Jonathan Swift

The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. — Volume 10 Historical Writings
In order to this great inquiry, the Barrier Treaty, with all other
treaties and agreements entered into between Her Majesty and her allies,
during the present war, for the raising and augmenting the proportions
for the service thereof, were, by the Queen's directions, laid before
the House.

Several resolutions were drawn up, and reported at different times, upon
the deficiencies of the allies in furnishing their quotas, upon certain
articles in the Barrier Treaty, and upon the state of the war; by all
which it appeared, that whatever had been charged by public discourses
in print against the late ministry, and the conduct of the allies, was
much less than the truth. Upon these resolutions (by one of which the
Lord Viscount Townshend, who negotiated and signed the Barrier Treaty,
was declared an enemy to the Queen and kingdom), and upon some farther
directions to the committee, a Representation was formed; and soon after
the Commons in a body presented it to the Queen, the endeavours of the
adverse party not prevailing to have it re-committed.

This Representation (supposed to be the work of Sir Thomas Hanmer's[16]
pen) is written with much energy and spirit, and will be a very useful
authentic record, for the assistance of those who at any time shall
undertake to write the history of the present times.

[Footnote 16: But to which the Dean himself contributed a large share.
[S.] Swift writes in his "Journal," under date February 21st: "I left
them at 7, being engaged to go to Sir Tho. Hanmer, who desired I would
see him at that hour. His business was, that I would help him to draw up
the representation, which I consented to do" (vol. ii., p. 340). [W.S.J.]]

I did intend, for brevity sake, to have given the reader only an
abstract of it; but, upon trial, found myself unequal to such a task,
without injuring so excellent a piece. And although I think historical
relations are but ill patched up with long transcripts already printed,
which, upon that account, I have hitherto avoided; yet this being the
sum of all debates and resolutions of the House of Commons in that great
affair of the war, I conceived it could not well be omitted.[1]

[Footnote 17: This "Representation" was printed by S. Keble by order of
the Speaker, and is also to be found in the "Journals of the House of
Commons," vol. xvii., pp. 119-123. [W.S.J.]]

"MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN,

"We your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of Great
Britain in Parliament assembled, having nothing so much at heart, as to
enable your Majesty to bring this long and expensive war to an
honourable and happy conclusion, have taken it into our most serious
consideration, how the necessary supplies to be provided by us may be
best applied, and the common cause may in the most effectual manner be
carried on, by the united force of the whole confederacy; we have
thought ourselves obliged, in duty to your Majesty, and in discharge of
the trust reposed in us, to inquire into the true state of the war, in
all its parts; we have examined what stipulations have been entered into
between your Majesty and your allies; and how far such engagements have
on each side been made good. We have considered the different interests
which the confederates have in the success of this war, and the
different shares they have contributed to its support: we have with our
utmost care and diligence endeavoured to discover the nature, extent,
and charge of it, to the end, that by comparing the weight thereof with
our own strength, we might adapt the one to the other in such measure,
as neither to continue your Majesty's subjects under a heavier burden,
than in reason and justice they ought to bear; nor deceive your Majesty,
your allies, and ourselves, by undertaking more than the nation in its
present circumstances is able to perform.

"Your Majesty has been graciously pleased, upon our humble applications,
to order such materials to be laid before us, as have furnished us with
the necessary information upon the particulars we have inquired into;
and when we shall have laid before your Majesty our observations, and
humble advice upon this subject, we promise to ourselves this happy
fruit from it, that if your Majesty's generous and good purposes, for
the procuring a safe and lasting peace, should, through the obstinacy of
the enemy, or by any other means, be unhappily defeated, a true
knowledge and understanding of the past conduct of the war will be the
best foundation for a more frugal and equal management of it for the
time to come.

"In order to take the more perfect view of what we proposed, and that we
might be able to set the whole before your Majesty in a true light, we
have thought it necessary to go back to the beginning of the war, and
beg leave to observe the motives and reasons, upon which his late
Majesty King William engaged first in it. The treaty of the Grand
Alliance, explains those reasons to be for the supporting the
pretensions of his Imperial Majesty, then actually engaged in a war with
the French King, who had usurped the entire Spanish monarchy for his
grandson the Duke of Anjou; and for the assisting the States General,
who, by the loss of their barrier against France, were then in the same,
or a more dangerous condition, than if they were actually invaded. As
these were the just and necessary motives for undertaking this war, so
the ends proposed to be obtained by it, were equally wise and
honourable; for as they are set forth in the eighth article of the same
treaty, they appear to have been _the procuring an equitable and
reasonable satisfaction to his Imperial Majesty, and sufficient
securities for the dominions, provinces, navigation, and commerce of the
King of Great Britain, and the States General, and the making effectual
provision, that the two kingdoms of France and Spain should never be
united under the same government;_ and particularly, that the French
should never get into the possession of the Spanish West Indies, or be
permitted to sail thither, upon the account of traffic, under any
pretence whatsoever; and lastly, the securing to the subjects of the
King of Great Britain, and the States General, all the same privileges,
and rights of commerce, throughout the whole dominions of Spain, as they
enjoyed before the death of Charles the Second King of Spain, by virtue
of any treaty, agreement, or custom, or any other way whatsoever. For
the obtaining these ends, the three confederated powers engaged to
assist one another with their whole force, according to such proportions
as should be specified in a particular convention, afterwards to be made
for that purpose: we do not find that any such convention was ever
ratified; but it appears, that there was an agreement concluded, which,
by common consent, was understood to be binding upon each party
respectively, and according to which the proportions of Great Britain
were from the beginning regulated and founded. The terms of that
agreement were, That for the service at land, his Imperial Majesty
should furnish ninety thousand men, the King of Great Britain forty
thousand, and the States General one hundred and two thousand, of which
there were forty-two thousand intended to supply their garrisons, and
sixty thousand to act against the common enemy in the field; and with
regard to the operations of the war at sea, they were agreed to be
performed jointly by Great Britain and the States General, the quota of
ships to be furnished for that service being five-eighths on the part of
Great Britain, and three-eighths on the part of the States General.

