilities fell very short even of the Duke
of Somerset's); or preserving the reputation of a firm churchman, that
very few people did so much as imagine he had any such design; only when
he brought in the bill, they conceived it was some wonderful deep reach
of politics, which they could not comprehend: however, they liked the
thing, and without troubling themselves about the persons or motives
from whence it rose, it had a very speedy passage through both Houses.
It must be confessed, that some attempt of this nature was much more
necessary to the leaders of that party, than is generally thought. The
desire of power and revenge was common to them all; but several among
them were also conscious that they stood in need of protection, whose
safety was therefore concerned in the design of ruining the ministry, as
well as their ambition. The Duke of Marlborough foresaw those
examinations, which were afterwards made into some parts of his
management, and was apprehensive of a great deal more; that the
Parliament would perhaps enquire into the particulars of the negotiation
at The Hague in one thousand seven hundred and nine; for what ends, and
by whose advice the propositions of peace from France were rejected:
besides, he dreaded lest that mysterious policy might be laid open to
the world, of desiring the Queen to constitute him general for life,
which was a very tender point, and would admit of much proof. It is
true, indeed, that whilst the Duke's affair was under the consideration
of the House of Commons, one of his creatures[67] (whether by direction
or otherwise) assured the Speaker, with a very serious countenance, that
the world was mistaken in censuring his lord upon this article; for it
was the Queen who pressed the Duke to accept that commission; and upon
his humble refusal conceived her first displeasure against him. How such
a defence would have passed, if it had been offered in form, is easier
to be conceived, than how any person in his wits could have the
confidence to affirm it; which last it would indeed be hard to believe,
if there were any room left for doubt.

[Footnote 67: Craggs, father to the secretary. [ORIGINAL NOTE.]]

The Earl of Godolphin wanted protection, notwithstanding the act of
general pardon, which had been procured by his credit, and was
principally calculated for his own security. He knew that his long
neglect of compelling the accomptants to pass their accompts, might be
punished as a breach of trust. He had run the kingdom into immense
debts, by taking up stores for the navy upon a vast discount, without
parliamentary security; for which he could be able to plead neither law
nor necessity: and he had given way, at least, to some proceedings, not
very justifiable, in relation to remittances of money, whereby the
public had suffered considerable losses. The Barrier Treaty sat heavy
upon the Lord Townshend's spirits, because if it should be laid before
the House of Commons, whoever negotiated that affair, might be subject
to the most severe animadversions: and the Earl of Wharton's
administration in Ireland was looked upon as a sufficient ground to
impeach him, at least, for high crimes and misdemeanours.

The managers in Holland were sufficiently apprised of all this; and
Monsieur Buys, their minister here, took care to cultivate that good
correspondence between his masters and their English friends, which
became two confederates, pursuing the same end.

This man[68] had been formerly employed in England from that republic,
and understood a little of our language. His proficiency in learning has
been such, as to furnish now and then a Latin quotation, of which he is
as liberal as his stock will admit. His knowledge in government reaches
no farther than that of his own country, by which he forms and
cultivates matters of state for the rest of the world. His reasonings
upon politics are with great profusion at all meetings; and he leaves
the company with entire satisfaction that he hath fully convinced them.
He is well provided with that inferior sort of cunning, which is the
growth of his country, of a standard with the genius of the people, and
capable of being transferred into every condition of life among them,
from the boor to the burgomaster. He came into England with
instructions, authorizing him to accommodate all differences between Her
Majesty and the States; but having first advised with the confederate
lords, he assured the ministry he had powers to hear their proposals,
but none to conclude: and having represented to his masters what had
been told him by the adverse party, he prevailed with them to revoke his
powers. He found the interest of those who withstood the court, would
exactly fall in with the designs of the States, which were to carry on
the war as they could, at our expense, and to see themselves at the head
of a treaty of peace, whenever they were disposed to apply to France, or
to receive overtures from thence.[69]

[Footnote 68: P. Fitzgerald says "gentleman." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 69:  Erasmus Lewis, in the letter already cited, refers to
Buys, and gives the opinion of the gentlemen who had read the "History,"
on this matter, as follows: "They think the transactions with Mr. Buys
might have been represented in a more advantageous light, and more to
the honour of that administration; and, undoubtedly they would have been
so by your pen, had you been master of all the facts." And yet the facts
as related by Swift in this and the last book of this "History" are
substantially the facts as disclosed in Bolingbroke's Political
Correspondence. [T.S.]]