"Upon this foot, the war began in the year one thousand seven hundred
and two, at which time the whole yearly expense of it to England
amounted to three millions, seven hundred and six thousand four hundred
ninety-four pounds; a very great charge, as it was then thought by your
Majesty's subjects, after the short interval of ease they had enjoyed
from the burden of the former war, but yet a very moderate proportion,
in comparison with the load which hath since been laid upon them: for it
appears, by estimates given in to your Commons, that the sums necessary
to carry on the service for this present year, in the same manner as it
was performed the last year, amount to more than six millions nine
hundred and sixty thousand pounds, besides interest for the public
debts, and the deficiencies accruing the last year, which two articles
require one million one hundred and forty-three thousand pounds more: so
that the whole demands upon your Commons are arisen to more than eight
millions for the present annual supply. We know your Majesty's tender
regard for the welfare of your people, will make it uneasy to you to
hear of so great a pressure as this upon them; and as we are assured, it
will fully convince your Majesty of the necessity of our present
inquiry; so we beg leave to represent to you, from what causes, and by
what steps, this immense charge appears to have grown upon us.

"The service at sea, as it has been very large and extensive in itself,
so it has been carried on, through the whole course of the war, in a
manner highly disadvantageous to your Majesty and your kingdom: for the
necessity of affairs requiring that great fleets should be fitted out
every year, as well for the maintaining a superiority in the
Mediterranean, as for opposing any force which the enemy might prepare,
either at Dunkirk, or in the ports of West France, your Majesty's
example and readiness in fitting out your proportion of ships, for all
parts of that service, have been so far from prevailing with the States
General to keep pace with you, that they have been deficient every year
to a great degree, in proportion to what your Majesty hath furnished;
sometimes no less than two-thirds, and generally more than half of their
quota: from hence your Majesty has been obliged, for the preventing
disappointments in the most pressing services, to supply those
deficiencies by additional reinforcements of your own ships; nor hath
the single increase of such a charge been the only ill consequence that
attended it; for by this means the debt of the navy hath been enhanced,
so that the discounts arising upon the credit of it have affected all
other parts of the service. From the same cause, your Majesty's ships of
war have been forced in greater numbers to continue in remote seas, and
at unseasonable times of the year, to the great damage and decay of the
British navy. This also hath been the occasion that your Majesty hath
been straitened in your convoys for trade; your coasts have been
exposed, for want of a sufficient number of cruisers to guard them; and
you have been disabled from annoying the enemy, in their most beneficial
commerce with the West Indies, from whence they received those vast
supplies of treasure, without which they could not have supported the
expenses of this war.

"That part of the war which hath been carried on in Flanders, was at
first immediately necessary to the security of the States General, and
hath since brought them great acquisitions, both of revenue and
dominion; yet even there the original proportions have been departed
from, and, during the course of the war, have been sinking by degrees on
the part of Holland; so that in this last year, we find the number in
which they fell short of their three-fifths, to your Majesty's
two-fifths, have been twenty thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven
men: we are not unmindful, that in the year one thousand seven hundred
and three, a treaty was made between the two nations, for a joint
augmentation of twenty thousand men, wherein the proportions were
varied, and England consented to take half upon itself. But it having
been annexed as an express condition to the grant of the said
augmentation in Parliament, that the States General should prohibit all
trade and commerce with France, and that condition having not been
performed by them, the Commons think it reasonable, that the first rule
of three to two ought to have taken place again, as well in that as in
other subsequent augmentations, more especially when they consider, that
the revenues of those rich provinces which have been conquered, would,
if they were duly applied, maintain a great number of new additional
forces against the common enemy; notwithstanding which, the States
General have raised none upon that account, but make use of those fresh
supplies of money, only to ease themselves in the charge of their first
established quota.

"As in the progress of the war in Flanders, a disproportion was soon
created to the prejudice of England; so the very beginning of the war in
Portugal, brought an unequal share of burden upon us; for although the
Emperor and the States General were equally parties with your Majesty in
the treaty with the King of Portugal, yet the Emperor neither furnishing
his third part of the troops and subsidies stipulated for, nor the Dutch
consenting to take an equal share of his Imperial Majesty's defect upon
themselves, your Majesty hath been obliged to furnish two-thirds of the
entire expense created by that service. Nor has the inequality stopped
there; for ever since the year one thousand seven hundred and six, when
the English and Dutch forces marched out of Portugal into Castile, the
States General have entirely abandoned the war in Portugal, and left
your Majesty to prosecute it singly at your own charge, which you have
accordingly done, by replacing a greater number of troops there, than
even at first you took upon you to provide. At the same time your
Majesty's generous endeavours for the support and defence of the King of
Portugal, have been but ill seconded by that Prince himself; for
notwithstanding that by his treaty he had obliged himself to furnish
twelve thousand foot, and three thousand horse, upon his own account,
besides eleven thousand foot, and two thousand horse more, in
consideration of a subsidy paid him; yet, according to the best
information your Commons can procure, it appears, that he hath scarce at
any time furnished thirteen thousand men in the whole.

"In Spain the war hath been yet more unequal, and burdensome to your
Majesty, than in any other branch of it; for being commenced without any
treaty whatsoever, the allies have almost wholly declined taking any
part of it upon themselves. A small body of English and Dutch troops
were sent thither in the year one thousand seven hundred and five, not
as being thought sufficient to support a regular war, or to make the
conquest of so large a country; but with a view only of assisting the
Spaniards to set King Charles upon the throne; occasioned by the great
assurances which were given of their inclinations to the House of
Austria: but this expectation failing, England was insensibly drawn into
an established war, under all the disadvantages of the distance of the
place, and the feeble efforts of the other allies. The account we have
to lay before your Majesty, upon this head, is, that although the
undertaking was entered upon at the particular and earnest request of
the imperial court, and for a cause of no less importance and concern to
them, than the reducing the Spanish monarchy to the House of Austria;
yet neither the late emperors, nor his present Imperial Majesty, have
ever had any forces there on their own account, till the last year; and
then, only one regiment of foot, consisting of two thousand men. Though
the States General have contributed something more to this service, yet
their share also hath been inconsiderable; for in the space of four
years, from one thousand seven hundred and five, to one thousand seven
hundred and eight, both inclusive, all the forces they have sent into
that country have not exceeded twelve thousand two hundred men; and from
the year one thousand seven hundred and eight to this time, they have
not sent any forces or recruits whatsoever. To your Majesty's care and
charge the recovery of that kingdom hath been in a manner wholly left,
as if none else were interested or concerned in it. And the forces which
your Majesty hath sent into Spain, in the space of seven years, from one
thousand seven hundred and five to one thousand seven hundred and
eleven, both inclusive, have amounted to no less than fifty-seven
thousand nine hundred seventy-three men; besides thirteen battalions and
eighteen squadrons, for which your Majesty hath paid a subsidy to the
Emperor.

"How great the established expense of such a number of men hath been,
your Majesty very well knows, and your Commons very sensibly feel; but
the weight will be found much greater, when it is considered how many
heavy articles of unusual and extraordinary charge have attended this
remote and difficult service, all which have been entirely defrayed by
your Majesty, except that one of transporting the few forces, which were
sent by the States General, and the victualling of them during their
transportation only. The accounts delivered to your Commons shew, that
the charge of your Majesty's ships and vessels, employed in the service
of the war in Spain and Portugal, reckoned after the rate of four pounds
a man _per_ month, from the time they sailed from hence, till they
returned, were lost, or put upon other services, hath amounted to six
millions five hundred and forty thousand nine hundred and sixty-six
pounds fourteen shillings: the charge of transports on the part of Great
Britain, for carrying on the war in Spain and Portugal, from the
beginning of it till this time, hath amounted to one million three
hundred thirty-six thousand seven hundred and nineteen pounds, nineteen
shillings, and elevenpence; that of victualling land forces for the same
service, to five hundred eighty-three thousand seven hundred and seventy
pounds, eight shillings, and sixpence; and that of contingencies, and
other extraordinaries for the same service, to one million eight hundred
and forty thousand three hundred and fifty-three pounds.

"We should take notice to your Majesty of several sums paid upon account
of contingencies, and extraordinaries in Flanders, making together the
sum of one million one hundred and seven thousand and ninety-six pounds:
but we are not able to make any comparison of them, with what the States
General have expended upon the same head, having no such state of their
extraordinary charge before us. There remains therefore but one
particular more for your Majesty's observation, which arises from the
subsidies paid to foreign princes. These, at the beginning of the war,
were borne in equal proportion by your Majesty, and the States General;
but in this instance also, the balance hath been cast in prejudice of
your Majesty: for it appears, that your Majesty hath since advanced more
than your equal proportion, three millions one hundred and fifty-five
thousand crowns[18], besides extraordinaries paid in Italy, and not
included in any of the foregoing articles, which arise to five hundred
thirty-nine thousand five hundred and fifty-three pounds.