The Emperor, upon many powerful reasons, was utterly averse from all
counsels which aimed at putting an end to the war, without delivering
him the whole dominion of Spain; nay, the Elector of Hanover himself,
although presumptive heir to the crown of England, and obliged by all
sorts of ties to cultivate Her Majesty's friendship, was so far deceived
by misrepresentations from hence, that he seemed to suffer Monsieur
Bothmar, his envoy here, to print and publish a Memorial in English,
directly disapproving all Her Majesty's proceedings; which Memorial, as
appeareth by the style and manner of it, was all drawn up, or at least
digested, by some party pen on this side of the water.[70]

[Footnote 70: See Swift's "Some Free Thoughts upon the Present State of
Affairs," and the note on p. 410 of vol. v. of present edition. [T.S.]]

Cautious writers, in order to avoid offence or danger, and to preserve
the respect even[71] due to foreign princes, do usually charge the wrong
steps in a court altogether upon the persons employed; but I should have
taken a securer method, and have been wholly silent in this point, if I
had not then conceived some hope, that his Electoral Highness might
possibly have been a stranger[72] to the Memorial of his resident: for,
first, the manner of delivering it to the secretary of state was out of
all form, and almost as extraordinary as the thing itself. Monsieur
Bothmar having obtained an hour of Mr. Secretary St. John, talked much
to him upon the subject of which that Memorial consists; and upon going
away, desired he might leave a paper with the secretary, which he said
contained the substance of what he had been discoursing. This paper Mr.
St. John laid aside, among others of little consequence; and a few
days[73] saw a Memorial in print,[74] which he found upon comparing to
be the same with what Bothmar had left.

[Footnote 71: Edition of 1775 has "ever due." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 72: P. Fitzgerald says "If I had not very good reason to
believe that his Electoral Highness was altogether a stranger."
[W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 73: Edition of 1775 has "a few days after." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 74: This was published as a broadside, with the title: "The
Elector of Hanover's Memorial to the Queen of Great-Britain, relating to
the Peace with France." It was dated 28th of Nov/9th of Dec., 1711.
[W.S.J.]]

During this short recess of Parliament, and upon the fifth day of
January, Prince Eugene, of Savoy, landed in England. Before he left his
ship he asked a person who came to meet him, whether the new lords were
made, and what was their number? He was attended through the streets
with a mighty rabble of people to St. James's, where Mr. Secretary St.
John introduced him to the Queen, who received him with great civility.
His arrival had been long expected, and the project of his journey had
as long been formed here by the party leaders, in concert with Monsieur
Buys, and Monsieur Bothmar, the Dutch and Hanover envoys. This prince
brought over credentials from the Emperor, with offers to continue the
war upon a new foot, very advantageous to Britain; part of which, by Her
Majesty's commands, Mr. St. John soon after produced to the House of
Commons; where they were rejected, not without some indignation, by a
great majority. The Emperor's proposals, as far as they related to
Spain, were communicated to the House in the words following.

"His Imperial Majesty judges, that forty thousand men will be sufficient
for this service, and that the whole expense of the war in Spain, may
amount to four millions of crowns, towards which His Imperial Majesty
offers to make up the troops, which he has in that country, to thirty
thousand men, and to take one million of crowns upon himself".

On the other side the House of Commons voted a third part of those four
millions as a sufficient quota for Her Majesty toward that service, for
it was supposed the Emperor ought to bear the greatest proportion in a
point that so nearly concerned him, or at least, that Britain
contributing one third, the other two might be paid by his Imperial
Majesty and the States, as they could settle it between them.