[Footnote 18: In the "Journals of the House of Commons," vol. xvii., p.
48, is an exact state of all the subsidies and extra expenses, from 1702
to 1711. [N.]]

"We have laid these several particulars before your Majesty in the
shortest manner we have been able; and by an estimate grounded on the
preceding facts, it does appear, that over and above the quotas on the
part of Great Britain, answering to those contributed by your allies,
more than nineteen millions have been expended by your Majesty, during
the course of this war, by way of surplusage, or exceeding in balance,
of which none of the confederates have furnished any thing whatsoever.

"It is with very great concern, that we find so much occasion given us,
to represent how ill an use hath been made of your Majesty's and your
subjects' zeal for the common cause; that the interest of that cause
hath not been proportionably promoted by it, but others only have been
eased at your Majesty's and your subjects' costs, and have been connived
at, in laying their part of the burden upon this kingdom, although they
have upon all accounts been equally, and in most respects, much more
nearly concerned than Britain in the issue of the war. We are persuaded
your Majesty will think it pardonable in us, with some resentment to
complain of the little regard, which some of those, whom your Majesty of
late years intrusted, have shewn to the interests of their country, in
giving way, at least, to such unreasonable impositions upon it, if not
in some measure contriving them. The course of which impositions hath
been so singular and extraordinary, that the more the wealth of this
nation hath been exhausted, and the more your Majesty's arms have been
attended with success, the heavier hath been the burden laid upon us;
whilst on the other hand, the more vigorous your Majesty's efforts have
been, and the greater the advantages which have redounded thence to your
allies, the more those allies have abated in their share of the expense.

"At the first entrance into this war, the Commons were induced to exert
themselves in the extraordinary manner they did, and to grant such large
supplies, as had been unknown to former ages, in hopes thereby to
prevent the mischiefs of a lingering war, and to bring that, in which
they were necessarily engaged, to a speedy conclusion; but they have
been very unhappy in the event, whilst they have so much reason to
suspect, that what was intended to shorten the war, hath proved the very
cause of its long continuance; for those, to whom the profits of it have
accrued, have been disposed not easily to forgo them. And your Majesty
will from thence discern _the true reason, why so many have delighted in
a war, which brought in so rich an harvest yearly from Great Britain_.

"We are as far from desiring, as we know your Majesty will be from
concluding any peace, but upon safe and honourable terms; and we are far
from intending to excuse ourselves from raising all necessary and
possible supplies, for an effectual prosecution of the war, till such a
peace can be obtained: all that your faithful Commons aim at, all that
they wish, is an equal concurrence from the other powers, engaged in
alliance with your Majesty; and a just application of what hath been
already gained from the enemy, towards promoting the common cause.
Several large countries and territories have been restored to the house
of Austria, such as the kingdom of Naples, the duchy of Milan, and other
places in Italy; others have been conquered, and added to their
dominions, as the two electorates of Bavaria and Cologne, the duchy of
Mantua, and the bishopric of LiГЁge; these having been reduced in great
measure by our blood and treasure, may, we humbly conceive, with great
reason, be claimed to come in aid towards carrying on the war in Spain.
And therefore we make it our earnest request to your Majesty, that you
will give instructions to your ministers, to insist with the Emperor,
that the revenues of those several places, excepting only such a portion
thereof as is necessary for their defence, be actually so applied: and
as to the other parts of the war, to which your Majesty hath obliged
yourself by particular treaties to contribute, we humbly beseech your
Majesty, that you will be pleased to take effectual care, that your
allies do perform their parts stipulated by those treaties; and that
your Majesty will, for the future, no otherwise furnish troops, or pay
subsidies, than in proportion to what your allies shall actually furnish
and pay. When this justice is done to your Majesty, and to your people,
there is nothing which your Commons will not cheerfully grant, towards
supporting your Majesty in the cause in which you are engaged. And
whatever farther shall appear to be necessary for carrying on the war,
either at sea or land, we will effectually enable your Majesty to bear
your reasonable share of any such expense, and will spare no supplies
which your subjects are able, with their utmost efforts to afford.

"After having enquired into, and considered the state of the war, in
which the part your Majesty has borne, appears to have been, not only
superior to that of any one ally, but even equal to that of the whole
confederacy; your Commons naturally inclined to hope, that they should
find care had been taken of securing some particular advantages to
Britain, in the terms of a future peace; such as might afford a prospect
of making the nation amends, in time, for that immense treasure which
has been expended, and those heavy debts which have been contracted, in
the course of so long and burdensome a war. This reasonable expectation
could no way have been better answered, than by some provision made for
the further security, and the greater improvement of the commerce of
Great Britain; but we find ourselves so very far disappointed in these
hopes, that in a treaty not long since concluded between your Majesty
and the States General, under colour of a mutual guarantee, given for
two points of the greatest importance to both nations, the Succession,
and the Barrier; it appears, the interest of Great Britain hath been not
only neglected, but sacrificed; and that several articles in the said
treaty, are destructive to the trade and welfare of this kingdom, and
therefore highly dishonourable to your Majesty.

"Your Commons observe, in the first place, that several towns and places
are, by virtue of this treaty, to be put into the hands of the States
General, particularly Nieuport, Dendermonde, and the castle of Ghent,
which can in no sense be looked upon as part of a barrier against
France, but being the keys of the Netherlands towards Britain, must make
the trade of your Majesty's subjects in those parts precarious, and
whenever the States think fit, totally exclude them from it. The
pretended necessity of putting these places into the hands of the States
General, in order to secure to them a communication with their barrier,
must appear vain and groundless; for the sovereignty of the Low
Countries being not to remain to an enemy, but to a friend and an ally,
that communication must be always secure and uninterrupted; besides
that, in case of a rupture, or any attack, the States have full liberty
allowed them to take possession of all the Spanish Netherlands, and
therefore needed no particular stipulation for the towns above
mentioned.

"Having taken notice of this concession made to the States General, for
seizing upon the whole ten provinces; we cannot but observe to your
Majesty, that in the manner this article is framed, it is another
dangerous circumstance which attends this treaty; for had such a
provision been confined to the case of an apparent attack from France
only, the avowed design of this treaty had been fulfilled, and your
Majesty's instructions to your ambassador had been pursued: but this
necessary restriction hath been omitted, and the same liberty is granted
to the States, to take possession of all the Netherlands, whenever they
shall think themselves attacked by any other neighbouring nation, as
when they shall be in danger from France; so that if it should at any
time happen (which your Commons are very unwilling to suppose) that they
should quarrel, even with your Majesty, the riches, strength, and
advantageous situation of these countries, may be made use of against
yourself, without whose generous and powerful assistance they had never
been conquered.

"To return to those ill consequences which relate to the trade of your
kingdoms, we beg leave to observe to your Majesty, that though this
treaty revives, and renders your Majesty a party to the fourteenth and
fifteenth articles of the Treaty of Munster,[19] by virtue of which, the
impositions upon all goods and merchandises brought into the Spanish Low
Countries by the sea, are to equal those laid on goods and merchandises
imported by the Scheldt, and the canals of Sass and Swyn, and other
mouths of the sea adjoining; yet no care is taken to preserve that
equality upon the exportation of those goods out of the Spanish
provinces, into those countries and places, which, by virtue of this
treaty, are to be in the possession of the States; the consequence of
which must in time be, and your Commons are informed, that in some
instances it has already proved to be the case, that the impositions
upon goods carried into those countries and places, by the subjects of
the States General, will be taken off, while those upon the goods
imported by your Majesty's subjects remain: by which means, Great
Britain will entirely lose this most beneficial branch of trade, which
it has in all ages been possessed of, even from the time when those
countries were governed by the house of Burgundy, one of the most
ancient, as well as the most useful allies to the crown of England.

[Footnote 19: Concluded June 30th, 1643. See note in vol. v., p. 150, of
present edition. [T.S.]]

"With regard to the other dominions and territories of Spain, your
Majesty's subjects have always been distinguished in their commerce with
them, and both by ancient treaties, and an uninterrupted custom, have
enjoyed greater privileges and immunities of trade, than either the
Hollanders, or any other nation whatsoever. And that wise and excellent
treaty of the Grand Alliance, provides effectually for the security and
continuance of these valuable privileges to Britain, in such a manner,
as that each nation might be left, at the end of war, upon the same foot
as it stood at the commencement of it: but this treaty we now complain
of, instead of confirming your subjects' rights, surrenders and destroys
them; for although by the sixteenth and seventeenth articles of the
Treaty of Munster, made between his Catholic Majesty and the States
General, all advantages of trade are stipulated for, and granted to the
Hollanders, equal to what the English enjoyed; yet the crown of England
not being a party to that treaty, the subjects of England have never
submitted to those articles of it, nor even the Spaniards themselves
ever observed them; but this treaty revives those articles in prejudice
of Great Britain, and makes your Majesty a party to them, and even a
guarantee to the States General, for privileges against your own people.

"In how deliberate and extraordinary a manner your Majesty's ambassador
consented to deprive your subjects of their ancient rights, and your
Majesty of the power of procuring to them any new advantage, most
evidently appears from his own letters, which, by your Majesty's
directions, have been laid before your Commons:[20] for when matters of
advantage to your Majesty, and to your kingdom, had been offered, as
proper to be made parts of this treaty, they were refused to be admitted
by the States General, upon this reason and principle, that nothing
foreign to the guaranties of the Succession, and of the Barrier, should
be mingled with them; notwithstanding which, the States General had no
sooner received notice of a treaty of commerce concluded between your
Majesty and the present Emperor, but they departed from the rule
proposed before, and insisted upon the article, of which your Commons
now complain; which article your Majesty's ambassador allowed of,
although equally foreign to the Succession, or the Barrier; and although
he had for that reason departed from other articles, which would have
been for the service of his own country.

[Footnote 20: Printed in the "Journals," vol. xvii., pp. 87-89. [N.]]