The design of Prince Eugene's journey, was to raise a spirit in the
Parliament and people for continuing the war, for nothing was thought
impossible to a prince of such high reputation in arms, in great favour
with the Emperor, and empowered to make such proposals from his master,
as the ministry durst not reject. It appeared by an intercepted letter
from Count Gallas, (formerly the Emperor's envoy here) that the prince
was wholly left to his liberty of making what offers he pleased in the
Emperor's name, for if the Parliament could once be brought to raise
funds, and the war go on, the ministry here must be under a necessity of
applying and expending those funds, and the Emperor could afterwards
find twenty reasons and excuses, as he had hitherto done, for not
furnishing his quota; therefore Prince Eugene, for some time, kept
himself within generals, until being pressed to explain himself upon
that particular of the war in Spain, which the house of Austria
pretended to have most at heart, he made the offer above mentioned, as a
most extraordinary effort, and so it was, considering how little they
had ever done before, towards recovering that monarchy to themselves;
but shameful as these proposals were, few believed the Emperor would
observe them, or, indeed, that he ever intended to spare so many men, as
would make up an army of thirty thousand men, to be employed in Spain.

Prince Eugene's visit to his friends in England continued longer than
was expected; he was every day entertained magnificently by persons of
quality of both parties; he went frequently to the treasurer, and
sometimes affected to do it in private; he visited the other ministers
and great officers of the court, but on all occasions publicly owned the
character and appellation of a Whig; and in secret, held continual
meetings with the Duke of Marlborough, and the other discontented lords,
where M. Bothmar usually assisted. It is the great ambition of this
prince to be perpetually engaged in war, without considering the cause
or consequence; and to see himself at the head of an army, where only he
can make any considerable figure. He is not without a natural tincture
of that cruelty, sometimes charged upon the Italians; and being nursed
in arms, hath so far extinguished pity and remorse, that he will at any
time sacrifice a thousand men's lives, to a caprice of glory or revenge.
He had conceived an incurable hatred for the treasurer, as the person
who principally opposed this insatiable passion for war; said he had
hopes of others, but that the treasurer was _un méchant diable_, not to
be moved; therefore, since it was impossible for him or his friends to
compass their designs, while that minister continued at the head of
affairs, he proposed an expedient, often practised by those of his
country, that the treasurer (to use his own expression) should be taken
off, _à la négligence_; that this might easily be done, and pass for an
effect of chance, if it were preceded by encouraging some proper people
to commit small riots in the night: and in several parts of the town, a
crew of obscure ruffians were accordingly employed about that time, who
probably exceeded their commission; and mixing themselves with those
disorderly people that often infest the streets at midnight, acted
inhuman outrages on many persons, whom they cut and mangled in the face
and arms, and other parts of the body, without any provocation; but an
effectual stop was soon put to these enormities, which probably
prevented the execution of the main design.[75]

[Footnote 75: Erasmus Lewis, Lord Oxford, and the others who read the
MS., advised the elimination of this insinuation against Prince Eugene.
They thought there was truth in it, but "a matter of so high a nature,"
as Lewis expressed it to Swift, "ought not to be asserted without
exhibiting  the proofs." The paragraph following the one in the text,
containing the imputation, seems as if it had been written after Swift
had received Lewis's strictures. [T.S.]]

I am very sensible, that such an imputation ought not to be charged upon
any person whatsoever, upon slight grounds or doubtful surmises; and
that those who think I am able to produce no better, will judge this
passage to be fitter for a libel than a history; but as the account was
given by more than one person who was at the meeting, so it was
confirmed past all contradiction by several intercepted letters and
papers: and it is most certain, that the rage of the defeated party,
upon their frequent disappointments, was so far inflamed, as to make
them capable of some counsels yet more violent and desperate than this,
which, however, by the vigilance of those near the person of Her
Majesty, were happily prevented.