"We have forborne to trouble your Majesty with general observations upon
this treaty, as it relates to and affects the empire, and other parts of
Europe. The mischiefs which arise from it to Great Britain, are what
only we have presumed humbly to represent to you, as they are very
evident, and very great: and as it appears, that the Lord Viscount
Townshend had not any orders, or authority, for concluding several of
those articles, which are most prejudicial to your Majesty's subjects;
we have thought we could do no less than declare your said ambassador,
who negotiated and signed, and all others who advised the ratifying of
this treaty, enemies to your Majesty and to your kingdom.

"Upon these faithful informations, and advices from your Commons, we
assure ourselves your Majesty, in your great goodness to your people,
will rescue them from those evils, which the private counsels of
ill-designing men have exposed them to; and that in your great wisdom
you will find some means for the explaining, and amending, the several
articles of this treaty, so as that they may consist with the interest
of Great Britain, and with real and lasting friendship between your
Majesty and the States General."[21]

[Footnote 21: This Representation was presented to Her Majesty March
4th, 171-1/2 and answered March 5th. [N.]]

Between the Representation and the first debates upon the subject of it,
several weeks had passed; during which time the Parliament had other
matters likewise before them, that deserve to be mentioned. For on the
ninth of February was repealed the Act for Naturalizing Foreign
Protestants, which had been passed under the last ministry, and, as many
people thought, to very ill purposes. By this Act any foreigner, who
would take the oaths to the government, and profess himself a
Protestant, of whatever denomination, was immediately naturalized, and
had all the privileges of an English born subject, at the expense of a
shilling.[22] Most Protestants abroad differ from us in the points of
church government; so that all the acquisitions by this Act would
increase the number of Dissenters; and therefore the proposal, that such
foreigners should be obliged to conform to the established worship, was
rejected. But because several persons were fond of this project, as a
thing that would be of mighty advantage to the kingdom, I shall say a
few words upon it.

[Footnote 22: See "The Examiner," Nos. 26 and 45, in vol. ix. of this
edition. [W.S.J.]]

The maxim, "That people are the riches of a nation," hath been crudely
understood by many writers and reasoners upon that subject. There are
several ways by which people are brought into a country. Sometimes a
nation is invaded and subdued; and the conquerors seize the lands, and
make the natives their under-tenants or servants. Colonies have been
always planted where the natives were driven out or destroyed, or the
land uncultivated and waste. In those countries where the lord of the
soil is master of the labour and liberty of his tenants, or of slaves
bought by his money, men's riches are reckoned by the number of their
vassals. And sometimes, in governments newly instituted, where there are
not people to till the ground, many laws have been made to encourage and
allure numbers from the neighbouring countries. And, in all these cases,
the new comers have either lands allotted them, or are slaves to the
proprietors. But to invite helpless families, by thousands, into a
kingdom inhabited like ours, without lands to give them, and where the
laws will not allow that they should be part of the property as
servants, is a wrong application of the maxim, and the same thing, in
great, as infants dropped at the doors, which are only a burthen and
charge to the parish. The true way of multiplying mankind to public
advantage, in such a country as England, is to invite from abroad only
able handicraftsmen and artificers, or such who bring over a sufficient
share of property to secure them from want; to enact and enforce
sumptuary laws against luxury, and all excesses in clothing, furniture,
and the like; to encourage matrimony, and reward, as the Romans did,
those who have a certain number of children. Whether bringing over the
Palatines were a mere consequence of this law for a general
naturalization; or whether, as many surmised, it had some other meaning,
it appeared manifestly, by the issue, that the public was a loser by
every individual among them; and that a kingdom can no more be the
richer by such an importation, than a man can be fatter by a wen, which
is unsightly and troublesome, at best, and intercepts that nourishment,
which would otherwise diffuse itself through the whole body.

About a fortnight after, the Commons sent up a bill for securing the
freedom of Parliaments, by limiting the number of Members in that House
who should be allowed to possess employments under the crown.[23] Bills
to the same effect, promoted by both parties, had, after making the like
progress, been rejected in former Parliaments; the court and ministry,
who will ever be against such a law, having usually a greater influence
in the House of Lords, and so it happened now. Although that influence
were less, I am apt to think that such a law would be too thorough a
reformation in one point, while we have so many corruptions in the rest;
and perhaps the regulations, already made on that article, are
sufficient, by which several employments incapacitate a man from being
chosen a Member, and all of them bring it to a new election.[24]

[Footnote 23: This self-denying ordinance easily passed through the
House of Commons, where probably men were ashamed of opposing it; and in
such a temper were the Peers, in whose House the ministry proposed to
make the stand, that it was very likely to have passed there also. But
an amendment was ingeniously thrown in, to suspend the operation of the
proposed Act until after the Queen's death; so that it was evaded for
the present, and never again revived. [S.] The Bill was rejected
February 29th, 171-1/2. [W.S.J.]]


[Footnote 24: P. Fitzgerald adds, "Neither do I believe any man who
truly understands and loves our constitution will imagine that the
prerogative hath not been sufficiently humbled within twenty years
past." [W.S.J.]]

For my own part, when I consider the temper of particular persons, and
by what maxims they have acted (almost without exception) in their
private capacities, I cannot conceive how such a bill should obtain a
majority, unless every man expected to be one of the fifty, which, I
think, was the limitation intended.

About the same time, likewise, the House of Commons advanced one
considerable step towards securing us against farther impositions from
our allies, resolving that the additional forces should be continued;
but with a condition, that the Dutch should make good their proportion
of three-fifths to two-fifths, which those confederates had so long, and
in so great degree, neglected. The Duke of Marlborough's deduction of
two and a half _per cent._, from the pay of the foreign troops, was also
applied for carrying on the war.[25]

[Footnote 25: In the "Journals of the House of Commons," vol. xvii., pp.
15-18, the Report of the Commissioners is printed, in which is included
the Duke's justification of his conduct. See above, p. 85. [N.]]

Lastly, within this period is to be included the Act passed to prevent
the disturbing those of the Episcopal Communion in Scotland[26] in the
exercise of their religious worship, and in the use of the liturgy of
the Church of England.[27] It is known enough, that the most
considerable of the nobility and gentry there, as well as great numbers
of the people, dread the tyrannical discipline of those synods and
presbyteries; and at the same time have the utmost contempt for the
abilities and tenets of their teachers. It was besides thought an
inequality, beyond all appearance of reason or justice, that Dissenters
of every denomination here, who are the meanest and most illiterate part
amongst us, should possess a toleration by law, under colour of which
they might, upon occasion, be bold enough to insult the religion
established, while those of the Episcopal Church in Scotland[28] groaned
under a real persecution. The only specious objection against this bill
was, that it set the religion by law, in both parts of the island, upon
a different foot, directly contrary to the Union; because, by an Act
passed this very session against occasional conformity, our Dissenters
were shut out from all employments. A petition from Carstares, and other
Scotch professors, against this bill, was offered to the House, but not
accepted; and a motion made by the other party, to receive a clause that
should restrain all persons, who have any office in Scotland,[28] from
going to episcopal meetings, passed in the negative. It is manifest,
that the promoters of this clause were not moved by any regard for
Scotland,[28] which is by no means their favourite at present; only they
hoped, that, if it were made part of a law, it might occasion such a
choice of representatives in both Houses, from Scotland,[28] as would be
a considerable strength to their faction here. But the proposition was
in itself extremely absurd, that so many lords, and other persons of
distinction, who have great employments, pensions, posts in the army,
and other places of profit, many of whom are in frequent or constant
attendance at the court, and utterly dislike their national way of
worship, should be deprived of their liberty of conscience at home; not
to mention those who are sent thither from hence to take care of the
revenue, and other affairs, who would ill digest the changing of their
religion for that of Scotland.[28]

With a farther view of favour towards the episcopal clergy of
Scotland,[28] three Members of that country were directed to bring in a
bill for restoring the patrons to their ancient rights of presenting
ministers to the vacant churches there, which the kirk, during the
height of their power, had obtained for themselves[29] And, to conclude
this subject at once, the Queen, at the close of the session, commanded
Mr Secretary St John to acquaint the House, "That, pursuant to their
address, the profits arising from the bishops' estates in Scotland,
which remained in the crown, should be applied to the support of such of
the episcopal clergy there, as would take the oaths to Her Majesty."[30]

[Footnote 26: P. Fitzgerald says "North Britain." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 27: The "Act to prevent," etc. (10 Ann. c. 10) was ordered
January 21st, and received the Royal Assent March 3rd, 171-1/2,
[W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 28: P. Fitzgerald says "North Britain." [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 29: The Scotch Patronage Bill was ordered March 13th, [1711],
passed April 7th, and received the Royal Assent May 22nd, 1712 (10 Ann c
21). It did not refer to the Episcopal Church. [W.S.J.]

The Church of Scotland viewed the bills for restoring to the gentry the
right of patronage, and for tolerating the exercise of the Episcopal
persuasion, with great jealousy. The Reverend Mr William Carstares, who
had been secretary to King William, and was Principal of the College of
Edinburgh, was deputed to go to London at the head of a commission of
the church, to oppose the bills while in dependence. His biographer has
justly remarked, that these enactments considered at the time as fatal
to the interests of Presbytery in Scotland, have, upon experience,
proved her best security.