On the thirtieth day of December, one thousand seven hundred and eleven,
the Duke of Marlborough was removed from all his employments: the Duke
of Ormonde succeeding him as general, both here and in Flanders. This
proceeding of the court (as far as it related to the Duke of
Marlborough) was much censured both at home and abroad, and by some who
did not wish ill to the present situation of affairs. There were few
examples of a commander being disgraced, after an uninterrupted course
of success for many years against a formidable enemy, and this before a
period was put to the war: those who had least esteem for his valour and
conduct, thought it not prudent to remove a general, whose troops were
perpetually victorious, while he was at their head; because this had
infused into his soldiers an opinion that they should always conquer,
and into the enemy that they should always be beaten; than which,
nothing is to be held of greater moment, either in the progress of a
war, or upon the day of battle; and I have good grounds to affirm, that
these reasons had sufficient weight with the Queen and ministry to have
kept the Duke of Marlborough in his post, if a way could have been found
out to have done it with any assurance of safety to the nation. It is
the misfortune of princes, that the effects of their displeasure make
usually much more noise than the causes: thus, the sound of the Duke's
fall was heard farther than many of the reasons which made it necessary;
whereof, though some were visible enough, yet others lay more in the
dark. Upon the Duke's last return from Flanders, he had fixed his
arrival to town (whether by accident or otherwise) upon the seventeenth
of November, called Queen Elizabeth's day, when great numbers of his
creatures and admirers had thought fit to revive an old ceremony among
the rabble, of burning the Pope in effigy; for the performance of which,
with more solemnity, they had made extraordinary preparations.[76] From
the several circumstances of the expense of this intended pageantry, and
of the persons who promoted it, the court, apprehensive of a design to
inflame the common people, thought fit to order, that the several
figures should be seized as popish trinkets; and guards were ordered to
patrol, for preventing any tumultuous assemblies. Whether this frolic
were only intended for an affront to the court, or whether it had a
deeper meaning, I must leave undetermined. The Duke, in his own nature,
is not much turned to be popular; and in his flourishing times, whenever
he came back to England upon the close of a campaign, he rather affected
to avoid any concourse of the _mobile_, if they had been disposed to
attend him; therefore, so very contrary a proceeding at this juncture,
made it suspected as if he had a design to have placed himself at their
head. "France," "Popery," "The Pretender," "Peace without Spain," were
the words to be given about at this mock parade; and if what was
confidently asserted be true, that a report was to have been spread at
the same time of the Queen's death, no man can tell what might have been
the event.

[Footnote 76: See Swift's "Journal to Stella," Letter xxxv. (vol. ii.,
pp. 283-84), and "A True Relation of the Intended Riot," printed in
Scott's edition, vol. v., pp. 399-413. [W.S.J.]

"The burning of a Pope in effigy," notes Scott--in his reprint of what
Swift called "the Grub Street account of the tumult"--"upon the 17th
November, the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, was a
favourite pastime with the mob of London, and often employed by their
superiors as a means of working upon their passions and prejudices." A
full account of this ceremony is given in his edition of Dryden's Works,
1808, vol. vi., p. 222. An account of the attempt "to revive an old
ceremony," referred to by Swift, was published also in "The Post Boy"
for November 20th, 1711. [T.S.]]

But this attempt, to whatever purposes intended, proving wholly abortive
by the vigilance of those in power, the Duke's arrival was without any
noise or consequence; and upon consulting with his friends, he soon fell
in with their new scheme for preventing the peace. It was believed by
many persons, that the ministers might, with little difficulty, have
brought him over, if they had pleased to make a trial; for as he would
probably have accepted any terms to continue in a station of such
prodigious[77] profit, so there was sufficient room to work upon his
fears, of which he is seldom unprovided[78] (I mean only in his
political capacity) and his infirmity very much increased by his
unmeasurable possessions, which have rendered him, _ipsique[79] onerique
timentem;_ but reason, as well as the event, proved this to be a
mistake: for the ministers being determined to bring the war to as
speedy an issue as the honour and safety of their country would permit,
could not possibly recompense the Duke for the mighty incomes he held by
the continuance of it. Then the other party had calculated their
numbers; and by the accession of the Earl of Nottingham, whose example
they hoped would have many followers, and the successful solicitations
of the Duke of Somerset, found they were sure of a majority in the House
of Lords: so that in this view of circumstances, the Duke of Marlborough
thought he acted with security, as well as advantage: he therefore
boldly fell, with his whole weight, into the design of ruining the
ministry, at the expense of his duty to his sovereign, and the welfare
of his country, after the mighty obligations he had received from both.
WHIG and TORY were now no longer the dispute, but THE QUEEN or THE DUKE
OF MARLBOROUGH: He was at the head of all the cabals and consults with
Bothmar, Buys, and the discontented lords. He forgot that government of
his passion, for which his admirers used to celebrate him, fell into all
the impotencies of anger and violence upon every party debate: so that
the Queen found herself under a necessity, either on the one side to
sacrifice those friends, who had ventured their lives in rescuing her
out of the power of some, whose former treatment she had little reason
to be fond of, to put an end[80] to the progress she had made towards a
peace, and dissolve her Parliament; or, on the other side, by removing
one person from so great a trust, to get clear of all her difficulties
at once: Her Majesty therefore determined upon the latter, as the
shorter and safer course; and during the recess at Christmas, sent the
Duke a letter, to tell him she had no farther occasion for his
service.[81]