"Upon the one hand, the Act of Toleration, by taking the weapon of
offence out of the hands of the Presbyterians, removed the chief grounds
of those resentments which the friends of prelacy entertained against
them, and in a few years almost annihilated Episcopacy in Scotland Upon
the other hand, the Act restoring Patronages, by restoring the nobility
and gentlemen of property to then wonted influence in the settlement of
the clergy, reconciled numbers of them to the established church, who
had conceived the most violent prejudices against that mode of election,
and against the Presbyterian clergy, who were settled upon it. It is
likewise an incontestable fact, that, from the date of these two Acts,
the Church of Scotland has enjoyed a state of tranquillity to which she
was an utter stranger before." (Life of Carstares, prefixed to
Carstares's "State Papers," 1774, p 85) [S]]

[Footnote 30: This message was reported to the House of Commons June
19th, 1712. [W.S.J]]

Nothing could more amply justify the proceedings of the Queen and her
ministers, for two years past, than that famous Representation above at
large recited, the unbiassed wisdom of the nation, after the strictest
inquiry, confirming those facts upon which Her Majesty's counsels were
grounded and many persons, who were before inclined to believe that the
allies and the late ministry had been too much loaded by the malice,
misrepresentations, or ignorance of writers, were now fully convinced of
their mistake by so great an authority. Upon this occasion I cannot
forbear doing justice to Mr. St. John,[31] who had been secretary of
war, for several years, under the former administration, where he had
the advantage of observing how affairs were managed both at home and
abroad. He was one of those who shared in the present treasurer's
fortune, resigning his employment at the same time; and upon that
minister's being again taken into favour, this gentleman was some time
after made secretary of state. There he began afresh, by the
opportunities of his station, to look into past miscarriages; and, by
the force of an extraordinary genius, and application to public affairs,
joined with an invincible eloquence, laid open the scene of miscarriages
and corruptions through the whole course of the war, in so evident a
manner, that the House of Commons seemed principally directed in their
resolutions, upon this inquiry, by his information and advice. In a
short time after the Representation was published, there appeared a
memorial in the Dutch "Gazette," as by order of the States, reflecting
very much upon the said Representation, as well as the resolutions on
which it was founded, pretending to deny some of the facts, and to
extenuate others. This memorial, translated into English, a common
writer of news had the boldness to insert in one of his papers. A
complaint being made thereof to the House of Commons, they voted the
pretended memorial to be a false, scandalous, malicious libel, and
ordered the printer to be taken into custody.[32]

[Footnote 31: See his character in Swift's "Enquiry," vol. v., pp.
430-431, of this edition. [W.S.J.]]

[Footnote 32: The memorial appeared in the "Daily Courant" of 7th and
8th April, for which Samuel Buckley, the writer and printer, was ordered
by the House of Commons to be taken into custody on April 11th.
[W.S.J.]]

It was the misfortune of the ministers, that while they were baited by
their professed adversaries of the discontented faction, acting in
confederacy with emissaries of foreign powers, to break the measures Her
Majesty had taken towards a peace, they met at the same time with
frequent difficulties from those who agreed and engaged with them to
pursue the same general end; but sometimes disapproved the methods as
too slack and remiss, or, in appearance, now and then perhaps a little
dubious. In the first session of this Parliament, a considerable number
of gentlemen, all members of the House of Commons, began to meet by
themselves, and consult what course they ought to steer in this new
world. They intended to revive a new country party in Parliament, which
might, as in former times, oppose the court in any proceedings they
disliked. The whole body was of such who profess what is commonly called
high-church principles, upon which account they were irreconcilable
enemies to the late ministry and all its adherents. On the other side,
considering the temper of the new men in power, that they were persons
who had formerly moved between the two extremes, those gentlemen, who
were impatient for an entire change, and to see all their adversaries
laid at once as low as the dust, began to be apprehensive that the work
would be done by halves. But the juncture of affairs at that time, both
at home and abroad, would by no means admit of the least precipitation,
although the Queen and her first minister had been disposed to it, which
certainly they were not. Neither did the court seem at all uneasy at
this league, formed in appearance against it, but composed of honest
gentlemen who wished well to their country, in which both were entirely
agreed, although they might differ about the means; or if such a society
should begin to grow resty, nothing was easier than to divide them, and
render all their endeavours ineffectual.[33]

[Footnote 33: See Swift's "Advice to Members of the October Club," vol.
v., pp. 207-225. [W.S.J.]]

But in the course of that first session, many of this society became
gradually reconciled to the new ministry, whom they found to be greater
objects of the common enemy's hatred than themselves; and the attempt of
Guiscard, as it gained farther time for deferring the disposal of
employments, so it much endeared that person to the kingdom, who was so
near falling a sacrifice to the safety of his country. Upon the last
session of which I am now writing, this October Club (as it was called)
renewed their usual meetings, but were now very much altered from their
original institution, and seemed to have wholly dropped the design, as
of no further use. They saw a point carried in the House of Lords
against the court, that would end in the ruin of the kingdom; and they
observed the enemy's whole artillery directly levelled at the
treasurer's head. In short, the majority of the club had so good an
understanding with the great men at court, that two of the latter,[34]
to shew to the world how fair a correspondence there was between the
court and country party, consented to be at one of their dinners; but
this intercourse had an event very different from what was expected: for
immediately the more zealous members of that society broke off from the
rest, and composed a new one, made up of gentlemen, who seemed to expect
little of the court; and perhaps, with a mixture of others who thought
themselves disappointed, or too long delayed.[35] Many of these were
observed to retain an incurable jealousy of the treasurer, and to
interpret all delays, which they could not comprehend, as a reserve of
favour in this minister to the persons and principles of the abandoned
party.
                
 
 
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