[Footnote 77: P. Fitzgerald says "immense." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 78: P. Fitzgerald adds "being in his nature the most timorous
person alive." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 79: P. Fitzgerald says "sibique." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 80: P. Fitzgerald says "to complete." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 81: See the Duchess of Marlborough's narrative of this
transaction in the "Account of her Conduct," etc., pp. 264-269, where
his Grace's letter to the Queen, on his dismission from her service, is
printed. [N.]]

There hath not perhaps in the present age been a clearer instance to
shew the instability of greatness which is not founded upon virtue; and
it may be an instruction to princes, who are well in the hearts of their
people, that the overgrown power of any particular person, although
supported by exorbitant wealth, can by a little resolution be reduced in
a moment, without any dangerous consequences. This lord, who was, beyond
all comparison, the greatest subject in Christendom, found his power,
credit, and influence, crumble away on a sudden; and, except a few
friends or followers, by inclination, the rest dropped off in course.
From directing in some manner the affairs of Europe, he descended to be
a member of a faction, and with little distinction even there: that
virtue of subduing his resentments, for which he was so famed when he
had little or no occasion to exert it, having now wholly forsaken him
when he stood most in need of its assistance; and upon trial was found
unable to bear a reverse of fortune, giving way to rage, impatience,
envy, and discontent.


*****       *****       *****       *****       *****




THE HISTORY OF THE FOUR LAST

YEARS OF THE QUEEN.


BOOK II.

The House of Lords met upon the second day of January, according to
their adjournment; but before they could proceed to business, the twelve
new-created peers were, in the usual form, admitted to their seats in
that assembly, who, by their numbers, turned the balance on the side of
the court, and voted an adjournment to the same day with the Commons.
Upon the fourteenth of January the two Houses met; but the Queen, who
intended to be there in person, sent a message to inform them, that she
was prevented by a sudden return of the gout, and to desire they would
adjourn for three days longer, when Her Majesty hoped she should be able
to speak to them. However, her indisposition still continuing, Mr.
Secretary St. John brought another message to the House of Commons from
the Queen, containing the substance of what she intended to have spoken;
"That she could now tell them, her plenipotentiaries were arrived at
Utrecht; had begun, in pursuance of her instructions, to concert the
most proper ways of procuring a just satisfaction to all powers in
alliance with her, according to their several treaties, and particularly
with relation to Spain and the West Indies; that she promised to
communicate to them the conditions of peace, before the same should be
concluded; that the world would now see how groundless those reports
were, and without the least colour, that a separate peace had been
treated; that her ministers were directed to propose, that a day might
be fixed for the finishing, as was done for the commencement of this
treaty; and that, in the mean time, all preparations were hastening for
an early campaign," etc.

Her Majesty's endeavours towards this great work having been in such a
forwardness at the time that her message was sent, I shall here, as in
the most proper place, relate the several steps by which the intercourse
between the courts of France and Britain was begun and carried on.

The Marquis de Torcy,[1] sent by the Most Christian King to The Hague,
had there, in the year one thousand seven hundred and nine, made very
advantageous offers to the allies, in his master's name; which our
ministers, as well as those of the States, thought fit to refuse, and
advanced other proposals in their stead, but of such a nature as no
prince could digest, who did not lie at the immediate mercy of his
enemies. It was demanded, among other things, "That the French King
should employ his own troops, in conjunction with those of the allies,
to drive his grandson out of Spain." The proposers knew very well, that
the enemy would never consent to this; and if it were possible they
could at first have any such hopes, Mons. de Torcy assured them to the
contrary, in a manner which might well be believed; for then the British
and Dutch plenipotentiaries were drawing up their demands. They desired
that minister to assist them in the style and expression; which he very
readily did, and made use of the strongest words he could find to please
them. He then insisted to know their last resolution, whether these were
the lowest terms the allies would accept; and having received a
determinate answer in the affirmative, he spoke to this effect:

[Footnote 1: Jean Baptiste Colbert (1665-1746), Marquis de Torcy, was
nephew of the celebrated Colbert. [W.S.J.]]

"That he thanked them heartily for giving him the happiest day he had
ever seen in his life: that, in perfect obedience to his master, he had
made concessions, in his own opinion, highly derogatory to the King's
honour and interest: that he had not concealed the difficulties of his
court, or the discontents of his country, by a long and unsuccessful
war, which could only justify the large offers he had been empowered to
make: that the conditions of peace, now delivered into his hands by the
allies, would raise a new spirit in the nation, and remove the greatest
difficulty the court lay under, putting it in his master's power to
convince all his subjects how earnestly His Majesty desired to ease them
from the burthen of the war; but that his enemies would not accept of
any terms, which could consist either with their safety or his honour."
Mons. Torcy assured the pensionary, in the strongest manner, and bid him
count upon it, that the King his master would never sign those articles.

It soon appeared, that the Marquis de Torcy's predictions were true; for
upon delivering to his master the last resolutions of the allies, that
Prince took care to publish them all over his kingdom, as an appeal to
his subjects against the unreasonableness and injustice of his enemies:
which proceeding effectually answered the utmost he intended by it; for
the French nation, extremely jealous of their monarch's glory, made
universal offers of their lives and fortunes, rather than submit to such
ignominious terms; and the clergy, in particular, promised to give the
King their consecrated plate, towards continuing the war. Thus that
mighty kingdom, generally thought to be wholly exhausted of its wealth,
yet, when driven to a necessity by the imprudence of the allies, or by
the corruption of particular men, who influenced their councils,
recovered strength enough to support itself for three following
campaigns: and in the last, by the fatal blindness or obstinacy of the
Dutch (venturing to act without the assistance of Britain, which they
had shamefully abandoned), was an overmatch for the whole confederate
army.[2]

[Footnote 2: Alluding to the defeat at Denain (July 24th, 1712). [S.]]

Those who, in order to defend the proceedings of the allies, have given
an account of this negotiation, do wholly omit the circumstance I have
now related, and express the zeal of the British and Dutch ministers for
a peace, by informing us how frequently they sent after Mons. de Torcy,
and Mons. Rouille, for a farther conference. But in the mean time, Mr.
Horatio Walpole, secretary to the Queen's plenipotentiaries, was
dispatched over hither, to have those abortive articles signed and
ratified by Her Majesty at a venture, which was accordingly done. A
piece of management altogether absurd, and without example; contrived
only to deceive our people into a belief that a peace was intended, and
to shew what great things the ministry designed to do.

But this hope expiring, upon the news that France had refused to sign
those articles, all was solved by recourse to the old topic of the
French perfidiousness. We loaded them plentifully with ignominious
appellations; "they were a nation never to be trusted." The Parliament
cheerfully continued their supplies, and the war went on. The winter
following began the second and last session of the preceding Parliament,
noted for the trial of Dr. Sacheverell, and the occasions thereby given
to the people to discover and exert their dispositions, very opposite to
the designs of those who were then in power. In the summer of one
thousand seven hundred and ten, ensued a gradual change of the ministry;
and in the beginning of that winter the present Parliament was called.

The King of France, whose real interests made him sincerely desirous of
any tolerable peace, found it impossible to treat upon equal conditions
with either of the two maritime powers engaged against him, because of
the prevalency of factions in both, who acted in concert to their mutual
private advantage, although directly against the general dispositions of
the people in either, as well as against their several maxims of
government. But upon the great turn of affairs and councils here in
England, the new Parliament and ministers acting from other motives, and
upon other principles, that Prince hoped an opportunity might arise of
resuming his endeavours towards a peace.

There was at this time in England a French ecclesiastic, called the Abbé
Gaultier,[3] who had resided several years in London, under the
protection of some foreign ministers, in whose families he used, upon
occasion, to exercise his function of a priest. After the battle of
Blenheim, this gentleman went down to Nottingham, where several French
prisoners of quality were kept, to whom he rendered those offices of
civility suitable to persons in their condition, which, upon their
return to France, they reported to his advantage. Among the rest, the
Chevalier de Croissy told his brother, the Marquis de Torcy, that
whenever the French court would have a mind to make overtures of peace
with England, Mons. Gaultier might be very usefully employed in handing
them to the ministers here. This was no farther thought on at present.
In the mean time the war went on, and the conferences at The Hague and
Gertruydenberg miscarried, by the allies insisting upon such demands as
they neither expected, nor perhaps desired, should be granted.

[Footnote 3: See note prefixed to "A New Journey to Paris" in vol. v. of
present edition. Gaultier, although a priest, was nothing more than a
superior spy in the pay of the French Court. He had been chaplain to
Tallard and the disgraced Count Gallas, and was a sort of _protégé_ of
the Earl of Jersey; but his character does not bear very close scrutiny.
The Duke of Berwick could not have had any high opinion either of the
man or his abilities, since in the "Mémoires de Berwick" (vol. ii., p.
122, edit. 1780) he is thus referred to: "Sa naissance étoit toute des
plus ordinaires, et ses facultés à l'avenant, c'est à dire, très
pauvre." St. John called Gaultier his "Mercury," and De Torcy styled him
"the Angel of Peace" (Torcy's "Memoires," vol. ii., p. 148, edition of
1828). [T.S.]]

Some time in July, one thousand seven hundred and ten, Mons. Gaultier
received a letter from the Marquis de Torcy, signifying, that a report
being spread of Her Majesty's intentions to change her ministry, to take
Mr. Harley into her councils, and to dissolve her Parliament, the Most
Christian King thought it might be now a favourable conjuncture to offer
new proposals of a treaty: Mons. Gaultier was therefore directed to
apply himself, in the Marquis's name, either to the Duke of Shrewsbury,
the Earl of Jersey, or Mr. Harley, and inform the French court how such
a proposition would be relished. Gaultier chose to deliver his message
to the second of those, who had been ambassador from the late king to
France; but the Earl excused himself from entering into particulars with
a stranger, and a private person, who had no authority for what he said,
more than a letter from Mons. de Torcy. Gaultier offered to procure
another from that minister to the Earl himself; and did so, in a month
after: but obtained no answer till December following, when the Queen
had made all necessary changes, and summoned a free Parliament to her
wishes. About the beginning of January, the abbé (after having procured
his dismission from Count Gallas, the emperor's envoy, at that time his
protector) was sent to Paris, to inform Mons. Torcy, that Her Majesty
would be willing his master should resume the treaty with Holland,
provided the demands of England might be previously granted. Gaultier
came back, after a short stay, with a return to his message, that the
Dutch had used the Most Christian King and his ministers in such a
manner, both at The Hague and Gertruydenberg, as made that Prince
resolve not to expose himself any more to the like treatment; that he
therefore chose to address himself to England, and was ready to make
whatever offers Her Majesty could reasonably expect, for the advantage
of her own kingdoms, and the satisfaction of her allies.

After this message had been duly considered by the Queen and her
ministers, Mons. Gaultier was dispatched a second time to France, about
the beginning of March, one thousand seven hundred and ten-eleven, with
an answer to the following purpose: "That since France had their
particular reasons for not beginning again to treat with Holland,
England was willing to remove that difficulty, and proposed it should be
done in this manner: That France should send over hither the
propositions for a treaty, which should be transmitted by England to
Holland, to be jointly treated on that side of the water; but it was to
be understood, that the same proposition formerly offered to Holland,
was to be made to England, or one not less advantageous to the allies;
for although England would enter most sincerely into such a treaty, and
shew, in the course of it, the clearness of their intentions; yet they
could not, with honour, entertain a less beneficial proposal than what
was offered to the States."

That Prince, as well as his minister, Mons. de Torcy, either felt, or
affected, so much resentment of the usage the latter had met at The
Hague and Gertruydenberg, that they appeared fully determined against
making any application to the States, where the same persons continued
still in power, of whose treatment they so heavily complained.[4]